Chapter 5

Sota sat on the roof of the canopy watching the battle in front of him intently, cringing as he watched his sister shoot a rather large fireball from her fist. The fireball jetted out forward, propelling the first of the White Lotus Sentries into the air where he then proceeded to come crashing down a feet from Sota on the top of the canopy.

There was no doubt in the twelve year old waterbenders mind that this guy was going to be more than just a bit sore in the morning, and though felt a small amount of guilt as well as a need to apologize for his sister, he was much too distracted with his excitement of watching Korra to really bother caring.

There was no doubt in his mind that his big sister had come a long way in her Avatar training these past few years. Not long ago, he remembered her telling him how excited she was to be taking her firebending test, something he didn't doubt since it seemed to be her favorite element to learn. Her firebending was just as fierce and strong as her attitude, and with every single dodge and strike, the fire flew around effortlessly as if even at a distance, she had control over it once it left her hand. It was that kind of bending proficiency that Sota hoped to achieve to one day achieve in his waterbending.

"She's strong," Sota overheard Master Katara say. A smile had broken out on his face at the voice. Master Katara was one of his favorite people in the entire world. She was always kind to him, giving him special treats or bending lessons when he came to visit Korra, which he had taken to doing more and more frequently after the bloodbending incident that he had been involved in three years ago.

He had been worried that she would be upset with him, or worse, but was beyond relieved when she had told him of her first bloodbending venture. The story really hit home to Sota and he vowed that he would become a better bender so that that would never have to be a better option.

"She lacks restraint," The White Lotus leader said snidely. Sota felt his mood instantly soured and his temper flared, a trait that he definitely picked up from and shared with his sister. Preparing to jump down and give the man a piece of his mind, as well as blow his cover, he was quickly interrupted as he watched the last firebender charge at Korra with a steady stream of fire shooting from his palms.

Of course it was no surprise that she charged head first into the fire like the reckless person she was, making sure to bend an opening for herself. Using the man for a spring board, Korra launched herself into the air and kicked another fireball at him, creating a distraction. Turning, she shot a stream of her own fire at him from her fists. The power man had no chance, hoping only to protect himself by covering his head as the fire seemed to swallow him up as well as push him backwards. As the fire came to a stop, he limply rolled out of it before fainting in a smoking heap on the ground.

Sota could only watch speechlessly, his eyebrow twitching back and forth, as the other sentries picked up their fallen friend and carried him away. Ok, maybe she does lack restraint. He thought to himself as he shook his head, though a smile was present on his face.

He listened to his sister cheer in celebration as he snuck back off the roof, quickly making his way through the compound unseen, and headed for the animal stables. The instant he crossed the threshold, he was greeted by Naga who affectionately licked his face, elating a laugh from the young boy. Sota lightly petted the polar bear dog before hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. Quickly hiding behind the igloo that Naga called home, Sota watching intently, nervous that he may have actually been caught sneaking in here. Again.

The steps got closer and closer until, much to his relief, Korra came charging down the steps.

"Naga! You should have seen it!" Korra said excitedly as her companion came to her. "I kicked some serious firebender butt and I passed!"

"You probably also just set the record for the most number of injuries dealt out during one training session by any Avatar," Sota said with a smile as he came up from behind his hiding spot.

"Sota!" Korra cheered in even more excitement at see her little brother. Running up to him, the two met in a tight embrace before pulling back. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you actually snuck in here again?"

"Hey, I learned from the best, didn't I?" he answered, a mischievous grin on his face. "I actually came to watch you take your fire test. I was hoping to get here before to wish you good luck, but clearly, you didn't need."

"Aww, thanks Sota," she said, hugging him again. "It really means a lot to me that you came to see me. How's your training going?"

"It's ok, I guess," he said with a bit of unease. After what happened years ago, it had been difficult for Sota to take normal bending classes since most of the kids were now afraid of him. Though the parents of the village didn't believe that a boy as young as him could be a bloodbender, but children were much more easily swayed. Needless to say, Sota had instantly become an outcast amongst his peers, many of them calling him a monster and things of that nature, especially after Urroq had exaggerated the experience.

The others were horrified by what they believed to have happened, and when questioned about it, Sota felt much too guilty about having actually done it to deny anything that he was accused of. After that, he became the number one target for all the kids during practice as well as when he would head home, often causing him to have to dodge water and constantly check over his shoulder as he lived in a constant state of fear. Senna and Tonraq decided that it was best that he be taken out of the classes, and Tonraq took it upon himself to try to teach his son, though it turned out to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

The spirits must have been smiling down upon him as Katara, having heard about the predicament, volunteered to be his new bending teacher, something he readily and happy accepted. He had come a long way training with her the last few years, and he hoped to only get better. Of course, it would be a long time before he was anywhere near Korra's level, something that was a constant bother to him though he tried not to show it now that he visited the compound for his lesson and spent more time with her. However, there were certain days he wasn't supposed to be there, today being one of them as the White Lotus wanted to be sure that Korra was completely focused on her test and not distracted.

