Chapter 2

"I can't stand him!" Korra screamed as she paced around the animal stables in a very clear fit of rage. Naga, ever the attentive and obedient companion that she was, sat quietly as she watched her master move back and forth in front of her angrily, almost literally breathing fire.

When the Eleven-year-old Avatar had been told that her parents and brother were coming to visit her and observe her training at the compound, Korra was absolutely ecstatic. She loved spending time with her family, especially considering how rare it was given the increased intensity of her Avatar training. Unfortunately for her, that excitement was very short lived.

Upon their arrival, Korra wasted no time running up to meet her family, but soon found herself off balance as she slid forward and lost her footing. Without warning, her feet came out from under her before Korra landed ungracefully on her back, her tailbone throbbing in pain from the hardwood floor. With a groan, she sat up, her mother instantly at her side and checking over her.

"Korra, are you alright?" Senna asked. Korra nodded her head while rubbing her back to try and massage the pain away. Turning around, Senna gave a disapproving look as she said, "Sota, that wasn't very nice. You could have really hurt your sister."

"Wait, what?" Korra asked. Looking behind her father, her eyes fell upon her six year old little brother who had a devious little smirk on his face. "You did that!?"

"Turns out, your brother is a waterbender, Korra," Tonraq said, a hint of pride in his voice, though he still held his disapproving scowl.

"You little brat! When I get my hands on you-"

"That's enough, Korra. You're older than him and are supposed to be more mature about this. However," Senna said, giving her son the same look as his father, "Sota, you need to apologize to your sister right now."

The young waterbender ignored his mother's command, choosing instead to stick his tongue out at Korra who lunged at him as he hid behind his father. A low growl of annoyance came from her as their parents signed in exasperation, knowing all too well that it was going to be a long day.

The rest of the day went more or less the same for the Avatar-in-training as she never got a single moment of peace with her little brother nearby. Every time she turned her head, she found herself suddenly being either assaulted by random snowballs, slipping on more ice or getting blasted in the face randomly with freezing water. Needless to say, Korra was not happy.

As her anger stared to get quite restless and increase with each and every stunt that he pulled, Korra's parents knew it was only a matter of time before she would lose her cool given her very short fuse. By the time dinner came around, Tonraq and Senna could practically feel their skin burning with how much heat was being generated by their daughter's temper. In fact they were pretty sure that if this kept up, the entire compound would burst into flames and burn down to the ground.

"Korra, maybe you should go check on Naga and get some fresh air," Senna suggested tenderly. Korra wasted no time, practically launching herself from the dinner table and outside before running to the stables where Naga was kept.

The rush of cool air as it hit her face did absolutely nothing to calm Korra down as she marched through the snow to get to Naga, not even noticing that her footsteps left trails of steam behind as it melted with each one of her steps. She wanted to be as far away from Sota at the moment as she could be, or else there was going to be a lot of consequences to pay. The last time she had been this angry, she put three White Lotus Sentries in the infirmary, and Korra was definitely not in the mood to get lectured again.

"I can't stand that little brat! So just because he can waterbend now, he gets special treatment and can get away with throwing water and snow in my face!? What kinda garbage is that!? It's not THAT big a deal! I do it too!" Korra stopped her ranting as she shifted into a stance, bending a large snowball the size of her body before dropping the water back to the ground. "See?"

Naga looked at her with a bored expression as she laid down to sleep. Korra could feel her eyebrow twitching at the Polar Bear Dog and prepared to start her ranting again, but was quickly cut off as, for the umpteenth time that day, she was assaulted with a ball made of tightly packed snow.

Korra shriek as the wet snow dripped from her face and down her parka, causing her to fall backwards once again and land on the ground. Korra quickly brushed the remaining snow away and looked around for the culprit; her anger had just reached a new level even she didn't think was possible.

It wasn't hard to find him as his childish laugh directed her attention to him immediately, giving him away.

"I got you, Korra," Sota shouted, jumping out from behind a stall and expecting her to huff at him like she had done all day. For whatever reason, he got a great amount of enjoyment out of making his sister mad. Truthfully, it was because he just liked her attention being on him and loved it when she played along with him and would do anything to get his way.

