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Tenzin paced back and forth for what appeared to be the twentieth or possibly thirtieth time that day. After several days, no news about Korra had turned up and based on the news things haven't been looking too well for the South either. Tenzin feared for his siblings, he never should have let them go. He stopped his pacing once he saw Lin approach him. Behind her were Bolin and Asami.

"Please tell me you have some good news!" he practically begged. After all the madness going on, he really needed it. Sadly, today was not his lucky day either.

"I'm sorry, but there's still no news on Korra." the policewoman confessed, her shoulders dropping in disappointment.

"Try harder!" Tenzin demanded, his cape bellowing as he moved.

"Tenzin, we've been searching for days. It's obvious Korra's not even in the city."

"Call the United Nations! Contact FireLord Izumi and the Earth Queen in Ba Sing Sea! Call your sister in Zaofu if you have to!"

"We've tried everything! Your daughter is no where to be found!" Lin snapped, her voice cracking as she yelled. Tenzin was not the only one who was heartbroken. They all were.

The airbender covered his face with his hands and sunk down to the ground, crying his eyes out, not caring that they were all looking at him. Lin squatted down and patted his back, joining him as tears rolled down her eyes as well.

"I'm sorry." she said, her voice cracking ever more. "I really tried."

"I know you did."

Watching the two brought tears of sorrow to Asami's eyes as well and Bolin wrapped his arms around her, crying as well. They honestly didn't know what else to do. At this point all hope truly seemed lost.

(~)

Mako sat on the cliffside overlooking the city and the tall statue of Avatar Aang. This was Korra's favorite place to come and think. He was hoping it could give him some idea on what to do next. But so far he gained nothing. In his hand he held the comb he had gotten for Korra back at the south pole. He didn't blame her for tossing it away. The pain in her eyes brought such pain to his heart.

The young man was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the sound of crying. He stood up and followed the sound, which grew louder and louder the further he walked. He walked towards the forest of the island, finding a small bench where he spotted young Jinora, crying her poor little eyes out. Feeling sympathy for the child, Mako sat down beside her. Jinora wiped away her tears once she spotted him.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Don't be. I get it." to his surprise, the young girl lunged forward, hugging his wait while sobbing. His first instinct was to gently pat her back. "It's okay. Everything's going to be alright."

"How do you know? What if she never comes back?"

"You can't think that."

"Why not? We've done everything! Mako, I don't know what to do!" the poor girl cried even hard, and Mako held her close. He didn't know what else to say. Everyone had done all that they could, but she was right, nothing had worked. What more could they do? Was it possible that Korra was really…gone?

Suddenly, Mako heard what sounded like humming from a distance. Almost like the sound of a dragonfly's wings. He looked up and his eyes widened at the sight.

"Uh, Jinora?" he gently tapped her back and the crying girl looked up, turning her head towards whatever it was Mako was looking at. She wiped what was left of her tears and her eyes widened in awe.

"Furry-Foot!" she called out as the little bunny creatures came flying towards her with their insect-like winged ears.

Mako could not believe his own eyes. Where these actual spirits? Was he actually seeing them?

Jinora happily petted their heads, her sadness slowly fading even for a short moment. She turned her head to face Mako, who still look dumbfounded at the sight.

"Can you see them?"

"Uh…yeah. Are they…?"

"Spirits, yes."

"But-but how is this possible?"

"I don't know, I-" Jinora was interrupted when one of the bunny spirits began to chirp in her ear. She listened attentively at his words. She gasped before covering her mouth in disbelief. "Are you sure?" she asked. The creature chirped a reply.

Jinora spun around and hugged Mako's hips. "What did he say?" he asked curiously.

"They found her!" Jinora exclaimed happily, "Korra's alive!"

The firebender literally froze in place upon hearing the news. A smile grew on his face as he lifted the child up and spun her around before hugging her, the two laughing happily.

"Do they know where she is?" he asked while beaming.

"Yes. Only, we can't get there by boat or bison."

"Then how?"

Jinora bit her bottom lip before replying, "We have to go into the spirit world."

