Chapter 21: Noatak and Tarrlok

Femke's POV

"Noatak. Tarrlok." I gasped in shock when I saw my two half brothers stand before me. Noatak was wearing his Amon mask.

"Femke." Tarrlok said before he moved towards me. I quickly opened the shield a little and went through, locking it behind me before I ran towards them with tears in my eyes.

"Femke!" Noatak exclaimed and before I knew it I was lying on the floor with both my half brothers on top of me.

"I missed you two so much." I sobbed as the three of us hugged each other.

"And we missed you." Tarrlok whispered, his voice full of emotion as he and Noatak held me close.

"Excuse us." Ming Hua called from behind me, which made me look up, realizing the others were all standing behind me.

"Sorry." I said as I looked at them with a sheepish smile "Everyone, these are my brothers; Noatak and Tarrlok."

"The famous bloodbending brothers." Ghazan smirked.

"Nice to meet you. Your sister told us much about you." Zaheer smiled as he shook the hands of Noatak and Tarrlok, who looked at me a little dumbfounded, which I answered with a sheepish smile.

"She missed you both a lot." P'li smiled as she gave them each a hand as well. "She's clearly very fond of you."

"And were very fond of her." Noatak smiled.

"Well, there's always Korra." I said as I looked at Noatak with a teasing grin, who smirked at me before he ruffled my hair.

"Not everyone will like you. And that's fine. The people that matter to you will." Tarrlok said.

"Guys, these are the members of the Red Lotus; Ghazan, Ming-Hua, P'li, Tziza and Master Xai Bau. He's the founder." I smiled as I pointed out each of my friends. "And last but not least; Zaheer." I smiled as I walked to the airbender and wrapped my arms around him "My boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Tarrlok questioned with a confused look. "You were married to Grovyle, last time I checked." Tarrlok asked, which made me look up at him with tears in my eyes before I shook my head.

"What did he do?" Noatak asked as he walked to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"He just left and left me a note to tell me it wasn't going to work out between us." I sobbed, still sad about how he left me.

"What? Just wait when I get my hands on him." Tarrlok raged as he balled his fists in anger.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Noatak asked.

"He thought I was with another man." I said as I looked at him sadly.

"Why would he think that? You explained to him there wasn't a real relationship between us." Tarrlok said.

"Maybe you shouldn't have flirted when having a relationship." noatak said with a grin.

"But we were holding up the idea we were in a relationship to the outside world so we had a excuse to be around each other a lot." Tarrlok defended. "She was married

and I was with..." He started his sentence, but stopped halfway through and clapped his hands before his mouth as he realized he had said to much.

"Care to fill me in?" Noatak asked.

"It's nothing important." Tarrlok replied, rolling his eyes as his brother as said this.

"You're impossible." Noatak said, as he laughed afterwards. "I missed that"

Zaheer's POV

Not much later we all sat around a campfire with a bowl of soup in our hands. Femke was sitting next to me and was smiling as she sipped from her soup while her half brothers told how they escaped. Or rather were released from prison.

"It was unbelievable." Noatak smiled as he was sitting next to P'li. "We could hear Toph yell at the guards all the way from our cell. "'I am taking them back to Femke!'."

"That's what she said?" Femke asked.

"She did. I just hope that doesn't come back to bite us." Noatak said. "In any case, how have you been?"

"Let's just say I've had a rough few years after the Unalaq crisis." Femke smirked. "The Red Lotus was officially a band of anarchists who wanted to kill all world leaders and the Avatar."

"Seriously?" Noatak said as he looked at Femke with disapproving eyes. "Femke you said you wouldn't do anything stupid when we parted ways. Do you have any idea what you could have caused?"

"I didn't know what the Red Lotus was about at first." Femke said. "I found out that they wanted to kill Korra after she kicked their butts."

"You promised to not get in trouble again." Noatak said firmly.

