AN: Hello, my readers. As I said in the previous chapter, this will be an original one, where events outside the canon will happen.

Which ones?

Read it and you will know.

It had been a couple of days since Korra joined the Fire Ferrets and she had to organize her time between pro-bending and airbending training.

It was a bit tough, but she was adjusting.

While she went ahead with her training, Masane was doing what she did best.

Being there by her side.

Although she was happy that her friend was happy, both receiving training from Tenzin and being a member of a pro-bending team, she was a little sad.

Was it because of her forgotten memories?

No.

The reason was that she felt rather left out.

It was true that she had been with Korra ever since she had found her in the middle of the snow at the South Pole, but so far, she had only been there to cheer her up.

She knew, from what she had been told, that the Avatar would face dangers and obstacles to protect the world.

There might be peace in the city now, but she was sure that sooner or later, something would happen that would send Korra into combat, almost like what happened when they first came to Republic City when they faced those mob thugs.

And when that happened, what could she do?

They had discovered that she wasn't a bender and didn't have the precise combat skills.

The only thing she could do when a fight started would be to stand to the side and wait for it to be over.

That made her feel like a burden to her friend and she wished she could do something else.

It was another day in Republic City.

The rays of the dawn sun streamed through the windows of Korra and Masane's room.

Korra groaned a little as she felt the sun's rays hit her face and turned to the side to try to avoid them.

Unfortunately, she knew it was another day of training, so with a groan, she sat up in bed.

Korra let out a yawn as she stretched her arms up.

That's when, looking to the side, she was confused when she saw Masane's bed empty and made.

That gave Korra the message that she had gotten up early, which confused her, as she didn't know the reason for it.

While she wanted answers about where her friend was, she had things to do, so she got up and got ready for another day of double training.

After she had dressed properly, Korra left the building where the girls' rooms were located to go to the dining room for breakfast, but before she left, she stopped when she saw Masane cleaning the entrance with a broom.

"Masane?" asked Korra, catching the girl's attention.

"Oh, Korra. Good morning." said Masane.

"Good morning. What are you doing here?" asked Korra.

"I woke up before you and decided to kill time by cleaning up the place a bit." said Masane.

"You know there are people who already do that, right? You don't have to." said Korra.

"I know, but that's all I can do, since I don't know how to do anything else." said Masane.

"Don't talk nonsense. Of course there's more you can do." said Korra trying to cheer her up.

"Like what?" asked Masane.

"Well…" began Korra before realizing that she really had nothing. "Uh… You… You're pretty good at cheering." said Korra with a nervous smile.

"Thanks, but other than that, I don't know how to do anything else. After all, I'm not a bender or a fighter like you." said Masane.

"What difference does it make? You are my friend. I'm with you because of who you are and not because of what you can or cannot do." said Korra.

"Thank you, Korra, but think about it. If the time came when you faced some danger as the Avatar that you are, what could I do?" asked Masane.

There she had to admit she was right, as she didn't have the skills to be able to hold her own in a fight.

That was enough to convince the girl.

"You see? That's what I was telling you. I'm not even able to remember anything about my life. I don't want to be a burden to you or the others, so I would have no choice but to step aside when the time came." began Masane with her head lowered before raising it again to look at the Avatar with a sad smile. "You go ahead. As soon as I'm done here, I'll go get breakfast." said Masane before returning to her task of sweeping.

Korra wished she could tell her that she wasn't a burden, that she could be by her side at any time, but she didn't know how and all she could do was leave for breakfast.

As Tenzin and his family leisurely ate their breakfast, Korra stood with her head resting on her hand as she poked at her breakfast with her chopsticks.

"Is something wrong with you, Korra? You've barely touched food." said Tenzin.

"It's… It's about Masane. She thinks she's just a burden to me and doesn't know how to do anything else." said Korra.

"It's just that it's true." said Meelo, only to be smacked in the back of the head by his older sister.

"I think I can understand her. After all, I'm the only non-bender in a family of airbenders." said Pema.

"But you're not useless, Mommy. You do a lot of things." said Ikki.

"That's right. I'm sure Masane can do more things too. She just has to find out about them." said Pema.

"Maybe so, but I'd like to do something to cheer her up, even if it's just a little bit." said Korra.

"Well, what if you give her a gift? That way she'll know how important she is to you no matter what." suggested Jinora.

Korra's eyes widened at that.

"That's right! Thank you, Jinora." said Korra before getting up and running off.

"Wait, Korra! You haven't had breakfast yet!" said Tenzin trying to stop her, but she was already too far away.

