Warnings for:
- Child death, though it's not graphic.
- Implied/referenced cheating [Zutara].
- Don't read if you like Kataraang.
- Intrusive thoughts.
For context:
- I basically mushed all four books together.
- Amon isn't an equalist, nor did he start the equalists' movement, but a vigilante, who takes justice into his own hands.
- Yakone is implied to be alive.
Don't do this!
Don't do that!
Can't do this!
Can do that!
Bei-fong said something before snapping her fingers in front of her face, tearing her away from her embittered thoughts. For a moment she considered taking a bite out of her hand for the audacity. Wagging her finger in front of her like she was a misbehaving child!
Korra sent her a withering glare which did not phase the policewoman in the slightest. She only scowled at her in return, "Do I have your attention now?"
"Why?" Korra frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "Am I under arrest or what?"
Beifong narrowed her eyes. Any grown man would've shat themselves in fright. If Korra wasn't as brash as she was, she would admit that Beifong was one scary woman. But she wasn't. Beifong's yard-long, quiet stare did very little to phase her; instead, it only fueled her thirst for rebellion.
Rapping her knuckles against the wooden table she was forced to sit at, she finally answered after a moment of grueling silence "What do you think, Avatar?"
"I was trying to help you!"
"You were interfering with police business!"
"No offense, Beifong but your metal-bending lackeys were getting their asses handed to them! They were about to drown the whole block, so I stepped in like I was supposed to!"
"Supposed to?" She arched her brow, the disapproving infliction in her voice only grew louder "And who told you that?"
"Because I'm the Avatar! It's supposed to be my job to help! That's why I'm here, aren't I?!
"Oh please, you're only here because you stowed away, following Tenzin here like a lost puppy. You're here, whether we want you or not to complete your training! Not to interfere with my work by making my job harder!"
"Harder?! I was making it easier!"
"Being the Avatar doesn't give you a free pass to do whatever the hell you want, kid. We have rules and laws here for a reason, not so you can go about breaking them all willy-nilly just because you feel like it!"
Korra furrowed her brows, slowly grinding her teeth together in frustration. She really wanted to argue further, but soon enough realized she'd be here forever, yelling at what was essentially a brick wall. As it goes in most pro-bending circles, she threw in the towel. Too angry and frustrated to try and prove a point. What did it matter when nobody cared enough to listen to what she had to say anyway.
"Alright, fine, whatever! I won't do it again, happy now, but don't come crying to me when they burn down the whole damn city!"
.
.
.
Meditation was once again a no-go. No Avatar state, no air bending, no nothing. Tenzin only rubbed salt in the ever-growing wound by telling her to have patience, she's just a late bloomer, she'll get it eventually. She was so tired of hearing that. The sentiment wasn't helping her get better in the slightest.
Mako still wasn't speaking to her. In retrospect, the kiss was a very, very bad idea to begin with. What had she been thinking!? Stupid, Korra stupid! She just had to go and make a mess of things and now the guy she likes hates her and Bolin's been avoiding her since he witnessed the kiss. How was she supposed to know he had a thing for her!? Now, she felt super guilty about breaking his heart.
.
.
.
The fearsome vigilante Amon - strikes again!
Korra frowns at the newspaper headline Tenzin was skimming through at the table. "Y'know if Lin didn't have a stick up her ass, I would've handled that guy a long time ago."
"But, Korra didn't he kick your ass before!"
"Ikki, language!" Pema chastised as she placed down the last breakfast plate.
"But, it's true!"
"Yeah, well he caught me off guard. Next time he won't be so lucky."
"Good thing there won't be a next time," Tenzin admonished.
Korra sighed, here we go again. "No more interfering with Police business, Korra."
"I know, I know, I promised I wouldn't, didn't I." She grumbled under her breath.
The Amon guy was a real nutter. Leaving an endless trail of blood and bodies, for what Korra could learn, for years now. No leads, no hints at his identity, no one knows where this guy even came from, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, Fire Nation - it was really anyone's guess. And more importantly, has never been caught. Ever. His whole creepy calling card was that he was "cleansing the world of the undesirables". If the council or the police won't do anything about the corruption he'll root it out himself.
"I am the solution, the long-needed answer." Like she said - a total nutter. Even his voice gives her the total heebie-jeebies.
.
.
.
Korra gagged as she watched Asami and Mako make goo-goo eyes at each from across the room. It was worse than gross, it was actually stomach-turning. And she thought her parents were too mushy with each other. This was puke-inducing ungodly gooeyness. Blech!
