Thank my AWESOME Co-Author, BG-13!

Korra's POV

I fell on my knees after thrusting the two blades into the man that had tried to hurt Jason. My Jason. I couldn't and wouldn't let that happen and I had plunged the cold blades into him, only to realize that the little Firebender had seen me. He had seen me kill someone. I stood at this, slowly approaching him, silently letting him know that I wasn't going to hurt him.

"Jason." I slowly reached out toward him but he recoiled from me, his amber eyes wide and wary. I swallowed the lump in my throat, my vision blurring with tears. I tried again. "Jason, it's okay. It's me." But again he stepped away, out of my reach.

My heart twisted painfully. He was afraid of me.

I closed my eyes, trying to fight the tears and failing miserably. My baby boy was scared of me, of what I'd done. I'd always wanted to keep him out of this part of my life, fearing this exact reaction. Now he knew. He could now see what kind of monster I truly was. The illusion had been shattered.

He would never trust me again.

I crumbled to my knees, covering my face as my body shook with suppressed sobs. I had lost the only person who had faith in me, the only one who cared and understood me. But what was there to understand, really? I was a monster, that was a fact that I had been trying to hide, to deny, and I had failed.

I would be alone now, truly alone. Jason wouldn't want to be with me. He probably thought that I was no better than the people that had murdered his real father…his real mother…and who was I to say he was wrong?

As I continued to sob I felt a tiny set of familiar hands on top of mine and I squeezed my eyes shut as my hands fisted against my face.

"Korra?" a tiny voice called.

I shook my head. I wasn't his mom. I was a monster who had managed to convince itself that it could care for another human being. There was a predator inside me, a beast that couldn't be controlled. It was time I stopped denying it, that I admit the creature I was. Now I knew why Asami was disgusted with me, and I didn't blame her.

"Korra, don't cry," Jason said, lowering my hands. I looked away, refusing to meet his amber eyes, the eyes I knew were now haunted, having witnessed his fraud of a mother murder someone.

"I'm a monster," I admitted. "And I'm so sorry you had to see that…but that's what I am. I'm a monster. I kill, I don't feel. You have every right to be afraid of me."

He shook his head slowly, placing his palm against my cheek, forcing me to look up. The fear that I had just seen was almost gone, flakes of it still remaining.

"You're not a monster, Momma," Jason replied softly. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of that," he added, pointing at the mask that lay forgotten a few feet away.

"We're the same person, Jason," I replied as tears continued to slide down my cheeks. "The Blue Spirit is part of who I am. It is me."

The little Firebender stared at the mask for a long time before turning to look at me. He was confused. He didn't understand that the Spirit and I were one. There was no separating us. We were two sides of the same coin.

"Then I don't have to be afraid, Momma," Jason answered, wrapping his little arms around my neck. "You won't hurt me."

I lost it. I broke down in tears, holding him closer to me. He was my little light. He was the one person who kept me from sinking into the darkness. I didn't deserve him in my life, but by some wonderful, astounding miracle he still saw me as his mom.

"My little Jason," I said, rocking him in my arms. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to ever see me do that."

"Don't cry, Mom," he said, pulling away to wipe my tears away. "I'm right here, and I'm going to protect you."

I couldn't fight the small smile that pulled at my lips. He did protect me…he protected me from the beast that lurked in the darkest corners of my heart and I would forever thank the Spirits for him.

Ollie's POV

Jason had seen Korra kill a man. I could see the shock and fear in the boy's eyes but that was nothing compared to the pain and anguish I had seen in Korra's. At first he hadn't wanted her near him, and that had broken her. But after a moment he had slowly approached her, and I could see that they were talking but I didn't want to interrupt the moment. I couldn't help the smile that appeared. That boy was something else. The roles had been reversed and it was him comforting her.

Korra picked him up and I came out of hiding, silently letting her know Helena had gotten away. My jaw clenched at the name. She wasn't the Helena I had known. She was a monster now, and I understood there would be no changing her. The Water Tribe girl couldn't have cared less about her as she held the boy close to her. She just wanted to take him home and fix things with him. I couldn't really blame her.

We arrived home a little past ten and her parents were in the living room. They quickly got up as they noticed their daughter walking in, Jason in arms and hugged her tightly before looking over the little Firebender making sure he wasn't hurt. Both parents began to ask her how she got him back but Korra shook her head saying she was tired and would explain everything the next day. She took the now sleeping boy in her arms and put him in his room as I waited in the living room. Senna and Tonraq gave me a small nod before retiring to their bedrooms, leaving me alone. I knew Korra probably didn't want to talk to me, but I had to try. She needed someone to talk to after tonight's events.

Minutes passed and she didn't come out. I sighed and got up, knocking lightly on the door only to find the small Firebender sleeping, his mother nowhere in sight, but a window opened. I shook my head and ran out of the house, determined to find her. The place was huge and I tried to think about where she could be when Avatar Aang's statue came into view.

I smiled as I realized where she was.

I ran over to her spot on the island; the highest point, where she went to when she wanted to be alone. As teenagers I'd always be able to find her there, looking out to the bay, and although I had been careless, I would always wonder what she was looking at.

