Note: Ahh! I freaking love this chapter. Seriously. I had nothing but feels for it when I wrote it. So I hope you love it. On a side note- sorry, not sorry that I totally took a line from Skyfall. I was watching it last night and fell in love with a particular line because Javier Bardem totally sold me on it. Try and catch it. The song for this chapter is by The Villagers because I totally love it.

Disclaimer, I don't own this.

Noatak walked his usual route home from the bar. He looked behind him and peered into the alleyways. Noatak thought about catching the young Avatar. He didn't have a reason to though. She would follow him. They shared some strange magnetism that would lead her back to him, he to her. He had no other way to logically explain this- just that he knew she would probably find him. After all, he went over a year without seeing her, and the night that she would happen to arrive there, she still ended up finding him.

Noatak no longer hid though. He long since dismissed shadows for the open. He stood in the moonlight waiting to see if the Avatar would clumsily pounce on him. He sighed in disappointment when he heard the wind creak and the Avatar wasn't there. He didn't know why he wanted to see her badly though. Noatak had no reason to see her except to grab her by the throat and exact some sort of revenge that he didn't really want any more. He would have wanted it a year ago after he woke up from the blast, but he already lost interest in revenge by the time he got to the Northern Water Tribe capital.

Walking closer to his home, Noatak decided that tonight probably wasn't going to be graced by the Avatar. He didn't want to go to bed just quite though; so he made his way to the docks to look at the water. When he got there, Noatak stood and felt the water. He closed his eyes and felt the push and pull of the tides with the moon beckoning him to reach out and claim his birthright as a waterbender. Noatak hated the temptation of it all. He took out his hands from his pockets and guided the water to his sides. He was scared to admit he loved the power of it all- how the water just naturally came to him and followed his will so easily. Noatak let the water surround him in a cyclone

After his display of waterbending, Noatak bent the water from his clothes with a shrug. A gust of wind flashed behind him, carrying the water into the sea. Noatak spun around. She was there standing in front of him, still wearing that old mask. She carried a stiletto in one hand and ran up to him. Before the Avatar could even come close to Noatak with her stiletto, Noatak grabbed her wrist and stopped her. He took the hand that held the stiletto in his and pointed the dagger right to his heart. He let the sharp tip pierce through his clothes straight to his skin. He would have dug even deeper into his skin if it weren't for her resistance. He could hear the blood running in both of their veins.

"Here. Right here," Noatak said.

His whisper traveled through the air and on the breeze. Noatak let go of the Avatar's wrist and rested his index finger on her sternum.

"Then here," He said.

The Avatar dropped her stiletto. She saw the blood on the very tip travel down and drip onto the docks.

"I'm not here to kill you," She said.

Noatak nodded; his hand still grasped her wrist.

"Then why do you come to me Avatar?" he said.

The Avatar shook free from his grip and stepped back. She looked away from him towards the moon like a former lover always missing what they once held.

"Do you know how to get bending back?" she said.

Her voice rang out clearer than his even with the mask muffling it. It shook and cried when it settled into the sea. That was when she turned back to Noatak and removed her mask. The mask hit the wood of the docks with a clean thud. The Avatar with her still bright eyes looked at him. He would have felt discomfort if he were someone with shame, but he felt every pang of sadness emanating from her.

"No. I'm sorry…"

The Avatar began to sob uncontrollably. Tears welled up in her big eyes making her eyes looked glassy and impossibly bright under the moonlight. She certainly was a child of the Water Tribe, Noatak thought. Her wounded cries filled the almost too quiet air around the docks. Noatak didn't know what to do with her. Instead, he let her come at with her half-hearted punches at him. Even at her hardest, they were just soft pounds against his chest like a quivering heartbeat.

"How can you say that to me?" she said.

She could barely spit those words at him.

"You did this. You did this. You did this…"

Noatak heard enough. He grabbed the Avatar by the chin and pointed her face to his. He didn't feel any nostalgia for this move nor did he feel the power he used to when he made her feel absolute terror. No, he just felt unease about seeing the Avatar cry and looking at her eyes looking back at his with a mix of hope and hatred.

"I did, but what kind of penance do you want from me? You say you're not here to kill me. So would you summon all your past lives to take the bending from a man who would gladly give it away? That does not sound like a punishment to me Avatar."

He let go of her chin and walked to the edge of the docks. He sat down and let the water gently hit his boots. Noatak saw the Avatar join him. She held tightly onto the mask with one of her hands while the other traced around the crevices of the mask. Noatak was loathed to admit that the Avatar looked beautiful like this even with the tears drying on her skin, her chapped lips, and small strands of hair flying out from her wolf tail, but vulnerability transformed her.

"I wanted to die after you defeated me. Tarrlok seemed to have read my mind… but life clung to me like a disease," Noatak said.

"You miss him," the Avatar said.

"Always."

The Avatar took out the stiletto from earlier. The blood dried like garnet crystal on the blade. She looked at Noatak and pointed to his chest. Without words, they talked. She fingered the stain on the old cotton shirt he wore, tracing a circle from the brown outside to the still wet red center. He opened the buttons of the shirt and pushed back the shirt to reveal the wound. Like on the blade, the blood already dried. The cut was small and still angrily red against Noatak's still paled skin. She looked at him, and he nodded at her. The Avatar then reached out and wiped the dried flakes of blood from the wound to the surprise of Noatak. He quickly swiped her hand away before it stood there any longer but never bothered to button the shirt back- leaving the Avatar to just stare at his chest and the wound.

"I can check the annals and scrolls, but I cannot make any promises to you. Almost all scrolls on bloodbending have been destroyed," Noatak said.

The Avatar looked at Noatak with a bit of disbelief at hearing the words that were coming from his mouth.

"You really didn't think that your master Katara was one of the first people to have practiced bloodbending? She's naïve if that's what she told you," Noatak said.

Noatak got up and extended his hand to the Avatar. She slowly grasped his as he pulled her up.

"I need you to promise me that you won't be going out here at night. I trust that I don't need to make myself clear as to why, Avatar." Noatak said.

"No…" the Avatar said.

"Good."

"Don't call me Avatar."

"You are the Avatar. Am I not mistaken?"

"No. It's just that…"

"You were born the Avatar. That is something that does not change with or without your bending."

"I know… I just…. I'd rather you just call me Korra."

"Understood."

"So where will I find you?"

"Around here. Though I'm not here after sunrise or before sunset."

"Understood… Ah… Uh…"

"Noatak."

"Yeah… Noatak."

Noatak liked hearing his name chiming in the wind like that. He turned from Korra- The Avatar. No. Korra. Korra. Korra. Noatak thought. He walked away from her and towards his apartment. Korra grasped at his elbow and turned Noatak back to her. She was much bolder than he realized.

"Teach me to chi block," she said.

Noatak sighed.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I saw you last night. I can't be expected to teach chi blocking to a person who isn't going to be patient enough to assess her situation and end up leaving herself vulnerable."

Korra stepped away from Noatak and clutched her mask close to her heart. He hated looking at her like that and thinking about how sorry he felt for her. He thought about what his father used to say about Tarrlok. What a mistake. I'm clearly the weak one.

"You need to read Fundamentals of Chi and Healing," Noatak said.

Korra beamed at Noatak. He felt uncomfortable about her looking at him like that. Even more uncomfortable was how she grabbed him and placed her arms around his neck tightly. Noatak smelt the blend of white sea bell lilies and spiced plums in her hair and skin- a scent commonplace for women of the North and South but something that smelt completely new on Korra. She let go and placed the mask back onto her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow… Noatak," She said.

"Yes… Korra."