At least Bolin had warmed back up to her again. Mako still wouldn't talk to her though, even though he had kissed her back. Why did she like him again? Hormones were a dangerous thing, Korra. Best to steer clear. Best to steer clear.
.
.
.
Smoke burns her lungs, thoughts, her mind - she squints all spin in a whirlwind. But once she's out, she pulls in greedy gulps of air, nearly dropping her charge on the floor - she didn't have time - she placed him on the floor. Alarms blare in her ear, deafening, piercing, painful, battering the inside of her ear drums.
Korra reaches, pulling water from the fountain nearby using it to douse the flames. Uses her fire bending to pull the flames back and her earth bending to smother what she could. Until help arrived. When it did, she immediately ran back inside to pull people from the rubble and debris.
It was chaos personified. A weird contrast to the cold calm of the North Pole. Police were everywhere shouting, yelling over the screeching alarms. Barricades were placed. The fire brigade marched in while the press like vultures to a carcass kept trying to push their way in closer. Popping lights, impatient questions being hollered left and right. Threats and warnings of arrest were thrown back half-barked. Bystanders were clogging all the escape routes. Friends, families, and acquaintances were crying out, asking where their loved ones were, if they were found, if they were alive, okay, alright!?
One of the victims was a child.
Oh no, oh no, and she wasn't breathing. Using her skills as a healer she scanned her body and found her lungs were full of smoke. Gritting her teeth, she went to work, desperately trying to remove the ash from her body.
It wasn't enough, she still wasn't breathing, immediately Korra folded her hands over her chest, pressing down to restart her heart as she forced air into her burnt lungs.
It still wasn't enough, but Korra was too stubborn to give up. Again and again! Please, please, please, she hadn't realized she had begun crying until a healer, a city-licensed one pulled her back, scared, not knowing what to do, she let them by and stepped back.
It still wasn't enough.
The little girl died.
She was too late.
.
.
.
They lost their three back-to-back matches in a row. Under any normal circumstance, it would've been a blow to her ego. Losing like that, she's always had a competitive streak, but right now all she could think about was the little girl she failed to save.
Her parents survived, now left to bury their only child. And it was her fault, all her fault. If she had gotten there sooner, if she just had her air bending down patched then - then -
She-
Korra shudders.
"Earth to Korra!"
"Hu-" She hadn't seen it coming until she felt it.
"And Avatar Korra's been struck out, Ladies and Gentlemen!"
.
.
.
"Korra, what on earth!?"
It was hard to speak given how swollen the left side of her face was, "Ihadanaccident."
"I can see that!"
"IthinkIlostatooth," she held her cheek. Flesh raw and tender beneath her soft, cold palm.
Tenzin fussed over her, muttering under his breath about Pro-bending brutes. Pema applied a cold pack to her face, so she didn't have to use her hand. It hurt like hell. It burned to talk or try to move her jaw, so she kept it clamped tight. She couldn't even feel bad about missing dinner, she couldn't imagine the pain she'd feel if she tried.
When the water healer Tenzin called for came, the relief was instant. Though all the muscles and skin felt taunt and all used up like someone had stretched her face from one far end to the other.
She did lose a tooth though.
.
.
.
It's all your fault, it's all your fault,
It's all your fault, fault, fault, fault,
Your fault!
Korra didn't know when that little voice in her head started talking. But it was very hard to ignore once she realized it. Like a desperate incessant ringing in her ear, reminding her constantly of everything she's done wrong and will do wrong.
Korra shook her head, a vain attempt at trying to shake loose the sticky thoughts. She didn't exactly know where she was going and why, all that she knew was that she felt like kicking herself. Hard. She felt stupid, mortified, like the biggest idiot that ever dared to walk the earth realizing for the first time that she might've bit off more than she can chew at once.
And she hated herself for that. Almost to the point of self-loathing. Hence why she was wandering without a purpose until she eventually ended up at some shady bar in some shady part of the city she's never been to. Tenzin would have heart failure if he knew, but what he didn't know won't kill him.
Hopefully.
Korra pushed the beaded curtain aside, they rustled in her ear and brushed over her cheek. The furniture inside was Water Tribe in design, a mixture of both Southern and Northern. The radio was playing. The bar was warm - toasty like a campfire. It helped that everything smelled like firewood. And the low-hanging lights were dimmed to an orange hue that kind of reminded her of sunset, just before the sun dipped underneath the waves. Nobody but her was there. It almost felt eerie, surreal, like she was walking into a dream.
