We're back on the next chapter.
REMINDER: I DO NOT OWN LEGEND OF KORRA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.
In a bathroom, where the view was centred on a mirror, shattered and broken. Korra was looking at her reflection. After a moment, she drops her gaze, as if unable to look at herself.
She was standing in a public bathroom of sorts with a slow stream of water running from the sink faucet in front of her.
"Well, that was amazing, wasn't it?" Korra asked her two Avatar Spirits.
"Yeah, I've missed Republic City after three years." Raava's imprint said.
"New York was awesome. I'd come back anytime." Vaatu's imprint said. "Are you sure we can find her, Korra?"
"Yes, I am."
"Hurry up in there!" a man said outside, where her stands hunched over, waiting. "Come on, I got an emergency situation!"
"Sorry." Korra said before she opens the door and walking away as the man hurriedly enters, groaning. "Knock yourself out." He slams the door behind her.
Korra walks before stopping, noticing a car. She was walking down the street with the full moon lighting up the sky behind her.
"I remember that day after Mako and I got married." Korra said ad as she enters a flashback.
A large cargo ship that was docked at Air Temple Island, the sky grey and covered with clouds. The gangway beside the ship where a group of people are gathered; Asami, Kaori and Bolin, with Pabu on his shoulders, walks up to Tenzin, Jinora, Mako and Korra, as the two married couple listens.
Bolin was talking to Korra and Mako when Asami walks over to their side. "Now don't take this the wrong way, but, I can't wait for you two to leave!"
Mako crosses his arms before his chest; looks annoyed at Bolin. "How else are we supposed to take that but the wrong way?"
"I mean, because I've never had a pen pal before! I'm gonna write so many letters and, just to get the ball rolling, here." Bolin takes a letter from his pocket and hands it to Korra. "Spoiler alert: Pabu and I already miss you while you're going on your honeymoon in New York."
Korra takes the letter, as Pabu chirps happily. "Thanks. That's sweet."
"I'll bet New York is a peaceful city." Mako said.
"Are you sure you guys don't want some company in the New York? I'm happy to come with you." Asami asked.
"No... we appreciate it, but we'll only be gone a couple of weeks. A little time alone with each other will be good for the two of us. Korra said before Raava and Vaatu emerges from her body.
"Hey, what about us?" Raava asked bluntly.
"Yeah, what are we supposed to do?" Vaatu asked bluntly.
"You guys can come, too." Korra said. "I couldn't part from you."
"Thank you." the two Avatar Spirits said.
"Now, I don't want you to worry about a thing while you're gone to New York City. Your honeymoon should be your number one concern." Tenzin said. "Jinora, the airbenders, and I have everything under control."
The ship was departing, the group on the dock waving goodbye to those on the deck of the ship.
"Bye, Korra!" Asami said. "Bye, Mako!"
"Good luck on your honeymoon!" Kaori said.
"Don't forget to write!" Bolin said.
Korra and Mako stands there in the ship. They waved back, smiling,
Some time later, the ship arrived at New York City. This was a city that was located in the United States. Korra and Mako were walking down a road while Mako was checking the NYC map.
"Uh, I've never been here before and I don't even know how to pick on this map."
A teenage girl with a shoulder-length bright orange hair that was tied with a white ponytail walked past Korra and Mako.
"Excuse me." Korra said before the girl turns to her. "Uh, my husband and I are on a honeymoon. Do you know the best restaurants here?"
"Well, yeah, you should try Murakami's. It has the best noodles ever." the girl said.
"Do you know where it is? I'm having trouble with this map." Mako said.
"I'm just going there myself. You guys can come with me." the girl said. "Wait, aren't you the Avatar of the Balance?"
"Yes, I am. Why?" Kora asked.
"I thought you looked familiar." the girl said. "I've read the newspapers. You were awesome when you defeated the Equalist and your uncle."
"Thanks." Korra said.
"The noodle shop's just that way." The girl said.
