Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Serenity and silence filled the air of Air Temple Island as everyone slept. But with the looming threat the Equalists posed over every benders' head, it was difficult for anyone to sleep peacefully. Even Xiang was unable to sleep well, but it was not because of Amon. No, this time of year often made it difficult for the Plantbender to sleep. Fall in Republic City always reminded Xiang of the day he lost his arm; and the anniversary of said date was drawing closer. Once then, Xiang would be unable to maintain his typical care-free disposition, as he typically did every year on that day. But the thing that was causing his tossing and turning, and cold-sweats in his sleep was something else entirely; a nightmare of bad memories mixed with fears of the future.

In his mind, the calico was viewing flashes of his teacher being crushed, his hours under the rubble, his parents weeping at his bedside, and moments when he was succumbing to his own despair. But the worst was when he saw a long, black arm in place of his branches, his bedroom wall blasted apart, his family cowering in fear of him, and unyielding rage consuming him. As usual, before any other event could follow, the nightmare ended with a monstrous set of jaws lunging at Xiang, causing him to jolt awake in panic. Having gone through this plenty of times before, Xiang knew there was no chance of him going back to sleep anytime soon with as bad as his nerves were. To help calm himself down, the Plantbender hoped out of his window and headed towards his personal garden.

As a Plantbender, it was only natural for Xiang to develop a liking for gardening. When he was finally able to master bending over his arm, with his parents' permission, he picked a cozy little area between the training grounds and lemur cages. Most of the plants he planted were meant to be used in his arm for various uses, but his most favored plants were the flowers and his ylang-ylang trees. These plants were added specifically to help calm his nerves, and settle his mind during meditation. The scents of lavender, ylang-ylang, and many others filled his nostrils as he sat in the dark. Had it not been for the sound of footsteps filling his ears, he might have slipped into meditation. Looking up with a tired glance, Xiang saw his pregnant mother looking at him in concern.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing out here?" Pema gently asked, kneeling down at his left side.

"I couldn't sleep. A lot of old and bad memories kept popping up. Why are you out here?" he asked sounding dejected.

"Well, reason number one: your unborn sibling seems to enjoy pressing down on my bladder five times a night." she said trying to lighten the mood. "And reason number two: I saw you come out here on my way back inside and I was worried."

"Mom, you're pregnant. You should be resting, not worrying over something stupid like this." Xiang retorted, his nightmares making him a bit sour. Had it not been for Pema gently pulling his head into her embrace and stroking his hair, he might have gotten worse. But as soon as she did, Xiang's worries began to fade in his mother's unconditional love.

"There is nothing stupid about my baby being upset; and yes, you are still my baby, Xiang. No matter how big and old you get, you're always going to be my baby boy; and that means whenever you need me, I'm going to do everything I can to help you get through whatever's wrong." Pema softly corrected. Even though Xiang was her eldest, Pema always made sure he received the same amount of motherly love and care she gave the rest of her children. It took everything she had to keep from smothering Xiang, especially given how close he had come to dying in the past. But when moments like this happened, she made sure any of her children knew she was there for them. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"…I don't know." Xiang muttered, tucking his knees in and wrapping his single arm around them.

Seeing that her boy was not in the mood to talk just yet, Pema accepted this and respected his privacy enough to give him space. "Well, whenever you do feel up for it, I'm always here for you. Try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Xiang muttered, still in dejection.

Hoping it would help, Pema pressed a kiss to her son's forehead before rising to her feet. "Love you, sweetie. Goodnight."

"I love you, too, Mom." Xiang replied, though his tone still left Pema concerned. While Xiang was unable to fall back asleep, he opted for the next best thing that, to his mind, would not go against his mother's wishes; meditation. There was no way for Xiang to know exactly how long he meditated, but when he began to feel warmth slowly rise over him, he knew the morning had finally come; and his growling stomach told him it was time to eat.

For the majority of the day, Xiang kept to himself as he trained in his Plantbending as Korra and his siblings focused on Airbending. Meanwhile, in the shopping area of Republic City, Opal was dragging her brothers to yet another place of business they did not want to be in; a slow-paced beauty salon.

"Opal, do you really need all this stuff?" Wing asked in exhaustion as he and his brother were carrying enough shopping bags to cover their bodies; with two or three being held by Wei's mouth. "We may be Beifongs, but there is such a thing as having a budget."

"Yeah! This is ridiculous!" Wei agreed past his clenched jaw.

"I just wanna make sure I bring back enough stuff for Mom and my friends on the dance team to enjoy. Besides, I got some stuff for you guys, too." Opal defended with a playful grin.

"Well, if that includes Kuvira, probably not, I know Junior's gonna be grateful." Wing snickered.

"Can we hurry up, please; my jaws are dislocating!" Wei begged.

"Okay, okay. Open your mouth." Opal eased. As he did, she grabbed the bags and proceeded to playfully place the loops over Wing's ears so he could hold them. "There. Better?"

"No/Yes." they respectively said.

"Good." she chirped with a smile. "Now, I'm gonna be in here for a while, and I don't think the owners want a whole bunch of shopping bags laying around, so…" she trailed, her eyes darting back and forth between her brothers. Since neither of them wanted to stick around in a beauty parlor while their sister chit-chatted with the other women, both boys did their best to take as many bags from the other as they could. Whoever had the least amount would have to stay. While her brothers settled that, Opal made her way inside and was led to a row of chairs for her manicure and pedicure.

It was not five minutes into her treatment that Opal saw a very good friend of hers take the seat next to her. Her hair black as night and soft as silk, with eyes of jade and skin pale as the moon, the voluptuous beauty that was Asami Sato sat two seats over from Opal's left and sent her childhood friend a warm smile. "Hey, sorry I'm late. My moped stalled on me and I had to give it a quick tune-up."

"That's okay. It probably saved you from getting gawked at by both of my younger brothers instead of just the one." Opal teased as her feet were getting done.

"Ugh, you have no idea. Don't get me wrong, both of them are sweet and cute, in their own way, but it would just make me feel guilty right now." Asami groaned as she took off her slippers and adjusted her robe.

"Why's that?"

"Because I just happen to have a date tonight with the dreamiest pro Firebender in all of Republic City; Mako of the Fire Ferrets." Asami gushed, one step away from squealing.

"Good for you! How'd you get a date with someone like him?" Opal asked, eager for some gossip from her fellow rich girl.

"Well, that's actually related to why I was late." Asami blushed in embarrassment. "I, accidently, hit him with my moped yesterday and offered him dinner as an apology."

"Wait a minute," Opal intervened, "so, you hit the guy at probably 40 m/hr, and you get a date instead of something normal like a lawsuit or warrant for your arrest? Can I borrow that thing so I can get a date? Or use it to hit that nomad-jerk on the head to make him remember me?" Opal asked, though her second question was more of a grumble to herself; one that Asami clearly heard.

"Ah, I see you're still upset over your crush not remembering you." Asami stated.

"What?! Crush?! What crush?! I didn't say I had a crush! I just want my old friend to remember me, that's all! I mean it's not like I would date him if he asked, even if he's gotten so tall, buff and has eyes you never wanna look away from." Opal rambled before getting lost in her exaggerated, mental image of Xiang. After a few moments, she snapped out of her daze and regained her bearings. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"

"How you're so hung up on this guy you've started drooling." Asami giggled. Having noticed her words were true, Opal fumbled over herself as she used her bathrobe to wipe away the saliva on her chin. "Oh, you've got it bad, Opal. Real bad."

"I don't know what happened! All the times I've thought of him in the past, all I ever felt was a sense of friendship; I mean, I only knew the guy for three months! Then I take one look at him ten years later, and suddenly I'm reduced to this. And the jerk doesn't even remember me!"

"Well, to be fair, like you said, it was only for three months over ten years ago." Asami reasoned, "And be honest, if his eyes weren't his most noticeable feature like you said, would you have recognized him?"

"…Okay, this isn't about me remembering him." Opal retorted, causing her friend to laugh before joining in, herself. "You don't know what it's like living in Zaofu. Everybody knows each other, and everyone outside my family practically treats me like I'm some kind of princess. But with Xiang…he made me feel like a regular kid. I felt more like myself whenever I was around him, and that helped me more times than I can count after he left. What do you think I should do, Asami?"

"Hmm…it sounds to me like you need to find a way to reconnect with him. Even if it doesn't jog his memory, you'll still have the opportunity to make a connection with him." Asami replied.

"And a way to reconnect with him would be…?" Opal trailed, still looking for an answer.

"I don't know. Obviously, there's no clear answer out there for this sort of thing. Otherwise, I doubt I would've gotten a date after nearly killing a guy. Just be patient and I'm sure a solution will present itself. The universe will provide, my dear Opal." Asami said with a wink.

Later that day, while Asami was enjoying her date with Mako, and Opal was trying to come up with a, non-creepy/stalker-like, plan to connect with Xiang, the lone family of Air Temple Island were gathered around the table ready to eat. As usual, being head of the family, Tenzin led the giving of thanks for the meal. That is until he was interrupted by unexpected, and uninvited, guest.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" the man said in a fake, flattering tone with an even faker smile. With hair and skin as dark as Korra's, and clad in light blue clothing, the man was obviously from the Water Tribe; and judging by the scowl on Tenzin and Pema's faces, a known individual.

"Tarrlok, what are you doing here? My family and I are about to eat dinner." Tenzin pointed out, none too pleased at the man's arrival.

"Splendid! I'm absolutely famished. I trust you don't mind. Air Nomads never turn away a hungry guest, am I right?" Tarrlok coyly asked, knowing he just played a winning hand.

"I suppose." Tenzin sighed.

"Great. Pema, you're looking lovely, as always. Absolutely glowing with motherly radiance." Tarrlok praised as he took his seat. Though, based on Pema's flat stare, it was not well received.

"Oh, thank you. After four other pregnancies, I was worried I was losing my touch." she replied with so much blunt sarcasm it would have made her late uncle-in-law weep with joy.

"Heh-heh, quite." Tarrlok sweatdropped, still wearing his fake smile. "And here we have the Air Nation's newest generation, and the famous Avatar Korra. It is truly an honor. I am Councilman Tarrlok, representative from the Northern Water Tribe."

"Does this guy ever stop talking out of his ass?" Xiang bluntly thought as the man bowed before Korra.

