WORDS: 600
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CHAPTER XVI - APOLOGY
Ikki and Meelo slept the least.
How could the four siblings express their guilt?
They got their father back, they defeated the Lotus, so how did things end up like this?
There were few words spoken in the waiting room, full of the leaders of the Air Nation, trying their best to comfort and reassure.
"He's stable enough for visitors, only three," announced the doctor, stepping in. "He won't be conscious, but if you still want to see him-"
"Yes!" Ikki stood at once. Her siblings stood after her. "But... would you allow four, please, Doctor?"
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They could hear the faint beeping of the heart monitor as they neared the door. They were prepared to spend their lives apologising to the Avatar, but it would start here. He hadn't woken up yet, but they intended to wait until he did, to be the first ones he sees. Going inside, they were surprised to see a visitor already there. She sat in the only chair, facing Sung's hospital bed, her back to the door. They knew immediately who it was.
Jinora approached her first, reaching her hand. "...Korra...?"
She stood. It was her. She was the same, exactly the same. Her hair, her clothes. She hadn't shrunk or grown or changed at all from when they last saw her.
Jinora's hand reached ever closer to the back of her. "Korra... Is it really you-" Korra turned around and snatched Jinora's wrist. Her face. It wasn't the same. Jinora had never seen her Korra wear that face before, certainly not directed towards her. "K-Korra...?"
"How," Korra spoke slowly and firmly, almost through her teeth, "did this happen? I trusted you."
Was there anyone alive that could scold the indestructible Chairwoman? No. That was the job of a ghost. Her brothers and sister never saw her so meek and small, stammering, "Ah-ah-I-I-I..." as she mentally buckled. They could only watch.
Korra's grip only tightened. "He... was in the Avatar State when it happened. It's a miracle he's still alive."
Ikki couldn't bear the revelation. Her worst suspicion turned out to be true. She and Meelo came so close to becoming the ender of the Avatar cycle. So close to erasing Korra and their grandfather forever. So close to Zaheer. Ikki covered her mouth, her eyes would have welled up if she hadn't sobbed them dry these past couple of days.
"We're so sorry," Jinora cried quietly. "Please, forgive us."
Korra let go of Jinora's wrist, flinging it away as aggressively as she had held it. "It's not my forgiveness you need," Korra told her, and she turned her back to face the sleeping boy in the hospital bed again, praying to Raava for his quick recovery. Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan saw him then, his peaceful face, and what had remained of his right arm. The stump was covered in bandages dyed dark-reddish-brown from the seeping wound. The beeping that indicated his stable heart-rate became deafening. Korra's words were equally piercing. "When he wakes up, he's going to Ba Sing Se," she continued. "Where he belongs."
Jinora gasped an asking breath. She had heard what Korra had said, but it couldn't be.
"No," pleaded Rohan. "You can't-"
"That's all," Korra said flatly, coldly, not angrily anymore. "Leave."
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