"Well, if she's not going to want it, I'll take it." said Meelo taking Korra's plate for himself.

Soon after, Masane set the broom down, having finished her task of sweeping and now the next thing was to eat breakfast and figure out what to do, as she knew Korra would be busy with her training, so she didn't want to disturb her.

"Masane."

The aforementioned turned around to see Korra coming towards her with her hands behind her back.

"Korra. I thought you were going to training with Mako and Bolin." said Masane.

"I am, but I wanted to give you something before I left." said Korra.

"What?" asked Masane confused.

"Close your eyes and stretch out your hand." said Korra.

"Why?" asked Masane.

"You do it." said Korra.

Masane was really confused about what it, but decided to listen to her and closed her eyes before stretching out her right arm.

The next instant, she felt something wrap around her wrist.

"You can open them now." said Korra making Masane open her eyes which were directed towards her right wrist.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that on her wrist was a bracelet with blue and brown marbles with a red one in the center.

"W-What is this?" asked Masane.

"It's a gift I made for you." said Korra with a smile.

"For me? Why?" asked Masane.

"For everything you did for me. For years, I was lonely in that complex until you came along. Not only that, but you supported me when I wasn't able to adapt to Tenzin's training. You may think you don't know how to do anything, but the fact that you are by my side is enough for me. That bracelet symbolizes that you will never be a burden to me, but someone important. Whether you have your memories or not." said Korra.

Masane was so moved by the Avatar's words that she couldn't help but shed tears of joy before rushing to embrace the Avatar who was quick to return it.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. It's the best gift I've ever received." said Masane.

"You're welcome." began Korra before they broke the hug. "Well, I have to go to training or Mako will be mad."

"More than he usually is?" asked Masane before the two girls shared a giggle.

"Thanks again for the gift. I'll keep it forever." said Masane bringing the hand with the bracelet to her chest as she held it up.

"I'm sure. See you later." said Korra before rushing off as she waved her hand in farewell.

Masane waved her hand in farewell and stopped when she lost her in the distance.

After that, she turned her gaze to the bracelet the Avatar gave her and a smile of happiness formed on her face.

She may not have been a fighter, but the fact that Korra considered her someone important despite everything made her very happy.

It was as if a part of her emptiness was filled because of her.

It didn't matter to her that it would take years to get all her memories back.

As long as she had Korra by her side, it was enough for her.

Later in the day, while Korra was at her pro-bending training, Masane had agreed to help Pema with a shopping spree, so she was walking around town with a shopping bag.

"Let's see… Eggs, rice and milk. I think I have it all." said Masane as she went through a shopping list.

That's when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and saw a man serving ice cream to some children from a portable cart, but she wasn't focused on the particular stall, but on the man operating it.

"Thank you for your purchase. Come back anytime." said the salesman as the children walked away with their purchases.

"Hasook?"

The vendor's eyes widened in surprise before turning to the side to see Masane standing in front of his stall.

"Hey, aren't you the girl who accompanied the Avatar that night?" asked Hasook.

"Yeah, but… What are you doing here? Last I heard from you, you left the Fire Ferrets at the last minute. Which wasn't good." said Masane with a frown.

"Ok. Ok. It may not have been exactly the right thing to do, but I felt I wasn't cut out for pro-bending and if I had played that game, we probably would have lost and guess who Mako would blame it on." said Hasook as he pointed a thumb at himself.

"Well, I can't deny that, but you should have thought better of it." said Masane.

"Maybe so, but you have to admit that the thing went well, right? I was listening to the match on the radio and although it has a lot of room for improvement, your friend Avatar managed to make them win and go to the tournament." said Hasook.

"Yes, that's true. It even helped her in her airbending training." said Masane admitting he was right.

"You see? All's well that ends well." said Hasook.

"You're right, but I think it would be good if you went to Mako and Bolin and apologized for what you did." said Masane.

"I don't know… I'm sure Mako hates me for what I did and the moment he sees me, he'll just want to yell at me." said Hasook.

"You'll never know if you don't try. I'm sure they'll forgive you if you talk about it." said Masane with a grin.

"Well, all right. I'll try, but no promises." said Hasook.

"It's okay with me. Next time we meet, I'll buy you an ice cream." said Masane.

"I'll be looking forward to that time." said Hasook.

After that, Masane set out on his way.

However, shortly after walking a couple of meters, a black satomobile pulled up right next to her, much to her confusion.

Before she could react, a couple of men jumped out of the satomobile and grabbed her.

"W-Wait, what did you…?" asked Masane before one of them covered her mouth with his hand, causing her to let out only moans.