"Nice to meet you." Korra replied with a welcoming bow and smile, clearly not picking up on the glares being sent the man's way. Not even when Ikki decided to…speak her mind.

"Why do you have three ponytails, and how come you smell like a lady? You're weird." she said out of the blue, being more blunt than curious.

"Well, aren't you precocious?" Tarrlok rhetorically asked, doing his best to remain composed even as she was sneering at him. "You remind me of when your elder brother and I first met. He was rather curious with questions of his own. Weren't you, Xiang?"

"I'm sure I was." Xiang replied with an expression matching his mother's, and a tone saying he could not care less as he ate his food. Hoping to change the topic to his true reason for coming, Tarrlok turned to speak to Korra.

"So, I've been reading all about your adventures in the papers. Infiltrating Amon's rally; now that is the kind of initiative I like to see."

"Oh, thank you. I think that officially makes you the first authority figure in Republic City who's happy I'm here." Korra replied.

"Republic City is much better off now that you have arrived, Avatar."

"Enough with the flattery, Tarrlok." Tenzin interjected in his councilman voice. "What do you want from Korra?"

"Patience, Tenzin. I'm getting to that." the Water Tribesman eased. "As you may have heard, Korra, I am assembling a task force to exclusively deal with Amon and his Equalists. I aim to strike at the heart of their revolution. And I would like you, and young Xiang here, to join me."

"Really?" Korra asked, not at all fazed.

"What?!" Tenzin and Pema exclaimed while their son looked surprised.

"I need people who will help me attack Amon directly. People who are fearless in the face of danger. And who else is like that than our very own Avatar? Furthermore, Amon and his chi-blockers have trained to counter the more common elements. Since there is only one known Plantbender in the world, and only a select few people know of his existence, we would have the upper hand in catching the Equalists by surprise. What do you say?"

"Absolutely not!" Pema shouted, slamming her fists on the table. "Hospitality aside, there is no way I am letting you drag my son into one of your self-serving schemes, Tarrlok."

"With all due respect, madam, I believe your son is old enough to speak for himself." Tarrlok smoothly countered.

"You're right. I can speak for myself. And my answer, councilman, is no." Xiang neutrally replied before taking another bite of his meal.

"And so is mine. I'm afraid I can't join your task force either, sir." Korra added, though not as coldly, a response that surprised everyone in the room.

"I must admit, I'm rather surprised at your response, Avatar Korra. I thought you'd jump at the chance to help me lead the charge against Amon." Tarrlok fumbled.

"Yeah, me, too." Tenzin muttered under his breath.

"Well, I came to Republic City to finish my Avatar training with Tenzin. Right now, I just need to focus on that." Korra replied.

"Which is why this is the perfect opportunity for you. You would get on-the-job experience while performing your Avatar service to the city." Tarrlok pressed.

"Xiang and Korra gave you their answers, Tarrlok. It's time for you to go." Tenzin said, leaving no room for discussion.

"Very well. But I'm not giving up on you just yet. You'll be hearing from me soon. It has been a pleasure, Avatar Korra." Tarrlok politely said before leaving. But as he was walking out the door, Xiang and Ikki gave him a proper, ornery send off.

"Bye-bye, ponytail man!" they mockingly waved, faintly hearing the man scoff in annoyance. Taking that as proof of their success, the two siblings high-fived each other, earning chuckles from their parents, and went back to eating.

For the next several days, Korra actually made good on her words to Tarrlok. Since the Fire Ferrets were still struggling financially, and given how much time was left until the championship, Korra spent her free time practicing her Airbending. At first, Tenzin was proud of his disciple's resolve and how she prioritized her training above picking fights. However, given his experience as a father, he was quickly able to see through her sudden change of heart. It was clear to the Airbending master the young woman was afraid of Amon and/or his power, and was also afraid to admit it, as well. Even when he saw her Earthbending friend and teammate come visit her, Tenzin could tell she was trying to hide her true feelings. It was for that reason he decided speak with Korra about it.

After coming home from work, Tenzin found his two youngest playing in Tarrlok's newest expensive attempt at bribing Korra to join his task force. With each day that passed her refusal, the councilman kept sending more and more gifts to persuade the girl. At first, it was just a fruit basket; a rather large one at that, but a fruit basket nonetheless. Now, parked on the path leading to his home, topped with a large bow, was the newest, most expensive model of the Sato Mobile. Even though it was bringing joy to Ikki and Meelo, Tenzin, being the traditionalist that he was, could not stop his tiresome sigh from escaping.

"Rgh! Vroom-vroom!" Ikki imitated as she pretended to drive like a maniac. "Out of the way, Daddy! We're driving here! BEEP! Beep, beep, beep!" she screeched.

"Beep-beep!" Meelo cutely added from the passenger seat.

"Well, just try not to drive off the island, alright, dear?" Tenzin playfully asked with a small smile. "Have either of you seen Korra lately?"

"Hmm, nope. Maybe Xiang knows." Ikki replied as she continued to jerk the steering wheel back and forth.

"Okay. So, where is he?" Tenzin asked. Not two seconds later, the trunk of the vehicle sprang open with a single leg pushing it up. In his usual comedic manner, Xiang stuck his head out with a wild grin towards his father.

"Dad! You're not gonna believe the amount of storage space this trunk has!" he exclaimed causing his little siblings to laugh at how silly he was. On that note, the next sigh Tenzin let loose was over how…unique his eldest was acting.

"Do you know where Korra is, Xiang?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's practicing her Airbending forms at the Dais of Balance." Xiang replied as he pulled himself out of the trunk and into the back seat of the car. "To Misty Palms Oasis, driver; and step on it!"

While Ikki continued to imitate what he can only pray to be the opposite of how she will actually drive one day, Tenzin made his way towards the dais and found his pupil. Just as Xiang said, the young Avatar was actually working on her bending forms. Despite how brief their time together had been, Tenzin had a pretty good measure of Korra by this point. So, he found it more concerning than assuring to see her practice like he wanted her to do, when he wanted her to do it.

"I see Tarrlok's gifts are getting more and more extravagant." Tenzin said, hoping to break the ice.

"Yeah. That guy sure doesn't know how to take no for an answer." she agreed, not breaking her stride for even a second; a sight that left Tenzin even more concerned.

"Korra, are you alright?" he gently asked.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine." she replied.

"Why don't you take a break?" he offered, taking a seat and welcoming her to join him on the stairs. "I'm glad you turned down Tarrlok, but I just wanted to make sure you did for the right reason."

"I did. I know Amon's a threat, but I'm the Avatar, and I need to complete my training in both that and Airbending. And besides, Xiang said no, too, and I trust his judgment." Korra gently defended. But Tenzin was not convinced.

"If that is your decision, then I support you. But it's okay to be scared, you know? The whole city is terrified 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." It was the best the monk had to offer, but it clearly fell on deaf ears as Korra kept her eyes on her boots. Standing up, Tenzin gave his student one last offer of comfort. "I'm always here for you if you want to talk."

Later that evening, despite Korra's instant refusal to any more of Tarrlok's gifts, the councilman's assistant gave her something that actually seemed appealing. Rather than anything material, Korra was gifted an invitation to a gala held in her own honor. For some reason, Korra had no issue with attending such an event, and brought along Tenzin and his family as her guests.

For the most part, only the children were most casually dressed members of the party; wearing nice, red cloaks over their usual clothes, but with red hair accessories for the girls. Korra made use of one of Tarrlok's other gifts, a very elegant Water Tribe styled dress and hairstyle, and looked more feminine than any of them had seen. For Pema, she wore her nicest robes with lotus flowers in her hair; her pregnant glow adding to her beauty. Tenzin wore a suit similar to his father's childhood Fire Nation disguise under his finest, red robes. As for Xiang, he wore a fancy, mostly black, layered hanfu with the left sleeve longer than the right to conceal his prosthetic. As soon as they all entered the room, they were greeted with applause while the children scrambled about to explore.

"I got hand it to you, Korra; you made the right call in holding out to Tarrlok." Xiang lightly joked as he took in the fancy room.

"I can only imagine what would have been done next if I refused this." she snickered as they both laughed. "It's hard to believe all of this is for me."

"Don't let your guard down; either of you." Tenzin warned. "I've never known Tarrlok to throw a party just for fun. Everything that man does serves his agenda, and he's not one to give up on anything he wants. Even though all his gifts have been for you, Korra, don't forget he also wants you on his task force, too, son."

"Well, we both said no, and I'm not changing my mind anytime soon. What's he gonna do? Trick me into signing over my rights to deny his pestering?" Xiang sarcastically teased. As if they jinxed themselves, the man in question came over to welcome them.

"I'm so glad you could make it, my friends." Tarrlok greeted as Meelo ran behind them. "If you'll excuse us, Tenzin, the city awaits its hero." he said as he led Korra away.

As they walked away, Xiang rolled his eyes and was about to make a snide remark towards their host; that is until he caught sight of his younger brother doing something socially frowned upon to a punch bowl. "Um, Dad?!" he frantically alerted, grabbing his robes.

"Meelo, no! That is not a toilet! Oh, dear." he paled before speed walking over to stop him.

"Just pretend you're not related, and fade into the crowd." Xiang whispered to himself as he slunk away in embarrassment. As he did, the young Plantbender accidently bumped back to back with an unsuspecting Earth Kingdom girl. Had it not been for the aggressive push she gave him when they last met, Xiang would have been entranced by Opal's beauty. Dressed in the finest, emerald modern Earth Kingdom style dress money could buy, with just enough emerald jewelry, the young Beifong looked like a spirit of beauty; at least she would to the nomad had he not immediately panicked out of fear of her attacking him. Which is why as soon as they turned to face each other, Xiang seized up with a gasp, and darted away for his life; a reaction that left Opal downcast and sad.

When she heard from Asami that a gala was being held in honor of the new Avatar, a young woman she knew was living with Xiang, she had hope her old friend would come with her. But even though he did, it was clear from that brief moment he still did not remember her; and that alone began to bring tears to her eyes.

"Great. Not only does he not remember me, but he hates me now, too." she thought in misery. Keeping her eyes trained on the floor as she maneuvered through the crowd in hopes to find her brothers, Opal was unaware of the pregnant woman she was about to bump into. Had it not been for Pema's extremely swollen belly facing towards her, Opal might have knocked into the woman.

