Here we are; the last chapter of History: Part II. I didn't think it would take this long to get this far, and I appreciate your patience while I attempted to get my life together enough to post the last 5-10 chapters. I am so very grateful for each and every one of you taking the time to read my story and even comment on it! You are truly amazing.
The first post of Chemistry was a long 348 days ago (almost a year!), and the story has evolved so much from the dream from which it was conceived. It was emerged from just another college AU to a whole new story for Korra and the characters we know and love (plus some new ones because world building and OCs are fun!). And now we are here, over 300,000 words later, to this point.
I know I thanked everyone a paragraph ago, but I would like to thank you all again. Your love and support - and even your dislike, at times - of my story has fueled me to continue a passion that I had otherwise forgotten for many many years prior; writing. It has been a very intense year, and while I haven't been able to get to writing in several months, I plan on picking it up again now that my course load has lightened and I am finally healing from my many sicknesses. I just truly would like to thank each and every one of you for all that you have done for me.
This chapter - to be blunt in these wee hours of the night - this chapter is fucking epic. I have been waiting oh so long to show it to you all, and for good reason. This is one of my favorite chapters and - in my opinion - a great way to end many of the things that have been culminating in History and even Chemistry. I hope you enjoy it as you have enjoyed some of the other chapters in this story.
So yes, this is the official end of History: Part II. But never fear! The story isn't over yet. Keep your eyes peeled for The Arts: Part I updates; you may be surprised by what is to come.
Also, shout out to The 100 fans out there - I know y'all are going through some heartbreak right now. You, um, might want to hold off reading this chapter if you are still emotionally raw. Just gonna put that right here.
In conclusion, here it is! The conclusion of History: Part II. I'll be hiding in my cave now. Enjoy!
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Chapter 41
Avatar Korra
"Mom! There you are! I've been worried sick about you." Kya burst out of her mother's home as the pair approached the entrance. "Where have you been?" Her scowl and angry tone faded into concern when she saw the look in Katara's eyes. "What's wrong?"
Naga kneeled down to allow Katara to slide off. She walked up to her daughter, a mixture of worry and happiness in her expression. "It's true, Kya. Everything that I suspected about Korra."
"She's the Avatar? How can you tell?"
"Naga came in the middle of the night for help. When I got there, Korra was unconscious. She was in the Spirit World. When she came to, I showed her the Avatar Air Bending relic. She recognized it in an instant, without having seen it at all in her life. That, plus the Fire Bending and everything else I've been feeling inside of her… she's the Avatar, Kya. I know it."
"That's great, mom! She finally knows?"
She nodded, though the joy she felt morphed into full-on anxiety.
"There's something else, isn't there?"
Katara repeated her motion. "She had a seizure. She isn't doing too well from it."
"I'll grab the purified water –"
"Wait, Kya," she halted her daughter with a palm on her shoulder. "There's… something else."
She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"The White Lotus came. Three of them. Piku, Shan, and Natchik. They know Korra is the Avatar, too. And they tried to force her to go to the compound with them."
Kya folded her arms over her chest. "Why would they do that?"
"I don't know for sure. But they're currently frozen on top of the northern glacier near the joining of the three rivers."
"No doubt by your hand."
Katara nodded and turned to the polar bear dog. "Stay here, Naga. I'm going inside to change into more flexible clothing." She walked past her confused daughter, her words alone prompting Kya to follow.
"What do you have in mind, mom?" She was hesitant in her question, her tone full of cautious concern.
"I want to go to Korra's house and watch over her. I don't know what is going on with the White Lotus, but if there's more of them that are acting the same way as those three did, then she's going to need some protection."
"What about Tonraq and Senna?"
"Senna's not a fighter. She'd be able to hold her own against one or two Benders, but those three are masters at what they do. Tonraq, on the other hand, would be fine in a fight like this; he's much more used to dueling Benders than those quick moving Striker people. But from what I've heard, he went to the pub in Harbor City before returning home. He might still be intoxicated."
