1 Meeting the Earthbender

Korra had arrived in Republic City and was riding with Naga to get some food and had caused a few satomobiles to bump into each other. She said sorry to the few people who were in her way, and there was a man who was looking at her while shaking his head. The man was 19 years old, with slicked-back voluminous black hair and faded sides. He had grey-blue eyes and wore a brown leather jacket. Over his sleeves, he wore metal gauntlets. He also wore a shirt which had a metal chest plate over it. His bottom consisted of black pants and boots. He stood at a good 6'3 and had medium sized frame which was perfect. The boy's name was Kota, he is a former United Forces soldier, an Admiral to be exact and had just returned to Republic City. He was carrying a duffle bag of clothes and a backpack full of his personal belongings.

Kota heard some giggling looked to the source of it and saw some pretty girls who were giggling at him, he just chuckled and waved at them as he walked off. He was on his way to meet an old friend of his after being gone for three years. He walked down the streets of Republic City and later went up to a Mansion. There was a gate there and Kota rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a butler came out. "Master Kota!" the butler said. "Hello Shino!" Kota said with a smile. He and the butler gave each other a hug and they separated.

"Look at you, you have grown to be quite the young man!" the butler said, "When did you come back from the Military?"

"I just got back not too long ago, you guys were my first stop," Kota said.

"Well, Master Hiroshi is out of the house, but Lady Asami is-" as the butler was about to explain the whereabouts of the said girl until a girl with black wavy hair came out of the door. She also wore purple eyeshadow and red lipstick, her eyes widened at the towering figure of Kota.

"Koko!" the girl tackled Kota into a huge hug.

"H-Hey Asami!" Kota hugged her back and the two pulled back looking at each other.

"I'll leave you two alone," Shino said, he went inside and close the door behind them.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other?" Asami asked, "Like 3 years?"

Kota nodded, "Yeah, 3 years."

"When did you get back, have you seen you parents yet?" Asami kept asking Kota a series of questions and the earthbender had her stop.

"Okay hold on, one question at a time," Kota said with a chuckle. "To answer your question, you were my first stop. Besides, my parents are busy with their jobs."

Asami gave him a coy smile, "Kota~. You came to see your best friend and not your parents?"

"Hey, I just said they have work. Besides, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Kota asked.

"Sorry, but I can't. I am busy with Dad's company, but I will try my best to make time for you." She said. Kota nodded and the Asami gave him another huge hug, "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah you too," Kota said back.

'At Republic City Park'

Korra was in the park, heating up some fish she caught and was about to eat it until he heard a voice, "You know that's not allowed, right?" Korra was startled and looked up to see a boy who looked around her age, maybe older with slicked-back voluminous black hair and faded sides. He had grey blue eyes and wore a brown leather jacket and had metal gauntlets over them, platinum to be exact. He also wore a shirt which also had a platinum chest plate on it and had black pants and boots. He stood at a good 6'3 and he had a medium body frame and had a backpack and a duffle bag on him.

"Sorry," was all Korra can muster at the boy. The boy chuckled and held out a hand which contained a bag of sandwiches, "It's fine, how about you get rid of those fish and we sit down and some sandwiches I just bought?" She nodded and called for Naga to come.

She and Naga followed the young man around the block and into the beautiful city park. The sight almost took her breath away. The park was huge with rolling hills covered in rich green grass, a rarity in the South Pole. The leaves on the trees were changing color in the autumn air, preparing for winter. She could see fish swimming in the crystal-clear water of the slow-moving stream. They walked along a stone path and over one of the many quaint, little bridges that stretched over the streams at various locations until they reached a small clearing beside the stream. The boy used earthbending to summon a circular slab about waist-high to use as a table and 2 small square stools to sit on.

…

As the boy sat on of the his newly-constructed stools, he introduced himself. "I'm Kota."

"Korra," Korra said. She rested her head on the polar bear dog's head, "and this is my friend, Naga."