They arrived at the noodle shop, where a blind man named Murakami was standing.
"Welcome. Please, allow me to make you a meal. What would you like?"
"I'll have the usual, Mr. Murakami." The girl said.
"I'll have the chicken beef soup." Korra said.
"I'll have Singapore noodles and special fried rice together." Mako said.
Murakami was cooking. Despite being blind, he was very good at cooking as he works as a ninja cook, much to the married couple's amazement.
Murakami served the dish. The trio starts to eat. Later, they left the shop.
"That was the amazing food I have ever tasted." Mako said.
"I hoped you'll like it." The girl said.
"We love it." Korra said. "Thanks anyway."
"You're welcome." The girl said. "I should be going. I have some… classes." The girl said.
"Wait. We didn't get your name." Korra said.
"April. April O'Neil."
Later, Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza, in Korra and Mako's room, where the married couple were relaxing in their bed.
"Honey, this is the life." Mako said.
"Man, I wish Asami and Bolin were here right now." Korra said.
"New York is the best." Vaatu said. "At least you're starting to enjoy it. We'll be here for about three years."
"And we promise you, if you dedicate yourself to getting better, you'll recover, stronger than ever." Raava said.
"That's what I'm thinking." Korra said.
"I wonder what's on." Mako said before he picks up the remote and turns on the TV.
The screen shows 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.
"Huh?" 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'? What's that?" Korra wondered.
On TV, the screen shows Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter preforming the song 'Sweet Transvestite'.
"I'm just a sweet transvestite"
Korra covers her mouth when she sees Frank's lace girdle. "Oh, my God!"
"From Transsexual"
"Transylvania, ha-ha"
"This movie's not bad." Mako said.
"This guy's an epic actor." Vaatu said. "Who is he?"
"Tim Curry." Raava said.
"I'm starting to like him." Vaatu said.
"That… I-I'm… I'm speechless. I've never seen a man like that." Korra said while blushing.
Later, on morning, Korra and Mako were having a swim at the pool. Then they went out and came back to Murakami's. They enjoyed the food there. Meanwhile, they went to a movie theatre to watch 'Aladdin, then hours later, they exit the theatre.
They exit the theatre, happily. "That was a great movie." Mako said.
"That Genie was funny." Korra said.
At the hotel Korra was propped up in bed, reading letters from their friends, they were reading the letters.
She reads Asami's letter.
"Dear Korra and Mako. I miss you guys. It's not the same in Republic City without you. How are you going in New York? Things are going well here. I just got a big contract to help redesign the city's infrastructure, so I'll be keeping pretty busy for a while."
Korra reads Bolin's letter.
"My dearest Avatar Korra. Though several fortnights have passed since your departure to convalesce in the homeland of your tribesmen, I feel our friendship knows neither time... nor distance." Korra sees a crudely drawn picture of himself and Korra together, a second rough drawing of Pabu, Zhu Li, Varrick, and Kuvira . A third drawing rests in the background, depicting clouds, wind, stars, and a flower.
"You will be most pleased to learn that I found gainful employment with Sir Varrick and the Lady Kuvira. I set off on the morrow with some trepidation, but I am eager to offer any aid I can in stabilizing the Earth Kingdom! Love Bolin. P.S: Tell Mako I said hi."
Saddened, she lets the letter fall softly to the floor, where it comes to rest with several more just like it.
Mako entered the room, noticing Korra's sad face. "What's wrong?"
"What's the point? We've been at this for almost six months, and I can still be here." Korra said.
"I know you're frustrated, but…" Mako tries to say.
"Of course, I'm a little frustrated. This whole time, our friends have been off helping the world while we're here. I am trying to understand, but nothing makes any sense. I'm tired, Mako. I'm so tired."
Raava emerges from Korra and kneels down to her while Mako and Vaatu watches. "Korra, I know what you feel right now. But you're not the first Avatar who's had to overcome great suffering. Can you imagine how much pain Aang felt when he learned that his entire culture was taken from him?"
