Chapter 15
The pair approached the shore. Korra looked at Asami and created a water sphere around them, that kept air inside of it, allowing the two women to travel under the water. They walked for a while before finally arriving to the Air Temple Island.
"Shh," spoke Asami as she put her hand on Korra's mouth as the two people observed the island, and saw various Equalists walking on it.
"I want to hit someone so badly, these Equalists are so pissing me off," spoke Korra
"Korra, remember that we need to speak with Tarrlok first, before doing anything," spoke Asami as Korra nodded.
"Look, I see Amon," spoke Korra, as the two friends lay low on the grass, trying to hide from the leader of the Equalists. They soon noticed that Amon walked away. The two women then ran towards the tower.
"I know how to get in," spoke Korra as she opened a secret passageway, where the two friends climbed. After moving through the corridor, they emerged on top of the tower, where they saw the former Councilman Tarrlok sitting in his cell.
"Tarrlok!" exclaimed Korra
"I see you found me, Avatar Korra. Have you come to rescue me? Or do you want to know something?" asked Tarrlok
"We came here to talk. So Tarrlok, spill it, why has Amon put you in here? Why you?" asked Korra
"That's because I am Amon's brother," spoke Tarrlok
"What? But you did all those things to oppose his movement," spoke Asami.
"Of course I did. What Amon did was wrong, and I did not even know at the time that he was my brother. When he took my bending away, I recognized it as my brother's grip," spoke Tarrlok
"I still find it hard to believe that two brothers waged war with the Republic City caught in the process in the middle," spoke Asami
"Well, enlighten me about this, Miss Sato, since you and your father are in almost the same situation," spoke Tarrlok
"I," spoke Asami
"You said that you felt Amon's grip? What do you mean," began Korra
"My brother's real name is Noatak. We both came from the Northern Water Tribe, and like myself, Noatak is a Water Bender and a Blood Bender, just like our father was," spoke Tarrlok.
"Blood bending? Amon is a Bender?" questioned Korra
"Yes. As many people know, Avatar Aang apprehended Yakone many years ago. Avatar Aang took his bending away, but my father had many connections and escaped the city, running to the Northern Water Tribe. There, he met the woman who became my mother," spoke Tarrlok
"Nobody knew that he was Yakone?" asked Korra
"No. He got a facial surgery to change his face. Noatak was the firstborn, a Water Bending Prodigy. I was born three years later. Noatak and I were great friends when we were kids, and we loved to play with each other back in the good old days," spoke Tarrlok
An image appeared in Asami's head. "Hiroshi, Asami are you still working on that dirty machine?" spoke Yasuko as she entered the workshop of the Sato Estate.
"Hello Yasuko, Asami and I were working on a new prototype," smiled Hiroshi as Yasuko looked at her husband and her daughter, who both were covered in grease.
"Mama, dad thinks this new engine is even more powerful and efficient then the last," spoke Asami as she looked at her mother. The kid was adorable.
"Right, my little grease monkey. So, what do you think about this," spoke Hiroshi as Asami then looked at another device, as Yasuko shook her head. Sometimes, when her family would start working on some project, it would be hard for them to stop.
"Asami, are you alright?" asked Korra in the present day, as she noticed that a tear escaped her eye.
"I am fine, I just remembered the time when my family was happy. My mother and my father loved me, and we used to spend so much time together. I used to work with dad a lot on his projects," spoke Asami
"I sympathize with you Asami Sato, as I had a similar experience long ago," spoke Tarrlok
"Had? You and Amon are enemies!"
"Miss Sato, I know that we are enemies right now, but when we were kids we were best friends, a family, just like you were with your father, " spoke Tarrlok as Korra hugged her friend.
"I am sorry. I am still mad at what you did to Korra, and at what my father did to my life," spoke Asami
"I understand. Perhaps the universe wants to punish me for all the bad things I have done; I am truly sorry if I caused both of you any harm, which was never my intention," spoke Tarrlok.
"You said that you were friends. What happened later?" asked Korra
"My father Yakone discovered that both Noatak and I were Water Benders, so he began training both of us in Water Bending. My brother excelled easily at it, like former Fire Lord's sister, but I was not as proficient. My father used to scare me by shouting at my failures, while Noatak always tried to comfort me. Eventually, I became a decent Water Bender, although not as good as Noatak was," spoke Tarrlok
"What happened to make both of you bent on conquering Republic City?" asked Korra
"I never wished to do it, and neither did Noatak. One night during a full moon, our father took us to show us how Blood Bending is done. At first we practiced on herbivore animals like yaks, and our father made it clear that he wanted both of us to become the greatest blood benders on the planet," spoke Tarrlok
"I was never good at Blood bending, but Noatak naturally excelled at it. As we grew, he became better and better at Blood Bending. Our father eventually made us learn blood bending without the aid of full moon, and Noatak and I practiced it for many hours every day. I soon learned that I had no stomach to use this power to blood bend any helpless animals, let alone humans, but my brother became so proficient in blood bending that he did not even need to use hands to Blood Bend any animal. He could have psychic control," spoke Tarrlok
"I saw in my vision that Yakone could just look at others and Blood Bend them," spoke Korra
"Yes, my brother Noatak became a master of this technique. He marveled in his newfound power, and began to enjoy it, where he had control over others. He soon became distant and spent a lot of time alone, thinking" spoke Tarrlok
Asami looked at him, and remembered that horrible night. "Mommy! Wake up, are you alright?" asked young Asami Sato as she held her dying mother.
