Hey guys, I'm back with an actual chapter. Now as you may have noticed, Ageless is now rated M. The response I got was overwhelming, and every single one of them supported the bumping up in rating. So with that out of the way, let's get on with the chapter.

"Walking is evil," Korra moaned as she let her head fall back so that she was looking up at the sky. I rolled my eyes at her antics, and focused on the path ahead of us. We were walking beside a set of railroad tracks through a stretch of woods. All around us, leaves colored yellow, orange, and red fell with a light gust of wind.

"You complain too much," I said over my shoulder toward her. After getting off the ferry at the city of Chin, we'd hitchhiked ride after ride up the coast until we'd crossed the border into the United Republic. From there, we'd hitched a ride on a freight train to a rail hub about ten miles south of Republic City. However the trains only seemed to be coming south from the city, so we were walking the rest of the way.

"I wish Naga was here," Korra grumbled. Ah yes, the solid ton fur and teeth death machine she called a pet. I wish it was here too, that way I wouldn't have to listen to anymore grumbling on her part. See, I've been quite literally walking this Earth for almost five hundred years, a vast majority of it done before the Satomobile had been invented. A stretch of ten miles was a quite walk in the park to me. To Korra it might as well have been a death march.

"You know, I once marched from Omashu to Gaoling in the dead of winter with only a day's rations," I said.

"Is that suppose to make me see how weak I'm being?" she asked.

"No. It's suppose to make you either shut up or you'll know what it's like to fight on only a day's rations," I warned. I may have been strict in my training, but I hadn't gone full on drill sergeant with her yet. I could very easily do so if I wanted, I was actually a drill sergeant at one point. But I wasn't just trying to teach her how to fight, I was trying to teach her how to live as well.

Katara had stated that Korra hadn't really connected with the spiritual side of being the Avatar. From what I had observed, Korra wasn't really the type that took sitting in one place very well. She always had to be on the move in some way, shape, or form. Perhaps walking could be an alternative to meditating for her. For me, at least, walking served as a decent replacement to meditation when there wasn't time for the latter. I'm not going to lie, even after five centuries I've had only one thought when it came to walking for long distances.

Boring.

As.

Shit.

And I mean that with all my heart. Walking is so boring that with enough practice you can obtain an almost meditative state while doing it. Just remember to retain enough cognitive focus so that you don't walk off a cliff or into a tree or something and you're golden. Also try not to day dream, that can also lead to situations like the ones I just mentioned.

"I want you to try something," I say after several minutes of silence, "Look around us, take in as many details as you can."

"Is this a lesson on how 'it's not the destination it's the journey'?" she asked as I came to a halt.

"No. It's a lesson in situational awareness. Look around you, what do you see?"

"Um, trees? The tracks?"

"Okay, now look with the eyes of a warrior," I instructed.

"Still trees, and the tracks..."

"And the Copperraddler at your feet," I said. The Avatar looked down and nearly jumped out of her boots at the sight of the snake. She took several hurried steps backwards as the thing hissed and barred it's fangs at her. I casually kicked the thing away into the underbrush with the toe of my boot before I motioned for her to follow me.

"You're seeing things for how they are, and not for how they can be used. Take this tree for example. You see a tree, I see a possible vantage or hiding point should I find myself under attack," I said.

"Okay," she said. It was clear I had her attention.

"The more you know about your surroundings, the more of an advantage you'll have in any situation you find yourself in," I continued, "it can also be quite handy being as the Avatar needs to be in tune with nature."

"You're saying that paying attention to my surroundings can help my spiritual block?" she asked. I could hear the doubt in her voice plain as day.

"It's a running theory at the moment. You get board just sitting in one spot for long periods of time right?"

"Yeah."

"So wouldn't it stand to reason to give it a try while you're not sitting in one spot?" I asked. She had a frown on her face as she pondered what I was saying.

"I've never given it any thought," she said.

"Opening our minds to new possibilities is the first step to opening our souls to change," I said as we came to the top of the ridge, "and it's at those moments when we can see everything."