"That... must have been so awful." Korra said.
"But he never let it destroy his spirit. He chose to find meaning in his suffering and eventually... found peace."
"And what am I going to find if I get through this?" Korra asked.
"I don't know. But won't it be interesting to find out?" Raava said.
Four days later, Korra and Mako were having a tour at the Central Park Zoo.
"Look, a lion." Mako said as they look at a lion.
"I love New York." Korra said.
A flashback fades, back to the present. Korra was still walking alone down a deserted street from earlier.
A shadow passes behind her, making her stop in her tracks and turn around, seeing nothing.
"What was that?" Raava's imprint asked.
"That's what I wanna know." Vaatu's imprint said.
Her gaze lingers a little longer. When she turns her head back forward, she was initially startled but soon relieved to find a small, white puppy in front of her which is looking up at her and barking a few times and playfully wagging its tail.
She walks up to the dog, crouching before it and petting it.
"Where'd you come from, little cutie?" Korra asked.
"It was just a dog." Vaatu's imprint said.
"Cutie-pie." Raava's imprint said.
The puppy mounts the steps and turns back toward Korra, barking a few times.
"You want us to follow you?" Korra asked.
The puppy barks a few more times and disappears into the mist. Korra pauses for a moment, deciding.
"All right. Let's see what we find." Korra and the puppy were running through the streets.
Another flashback begins, Korra and Mako were lying in bed with their blanket on, watching 'The Wizard of Oz'.
"I don't understand what's funny about a house falls on a wicked witch." Korra said. "But I-I like the feet under it. Especially the black and white stockings though."
"I'm confused about that scene in that the cyclone." Mako said. "Was that witch that landlady turned into her before the house fell on her?"
"Obviously, yes." Raava's imprint said.
"I thought that was that green-skinned one." Vaatu's imprint said.
"Didn't you hear what that good witch Glinda said? The one that got killed under that house was that that green-skinned witch's sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. The green-skinned one was the Wicked Witch of the West, and she's worse than the other one was."
"Right, sisters. And do you think they have sisters in the North and South?" Vaatu's imprint asked.
"No, they were their cousins, Mombi and Singra."
"What?" Vaatu's imprint asked.
"Four wicked witches conquered the four lands in Oz. The two good witches Glinda and Locasta defeated Mombi and Singra. We've read it on a book at the library, remember, Vaatu?"
"Oh, yeah. You're right, Raava." Vaatu's imprint said.
"Well, that movie was a fantastic one." Mako said before he notices Korra's sad face. "Sweetie?"
"I thought I was ready."
"There is no shame in taking the time you need to make a full recovery. Being the Avatar can wait." Raava's imprint said.
"But what about the Earth Kingdom? I hear it's still a mess out there." Korra said.
"The situation has been stabilizing since Kuvira took charge." Vaatu's imprint said.
"But that should be me out there fixing things, not her." Korra said.
"I know you want to help. But trust me, everyone has this under control. I just think you need to..."
"If you say, 'be patient', Mako, I swear I'm gonna water-smack you in the mouth." Korra warned.
"Nooo... I was going to say, you need to... not worry about the future. Be grateful for where you are now and the progress you've made."
Later, that night when Mako left to get dinner, Korra was writing the letter in her room.
"Dear Asami, I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but every time I've tried, I never know what to say. The past two years have been the hardest of my life in New York. Even though I can get around fine now. I keep having this thought that no one needs me anymore, so I've been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I'll never fully recover. Please don't tell Bolin or everyone I wrote to you and not them. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it's easier to tell you about this stuff. I don't think they'd understand."
Finishing, Korra sets the pen down and stares off into space, thinking.
At the dining room, Mako and Korra sit together, while they were eating, Korra plays with her food instead, lost in thought. Mako notices his wife's look.
"Everything all right, sweetie?" Mako asked.
