AUTHOR'S NOTES: And thus begins the Korrasami burn for real now. Korra's tense, and she's got a lot of messy things she needs to straighten out, both internally and externally, but overall, despite her trauma, she's still able to find time to be happy, whoever brief it may be. Only a few more chapters until the REpublic City arc begins proper—and both Mako and Bolin's returns are on the horizon.
Happy Reading!
BOOK ONE: POWER
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: A TENSE REUNION
"Look," Korra continued, "I don't want to talk about what I did in the South Pole—especially not here, and especially not now."
"Korra," Senna stepped forward, "Even if we weren't your parents, what you did there was not okay. This is exactly why the White Lotus wanted to keep an eye on you. You can't just go through life destroying anything you don't like."
"Maybe if you had listened to me when I said to keep those bastards away from me, this wouldn't have happened!" Korra barked.
"And so what are you going to do with your life," Tonraq interjected, pointing a finger at Korra's nose, "because that sounds exactly like the same kind of tyranny used by that Interregnum Cycle you've been so obsessed with."
"Wha-!?" Korra stammered, her expression revealing genuine shock as she stepped back, "how did you kn—why are you reading my things?" In truth, Korra's obsession was much more about trying to find out who they were and what they had done, rather than trying to become like them.
"Because ever since you left with Nakkoa and Kwan, you've changed." Tonraq answered, "You've become defensive; secretive; hostile, even."
"Excuse me," Korra's face scrunched into a fiercely malcontent glare, "I'm sorry if I'm not tiptoeing through the tulips with glee after getting poisoned, burned, electrocuted, and nearly killed by someone I thought I could trust!" To prove her point, she undid the top of her shirt, pulling it down on the left side only enough to reveal the fierce reddened skin that was her burn scar, "And now suddenly everyone wants to lock me up and babysit me all over again. I spent a month in the tribe without incident just fine, dad. But then you caved into those idiots who have been hell-bent on locking me up since the day I was born, and look what happened."
"I did not cave, Korra," Tonraq corrected her, "but your overall condition did not improve at all between the Nakkoa incident and now—it got worse. We wanted to find someone who could help you with that, but before we were able to reach those negotiations, you stormed off and attacked the tribe that same evening without so much as an "I'm going to go destroy stuff, dad"."
"Golly gee," Korra rolled her eyes, "It's almost like I warned you guys that I would personally see to it that that place was razed to the ground if you considered throwing me back in there. Who knew that being a woman of my word was such a terrible thing?"
"Do you realize how much damage you did, Korra?" Senna's face turned stern.
"No," Korra interrupted, "and I don't want to know, because I don't care!"
"...barring the complete annihilation of the entire area," Senna's face turned as equally terse as Korra's, "there were injuries—deaths even, unless the medical reports were revised. You can't just do that on a whim and then run away and think it's going to be alright."
"Are you saying there's something wrong with me?" Korra posed this as her question, but was actually baiting her parents so she could lead to another point.
"Considering that you just got done going on a hate-fuelled rampage through the Southern Water Tribe?" Tonraq gritted his teeth, "Yes, Korra. As much as we hate to say it—there is something wrong with you, if you think that murder and destruction can solve everything!"
"If something's wrong with me," Korra pointed her finger accusingly at her father; she had been waiting to use this response, "Then how about you try to ADDRESS the actual problem, instead of just trying to lock it up in some fucking PRISON COMPOUND to let it rot? You want to help me? Get to the bottom of whatever in oblivion is wrong with me, and help me FIX IT!"
"Do you really think screaming at people and bombarding them with threats is going to make you get your way, Korra?" Senna barked. Korra hit a particular nerve with her in a very similar way to how she and Tonraq had hit a nerve with Korra. What she wasn't telling her daughter, however, was that her reaction had a very similar origin to Korra's.
"Maybe I do; maybe I don't! But either way..." Korra snapped, pausing only for a split-second before her eyes began to glow threateningly, "Get out of my sight before I do something stupid that I end up regretting! NOW!"
Asami took this instant as her moment to intervene, stepping between the enraged Korra and her parents. "I do not mean to be rude, Chief," She spoke respectfully, "but you both need to leave." Asami had to push Korra back, because her teeth were bared, her left arm was wreathed in ominous blue flames, and she was trying to push back at Asami to get a clear view of Tonraq and Senna. The only reason her right arm was also not shrouded in flames was because it was on Asami's shoulder trying "gently" to push her aside, and even in her Avatar-induced rage, she didn't want to harm her friend.