Masane proceeded to shake her arms and legs, dropping the bag in the process, but the men grabbed her tightly and quickly pulled her into the satomobile before it sped away from the scene.

With Masane inside.

Korra had finally finished her pro-bending training and was now on her way back to Air Temple Island to take a short break before starting her airbending training.

It was a bit annoying and tiring to have two training sessions every day, but if it would help her become a better Avatar, then she would just have to suck it up.

When she got to the temple, she opened the door, only to find Jinora standing there, as if she was going to leave.

"Oh, Korra. Have you seen Masane?" asked Jinora.

"Wasn't she here?" asked Korra.

"Yes, but she wanted to help my mother with some errands and went into city to shop. That was a little while ago and she hasn't returned yet." said Jinora.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll be fine." said Korra.

"Are you sure? She doesn't know much about the city. She could have gotten lost." said Jinora.

Korra had to admit she was right, since, so far, they had only visited the whole city on their first day and after that, they only went from the island to the arena, so they still didn't know all the ways of the city.

"You know what? You're right. I'd better go find her." said Korra before leaving.

"Good luck." began Jinora as the Avatar walked away. "I hope nothing happened to her."

Korra was walking around the city looking for Masane, but she didn't see her anywhere.

Following the route she was given to make the purchase, she kept asking people if they had seen her, only to be told that they hadn't.

Little by little, Korra was beginning to worry, wondering if she really was lost.

It was then that she made a decision she wasn't too fond of.

"*Sigh* I didn't think I'd say this, but I'll have to ask Lin for help to see if they can find her." said Korra.

"Oh, that won't be necessary."

Turning around quickly, Korra ran into a man, but that wasn't just any man, that was the firebender who was part of the mafia trio that Korra fought on her first day in the city.

Better known as Ping Two Fingers.

"You. I remember you. You're from that Triple Threat group." said Korra recognizing the man immediately.

"Oh, I'm flattered you remember me." said Ping.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in jail?" asked Korra.

"I was, but they let me and the others out for 'good behavior'." said Ping.

"What do you want?" asked Korra.

"You see, I saw that you were looking for something and it's possible that we… have it." said Ping opening his fist to reveal something.

Korra let out a slight gasp when she saw that it was the bracelet she gave Masane.

In the next instant, an angry expression formed on her face and she grabbed Ping by his shirt before pushing him against a wall.

"Where is Masane? What have you done to her? If you touched a single hair on her, I swear I'd…" began Korra pissed off that they had kidnapped her friend.

"Hey, hey, hey. Relax. We didn't do anything to her. Unless you decide to pay us a 'visit'. What do you say?" asked Ping with a smirk of superiority.

Korra was really tempted to beat him with all her might until she got the truth out of him, but considering that she was dealing with a triad, it was possible that his companions would find out and Masane would be the one to suffer for it.

Therefore, she couldn't simply interrogate him or take him to the police for help, so she had no choice but to follow their instructions if it meant rescuing her friend safely.

With a groan of frustration, she released Ping.

"Take me to her. NOW." said Korra with a hard stare.

"Follow me. I'll lead the way." said Ping proceeding to walk with Korra behind him.

Even though she was pissed at him, she was genuinely worried about her friend, praying to the spirits that nothing had happened to her.

"Masane, please be okay." thought Korra.

The two of them were walking for quite a while until, at last, they came to a small abandoned warehouse.

"I hope this isn't a trick. Because if it is…" began Korra wrapping her clenched fist in fire.

"What do you take me for? I may be a gangster, but I'm a man of my word… and money, but also my word." began Ping before walking over to the door and opening it. "Ladies first." said Ping bowing chivalrously, much to Korra's annoyance, who was quick to enter the warehouse, followed by Ping, who closed the door.

The first thing Korra noticed was that the place was completely empty except for a few boxes, but, as she looked ahead, she saw something that left her horrified, for on the other side of the warehouse was Masane bound and gagged.

"Masane!" shouted Korra.

That made the girl aware of the Avatar's arrival and her eyes widened in surprise.

"MMMM? MMMMMM! MMMMMM!" groaned Masane as she jerked, trying to free herself from her bonds.

"Wait! I'm coming!" said Korra before running towards her, but then, a small wall of earth emerged from the ground in front of her, stopping her in the process before the wall disappeared.

"Uh, uh, uh. Don't be so impatient." said a person whose voice Korra recognized.

Next to Masane emerged from the shadows Mushi, the earthbender who accompanied Ping that time, and on the other side came out Viper, the man in the hat who was leading the trio.