(~)

Korra hummed a happy tune as she climbed up to the tree house, placing the basket of her latest findings onto the side of the floor. She had been exploring the island all morning, giving herself quite the workout in the process. She rested on her back against her sleeping bag, while gazing up at the roof, which was adorned with the natural roots of the tree that managed to grow into the house, giving it a jungle-like vibe, but still very homely.

She closed her eyes to rest but was interrupted by the sound of faint voices. At first, she thought it was all in her imagination and attempted to go back to her relaxation. Only now, the voices grew louder. Whispering, calling out to her. Korra was now convinced this wasn't all in her head. This island was special so she knew better than to question the strange occurrences here.

She sat up right, looking up at the branches, hearing the voices louder and all around the place. They appeared to be coming from inside the tree house, trying to communicate with Korra.

"I'm here." she replied, "What are you trying to tell me?"

The voices multiplied and Korra could only make out a few words; Unalaq, war, Vaatu, portals, darkness, tree. She didn't know what the final one stood for, but she knew what the others did. Her gaze remained on the trees, the sunlight coming trough the creeks of the wood and into the house. Then, right before her eyes, Korra could see it.

There strange mist-like creatures, forming some kind of symbol. One by one, Korra could see them manifesting more clearly, each one resembling a piece of the puzzle. It took a while for her to fully see what it was, but once the final mist create manifested as the center piece it became clear.

It looked almost exactly like the symbol from her, Unalaq's and Tonraq's pendants, only shimmering white like a heavenly aura. It was the symbol of Raava.

Korra got on her feet, the room appeared to be spinning as images began to appear right before her eyes. She saw it…the past.

She saw the history of Wan and Raava happen right before her very eyes. Wan was even more handsome than he was in the images her father had shown her, and Raava had to be more beautiful than any woman on the planet. Her pale skin, snow white hair and mesmerizing blue eyes that brought life to her ghostly appearance. She also saw Vaatu, the wicked spirit of darkness, his hair was pitch black, tinted with blood red streaks, his eyes were the same red color while the rest was all black, his skin was a dark tan, his bare chest covered in red markings, black pants and was barefoot. She saw the sacrifice Raava made to save Wan and the world, and the promise he made to her. She witnessed when he closed the portals and Vaatu's vow for revenge. She witnessed several past events after that, new Avatars, her past lives, each needing to face foe, after foe, after foe. She even witnessed her own grandfather Aang, even in his younger days-he bared such a resemblance to Jinora-and the terrible war he had to end. During all of that, Raava's light grew and grew…but so did Vaatu's darkness. With each new war, tragedy and wicked deep he grew stronger. She saw glimpses of Unalaq, speaking to him from his tree prison. She couldn't make out their words but she could somehow sense what they were planning despite not hearing anything. The visions came to an end when she saw the two portals opening, merging as one and the biggest explosion she could have ever imagined, causing everything to fade.

Korra gasped in shock and tumbled backwards, crashing into P'Li wooden drawer, knocking down her hair materials in the process.

From down bellow, P'Li heard the crash and rushed upwards. "Korra? Korra, what's going on?"

Korra panted, sweat dripping from her brows, her heart pounding at a million miles a minute. She saw it. She saw the past. She saw Vaatu, visibly clear, and she now knew what he planned to do. What Unalaq planned to do. It terrified her.

"Korra! Are you alright?!" P'Li reached up to the room, quickly rushing to Korra's side, inspecting her for any injuries, not carrying about the hair materials on the floor.

The young woman placed a hand over her heart, trying her best to keep it steady with her soft breathing. "They showed me."

"What?"

"The spirits. They showed me. I know what Unalaq's planning. You were right, he does want to release Vaatu…but that's not all he wants."

(~)

"I don't know what's more surprising. That Korra's still alive…or that I have a pink rabbit spirit on my head." Asami stood perfectly still with the said rabbit spirit resting on her head. She didn't want to make any sudden movements, in fear that this little thing could possibly bite.

"I can't believe Mako can see them too." said Jinora in amazement, "Only very few people can see the spirits."

"I guess he's those one in a hundred people." Bolin said while one of the bunny spirits floated around him. They had manifested around the group once Jinora kindly asked them to do so.

"So, where exactly is Korra?" Asami asked, "You said she's in some island somewhere?"

