The Dual Bender

Chapter 30: Aftermath Part 2

You: "Well I know she could kick your ass with all that "build." Wow, I didn't expect him to do that. I turn my chair towards him now to get a better look... Oh wow. He was, just wow. He looked as if he had put on 20 pounds of pure muscle. He was, well, ripped. He was wearing a black leather jacket with some ripped jeans and his hair seemed a little longer than usual. Not his usual T shirt or tank top with shorts attire. He again tries to walk away, only to be stopped by the girl again.

Girl 1: "How is she supposed to kick my ass if she can't even walk!?" I see M/N stop dead in his tracks. Then I see his claws come out. He turns around and walks towards the girl.

You: "I know I did not hear what I think I just heard. If you "Ever," and I mean "Ever." Say something like that again... Trust me, you'll be in a whole worse place than not being able to walk." The girl looked like she pissed herself. M/N nods and contracts his claws, then turns around heading towards my house.

Senna: "Well, I guess you were wrong." She says smiling. We follow M/N from a distance, I didn't want to talk to him just yet. He continues walking for about 5 minutes until the woman from earlier walks up to him. I hear him groan.

You: "Listen, miss, I don't want to seem like a prick, but I really don't have time to be hit on any more."

Woman: "No, please. I'm not here for that. I'm here because of my son." M/N stops walking and sighs.

You: "What about him?"

Woman: "You saved him during the attack, he was being chased by that horrible creation." I could see M/N's face change, and I know why. That thing, it was modeled after him, he felt like she just called him a horrible creation. "He was hiding in an alley nearby, until you showed up, and beat it. You're his hero. Please, it would mean the world to him if you could stop by and say hello to him." I hear M/N sigh again.

You: "Ok, where's your house?"

Woman: "Around the corner, thank you so much." He just waves it off. They arrive at the house and I see a small boy answer.

You: "Wait? Do I-" He cut off by the boy jumping onto him.

Ada: "M/N!! Hi!"

You: "Ada?" The small boy nods. "Well, it's good to see you again too."

Woman: "Ada, would you like to tell M/N anything?" I see the small boy become rather embarrassed.

Ada: "Oh, um, yea. I-I um, thanks for saving me. Y-you're my hero." I hear M/N chuckle, then he ruffles the boy's hair.

You: "Hey, what are friends for?" They talk for another minute or two before M/N leaves, except he doesn't head towards my house, he heads right towards where me and my mom are around the corner.

Korra: "Go! Hurry!" She turns around, but not in time.

You: "You know, I don't really like being followed." My mom turns me around.

Korra: "Busted." I say with no emotion behind it. But to my surprise he doesn't say anything, he just bends down and hugs me.

You: "I missed you so much, I'm so sorry I couldn't come sooner." I forget everything I was mad at him about and hug him back.

Korra: "I-I'm just glad you're here now." We walk back to my house, when we get to the stairs one of the guards walks over to icebend a platform up, but M/N just picks me up instead. I hear my mom laugh when she sees me. I'm guessing that I'm blushing. He carries me up the stairs rather easily, though it's not exactly a surprise considering what his body looked like now. We get to the top and walk into the dining room. I hear who I'm guessing is Kya cooking in the kitchen.

Kya: "Is that you? Senna? Korra?" She walks out and gasps when she sees M/N. "M/N! It's so good to see you again! Where have you been? You look great! Well considering the last time I saw you, you were, well, you know." M/N nods but laughs. At her outburst.

You: "It's good to see you too Kya, and Gaea had me off training for a while, that's why I was so late." Well, that explains the increase in muscle. I see Kya giving him a confused look though.

Kya: "Gaea? As in, the earth spirit?"

You: "Oh, right. Gaea is the spirit within me, much like Raava is within Korra." He says smiling. I notice he had a few new scars on his face, I'm guessing from Zaheer, but the worse one was a large gash right next to his left eye. I'm guessing there are far worse ones on his body though. Kya says dinner will be ready in an hour and he carries me to my room. He sets me down and removes his jacket, revealing his usual white tank top beneath it, he walks over and sits next to me. "So, I guess I owe you an apology. I'm so sorry Korra, I swear I didn-" I cut him off and kiss him he seems hesitant at first before kissing back. A few minutes later he pulls back. "So, you're not mad?"

Korra: "Definitely still mad, but I'm just happier to see you." He smiles at me. Yet I couldn't help but wonder...

You: "Korra? Is something wrong?" I sigh.

Korra: "Do you have more scars? I-I didn't see last time we were together, you were wrapped in bandages." He looks away, then stands up. "I-I'm sorry. I d-" He takes off his shirt to reveal... Oh no, there were two of them on his torso, and one on his left arm. The two on his torso were huge, one was where he was burned when he saved Ikki, it wasn't horribly noticeable, but it was big, really big. You could definitely see something happened there. Although the other one... on his side. It was awful, 5 different lines looked like they were carved into his side. I look up to the one on his arm, and cringe remembering the blade that had been lodged into it. It looked similar to the one on his side, except it only had one slash. He puts his shirt back on and sits at the foot of the bed staring out the window. "M-M/N, I-I should have been there for you. You went through all that pain for us... and we were just going to leave you there..." He stands up and lays next to me, extending his arms. I push myself over and lay onto his chest as his arms wrap around me.

You: "But you didn't, and I'm not leaving you." I feel something wet hit my head, I look up to see the trail of a single tear on his face. Even now, after he defeated Zaheer, after everyone was safe. Something was still eating at him.

Korra: "M/N, there's still something you haven't told me. Isn't there?" He looks away but nods.

You: "I-I'm sorry Korra, but I just can't. I can't tell anyone what happened."

Korra: "Ok, I won't pry." Knowing that I was going to anyway, he needed to get it out. "But can you tell me why you won't?" He takes a shaky breath and swallows

You: "No one should know that can happen to a person." Oh no, it wasn't grief or guilt this time... It was pain. We stay this way for a while, until there's a knock on the door.

Senna: "Korra? Dinners ready." I groan but sit up. She walks in with a wheelchair. I hear a thud, guessing it's M/N rolling out of bed.

You: "Wha? Who?" He seems to calm down when he sees me and my mom.

Senna: "Can I ask why it is so hard for you to stay in a bed?" She says laughing. M/N laughs too and scratches the back of his head. I laugh along with them, it was good to have him back.