Chapter Text
Korra had settled at the gazebo overlooking Yue Bay and had been sitting there cross-legged ever since breakfast. She was happy and at peace, albeit eager to see Noatak again, and the weather had cleared completely letting the summer sun shine blindingly again, so she decided she might as well take advantage of the good mood to meditate and try to obtain answers concerning her disturbing dreams.
Meditation had never ever been Korra's forte and after three hours of slow controlled breathing sitting in lotus position with her fists pressed to each other and her eyes closed, her legs were going numb and she was just about to give up out of sheer boredom and frustration. That's when it happened all over again.
Just like when she had been trapped in a metal box by Tarrlok, flashes began pouring into her mind at unearthly speed. Even if she had wanted to break the meditative state she couldn't, she was trapped in a whirlwind of images.
There's a young boy with Air Nomad tattoos, an older Water Tribe young man, a young man with a scarred eye, a flying bison, a young woman with white hair, a familiar looking Water Tribe girl with hair loopies and snow, so much snow, flashing in the images until the visions still into a single scene.
The Air Nomad boy and the Water Tribe girl are speaking by a pond where two koi fish swim in hypnotic circles. There are others, but she's not paying attention to them.
«Katara!» Korra realizes. «Then that must be…»
Her thoughts were confirmed when the young Katara called her companion by the name Aang. They spoke about something…A spirit, she realizes…The moon…
«Yue?» Korra asks herself. «No…They are looking for the earthly form of the spirit so this must be before Yue became…»
At some point the boy had taken a meditative stance himself and is now immersed in an otherworldly glow, unaware of the noise and fighting raging around him.
She is pulled into a world where everything is alien to her, where the laws of nature, of sanity itself, don't seem to apply. Wild forests with trees and plants she has never seen seem to trap her in a maze of danger and wonder, creatures of legend and ghosts peep out with glowing eyes in every corner and the air itself seems to be inexistent. This world is wrought with danger and a sense of helplessness, but is also frothing with power, peace and awe-inspiring wisdom.
«Am I witnessed the search for the Moon Spirit? Is this the Spirit World?»
Before the answer comes to her mind, the vision shifts and the amalgam of faces from her nightmare are screaming at her again, drowning her in putrid breath and a sensation of hundreds of sharp insect-like legs seems to crawl all over her body.
Korra's snapped out of the trance with a scream, sweat drizzling down her forehead and fear pumping in her veins like poison.
Her startled eyes darted around and she ascertained that she was still alone in the gazebo, panting for breath and clutching her nauseated stomach, trying to shake the disgusting feeling of crawling bugs from her skin while a headache started to settle in from having snapped out of the meditative state too fast. It was horrible, it all felt too horrible and Korra could tell she was almost about to break down crying for no reason whatsoever.
"Korra? Are you alright?" A gentle elderly voice fluttered in the air, it was comforting but startled her nonetheless.
"Katara!" Korra turned suddenly, watching her elderly master enter the gazebo with a worried expression. "What are you doing here?"
Korra was still panting but blinked away the unshed tears and swallowed down the rising bile before standing on shaky legs, trying to pass off the vertigo as muscle cramps.
"You missed lunch and after a while I came to find you and heard you scream, child. Is everything alright?" Katara approached her still speaking with gentle concern.
"I'm…" «fine.» she wanted to finish but the lie wouldn't leave her lips and she was shaking precariously.
"Here. Let's sit." Katara sat on the edge of the pagoda's entrance and motioned for Korra to join her.
The Avatar nodded and sat carefully next to the aging master, clutching her fingers in her lap and slumping her shoulders. The sun was starting to dip west, indicating that noon was long gone.
"Ka-Katara…I think I just had a vision from Aang's past. Or maybe…I don't know, it wasn't like the time about Yakone, it was more jumbled." Korra finally broke the silence with a shaky voice.
"What happened?" The old woman asked with concern.
"I…I've had…nightmares. I wake up in a terrible panic every time. I thought I had found the cause and solved it, but it didn't work. I came here to meditate but was about to give up when…" She hesitated, not really knowing the weight of her words anymore.
"Yes, Korra?" Katara urged patiently.
"I had a vision from the past. Last time this happened I was desperate and trapped during the war and I saw Yakone and Aang, I saw what happened and I didn't understand but it was the solution to an important mystery. It was a warning." Korra felt it important to emphasize the previous experience before she explained the current one. "But even though that vision was intense, I was fine. This…this is a whole other level."
"I won't ask what you saw if you don't wish to tell me, Korra. But why did it upset you so?" Katara seemed understanding.
"No, the vision wasn't bad. I saw…I think I saw some of what happened in that story you told me, the one where Aang went into the spirit world to find out where the Moon Spirit was… but then…I…I don't know!" She smacked her hands on her aching head and grabbed her hair in frustration. "I don't know." She repeated just a bit softer. "The emotions it all spilled into me…I can't…" She was hyperventilating again, speaking of the issue was even worse that just enduring it.