Korra was keeping her gaze on her plate for a moment before looking up at her husband. "There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Mako asked.
"I want to go and find Toph Beifong." Korra answered.
"Are you sure?" Mako asked.
"I know I'm not a hundred percent yet, but I feel like I've hit a wall. I might need Toph for some new moves. I need to be where the action is, where my friends are. I want to go alone with Raava and Vaatu, and have some time to clear my head. It'll be good for me."
"I agree with you, Korra." Raava's imprint said.
"Good thinking. I wanted to meet Toph myself." Vaatu's imprint said.
Mako smiles at his wife. "I'll miss you when you're gone."
Unknown to them, Ch'rell and three men who looked just like him were watching on them. Ch'rell was admired of the Avatar.
"Korra. What a lovely name." he said.
Later, that morning, blue sails opening in a breeze, and Korra was standing on the deck of the small craft, waving goodbye. Her husband Mako was waving back from the dock.
At the open sea, where Korra's boat sails swiftly in the wind as Korra looks off into the distance. Out of nowhere, a school of flying dolphin-fish surface, gliding over the face of the water as Korra looks on, smiling.
At a tiny port village in a tropical archipelago, where Korra's boat was docked. Korra herself walks along the dock, away from her boat toward a man in a dockside shack, who was lazily fanning himself in the heat.
Korra approaches him, and he looks up. "Two lobster crabs, please."
"Why, you're the Avatar of the Balance, ain'tcha?" The fishmonger asked in sudden realization.
"Yup, that's me." Korra said before the two Spirits emerges from her body.
"And we are the Avatar Spirits of Light and Darkness." they said.
"I can't believe it! Mind if I took a picture for my 'Wall of Avatars'?"
Onn the sole picture in his collection, an image of an adult Aang doing his marble trick with two pieces of seafood, his face bearing a look of unadulterated enthusiasm reminiscent of his childhood.
"Aang. Well, uhm, I'm kind of in a hurry, but I guess it takes a second."
"You bet." The fishmonger retreats to dig out his camera, throwing odds and ends out behind him toward Korra and the two Spirits. "Avatar Aang was a big fan of my seaweed wraps, you know, so, I named 'em 'Aang Rolls'!" He was setting the camera down in front of Korra. "Now they're my biggest seller! And they ain't even got fish in 'em!" He puts his head into the camera. "Now, smile!"
The view shifts to the interior of the camera, where an inverted image of a smiling Korra, Raava and Vaatu was seen. The flash goes off, and the view returns to normal, Korra was momentarily blinded by the light.
"I love cameras." Raava said.
"Me, too." Vaatu said.
"But if I coulda met any Avatar, I'd have to pick Kyoshi. Taking down a shark squid with one hand! Now that's a lady I'd like to get to know!"
A sudden cry from behind Korra cuts the fishmonger short. They both look to see what's happened.
A vendor was yelling after two people were running away. "Thieves! Get back here!"
"Oh, don't worry, the Avatar's right here! Well, what are you waiting for? Go get 'em!" the fishmonger said.
Korra's eyes widen at her mention excitedly. Looking determined, the Spirits re-enters in Korra's body.
Korra enters the Ultimate Avatar State and throws herself into the air over the small inlet, waterbending herself across and coming ashore just in front of the bandits, who stop in their tracks.
"Hand over the bags or else." Korra demanded.
The first thief earthbends a fissure into the ground, extending it toward Korra and sending up a great cloud of dust, while the second thief bends a few simple boulders from the ground and hurls them at her. Korra avoids the fissures but rolls face-first right into the flying rocks; she lands to the ground and knocks the thieves out.
"I'm back." Korra stands near the unconscious thieves. "You got knocked the hell out."
The fishmonger rushes up to her, happily. The vendor was amazed. "I love Avatars!"
At Republic City from the bay, the skyline blurred by the night-time fog. Korra's craft comes into view, and she was standing on the small deck. As she rounds Air Temple Island.
