Only You Can Touch My Heart-Part 5

Korra had wanted to die. When Amon had stood over her, declaring her the Avatar to everyone, announcing that she was a complete failure, she had just wanted to fade away. Korra had always felt that a part of her was missing; but having been denied a huge part of her, dangling it in front of her and then just taking it away.
She didn't know where she was; somewhere in a bed. Mako had been to see her almost every day. He was constantly by her bed-side telling her stories or just stroking her telling her that it was all going to be all right. Each time she had turned away, refusing to see him. She just couldn't face the world right now.
~~
"Remember when we were little, Korra and we first met? It was snowing and you were attracted to the fire that I had built?"
Mako strokes the fire with his fingers, hoping that soon the heat will spread over both of them. He had always hated the snow. It meant less food and harder nights for Bolin. He pulls out the fish that he had caught from the river and held it over the fire. A handful of snow hits the back of his head, fish falling into the embers.
"Ahh! Who's there?" He's suddenly on high alert and ready to fight off anyone who tries to take their meal, but he finds no one.
"What the-?"
"Mako!" He turns to the sound of Bolin's voice and is surprised to see a small girl huddled by the flame. The fish he had been cooking was hanging out of her mouth, grease streaking the sides of her mouth.
"Hey, that was mine!" She had a wild look about her. The sapphire blue of her eyes, glowing wildly in the night.
"Well, it's mine now. You've gotta deal with it!" Another snowball found its way into his face and when he finally had rid all the snow from his eyes, she was gone.
Korra could feel the wetness of her tears on the bridge of her nose as Mako spoke. Of course she remembered that day. That was when she found home.
~~
Korra made sure that everyone was asleep before she crept out of her room. She was in unfamiliar hallways as she made her way outside and down to the beach. The water no longer pulled her like before. The moon was a sliver of a smile tonight; she did not feel its energy. The waves felt cool as she waded in. Her fingers traced along the current as it pulled her body along.
'Maybe,' she thought. Korra shifted into stance and inhaled through her nose, exhaled through her mouth.
The only water that came was the tears from her eyes.  Mako found her hours later collapsed on the sand.
~~
The next morning, clothes were setting on the foot of Korra's bed. She stared at them for a second then just pulled the covers back over her head.
"Get showered and dressed, Korra. You've moped long enough." She started at the sound of Mako's voice. His golden eyes were boring into her.
"I've got someone for you to meet." He closes the door behind him.
~~
A kind woman named Pema leads her to the washroom. She says nothing to Korra, just smiles and rubs her shoulder all motherly. It seems so ironic to Korra that she is now bathing in something that she can no longer bend or maybe that's just the way she will always be thinking. The water feels nice against her bruised skin. Korra hasn't showered in over a week and she knows she smells like it.

The person that Mako wanted her to meet turned out to be Tenzin, the Avatar's son. If that wasn't a cold slap in the face, she didn't know what was. Korra almost turned and walked out of the room.
"Korra, wait. Just listen to what he has to say." She huffs and sits down at the table. Three kids were goggling her with fascination. The youngest one had a snot bubble coming out of his nose.
"Hello, Avatar Korra. It is an honor to meet you."
"I'm not the Avatar."
"You may be not able to bend but you are still the Avatar."
She shook her head. "I never knew who I was. I never held that title." Tenzin was silent for a moment. He seemed so serious compared to his father.
"You and my father have a lot in common. You were both late bloomers. I assume you know about my father's coming to the world a hundred years late?"
She nods. "Of course, I have. But when he got here, it didn't take him long to end the 100 year war. I-I'm just a failure."
"Korra failure is defines in multiple ways-
"You can call it however you see it but I still am!" A startled silence fell across the room as she banged her fists on the table. "I didn't even know who I was and the person who revealed it to me is hell bent on destroying me! And guess what, he succeeded!" Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke. They all turned into a blur as they clouded her eyes. In the end, she ran out of the room.