"Oh!" Pema said, completely surprised when she turned to see Opal so close.

"I'm so sorry. Please, excuse me." Opal said.

"Oh, it's alright, dear. No harm done." Pema chuckled. "Wait a minute…Opal? Opal Beifong, is that you?"

Seeing that the woman was not letting her go any time soon, Opal cleared her thoughts enough to realize she almost bumped into the mother of her crush. "Yep, it's me. It's been a long time, Ms. Pema." she said with the best smile she could muster.

"Pema, please, and look at you! Oh, you've gotten so beautiful." Pema gushed, causing Opal to blush and smile at her praise.

"Thank you. And congratulations, by the way." she said, gesturing to Pema's belly.

"Thank you. Is the rest of your family with you?"

"Oh, just my younger brothers, Wing and Wei…the ones eating all the hermit-shrimp puffs over there." Opal replied with a deadpan expression.

"Ha! That's nothing compared to what my kids have already done. Piece of advice; do NOT drink the punch." Pema warned causing Opal to laugh; a reaction that came to a stop when Pema placed her hand on her shoulder. "Seriously."

"Um, okay." Opal replied, completely unaware of what Meelo may or may not have done to the beverage(s).

"Is everything alright, dear? You look a little down." Pema asked in concern.

"Of course. I'm fine." she replied with a lie.

"Opal, I'm a mother of four, soon to be five, I know when something has upset a teenager but they're too proud to admit it." Pema gently pointed out as she led the girl to a table and sat with her. "What's the matter?"

"…Do you remember the last time Xiang mentioned me?" the teen softly asked, sadness gripping her voice.

"Oh. Um," Pema trailed, completely thrown off by the question. Wracking her brain for a truthful answer, the only memory Pema could find was the time between her family's return home from Zaofu, to Xiang's accident. Though considering the mental and emotional trauma her son went through, it was little wonder Xiang did not mention Opal during that time.

"I see. That long, huh?" Opal said in dejection while looking at the floor.

"W-well, I'm sure he'd recognize you in a heartbeat if he saw you tonight." Pema offered only to see the girl slump even more. "And that already happened and he didn't recognize you, did he?" she asked, which Opal responded with two fingers indicating they saw each other twice already. "Oh, boy."

"I know it was a long time ago, but I just thought our friendship meant something special to him…like it did to me." Opal sadly confessed.

"I'm sure it did-does!" Pema tried to assure before a thought crossed her mind. "Wait. We took him to Zaofu when he was five. Oh, monkey-feathers on a lemur! That damn concussion of his gave him memory loss; I told Tenzin we should've gotten him looked at when he forgot where his room was!"

"Um, Ms. Pema?" Opal asked in concern, bringing the pregnant acolyte back to earth. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, dear! Just…pregnancy brain making my mind wander." Pema weakly lied while waving her hand in false assurance. Even while she was nervously laughing, the pregnant mother was thinking a million thoughts per mili-second. "I got to think of a way fix this! That stupid accident already took away my baby's arm, I'm not gonna let it take away his chance at such a gorgeous girl who's clearly into him!" she thought before pushing herself out of her chair. "Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I need my husband for a moment. And don't worry about Xiang, sweetheart. He may be an utter goofball like his grandpa, but he'll come around."

Walking, or waddling, as fast as she could, Pema headed directly for her husband. While he was half-listening to what the people surrounding him were talking about, he managed to clearly hear the words muttered to him by Pema. "Meet me in the hall leading to your office."

Clearly misunderstanding the intention, an excited chill ran over Tenzin as he did his best to hide his smirk. After excusing himself from the party, he found his wife standing in the moonlight of one of the hall's many windows. Straightening his collar and putting on a suave smirk, Tenzin did his best to come off as…alluring.

"Well, well. I know it's been a while since our last 'conference' in my office, Pema, but I didn't think you'd want to have one tonight. To make up for lost time, I promise you, I'll be very thorough; and since this party is all for Korra, we'll have all the time in the world." he hoarsely promised as he took his wife in his arms, completely oblivious to her annoyed expression until she yanked on his beard to bring him to her level.

"That's not why we're here, lemur-brain." she flatly corrected, killing the mood in an instant.

"Oh, um…right. I knew that; I was just teasing you."

"Besides, I'm stilling dealing with the results of our last conference." she added while patting her swollen stomach. "Anyway, guess who I just bumped into a few minutes ago?"

"Um,"

"Opal Beifong, that's who."

"Oh. Really? Well, that-that's great. I'm sure Xiang will be happy to see her." he said, only to be proven wrong by the glare his wife was sending him. "Or not?"

"No, because despite how much our son loved to talk about the time he spent with that sweet girl when he was little, he doesn't remember her. Now, let me think; what could have possibly caused him to forget such a friendship?" Pema sarcastically asked as she took a pondering pose. "Oh, I know! How about the concussion he received and the memory loss I suspected it gave him?!"

"Oh, cripes." Tenzin thought as he braced himself for the oncoming I-told-you-so.

"I told you that accident did more damage than the doctors said. 'Oh, he's fine, Pema. It's easy to get lost in this big, old temple, Pema. No, Pema, I don't think he's suffering from amnesia.' Sound familiar?"

"…It rings a bell or two." Tenzin admitted, lacking the guts to lock eyes with his wife.

"I'll ring your bells here in a minute." she growled through her clenched teeth.

"Honey, I admit I was wrong about that, and I'm sorry. But I don't understand why this has gotten you so upset."

"Why it's gotten me so upset?" she repeated, her eyebrows almost reaching her hairline. "I'll you why it's gotten me so upset. It's because there is a beautiful, kind-hearted, young girl that is clearly romantically interested in our eldest son, and he can't even remember her! I love Xiang to death, Tenzin, but his density towards girls makes me worried. He's got a childhood friend out there who's been thinking of him ever since they last saw each other, and he's none the wiser! If he doesn't remember her, or at least pull his head out of the clouds to see and act on that, he's gonna miss out on a golden opportunity. I want grandbabies sooner than later, Tenzin! I'm still in my thirty's, and I'm getting as gray as your sister."

Terrified and stunned at his wife's ranting, Tenzin was left even paler than he normally was; had anyone else seen him at that moment, they would never have believed he was half-Water Tribe. "…I'm, uh, g-g-going to talk to Xiang, now. G-gi-give him some fatherly advice." the monk gulped before staggering away.

"Uh-huh, you do that, hon. Oh, and one last thing." she said causing Tenzin to turn and see her most seductive, sly smirk. "Be sure to remember how thorough you were going to be when we get home tonight. Rwah!" she said, playfully clawing at him like a naughty kitty.

It was moments like that conversation that reminded Tenzin just how much he loved his wife; she could go from terrifying to tender/loving, and frisky, in a matter of seconds. All three of which made his heart pump in excitement, and sent chills down his spine. But before he could become too caught up in those thoughts, Tenzin reminded himself he needed to look for his eldest child; whom he found with his sisters huddled around a plate on the floor, breaking open and inspecting egg rolls.

"If I didn't have Bumi for a brother, I'd swear weirdness skips a generation in our family." Tenzin bluntly thought as he watched them.

"Uh-huh. This one is also vegetarian, very good." Xiang nodded before eating one half and giving the other to Ikki. "Although, it could use some hot mustard. Geez, you'd think those cooks never heard of condiments based on this spread."

"What are you three doing?" Tenzin asked.

"Hi, Daddy!" his daughters beamed.

"Hey, Dad." Xiang greeted. "Want an eggroll?"

"No, thank you. Why are you three breaking open a plate of eggrolls?" Tenzin asked before slightly panicking. "And where is Meelo?"

"I got more!" the boy with the plate of food on top his shaved head chirped.

"Well done! Now I need you to take my place while I explain our methods of madness to dear, old dad. Remember to share." Xiang replied as he got up and led Tenzin a few feet away. "Okay, here's the thing. I found Meelo lingering around the punch, again, and this was the first thing that popped into my head to keep him away. I brought Ikki and Jinora over to keep him from getting suspicious, and they looked like they were already bored. I know, it's weird, but it's working.

"It's certainly…creative, I'll give you that." Tenzin admitted. "So, aside from that, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Hmm, can't complain." Xiang shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know, son, this is, typically, the kind of place to meet new people; maybe those around your age. Like that young girl, over there." Tenzin subtly explained as he pointed towards Opal.

"Oh, heck no! That girl's crazy!" Xiang denied in panic.

"Crazy how?"

"The woman chased after me that night I went to get Korra from the bending arena and started spouting nonsense like she knew me! I'd call her a stalker if it weren't for the fact I usually just go into the city one day a week. Then when I ask her if I know her, she snarls at me like a Moose-Lion, and shoves me to the ground for no reason!"

"Oh, spirits; he really doesn't remember her!" Tenzin groaned in his mind.

"I don't care how pretty she is, having a stranger stalking you is very unsettling!" Xiang remarked.

"…Son, you do know her." Tenzin deadpanned, not bothering to waste his time with hints and prods.

"What? No, I don't."

"Yes, you do. You met a long time ago. That's Opal Beifong." he informed only to receive a confused look from his son. "Lin's niece. You met when your mother and I took you to Zaofu when you were five. You played together every day." he listed, Xiang's eyebrow rising higher with each example. "You called her 'Green-Girl' because of her swimsuit when you had trouble remembering her name the first two days." he stressed, now growing impatient.

Upon hearing that last example, a brief mental image struck Xiang like lightning. In his mind, he could see a young, five-year-old girl in a green, one-piece swimsuit laughing and splashing him in a shallow pool of water surrounded by shiny metal. At that moment, all color drained from the calico's face as realization dawned upon him, causing him to grab his father by the collar of his robes and pull him to his level.

"You mean that was real?! I thought I dreamed her up!" Xiang frantically whispered, doing his best not to cause a scene. "I kept seeing her in bits of my dreams when I was a kid, I thought it was just one of those reoccurring kinds."

"No, no, that was real. You two were inseparable those three months we stayed with her family." Tenzin assured, gently brushing away his son's grip on his clothes. "See? Now you don't have any reason to avoid her. You can go over and talk to her; catch up on things."

"No, I can't." Xiang miserably said as he shook his head in his hands.

"Why not?"

Looking up at his father with the most cringed, embarrassed expression Tenzin had ever seen on his face, Xiang gave his reply. "I've already made a complete ass out of myself to her; twice."

