Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

The Three Year Gap, Month Ten: Korra

Dear Korra,

I can't say that I expected you to respond to my invitation with a letter, but I am not complaining. It is really nice to hear from you.

I understand why you can't come to my fair, so I don't want you to worry about that. As for the other thing, I suppose that you are right, it is a little strange that despite all we've been through we don't actually know each other all that well. But, I don't think that's anything we can't change, so I hope you write back. I am curious to hear about what you have been up to lately.

Happy late birthday, Korra. I missed celebrating it with you, so I guess you could say we're even now.

Take care,

Asami

Korra didn't know why she had gotten so nervous about how Asami was going to respond to her letter. When she first got the invitation to the fair Asami was hosting, she was touched that her friends even remembered her. She didn't know why they wouldn't, but it had been so long since she talked to them that some nights she genuinely wondered if they had moved on from her.

Of course, in typically Asami fashion, she took Korra's words with as much grace and kindness as was anticipated. Asami's ability to remain steadfast in herself in the face of everything was really admirable to Korra, and she figured that is why she wanted to talk with her more in the first place. She just seemed like a good friend to have with everything that was going on.

"Why are you not going to go?"

Katara's question was simple, but it still stopped Korra in her tracks. They had spent months in physical therapy, working on increasing Korra's mobility for the sole purpose of her being able to get out more and feel like her old self again. Yet, an opportunity to go do something different was staring her in the face and she was shying away from it.

"I just don't think I'm ready," Korra answered after a long moment. "Besides, Raiko hasn't lifted my ban yet."

"That would put a damper on things." Katara wet her hands in a pool of lukewarm water before walking over to Korra and cupping the sides of her face gently. Watching a cool glow spread from her hands, Katara said, "But, as much as I think you should get out of this recreation center, I am glad that you are not leaving the South."

"Why?"

"Because I think you still have much to learn about recovery."

Korra sighed forcefully. Weeks ago, she had stopped holding back her anger at everything, deciding that it would be better to let all her emotions flow instead of keeping them bottled up. Still, she always felt a little bad whenever Katara would frown at her outbursts.

"I've already accepted that this will take time and won't happen overnight. And that I need to look inward and believe that I have everything I need to get better. What more could there possibly be?"

"A lot," Katara chuckled as she moved her hands to Korra's throat and forehead. "Every road to recovery is different, but what I believe you need to learn is not acceptance, but action. What good is knowing what you have to do if you don't actually follow through with it?"

"Fine. I'll start working on that during our next session."

"No, it has to come from you Korra, not from you wanting my approval. Didn't Tenzin's airbending lessons teach you anything?"

Korra wrinkled her nose awkwardly. "They taught me how to be bored," she half-joked. Katara didn't exactly laugh, but Korra felt that the small smile that rose onto her face was satisfying enough. "But I guess you're right. I should maybe focus on other things besides being able to do this." She raised her right arm straight up and though it went up rather quickly, it fell back down almost as fast. Her endurance wasn't quite what it used to be.