pushing it

[anatural]

WHO: Korra & Hei
WHAT: Korra’s getting restless.

[Korra sits on the ground of Hei's toolshed and tells herself that she should seriously work on that patience thing.

She's alone in the house. Her health has been improving enough that she doesn't need a constant babysitter, so when Asami called to say that she had a last minute meeting at Future Industries, Korra told her it was fine and not to worry about it. She can stand up to reach food in the cabinet. She can walk the distance from the bathroom door to the toilet. She can even (as she knows from testing earlier today) walk around the entire house.

The distance from the house to Hei's toolshed? Not so much. It had seemed like such a great idea, practicing walking while getting the tools to fix the wheelchair ramp. She's been itching for something to do, something physical, something that matters even just a little. But by the time she reached the toolshed, her strength was exhausted, and she had to use the last of it for a controlled fall.

So she sits and meditates on the virtues of patience. After some rest, she tries to earthbend herself back onto her feet. When that results in nothing more than a bruised bum and sore ribs, she tries meditating on the virtues of patience some more.

And really hopes Hei gets home soon. She really doesn't want to have Naga carry her back to the front porch like a cub.]

Comments

[anatural]

The Red Lotus is still active. They attacked my dad. [Break things down into smaller, manageable pieces. Stick to the facts. Focus on what needs to be done.]

How do I call Air Temple Island? [She still can't remember and she can't wait around forever for the number to pop into her brain. She needs to go home now. Her mother said he's expected to pull through, but the tribal council is still talking about who will step into his place if he doesn't.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Hei blinks with little expression. He and Tonraq are nominally family now -- the older man had said as much -- but his capacity for concern doesn't extend that far. It's the word Red Lotus that pings off his brain, activating internal alarms. Since Zaheer's imprisonment, he's amassed sketchy bits of info about the surviving group's activities and agendas. Everything had suggested that, without a firm leadership to shape their cause, their attacks would be small-scale, sporadic, eventually petering out as they were systematically hunted down by the authorities. ]

[ Clearly, he'd miscalculated. If they can do something as dangerous and blatant as attack the Water Tribe chief, then he never should've treated any of that mess as concluded. ]

[ He doesn't ask Korra How? or Is your father all right? He can gather those details by himself -- and more, once he contacts the right liaisons, gets the ball rolling by establishing the facts, developing a strategy and preparing a counterstrike. Not for Tonraq, but for Korra. Her safety -- especially during this recuperating phase -- is imperative. ]

[ Quietly, ]

I'll call them. You get dressed. [ A beat, then, in a tone that brooks no argument. ] If you're heading home, I'm coming too.

wrap this one here?

[anatural]

[Like she'd fight him on that. The only thing she'd fight is if he tried to stop her. There's no question that she's going home. Her parents need her. And, with the chief incapacitated, her tribe needs her too.]

<3

[mortemscintilla]

[ There's no question. He knows that. But it's the possible risks and logistics he's concerned with. The Red Lotus will be monitoring Korra's movements. The attack on her father would be the best way to flush her into the open so they can kill her. In which case, by insisting on traveling to the South, Korra might be giving them exactly what they want. ]

[ But Hei knows he can't force her to lie low. They will have to take the chance. Because if he and Korra keep their movements discreet, if they keep the Red Lotus guessing, they can get them to depart from their game plan. Otherwise they will always be one step behind on this thing, all the way to its bitter end. ]

[ And he refuses to play by those lopsided rules. ]