Two weeks later, two years on from Chapter One

It was a cold November night, the chill in the air amplified by Korra's nervousness. She'd known that this day would come for quite some time now. She was capable of making the heads of nations bow to her if she wanted to, but now, Korra didn't quite feel the same bravado. Her right arm was still in a sling, but thankfully, the bandage on her nose had been taken off. At least she wouldn't look too much like a idiot now.

The Prime Minister of Ba Sing Sae had eventually agreed to talks in Republic City, after making sure that the ceasefire was genuine. He didn't like Korra, but she'd managed to convince him peacefully to come. The peace negotiations would begin in one week. Korra had been in contact with Zhu Li and Lin Beifong about security arrangements. Korra had thought that it would be a horrible, wretched process in getting them to let her over-see the negotiations without undergoing trial first, but she was dead-wrong.

Ever since Fire Lord Izumi had heard that Korra had taken down Azula from a spy, which was roughly about a month ago now, the Fire Nation had strongly fought for Korra's pardon. It was a surprise, to say the least, but a welcome one. But the person who would be defending Korra more than anyone else was none other than General Iroh II.

Korra had spoken to him over the phone on Air Temple Island. With her sudden appearance, the media had gone crazy, prowling all over for sightings of Korra. Because of that, she'd had to hide in the basement for most of the week, because journalists could really sneak their way into almost anywhere. On the phone, Iroh had expressed his sincere gratitude towards Korra for taking away his bending. He'd gone on a bit of a ramble, but the main point was that he had been 'enlightened'.

But the biggest shock of all was that he didn't want his firebending back. Korra had asked for him to repeat what he said three or four times, but she wasn't going hard of hearing. He genuinely thought that he was a better person without it. Korra had had a very poor opinion of him before that conversation, and certainly hadn't intended on giving back his firebending no matter how forgiving she felt, but now, she was able to think of Iroh with a decent person. He'd made a bad mistake, and she'd forgiven him. Just like Mako.

Speaking of Mako, he was still immobilised in hospital, also back in Republic City. He was able to have long enough conversations now, and could eat mushed-up food. He had agreed to let Korra take of Kalla for the time being, as he could barely stay awake. Their conversations were still a bit awkward, but Korra hoped that they were on the path to being on good terms again, for Kalla's sake. Once Mako was able to care for himself independently again, he would take care of Kalla on the weekends. He was going to try and be a waiter for the short-term, then figure his life out from there. Jinora bore no grudge towards Korra whatsoever, so that gave Korra hope. That she could finally make up with the one person she had hurt worse than anyone else.

Korra stood there in the cover of the trees, just outside the Sato Mansion. It hadn't changed at all since she had last been there. It was 8:13pm, the dark clouds threatening to bucket down with rain. Korra had never once spoken to Asami since their break-up, never a proper apology afterwards. Not for cheating on her, nor bloodbending her. Korra took a few deep breaths, rehearsing her lines that she'd been practicing all week. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to write them down, with her good hand still in a sling, but by now, Korra felt confident reciting them all, not stuttering once as she practiced.

Time to go, Korra decided, and marched out of the woods up the front doors, strolling straight across the lawn. One of the two security guards spotted her almost immediately, and whipped out a sliver of water from his pouch.

"Who's there?!" he called out, jostling the other guard, who was a firebender, into a fighting stance with fire daggers coming out of his fists.

"I need to talk to Asami," Korra asked of them. She kept her head down, keeping her features hidden.

"Don't let the cast fool you, Mick!" the firebender warned. "It's probably a trick!"

"Take one step closer and we'll attack!" the waterbender called Mick declared, as Korra came up within ten metres in front of them.

"I'm the Avatar," Korra revealed, stopping and looking them in the eye. They stood there, startled for a moment, before the firebender spoke up again.

"The Avatar doesn't have a tattoo like that!" he pointed out. "Leave right now!"

"I don't want to fight!" Korra pleaded, realising too late that she could've gone about this so much better. "Just hear me out."

"Final warning," the firebender told her, itching to fight.

"Look-" Korra began, but that was as far as she got. The firebender punched a fireball at her. Korra grumbled, then equalled it with her blue fireball, shooting it out of her fingertips. The waterbender tried to hit her with a volley of water, but Korra just stopped it mid-air, making it obvious that she could waterbend, then calmly returned it to the guard. She stomped on the ground, making the gravel rise up in a lumpy block.