"I was kidnapped at Zhaofu after which Zaheer lied to me for a while that Korra had enough of me and didn't want to come and rescue me." Femke said while crossing her arms. "I was heartbroken at first... but soon i found comfort with P'li. Something i had missed dearly since our last meeting." Femke looked down sadly when she said this.

"By the time I realized I had been lied to I was too deeply attached to them to betray them but I wasn't made aware of the fact they wanted to kill Korra."

"Femke." Tarrlok muttered as he looked at his half sister sadly

.

"We're worried. You must have caused so much hurt for people. Benders and non-Benders alike." Noatak said as he looked at her disapprovingly

.

"And yourself. You could have gotten yourself killed!" Tarrlok said firmly.

"Leave that to your brother." Noatak grinned.

"I never intended to get involved again. I guess fate had other plans." Femke said.

"It turned out fine. Things could have ended bad for us if she hadn't been around." I smiled as I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend lovingly.

"Three deaths. Zaheer in jail for the rest of his life. Not to mention Korra traumatized and handicapped." Ghazan summed up. "Define 'Great'."

"Let's not forget about that whole Kuvira nonsense." Ming Hua commented.

"Kuvira?" Tarrlok questioned.

"Kuvira. The self proclaimed 'Great Uniter' who tried to stabilize the Earth Kingdom after Zaheer murdered the Earth Queen." Femke explained.

"Wait, what?" Noatak asked sternly. "You murdered her?"

"He air bended the air out off her lungs before I had the chance to stop him." Femke admitted while looking down.

"At least he succeeded." Tarrlok smirked.

"Like you did." Noatak said firmly, before he turned to Zaheer, his eyes blazing angrily.

"Do you know how many innocent people died because of your actions back then?" He asked dead calm.

"I know. I heard when I was in jail. I never intended that to happen." I said as I looked him deep in his eyes.

"It was foolish of you to try that. You're lucky I'm not acting like Amon anymore or I would have taken your bending." Noatak said theathingly.

"Then why are you wearing the mask again?" P'li asked.

"How did you get it back? It was at the bottom if the lake last time I checked." Femke commented.

"Waterbending, of course. I have a real scar to hide now." Noatak said, carefully taking off his mask to show the others that he indeed has a huge scar on the left side of his face going all the way to his throat.

"I know. Thanks." Femke smirked as she gave her brother a playful shove.

"You're welcome." Tarrlok grinned as he gave Femke a shove back, who pretended that made her lose balance and fall with her head in my lap.

"Hey." She beamed at me seductively.

"Hey." I smiled as I bent forward and rubbed noses with her.

"We get it. You're in love. Can we get back to reality now?" P'li called teasingly.

"Sorry!" Femke called back smirking as she sat up again, then realized something and pulled up her shirt a little so her scar was visible.

"Speaking of scars. I got a new one as well." Femke smiled as she pointed at the scar.

"How did you get that one?" Tarrlok asked as he looked at the scar with widened eyes.

"In a fight on Laghima's peak. They almost got P'li killed. I jumped in to save her." Femke said. "It was that or Lin would have been killed."

"You saved her at the risk of your own."

"We know." I said as I moved in and gently revealed to the two men where the scar ended on her chest. "A few meters more to the right and the blow would have hit her heart."

"You could have been killed." Noatak gasped. "And people still wouldn't have understood."

"I'm not angry. I understand them. After all I chose to align with people that were a threat to this world." I defended.

"Why?" A strange voice called from behind us, which made me look up shocked, as did the others.

"Because my heart told me it was the right thing to do." Femke answered without thinking or considering a moment.

"Then you care for them deeply?" Toph asked as appeared and she waved her hand, which opened the shield for her.

"Why else would I have stayed?" Femke asked.

"Do you regret the decisions you made?" Toph asked.

"Only one. That I wasn't brave enough to stop Zaheer from murdering the Earth Queen." Femke said as she looked down. "As a Voortrix I should have been aware of his plan and stopped him. Murder is never an option. I should have known better then to allow him."