"Wow," Korra gasped at the view before us. Sprawled out in the valley below was Republic City. A shining metropolis the stretched from the base of the mountains to our right to the edge of the bay on our left. In the harbor, a statue of Aang rose up, like a giant metal watcher of the city. A few airships hovered over various points in the city, some of them being used as transportation for people or cargo, while the rest belonged to the police.

"I've never seen so many Satomobiles," she said as we walked into the city.

"Really? You've spent your entire life surrounded by nothing but buildings made of wood and snow, and the first thing you say when you get to a city made of shining steel is 'Oh wow, look at all the glorified carriages'?" I asked. That is all the satomobile really is. Just a glorified, self propelled carriage. I never really got into the hype everyone seemed to have over them. Then again, machines had never really been my thing to begin with.

"There's just so much to take in," Korra said as she looked at the buildings around us.

"You should have seen this place when it first got started. It was just an outpost back then, a bunch of log huts huddled along the edge of the bay," I said.

"Okay now you do sound like an old man. 'Back in my day, we didn't have all these new fangled contraptions'," she teased, bending over like her back hurt while shaking her fist. I playfully swatted her on the arm, but kept walking. We passed a trolly rolling past on its route and came to a small overlook on the edge of the bay.

From here you could see the statue of Aang much more clearly, and beyond that the towering white spire of Air Temple Island. I let out a sigh as I gazed at the distant island. I had been there when Aang had first created it, and had many memories on it from past visits, both good and bad. My old friend had tried to salvage what he could of his old culture and storing it on that island. I'd helped, raiding the old Air Temples for any surviving scrolls and documents that could be found.

"That's Air Temple Island, right?" Korra asked, pointing toward it.

"Yes."

"We're almost there, let's go!" she said, her voice full of excitement as she started toward the docks. She quickly came to a halt when she noticed that I wasn't following.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!"

"I'm not feeling it just yet," I replied. Korra gaped at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I already knew what was going through her mind. We were this close to the end of our journey, and I suddenly didn't feel like ending it? I'd probably doing the same thing if I was in her shoes.

But I did actually have my reasons. The first being a little fact that Korra seemed to have totally forgotten during our past week or so of traveling; the White Lotus still wanted her returned to the Compound down south. As soon as we set foot on that island, they'd be trying to ship her right back.

My second reason was a little more selfish. In our time on the road, I'd grown use to having Korra as company. It'd been so long since I'd had a traveling companion that it I had almost forgotten what it was like. And truth be told, I liked it. I liked the idea of it just being the two of us, just her and I against the world. Korra was more then my student, she was growing to be my friend.

I also knew I was just being an old fool. In all reality, Korra was probably going to be added to an ever growing list of friends I'd have to watch being withered away by time until there was noting left. But that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy her company now. In fact, it was almost an incentive to do so.

"Come on," I said, turning away from the railing that kept people from falling into the water.

"Where are we going?"

"To see the sights. It's your first day in the city, after all."

Korra absolutely loved the city and everything it had to offer. Me? My opinion of Republic City could be summed up with a drawn out eh. The whole damn place smells, and its not even a sent I can accurately describe. It's crowded, it's loud, and frankly a lot of the people there are just plain rude. Not exactly the peaceful society Aang and Zuko had in mind when they first lay down the groundwork for this place.

Still, there is something to be said about a metropolis that has millions of people living in it. It wasn't even a hundred years old yet, and already it was competition with Ba Sing Se for the largest city in the world. The Ba Sing Se of the West, Zuko had jokingly called it during the first year of it's founding. I don't think he realized just how accurate that description would become.

"This place is amazing," Korra said as we walked. I gave a halfhearted shrug. Then again, this wasn't the first time I'd been here, so it wasn't like I was overly surprised by anything. As we past a street vender's cart, Korra came to a halt, her nose smelling the air like a dog. She turned toward the vendor, still sniffing. I rolled my eyes at this.

"One meat stick, please," she said, looking at the woman sitting behind the stand.

"One yuan," the woman replied. Korra dug into her pockets, but came up with nothing. The woman folded her arms and looked down at her with disapproval. I tossed the woman a coin before grabbing a sick and handing it to Korra.

"Don't choke," the woman said before she bit down on the coin and then added it to her purse. I motioned for Korra to follow me, and she did while gnawing on her stick.