Kota reached into his bag and pulled out several pieces of meat. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Naga," he said opening out his open palm to feed her. He didn't yank his arm back as his whole hand, up to his wrist, was suddenly engulfed in the dog's huge mouth. To his surprise, however, he felt no teeth bite down on him as Naga slowly pulled her head back, taking the tasty treats with her but leaving his hand behind. He chuckled and began to pet Naga on the head and down the back of her neck. "Aww, you're a good girl, aren't you, Naga?" he said as he attempted to wipe all the saliva off his hand and onto her fur.

Korra smiled at the scene as she sat down. "I guess this means Naga likes you," she said, noticing how Naga was starting to lean into Kota's hand.

"Well, of course she does," Kota said. He smiled and lowered his face in front of Naga's and scratched her ears and head, "She's just the sweetest, little puppy. Isn't that right?" In response, Naga opened her mouth and licked his entire face, causing him to laugh.

Korra doubled over in laughter upon seeing this. Upon hearing her mistress' amusement, Naga jumped to her feet and started to bark happily as well. After a good minute, Korra and Naga calmed down, "So what are you doing in Republic City?"

"Oh, I'm just got back, I just gotten discharged and was coming back to stay home."

"Really? What were you?"

"I used to be a United Forces soldier. I was known for metalbending. I've been metalbending since I was a kid. And I've had plenty of practice working with the United Forces for the last 3 years." Kota said.

"Wow, that's amazing!" she said in astonishment.

"Thanks," Kota said humbly. "So, how'd you end up with Naga?" he asked. "My commander once told me that polar bear dogs couldn't be tamed."

"Well, it all started when I was a little girl," Korra began. "There was a storm approaching, and I heard a pack of polar bear dogs howling in the distance. I told my parents that I wanted to go play with them. But then, my dad was all like, 'Korra, don't you go playing with those wild animals. They could eat you up in one bite.'"

Kota chuckled at her impression of her father.

"Later that night, the storm was in full swing and I heard the howling of a polar bear dog near our house, so I decided to go out and investigate," Korra continued.

"Wait, how old were you?"

"Like 5 or 6, I think," Korra said dismissively. "Anyway, I went out and found Naga here, all alone. She got separated from her pack, thanks to that blizzard," Korra said as she pets Naga affectionately. "And your commander was right. Normally, polar bear dogs aren't that fond of humans. But luckily, Naga was just a pup and I happened to have some fish jerky on me, at the time. After that, I used my bending to make us a shelter, so we could ride out the storm. The next morning, my dad found us and dug us out. And well, the rest is history."

"Wow," Kota said. "That's one hell of an adventure."

Korra smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that was an adventure."

After the two finished eating, they decided to walk together. Korra was having fun, hanging out with this new person. He had shown her kindness and helped her out. She was about to talk until-

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then come join the equalists!" The two teenagers looked to see a man who had a megaphone. He stood behind a poster which showed a man with a red and white mask with a hood to cover his head. There were some people, nonbenders probably, there listening to the guy.

"For too long the bending elite of this city have forced nonbenders to live as lower-class citizens. Join Amon, and together we will take down the bending establishment!"

Korra has had enough and decided to walk over to confront the rally commissioner.

"What are you even talking about? Bending is the coolest thing in the world!" She said. Kota facepalmed at her action.

"Oh yeah," the protestor shot back, "let me guess. You're a bender." His sideburns seemed to bristle in anger as he was interrupted.

"Yeah, I am," the young woman confirmed.

"Then I bet you'd just love to knock me off this platform with some waterbending, huh?" he asked, trying to goad her into attacking.

"I just might," Korra replied as she clenched her fists to her side.

At this point Kota had approached the scene. "Alright that's enough of that," he said, placing a hand on Korra's shoulder, "Everyone here just needs to calm down."

"You see! Even a fellow bender sides with her!" the protestor declared over his megaphone, grasping onto the opportunity.

