A/N: Eep, I'm sorry this is so short after such a long wait. Nothing I tried to add for extra length worked right, so I figured I'd finally update as-is.
"Yakone! You shouldn't be up," Tamaya cried, rushing to his side. "If your fever comes back—"
"It won't," said Yakone, pushing her away.
Korra was already on her feet, though Noatak and Tarrlok hadn't moved. Maybe customs were different here, or now. Or maybe Noatak had no manners and Tarrlok followed his lead. That seemed about equally likely.
Yakone lifted his head to look straight at her, his hair falling back. A mass of red scars ran diagonally across his face, from the left side of his brow to the right of his mouth, which was tugged up by the ruined tissue, leaving him with a permanent sneer. He had no eyebrows. Otherwise, he looked pretty much like a normal guy; she'd braced herself for something much worse, and didn't even start at the sight of him, just blinked twice and then bowed. After a moment, Yakone returned the gesture.
"Who are you?" he demanded, making his way to the seat between Noatak and Tamaya.
"My name's Korra." She returned to her own seat, taking a deep breath. "I'm from the Southern Water Tribe and I'm the Avatar."
"The Avatar, are you?" he said, his tone neutral. He seemed far less enthusiastic than his sons had led her to expect. Yakone's pale, shrewd eyes turned towards her. "And how, exactly, did the Avatar come to be sitting at my table?"
Korra shifted, uncomfortable under his penetrating gaze. He seemed intensely focused on her, so much that she felt as if he were looking into her and not just at her, but at the same time, there was something absent about his expression, almost distracted. Like he was listening to some other, more interesting conversation somewhere else.
She bristled. "Noatak and Tarrlok found me in the ice," she said.
Yakone's eyes didn't waver. "Is that so?"
"Yes," said Noatak shortly. "She was frozen inside an iceberg with her polar beardog."
Tarrlok glanced between Yakone, Noatak, and Korra, his face pinched and unhappy. "We saw her bend three elements, Dad. And it was a spirit iceberg. A bolt of light shot out the top when we sliced it open."
"Hm," said Yakone, sounding little more impressed than before. They all ate in uncomfortable silence — well, everyone but Yakone and Noatak, who just seemed indifferent. Korra thought she understood, now, how Noatak could be related to people as sweet as Tamaya and Tarrlok - he was obviously just like his father.
Then Yakone barked out, "How long?"
Korra frowned.
"The iceberg. How long were you inside?"
"Oh. Um - over a hundred years. I don't know exactly." Korra's hearty appetite deserted her. She poked disconsolately at a chunk of meat floating around her stew. "Noatak and Tarrlok said so, though. I just - I was supposed to come to the Northern Water Tribe to find a waterbending master. There aren't, there weren't any left at home."
She glanced up. Yakone's gaze had returned to her, that disconcerting focused remoteness back in full force. Noatak, his blank expression dropping for a moment, eyed his father with what she would have thought dislike in anyone else. Tarrlok just looked miserable.
"But I'm thirteen," she added, almost certain she was rambling. "And I was born the day Fire Lord Sozin killed all the Air Nomads."
"Oh, not quite all," said Yakone, as unconcerned as before. Even Noatak gaped at him. "But never mind that. Thirteen - yes, well over a century, then. Tell me, Avatar, how did your search for a waterbending teacher end in over a hundred years' imprisonment in a spirit iceberg?"
Korra flushed. "I - the water sages, who protected me while I was growing up, brought me as far north as they could, but there wasn't any passage to the Northern Water Tribe. The city, I mean. They wouldn't … well, I decided to find my own way north." Her mouth set in a mulish expression.
For the first time, something like interest crossed Yakone's face. "You swam all the way here? From the Earth Kingdom?"
"Well, not alone - I had a friend with me. Naga, she's my polar beardog."
"Ah," said Yakone.
"I'm not sure what happened. There were these firebenders and I got caught in a storm. I think I was drowning. The next thing I knew, Noatak and Tarrlok were helping me out of the iceberg." She gestured at his sons.
"One of your better decisions, boys," said Yakone, then returned his attention to Korra. "I would imagine you went into the Avatar State."
Korra blinked. "The what?"
He cleared his throat, lowering his chopsticks. "In my youth, I had the opportunity to attend Ba Sing Se University, among other places. As a waterbender, I was interested in the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual, which naturally included research on the Avatar."
Korra didn't know what waterbending had to do with it, but she nodded anyway.
"The Avatar State, as far as I understood," Yakone continued, "is a mechanism which allows the Avatar to summon the combined power of his or her previous lives. Even very young Avatars have the ability to enter the state, but only at their most desperate, usually when they lives are in danger. A fully realized Avatar, however, can access it at will." His pale eyes flickered. "Should you master it, you will be virtually invincible. In any case, drowning to death would certainly be enough to trigger the Avatar State."
Korra's throat was dry. It sounded amazing. And maybe a little scary. But mostly amazing.
"Oh," she said. "Well - that'd be really good for fighting the Fire Nation, if I could figure it out. The sages never said anything about that, just about learning the elements."
"Historically, it appeared to accompany mastery of all four," he said. Next to her, Tarrlok shifted nervously; his brother gave him a sharp look and he stiffened again. "I imagine it will be the same for you, especially since you're Water Tribe - your last element will be air. Airbenders were known for their spirituality."
"Thanks," said Korra awkwardly. She glanced at his wife. "And thanks for feeding me, Tamaya. It really was a hundred and thirty years since the last time I ate!"
