Blessings be upon all your houses. Also this was the first chapter where your stone cold bastard of an author cried at her own fanfiction jsyk

(p.s. I fully expect all my theories and half my plot to be blown up by the finale tomorrow, but I finished this fic a while ago, so if the finale directly contradicts plot points in here then I won't be changing them—unless I rewrite, but that won't be in the near future—hope y'all understand!)

SIX

Korra unloaded the meagre information that she had to Asami; she made sure to mention the Dai Li. Perhaps she was clinging onto them because they were from Aang's time. Somewhere in her, she thought it would be neat to use a force that Aang had encountered in his time for her rebellion. After all, she was coming from the opposite place that he had been, from within the very machine that she was fighting. Above all, their loved ones had to be safe. She'd given Asami a rough approximation of where everyone was, and the other girl had promised to look into getting them out safely. Korra wasn't sure that she could survive anyone dying, at this point.

In all the excitement, discussing possible plans and allies, it wasn't until she was back in the rooms again that she realised with a jerk that she had forgotten to ask Asami about what she'd said about her bending—it's not permanent. It's your head. That was a bitter disappointment. For a good hour she couldn't stop turning it over. She had forgotten. Was she beginning to forget her bending? She couldn't. It was such a large part of her.

Amon appeared only once, and briefly, to shower and tell her that tomorrow, they'd be making their first public appearance. After one moment of uncomfortable scrutiny, he left her to her own devices. She moved about the room, executing kicks and punches, feeling largely panic and some strange anticipation at the idea of being outside after so long.

He held her hand tightly in the bridal style. The noise of the crowd outside made it through the walls of City Hall easily, the babbling echoing in her ears. Her heartbeat was racing wildly, something she was sure that he had noticed. She'd been instructed not to say anything unless she was given the go-ahead. It burned a little that he hadn't even given her rules except only to speak when allowed to; he thought that she was that cowed. How insulting.

Words had never been her strength anyway. This was something to endure. She was under the impression that it was only for propaganda purposes anyway. The security didn't even seem that rigorous. Well, if they were getting lazy, it was all better for her.

"We're ready," the Lieutenant said, standing to their side. Amon nodded to the people by the doors and slowly, painstakingly, they began to open them. The roar of the crowd rose to unbearable levels and, her mouth suddenly bone dry, Korra swallowed uncomfortably. She could face people. Press conferences weren't anything new to her. This was going to be okay, and then it was going to be over, and it would be fine.

The doors opened, and the girl who had been the Avatar and the Equalist stepped out onto the stage. Korra kept her expression reserved at best, hiding any abject panic; drawn and unhappy was the best she could act. They reached barriers set up at the edge of the platform that definitely hadn't been there before, large platinum bars separating them and the crowd. The press were jostling at the front of an enormous crowd, cameras flashing and mics being pushed forward. Their questions, shouted as loudly as possible, simply melded with the rest of the incoherent noise coming from the people.

Beside her, Korra could feel Amon tense slightly. His grip tightened ever so marginally, then slowly, deliberately loosened. Was something wrong? That wasn't the usual tug that he gave her to behave; that had seemed like it was coming from his end. Why was Amon tense? She surveyed the crowd. It did seem a little rowdy… perhaps things were going wrong. She hid the sly smile that threatened to emerge. The people weren't quite as subdued as Amon had made them out to be.

Gradually, the clamour subsided as Equalists stationed around the edges held up signs for quiet. It shrank to a burble and then near silence. The Lieutenant held out a mic, for which Amon relinquished his hold on Korra. She stood there, not sure what to do with herself and feeling painfully awkward. After uncomfortable fluttering, she settled on holding her hands together in front of her and staring at the platinum bars. The feedback from the mic echoed briefly and sharply around the make-shift arena, and Amon began.

"My people," he said. He was distant this way, the composed and in control ruler. Korra wondered idly, bitterly what the city would do, all those people shouting for their equality, if they knew what went on behind the doors of their beloved leader. He was a good speaker, but all those words and tricks masked a seriously twisted person, someone who switched between calm and fury in seconds. "For the first time, I present to Republic City myself and my wife, the image of the peace that can be between those who were benders and non-benders. We apologise that this has not come sooner; taking up the administration of a city has, of course, not been easy. With the situation stable, we are more than willing to accept your questions. Please, one at a time." The mic was set down on a stand in front of the two of them, and Amon put his hand back on her hip. "Smile," he said, sounding irritated. "Try to look more than sullen."

