Here we are, folks! The start of Chronicle of Zhu: Book 2 (or "1.5"): Reconstruction!

The suffix is a bit wordier than I would've liked, but as an "inter-quel" between Air and Spirits, it just felt most-appropriate for the 6-month timeskip where Republic City is putting itself back together. That and I may've also felt nostalgic about the Red vs Blue season of the same name.

Anywho, Simulposting alongside the "Stinger" for the ending of Book 1, here is the start of Reconstruction! Enjoy!

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"So, how long will you be staying?" Senna inquired over an early dinner that afternoon, happy to have her baby girl home, even under such trying circumstances.

"Until the last of the dust settles, I think…" Korra admitted as she picked at her sea prunes. "I don't… I don't want anyone in Republic City to see me like this, right now."

Sure, she was feeling better about having lost three-fourths of her Bending prowess, and being engaged gave her something to smile about, but she was still hurting from how things had gone, and if the people saw her upset with wounds that still needed licking… Not to mention the Equalist movement had just been turned on its head, so having the Avatar strutting around with an engagement choker, might not be the most sensitive move to make to a disenfranchised non-Bender populace.

"Well, you're free to stay as long as you wish. The South will always be your home," Tonraq greeted with a somber smile, before his attention turned to those filling his home. "I see you've made a great many friends since you were away," he said eyeing those not descended of Water Tribe origin. "And… husband," he said eyeing Zhu, who hadn't left Korra's side.

"To be fair, I'm more friend-adjacent," Meifan hummed as she seasoned her food with something from her sleeve.

"And you, you're really Ty Lee?" Senna asked, turning to the woman allegedly older than Katara.

"The one and only~" she grinned. "And let me tell you, it is such a treat meeting Korra's family. I can see where she gets her stunning good looks from."

"Oh, you don't need to be so modest. You're older than Katara, yet you look old-enough to be my older sister," Senna waved off. "If I could look even half as old as you at her age, I could retire a happy woman. What is your secret?"

"Push-ups, sit-ups, plenty of juice, and a great deal of RIGOROUS SEX~!" the acrobat beamed causing the men in attendance to shift uncomfortably.

"Hey guys, question," Bolin spoke up. "Why is he here?" he asked pointing at ex-Councilman Tarrlok, who, despite being left-handed, was able to eat his meal with some measure of his former grace.

"I feel bad for cutting his hand off with Sokka's space sword-"

"That was real?!" Senna gasped, recalling Korra's letter and how incredulous it sounded.

"-so I brought him down here with us to try and remedy that," Zhu continued as Tonraq's eyes drifted once again to Sokka's nigh-legendary blade where it leaned against the wall. It was practically a sword of selection, and if Zhu wanted to vie for the position of Chief…

"Does it have something to do with that package you asked me to hold onto?" Meifan asked.

"More or less," Zhu answered.

"Hey Zhu!" Ikki called out as she shed some of the bindings on a crimson-colored ice block. "Whose hand is this?"

"Ha! See! I'm not the only one who thinks severed hands are useful!" Meifan grinned slapping Asami on the back.

"Well, way to ruin the surprise…" Zhu sighed as everyone stared incredulously at him.

"I think I've lost my appetite…" Mako muttered, unable to tear his eyes away from the severed limb encased in crystallized blood.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"Well, that was… delightful…" Tarrlok groaned as they headed towards Grandmaster Katara's healing parlor.

"What, meeting the parents of the girl you locked in a basement?"

"That too…" the man shuddered. In the past, a muscle-head like Tonraq wouldn't have intimidated him in the slightest. Bereft of his Bending and political standing however, and… "Why exactly am I carrying this thing?" he asked looking down at the re-wrapped parcel in his hand.

"Because Meifan already pickled your original hand in formaldehyde."

"That's what happened to it?!" he gasped throwing his hand up, before scrambling to reclaim the ice-encased severed limb.

"It wasn't like you were using it for anything."

"Maybe, but still…" he said looking down at the severed limb taken from his brother's body. "This is… really morbid…!"

"Oh please, it can't be any more morbid than your brother offing himself with Bloodbending."

" . . . Yeah… It would be pretty hard to top that…" the man conceded, having effectively 'mourned' for his brother years and years ago already.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"So…" Zhu hummed after concluding his proposal. "Do you think it can be done?"

"I'm… I'm not sure…" Katara hummed pensively as she stared at the severed arm preserved in crimson ice, and then toward its intended recipient. "I've grafted limbs back onto people after one too many drinks and a machete swing gone wrong, but grafting someone else's limb onto a body… Even if it's the limb of a brother… This sort of thing has never been done before."