"And?" Tenzin asked with a fatherly smile. "Son, you're to make an ass out of yourself every time you interact with a girl you like. Heck, I just made an ass out of myself in front of your mother a few minutes ago. But even when that does happen, we can't let it stop us from making connections; especially with a girl as pretty as her." he finished with a teasing grin, causing his son to blush. "And if you really want some advice, be yourself, and don't pretend to act cool or aloof. Because no matter what your uncle Bumi may say, smoothness with women is not a trait in our family."

"What about with Aunt Kya?"

"Oh, please. She could only ever talk to a girl after mentally motivating herself, and taking a shot of soju." Tenzin scoffed.

"Huh…do you have any on you?" Xiang asked causing Tenzin to laugh before shoving his eldest towards the young heiress.

"Just take a chance, and own up to your mistakes." Tenzin advised before leaving his eldest to gather his other children.

Taking a long, deep breath, the Plantbender steeled what courage he could muster, and headed towards his long forgotten friend. "Um, hi. It's Opal, right?" Xiang nervously greeted.

At first, Opal looked just as nervous when she saw her crush approach her, but hearing him ask if he got her name right just made her depressed. "I was really hoping you'd know that much about me."

"Look, I just wanna say, I'm sorry." he said with remorse, "Even if I didn't recognize you that night, me freaking out earlier and running off was not okay. And I was a jerk to do that to you, especially when you were so excited to see me, not-not that it was how you should feel when you see me. I mean, I-I'm not telling you how you should or shouldn't feel, but I-I-I…I'm lost, I don't know where I'm going with this, and if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go dunk my head in the punch, step outside, and catch fruity-pneumonia. Okay? Okay. Take care, goodbye." Xiang rambled, his side of the conversation taking a sudden, spiral nosedive.

"No, no, no, no! Xiang, Xiang, Xiang, it's okay; wait! Please." Opal pleaded as she grabbed onto his robes and tried to pull him back before he could dash away. "Please, hear me out. I'm sorry, too; for my…reaction that night at the arena. It was wrong of me. I…I just got so upset that you didn't remember me."

"I still don't remember you." Xiang pointed out in exasperation. "I'm sorry, but I don't. I…I got into an accident when I was six, and I think it may have rattled the time we spent together out of my head."

"What sort of accident? Are you o-" Opal began to ask in concern, but halted when she grabbed his left hand. Given how long his hanfu's sleeves were, only his fingertips were visible. But when Opal tried to pass on her warmth and concern to his bare skin, all she found were bark covered roots for fingers.

It had not been the first time Xiang saw that look of shock and remorse when people learned of his disability. But for some reason, seeing it on Opal's face made him feel guilty for being the cause of it. The best he could do at that moment was tell her the truth, hoping it was a step to put her at ease. "It was a triad turf war. A building fell on me, and I lost my arm in the process." he explained, not able to look her in the eye as he did.

"And…and you use your bending to make up for it. That's really cool." Opal said, giving him a small, slightly sad smile.

"Wait, you know I'm a Plantbender?" he asked, completely shocked.

"Well, yeah. You used to make flowers grow for me, and you made grass knots to trip my brothers when we were kids. You really don't remember any of it?"

"Um," Xiang hesitated as he blushed, "well, I, uh, kind of remember the two of us playing in your, uh, family's swimming pool."

At first, Opal did not understand why this was making Xiang crush. But when she remembered he was still a teenage boy, and clearly a bashful one by the look of it, she realized it was because his only memory of her was of her in a swimsuit; even if they were only five at the time. "Oh, spirits; he is too cute!" Opal squealed in her mind. At that moment, she decided to dish out some payback for forgetting her. "Oh, so, you can only remember a girl if she's wearing a bathing suit? Should I go change into one I just bought so you'll remember me next time?"

Quite frankly, if Xiang ever did see Opal in a bathing suit now, there was no chance of forgetting her. That being said, even the thought of that, and being called out on it, was enough to make the Plantbender struggle to coherently speak. Taking pity on her childhood friend, Opal broke into a fit of adorable giggles. "I'm sorry; I couldn't resist."

Not able to help himself, Xiang joined in on the laughter. For a good portion of the party, the pair spent their time catching up, filling in the gaps of Xiang's memory of their time together, and making new memories to look back on. The majority of which involved Xiang acting like an absolute goof and Opal either laughing at his antics, or surpassing them. One moment in particular was their moment of payback against some stuffy opera singer who bumped into Opal and did not apologize. When the jerk had decided to demonstrate his "talent", Xiang and Opal grabbed a bowl of cherries and, from their well-placed spot out his eyesight, flicked the fruit into his mouth every time he tried to sing. Luckily for them, the singer noticed a waiter with another bowl of cherries and blamed him instead; and promptly punished the poor man by smashing handfuls of cherries in his face. After they escaped the area, without looking to see where they were going, Xiang gently bumped into Korra.

"Oops! Sorry, Korra." he apologized.

"There you are. Where the hell have you been? I haven't seen you since the punch bowl incident."

"Okay, what did your brother do to the punch?" Opal asked in frustration over not knowing.

"You don't want to know." Xiang answered before turning back to Korra. "And to answer your question, I've been catching up with an old friend of mine. Avatar Korra, this is Opal Beifong."

"It's nice to meet you, Avatar Korra." Opal warmly greeted.

"Yeah, you, too." she said back before whispering to Xiang, "Isn't that the girl who-"

"Yes, and we've already straightened that out. Forget about it." he whispered back before resuming his regular volume. "So, has Tarrlok been pestering you about his task force this whole time?"

"Actually, no. Surprisingly, I haven't seen him in a while. I half expected him to be hovering over me the whole time, tonight. Has he approached you, yet? I think he still wants the both of us to join, not just me." Korra asked.

"No, and even if he does, I'm still gonna turn him down. I'm still mad at that smug bastard; waltzing into my home trying to recruit us and acting like he already owned us before even asking." Xiang hissed in annoyance; something Korra rarely saw from him since she started living with him and his family. Seeing that her crush was growing agitated by the mere mentioning of the councilman, Opal decided to step in and get his mind off topic.

"Hey, Xiang? Would you mind getting me a glass of sparkling kiwi juice from the bar? I haven't had anything to drink since we stuffed those garlic-poppers in those old ladies' sashes." she requested, putting on her best cute face. With a deep breath to calm himself down, Xiang obeyed and left to get her order. "Wow. This Tarrlok guy must've really pissed him off. That was a complete 180 of how he's been all night."

"Yeah, no kidding. He didn't even get that mad at me when we argued at the bending arena. Speaking of which, what's up with you?" Korra bluntly asked.

Caught off guard by the Avatar's frankness, Opal stuttered out her response. "I-I'm sorry?"

"You show up in front of Xiang, randomly talk to him like you had run into him earlier that day, and then when he asks if he knows you, you shove him to the ground and storm off. I may not be a city-girl, but that was pretty strange in my book." Korra remarked.

"Well, if you must know, Xiang and I were friends when we were kids, and my reaction was because it annoyed me that he forgot about me." Opal retorted, holding up her hand to stop Korra before she defended Xiang. "Which has gone away now that I know about his accident, and how it might've been the cause of all that. What about you? What exactly are you to Xiang, Avatar Korra?" she asked almost sharply. Even though Korra had no romantic feelings towards Xiang, that she was aware of, her lack of social interactions throughout her life has not helped her learn how to keep her suspicions masked. But before Korra could give a response, half-assed or otherwise, Tarrlok came up to her with a middle-aged man at his side.

"Korra, it is my pleasure to introduce Republic City's most famous industrialist, Hiroshi Sato." the councilman introduced, saving the Avatar from an argument. Turning away from Opal, Korra took note of the man's appearance. Dressed in expensive, dark red clothes, Hiroshi carried himself in a way befitting a self-made man such as himself. With his neatly combed hair, large mustache, and gold-rimmed glasses, Hiroshi just radiated wealth and success.

With a polite smile and short bow, the industrialist kindly greeted the guest of honor. "Please, Tarrlok, the honor is all mine. I'm glad to have finally met you, Avatar Korra. We're all expecting great things from you."

"Greatness. Right." Korra sheepishly muttered. Thankfully, the sound of a familiar voice snapped her out of her self-doubt.

"Hey, Korra." Mako greeted. Much to Korra's surprise, she noticed the extremely beautiful Asami on Mako's arm while Bolin was tagging along.

"This is my daughter, Asami." Hiroshi proudly introduced.

"It's lovely to meet you, Korra. Mako's told me so much about you." Asami kindly greeted.

"Really? He hasn't mentioned you at all. How did you two meet?" Korra asked.

"Asami crashed into him on her moped." Bolin quickly answered before dashing out as quickly as he did in.

"What? Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine; more than fine, actually. Mr. Sato has agreed to sponsor out team. We're back in the tournament!" Mako explained with joy. To join in on the joy, Bolin looped his arms around both his teammates for side hugs.

"Isn't that great?!" he happily asked.

"Yeah, terrific." Korra partially lied. Before she could feel any worse about the information she just received, Xiang returned with Opal's drink.

"Here we go, one sparkling kiwi juice for the lady." he said as he presented her drink on a silver platter he borrowed. With a small giggle and faint blush, Opal accepted the beverage from her crush. But before Xiang could join on the conversation, one of the other guests patted him on the shoulder as he passed by.

"I'll have a red plum wine spritzer, please." the man ordered, mistaking Xiang for a waiter.

Obviously annoyed at the man's request, Xiang gave him a blank stare and fake smile before giving his response. "Consider it done, asshole." he replied, earning the stereotypical gasps of the wealthy.

"Oh, my word! Why I never!" the guest remarked as he walked off.

"Can you believe that guy?" Xiang rhetorically asked the group.

"Well, I didn't help that you had a serving tray and are dressed in black and white like a waiter." Mako dryly pointed out.

"Have you ever seen a waiter look this good?" Xiang asked as he gestured to himself, "I didn't think so. What are we talking about?"

"I was just introducing our guest of honor to Mr. Hiroshi Sato and his lovely daughter Asami." Tarrlok smoothly introduced, "Hiroshi, this is Councilman Tenzin's eldest son, Xiang."

"A pleasure to finally meet you, young man. I've heard stories about Air Temple Island's black-and-white-clad monk and the good deeds he does for our city." Hiroshi kindly greeted as they shook hands.