Katara's warm wrinkled hand caressed her back soothingly until Korra could breathe again.
"What does it all mean, Katara? Is it a warning or a threat?" Korra looked desperately at her master.
"Korra, I wish I could help you but my experience doesn't seem to apply. I can enlighten you about Aang's past as the Avatar but the way you experience these things is much different from him and as the Avatar it is your task to find the right path into understanding and controlling your abilities, all of them." Katara was giving a solemn but mostly unhelpful speech and it seemed to grief her that she couldn't help further.
"I know all that already! I just…I'm scared." Korra hugged herself.
"I understand, Korra." Katara gently guided Korra into her arms and the old woman hugged her reassuringly, still rubbing circles on the Avatar's back. "I know it's confusing but until the time comes when you have to worry, I think you shouldn't let these visions disrupt your life. Aang had to learn that the hard way, self-conscious worrier that he was and with no one alive with experience to guide his path, but I hope you with your free spirit and impulsive positivity will be able to live in the moment." Katara smiled gently.
Korra looked into the warm wise eyes of the elderly master and thanked the Spirits that she had someone like Katara to guide and reassure her, she knew Aang had never had that chance because after a hundred years frozen in ice all the people who had known Avatar Roku had long since passed away. Korra was grateful for what she had.
"Thank you, Katara." Korra murmured earnestly after several silent moments trying to compose her thoughts.
She was still queasy and her head was hammering but she felt calmer, Katara was right, she had to live in the moment and file up what she saw for when she needed it, for when it would all make sense. Still, what if it was a warning that she couldn't decipher? Would she pay a price later?
«Don't think that way.» Korra chided herself.
"I see you are still distressed. That's no good for you now. Come, an old friend always said a good cup of tea can ease anything." Katara smiled rising to her feet and extending her gentle hand to Korra.
The Avatar nodded and accepted the offer, walking gingerly with the elder until they were back in the temple and just as Katara was preparing some tea, Korra remembered something from the previous night.
"Hey, last night, didn't you say you needed to talk to me?" Korra was kneeling at the table watching as the skillful master bent the boiling water into a tea pot and it on the table along with a jar of cool water.
"Ah yes, I did, but now is not a time for that, you are much too shaken." Katara smiled kindly and set a cup in front of Korra before sitting next to her.
"What do you mean? What was it about?" Korra's curiosity was peaked and she blew on the surface of the steaming drink, hoping it would settle her anxious stomach.
"Just something my dear friend Toph noticed last night. Don't let it worry you." Katara sipped on her own drink mysteriously.
"Ok now you have to tell me." Korra sipped the hot drink which was a mistake since it burned on her swollen lip making her wince.
"Bit your lip, didn't you?" Katara smiled.
"D-don't change the subject." Korra pouted.
"I'm not trying to." The old woman still smiled cryptically but something akin to worry seemed to taint her features. "Here, allow me." Katara moved her hands bending some water from the jar onto her hands.
The liquid began to glow softly and Korra tipped her head obligingly and allowed the master to heal the minor wound.
"Thanks." Korra sat straight again and smiled, sipping her tea more naturally now.
"Maybe I should heal those bruises on your neck too." Katara offered with good humor.
Korra spit out her drink, literally spraying tea all over the table and toppling down her cup before she began to cough after having choked a little with shock. Katara merely patted her back softly, her wise eyes crinkled with amusement.
"Those…How did you…? Those are fine, no need to worry." Korra ranted out flustered and still coughing.
"I'm sure they are." Katara bent the water back into the jar carefully. "And as for how I noticed them…call it an educated guess."
"What? How?" Korra was looking dumbfounded at her master.
"Oh don't worry. My lips are sealed." Katara's warm voice was as honest as ever as she raised a finger to her lips in complicity but Korra still couldn't relax.
Katara had simply noticed that after so long moping around like everybody had had witnessed, today the Avatar seemed unusually cheerful and popped up with a badly bitten lip and a large appetite. Those facts coupled with something the old lady might have overheard between two of Korra's friends at the party the night before had made things click into place. After all, the others at the temple might be a little clueless but the experienced Katara could put two and two together.
"You're not…You know…Angry or disappointed or something?" Korra quickly wiped the wasted tea off the table as she spoke in a hurry.
"Korra, I made a lot of wrong judgments in my youth so I try not to judge now. You're a good person and I believe I have taught you well in far more than waterbending and healing so I expect you can make your own decisions as a woman now and I trust that you have your reasons to keep secrets."