When she reached the bar to hop onto a stool she wasn't sure what to do. Quietly drumming her fingers across the smooth wooden surface of the table, Korra wasn't exactly familiar with alcohol. All the pretty colored drinks fascinated her, but where did one start? Or pick. She definitely didn't want to try something that'll flip her brain inside out with just one sip.
"Something you want, little girl?" She hadn't seen the bartender at first. Probably was in the back of the store from the looks of it. He was an older gentleman, water tribe obviously with gray short hair, and a white scar across his right eyebrow. Voice scratchy and gruff, a smoker's voice. As she knows they call it.
"A drink," she says matter of factly.
He cocks his brow at her, in a way that she feels is slightly condescending, "I don't serve kids,"
"What part of me looks like a kid, asshole!?"
"Big mouth for such a little girl,"
If Korra were in a better mood she'd knock his teeth out. No problem. But tonight, she simply wasn't in the mood to start a fight, feeling burnt out. Which was so unlike her - she knew.
So, she wasn't about to cave his head in any time soon and just opted to verbally spar with him until he'd give up, leave her alone and give her what she wanted. What she came here to do.
Wallow.
"Do you get paid to be a jerk or does that come with the job?"
"I can very well show you the door, little miss,"
"I like to see you try, rocks-for-brains," Just as he was about to retort or kick her out, she wasn't sure which - a familiar voice barged into the fray. Without much warning. Without fanfare.
"That won't be necessary, Nanouk. Put it on my tab if you will,"
"You know this dame, Amon?"
"Does it matter?" There's almost a lazy cadence to his voice.
"Guess not, whatever."
"What are you doing here?" It came out less like a hiss and more like a resigned sigh.
"I can very well ask you the same question, Avatar," he sat next to her, uncomfortably close. Strangely enough, he reeked, like something burnt, like charcoal, like smoke for some reason or rather reasons she did not want to know about. Murder, death, bodies, blood, blood. That little girl's face.
"The distinguished rarely grace such places. At least not so blatantly.
"Did you follow me here just to push my buttons? If so, get in line like everyone else. I have enough shit to deal with!"
"There's not enough time in the day, Avatar. I have more important affairs to tend to."
"Yeah, like murder, and a whole list of illegal shady shit you do on the down low! Please, if I'm missing something, fill me in."
"Awfully snippy tonight, more so than usual."
"Well, I've had a crappy week and you aren't making it better!"
"Trouble in paradise?" The mockery practically drips from his voice. Korra thinks twice about punching his mask in. Knowing full well he might see it a mile away and chi block her before she could blink.
The bartender returns, placing two tiny, crystalline cups before them, filling them with brown liquid that smells strangely metallic to her.
"What does it matter to you," she muttered, pulling her drink closer, "it's not like you care,"
"I don't, just simply a curious man by nature,"
Korra squints at him "..sure you are.."
"Here I bought you a drink, a penny for a thought if you will," Korra eyed the bright shiny ember liquid warily.
Amon was obviously a regular here. The bar guy knew him. He could've drugged it for all she knew as some sort of elaborate plan. But maybe she's overthinking it. Or maybe she should be cautious. It didn't seem like his style and why would he drug her anyways? If it's to get her out of his way, he's already done a fine job at that, always thousands of steps ahead of literally everyone, Lin Beifong included. And if it's an attempt at humiliating her, well, it's not like he can drag her battered reputation anymore through the mud. So throwing all safety to the wind and like a moth to a flame she reaches down, takes a swing, and almost choked. She had too much dignity to spit it back out, she wasn't one to waste food so she swallowed.
"God, that's awful!"
"It's an acquired taste,"
"It's like drinking - "There wasn't a word she could think of to describe the burning flavor. Kind of like spice but without the things that made spicy stuff actually taste good, "I don't know sulfur or something,"
"You get used to it after a while,"
"Why would I want to drink something I'd have to get used to?"
"You don't drink much do you?"
"No, not really." This was her first drink, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
"Then why come here at all?"
"What most people come here to do, drown their sorrows," she took another swig, just smaller than the last one, but that didn't mean it tasted better the second time around.
"The world's not so saccharine and sweet as you've once been led to believe it was" Korra frowned, her lips tight, "judging by your expression I'm assuming,"
"What would you know, oh mighty, Amon?"