The first question was offered in an unusually orderly way. The crowd was nearly utterly silent, something that seemed odd in comparison with the press conferences that Korra had attended in the past. Cynically, she wondered where this was all just elaborately staged. Surveying the people assembled, standing in neat assembly, she concluded that this was just for propaganda. Another sign that the city wasn't as under control as he would like it to be, if he didn't trust the people to behave enough for a genuine conference.

"Is the honeymoon over for the newlyweds?" one man said. His voice was almost painfully jokey.

"We haven't had the time so far to have a honeymoon," Amon replied smoothly, turning to glance at her for a moment, "but the time ahead is busy, so perhaps we'll take a break when the bureaucracy is set up. It will happen." Korra switched off slightly, knowing that she wasn't expected to speak. All the questions were like the first, banal and superficial, as if they were headed for gossip newspapers rather than genuine reporting. She wouldn't put it past Amon to be controlling the newspapers; he'd always had good access to media. Drifting in and out between "Do you make time to eat dinner together?" and "Do you have any definite plans for future appearances?" Korra looked out across the people. The clock began to strike as it reached 11am, jolting her out of her stupor. The person speaking had gone quiet as it chimed, waiting for it to finish, and in the silence that reigned, nobody could help but to miss the shout from somewhere near the front.

"HOW LONG DO YOU THINK YOU'LL BE IN POWER, TYRANT?"

Korra jerked as an enormous gust of flame that rose somewhere near the back of the crowd, watching the pillar of fire be joined by a column of earth and then a beautiful arc of water rising above everything. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something unfurl, and twisted to see gigantic poster after gigantic poster rolling down the walls of the buildings either side of City Hall. They showcased sections the bright colours of each nation bleeding into each other in a large circle. The centre was a rendition of the iconic Yue Bay. The only writing was, in the traditional style, the two characters for freedom blazoned across the bottom and top. Her skin tingling, Korra remembered the descent upon the pro-bending arena, and grinned without fear as the rebels turned the meeting on its head.

The crowd, so quiet moments ago, was now going to pieces. People were moving about in restless worry; the bending show had come from the back, so nobody was willing to head that way—but it was the only exit. They milled about like koala sheep, noise rising into panic. Amon, who had been watching the spectacle with unbridled fury, seized the mic and said, "Do not panic. Stay calm and don't move," in a voice that undeniably carried anger over composure. He beckoned the Lieutenant over, pushed the mic away and hissed, "Find them. If anyone resists, kill them. It will be a tragic accident incited by bending aggression." The Lieutenant nodded, producing his kali sticks, and beckoned forth a group of Equalists.

Shows of bending were now emerging seemingly at random from multiple points in the crowd, which accordingly panicked. In the confusion of milling, fleeing people, Korra couldn't pinpoint where any of it was coming from. One moment it was to her right and near the front, the next moment it was more in the centre, and then it was at the right and to the back. Amon swore, the first time she'd heard him curse, and she looked to him. This was anarchy, and it was fantastic and planned and resistance, but he was terribly, terribly angry. She suspected that she knew who that anger was going to end up being channelled through.

The sound of a chant was emerging amongst the chaos of screaming and shouting, a mantra that grew and grew out of the people. Korra's skin prickled. There must be far more of the resistance than she could have ever thought in there, to make this sound, this war cry.

"Freedom," the people shouted, and it swelled up and passed right through her. Tears in her eyes, determined and angry and proud, Korra rushed forward to the bars. Amon made a grab for her, but she dodged him with ease that came only from adrenaline. Her hands locked onto the bars, and she clambered onto them in a frenzy, standing on top of the rail.

"FREEDOM," she shouted back, throwing her arms into the air, knowing that she was far past the point of no return.

It was only once they'd dragged her back inside and unceremoniously dumped her in her old cell, locked and barred the door and left her to herself that she thought for the first time of the personal consequences that her actions might have. With a dreadful gasp, she clapped her hands over her own mouth. Next time you defy me like this, I will have one of them killed. Is that clear? It felt as if her stomach had dropped out of her body. No. No. No. She hadn't thought, caught up in the intoxication of clear, open rebellion. For a second, she'd felt like the Avatar again. Powerful and strong, at the eye of the storm, and she'd let it get to her head and not for a second thought of everyone else.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and shrank in on herself. Someone was going to die because of her. Would it be Mako? Would it be Bolin, or Tenzin, or one of the—she couldn't think about, it was impossible. Why hadn't anyone come yet to tell her who would be executed? Maybe they were going to let her squirm for as long as possible, starve her and weaken her again. She'd just begun to regain some strength and muscle with even the irregular meals they'd been giving her. Starvation was far more painful that she had ever thought it might be. Someone was going to die. Exhausted and weak, she curled up on the hard slat that passed for a bed, and slept. Being awake was unbearable.