Tamaya chuckled. "It's a pleasure. Well, dear, for better or worse, you've found the Northern Water Tribe. It's not the city by any means, but every village has its share of waterbenders - all four of us are. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a master. Why, I don't imagine there's a greater waterbender than Yakone in the whole North Pole." She gazed fondly at her husband.
"I, um, -" Korra glanced at Noatak and Tarrlok, both looking deeply interested in their food. She managed to smile at Tamaya before forcing herself to meet Yakone's eyes. "Actually, I was hoping - I mean, of course, it's up to you - but Noatak and Tarrlok are already the best waterbenders I've ever met, and - if you taught them - uh. If it's not too much trouble, could youcomplete my waterbending training?"
"I would be honoured, Avatar," Yakone said, and smiled.
Zahra's father was a strong-willed, short-tempered man — they all knew that. Zuko-being-angry was nothing new in their family. Usually, though, he directed his rage at unoffending trees and the like. She couldn't remember ever hearing him raise his voice inside the house.
"That light must have come from an incredibly powerful source!"
"And what if it did?" retorted Iroh. "What if it is the Avatar? Do you think Azula will restore your honour if you deliver the Avatar to her? Ha! She would clap us all in chains the moment she had him in her grasp — Zahra first of all!"
Zahra shivered. She'd never laid eyes on her aunt, but she'd seen enough pictures, and heard enough stories, that Fire Lord Azula played a starring role in her nightmares. The news they heard from a growing stream of Fire Nation sympathizers didn't help. Azula had never married or had children, and she fought with her armies - secretly, Zahra admired her for that, but it was dangerous. Supposing that nobody poisoned or otherwise-assassinated her first. Of course, nobody had managed it before now, and it wasn't like people hadn't tried. But she was getting older: more unhinged, too, some said. She could die at any moment. And she had no heir.
Nobody dared mention Zuko to her, much less Zahra. However, even Azula could not keep people from wondering about her death, and whispering among themselves. It would be one thing if it were only Zuko, exiled as a boy under a cloud of dishonour, and two years older than the aging Fire Lord. But he'd married late, and by now it was common knowledge that he had a young, gifted daughter. Some speculated that she might make a worthy heir to the Fire Lord, and others that she might one day supplant her.
"Why does Aunt Azula hate me?" she'd asked Iroh once.
He patiently told her that Azula was, for one, completely insane, and for another, surrounded by people who would be only too glad to set Zahra in her place. "And she knows that," he said. "Your aunt's crazy, but she's very, very clever, very good at politics, and an excellent judge of character. Nobody knows better than Azula that, as long as you live, you are a danger to her."
Zahra never forgot that. If they returned to the Fire Nation, even with the Avatar in chains, she'd be dead before morning. Probably Iroh too, and definitely her father. They couldn't go back.
"If you will not think yourself, think of your daughter!" Iroh was saying.
Her father's hands, resting on the table, clenched. "I am thinking—Azula has no power to return my honour. I know that. Our honour is not a parcel to be given or taken away by others; it exists in ourselves and our conduct. You taught me that, uncle. I'm not trying to end my exile, or turn the Avatar over to Azula. But to simply leave him at large, spreading chaos everywhere he goes, while the world burns? No, I am not prepared to do that. We have been running and hiding for decades, but this is our chance. We must find him and subdue him."
"And how are we going to do that?" Iroh demanded. "I'm too old for this, Zuko. You're too old for this. And Zahra's too young. She needs stability in her life."
"Between running from village to village while Azula has us hunted down like cattle?"
Zahra's eyes darted between her father and his uncle. If the Avatar really was alive and shooting off lights—well, she wasn't sure how they would contain him. But if they did, somehow, then maybe they'd finally be safe. Who would be crazy enough to threaten them if they could unleash the Avatar at any moment? Aunt Azula, maybe, and she'd get what was coming to her.
"I agree with Dad," she said firmly. "I don't want to run any more. Besides, I'm older than he was when he started looking for the Avatar, and he's younger than you were when you left with him. You don't have to do anything, Uncle Iroh. You can just hang around and play Pai Sho."
Iroh sighed. "I seem to be outnumbered. Do you have a plan, Zuko?"
"I've kept enough money aside to buy a boat and hire a crew, if we ever needed to," he said. "It'll have to be strong enough to get us through the ice, and small enough for us to pass relatively unnoticed. We'll need food, and enough supplies to survive the journey through the North Pole. It might be a little challenging."
Iroh covered his eyes.
"It'll be fun," said Zahra.
Jokermask18: Thanks.
KitaiKnight97: Well, it didn't update soon, but I've really wanted one of those too! Not going to lie, Korra + teenage!Noatak it's a large part of the appeal of the plotbunny.
myviolettears: Thank you very much.
Guest: ...eep. Sorry!
Me: LOL, because Zuko improves everything! And also, the final thing that sold me on the idea was realizing that Zuko would still be out there hunting the Avatar, but a middle-aged dude with elderly!Iroh and a young alternate version of LOK's Fire Lord, and Azula would be Fire Lord. Alas, while I usually try to keep my shipping decisions under wraps, I can 100% assure you that this story will not be Zuko/Korra. Hope you enjoy Korra dealing with the Fire Nation, though! (Now I sort of want Aang vs the Equalists, though. I kind of think each would be better suited to dealing with the other one's problems.)
(Other) Guest: Er, now. *guilty*