Korra gave a sympathetic smile to him, ruffling his hair which had grown significantly. Sota no longer kept a warrior's wolf tail like he had in his younger days. His hair was now just short of his shoulders though it was all tied together at the end with a single loop, creating a ponytail at the end. Sota happened to like his hair, and hated when anyone ruffled it, especially Korra who seemed to do it often just to annoy him.

"Hey, don't sweat it, ok? You'll get the hang of it soon enough. I mean, you're training with Katara, the woman who's taught two Avatars and was a bending prodigy and waterbending master at the age of 14. No one's better at teaching then her."

"Thanks, Korra," he said with a genuine smile. "So does this mean you're gonna be starting your airbending training soon?"

"Sure am, and I can't wait! Tenzin's gonna be here in a few day!"

A large smile spread across Korra's face as the loud skybison flew over her, Sota and Katara before landing. The excited young Avatar took off toward their guest while Sota trailed behind a hit, allowing Katara to greet her family and catch with them. Looking to his big sister, Sota could practically fell the excitement rolling off of her, and tried to contain his own excitement as he watched one person in particular.

Her grey eyes were unfocused as she asked her grandmother a question about a story she had read, leaving her guarded down. An evil smirk came to his face as he bent a large snowball between his hands. Carefully aiming, Sota let the snowball fly, and laughed manically as it nailed her right in the back of the head, elating a loud shriek of surprise as cold, wet snow dripped down her neck and into her shirt.

Jinora turned around, anger on her face as she locked eyes with him. "Sota!" she yelled, creating a scooter and charging toward him. Hearing their sister's cry, Ikki and Meelo turned toward the two and instantly got excited at the idea of a chase, creating air scooters of their own and following after her.

Sota yelped, turning on his heels and turning the ground under him to ice, allowing him to slide away from them. After putting a good amount of distance between them, he turned and began creating snowballs that he hurled mercilessly at them. His training was clearly shown to have been paying off as the three airbenders were showing to have a difficult time dodging the snow, that is, until one hit Meelo straight on in the face.

The boy cried out about his blindness, losing control of his scooter before veering to the left sporadically and crashing into Ikki, taking her out with him. Sota could feel the urge to gloat rising in him at having taken out the to, but refrained as he eyed Jinora and her determination to get him.

At least it's more of an even fight now. He thought as he shifted his stance, staying put inside of trying to run like before. Jinora, using the built up momentum from her scooter, jumped up into the air, shooting slices of air at him. Sota evaded them by jumping backward out of the way. Unfortunately, he missed the rock behind him as he landed which then proceeded to knock him off balance which was all the opening that Jinora needed as she shot another blast of air at him, sending him flying straight into a large pile of snow.

Cheers of victory reached his ears as Sota dug himself out of the snow, the three airbender children smiling and boasting about their conquering over the waterbender.

"Airbender beats waterbender. Again," Jinora boasted happily.

Sota smiled as he got to his feet, bending the remaining snow off his body as she made his way over to his friend and hugged her. Jinora gladly returned the greeting, having missed the young man in the last few years since she had last seen him.

It was no secret to anyone that he and Jinora were best friends and cared deeply about each other. This was obvious from the first time the two met each other back when Jinora was only a few months old. Sota, being only two years older than her, was fascinated by the small baby he had met, and was even more fascinated when he found her to be an airbender, something he didn't even know existed. Though, he hadn't known that there were any other types of benders besides waterbenders, so this was a very pleasant surprise indeed.

From there, the two were near inseparable anytime that they were around each other, and even when they were separated, the two often wrote to each other to stay in contact. Katara was happy to see that both of them took so well to each other; they would need friends like each other growing up in the limelight that they were bathed in. Jinora, being not only the first airbender in her generation but also the granddaughter of Avatar Aang, and Sota, the younger brother of the new Avatar, Korra. The two understood the pressure that the other was under very easily, and she believed that that had been one of the many reasons that they connected so well.

"To be fair, I did take down two out of three airbenders, and if it hadn't been for that rock behind me, I would have had you too, Nora," he said as they separated, smirking at the displeased look she gave him at the nickname he had been using for her since she was a baby.

"JI-nora. You know I hate that nickname," she said, crossing her arms.

"And you only got lucky!" Ikki shouted. "You wouldn't have beaten us if Meelo hadn't crashed into me."

