Chapter Text
Republic City was hot, and sticky, and everything smelled vaguely of grilled meat. They’d spent the day traipsing through the streets, deafened by the sound of satomobiles whizzing past, suffocated by the ridiculous amount of people crowded onto the sidewalks. Korra loved every bit of it. She loved it in a way she couldn’t describe. Because she loved her parents. She loved steamed rice with alligator-eel. She loved penguin sledding. But her love for Republic City was different. It was unexpected and inextricably fierce.
“Mom!” she called. “Can we go see the Aang statue?” she bounced towards her mother, who had begun talking to a pretty, tall woman who was smiling brightly at both of them.
Senna ignored her daughter. Even as Korra pressed up against her side, she kept talking. “My husband is leader of the Southern tribe. He’s here to talk to the President about trading--”
“Please?” Korra singsonged, clenching her fingers in her mother’s dress and tugging. Her head only reached Senna’s waist, so she had to work to be on eye level. “It’s so cool. And I’ll do all my chores. And-”
Her mom placed a hand on Korra’s head. “Later, sweetheart. Your father’s in an important meeting and he’ll be out soon. Then we have to go home.” she looked back up at the pretty lady. “This is my daughter, Korra.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Korra.” she placed a hand over her chest and tilted her head down to examine Korra. “My name is Yasuko. I have a little girl about your age as well. She’s getting her teeth checked by a waterbender right now.”
Korra perked up. “I’m a waterbender!”
Senna stroked a hand through her hair, adoringly. “Not yet.”
Korra, annoyed, pushed her fingers away. “Yes I am! And if we had water nearby…” she glanced around.
“I believe you,” Yasuko said, interrupting her search but looking amused rather than annoyed. “We can do a demonstration later. Do you want to be a healer, then?”
Korra wrinkled her nose at the prospect. “Definitely not.”
Her mom smiled wryly. “Korra wants to be a pro bender.”
Yasuko’s eyes widened. “Oh, I see. Well then Republic City’s the place to go. Have you ever seen a match?”
“Not yet,” Korra said, excitedly. “But I listen to the games on radio and I’m getting training from really good benders like my dad.”
Senna poked at her. “And mom.”
“But you’re a healer!”
“And it’s important,” said Senna chidingly. “To learn both healing and fighting. Otherwise, what will you do after the fight, with all those scrapes and bruises?”
Yasuko patiently watched the exchange. “Well,” she began while Korra was still contemplating her retort. “If you come back to Republic City, visit the Sato manor. Asami and you would be great friends, I’m sure. I’ve got to get her from her appointment now,” she added, glancing down at her time piece. “But please, keep in touch.”
She nodded her head and turned back, slipping through the door to a tall office building, smushed between two larger office buildings.
The rest of the day, after picking up her dad, was spent travelling back to their village. She didn’t get to explore the city anymore, but they did stop at a tourist stand and Senna let her pick out any pro bender patch that she wanted.
On the ride home she fell asleep with her cheek pressed into her dad’s shoulder, and the patch secured firmly over her heart.
She didn’t go back to Republic City for years, and when she did, it was on a fieldtrip with a few other kids from the village and their teacher.
They were being taken to the biggest museum of waterbending history in the world. Korra was buzzing with excitement. The building was huge. She could see the stone detailing clearly, even from two blocks away.
When they were standing outside the doors, their teacher, Mavea, held up a hand, signalling them to stop their march. Korra was distracted though by the gathered vendors of food and merchandise all around the museum. She didn’t see everyone stopping and as a result, stumbled into the girl in front of her.
Mavea glared. “Alright, everyone. Just as you have been on the street, you must be careful and respectful inside the museum. I’m going to partner you up. You must watch your partner. Don’t let them leave your sight while we’re inside. Okay?”
Korra was watching a man selling moon peaches.
“Korra?”
She startled and glanced back at her teacher. “Yeah, yeah. Careful, respectful, partners. Got it.”
There was a chorus of giggles from the kids around her.
Mavea’s eyes narrowed, even as she began calling out names. Korra got stuck with Tanto, a quiet boy who she didn’t know very well. Just as well. If he didn’t speak, she could do all the talking and tell him about the exhibits.