"No way," the man called Mick said. "She's really back."

"Listen!" Korra announced, raising her voice a little. "I know that you're both just doing your jobs, but I'm not here to fight! If wanted to break in, I wouldn't go in through the front doors. Just please let me in."

"You're a bloodbender!" the firebender stated, pointing.

"I know," Korra responded. "And if I wanted to, I could bloodbend you both right now. But I don't! Just put me on to someone inside there. I want to speak to Asami. If she wants me to go away, then I'll leave without a fuss. But we have to talk."

The two guards looked at each other briefly, then the waterbender pulled out a portable telephone he had in his pocket, muttering into it. Only a minute or two later, an elderly servant opened the doors, breaking the tense silence in between Korra and the guards. The firebender quickly informed the servant on what had just happened, who looked at Korra grimly.

"Come in," he ordered her. "You're extremely late."

Korra hurried in after the servant, the guards shutting the doors behind them. "Ms Sato has been in a terrible shape ever since you two broke up, and inconsolably miserable. What you did to her that night was deplorable."

"I know," Korra admitted guiltily, hanging her head in shame. She followed him through the entrance hall up the stairs.

"If it were up to me," the servant continued, "I wouldn't let you come near the mansion ever again. But Ms Sato has become addicted to cocaine, and is terribly bitter about you." He turned around at the top, and stuck a finger right on the eye of Korra's tattoo. He dug his nail in, not intimated by her in the slightest. "You will make it up to Ms Sato however possible. Understood?"

"That's what I've been dying to do ever since that night," Korra told him truthfully. "This week is the first real chance I've got."

"Bollocks," he grumbled, but kept on leading the way right up to Asami's office. It was just as Korra had remembered it, except the doors looked a slightly different shade of red. The old servant knocked on them. "Ms Sato, you have a very important visitor."

"Visitor?" Asami's voice rasped out. "But I've got no-one else scheduled for tonight. Unless it's Tenji?"

"No, but I assure you, you must talk to them," the servant called back through the doors.

"Who's Tenji?" Korra whispered, curious.

"Her dealer, if you must know!" he snapped out of the side of his mouth.

"Oh, sorry," Korra mumbled stupidly, fiddling with one of the loose strings on her sling.

"Bring them in," Asami shouted, and the servant gestured for Korra to go in. The young Avatar took a deep breath, then pushed the doors open, walking in. They were closed shut behind her as Korra stood in the middle of Asami's office.

"Who is it…?" Asami started, turning around from her window, then trailed off as she saw Korra standing in front of her. Asami did nothing for a minute while she blinked wordlessly at Korra. Korra had changed a fair bit since the last time they'd spoke. She was physically much bigger, even bigger than when she was eighteen, and had cut her hair short again. The main difference though was the blaring tattoo on her forehead. Asami vaguely recognised the type, although she didn't know where she had seen it.

"I've come back to apologise," Korra announced. "I've left it alone for far too long." Although she kept a guilt-ridden face, she was secretly shocked by Asami's appearance.

Asami's skin clung to her bones. Her face was shrivelled, with her lips dry and her wiry, greasy hair ran in thin threads randomly to form a horrible, patchy fringe. The rest of it was tied up in a tight bun. The multi-millionaire had a stained-white vest on, and when she stood up from behind her desk, baggy trousers too. The CEO of Future Industries wasn't wearing any make-up, although that was probably to be expected if she didn't think anyone was coming.

"You've come back to apologise?" Asami repeated, walking around to come face to face with Korra. "Oh well, that's very considerate of you, now isn't, Korra?" Asami flashed a sarcastic smile, but the dazzling smile that had captivated Korra so often in the past was now soured by a shade of yellow. Asami crossed her arms, also showing off her long nails, and the sickly green veins under her skin. She was so barefoot, but that was probably just something she did at home nowadays too.

"Asami, please," Korra begged. "Just give me one chance, and if you don't think it's good enough, then I swear I'll leave."

"Oh, yes, of course, why would I have any reason not to trust you?" Asami jibed. She wanted to know where Korra had got that tattoo from, but was too angry to ask such a casual question. "Go on. I'll hear you out."

