Camp Amon

The Next Day:

“You’re pretty good at this,” Korra said with the hint of a smile.

“Well… working with the metal clan… you get pretty good at tools. Su also constantly did her kids’ hair for them. Huan would always throw a fit. I observed and practiced on my sister one day.”

“What happened?”

“It was a nice haircut, actually. She still wears it. But… well… Su, my Mom, got really pissed and made me polish her study for a week.”

“That’s classic Badgermole right there. I bet Asami would hire you as her personal hairdresser.”

“Kid, she wouldn’t let anyone touch her hair with a ten-foot pole. Bangs?”

“Naw, I need to be able to tie my hair back for track practice.”

Kuvira took a few more minutes to even out Korra’s new shoulder-length style. She took a few swipes with a razor to layer it in the back— holding a mirror up for Korra.

 “It looks… wonderful! And… thanks. Thanks for doing this on such a short notice.”

Kuvira kneeled down in front of Korra and put a hand over hers. Korra looked up into her evergreen eyes and saw a sadness.

“The haircut’s free of charge… but you wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Korra didn’t say anything. She just sat there, looking at Kuvira’s hands. There was a tiny scar on her finger— invisible to anyone who didn’t have keen eyes like Korra. It was thin but long, and it ran along the side of the older woman’s thumb.

“How did you get that?” Korra pointed.

Kuvira let out a small sigh— knowing that the younger girl would continue to dodge the question.

“It’s actually a funny story. When I trained to join the Zaofu Police Force, I didn’t have any training with firearms. Naturally, they put me to work at a shooting range with the other recruits. I was so nervous— I was holding the gun in all the wrong ways when I fired it for the first time. The recoil damage startled me and the gun jumped out of my hands— giving me this nice scar as a souvenir.”

 “That must’ve hurt.”

“Not nearly as much as the berating the instructor gave me afterwards.”

Korra laughed a little, “They must’ve hated you.”

“I think they celebrated a little when I lost my badge,” Kuvira said with a small sigh.

Korra immediately stopped laughing. She had barely thought of how Kuvira’s life was going. She’d lost her job— no… her career. It wasn’t as though Republic City was having the most prosperous of economies right now. Her eyes fell to the ground— part of her felt as though she was responsible for ruining the older woman’s life.

A moment later, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up.

“Kid— I know you feel responsible for my loss. But… whether or not I deserve it, or who’s to blame… I can only try and fix the damage and move on. There’s only so many times you can run diagnostics on a problem. Eventually you just have to work towards a solution.”

There was silence between the two friends for a good, long while.

“You’re right,” Korra answered.

.               .               .

Later That Week:

“Hey, Kor! I’m home! You’re not going to believe how boring that— Oh!”

Korra was in the kitchen, making Tom Kha Gai. She dropped in the mushrooms into the soup and turned to greet her girl.

“You cut your hair!”

“Kuvira helped,” the younger girl laughed, running into her girlfriend’s arms.

They embraced and just stood there for a long time. Every second passed— Asami squeezed Korra tighter and tighter until it felt like they were no longer two separate people. They swayed a little on the spot, too wrapped up in all the excitement to stand still. Never mind that it’d only been a week.

“That smells delicious.”

“Thanks, I figured you’d be home by dinner.”

Asami pressed a kiss to Korra’s lips and the younger girl’s heart fluttered.

“I missed you so much,” the engineer murmured.

“I missed you too.”

After dinner, which was unquestionably fabulous, Asami had one of the servants light a fire. They laid together on the couch— living in absolute bliss. The older girl ran her hands through Korra’s hair, mesmerized by the new look.

“Why did you decide to cut it?”

Korra watched the fire flicker and dance, like performers at a festival. She let out a breath she’d been holding in for the past week.

“I… I had something bad happen…” she admitted.

Asami sat up attentively.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“While you were gone… I had a nightmare one night… it was horrible… I freaked out…”

“What happened?”

“I… I don’t really know. I just grabbed a pair of scissors…. And…”

“You don’t have to continue,” Asami said softly.

Korra fiddled with Asami’s hands— unsure of what to say. Fortunately, the engineer broke the silence.

“I think you haven’t been telling the truth to someone.”

“Asami! I would never lie to you!”

“I know that! I meant you. When was the last time you saw Tenzin? He offered to help you with all this.”