"I just do what I can to help people smile every now and then, sir." Xiang humbly waved off.

"Well, it's nice to see Avatar Aang's caring spirit lives on in his eldest grandchild." Hiroshi nodded before leaning in with a sly smirk, "And if the wasabi mixed in with the kiwi mochi platter was your doing, your grandfather's mischievous side lives on, as well."

"I will neither confirm, nor deny, that was me." Xiang replied while looking away and brushing his under his nose. In response, Hiroshi let out a boisterous laugh for the whole room to hear. Off to the side, Asami slid up to Opal in order to discreetly tease her in her ear.

"So, it looks like you did't need my moped after all." she remarked with a foxy grin.

"Please, as if I needed something so over the top to get a date." Opal retorted with a grin of her own.

"If you say so. I just hope, for your sake, he's not so dense that he doesn't realize this is a borderline date. But then again, he is a guy, after all." Asami taunted. At that moment, Opal's confidence and joy over the evening, figuratively, shattered like a massive glass window behind her.

"Why you!" Opal nearly screeched, her face turning almost as red as Asami's dress.

"Everything alright?" Xiang asked as he came over to them while the others chatted amongst themselves. Not wanting to make another scene in front of the Plantbender, Opal immediately composed herself as best as she could.

"Uh, yep! Yep, yep, yep! All good over here, Xiang. Just chit-chatting with my dear, bestie Asami." Opal rambled as she blushed before pulling Asami in by her shoulder, and discreetly digging her nails into her friend's skin. "Right?"

"Not exactly the person who I wanted their nails digging into me tonight." Asami bluntly thought before giving a verbal reply. "Of course. We're practically inseparable; almost like the sister neither of us ever had."

"Really? I honestly wasn't expecting that. I didn't know you had come to Republic City before, Opal." Xiang remarked.

"Oh, I haven't. Asami and her father have come to Zaofu a few times since you stayed with us, and we've met up at some parties and events in Ba Sing Se and Gaolin, too. It's not just a stereotype, most rich families that run their own businesses know each other." Opal explained with a cute giggle at the end.

"And every time we did meet up, Opal found some way to bring you into the conversation. It's nice to finally meet you." Asami greeted with a warm, beautiful smile. But just as Xiang was about to gentle shake her hand, he felt a sharp pain stab at his brain as several images flickered in his mind. For some reason, seeing Asami smile at him brought back flashes of his childhood. Unfortunately for him, his face contorted into a painful grimace as he clutched his head and his knees buckled.

"Xiang, what's wrong?" Opal asked worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Asami asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Just-just a sudden headache. I, uh, I think I need to step outside for a moment; get some fresh air. Excuse me." he said doing his best to remain composed. As he moved through the crowd as fast as he could without running, the young calico finally made it outside the building. Despite the stabbing sensation he felt in his head, he did his best to take deep breaths in the cold evening air. "Just calm down." he whispered to himself. "You've got to let go of what happened." he recited as he used his bending to sprout lavender across his arm, and dragged his nose across it so the aroma would ease his tension. "It's over; it's been over for years. Just let it go!"

"Xiang?" a cute little voice innocently asked off to his side.

"What?!" he suddenly snarled, his teeth tightly gritting from his burst of anger. In that moment, Xiang saw the startled face of his youngest sister staring back at him. Whatever was causing Xiang to behave this way, it began to diminish as his brotherly persona took over. "Oh, I'm sorry Ikki. I-I don't know what came over me. Is everything okay?" he asked, his tone gradually losing its bite.

"I'm fine. But you don't look good." Ikki innocently shrugged. It was times like this that made Xiang grateful his youngest sister had such an easy-going attitude. Had she not, or if she had been like Jinora at her age, he probably would have had to dry some tears. "Are you okay?" she asked as she sat next to him.

"Oh, just dealing some weird, personal stuff, that's all." he replied trying to play it cool. Unfortunately, Ikki misunderstood this.

"Oh! Is this one of those 'puberty-things' Mommy and Daddy sometimes talk to you about?" she asked. Naturally, as a young adult, and a big brother, Xiang's entire head turned red in embarrassment at the question.

"What?! No! Wha-wher-how do you know about that word or that they've talked to me about that?!" he exclaimed.

"I like to explore the temple sometimes and I used to hear them say that word to you a few years ago. Is it a bad word?" she asked.

"No, but it's definitely something you never talk about with your brothers. Okay? Not with me, certainly not with Meelo, and not even with the baby if it's a boy. Okay?" he asked, hoping it would be the end of their conversation.

"What about Jinora? Can I talk about it with her?" Ikki asked, a little confused about what her brother was saying.

For a brief moment, Xiang hesitated before giving his answer with a raised finger. "…Yes, but only after she's turned eighteen." he replied before muttering, "That should be the right age for her to be used to that stuff and not bite anyone's head off."

"Huh?" Ikki asked, tilting her head.

"Nothing, let's head back inside. I think my mochi trap should be cleared by now." he said, wrapping his, now flowerless, arm around her to lead them back inside. As they walked back into the party room, Xiang could not help but glance down at Ikki with a small smile on his face. "Kid has no idea how much she just saved my ass out there." he warmly thought before bending down to kiss her head.

"What was that for?" she asked, craning her neck to look up at her big brother.

"Just for being a great, little sister. That's all." he smiled. In response, Ikki hugged his lower body as warmly and tightly as she could before running off to rejoin her other siblings. Now that he was a little more at peace than he was before, the Plantbender looked around to find his friends and rejoin them. As he did, he met up with a different member of the Beifong family.

"Doing alright there, kid?" Lin curtly asked, her voice as authoritative and stern as ever, yet Xiang knew there was some concern in it; somewhere.

"Yeah. It's just one the joys of being me this time of year acting up again." he sarcastically remarked. "Nice to see you dressed for the occasion." he snorted towards Lin's metal armor/uniform.

"Thanks. Nice to see you went with a different color scheme than usual." the police chief retorted.

"I actually did, I'll have you know." Xiang fired back as he pulled at a black part of his clothing. "This happens to be a different shade of black than what I normally wear."

"Oh, really? What's it called?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"…Slightly-darker-black." he replied before chortling in laughter. Had Lin not been on duty, the brief snort she let out might have escalated into full-blown laughter. "Hey, uh, I know you don't have the best relationship with your sister and all, but your niece and youngest nephews are here."

"I'm aware." Lin curtly replied, shifting back into her professional persona.

"…Are you going to talk to them?" he cautiously asked.

"No, I am not. And I'm not going to let some adolescent, vegetarian, calico change my decision, either." Lin dismissed.

"Okay, okay. Just thought I'd ask." Xiang relented. "It's just that, I don't think they're going to be leaving Republic City any time soon, so, I figured you'd just wanna get things over with and interact with them sooner than later."

"If they're anything like their mother, I'll be interacting with them sooner than you think, Xiang." Lin shot back with a hateful sneer directed at whatever mental images she was seeing in her head.

"What the flameo happened between you two, anyway?" Xiang asked, utterly baffled at his pseudo aunt's disposition.

"None of your business. Shouldn't you be with the Avatar, right now?" Lin fired back.

"I probably should, but that would put me closer to Tarrlok, and that's the last thing I want tonight. You know he's just doing all this to get Korra and I on his task force, right?"

"Tch, no shit." Lin scoffed as she scanned the room for anything sketchy. "I'm just glad you both had the brains to say no. That man's an artic wolf-bat in koala-sheep's clothing, and everyone knows it."

"Yeah, but I don't know if Korra knows that. I don't think she said no for the same reasons I did. And that worries me."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, Tarrlok's been getting closer and closer to pushing the right buttons to make her join with every attempt. And I think he's finally figured out what those are." Xiang replied before realization popped into his head. "I gotta go; see ya, Lin!" he quickly said before speed walking away to find Korra.

Had Xiang been able to see the chief's expression, he would have noticed something almost sad and remorseful on her face. Almost as if she was caught up in thoughts of what could have been as she kept her eyes on him. "See ya, kid." she softly whispered before going back to her duties.

"How hard is it to find the one and only Avatar in a party dedicated to her?!" Xiang screamed in frustration in his head. Unlike the last time he went searching for his grandfather's reincarnation, he was unable to loudly call out to her or ask around. If what he suspected was accurate, tonight was going to be the night Tarrlok got his way and gained the Avatar on his task force. Instead of finding the socially awkward teen, however, Xiang bumped into her teammate, and obvious admirer, Bolin. "Excuse me."

"Oh, sorry about that, Xiang. You okay? You look like you're in a rush." Bolin noticed.

"I am. Where's Korra?" he curtly replied and asked.

"Oh, Councilman Tarrlok just took her to some reporters to answer some questions, or something." the Earthbender shrugged.

"Shit! I'm too late!" Xiang cursed in his head. Just as he was about to dart away, Bolin stopped him by wrapping his arm around his shoulder and brought him in close.

"While we're talking about Korra, I need to ask you some things." he said.

"Like what?" Xiang asked in suspicion.

"Well, you two live together, right?"

"Technically." Xiang replied, unsure of where this was going.

"So, you must have a pretty good idea of what she's interested in, right?" Bolin asked.

"I mean…" Xiang trailed off with a shrug.

"So, say, for example, a guy was interested in Korra and wanted to learn more about her, but couldn't ask her directly without being too obvious. You would probably be the best person to ask for such details, wouldn't you?" Bolin nonchalantly asked, earning a deadpanned expression from Xiang.

"…Are you trying to get me to make it easier for you to ask out Korra?" he flatly asked.

"I wouldn't put that way," Bolin said, trying to play it cool despite his nervous sweating.

"Except that it's the truth?" Xiang rhetorically asked.

"Um,"

"Look, Bolin, I don't have time for this. If things end up the way I think they will, Korra's gonna be too busy to date anyone, anyway. Better luck with the next one." Xiang curtly dismissed as he shrugged off Bolin's arm and began to walk away. But as he did, he halted once he heard Bolin's next words.

"Fine then. I'll try my luck with that Opal girl; she's pretty cute." he said just before Xiang swooped back to him and wrapped his own arm around his shoulders.