The six-year-old was surprised, however, when his sister got to her feet, watching in curiosity as some of the snow started to melt around her. Her breathing was very ragged, almost as if she was having a hard time bringing air into her lungs as small puffs of fire came with each exhale. Sota could also see that Korra's body was physically shaking as she looked up at him, anger written all over her face.

"Uh oh…" he said, instantly scared.

"You, are so dead!" Korra shouted as she started to stomp over to him.

Sota opened his mouth, screaming an ear piercing scream at the top of his lungs as he turned on his heels and ran out of the stable. Korra wasted no time, picking up the pace and running after him at full speed.

Pushing his way through the door, Sota began to run around in the open area, turning every which way he could in hopes of throwing Korra off so he could escape, but his plan didn't seem to work as Korra continued to keep up, even gaining some ground on him every now and then.

"You're as good as dead when I get my hands on you, you little snow runt!" She yelled as she quickly covered her feet in ice and began to slide across the snow. Sota barely had time to look over his shoulder before feeling the back of his parka as it was jerked backwards and he was pulled to the ground by her.

Korra smirked as she picked him up by the hood of his jacket, watching him kick and swing in a poor attempt to get free of her grasp.

"Got you, runt," she gloated as he pouted and stuck his tongue out at her. "Aww, look at the little baby, pouting because he didn't get his way. Is the baby gonna cry now?" She teased as she poked him in the nose, her cocky smirk still in place.

Sota narrowed his eyes at her as he smacked her hand, but that did nothing to deter Korra from doing it again and again. Sota quickly became irritated with her teasing, being able to dish it out but not being able to take it, and decided that he was going to get back at her. As Korra poked him again, Sota opened his mouth and bit down on her gloved hand as hard as he could.

The pain shot through her finger instantly, both shocking and upsetting Korra at the fact that he had just bitten her. She could only scream at this as she felt the piercing of her flesh through the now torn mitten. Korra dropped her hold on Sota, allowing him to fall to the snowy ground ungracefully as possible as she tried to pull her finger out of his mouth. Unfortunately, he seemed to notice this, and only clamped down on her finger harder, causing her to suffer even more pain.

"Let go of me!" Korra screamed at him as she continued to try to remove her finger from him mouth. "Sota, I'm serious! Let me go!"

Sota, however, ignored her as he held a tight grip on her, a look of rebelliousness on his face as he gazed into her identical blue eyes.

Tears started to form in Korra's eyes as her once forgotten anger began to rise once more. Using her free hand, Korra quickly bent some water onto her hand, covering it and allowing it to harden into ice on her palm. Anger flaring, Korra swung her open hand as hard as she could. The colliding sound of it hitting the side of her brother's head was deafening, though Korra paid it no mind as his jaw unhinged, finally releasing her as he fell to the ground.

Korra clutched her shaking hand, gingerly removing the glove on it. Blood was running down her hand, mirroring the tears running down her face. The skin had been broken, exposing the flesh underneath it and allowing the blood to flow freely as it did.

Korra growled in angry disbelief; the little monster actually bit her and purposely tried to cause her pain! When she was done with him, she was going to be an only child again!

Looking down at her brother's form only made her even more upset. Never, in her eleven years of life or his six years, could she ever remember a time when she had ever been this angry at him. But if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she was going to make him regret it.

"You evil little monster!" she yelled at him as she picked him up once more, being careful not to get near his mouth in case he decided to try and bite her again. "I don't know what kind of spirit possessed you to think that biting me was a good idea, but I swear to the Spirit World, I'm gonna kick your butt so hard, you will NEVER sit down again!"

Sota continued to lay limp, not moving or even flinching slightly at her murderous threat. Korra was beginning to believe that he was ignoring her or trying to play dead, until she saw something that made her heart stop in her chest.

A trail of blood was running down the side of Sota's face, leading from an open wound at the side of his head, right near his temple. A deep blue and black bruise accompanied it as it rested on his cheek. As the blood dripped into the cold, wet snow, staining it, Sota remained still and unmoving.

