Note: Sorry if this chapter is kind of uneven- some parts were just easier to write. Also, I totally realized I forgot about the song/chapter titles (because you were soo interested in that) which go: Department of Eagles- Phantom Other, St. Vincent- Just the Same But Brand New, and Animal Collective- Also Frightened. This chapter is named after Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely". On another note, I'm sorry I'm terrible at writing action. It's only slightly better than how I write smut (you will cringe even more when the time comes).

Disclaimer, I still don't own this. Still own my MacBook.

Him. How could it be? Korra thought. Her stomach spun at the sight when she recognized the way he moved to attack that last gang member. It was he, Amon. The man who wanted to destroyed her. Korra, and the shell of her being, was the result of this man. The newspapers all said that there was a boating accident outside of Republic City, and that what remained of Tarrlok's body had washed to the shores of Republic City. They all assumed that judging from the wreckage that they later found that Amon had gone down with his brother. It was that lie that kept Korra asleep instead of trapped in a panicked induced insomnia. She couldn't keep her body from collapsing there when she heard him coming back. Korra slackened against the wall and put her head between her knees. The tears came rolling soon after. She heard Amon's footsteps grow louder towards her. Korra dared not look at him.

"Here," he said.

Korra lifted her head slowly and noticed Amon's eyes were closed tightly. She wanted to be bolder- stare down at him. But Amon was standing there in front of her. He now had some scars on his face definitely not drawn by any sort of makeup. They were just traces that had obviously been healed by water from the Spirit Oasis. No other water could have healed his scars like that. Even with the scars, he looked ruggedly handsome- a twisted little game made by fate. The only thing stranger was the fact that her stomach seemed to settle the more she looked at him as he stood in front of her holding out her mask with his eyes clamped shut. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't wearing his mask. She didn't know why. Korra snatched the mask from Amon's hand and placed the mask on her face. She didn't bother tying whatever was left of the ribbons back. She stared at him, continuing to study the lines on his face, and slowly looking up at his eyes.

Korra never saw Amon's eyes before this moment. His mask always hooded his eyes too much for her to notice what they looked like. When she saw his face twice that one day, she was never close enough to make a study like this. Amon's eyes were the color of glaciers and stormy seas. They bored into her soul. They could only be described as intense- so much so that it was no wonder why Korra always felt like they were piercing her without her actually seeing them.

"I didn't need your help," Amon said.

Amon's voice still carried that low and deep quality although the menacing tones were replaced with sadness. Without the vitriol there, he sounded like a lonely man who just wanted no part to deal with Korra's antics. Amon walked away from her. She looked at him sulk into the shadows.

Quietly, Korra headed back to the rooftops and pounced her way back to her uncle's home in the northern districts of the capital. She walked over tin roofs and tiptoed on ceramic tiled roofs. To make it back inside her uncle's home, she slipped back through the old open waterways and past the guards.

Korra snuck into her room at the old Water Tribe palace. She took off her bodysuit and put on her tunic and pants before settling into the furs placed on the floor. She fingered the furs and waved a little gust of wind at the candle glowing in the corner. Sitting in the darkness, Korra sank into her bed and wrapped herself in blankets. She tried closing her eyes to fall asleep, but she found she couldn't stop thinking enough to let herself sleep. She still felt scared about the things that transpired that evening. How close those thugs were to violating her… She was lucky. Lucky to have been saved by Amon? Korra didn't want to think about that. Yet as she slipped out of consciousness, her thoughts turned to him and the sadness she felt looking at him. It was almost enough to forget everything else…

Korra woke up late in the afternoon. No one bothered to wake her any time earlier. She only looked at the mirror by the wardrobe to see the faint bruises on her arms start to surface on her skin. She quickly grabbed her long sleeved parka and pulled it over her head. Korra quietly opened her door and left the room. She hoped to not make quite a commotion for the other people in the palace. Instead Korra headed straight into Desna and Iluq.

"Were you really sleeping in there all night long?" Desna asked.

"I heard someone come sneaking in last night," Iluq said.

"I hope they got caught by the guards," Desna said.

"Intruders get killed on spot if they get caught trespassing in the palace," Iluq said.

Korra just looked at Desna and Iluq with their lips curling upward in a slow and twisted fashion.

"I was in my bedroom. I had a long day. Unlike you two. Why are you guys sneaking around in the palace anyway?" Korra said.

"We get bored," Desna said.

"Can't you do something else?" Korra said.

"Father won't let us leave the palace," Iluq said.

"Well, you guys need a hobby or something…" Korra said.

Desna and Iluq looked at each other and cackled. Desna pointed at Korra.

"You better watch your back. People are following you," Desna said.

"Like who?" Korra asked.

"People," Iluq said.

"Well they need to get onto someone else's case," Korra said.

Korra brushed past her cousins and marched towards the main room.

"The people of the Northern Water Tribe don't really know that the Avatar doesn't have all of her bending," Iluq said.

"I wonder what they think of an Avatar from the Water Tribe that can only bend air," Desna said.

Korra spun around and placed her arms in the air. She shoved a whirlwind at Desna and Iluq that placed them on their backs. The twins slowly got up huffing. Korra folded her arms and looked at her cousins who were glowering at her.