"Yes, but we have no idea where." Mako confessed, "Apparently, it's so hidden off from the world it would take days to find it, and we don't have that kind of time anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't exactly know why, but there's something really big coming. Whatever it is it's coming fast, and we need to find Korra now!"

"What do you think we've been doing all this time?"

"There's another way we can reach her, but we're going to need Jinora's help." he placed his hand over the young girl's shoulder.

"Wait, we have to get my dad too."

"He's already with Lin back at headquarters." said Asami, "We don't know when he'll be back."

Mako squatted down to her level, "I'm sorry Jinora, but we can't waste anymore time."

Jinora really didn't want to leave her father out of the blue like this, but Mako was right. "Alright."

"So, what can we do?" Bolin asked.

"My friends can help us reach Korra by entering the spirit world."

"Okay, okay, sure that sounds good. There's just one problem…how are we suppose to do that?!"

"You can." Jinora said while the little spirit rabbits warmed around the three teenagers, "They said you are all worthy." she stated. "We can all go."

"But why now?" Bolin asked.

"I don't know. We don't always decide which time will be our time, it must come when it must, not always at the moment we ask is to."

"Okay, understandable…so…how are we gonna do this?"

"Follow me." Jinora led the three teens to a clearing in the forest, surrounded by trees and several rocks with air nation symbols on them. "My dad would often come here to meditate, but me, I come to read in silence. Korra has her cliff, I have my circle."

"So, we just sit here and then what?" Mako asked, still confused to this whole process.

Jinora sat down in a lotus position, gesturing the others to follow her example. "Just close your eyes and concentrate." she instructed while one of the bunny spirits landed on each of their shoulders, "My friends will help guide us through it. Just concentrate, don't show fear. Remember who we're doing this for."

The three teenagers nodded their heads in agreement before closing their eyes, taking in slow deep breaths and allowing the rabbit spirits to do their thing. They all thought about their friend, their hopes of returning back to her, to be a team again, to make up for their mistakes and help her in any way they could. These were selfless ideas, and the bunny spirits new this.

(~)

The three adults were silent, trying to process this new information Korra had just given them. "I can't believe my own brother would do something like this." Tonraq said, his fist half clenching in anger.

"I knew he was a selfish man, but I never imagined anything like this." said P'Li, "Is it even possible?"

"I'm not sure." said Zaheer, "But I bet we can all agree that we can't allow Unalaq to go through with this."

"Exactly." Korra voiced out, "Which is why I have to close the spirit portal."

"But how will you get to the south pole with Unalaq's army still surrounding the boarders?"

"I'm not going to the south, I'm going to stop him from the inside…I have to go into the spirit world."

The three adults looked at one another in shock. Zaheer stood up and placed a hand on Korra's shoulder. He studied her eyes intensely before smiling. "You're ready, child. Your time has arrived."

The young Avatar smiled at the older bald man, "Thank you for teaching me. So, the question now is how will I get there?"

"Lucky for you, there is a way for you to go. Come with me." Zaheer led Korra down from the tree house, with Tonraq and P'Li following close behind. He led the group to a familiar location, one filled with tall grass in a large wide space of land. Korra recognized this location.

"The spirit oasis!"

"Exactly." Zaheer said once they arrived and got down on his knees before the shimmering waters. Korra followed his example, as did P'Li and Tonraq. "Go ahead, look down and ask. It will show you what you need to know. If you're willing to listen."

Korra took in a deep breath as she gazed at the sparkling and serene liquids before her. "Okay, I'm listening." she said. She felt her father's hand grip her own, making her smile. P'Li and Zaheer sat beside her. The waters began to ripple, releasing sparkling stars all around that surrounded the group, giving them a sense of serenity, peace and hope.

The moment Korra opened her eyes she gasped. She was no longer on the island but in the most beautiful place she could ever imagine. She was surrounded by trees as tall as buildings, with leaves of the most unusual colors; green, blue, red, yellow and magenta. The grass before her shimmered like sparkling silver, with little glowing orbs floating all around her feet. A few bigger ones hovered before her face, glowing brightly like a golden star, with a tiny little humanoid creature with transparent insect-like wings floating around her. Korra giggled as the little creatures flew around her body before flying off.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Tonraq asked. Korra spun around to see that the three adults were with her.