Korra’s head hung in shame, “I thought— I thought I wouldn’t need him after I figured out how to walk again. My goal was just getting back on my feet… literally.”

Asami smirked at the pun and wrapped her arms around Korra— engulfing the younger girl in a big hug. The Water Tribe girl sighed and rested her head on Asami’s chest.

“Maybe it’s time to ask for a little help.”

.               .               .

“Will Miss Sato be joining us today?”

“No… no, she said she thought it would be better if I did this by myself.”

Tenzin leaned back in his chair and thoughtfully stroked his beard. Korra looked around the office— which was very simply decorated. It was understandable— the Air Nation didn’t exactly have a lot of artifacts left over after the Hundred-Year-War. Still… the bamboo couch Korra was sitting on could have really used some cushions.

“So… you have been experiencing a lot of… nightmares?”

“Y-yeah. They keep getting worse.”

“What are they about?”

“Camp Amon… and… the warehouse.”

“I see.”

Tenzin leaned forwards and put a hand on Korra’s shoulder.

“You have done so much by stopping those men— more than some people do in their lifetimes.”

“But… I feel so scared all the time.”

“You are safe, Korra. Do you understand this?”

“Yes… I just feel like… like they could still hurt me.”

“How?”

“I don’t know!”

Tenzin stood and offered her a cup of tea, which she took gratefully.

“Those men are gone. They can never harm you again. But… I am sensing that you are afraid of the pain that was thrust upon you.”

“I just… I spend so much time trying to tell myself that I can’t be angry at anyone else…”

“That in turn, you’ve become angry at yourself?” Tenzin finished.

Korra nodded as a small tear rolled down her cheek. She really was angry. At Tarrlok. At Noatak. Unalaq and Hiroshi. And even at Kuvira. It didn’t make any sense. It was in the past— and she had told Kuvira that she’d forgiven her. It wasn't Raava's way to hold a grudge.

“Why do you think you’re not allowed to be angry?”

“Because they all were. The whole ‘Camp Amon’ act was an act of Tarrlok and Noatak’s anger. For whom, I don’t know… maybe their father. And Hiroshi… some part of him was evil out of anger for his wife. My Uncle always treated my horribly because he was jealous of my father. Even Kuvira must’ve been acting out of anger when she signed up to take out the Camp. I don’t want that anger to control me.”

“That’s very wise and mature of you. But anger is a very human emotion, Korra. The Air Nation believes that, while you should not let such negative emotions control your actions, you shouldn’t neglect your feelings. Bottling them up… well… it’s what you’re doing right now. Perhaps… perhaps we ought to spend some time meditating on your anger. In time… you will find yourself letting go of that rage.”

Korra nodded. Normally, she wasn’t a big fan of Tenzin’s meditation techniques, but right now she needed to deal with it. She needed to get better.

.               .               .

Two Months Later:

“Oh hey there, Korra!” a cheery voice called from the lawn.

Opal walked up to the edge of the cliff on Air Temple Island where Korra had been mediating— though the Water Tribe girl didn’t mind the interruption.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stop you— if you want me to leave...”

“No!” Korra said with a smile, “No, I was pretty much done. Have a seat.”

Korra had to admit, she didn’t know the other girl very well. Aside from hanging out with Mako and Bolin, or Kuvira and Shao, the girls hadn’t talked much. But they saw each other quite a lot during Tenzin’s sessions, and ate meals together on the Island. Maybe Korra could use another friend— one that wasn’t reckless or hot-headed like the rest.

“How are you doing?” Opal asked, her feet dangling over the edge of the cliff. Okay, so maybe she was a little careless— but not nearly as much as Korra’s other friends.

“I think… I think I’m getting the hang of this. I’m slowly realizing how truly angry I was. I just wasn’t allowing myself to feel it. I’ve stopped having as many nightmares, though. So I think I’m getting better.”

Opal nodded, “My brother Bataar left home after an argument with my parents. For a long time, I was angry with him; Jinora helped me use meditation to let go. When he finally came back, I was just so happy to see him that I didn’t understand why I was so angry in the first place. I think you don’t realize how silly your emotions can be until new ones move in.”

They kept talking until the sun left and the moon rose to replace it. As they walked back to the Temple— telling each other funny or embarrassing stories and laughing at the other’s expense, Korra couldn’t help but smile.

And for once it didn’t seem forced.