"Naga! Get off!" Kohun rebuked the polar bear-dog that gnawed on the reinforced heel of his boot. She had snuck up on him as he meditated and tackled him to the ground, leaving him sprawled on his back as she tried to steal the shoe off of his foot. His attempts to shake her off were futile as he kicked and tried to sit up, the playful Naga's jaws never releasing their grip on his boot.

In only a few months the animal had grown to be the size of an adult timber wolf, causing many people in the compound to worry and avoid Korra's new pet. Naga tended to follow Kohun, however, commonly chewing articles of his clothing whenever he wasn't wearing them. Lately she had become a bit more courageous, as evident by her current attack in his very person.

"No, girl!"

Naga quickly let go and bowed her head as she heard her master's voice. "Bad!" Korra reprimanded the pup as it whimpered, her tail still wagging as an indication that she was only sorry for being caught.

Kohun struggled to his feet, dusting the soft flakes of snow off of his heavy parka and straightening his hat. The thick tower of a man stood over the ten-year-old Avatar, looking from her to her pet and back again.

"You're late, Korra." He said in slightly grudging tone.

She looked down at the ground with a pout, sadly tracing idle patterns in the snow with her foot. Kohun folded his arms, determined not to let her off so easy as she stared up at him with those huge sapphires that passed for her eyes.

Kohun finally let out a sigh of defeat, a corner of his mouth pulling back into a grin. "Can those eyes get any bigger?"

She laughed, always knowing that he couldn't stay mad at her.

He shuddered and rubbed his hands together as a cold wind rippled through the otherwise still morning air. No one else in the White Lotus compound was awake yet, small flecks of grayish orange only just now beginning to peek over the high walls as dawn broke in the South Pole.

"Alright. Get into your stance." He instructed.

Without hesitation Korra jumped up into the air, turning towards the facing sun and landing in her starting position. Kohun rolled his eyes and smoothly slid his posture into that of a firebender. He glanced over at his student as she stood there patiently, her eyes closed and her face in an expression of focus, something that she was seldom able to hold for very long. He knew what she was feeling. Even after fourteen years without his bending he could still remember the relief and the exhilaration of the rising sun.

"In." He commanded softly, his voice sounding as soft as the snow yet as warm as the sunlight that was beginning to splash the gray morning with color. He and Korra drew a breath in unison, holding it for an undetermined count. Sometimes they were long, sometimes short. He liked to switch it up and keep her attention.

"Out." He finally said, the two of them exhaling.

Kohun felt nothing with these exercises. They were little more than a dull reminder that he could no longer feel the passion that he once had. When he could firebend every breath stirred the energy within his soul and excited the embers of his inner fire, but now he felt only air in his lungs passing routinely over his cold lips.

"In."

For the last seven years he had taught her the exercises. Something about it gave him a purpose. He knew what she felt as the sun rose. The tingling and teasing sensation of energy as it began to ripple through the very essence of her existence. Knowing that he could teach something helpful was his greatest motivation. It was the reason that he still sent dispatches to the Equalists, behind Katara's back of course. No one could understand why he did it: Why he enjoyed empowering the weak against the strong. It was his litany, his creed, and his very purpose.

"Can we start yet?" Korra asked, obviously no longer in a meditative mood.

Kohun merely smiled, his eyes still closed. "I didn't tell you to exhale."

He chuckled as he heard an annoyed sigh from Korra. She stood there, holding her breath this time and patiently awaiting his instruction.

"Alright, breathe out."

Now is when it got exciting. Kohun rolled his shoulders back and opened his eyes, looking over at Korra who in turn looked back at him, a feeling of electric anticipation in the air. Even Naga, who had been patiently sitting with her head on her paws, wagged her tail and perked her ears.

"Basic to advanced technique progression." He told her. "On me. And remember to focus."

He could tell how impatient his student was by how jumpy she was getting. "Yeah, yeah."

Kohun took one last breath, then lunged forward and punched at the air. Korra followed the motion only moments after he performed it, except when she did it a small fireball shot out from her hands.

Without his bending, Kohun's movements were nothing more than some strange morning ritual; like a boxer running through motions. But even though fire did not result from his movement, Korra had always seen the force behind his kicks and punches. He moved with purpose, smooth and precise, feeling the flow of energy that both was and wasn't there. Anyone could mistake him for a master firebender up until that last millisecond of a motion, when not even a puff of smoke came of his efforts. He still felt it though, because in that same last millisecond, he felt the energy and force travel through him and screech to a halt just before it became a flame. It was maddening, the sensation of the chi within trying to break free from its prison within his body, desperate to manifest itself into the world as a hungry fire.

