Thank my favorite Co Author BG-13 :)

Korra's POV

We were in the dining room having breakfast when he showed up. I think I might have actually let out a growl as the Northern Tribe councilman came in through the door. Tenzin didn't look too happy either, telling him it was family time and whatever business he wanted to discuss could wait for their next meeting the following day. It surprised me however when he said he wanted to speak to me. I raised a brow at this.

"What do you want, Tarrlok?" I asked bluntly. I wanted him out of my sight as soon as possible.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm holding a gala in your honor," Tarrlok answered.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," he assured. "But as you probably heard, I have assembled a task force that will strike at the heart of the revolution and I want you to join me."

"What?" everyone asked, looking at him as if he had lost his mind. He probably had in their eyes because he was asking a 'Nonbender' to join him.

"I need someone who will help me attack Amon directly," the councilman continued. "Someone who is fearless in the face of danger, and after those five years on that island, I believe that person is you."

"No," I answered as soon as he was done, no hesitation, no arguing.

Everyone's mouth dropped, including Tarrlok's. He shook his head as if trying to process my answer.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised," he said. "I thought you would jump at the opportunity to lead the charge against Amon. I mean he was responsible for having your Bending taken away and for you being held in prison."

"Me too," Tenzin admitted.

"I don't think adding a child and a half baked Avatar to your…force is the wisest decision, Councilman Tarrlok," I answered my voice clipped. His jaw clenched and I knew I had hit the target. "My responsibility would be to stay neutral in this situation if I were still the Avatar, but either way, my final answer is no."

"This could help your tainted image, Avatar Korra," he insisted.

"I gave you my answer," I replied. "If you have anything else to discuss feel free to talk to Tenzin," I added before looking over to my parents. "Can I leave?"

They nodded and I got up and headed to the door, Howl following me out.

"I was going to wait until after dinner but, I wanted to inform you that I may have found an Equalist hideout," the sentry said.

I turned to look at him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go see it," I answered just as Asami came in.

"Hey," she greeted. "Just the person I wanted to see. I just got a new sports car and I wanted to ask you to go to the track with me so we could try it out and-"

"Sounds great," I said, cutting her off. "But something came up and I have to go," I added leaving. I didn't have time for that. I had other, more important things to take care of.

But that didn't mean I missed the look of hurt and disappointment on my...friend's face.

Asami's POV

I couldn't believe Korra had just blown me off like that. Even when she first arrived we spent a lot of time together. She had been eager to go out with me and now I hardly ever saw her. She used to tell me how much she hated that Howl followed her around everywhere and now I never saw them apart. It infuriated me that she trusted her body guard more than she did me. Actually it hurt me, because before we had considered each other best friends. But now…now I didn't even know what we were.

"Moves fast, doesn't she?" a familiar voice said.

"It's ironic considering you guys are the Airbenders," I said, turning around to look at the teen.

Jinora laughed at this, slightly shaking her head. "Did you need anyone to talk to?" she asked. "Korra's not available at the moment, but Maybe I can help you?"

I nodded thoughtfully. "You know what," I began. "Maybe you could help me." She gave me another nod, asking me to continue. "There's this…guy I'm interested in and I'm not sure how to go about it."

"Have you tried your usual, 'Hi, my name is Asami Sato. I'm a billionaire but I don't act like one'," she answered, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

I laughed at that. "Yeah, he's aware of that, and he doesn't care," I replied. "Money isn't a big deal to him."

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"Well, I've-I've known him for a long time and I don't think the direct approach is going to work."

She nodded thoughtfully before her eyes lit up. "Maybe you should find out what's important to him and make it important to you," Jinora suggested. "Something you wouldn't mind."

I actually smiled at this. The teenager had a point. There had to be something Mako liked, something I could help him with. "Jinora, you are amazing," I said giving her a hug. "See you later!" I added as I ran out the door.

Korra's POV

I couldn't believe Howl had actually found one of the Equalist's hideouts. We went to the city and after a while we stopped at a warehouse. He motioned me to be quiet and I nodded as he went inside to see if anyone was there. When Howl didn't come out I readied myself for a counter attack. The door opened and I was thinking of sending a kick their way when Mako came out with the sentry. I tilted my head to the side. What was…?

"Hey Korra," the Firebender greeted. "I have to admit I didn't believe Howl when he said you'd come." I relaxed my stance and blinked. "Come on in," he added, going inside the warehouse. I looked over at my body guard who had a smug look in his face.

"It was the only way I'd get you to come," Howl whispered. "I have to go see my sister. I'll see you later."

I opened my mouth to protest but a familiar warm hand wrapped itself around mine. "Are you coming?" Mako asked. I sighed and nodded. The Firebender grinned at this before leading me through a few sets of doors.

"What is this place?" I asked looking around as we passed different rooms.

"You'll see."

Finally we stopped in front of a rather large door and Mako turned around to look at me. "It's a lot to take in," he said. "Just try not to stare. The kids like when people come to visit and they want to play but you have to be careful with them."

I nodded though I had no idea what he was referring to. When he opened the door, nothing in the world could have prepared me for what I saw. There must have been over 50 kids in that room. Some with missing appendages, some burned, some weren't even recognizable. I couldn't move. I was trying the best I could not to stare at any one child for too long, knowing what it felt like when someone looked at you with false understanding. I felt Mako squeeze my hand and then a toddler about four years old approached, pulling on the pelt I had around my waist.

"Are you going to play with us just like Mako does?" he asked. I blinked not knowing how to respond to that. His left arm was wrapped up in a bandage and I could see traces of burns around his neck.

"Korra is just going to go around and meet everyone first," Mako responded when I didn't reply. I nodded at that, deciding it would be best just to go with the flow. I was completely speechless anyway.

"Korra?" an older girl asked. "Avatar Korra?"

"The Avatar is here!"

"I want to see her!"

"Me too!"

Suddenly all of the kids started to make their way toward me and I couldn't help but panick, taking a step back. The Firebender squeezed my hand again and I looked up at him. He gave me a small, reassuring nod and I took in a deep breath.

"Hey kids," I greeted nervously.

"Can you do a Firebending trick for us?" one kid asked.

"No! I want to see Waterbending!"

"Earthbending is the best!"

"She can't Bend," a boy said. He was around twelve years old. "Amon took away her Bending."

Some of the kids let out a whimper at the revolutionist's name. I clenched my jaw at this. It wasn't hard to realize that some of these kids had fallen victim to him.

"Is it true?" the boy who had approached me first asked.

I slowly nodded my head. "Yes. I can't Bend anymore."

"But you're the Avatar," a girl said.

"Don't be stupid. You can't be the Avatar and not Bend," the boy shot at her.

A teenager who was missing an arm stepped forward. "I lost an arm to the Equalists but I still Waterbend."

"Try is more accurate," the twelve year old pointed out. I couldn't tell if this kid enjoyed putting everyone down or if he was just a pessimist.

"It doesn't matter," the teen continued. "As long as I don't give up on myself it doesn't matter what other people think. Right?" he added looking at me.

I didn't know what to say. All these years…these past few months that I had lived with my alter ego…I had spent all this time cursing Amon for taking away my Bending, the one thing that made me, me. But now…now I was seeing how other people had lost more and still made due. These kids were a lot braver than I was.

"Yeah," I finally answered. "You're right."

The teen grinned while the other boy simply crossed his arms and limped away. For the rest of the day I spent time playing with the kids and helping change their bandages. It made my blood boil that Amon would go as far as to hurt kids who had Bending abilities. That bastard.