"This is tasty, want some?" she asked, offering me a portion. I shook my head, not trusting anything that came from a street vendor. It's not that all vendors are bad, some of them are run by an honest person who actually makes good food and tries to earn an honest living. But I've also seen the state of some that were worse off then spoiled rations I got in the war. When someone who's eaten moldy bread and drank dirty water won't even touch your food, it's time to rethink your life.

Korra didn't seem to mind though, and she went right on chewing away. Reluctantly, I steered us back toward the harbor. We were gonna have to face the music sooner or later. Maybe I could convince them to let Korra stay in Republic City. Or I could just force my way. But that usually ended with someone getting a few broken bones, so hopefully it wouldn't come to that. We'd started down an alleyway, a quick shortcut we were taking in order to avoid walking all the way around the block, when a man stepped out from behind a dumpster.

"Give me all your cash!" he ordered, waving a switchblade around. Based on the tattered clothes he was wearing, I figured the guy probably lived in the dumpster.

"Um, no," I replied, trying to walk on and ignore him. At the risk of sounding like an old man, I'm too old for this. The mugger hopped in front of me and waved the switchblade wildly in my face.

"I'm warning you, kid, I'll gut you like a fish with this knife!" he said. I don't know what irritated me more, the fact that he'd called me kid or the fact that he thought his little letter opener was something I found intimidating.

"You call that a knife? That's not a knife," I said before drawing my sword hilt. In a flash, the blade had sprung forward and I was pressing the point against his throat.

"Wait, wait!"

"THAT'S a knife," I said. The mugger dropped his knife, but otherwise remained absolutely still for fear of accidentally cutting himself on the razor sharp blade. I shifted my stance so that my arm was raised, ready to thrust forward and stab him through the throat.

"You know it only take four pounds of pressure on these arteries for me to puncture them and have you bleed out. That's less force then it takes to pull the trigger on a crossbow," I said.

"Please..." I removed the blade from his throat before taking a step back. Now the sword wasn't actually touching him, but I was still pointing it at him.

"Go on, get out of here. Before I change my mind," I ordered. The mugger ran without complaint, happily putting as much distance between himself and us as fast as he could. With that, I let the blade telescope back into the hilt before returning it to my belt. Korra had watched the whole exchange with her mouth hanging open.

"Would you really have killed that guy?" she asked.

"No. Well not the first time around anyway. If he's learned his lesson here, he'll give up what he's doing. But if I catch him again..." I trailed off, patting my hilt as if to prove my point. Since the days when I first joined the Guard back home, I've always lived by a fairly simple code. Everyone is deserving of a second chance, but there are no thirds, period.

We continued on walking, stepping out onto a street and heading in the direction of the harbor. As we passed an apple stand, I stopped to admire a stand of apples. Okay, technically I was wasting time, but that's neither here nor there.

"You're lost, aren't you?" Korra asked. I gave her a look, a little insulted that she would draw that conclusion just because I was looking at a fruit stand.

"No, I know exactly where we are," I replied. She just rolled her eyes.

"Men." With that, she turned to an older woman and a young man who were sitting next to the stand. They were so engrossed in their game of Pai Sho, I doubt they even realized we were standing there.

"Excuse me, we're a little lost, can you tell us how to get to Air Temple Island from here?" she asked.

"Just head down this street," the woman said kindly, pointing in the direction we'd been heading. Korra looked back at me, and I cocked my eyebrow at her. Why she felt the need to doubt me, I have no idea. I mean I was one of the original founders of this city, it'd stand to reason that I would at least somewhat know how to get around. And even if I didn't it was just a matter of walking west until you reached the water, it's not like it was advanced chemistry or something.

The roar of a souped up car engine echoed off the buildings as a red and gold satomobile came around the corner. All around us, people vanished into their shops and closed the doors. Those who had been walking down the street immediately veered toward the nearest door. Even the Pai Sho players were on the move.

"You should get moving, you two, it's not safe," the woman hissed as she and her game partner ducked behind their stand. I felt a chill settle into my blood. I'd seen this kind of behavior before. During the War, it was commonplace on both sides that the local garrisons would take whatever they wanted from the population.