After everyone was partnered up, the group re-positioned into two less-than-neat rows.
“Don’t touch anything,” Mavea warned as they walked through the big oak doors and were immersed in sound.
There was water all around them -- big sheets of it streaming down each wall into basins in the floor. The front desk was surrounded by rivulets, flowing through and around the mosaic patterned tiles.
Mavea checked them in quickly, passed out maps to everyone with a curt, “You won’t need to use these”, and stalked up the first flight of stairs.
The first exhibit was this huge painting covered with images of the tide pulling out along with the different stages of the moon. “This piece is from over two thousand years ago,” Mavea drawled. This earned her a few surprised gasps, but Korra just crossed her arms. Their teacher flicked her wrist at the huge lion turtle taking up half the painting. “Lion turtles were a symbol throughout most primitive art exploration.”
“Are lion turtles extinct?” Korra asked. “Why don’t we see them anymore?”
“No one really knows.”
Korra raised an exaggerated eyebrow. “All that research and--”
“And we have a whole museum to look at. Follow me. Come along. Jie, take your shirt out of your mouth,” she snapped.
The rest of the tour followed suit. They stopped and awed over relics while Korra buzzed with questions and inappropriately loud comments.
Tanto didn’t speak until they were halfway through the fourth floor and Korra was beginning to lose steam.
“You’re a waterbender, right?” he asked shyly.
He was still walking next to her, his shoulders hunched and his hands shoved into his pockets.
She looked around, checking that their teacher wasn’t looking. They weren’t supposed to bend during class hours and at the beginning of the trip she had reminded them of this explicitly and repetitively. When Korra was sure no one was looking, she flicked her wrist and water streamed from the bottle hung at her waist, circling her fingers.
Tanto’s eyes widened, glancing nervously up at Mavea then back to the floating water. “Wow,” he breathed. “My family and I are all non benders.”
“Huh. But you’ve seen bending…?” she said, letting the water fall back into its container.
“Of course,” he laughed, awkwardly. “Just, not regularly.”
Korra thought this over for a moment. Bending was such a large part of her own life. She found that she’d just assumed it was the same for everyone. “What about bending used in fighting?” she said suddenly.
He shook his head and she felt her face alight with a grin.
“Me neither. I’ve always wanted to though.” she felt her face morph with that expression that usually predicted trouble and repercussions. “Do you want to?”
He gazed at her with wide eyes, nodding vigorously.
Korra snagged his hand. They were at the back of the group so it was easy to slip out while everyone was focused on a tapestry.
She started running as soon as she reached the hall and Tanto followed, laughing with slight hysteria.
“Race you to the street!” she called, catching looks from several analytic passerby. The two of them scrambled down the stairs. Korra took them two at a time and Tanto half-fell after her, grabbing at her sleeves every time they found a landing.
The woman at the front desk had her face buried in a slim book so she barely looked up as the two of them slid back out the door. “Have a lovely night,” she called.
“You as well!” Korra chorused.
Tanto shivered bodily as they hit the outside air. Korra hit him in the shoulder. “Baby.”
“It’s night time,” he defended.
“Yeah,” she glanced around. While they’d been in the museum, shadows had crept into all the city’s corners and begun to spread. Satomobiles whizzed past, undoubtedly holding passengers excited to get home for dinner. “Guess it is. That’s a good thing. The pro bending stadium has games at night.”
She grabbed him by the wrist again and pulled.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he squeaked. “We don’t even know where it is.”
But his words fell empty as Korra had just spotted a dumpling stand and was bolting towards it. She could hear him dragging his boots against concrete behind her.
“Can we get ten seaweed buns,” she piped eagerly to the storeman, gripping her hands onto the aluminum side of the food cart.
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you have money?”
“Well…” she sifted through her pockets, and grinned when her fingers found the handful of coins her parents had bestowed upon her before she left. She dumped them on the counter. “There.”
“I’ll be happy to serve you then,” he said in a monotone. “After I serve the customer who was here first.”
