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Taken	By : QuaqueNocte Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Legend of Korra, The Views: 33256 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own or make any money from Legend of Korra or the Avatar: Last Airbender franchise.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
The group stared at the strange creature with terrified, intense looks on their face. Korra had instinctively clutched Kajuq close to her. Surprisingly, he didn't scream or cry when he saw the creature. No one moved or said anything for a minute. They were unsure if they should run or attempt to talk to the one known as Mongshou. After a minute, glances were exchanged and Korra was the first to speak up.
"How exactly can you help us?"
"I can take you to the keeper of this realm. She will show the Avatar how to return back to the physical world." The creature had a low, almost monstrous voice but there was something gentle about it that made Korra less afraid.
"You know I'm the Avatar?"
"Of course. The keeper knows who every one of you is. You each have your own distinct energy signatures that she can feel."
"You said she can takes us back to the physical world, does that mean we're in the Spirit world?" Mako asked.
"The spirit world? No. We are in the keeper's realm."
"And the keeper's realm is…?" Tarrlok asked.
"The realm of the keeper."
Asami buried her face in her hand. "Of course."
"If you will, I will show you to the keeper now before it gets dark. It gets quite cold when it's dark."
Mongshou turned and began walking. Korra shrugged, picked up one of her bags and began following the creature before Asami put a hand on her shoulder.
"We're actually going to follow him?" She asked.
"Well, I am. Unless someone has a better idea." Korra kept walking.
Bolin, still in Noatak's arms, smiled nervously at the irritated man before he was dropped on the ground. Asami glanced over at Tarrlok and Mako, who shrugged as well. Figuring they had nothing to lose, she grabbed the rest of Korra's bags and the group soon followed.

"So, what are you?" Bolin asked the creature as they walked through the black forest.
"I am Mongshou." It answered.
"No no. I mean, what are you? Are you a spirit or what?"
"I am Mongshou."
"I think what Bolin means is, what kind of creature are you?" Mako jumped in.
"I am Mongshou."
"Something tells me we're not going to get more than that out of him." Tarrlok said.
"Can you at least tell us why we can't bend?" Korra asked.
"Because the keeper does not allow it right now."
"So this keeper can decide when we can bend?"
"Precisely."
"I'm not sure I like where this is going." Bolin whispered to Mako.
"And who exactly is this 'keeper' anyway? What is she like?" Tarrlok asked.
"I hope she's beautiful." Bolin said in a dreamy voice.
"She is um…You shall see when we arrive. We are almost there." Mongshou replied.
As they walked through the forest, the trees seemed to slowly bloom with magnificent flowers. No two flowers were the same. They came in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. The bark also lost its black color and started turning a rose red color. Korra thought the scenery was so beautiful. They eventually came across a river with water so clear, they could see the bottom of it. There were rocks at the bottom of the river that sparkled in the now slowly dimming light. A bridge across the river lead them to a medium-sized log cabin. On the right side of the cabin was what looked to be a large, gated garden that stretched around to the back of the cabin.
"Wait here." Mongshou said as they reached the cabin. They watched him knock on the wooden door. "I have returned, Nainai. With guests."
"Mongshou? Is that you?" They heard the voice of an old lady call out from the cabin.
"Yes, Nainai."
There was the sound of shuffling inside the cabin, then the door opened to reveal a small, old lady. She had silvery gray hair that was tied in a loose bun with hair strands that hung down in various places. She wore gold colored robes with long, loose sleeves. "Let's see now, what do we have here. Oh, the Avatar. And she brought friends." The old lady approached them while her dull green eyes looked over each one of them. "Hm, no good. Each one of you has personal problems. Especially you." Her wrinkly finger pointed at Kajuq, who tried to grab it. "No sane person throws their toys at everything."
"Um, so, I'm sure you know we're stuck here. Do you think you can help us get out of here?" Korra asked.
"Yeah 'cause I have a date waiting for me back on the physical world." Bolin grinned.
"A date? With who?" Asami and Mako asked at the same time.
"Korra's smoking hot friend."
"I can help you out of here, sure. But it'll take a lot work and training. Only the Avatar will be able to do it. How long will demand on how close you are to being a fully realized Avatar."
"We're going to be here a while." Tarrlok mumbled.
"You are correct, young lady."
Tarrlok was taken aback by her words. "L-Lady? Miss, I think your eyes need checking. I'm a man."
"Not with that hair, you're not."
Asami and Korra snickered. "Ikki did say he smelled like a lady." Korra whispered to Asami.