"We apologize," Tonraq and Senna nodded respectfully at Asami, "Thank you for your time."
They turned and were escorted by a butler to the gates, where they cordially left the premises and disappeared. It was only after the tensions had died down that Asami moved to confront Korra about what had just happened and what she had just learned.
"Okay, lights off," She tapped Korra's nose, "you have some explaining to do, miss."
Korra's rage subsided, as did her flames, although she remained apprehensive, defensive, and in the Avatar State itself. She seethed, taking slow, deep breaths before finally managing to recover. Her Avatar State was a mixture of control and reflex, which explained why she was able to not blast into a hate-fuelled elemental rampage, but also why she wasn't able to just suddenly exit the state when she wanted to.
"Seriously, Korra," Asami's tone became gentler again, a tone of concern making itself audible as well, "those were your parents, and that was an incredibly awkward first meeting for me. What's going on? And you didn't tell me you murdered guards and destroyed a complex; you just said you ran and escaped."
"Same thing," Korra scratched the back of her head, "Look, if anyone died, it was unintended casualties of breaking free from a prison sentence that I did not deserve!" She was lying about breaking out, since she had not actually been sent back in before returning home.
"But seriously, Korra," Asami put her hands on Korra's shoulders, trying to coax the slightly shorter girl to look her in the eyes, "You've changed a lot in the last month or so. You're always so tense now, and so… prickly. Okay, I'll put it bluntly: you're mean, Korra. That little display of yours a moment ago was nothing short of hostile. I thought you loved your parents, what with how you always talked so fondly of them before.."
"Fuck, Asami, I…" Korra shook her head, "I do, it's just…" she doubled over and clutched her temples before moving to pull her hair, "It's like my mind can't fully grasp what happened to me… and it scares me, and when I get scared I get angry. I'm really sorry you had to see that."
"Korra, I'm not your mom," She put her hands on Korra's shoulders, "or your dad, or your teacher, or your guardian. I'm your friend. Please just tell me what happened."
"NO!" Korra recoiled as if Asami had just seared her face, "I-I mean, I can't. I just… can't."
"It's not going to do you any favours if you try to keep it bottled up Korra," Asami asserted.
"Are you really going to make me recount that, Asami?" While most of Korra's wide arsenal of pouts were often comical, the one she had now was a mixture of melancholy and concern.
"I don't want to hurt you any more than you've already been hurt, Korra," Asami shook her head, "I just want to help you."
"Fine," Korra grunted, "you want the gory details, I'll give you the gory details…"
"Korra, I didn't mean—" Asami stammered, but Korra cut her off, launching into a morbidly detailed explanation of her account of Nakkoa and the associated torture she faced at the wild firebender's hands. By the time she had finished her spiel, Asami was bug-eyed and speechless, her jaw hanging slightly agape in a way that might have been funny had the conversation not turned so morbid.
"Even as I chased her down she tried to kill me," Korra finished, "I kind of just… let the Avatar State take over, and it did the rest. And then when I finally cornered her, I just… lost it. We grappled and I put an ice hook through her gut so fast that it was over before it started."
"Korra, that…" Asami paused, "It's different, but I think the concept is similar. Your current emotional state is trauma-related, I'm almost certain."
"How do you know?" Korra looked curious this time instead of belligerent.
"There was a period shortly after my mother was killed that my father was very similar." Asami explained, "Tense, erratic, harsh and defensive—even towards me. He quickly got over it after he realized that he was taking it out on me, but that erratic and hostile behaviour came right after a horrific event. Yours did the same thing."
"So what did he do?" Korra paused, putting her hands on Asami's shoulders in return, "What did you do? How did he recover?"
"I don't know…" Asami sighed, "I did what I could to support him though, especially since he was always my shoulder to cry on as I tried recovering from realizing I had said my last goodbyes to my mother. I guess my dad just learned to cope with it; to accept that it happened and then try to move on and continue our business empire. Here we are today."
"Were it that easy," Korra sighed, "Hey… I'm really sorry you had to see that."
"I think it's your parents that you need to apologize to the most, Korra," Asami frowned, "I accept your apology, but you took out a lot of your anger on them—it was actually a bit unnerving to see you ready to attack them."