"I've lived in this city long enough," Korra bites the inside of her cheek. Pretty sure that was the first concrete piece of information she's got from the creep to date. So he was born here, huh? Or at least emigrated here for who knows how long. However, she's not so sure whether he slipped that fact out into the open on purpose or not. The dick.
"...I couldn't save someone,"
"From the massive fire," she was about to ask how he knew about that but remembered it was front-page news.
"Yeah, she was just a little girl, I got to her too late, and there was nothing I could do about it. Or about all the - y'know - destruction."
"First death?"
"...human one? Then, yeah?"
Korra breathed in, "I'm the Avatar I'm supposed to save people. And yet - everyone knows who was responsible for it, but no one will let me do anything about it, it's just - Ugh!" She hit the table "It's so damn frustrating when nobody won't tell you anything!"
"And now understand why I do not bother with the law. Politics, bureaucracies, the council, the police, they're useless. Far more concerned with appearances and proprietary than doing anything of worth."
For once Korra can't disagree with him. Politics and bureaucracies have been nothing more than a pain in her ass lately. So much that she felt so useless. Everywhere she went roadblocks disrupted her path. No one would let her do what she needed to do; all these rules and restrictions were suffocating. Choking the air right out of her.
"I don't hear a disagreement?"
"I guess-" she can't believe what she's saying, but, "you're not entirely wrong. Politics suck ass,"
"How eloquently put,"
"Bite me, asshole!"
He doesn't answer, but she can't shake the feeling that he was silently laughing at her. She glared at him from the corner of her eye, watching with sudden interest as he lifted his mask. Korra tried to see if she could get a peak, but he angled it in such a way that the shadows of the dimly lit bar obscured his face from her sight. Dammit.
"Seeing my face will not give you clues about my true identity, Avatar."
"Then why hide it then?" Then she grinned, "Really that ugly, huh?"
"I have my reasons,"
"Or did someone barbecue it?"
"Is that a genuine question or are you fishing for information?"
"Does it matter?"
"Not particularly," Korra frowned, tapping her fingers against the table. If he wasn't ugly and nobody roasted him over a fire, her only good third guess would be - hm -
"Can it be that you are related to some unsavory people, so you don't want anyone to connect the dots?" It was just a random wild guess she threw out with half a mind, but it was enough to send Amon into a very quiet trance for a brief moment "Oh-hey, wait am I right?!"
"Think what you like," he took another sip from his drink.
"So, like some up top hotshot with a lot of money?"
"Do you mean Chief Unalaq?"
Korra stiffened at the sound of her Uncle's name, "Ah, huh? So, you know about that - I mean -"
"Perhaps you shouldn't throw rocks inside glass houses, Avatar,"
"I wasn't! I was just - ugh - whatever, forget I said anything!"
Everything went quiet for a moment. Amon was still here, glued to his chair, silent as he sipped from his cup. To be honest she should be beating his ass or at least call someone. Lin, Tenzin, or something, but even if she tried, the moment he realized she was up to something sneaky she'd be seeing stars right about now. Or he'd be long gone before she even finished - I need to use the bathroom -
The guy was way too careful for comfort to let his guard down easily. So that left her without much of a plan. And that was fine and dandy with her, she was good at working with no plan at all, just going with the flow. But this was Amon, and Korra knows now that engaging him without thinking things through was dangerous on her end. Amon was no ordinary run-of-the-mill two-bit criminal, he was a real deal threat. And she needed to treat him like one.
But that wasn't happening tonight. So that left her with little else to do. And the very uncomfortable silence sitting between them left little to be desired. She wasn't ready to go home just yet. Frankly, she was just avoiding it. Going to bed meant staying up wide awake, replaying that day over and over again in her head. Wondering what she could have done differently, praying that maybe, maybe if she regretted hard enough she could turn back the clock and recreate time. Her thoughts running wild and rampant until she's simply nothing more than a sniveling ball of self-loathing.
Yeah, she'll pass on that. For now.
So -
"You know what, you kind of remind me of him,"
"Who?"
"My uncle in the way he reminds me of that snake Tarrlok."
"I've never met either of them,"
"Well, all three of you sound alike, talk alike, thinking that weird thing - the ends justify the means type of deal. Now that I think about it, it's really freaking creepy,"
Amon snorts.
"Are you sure you and Tarrlok aren't related?"
"Tarrlok's far more suited for a job selling snake oil than he is as a politician. He's a fool wearing a suit that's far too big for him; seeding only division among benders and non-benders alike, like a plague."