"It will take some time to train the Avatar. In the meantime, you may reside in my cabin but you will have chores to do. Gathering meat, harvesting fruits, collecting water, helping with the cooking. Yes, especially the cooking. Mongshou here makes terrible tea and noodles."
"I try." Mongshou said.
"You may call me Nainai. Or beautiful lady. I answer to both. Don't bother telling me your names, I already know them."
Bolin timidly raised his hand.
"What is it you want?" Nainai asked.
"Um, yeah, I was wondering if you could give us back our bending. Pretty please."
"Fine, but don't hurt each other. That means no lightning bending, no blood bending, and no lava bending. I'm not about to play nurse if you guys end up with boo-boos. Now, water benders, there are three large barrels that need to be filled with water. Go to the gate leading to the garden and get to it, that includes you Tarrlok."
"Huh?" Surely she knew his bending had been taken away.
"There's some talking that needs to be done. The rest of you, follow me."
Korra set her bag on the ground and handed Kajuq to Asami. "He might need a diaper change soon." Korra warned.
"Thanks for the heads up." Asami tried not to give a disgusting look. Maybe she'd have Bolin change him if needed.
"What do you mean no lava bending?" Bolin asked as he disappeared in the cabin with Nainai. Mako and Asami following in suit. Mongshou stayed outside with Korra, Noatak, and Tarrlok.
"I will show you to the barrels." Mongshou said.
"Hey, are there any animals that live here?" Korra asked as they walked into the garden.
"Quite a bit actually, but they like to keep to themselves since Nainai likes to eat some of them, especially the fishes."
"That actually sounds kind of sad."
"But you eat meat, Korra." Tarrlok noted.
"I never said it wasn't tasty."
"Nainai wants water from the river into these barrels." Mongshou motioned to three barrels sitting right next to the gate of the garden. "Nainai has granted all of your bending abilities back. I must now tend to the fruit trees. I suggest the brothers talk or Nainai might get irritated."
The trio watched the ape-like creature stalk off into the forest, leaving them with an awkward silence and atmosphere. Korra stood in-between the two brothers who were avoiding looking at each other.
"Sooo.. Anyone have anything they want to say?"
Korra was met with silence.
"Fine, let's just get this water in the barrels and go inside." Korra started walking over to the river.
"How could you." She heard Tarrlok whisper. She turned around.
"How could you leave us." He whispered.
Noatak's expression turned to that of anger. "You know I couldn't stay there."
"Mom and I needed you and you abandoned us."
"I didn't have a choice. You could have come along too if you weren't so weak."
"Or maybe I was strong enough to stay."
Noatak's face softened as he turned from his brother. A few tears had fallen down Tarrlok's cheeks.
"You want to know what father did to me after you left?" Tarrlok was fully facing his brother's back. He didn't wait for a response. "He was angry. Angry at everything, including me. He thought I should be punished. Normally he made us spend a couple of hours at Mr. Kunikpa's house but this time, he forced me to stay there for a week."
Horror was written on Noatak's face. He didn't want to hear this. He couldn't stomach it. It didn't matter, Tarrlok continued.
"I was so scared and alone. He had backed me into a corner with a devilish look on his face. I didn't know what to do…so I blood bent him. I don't know what I did, but the next thing I knew, he fell over dead. I always thought I'd be glad to see his dead body but the guilt immediately hit me when I realized what I did. I had to spend 7 days staring at his body. I wasn't allowed to leave the hut. I spent most of my time crying. I was forced to murder the man. I should have been happy but I was still a kid, I didn't want to hurt anyone. When father finally came to get me, he saw the body but didn't utter a word to me. We quietly buried the body. Father stopped training me. He didn't speak to anyone ever again and died a few years later." Tarrlok's tears had stopped flowing but the strain of his voice told Korra more were ready to flow. "Mother was so lost without you. All the warmth left her and she became some hollow shell of her former-self. She died a few years after father did. I was ultimately alone after that."
There was a silence amongst them. Korra didn't know if she should say anything. Noatak and Tarrlok were busy looking at the ground while in deep thought. The pain they were experiencing was obvious in their eyes. It made Korra temporarily forget her own pain she'd be struggling with for over a year. After a few minutes, Korra decided to speak up.
"You two love each other."
There was another few seconds of silence before Noatak spoke up. "I didn't mean to hurt you or mother. I just..I couldn't stay there anymore. I was tired of the pain. I was tired of the beatings, watching you and mom get abused, being used for our father's own ambitions." Noatak finally faced Tarrlok. "I'm sorry, for everything. Abandoning you, taking your bending. Everything. I still love you, that never stopped. You're my brother, it won't ever stop."
