A/N Hehe.

Thanks for the reviews!

This chapter was inspired by the Fray's Song: The Fighter. I recommend listening to it before you read this chapter or during, if you would like. Or after. It doesn't really matter. :)

Chapter 18

For the first time in a very long time, Howl slept in his own bed. Alone. He didn't nap, he just slept. For the first time, he'd gotten the best night of sleep possibly in his entire life. He was shocked that he hadn't been with Korra, that the nightmares hadn't decided to take him and beat him into an exhausted pulp.

When he awoke, he realized why. His body was preparing him for the battle. A few times a year the White Lotus sentries had a little rally to keep their spirits up. It was on the longest day of the year most of the time, when Korra was usually under the watchful eyes of her mentors and training in her Avatar ways. Though he had only been in the South Pole for a year or so, he'd participated in a few rallies. It was how he and Sitch had become close; after having so much trouble in his first fight, Sitch had stepped in to stop the others for beating on the new kid.

He was ready to take some of the others on this time. He didn't need any of the money from the pool and he didn't like fighting; but this was a chance where he could prove himself to the other guards. At the same time, he didn't want a broken nose on his birthday. Speaking of which, was getting very close. He disliked his birthday from the minute his parents had given him a party as a child. His so called friends had eaten his cake and dinner before they had left. Howl hadn't even gotten a present. Then his parents had been killed and the letter his father had given him the moment he had decided to join the Order.

Howl sat up in bed and reached into his locker. Shifting books around, he searched eagerly for that simple, crumpled letter. Finally his fingers touched an old piece of papyrus paper, crinkled around the edges and slightly frayed from being in his locker for one year. He pulled it out and, by the light of the rising sun, read and reread the words.

My only son,

It makes me incredibly proud to be your father on this wonderful day. It is the day that you decided to join the Order of the White Lotus. You have enlisted into many months of difficult training to protect the one thing that must be kept alive in this world; the Avatar. It brings me great pleasure to see that I have raised a son not afraid of death for his civilization.

Howl, you've done something I only could have dreamed you do. You were such a quiet boy that I worried you wouldn't be normal. If only I had compared your mother's attitude instead of counting on you to be exactly like me, I may have seen the possibilities that you were like her. But I still see parts of myself in you… like the same brave look in your eyes, your distaste for bullies. I have no doubt that you will be a great soldier and a greater family man one day.

You may not understand how important this means to me. I wanted nothing more than for you to find your own path and it seems like you have done just that. I may have influenced you as a child but I know in my heart that you are doing this for yourself and not me. And I could not be happier.

Your mother and I love you.

-Dad

Tears were slowly breaking over their barriers and he struggled to wipe them away, his cheeks soaking wet by the time he realized that he was actually crying. His bare arms were no tissue but they worked as he stood, sliding on only his training uniform. He noticed that all of the other guard beds were empty and his stomach dropped. He was late. Quickly, he shoved the note into his locker and ran to the rally.

Korra noticed the long line outside of the training room for the Order and immediate thoughts flashed to Howl. "Um… Katara?" She asked, pushing the water back to her mentor. "What's going on over there?" Her gaze shifted slightly, looking out with longing. Katara slammed the water ball into her stomach, knocking her down. Her gaze shot up to the old woman who gave a smile without hesitation.

"Why don't you go find out?" Katara asked before she bended the water out of Korra's clothes and put it back in the bucket. "Your 'friend' might be there." Korra blushed but dipped her head to her master and started out of the door, running as fast as she could. She saw a lot of bloody faces and black eyes and she gasped, suddenly worried about Howl. She pushed past the multiple men waiting at the door and slid into the training hall. Heat hit her hard and the smell of sweat nearly caused her to gag.

Finally she made her way to the front of the crowd and saw two men sparring in the arena. One of the older men was shirtless while his opponent had on a thin undershirt. Their hands were placed in front of them in the traditional way of an Agni Kai. Her eyes widened as a bell screeched and the muscles of both men tightened, lunging forward to attack each other. The man in the undershirt threw an uppercut into the older man's stomach but the man rolled his foot under his attacker and flipped him with ease. Their punches were harder as the battle went on, Korra not as interested as she thought she would be.