Korra had learned to follow what he did over the years. Whenever she copied him and listened to his instructions on feeling the energy within herself she felt power and control over the element.

"Firebending comes from where?" Kohun asked her, sending a hard kick forward.

Korra followed his motion immediately, sending a flame from her foot. "The gut." She answered, slipping into the routine of movements and questions.

"What is fire?" Kohun continued with the questions, making a small swipe at the air with his hand. Part of his training had always been constant memorization of "reasons why". He had always made sure that Korra understood the mindset behind his techniques.

"Fire is warmth." Korra answered as she mimicked his arm, sending an arc of fire flying out in front of her. "It's light and life."

Kohun pulled his arms back and then shot them forward. "What makes a master firebender?"

His student shot a continuous stream of flame from her hands, building the intensity until it was practically a blowtorch. "The ability to maintain a constant attack." She answered him, never stopping her jet of fire as she spoke.

"Who were the…" Kohun paused as he leaped in the air, charging his imaginary attack and flinging his arms out in a wide arc as he landed. "First firebenders?" He finished his question with a glance at Korra. A glance that told her that she had better know the answer with all the stories he told her.

"Dragons!" Korra said excitedly as she landed and sent a great and violent blade of flame out before her, melting the snow almost thirty feet ahead of where she stood.

Her uncle decided to test her newest move, a smirk on his face. "And dragons are known for…?" He straightened his body and loudly sucked in a deep breath. He paused, his cheeks filled with air and his chest puffed out as his amber eyes begged for her to hurry up with the answer.

Korra grinned, knowing what he was leading up to. Building up all of her willpower and concentration, she drew one last breath in, hesitating for a moment before letting it out. To be honest, even if she was the Avatar, the sight of the little ten-year-old girl breathing out such a vicious tongue of flame would make most people cringe.

Kohun accepted her answer happily, letting out his held breath in a roar. He clawed his fingers and reared up like the winged lizards of old. Korra laughed at him as he pretended he was a dragon. After a few moments of exaggerated theatrics, he stood up straight and adjusted his fur-lined parka, coughing into his hands at his own awkwardness.

"Your Breath of Fire could use a little more work, to be honest." He noted.

The look of frustration on Korra's face was understandable. Being the Avatar, she was naturally skilled in all bending forms since she was even born. Almost any technique that her teachers taught her was immediately mastered. When something didn't come easy to her, she was prone to become headstrong. She would forget her teachings and tackle the problem in her own manner without regard to what she had been taught. Needless to say, this tended to only create more problems.

"You want to tell me what you did wrong?" Kohun said, sitting down in a meditative position and patting the ground in front of him.

Korra plopped down, facing her teacher as she braced her elbows on her knees. "I forced it?"

"You forced it." Her uncle snapped his fingers and made a humorous grimace of disappointment. "Remember Kor. The Breath of Fire is just like all of your other techniques. Its name even tells you that you control it..."

"With the breath." She finished for him. "I know, Sifu. I just feel like it needs that extra push."

Kohun gave her a stern look. He had learned to be patient, being a general and a teacher had taught him that, but Kohun still felt quite vexed when he had to repeat a lesson. "And when you push your breath out the fire is weaker and doesn't last as long." He had told her this dozens of times since they began learning the form. "The flame is its own life. Trust it to do the work for you. Let the breath come from deep in your lungs and not your throat. It will last longer and burn hotter."

"This sounds like those singing lessons Mom made me take." Korra mused.

"It's actually very much like that." Kohun smirked at the memory of the failed singing lessons, the scar on his cheek receding to the force of his smile. Few people knew the General's softer side, but those who did found it intoxicating. "Why do you think firebenders are the best singers in the world?"

"Please don't, Nanuk." Korra begged, not wanting to listen to him make a sad attempt at melodic sound.

Kohun shrugged in agreement with her protests. "Okay, okay." He then made a slight expression of inquiry at her use of his old nickname. Nanuk was the ancient Water Tribe word for bear. Much like the Fire Nation naming crowning its national heroes as Dragons, the Water Tribes honored brave and courageous generals with the title of Nanuk. The Southern Fire Colonies, with their curious mix of Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation cultures, followed the custom. Kohun received the title both as a mix of his military achievements and his own physique, which was tall and muscled.

