Mako watched Korra as the Avatar sulked into her drink. His own mind was distracted, and he wished he could take a nap. Most of the night before had been spent making sure his partner was okay, interviewing witnesses, and filling in Beifong. And that didn't include the paperwork. Their lunch was a much needed boost of energy.

He still didn't know what to think about Yuki using a chi-blocking move and she wasn't awake to ask. There'd been some talk of teaching the police the techniques but there was understandable resistance on the part of the bender population. Mako had suggested training bending police to resist chi-blockers, but nothing had come of that either.

"Nothing seemed weird to you?" Korra asked, finally.

"You mean aside from someone who isn't you bending multiple elements?" Mako rubbed his jaw, scratching at the stubble there and thinking back to the day before. "Her form was pretty good. But something seemed a little off about it. I'd have to see her in action again to know for sure but except for her firebending, her forms were...basic." Her firebending though. That had been real lightning. Her firebending was good.

"Wish we'd gotten a name. Something, anything to go by."

"Amaya."

"What?" Korra sat up straighter, focusing her attention on Mako.

"One of the protesters said they knew her. Quiet girl, he said. Named Amaya. We talked to a few more people, she's only been in the city a few weeks. She goes into a protest, riles up trouble. But the past few days have escalated much faster and more violently than most of the people attending are comfortable with."

"The wound from Amon is only barely scabbing over," Korra pointed out. "No one wants to reopen it, but they don't want to just sit and take it."

Mako shrugged a shoulder, Amaya's words coming back to him. "It just feels like dry tinder and Amaya is the spark that'll start a new fire."

Groaning, Korra sat back against the seat of the booth. "I'm going to have to get ahead of this somehow. I've got an appointment with the President tomorrow. If I can convince her to scuttle her plan, or at least put it up for public review, that might go a long way to calming people down. I figure if I don't go barging in there she might actually listen."

"I don't know, maybe." Mako thought it over. He talked to the beat cops almost every day. Listened to what they saw and the mood of the city. He sometimes caught patterns, and he had a general feeling of unease. "People were happy to have public figures to complain to. For all Raiko's faults, he did tend to listen to what the people were saying."

"The polls, you mean."

"Well, yeah, but the only protests he saw were against the Spirit Wilds. But since Tuyin came to office there's been one nearly every week. Like there's a pattern there but I can't quite make sense of it."

Korra trusted Mako's gut instincts. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. "Try to make sense of it before whatever it is bites us in the ass."

"Duly noted. I'm beginning to wonder if we need to make a change to the system again. The Earth Republic has an elected council answering to the Prime Minister. That way power isn't controlled by any one person like it was with the monarchy and Kuvira."

"Councils never listen," Korra muttered.

"If they're elected by the people they'd have to, right?"

"Maybe." Korra fell silent for a moment, turning everything over in her head. She kept coming back to the woman at the protest. "This fake Avatar has to be part of it some how. Where did she come from? How is she even bending all the elements?" It still blew Korra's mind. "You don't think it has something to do with the Spirit Portal? I mean, Harmonic Convergence brought back the Airbenders. Maybe opening a new portal caused a shift in the world's balance."

"I'm just a cop, but that makes about as much sense as anything else. Maybe when Yuki wakes up she'll be able to tell us more."

"How is she?" Korra's brow furrowed with concern.

"She'll live, but she'll be off the beat for a month or so." Mako cracked his neck, then stifled a yawn. "Going to make it a challenge before the Chief retires. She wants this case cracked before then."

The rumors were true, then. Korra couldn't imagine Republic City without Lin Beifong as Chief of Police. "What do you think she'll do after she retires? Move to Zaofu?"

"Not in ten thousand years." He couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know. I don't think retirement will suit her. It think she's getting a lot of pressure from the new President's office. They want new blood, for a new police force."

"It's already changed a lot."

"Maybe it hasn't changed enough." Frowning, Mako leaned forward and lowered his voice. "There's still a lot of cronyism among some of the older officers. I've reported what I can, but they've gotten very good at avoiding critical eyes."

That sounded serious. "What would you do if you were Chief?"

"Me? Maybe someday, but there are a dozen officers ahead of me."

"That's not what I asked, Mako."

"I guess…" He sat back, rubbing his neck and looking out of sorts. His expression sobered. "I'd start by cleaning up. Force retirement on those who need to go, expand recruitment, improve on benefits and pay. I know it would be a lot of changes fast and there'd be some resistance, but sometimes you just have to rip away the blood sucking leeches, you know?"

Korra had chosen the exact wrong moment to start eating her noodles, because she started to choke. "Like the advice you gave to your brother when we were all young and very stupid?"

Mako stiffened, his face dropping. He still couldn't believe Bolin had ever brought that up to Korra and Asami. Even if he could believe that Korra would occasionally bring it up to rub his face in it since Asami never did.

