Chapter 12 : Completion
As Korra ran outside to create the signal, she couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty about what had happened - but then again, it had been Asami that incapacitated Toph, and not Korra. Then again, Asami was right - if Korra was under a full moon and knew how to bloodbend Toph without hurting her, and the only alternative was the death of all her past lives, she'd do it. Maybe she wasn't so different from Tarrlok after all…
The more I see of humanity, Korra, the more I see that black and white, pure good and pure evil, perfect yin and yang - they are all lies. You may regret forcing information into Toph's mind, what Asami did, or what you were willing to do if you knew how to bloodbend, for the rest of your life - but as I have seen, humans have to walk the fine line between light and dark - myself and Vaatu - in a way that no other beings have to. Having finally experienced such a thing relatively first-hand, I only have one regret now: not equalizing spirits and humans sooner. Just living together isn't enough for some to see good in the other, unfortunately - both spirits, and humans. Now go, and bend that signal!
Korra chocked back her bitter tears, and shot a jet of blue flame skyward. A sudden panicked thought occurred to her - what would Zuko say when he saw the Avatar using one of his evil deceased sister's moves? The signal flare momentarily flashed a normal orange, but then Korra took a deep breath, and remembered what Raava had just said. She re-focused herself, and the flame turned blue once more - but this time, with a substantial colored base.
She heard a momentous crash in the forest surrounding her, as though a leviathan had landed near her. Remembering Zuko's dragon mount, Druk, she turned in the direction of the sound, and saw a stunned Zuko staring at Korra's flame, stammering, "Korra! That flame! I thought it died with my sister! How did you… wait. What's that at the base…? Is that… multi-color fire?! It's… a rainbow! What… That's the color of dragons' flame!" Zuko stood mute, in stunned silence, as did Korra, who only managed to maintain the flame - if she had spoken, the flame would have been extinguished. Korra took a deep breath, yet again recollecting herself, and said, hoping the flame would stay, "I can explain everything to you later, Zuko. I saw the same colors at the base of Mako's flames when I taught him how to wield and control this unruly blue fire." Korra thought for a moment, and it suddenly dawned on her - the colors that Zuko referred to as dragon's fire appeared whenever she or Mako had thought of some form of love, and apparently her acceptance of the contradictory nature of the world had intensified the amount of the odd flames. She took another deep breath, and explained all this to a motionless Zuko as the other members of the party had assembled behind him. Suddenly realizing she no longer needed to maintain the flare, she snuffed it out - and was met with slight booing. Tenzin stepped forward, and said, "Whatever happened in there, Korra - we all need to know. And old-fashioned style, please - that new technique leaves something to be desired, according to Bolin and Mako."
Noticing that Asami had a groggy Toph over her shoulders, Korra began explaining the events of the past 45 minutes, and what Raava had said to her. Lin and Su did not laugh once - not even when she described how Asami had incapacitated their mother. Apparently, Toph had been faking, as when Korra finished Toph said, "I don't know whether to try and bend your skull in with a rock or hug you, Korra. I still won't assist in the Restoration, though." Toph blew a vigorous raspberry at Korra. Rather than getting angry, Korra just laughed and said, "I'm sure Zuko and Katara really appreciate your help here. Sokka, Suki and Aang may be dead, but we can at least revive the latter's spirit. I know you don't care about all this spiritual stuff, but please - can you do this for Katara and Zuko?"
Again, a resounding "Nope," Toph adding, "I really am done with you kids - especially after that sneak attack from Asami." Korra never could tell when Toph was kidding. Tenzin stepped in front of Toph - for some bizarre reason, Toph was blind after all - and asked, in an exaggerated tone, "Am I a kid?" Toph snickered and said, "Yes, Twinkletoes Junior." Tenzin gave Toph a nasty glare, and stormed off, stopping near Korra's side. He patted Korra on the shoulder, and said, "Will THIS change your mind? Korra, project Raava out here - Toph should be able to sense her energy, even if she can't see her. Raava is rather… obvious." Korra took a deep breath and placed her knuckles together, and much as she suspected, Raava chose to come out in her true form - apparently she was trying to slightly intimidate Toph, which Korra knew would never work.