"It's like something from a dream." she said, taking slow steps on the grass while spinning around a couple of times, mesmerized by the beauty of this world. It was like she had escaped into a world untouched by man. A simple place where creatures lived in peace.

She really wanted to take a moment to appreciate this place, but sadly realized she couldn't. She had to focus on the task at hand.

"So, where do we go now?" P'Li asked.

"What?"

"You're the leader, you tell us where we must go."

Korra blinked in surprise. "Oh…okay. Um…we need to find a tree. A really, really big tree with a twisted wide trunk and an opening where Vaatu is being kept prisoner."

"The Tree of Time." said Zaheer, "Where Wan imprisoned Vaatu."

"Only I don't know where it could be." she gasped when the floating winged people began speaking to her, in their strange language which sounded like giggling bells. They began to form a pattern that stretched out across the forest.

"I guess we should…follow the pixie dust."

(~)

Mako opened his eyes and could not believe what he was seeing. He and the others were no longer in Air Temple Island, but instead stood in a beautiful grassy field with large plants, bright flowers and the strangest looking spirits floating all around them.

"Wow!" Bolin said, his eyes widened and his jaw dropping, "What is this place? Shinning, shimmering and splendid!"

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jinora said, her big brown eyes sparkling with childlike wonder at the place.

Asami was especially mesmerized by the beautiful flowers that looked like they belonged in an art gallery. It truly was a dream.

But Mako was probably the only one with his head in the game. "Yeah, just…stay close, okay you guys? This seems nice but, you never know when we'll run unto some dark spirits." he said, his hand brushing off against a single flower beside him. He jerked back and reeled his hand when the flower suddenly started to morph and turn into a beautiful pink butterfly, which grew in size, spreading sparkles off of its wings as it flew away.

Jinora giggled as she watched the stunning insect. "Look! It's like it's made of jewels! The spirits are so much more beautiful in their own world than they are at home."

The young airbend began to run after the spirit butterfly, ignoring Mako calling out to her. "Jinora, be careful! Hold on!" he quickly ran towards her, with Asami and Bolin close behind. Asami them stumbled and nearly tripped on something beneath her.

"Hey! Watch where ya goin', toots!"

Asami let out a loud shriek and instinctively kicked the creature with her foot so hard he flew out of his hole and landed on Mako's head. The furry mammal waved at him.

"Hello!"

"That's creepy!" Mako immediately pulled him off of him and tossed him at Asami, who caught it in her hands before tossing it back at him.

"I don't want it!" Asami exclaimed. The two were now playing hot potato with whatever the heck this was, which looked like a talking meerkat.

"Back at ya!" Mako tossed it back at Asami, the thing was still talking which creeped her out.

"Please don't drop me!" the meerkat said in between throws.

"Come on, it's just a rodent!" Mako tossed it back to the heiress.

"No!"

"Okay, we got off to a bad start." said the creature before geeing tossed to Mako, who tossed him back to Asami.

"Ew, ew, I think it drooled on me!"

Finally, the meerkat landed head first into the dirt, his head literally deep in there. Seeing his struggle to break free, Bolin kindly pulled on his tail, yanking him off and holding him by the tail, leaving the creature to dangle upside down.

"Okay, let's start this thing over." the meerkat did a flip and landed on the ground, "First of all, and if you don't mind me asking….WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!"

Bolin was the first to introduce them, "Well, hello. I'm Bolin, this is Mako and Asami and we're looking for our friend. She's about five four, water tribe gal, around seventeen with long sparkly silver hair."

"Sorry, the only other humans I've seen around here are you and those two clowns."

"Hey!" both Mako and Asami exclaimed in annoyance.

"Wait, where's Jinora?" Asami asked, remembering they were technically four of them. They spotted the child over a few feet away, playing with the stunning butterfly.

Then, suddenly, the meerkat's ears perked upwards and the three teens felt a sudden chill in the air. All around them, they witnessed the flowers suddenly get sucked down into the ground and various floating spirits flying off as fast as they could, almost as if they were trying to run from something.