Kota chose to ignore the protestor and, instead, addressed the crowd. "Listen up, everyone. The United Republic of Nations is a free state. That means that every person, bender and non-bender, regardless of their heritage, is allowed to freely and publicly express their opinions," he explained. "However, the United Republic was founded upon the ideals of harmony and peaceful coexistence. It's wrong to use the freedom granted to us to try to incite violence against those that are different or who don't believe everything exactly as you do. It goes against everything that we, as citizens of this great nation, stand for."

At this point, the protestor had begun to loudly chant "Equality Now" through his megaphone over and over again in an attempt to regain the crowd's attention and drown out the officer.

Finally having enough of the man, Kota held his fist out and metalbended his gauntlet into a fist. He yanked the megaphone out of the protestor's grip. The metal fist gave the megaphone to Kota's other hand. When he grabbed it, the metal returned to his gloveless hand. "I know the people of Republic City are good and honest. It's why I choose to put my life on the line to protect this city and those who call it home. Please, don't allow the fear-mongering of a single, angry man to turn you against a young woman who you don't even know."

With his speech finished, Kota turned and walked back to Korra. The crowd had mostly done as he'd asked and begun to disperse, leaving the Equalist protestor by himself. "You know I could have handled that," Korra said as she put her hands on her hips. "Still, that was kinda impressive. You diffused a really tense situation. You're pretty good at talking to people."

"Thanks," Kota replied. "As a former military officer, it's sort of important that I know how to properly answer questions from the press and diffuse volatile situations like that."

The Equalist protestor had gotten off his platform and angrily marched up to the two of them. "Alright, you've said your speech, earthbender," he said with a sneer. "Now return my property to me," he demanded with his hand outstretched.

Kota glared down at the man, knowing full well he was planning on continuing with his hateful rhetoric as soon as he and Korra left. Most likely, the protestor hoped to provoke another bender into attacking him, like he had just tried with Korra.

"Y'know, I studied law before I joined the United Forces and if there is a rally happening, things that exceeds 80 decibels requires a permit. You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?" Kota asked innocently.

The protestor merely ground his teeth together in anger, continuing to hold out his hand.

"Didn't think so," Kota said as he crushed the megaphone in his hand. He then dropped the shattered pieces into the Equalist's outstretched hand.

Kota later brushed his hands into each other and looked at Korra, "Now then shall we get going?"

Korra smiled and nodded to the man as they headed down to the downtown area of Republic City.

"So, where are you heading to?" Kota asked. Korra looked at the man, "Oh I'm going to Air Temple Island."

"Oh, if that's the case you should-" Kota was about to give her directions until a satomobile drove up and out came a group of what it looks like to be petty thugs. "Mr. Chung, please tell me that you have my money or else I can��t guarantee to protect your fine establishment," just as the waterbender finished talking, the firebender held out a flame.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Chung said, "Business has been slow, please." He later held out a phonograph, "Take on of my phonographs."

The firebender kicked down the phonograph, using his firebending. "My friend here is not a music lover," the waterbender said to the retreating Mr. Chung, "Give me the money or else-"

"Or else what hoodlum?"

Kota grunted at Korra's tenacity and joined her at confronting the petty thugs. The three looked at the two teens and started to laugh.

"Since you're obviously fresh off the boat let me explain a couple of things," the waterbending thug said, "you're in Triple Threat Triad territory and we're about to put you two in the hospital."

"You're the ones who are gonna need a hospital," Korra said with a smirk, "And you're gonna hope there's one nearby." Kota just let her do all the talking, but gave the thugs a lazy look.

"Who do you think you are?" The waterbending thug started to glare at her.

"Why don't you come and find out."

