Chapter 13

The following morning was quiet as Korra sat on some steps, lazily petting Naga's oversized belly while thinking about all that had happened last night. After dinner, Korra went to go check on Sota, but found him in his room sleeping, and felt it was best not to disturb him; she'd wait until the morning to talk to him about what happened. However, she had yet to get a chance to talk to him. In fact, she hadn't even seen him that morning, and had considered going to look for him, but decided against it and would give him some space for the time being.

"Hello, fellow teammate!"

Looking up, Korra was surprised to see Bolin, Pabu resting on his shoulder, walking up to her.

"Hey, Bolin," she greeted, still petting Naga.

"Missed you at practice this week," he said causally, hands behind his back.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said half heatedly. "I've been keeping Sota on lockdown, and have been staying to be sure he doesn't leave the island."

Korra knew that this was a lie; Sota wouldn't leave the island like that and she didn't need to stay to be sure he wouldn't, but she knew Bolin would buy the excuse.

"Ah, it's alright. We're probably of the tournament anyway," he said. "Unless some money miraculously drops out of the sky by tomorrow. Anyway, the reason I came by, was to give you this." Bolin pulled his hands from behind his back, holding a rose in one hand and a wrapped pastry in the other. "Ta-da!"

"Wow, thanks," Korra said, genuinely surprised. "What's this for?"

"Uh, I can't remember now-Oh, right! Now I remember! You saved me from Amon!"

"Oh, that? It was no big deal," Korra replied, acting nonchalantly.

"No big deal, are you serious?"Bolin asked, looking at her as if she were crazy. "I was totally freaking out when he was coming at me with his creepy mask, all 'I will take away your bending forever!' I mean, that was scary stuff. I still can't sleep well. I bet Sota was even more terrified. Is he ok?"

"Um hmm, he's fine. Why do you ask?" Korra asked, bored expression still on her face. Bolin prepared to tell her about what happened, when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Delivery, for Avatar Korra and Sota," the scrawny man said as he brought over a very large and oversized basket of gifts and placed them next to Korra. "Tarrlok sends his compliments and urges you and your brother to reconsider his offer."

"Tell him I haven't changed my mind, and that neither I nor my brother will be joining him," Korra said, leaning away from the gifts in yet another bored manner.

"Um hmm," the man said, bowing to her and taking his leave.

"Who's this Tarrlok guy?" Bolin asked suspiciously. "Is he bothering you? Cause I can have a word with him."

Korra chuckled at his protectiveness. "No, it's not like that. He's just some old guy that works with Tenzin on the council."

"Oh, good. That sounds better. I like that better."

Loud machinery was at work as the numerous workers helped to move various parts of the hundreds of Satomobles down the assembly lines. Mako looked around in fascination as Hiroshi Sato, father of Asami Sato, the girl he had recently started dating, told him more and more about the company.

"What do you think of my little operation here?" Hiroshi asked.

"It's…very impressive, Mr. Sato," Mako replied honestly.

"Please, call me Hiroshi. So, I understand your dirt poor."

"Uh, well…" Mako said, looking away in embarrassed shame.

"Young man, that is nothing to be ashamed of," Hiroshi assured. "I too came from humble beginnings. Why, when I was your age, I was a mere shoe shiner, and all I had to my name was an idea; the Satomoble. Now, I was fortunate enough to meet someone who believed in me, and my work ethic. He gave me the money I needed to get my idea off the ground. And I, built the entire Future Industries empire from that one, selfless loan."

"Dad, stop bragging," Asami reprimanded playfully. A giggle could be heard, drawing their attention and causing them to look up. Above them, high on the one of the metal rafters was a girl, her golden eyes shining in both mischief and excitement.

"She's right, Uncle; I think it's pretty obvious where that one loan has gotten you," she said, hanging upside down from the metal structure.

"Mai-Ling, how many times do I have to tell you to not hang from the rafters in the factory? Get down from there," Hiroshi said.

"Yes, Uncle Hiro," she said with a sigh as she slowly climbed down from her perch. Once on the ground, she casually walked past the workers and up to her family and guest.

"What are you even doing here?" Asami asked her cousin.

"Jun and I heard you tell Uncle Hiro that Mako of the Fire Ferrets was coming here, and I wanted to meet him," she said with a cheeky smile.