"Uh, what's going on?" Mako asked suspiciously.

"You humans better hide." the meerkat warned them, "They're coming!"

"Who's coming?" the firebender suddenly felt a shake on the ground, almost like an earthquake. Tiny pebbles jumbled like dice as the sound of what seemed to be a hawk cried out in the distance, almost like a warning. The teens squinted their eyes as they gazed into the distance, where stood several hilltops and something that appeared to be growing from behind them, almost like a swarm of angry ants crawling their way up and heading directly towards them. At first, the sound was muffled but it grew and grew in size as did the view. They appeared to be some strange looking creatures, primarily canine but with strange almost lion-like faces with purple, yellow and red coloring, tusks sticking out from their mouths and their bodies were glowing an eerie dark blue. The color scheme indicated they were dark spirits, an entire heard of them, larger than even Naga…and were heading directly at them.

It was a stamped of monstrous dark spirits. The three teens looked on in horror as the beasts ran faster and faster, destroying every beautiful tree and plant in their path, all the while chasing after any runaway spirit that dared to escape their carnivorous appetite.

"The lion dogs!" the meerkat screamed right before diving into his hole to hide. Jinora witnessed this as well, finally turning away from her butterfly to witnessed what was happening. Immediately, the teens started to run for their lives as fast as they could from the creatures Jinora caught up with them quickly and ran beside them.

The teens and little girl amped up their speed as best as they could, but the creatures were quickly gaining on them, snapping their jaws at them, their way of telling their pray they would soon be theirs to devour. Jinora panted as she shifted her gaze to in front of her to behind, seeing the creatures, some stopping on their tracks to eat any poor defenseless spirit they could grab, as well as destroy the once beautiful landscape.

"They're destroying everything!" the child exclaimed in sadness and horror. To think, these creatures were making such a mess in their own home.

"They've been corrupted!" Mako stated, panting as he ran, "They have no real control over their actions!"

"Let talking, more running!" Bolin fearfully cried out as he kept on running as fast as he could.

But even their two legs were no match for their two legs. Pretty soon, the stamped caught up to them, one of the creatures aimed to take a bite out of Jinora, only to be stopped when the meerkat from before came shooting out from the ground and kicked it in the nose.

"You!"

"Follow me!" the meerkat dove back down into the ground like a diver and began to dig faster than a speeding cheetah, creating a trail of dirt for the humans to follow. The meerkat led them to towards a dried up tree, with one long extended branch which hovered over a long abyss down bellow. Rapid waters collided with the rocks. The meerkat scurried up the branch and the humans climbed up it. Jinora went first, then Mako, Bolin and finally Asami. The lion dog snapped its jaws at the heiress, nearly inches away from her foot. While it didn't get her leg, it did grab her skirt. Asami gasped and broke one of the branches, using it to hit the creature and ordering it to release her. It did so, but also snapped the branch from her hand, breaking it into two pieces with its massive jaw. Asami took the chance to climb up further, with Bolin's help. The teens cried out in terror as the creatures began snapping and hitting against the tree. They couldn't climb but they could break the old dried up trunk and send the humans hurdling down the rapids.

The meerkat took a vine from the tree and began tying it around everybody's waists. He scurried to the very tip of the branch, which was getting lower and lower due to the weight of the beasts, and the children could practically smell the water from where they were.

"Okay, you're gonna have to jump!" the meerkat instructed.

"What are you crazy?!" Mako exclaimed in horror, "We'll die!"

"We'll all die if you hang on! Trust me!"

"Why should we trust you?"

A cracking sound from the trunk caused the group to shake and hold on tighter to the slowly breaking branch. The fear in his friends' eyes was enough to convince him. If they remained they would die, but then again the rapids waters would kill them as well. Still, maybe it wouldn't, after all why would this creature be helping them if he wasn't telling the truth? What would he have to gain from helping them. He made his mind.

"Guys, let go!"

Hesitantly, the group did as he ordered and let go of the branch. They screamed as they fell into the waters. The meerkat fell along with them. Once they hit the waters, they surfaced, gasping for air and tried to fight against the currents. The meerkat was swimming with ease beside them.