The thug threw out a water ball at Korra who threw it back at him and froze it when it hit his face. The waterbending thug walked toward Kota who did a lazy tornado axe kick which created a small crater in the street. The earthbender thug was about to attack Korra, but she launched him off by bending earth which make Kota look at her with narrow eyes. "Can she be…"

Lastly, the firebender shot a flamethrower at Korra only for her to avoid it by firebending. Korra later threw the firebender into a shop and Kota walked up to her. "Is that all of them?" Kota asked.

Korra was about to answer, but the satomobile was about to drive away with the petty thugs in it. "You're not getting away!" Korra later did an earth wave to knock the vehicle over, but instead it crashed into a store. The ran there and was about to check on them, but they heard a siren looked up. They saw an airship and Kota knew what that was, "Police, freeze where you are."

"Ehh shit," Kota said.

"What," Korra said, she looked at Kota who give her a frustrated look.

"Metalbending officers," Kota said as three of them came down from the airship.

The three metalbending officers came out and saw the three Triple Threat Triad thugs. "Arrest them," the cop said. The two shot out wires and tied the three thugs up while the third cop went up to the two teens, "You two are under arrest too."

Korra gasped in horror as Kota had the face as if he knew this would happen.

"What do you mean we're under arrest, they're the bad guys, they were the ones who smashed up a shop," Korra was trying to justify herself, but Kota had a hand on her shoulder.

"Korra let's just go with them," Kota said, "Besides, we did a lot more damage than they did."

Korra looked at the destruction and then back at Kota who gave her a, 'see?' look.

"You!" the officer looked at Kota with a stink eye, "I can't bend your metal gauntlets."

"Oh these," Kota held his gauntlets up, "They're made of platinum."

The officer and Korra looked at him in shock, He is a platinumbender?!

'At Metalbending Police Headquarters'

The two were in the interrogation room and were met by a woman who had grey hair and two scars on the right side of her face, under her eye. The officer's eyes widened when she saw the boy. "Kota?"

Kota gave the woman a nervous grin, "Uhh, hey Mom. Long time no see?"

"Don't 'hey mom' me young man! You were with this girl, partaking in this?" the woman asked, Korra looked at the interaction between the two and saw how scared Kota was.

"How about you introduce her to me," the mother of Kota said. "Korra this is my mother Chief Lin Beifong, Mom this is Korra, the Avatar."

"Wait, you're Toph's daughter!" Korra said.

"What of it?" Lin asked.

"Well why are you treating me like a criminal? Your mother and Avatar Aang were friends," Korra said, "they saved the world together."

"That's ancient history," Lin said, "and this mess relates to you and my son. My son knows this, but you can't just waltz here and doll out vigilante justice like you own the place!"

Later a slot opened and an officer was calling for them.

"Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here," the officer said.

Korra saw Kota who started to pale and gulp. Lin looked at her son and sighed, "Let him in."

As the door opened a man in Air Master Robes came in. He had grey-blue eyes like Kota and had a beard, Tenzin glared at Korra, but when he saw Kota his eyes widened.

"Tenzin, sorry I got a little sidetracked on my way to see you," Korra said.

Tenzin looked back at Korra and started to take a deep breath, he smiled at Lin.

"Lin you are looking radiant as usual," Tenzin said.

"Cut the garbage Tenzin," Lin glared at Tenzin, "Why is the Avatar in Republic City? I thought you were supposed to be moving down to the South Pole to train her."

"My relocation has been delayed," Tenzin said, "the Avatar on the other hand will be heading back to the South Pole immediately where she will stay put."

"But-" Korra tried to interject, but Tenzin interrupted her.

"If you would be so kind as to drop the charges against Korra and Kota I will take responsibility for today's events and cover all the damages," Tenzin said. He later glared at Kota who looked away from the older man. Do these two have history? Korra asked in thought.

Lin sighed and nodded to Kota who uncuffed himself and Korra.

"Fine, just get her out of my sight." Lin said. She later looked at Kota with a stern glare, "And please do kindly wait for Kota? I need a talk with my son." Lin said.