"We meet again, Avatar. You know? Had I known who you were that time, I would have treated your with more respect." said Viper taking off his hat to bow.

"Spare me the compliments. What do you really want? Why are you doing this?" asked Korra.

"You see, after you kicked our asses that one time, our boss got really mad at us. He asked us how members of the Triple Threat Triad had lost to a single girl. He didn't care that you were the Avatar, he just saw us as the culprits." said Viper.

"If it's revenge you want, then she has nothing to do with this! It's me you want, so let her go!" said Korra.

"Oh, of course we will… But first we'll settle some scores." said Viper as he, Ping and Mushi surrounded the Avatar.

"I already beat you once, what makes you think you can beat me this time?" asked Korra seriously.

"In that we didn't know who you really were that time, but now that we do, we're more prepared. So… give us your best shot, Avatar." said Viper.

Korra started with a spin followed by a ring of fire, but the three mobsters jumped to avoid it.

Ping was the first to attack with fireballs that Korra dodged while throwing her own, although Ping managed to dodge them, albeit narrowly.

Mushi took advantage of that exchange of shoot to use earthbending to make the ground beneath Korra shake, which caused her to stagger, something that Viper used to his advantage to launch water droplets that he turned into icicles of ice.

Fortunately, Korra was able to notice that and jumped to the side in time, but then, Mushi caused a pillar to spring up from the ground beside her and hit her hard, pushing her to the side as she groaned from the pain.

Masane let out a groan as she saw that her friend was in trouble.

"Haha. Check it out. Looks like the Avatar isn't as powerful as they tell it." said Viper.

"Don't be so sure. We're not done yet." said Korra.

Ping attacked again with a flare of fire, but then, Korra used firebending to redirect it directly at Mushi, who put up a wall of earth to protect herself.

He then broke the wall into pieces and threw them at Korra, who, with a stomp, lifted several rocks from the ground which she hurled at the Mushi pieces, neutralizing them all in the process.

Viper tried to take advantage of that by throwing several fat water droplets, but Korra manipulated them with waterbending to keep it in her hands just as Ping threw a large fireball at her, so Korra threw the accumulated water droplet at her, causing the fireball to go out with a wisp of steam.

Masane knew her friend could handle it, but despite her situation, she didn't want to stand there and leave her alone against the three of them, so she began to shake herself in a last attempt to free herself from her bonds.

"No doubt you're good in firebending, earthbending and waterbending, but that won't save you this time." Viper said.

"Haven't you heard the news? I play pro-bending now." said Korra before stomping hard on the ground, causing a disk to emerge from the ground.

Quickly, she kicked the earthen disk towards Mushi's chest, causing him to lean over as he slid backwards and held his stomach.

Before he could recover, Korra caused a pillar of earth to erupt from the ground and hit him in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards to the ground and unconscious.

Seeing that, Ping started throwing fireballs non-stop, but Korra used her airbending training to dodge the fireballs while neutralizing some of them with her fists wrapped in fire.

Because of this, some fireballs flew towards Viper, who had to move quickly to avoid them.

"Hey, watch where you're aiming!" said Viper.

Meanwhile, Masane was about to give up her attempt at liberation seeing that she couldn't do anything when suddenly she saw the fireballs flying towards where she was.

It was then that an imaginary light bulb went off in her head as she had an idea.

Acting quickly she positioned herself in such a way that, as the fireballs flew past her, one of them lightly brushed the ropes in her hands.

She may have felt the heat of the fireball too much, but she had to hold on if that worked.

Ping kept shooting fireballs that Korra kept dodging as she moved towards him like a windblown leaf.

When she reached him, Korra quickly ducked and slid her leg through his, causing him to stay in the air and before he hit the ground, Korra jumped up and gave him a fire wrapped axe kick, impacting him hard against the ground and knocking him unconscious in the process.

Once she was done with him, Korra turned her gaze to the last remaining one, who wasn't really happy.

"It's over." said Korra.

"It's not over until I say so." said Viper before placing several drops of water around him which he turned into icicles to then hurl one at full speed towards Korra as if it were a bullet.

Korra quickly dodged to the side, managing to narrowly dodge the icicle, though it did cut a couple of hairs from one of her braids.

She quickly scrambled from side to side as she dodged the icicles that Viper fiercely threw at her.

Some she managed to dodge, but Korra was forced to use firebending to wrap her fists around them and use them to destroy the icicles that she couldn't dodge and were going to hit her directly.

She thought about using earthbending to raise a shield or to knock it down, but because of the speed at which she had to move to dodge the icicles, she didn't have enough time to concentrate.

