Thankd BG-13!

Katara's POV

I had expected Korra to be upset, but I never imagined she would be this upset. It was in that moment that I realized that she was indeed right. We all knew she had to have gone through a lot of trauma for the past five years, but we had all ignored it, pushed it to the side as if it weren't important. None of us could ever understand what she had gone through. None of us.

I went after her. Senna and Tonraq had told me she was hurt and I wanted to make sure she didn't hurt herself anymore. I went directly to Naga's pen, knowing that's were Korra ran off to when she was upset.

"They don't understand, Naga," I heard my old pupil say, her tone low and watery. She wasn't crying, I knew that by the sound, but she was close. "They don't understand that this is the kind of person I have to be. I have to protect them."

I frowned at this, wondering what she meant. I didn't make a sound as she continued. I wanted to see where she would go with this.

"I know I hurt them. I know I have but…it's better that way," she continued. "I have a mission. I have to bring down that maniac, and I need to keep them out of it. My hands are already stained red with more blood than I care to admit. I don't want any more innocent people to die because of me."

The polarbear whined at this. "No, you can't come with me," Korra replied. "I already told you, it's too dangerous." Naga made another sound at this.

I let a moment pass before I came inside the pen. Korra was leaning against her friend, gently petting her.

"So, here's where you run off to," I said, taking a seat next to her. My pupil didn't say a word. I sighed. "You're right you know."

Korra turned over to look at me. "About what?"

"We've all tried to ignore the fact that you aren't the same Korra we knew," I replied. "We all try to ignore that you went through a lot in the last five years. I'm sorry, Korra."

She looked down and I lifted her chin so she would look at me. "It's not your fault," she whispered.

"But it's not yours either," I added. Korra sighed and slowly nodded, putting her head on my shoulder.

We sat like that for a while, no words shared between the two of us. Naga's head was resting in Korra's lap, and she gently patted the animal with a tenderness that she seemed to reserve for the beast. "It's late. We need to be getting back," I said.

She sighed heavily but didn't argue. She stood, Naga followed suit, her nose nudging Korra's side with a low whine. Korra smiled lightly and patted her head again. "I'll see you tomorrow, girl," she told her.

I watched and took a step toward the pair. "If you want, she can come in and stay in your room."

Korra looked over at me, her blue eyes studying me for a long time. Then, slowly, a real, genuine smile spread across her face and she gave me a nod of thanks.

Naga followed her master to her room and curled up on the floor next to the bed. Korra looked back at me when she was sure her friend was comfortable. "Thank you, Katara."

I nodded. Someone cleared their throat and we both turned to see Tonraq and Senna standing by the door

Senna's POV

Tonraq and I had talked after Korra had left. She'd been right in saying we hadn't been the best parents. From the way she said it, I got the feeling she thought we didn't love her, that we didn't care about her. That couldn't be further from the truth.

We loved her more than words could ever express and we needed to let her know that. Katara had talked to us as well, saying that we should have a word with Korra after she calmed. And that was what we were going to do.

"I'll leave you to talk," Katara said, taking one last look at our daughter before leaving the three of us alone.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Fine," Korra answered turning away from us to stare out at the arena. Naga raised her head, as if sensing the tension in the air. My husband and I shared a look before going over to sit next to our daughter.

"Sweetie, we need to talk," I began carefully.

"About?" she answered, her voice monotone.

"What happened earlier," Tonraq said. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. You were right, we should have been better parents."

She nodded absently. "I know what you think of me," she said lowly. "I heard you talking to Tenzin after I attacked Mom. You think I'm dangerous, and you know what? I am. So do me a favor, do yourselves a favor and stay away from me."

My husband and I visibly winced at that. "No, Korra," he replied gently. "I was concerned."

"Is that what you call it now?" my daughter replied coldly. "Concerned?"

"No," he repeated, lifting her chin. "We don't care if you're not the Korra we lost. You're ours. You're our little girl, you always will be."

"We're sorry we haven't taken your opinion into consideration," I added. "We thought we were doing what was best for you, but now we realize we were doing what was best for us."

Our little girl looked us over as if trying to decide if we were telling the truth or not. Her father and I placed a hand over hers. For a moment she didn't do anything but then she squeezed our hands.

"I don't know what you went through," I continued quietly. "If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. But we want you to know that we love you. No matter who you are or what you do, we love you."

"We always will," Tonraq told her.

For a moment, she didn't do anything as I rubbed my thumb on the back of her hand soothingly. Then, almost hesitantly, she reached out and wrapped an arm around each of us.

It was an awkward embrace, but my husband and I welcomed it. She didn't say anything. She didn't have to. This proved that we hadn't completely severed our relationship with our daughter. That was all we needed for now.