Just Like the Good Old Days
I don't own the Legend of Korra.
White Lotus
Noatak's POV:
Words cannot express the hatred I felt for the Order of the White Lotus on the day they came to take Korra. When they first arrived to inspect the claim that Korra was the Avatar, it was several months after Tarrlok and I had shown up and Korra had already become our best friend. At first, we were proud of Korra, knowing what a great Avatar she would be as we had seen her for ourselves in the future. But, once Korra had burst through the wall with her favorite declaration of "I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!" and proceeded to Bend the three elements she knew, the White Lotus said that they would be moving her to a compound. It dawned on me then that I would not get to see her every day like I had gotten used to. No, I wasn't going to let anyone take her away. She was too free-spirited to be confined all the time. My usually calm demeanor snapped.
"You can't take Korra away!" I shouted at those old fools.
"Young man, she will be well taken care of. It was the wish of Avatar Aang that the new Avatar be kept safe." Replied one of the old men.
"Then I'm going with her." I don't know what compelled me to say it. No, wait, I actually do. She's my best friend, and I would not let them keep her locked up like some kind of prisoner. Not surprisingly, Tarrlok also agreed.
"Yeah, wherever Korra goes, we go. You're not gonna tear us apart." He said.
The White Lotus people looked us over.
"Are you both Waterbenders?" The only woman in the group asked.
"Yes." I answered. We had learned that Tarrlok's Bending had been restored when we crossed over. Tonraq had been practicing with us and Korra, he is a much better teacher than Yakone and he never got angry when any of us didn't get the hang of something right away.
"Then I suppose we can ask Master Katara if she will accept you as her students as well." The woman continued.
I couldn't believe it. What just happened? We weren't going to be separated from Korra? I was ecstatic, until I realized that that would mean we would have to leave Tonraq and Senna. They had been like parents to me and Tarrlok, I didn't want to lose them either. The old woman who had supported us must have seen the conflict on my face, because she then turned to Tonraq and Senna.
"We will, of course, allow you two to visit them whenever you wish."
Tarrlok's POV:
I couldn't believe it. We were standing before the great Waterbending Master Katara, the widow of Avatar Aang, a hero of the hundred-year war, a living legend, the woman my father called a coward for making Bloodbending illegal. I had instant respect for this woman, especially since she had unhesitatingly agreed to let me and Noatak stay with Korra. I could sense that Noatak also respected her, though he told me that he wasn't happy about the fact that the only reason we got to stay was because we were Waterbenders. Same old Noatak, I guess, not seeing the positive aspect of our situation and focusing on the 'biased' views of the White Lotus. At least we were learning Waterbending the legal way, with no Bloodbending lessons, and no angry Yakone yelling at us (mostly me) whenever we made a slip-up. Korra was a natural, just like Noatak. Even though I had already mastered Waterbending, I was still a slow learner compared to them. But Master Katara never verbally abused me like Yakone did. Tonraq had been just as fair when we learned I was a Waterbender. I remember that night we first went out to practice Waterbending together with Tonraq as our teacher; we were practicing a very basic move, and just like what happened years ago I messed it up. I was petrified. I put my hands over my face and started apologizing to Tonraq.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll do better!"
"Tarro. Tarro, it's okay. You'll get the hang of it. No one's rushing you." He responded.
My head shot up, and I stared.
"Y-you mean you're not gonna make me stay out all night until I get it right?"
"Now why, in the name of the Moon and Ocean, would I do something like that?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. If Tonraq had been Yakone, I would have been severely punished for being a weakling. But, I knew that Tonraq was not Yakone. Tonraq would never yell at me for messing up a form. And above all, Tonraq would never ever make me Bloodbend anyone or anything. That's why I was so enthusiastic when Tonraq and Senna came to visit us the first time since we had moved to the White Lotus compound. They ran up and hugged us. I couldn't remember Yakone ever hugging me, even before I was a Waterbender. The first thing Tonraq asked us when he saw us wasn't about Waterbending, he asked us if we were doing alright and if we were having fun and if we missed them. The answer to every one of those questions was 'yes'.
Noatak's POV:
Although it would have been nice to live outside of this compound, it was a better childhood than we had ever had. Despite all the rules and regulations, we managed to have time to be kids. I now see why the Avatar had been so unprepared for Republic City when she arrived in the future that I remember. Though these White Lotus people taught her how to use Bending to fight, they never taught her how to survive. Tarrlok and I had already had experience from our previous lives, and we both agreed that we would do whatever it took to make sure Korra was safe.
Yet another chapter done. Incidentally, I am a Zutara/Taang-shipper but I will go with canon in order to back up this story as it has nothing to do with those ships. This is about Korra, Noatak, and Tarrlok; and none of the ships from the original show have anything to do with it.