"Okay, she may not look it, but Korra's an absolute glutton. So, if you wanna make a good impression, take her to that Southern Water Tribe place on Pakku Boulevard for dinner, and follow up with 'Gran-Gran's Frosters' for dessert. And if you wanna throw in an activity before or after, I'd go with the Earth-Disk cage in Little Omashu." Xiang quickly instructed before grabbing Bolin by the collar of his suit and looking him directly in the eyes. "And never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever even think about going after Opal Beifong ever again. Get it?"

"Got it." he nodded in fear.

"Good." Xiang smirked before patting his chest and walking off in a hurry for Korra. By the time he found her, it was too late. Tarrlok had led her down the stairs to answer the barrage of questions asked by the various reporters.

"Avatar Korra, you, personally, witnessed Amon take away the bending of Republic City's most violent gang members firsthand. How serious a threat does he pose to the innocent citizens of Republic City?" a male reporter asked.

Anyone, with or without a pair of functioning eyes and ears, could tell Korra was unprepared to answer such serious question, so it was no surprise her answer was weak. "I think he poses a real problem." she struggled to say.

"Then why have you refused to join Councilman Tarrlok's task force?" another reporter asked. "As Avatar, shouldn't you be going after Amon?"

"Well, I-"

"Why are you backing away from this fight?"

At that moment, Xiang knew Tarrlok had Korra right where he wanted her. Korra was an easy person to read. Her stubbornness and competitive nature was easy to notice, and given her lack of social interaction throughout her life, those traits were easy to exploit from people like Tarrlok. It would not have been a surprise if Tarrlok had instructed that reporter, if not all of them, to ask Korra such a provoking question. Regardless, the expected reaction came forth in Korra's immediate retort. "What? No, I've never backed away from anything in my life."

"You promised to serve this city. Are you going back on that promise, now?"

"Do you think Pro-Bending is more important than fighting the revolution?"

"How do you think Avatar Aang would have handled this?"

"Are you afraid of Amon?"

With that, Korra finally broke and played right into Tarrlok's hands. "I am not afraid of anybody!" she shouted in defiance, earning the attention of everyone in the entire room. "If the city needs me, then I will gladly join Tarrlok's task force and help fight Amon."

Without even a second to wait, Tarrlok swooped in, brought in Korra close to him as a sign of cooperation, and smiled for the cameras. "There's your headline, folks!" he practically cheered at his victory.

"Ugh!" Xiang groaned as he ran his hand down his face in exasperation. "Grandpa, your reincarnation is a gullible idiot." he muttered.

For the next week, Korra and Tarrlok successfully carried out the duties of the task force against the Equalists. While it seemed like the city was grateful for her actions, the other people in Korra's life were growing either concerned, frustrated, or both. Since joining, Korra had little to no time at all for either Airbending training, or Pro-Bending practice. As a result, Tenzin was growing an even harsher grudge against Tarrlok, and the Fire Ferrets were becoming aggravated with Korra. The only upside Xiang could find was the restored peace and quiet on the island while Korra was away, and that Tarrlok was too preoccupied to continue badger-moling him to join, as well. It was actually a good think neither member of the Water Tribes were around to pester him, because as the days continued to pass, Xiang's bad mood and temperament were becoming worse; so much so, he kept his time with Opal as short as he could allow, even though she seemed to calm him down. Unfortunately for him, one night following another successful raid, he heard something on the radio that really put him a foul mood.

After bathing and thoroughly cleaning his stump, Xiang was walking back to his room when he overheard Tenzin's radio broadcasting Tarrlok and Korra's press conference. "Today, Republic City gains another victory against the so-called 'Equalists' and their fear-mongering leader Amon." Tarrlok announced to the reporters.

"Councilman Tarrlok, do you believe that having a task force comprised of benders only further strengthens the accusations of inequality made by Amon and the Equalists?" a reporter asked.

"Not at all. My task force does not discriminate against any person of any nation's descent, let alone their ability to bend or not. Furthermore, should any non-bender wish to join us, they need simply volunteer as the current members have done for every mission they have participated in." he replied, his voice, surprisingly, filled with honesty and integrity.

"Councilman, there have been rumors regarding the members you wished to join your task force, especially regarding the Avatar. Care to comment?"

"All I can say is I have an eye that recognizes talent and potential. I'd be a fool to say our Avatar lacked either of these qualities."

"But what of the rumors regarding a certain 'mystery bender' you wanted to join the task force alongside Avatar Korra?"

"Heh, I wasn't aware the notion of 'mystery' was considered an element, let alone a bendable one." Tarrlok smoothly joked. "But to answer your question, I did extend my offer to a certain bender, whose name I shall not disclose, and they turned it down, as was their right. I do not hold a grudge against this bender for their decision, and I shall respect it."

"What about the strange, random appearances of trees and plants often spotted in known Triad territories? Are these related to this mysterious bender?"

"I do not have jurisdiction of these parts of Republic City, nor do I reside there, so I cannot say for certain. If you have any questions regarding what happens in Triad territories, well, I wish you good luck in receiving answers from our esteemed chief of police." Tarrlok said with a chuckle.

"Avatar Korra, you engaged against known members of the Triple Threat Triad when you first arrived to Republic City, a day one of these tree sightings occurred. Do you know who this person is, and were they offered to join the task force?" another reporter asked.

"Don't say anything stupid. Don't say anything stupid." Xiang quietly pleaded before Korra gave her reply.

"Yes, I do know this bender, and yes they were offered to join."

"Idiot!" he shouted in his mind as he slapped his forehead.

"Why has this bender refused to fight against Amon? Do you believe the revolution would end sooner if they did join you and Councilman Tarrlok?"

Before Korra could answer, Tarrlok interjected and answered in her place. "Avatar Korra has bravely answered the call to action. With the two of us leading the charge, Republic City has nothing to fear from Amon and his Equalists." he neutrally addressed.

"Question for the Avatar," a female reporter spoke up, "Amon remains at large. Why have you failed to locate him?"

"You want to know why?" Korra hotly addressed over the box, "Because Amon is hiding in the shadows like a coward. Amon, I know you're listening, so I have a message directly for you. I, Avatar Korra, challenge you to a duel. No task force, no chi-blockers, just the two of us, tomorrow night at midnight on Avatar Aang memorial island. Let's cut to the chase and settle this; if you're man enough to face me."

Immediately following this declaration, Tarrlok brought the press conference to an abrupt end as Tenzin stormed out of the room, with his glider-staff in a gust of wind, all while Xiang was smacking his head and sinking to the floor. By the time Tenzin arrived at City Hall, the reporters had already left, leaving him no reason not to air blast the massive doors open as he barged in. "Was this your game from the start?!" the monk shouted at Tarrlok as he stormed up to him and Korra.

"Now, Tenzin, let's not be too hasty." Tarrlok tried to appease.

"Oh, we're well past that point, Tarrlok." Tenzin hissed before glaring at Korra. "And you! How dare you drag my son into this?!"

"Hey, don't get upset with me! If Xiang had just said yes in the first place, I wouldn't have needed to say anything!" Korra defended arrogantly.

"Korra, there's only a handful of people outside my family and the White Lotus who know he's a Plantbender; you can't just blurt that out for the world to hear over a difference of opinions!" Tenzin shot back.

"Which I averted. So, there's no harm done." Tarrlok interjected, trying to ease the tension. "Korra, why don't you get cleaned up and head on home to get some rest? You did good work; I'll contact you when we have the next raid prepped and ready." he suggested. Thankfully, Korra was too tired to carry out the argument with her teacher, and headed to the locker room to shower. When she was gone, Tarrlok continued his attempt to appease his colleague. "We both knew people have spotted Xiang's handiwork in the past, Tenzin. He doesn't do it often, and Air Temple Island doesn't get many visitors, so the risk of exposure is no greater than usual."

"But it will be if he's pressured enough to give in and join your ridiculous task force!"

"I agree, and I will admit, in my haste to put down Amon, I didn't consider that when I offered him to join. But thanks to the results we've been seeing due to Korra, I believe his involvement is no longer necessary." Tarrlok eased. While his words were sincere, it was clear to the Waterbender Tenzin was not so convinced. With a deep sigh, Tarrlok continued to speak. "Look, Tenzin, I know we're not exactly friends," he said receiving a scoff from the monk, "nor do we entirely strive to become such," he continued with a strained tone, "but I do hold you in high respect. So, I hope at least some part of you will believe me when I say, I have no intention to willingly expose your son's secret; especially not out of spite just because we have different methods in protecting Republic City."

"Whether it's intentional or not, Tarrlok, trying to include my son in this obvious political stunt of yours as you have done with the Avatar is not going to go the way you think." Tenzin shot back. "And as for you claiming to back off on trying to recruit him, you really must think I'm as gullible as the rest of the council. I know how you operate, and I know you don't settle for anything less than what you want. So, out of the respect I have for you, for your dedication in serving Republic City, even though most of the time it's to suit yourself, I'll give you this warning. My son is not an ordinary bender, and I don't just refer to his ability to bend plants. If you want to turn him loose on the Equalists, I can promise you the entire city will suffer the ramifications. So long as Korra and her bending are not at the mercy of Amon, and it's still her choice, I will allow her to continue working with you. But if Xiang somehow becomes convinced he needs to help you, no one will be safe when it's all said and done."

With a sharp turn towards the door, his cloak snapping in the wind he caused as he did, Tenzin made his way to leave. As he did, Tarrlok let out a loud chuckle of amusement. "Wow! I have to admit, Tenzin, I knew you were protective of your family, but that was something else. You'd threaten your father's legacy just to keep the world from learning your son can bend plants?"

"You misunderstand." Tenzin curtly corrected, his back still facing Tarrlok. "I'm not implying what I would do to the city. I'm warning you what my son would do should he ever lose control. And if that does ever happen, I have two pieces of advice for you: run fast, and run far." With that final warning, the Air Nomad left the building and proceeded to glide back home. The following morning, as per usual, Xiang had gone outside to meditate as the sun rose over the island. Just as he was beginning to bend the roots of his arm towards his stump, a certain hot-tempered house guest interrupted him.

"Hey! I wanna talk to you." Korra bluntly announced as she approached him.

"No, by all means, I'm not concentrating or anything." he dryly remarked. Seeing that Korra was clearly in a bad mood, Xiang braced himself as he sped up the attachment of his arm, hissing in pain when the roots connected with his nerves. "What do you want, Korra?" he asked as he rolled his faux limb.