If you fought back, getting the crap beat out of you was the best thing that could have happened. In the regions occupied by the Fire Nation, the soldiers might put you and everything you owned to the torch, while in the free regions, it wasn't uncommon to see whole families suddenly drafted into the King's army and sent to the front lines. Seeing people behave like this now told me all I needed to know about the people in the red and gold car.

The car came to a halt and three men climbed out. The first was a guy with a tanned complexion, wearing a blue jacket and a fedora. Following him was a scrawny pale man with a scar over his left eye wearing a black shirt and a red scarf, and a large hunchbacked man wearing a green shirt. All three of them approached a man who looked like he was desperately trying to mind his own business in front of a phonograph shop.

Triads. They'd been a major thorn in the city's side since the days of it's founding. However they weren't big time enough to have much of a reach beyond the United Republic border, so I hadn't had many dealings with them within the past decade or so.

"Mr. Chun, I really hope you have my money, otherwise I can't guarantee the safety of your fine establishment," the man with the hat said while the pale man let a flame spring up in his hand.

"Business was slow this week. Here take one of my phonographs," the shopkeeper said, offering one of the music devices as compensation. It clearly wasn't enough, as the firebender smashed it to a million pieces and allowed them to burn.

"See my friend here isn't a music lover. Now you better come up with my money or else..."

"Or else what? Hoodlum?" Korra asked. I face palmed. Not so much at the fact that the Avatar had intervened, but more at her choice of wording. Hoodlum? Seriously? I'm almost five hundred and not even I use that word. I would have told her to get with the times, but I'm not sure I can ever remember a time when that word was used very often.

The three Triad members took one look at Korra and burst out laughing. If I had been in their shoes, I probably would have joined them. Korra is strong, there's no doubting that even if you take a passing glance at her. But she's still just a young woman, and she only peaks at about five foot seven so she's not exactly up there on the physical size scale.

"Since you're fresh off the boat, let me explain something to ya. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory, and we're about to put you in the hospital," the leader of the trio said.

"Yeah, as if the Triads already didn't have enough problems with their image in the public eye," I said, stepping in. Had I wanted to get involved in this? No. But Korra had screwed up that plan by speaking up and drawing attention to herself. Oh well, the trains rolling so you might as well blow the whistle as the saying goes.

"Look pal, this is between us and the little lady. It doesn't concern you," the waterbender said, pointing a finger at me. I gave him a predatory smile. Boy oh boy did this guy have a surprise waiting for him.

"You get fancy hat," I said over my shoulder, "I get hunchback and scarf boy." Korra grinned as she stepped forward.

"Just let me know if you need any help, old man," she said as she cracked her knuckles. The waterbender's eyebrow twitched. Then he moved, and moved fast, throwing his jacket aside and bending a stream of water at her. Korra caught the stream and sent it right back at him, enveloping his head in block of ice.

The man stumbled forward, his head suddenly much heavier then it was before. Korra kicked the man to the side, causing him to fall into their car. The block of ice shattered from the impact, freeing his head but knocking him out cold and leaving him slumped against the car's bumper. I walked toward the hunchback, knowing that once the shock of their boss being knocked out wore off they'd be all over Korra.

"Hey big guy, don't suppose you wanna just surrender?" I asked as I drew my sword hilt. He looked down at me, at first like he was trying to comprehend what I had just said. Then his eyes filled with rage. With a roar, he brought his foot up and stomped into the street. A pillar of stone erupted beneath my feet, launching me skyward.

Rather then lose my cool, I turned my body so that I landed on the earthbender's shoulders. It took a moment for the big lug to process what had just happened, not that I gave him enough time to do so in the first place. The instant I was in place I was pounding him over the head with my hilt as hard as I could. After the third blow it finally worked, as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the street.

I landed on my feet, facing the remaining bender with the hilt at the ready, but without the blade being extended. Anger flooded the firebender as he realized what I had just done to his buddy, and he unleashed a stream of fire at me. I ducked under the flames, coming up underneath him and grabbing one of his outstretched arms. With a downward yank, I was rewarded with the sicking sound of bone snapping, followed closely by the man screaming in pain. I quickly twisted his arm so that he was facing away from me before delivering a kick to the back of his leg, forcing him to his knees. His cry of pain was silenced as I clubbed him over the head with my sword hilt. Unlike his earthbender friend, it only took one blow to knock him out.