It was her turn to snort, "You don't like him either, huh?"
"A newt with half a brain could do his job better,"
Korra laughs, "god, I feel bad for that guy's mom, imagine giving birth to that pompous jackass. Or anybody decent related to him actually,"
She heaves out a sigh," If there's another thing all you three have in common it's being a pain in my ass. I have Tarrlok doing, well Tarrlok things, you out there killing everyone who so much as looks at you funny, and my Uncle in the South trying to start a war. Now everyone either thinks it's my fault he's an egomaniacal lunatic, or if I try and get involved the White Lotus wag their fingers at me and tell me I have to be neutral."
Besides that, the tense situation had given the reporters a field day. Wolves to the carcass. How many times does she have to say, "No, I don't support my crazy lunatic uncle, next!" Before the seedy creeps get that through their thick dumb skulls.
Korra spat, "It's bad enough that everyone compares me to Aang, too. Avatar Aang wouldn't do that, he wouldn't do this, he wouldn't approve of that. I mean it's like no matter what I do everyone's gonna hate me for it,"
"Look at the bright side, Avatar, at least your actions didn't lead to a worldwide genocide,"
Korra wrinkled her nose, "That's not fair! Aang was twelve!"
"Does it matter?" She can hear the arch of his brow in his tone, "His actions still lead to the death of millions,"
"He was 12!"
"He was the Avatar, he had a responsibility, and he scorned it,"
Korra frowned, now she really wanted to punch him in the face, mostly because she wanted to desperately settle the score, partly because she felt the protective need to defend her predecessor, or technically herself. Kind of. Sort of. Anyways! That was not the point!
"How could you know, you're not the Avatar, you don't know what it's like to carry that kind of responsibility on your shoulders!"
"True. I don't know. And frankly, it highlights the problem, that no one human should be that powerful, so powerful that they could tip the scale of balance between our world and the next."
"Well! What do you expect me to do? I can't control how reincarnation works! I didn't ask to be the Avatar! I didn't ask to be born, just like I'm sure as hell know you didn't, or anyone else for that matter! So, don't go blaming me for it! Take it up with the gods or something!"
"I never said that."
"Ugh!" Korra groaned "I'd have a better chance arguing with a damn wall," she muttered under her breath.
"Avatar Aang left a lot to be desired." He began again.
"Aang was a great Avatar!"
"In power? Then yes. He was indeed great as far as the mastery of the elements went. As for everything else - not so much."
Korra covered her mouth as she coughed, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"He was a man that favored half-measures. Removing people's bending did nothing to stop the rampant crime rate, he made it worse, made them worse than monsters," there's a prickly edge to his voice that even she notices, Korra can't help but feel like Amon's animosity towards Avatar Aang was somehow personal for whatever reason. Quietly she filed that piece of info away for later. Hoping it might come in handy somewhere down the road.
Maybe.
"It was nothing more than a poorly thought-out crutch,"
"So, what did you want him to do -" she says slowly, " kill them?"
He goes steely silent for one long moment, "Need I have to explain myself? You know exactly what I think,"
"What good would killing them do!?"
Amon turned towards her moving in a way that made it seem like he didn't at all, it was slow, it was calculated, it was so damn eerie, "And what good did taking their bending do?"
"I-" Korra huffed, fumbling, she was terrible at answering questions on the spot. It's how the press tripped her up all the time. She wasn't trained for that shit -
"I don't know, but there's other ways that don't include - well massacre. Besides, Aang was an Air Nomad, life is sacred to them, they don't believe in taking life under any circumstance."
"If Avatar Aang's pacifism only leads to more death then how much does he truly regard life? If he won't kill one to save millions - then what good are his beliefs?"
Amon threw back the rest of his drink before motioning for a refill. Korra opens her mouth to say something, anything, but she's not sure what to say to that.
"I'm starting to think you really just hate the guy,"
"You're deflecting,"
"Am not, you're just being a giant ass. Aang did what he could,"
"And it wasn't enough, too naive, too soft-hearted to do what needed to be done,"
"And so what? You're the answer the world needs?"
"I never said that."
"Seriously!? Don't lie - what's with all - I'm the answer - bullshit?"