"Look, I know you don't like Tarrlok, but with as much good as the task force has done, we're still no closer to permanently taking out Amon. So, I think it would be a good idea for you to join us."

"You do, or the reporter who put the idea into your head last night does?" he hotly asked as he leapt to his feet to match her eye-level. "I heard your interview last night, Korra, and I'm not real happy about you nearly exposing me like you almost did. Where the hell do you get off thinking you can tell people I can Plantbend?"

"Oh, so I was just supposed to know you keep it a secret after seeing you use it against mobsters and radicals since I came here?" Korra sarcastically asked.

"I only used that when necessary, and however many people that do see it don't know I'm Aang's grandson, or that I live here on this island! Because unlike you, I don't blab to the world 'look at me, everybody, I'm the one and only Plantbender; love and adore me!'" Xiang retorted/ranted.

"I don't do that!" Korra defended, blushing at how he was partially correct.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" he sarcastically relented with a chuckle.

"Well, if you aren't going to help, then at least teach me how to Plantbend." Korra all but ordered.

"Giving up on Airbending again, are we?" he asked.

"No, but-"

"Look, Korra, even if I wanted to teach you Plantbending, which I don't, I don't even think you can learn it. For one thing, it incorporates the basics of all four forms of bending to even make a plant move, let alone grow and control one like I do." Xiang explained. "Besides, you're much too impatient to teach, and frankly, I've had my fill of you for the day just from this screaming match of ours. So, why don't you run along and go fail at Airbending again; it's the only thing you seem to be good at." he dismissed with a wave as he walked away. In her frustration and rage, Korra looked around her for the nearest source of water to bend. When she spotted a nearby bird path in Xiang's garden, she pulled out all the water and morphed it into a water whip. With a swift flick of the liquid, the Avatar lashed the back of Xiang's head, causing him to look back at her furious expression. Now that he was provoked, the calico looked back at the Avatar with a sadistic grin. "Fine! You wanna learn Plantbending? Study closely!" he said before retaliating.

With a massive wave of his arms, much like a Waterbender, Xiang pulled up a large patch of grass and had it encase him in a spiral, much like a cocoon. Before Korra had the chance to act, dozens of the blades of grass stiffened and launched towards her in a barrage of needles. Since it was nothing more than ordinary grass, Korra easily burned them to ash in the wind with her Firebending; a response Xiang hoped for. Because Korra used Firebending, she made a large blind-spot with the flames, allowing Xiang to charge at her. Rather than the whip-like fighting style he used against the Equalists, Xiang was using a method similar to what Toph was said to have done when she coated herself in earth or metal. In make-shift arm-pads/ gauntlets and leg-pads, Xiang's grass cocoon were now spiked pieces of armor he used in a series of strikes and kicks.

Based on the scratches in Korra's clothing, and on her bare arms, it was clear the attacks were working. In response, she used Earthbending to pull out the pavers beneath Xiang and equipped them to her, causing him to back-flip and step back several feet away. By this point, Xiang knew the grass's time had been spent, so he transitioned back into his regular fighting style. When Korra saw his arms were raised, she knew she needed to keep her distance. To do so, in a way resembling her Firebending teammate, Korra let loose a flurry of fiery jab blasts. Before any of them could land, Xiang, amazingly, dropped down into a perfect split, as the blasts flew over his head. From there, after slamming his left arm onto the ground, Xiang's branch dug and tunneled beneath the pavement before erupting into a tree beneath Korra, causing her to fall flat on her back.

Having enough of the tree, Korra used her Waterbending to pull from the ocean and create a large blade of water to sever Xiang from the tree. For a brief moment, she thought this would end the fight, but she was proven wrong when she saw Xiang turn the stump into a long, wooden javelin. With what seemed like an impossible burst of speed, Xiang lunged at the Avatar with his modified limp. Had Korra not already begun her Airbending training, she might not have possessed the reflexes to even barely dodge the strike. However, as soon as she dodged, Xiang used a quick blur of hand kata to bend multiple spikes out from the javelin. None managed to pierce Korra, but they did force her to back father away. This gave Xiang the opportunity to bend the spikes into branches long enough to be braided back into his usual arm. Hoping to overpower the Plantbender, Korra sprang to her feet and leapt forward to unleash a dual fire blast from her fists. In response, Xiang merely extended his left arm as his right hand performed more kata forms. When the flames cleared, Korra was shocked to see a shield of vines and flowers, not only protecting Xiang, but were completely unburnt.

Noticing her expression, Xiang lowered the shield to speak to her. "You'd be amazed at just how many plants there are that can actually resist fire, Korra." After making this remark, he retracted the shield and proceeded to charge towards the Avatar. Meanwhile, having heard all the commotion from inside the temple, Jinora came outside to see what was happening. At first, she thought her brother and Korra were simply sparing. But when she noticed the looks of rage on their faces, she knew they were actually fighting. Since they fighting hand-to-hand at this point, Korra had the slight advantage since she knew several more fighting styles than Xiang. This was proven when she managed to land an elbow strike to his jaw as he simultaneously side-punched her with enough force to push her several feet away. This caused Jinora to become concerned at first, but when she saw her brother snarl at Korra, while half his face seemed to darken, the little Airbender became terrified enough to run back inside in search of her father.

Unfortunately for Xiang, Korra was the first to recover and charged back at the young man with a fiery palm strike. Due to his quick reflexes, Xiang was able to catch the strike in his wooden hand, but had his other hand caught by Korra when he tried the same attack. By this point, it was a battle of strength as they kept pushing against each other, no doubt trying to twist their opponent's hands and exploit their pain. Both were gritting their teeth and groaning as they pushed. But Korra, in her anger, managed to notice a resource she could exploit. Since both teens were covered in sweat, and her head was free to move, Korra used her bending to move the beads of sweat into Xiang's wooden arm and proceeded to freeze them. As a result, this caused Xiang's hand and wrist to crack and break, allowing Korra's freed hand to punch him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. Once Xiang was caught off guard, Korra grabbed what remained of his prosthetic and attempted to flip him over her shoulder. However, Korra did not realize the extent of the damage she had done to his arm.

As she was pulling the arm to flip Xiang, the damaged wood not only proceeded to break in multiple places, but broke away and ripped off Xiang's stump in the process. As a result, Xiang dropped onto his left side and cried out in pain as he clutched his stump. Seeing her friend in such a state sobered Korra enough to look in horror at what she had done. Despite her anger and frustration towards Xiang, she never had the intention to actually hurt him; especially not to this point.

"Oh, spirits!" she gasped through her hand covered mouth. "Xiang, I am so sorry!"

"Gah! You bitch!" he cried out as he writhed in agony, his angry breath rapidly increasing as he did.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-here, let me help!" she frantically pleaded as she covered her hands with water. While she may not have been as good as Katara, Korra had some basic knowledge of how to heal.

"Don't touch us!" Xiang shouted as he smacked her hands away. But Korra was determined to fix her mistake.

"Please, Xiang, just let me help y-rgh!" Korra began to say, only to choked by Xiang's hand. Now this was not his right hand, nor was it his wooden hand. In fact, even though it was choking her, and connected to Xiang, she could not believe it was his at all. In a grip that terrified the Avatar for several reasons, a pure, black arm, covered in some kind of sweat or mucus, had erupted from Xiang's shoulder. In addition to this scaring her, Korra was absolutely terrified to see Xiang's face change, as well. In what she first thought were shadows, but turned out to be black markings, Xiang's cheeks had turned black as his eyes turned completely white with a black mark where his eyebrows should have been, and the remainder of his face became white resembling either a skull's outline, or a mushroom's. Also, every single one of his teeth had become fangs, as sharp as knives.

"I said, do not touch us!" he said in a raspy voice. Before Korra could even comprehend what was going on, Xiang unleashed a bright blast of light and air from his mouth, sending Korra flying back at least a dozen yards. Once she was able to open her eyes through her pain, she could see Xiang glaring towards her, completely enraged. Thankfully, before anything could happen, Tenzin dashed between them and took a defensive stance. Since they were father and son, Korra expected words to be exchanged between them. However, Tenzin wasted no time in blasting Xiang with bursts of air until he was well past the garden. Even with the strange blasts of light coming towards him, Tenzin was unfazed as he protected himself and continued to push Xiang back. When the teen was knocked down to the ground, Tenzin created two funnels of wind into the garden, collecting as many lavender petals and other calming scents as he could. When they were all gathered, the bald monk sent the air directly into Xiang's face, causing his cheeks and hair to pushed back in the intense wind.

Somehow, this managed to disorient and calm Xiang long enough for Tenzin to dash forward and land multiple, chi-blocking strikes on his son. It seemed to have done the trick, as Xiang slumped in his father's arms as he reverted back to normal, save for the black arm remaining. With his son now unconscious, Tenzin carried him in his arms bridal-style as he turned to face Korra. The young Avatar looked ashamed while her master could only sigh and shake his head before taking his child inside. But, remembering his responsibility to the girl, he stopped to speak to her. "If you can stand, follow me."

Having neither the strength to argue or resist, Korra obeyed her teacher and followed him inside. Neither bender spoke during the entire walk. When they finally came to a stop, Korra opened the door and moved aside for Tenzin to place Xiang down on his bed. "I sent for the White Lotus' healers before I stepped in. They should be along soon. Is anything broken? Are you disoriented in any way?" he asked neutrally.

"What?" Korra asked as she snapped out of her daze, "N-no, I'm fine. Just a little battered, is all."

"Good." Tenzin exhaled, "I won't ask what happened out there; it seems fairly obvious. But I imagine you have plenty of questions you wish to ask me. Don't you?"

Korra simply nodded her head in response before she asked the only question she could bring herself to ask. "What was that thing he…turned into?" she struggled to ask.