"I know; that's why I keep calling you that. Besides, you can't really blame me. You know I always had a problem saying your name when I was little." Turning to Ikki, he stated, "And you always find an excuse when you lose, Ikki. But whatever makes you feel better. You guys just better watch your backs from now on. You're on my turf now."

The smile instantly fell from Jinora's face as she uncrossed her arms. Sota instantly mimicked her expression, his gut telling him that something was wrong. Jinora looked at the ground uncomfortably as she tried to find the best way to say what she needed to, but before she could, Ikki interrupted her.

"Jinora, didn't Daddy say we were going home tomorrow?" Excitement started to flood her body as she began talking faster. "Did he change his mind? Are we going to be staying now? Oh I can't wait! We're gonna build snowmen, and eat yummy food, and-"

Jinora quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, but she knew it was too late; the damage had been done and the hurt look on Sota's face told her all that she needed to know. Sota could feel the sadness creeping into him as he tried to process what he had just heard.

"You're leaving tomorrow? I thought…your dad's supposed to train Korra and you guys were gonna be moving down here," he said, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Sota. My dad said that we can't stay right now. He said that Republic City needs him and that Korra's airbending training is going to have to wait. We're only gonna be here for the night," Jinora said.

Sota sighed, his breath coming out in a small puff of smoke before he collected himself and smiled back at her, though she could easily see it was forced and that he was still sad.

"Oh well. What can you do right? It sucks because I was really hoping that we'd all get to spend more time together, but looks like I was wrong. Thing never seem to go right, huh?"

Jinora shook her head, a sad smile on her face as well. "It's just how it is for our families; they're too important to the world for things to be normal. I just hope Korra takes the news ok."

"Yeah, well I'll tell you this; you may be an airbender, but don't hold your breath on that one."

Sota of course knew that he was right about how his sister would react, though anyone could have honestly guessed that. Korra had been more than bummed out when Tenzin had broken the news to her about the situation in Republic City. Though she understood why he couldn't stay, it didn't make her feel any better that she would have to wait for her training.

When she came up with the idea of going back with him to the city, her hopes were crushed even further when the Leader of the White Lotus shut that idea down immediately, stating that the city would be much too dangerous for the Avatar, and that she would just have to be patient, something she was terrible at.

Sota continued to think about the disappointing situation throughout his day with his friend and her siblings, and felt a ghost of pain when she had to leave for dinner, knowing that this would be the last time he would see her until they came back, whenever that may be. He shuffled his feet sluggishly as he made his way home, and barely said a word to his parents who took notice of his mood almost instantly as he quietly ate his dinner.

"What's bothering you, son?" Tonraq asked. "I thought you'd be bursting with excitement after spending the day with Jinora and the others."

"Sorry, Dad. I guess I'm still kinda bummed that they're not gonna be staying," Sota said, putting his chopsticks down. "I never to get see her and she's my best friend. I was really looking forward to this."

"Oh, honey," Senna said sympathetically as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're disappointed, but I'm sure it'll only be for a little while. Once things calm down in Republic City, Tenzin and his family will be back so that he can train Korra. But until then, we have to respect her father's wishes and be patient."

"I know, Mom. It just kinda-" Sota paused as the sound of thumping and barking came from outside. All three instantly recognized the sound of Naga as she made her way toward their home and got up, heading outside to see what the commotion was. All three waited as Korra rode her companion up to them before hopping off her back to meet them. "Korra? What are you doing here?"

"I…I came to say goodbye," she said delicately. Shock registered on the faces of her family as they looked at each other before looking back to her.

"What do you mean goodbye? Where are you going?" Sota asked nervously.

"I'm heading to Republic City. I can't just stay cooped up here in the White Lotus compound. The city is in trouble and it needs me. It's time that I stepped up to the plate as the Avatar and discovered my destiny."

The nervousness that Sota felt quickly turned to a feeling of anger and abandonment as he looked at his sister in betrayal. "So that's it, huh? You're just gonna up and leave us? Just like that?"

"Just for a little while, I promise. But I need to go and do this. I just couldn't do it without saying goodbye first."

"Korra, are you sure about this?" Senna asked as she tried to keep her composure.

"I'm sure, Mom. This is what I need to do."

"Then we have no choice but to trust your decision, Korra," Tonraq said, drawing her into a hug along with his wife. Sota stared at his family, feeling even more betrayal that his parents were allowing her to do this.

"Mom, Dad; I'll miss you," Korra said her head handing low.

"We love you so much," Senna said as she held back the tears in her eyes. Korra understood how her mother felt as she too was trying to hold them back. This would be the first time she ever left home, and it was scary to think she would be on her own, but she was determined to do this.