"Don't fight the current! It'll take you to where you need to go!" he explained, right before they hit a fork in the path, and the meerkat was being drifted off in the opposite direction to who knows where. His final words were; "Just stay together!"

The group were uncertain if this was wise or not, but then again they were in the spirit world so the rules of physics may not apply here. They thought.

The rapid waters were indeed fast, before they knew it their surroundings had completely changed. They suddenly found themselves heading down the rapids in a what appeared to be some kind of cave, where the waters seemed to rise upwards in a spiraling fashion, almost like a water slide. Minus all the fun.

They came near a sharp rock, which managed to snap Jinora's line and the child began to go adrift, away from the group once they intersected with a large boulder.

"Jinora!" Mako called out, stretching out his hand for her to grab, but it was too late, she was already too far away, the waters hiding her face from view as she was being taken away to parts unknown.

Bolin gripped Asami's hand and grabbed Mako's, not wanting to let anybody else get separated. The teens screamed as the river reached a waterfall, which apparently lead to nothing but a dark empty abyss.

As they fell, they suddenly realized their cloths were completely dry and the vine that wrapped around their waist as now gone. Darkness surrounded them as they fell, believing they would be falling for all eternity. However, they eventually did land on solid ground. Once they did the darkness faded and the group studied their surroundings. They appeared to be in some kind of forest, but not the beautiful kind. The trees were all dead, dark and dreary, fog surrounded them and the sky appeared to be glowing an eerie green color.

The three of them groaned as they stood up, rubbing their soar areas and dusting their cloths once they got up. Mako immediately began calling out for Korra's younger sister.

"Jinora?! Jinora!"

The group gasped when they heard what sounded like hissing coming from behind them. They spun around to see the most hideous dark spirits, sired around the trees like snakes, hissing at the group with their empty eyes and fork tongues.

They couldn't fight them off since the boys didn't have their bending, but the creatures didn't appear to be attacking so they took the chance to run as far away as they could. Deeper and deeper into the forest they went, moving past various vines and walking over broken twigs.

Asami shriek when a raven-like spirit screeched at her and flew over her head, nearly getting tangled in her hair. The group ran and ran, encountering horrifying bats that flew around them, even getting some of their cloths get tangled in some branches, almost as if a hand was grabbing them. Mako pulled on his long jacket, only to realize the branches were indeed pulling him back. Desperate, he tore off the lower end of his jacket and ran off with the others.

Bolin suddenly felt his feet grow lighter, only to realize too late that he had fallen into a hole. Asami and Mako tripped and fell alongside him. They screamed as they fell. Mako quickly grabbed hold of one of the dangling branches, sustaining his brother and Asami. The branch soon gave way and the group fell into a pool of shallow fresh water, getting their cloths wet again. For a moment, they believed all was over. But they spoke too soon.

They spotted several logs floating around them, only it didn't just appear that they were floating…but moving. One by one, the logs revealed to be some form of plant-alligator hybrids, ready to eat the teens. The group quickly ran out of the shallow pool. They managed to escape, finding the exit of the cave, but the danger wasn't over just yet. They bypassed more of the life-like plants, trying to take the teens, pulling at their cloths, leaving them in near rags and messing up Asami's hair in the process.

All the while Mako tried his best to stay brave for the others, but this was literally like something straight out of a nightmare. Only it was real. Terribly, painfully real. It was as if this place was fueling their fears by creating all of these obstacles, and they couldn't even fight. Asami didn't have her weapons and the boys had no bending. They never felt more helpless and terrified in their lives.

They ran and ran, encountering more and more obstacles that tried to grab them. Their legs were growing week, their spirits draining. Finally, they could go on no more.

Mako was, ironically, the first to get down on his knees, panting and sweating as he placed his fists onto the ground. Bolin practically passed out and Asami literally collided to the ground, her hair scattered across the ground. Each one sweaty and exhausted. For now, they saw no more monsters, no more creatures or dark spirits. All they saw was the dark endless forest.

(~)

I'm sorry for the long wait. Writer's block, family vacation, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, hope you guys can pick up the Disney easter eggs in here. The last scene is pretty obvious. Anyway, this story is soon coming to a close, so stay tuned and Happy New Year!

God bless, *kiss kiss*