"Why would he go to the pub?" Kya leaned against the doorway, looking away as Katara shed her outer layers.
"My guess is as good as yours. Perhaps he was upset at Korra being a Fire Bender. She thinks that Senna cheated on him with a Fire Bender, and that's why she was able to Fire Bend."
She frowned. "Well, Tonraq doesn't know that you've suspected Korra to be the Avatar all this time. Of course that would be his first thought, especially since Korra can't Water Bend. Speaking of that," she pushed herself up and took a few steps inside, "why didn't you ever tell him about it?"
"You didn't see how hard he pushed Korra into being a Water Bender. He was a bit ridiculous, and a bit relentless. If I had told him that I thought she was the Avatar, it would have gotten much worse. Besides, you remember what happened the last time that I…" Katara left it at that, the memories still painful though they were from over a decade ago.
Kya frowned and watched her mother with careful eyes.
Katara walked past her daughter – now clothed in fewer layers – and exited their home, apprehension in her posture.
"I – I had no idea things with Tonraq were that serious," Kya continued, finding it better for the both of them to ignore the latter portion of Katara's statement. "Is it all because of what happened with him in the North?"
"I suspect so." Katara replied, grateful for the avoidance. She approached Naga and ran a hand through her fur. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on right now, but I'm worried about Korra. My gut is telling me to go watch over her, so that's what I'm going to do." Katara crawled onto Naga's back and adjusted her position. "Are you coming with me?"
"Of course I am." Kya shot herself onto the polar bear dog with her Water Bending. "Do you think I would let you do something like this alone?" She grabbed onto her mother's shoulders with a fiery look of determination.
Katara nodded, a similar expression on her face. With a slight bend forward, the trio was speeding off to the home of the unofficial Chief of the Southern Water Tribe.
(-)
Everything was quiet. Korra was passed out. Asami was in a similar state. The fire place was barren of any blaze. Senna was asleep in her bedroom. Even the snores from the slumbering Tonraq in the training room had died down to just an occasional snort as he tossed on the uncomfortable ground.
A loud rumble disturbed the stillness.
Korra woke a split second before she was flying across the room. She smashed into the wall near her window, the wind knocked out of her lungs.
Asami was thrown to the side, the mattress destroyed in the blast.
"What the hell?"
They both rose to their feet, moonlight shining through the fresh hole in the wall. A shadowy figure in blue and white robes appeared, a roaring slab of earth too big to dodge rushing into Korra's direction.
She had no time to react, still shaky from her last blow. It collided with her and forced her right through the wall to the exterior of her house. She toppled and bounced through the snow, grunting as she did so. A sharp pain ravaged her shoulders from the impact.
"Korra?!" Asami called, her shout mirrored by her frantic parents who were rushing through the house from different rooms.
Asami spun to face the Earth Bender just in time to see a pillar of rock shoot up at her. She jumped out of the way and rolled onto her feet. "You!" She pointed at the Bender, recognizing him from the glacier earlier in the night. "What are you doing here?!"
"Shan?" Tonraq and Senna were in the doorway near Asami, ready and raring for a fight.
He wasted no time in answering them. He shifted and sent more earth their way.
Asami dove forward, escaping the closed quarters through the hole that Korra was blown through. She scanned the area, searching for the Southerner. "Korra!" She sprinted towards her as quick as she could, noticing five other White Lotus members rushing to her as well.
Tonraq and Senna had dodged the attack from Shan in the opposite direction to Asami's route, landing closer to Korra's destroyed mattress. Tonraq charged forward, realizing that he was cornered. He pulled on some of the snow from the first hole in the wall and turned it into water, sending a distracting stream Shan's way. The tactic was enough to force him off balance, the pause in his next attack granting Tonraq enough time to run into the open. A new arsenal of ice and snow was at his fingertips. "Find Korra," he yelled over his shoulder, shooting himself into the air to avoid a large rock pillar.
Senna slipped through the second opening. She froze when she found a battered Korra and a defensive Asami surrounded by five members of the White Lotus. She recognized two of them as the men who stopped by her home a few days before: Piku and Natchik. The other three were unfamiliar to her.
