Legend of Korra: Life
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights and characters of the Avatar Last Airbender & Legend of Korra Franchise, they are owned by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino and other respective owners and creators. It's purely for fun. I only own my OC's.
Note: The following is a rough outline of what was to happen in this chapter. I apologise for not being able to write the full chapter as intended, however, life has proven hectic and along with my plans to start writing original stories, I don't have the time needed to finish all my stories. I didn't want to leave them abandoned, so I decided to give a rough outline of the story's events so that you could see how it would have progressed and ended. I hope that you understand. Maybe one day I might come back and fully finish them as intended, but as that's up in the air, I thought that I'd end things this way rather than leave unfinished. Thank you for your time.
Chapter 8 (Rough Outline)
Much to the dismay of the doctors and nurses, Korra kept her body active with push-ups and sit-ups. Thankfully, the bandages managed to hold okay and she didn't have to worry about bleeding out. She wanted to ensure that she was in top physical condition for the next time she faces Shǔ.
Her eyes drifted towards the room where Opal was healing. The last thing she wanted was for one of her friends to get hurt. There was a small part of her that contemplated facing this challenge alone, but she didn't want to go down that route again. She would never be able to forgive herself if she put her friends and family through that worry again. There was also a concerned voice inside of her that wondered if she could fight Shǔ alone. And if she understood his words carefully, he might have allies they don't know about.
Even her Avatar State wasn't enough to prevail. What more could she do against a spirit that was unlike anything she has faced before?
Suddenly, an idea came to her.
''You shouldn't be doing that!''
Korra was momentarily dragged out of her thoughts by Opal, who was out of bed and standing by the door, smirking at Korra.
The Avatar had almost forgotten that she was still doing her push-ups while thinking. She bounced to her feet and rushed over to Opal. ''Shǔ is a spirit!''
Opal arched her brow. ''Yes, we know that now.''
''That has to mean we can defeat him with spirit-bending.''
''But, what if he's something more than just a dark spirit? He can waterbend. That is already something we didn't expect. Can spirit-bending even work on him?''
''There's only one way to find out.''
Asami enters the police station and asks if she can see Mako. Luckily for her, she arrives in time to see Mako walking into view after he brought in the water-bending thief. He sees Asami and goes over to greet her, only to be caught off guard when he notices her saddened expression.
''Why didn't you tell anyone about your arm?'' she questions bluntly.
''What are you talking about? It's fine.''
''Mako, I spoke with Doctor Juhong. He told me that you came to see him earlier today.''
Mako sighs and looks to the floor. ''I didn't know how bad it was until today. I thought about telling you guys when you got back but…'' he pauses and then looks up at Asami. ''What? What happened to the others? Did you find Shǔ?''
''We did, but he got away. We returned because Korra and Opal were injured in the fight. They're both going to be alright.'' She said, trying to comfort him as she sees his face filled with worry.
''Did you at least find out anything about his motive?''
''Not…exactly.'' She said, causing Mako to furrow his brow at her vague answer. ''It's complicated and I will tell you everything, but first, I want to know why you're still working after the news you received about your arm. Did you just say that you apprehended a thief too?''
''To be fair, I wasn't looking to catch any thieves. We bumped into each other.''
''That's not the point.'' Asami stepped closer, taking Mako's hand tenderly. ''You need to stop trying to prove yourself to everyone. You're only going to get yourself hurt.''
''I'm not trying to prove anything. I just want to keep the city safe. Asami, I know that you're worried. Doctor Juhong told me that amputation was a worst-case scenario. As long as I'm careful, I'll be fine. I promise, once this situation with Shǔ has settled down, I'll take it easy and save up so that I can afford a specialist.''
Asami opened her mouth to speak before Mako cuts her off by raising his hand. They are both fully aware that she could help Mako pay for a specialist in no time, but Asami had a feeling that he would be too proud to accept that kind of help.
''Does anyone else know?'' he inquired.
''No, Doctor Juhong only told me. The others wanted to know, but I thought if it was something serious, you'd want to keep it private.''
Mako smirked. ''Yet, you still got to know?''
''I'm stubborn like that,'' Asami jested. Her smile faltered slowly. ''You're going to ask me to keep this a secret, aren't you?''
''Like I said, just until we deal with Shǔ. Asami, please. I do trust Korra and the others. But…I don't want this news to reach Bolin. He'll worry. I want to tell him myself.''
Though she was reluctant to follow through with his request, she understood. Asami nodded and hugged Mako tightly.
Tenzin hurries to President Raiko to tell him about Shǔ. Upon walking in his office, he sees the president speaking with Varrick, who is going through multiple strategies to help fortified the city's security against any new attacks. Tenzin had to hop over scrunched up papers scattered along the floor, giving the air-bending master a good understanding of what Raiko thought about Varrick's plans.
With no more plans to share and after having all of them rejected, Varrick slides out of the way, hanging his head in shame despite Zhu-Li's best attempts to cheer him up.
President Raiko hangs on every word spoken by Tenzin. The moment he learns that Shǔ is a spirit, his anger becomes more apparent. By the time Tenzin finishes his story, he begins to question if it was the right idea to tell Raiko, noting his more aggressive manner and the way his eyes glared out of the window to watch the spirits moving around the city.
Their meeting is interrupted when Raiko is informed that someone has come with knowledge about Shǔ. Raiko invites this person in. The door is opened to reveal a frail, old man. Hunched over and using a cane to keep his balance, he slowly walked into the office. A raspy gasp of air slipped past his lips with every step.
Varrick leans closely to Zhu-Li so that he can whisper in her ear. ''He looks like he's going to become a spirit any second now.''
The old man introduces himself as Tian, bowing respectfully to each of them, even with his back cracking every time. Speaking slowly and hoarsely, he reveals that he isn't here to pass on any knowledge about Shǔ, and he has actually arrived on behalf of his employee, Meili Hua-Tuo.
''Hold the radio!'' Varrick yells in amazement. ''The Meili Hua-Tuo? The world-famous surgeon? That's who you are referring to? I imagine with how old you look, you might have known a lot of…'' he's stopped by Zhu-Li gently elbowing him in the ribs.
Tian nods. ''The one and only.''
Raiko glares at the old man. ''If you're not here with news about the terrorist, then I'm afraid I don't have time for you.''
''I am certain you will make time. For you see, Meili has made a breakthrough that I think you will be interested in, one that will help you deal with your…terrorist problem.''
To Be Continued…