反射

Book 1.5: Reflections

Chapter 9: Dinner and a Show

Night had fallen over Republic City, the light of the day fading away, but hardly the buzz of activity. The sounds of nightlife sprung into action as bars and lounges opened their doors, the heavy pulsations of jazz and swing, and the shouts and calls of party-goers spilling out into the streets.

A stranger to the city might not have known that there was a war going on. However, a more observant eye could spot arguments and confrontations occasionally cropping up between groups of benders and non-benders, erupting into street brawls more often than not.

Korra fidgeted nervously as the Satomobile trundled down the road. Bolin had graciously agreed to meet her at the city docks, where they hailed down a taxi. She wore a dark-blue, white-trimmed and high-collared dress, which parted at the bottom to a darker blue and white layer. A pair of 'dressier' thin grey boots she was wearing could be seen where the bottom white layer ended, halfway up her calves. The dress was sleeveless, showing off her tanned arms and the three Water Tribe armbands she always wore.

It was in fact the same outfit she had worn to Tarrlok's sham of a party several months ago. Korra found herself feeling embarrassed by her miniscule wardrobe of fancy clothes, but she rarely had need of dresses throughout her childhood – whenever she was not training, she had been spending time with her family.

She let her hair down that evening to cascade over her shoulders, aside from the two pigtails which she kept in place, with the blue hair-tubes, to frame her face.

"You look really pretty tonight," Bolin commented. "Not that you weren't pretty already! I only meant that you look pretty… er. Prettier! Yeah, that's it!"

"Are you sure?" she fretted. From the way her earthbender friend had been talking this place up (not to mention Tenzin's family, when she had informed them that she was having dinner at Kuang's Cuisine tonight), the teenage girl was almost certain she would be refused entry unless she was dressed in the royal robes of the Fire Lady.

"Of course I'm sure! You're going to be turning heads tonight!"

A small smile crossed Korra's lips. "Thanks, Bolin. You're looking pretty snazzy yourself."

The stocky teenager grinned as he adjusted the dark suit-jacket he was wearing over a green and gold-trimmed waistcoat and white shirt. "What can I say? I pulled all of the Fire Ferrets' fan-girls for a reason. No one can resist… this."

She chuckled slightly in response.

Kuang's Cuisine soon came into view, standing tall and proud on a street corner, lit up like a Fire Lord's coronation ceremony. It was a stylised four-storey restaurant, with secluded balconies, pagoda-style overhangs, and a stylish blend of yellow lights and red wood trimmings.

Korra pursed her lips. Why, oh why did Asami have to pick such a fancy place?

"You okay?" Bolin's voice cut into her thoughts.

"Oh… Uh, yeah. Just… hungry," she offered lamely.

Fortunately, he did not seem to pick up on the lie. "Oh, yeah! I'm starving. I've heard from Mako and Asami that they serve this fish that melts in your mouth and, oh – I can't wait to try it!"

The Water Tribe girl nodded absently at his enthusiasm. They were soon entering the red-carpeted, brightly-lit foyer of the restaurant, where a dapper doorman was waiting.

"Ahhhh, welcome to Kuang's Cuisine," he greeted them, bowing ridiculously low.

"Uh, thanks," Korra uttered. How does this guy not have back problems?

"You are Ms Sato's guests for the evening, correct?"

"That's right!" Bolin said eagerly.

"Very good, sir," the doorman replied brusquely, gesturing toward the staircase. "This way, please."

With that, the mismatched trio climbed the ornate staircase, the polished dark wooden banisters reflecting the lights from the ceiling.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Korra said suddenly.

Their guide immediately stopped and whirled, nearly causing her to crash into him. "You may ask me anything you wish. I am at your service, madam."

"Okay, so… is this dress… okay?" She noticed Bolin shooting her a look out of the corner of her eye and shrugged apologetically.

The doorman's long and twirled moustache quivered as he smiled slightly. "I assure you, madam, that had your attire not been deemed appropriate, I would have informed you immediately upon your arrival. As it is, your dress meets the standards kept at this establishment." He turned to continue up the stairs, only to stop and turn again (once again nearly causing Korra to bowl him over). "Your chaperone, on the other hand…" He spoke in a hushed tone, so that only she could hear him. "Please advise him discreetly that if he is to wear that suit here again, it must be accompanied with a bowtie or something similar."

"Uh… sure," she replied after a beat.

"I would have remedied the situation myself upon his arrival but, alas, it appears that suits of only half a dress-standard are all the fashion these days," the man said haughtily. "I'm afraid all of our accessories have already been loaned out for the evening." Without another word, he turned and continued on his way.

"You're in trou-ble," Korra said in a sing-song voice, in answer to the questioning look that Bolin gave her.

In sharp contrast to bright lights of the foyer, the restaurant itself was softly-lit, much of the light swallowed by the deep red carpeted floor and the heavy drapes hanging between the booths that lined the walls. The mood-darkened room was filled with white-clothed tables, half of which sat empty. Kuang's Cuisine certainly seemed popular, but the empty tables kept it from being crowded. The Avatar had a feeling that was intentional.

