The Things that Hurt the Most

Just as I was starting to sink into unconsciousness, Korra took a sharp breath. Her eyes shot open and she sat up, a hand flying to feel her back. I shook my head and drove back the blackness creeping in on my vision, unknowingly holding my breath.

"Korra?" I asked, my tail stirring nervously. 

She yawned and rubbed her eyes groggily. "Xiviyah? Man, what the hells happened? I feel like I got run over by a wagon."

She looked impossibly vulnerable and unguarded, like a child waking up from a nap. Her innocence held such polarity from the destruction, grief, and darkness I just stared at her, unable to so much as breathe.