"I love you too." Tarrlok choked.
Meanwhile
"So you guys aren't upset about this whole situation?"
Mako, Asami, and Bolin were sitting in the cabin. It was quite spacious. Upon entering the entryway, they could see a doorway to the kitchen on the right. On the left was a large dining room and past the dining room was a sitting area with two couches facing opposite one another and a coffee table in-between them. Beyond the sitting area were four wooden doors along a wall that stretched past the kitchen to form a hallway. In the hallway was two more wooden doors. The entire cabin was filled with knick-knacks and mirrors along the walls, beautiful vases and statues of various animals. Nainai must have spent years collecting the materials.
Asami had Kajuq in her lap while Bolin made funny faces at him. Mako was standing in front of the couch with a sour look on his face.
"Upset about what? Being stuck in this 'realm'?" Asami answered.
"Well, yes but also the fact that Korra had a baby."
"Why would we be mad about that? Have you see his face? He might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Don't tell Rohan that, he might get jealous." Bolin said.
"Mako, you're only upset because it took a male to make a baby with her and you don't like the thought of her being involved with anyone else because you like her. Now, we don't know what the circumstances were and quite frankly, if it turns out that she just came across someone she liked and was a little careless, we still have no right to judge her for it." Asami was starting to get irritated by Mako.
"So no one cares that she decided to fool around and have a baby in the middle of a crisis? Where people were being enslaved, killed, and tortured? We needed her and she just left us!"
"Look, we don't know what she's been through and we're not going to bug her about it either. If she wants to tell us, she will on her own. Let's just be glad that she's here. The only thing we can do right now is just be there for her." Mako didn't say anything, he just sat on the couch with a brooding look on his face.
"You're wrong, Asami." Bolin said. Asami gave him a confused look. "We can also change her kid for her. And by we, I mean you. He's getting smelly." Bolin pinched his nose shut. Asami pouted.
Korra and Tarrlok walked in a few minutes later.
"Nainai, we're finished filling the barrels." She yelled.
"Oh thank goodness you're here Korra." Bolin got up and scrambled over to Korra. "Your kid smells."
"Of course he does." Korra walked over to the couch where Asami and Kajuq were. Kajuq started grinning and squealing while stretching his arms out for his mother to pick him up. "Hey, let's get you changed."
Nainai emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "I need the women in the kitchen to help with dinner."
Korra and Asami glanced at each other. "I don't know anything about cooking." They said simultaneously.
"Tarrlok certainly does." Nainai said.
"But I'm not a woman." He said.
"Oh don't be so hard on yourself, little lady." Nainai gave Tarrlok a sweet smile. "Now into the kitchen, all three of you."
Korra handed Kajuq to Bolin. "You're going to have to change him now. Make sure you use that powder, too."
Bolin held the giggling infant at a distance. "Aw, man."

An hour later the sky outside had darkened. Colorful lights danced in the sky, reminding Korra of the lights back at the Northern water tribe. Mongshou wasn't kidding when he said it got cold when it's dark. Korra had a couple of blankets wrapped around her shoulders and two bowls of steaming noodle soup in each hand when she stepped outside. Her eyes went from the dancing lights in the sky to the man sitting close to the river with his knees brought up to his chest. Korra approached him and put one of the bowls next to him.
"Dinner's ready."
"I'm not hungry." Noatak said.
"You have to eat something." Korra removed one of the blankets from her shoulders and put it around his.
"Why are you being so nice to me? It doesn't make sense, no one does that."
"What good would it do to be mean?" She took a seat next to him before handing him a pair of chopsticks. He stared at them for a few seconds but reluctantly took them.
"You're much stronger than I. I couldn't stand being around Kunikpa, much less even show him an ounce of kindness."
"I won't lie. It's still hard. Even right now, I still feel scared and nervous around you. It's taking every ounce of my willpower to even sit next to you and not run off. You did a horrible thing to me, but I'm tired of letting it run my life. I have to face my fears, and you are my fear. Your entire life was based around power and having power over others, including me. For a long time, you had that power. But now it doesn't matter what you do to my body, you'll never have that kind of power over my mind again."
Noatak didn't say anything, he just stared at the water glistening in the river.
"I forgive you. It doesn't mean I trust you but I'm tired of the pain. This whole revolution has gone too far. Too many people have gotten hurt."
"What happens when we leave this place?"