"That was indeed dumb but in the end you didn't help him try and murder Korra, right?" Toph asked.

"Because I was in the hospital for my arm." Femke replied.

"Would you have stopped them from killing Korra if you weren't?" Toph asked sternly.

"No! I'd rather die than allow that!" Femke replied firmly which made me look up at her shocked. She had never reacted this fierce before. "I might have held myself up with criminals but I'm not a heartless monster."

"Yet you let Korra get to you." Toph confronted, which made Femke look down.

"I know and it hurts but every time I want to hurt her, really hurt her, I think of Aang and all the good times we have been through." Femke smiled as she looked at her lap sadly. I placed a hand on her arm to comfort. "And then I can't anymore. She might be the opposite of who Aang was but she is his reincarnation. And even then I shouldn't be hurting people I don't like."

"Femke." I looked up when I heard a new voice it came from behind the trees.

"Make yourself known!" Femke said firmly as she got up and in front of us in a protective stance.

"Don't be afraid." The voice said after which Korra and her crew, Opal, Lin, Su, Tenzin and his family came out.

Femke's POV

I gasped in shock when I saw all those people come to me with sad looks on their faces as they walked closer, stopping were the shield started.

"You really mean it?" Opal asked me with a sad look as she placed a hand on the barrier. I walked to the barrier now and placed a hand on the same place her hand was.

"Each and every word." I said with a stern look.

"Then why did you leave us? Why did you help them escape time and time again?" Jinora asked with tears in her eyes.

"Jinora." I kneeled down and looked her straight in the eyes "I'm needed here. You're an airbending master now. You can look after yourself. They needed my guidance."

"We still need it." Zaheer smiled as he sat down with me, which made Jinora back away.

"Don't fear him. He changed a lot after Master Xai Bau freed him from jail." I smiled, looking from Zaheer to Jinora.

"Korra told us she saw you and Zaheer kiss, is that true?" Ikki asked all of a sudden, which made me look up at her before I nodded.

"Yes. It took me a while to realize but..." I swallowed before I spoke again. "I love him."

"How? He lied to you. Tried to kill Korra. Tried to kill US. Tried to wipe out what your supposed best friend's culture." Jinora asked angrily.

"I know. I was there." I said.

"It doesn't mean there's no regret." Noatak piped up.

"Everyone here made mistakes but we all regret the pain we brought to the people around us. I know I do. I try really hard to make myself a different person." noatak looked down as he said this, which made me smile and walk to him, gently wrapping my arms around him to comfort him.

"Then why are you still wearing the mask?" Korra asked, pointing at it.

"Because I have an actual scar to hide now." Noatak answered. "I don't like people staring."

"And his solution was wearing a Mask the entire world knows and hates." Tarrlok commented.

"At least that was for something I did myself" He said, crossing his arms as his brother shrugged.

"Anyway." Tenzin said as he cleared his throat. "Toph told us she was going to bring Noatak and Tarrlok to you and we wanted to know what was going on." He asked

.

"I understand Tenzin." I smiled as I waved my hand and opened the shield to let everyone through. "I would have done the same in your place."

"You're not mad?" Bolin asked as he walked to sit down with the others, next to Ghazan.

Who knows. Maybe things are looking up. There could be room for the two of them to become friends. I thought, smiling.

"You had all the right to be mad at me." I answered seriously. "I was wrong to act the way I did." I looked down, which made me look up when two brown hands wrapped themself around mine and when I looked up, Korra looked at me.

"You were a little selfish but I wasn't very fair to you either." The young Avatar said as she looked at. "I always assumed you chose do do certain things to spite me. Now I see there was more to it then that." She looked around after this, her eyes gliding over the many friends I made.

Is she going to say what I think she is going to say? Shot through me as I looked at her with widened eyes, unable to believe what she was saying.

"You're a Voortrix and you did as you thought was best. For your brothers. For your friends. I'm don't agree with the things you chose but I should have given you a second chance." My heart pounded when she said this. The words I always thought she would only say to me in my dreams.

