Chapter XVIII: Emotions

Saltrall landed in the front yard of the Sato mansion and grabbed his psychic paper as he stepped out, a look of determination on his face, hoping that would make him look like he belonged there. He was immediately confronted by two police officers who were watching the perimeter..

"Hey! This is a secure area, you can't be here!" One of them said, walking up to him.

Saltrall ignored them and held up his psychic paper as we walked past them. The officer who looked at the paper just shrugged when his partner gave him a quizzical look and they didn't try to stop him.

Saltrall didn't drop his determined face until he was sure they wouldn't try to stop him and he looked at the paper.

"Huh, interesting," He said before putting the paper away, "I guess I'm a gardener now."

Saltrall saw some officers standing by the back of the house and he hurried over and walked into the workshop. Just as he entered Lin motioned for some of her officers to go down a set of stairs in the floor.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Saltrall said with determination in his voice.

"Saltrall, what are you doing here?" Both Tenzin and Korra asked in unison while Lin sighed and stared at him.

"I'm here to help of course." Saltrall said as he walked up to them with Asami, Bolin and Mako looking on.

Lin sighed, "Alright, Mr. Time Lord, but don't think I've forgotten about your last little "adventure" through my city."

Saltrall just smiled. "Awww, and here I thought you forgot about that, Chief!" he replied, laughing at her annoyed expression, "Come on, you know I'm a good guy."

Lin just rolled her eyes but Saltrall caught a glimpse of her smiling as they went down the stairs and into a tunnel.

They reached the bottom and walked into a large room full of large mech-like tank suits. Saltrall looked around as Lin and Tenzin talked when suddenly large metal walls shot up on all sides of the room, blocking them in.

Saltrall ran up to the closest one and was scanned it with his Sonic. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by Asami's father, Hiroshi.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to metalbend that wall, Chief Beifong. It's solid platinum. My mecha tanks are platinum as well." He said from inside one of the tanks. "Not even your renowned mother could bend a metal so pure."

Saltrall looked around at the tanks as they started closing in on them and the battle started. He tried to use his Sonic on the machines while the others bended, to basically no avail, and they were too large for his Screwdriver to have any effect.

Suddenly he saw Lin get thrown across the room and knocked unconscious. Getting desperate he drew his staser pistol and fired at the nearest tank in front of him, stunning the pilot, he was aiming at Hiroshi's tank when he was picked up from behind and flung into a nearby wall, he grunted as he impacted it but it knocked him unconscious and he fell to the floor.

When Saltrall regained consciousness he was lying on a bench in an airship. He sat up and groaned, holding his head. He looked around and saw Tenzin standing next to Lin across the aisle and he saw the others standing nearby.

He was still slightly groggy but he heard Tenzin and Lin talking, but couldn't make anything out. Looking over at the others he saw Mako walking over to Asami and her burying her face into his chest as Korra looked away sadly, before looking over at him.

"Hey, Saltrall's awake," She said as she hurried over to him.

"Yep, still kicking, sorry Lin," He said with a chuckle, looking over at the metalbender, making her smile at him.

"Actually I'm glad you made it out okay, Saltrall," She replied, throwing him for a loop as she'd never used his real name, only the title Mr. Time Lord, which he'd told her the first time he was brought into an interrogation room.

"Really?" Saltrall replied, "I won't lie, I honestly thought you hated me 90 percent of the time."

Lin chuckled softly, "We've had our... disagreements, yes," She said, "But as you said I do know how good you are fighting, and I'm glad you're on our side."

Saltrall smiled and nodded at her before standing slowly and shakily.

"Good, nothing's broken," He said, moving his arms, hands, and fingers.

Korra looked relieved and hugged him softly, catching him completely off-guard, but he slowly hugged back.

"I'm glad you're okay," She said, pulling away, before blushing and turning away.

Saltrall just stood there, dazed for a minute before recovering and smiling softly before noticing Bolin staring at him with a sad gleam in his eye, which he tried to hide when he realized Saltrall saw him. Saltrall nodded his head to the side and started walking away, with Bolin slowly following.

"You okay?" Saltrall asked quietly, even though they were out of earshot of everyone.

"What, of course I am, I'm great!" Bolin said, faking a large smile. Saltrall looked at him with an unamused face, causing him to sigh and look down in dejection.

"I don't know, man, I like Korra so much, and seeing her kiss my brother and then hug you, it's really hard." He said, looking up.

Saltrall nodded, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Bolin, really, it's natural" Saltrall said as Bolin stared at him. "I'm over 600 years old, I've been in your spot before"

Bolin looked surprised, "Really? What happened?" He asked the Time Lord.

Saltrall shrugged, "Nothing, I moved on, eventually we went our separate ways and that was that. It's hard, but I know you'll get over it, you're strong, Bolin, never forget that." Saltrall said, grinning when he saw a determined expression come across his friend's face.

"Yeah, you're right!" He said, "Thanks Saltrall, you're the best," He said, hugging him tightly.

"Ow, can't breathe!" Saltrall gasped out, causing Bolin to let go, giving him a sheepish grin of apology before they both broke into laughter.

Saltrall went back to the Sato mansion with Lin to get his TARDIS after they had dropped off the others back on Air Temple Island. He offered to give her a ride but she declined, he just shrugged and teleported back to Air Temple Island.

It was later that night when Saltrall shot up in bed again, screaming as he was woken up by the same nightmare that seemed to haunt him every night. After his tears had mostly cleared up he got dressed and stared at himself in a mirror for a few minutes, scared and frustrated before he went outside to walk and clear his head, only this time he saw that he wasn't alone when he left his TARDIS.

"Korra? Is that you?" He asked as he walked closer.

Korra froze, obviously not expecting anyone to be up.

"Saltrall, hey, why are you-" She started as she turned, but stopped when she saw the wet streaks on his cheeks, "Have you been crying?"

Saltrall's eyes widened when he realized he'd forgotten to wipe his face, but lowered his face in shame before nodding.

"What happened?" Korra asked again, walking up to him. Saltrall simply walked away to a cliff and sat down, staring at the ocean. Korra took a seat next to him, looking at him with concern. Slowly he started to speak.

"I had a nightmare," He began, "It's a nightmare, I've been having it for a long time, but I cry every time."

Korra looked concerned and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Can you talk about it?" She asked softly. Saltrall was quiet for a minute before telling her the story. He explained it in detail and talked about regeneration and other details so she understood.

When he finished Korra put a hand over her mouth.

"That's... that's awful." She said, shocked, "How long have you been reliving that day?"

Saltrall swallowed hard. "450 years." He said, holding back tears. "Ever since that day I..." He chuckled softly, "I haven't been the same. Physically, emotionally, anything. That's the problem with regenerating," He looked at her, tears falling down his cheeks "The face changes, but the memories never leave. Sometimes all I can do is cry and wish it would go away." As he finished he broke down and started crying again.

Korra remained silent before hugging him. This time Saltrall hugged back. Korra just sat there with the weeping Time Lord, letting him cry as she quietly comforted him until his tears stopped falling.