DISCLAIMER: THESE CHARACTERS, THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, ARE NOT MINE.
CHAPTER THREE: IMPRISONING A MONSTER
Republic City Jail was a deplorable place.
Korra's jail cell seemed to be the most deplorable part of it.
It was littered with long-since spoiled prison food, patches of moss, and a puddle of mysterious green slime in the corner (out of boredom, Korra had tried bending it, to no avail. She wished she hadn't).
"There you go," the guards had said. "What an Avatar you are now."
"I didn't do this, okay?" Korra had tried telling them, but they just snorted.
"Right," one of them replied. "And I became President."
She couldn't blame them for scoffing at her. She couldn't even fool herself.
At the trial, she had seen Mako, wrapped in casts. The whole time, she couldn't help thinking, I did this. I did this to him.
"She's a monster," Beifong had said. "Look what she did to one of her best friends!"
She's a monster. The words resonated inside her head. She's a monster.
The door of her cell opened, letting Tenzin and Bolin in.
Bolin's face was bright red. "What did you do?" he shouted. "You could have killed him! You monster! You psycho!" He paused and turned to Tenzin. "Don't you think 'Psykorra' has a nice ring to it?"
"What I think," answered Tenzin, "is that maybe you should let Korra and I talk—alone."
"Then why did you invite me?" Bolin complained, but he strode out the door.
Tenzin sat next to Korra on her wooden bed. "You know it's for the best."
Korra sighed and nodded.
Tenzin looked at her, opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it. "I…just lost my whole train of thought."
The sight of two broken blue eyes looking up at him was heart-wrenching. Curse my bad memory, he thought. No punishment came close to being as excruciating as this.
He hastily stood up. He couldn't look at her face any more. He would just break down.
Tenzin walked out of the cell. The guard shut the door behind him, leaving him with one last glimpse at the heartbroken teen.
You monster.
Korra glanced at her untidy reflection in the rusted mirror just in time to watch the first tear slide off her cheek.
There were many more to come that night.