She found her eyes drawn to a pair of men on a raised dais on the far wall, each of them dressed in a long grey overcoat, a bowler hat and dark glasses. They stood behind a large and ornate guqin, their fingers moving in rapid succession as they plucked and strummed the strings of the instrument. The music swelled and fell, in a series of chords and plucked notes, in a beautiful melody.

"Ahhhhhhh, I see you are interested in our musicians for the evening," the doorman said pleasantly. "They are the Harpist Brothers from the northern province of the Earth Kingdom. The piece they are playing right now is 'Midnight Assassin', which will be followed by 'Blade of the Gu Qin'."

"Korra! Bolin!" a very familiar and very welcome voice called over the cultured din of voices and music.

The Future Industries heiress was standing at a booth tucked away in the corner, dressed in a dazzling dark-red dress. Her flowing black hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, accentuated with a lotus hairclip.

Her boyfriend was dressed just as immaculately as Bolin, except that his suit was offset by the maroon scarf tied around his neck.

"Asami! It's so good to see you!" Korra exclaimed, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. She nodded at Mako. "And you don't look too bad yourself, City Slicker."

Asami laughed as they seated themselves and the waiter poured out four cups of tea for them. "It's been too long, Korra! How've you been? What have you been up to?"

The girl in question inwardly grimaced, imagining telling the entire table of her fruitless attempts to reconnect with her past lives, and vain efforts to recover her lost bending. Or the disappointed looks of the senior White Lotus masters every time she had failed to bend water, earth and fire. Or how she pictured Aang turning in his grave at the prospect of his legacy being handed down to her.

On the surface, she smiled. "Oh, you know. Avatar stuff. What about you? How have you been?"

Asami inwardly grimaced, thinking about the nights she had spent locked in her bedroom in a house that no longer felt like home, crying about her father who had tried to murder her. Or the struggling Satomobile empire she was now in charge of, and in no way felt ready for. Or her fledgling relationship with Mako, festooned with problems that magically seemed to disappear when Korra was not around – a fact that did not escape her.

On the surface, she smiled. "I'm fine. Everything's great."

The cultured din of the restaurant drifted in the air, intermingled with the music of the guqin, softly filling all corners of the room. Waiters flitted back and forth between tables, refilling cups, serving food and fading away into the darkened atmosphere of the restaurant.

The table before the four teenagers was soon laden with plates of food, ranging from fluffy white rice, to large, airy dumplings, to steamer baskets filled with dim sum of various colours.

Bolin prodded at a plate laden with a large steaming red fish. "Hey, what's this dish again?"

"Fire Fish," the waiter answered.

He eagerly took a huge forkful, only to spit it back out moments later, rubbing his tongue. "Oh, Spirits, that's hot! Hot, hot, hot!" Asami could have sworn she saw steam coming out of his ears.

"Fire Fish," Mako deadpanned in a sarcastic monotone. "Hot. What do you know?"

"So I hear that Tenzin is training you in airbending again," the heiress said to Korra, plucking a piece of soya sauce-soaked bok choy with her chopsticks from a long plate in the middle of table.

"Yeah, and his whole family is getting in on it as well," she replied, a playful glint in her eye. "Meelo taught me the 'all-important' marble trick the other day, while Jinora and Ikki are going to teach me how to ride an air-scooter tomorrow."

"That's great!" Asami exclaimed. "Maybe – once you've mastered it – you and I can actually race each other on the track."

"A race-car versus an air-scooter? My money's on the car." Bolin shrugged apologetically. "No offence, Korra."

"None taken," she replied.

"And speaking of which, the Republic City Circuit will be starting up soon. We should totally go and catch a few races!" Seeing her puzzled expression, he elaborated, "It's a racing tournament – one of the biggest in the world. People come from all over to compete."

"I suppose you knuckle-heads need something to do in between pro-bending seasons," she joked.

"Have you picked out a company team for the Circuit yet, Asami?" Bolin asked, turning to face her.

"Well… no," the young woman answered, her shoulders slumping. "After finding out about my dad's involvement with the Equalists, our regular racing team quit, and they want nothing more to do with Future Industries."

"You never told me that," Mako piped up, concern in his voice.

"Why don't you race, Asami?" Bolin suggested, taking a sip of tea. "You're one of the craziest drivers I've ever seen."

"Company heads aren't allowed to compete for their racing teams," she replied, frustration in her tone.

"If you need someone to fill in until you find a more permanent team, I'm a pretty decent driver if I say so myself," Mako offered.

"You can drive?" Korra asked in surprise. "How? Weren't you and Bolin homeless? When did you get to drive a Satomobile?"

He frowned sheepishly, but his brother answered for him.

"Boy, can Mako drive!" the earthbender teenager whistled. "And not just Satomobiles, but motorbikes too! When we used to do odd jobs here and there, we sometimes had to make some collections around the city."