"Wow, you are...brutal," Korra said as she looked over my handiwork.

"I'm rusty is what I am. Do you know how long it's been since I've been in a legit street brawl?" I asked as I walked back to her.

"I didn't think a refined master like you got into street fights."

"I don't. Last time I had an altercation was a bar fight. And I got thrown thru a window then," I said. Overhead, the sound of an air raid siren filled the air. A police airship was hovering over the street. A squad of metalbenders jumped from the craft, using their cables to slow their decent and lower themselves to the street. I rolled my eyes. Late for arrival, flashy entrance, some things never change.

"We caught the bad guys for you, officers," Korra said, stepping aside and motioning toward the downed Triads.

"Arrest them," the leader of the squad said, pointing toward the triad members. It was less then thirty seconds before he turned on us.

"You two are under arrest too," he said, pointing at us. Korra's look of surprise was timeless.

"What? But, why, they're the bad guys! They were smashing up a shop!" Korra protested.

"From the looks of things you smashed them up a lot more," the cop replied before shooting a set of cables at her. But Korra sidestepped and grabbed onto the cables.

"Wait, you can't do this, let me explain!"

"You can explain yourself all you like, down at headquarters," the cop replied before he bent a new set of cables from his other arm. Korra ducked under this new threat while dropping the cables she was already holding. She jumped backwards as the cop tried to ensnare her, but only managed to hit the street where she had been standing an instant earlier.

"Ryou, a little help!" she shouted, somersaulting backwards as the officer took another swipe at her.

"You started it, you finish it, hot stuff," I replied. Korra bent a brick from the street and hurled it at the officer. He was so busy trying to snag her that he took the brick straight to the face, knocking him out cold. The young Avatar wasted no time in sprinting away, disappearing around a corner. Several police officers came forward and gave chase. A few of them broke off in order to properly arrest me.

"So what do you think, boys? I got twenty yuan that says she makes it five blocks," I said as they bound me in cables.

"You bet that I wouldn't get away? What kind of friend are you?!" Korra snapped.

"The kind who's not an idiot," I replied. We were sitting in a metal interrogation room, our wrists in metal cuffs that were attached to the table in front of us. Had we been metalbenders, I think we would have been placed into a platinum cell, but given that there were no locks on these cuffs, I'd say it was just standard steel being used here.

"If you had helped, we wouldn't be in this situation," Korra grunted as she leaned back and planted her boots on the edge of the table. She was trying to slip her wrists out of the cuffs, by brute force no less. I didn't know whether to admire her tenacity, or face palm at her stupidity.

"I got enough problems with the lady who runs this place. Adding resisting arrest to the list isn't something I'm willing to do at the moment," I replied.

"What did you do to her? Sleep with her and not call the next day?" Korra said, her teeth clenched as she strained against her restraints.

"Okay, stop that, you'll dislocate your wrists at this rate," I said, ignoring her statement. In truth, I wasn't all that eager to see Lin. And no, it wasn't because of a relationship, sexual or otherwise as Korra implied. There was a time when she and I got along really well. Certain...developments, fact revelations had soured our friendship. But that was years ago, and it didn't have much to do with our situation now.

Speaking of Lin, the door of the room opened to reveal the Iron Maiden herself. Korra quickly sat her chair back down normally and acted like she hadn't been doing anything. Lin Beifong was a middle aged woman with light skin, pale green eyes, and gray shoulder length hair. A pair of scars dominated her right cheek, the result of an altercation with her sister when she was younger. She was looking at some papers on a clipboard as she came in.

When the Chief of Police looked up at us, there was a steely anger and disapproval as she looked at Korra. But when she regarded me, there was nothing but a cold seething rage. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind, Lin knew exactly who both of us were, and she had every intention of burying us deep for transgressing in her city.