"And I would have too, that's the terrible part," Korra whimpered, putting her arms around Asami without really considering what she was doing, "I don't want to be like this… I just… I have this stupid, irrational fear that someday someone else really close to me is going to turn and try to kill me—and that then I'll turn around and kill them instead."
"You liked this crazy firebender woman?" Asami raised her eyebrow.
"I did, sort of," Korra admitted, looking at Asami with slightly red eyes, "We were on the same Probending team if you remember, and then one day, she just snapped and went crazy and tried to brutally murder me. I'm scared that someone else might do the same—not so much for my sake, since if I die I'll reincarnate… but they won't."
"That's still a terrible thing to say," Asami frowned, "but Korra—and please don't take this the wrong way—but your father is right. You can't just try and solve all your problems by smashing them or setting them on fire."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Korra looked pleadingly at Asami as if expecting her to have all the answers. The frown that appeared on her face disheartened the Avatar.
"I don't know, Korra…" she sighed, "I really wish I did. I think… you should try to make peace with yourself though. Try and make peace with your parents; try to make peace with the event that haunts you. You don't have to like it; you don't have to forgive the ones responsible… but accept that it happened, and get back up. It's what happened when the Triads killed my mother."
Korra was about to mention that Nakkoa had been Yasuko's killer, but after just admitting that she had been friends with her in the weirdest kind of way, Korra didn't want to rile up Asami, especially after her efforts to placate Korra. That would be like spitting in the face of a Good Samaritan, at this point.
"I think I just need to do things again," Korra shook her head, "I obviously haven't been training since one of my teachers turned and tried killing me, and so I've kind of just been wandering around aimlessly trying to occupy my time. What kind of work is there in Republic City?"
"Depends on how stringent they are about child labour laws," Asami quipped, "you though, you could honestly probably pass off as an adult if you showed off a bit of your bending skills… or those arms, Korra…" Asami playfully lifted one of Korra's arms and squeezed her bicep. Korra might have still been fairly short since she was still growing, but she had kept her athletic form up during her 'training downtime', and she had particularly muscular arms.
"Haha, these?" Korra flexed to really bring out her muscle tone, grinning stupidly. Asami giggled. "There's the Korra I know and love," she used the last word lightly, "I think that would be good for you though. Maybe after you've smoothed it over with your parents, let them know you want to find work. Get busy being productive, and you'll probably find that you're worrying a lot less."
"How do you know?" Korra tilted her head to one side.
"Again… my dad." Asami smiled. "He worked twice as hard after mom died, and he taught me tricks of the trade when I wasn't learning self-defense. It kept us occupied, and helped us grow."
"Hey, speaking of which, do you wanna spar?" Korra offered, "no bending of course; just a good, fair fight using our fists and feet. What do you say?"
"No Avatar State either," Asami ruffled Korra's already hopeless hair, "And we need stakes. What does the winner get and what does the loser have to do?"
"If I win, you buy me a 20-pound bag of candy," Korra grinned stupidly.
"20 pounds?" Asami laughed, "what would you need that much candy for?"
"Hey, candy is a gift from the spirits of old as a blessing to humankind," Korra spoke matter-of-factly, "and I refuse to be convinced otherwise."
"Alright then," Asami giggled, "if I win I get to do up your hair. And we won't stop until it's neat and clean, or so help me!"
"High stakes," Korra took a few steps back. "At your ready, Sato."
Traumatized or not, there was still no denying that Korra was arrogant. She was fast but Asami proved to be more agile and precise than Korra had expected, and by the time Korra realized that she shouldn't have held back, she was already on the defensive. A few precise strikes to her arms and shoulder, and Korra staggered back, allowing Asami to strike her and knock her onto her backside and back.
"Damn it!" Korra swore, although the idea of a day out on the town with Asami wasn't exactly an unwelcome idea, whenever they decided it would be.
"You went easy on me, didn't you?" Asami offered Korra her hand. She was shrewd; that much was clear even to Korra.
"I'm not very subtle according to someone I know," Korra grinned as she pulled herself up. "But a loss is a loss. It looks like you're stuck with the gauntlet of struggles and broken combs that's also known as my hair then."
"And this is exactly the Korra I love to see," Asami gave her a kiss on the forehead, "come; we've got work to do, and it starts with your hair."
Korra admitted defeat, and cracked a proper smile for the first time in a month. Asami was right about everything they had discussed—and Korra owed her parents an apology.