The quiet squeak of her door opening awoke her, and she jerked up with the ease of habit from paranoia only to see a hooded person in the door. Underneath the hood, Asami looked out at her, smiling wistfully. "Hello," she whispered, "I don't have long, Korra, but I needed to see you." The first bit of gentleness opened up the floodgates, and Korra began quietly to cry. "Oh, come here—I'm sorry, you should have been warned, but I didn't have time to get you a message. It was big, though, wasn't it? And not one person got captured. It was a victory, Korra, and we never expected you to leap in like that, something we never could have hoped for." She sat down on the slat with Korra, who hesitantly held onto her.

"He'll kill someone," Korra sobbed. "He'll kill them because of what I did—Tenzin or Lin or Pema or the kids, and it'll be all my fault." Asami was silent for a moment, and Korra took it as her trying to think how to apologise, or how to deal with it. She was surprised when Asami replied decisively,

"He can't."

"He… can't?" Korra said thickly, her nose running horribly. Asami fished a tissue out of her breast pocket and offered it to Korra, who took it gratefully and blew her nose quietly, feeling disgusting. "He said he would if I didn't do what he said, and then this…"

"Korra, I think Amon's been giving you the information he wants you to hear," Asami said firmly. "He can't kill Tenzin, Pema or the children, because they're the last airbender family in the world. They're far too well known. The city is under the impression that they're safe, under house arrest on Air Temple Island. And—oh wait, I'll tell you that in a second. If he killed defenceless children, even supporters would rise up. And Lin, she's too high profile as well. The city's already suspicious that she hasn't been seen in a while… questions are being asked, and they're not being answered, and people are starting to think about that. And of course, Mako and Bolin, you were in the pro-bending championships, you nearly won. He just can't kill anyone of those people. He's made a bluff that I don't think he was expecting you to call him on."

Korra sat there, barely daring to hope, taking it in and turning it over in her mind. It… made sense. Considering the state of an orchestrated press conference today, it made sense that he wouldn't be able to kill them… There were already riots. If he murdered defenceless prisoners and it got out then he'd be in serious trouble. Slowly, she calmed down. It seemed dangerous for Amon to bluff, though. He must have thought that she was so submissive that she'd never cross it. She breathed in anger. She wasn't the beaten little girl that he thought she was.

"Okay," she said, her voice still thick and trembling. "Okay. Have you got anywhere with getting them out?"

Asami held up a hand and extended one finger, tapping it against her leg. "I found Bolin first." For a moment she was quiet, frowning. "I didn't expect them to look that bad. I didn't think that he'd really hurt them. If I'd known, then I never would have…"

"It's okay," Korra said, grinning weakly. "You're making up for it."

"I know. I'm going to show them that I'm not a helpless little rich girl," she said, steel in her voice that Korra would never have expected from Asami. "I'm not 'Miss Sato'. I'm Asami." She looked down seriously at Korra. "I'm going to help you, and we're going to win. I know where Bolin is, and Mako too," she added, flicking up more fingers, "I've seen the kids and talked to them—they're safe, Korra, I know the person who's in charge of taking care of them, and he's a good person." She rubbed at her forehead. "There are too many good people in here who don't really know what they're doing. I think Lin's being kept somewhere else; I didn't want to push my luck… and Tenzin. Korra, Tenzin." She was undeniably excited.

"What about Tenzin? Is he okay?"

"He's being kept somewhere special; I found this out a while back but I never had a chance to tell you. I was talking to my friend, the one who's in charge of the kids, and they seemed so shifty about him when I asked—just making conversation—and I did little snooping of my own. He's not in a regular cell like this; he's locked up with much more stringent security, Korra, because he's got his bending back."

Korra shot up from lying on the slat. She'd thought about her bending plenty of times, but assumed that the process would be hard and long and that the answer would require a trip to the spirit world or that spiritual stuff that she wasn't so good at. She'd thought that as the Avatar it would probably just be her who'd figure out how to get it back. But if Tenzin had found a way to get his bending back, then that meant that other people might have as well. She breathed in, expression alight with the possibilities.

"I have to go now, but I hope you're feeling a bit better," Asami said, getting up and then stooping down to kiss the top of her head. "I'm working with the underground—there's a whole underground already, an organised resistance working to undermine the Equalists. We're working for a future that's genuinely equal, and you're such a part of that. Never lose hope, Korra." She smiled gleefully. Korra smiled back, and tried to stifle the loneliness that rose as Asami left, the door shutting quietly after her.