So I recently wrapped up writing Angel of the Bat III: Da Pacem Domine, the longest singular piece of fiction I've ever written and what I'm pretty sure is going to go down as my fanfic magnum opus. It's my intention to be done with fanfic writing now, but I am writing little post-mortems on my old, unfinished stories. My opus was, after all, an adaptation of an idea that never came to fruition. If anyone else feels inspired by this or any of the other post-mortems I'm going to write, I only ask that you let me know, because I'd love to read whatever you come up with.

This is probably gonna be a short one, because as I recall there weren't a whole lot of twists and turns to this story, it was a lot more about seeing events play out and characters play off of each other. Still, here's what I remember-

It was Red Lotus's plan to abduct Korra late at night while the Iceberg Festival was going on, slipping her away while there was still late night festivities going on and some boat traffic happening. While Korra and her parents slept, Zaheer and company would have systematically taken out the humble contingent of waterbenders who were protecting her and made their move inward. Korra was grabbed and knocked out with a light drugging in her sleep, but Tonraq woke up in the middle of the operation and went right to work fending the Red Lotus off, a move that quickly attracted more attention. Tonraq himself took a beating, including taking a slash from a poisoned dagger Zaheer carried (containing a less concentrated does of the same poison used on Korra years later), but held the for in place long enough for Sokka, Tenzin, and Zuko to join the fight and help even the odds. Although they never said so in-story, I think I was planning to kill Sokka in the ensuing fight, just to give the Red Lotus some extra menace. Still, Tenzin, Zuko, and Tonraq eventually subdued Ghazan, Ming Hua, and P'Li, Zaheer was forced to beat an escape as a snowstorm picked up, and it was briefly assumed he froze to death.

Some hours later, shivering but still alive, Zaheer crept back towards the village, killed a man for his clothing (possibly an actor in some kind of Iceberg Festival celebratory garb or costume) and slipped up to a medical building the still-unconscious Korra was being cared for while she was recovering from his poisoning. Senna stood alone over Korra as Tonraq was elsewhere, being stitched up for an injury sustained previously. Zaheer tells Senna not to resist, but she attempts to fight him off anyway. Zaheer incapacitates her with a throwing dagger to the stomach and attempts to leave with Korra. Senna screams, which awakens Korra, who screams as well, which draws a still poisoned, hallucinating Tonraq back to them.

Tonraq vs Zaheer was the story's final battle, Zaheer wielding his giant odachi for much of it as Tonraq struggled to bend properly. The love for his family and his fury would have carried him through though, eventually destroying Zaheer's odachi and beating him bloody. Tonraq, a blade of ice wrapped around his fingers, was prepared to kill Zaheer, until a wailing Korra brought him back to his senses and begged him to stop, unaware of what was going on, too young to reason, but still unwilling to see her father kill. Embittered, Tonraq made a final slash that gave Zaheer the small scar on his left eyebrow, telling him it was a reminder of how close he'd brushed with death before the Avatar begged for his life.

As the action died down, Unalaq arrived in the South to offer Tonraq his condolences, and as a motion of goodwill offers him the use of the North Pole's iciest prison to contain P'Li. He then approaches an imprisoned Zaheer and promises to help him escape, he just must bide his time. Zaheer's narration suggests he doesn't buy this, but still keeps Unalaq's cooperation a secret, as he doesn't trust him not to expose the rest of the Red Lotus if he were revealed.

In a final segment, a sobbing Senna would have informed Tonraq she was carrying a second child during the attack, but the slash from Zaheer's dagger caused her to miscarry. Clinging to his family, Tonraq would have wallowed in some of this misery before resolving he'd do everything he could to keep Senna and Korra safe, no matter what they might experience.

Some heavy shit there, even just from my memories and description. Why didn't it come together? I think I kinda struggled with the espionage angle. I haven't written a lot of stuff with that bend before and it might have just frustrated me too much to try depicting the group working undercover. The moments in chapters two and three where they were just sitting around being a found family did a lot for me, and even now some of the fight scene stuff still looks really good in my head. But that stuff that felt necessary in between continue to vex me. I still think I came up with some solid stuff to add flavor to this big event in the show's history, I just wasn't quite up for the execution.

Again, if anyone wants to use elements of this to tell your own story, I only ask that you let me know. As I said, I'd love to read what someone else comes up with out of my outlines.