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Book 1.5: Reflections

Chapter 5: Return to Republic City

The ferry pulled up to the public docks, and Korra stepped into Republic City for the first time in nearly a month. She fished out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket – one of Bolin's first letters to her. He had gushed about the "amazingly fantastical" apartment that he and Mako had found in the Dragon Flats borough, and had even scribbled down the address for her.

She smirked, looking forward to seeing the surprised looks on their faces when she turned up on their doorstep. Although her excitement at seeing her friends again was somewhat soured by the guilt she felt at having not returned a single one of their letters. She would have to find some way to make it up to them.

The young woman made her way down several blocks toward a tram-stop, but was alarmed when she rounded a corner and saw a squad of metal-armoured police officers marching down the street. The front windows of several stores and parked Satomobiles were smashed, and broken bottles, planks of wood and other debris littered the road.

Perhaps what was most alarming was the character that could be seen on discarded banners, or spray-painted across the faces of many buildings.

平

'Equal', 'level', 'peace'. It was the symbol of the Equalists.

"Hey, what happened here?" she asked a passing policeman.

"There was a riot," he replied guardedly. "Equalist supporters gathered and marched toward City Hall. It got violent when they were stopped here by a police blockade."

"Was anyone… killed?"

"No, but there were a lot of arrests."

Korra sighed with relief.

"You'd best be moving along, young lady," the officer said authoritatively. "This area is closed off until further notice."

A ringing bell drew her attention to the waiting cable trolley that was just about to leave.

"Hey, wait up!" she called, waving the driver down frantically.

After forking over several yuans, she chuckled at the situation as she settled into a seat next to a window. Here she was, the Avatar, riding on a tram to the Dragon Flats borough. She supposed she could have waited for the White Lotus sentries to arrive, and then taken Naga. But riding a polar-bear dog through the streets of Republic City probably would have worked against her disguise.

After a while, the glamour of the city took a decisive downturn. The bright lights and vibrant atmosphere gave way for darkened streets, lit by dim streetlamps as time marched ever forward into the evening. The city took on a more dangerous feel at night.

"This is Canal Road, miss," the driver called out, breaking Korra out of her reverie.

She thanked him and stepped off the tram and out into the Dragon Flats borough, flanked by a mixture of low-rise plain and pagoda-style apartment buildings. A small canal ran parallel to the road. Korra was startled by a loud wolf-whistle from a nearby corner, and looked over to see a man in a ratty waistcoat and blue tie eyeing her down appreciatively.

"Hey, honey. What are you doing walkin' around a neighbourhood like this, all by yourself?"

"None of your business," she shot back.

"Yeah? Well I'm about to make it my business."

The man pushed away from the light-pole and made his way toward her with an arrogant swagger. Korra balled her fists by her side. The stranger stopped just short of her, looking her up and down.

"You got real pretty eyes," he said. "You've gotta be from the Water Tribes. North or South?" He was unperturbed when he received no answer. "Don't suppose you're lookin' for a job? Why don't you come work for me? Bet you could fetch a pretty yuan."

"I don't think so, buster," she replied, in a blatant glare. "You'd better back off, unless you want to go toe-to-toe with me." Hopefully the guy could take a hint.

"Toots, I ain't interested in fightin' no girl. 'Specially one as cute as you." He took a deliberate step forward. "Now how 'bout we discuss that business arrangement – "

Apparently not.

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by his startled yelp as a powerful blast of wind blew him clear across the road, where he sailed into the canal with a mighty SPLASH. Korra lowered her palm and continued down the street.

Ugh… What a creep… Anyway… 23C Canal Road…

She entered the grimy apartment building, unable to stop herself from grimacing when she saw a large spider-rat scurrying behind the staircase.

Korra was able to appreciate that places like this had to exist, even before she left her ignorant little bubble in the South Pole. But before she came to Republic City, she had never expected the juxtaposition between classes to be so stark, so extreme. Needless to say, she had received quite the shock when she first met the vagabond, Gommu, in the park shortly after her arrival in the city.

It was an unfair world.

Granted, there were many stories of people who started with nothing, and yet made successes of themselves. But more often than not, those who started with less had fewer opportunities in life. People who grew up in the wrong district or country, and even people who were simply the victims of terrible circumstances – like Mako and Bolin.

The last time Korra was here, she had witnessed a non-bender protest against Tarrlock that quickly turned ugly. That was when she learned that many of the residents of this poor borough were in fact non-benders.

Some of the arguments the Equalists have really are legitimate concerns…

During much of the revolution, she had convinced herself that Noatak was nothing but an evil man – a tyrant and hypocrite, who only wished to wage war on benders. But the sheer size of the support that his movement had commanded – and still commanded – served to highlight the class division between those who could bend the elements, and those who could not.

The young woman shook these thoughts from her mind as she climbed the stairs and approached one of the dark wooden doors. She hesitated for a moment, and then raised her hand and rapped on the door. She waited in the dim hallway for a moment, before knocking again.

"I'm comin', I'm a comin'!" a muffled voice drifted out from behind the door.

It opened to reveal a familiar figure – a stocky and well-built earthbender with thick eyebrows, wavy brown hair and a rounded button-nose. Korra broke into a wide grin at seeing her friend again.

"Hi, can I help yo… Korra?" His green eyes flashed with momentary confusion, before being replaced with shocked recognition. "Korra!" He spared a glance down at his immodest attire – a white vest and a pair of boxer-shorts. "Uh, Korra. Hey! Hi, Korra. Hi, Korra. Hi, Korra." A beat of awkward silence passed. "You're here. At my apartment. Just the two of us. Alone."

He was cut off with an "OOF!" as she threw her arms around him in a strong hug.

"I've missed you, Bolin!"