"And just who told you that little moniker?" Kohun asked.

Korra suddenly cursed under her breath as she remembered that Kohun didn't like other people talking about his involvement in the rebellion all those years ago. Only he knew exactly what he had done, everyone else was just repeating rumors.

"Dad sort of…" She began, hesitant to blame her father who had only told her the stories because she begged him to.

Kohun waved his hand dismissively, laughing a bit. "It's fine. You were bound to find out one of these days." Just as Katara was bound to find out that he was still running the Equalists, and then she would probably kick him out of the compound. A pang of guilt ran through him as he realized what that would mean. He would be abandoning Korra and Senna and Tonraq, the only family that he still had, all over again.

"Dad said…" Korra started up, permeating the silence. "He said that you hurt a lot of people with your firebending." She looked up at him with those eyes that he couldn't lie to: Her mother's eyes and her father's determined curiosity. "He even said that you killed a few. That's why my last life took your bending away."

Kohun sat, breathing a heavy sigh of self-disappointment. "I used to fuel everything I had with anger and hate." He tried his best to avoid his niece's gaze, knowing that she had to hear this story but still ashamed that he must tell it. "I wanted to go to war. I was angry that my people couldn't be free. I was so mad that…" He sighed, remembering Senna's pained expression as she clung to her burned leg. He hadn't meant to, he had been angry and she surprised him. She had just come to comfort him and all he did after the accident was run away and join the rebellion, not even saying goodbye to his friends. "I even hurt someone I loved without thinking."

He looked up for a moment, knowing just from Korra's expression that she knew what he was talking about. "Dad told me."

"The point of the story is that you need purpose. Not hate, not anger." Kohun finally made eye contact with her. "Fire is life, Korra. Therefore the meaning of firebending is the meaning of life. You need to find passion, warmth, gentleness, with just a small hint of dangerous unpredictability." He smiled at the last quality and so did she. "Only then can you truly master the element…and yourself."

The ten-year-old Avatar couldn't help but smile. Even without his bending, even after the tragedy of his wife and child, he still had resolve and persistence. "How did you find your purpose, Uncle Kohun?"

"What? Warmth, gentleness, and all that?" He spoke quickly, abbreviating his list into a quick murmur of indiscernible chatter.

Korra nodded. Kohun smiled.

"Well, when I felt that I had lost all purpose in my life..." He paused momentarily in a silent prayer for the departed. He then looked up into her eyes, remembering how even after he was gone, Aang had been there for his old friend when he needed it. "My purpose found me."

They both thought back to that night out in front of her home, when they first met. Korra grinned as he ruffled her hair. "So…I don't have to try to find purpose." She said hopefully, not wanting to have to meditate. "It'll just find me."

Kohun chuckled and stood up, brushing the snow off of his legs. "No. You'll actually have to try on this one." She frowned when he emphasized "to try". "If you get that down," Kohun gave her an encouraging smile. "One of these days I'll teach you lightning."

Korra jumped up in excitement. "You promise!"

The knowing man just smiled, completely unaware of Master Katara approaching from behind him. "I promise."

"Excuse me, Korra." Katara spoke in her motherly tone of understanding. "Would you mind leaving me alone with Sifu Kohun. We need to talk."

Kohun turned around, a shock of terror running down his spine as he saw the papers in her hand. His day of reckoning had come. She had always been suspicious that he would not keep his word and continue to collaborate with the Equalists, but now she had proof.

Korra ran off with Naga in hot pursuit. The two watched, fake smiles masking there true emotions until the unknowing Avatar was out of sight. Once she was gone, Kohun faced Katara with a look of complete regret and sorrow. Before he could speak, Katara's words cut through him like knives.

"Ever since my husband died, your obsession has done nothing but hurt the people that you love. Now I was content to let you run out on your poor wife and daughter and ruin your life. But you betrayed Aang." Her accusation flew like an arrow, embedding itself deep within his chest. "If this Equalism movement means so much to you, then you can go and abandon your loved ones again. You WILL leave here. You won't say goodbye. You won't leave a note. I'm not going to let you hurt Aang again." The old master's eyes gave away her anger at his betrayal. "And I'm not going to let you hurt Korra."