"I never said it, in the beginning," he clarified "but it's what the people believe, what they want to hear, so I tell them what they want to hear,"
Korra swallowed, "so, you're just manipulating people into thinking you're looking after them? You really are twisted,"
"Believe what you like to believe, Avatar, but my tactics aren't so different from the council. They lie, they manipulate, they pull strings to suit their own purposes, to persuade the public that they are on their side, that they are looking out for their best interests when they are in actuality only concerned with hoarding their own power."
"I mean some of them are. But Tenzin's not like that! He may be fussy, too obsessed with traditions and all that, but he's a good man, an honest man, like my Master Katara, he's nothing like those snakes!"
To her astonishment Amon barked out a laugh, his drink held to his lips "Oh, that's rich."
Korra snapped her brows together, completely thrown for a loop, "What's so funny?"
"Master Tenzin is honest but complacent and Master Katara was hardly honest, not as much as the world liked to believe anyways," he took another sip.
"Excuse me!? Katara's like the most honest, compassionate person that ever lived! How dare you!?"
"Oh, so you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"About the rumors,"
"What rumors?"
"Hm, perhaps I shouldn't tell you, I'd hardly wish to slander your master,"
"Well, too late for that, so spill, what rumors?"
"About her daughter - Kya."
"I thought this was about Katara, not Kya,"
"That she, Kya, is rumored to be Firelord Zuko's daughter, not Avatar Aang's, brought about by an illicit affair between your master and the former emperor,"
She would've laughed herself to death if the statement had come from anyone else, instead, she felt her blood turn to ice, "Master Katara would never, ever do that! She and Aang loved each other! We're loyal to each other! Everyone knew that, a love story of an entire generation!"
"Oh, who knew you were such a romantic, Avatar?"
"It's true!"
"Are you so sure about that?"
"Of course! I know my master!"
"Are you sure you do, or just the one you idealized inside your head?"
"You really like to hear yourself talk don't you?" She deflected. She was unable to hide the discomfort from her voice.
"Master Katara was human like anybody else. The problem with you, Avatar Korra, is that you think in terms of black and white. Nothing in this world is absolute."
"Oh, so you're a monk now?"
"No."
Korra snorts under her breath, "You really like to act like you know everything,"
"I know more than you do at least." Korra fumed "You can't even see the things that lay so blatantly under your own nose."
"Katara was not a cheater!"
"Whatever helps you sleep easy at night, Avatar,"
"Asshole!"
"Well, you wanted to know,"
"I hate you know that,"
"Not really new news then-"
"Are you two done with your little philosophy quibble, because I'd like to close shop and go home," Korra blinked, she had almost forgotten about the bartender. Hadn't so much as said a word since Amon wandered in. Was he on a payroll or something? But that was a problem she could worry about some other time as she peered at the clock on the wall. Damn! How did it get so late? Tenzin's definitely gonna have a fit.
"Forgive me, I lost track of the time,"
"Uh, yeah,"
Hastily, Korra finished the rest of her drink. Amon threw his back in one go before paying the man. For a second she almost protested before she realized she had no money. Ah, damnit, she hated the idea of that bastard paying for her. She really needed to ask the White Lotus about keeping cash on hand just in case to avoid awkward situations like this one.
"Um, thanks for the drink, I guess, uh, Nanouk, right?"
"Yeah,"
"Southern or Northern?"
"Mother was a northern gal, my father from the south," he paused, "what's it matter to you?"
"Just asking that's all, seemed like the polite thing to do,"
He hummed, "I see, thanks for business, I suppose,"
"Uh, yeah, good night," Korra cringed at the lame small talk. God, she's bad at that as she walked back from the toasty bask of the bar out into the chill of the late night. The streets were mostly empty save for the lamps.
"It's a full moon,"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Korra pursed her lips," It's nice though, I miss the way you could see it better back at home,"
"There's a difference?"
"Big difference, all the lights here drown it out,"
"What a waste then,"
Korra fidgeted, "I guess this is where we part ways then,"
"Until next time, Avatar," She glances at him warily before taking a step back towards the temple -
"One more thing," she stops in her tracks.
"What's that?"
"I offer you a little piece of advice, Avatar Korra. People will often disappoint you, everyone will always fall beneath expectations, it is better to trust your own judgment, carve your own path that is not determined by others,"
Korra blinks, lips slightly agape, "Please, tell me this isn't your attempt at giving me life advice."
He looks at her with those cold eyes of his, "Take it as you will, Avatar, I do not care one way or another, but I'll grant you that one mercy, take it from someone who's lived long enough to know," With that he walks away. Korra watches quietly. Wondering to herself what just happened.