"Let's see; multiple accounts of battery, not to mention resisting arrest," she said before slamming the clipboard down on the table, "You two are in a whole mess of trouble."

"But there were some thugs threatening to beat up a shopkeeper and.." Korra started.

"Can it! You should have called the police and stayed out of the way," Lin interrupted.

"But I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. It's my duty to help people. See, I'm the Avatar," Korra said, trying a new angle and hoping to worm her way out of the spot she was in. I rolled my eyes. All that time spent trying to teach her humility and not use her title to get what she wanted, it was like I hadn't even opened my mouth. Lin evidently felt the same way I did, as she crossed her arms and looked unimpressed.

"Oh I'm well aware of who you are. And your Avatar title might impress some people, but not me," she said. Korra hardened up at that, realizing that her approach had failed.

"Alright, fine. Then I want to talk to whoever's in charge," she said.

"You're talking to her, I'm Chief Beifong," Lin said as she sat in the chair across from us. Korra looked stunned at this revelation.

"Wait, Beifong? Lin Beifong? You're Toph's daughter!"

"What of it?"

"Then why are you treating me like a criminal? Your mother and Avatar Aang were friends, they saved the world together," Korra said.

"Because you kinda are a criminal at this point," I muttered.

"You, zip it!" Lin snapped, pointing a finger at me before she turned on Korra, "that's ancient history, and it's got squat to do with the trouble you're in right now. You can't just walk in and dole out vigilante justice like you own the place." At that moment, a section of metal on the wall retracted, revealing the face of a police officer.

"Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here." Lin sighed and stood from her chair.

"Let him in." The door slid open to reveal the airbending master. He didn't look happy. In fact, he looked tired and strained.

"Tenzin, we got a little side tracked coming to see you," Korra said apolitically. Tenzin regarded her before turning to face Lin.

"Lin, you are looking radient as ever."

"Cut the garbage, Tenzin!" Lin snapped, "what are these two doing in Republic City? I thought you were moving down south to train her."

"My relocation has been delayed. As for the Avatar and her defense master, they will be on the first ship back to the South Pole, where they will stay put," Tenzin replied, directing the last part at us.

"But..."

"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against these two, I will take full responsibility for the regrettable events of today's actions and cover all the damages," Tenzin continued as if Korra hadn't spoken at all. Lin looked back and forth between the Councilman and us for a moment before she finally sighed and flicked her wrist. Only Korra's cuffs were released, and the young woman quickly began to rub her wrists.

"Fine. But I'm holding Ryou a little longer," she said.

"Now Lin, you know that holding a prisoner any longer then..."

"Those are my terms, Tenzin, take em or leave em," Lin said. Tenzin gave me a forlorn look and then sighed, he'd tried to get me out of the cage with the sabertooth moose lion, but failed, and he knew it.

"Alright fine. We'll be waiting. Let's go, Korra," Tenzin said before he walked out of the interrogation room. Korra followed, looking back at me with a concerned look. Then the metal door slid closed, and it was just Lin and I alone in the room. For the longest time it was quiet. Uncomfortably so.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my city," she finally said, her voice low.

"If you want to split hairs, technically it's MY city, considering I was one of the founders," I replied.

"You know damn well what I mean," she said.

"And you also know that the laws of men mean little to me," I replied.

"Oh, you made that abundantly clear with today's events. I could bury you for a long time with these charges," she threatened. Lin's look of unhappiness only grew when I burst out laughing at her.

"You are aware that the concept of being locked up in prison has no effect on me, right? I can't die of old age, and the best you can come up with is the threat of a free bed and three hot meals a day? Come on."

"The idea of losing your freedom is something you don't like, and I can very easily make that happen," she said. I quit laughing and leaned forward so that I was eye to eye with her.

"Why don't you practice what you preach and focus on the present, Lin. You and I both know the real reason why you held me back, and it's got jack to do with three low level Triads you could care less about." Lin didn't answer, but she was stewing in her anger, that much was clear.

In truth, I actually felt kind of bad. Her anger with me was on that was very old, older then her and her mother, actually. But, given her upbringing, I could actually see where she might be coming from.

"Lin, this was almost two hundred years ago. When are you going to let ancient family history go?" I asked, my voice softer now.