When Tenzin and Korra left Lin looked at her son, "Now explain how you got mixed up in the Avatar's mess? The report said you only assaulted a member of the Triple Threat Triad."

"Well, it all started when I with her downtown. She asked me where the Island was. I was about to give her directions until the members of the Triple Threat Triad came. That's when things went down," Kota said.

"So, you were not a part of the mass destruction?" Lin asked.

Kota shook his head and Lin smiled, "I missed you, son."

Kota smiled and stood up to hug his mother, "Missed you too Mom."

"So, when did you comeback? Bumi didn't wire me," Lin said.

"Well, I just came back." Kota said.

"And you decided to join the Avatar's crusade?" Lin asked.

"Sorry," Kota rubbed the back of his head nervously.

The door later opened and Kota waved to his mother who waved at him back.

'On their way to the Evidence Locker'

Korra could feel how laxed Kota and Tenzin are. The two talked casually and later Korra interjected, "So, you two know each other…" Korra half-stated, half-asked, the two men looked at her and then back at each other.

"You didn't tell her who you were?" Tenzin asked.

"I didn't even know she was the Avatar until she dealt with those thugs," Kota said back, "Though, I guess this means that you never bothered to mention me to her."

Tenzin's face grew flushed, and he looked down in shame. Before he could say anything else, Kota sighed, "It's fine… we should get Korra's pet."

Korra was very confused now. Kota was the son of Lin which made him Toph's grandson, but why would Tenzin bother to mention that to her? Were the two related?

They continued on in silence until they reached the exit where Naga was waiting for them. She was with a young officer who she had apparently taken a liking to, if his wet face and swirled up hair was anything to go by.

"Is this your polar bear dog, Miss?" he asked as the held the reins out to Korra expectantly. Korra accepted the reins and led Naga towards the exit with Ketu and Tenzin. This time, however, she decided to leave the awkward silence as it was. Kota went to the locker and grabbed his backpack and duffle bag and met back with the group.

They had arrived near the main entrance, but before Korra, Kota, and Tenzin could leave, Tenzin sighed, looked to Kota and gave him a smile.

"Listen Kota, I really am proud of everything you've accomplished the last 3 years. I know your grandfather would be proud of what you've done to keep the world safe," Tenzin said sincerely. "We've all done our best to keep up with your exploits. But why didn't you tell me that you were coming back to Republic City?"

Who's his grandfather? Korra thought.

Kota smiled back at the man, "When I left the United Forces, Bumi dropped me off at the Southern Water Tribe so I could catch a ferry back to the city," he explained. "I heard you were moving down there to train the Avatar, and I figured you'd hear about it once you got there."

"I see, Mother probably forgot to mention it with all the drama that was going on," Tenzin reasoned. "Still, I am glad that you've come home," he said with a smile as he placed a hand on Ketu's shoulder. "I hope you'll come visit Air Temple Island sometime soon. I know for a fact that Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo will be ecstatic to have you back."

Kota gave a genuine smile after hearing about the Airbending Kids. Korra smiled as well.

"Sure, I can surprise them now. And besides, I need a place to stay," Kota and Tenzin gave each other a hug.

"I missed you, son," Tenzin said.

"Missed you too, Dad?" Kota said.

"What?"

The two men looked at Korra who had a shocked look, she looked at Tenzin first.

"You and Beifong had him?!"

'At the Boat to the Island'

Kota went on to tell Korra his parent's history on Tenzin being in a previous relationship before Pema.

"So, my father met my mother and had me a few years after dating, it wasn't until I was nine, they started to go their separate ways, but they always wanted the best for me. Sure, their co-parenting was quite bothersome, but they did care for me." Kota looked at Yue bay as he was talking to Korra about this. He was trying his best to reason with her to not grill Tenzin about the fact that he apparently had some sort of secret son who was her age, no less. Though he told Korra that Pema knew about Kota's existence.