With a deep sigh, Tenzin rubbed his bald head before going into his answer. "Well, to answer that, I'll have to start from the beginning; and it's a long story." he sighed. Before he could begin, the White Lotus healers came in to inspect the Avatar and unconscious Plantbender. As they did, Tenzin prepared a pot of tea for himself and Korra. Once the healers were finished and left, the monk began his story. "You'll be the first person outside my family, and those I consider family from my childhood, to know what I'm about to tell you. When Pema was pregnant with Xiang, she nearly had a miscarriage towards the end of her pregnancy. Xiang almost died in the womb as a result." he said, causing Korra to gasp in shock. After taking a sip of his tea to calm himself from the painful memories, Tenzin continued. "My mother had been staying with us at the time as Pema's midwife. I don't need to tell you there's no greater healer in the world than her; my sister Kya being a close second. But even she could not help. She told me Xiang would not last the night. I don't think there was a single person on this island who wasn't praying for a miracle to happen, which it did. The next morning, I found Pema outside, healthier than ever, and Xiang was born without any issues a month later. No one knew what happened, but we were all grateful, nonetheless. The morning we brought him here, to his room, I found this sitting on the windowsill next to an acorn." Tenzin said as he plucked the strange carving off Xiang's windowsill and showed it to Korra. "I suspected it was a sign from a spirit watching over us, but I couldn't determine which one. It wasn't until about two to three months after Xiang lost his arm that we all learned which spirit it was. I presume he told you what happened?"

"Yeah. Morbid stuff." Korra nodded as she sipped her own tea.

"Indeed. It took a while for Xiang to fully grasp what had happened to him. As it further dawned on him, he grew more frustrated with every little thing. At first, Pema and I just thought it was because he was a confused child who had a hard time adjusting. But things became worse as the Winter Solstice approached. My mother and siblings decided to visit for the solstice, and help Pema and I help Xiang in his adjustment. We certainly needed it. But two days before the solstice came, something snapped in Xiang. He hadn't completely gotten used to the lack of balance he had since losing his arm, and the falling that came with it was the most frustrating for him. After he had fallen, he started throwing a tantrum; pounding his fist and kicking his feet against the floor mats. Bumi tried to pick him up and comfort him, but Xiang wouldn't have it. He actually bit his hand, if I remember correctly. Pema stepped in to scold him, but that was the final straw. After she tried to pick him up, he just kept trying to break free, screaming and kicking in his fit. As I tried to step in, something…strange happened. A large arm, black as night, erupted from his stump and smacked me away into the wall. His teeth grew into fangs as a strange mark appeared over his face. Then, before any of us could figure out what to do, he blasted us with a strange breath of light. It didn't necessarily hurt any of us, but it did destroy the walls and sent a strange, spiritual shiver to our cores. Kya did her best to provide cover for us; using her bending to create walls of ice or water. It was then my mother realized which spirit saved him before his birth. It was Hei Bai, the black and white spirit. My father was a close friend of this spirit and met him during his original journey to master the four elements. Hei Bai heard our prayers and saved Xiang that night. But what we didn't know was that in order to do this, Hei Bai attached himself to Xiang's own spirit."

"How is that possible?" Korra asked.

"I don't know. To be honest, I don't even know if Hei Bai's the main reason why Xiang can bend plants, since he's a forest spirit. Thankfully, Kya had studied ancient techniques on how to soothe spirits that fall into their yin side. She used this to calm Xiang down and reverse his transformation. After bringing in multiple spiritual experts, we learned the true extent of Hei Bai's gift. They are bonded together; two halves of the same whole. Hei Bai's attachment may very well be the only thing keeping Xiang alive, but we don't know for certain. What we do know is there are four situations that causes their unification to become unbalanced, resulting in Hei Bai's spirit dominating Xiang's. The first three revolve around three specific times of the year: the Summer Solstice, the Winter Solstice more-so, and the anniversary of Xiang losing his arm. The fourth more often occurs around these dates and can be considered a warning sign; whenever he becomes enraged. The Winter Solstice isn't that far off from now, and the added stress of Tarrlok pressuring him into joining his task force hasn't helped. You demanding his involvement probably just sped things along."

"I'm so sorry. I-I didn't-"

"It's alright." Tenzin eased with a raised hand. "I know you're anxious to stop Amon, and Xiang would be a boon to this. But being the only known Plantbender comes with its own risks. If too many people found out he could do this, they would gradually start to demand he teach them. And if he ever becomes too stressed, especially around those dates I mentioned, they would find out the truth. After that, how long do you think it would take for people to start hunting down spirits to get them to bond to them? Or worse, how long before people would try to perform experiments on Xiang to learn more about the bond?" he asked.

"I never thought of that." Korra softly admitted. "But why only when he gets so angry?"

"Well, according to my father, Hei Bai is a very emotional spirit, and has a very short temper. He even attacked a village near his forest once and abducted some of its people after the Fire Nation burnt down a large portion of his home. He took my uncle Sokka into the Spirit World for an entire day because of that anger. Had it not been for Aang offering him hope, he might have stolen them all."

Korra could hardly believe this revelation of her friend. She knew the young man was unique, considering he was a Plantbender. But to learn he had a spirit bonded to his soul was not something she ever imagined. "I can't even begin to understand half of what you just said." she scoffed, still baffled of it all. "I don't think I even wanna be on this island when he learns all this."

"Learns?" Tenzin repeated with a cocked eyebrow. "Korra, he's well aware of his condition. He's always been aware of Hei Bai dwelling inside him; even before the incident. It's one of the reasons why Xiang is always in such a jovial mood; he's sharing the personality of Hei Bai's docile state, and he maintains it to keep from becoming that angry again. He has a good sense of control over Hei Bai's temperament but, like I said, this is a time of year when he loses that control."

"Yeah, and the big panda's not too happy about you bringing him out, Korra." Xiang groaned as he sat up in his bed, clutching his aching head as he did.

"How are you feeling, son?" Tenzin calmly asked.

"Oh, just as fine and dandy as I always do after I go through one of those mood swings of ours." the young adult sarcastically remarked. "How long was I out?" he asked as he massaged his temples. Much to Korra's surprise, the strange, black arm remained.

"No more than thirty minutes. It's a good thing Jinora warned me about the two of you fighting. Otherwise, you might have been transformed for a little longer."

"Which shouldn't have happened in the first place. Right, Korra?" he dryly asked the Avatar. Whether it was from shame or a lingering sense of stubbornness, Korra did not answer. The lack of a response caused Xiang to scoff before climbing out of bed and walking towards his closet. "Whatever," he muttered as he grabbed a spare black and white haori and pulled it over his torso, "Dad, I'm gonna go meditate until this thing fades away. I'm still pretty pissed, so don't let the kids near my garden." he said, leaving no room for discussion as he left the room.

Korra could only look down at the floor in regret and shame. But then, after processing what Xiang said as he left, she turned back to Tenzin. "What did he mean by until it fades away?" she asked.

"For some reason, the arm that grows in place of his left lingers for a while after his 'episodes.' I think Hei Bai tries to replace the arm he lost, but it cannot remain without the risk of another transformation. It will fade away after a while on its own, but meditation seems to help."

"I guess all this is the main reason why Xiang didn't join Tarrlok's task force, huh?" Korra asked, already knowing the answer.

"That, and Tarrlok has proven to be untrustworthy over the years. He's one of the few outside my family and our friends who know about Xiang being a Plantbender; but it's not because I told him. He was able to piece it together from reported instances of Xiang bending in the city. Lin and I have an agreement, of sorts, pertaining to this matter. She, too, understands the potential consequences I mentioned before. So, in order to keep that from happening, she keeps instances like the one the two of you were in when you arrived to the city from the public's knowledge."

"But they do know about him being a Plantbender!" Korra warned. "One of the reporters at city hall brought it up at the press conference."

"Yes, but thanks to Lin, and admittedly Tarrlok, no one knows his identity, or where he lives, either." Tenzin reassured. "I know the two of you are not in agreement with taking down Amon. But please, don't say anything you can't take back. Because if you do, there's no guarantee that both of them won't be angry with you."

For the remainder of the day, Korra contemplated everything she learned from her Airbending teacher, and how her actions may have damaged her friendship with Xiang. But even though the earlier events of the day still weighed heavy on her mind, Korra forced herself to make good on her promise and headed to Avatar Aang Memorial Island. While she sat at the giant, copper feet of her past life, Korra did her best to stay focused and alert for her opponent's arrival. Even after the bell struck midnight, which scared the young Avatar just a little, Amon appeared to have backed out of the challenge. "Looks like you're a no-show, Amon. Who's afraid now?" Korra rhetorically asked before getting up to leave. As she was walking in the direction leading to her boat, a sudden swooping, whirring sound filled the air just before Korra's legs became tangled and dragged down a dark corridor. When she came to a stop, her eyes widened in shock when she saw dozens of chi-blockers surround her and easily incapacitate her. Once they had blocked her chi, the revolutionaries hauled her up to see the masked face of Amon.

"I received your invitation, young Avatar." he darkly greeted. For a moment, it looked as though he was going to take her bending, but the masked figure transitioned into cupping her chin to face him. "Our showdown, while inevitable, is premature this night. Although it would be the simplest thing for me to take away your bending right now, I won't. You see, it would only make you a martyr. Benders of every nation would rally behind your untimely demise. But I assure you, I have a plan, and I'm saving you for last. Then you'll get your duel, and I will destroy you."

With a swift jab to her collar bone, Amon rendered Korra unconscious as he left her in a slump. While she was unconscious, the young Avatar could see flashes of visions in her head; all of which revolved around a middle-aged Aang and his friends. When she came to, she could have sworn her past life was running towards her to help. "Aang?" she groaned in confusion, only to see the man's son.

"Korra!" Tenzin said in panic as her leaned her up to check her for wounds. "Korra, are you alright? What happened? Was Amon here?"

"Y-yeah. He…he ambushed me." Korra admitted.

"Did," Tenzin hesitated to ask, "did he take your bending away?"

Just to make sure, Korra created a small flame in her hand before extinguishing it. "No. I'm okay." she said, despite sounding the opposite.

"Oh, thank goodness." Tenzin sighed in relief just before his student launched herself at him and began sobbing. Being the empathetic man he was, and a father of four, Tenzin did not hesitate to hold the poor girl in his arms and comfort her as she wept.

"I was so terrified! I felt so helpless." she wailed in fear.

"It's alright. The nightmare is over." Tenzin soothed.

"You," Korra struggled to say past her sniveling, "you were right. I've been scared this whole time. I've never felt like this before, and…Tenzin, I don't know what to do!" she confessed as she fell into his arms again.

"Admitting your fears is the first, and most difficult, step in overcoming them, Korra. But always remember this: you are not facing these fears alone. I'm here for you; we all are. And we will not leave you to face these fears alone. Not for a second. I promise you, we will overcome this, and we will defeat Amon."