"I can forgive you. If you can forgive me." Korra said.

"Of course I can." I sniffed as I rubbed the tears from my eyes. "That I was mad at you didn't mean I stopped caring. I still want to be your friend. Even if I know I ruined that chance."

"Our promise to Aang." Toph smirked as she got up and walked to me.

"I never forgot." I nodded with a smile on my face.

"What promise?" Ghazan and Bolin asked in unison.

"The day after Avatar Roku told Avatar Aang about the friendship between Avatar Roku, Monk Giatso and Firelord Sozin." I smiled as I took Toph's hand. "We promised we would always stay friends, however many lifetimes would come after."

"He knew you were a Voortrix?" Tenzin asked. "Why didn't he ever tell me?"

"He might have thought I had gone for good." I replied while scratching my chin. "Or he just forgot."

"Or you forgot." Zaheer remarked as I elbowed him.

"Could you not ruin this for everybody?" I whispered to him firmly. "You're supposed to be the smart one."

"It could be true." He smirked with a shrug.

"True." I admitted, but before I could continue Su suddenly stood up. As if she felt something in the Earth.

"There's a rockslide down in the chasm! And someone's down there…. Prince Wu?"

Su called out. This made me snap my head up and give her a shocked look.

"What's that Royal pain in the neck doing here?" I asked as I got up and started to run towards the chasm.

"We will ask him once he's safe." Su answered as she also started running with Zaheer following close behind us. He probably wanted to prove himself.

"He will never make it unless someone goes to get him." He realized once we had reached the side of the chasm and found Prince Wu, standing on a small ledge with no way out, peeping as he looked at the rocks passing by.

"Su, can you hold off the rocks until…?" I started but stopped when Zaheer jumped off the ledge and started to jump from boulder to boulder agilly towards were Wu was.

"Zaheer!" I yelled after him.

"I'll get him!" Zaheer called, jumping and dodging rocks coming his way until he was by Wu's side.

"Hang on!" He yelled at the prince as he picked him up and started to jump back but a rock hit him and made him tumble down, making Wu roll away from him.

"Help!" The Prince called as a rock came his way but Zaheer was faster and managed to pull him away before it hit him.

"Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear." I muttered as I walked up and down the ledge above the chasm when I lost sight of them for a moment, fearing for the worst.

"Femke! What happened?" Korra called as she ran to the edge of the cliff as well, along with Tenzin, Toph and a few others.

"Where is Zaheer?" Bolin asked when he realized my boyfriend was missing. I couldn't reply. I could just point to the chasm. Tears in my eyes as i did so.

"He went in?" Asami asked.

"That's suicide if you're not an Earthbender." Tenzin said. I nodded and looked down, gasping when I saw zaheer again, still going with Wu on his back who was now unconscious as Zaheer closed in on us fast.

"This way!" I called as i jumped in the chasm as well on a ledge above the tumbling boulders while holding out a hand for my boyfriend to grab.

"Femke!" Tenzin called behind me, but he was already to late. I was already on the ledge, moving away boulders with my earthbending to give Zaheer a chance to reach me.

"Catch the prince! Get him out! I'll be fine!" Zaheer called as he threw Wu at me, whom I catched with ease.

"Heer! Get out of there!" I called at him, carefully laying the unconscious Prince at the top of the cliff with the others were he was safe before I headed down again. I panicked slightly as I scanned the many tumbling rocks for my boyfriend but I couldn't see him, until I heard a roar underneath me, gasping in delight when I saw he was hanging onto a ledge.

"Give me your hand!" I called, reaching for him with my free hand, which Zaheer took happily and in a matter of seconds he was laying on top of me, safe and sound.

"It's times like these I miss flying." Zaheer grinned as he sat up and rubbed his elbow.

"I think the others might disagree." I smirked as I got up as well. "You do realize you just saved a do monarch right?"