Korra and Asami, on the other hand, had seen them before; while they didn't know the three men's names, they remembered seeing them after the Striker attack when Naga had brought Korra, Tonraq, and Kya back to shore from the stolen ship.
"What do you want with me?!" Korra pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth as she did so. Her abdomen and back ached from the Earth Bending blows and in all honesty, she wasn't sure how she was still able to stand after sustaining them.
"You know what we want," Piku stepped forward, hands at the ready to Fire Bend.
A muffled grumble and the sound of a bouncing body interrupted his sentence. Tonraq rolled all the way over to the group nearby, groaning from taking a full-on blast of rock to the chest.
"Come with us, Avatar Korra, or we'll take you by force."
Senna's jaw dropped.
Tonraq was in a similar state. He pushed himself to his feet, one hand on his center. He squinted at his daughter, disbelief in his voice. "A – Avatar?" Too many thoughts burst through his head for him to comprehend in his tired, injured, and still somewhat-drunken state.
"Korra!" A pair of voices called to them.
They all turned to see Naga charging towards them, her occupants jumping off and riding currents of their own design over to the group.
The White Lotus wasted no more time. Piku was done with trying to negotiate. They each picked a person and split off.
Shan continued to fight Tonraq.
Natchik ran in Senna's direction.
Musu went after Kya.
Magaruk waited for Katara to get closer.
Ziyi took on Asami and the rampaging polar bear dog.
That left Piku and Korra.
Tonraq avoided a rock pillar with a push of himself along the snow, a move similar to the Earth Bending style itself. He rotated on the ball of his foot, his hands outstretched to take a large amount of water from the ground with him. He completed his rotation and sent the wave surging at Shan. Shan punched downward, causing a platform of stone to burst from the snow and send him sailing above the current. It splashed around the column, unfazed by the liquid attack. Tonraq rolled out of the way of several uprooting boulders around him, moving in a zigzag pattern towards his enemy. He brought water up to his fists and latched onto the pillar, partially freezing the fluid against the stone and his skin to establish a better grip. He climbed up the support at a rapid speed, flattening himself to avoid several hunks of rock sent his way. Once he was near the top, he projected himself upwards – right up into a side-pillar of earth that Shan had created from the very column on which he stood. Tonraq plummeted to the ground and bounced through the hard snow, just a few yards away from Senna.
Senna was on the defensive, countering each of Natchik's moves as they came at her. She redirected some of his Water Bending attacks right back at him while others she simply Bent away to her sides. She watched his movements carefully, unfamiliar in his Northern style of combat. Each time his hands lifted or his fingers clenched, she shot herself away, either rolling onto the ground or riding a wave to change her position. Her few offensive moves when she was on her current proved ineffective to his skillful maneuvering and ice shields. She copied his technique and threw a wall of ice in front of her when sharp icicles were shot her way. Natchik used this to his advantage, dodging the barrier that was now flying his way with a rotation in his stance. He brought water out in front of himself as he spun, Bending it in a curvy blast as he finished his movement. It was enough of a distraction for him to prepare a small, more discreet stream, which he shot at Senna's center while her arms were busy Bending the last wave around her body. She panicked for a moment, her duck allowing the water she was swirling to intercept the sharpened-end of the attacking surge. It was enough to divert the ice but not enough to stop the blast of the liquid-water tail-end. It forced her back, her body slamming and sliding into Asami's view.