"I know. Isn't it exciting~?" Zhu grinned, eyes twinkling with flecks of red in a way that made the former councilman shudder, yet at the same time, made Katara nostalgic for her deceased sibling.

" . . . Well… They never said advancing medicine was always going to be pretty," Katara sighed as her eyes fell back onto the limb in question. "At least it isn't sucking on frogs."

"Wait, that really happened?" Tarrlok blinked. "I thought that was just written to pad out the books…"

"We can have book club later. For now…~"

The rasping of blade on scabbard caused an involuntary shudder to run through Tarrlok's body as Sokka's "Space Sword" came into view.

"Let's practice medicine~"

*RECONSTRUCTION*

The hour to follow wasn't only trying for Grandmaster Katara and ex-councilman Tarrlok; it was also trying for all of her students in attendance who were excited, and also morbidly curious, to see the utilization of Bloodbending in tandem with Water Healing.

Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, and even the academically-curious Jinora came in to observe, but it went without saying that most of them either fainted or ran off into a corner to puke their early dinner. Only Meifan, who cobbled together an anesthetic and something to render Tarrlok unconscious, was able to keep a straight face, while Katara, having spent decades healing any number of grievous injuries, was even still unable to hide her discontent.

One would have thought that re-amputating Tarrlok's forearm would be the most-nauseating part of the procedure, but as it turned out, watching Katara use Water Healing to mend severed radius and ulna back together while Zhu used Bloodbending to retrieve severed tendons, align muscles, reconnect veins and arteries, and seek out nerves, took the cake as it went.

Zhu wasn't able to use any sort of Healing on Tarrlok, which is why Katara's wealth of experience had been so-pivotal to the success of the procedure.

Once the last of the muscle fibers and skin had been knit back together, and Meifan waved the smelling salts under Tarrlok's nose, it was only then that Katara's remaining student allowed themselves to faint from the morbid sight before them.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"So…" Katara inquired after an hour of extremely controversial surgery and Water Healing. "How do you feel?"

"This feels… This feels wrong…" Tarrlok shuddered as he experimentally flexed his ha… his brother's… hand.

"You want, I could always take it off again," Zhu hummed reaching for his inherited blade.

"N-No! That won't be necessary!" Tarrlok said cradling the recently-grafted limb to his chest. "It… It'll take some getting-used-to," he said looking down at his hands, eyes always lingering on the ring of slightly-paler skin of his replacement limb. "It's just… Where did you come up with the idea?"

"Dunno, really. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing," Zhu shrugged. "Sure, the Fire Nation had been making prosthetics as recently as the final years of the War, but a part of me was genuinely curious to see if the hand of a Bloodbender could be grafted onto the body of a former Bloodbender. The two of you being brothers certainly helped, and it wasn't like Noatak was going to use that thing."

"Still, if this is able to work in the long-term… This could open up an entirely new field of medicine…" Katara hummed, begrudgingly admitting the awe of seeing a former amputee flex replacement fingers.

"Well, I figured I had to start somewhere…" Zhu sighed. "Noatak taking his secrets to the grave the way he did, without any notes to work off of, I'll have to try and restore Korra's Bending from scratch."

"You really think you can do it? Restore Korra's, restore everyone's Bending?"

"Well, it isn't like you could do anything about it; no offense."

"None taken," Katara hummed somberly. "And honestly, if I hadn't let Hama's actions permanently cloud my perception of Bloodbending… If I'd taken a page from my brother's playbook and researchedthe possible applications… who knows where medicine would be by now."

"Hindsight is always 20/20," Tarrlok hummed as he held his forearm, experimentally tapping his replacement fingers to his thumb in sequence. "Besides, Hama was an amateur who could only Bloodbend on the full moon. That Zhu was able to out-Bloodbend the sons of Yakone… Truly, the next generation is more-terrifying than the last."

"Maybe, but we still need to learn from the past," Zhu hummed. "Any little details Yakone might've shared with you, any at all, would be a huge help."

"Well, I guess I'll need to do something to break in this new hand," Tarrlok said making a fist. "I owe you that much."

"Oh, you owe me way more, but we can hash out the minutiae at a later date," Zhu hummed.

"Do you really think you'll be allowed to carry out your research?" Katara asked.