Korra took a deep breath, her heart pounding against her ribcage. She was sweating buckets. The water-tribe woman started with her planned-out introduction:

"Asami, I just want you to know that words can't even begin to describe how badly I treated you," Korra began, looking Asami in her emerald pupils. "But I have to try at least. You really meant the world to me. I found the perfect girl in you, Asami. You were beautiful, compassionate, intelligent, fierce yet sweet, to name just a few of the hundreds of great qualities I was bestowed in a girlfriend. You helped me through the toughest time in my life when all of my other friends moved on with their lives.

"You returned my love, which was a miracle," Korra went on. "You always backed me without thinking twice, no matter the issue. I often came home late, cranky and short, but you never took offence. You had gone through a stupid amount of personal trauma in your life, and relied on me as someone who would support you when things got down. But I went and pissed on your loyalty by betraying you while you were away."

"That's one way of putting it!" Asami snapped. Korra just kept her mouth zipped shut – she had absolutely no right to give Asami backchat. "You don't have a clue of what I've gone through in my life, and even if you preach it to me like you're doing right now, I can see right through it." Asami shoved Korra on the shoulder, albeit it was incredibly weak. "When have you ever had someone close to you die, or betray your trust?!"

"Never," Korra answered meekly. She wanted to say Mako at the South Pole, but she wasn't stupid. She'd never been hurt nearly as bad as Asami had experienced. The pain of losing a loved one was something Korra was fortunate enough to have avoided so far.

"You know," Asami continued, "I've come to learn the hard way that when you truly love someone, you're at your most vulnerable. I'd give away every last penny I have, just to be surrounded by my family again. I loved my mother dearly, but she was ripped away from me. I tried to let go of my father, but he won his way back, and just a few days later-" Asami's voice started to crack up, "he was ground to a pulp." Asami walked over to her desk, then marched back to Korra, pacing around the room.

"I-" Korra started, but got no further.

"I'm not fuckin' done speaking, slag!" Asami cursed. "Love is a gift, but all you did was give me an empty box with some pretty wrapping. Do you know what I felt the most in the aftermath, for the first few months?"

"What?" Korra asked quietly, sniffling already.

"Confusion!!!" Asami declared, gesturing around the room wildly with no purpose other than to express how strongly she felt. "For the life of me, I couldn't understand why you had been so kind for over half a year, then betrayed me. That was a real source of agony for a good while! Then I realised!" Asami jabbed a finger right in between Korra's eyes, the fingernail digging in. "You just love to build people up so you can swipe their feet underneath them and bring them crashing down! Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me!"

"Asami, please, you know that's not true," Korra tried to reason, albeit not too vigorously. The scary thing was, Korra saw very little difference between how Asami was reacting to her, and how she had reacted to Mako.

"Bullshit!" Asami shouted, trying to get a rise out of Korra. "Don't deny it!" Korra stayed quiet for the next few moments, before saying something she desperately didn't want to tell Asami, but at the same time, had to;

"I think it's important that I tell you who the father is. You know him," Korra revealed.

"I knew it!" Asami stated. "I do know him! I always wondered about that! I suppose it makes no difference to you, though, it's just another lie."

"He's-" Korra began, but Asami cut her off again.

"Wait!" she interrupted. "You had a baby, didn't you?" Korra nodded. "Well, what's their name?"

"Kalla," Korra stated reluctantly. She'd known that this part would probably come at some point.

"It's a girl?" Asami asked, to which Korra briefly nodded again. "You know, I don't feel an ounce of resentment towards the baby. I honestly don't." Asami cupped Korra's cheeks, staring holes through her ex-girlfriend's head. "I pity her, actually. She's going to be raised by you. I can't begin to imagine how shitty a parent you're going to be!"

Korra tried to deny what Asami had just told her, but she genuinely couldn't summon up any argument whatsoever. She had done her level-best to kill Mako, and Vaatu's influence wasn't an excuse. A tear trickled out of Korra's eye.

"You're right," the young Avatar agreed, taking it to heart. "She doesn't deserve someone wretched like me. Just like you didn't."

"Aww, that's so sweet and heartfelt," Asami commented sarcastically. "Who's the dad then?"

"Mako," Korra answered, with a small gulp. Asami didn't do anything for a few seconds, before her smile changed from sarcastic to borderline sadistic.

"Mako," Asami repeated, clenching her fists. "I can't believe I never seriously thought of him! That's just like before, though, remember? Mako always hurting me somehow."