When the shirtless man conquered his opponent, he helped him off out of the ring. Korra heard the other men settle as someone came to clean up the blood. She turned and searched the crowd for Howl but didn't even catch a glimpse of his golden eyes. She put her hands on her hips and wondered if he had decided to sleep in again so that he could take another night watch. As she turned to leave, the bell clanged once and she turned to see two others entering the ring. He stomach and jaw dropped as she saw Howl and Sitch with the sparring gloves on. The men shouted with approval and pushed her back through the crowd, blocking her view.

The bell clanged twice and she struggled to get back to the front, kicking her way against the men. She heard angry grunts and yelps coming from the ring and desperately she wanted to know if Howl was okay. She couldn't stand to see him in pain, not after the penguin sledding incident. She fell to the floor and pushed past the hooting men, crawling between legs until finally the bell clanged and she glanced up. That hadn't been more than two minutes! Her heart pounded uncontrollably when she saw the victor helping the loser up. The man with a bloody nose didn't have curly hair or golden eyes and she exhaled when she saw that Howl was the winner. That Howl was helping an injured Sitch out of the ring. That Howl was the one giving the icepack to his friend.

The bells clanged again and two more men crawled into the ring. She sighed, knowing that she would have to wait to speak with Howl. With a simple cross of her arms, she glanced over at him, seeing him gently taping up Sitch's cut lip.

After what seemed like forever of sweaty men brawling, she noticed Howl putting on his sparring gloves once more. Her heart thudded in shock as the man from the first brawl she'd seen enter the ring and pump up the crowd. Oh no, Howl, not him. Please no. Please go on afterwards. Please—"Howl, you're up," She barely heard Sitch's voice above the roaring crowd and her stomach fell to a new low. She swore the contents of her breakfast must have been on the floor as he patted his friend's head and climbed into the ring.

Howl knew old Bruce's weakness; his bad knee. He just couldn't remember which one it was. After hours of watching and hearing the simpleminded man complain about it, he couldn't remember for the life of him which knee was the one. Instead, he planned out a new strategy; hit one knee for the initial strike and go from there. And remember which knee was the right damn one.

The man had come from a long line of earthbenders and it showed in roll after roll and head sized muscle. Though Howl could throw a punch or two, he didn't have the strength the older man did. But he did have the speed and without his uniform was just as nimble as Korra when she was firebending. A small smile spread across his faces as he shook his hands out. Time to rumble. The bell clanged once and the old man put his wrist against Howl's. He took a deep breath, feeling the blood surging through him.

Then the bell clanged twice and Howl dodged Bruce's first punch, rolling under his arm and kicking the older man's right knee. The guard yelped but didn't fall backwards and Howl cursed himself for picking the wrong one. He moved quickly before the slower man could kick him in the stomach. But it was as if Bruce knew where he was going, because he placed his foot right in front of where Howl was going to go. Howl had to get out of the corner, so he rolled between the man's widespread legs and stood as quickly as he could, his breathing slowly growing ragged.

Sitch had been watching the fight from his chair, his face sore and bloody still, even after Howl had patched it up. His gaze went slowly from Howl then Bruce then Korra then How- Korra? Sitch frowned, moving over to the girl. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, having issues swallowing. Korra briefly tore her gaze off the ring to look up at him before she returned to the match, her face reflecting the fear and shock and disbelief that he had felt when he'd first seen Howl's new moves.

Bruce threw a massive punch in Howl's general direction, hitting him hard in the chest. He coughed, his memories of penguin sledding returning to him. The panic on Korra's face, the ache when his side was sliced by the ice. Bruce tried to throw another punch; this time Howl caught it and pinned the man's arm behind his back. Just when he thought that another victory was upon him and that the championship would be his for the taking, Bruce cheated and hit him with an illegal cock shot. Howl recoiled in agony, falling to his knees and letting himself go. Every bone in his body tingled with pain and he covered his head as Bruce's punches slammed into his hands, his kicks centering around his scar.

He heard an illegible scream as the pain started to block out all sounds. The same scream of torture he'd heard in his nightmares, the same pitiful cries. He opened one eye, his teeth clenched in pain. There he saw her, her face writhing in agony. Sitch was struggling to turn her away but she punched him in the stomach and returned to him. Her eyes were full of pain. He felt the sting underneath his glove, where they had both cut themselves to make the blood pact. Keep fighting. He screamed at himself, feeling another crushing blow to his stomach. For her.