Kohun just stood there, dumbfounded. He wanted to explain the severity of the situation. How there were groups within his organization that wanted to kill people. They didn't want to empower non-benders. They wanted to commit genocide on benders. The Equalist Party, his creation with a beautiful idea, was quickly decaying into something that he could not control. But he couldn't explain it, because he knew that she was right. He couldn't stop the problem from where he was. It would have to come to him eventually, and the people that he cared about.

"Katara, I…" He quickly choked on his words and his body tensed up. Kohun tried to move, to blink, anything. He didn't feel any pain, but when he looked into Katara's eyes, he could tell that her will carried the power to kill him that very instant. Terror gripped him as he looked at her, the anticipation of the pain constantly hovered over him, stories of bloodbenders racing through his mind. Katara didn't need to hurt him, her aura alone told him that if he even thought about making excuses he would meet a terrible end.

She leaned forward, bloodbending him down to her level so that her eyes looked straight into his. When she spoke, her voice carried a level of restrained anger that he had never thought she was capable of.

"Get…out!"

A thumb rested on his chest and another on his forehead. Kohun had followed Korra's example and closed his eyes, taking a breath in as he felt the energy within himself stir at the Avatar's command.

In a brilliant flash of power and spiritual vitality Kohun awaited the reopening of his long-closed chakras. He waited…and waited…and waited. When Korra stepped back, Kohun opened his eyes and gave her a curious glance.

"That's it?" He asked her, feeling no different. A sense of worry and disappointment began to gnaw at him.

Korra held up her hand with an incredible confidence and anticipation in her eyes, as if the simple waving of her hand was enough to calm his anxiety. "It doesn't hit you at first. Just wait a second."

The two stood out in the courtyard there in the pre-dawn, the sky beginning to light up as the sun teasingly began to peek out over the horizon. Kohun flexed his fingers and rolled his neck, hesitantly trusting his old student.

It started slowly, a small warmth that was barely even a flicker of energy manifesting deep in his chest. Like a river that had been blocked by a dam for countless years, it started with small cracks of force seeping through the locked passageway. Kohun felt the flicker grow into a tingle and begin to branch outwards, crawling throughout his body. He took a deep breath in, almost choking on the immense power that he felt as the air fueled the years of withheld fire building up inside of him. The tingling quickly became more intense as the sun crested out its golden rays over Yue Bay. The flood of fire was quickly overtaking the dam that blocked his chakras, imbuing him with a sense of relief as well as power. His blood felt like it was boiling as his mind and body felt a strength that he had not experienced in years. Kohun turned to face the sun as it ascended into the sky.

He took a step forward, his fist flying out in front of him. The force behind his motion was like it always was. It could have been a dud just as much as it could have been a flame. Korra, despite her confidence in her abilities to restore bending, held her breath as she waited for that last millisecond that would be the judge.

And in that last millisecond, the dam broke.

A torrent of flame erupted forth, carrying with it the pent up energy of twenty-one years. Kohun let forth a series of attacking combinations, sending against his imaginary opponent a brutal onslaught of fire in a rush of kicks, punches, and jabs. Korra smiled as she realized it was the exact same combinations that he had run through with her so many times, except this time it was done with all of the power and glory that it deserved.

Kohun suddenly stopped, planting his feet violently on the ground and taking a long breath. He stared out over the bay, remembering his breath as he opened his mouth. He let out a victorious cry, augmented by a vicious tongue of flame that would have made a dragon shudder with envy and fear.

Finally pausing to catch his breath, Kohun turned to Korra and grinned. He let out a cough of smoke, clearing his mouth of a slightly burnt flavor. "Sorry. I'm a little rusty."

They both laughed, not even noticing Tenzin's disgruntled shouting at being woken up by the horrible noise in the distance.

"So." Korra looked at Kohun, now even more of a hero to her than before. "What shall we start with, Nanuk?" She bowed respectfully to her firebending teacher.

Kohun felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He walked over and put his arm around Korra's shoulders, scratching his beard in contemplation as they walked back inside. "Breakfast first. Then…hmmm…"

He held out his free hand in front of them, rotating his wrist in a circle a few times and concentrating. After a moment or two, light blue bolts of lightning danced in between his fingers, playfully coursing around his hand. "I think I made a promise a while back. Didn't I?"