Asami, of course, was much too preoccupied with the Earth Bender shooting pillars at all parts of her body to be of much help to Senna. She dodged and dipped the best she could, her body on the complete defensive; unlike the Benders around her, she was limited to close range combat, and she was nowhere near close enough to hit Ziyi with any of her moves. He was all bulk yet moved at a speed she had never seen from an Earth Bender his size before. She rolled out of the way of a large boulder and pushed herself off of the ground with her hands, avoiding the walls of an earth prison shooting up around her. This brought her closer to the man, but still not close enough. The sound of stampeding feet and the sight of the polar bear dog behind him brought a bit of relief and hope to her heart. That was, until Ziyi picked up on the animal, too. He slammed his foot in the ground, sending a wave of earth Asami's way. She dodged it with ease. It wasn't until she looked up that she realized that was just a slow-attack diversion from what the Bender was planning. He watched Naga's feet, picking up on her speed and relative straight-line pattern. Once the animal's front legs were back and her hind legs were coming forward, in that split second she was off the ground, Ziyi lifted his arms with break-neck speed and power. A large platform shot out from under Naga, sending her soaring through the air and far far away from him. She crashed with a painful yelp several yards away from the battle. When Ziyi turned around, Asami was charging at him, red in the corners of her eyes. She rolled under one of his boulders. And another. And another. She dove to the side when she felt the earth rumble under her feet, looking to avoid meeting the same fate as Naga had. By the time she was standing again, another stone was barreling towards her. It was too close for her to avoid, so she crossed her arms against her chest and exhaled her breath, taking the blow in the least damaging way she could. The assault sent her flying back, nearly missing the path of a fire blast from the Bender squaring off with Kya.
Kya had a series of water streams around her, the liquid circling her for both defense and offense. She countered each of Musu's flames by either dousing it with her enveloping water or rotating out of the way to sidestep it – similar to the way her father would avoid moves with his Air Bending footwork. Each spin gave her the opportunity to expend some of her spaced bubble-streams to attack her opponent. She mixed it up between icicles and jets in an attempt to keep the Bender on his toes. He avoided those attacks with ease, picking up on the Water Bender's strategy. He lunged forward and extended both of his fists out in front of his chest, sending a wave of fire too large for Kya to simply deflect or walk around. She cursed in her head and brought all of her water together, freezing it at the last moment to shield herself from the blast. It melted her barrier until the edges of the blaze fringed her clothing. She couldn't hold the ice much longer and she had no time to Bend more water to aid in easing the blow. She gulped – the heat around her becoming more intense – when a large water current with a Water Bender on top surged past her. It broke the fiery onslaught just enough for Kya to procure more liquid of her own. She kept her arms moving, Bending more and more water to combat the flames. Steam rose up into the sky as a second Water Bender rode past them, bursting through the vapors while she chased the White Lotus member down.
Katara had a perfect balance on her wave, using large movements and even larger amounts of water to pursue Magaruk. He sloshed around, trying to avoid the spiraling streams sent his way as he, too, was balanced on a current of his own design. They circled around Tonraq, who was back on his feet and Bending water at Shan, and narrowed their waves until they were close to the ground. They both clenched their fists, gliding around on controlled ice instead of water. They shot past Naga, Katara gaining speed on Magaruk. She managed to use every-other arm movement to shoot ice columns into his path, attempting to knock him off of his ice wave. He ducked and dodged them, his reflexes tuned to even her speed of attack. Magaruk jumped for a moment, spinning and Bending a wave of water with his outstretched hands as he did so. He sent the stream at Katara, hoping to throw her off of her moving ice. Katara simply repeated his movement, redirecting the water right back at him. He used this to make another ice wave as he sped off again. Katara lifted her hands and clenched them as she fell to the ground, mirroring Magaruk. The pursuit continued, bringing them back to where Kya and Musu were dueling it out. He waited until she was just close enough, just centered behind him, before lifting his hands and creating a large wall of ice that shot his own self up into the sky. Katara wasn't quick enough to avoid the barrier in its entirety. She, too, brought her hands upwards, but instead of directly up, she crossed them, shooting ice pillars up in front of her to cushion the impact. She burst through the tall but thinned obstacle of ice and rolled across the ground, grunting as she did so.