"Tell them that's what I think," Korra said.

Korra walked into the main room, which was occupied by her uncle reading papers. Beside him was a pai sho set with an unfinished game. Korra settled by the pai sho set and fingered some of the tiles on the board.

"Don't mess up the tiles. I'm in the middle of a very important match," her uncle said.

Unalaq was still immersed in his reading, never looking up at Korra. He took the quill beside him and dipped it into the inkwell next to him. He scanned the paper once more and then signed the bottom with his scrawled out signature. Unalaq brought the paper to his lips and blew gently on the fresh ink. He took the inkwell, placed the stopper on it, and set the inkwell on top of the papers. Unalaq turned to his niece and took a pai sho tile. He placed it gently onto a square.

"Who is this match against?" Korra asked.

"Myself," Unalaq said.

"What's the point of playing a game like this by yourself?" Korra said.

"Well, I'd like to play with someone who would appreciate the game. Your cousins have no interest in this, and none of my advisors care for an old fashioned game," Unalaq said.

Unalaq pointed to a tile by Korra and motioned her to pick it up. He pointed to a different square adjacent to the one he placed a tile on before.

"The white lotus guards play this a lot. I'm sure they'd play with you," Korra said.

"Your guards seem too young to play this game. Yesterday, the Fire Lord and his grandson played a match with me though. That was some of the most fun I had in a while. That is… until the General gave me all of these documents to look over. Lots of documents for me to read and sign," Unalaq said.

Unalaq stroke his chin and pointed around at the board. He muttered a bit about possible moves and finally settled on a tile close to him- a white lotus. He placed the tile in to the center and leaned back. Korra looked back- dumbfounded. She saw the board set up with tiles arranged into a white lotus.

"So are you?"

"No. I've been asked many times to join, but I am already busy with my duties as a chief."

"Do you ever resent that? Like how dad just left?"

"I don't ever blame Tonraq for leaving here. I wish I could have been free, but sometimes you're bound to things beyond yourself."

"Uncle, is it okay if I ask you a question?"

"Korra, there's no need to ask permission. Please, what is it you want to ask me?"

"Do you think it's possible for me to get my bending back?"

Unalaq's eyebrows were knitted. He looked back at Korra- her eyes with that strong glimmer of hope.

"I don't know for sure," Unalaq said.

"I only ask because I don't really feel like I can be the Avatar when I can't bend anything. I mean- I can bend air, but what's the point then?" Korra said.

"The Avatar is someone who will always be able to unify people and bring peace to the world. The bending… that's merely symbolic," Unalaq said.

"How? I mean, why even be born with power to bend every element if there isn't any real meaning to it."

"Well… Long ago, bending had a bigger impact on our nations' identities. So, I imagine it was very important to have someone who could understand all the nations by identifying with the core of that culture."

Unalaq reached for Korra and laid his hand on her shoulder. Korra looked back at her uncle who warmly smiled at her.

"You ask some very good questions Korra," Unalaq said.

"Uncle… I feel like I don't know what I can do anymore," Korra said.

'Have you been to the Spirit Oasis yet?"

Spirit Oasis? Korra thought. Her throat closed on her at those words. She saw Amon's slightly scarred face. Korra thought he had to have been to the Spirit Oasis to heal his face. The only reason why Korra thought this happened to be something Katara told her in passing when she came over. Katara mentioned how the Avatar cycle would have ended if she had prematurely used the spirit water she was given on Zuko's scar. How Amon knew about the powers of spirit water, Korra did not know, but she was desperate to know how he did.

"…Korra?"

"Sorry Uncle. I was thinking about something... Can anyone just go to the Spirit Oasis? I've heard that it's guarded, but I was curious as to if it still was."

Unalaq lifted an eyebrow at Korra's question. He shifted a bit on the furs beneath him.

"The Spirit Oasis has been guarded for a very long time. There has only been one time where the security of that sanctum has breeched, and you know about it very well," Unalaq said.

"So not just anyone can waltz into there. Like you would know if someone who was severely injured just walked into there?" Korra said.

"Is something wrong Korra?"

"No. I think I was mistaken."

"I see…"

Korra got up and turned to her uncle.

"Please excuse me. I have something to attend to," Korra said.

"That's fine. I'm just grateful that you took the time to speak with me," Unalaq said.

Korra then walked through the halls and out to one of the balconies that looked out onto the city. The city, with all of its different buildings, scattered around the palace and the shoreline. Korra could make out the two different docks with the ships entering and exiting the city. The boats, tiny from Korra's view, blended in with the choppy waves sputtering about. The sun started to set- like it was being swallowed whole by the sea. The reds and oranges in the sky danced onto the blue canvas of the city. The beauty of it all consumed Korra. Somehow, losing all of her bending made her into someone who was prone to sentimentality.

Korra took one last look at the sunset and walked back into her room. She grabbed the mask on the nightstand and placed it over her face. Korra felt the hot tears soak into wooden mask. She wanted to stop and prove to herself that she could control everything that was happening to her. Somehow, it made more sense just to surrender to it all. She wanted to go out again- to live outside of herself again and to see him. What was it about Amon that she needed to see him again? Korra just repeated one thing to herself: he has all the answers.