Korra stared at her bowl of noodles. "The right thing would be for you to go to jail but I'm going to make sure you and Tarrlok get help." She didn't know what good that would really do though. Both could easily escape jail if they wanted.
"It's too late for me."
"I don't believe that. It doesn't matter, we won't know unless we try anyway and we're going to try."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Korra started eating her noodles. He picked his up but didn't actually eat them. He noticed Korra giving him a look out of the corner of his eye. Sighing, he proceeded to eat them. Once they finished, they sat in more silence, just watching the river flow and reflect the lights of the sky.
"I'm tired." Noatak finally said.
"Yeah, me too."
"If you're so tired, let me show you where you're sleeping." The sound of Nainai's sudden voice made Korra jump, causing her bowl to fly into the river. Noatak seemed unfazed by the old woman's sudden presence. "Now look what you did, that was my best bowl." The old woman hit Korra in the head with a stick.
"OW! You snuck up on me!"
"Stop your bellyaching. Both of you, in the house."

The group gathered outside the hallway in the cabin. Kajuq had already fallen asleep in his mother's arms, who was starting to get sleepy as well.
"Let's see. Three boys, three girls, and a baby. So we'll have the women sleep in this room and the boys sleep in this one." Nainai said.
"Three girls?" Bolin blinked.
Tarrlok sighed. "Ma'am, I am not a woman. I do not have what women have, I have what men have."
"Just because you're a little flat-chested doesn't mean you're any less of a woman." Tarrlok slammed his hand into his forehead. Nainai just smiled. "Now this room on the right will be the girls' room. The door to the left will be the girl's bathroom. And this room over here on my far left will be the boys' room and the door to the right of it will be the boys' bathroom. Be up by dawn, there's a lot of work that needs to be done around here. I'm not going to have you all laze around while you stay here." They watched the small woman disappear into what they assumed was her bedroom.
"I'm not sleeping in the girls' room." Tarrlok said before he trotted off into the boys' room. Everyone followed in suite, with the rest of the boys following Tarrlok and Asami and Korra going into their room. Each room had two bunk beds, a night stand in the middle with a lamp, and two chests at the foot of each bunk bed.
"Ooo, bunk beds. I call the top bunk." Bolin, with the help of his Earthbending, launched himself up on the top bed of the right bunk bed. "Man, I wish we had some snacks. We could stay up telling scary stories, like The Man in the Woods or even a story of Lin being…nice."
Tarrlok and Mako glanced at each other. "No." They both said.
Asami and Korra were making themselves at home. Korra was sitting on the left bottom bunk, busy trying to put Kajuq in a nightshirt without waking him up. Asami sat on the other bunk, brushing her hair with a brush Korra had given her and watching Korra dress her son.
"Hey, are you alright?" Asami asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"I mean, is everything alright with you? You were gone for so long. I just want to know you're doing alright."
Korra sighed. "I did have a pretty hard time. I can't go into details about it, but I'm alright now. When we get out of here and get everything back to normal, I'll explain what I can."
Asami smiled. "Sure. I'll always be here if you need to talk. By the way, Mako's a bit…"
"He's angry, I know. I didn't expect anything less." She started undoing her two braids. "I guess I can't blame him. I um…I confessed my love to him before. He probably feels like I was jerking his emotions around, seeing that I had a baby and all."
"Well, I told him not to bug you about it. You've probably been through a lot. I'm sure the last thing you want to do is have to explain yourself to someone you weren't even dating."
"I didn't want to hurt him. During my pregnancy, one of the things that was always floating around in my mind was how Mako would react to it. I guess I came to terms with the fact he was going to end up hating me." Korra wiped a tear that fell from her eye. "At one point, I wanted to give Kajuq up for adoption. I had a few reasons for wanting to give him up, but for a second, one of the reasons was so Mako wouldn't ever find out about him. I immediately regretted thinking anything like that and I'm still hating myself for it. He's my son, how could I think to put a man before him?"
"Korra, listen to me, you can't hold that against yourself. You're a great mother. You do everything you can for your son and it shows. He's happy, healthy, and anyone can tell he loves his mother. Don't worry about Mako. If he still cares about you, he'll stay around. Even if he doesn't, Bolin and I will always be here for you, whatever you need."
Korra smiled weakly at Asami. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
They said their goodnights and went to bed. Korra snuggled Kajuq close to her as she slept. The entire day had drained her energy and she was able to fall asleep within a few minutes. Little did she know about the day's work ahead of her and everyone else.
- 17
- 18
- 19
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