"Unless Tenzin suddenly develops a propensity for Energybending, I'm pretty sure that my whole thing will be Republic City's best and pretty much only bet at getting back to its feet," Zhu hummed. "I mean sure, all the Triads got their Bending taken away, but so did the Metalbending cops, the Lightningbenders at the power plant, the Firebenders at the fire brigade, the Waterbenders at the coastguard, the Earthbenders in the civil engineers… New gangs will rise up in the vacuum, which nature has been shown to abhor, and the United Forces can't squat in Republic City forever, nor are there enough White Lotus to maintain order in the long term."

"And what of Korra? Do you think she'll be able to handle being sidelined for however-long it'll take?"

"She'll kind of have to…" Zhu sighed. "Still, even if she can only Airbend, she still has a working body. She can still practice the other Bending forms in the meantime. Once the dust is settled, I plan to go before the Council with my proposal."

"Do you think they'll go for it, though?" Tarrlok asked. "My credibility's been sufficiently revoked, and with only Tenzin and Lin backing you…"

"Oh, I'm fairly certain that word I'm a Bloodbender has spread far and wide by now, so the question they need to ask themselves is… do they want another Yakone, or a Qian?"

"Who?" Tarrlok blinked.

"The Mechanist," Katara huffed.

"Ah…" the former councilman nodded. "Well… as degrading as this undoubtedly will be, if you need me to be your… eurrrrgh… Page… I'm willing to endure a bit of irony."

"I'll take that under consideration," Zhu hummed. "Anyway, I think I've held you up long enough, Grandmaster. I'm going to see if Korra wants to give me the Wolf Cove tour."

"Please, call me Gran Gran~" the elder Waterbender beamed.

"Ah, of course, Gran Gran," Zhu nodded.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"So… How'd the operation go?" Korra hummed as she mounted Naga, pulling Zhu up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Not that I'm squeamish or anything, but that was a little hardcore, even for me. I mean, when his muscle fibers and stuff started moving..."

Zhu told her.

"So you're saying it actually works, now?" Korra gawped incredulously over her shoulder.

"Yup," Zhu nodded. "Of course, it probably helps that I read all those medical journals in my travels, knowing what people actually look like under the hood."

"I mean… It's nice that he helped us and all… but that seems a little… unnatural…" the Avatar hummed tentatively.

"Well, I got myself an obedient stooge out of it, so I think the operation will pay dividends," Zhu shrugged as they arrived in town, he dismounting first and offering Korra his hand.

"What a gentleman~" she grinned, linking arms with his and walking down the main thoroughfare.

As she showed him the sights, sights she rarely got to see outside the Glacier Spirits Festival when she was actually allowed to leave the White Lotus Compound, she noticed a bit of a trend. Outside of people offering her their well-wishes as word spread, a few even congratulating her on getting engaged while a few of the more-brazen expressed disappointment she was off the market, as soon as they recognized the young man on her arm, most would quickly shy away, if not stay at a distance and talk among themselves.

"What's their problem?"

"Rumors have probably spread. I did make a bit of a spectacle of myself…" Zhu hummed as he tried to ignore all the eyes on him.

"Hm. And here I thought it was just the hair."

"Ah. It might be that too…" Zhu hummed as a crimson-colored loch fell in front of his face. "You think anyone actually will believe the stories? I mean, Amon did turn out to be a faker."

"Well, I mean people did fall for Noatak's sales pitch, so I'm sure some of them will believe you," Korra shrugged. "And unlike the other guy, your hair won't change color if you go for a swim."

"I suppose, though I'm more-worried they'll accuse me of being Noatak or even Tarrlok's kid."

"Ew, gross, don't need that image in my head," Korra shuddered.

"U-Um. Ex… Excuse me…"

"Hm?" Zhu hummed, he and Korra looking over their shoulder to see a man stepping out of the inn toward them.

"You… You're Zhu, correct?"

"I am. What of it?"

"You… You might not remember this with all that transpired, but… You stopped a terrible fate from befalling my daughter," he said bowing his head, a young woman poking her head out the door. The blush on her cheeks and the way she was eying Zhu, caused Korra's possessive instincts to flair, the young woman more-tightly linking arms with her betrothed. "Thank you. Thank you so much for saving Kaya."

"I couldn't just stand by and do nothing," Zhu waved off.

"Ah, please, if you have the time, I held onto your belongings, and I'd like to return them to you."

"You kept them?"

"I was about to give them to charity, but then my daughter came in and… Once I put the pieces together… once I realized why you would've hidden your abilities the way you had… I mean obviously I couldn't just ask after you, that'd raise too many questions."

