Note: I meant to update this yesterday because I've been on a chapter a day kind of run. However, this chapter was super hard to write. So if you get to the end and are like "WTF? Some of these emotional issues haven't been resolved!", don't worry because shit like that always comes back to bite you (you=characters and me the shitty writer), and it will definitely come up.

The weeks after Korra ran from him, Noatak seemed to just wander aimlessly. He still went to work, but afterwards he would walk home or just sit by the docks waiting for her to come back. Despite being a man of his age, Noatak didn't want to just talk to Korra and explain everything he had been thinking about her. He didn't know how to broach the subject with the kind of subtlety he was used to. Noatak missed that about being Amon- somehow that part of him knew how to say things the exact way he wanted to say them. The rest of him was just human.

"Hey Noatak, you coming to the bar with us?" Nanuq said.

"Yeah man. You look like shit. You could use a drink… or five," Sirmiq said.

Noatak shrugged and thought a moment on whether or not he had it in him to drink that night and possibly make an ass of himself. He seemed to do fine job of that without doing the five rounds of fire ice.

"Sure," Noatak said.

Sirmiq picked a bar close by his home to Nanuq's disappointment. Noatak liked the bar though. It was far enough away from the docks that very few fishermen came up that way, and the bartender kept to himself. The bar itself was not special. The décor of furs and old taxidermy polar bear dog and wolf heads were the standards of old establishments. The liquor always tasted decent but never seemed like something Noatak wanted to return to. Sirmiq ordered the first round of fire ice. They unceremoniously drank it fast together. It burned Noatak from the second it touched his tongue. Nanuq coughed.

"This is shit," Nanuq said.

Sirmiq and Noatak grunted in agreement. Before the burn had even settled, they all drank another round. Nothing usually got said until the second or third rounds happened anyway.

"So Noatak… how's the wife doing?" Nanuq said.

"Don't ask me that question," Noatak said.

"Bad? How can life be bad with a woman like that? You get to sleep with her every night," Nanuq said.

Noatak groaned a bit. He didn't want to be talking about Korra, and he especially didn't want to speak about Korra like this. The only two men he could remotely say were his friends wanted to only talk about the woman who was not actually his wife- the woman he couldn't stop thinking about. Korra wandered into his life two years ago, and she stayed there unexpectedly twisting herself further into a life previously devoted to solitude and denial.

"If you ask me, you should just give her a gift. Whenever my wife gets all crazy on me, I get her some jewelry. Works every time," Sirmiq said.

"Don't listen to him. Just tell her you're sorry. Sometimes I don't even know what it is that I did, but I'll just tell her I'm sorry. Then all is good with Nigaq," Nanuq said.

Noatak took once last drink and pulled a couple bills from his pocket.

"Thanks guys. I think I know what to do," Noatak said.

"Hey… You don't have to pay. Besides, you've gotta use that money to buy your wife a present. Buy her a dress or something," Sirmiq said.

"And don't forget to say you're sorry," Nanuq said.

Nanuq and Sirmiq patted Noatak on the shoulder. Noatak ran to his apartment. He didn't even bother running past the docks. He knew Korra wouldn't be there tonight. Tomorrow, on the other hand, Noatak would bet his life she'd be there. He grabbed the book and took his pen. Noatak flipped to the dog-eared page and took the pen to the old message. When the ink dried and the message only remained a black block, he went to the title page and wrote the only thing he could think of. He watched those words seep into the page, exacting their permanence. Those words were perfect and the only thing he could even say at the moment. Everything else would have to wait for tomorrow.

The wind whipped around Korra's face as she sat on the balcony. She wasn't wearing her wolf tails today and decided to let her hair fly into the breeze. Her legs dangled and tapped the balcony. Sometimes she would let herself fall and then save herself with a cyclone. She frightened the palace guards while the White Lotus guards ignored her. Several times, she considered just jumping until letting her airbending take over for the laugh she got at the panic over her safety. Something about being hurt emotionally made physical pain for Korra seem like a joke.

"Korra… The guards have had quite the day today. I'd say they have earned their pay today," Unalaq said.

"I can't help it," Korra said.

"Well, they have been bored since those disturbances in the west wing stopped."

Korra turned to her uncle. He leaned over the balcony holding brown paper package in his hands.

"If you were wondering, the package is for you. I think you have a secret admirer," Unalaq said.

Korra swung her legs over and stood on ground for the first time in hours. Her legs were slightly weak from having sat on the balcony too long. She took the package from Unalaq's hands and looked carefully at the label. Korra knew the handwriting from the label. She saw it a few weeks ago with its small and precise strokes.

"Where did this come from?" Korra said.

"It was actually quite the surprise. Someone said it was delivered with some of the fish that were delivered to the palace," Unalaq said.

Korra gave a confused look to her uncle and ripped the packaging. Underneath the brown paper was a book- that book with its worn brown leather binding that frayed at the edges. Korra opened the book to its title page. This time, she noticed the small note written for her. I'm sorry.

"What does it say Korra?" Unalaq said.

"Oh… nothing. It's just a scribble from the last owner. Second edition though…"

Korra walked slowly to the docks. The moon hung low and full tonight, and the stars shined brighter than they had in days. A brisk wind passed by, and Korra pulled up the hood of her parka. She thought about all the things she wanted to say to him. Noatak. She wanted to tell him that she was just confused about everything and that she never really wanted to make things so strange and complicated. She wanted to just say that in all of her life she never thought life would turn out the way it did and that she would have to feel the way she did about everything even though she didn't even know who to put it all to words. She never expected to feel sorry about a man who took everything away from her, and she never expected that same man to be the kind of person she wanted to be near all the time. Somehow, Korra could only hope that a fraction of those thoughts would be expressed that night.

Korra stopped at the dock she had come to know. No one was there- just a ship, the water, the moon, and the stars. Korra stepped to the edge of the platform and took down her hood. Her hair freed itself up to the wind, whipping away. Korra heard the footsteps behind her and turned around. Noatak stood there with a small smile and a little white sea bell lily in his hand.

"Hey," Korra said.

"Hey," Noatak said.

"Do you mean it? What you said in the book."

Noatak nodded. He took graceful strides to her side and combed her hair with his fingers. He placed the white sea bell lily behind Korra's ear.

"You look beautiful like this," he said.

Noatak meant this. He loved how Korra looked with her hair wild and free and her wide eyes staring back at him. He liked how she gripped her hands onto his and how warm they were even without gloves. Noatak knew all of this. These were concrete feelings that mixed with the doubt he felt about the whole situation. The idea of being remotely close to happy seemed foreign to him.

"You… confuse me," he said.

"That's not fair," Korra said.

"Why not?"

"Because you do the same to me."

"I think that's fair."

They sat on the platform under the moon. They refused to look at each other. Instead, Korra and Noatak stared at the water and the moon's reflection cutting into the waves.

"That woman… The one who wrote that note to me… She meant a lot to me. She gave me a new life," Noatak said.

"As Amon," Korra said.

"Yes, but I wasn't known as Amon then. That was only after she died. But she taught me everything I know, and she was partially the reason why I became the person that you met. So for me… it's hard to just let someone like that go from your life even though you know you should. Even though the person standing right in front of you makes you feel…"

He took her face into his hands and let his lips come to hers. The way their lips caught each other fit perfectly. Everything felt warm and right to Noatak this time. Korra let her hands come to his head to bring them closer together. When their lips parted, Noatak reached for her hands and brought them to his lips.

"Let's go," Noatak said.

"Where to?" Korra said.

"My home."

You've been cliffhanger'd. Sorry, I still love all of you readers though.