"None of this is his fault," Korra stated. "It's all mine. I broke into his apartment that night when he specifically tried to act like he wasn't home."

"Hold on," Asami interjected, her eyes widening. "Did you… you didn't… you didn't rape him, did you?!"

"We were both drunk!" Korra cleared up immediately. "We both had a little too much to drink, and things got out of hand! Although, things took a turn for the worse later on. I tried my hardest to kill him."

"To kill him?" Asami repeated. Her disgust was momentarily overwhelmed by shock, before she resumed the scowl on her face. "I mean, I don't care, but tell me what happened! You owe me that at least!"

"Right after I took away General Iroh II's firebending, at the South Pole," Korra relayed, "I spoke to Mako, who had come along on the hunt for whatever reason. I'd given birth to Kalla by that point, but hadn't told Mako yet. I didn't know when my next chance to tell him, that he was the father, would be so I went for it there."

"He didn't know?" Asami asked, surprised.

"He'd found out that I was pregnant from you," Korra told Asami, grimacing. "But he genuinely didn't remember that night. So when I showed him Kalla, he didn't claim her as his own. I sensed for his heartbeat, but he believed what he was saying completely." Korra's heart tinged with sadness as she relived the memory, even though Mako had since made up for it.

"Is that why you tried to kill him?" Asami growled. "Of course he wouldn't believe it! That's one of the stupidest reasons I've ever heard to justify trying to murder someone!"

"I had some problems with my Avatar spirit, which kind of muddled my thinking," Korra told her, "but that's not a proper excuse. I should've been more understanding, like Mako was when I relented. Even though he's unable to move right now, and he didn't really do much wrong, he still found it in his heart to forgive me."

"Spirits," Asami muttered, referring to Mako's condition. "But, why did he come back? If he didn't remember?"

"He went into the Tree of Time in the Spirit World," Korra explained. "All of your memories come back there, even ones that you've forgotten completely."

"I see," Asami said, then shoved Korra again. Korra could've stood her ground easily, but once more let herself be pushed back to give Asami the satisfaction. "So you're saying that I shouldn't blame it on Mako?"

"Yes," Korra answered humbly. "It was all my fault. Everything."

"I'd be inclined to see it that way too," Asami growled viciously. Then she slapped Korra as hard as she could on the face.

"Agh!" Korra cried out involuntarily. Although Asami wasn't very strong, a hard slap in the face was something you couldn't just brush off. Asami hit Korra again, then again, then again.

"You don't know how hard it was for me!" Asami screamed, barraging Korra with her open palms. Tears flowed freely down the face of the engineer, wailing as she struck.

Korra just stood there, not raising her hand to protect herself despite the red welts that were being imprinted on her cheeks. She didn't even feel the slightest notion of retaliating, that's how bad she felt. Asami's nails snapped after about a minute or so of beating Korra.

When someone dealt a hard, personal blow to you, your mind screams hate, punishment, and never to forgive. Korra knew that all too well. It's hard to forget those feelings. That's partially why Vaatu was able to influence her so much. Relationships mean opening up to your partner, and trusting them. Asami and Korra had done exactly that to each other. But Korra had spoilt that bond which Asami relied on so heavily. The only reason losing Asami hadn't hurt so much for Korra is because she only had herself to blame, and a month and a half to prepare herself mentally for the break-up.

If anything, Korra was lucky. Asami had every right to turn Korra away and refuse to speak with her ex-girlfriend ever again. She was very capable of throwing a proper punch, no matter how weak she was, but instead, she was just blindly expressing her grievances. Asami only wanted Korra to have even just an idea of how deeply she was hurt. Asami was angry, and disturbed. Korra hadn't meant for any of this, but as a decent human being, she had to take responsibility. Asami was one of the most sympathetic and empathetic people around, but even her patience had a limit.

Eventually, Asami fell down onto her ass, no energy left. She was panting like a dog, but Korra was much, much worse off. The skin of her face was redder than the tattoo on her forehead, and would be swollen tomorrow.

"Asami," Korra began, grimacing with the overwhelming, sharp pain on her cheeks. "I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but I missed you dearly. I had no-one who really understood me, my personality, like you. For months, I cried myself to sleep about how I had betrayed you. I would've sacrificed nearly anything - even my bending - to take back the suffering I consigned you to. If I'd been able to hold your hand through all the pain of childbirth, it wouldn't have been even half as bad."