"Face it, Mako, you walked into it that time." She punched his shoulder. "But I think it's appropriate in this case. A lot of those people are definitely leeches and need to go."

"But I'm not the Chief." He rubbed his shoulder, then rested his hands on the table. There was a considering look in his eyes, like there was ambition there that he wasn't quite ready to admit to. "Yet."

"Chief Mako. You might have to get rid of the stache if you get promoted. No one will take you seriously."

Korra had an impish look on her face, and Mako thought she was trying to lighten the mood. He knew her well enough by now to know when something had her nervous or scared, and this thing with that fake Avatar had to have her rattled. It had him rattled. His partner was in the hospital. Other people could get hurt if this all escalated.

The sound of someone calling Korra's name prevented him from replying. He looked up as Asami came into the restaurant, trailed by Jinora, Ikki and Jia. She greeted Korra with a kiss after slipping into the booth, and Mako scooted over to let Jinora and Jia sit next to him. He went right into business mode. "Got any news?"

Asami shook her head. "We haven't figured out a thing."

"The only person ever recorded to have controlled all four elements is the Avatar," Jinora supplied. She leaned forward, brushing bangs out of her face with an annoyed gesture. "I even paid a visit to Wan Shi Tong, but he said that was impossible. I traded some information Asami gave me on propulsion and dug around in the library for a few hours anyway, but I came up empty."

Korra nudged Asami under the table with her foot as she settled back against the booth. "Raava has no idea either."

"We did some experiments at Future Industries." Asami pulled some folded papers out of her vest pocket. Korra moved her and Mako's plates as Asami spread the papers out on the table. "Fire was easy to generate." She showed them on some diagrams. "You need a fuel source, air, and a spark. The hard part was actually controlling it. I was able to use a similar system to moving the fuel around to move water around and create blasts of water, but nothing as elegant as waterbending."

"What about air?" Korra asked.

"We use compressed air to inflate Satomobile tires, and to control some systems in airships." Asami tapped another diagram. "Blasting air is easy. Control is harder but I had an idea for redirecting air with tubes under clothing. It lacks finesse."

"You need an airbender for finesse," Jinora said. She glanced around the table, and caught Jia looking at her sister for all of two seconds before realizing she was being watched.

Mako had been listening with one ear, while watching the others. He saw the way Jia had glanced at Ikki, and it was obvious that Ikki couldn't tear her eyes from her. He was pretty sure Korra was trying to play footsie with Asami. He looked down and studied the diagrams on the table. "What about Earth?".

Asami shook her head. "Everything I could think of required huge machinery and none of it would move rocks through the air."

"She had too fine a control over fire, but I didn't see her do anything fancy with air besides just blasting it. That could mean a machine, or she could just not be very good at airbending." Korra flashed back to her own airbending training, and the years she'd spent truly mastering the element.

"She's a natural firebender," Mako agreed. "That was firebender lightning she shot at me."

"She made water whips too," Jinora pointed out. She didn't particularly want to point that out, but nothing in Asami's diagrams hinted that that level of control was possible without a bender.

Jia spoke up next. "What if it has something to do with Vaatu and Harmonic Convergence? Like a reincarnated evil Avatar?"

The temperature around the table seemed to drop several degrees. Ikki looked between everyone. "That's...not possible is it?"

"No." Korra shook her head. "It's not. Vaatu was absorbed into Raava. We'd know in a heartbeat if he'd escaped."

"And you're sure about that?" It wasn't the first time Mako had questioned the Avatar and it wouldn't be the last time, but the question didn't bother Korra.

"Positive. He's so weak he won't be a problem for thousands of years."

Jinora frowned. "Remind me to write that down somewhere so that future Avatars don't accidentally end up blindsided again."

"I wish Katara were still alive. She'd probably have some ideas, or some advice." Korra leaned in as Asami put an arm around her. "I miss her."

"She's happy with grandpa." Jinora reached across the table to squeeze Korra's hand. The wound was still a little fresh, and she didn't know when things would start to feel normal again. She didn't know if she wanted to ever feel normal without Gran Gran.

"What about Lord Zuko?" Asami suggested. "Other than Katara no one was closer to Aang, and I'm sure he's seen some really strange things in his life."

"That's a great idea!" Korra planted a wet kiss on Asami's cheek. "Mako, think you could have your girlfriend help us? I'm sure she'd be willing to help, it's Avatar business after all."

While she was more than just a way to contact people, Mako knew she wouldn't object. "Azula would probably have a better idea of where he is than any of us. I'll ask her when I call her tonight. She left to visit with her mother yesterday."

Jia pulled out her pocket watch and tapped it to get Asami's attention. "We need to get back and meet with the lawyer, ma'am."

Korra turned her head to Asami, a worried look on her face. "Let me know how that goes, okay?"