The amount of faith the wise woman seemed to have in the young Avatar was staggering, Korra felt herself developing a whole new level of admiration for Katara and the gratitude she felt was immense. She hoped that one day soon she could tell Katara all about Noatak, she hoped the aging woman would be able to understand what she saw in him, she desperately wanted to have their feelings validated by the people she cared about, but deep down Korra still wasn't ready, she knew it was too soon to let her secret out and she feared for Noatak's safety, so she took Katara's vow of confidence with a grateful heart.
"Thank you, Sifu Katara. You humble me." Korra wasn't used to being so polite and formal, after all Katara was like a grandmother to her, but she felt it was the only way to convey her respect. However, she still hugged the woman tightly with all the affection she could muster.
"You haven't called me that in years, now I know this is serious." Katara joked but hugged Korra back gently with her typical smile. "How I miss the days it was 'granny Katara'."
"You'll always be my granny Katara in my heart." Korra smiled, feeling a little moved and blinking away the sting in her eyes. She really didn't understand why she kept getting so emotional but right now she didn't mind in the least.
At last Katara seemed to not have a reply. Her eyes mirrored the same emotion that ruled Korra's orbs and she patted the young woman's cheek nostalgically, remembering the little tomboyish, reckless, head-strong mischievous child she had watched grow up into a beautiful, impulsive, stubborn and pure-hearted young woman.
They finished the tea in companionable silence, with the original topic of conversation all but forgotten, until the children came barging in.
~~~~~~.:oOo:.~~~~~~
Dinner was a lot more fun than usual. Commander Bumi had stopped by the Air Temple to enjoy the rare opportunity to dine with his brother and mother together and his naturally eccentric nature made the meal a unique experience.
But Korra's mind wasn't on the food or the stories or laughter. She was thinking of what she had overheard just before dinner. She was finishing helping Pema with dinner when she was asked to call the children, but as she walked towards the room where they played she overhead Katara's voice.
She had had no intention of spying and just wanted to check what was happening but when she peeked in the room, Katara was on the telephone.
"Lin? Yes, I'll talk to her." There was a small pause. "Toph? I can't hear you." There was pause and a distant sound like someone yelling on the other end. "I didn't mean you have to scream, you probably have the receiver upside down, just turn it around Toph." Katara spoke loudly into the phone then paused. "Yes, that's better. Yes, I know you like to yell but there's no need to…" Katara listened to the person on the other end for a few seconds. "No, I haven't talked to her about it yet." More silence. "Because the right opportunity hasn't come yet, Toph." Again, a pause. "I understand that…Yes, I know these new apparatuses are confusing for you…Yes, if you wish I'll visit you, I didn't plan to stay here long but I might have to and I would hate to lose a chance to see my good friend…" A small silence stretched out for a few seconds. "No, Toph, not because we can 'kick the bucket' any moment as you so ominously put it, I just miss your company." There was a much larger pause and Katara chuckled softly. "Very well, oh mighty Melon Lord, I shall be expecting thee." She joked before adding on a more somber note- "Thank you, Toph. I'm sure everything will be alright."
After that cryptic conversation, Katara had said her goodbyes and Korra, realizing she had been eavesdropping, had rushed off to collect the children for dinner.
And that was why at the moment she was rising her chopsticks to her mouth distracted enough not to notice that the piece of tofu she had been aiming for had fallen off them. She wonder who Katara had been speaking about, maybe she meant Korra herself since she had mentioned she wanted to speak about a matter Toph had noticed…But what could Toph possibly have noticed that was so important?
"What are you thinking, Korra?" Jinora asked, snapping the Avatar from her musings.
"Oh, nothing. Just spacing out." Korra replied giving the young girl a broad smile.
"Am I boring you with my stories of little Tenzin, Avatar Korra?" Bumi joked, after having told a rather hilarious tale about a time a very young Tenzin had sneaked into Toph Beifong's home to play with a little Lin far past bedtime and had been forced to hide over an air marble to escape the magnificent fury of master Toph, only to be accidentally exposed by a teenage Bumi himself.
"Not at all, I'm fact I'm enjoying myself." Korra smiled in all honesty as she, Jinora and Ikki got up to clear the table.
After dinner, a much chagrinned Tenzin gathered a Pai Sho board for a game with his brother. It soon became obvious that the non-bender had an upper hand both in experience and by the fact that his loud personality distracted Tenzin, but they enjoyed playing anyway. On the other hand, Pema and the children were entertained by Katara with stories that Korra had heard time and time again about what the old master affectionately dubbed the Gaang.
Korra excused herself politely, claiming to want to check on Naga, and as she walked lazily outside and past the gazebo she shuddered reflexively. She had already informed Tenzin about her vision, wanting to share the meditation progress with her master, and was grateful that he had not asked many questions since she did not want to re-think about what she had seen and felt, then again she had claimed she was still figuring out what she had seen, so it was only natural that he would give her space.