"So," Asami said after a minute of silence, trembling. Her face was red and puffy, an expression of pure sorrow stretched out on her face. "You still have feelings for me?"

"I still love you, and always have ever since our vacation to the spirit world," Korra admitted, although it didn't feel like a confession for the athletic woman. "But expressing your romantic love means devoting it only to whoever deserves it, which was you, in my case. But I rejected that notion, and blindly gave in to my urges.

"You were so cruel!" Asami sobbed, looking into Korra's blue eyes. "Maybe if you had given me a proper apology, I would've been able to accept it and move on!

"I hated you dearly," Asami continued, "but I just wasn't able to forget about you! You ripped a hole out of my heart so suddenly that I couldn't repair it! I hired everyone, from therapists to prostitutes, but they couldn't even begin to lay the foundation to recover! So I got into weed, and then cocaine! That kept the emptiness away for a while, even if it was short!" Although she didn't realise it, Asami was beginning to open up about how is she'd spent the time in between their break-up and now.

"Asami," Korra began, kneeling down to eye-level with Asami, "you are the most beautiful and caring woman in the entire world. I can't even begin to comprehend the unimaginable amount of pain you went through solely because of me."

"Do you… really mean that?" Asami whispered after a short pause, trembling.

"I do," Korra stated without hesitation, maintaining eye contact the entire time. "I don't just believe that, I know it for a fact. I've struggled to keep up motivation or belief in many different aspects of life, but I've never once questioned how much I admire you, and I can say without a doubt that I always will. I'd love to have the privilege of being your girlfriend again, but I don't deserve it. I'm not worth your time whatsoever, and I can't sleep easily at night knowing that you waste your days thinking about how I hurt you. You have so much more potential than to just be hungover on someone like me. You're so much better than me, Asami, and I don't understand how you can think that I view myself as superior, when compared to you."

"Why?!" Asami cried. "Why is life so hard for me?!"

"I don't know," Korra responded, "but I do know that it's a testament to your character that you're still able to run a billion-yuan company with all of these personal issues."

Suddenly, Asami grabbed Korra by the neck, and pulled her in tight. The orphan sobbed endlessly for the next half an hour, cursing every single misfortune she'd ever had in her life. Korra just soothed Asami through it, patting her on the back. Asami dug her nails into Korra's side, but Korra barely even noticed. She knew how important it was for Asami to get closure on their break-up.

"I'm not even angry anymore," Asami rasped, her voice hoarse after a while. "I just want to be happy again."

"It's okay," Korra cooed, but then, Asami let go of Korra, and stood up. She wiped the last few remaining tears off of her face as Korra stood up too.

"Are you feeling better?" Korra asked, putting her hand on Asami's shoulder. The taller woman thankfully didn't beat it away.

"Can we try be friends again?" Asami asked, both innocently and suddenly. "We always understood each other back then, and I'd like to try and return to that."

"Wait… yes, please!" Korra said as soon as she registered what that meant, pouncing on the offer.

Korra hugged Asami for a few seconds, before realising what that potentially meant. She really didn't want to ask the question that popped into her head, but at the same time, she felt that she had to. "Wait, does that mean… you forgive me?"

"Sure," Asami revealed. "I don't think I'll be able to get over our break-up for quite a while, but I know that letting go of my anger is the first step.

"I forgive you, Korra."

At that exact moment, Korra felt completely at peace with the world, not holding any grudges, or personal debts to anyone. Even Hazukk, who had been responsible for forcing her separation from Kalla. She had moved on past all these degrading emotions. Korra felt the last of Vaatu's presence finally burn through all of its fuel, and disappear.

Vaatu is gone, Raava declared.

That's good, Korra responded, but currently, the only thing she cared about, and the thing at the forefront of her mind, was that she had been given a chance at redemption by Asami.

"Want to get ice-cream?" Asami suggested randomly. Korra broke the hug and looked at Asami, who was then stood a bit awkwardly. "Sorry, that was a little-"

"I'd love to!" Korra interrupted, grinning at the prospect of something small and sweet like that. Asami smiled back weakly.

"I've got some in the freezer downstairs," Asami told Korra. "Let's go. I'd be interested to know where you got that tattoo from."

"That's a bit of a long story," Korra prefaced as they walked towards the doors.

"We've got plenty of time," Asami reassured her friend.