moonchild ☽ legend of korra

book 2 - chapter 4

As Mako and I stand up, we see the purple spirit slam itself at Korra, hurling her a few feet away with a rough landing. Our steps quicken as we rush to her aid, hoping that she's not hurt. The spirit grabs Korra and ties her up with its arms, pushing her against the ice. I waterbend a whip towards it, wrapping it around its arms to pull it away from Korra whilst Mako firebends at it.

Bolin, who I'm guessing was woken up due to all the chaos, appears next to me and earthbends a big wall, separating Korra and the spirit. "Got it!" He exclaims. Then, the spirit turns around and pinpoints him as his target. "Nope! Don't got it!"

The spirit does a violent spin and knocks the three of us off the ledge with his tail. I slam hard into the ground and feel the air leave my lungs. I cough and take a few moments to focus on my breathing, pushing away the dizziness I'm experiencing. Then, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist, lifting me up. I turn around to see Iroh looking at me with a concerned face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." I assure him, trying to ease my breaths. Without really thinking about what I'm doing, I reach for Iroh's hand, steadying myself with his touch. "What kind of a spirit is that?"

"An angry one." Mako deadpans as he stands up, brushing the snow off his clothes.

I look at him sassily. "This is no time for sarcasm."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Korra's parents and Uncle Tenzin run towards her. Just as I was about to follow suit, I feel Iroh's grasp on my waist tighten and pull me back. "You just had a pretty rough fall, Luna. Korra's got help."

"But what if—"

"No buts." He insists. "Let's get all three of you checked out."

"I don't want to wake Gran-Gran, Iroh." I explain, locking my eyes with his. "I promise I'll get checked out first thing when everyone is up."

"Fine." Iroh appeases. "But you're not leaving my sight."

I feel a blush creep up on my cheeks as I look intently into his eyes. I get lost in his amber eyes; seeing how much he cares, how much he worries, and how he always makes me feel seen and heard. I slightly start tracing my thumb along the palm of his hand, making him feel me and see me.

"Wow!" I hear Bolin suddenly exclaim, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Look at Korra's uncle go!"

I furrow my eyebrows at the mention of that man and turn around to see that Unalaq is bending water in order to calm the spirit down. I roll my eyes at how much of a show-off he is. Korra rushes to his side, who is being followed by Uncle Tenzin.

"Iroh." I say. "Can you help me get closer to them?"

He nods, placing my arm around his shoulders and affirming his grip on my waist. We slowly walk towards them and arrive with the tension feeling uncomfortably high.

"How were you able to control that spirit when no one else could?" Korra asks her uncle with complete and utter admiration, which creates a pit in my stomach.

"As your father could tell you, I have spent my life studying the spirits and learning their ways. All of this knowledge is lost in the South, but I could teach you everything I know." He explains, in a somewhat condescending way.

I clear my throat. "Have you thought about the fact that maybe we're not as spiritually connected as the 'oh so great North' is because our benders and spiritual leaders were literally taken away and killed during the War?"

"Luna, please. That's beside the point right now." Korra says somewhat aggressively.

"Chief Unalaq, clearly you are quite knowledgeable." Uncle Tenzin begins. "But Korra still has much to learn about airbending, and I hope that going to the Air Temples will help her connect with the past Avatars."