Viper was about to throw more icicles thanks to his large hidden water reserves when…

PAM

A blow to the head from behind caused him to stumble a bit while stopping his attack, much to the Avatar's relief.

Holding the bruised part, he turned around to see that it was Masane who was responsible, who managed to free herself from her bonds and now had a wooden plank with which she hit the mobster.

"Leave her alone, bully!" exclaimed Masane boldly.

"You… fucking bitch…" said Viper approaching her menacingly as Masane backed up a bit before stumbling back and falling to the ground.

"Leave my friend alone!" shouted Korra stepping in front of him to punch him in the face so hard it sent him flying backwards before he fell to the ground unconscious.

Korra gasped a little from exhaustion and exertion before focusing on what was important.

"Masane!" exclaimed Korra before kneeling down beside her with a worried expression. "Are you all right? They didn't do anything to you, did they?"

"Relax. I'm fine. Just… " began Masane lowering her gaze.

Korra followed her gaze and let out a slight gasp of horror when she saw that her hands had slight burns from the fireballs she used to destroy her bindings.

"Hold on a moment. I'll be right back." said Korra before running towards Viper's unconscious figure.

Rummaging through his coat, she managed to find what she was looking for, a small canister filled with water.

Having gotten what she was looking for, Korra returned to Masane and after uncorking it, used waterbending to gather all the water into a medium sized drop.

"This will sting a little, but it will pass." said Korra before wrapping Masane's hands with the water.

Just as she said, Masane hissed a little at that, but then, Korra made the water glow.

Before long, Masane's burns were fading until they were erased altogether.

"Wow. Impressive." said Masane, as Korra had told her about the healing ability of the waterbenders, but seeing it in person was something else.

Seeing that she was better, Korra undid the water glow and tossed her aside.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Korra.

Masane looked at her for a moment before hugging her.

"I am. Thanks to you." said Masane.

Korra smiled in relief before returning the hug.

"Well, I wasn't going to let them do anything to you." began Korra before breaking the hug. "Now, how about we get out of this place and alert the police so they can take care of these guys again?"

"Sounds good to me." said Masane with a smile.

"By the way, I think you lost this." said Korra showing her the bracelet she gave her in the morning.

Masane took it and put it back on.

"Make sure you don't lose it again." said Korra.

"I won't." said Masane.

After that, the two girls left the warehouse and then called the police and let them take care of them.

Once they returned to the island, they told about what happened.

Of course, everyone showed concern towards Masane, but she managed to reassure them by showing them that she had no injuries and that Korra saved her in time.

After a dinner among all of them, they went to sleep.

The moon rose in the middle of the night, illuminating everything possible, including Masane and Korra's room, who was sleeping peacefully.

"Korra." whispered Masane softly, making Korra moan a little. "Korra." whispered Masane again, getting Korra to open her eyes and turn to see her friend, who was awake.

"What's the matter? Can't sleep because of what happened?" asked Korra.

"No. It's not that. It's just that this experience has made me understand one thing." said Masane.

"What?" asked Korra.

"I know you said it was enough that I was by your side whether I had my memories or not, but after this, it's clear that I can't do just that. What I mean is… I want to fight." said Masane earnestly.

"Wait, what? Are you serious?" asked Korra.

"Totally. At the South Pole, I told you I wouldn't leave you alone. I don't plan on stepping aside while you fight whatever you're up against, so I want to get stronger. So I can fight by your side. So, could you train me?" asked Masane with determination.

Korra was surprised to see her friend's determination.

It was true that, if they were in a fight, she would ask her to stay on the sidelines or stand by her side so she could protect her, but now she was asking her for help to become stronger so she could fight on her own.

She had small doubts about it, but Masane's face of determination removed them.

Besides, she had to admit that she liked the idea of fighting alongside her.

"Okay, I'll train you, but don't expect me to go soft on you." said Korra with a smile.

"I wouldn't ask for anything else. Thank you, Korra." said Masane with a smile.

It was then that Korra let out a yawn.

"Can we talk about the rest tomorrow? I don't have enough energy for it right now." said Korra as Masane chuckled.

"Of course. We need to rest for tomorrow's training." said Masane.

"You said it." said Korra.

And so, the two girls closed their eyes to sleep and be ready for whatever would happen the next day.

AN: What did you think of the original chapter?

I had intended to add one to this story and I hope I got it right.

Now that this is out of the way, we'll get back to the main line of canon and I can assure you that some things will happen, especially regarding Masane.

Oops. Sorry. I won't say anything more about it.

See you later.