Raava boomed, "I know you are stubborn, Toph, but let me see if this vision will change your mind. I managed to get a good enough lock on Aang's energy to show you what you are about to SEE." As Toph began to protest, "What are you, stupid? I'm BLIND!" Raava extended a tentacle to Toph's forehead. Korra's vision was suddenly blackened, and then she saw what Raava must have been showing Toph. Korra saw a ten-year old Aang inside a block of ice, shivering in the cold and crying heavily. She could hear intermittent muffled cries of "Somebody save me! Please! I'm so cold…" Korra's heart felt like ice - she knew that Wan was now four, and time was short. The vision lifted, and she felt Raava's presence within her body once more.
Toph hummed absently, and started wiggling from Asami's shoulder. Back on the ground, she motioned to Korra, saying, "Come here. I have something to ask of you." Asami stepped aside as Korra got closer, and Toph whispered in her ear, "If we restore the link, will you call Aang Twinkletoes for me and harass him from time to time?" Korra felt like slapping Toph, but just gave a noncommittal "Sure." Korra felt the earth rumble under her feet, and gave Toph a sideways glance, saying honestly, "Yes, I will. I might even be able to project him out for you, like I did with Raava." Toph slapped Korra on the back, gave everyone a big grin, and said, "I'm in." Toph slapped her hands over her ears to block out the raucous applause. Before Korra left her side, Toph told her lowly, "And after we're done, I have a confession of my own to make - but no one else can hear. And no info whatever on this. You got that?" Not having any idea what Toph could be talking about, she said, "Sounds good - I'll need Asami at my side as a scribe, though." Toph grunted lowly, and said with a resigned tone, "She did just zap me, but fine. Now let's go save Twinkletoes." Korra smiled slightly - Toph still did care after all. It was uncharacteristic of her to share deep, dark secrets. She was just being exceptionally cranky today for some reason - maybe she thought doing so would antagonize Aang?
Korra walked back to where everyone else was, but she was sort of at a loss - Raava had told them to all gather in the Swamp, but nothing after that. Korra projected Raava back out, who took her human-y form this time. Zuko stared at the small form intently. Raava said, "I need Tenzin, Katara, Toph, and Zuko to hold hands around Korra in a square formation, in that order. Korra needs to grab Tenzin's right shoulder with one hand and Katara's left shoulder with the other, as they have the closest relationship with Korra. I need Asami, Mako, Bolin, Opal, Jinora, Lin and Su to hold hands, in that order, around the inner square. Someone will have to hold Asami by her side - I think that would be Su. Asami needs to touch Korra with her free hand, somehow - if memory serves me right, Korra would prefer on the butt. You got that?" Korra blushed, and said "Yes!" at the same time as everyone else. Raava finished, "Good. I will be inside Korra for this. Allow me to provide some quick transportation." With that, another not-so mysterious wind picked everyone up - Druk, Oogi and Juicy included - and deposited them on a somewhat intact section of the Great Banyan tree's roots. The animals stared in curiosity as everyone assembled the bizarre formation, Druk looking just as tired as Juicy and Oogi.
Okay, Korra - now I just need you to enter the Avatar State, and the energy of those around you should take care of the rest. Hatred imprisoned your past lives - and now human love will free them. See you on the other side. Korra took a deep breath, and after she felt Asami pinch her butt in a mischievous manner, she entered into the Avatar State.