The force at which she tackled him through the door just about sent him flying across the room – he had forgotten how strong she was. But he recovered and returned the hug with just as much gusto.

"Yeah, I've missed you too! It's so good to see you again. When did you get back to the city?"

"Tonight," she replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, come on in! We have some catching up to do!" he said, standing aside and gesturing her through. "I was just making dinner. You want some?"

"Yes, please! I've been airbending training all day, and I'm starving!"

With that, Korra entered the apartment and glanced around quickly, giving a once-over of the place. The floorboards, like the hallway, were scuffed and worn, and as far as furnishing went, there was not much to speak of – a worn orange sofa, a tiny coffee table, a nearly-empty bookcase and a couple of mattresses on the floor, tucked away in one corner.

Nothing seemed permanent. It was like they had not completely settled into their new home. With the way things were going in the city at the moment, she could not help but wonder if it was because the brothers did not want to.

While she was glancing around, Bolin discreetly stumbled across the room and pulled on a pair of dark-grey trousers. He grimaced at the sight of his clothes lying strewn all over the place, and kicked them into the corner, where they would hopefully be a little less conspicuous.

He looked over as Korra pulled off her trench-coat to drape it over the arm of the couch. It had been less than a month, but he had forgotten just how beautiful she was – her curvy figure, slightly tanned skin and brilliant turquoise eyes – typical of the people from the Southern Water Tribe.

He smiled when he saw she was wearing her regular high-collared light-blue vest, baggy dark-blue pants and fur pelt under the coat. When she pulled off her hat, she revealed her wavy brunette hair, done up in its usual style, with the high-clipped wolf-tail at the back and two pigtails at the side, held in place with three blue hair-tubes.

This was the Korra he knew, alright.

"Smells… interesting," she said, breaking him out of his reverie. "What are you cooking?"

"Oh, just some noodles," he replied, flipping over the stir-fry in the wok. "Mako taught me how to cook, and I'm putting it to practice." He flashed her a wry smile over his shoulder. "Who would've thought I'd be cooking dinner for the Avatar? I'm bringing out the big guns for you, Korra."

"I'm honoured," she replied with a cheeky grin.

A little while later, he handed her a bowl of sloppy, greasy-looking noodles, with slightly-burnt bits of vegetables and meat.

"Sorry it's nothing fancy," he said apologetically. "If I'd known you were coming – "

"It looks great, Bolin," she said, digging in with much gusto.

The two sat down on the single worn sofa and a companionable silence fell over the apartment as they slurped up their noodles with questionable table-manners.

"So how've you been?" Korra asked, scratching Pabu's head as he poked his furry face out from behind the sofa. The little red fire ferret cooed in pleasure.

"Well, you know, keeping busy. Apartment-hunting for a while. Job-hunting now. Trying to avoid being kidnapped or blown up by Equalists." Bolin twirled his chopsticks around a clump of noodles as he racked his brains for something cool and impressive to say. "Oh! I'm also looking to get the Fire Ferrets back together. You know that I'm the captain of the team now – Mako stepped down and I stepped up." Bolin shot her a wide cheesy grin at this last statement, which she reciprocated, before her face fell.

"Sorry, Bolin, but I think you'll have to be on the lookout for a new waterbender."

"Oh, right! I'm sorry – no, no, I didn't mean to get on your case or anything – you know, what, with you losing your bending and all, and being upset, and, uh – hey! Are those new hair-tubes you're wearing – ?"

"Relax!" the Water Tribe girl laughed. "Don't get your boxers in a twist. I'm fine. Really. I just needed some time figure out what I'm going to do with myself."

"Oh, okay. Glad to hear it," the stocky boy replied. "I was just worried, that's all. We haven't heard a peep from you in the past few weeks."

She set down her bowl on the coffee-table and looked away out the darkening window as her face flushed red with embarrassment.

The silence was eventually broken by Bolin. "Korra, you never returned any of my letters. Why didn't you write back?"

"I'm so sorry. I wanted to, I really did. But I guess I just felt… embarrassed." Seeing her friend's confused expression, she continued, "You, Mako and Asami have all gone off and done such cool and exciting things. I mean, come on! Asami's the CEO of Future Industries. And you're the captain of the Fire Ferrets now! While I… haven't done much with my life in the last few weeks."

"Korra, that's crazy talk comin' out of your mouth right now. You're our friend, and we don't care about all that other stuff. We just wanted to know that you were alright."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Ah, well, it won't be a problem, since you're here to stay now." Bolin quirked a brow hopefully. "You are here to stay, right?"

"For the time being, while I continue to learn airbending," Korra answered, a small smile appearing when she saw how her friend's face lit up at the news. "It'll be great to catch up with you guys again." She looked around the apartment, empty aside from the two of them (and Pabu). "Speaking of which, where's Mako? I thought that you two still lived together."

"Yeah, we do. Mako's out on a date with Asami tonight."

"Oh!" She felt a strange pang in her chest. "A date! Well, that's… nice."

She had never said anything to anyone, but in those three days she spent hiding out with her friends underground during the revolution, her feelings toward the brooding firebender had resurfaced, and grown, even. She had been feeling so depressed and ashamed of her failure to stop Amon and his forces from gaining control of Republic City. However, Mako had always been there to talk to her, reassure her, and cheer her up.

After exposing Hiroshi Sato as an Equalist, Korra had put her feelings for Mako aside and told him to be there for Asami. And with everything going on, she hated the fact that her feelings for him appeared to be growing. A selfish part of her might have hoped that he and Asami would break up, but she pushed that feeling away.

After all, her two friends were happy, and that was what mattered, right?

At that moment, Korra and Bolin were startled by the sound of an explosion out in the street. They rushed to the window and looked out to see flashes and flares of fire.