"So you were eavesdropping, as usual," she said with a shake of her head. "Speaking of which, where is Jun?"

"Over here," the girl in question said as she walked up to the group and stood next to Mai-Ling.

"Mako, this is my annoying little cousin, Mai-Ling, and her friend, Jun. They're staying with my Dad and me for a while." Asami introduced them. "My dad and her dad are brothers. He's a Politian in the Fire Nation, and my dad helped to fund his campaign."

"Nice to meet you both," Mako said with a smile as he shook Mai-Ling's hand while Jun simply nodded her head to him.

"Nice to meet you. We're really big fans of your team and were just dying to meet you!" Mai-Ling said enthusiastically. "Are you guys ready for the tournament?"

"Um, well, actually, I don't think we're gonna be competing this year," Mako said sadly. "We couldn't come up with the money, and the deadline is tomorrow. But we're just happy to have made it to this far on our first try."

"Dad, tell him the good news," Asami urged. Hiroshi laughed, confusing the firebender.

"What good news?"

"Well, my daughter and niece passionately told me all about your hard earned success in the Probending arena, and about your team's current…finance stumbling block," he said, placing a hand on Mako's back. "Now I'd hate to see you lose your chance at winning the championship just because you're short a few Yuens. That's why I'm going to sponsor the Fire Ferrets in the tournament!"

"Are you serious!?" Mako asked in total disbelief.

"Trust us," Mai-Ling said with a laugh of her own. "You'd know if he wasn't."

"He's serious," Asami confirmed as well. "My Dad's gonna cover your ante for the championship pot."

"That…that is good news!" Mako cheered.

"Just make sure you guys don't lose," Jun said, expression stoic.

"Jun!" Mai-Ling cried out in distress. "They're the Fire Ferrets! Of course they're not gonna lose!"

"You can count on it that," Mako agreed readily.

"There's just one other catch, then," Hiroshi said. "You all have to wear the Future Industries logo on your uniforms."

"I'll tattoo it on my chest, if you want, sir!" Mako said excitedly. The three Sato's laughed, Jun giving a small giggle of her own at the over enthusiastic nature of the firebender. "Thank you all so much! I promise, the Fire Ferrets will make the most of this opportunity!"

Sota and Jinora could only stare from where they stood in front of the very expensive new Satomoble that was currently parked before them. There was a large red bow wrapped around it, indicating that it was a gift, though that did little to shake the shock from the two preteens as they watched Meelo and Ikki pretend to drive it, making various car like noises. In Sota's hand was the card that Tarrlok sent with it, but he barely even glanced at it as his eyes had yet to even leave the car.

"Holy Spirits…" Sota mumbled.

"I can't believe that Tarrlok sent you guys a car," Jinora said. "He can't actually believe that this was a good idea. Does he really think he can bribe her with a car?"

"Well, I mean, it is a pretty nice car," Sota said, reading over the card. His eyes bulged out of his head as he read the words on there. Was Tarrlok serious?

"Sota! Don't be so materialistic," Jinora reprimanded him. "Korra won't fall for this."

"That's good because it's not for Korra. It's for me," he said. Jinora stared at him in shock before snatching the note from him and reading over it for herself. Tenzin, having heard the commotion, walked up behind them, shaking his head at the extravagant machine.

"Has he gone crazy? Why would he give you a car? You're twelve. You can't even drive it."

"Well, how hard can it be? I mean, I can control a Polar Bear dog, so this can't be much more difficult, right?" Sota asked. Jinora gave him an annoyed scowl, never noticing her father or his departure.

Tenzin walked up to the sparring ring where Korra was practicing her airbending movements.

"I see Tarrlok's gift's are getting more and more extravagant," he commented, stopping to watch her.

"Yeah, that guy doesn't know how to take no for an answer," she said, never halting in her movements. "I've never even driven a car, why would I need one?"

"Actually, the car was a gift for Sota," Tenzin commented, startling Korra who turned to look at him.

"What!? You can't be serious! Why would he give a twelve year old a car!?"

"One of the many questions that we will never know the answer to," Tenzin sighed. Korra shook her head before continuing her practicing. "Korra…are you, doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she shrugged.