Korra felt herself leave her body, finally stopping before her apparition hit the underside of what remained of the Great Banyan tree's canopy. A massive beam of blue light shot from the crown of her head, making Druk, Oogi and Juicy bellow in shock. Korra watched in amazement as two concentric rings of water rose towards the two rings of bodies. Both waterloops began to glow a familiar yellow at the exact same time, and formed a covering over all those assembled's arms and hands. When the outer ring finally connected through Asami's outstretched hand to the inner ring, the water began glowing the same white as Korra's eyes. Soon after, Korra heard a deep groan in the distance - as though a giant had wrestled a massive chunk of earth free.
A massive boulder suddenly flew towards the inner ring containing herself, Toph, Zuko, Tenzin and Katara. The boulder began to writhe over top of Toph's head, and a flash of light from its surface told Korra it must have had some metal content. Finally assuming the form of a square, the boulder began to send out massive heat waves from its top surface, singeing some Great Banyan tree vines in the process. The inner portion of the boulder began bubbling madly - she must have been using Avatar State lavabending on it! As the roiling surface began to calm down, she saw a familiar symbol etched in stone and iron on its surface - the symbol for Earth.
Korra's apparition jumped aside out of shock, barely avoiding the next elemental display. A massive spout of multicolor fire sprang from her physical body's mouth, again singeing some of the Great Banyan tree, much to her dismay. Druk bellowed again, in surprise at the color of the flames. As the great ball of multicolored flames hovered over Zuko, Korra saw her body take a deep breath, and exhale forcefully, eyes still glowing. At first, it appeared as though this had done nothing - then a bizarre spherical electrical lightshow appeared over her head. Korra's mouth fell open of its own. Was that… ball lightning? She had heard of accounts told by crazy hermits of such things happening naturally, but had never seen such a display herself - much less one created by bending. The ball of lightning united with the ball of fire over Zuko's head, and the hypnotic mixture immediately formed the symbol for Fire, with the lightning serving as a background.
Korra's body took another deep breath, and exhaled a great gale of wind that tore into the Great Banyan tree, yet again - Korra wondered sickly if there would be anything left when this Restoration was completed. The wind howled as it concentrated over Tenzin's head, ripping more leaves from the tree. After a while, the wind began holding a familiar pattern, its pattern illuminated by the now-glowing Great Banyan tree leaves within the streams of air - the symbol for Air. A steady lighter stream of air formed a box around the inner lighted maelstrom.
Korra's body gave an odd jerk, and she stared in horror as a sizeable portion of the tree's great trunk shriveled as torrents of water were ripped from its flesh. The water pulsated, condensing down to a much smaller form. The water congregated over Katara's head, and she saw a familiar symbol beginning to form out of ice- the symbol of her own element, Water. After the symbol formed, an icy mist enveloped it, and a square of shimmering water formed behind the ice.
Suddenly, the Great Banyan tree beneath all those assembled began to rumble lightly. Korra saw bright white lines interconnect every individual gathered in a beautiful spider's web, and the tree groaned. Just when Korra thought the tree was about to give its life to restore her past ones, a beam of pure, white light erupted from Korra's chest and struck the tree in the trunk with full force. Korra first thought this meant the end for the tree, given the power of the beam, but something unexpected happened. The tree began to grow bright white lines in its trunk, and after she felt an immense pulse of power from her own body, she watched in glee as the tree healed all its wounds - but with that same white color placed against the green of the tree.
Let's see those scumbags try and use the Great Banyan tree's vines as a weapon now, a steadily louder voice said in her head. I can't wait to see the first unworthy harvester to try and cut this poor thing to be turned to ash - good riddance. Korra felt herself return to her body, and couldn't help but make the same predatory grin she assumed Raava would have made. Anticipating the incineration of evil people wasn't exactly in line with the "new Korra"… But she remembered how the tree had looked, all those horrible camps Kuvira made, all the crimes against humanity and the spirits…
Her last thought was "I think it's high time I was a bit less understanding and a bit more unyielding again - yielding to those without principle is foolishness," which was met with a simple About time.
Welcome back, Korra - it's been a long three years.