"…Money collections?" Korra might have still been a little green, but she knew enough to recognise when someone was up to something illegal. She looked at the firebender in question. "This was when you used to work for the Triple Threat Triad, wasn't it? I thought you just 'ran numbers' for them?"

"That's none of your business," he said bluntly.

"Mako!" Asami snapped.

There was an awkward silence, before Bolin laughed nervously. "Sooooo, what do you say Korra? It'll be fun!"

"That day we spent at the Future Industries test-driving track was pretty cool… Sure. It'll be fun to spend time with you and Asami again." The blue-eyed girl made a point of leaving Mako's name out, slightly irritated at his outburst.

"Are you sure you'll have time for that?" the young man in question said, sarcasm lingering on his tone. "Seeing how you were too busy in the South Pole to return a single letter."

"I said I was sorry for that!" she shot back, slamming her chopsticks down on the table. "What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing. It just would have been nice to hear a peep from you in the past month, that's all."

"I know! But I was dealing with a lot of stuff, okay? Losing my bending, the Order of the White Lotus, connecting with Aang's spirit – there was a lot going on! Not everything is about you." Korra wanted to punch something. And right now, Mako's face was looking pretty good.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

Bolin and Asami observed the tense exchange nervously, while a number of people on nearby tables stole glances in their direction.

"You know what I mean. You always seem to think everything is about you," Korra said sharply. "That time Bolin and I went out on the town – " She shot the earthbender in question an apologetic look at this, "– you assumed I was just using him to make you jealous. And when the police were investigating Future Industries for Equalist ties, you accused me of letting jealousy over your relationship interfere with my duties. You even threatened to end our friendship over it!"

The angry look in Mako's amber eyes faltered momentarily as guilt flashed through them.

But the Avatar was not done yet. Not by a long shot. "I mean, with everything going on at the time, you thought I was going through all that because I was jealous? And you had the audacity to give me an ultimatum? How dare you!"

Her voice rose in pitch when she said 'an ultimatum', as if it were an insult (which it really was). Several of the restaurant's patrons were looking over at the commotion, but at that moment, she lacked the capacity to care. All of her pent-up frustrations at the jerk sitting across the table from her came spilling out, and she was not sure if she could stop herself anymore.

Mako's eyes hardened, and he had to resist the urge to shoot a fireball at the infuriating Avatar. "How dare you accuse me of being a bad friend! If you remember, we stopped Amon together." He looked away and sighed. "And everything's not always about you, Korra."

"Look, guys – " Bolin began.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

Mako normally would have taken a moment to choose his next words carefully, or risk offending the Avatar in some way, but he had a very strong feeling that, in the heated moment, she honestly did not care. "While you've been hiding out in the South Pole, the rest of us have had a total mess of a city to come to. The revolution, uprisings, riots, the full works."

"But you're not the one who everyone is expecting to fix everything! I am!" she exclaimed as she stood. "You're just a self-absorbed jerkbender!"

A hush fell over the table, and it was then that the group realised that the restaurant had fallen mostly silent – even the guqin musicians.

Korra hung her head. "I'm so sorry, Asami," she said quietly. "I… I have to go." With that, she swept her dress behind her and hurried for the exit.

"Nice one, bro," Bolin said accusingly, before getting up to follow her.

Mako sighed, turning to Asami. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"You two obviously have some unresolved issues," she said softly.

"Look, Asami, it's not like that, alright?" he insisted, perhaps a little too forcefully.

"I believe you," she replied, although the tone in her voice implied the opposite entirely.

"Hey, Korra! Wait up!"

The teenage girl in question turned to see Bolin rushing down the red-carpeted steps to join her in the entry hall.

"Are you okay?" he asked when he caught up.

Korra took a deep breath, trying to find herself – that fiery, feisty, tough-as-nails girl. "Yeah, I'm fine! You weren't kidding about the food here, it's really good! Sorry I have to leave before dessert, but I've got to be up early for training tomorrow." She looked away and let out a casual laugh. "You know, an Avatar's gotta do what an Avatar's gotta do."

"Korra. Talk to me."

Bolin's solemn tone cracked some of the Water Tribe girl's bravado. She dropped her pasted-on smile and sighed, looking back at her friend. "It's a good thing I'm still not in touch with my spiritual side, or I probably would have gone into the Avatar State tonight," she stated. "Several times."

"I'm… really sorry about Mako," the earthbender said sheepishly. "Let me take you home."

"No, it's okay. I kind of want to be alone right now."

"At least let me walk you to your polar-bear dog."

"We took a taxi here, remember? Don't worry, Bolin. I'll be fine. I'll see you later." She hugged him briefly, before hurriedly leaving the restaurant, stubbornly holding back her tears.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Five points to anyone who can spot the Kung Fu Hustle reference in this chapter.

The reason I thought Mako would volunteer for the racing team is because he is obviously a good driver. Anyone who has seen the Book 2 animatics will know that he can handle himself on a motorcycle.

As always, reviews are appreciated.