Tenzin's kids always found her. No matter how hard she tried to hide, they always were there bouncing and twirling away. Jinora loved to tell Korra about the latest love story she had read in a book. She thought Korra and Mako were perfect for most of the parts. She and Bolin were hitting it off as well and Korra could swear she could see the tiniest hint of a blush creep onto her face whenever he was around. Ikki loved to chatter on about everything. There was nothing she wouldn't say. And despite all her depression, Korra felt herself smile and heart lighten whenever the child was around. And her hair never stayed dry because of Meelo. He was always running around stark naked screaming, "Be the leaf!"
And she was surprised to find how quickly these people wormed their way into her heart. Korra never knowing her own mother found Pema a wonderful substitution. Sometimes they would just sit and talk for hours, Pema softly working a brush through her hair humming. This left Korra wondering if her mother had done the same?
Usually in the evenings, Tenzin would try to teach her how to meditate. She had no patience for it whatsoever and stormed off around ten minutes in.

"Do you know what the difference is between you and everyone else?" Tenzin had asked her one day.
"What?"
"You have an unbreakable connection to your past self. That will remain a part of you know matter if you can bend or not."
"Are you saying that I could still interact with Aang? How is that even possible?"
"The Avatar is the bridge between the spirit and human world. You are that connection. So much more defines an Avatar than bending, Korra. That is something Amon will never understand."
Korra was quiet for a moment, contemplating this information. "I want to do it, I want to talk to Aang."
Tenzin smiled, "Then I will teach you how to open your chakras."
"What will that do? And what's a chakra?"
"A chakra, Korra, is energy within the body that each separately deals with a different emotion. By unlocking all seven chakras, you will be able to go into the Avatar state at will."
~~

Korra found Mako in his room hands steepled together under his chin with a dark look over his face. She rapped on the door. He looked up surprised, met her gaze and smiled.
"I haven't seen you in awhile. Where have you been?" Korra sat on the bed and buried herself deep within his eyes. She never wanted to let them go, never wanted to leave him.
"Are you alright?"
"Can we just not talk now?" He nodded. He reached out and caressed her face, shifting her brown hair behind one ear. She brought his hand down to her lips and kissed them softly grazing each finger across her lips. She brought his hand down further, letting her own wander over his own body.
"Touch me," she whispered. "Let me feel the warmth that I never got to feel." He leaned in and kissed her. Hesitantly at first, but then more eager. He slipped his fingers under her tunic and brought it over her head. He relished the sight of her body, always had. Mako's fingers grazed her nipples making her quiver underneath their touch. A sigh escaped her mouth and soon she was shoving off his shirt just so she could feel the warmth of his skin all over. Wet kisses trailed down her stomach and stopped at the base of her pelvis.
"Are you sure?" he whispered. She tugged her pants off to show, that yes she was indeed sure. She gasped as she felt his tongue go inside of her. Quivers ran up and down her spine and soon she had lost all control and just clawed at the skin on Mako's neck, gasping his name. Finally something much larger than a tongue was inserted, and she had to clamp down on her discarded shirt to keep from crying out. He thrust into her and she moved with him, creating a sensation that she had never felt before. Korra had always been afraid to have an intimate relationship with Mako. Having to degrade herself to that of a lowly brothel girl, she didn't want to feel that way with him. Not like she did with her clients. But Korra soon realized how stupid this thought had been.
He nipped at her neck as he thrust harder and faster. Soon he came inside of her and she just clung to him like a lifeboat.
"Are you alright?" She didn't realize that she was crying until he wiped her eyes.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine, Korra." He was silent for a moment, both resting in each other's arms. "I was really scared when I saw you at that rally. We got you here but you still didn't wake up."
"I don't think I wanted to."
"People need you, Korra. I need you."
"I'm leaving tomorrow," she said suddenly. "Tenzin is taking me to Air Temple Island so we can try to open my chakras."
"That's great."
"I don't know how long it will take. Tenzin said once the process has started, it can't be stopped. I may not see you for a while."
Mako didn't say anything for quite a long time. She almost got up and left until he said, "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to be here for me until tomorrow comes."







Earth Chakra.

"This chakra is blocked by fear. It is located at the base of the spine." Korra sits in front of Tenzin, lotus position.
"Clear your mind and think of what you most fear."
Korra closes her eyes and soon the visions are coming fast and strong.

