Everything had been going so well up until now.
For a whole month after they had returned from the spirit world there had been no problems. The Earth Kingdom had been peaceful, the process of transforming it into a federation had gone smoothly. When they came back the only thing they had to do was help clean up the city and tear down the old downtown. It was hard work but it was at least simple.
Then it just had to happen. Some people just couldn't accept defeat.
It of course didn't help that no one wanted to do anything. She had hoped that the people of the world would finally have learned that it was also their job to keep things in balance, not just her's.
"Uuugh, I can't believe it!" Korra shouted frustrated into the wind, as they drove down a street in Asami's car.
"Why doesn't Reiko want to do anything? I thought he was jumping at the opportunity to attack Kuvira just a few months ago!"
They turned a corner. "But now when an entire state refuses to accept Kuvira's surrender he doesn't want to do anything? Wu even asked for help! And it's not like it's a small uprising, this is at least a few hundred if not thousand soldiers who are all trained and battle hardened."
The car speed down a road. "He could at least spare a few of the metalbender cops and Lin! Lin even agreed that she should go! But Reiko for some reason believes that I can take on all of them on my own. The only way I could do that is by smashing a mountain into them or something, and even if I did that there's no way I could keep the peace myself. The state would hate me, I would have to be on the look out for assassins all the time!"
They stopped at an intersection. For some time the only thing that could be heard was the car's engine churning away.
"What about the White Lotus?" Asami asked. "What do you mean?" Korra said puzzled.
"You could use the White Lotus guards to help you, they fought in the 100 year war right?" Asami explained while keeping an eye on the officer in the middle of the road directing the traffic.
"They did take back Ba Sing Se on their own I suppose. But they had Iroh and Paku and Jeong Jeong and Piando and all those other great benders and sword masters." She said still puzzled.
"And the modern day White Lotus will have you, me and probably Bolin and Mako and maybe even Tenzin." Asami continued.
"But how will I get enough soldiers? The White Lotus only has as many guards as it needs nothing more." She inquired. It did sound crazy but it could work. "Well you could maybe take some people off their regular duties." Asami explained confidence growing in her voice.
Korra knew by now that if Asami was confident in an idea, it was probably a good one. Still this seemed like a strange idea.
"As an example; does the White Lotus still really need to have guards around the clock on Air Temple anymore?" She continued explaining confidently.
"I guess not, but that would only be like 5 or 6, not really enough to take on an army." Korra was considering the idea, but it honestly still seemed a little far-fetched.
"There are maybe other places where there's White Lotus guards, even if they aren't needed. What about the complex on the South Pole where you were trained? Or the old Red Lotus prisons? If there are still guards there, they may not really be needed there anymore." She seemed completely sure that her idea would work now.
"I don't actually know if the White Lotus still has guards there." Maybe the idea could work.
"You should check it out, the White Lotus must keep some sort of log over where they have guards. Maybe there's something on Air Temple Island, that's kind of their head quarters in Republic City right?"
"I guess, that's at least the only place I know of to have White Lotus guards in Republic City." Korra remembered that they had some sort of guard house.
"Also it's the White Lotus' job to serve and protect the Avatar, so in a way you're their commander."
Asami saw the traffic officer signaling that they could go, and started accelerating.
"You're right ." Korra lit up with the realization "I have never really thought of it that way." She had always just thought of the White Lotus as a bunch of old people telling her what to do, she had never entertained the thought that they are technically under her command.
She couldn't help but smirk at the thought of giving orders to the White Lotus masters. There were a few that had made her do way too many basic moves, which would be fun to order around a little. She shouldn't really be thinking that, they had done it with the best intentions after all. But she was allowed to imagine ordering them around, and the thought was quite fun.
"Sometimes an outsiders perspective is all you need." Asami said with a smile, as they speed over the intersection.
"Hey Tenzin!" Korra said, announcing their presence. Tenzin was standing with a group of airbenders, talking with them about something. But the moment he heard Korra he turned around, and greeted them cheerfully.
"Korra, Asami! It's so nice to see you!" Tenzin said with a big smile. "What brings you here?" He asked. Korra and Asami exchanged a look before Korra took the word.
"It's about the rebelling Earth State." She said in a serious tone. Tenzin's expression quickly got a lot more serious. "Did you get Reiko to pledge support?" He asked, now he wasn't Tenzin the friend and mentor anymore, but Tenzin the world leader.
"No but Asami has an idea about what we could do." She hoped Tenzin would be on board with the idea.
"Well dinner is going to be soon, why don't you and Asami join us? Then we can talk about it after dinner." He said.
"It is best if we keep these matters between as few people as possible before we are ready to act." He added, Tenzin was quite experienced in politics, so listening to him was probably a good idea.
It was quite a beautiful evening, the sun was slowly setting into the sea, and was casting a crimson red light over everything. They walked up the stairs from the dock. All around them airbenders were flying around, a bison took off every now and then, some of the airbenders were practicing while others were preparing for dinner.
Air Temple Island was a very different place now, it wasn't the calm and peaceful temple Korra had arrived at with a very angry Tenzin over 3 years ago. There was still the same general sense of peacefulness and tranquility here, but it was also now a hub connected to the entire world through the Air Temples.
In the few days Korra had managed to spend here before the attack on Republic City she had seen how much it had changed.
She still had her room, which had been left nearly untouched for over 3 years, except for being cleaned every now and then. But there was also now a lot more people, with schedules who would be ordered around by a bell ringing for each meal.
She hadn't had to follow any of that, she had spent most of her days practicing all the bending styles she knew.
She could not let Kuvira beat her again, and the only thing that was on her mind was getting back into shape. But she couldn't practice forever no matter how much she wanted to.