"Don't worry about it, you've got more important things to worry about than my business problems." Asami slid out of the booth after Ikki. She held out her hand to help Korra up, then leaned into her wife

"Your problems are my problems," Korra promised her. "Like I told Mako, I've got an appointment with the president tomorrow and I'm not just going to talk about this Amaya person."

Asami waved her hand, then rested it on Korra's arm, "Just be careful about that, okay? I don't want her to think I'm sending the Avatar to threaten her. It might make her dig her heels in more."

"I'll be gentle, promise." She flexed her arm under Asami's hand, grinning when Asami's cheeks colored.

Stepping away, Asami guided everyone out of the restaurant. She caught Jia by the shoulder. "Jia, why don't you go ahead. I won't be long, but there's something I need to show Korra first."

Jia nodded and leaned in, speaking softly in Asami's ear. Korra watched them, then glanced at Mako and the others. Ikki was wringing her hands and staring at Jia with such open admiration that it was impossible to not feel for her.

She nudged Ikki. "Why don't you go ask her out for dinner."

"What?" Ikki jumped, turning to look at Korra with an incredulous expression. "I can't do that!"

"Yes, you can." Korra put her arm around Ikki's shoulders. Maybe she couldn't fix the whole false Avatar thing right away, but she could at least help with this. "You do remember how long Asami and me circled each other, right? Do you really want to wait years not knowing?"

"But if she says no…I mean she's so busy."

"Then you don't have to waste time not knowing," Korra pointed out. She glanced at Mako to back her up.

Sighing softly, Mako shook his head. "When I asked Azula, she said she was too busy. The second time, she said yes."

"See? It works out." Korra started to walk Ikki towards Jia and Asami. Asami looked at Korra, then at Ikki and chuckled.

"Uhm…" Ikki felt suddenly eleven again. She couldn't quite look at Jia without turning several shades of red, but she tried. "Doyouwanttogetdinnertomorrow?"

"I'd love to." Jia only hesitated a few seconds, recovering from what really shouldn't have been a surprise. Ikki's crush was as obvious as an elephant-snake in the room. She smiled at Ikki, clasping her hands in front of herself and trying to ignore the wink Asami gave her. "Would five work?"

Ikki gaped, mouth open and shoulders stiff. She hadn't expected it to be that easy, and she didn't have a ready response. Jinora nudged her and whispered. "Say yes!"

Startled, she barked out. "Yes!"

"I'll see you then." Jia squeezed Ikki's shoulder, then took Korra's arm and walked with her away from the stunned young woman. Once far enough away, she stopped them. Her voice was uncharacteristically shaky. "I hate to ask you this, but could you tell her? About me?"

"Jia, I'm not entirely sure where to begin." Korra masked her surprised. Under Jia's cool exterior she could see exposed nerves.

"The same way I told you. How my spirit wound up in a boy's body instead of a girl's." Jia's gaze slid over to Ikki. "I just… I don't know if I can handle seeing her reaction."

Korra held up a finger. "Okay, first, I don't think it'll change how she thinks about you. You're still a woman. And I really think that if you want her to know you need to tell her yourself. Sure, I could tell her about Avatars Chinatsu and Gopan and some of the others but it'll be better to hear it from you. There's so much -" She twirled her hands in the air between them- "nuance."

Looking pensive, Jia rubbed her thumb over her knuckles, applying pressure to each in turn. She stole a look at Asami. "When I told Mimi, I was terrified. That I'd lose her as a friend. That I'd lose my job. My home. And I knew her, I knew she isn't the kind of person that would do anything like that, but I was still scared of her reaction. But she was so… nice." She squeezed her fingers. "She wanted to understand so that she could be there for me. I … cried on her. You were easier to tell. But this… I've never actually gone on a date? "

Jia was probably the only person who could get away with that nickname for Asami. Korra shook her head. "I've gotten to watch how she's grown up. She's got a lot of her mother in her, and she's completely head over heels for you." She took Jia's hands, stopping her before she actually started wringing them. "It'll be okay. And you don't have to tell her until you're ready. Got it?"

"Got it." Jia smoothed the front of her skirt. "I'll think about it tonight." She turned to walk back to the office, nodding at Asami as she passed.

"Is she okay?" Asami asked, once Korra had joined her.

"She wanted me to tell Ikki."

"Will you?"

"No, she's thinking about doing it herself."

Asami made a mental note to offer her shoulder later. "I think they'll be fine. Now there's something I want to show you."

Korra walked over to where Mako, Jinora and Ikki were standing. "Yeah? What do you have?"

Not waiting for a word, Asami fell into an Earthbending stance. She lifted her arms, and part of the ground rose in front of her.

(AN: It was important to me that Jia's identity be described in text and not simply be a word of god after thought, so I hope I succeeded. Some of the terms we're used to with regard to gender and sexuality don't really exist in the Avatar world. While Jia's explanation is a very simple one and part of how she's come to understand herself, it's of course much more complex than that, which Korra tried to acknowledge.)