"Hey, whatever happened to those guys?" Korrra inquired.

"Ah, well, those troublemakers were drunk as Spider-Skunks, so it was easy to make everyone think they'd just slipped and that the whole 'Bloodbender' thing was them trying to pass the Tiger-Buck. They're in jail now. We were able to connect them to several other cases."

"I see…" Zhu said eyeing the street around them, which had grown eerily quiet.

"Please, come inside. It isn't much, but apart from your own belongings, Kaya and I would like to offer you a warm meal."

"Korra?"

"Eh, I could eat," she shrugged, allowing themselves to be led in.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

In the days to follow, Korra and Zhu became something of a fixture around Wolf Cove. Now that Korra was a 'fully realized' Avatar, debilitated as she was, the White Lotus could no longer confine her to quarters the way they once had. With his Water Tribe garments returned, Zhu was far more comfortable, and he made no effort to conceal his Spirit-touched hair, now that word had well and truly spread beyond the borders of the Republic.

Like he'd told Korra, it didn't matter if everyone knew. Not as long as she was there for him.

"So you really might've retired, here?" Korra hummed one day after lunch.

"After realizing the whole 'Sapphire Fire' thing was a complete wash, yes," Zhu replied. "And who knows, if I hadn't ousted myself, maybe it'd be Kaya's arm in mine~"

"Well, you'll excuse me for being a bit possessive," Korra pouted, holding him close. "I'm glad you're here with me. It'd be too weird walking the streets by myself."

"Hey, you think Mako and Asami are going to be okay?" Zhu asked looking over his shoulder, Korra following his gaze to see the two 'Republicites' attempting a day out on the town.

I say "attempting" because at the moment, the two looked more preoccupied with trying to not freeze to death.

"Fft. Tourists." -was the common utterance of passerby.

"I'm sure they can handle it," Korra hummed. "Honestly, I'm more worried about Asami. I mean, her dad was in bed with Amon from the very beginning. I'm sure the trial's going to be a media circus."

"I'm worried about Future Industries. Whoever coined the term 'there's no such thing as bad publicity'… She's got her work cut out for her, and honestly, I'm worried Mako might drag her down."

"You sure it's not because you're sweet on her~?" Korra grinned like a Spirit cat.

"I won't dignify that accusation with a response," Zhu blushed. "Besides, I like my women the way I like my coffee; strong and dark."

"Awwww, that's so sappy~" Korra smiled pinching his cheek.

"Avatar Korra, Grand Lotus Zhu," one of the White Lotus said coming up to them on a dog-pulled sled. "Come with me please, it's urgent."

*RECONSTRUCTION*

"So, what's the big deal?" Korra asked as they pulled up to the port-side jail, normally reserved for stowaways who got caught.

"Once you're inside, I'm sure it'll all be made clear," the White Lotus said ushering them in and past the front desk. Moving toward the rear-most cells of the complex reserved for hardened criminals, surrounded by nothing but freezing water that'd kill any non-Waterbender who tried swimming for it, a pair of guards opened the external doors revealing the cell within. The cell's sole occupant, garbed in a tattered brown cloak and equally-tattered leathers, his hair a complete mess, when the prisoner raised his head to meet them…

"You…? The Lieutenant…?" Korra blinked, almost mistaking the scraggly man for a random bum off the street, all traces of his stoic dignity once found on his Equalist countenance long gone.

"Avatar Korra… Grand Lotus Zhu," the man greeted with a bow of his head.

"Well, um… Nice to see you still alive…" Korra greeted awkwardly. "Uh, sorry your boss was a big fat phony."

" . . . "

"Smooth," Zhu whispered.

"I'm sure you must be wondering why I called for you…"

"The thought has crossed our minds, yes," Korra hummed. "I mean… You basically got a clean break for yourself. Why come out in the open like this?"

Cue Legend of Korra OST – Greatest Changes

In response, the man rose from his seat before falling to a knee, then took to the other, placing the palms of his hands to the ground and kissing the cold stone floor with his forehead.

"Please…" the man said as he prostrated himself. "I dedicated my life to The Cause. To Amon, but in the end, it was all a lie. I… I don't know what to do anymore…"

"And what makes you think I can give you purpose?" Zhu asked, reading between the lines since the man was bowing to him, not Korra.

"Because out of all the Benders in the world, you alone have shown restraint in this era. Of all who indulge in their power, only you have shown some measure of virtue and humility."

"Wow. Way to lay it on thick…" Korra pouted.

"So, you want me to make you… what, my vassal?"