Later, Korra's boat was seen somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, Korra herself standing on a small dock next to it. Her dress had changed from her Water Tribe outfit to that of an Earth Kingdom commoner, save for her armband, which she removes and tosses into the water.
She moves her hands to her head, taking her hair in her hands and bundling it at the back of her head. Holding the bundle with her left hand, she takes up a knife laying on her right and puts it up against her hair.
For a moment, she hesitates, reluctant to leave herself behind. In one stroke, she pulls the blade through her hair with a hint of regret on her face, sending tiny strands of hair fluttering through the air around her, her new haircut coming to rest just above her shoulders.
"Hey, hey, what the hell?" Vaatu's imprint asked in disbelief. "Why did you do that?"
"So, no one would recognize me until the right time." Korra said.
"I like your new hairstyle, anyway." Raava's imprint said.
Later, a snowstorm at one of the poles, its Spirit Portal emitting its brilliant beam of light into the sky in the distance.
Korra crosses into the frame, bundled up against the bitter cold and wind; she stops for a moment, observing the portal in the distance, before continuing onward toward it.
Inside the Spirit World as Korra steps through the portal and exits on the other side; the Tree of Time, surrounded by friendly spirits, dominates the landscape around it from its perch.
"Since it was my prison, you can meditate in here. Maybe with it you can find Toph." Raava's imprint said.
"I don't know why the tree would help." Korra said.
"We'll tell you about it soon." Vaatu's imprint said.
Korra, who sat down within the Tree's central void, meditating in silence, her heavy overcoat folded next to her. A tiny tan-yellow spirit, with leaves growing like ears from the top of its head, peers over the lip of the entrance.
Realizing who was within, it smiles and calls to its many companions floating outside.
"Everyone, come here! It's the Avatar of the Balance!" it said.
The spirits congregate on the lip, observing Korra for themselves. A second spirit, resembling a snail of sorts with legs, turns to the light spirit.
"Yep." a spirit said. "I can feel Raava and Vaatu."
"I'm just wearing different clothes and I cut my hair, if you're wondering why I look so different." Korra said.
The light spirit jumps into the tree and walks up to Korra as the rest of the group follows. "How come you've been away so long?"
"Korra was on a honeymoon, a while ago." Raava said before she and Vaatu emerges from Korra's body.
"We're looking for Toph Beifong. We came to the Tree of Time hoping if we could find her." Vaatu said.
"But it's not working." Korra said.
The light spirit smiling up at her. "Maybe we can help you find her."
"I'm sorry, but for years, people have been saying they can help me get better." Korra said before the two Avatar Spirits re-enters in her body. She starts walking away. "Nothing's worked." She stops at the exit of the Tree of Time's hollow and looks back over her shoulder. "I need to figure this out on my own."
She leaves the tree, not looking back, as the spirits look after her.
Korra's boat was wending through a waste of water and icebergs. She was standing on the deck.
Korra was writing a letter to Mako.
"Dear Mako, I arrived in the Earth Kindom a couple weeks ago to find Toph and couldn't be happier. It's nice to be back at the temple and it's great to see you and friends again. Don't worry, I'm taking it easy, but hopefully I'll be back in action soon. I miss you very much. Please, give Naga a big hug for me when you got back to Republic City. Love, Korra."
Korra was walking through a lavafield. She reaches the crest of the dune.
At the present, where Korra was walking through a town somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.
She spots the entrance of a building, the light from its interior pouring into the street; people were standing near the entrance, and Korra's apparition stands there as well.
A single person passes the entrance, and as he passes the place where the apparition stands, it vanishes into thin air. Korra was seeing what she has to do, jumps from the roof, determination etched in her face.
"You're thinking what we're thinking?" Vaatu and Raava's imprint asked.
Inside the building sits the arena, with two earthbenders sparring in the pit beneath as the crowd cheers; as she passes across the view of the ring, standing in the pit itself, unseen by everybody except herself.
