Hukki Week

Day 3 - Alternate Universe

What if instead of creating a 3rd portal, Kuvira destroyed a large part of Republic City?

Wei, Wing, Suyin, and Lin lifted the immense cinderblock up so everyone could slip out of the hole. Huan picked Ikki up, who was injured from the blast. Everyone who was helping Korra fight Kuvira and her army rushed to the nearest building to brace for impact. Luckily, Ikki was in the same building as the Beifongs and her brother, but she had no clue where the rest of her family was.

Stepping out of the rubble they could all see the pillar of black smoke was still rising from the blast Kuvira created. "I need to find my family," Ikki told Huan. "Let me go."

"You can't, your leg is broken. You need a healer," he reminded her.

"Then carry me around until we find them!" She said on the verge of tears. Huan looked at the girl he was carrying and couldn't find it in him to say no. Instead he agreed. They followed his family through the ashes of Republic City. When they reached the center where the blast occurred, they found Tenzin on the ground crying. As the group of survivors got closer, they noticed the limp body in his arms. Lin and Suyin rushed to his side and fell to the ground to join him.

Tenzin looked up and with tears in his eyes said, "She's gone. She's gone!" That's when Ikki noticed it was Korra in his arms, and the tears came rushing down her cheeks like rivers.

"No, oh no!" She cried and buried her face in Huan's chest. "Please no!" Huan's legs gave out and fell to the ground like everyone around him. His only comfort was Ikki who was crying hysterically in his arms. It wasn't comfort exactly, but knowing that she needed him somehow made him stronger.

Three months later...

Huan, a regular visitor, walked through the house like he belonged there. Pema, who was still grieving Jinora's loss, sat still with a book she wasn't reading. Meelo was nowhere in sight, and Tenzin was out on the porch meditating. Clearly, everyone was still affected by what happened three months ago.

Even Huan was changing. He started using his bending for something other than art. He was now living in what was left of Republic City with no intentions of returning to Zaofu. Most importantly, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that brought him to Air Temple Island every day.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in," a soft voice answered on the other side. He opened the door and found Ikki in bed with her cast. "Hi!"

"Hi," he said walking inside and sitting by her side.

"Get me out of here," she said immediately. He laughed quietly and picked her up from the bed.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Take me to the pier," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. They walked through the house and down to the pier without anyone taking notice.

They sat down feet dangling over the edge, and the city in ruins before them. Another reminder of everything they lost that day.

"So, how are you?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled in the end. He loved that smile. "Same as yesterday, still can't walk. How's your family?"

"Wei and Wing left for Zaofu today," he said leaning in to move a strand of hair away from her face. Ikki blushed, and it didn't go unnoticed as Huan averted his eyes out of awkwardness.

"Why did you stay?" She asked timidly.

Because of you, he thought.

"Because, I had to," he said.

"Why?" She pressed on.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Of course not!" she said a little bit too fast. "You can't leave me here with my family. My mom doesn't do anything all day, and my dad meditates, and god knows what Meelo and Rohan are doing all day."

"I won't leave you," he said placing his hand on top of hers.

"Thank you," she said looking up at him. "Now will you tell me why you didn't go?"

"I'm not ready to tell you yet," he admitted.

"Will you ever tell me?"

"Maybe someday. We'll see," he said offering a smile.

One month later...

When he opened the door, she jumped up to surprise him. "It's off! It's off, it's off. I don't have a cast. I can walk again," she said jumping and singing like a wild woman. Huan couldn't help but laugh and join her. She jumped on top of him and toppled and fell on top of her bed.

"Oops," she said on top of him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there for me." He caressed her face letting electricity buzz through her skin. In one swift motion she kissed him on the cheek. Then the other. They stood still searching for something in each other's eyes, something that couldn't be spoken, something that they both knew was there.

"Can I kiss you?" Huan whispered nervously. She nodded shyly. He leaned in hesitantly, closed his eyes, and put his lips on hers. She gasped from the sudden static energy pulsing through her veins, it was unlike anything they ever felt. All of that from just one kiss.

"Let's get out of here," she said when they finished their first kiss.

"Alright," he said getting up from her bed. They left her room holding hands, because after that kiss they couldn't let go of each other. They walked around Air Temple Island until they decided to sit by the dock.

"Will you tell me now why you didn't leave a month ago?" She asked.

He blushed before answering. "Because of you, it was always you."

Her eyes widened and her lips formed a grin from ear to ear. "Because of me?"

He held her hand in his and looked at her. "Ever since that day, I couldn't just leave you," he admitted. "Then I started coming here because I couldn't stand seeing you sad. I started noticing how happy you made me feel despite this whole mess."

"You make me happy," she said kissing his cheek.

"At first I thought I would stay until you got better, but then I realized I couldn't just leave," he said.

"I'm glad you didn't," she said with tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you stayed. I don't know what I would have done. Not now with how dysfunctional my family is."

"Yeah," he said. "No one has been the same since Kuvira. Opal went to the South Pole to see Katara, and my parents are burying themselves in trying to rebuild Republic City."

"It's going to be okay, right?" Ikki asked Huan.

Looking out at the still ruined city before them, it was hard to reassure her. It was hard to think that the world would ever be normal again, not when you lose family and friends the same day. He looked at Ikki's face and realized he couldn't make things worse for her, especially the way she was looking at him with that hopeful look in her eyes. It was enough to kill him and bring him back to life. In some ways she did.

"It's going to be okay," he finally answered. It had to be. It will be, as long as she was by his side.