Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Episode 11: Kuvira's Gambit Part 2

For Korra, it felt weird to have express permission to do such a risky thing. But she welcomed the change as she steered the bison she borrowed from the Air Temple stables into the chilled night air. Her back stiffened as someone pressed into her. When she turned her head just an inch, Korra noticed Lemaya leaning into her, the soft rise and fall of their chests falling into a rhythmic stride.

"Mako needed space for his nap," Lemaya whispered quietly. Korra focused her gaze forward with a chuckle. "Apparently, being with Wu all day is hard work."

"Maybe he has the right idea, resting up before we..."

Her words trailed off, but Lemaya knew what she meant. "It's a good plan, Korra," she said into the darkness. Tightening her hands on the reins of the bison, Korra let Lemaya's words repeat in her head. Despite knowing what she said was true, she was still nervous. One thing she had gathered about Kuvira was that she was not one to go down without a big fight.

"I just hope it works." Lemaya shifted her body so that she could lay her head on its side against Korra's back. She let a soft hand roll over Korra's arm, and, after a while, Korra's hand pulled back from the reins to hold her touch steady. Lemaya entangled their fingers together in a quiet gesture, curling closer to Korra as the biting wind slowed.

"You know, I never got to give you a proper welcome home," Asami smiled as she peeled her eyes away from the front of the saddle to Bolin. A telescope grasped firmly in his hands, he kept his sight trained on the large expanse of land around them. Bolin's body was rigid with anxieties, and Asami could tell. She found it quite admirable, though, how he seemed to be able to push past them in a way that he couldn't before.

"When this is all over, I will accept a great big party as an apology," Bolin said, his words following him as he shuffled to the other side of the saddle to watch the mountain ridge.

"Catering from Mai Lee's?"

Mako stirred incoherently at the mention of the bakery, like its name awoke something in him. Bolin wrinkled his nose at that, not quite sure what was up with his brother lately. To be fair, he had been gone for a long time, but usually, Mako was not that tough to crack. Well, for Bolin; other people seemed to disagree.

Condensing the telescope, Bolin poked his brother's cheek, enough to make him swat his hand away and roll over. Then, he said, "You know me well, Asami. Which is why I'm sorry I didn't write more."

Asami shook her head as she fiddled with a few knobs on her electric glove. "Water under the bridge, especially after what you've done. We wouldn't be here right now without you, Bolin." He shrugged, not sure whether or not that was really true. Would they really be unprepared for Kuvira's attack if he hadn't been around to find out about it? Bolin figured that someone would have put the pieces together, maybe Lemaya or Korra, having heard something while she was on her journey of self-discovery. Either way, Bolin felt that he was nothing but a small part of a large puzzle.

Pulling her knees to her chest, Asami hesitantly asked, "Were you ever scared?"

"Of what?"

"Of what you were doing." She paused, then added, "Of what you might have to do."

Bolin tilted his head. As the case usually was with his friends, there was something more to her words, and Bolin imagined it had something to do with how much everything had changed since she got that scar. In a way, it was like a reminder of all they had been through. Some of their wounds were just more visible than others. "All the time. But I just held onto the fact that I was doing what was right, even if it was scary. And that, one day, I'd make it back home and get to see all of you guys again, and all of the pain would be worth it."