The injured elder caught Korra's peripheral as she spun around a fire-laced back kick. The flames shot around her, her maneuver just enough to avoid it. Closer combat was what she was used to after dealing with the Strikers, and as much as she tried to stay close enough to land a blow on Piku, he wouldn't allow it. Each of his flame-filled attacks sent her farther and farther out of her range. Soon, she was rolling and diving out of the way of orchestrated blazes, each more accurate and more deadly than the last. Sweat was on her brow, her fists at her face. She slipped another blast, though it was close enough to leave a mild burn on her shoulder; it wasn't bad enough to scar, but it was enough to warn her of the true danger of her situation. Piku rotated in the air, sending a massive blaze her way from the heel of his foot. Korra knew she couldn't dodge this one. It covered too much area and it was coming too fast. Her thoughts toned down for a second as her subconscious recalled the last time a fire wave like this was coming towards her. She smacked the backs of her fingers together, like she was preparing to dive through the flames as she had before, when the Triple Threat Triads were attacking her. Once the fire was close enough, she pushed her arms forward and out, parting the flames around her body before they could collide with her skin. She stood her ground for the entirety of the attack, which was much longer than she thought it would be.
What she wasn't expecting was the second burst to follow.
She lowered her arms once the first blaze had ceased and looked up just as the second pushed her into the ground. She bounced backwards until her front was sliding against the snow. Korra positioned her feet to slow her momentum, her oceans locking onto the charging Piku. She gritted her teeth as she came to a halt and jumped up, already too late for his next attack. Piku sent another massive blast her way. Korra threw her hands up in an instinctual effort to shield her face. The flames flew to either side of her, her palms protected by a very thin layer of chi that was radiating from her skin. It blocked and redirected the energy within the flames around her instead of at her. This blast was much longer, the fire resonating from Piku's extended fists. The force was pushing her back, as much as she tried to stay steadfast. Her feet scraped against the ice, inching her away from her group. The power was becoming too much for her to combat. She tried to pull on more of her chi, but it wasn't enough. She succumbed to the blow and flew back again, tumbling across the hard ground with new scrapes and minor burns on her hands. She was on her stomach when her rolling ceased. She tried to push herself up from the ground with shaking limbs. She had one eye opened and locked on Piku.
"What, no Fire Bending from the Avatar?" Piku taunted, grinning as he approached Korra.
Korra shot to her feet, feeling the sun within her burn. "You want Fire Bending?" She growled. "I'll show you Fire Bending." She lunged forward, sending a similar two-fisted fire blast towards Piku.
Woah. My Bending is so much easier now.
And so much more powerful.
What do you think happened? Do you think the blood clot cleared more?
Or are you more connected to your Avatar Spirit?
Or maybe it's the chi. Maybe it's easier to access now –
Guys, who the fuck cares? I can figure this out later. Right now I need to – shit!
Korra dove out of the way of a counter blast, not even realizing hers had long diminished.
"Is that all you've got?"
She gritted her teeth, the sun slowly being consumed by white flames of rage. She sent several blasts his way, her moves switching between punches and kicks deriving from the basic Fire Bending kata she learned from Master Zuko. Her moves were becoming mindless – second nature, to be exact – as she advanced on the defending Fire Bender. The ire grew as her moves missed or were deflected time and time again.
Korra, relax. Remember; inner sun, not rage. Drive, not anger.
The thoughts resonated in her, echoed in her ears. It caused her to slip for just a split second as she switched her fire source. She pulled on her chi and closed in on Piku, sending a large blast his way as a distraction. She rolled towards him as he Bent it away, a flame-tipped fist flying at his face. Piku parried it with a forearm block, using the momentum to move his other arm in a near-circular fashion above his head, the deflecting one parallel near his waist. He brought his fists together and shot them out, a raging fire blast emanating from his knuckles.
It was in much too close for Korra to dodge.
She catapulted backward, bouncing against the hard ice several times before coming to a groaning halt. The extent of her injuries and her own exhaustion from both her seizure earlier in the night and her use of her chi fatigued her. Korra rolled onto her front and tried to push herself up. She stayed on her knee, half-upright, as she held her pained abdomen. Her shirt was slightly burned away, leaving small marks at the fringes on her skin. How she didn't receive a worse burn from such a short range baffled her, but she had no time to think it over. Piku was closing in, his stance aggressive.