"I know and I know that's strange but I heard in the end he abdicated and made the Earth Kingdom a democracy." Zaheer smiled. "It seems you were right after all. Not all Kings and Queens are horrible."

"Did you ever doubt that?" I asked as I helped him stand, but just when I grabbed his arm he flinched in pain.

"Boulder hit my arm. I think it broke." Zaheer answered my unasked question.

"Be glad it's just a broken arm, it could have ended worse." I smiled as we made it to the others and I started to heal his arm

"True." Zaheer replied smirking.

"Does anyone have any idea what started that avalanche?" I asked while keeping myself to my work. "And what was Wu doing there?" I asked as I saw Wu slowly waking up, holding his head.

"Mako left without a word. Something about 'Talking to Femke with the others.'" He started. "Didn't even finish our diner. So I… I got worried and followed him. But I lagged behind and got myself in that chasm."

"Diner?" Bolin asked as both Wu and Mako looked away, blushing. Bolin just grinned. "Well, we don't have to worry about Mako feeling bad about Korra and Asami hooking up."

"That doesn't explain why the rocks started falling." Su replied.

"I have one." Another voice called from behind. Lin."I saw a bunch of Kuvira's past followers flee towards the mountain side."

"They still want him dead?" I gasped.

"Probably now more than ever. They want revenge and he's a far easier target then, say, Korra." Lin continued. "Who got him out anyway?"

"Down here." Zaheer remarked sharply as Lin crossed her arms.

"Really now?" Lin asked with a voice full of disbelieve. I could understand. If I had been in her place I would have found it hard to believe as well.

"He did" Tenzin answered calmly.

"Your kidding, right?" The chief of police asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when does Tenzin have a sense of humor?" I asked smirking.

"I saw him, too. And I was the one right there." Wu said.

"I might still have my doubt." Zaheer said calmly "But Prince Wu both abdicated and made the Earth Kingdom a democracy after the fall of Kuvira. It seems Femke was right. Not all world leaders are terrible." I smiled when he said this, slowly using his good arm to raise himself up.

"So, what do you say? Do you trust me?" Zaheer asked while holding out his hand towards the Prince, who looked at it unsure.

"You killed my Great Aunt, destroyed the city and made it worse for everyone living there for years." Wu said firmly, crossing his arms, which made everyone including Zaheer look at him shocked.

"You do realize many citizens could drink that woman's blood, right?" Zaheer asked

.

"And your first idea was murder?" Wu asked with a challenging voice.

"Well maybe that was too far but I had no idea what else to do." Zaheer admitted while looking down.

"You could have let others try." The Prince said while nodding to me. "You're not the only one responsible."

"Wu, even if I had tried I think your great aunt would have put us in jail. And they just got out off that." I said as I stood next to Zaheer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't bother. She has a bigger blind spot for these people then Toph has for everything around her." Korra remarked. Toph punched her arm for that.

"I wouldn't be able to reason with her but that doesn't takes away I should have tried." I continued, ignoring korra's comment. "I'm sorry about your Great Aunt."

"We all are. Some just don't say it out loud." Ming Hua said as she gave Zaheer a firm poke, who gave her an annoyed look before he just nodded. This was a good sign. He was starting to see the error in his ways. The full redemption of the Red Lotus was closing in fast.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you liked it.

A/N:

I was planning to bring Noatak and Tarrlok back at some point since they're Voortrix! And here they are! Toph brought them back to the team. She was the most logical person to do this since

She has a dismay of rules and

She is was the only character I could think of that would be able to track our friends down.

In jail, Noatak and Tarrlok had some time to re-adjust to each other and talk out the differences they hadn't talked out in season One yet, allowing them to become more relaxed and funny now.

I thought this would also be a good time for Femke and Korra to fully set aside their differences and join forces.

I was listening to the lion king song "To Die For" when I wrote the rockslide scene, which is based on the Lion King scene where Mufasa dies (which is one of my favorite scenes ever)

That was all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading so far and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and adviser.

Please leave a review!