The moon was already past the half-full stage and lighted the night quite beautifully as Korra walked quietly. She was already thinking of when she'd see Noatak again- would he come that night after everyone was asleep? Would he wait a few days? If so, how many? She already missed him too much to bear.
She walked into the enormous pen that was Naga's home on the island and stopped dead on her tracks because she saw somebody was sitting in the darkness of a corner and she was willing to bet she knew who.
Korra moved closer and her suspicious were confirmed. Before the person could rise up completely from the ground she practically jumped onto him, pushing him onto the ground.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, snaking her arms around his neck and nuzzling his masked face.
She was facing him and sitting over his folded leg, his other leg was bent up at the knee for leverage and she pressed to him with her legs stretched out on either side of his hips. Her pose was absolutely childish but his arms embraced her nonetheless and his fingers laced behind the middle of her back as if to trap her.
"I was waiting for everyone to retire for the night." Noatak replied in a low voice.
"I'm so happy you're here." And she was, it had been a confusing day and his presence calmed her worries.
She pushed back his hood and removed his mask, placing it carefully beside them, then she kissed him softly with gentle affection before nuzzling into his neck, vaguely aware that it was a habit she was developing since she liked the closeness and the scent of his skin.
"I did not expect you to find me but I am glad you did." He replied after kissing her back.
They heard heavy padded footsteps as Naga walked lazily up to them. Korra spotted the polar bear dog approaching from Noatak's back.
"Aw, I'm sorry I forgot about you, girl." Korra spoke to her furry friend allowing Naga to lick one of her hands, when the beast huffed a little.
Noatak turned his head slightly to look at the animal whose snout was just inches from his head, only barely able to see it from the corner of his eye as his grip tightened around Korra out of instinctive possessiveness.
"I still don't think she likes me much." He said, but Naga rebuked him by liking the back of his head and raising his hair with polar bear dog drool in a comical cowlick.
"I beg to differ." Korra snorted still pressed childishly to him with her arms around his neck as she shook with laughter.
"Glad I can amuse you." He replied sarcastically with a ruffled frown, even if deep down he loved to hear her laugh.
"Sourpuss." She teased, blowing on his neck playfully and knowing full well she was attacking a weakness.
Noatak shuddered, gritting his teeth and tightening his grip on her again.
"Korra…" He said warningly.
"Yes-?" She teased, tickling the back of his neck with the tips of her fingers as Naga slumped to the ground slowly, lying lazily next to them.
"Stop that." He commanded sternly between gritted teeth as goosebumps rose of his damaged skin.
"Stop what?" Korra snickered and licked down his throat but just lightly and slowly enough that the tickling was unbearable instead of pleasurable while her fingers kept tickling.
Noatak hissed but couldn't hold back a bark of laughter. It seemed to fluster him but Korra loved it, it was the first time she had ever seen or heard him laugh and she felt her heart skip a beat- he looked so young and sweet and happy even if his loud laugh was as raspy and deep as his voice. It made him look so free and so human.
She was so distracted staring dreamily at him that the very sulky Noatak took the opportunity to attack her ribs and sides in the same fashion with his long fingers. Korra wasn't particularly ticklish in any area besides her feet but he knew just how the hit the most sensitive spots until she was howling with laugher and trying to get back at him.
When they finally stopped she was huffing and still snorting but she couldn't stop smiling.
"Why is it that when I am with you I become such a different man, Avatar Korra?" He murmured pensively in her ear.
"Because I'm awesome and I bring out the best in you?" She joked.
"Indeed you do." He kissed the curve of her neck. "If the world saw me right this moment I don't think anyone would ever believe who I was."
"I'll keep it a secret then." She smirked humorously. "So I'll be the only one to enjoy this Noatak."
"That seems appropriate." He nodded.
They kissed again, deeply and intensely with their lips melding together sweetly with unhidden tenderness, then embraced content to be in each other's arms.
They were woken from their stupor by Naga's soft growling.
The polar bear dog got up and they realized someone was coming. Noatak disentangled himself from Korra's arms as she stood, then he placed his mask and hood back on and disappeared silently out the back while Korra made a pretense of petting Naga's snout.
"There you are, Korra. Uncle Bumi is about to leave." Jinora walked in quietly, looking around inconspicuously before Ikki came trailing behind.
"Did you find her? Is she here? She said was going to see Naga, so she must…" Ikki stopped talking when she spotted Korra then beamed. "Uncle Bumi is going. Want to say goodbye?"
"Sure thing, kiddo." Korra scratched Naga's ears and even allowed the polar bear dog to walk with them as they headed for the harbor.
Korra's mood was joyful again as they sent Commander Bumi off, now that she knew she'd have another nocturnal visit during which she planned not only to indulge in Noatak's affections but also hoped he would listen to her worries about the vision and nightmares, she wanted him to reassure her, which was exactly what happened.