Korra's blood ran colder then the winter air around her as she called his name out.

"Sota?" she whispered quietly. "Sota? Answer me…this isn't funny…if you're playing a joke on me…"

More tears came to her eyes, this time of fear and sorrow of what she had done to her little brother. Dropping to her knees, Korra clutched her brother tightly against her and began to rock him back and forth, much like she did when he was a baby.

The ice below the snow dug into her knees, but Korra ignored it as she panicked about what to do about Sota. Her first thoughts were of his well-being. The second were of what her parents would say and do.

An involuntary shudder ran up her spine at that thought. She couldn't even imagine what was to come to her in the form of punishment for what she had done.

Scoping up some snow, Korra pressed it to the wound as she hugged him close. Sota's head rested limply on her shoulder, his body still unmoving. The wet snow was melting quickly against her open, uncovered palm, and the heat from her hand caused it to start mixing with the blood as it slid down the back of his neck and into his parka. Korra scooped up more snow, repeating the process as more fear and tears trailed down her face. Never in her life had she ever been this scared and, as her trembling intensified, Korra began to lose hope that he would ever wake up again.

"No…Sota…no…" she cried softly in desperation. "Please, wake up. Please wake up and be ok. Just be ok. I'm so sorry! I love you, and I promise not to be mean or hurt you ever again!"

Korra squeezed her eyes closed as she prayed to the spirits that he would wake up and be ok. A bright blue light began to illuminate from her hand, shocking her as she gasped at the weird sensation. Korra looked on in amazement as the water that was once snow began to work over the wound, leaving a wonderful cooling feeling on her hand.

Soon as the light came, it seemed to vanish, leaving Sota completely healed. Korra looked on in pure elation as the water fell back to the ground. Carefully turning his head, she nearly screamed in relief.

The wound on his head was completely gone with not a single trace of it being there in the first place.

For the third time that night, Korra had tears running down her face, this time of joy, as she buried her face in his hair and held him tight, barely noticing the groan that he gave off. Sota opened his eyes, blinking a few times, before tears came to his face as well and a screech echoed from him mouth, shocking Korra who jumped back from him, giving him a slight push, which only made him cry louder.

Korra began to panic as she scurried over to him, covering his mouth to calm his loud cries, but it had no effect on him. Distracted by this, Korra failed to notice the sound of people running up to her as her parents made their way through the snow to their children.

"Korra, what is going on!?" Senna yelled at her daughter, a very displeased look on her face. Korra swallowed the lump in her throat, preparing to defend herself and explain what happened, but was cut off as Sota beat her to it.

"Korra hit me!" Sota bellowed, reaching to his mother. Senna bent down, picking him up and cradling him as she tried to sooth his crying.

"Oh, sweetie, it's ok," she said lovingly. As he started to calm down, she pulled back, tilting his head gingerly to the side and examining the bruise on his cheek. It wasn't very big, but it was definitely noticeable and no doubt painful for a child. Turning back to her daughter, Senna was beyond disappointed in Korra who remained sitting on the ground, her gaze averted under the scrutinized looks from her parents. "Korra, we are very disappointed in you."

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Tonraq questioned, his features matching his wife's.

Korra cautiously lifted her head, avoiding direct eye contact with either of them. She had to do something quick or else she was gonna be in for some serious punishment.

"It was an accident! I didn't start this!" she cried out. "He kept hitting me with water and snowballs! And he bit me! See? I was bleeding!" Korra raised her hand, finger extended to prove it, but, to her complete shock, found that the bite wound, which she had forgotten in her fit of terror, was gone. Not a single trace of the bite remained, not even the blood that had been on her hand. It was in that short moment that Korra remembered that this had been the hand that she used to hold the snow when her healing powers activated.

Healing powers which had not only healed her little brother's head, but her hand, all at the same time. As her shoulders slumped in defeat, Korra could only sigh.

"Ah, nuts."

"Korra, go to your room. Now," Senna declared as she pointed to the living quarters. Korra's head was once again hanging low as she stood up and shuffled across the snow, grumbling under her breath as she failed to notice Sota sticking his tongue out at her.

"I can't stand him."