The… what? She glanced around and sure enough a small girl with stark pale skin stood behind her, looking slightly frazzled. Tanto had finally caught up to her and was now hovering behind her, like he was using Korra as a shield from the strange other girl.
“Are you kids together?” the man asked, the idea occurring to him as his eyes flicked between each customer, noticing for the first time that none of them were old enough to be out without their parents in Republic City.
“No,” Korra said. Frowning at the other girl, she took a step back. “Go ahead.”
“Thanks,” she said serenely, her dark hair bobbing around her shoulders as she walked to the counter in Korra’s place and took the paper bag the man was offering her. It was relatively big which implied she was getting food for multiple people.
By the time Korra was done paying for her own food, the girl was halfway down the block, but an idea was forming in Korra’s head. When she finally grabbed her own bag with shaking fingers, she was buzzing with anticipation.
“Where are you going now?” Tanto complained, even as he jogged after her.
“I’m gonna ask that girl if she knows where the stadium is. She obviously lives here, otherwise she wouldn’t be wandering around by herself.”
“We’re wandering around by ourselves,” he pointed out.
Korra rolled her eyes. “That’s--” she cut herself off mid-sentence, holding out an arm to stop Tanto short.
A man was staggering towards them. He was official looking -- wearing a navy tie and suit jacket. His receding hairline gave way to a broad forehead and symmetrical cheekbones. He was approaching them with swaying, self-confident steps. “Are you kids lost?” he asked. His voice was lilting yet gruff, and it slurred on the last syllables.
“No, actually.” Korra said, puffing up her chest and placing her hands on her waist like she’d seen her father do to look more intimidating.
Tanto frowned. “But-”
She resisted the urge to slap a hand over his mouth. Instead she just interrupted him, “No, no. I just remembered where it is, actually. Thank you, though,” she said to the man.
“Hey,” he said, eyes narrowing as Korra started to duck around him, and he changed positions to block her path. “You two shouldn’t be out here by yourselves. This is a dangerous neighborhood.”
Tanto scratched distractedly at his face. “It doesn’t look all that scary.” his voice was shaking from his shivering though.
“Why don’t you come back to my house and we can get you warm and call your parents?”
Korra felt trepidation, warm in her throat. She’d never wished to see Mavea before now. “That’s alright,” she squeaked, taking a few steps back.
His hand moved too quickly for her to dodge and suddenly his fingers were clenched painfully around her wrist. She could feel nerves breaking under his grip.
But even as he was pulling her towards him, something flashed out of the corner of her eye. As suddenly as he was on her, he was off, toppling backwards onto the concrete -- crying out as he hit the ground.
“Run,” a voice whispered, close to her ear, and she was running, almost automatically towards the nearest street light.
She could hear two sets of pounding footsteps behind her and she prayed that they were friendly.
Once she reached the light, panting from exertion, she rounded on their hero. Her determined expression gave way to shock though, as the dim yellow light illuminated them.
Tanto was leaning back against the wall, cheeks flushed. And the girl from before was standing by the pole. Her arms hung loose at her sides. Her hair was in perfect brown waves framing her face. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Korra furrowed her brow. “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “My dad’s teaching me self defense. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“You’ve got that right,” she said, suddenly embarrassed by the way she’d reacted. She’d completely frozen. She’d known the second he’d opened his mouth where the interaction was going, but she’d been unable to fight back -- unable to stand up for herself. “I could have handled it.”
The girl frowned. “I was just trying to help. Sorry if--”
Korra thrust her bag of seaweed buns at the girl. “Take these.”
“What…?” she sounded genuinely confused now, but she took the bag anyway.
Korra turned. “Tanto, we’re going.”
“Okay,” Tanto said around yawn. He looked back at the girl as Korra waved at him to follow her. “Thank you!”
She held up a hand hesitantly. “Of course.”
Korra stuck her tongue out, grabbed Tanto, and stomped back towards the museum.
“Why are your cheeks so red?” Tanto asked, as she pulled him back into the lobby.
“What? No they’re not. Shut up!”
She desperately hoped she never saw the girl again. She’d probably never be able to leave her house again for embarrassment.