He imagined her. He imagined her the one kicking him, but gentler. He grabbed Bruce's leg with both arms and heard the knee pop, the older man letting out a string of curses and struggling to fight back. Howl imagined it was her as he brought the man down, pinning his thighs down with his knees. He imagined it was her when he placed his hands on Bruce's arms, immobilizing him completely. What he didn't imagine was her face as Howl through two swift punches and knocked the man out.

The bell clanged in seconds and his body, now off the adrenaline high, began to scream in pain. His groin ached immensely as he curled into a ball, gritting his teeth as not to cry out. In seconds, Sitch was beside him. His friend. The man who had stopped the pain from his very first fight. Howl could hardly see him through the blurry pain, but he did see Korra standing at the edge of the ring, her face wrought in shock and happiness and disgust as two men carried Bruce's unconscious body out of the ring. Howl was too busy writhing in pain to care.

"You have to help him!" Korra shouted at Sitch as Howl's golden eyes seemed to cloud over.

"Well, Avatar, this isn't something that any medicine will cure. He's gonna hurt like a fuckin bitch for the next few days." Sitch gave her a cynical glare but cut himself off when he noticed the pain in her eyes. She had obviously not seen what old man Bruce had done to Howl—it had been a tangle that he had hardly seen—but he knew that Howl wasn't ready for her to see his injured… private regions. Sitch, though injured, picked up his friend and carried him out of the ring on his shoulder. Korra followed him like a lost puppy, her lip quivering slightly.

"How are you going to fix him?" She questioned him, causing Sitch to roll his eyes. "I mean, I'm a healer and—"

"No!" Sitch interrupted, causing Korra to flinch back. "Look, I think it's better if you let the guys and me take care of him for the next… couple of days." Howl groaned over Sitch's shoulder, making the older man sigh.

Korra's bottom lip jutted out. She knew it worked on Howl, but would it work on anyone else? "He said you knew…." Her words grew softer and softer as the other guards passed him without a second thought. Sitch sighed, rolling his eyes. He never cared for women getting whatever they wanted, even when they deserved it. Still, he had to treat her with respect. She was the Avatar and his friend's girl.

"Yes, I do. But right now, knowing about you two and your little fancy… issue isn't going to help him. He's going to be fine, I assure you, but he's going to need quite a few days to recover after that dirty trick Bruce pulled."

Korra's eyes widened and if his head hadn't hurt so badly, he would have facepalmed. "What trick? What did Bruce do?" She questioned, her voice rising. Sitch rolled his eyes again and started faster through the snow, wanting to get Howl out of the bloody clothes and rinsed off before he froze to death.

"Korra…" Howl groaned, coughing. His words were strained and his cough was wet, bloody. Korra heard and moved to him, holding his hand for a few seconds. He smiled that same dorky, lopsided grin. "Never go against Bruce. He's a four ton giant Koi fish. " He moaned in agony as Sitch laughed, even if his head hurt. Korra smacked Sitch's good arm, watching as the two of them neared the barracks. "I love you, Korra."

"Please tell me he's going to be okay, Sitch, that that's just pain talking." Her words came out as begs and immediately he felt sorry for the couple. Sitch just shrugged and opened the barracks door, slamming it into her face.

"That wasn't nice." Howl groaned as Sitch set him on his bed, but in truth he could hardly see her face. His right eye was swelling shut and the light was starting to fade. His groin was on fire while the rest of his body just hurt.

"Neither was Bruce's kick, but you don't see him complaining about what was nice or not." Sitch grabbed a wet washcloth and placed it over Howl's head, reaching into the ice box and pulling out two more strands of cloth, placing one of Howl's groin and another his friend's swelling eye. "How you feeling?"

"Like total shit." He grumbled, finding his breath still shaking. He'd heard the desperation in Korra's voice but he desperately didn't want her to see him in this much pain. "But I'll live." He grumbled, resting his hand on the bruising portion of his stomach.

"You got a good girl, friend." Sitch said, his mouth a tight line as he ripped a piece of medical tape into two and wrapped it around two of his fingers. Howl didn't notice the pain in them until Sitch touched them, his cry for mercy a pitiful hiss. "Relax, it's not going to hurt that bad." He saw his friend give him a one sided smile that told him just how truly terrible the pain was going to be.