Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

The Three Year Gap, Month Four: Lemaya

Usually, she would have been annoyed at Chief Tonraq for assigning her such in-depth tasks that she'd be at the palace all night. Now, she welcomed them. Things had been really different since she had gotten back to the South and she didn't like it one bit. It was as if everyone was walking around eggshells constantly and it reminded her of how things were after the convergence. She couldn't complain much, she was the one throwing herself into work to avoid all the thoughts plaguing her mind, but she was honestly tired of it.

Lemaya bobbed her leg anxiously in her chair. Screw it.

To prevent herself from thinking herself into stopping, Lemaya set the papers she was reading down and got up without a second thought. If things were going to change at all, she had to take the plunge and change them herself.

She smiled unconsciously to herself. Korra would be proud.

"Ta, if anyone asks, I'm just taking a bathroom break," she whispered to the aide next to her. Ta looked up at her from the thick rim of his glasses, a pensive look about his face.

"If I do this, can I be your second-in-command when you inevitably family-connection your way into becoming chief?"

Lemaya crossed her arms. "You mean when I genius my way into becoming chief?"

"Sea prune, tea lute, whatever," Ta sighed as he held out his hand, "Do we have a deal?" Lemaya spared him one final unconvinced glance before clasping his hand in a firm shake.

"Not a word of this to anyone else."

"My lips are sealed."

After securing a good cover, the last thing standing between Lemaya and the one thing she had been putting off for far too long was the long and treacherous trek to Katara's home. She knew that the city had been built a ways off from the original village that had lasted despite the Fire Nation's many attacks, but she didn't realize how far until it was the middle of the night and the windows were still nothing more than glowing dots in the distance.

There were other houses around for those who, like Katara, chose to stay in the small village after construction on the city was built, but Lemaya rarely, if ever, saw those people leave. Mostly, they just stuck to themselves and that was how they liked it.

"How does Katara walk this every day?" she heaved, clutching desperately to her knees.

By the time she made it to Katara's door, her face was flushed from the biting wind and she swore the fur of her coat was frozen completely solid. "You do know that it is the middle of the night, right?" Katara leaned slightly out of the doorway, half expecting a gaggle of others to be joining them. She rarely ever got lone visitors at her house, at least not since her children had grown up.

"Yeah," Lemaya panted between breaths. "Was just in the neighborhood."

Katara narrowed her eyes. "Tonraq isn't overworking you kids, is he?"

"No, no. That's not what I'm here about."

"I know, but why else would you be up so late? Well, I guess it could be other things, but lucky for your mother you're not a partier like my daughter." Katara ushered her into the warmth of the house as a light laugh escaped Lemaya's lips.

Pulling her hood down, she said, "Kya was a wild child?"

"Oh, you have no idea. She and Hakoda would give Sokka and I such grief, and from across the world, too." She shook her head as she pulled a steaming pot off of the stove, almost as if she had a feeling that someone would be coming. "Zuko was the only one who missed out on a crazy child, but I'm hoping Kara's baby will make up for that."