Tenzin shook his robes out before sitting on the steps, inviting Korra to sit and take a break with him. Korra accepted, making her way over to him and sitting down.

"I'm glad you turned down Tarrlok, but I just wanted to make sure your decision was for the right reason."

"I'm just really focused on my airbending right now," she said eyes to the ground. "And, what kind of example would I be setting for Sota if I did something reckless like that, after grounding him for doing something just as reckless?"

"Right," Tenzin said, clearly not believing a word of what she said. "That's what you said." He paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to approach this without upsetting her. "You know, it's ok to be scared. I imagine that Sota is quite scared."

"Really? He hasn't said anything to me about it," she said disappointedly. "In fact, he hasn't said much to me at all lately. Almost like he's avoiding me."

"Perhaps he's still shaken by it, and has, instead, found a confidant in someone else. Someone who he believes can relate to him and his fears a bit more."

"You mean Jinora," Korra said, receiving a nod from Tenzin. "I guess that makes sense. I mean, out of everyone in Republic City, I'm probably the last person who anyone would want to talk to about being scared. They probably think that I can't relate to them."

"The whole city is frightened by what's been going on. The important thing is to talk about our fears, because if we don't, they can throw us out of balance."

Korra said nothing, glancing at Tenzin before looking away again. The master airbender stood, preparing to leave, but turned to her once more, a few more words of wisdom to give.

"I'm always here for you, if you want to talk."With those words, Tenzin took his leave, Korra being left to contemplate their conversation.

Later that night, everyone sat in the garden, busying themselves with various activites. Sota stood on the small bridge over the pond, avoiding making eye contact with his sister by watching Jinora and Ikki play a game of Pai Sho. Korra sadly watched him, debating on whether she should go up to him and talk, but was interrupted by the same man who had brought all of her gifts from Tarrlok.

"Avatar Korra. I have something for you," he presented.

Korra hopped off her perched leaning against the building and marched up to him angrily.

"It doesn't matter how many gifts Tarrlok sends, we're not joining his task force!" she declared, earthbending him so he was facing the opposite direction and delivering a kick to his backside. The man stumbled past the girls and Sota who had watched the entire exchange with a bit of humor, but remained silent.

"It's not a gift!" the man declared, grabbing everyone's attention again as he presented an envelope. "It's an invitation."

"To what?" Korra asked, walking up to him and taking the letter.

"Tarrlok is throwing a gala in your honor. All of Republic City's movers and shakers will be there. The Councilman humbly request your attendance."

"A party!?" Ikki shouted, jumping up and airbending the tiles off the table. Jinora ignored this, her excitement matching her sisters as she looked to Sota who had a surprised look on his face, the opposite of the suspicious one that Korra had.

Korra walked into the hall, flanked by Tenzin and Pema. Jinora, Ikki and Meelo ran off excitedly in an effort to join the party. Sota was the last of the party to enter, dragging behind everyone else.

Sota sighed as he walked in and looked around. He hadn't been to many of these types of parties in his life, them being few and far between, the only exception being a wedding of two, and for the most part, it was always the same; the adults would go off and talk about something either uninteresting or something that he didn't understand, the food would be fancy and unappealing to him, and he's spend the night alone, wandering around or sticking close to his parents, patiently waiting for when they finally got to leave. On the few occasions that there were other kids there to socialize with, he never approached them; it was common knowledge that he was the person to avoid down in the South Water Tribe, and had gotten used to being alone.

Having watched Jinora run off with her siblings, Sota suspected that this was going to be another one of those parties. Not that he blamed them for doing so; this was probably the first big party that they've been to and were beyond excited. Their excitement would die out soon though.

Sota weighed his options. He could go on a search for his friend and her siblings, but that seemed like a lot of work. Though he also had the option of sticking close to Korra and Tenzin, he quickly rejected that idea; he'd rather spend the night alone then have to deal with all the snobby people of Republic City trying to suck up to him to get to Korra.

"Looks like another boring party," he mumbled to himself. "I guess I expected a bit more from Republic City."

"That was your first mistake," a girl said.

Sota turned to his right, his eyes going big as he took in the form of a very familiar pale skin girl. Her green eyes shone with the same boredom as before, her voice registering in his mind instantly.

"Jun?"

"Hey there, water boy," she said, a slight smirk on her face.

To be continued…