A/N: Last reupload, only new chapters from here on out!

Enjoy!

Mike hadn't left the radio room all day.

After the Naga incident, Korra had frantically healed his cracked ribs as best she could while he remained in a state of silence despite likely being in a large amount of pain from the injury. She really hadn't meant to hurt him that much, surely-

Tenzin had to find out eventually and gave her another thorough talking to. Mako was made aware and could only sigh, knowing he'd have to report the development to Beifong. "If you did a good enough job, there's no reason to bring them back to the city for healing." Bolin was still Bolin, checking on both of them.

Once he'd healed enough to stand and move again, Mike avoided people whenever possible, still doing his work of upkeeping the temple as the acolytes told him to. The only person he really let talk to him was Dawn, who chirped in his ear about his aura before detailing the various creatures she used to hang out with at her family's nature conserve in the Earth Kingdom. He would still meditate sometimes with the airbenders and even on his own, but didn't mention any of the things he might have seen while doing so.

Korra found him listening to the radio, alone, in the early morning a few days later, and again in the evening.

"There's more than one station on the radio, you know," she finally made her presence known, leaning against the doorframe. She was trying to sound less abrasive; she did feel bad about what happened.

Mike perked up a little at the intrusion but very quickly fell back into the vague stupor he'd been in since starting to turn the knobs. The radio was tuned to that silly Fire Nation kids show, on which a dramatic reading of a folk tale about dragons was playing and to which he was listening intently. He'd been slipping in and out of awareness, feeling a certain fire bender nearby crowding him out of his own head, which was not helping him keep up with the plot of the story. He was certainly trying.

Korra walked over to change the radio. He blocked her hand from turning the dials. "It's getting good, don't change it…" he insisted with a dull voice, not actually looking at her.

So he can still talk. "Fine, I'll leave it," she conceded, backing off before asking, "This your favorite station or something?"

"No…but I like the stories they tell on this one," Mike replied slowly. "Even if I don't always catch everything they say. And my personal radio only has this and two other stations, it's kind of like having it with me again." He really liked his radio, because it was his. He hadn't left the island in weeks, and he missed his little room and the smell of the melons sitting in their crates and the chatter that Junior made while they waited for customers.

"Hm. I used to listen to pro bending fights on that radio before I smooth talked my way onto Mako and Bolin's team," Korra reminisced. "I really wasn't allowed to but that didn't stop me."

Mike was more present now that they were having an actual, civil conversation. He still refused eye contact. "I heard about those matches from Junior, he couldn't stop talking about the Fire Ferrets and how cool your bending was to see first hand. I never got to see one, too busy working, but they sometimes would play from the radio next door." He stood up straighter. "It's probably better I didn't go, honestly. I wouldn't've been able to enjoy it as much as I did listening to the announcers and picturing the fights in my head." He placed one hand on his center. "I guess it doesn't matter; I know now how it feels to be knocked out of the ring, as it were."

"I…I really shouldn't have done that," Korra started her apology. "You were there but it wasn't you, it was that…" she paused.

"Did they do something to warrant that reaction?" he asked.

"No, well he did but not…right then, it was when we were trying to interrogate you. He froze me-"

"Oh. It was him," Mike interrupted.

She hadn't stopped talking. "-he didn't hurt Naga or anything, he actually was really gentle with her, but he used her to insult me-"

"So you attacked without a real reason, other than revenge?"

"Yeah! Kinda?" Korra admitted.

"I don't know what to tell you. I don't understand why I came back when I did, it was almost too much at once." He finally managed to look at her. "All I could see was water coming towards me, and all I could hear was your yelling."

His eyes were sad. That made her feel worse. "He doesn't…he made an accusation about waterbenders that's completely untrue," Korra claimed. "You're part Water Tribe, you should know that-"

"I read in a newspaper that Amon was originally from the Water Tribe," Mike said suddenly. "He hurt a lot of people with his waterbending abilities. So did his brother, apparently."

Korra was spooked into silence at the mention of those two. No, not now, not the time, brain, snap out of it! "Y-yeah, that's true, but that was-" The room was cold, why was the room so cold, it was too small, damnit, why couldn't she breathe-

"Just an example. 'He' doesn't believe that for nothing. Neither do I," he said with a frown. "I'm glad I didn't inherit the ability to waterbend, I don't want it."

She remembered something in her internal meltdown. She was trying hard to hold it together. "B-but I've seen you do it, you stopped the waves, that was you," she recalled.

Mike looked at her and saw her visible panic in how she stood and talked. She was talking nonsense, of course, he couldn't waterbend-

The rug was metaphorically pulled out from under his feet. It was almost a minute before Korra received a response.

"You don't know what you're talkin' bout, missy. I can see you're havin' a hard time of it, somethin' bothering you so bad you can't think right." 'Mike' sounded much drier. His eyes were squinting, and his back hunched more. "Hog monkeys, don't you kids know how to look a man in the eye?"

"What? I'm fine, s-seriously-" Was it really that obvious?

"Nonsense! Now let me tell ya, I've got my own bone to pick with you water tribe folk, but that's not why I'm here, see. No time for that at my age." He pointed at her with a wobbly finger. "You're the Avatar, so next time your past lives or what have you get in touch," he jabbed his thumb towards himself, "you tell Aang his old pal Chosi made that fabulous fruit pie almost daily since he tried one! I got my whole village hooked on 'em back in the day, 'Air Nomad Cuisine' became a real staple." He laughed. "I haven't tasted one in awhile, I gotta pick up the practice again. Maybe I'll finally teach my grandkids how to make 'em."

So much information was surprisingly effective at distracting Korra. "Uh…okay?" she agreed reluctantly.

He scratched his chin. "'Course I also went by Chester back then 'cause I lifted a hundred pounds a day to make a living and that does wonders for the torso." He looked down at all the orange and yellow fabric covering the body he was occupying. "Kids and their fashion these days, hmph…Like I was sayin', when your pa vanishes in war you take all the stuff on your shoulders. Make sure to respect your elders, Avatar, even with your fancy bendin' powers."

"Are you not…can you not bend, Chester?" she asked.

Chester laughed again. "No sirree! Doesn't matter much to me anywho; what I do doesn't need that thrown in there. Mani does the rock moving around here-"

"So that's the earthbender's name," Korra realized.

"Not all of it," Chester said with a grunt. "But that much does the trick…" He paused, listening to something Korra couldn't hear. "Ah, you're right, I'm gettin' on for too long…" He smacked the table with his hand and stood up as much as he could with his severe slouch. "No, I'm gonna get my pie! No more moping around, young Avatar!"