She later left the earthbender alone and went to Tenzin. "Tenzin, please, don't send me back home," Korra pleaded.

"You blatantly disobeyed my wishes, and the orders of the White Lotus," Tenzin said, clearly disappointed in the young Avatar's decisions.

"Look, I can't wait any longer to finish my training. Being cooped up and hidden away from the world isn't helping me become a better Avatar," Korra tried to explain. "Kota showed me a lot of the city today, and it's totally out of whack. I know that the police are doing their best, but it's just not enough. I understand now why you need to stay. Republic City does need you, but it needs me too," she said, hoping that her intentions would sink in.

Tenzin merely gave a weary sigh and moved to the bow of the ship as they approached the dock, leaving Korra where she stood. With her hopes seemingly dashed, Korra turned towards the rear of the ship as she took in Republic City's skyline for the last time. As she moved to disembark, she could see members of the Order of the White Lotus waiting for her at the end of the ramp.

Korra and the guards were walking towards their own ship when they heard several children shout her name from overhead. Looking up, Korra saw two orange gliders move in for a landing near to where she was standing. The first glider to land actually had two occupants. The pilot was a girl, about 10 years-old, and the rider was a boy, clearly much younger than her. The second was also piloted by a young girl, somewhere between the age of the other two.

They were all wearing the traditional garb of the airbenders and were clearly siblings. The girls both had light brown hair, while their younger brother had a shaved head. The younger sister had two bobs in her hair and the oldest only had a single. These were Tenzin's airbending children: Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo.

"Korra!" they each shouted

"Are you coming to live with us on the island?" asked Ikki excitedly.

Korra knelt down and placed a hand on both Jinora and Ikki's shoulders, "No, I'm sorry Ikki, I have to go home now."

"Aw." Said Ikki.

"But I brought someone who you might like that's gonna live here." Korra said looking at Kota. The kids looked to her direction and their eyes widened. Kota looked at the kids with a smile and dropped his bag. He went down on one knee and opened his arms out.

"KOKO!"

Kota fell to the ground with an "Oomph!" Kota started to laugh as he saw his younger siblings. "Hey goofballs, what's up?" Kota said, smiling down at his three younger siblings.

"It's been forever since we've seen you, that's what," Ikki said as she latched back onto one of his legs.

"Actually, it's only been about 4 months," Jinora corrected. The older sister opted not to grab onto their older brother. "Still, we missed you, Koko," she said with a smile.

"Aww, I missed you too kiddo," Kota later picked up Jinora with one arm and Ikki with another. Meelo on the other hand jumped onto his older brother's shoulders.

"Are you going to try and keep Korra here? You always said how it would be awesome to meet her?" Ikki asked in hope.

"Sorry Ikki, it's not my call, but I can say it was great to meet her." He said as he flashed the water tribe girl a smile.

Korra returned it and walked to the ship ready to take her home.

"Wait." Tenzin said as he stepped forward, "I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it. But you are right. It has fallen out of balance since he has passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy, but you are his legacy." Tenzin said as he placed a hand on Korra's shoulder, "You may stay and train airbending here with me," Korra gasped. "Republic City needs its Avatar once again." He finished

"Yes! Thank you! You're the best!" Korra cheered

The kids cheered also and she hugged them all together. She later let go of the hug and looked at Kota who was still holding onto his sibling.

"Wait, so why do they call you 'Koko'?" Korra asked, grabbing everyone's attention.

"That's because when Jinora was a baby she tried to say Kota's name, but it came out as 'Koko,'" Ikki explained excitedly. "Mommy and Daddy thought that it was so cute, that they started to call him 'Koko' too. When Meelo and I were born, Jinora, Mommy, and Daddy were all still calling him 'Koko,' so we did too."

"Aww, that's such a cute story. Eh, Officer Koko?" Korra teased as she nudged Kota with her elbow.

"Pleeease, 'Koko' is just what the girls call him," Meelo defended as he crossed his arms indignantly.