"Whatever you deem necessary to redeem the crimes I have committed," the man said, forehead still bowed. "All I wanted was to make the world a better place for non-Benders, to take back some of the dignity that was stolen from us; but the bedrock that castle was built upon, was nothing but secrets, and lies. Now that Amon has been exposed, equality through force is no longer possible. After I fled from the Pro-Bending Arena, as I licked my wounds, I came to realize that the only way forward is to co-exist. As the previous Avatar had done with so many people. With the other nations."

" . . . And you want me to be the one to lead you?" Zhu asked after a moment.

"As well as those who only had the greater good in mind. Those that truly repent what they have done."

"Where was this 'greater good' when young women were being…!? Were being…?!" Korra raged furiously, the room trembling in her fury as air currents swirled like a maelstrom around her.

"It was not supposed to happen that way. None of it. I only now realize that many within our ranks didn't truly care about 'equality', but only what they could gain from tearing others down," the man said cowing even further; as though such a thing were possible.

" . . . This is going to be a hard sell if I don't have a name."

"Zhu, you can't be serious!" Korra gasped. "Don't you remember how many times he and his racist friends almost killed us?!"

"Er, it was never about 'race', only-" the man raised his head to protest.

"Quiet, you!" Korra snapped, the former Equalist re-bowing his head with a frightened squeal. "Zhu… Can you really trust this guy?"

"I've been using my 'Blood Sense' to read him. As far as he knows, he's being truthful, and I doubt the Dai Li had a chance to get to him and brainwash him like they probably still do in Ba Sing Se," Zhu answered, looking deeply thoughtful. "Fact of the matter is, with so many Metalbenders out of commission, until we can get replacements trained, even then, we're going to be short-handed. With so many Benders de-powered, everyone in Republic City is going to have to carry their share of the weight, and tighten their belts. Not to mention, there's the Triad members who probably snuck out of the city before things got really bad, so who better to keep them in line than former Equalist minions once that power vacuum gets filled."

"I always saw them more as 'goons'," Korra grumbled.

"Minions are in it for the ideology. Goons are in it for the pay," Zhu clarified.

"Sounds like a very 'goon' thing to say…" Korra hummed. "But…! You're wiser to the world than I am, and you kept us from making a lot of stupid mistakes, so if you really think this guy can be of any use to us… What even is your name?"

"Lee."

"Lee?" Korra blinked.

"Yes, I know, 'there're a million Lees'," the man sighed tiredly.

" . . . I'll give you one warning. If you turn on us, if you backpedal by even a single footfall, I will literally turn you or your like-minded friends inside-out. Don't think I won't, or that I even can't, because I can, and I will," Zhu said looming over the man, his Spirit-touched hair rising unnaturally.

"I swear my loyalty to you. I will not make you regret this charity," the man said, still bowing.

" . . . Tenzin isn't going to like this…" Korra hummed after a long minute.

"Tenzin has more shit to worry about than a couple of turncoats from the enemy camp," Zhu deadpanned. "Trust me, as soon as he hears my proposal and cools his head, he'll see things my way."

"Well, you did persuade me of all people to marry you~" Korra grinned. "But don't press your luck. You step even one toe out of line, and I'll do to you what I did to Noatok!" she said turning toward the leather-clad prisoner.

"I won't, I swear," the man groveled.

" . . . Guards, get me the keys to this man's cell," Zhu called out. "Don't make me regret this. If you do, I'll skin you alive."

"I thought you were going to turn him 'inside-out'…" Korra hummed.

"I can always do both," Zhu shrugged, the gears in his head turning.

*RECONSTRUCTION*

AN:
The Mechanist doesn't have a canonical name, so I just gave him the same name as the man who invented the first rocket; Qian Xuesen, nicknamed the "Father of Chinese Rocketry".

As for Lee (the "Equalist Lieutenant" doesn't have a canonical name either…), I really felt for him when he found out about Amon, so I felt like he deserved a redemption arc too. And besides, who better to help get Republic City back on its feet than the guy who helped topple it in the first place? That, and, I feel like re-establishing the "Chi Blocking Corps" in the Republic City Police Force would honor Suki's memory in-universe.

Not to mention, Korra not getting her Bending back right away, nor being able to give everyone else's Bending back like an assembly line, is bound to have ripples in the intervening months between Book 1: Air and Book 2: Spirits. Though I suppose in this continuity, it would be Book 3, but I digress.

So yeah, tell me what you think as you leave me lots of Reviews, and I'll see you all next time!