Moving past her parents, she came to her little brother, bending down to his level and attempted to hug him, only for him to step back away from her. Surprise and hurt came to her face as he took another few steps before turning around and running back into the hut. Standing up, Korra looked at the doorway longingly, but decided it was best not to pursue him; it would only upset him further and he needed time to adjust to the idea. She gave her parents one more look before climbing on Naga and riding away.

Korra continued to think about her brother's reaction all the way to the harbor. She wasn't angry with the way he acted, and she couldn't blame him for being upset. After all, he had just watched his best friend leave for who knows how long before he would see her again and now his sister was doing the exact same thing. He would be all alone now, with no one, and that hurt him more then he could deal with right now. Korra felt bad that she was doing this to him, but she had to do it; she had to do what was best for the world, and she could only hope that she was right about this decision. Of course, that would probably make no difference to him, but there wasn't anything she could do about that, even if she felt extremely guilty.

"What's the point in bring balance and peace to the world if you hurt the people you care about?" she mumbled to herself with a sigh.

The boat ride was going smoothly so far, which Korra was beyond thankful for. She had been luckily able to get onto a cargo ship easily enough without detection, and was now comfortably lying against Naga, her mind wondering about all the things she would experience in Republic City.

"I can't wait to get there. I've never been to the city before," she said, though her enthusiasm took a turn south once more as she thought about Sota. "I bet he's still mad at me. He's wanted to go to the city almost as much as I have. I hope Sota can forgive me soon for leaving him behind like that. I didn't think it would upset him that much though."

"Well, if you didn't make such impulsive decisions, maybe it'd be easier to not get so upset."

Korra yelped as she fell forward and looked behind her to see the smirking face of her little brother as he walked around from behind a box.

"Sota? What the hell are you doing here!?" she whisper yelled at him.

"What's it look like I'm doing here? I'm chasing my runaway sister on her adventure to Republic City," he said sarcastically as he took a seat next to her and relaxed against Naga who's head he petted lightly so as not to awaken the sleeping Polar Bear Dog.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," she replied unhappily. "Did you run away?"

"Yep."

"Sota! Are you crazy!? Mom and Dad must be worried sick about you! Do you understand the kind of trouble you're going to be in for doing this!?"

"Not as much trouble as you are when the Order of the White Lotus finds out you snuck out of the compound, that's for sure," he shot back.

"This is serious, Sota. How could you just leave like that?"

"How you could you just leave like that?" he retorted. "Did you even consider how your decision would affect Mom, or Dad, or me, before you left? What about how we felt? I know you're the Avatar and all, but you're also our family and the only person I can really trust besides Jinora, and you just decided to leave me alone down in the South Pole."

"Look, Sota, I'm sorry, ok? But this was something that I had to do. I know I hurt your feelings, but I had to leave."

"Yeah, well so did I. So now we're stuck together."

"No way. As soon as we get to Republic City, I'm putting on the first boat back to the South Pole."

"And then I'll just jump off the boat and make my way back to land!" he shouted at her, angering her as his own anger began to rise. "I'm not going back, Korra, and that's final!"

"Yes, you are Sota, and I'm not gonna tell you again."

"You said you were going to the city to find your destiny, but what if this is my destiny? What if I'm supposed to go with you and help you to become the Avatar you're supposed to be? This is a chance, not just for you, but for me too. A chance for us to experience the world together and to learn and grow, as brother and sister. So no, I won't be leaving because I'm not going to let an opportunity like this pass me up, when I know, deep down that this is what I'm meant to do."

Korra remained quiet as she stared into his eyes, a pleading look covered by pure determination. She knew, on some level, that he was right and that this very well could be his destiny just as much as it was hers, and that to deny him a chance to find it would just be wrong. Not to mention he had just as much of a right to see Republic City, and by extension, the world, as she did. But on another level, deep down, she couldn't help the protective big sister feelings that she felt, telling her that regardless of what he said, he needed to be sent back home where it was safe.

Korra debated with herself before a prolonged sigh escaped her lips, allowing her to speak before she could second guess herself. "Fine. You can stay. But I'm in charge, you hear me? And I mean it, Sota; 100% serious. One major screw up or disobedience, you're out of here and I'm sending you on the first boat back home, understood?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," he said with a roll of his eyes, though he couldn't help smiling in excitement. "No need to be any bossier than usual, Korra."

Korra grinned, grabbing him in a head lock and messing up his hair, laughing playfully as he struggled to free himself. Once he did, he quickly fixed his hair, ignoring the laugh at his displeased look.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all, she thought as they both relaxed against their pet.

Though she couldn't say for sure that this was going to be a good idea right now, the situation, though not ideal, was turning out pleasantly. Her journey was just beginning, and though it was a surprise that Sota was coming along with her, she could say without a doubt she felt a lot more confident about her decision to do this.

"Republic City, here we come," she said with a huge smile that Sota mirrored with a nod of his head.