"Meelo..." Kota looked up to his younger brother.

Tenzin looked at the four and had a content smile on his face. Tenzin was genuinely happy to see all four of his children back together again, despite one of them being from a different mother.

'At City Hall'

As the young Avatar stood at the podium, the raucous noise from the assembled reporters and civilians began to die down as silence descended upon the scene. It was quite clear that the young woman was very nervous as she took in the massive crowd, clearly not expecting that many people to come and listen to her speak.

She cleared her throat and took a deep, calming breath. "Hello, I'm Korra," she began somewhat awkwardly, "your new Avatar."

There was a momentary pause as the crowd waited to see if she would continue. After about a second and a half of silence, the reporters decided that was their queue to start launching questions.

"Does this mean you've moved to Republic City?"

"Were you trying to send a message to the Triads the other day?"

"Will you be fighting crime or the anti-bending revolution or both?"

"Will you be working with Chief Beifong and the police?"

The young woman seemed to be struggling to keep up with all the questions she was being bombarded with but tried her best to keep up. "Uh, yes, I am definitely here to stay, but honestly, I don't exactly have a plan yet. See I'm still in training," the self-proclaimed 'New Avatar' tried to explain. "Look, someone recently told me that Avatar Aang wanted for me to be as prepared as I could be for the tasks ahead of me. So, for the time being, I'm going to focus on my airbending training."

That response certainly surprised the chief of police. When the reporter asked the Avatar if she would be fighting the Triads and Equalists, Lin had half-expected the hot-headed Water Tribe girl to jump on top of the podium and challenge Amon and all the Triad bosses to a duel in the town square.

The reporters quickly tried to bombard the young Avatar with more question. However, she continued on with what she wanted to say, ignoring the reporters' desperate attempts to grab her attention. "I intend to finish my training as soon as I can, so I can begin my duties as the Avatar," the young woman explained. "I know Aang meant for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world, where people from all walks of life could come together. I believe we can make his dream a reality. I look forward to serving you! I am so happy to be here. Thank you, Republic City!"

…

In a dark, poorly lit basement a group of freedom fighters had just finished listening to the propaganda perpetuated by their corrupt government. An older, lanky man dressed in dark grey and brown leather armor quickly clicked off the radio in frustration. He looked around the small enclosed space to see the reactions of his fellow Equalists. Although he could not see their faces behind the black masks and glowing green goggles, he could tell from their body language that their confidence has been shaken.

It was hard to believe that, with only a few words, a single young woman could so quickly rock the entire foundation of their movement. He couldn't believe it. He had dedicated his entire life to tearing down the immoral system that was subjugating his people. He had even given up his own identity for the cause, becoming known only as 'the Lieutenant,' Amon's greatest soldier and righthand man.

He was a symbol to non-benders everywhere, proof that even they could become great warriors capable of standing up to their oppressors. The Lieutenant was a strong leader; he wasn't one of the many faceless and unidentifiable Equalist foot soldiers. And although he did wear a mask with goggles to protect himself in battle, unlike the other Equalists, his nose, mouth, and chin were exposed, as well as his long, thin mustache. Showing that while he was an elite soldier, he was still very much a human.

The Lieutenant turned to a dark, hooded figure in the corner. "Amon," he said in a gravelly voice, "how do you want to handle this?"

The hooded figure was facing a wall of maps. The maps were of not only Republic City, but the entire United Republic. He was studying them, making plans upon plans. He took another moment more before turning to face his Lieutenant, revealing the bone-white mask of Amon.

"So, the Avatar has arrived early. But she seems to be far more cautious than we anticipated," Amon said as he took a step closer to the map of Republic City, analyzing it almost as if it were a Pai Sho board. "It looks like we'll have to accelerate our plans."

(A/N: I decided to write the story! I hope you like this version which is an AU, the MC didn't apply for the police force which will affect this story from this day on.)