Note: Sorry it's been forever. For one, I wrote this chapter two weeks ago, but I was and still am largely disappointed with it. I decided to get this chapter out with another one to kind of get the ball rolling so you readers could see where I am headed with this. Also, it is crazy how many of you are following this. It's like a special early b-day gift for me.

"Noatak… it's okay," Ingyu said.

Noatak stood at his window and looked at the shore. Lots of fishing boats turned into smuggling ships ready to take the highest bidder to the closest city outside of the Northern Water Tribe. That is, if the boats could even make it to a place like Republic City before being shot down by any of the navy's ships. Unalaq, Iluq, and Chu became his unexpected roommates while Ingyu and Qilaq occasionally visited and listened to the radio with everyone.

"It's never going to be okay. I left her there with him… I didn't even fight back… She could be dead. Our child could be dead," Noatak said.

"You don't know that. Besides, Hahn has always been trying to get Korra to stay here and become the Northern Water Tribe's war asset. He's not going to kill her," Ingyu said.

"This doesn't make me feel any better," Noatak said.

Ingyu leaned against the windowsill and looked back at the harbor.

"Why didn't you fight back? You used to just… I don't know. Bloodbenders never made you flinch. Before I knew, I used to think you were simply that talented enough to withstand bloodbending. So why didn't you do anything?" Ingyu said.

"Who told you?" Noatak said.

"Chu told me everything that happened. You know you can't hide everything from me," Ingyu said.

"I don't know why… Something about the way Hahn said Korra made me weak… My father used to say that to Tarrlok about our mother..."

Ingyu shook his head and placed a hand on Noatak's shoulder

"So when are we going to save her?" Ingyu said.

Noatak looked at Ingyu and cocked his eyebrow.

"We need people who can fight," Noatak said.

"Then count Iluq and I in," Chu said.

Ingyu turned around and rolled his eyes as Chu leaned on the doorframe.

"We're going to let some navy brat in? No offense," Ingyu said.

"I can fight," Chu said.

"But what about Iluq? You can get killed if she's a dead weight," Noatak said.

"You don't have to worry about Iluq. She's plenty trained," Unalaq said.

Iluq and Unalaq walked into Noatak's tiny bedroom. Noatak folded his arms and sighed.

"So that makes… five us," Noatak said.

"Six! Well… actually seven, but Tikivik here is mainly for healing purposes," Qilaq said.

Qilaq and Tikivik stumbled into Noatak's now-crowded room. Noatak rolled his eyes and sat down in his chair. Everyone was staring at him and waiting for an answer.

"What?" Noatak said.

"Well what are we going to do?" Qilaq said.

"I don't know. Why are you looking at me for this?" Noatak said.

"You're the best we have," Qilaq said.

"Look… I could figure out how to do this successfully if I had months to prepare for this, but I don't," Noatak said.

"So you're saying that you can't do this?" Chu said.

"No, I'm saying that this isn't going to be perfect. Ingyu, you said that you contacted the United Forces?" Noatak said.

"I did. Well, Korra did, but they should be here soon," Ingyu said.

"Judging by how there are barely any ships leaving the harbors without getting sunk or audited by the military, I doubt they'll make it in," Qilaq said.

"Then someone needs to intercept them," Noatak said.

"Better said than done. Korra was the only one who knew their frequency," Ingyu said.

"Or you can just find them out at sea," Qilaq said.

Ingyu smacked his head.

"That's harder than finding a polar bear dog in a blizzard," Ingyu said.

Qilaq smirked.

"Not with sonar- one of my father's ships is outfitted with sonar. So we have a better chance," Qilaq said.

"So you're going out into the sea to find the United Forces' ship… Smuggle all the soldiers onto your ship if you can. Any of them that can't fit in your ship can go back and get more forces here. While the Northern Water Tribe's navy is huge compared to the United Forces', I noticed that most of the navy was sucked into peacekeeping here in the city," Noatak said.

"So while one set of forces is smuggled into the city, another can actually get to subduing any of the ships out at sea… What do we do once I get them here?" Qilaq said.

"You should make sure that the people are safe. Right now the people are scared Councilwoman Qilaq. They need us to provide hope," Unalaq said.

"Spoken like a true leader," Qilaq said.

"So how are we going to get rid of my father?" Chu said.

"You're going to have to fight fire with fire, Noatak. Or in our case, bloodbending with bloodbending," Qilaq said.

Noatak glared at Qilaq. He folded his arms and frowned.

"No. Korra thinks I'm like my old self when I bloodbend. I'd rather not," Noatak said.

"That's a wise decision. Though I am partial to Qilaq's suggestion against my better judgment," Unalaq said.

"Chief? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Ingyu said.

"I recognize the severity of the situation, and that we are dealing with some fairly powerful people who do not carry the restraint that you or I do. That said… some of us might not have the option to restrain ourselves. So… I will understand if that is the case," Unalaq said.

Tikivik scratched her head and shook her head.

"I really just came here to give a medical exam to the man who actually got injured recently. So it makes no difference to me…." Tikivik said.

"We should probably leave then," Qilaq said.

"Qilaq, if you're going to leave, do so now. Try and find Pakak's ship. If you find two men on there named Nanuq and Sirmiq, tell them I sent you. They'll help you out on your ship," Noatak said.

"Got it," Qilaq said.

The rest of the group left Noatak and Tikivik in his room. Tikivik opened her doctor's bag and pulled a couple of her herbal water vials. She bent the water into her palm and worked the water around Noatak's forehead.

"You look okay to me. Nothing terrible. Your chi paths seem good too. That's important for what you're going to do," Tikivik said.

"Nothing else?" Noatak said.

"Nothing I can do about. I can't fix the problem you're dealing with. Just the wounds, and yours are minor," Tikivik said.

"Then I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"Eh, Qilaq paid me. Not that the money means anything at the moment, but she asked me to- so I did. She was a little worried after Chu told her what happened."

"Wow… is that so?"

"Qilaq is pretty soft in heart. She cares about how people are doing. If she didn't, she'd be a healer like me because that's just one of the ways she'd help."

A soft knock came on Noatak's door. Slowly, Unalaq opened the door and bowed to Tikivik and Noatak. Tikivik bent the water back into her vials and left the room. Unalaq folded his arms and cleared his throat.

"I know there's something on your mind. So please just say something," Noatak said.

"Yes… I guess I should say that I am fairly uneasy about you and your past, but I also recognize that the past is the past. And I realize that what I am about to ask of you is rather hypocritical of me, but I will ask it nonetheless," Unalaq said.

"I'm inclined to answer no despite not knowing what you're about to ask me," Noatak said.

"You probably will because I'm telling you that you will need to remove the bending of the councilman, his daughter, and my son. It's the only way we can assure Korra and the other people's safety," Unalaq said.

"Fine… "

"You would really do this?"

"Only for Korra."

"Then I wish you all the luck."

"So what are you going to do Chief?"

"I'm going with Tikivik to help heal the people."

Unalaq left Noatak in his room by himself. He looked at his hands and wondered if he had it in him. Noatak closed his eyes and stretched out his hands. They took the form he had perfected. He remembered how innate this felt. He breathed in deeply and held his hands out like this until he felt relaxed enough about the idea.