~Celestial Bodies~

2.15

Vaatu was slithering out of Unalaq's mouth, gripping Korra, and squeezing out Raava out of her. Rae felt it. The part of the spirit of light that resided in her soul ached and she fell to her knees, her hand clawing at her chest where her heart was. It felt like something had broken away, like the other part of her was missing.

The ache turned into horrendous pain as Unalaq started attacking the part of Raava that created the Avatar. He hit it and hit it until the only memory of light were the small golden sparkles that floated around.

Unalaq laughed and through her pain, Rae looked up. Korra was struggling on the ground but the waterbender didn't even bother looking at her. He was looking at Rae. He approached her, slowly and enjoying the pain Raava's death caused over her.

"This is the moment where you sacrifice your body, soul and spirit for the avatar," whispered Unalaq as he crouched next to her, "but your death will be in vain. You are nothing without the Avatar and your power is nothing compared to mine!"

The last thing that Rae felt was Raava's last drop of power slip away from her grip as she succumbs into the darkness of her mind.

~

The moment she woke up, the pain wasn't gone. It still lingered in her chest, hitting every time she was less prepared for feeling anything.

Korra was broken. She felt guilty and blamed herself for everything that happened. While Rae was contemplating on her next moves, Korra and Tenzin were inside Vaatu's former prison. Their whispers found Rae's ears, and the woman sighed.

The walk towards the Avatar felt like a lifetime. But when Rae finally stepped inside, she ignored the overwhelming feeling inside her soul and the flashes from her memory and turned to Korra.

"You really think I can do this?"

"You can do anything Korra," said Rae slowly, making Tenzin and the Avatar turn their heads to look at her, "but I might be able to help."

Tenzin frowned and looked at Korra.

"Raava doesn't often split," started Rae, "but when she does, it's to bring the Avatar a companion, a Guardian. I still have a part of her in me."

Tenzin's frown was quickly replaced with a look of realization, and he turned to look at Rae with wide eyes.

"I can... give it to," the small tremble in the Guardian's voice didn't go unnoticed, "you will have to do a lot by yourself, as the spirit I have in me is less powerful than the one you had... but it might be a good boost."

"What about you?" asked Tenzin, "you will lose your bending!"

Rae was silent for a moment. She knew of what would happen if it didn't work, and she definitely knew of what would happen if it did work. Both endings weren't favorable for the Beifong woman, but she knew that one would be able to save at least a few lives.

"If it works, and Raava's spirit regains Korra's body, the essence of my power that I gave to Korra will find me back..."

She stopped there, not wanting to go further. Korra looked at Tenzin with a terrified expression, seeking advice. The man only sighed and nodded.

When Korra met Rae's eyes, she muttered a small agreement and the Beifong woman's expression was overtook by a pained smile. The two sat down on the wood face to face, their eyes closed, and legs crossed. Rae's hands found Korra's.

Focusing on her body, Rae's eyes started to glow their usual warm yellow tone. She let the spirit overtake her body. Her skin glowed and the veins of her hands, where she touched Korra's, started moving under her skin. It was painful for Rae, giving up the power she possessed ever since she was a child. She grew with it, embraced it, and learned to control it. And when it dethatched from her body, it ripped in the process the numerous walls of her soul.

But Korra felt alive. She gasped as the glow took over her limps. As Rae's eyes closed, the glow disappearing, Korra's opened wide, the pupils completely gone, only the warm yellow glow.

"You will have to do the rest of the work now," whispered Rae as she let go of the Avatar's hands.

She didn't open her eyes, but she felt a disturbance in the energy around her. And so, she knew, Korra was able to find herself. She smiled and opened her eyes, hoping to see Korra's energy figure next to her meditating body. But she was not by the tree anymore.

She was surrounded by white walls. A familiar figure approached her, and she saw him so clearly that she felt a few tears slip from her eyes. But a few more figures emerged from behind him, making the woman frown. They were all young, some even younger than her. They had scars and sorrowful faces, some had missing limps and other's faces wasn't even recognizable. But for all of them, their pure white hair emitted a low glow.

"You have a choice to make," said the tallest of them, "but your destiny as Guardian will always be to sacrifice yourself for the safety of the world!"

Akeno paid no attention to his past lives and strolled to the woman. "Don't listen to her," he said, "you were right. The world did change. They don't need any more death."

"What would happen if I were to go back?

"That is for them to decide..."

Rae fell into silence. For a moment, she thought about it. To prevail in the spirit world, abandon the humankind and give Korra the last essence of her life. But that isn't what they would have wanted, Korra, Asami, her mother, Iroh...

"I'll go back when you are ready," she said loud enough for her other past lives behind Akeno to hear.

With a nod from the tall woman, Rae was pushed back in her body. But when she opened her eyes, she didn't see Korra or the usual blur she got so accustomed too. She didn't even see light. No colors, no black or grey or white.

She saw nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:

Season 2 is almost over!

I wanted to thank all of you readers for reaching 13k! It means so much to me.

I also wanted to thank Luminous_Mushroom for the the support and I invite you to go check their Iroh II fanfic!

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