I reached the spot, and found her looking down at a tombstone before walking over to the edge. I let out a sigh of relief. She was ok.

Might have spoken too soon.

Next thing I knew I saw Korra walk over the edge and I screamed her name, running over to where she had just been a second ago. I looked over the edge and watched her hit the water and I did the same, diving in after her. I hit the water with more force than I would have liked but continued to swim down, watching as Korra's body sank.

When I reached her I wrapped an arm around her torso and began the journey up toward the surface again. I sucked in a big gulp of air as I got out of the water, swimming to the shore, as I kept the girl afloat. When I reached the beach I pulled her onto the sand before checking her pulse and placing my ear over her heart.

When I got nothing I tilted her head back and began the CPR process. 'Come on', I begged. After a few tries Korra started to come to, coughing up the water in her lungs, turning her onto her side. I moved the hair out of her face, noticing for the first time the cut on her hairline. She must have hit her head on the way down.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I hollered. I didn't even bother to hide my anger. I was furious.

"I should have died that night I jumped off the pier," she replied, still coughing up water. "Just like I had wanted."

"What?" I asked. She had tried this before? Why? What was going on? "Korra, what are you talking about?" I questioned, my voice softer.

"I just can't do this anymore," the Water Tribe girl whispered. "It's too much. I shouldn't be the Avatar. I should do everyone a favor and die, let the next Avatar be born."

"No," I said. "Korra look at me," I added. The girl hesitantly did as she was told. "This isn't you. You're strong, you're good."

"No I'm not," she countered. "My son just watched me kill a man. He saw me do the one thing I've been trying to protect him from. If I had died, this wouldn't have happened."

"But you didn't die," I answered. "And if you die now…it's not going to change a thing."

"Every single person who's been hurt…Every single life that's been lost," Korra began in a quiet voice. "It's because of me." Her mind was drifting, going to a place where her guilt and pain would suffocate her if left unchecked.

I watched as her body shook from both the cold water and suppressed sobs. I was finally seeing a glimpse of how hurt Korra really was. That prison…it was a lot worse than the island I'd been on. But I knew that if I didn't get her to snap out of the state she was in, we'd lose her.

"The night that my parents died, I blew off family night to go get drunk with a couple of friends," I said. "I ended up getting stranded and they had to come and pick me up." Korra didn't say anything, her blue eyes watching me silently. "That's why they died, because they came to pick up their drunk son," I added. "Our actions are what set things in motion, but we have to live with that."

Korra closed her eyes tightly, fighting against the tears and slowly shaking her head. She was torn, scarred. The scars in her heart had been reopened today, everything finally crashing down on her.

"I made a choice, Ollie," she replied. "And because of that choice, a lot of people were hurt."

It wasn't hard to guess she was not only talking about her Blue Spirit ego but also about the person she had been before. The same shallow person I had been. But I think that's why we got along so well. Because we weren't complete monsters, it was just a façade we put up, just like we did now.

"But you also made the choice to change," I said. "To reject the part of yourself that makes you think you're a monster. You made a choice to be a different person."

"No, Ollie," Korra whispered, shaking her head. "Please don't."

"It made you into the person that decided to adopt a boy who needed you as much as you needed him," I continued. "To help the city as the Blue Spirit and stop the injustice that is happening here."

"Please don't make this all okay."

"That is the person who Jason calls a mother, who he looks up to."

"You don't understand, Ollie!" Korra finally snapped, tears falling freely now.

"Then explain it to me."

"It hurts," she answered. "It hurts me, knowing what I've done, and that pain-that pain is with me all the time." My expression softened at this. "And every day I think that if I just…give myself over to that mask, became the predator that's lurking inside me…I could make that pain stop."

"Korra-"

"It would be that easy," the Water Tribe girl continued. "And every night, I fight that." I reached out to pull her close to me but she shook her head, turning away. "And I'm so terrified that one day, I'm not going to want to fight it anymore, Ollie. And the next time I hurt someone…it could be Jason, or my parents, or even you."

"That's not going to happen," I tried to reassure.

"You don't know that," she replied. "I almost destroyed the house my father worked so ** in a rage. I could have hurt Jason or my parents."

"Ok, fine, maybe I don't," I answered. "But what I do know is that you can jump off that cliff again and die, or you can come back to the house with me and keep fighting. For yourself and for Jason," I added, giving her temple a soft kiss before standing up.

As I walked away from her, I really hoped that I had gotten through and she'd follow because if she didn't…I didn't know what I would do. What I would tell her parents…Jason. I could already see his little eyes looking at me with confusion and anger. Confusion because he wouldn't know why she left him and anger because I didn't do anything to save her…and I wouldn't blame him.

"Ollie," Korra called.

I stopped and turned around, watching as she walked towards me. I let out a relieved sigh before going to meet her, pulling her towards my chest as she broke down. I hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head. Korra was strong, she was the strongest person I had ever met and she proved that to me tonight.

"Shh," I soothed. "It's okay."

"Thank you, Ollie," she whispered.

I smiled at this and gestured for us to go back to the house, my arm still wrapped around her. She would keep fighting, I knew that much.