"Sweetie, you need to hide," spoke Yasuko as the robber approached the two women.
"You have a daughter?" smiled the Fire bender as Asami hugged her mother in response.
"I love you Asami," spoke Yasuko as her head dropped.
"Mama!" spoke Asami as she then looked at the Fire bender. The girl was freighted.
"Asami!" cried Hiroshi as he ran in the room, only to find out that his daughter held the body of his dead wife with a Fire Bender approaching her.
"You both will soon rejoin her," spoke the Fire Bender as Metal Benders arrived on the scene and promptly tied the murderer.
"I am sorry we could not arrive here earlier," spoke Lin Bei Fong.
"Save it, my wife, the love of my life is dead," spoke Hiroshi as he approached Asami and took her hand.
"Asami?" asked Korra her friend as the heiress recollected that night.
"I remembered that night. The horrible Fire Bender killed my mother. After that day, my father never smiled, and spent all his time working, almost neglecting me. He still spent time with me inventing things, but I never felt any joy radiating from him. I see that like Amon, my dad also became distant," spoke Asami
Tarrlok continued his tale, "Noatak became an excellent Blood Bender. One day our father put us against each other and made us blood bend the other," spoke Tarrlok
"That's horrible," commented Korra
"I know. My father made Noatak Blood Bend me first. I felt horrible pain as Noatak did so, and after that torture I dropped on the snow. My father then ordered me to Blood Bend Noatak," spoke Tarrlok
"I refused, but my father was furious," continued the former Councilman, "He verbally abused me, and was ready to hit me, but Noatak Blood Bend him and told how horrible he was. Noatak then ran away from our home, and I have never seen him again before his reappearance as Amon many years later,"
"What happened to Yakone?" asked Asami
"My father was never the same after Noatak ran away. He lost his oldest son, and his hopes of revenge withered, and Yakone passed away shortly after," spoke Tarrlok as he looked at Korra and Asami.
"That's the saddest story I have ever heard," spoke Korra
"You need to defeat my brother. I know that he always wanted to treat everyone equally, but someday his methods became extreme. I know nothing of how he transformed into Amon, but I think that the brother I loved is gone, and only Amon remains. Please, take him down, and end this tragic story," spoke Tarrlok
"Asami, do you realize what this means? We can now undermine the whole revolution! We just need to expose Amon as a bender," spoke Korra excitedly.
"Korra? That would not help you as much as you want it to. Amon can be a Bender and an Equalist, just as I can be a non bender, and a member of Team Avatar, fighting against Equalists," spoke Asami as Korra paused and thought about this.
"Whops, I have not considered that," spoke Korra
"We do have Amon's backstory to help us. We should not just rely on it, however, but we could show that a bender and a non bender can be friends," spoke Asami
"You are right Miss Sato, the love between the ultimate bender and her opposite genius non bender can help the city. I am sorry I did not realize this sooner, but your relationship can defeat Amon's cause and ironically achieve the Amon' goal without their extreme means," spoke Tarrlok
"Relationship?" thought Korra as she blushed, "But I don't want to lie to win this war," spoke Korra
"Lie? My dear half-baked Avatar in training, I have seen many things, and I recognize a very strong bond between the two of you. You might not feel that kind of love between each other, but you are still best friends. Either way, the mere existence of your friendship, with the fact on how opposite you are to one another would help you in fighting Amon. Now go, and leave me here. You have the city to save," spoke Tarrlok
"We cannot leave you here," spoke Korra
"Don't worry about me, I have to stay here. Amon cannot know that anyone visited my prison. Go and put an end to this sad story," spoke Tarrlok as the two women left.
"Relationship?" spoke Korra as she looked at Asami.
"Korra, I really like you, and apparently Tarrlok noticed this. We will figure out what our feelings for each other truly are, but we first need to defeat the Equalists," spoke Asami as she looked away, before grabbing Korra and kissing her gently on Korra's cheek. Asami blushed as the two began walking back to the water to return to their friends.
"Asami really loves me!" thought Korra as the two friends entered the water, and began their journey to regroup with the rest of their friends, and prepare to strike the Equalists base before confronting Amon at his rally. While they walked, neither woman realized that they locked their hands during their trip.
A/N: Next chapter Team Avatar fights Hiroshi Sato. I thought it would be interesting to make some parallels between Asami and Tarrlok. Korrasami relationship is still growing. I don't plan to feature much of the growing romance between the two, but when Korra confronts Amon, I plan to put some, as well as in the last chapter of this arc.