The grip on his arm was unyielding.

After almost four years in prison, Hiroshi Sato was used to force. Once you were behind bars, no one cared that you were once the most successful businessman in the city. If they wanted something from you, they took it. Violently. He'd had his fair share of rough handling over the years and it had worn him down. He didn't resist anymore.

But when Avatar Korra merely pulled him to the side of the workshop away from all the others, without even slamming him into a wall to intimidate him, Hiroshi was puzzled.

"Let me make one thing very clear, Mr. Sato." The young Avatar said to him as he stumbled slightly. Her blue eyes burned with anger. "I don't trust you."

"I know." Hiroshi replied, no fight in his voice. "You don't need to. I'm here today for Republic City. And for my daughter."

The Avatar's face contorted at his words and she glanced over her shoulder.

For a moment, the two of them just watched the raven-haired inventor from across the room. Asami was talking animatedly with Varrick and Zhu Li, discussing the tools they would need to convert a welding torch to a plasma saw.

Hiroshi felt his face soften. "I'm glad she's become an even better inventor than I ever was. It makes me so proud to see her so valued and respected by the city."

He expected the Avatar to snap at him, even to hit him. The last time he'd seen the young girl, she'd been hot-headed and stubborn, easy to provoke.

But to his surprise the young woman merely sighed. "I know you and Asami have come a long way since the Equalist movement…" she began softly, almost sounding gentle. "She told me about the letters and the Paisho games…"

Hiroshi said nothing, wondering what kind of humorous game fate was playing that his daughter had apparently become so close to the Avatar this quickly.

Avatar Korra was still watching his daughter, looking for all the world like she was trying to read the young inventor's thoughts. "She's been happier…she talks about you more now, about the possibility that she may actually forgive you some day." The Avatar looked sideways at him. "But she still isn't there yet."

Hiroshi remained silent. He knew it was too much to hope that all his sins could be forgiven. Some sins just could not be repented.

The Avatar turned entirely around, placing one hand on the wall, effectively cornering him even though she made no move to restrain him. "You haven't been around recently." She told him softly, her voice hard and challenging. "You haven't seen how much she's suffered because of what you did."

Hiroshi lowered his gaze, not even trying to pretend he had any sort of defense of his actions. He knew exactly what had happened since he'd been locked up. Newspapers occasionally made it into the prison and when they didn't, listening to the guards was enough to get him most of the city gossip and drama.

"She had to build her company up from rubble after your actions." Korra continued. Her fist was clenched tightly and pressed into the wall but not near enough to him that he felt she was trying to threaten him. "She had to do it alone because so many of your employees quit after learning of your Equalist ties. And she did it all without a single complaint, without even a hint of the pain she was feeling. Hell, she took care of me and Mako and Bolin through all that."

He saw Asami glance over at them briefly, a confused smile flickering past her face before returning to her work. The Avatar's jaw clenched and her fist trembled. "But you and I both know just how good she is at pretending she's fine so as not to worry others."

Hiroshi bowed his head, his chin touching his chest. His little girl. After her mother died, she had been the one comforting him. A six-year-old had had to comfort a grown man. Asami had always been compassionate, strong and able to bury her pain more effectively than most would consider healthy. It was a family trait he supposed. Only while his pain had stewed and festered into anti-bender hatred, hers had strengthened her and turned her into a strong, independent business tycoon.

The Avatar slowly uncurled her fist as she watched his daughter talk animatedly with Zhu Li. "Asami is very fragile right now, the smallest of betrayals could destroy her." Her voice was soft, laced with worry for her friend. She turned to face him, a promise of pain in her eyes. "So if I even suspect that you are up to anything, I will end you."

"Do you really think I would make the same mistake of hurting my daughter twice?"

The Avatar said nothing. The past lay silently between them, a gaping chasm that even the Avatar could not bridge.

Hiroshi slowly lifted his head gazing up at the girl. "Asami and I have indeed come a long way, Avatar. Much further than I ever dared hope. That is all I have left in this world. My wife is gone, I have no worldly possessions, no honor, barely even my dignity. But to have even the smallest bit of my daughter's affection, even the tiniest hope that she might even consider forgiving me…that is all I need in this world."

The Avatar remained silent, mulling over his words. She turned back to watch Asami again, her eyes softening ever so slightly as she watched the inventor pulling on her work gloves with a determined expression. Hiroshi watched the Avatar carefully, a small smile of realization lighting up his face.

After a long moment, Korra finally turned back to him.

"Get to work." She told him bluntly, her hand sliding off the wall. "Your plan is our only shot."

Hiroshi nodded and stepped around Korra to make his way over to the hummingbird suits. As he approached, his daughter looked up at him.

And smiled.

Hiroshi Sato stopped in his tracks, drinking in the sight he had longed to see for so long. His daughter, happy and excited, ready for another game of Paisho or a lesson on the Satomobile engines. In that moment, she was all at once the six-year-old who was his whole world and the wonderful woman that he longed to connect with again. That smile was all he had thought about in prison, it was the only thing he had wanted in his darkest hours.

It must be protected at all costs, even if he couldn't be the one doing it.

"Avatar Korra…"

Korra looked up, turning back to face Hiroshi as the older man glanced at her over his shoulder.

Hiroshi Sato offered the girl he had once tried to kill a warm, genuine smile.

"You will take care of my daughter, wont you?"

The Avatar's response was instant and iron-clad:

"Always."

A.N.: Asami really is not given enough credit for all the crap she had to put up with. Seriously, stop ganging up on Asami, world!