"You left her, Ryou. You left her single and pregnant and you never came back," Lin said.

"I left to fight in the war, Lin. When I finally got leave and did come back, Renchin was already married and had a child underfoot. I did what any former lover would have done and kept my distance," I replied.

"That was YOUR child, you should have taken responsibility."

"I would have had I KNOWN that fact. I didn't know that the child was mine until that day you dug up the old files. But by then, even the child's children were dead. And you've been busting my balls every chance you get since," I replied. She remained silent as she fell into the chair across from me, her arms folded across her chest as she sulked. Lin, be it good or bad, was as stubborn as any earthbender should be, if not more so. But I had a feeling that I was starting to past that thick skull of hers.

"Your great great grandmother was far better off with that man then she ever was with me, Lin. He had money, influence, and the means to ensure that neither she nor that kid ever had to struggle a day in their lives ever again. What did I have to offer, other then a Corporal's salary and the life of a soldier's family?" I asked. Again, Lin remained silent, her eyes boring into a spot of concrete in the corner.

"If it's any consolation, I did love her. But by the time I came back, she didn't love me, so there was no reason to stay. Your mother and sister saw this and they understood. Hell they didn't even raise as much of a stink about it as you did," I pressed on. Lin flicked her wrist, and the cuffs holding me came undone.

"You're free to go," she muttered. I rubbed my wrists as I stood up and walked around the table toward the door. When I was at her side, I paused and looked down at her.

"It's not just the Triads causing trouble, is it?" I asked. Organized crime had always been a problem in the city. But the fact that Tenzin had canceled his plans to move south, and the fact that Lin was operating in near martial law status? Something else was at play here.

"Get out of my interrogation room," she said, glaring up at me coldly. I sighed in defeat. Apparently I hadn't gotten to her like I thought.

"Always a pleasure, Lin," I said before I walked out of the room. In the main lobby of the building I found Korra and Tenzin waiting. I got my things returned to me before I walked up to them.

"Tenzin, please, don't send me back south," Korra begged. She was trying to convince him to let us stay. But by her tone, I figured she wasn't making much headway. Tenzin looked away from her and focused on me when he saw me approaching.

"Ryou, you blatantly disobeyed the wishes and orders of the White Lotus," he said.

"And your point would be...?" He blinked a few times, clearly stunned at my response. I honestly don't know what he was expecting, I mean this wasn't the first time I had blown off the White Lotus and he knew it.

"But..."

"Tenzin. Keeping Korra in the Compound is a no win situation for everyone. How do you expect her to interact with people, with groups, with governments when she has absolutely no contact with the outside world?" I asked.

"The White Lotus..."

"Are full of themselves. Korra and I made it this far without seeing a single member. Just how far do you think we could have gotten if we DIDN'T want to be found?" I pressed on.

"I..."

"Tenzin, I get that you got your hands full here. We just barely scratched the surface on that with our little tour today. But Korra needs to finish her training if anything is going to get done, you and I both know that." Tenzin fell silent at that. In fact, he remained quiet all throughout our trip to the docks and about halfway across the bay on the ferry.

I stood on the deck in the evening twilight, looking up at the passing statue of Aang. Tenzin was looking too, and looking rather somber about it. Finally he turned to me.

"You're right. Korra needs to finish her training. I've been so caught up in preserving the legacy my father laid down, but she is his legacy. The city and the world need the Avatar," he said. I folded my arms and gave him a half grin.

"You do realize this means you'll have to have a training ring set up for me to continue my work with her, right?" He sighed in resignation at that.

"Yes, I was afraid you'd say that."

"And I want steak, none of that vegetarian crap you guys always try to peddle on me." Tenzin gave me a look.

"As I seem to recall. You eating meat is the primary reason behind you standing here right now," he said before walking toward the stern. I stood and watched him go, stunned at his comeback.

"That was a cheap shot."

And that's a wrap. With Ryou and Korra finally in Republic City, we're moving on into the events of the show. What will happen when Ryou meets the others? Stick around and find all know the drill. Drop a review, leave a PM, ask a question, let me know what you liked or didn't like, and I'll see you all next time.