"What do you want with me," Korra called, still too weak to rise up onto her feet. "All of this just to get me to your damned compound?"
"Oh, no, Avatar Korra. It's become much more than that. We were never going to take you to the compound."
Her eyes widened in shock. "What – what do you mean?"
"We weren't going to take you away to the compound. We were going to take you away to kill you."
Her heart dropped in both fear and confusion. "Kill me? Why would you want to kill me? I – I thought the White Lotus was supposed to help the Avatar."
Piku grinned, malice in his expression as he stopped his advance. "Who said we were a part of the White Lotus?" He took a breath and wound up quickly. A split second later, he shot a single arm outward, a powerful beam of white lightning flying from his fingertips.
Korra struggled to her feet, the flash lighting the darkness around her. It filled her eyes, the racing attack too close for her to dodge. She caught the wave in her hands to try and stop it; it was the only thing her instincts thought to do in such short timing. It pushed her back, though she remained on her feet. The electricity shocked her to the core, the pure power of the assault passing part of her palms and arching just below its original target: her heart. Regardless, it forced her heart into an erratic beat and intermingled with the already-tumultuous energy inside of her, making her storms and swirls of chi even worse. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, reaching her breaking point. Her abdomen burned. The thought of death floated in the back of her mind. Time seemed to slow down. She cracked her lids open for just a second, looking past the Fire Bender shooting lightning at her. She caught the sight of her father and mother, of her lifelong friend and her friend's daughter, of the woman she just met and fell in love with not too long ago, as each of them were falling victim to the Benders attacking them. A new energy filled her when she realized that they, too, were nearing their breaking point and potential death.
I – I have to do something. I can't let them die. I – I can't let myself die.
But what could I possibly do?
You can do anything. You're the Avatar.
I – I'm the –
Korra.
The voice called to her. This time, it didn't bring a terrifying amount of pain. Rather, it filled her with an incredible amount of strength. Her subconscious stepped in, and it knew exactly what to do.
Korra took a hold of the energy inside of her from the lightning radiating through her limbs. She forced control of the blast until her feet stopped dragging against the snow.
"You're not going to kill me!" Her tone was determined, fire in her eyes radiating from the sun within her and the power supplied from the voice. "I'm the Avatar," she spoke with authority, moving her left hand towards her stomach while the right took on the majority of the lightning. The channel was open. "And you've," she locked onto each of the Benders in her peripherals, "got," she shifted her footing, bringing her left arm up to her shoulder, "to deal with it!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, shooting her left hand out from her body. She focused on each internal path of her chi in that second, using the channels she made inside to redirect the energy of the lightning through her stomach and out of her. Korra didn't just release the power from her hand; no, she routed the lightning through each of her fingertips, sending the strong beams at each of the five Benders that were attacking the people she loved.
Every redirected blast hit its mark, effectively incapacitating the aggressors and forcing them to collapse into the snow.
She turned her attention to Piku, her fearless eyes meeting his fearful ones. She brought her fingers together and used her last ounce of strength to divert the lightning at the Fire Bender. He stopped his attack before it hit, but it wasn't soon enough. He, too, was knocked out from his own lightning, plummeting to the ground in unconsciousness.
Once the power of the lightning had left her, Korra staggered on her feet. She brought her shaking hands down to her abdomen, the area just above her navel near her diaphragm. It was smoking from Piku's blast. It burned and bled against her fingers. Several streams of electricity radiated out of her in a similar way to when Sentai had stabbed her with his baton. There was a metallic taste in her mouth. Her legs started to shake. She felt herself slip into blackness, the whole ordeal much more than her body could handle. Her chi was rampant inside of her now; she could feel every bit of it. It overwhelmed her. She dropped to her knees, the final sight in her closing eyes being that of Asami running towards her, calling her name with her hand outstretched.
Korra reached out to her in her last moments of consciousness, just before the darkness and the pain took her away.
(-)