There were times when she was resting, where uncomfortable thoughts would sneak into her mind. She would start to doubt herself, fear what might happen, and what might have happened.
Those were the times where Asami was there for her. Korra had never been allowed to be alone for more than a few seconds Asami would, somehow, always find her. She hadn't thought a lot about what it meant at the time, she was just happy there was someone there so she didn't have to be alone. Someone she could share her thoughts and fears with, while everyone else was too busy with their jobs. The days had been amazing, she felt a safety and comfort she hadn't felt for years.
Then there were the nights, they had been a living hell at times. She had been trapped in horrible nightmares. Her past enemies had returned again to fight her, and hurt her even more. It had been like she was back there, fighting her past battles again, and some times it didn't even end when she woke up.
She her senses betrayed her, and turned her bedroom into a battlefield.
She had been lucky to have Asami in that time. She had been there to comfort her after each nightmare, and it had made it a bit better.
That was how her short time at Air Temple Island had been. In the day she would train to face her real enemies, and in the night she would battle the old ones. But each time Asami would be there to comfort here. Never leaving her alone with her nightmares and fears. Slowly it got better, and she stopped fearing the nights. The nightmares didn't stop until she visited Zaheer, but by the time she did they were no where near as real, or frightening as before.
A gentle squeeze of her hand brought her back to the present. She looked to her side and found Asami smiling softly at her. She had drifted off in her memories again. Something she had started to do far too much. While she was thinking her legs had carried her through most of Air Temple Island, and they were now in the court in front of Tenzin and his family's home.
"Korra!" The airbender children exclaimed in unison, as they landed in front of her.
"And Asami!" they said after landing.
"Do you want to go air scooter racing?" An excited Meelo asked. "Im sorry but I think I'm a little too tired, demolition work is hard, and right now I just really need something to eat." She answered. It wasn't a lie, she had been spending most of her time demolishing buildings in the city center so they wouldn't be a danger later on when they would start to crumble.
"What about after dinner? Then we can race!" Ikki asked hopeful. It was going to be hard telling them no.
Korra always loved playing with the airbender kids. Maybe because she had never had any siblings herself, or maybe because they were seemingly always happy, and never worried about hundreds of different things like her.
Luckily for Korra, Asami took the word. "Me and Korra are here because of Avatar related stuff. After dinner we are going to talk with your dad about something important." She explained to the kids in maybe a slightly condescending voice. Asami had never really been great with kids, but she had improved.
Jinora having been quiet for the whole conversation finally said something. "It's about the uprising isn't it?" She had always been one who knew everything that was happening in the world. Korra wondered if she in secret had started subscribing to multiple newspapers.
"Yes it is. But Asami has an idea that might work." Korra answered. Now they were not talking about playing anymore, but politics. It's crazy what the small age gap between the three siblings could mean sometimes. "What is the idea?" Jinora asked. "Well I can't really tell you because uhhhm..." Korra tried to come up with some good reason for not telling her. "It's an Avatar secret." Asami said sweeping in to save Korra. "Me and Korra can't tell anything for a number of reasons." Asami continued. She may not know how to talk to kids, but the confidence in her voice showed Korra that she was right at home talking about politics. That's the one good thing that comes out of being raised by an Equalist, you could guess.
"Maybe we should just go have dinner?" Tenzin asked knowing that Jinora probably wouldn't stop asking until she knew everything. "Yes let's. As I said I'm starving." Korra responded happily. She could smell the steam buns from here, and it was making her stomach growl.
Tenzin's study was the same as always, the walls were decorated in intricate patterns, and there wasn't really any furniture apart from the shrine and some pillows to sit on.
"So you want to use the White Lotus as an army?" Tenzin inquired. He didn't seem opposed to the idea, but a little convincing might be needed.
"Well sort of." Korra was thinking of how to put it. "They won't really be an army because they aren't. But they will assist me in taking down the insurgents and keeping the peace." She explained hopefully Tenzin would get behind it. They kind of needed him as he was one of the people the White Lotus took orders from.
It was weird because as Asami had said, she was technically the leader of the White Lotus. Yet they seemed to operate in no sort of relation to what she did, but instead just took orders from a bunch of old people. There had to be some sort of order to it she thought. She had gotten a really good look into how most organizations operated in the last month. Everything from the very strict Earth Empire army to the slightly more lax UR Navy, and of course also the RCPD. The White Lotus probably had some sort of system like this. She could ask Tenzin about it when they were done talking.
"They will be peacekeepers, Korra, Mako, Bolin, me, and maybe you, could probably take down the insurgents on our own. But we can't patrol the streets, enforce the law and keep the peace after wards." Asami once again had the right words. Korra was beginning to suspect that she might have had this idea for longer than she knew.
After a period of thinking Tenzin finally said "I think I'm behind the idea. I will contact some of the other White Lotus leaders about this." Korra let out a sigh. If Tenzin was behind the idea the rest should agree.
She did however have one question, "Tenzin, could you tell me how the White Lotus actually works? Because I have never been told about any sort of system in how it works." She was intrigued now. There was so much she didn't know about the White Lotus, even though she had always been very close to it.
"Well it's actually very simple. There are the White Lotus guards who just guard. Then above them are the White Lotus masters they were the people who trained you, and they also take care of the day-to-day running of the White Lotus. They don't have to follow orders from anyone but in general they listen to what me and a group of people, which includes your father and Katara, say." He explained as if it was a non-issue. Korra on the other hand was astounded.
This was abysmal. There's barely any structure to the White Lotus. How had this survived for so long into the modern world? Compared to the UR Navy the White Lotus was anarchistic. There was no way this could continue. If this is how the White Lotus operated, with barely any sort of structure, then that could easily explain why they had failed so many times. She would be the one to change it. Just like she had changed the world, the White Lotus would change with it.