She walks up to the ring announcer, who half-turns to look at her while collecting money from people placing bets in the audience.
"Excuse me. Who do I talk to about getting in the ring?" Korra asked.
The ring announcer raises an eyebrow at her.
Korra in the ring, being beaten back by her opponent. After being thrown across the ring and crashing into the wall, she gets up, but she suddenly starts to see double, and the crowd above fades into blackness.
Where seconds before she had seen an earthbender, she was rising defiantly to her feet, Korra yells at the apparition.
"Is that all you got?" Korra asked.
Her opponent keeps attacking her and an agitated Korra attempts to strike back with little success. After an intense exchange of earthbending between the two, Korra was battling the earthbender.
She launches herself to the top of the wall and bends a rock and shots at her, sending her tumbling into the far wall.
For a moment, the earthbender struggles to rise before collapsing to the ground, unable to get back up. Korra raises her arms victoriously as the crowd above cheers.
"We have a winner!"
Korra raises her arms in victory.
Later by, Korra was healing herself in the bathroom, being yelled at to 'hurry up in there'; and the angrily barking puppy.
Korra was chasing the dog on the outskirts of the town. At the top of a hill, she pauses; the shot changes its perspective, showing a swamp in the direction in which the dog was running.
Korra was mildly confused. "Why did you bring us to the swamp?"
She slides down a small hill, still following the puppy, and as they pass a tree at the entrance to the swamp, the puppy, in a flash of light, transforms into the light spirit.
"Our friend." Vaatu's imprint said.
"Why, hello." Raava's imprint said.
"We met you at the Tree of Time." Korra said. "You should have told me who you were."
The light spirit simply turns to face Korra. "If I did, would you have followed me?"
"He's right." Vaatu's imprint said.
"I get your point. But why did you bring me, Raava and Vaatu here? What are we gonna find in the swamp?" Korra asked.
"Not a what, a who." the light spirit was rising into the air and flying off through the vines.
"Who? You mean… Wait!" Korra rushes forward, charging through the vines. "Come back!"
Stumbling through to the other side, she falls into a pool of water.
Korra accidently falls headlong into the puddle of poison below her. As soon as she hits the surface, the mercury fastens onto her body like glue and she begins to sink into the puddle.
As web-like tendrils leap from the surface, she reaches into the air, grasping for something that was not there.
"Help!" Korra and the two Avatar Spirits shouts.
Immediately after she screams, the silver poison wraps around her arm, pulling her down into darkness.
Sometime later, Korra awakens in a dimly lit room. A blue-ish light filters through a substance covering the top of a deep hole opening just above her, which extends all the way to ground level, a considerable distance above her.
She sits up, her hand on her head, and hears the noise of a moving liquid, followed by an elderly female voice.
The unknown woman was tanding over her cooking pot, her back to Korra, who cannot see who she was. "Feeling better?"
"Where the hell am I? Wha-what happened?" Korra asked.
"I was hoping you could tell me. I found you passed out in the mud." the unknown woman said.
"How'd you know I was out there?" Korra asked.
"I'm pretty tapped into the goings-on around here. What brings you to the swamp, anyway?"
"A spirit led me and my Spirits here and told me I was supposed to find someone." Korra said. "Is that you?"
"I have a feeling it is you." Vaatu's imprint said. "We didn't told Korra because we want to surprise her." Raava's imprint said.
"That's right. But if your Avatar senses called you here, you should probably listen to them." the unknown woman said.
Korra was hearing the word "Avatar". "Wait, you recognize me?"
She stands up and walks toward the mystery person.
"In a manner of speaking. We were good friends in your previous life."
Korra firebends a small flame with her hand, casting light on the mysterious person, who turns to face Korra, revealing an elderly woman with long silver hair hanging down over clouded eyes.
"I can't believe it... Toph?" Korra asked in disbelief.
"Nice to see you again, Twinkle Toes."
Next chapter will come soon.
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