As I Fall: LOK

Chapter One

Haitana pet the underbelly of a white hamster as she slyly injected the vaccination into his tiny arm.

"Wow," the owner commented, placing a hand on the back of his neck in sheepishness. "He usually bites whenever someone tries to give him a shot," the man pointed out, slightly in awe at her ability to calm him down.

Shrugging, Haitana removed and recapped the vaccination, throwing it into the contamination bin with little effort. "Oh, he's not too bad," she commented, petting his fur once again as she nodded in approval. "Just needed a little distraction."

The hamster squeaked, accepting the treat that Haitana revealed in the palm of her left hand, and then bounded towards his owner. "Well thank you, Doctor," he said gratefully. "We will certainly be coming back here— you're much better than that rip-off, Yuri Animal Care, on 5th and Sunset."

"I'm glad you were satisfied with your experience today," Akiko came in, smiling as she started cleaning up the table. "We hope to see you soon!"

After the downfall of Amon and his equalists, things settled down in Republic City for the most part. Korra restored almost everyone's bending, and returned to Air Temple Island where she continued training— oh and of course started dating Mako.

Bolin returned to the pro-bending game, breaking records, but more of the not-so-good ones, like getting the brunt end of the quickest knock out.

Asami started restoring Future Industries, shipping planes and creating new machinery that Haitana had little knowledge about. After a few set backs, the company was surely about to take off (ha, pun).

Mako started working for the Republic City Police Department as a beat cop, taking down triads and doing other tasks for Chief Beifong.

As for Haitana, she continued to work at Akiko's veterinary practice, living above the offices in a small apartment with the old woman. They gained a lot of traffic at their shop— everyone wanting their pets to be treated by the girl who stopped the Unagi, or the girl who helped take down the equalists, or, even more recently, Avatar Korra's friend.

Unexpectedly, her friendship with Team Avatar grew exponentially— if they weren't off doing their own thing, Haitana could be seen taking Siso on play dates with Pabu and Bolin, or watching Korra train at Air Temple Island, or out shopping with Asami on the main boulevard, or surprisingly enough, even spending time with Mako— who revealed himself to be like an annoying younger brother.

And of course, the biggest wonder, what happened with General Iroh. After their talk upon defeating the equalist airships, they stuck around to help people get in contact with Avatar Korra and restore their bending. Friendly enough, they made conversation sometimes, talking about life, or their jobs, or whatever else two acquaintances would speak about with each other.

That was at least until Iroh asked her to join the United Forces and work under his fleet, and she turned down the offer— revealing that she actually hated physical conflicts or fighting. Of course, that surprised him a little, considering the fact that fighting was the very pretense he had kept meeting her under, but ultimately understood.

Catching up to now, however, it seemed like an impossible task to remove thoughts of Haitana from his brain. Images of her could ricochet around his mind constantly, settling on a thought of her every time he wasn't busy doing some odd task. Perhaps it were only admiration he held, at least that's what he supposed— it had to be the answer. She was a great bender, and knowledgeable about a lot of things he wasn't educated on, and he admired her for that— but that was it.

So why, when he found out she would be at the South Pole for the Glacier Spirits Festival, did he suddenly change his plans and decide to go? Maybe he wanted to try and convince her to join the United Forces again, or maybe he just changed his mind and wanted to attend all of the sudden... but, no, he couldn't kid himself any longer— he just wanted an excuse to speak with her again.

To say Haitana felt the same way might have been a lie. Of course she had thought about the general from time to time, often boasting in her own head about the ability to prove him wrong, but that was about as far as her thoughts went. She wasn't ready to start thinking about someone again, not after Sufon, and she wasn't sure she was even completely able to trust anyone right now.

Now, don't get her wrong, she had built some level of trust with Team Avatar, and even considered them the first real friends she ever had that actually has hands and can speak back— but there still was that looming, intrusive idea that anyone could turn on her at any moment.

Happy enough, Sufon hadn't bothered her with assassination attempts since she moved to Republic City, but it didn't stop the worry every time she left the animal clinic or tried to eat her lunch. Haitana figured she wouldn't rest, be comfortable, until she knew Sufon and his anarchist group met their downfall— if they ever did.

On a brighter note, however, her parents were supposed to meet her at the Glacier Spirits Festival in the South Pole next week, and this would be the first time she saw them since she left the Fire Nation— months ago. Elian had sent a letter to her, praising her for all the good she was doing, in direct contrast to Roma's, who demanded she be more careful, but Haitana was swelling with a sense of pride.

Making her father proud was one of the greatest accomplishments she could ever achieve. Elian was not only a renowned scholar, but he was also one of the most eminent firebenders in the modern world. He had been recognized by the royal family countless times— worked his way up to be Lieutenant Commander of the Fire Nation before retiring and following his passion of zoology.

To impress him meant the world to Haitana— as a man of such greatness, it seemed like his stamp of approval was the biggest form of honor one could receive.

So while Iroh's mind swarmed with the possible ways he could win the girl over, Haitana's thoughts only settled on amazing her father— proving herself.