Amon cups her chin as he tells her who she really is. His mask is always smiling, even if behind his mask his face is really scar tissue.
"That's not true! I-I can't be the Avatar!" He stares at her and just laughs.
"Have you ever even tried?" Suddenly a heat is spreading across her palm and she is making fire. She gasps at the sight of it.
"What a shame. The last Avatar, gone 100 years; this one not knowing who she is. The world really is in dire need of a purging."
More Equalists come and the fire is quickly extinguished by a few blows to her arms. She tries to summon to fire again but it's gone. The goggles illuminate the darkness. They close in around her, tying up her limbs and gagging her. She lands a kick to one of them, but a strike in the head sends her flailing. She's losing. She's-
"Korra, this isn't real. Let all of these images vanish along with your fear."
Slowly her breathing starts to calm and their numbers diminish. Soon only Amon is left, then he too quickly disappears only leaving that creepy smile behind.

"You have opened the Earth chakra."
Sweat is rolling off Korra's face like she's just run a marathon.
"That was horrible."
"It was only the first one."
~~



Water Chakra

"This next chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. What are you most guilty of Korra?"

Korra is standing in front of Aang's statue. He is a hero, everybody loves him because he restored peace to the world. The image fades and Korra is standing in front of camera crews as they snap photos and wave the newspapers, headliners read: Avatar Found, Bending Taken Away by Amon.
"Where were you, Avatar?"
"Why didn't you defeat Amon?"
"Why did you let him take our bending?"
"Where were you when we needed you most?"
The questions keep coming and she doesn't know how to answer them. Why didn't she know who she was? Why couldn't she help these people?
"Korra, realize that the only path to beginning anew is looking forward. Stop dwelling on the past and move to the present."
The people vanish. She is standing back in front of Aang's statue. She bows at him.

"You have opened the water chakra."
~~


Fire Chakra

"This chakra deals with willpower and is blocked by shame."

Every night they grow more and more hungry. Mako's wages have been cut at the powerplant. Korra tries to think of anything she can do to try and help put food on the table. Sometimes Bolin is so hungry that he stares at pictures of food, salivating at the pictures. There isn't much work a woman can do in Republic City. So Korra turns to the only thing that she can think of for a woman.
The pay is good and it helps feed them and buy Bolin better clothes but she can't even bring herself to look at Mako. She can't even look at herself. She feels disgusting. This is the first time in a while that poverty has truly shone its colors.
"Let it flow away, Korra."

She crashes into Tenzin's arms and cries.  She doesn't even try to stop them; just lets them all flow down the creek.
~~




Air Chakra

"This chakra deals with love and is blocked by grief."
Korra doesn't have a home. Her only memory of her child hood is a blinding whiteness. Then nothing. She has always grown up thinking that her parents did not want her. Maybe that's why she ended up in Republic City.
But it wasn't all bad. She did meet him. She had followed him around because he always knew where to find food. At first, she stole what she could carry and ran back to the park. But one day he invited her to join them.
"If you're hungry, eat with us. You don't have to steal. I know what it feels like." Korra hadn't known what to do at first. But she accepted. And before long they were glued to each other. He showed her tricks with his firebending. She was always so jealous. Oh, how she wished she could do that! Mako and Bolin soon wormed their way into Korra's heart. She finally knew how it felt to have a home.
"Congratulations Korra, you have opened the Air chakra."
She found that she had a smile on her face.
~~


Sound Chakra

"This chakra deals with truth and is blocked by lies. Specifically the lies we tell ourselves."
Korra finds herself walking along a path of water. Surprisingly she doesn't sink, just glides right over it. Aang's statue is in the distance and that familiar humming sound is there again. Like something is inside of her, ready to break forth.
"Maybe I always knew?" Her eyes turn to the streets of Republic City. "Maybe I just believed that someone from the streets like me couldn't really be someone special."
Suddenly a line of people appear in front of her. Aang is in front. He walks up to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. He smiles and she smiles back.
"Each path of the Avatar is different, Korra. Remember that.
~~
Light Chakra

"This chakra deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The greatest illusion of all is that people are separated. That's why my father created this place. For people to live as one."
"Equality will never be reached as long as benders exist."
"So Amon thinking that benders and non-benders are separated is just one giant illusion?"
"That's probably the biggest of them all."
~~

Thought Chakra
"My father had the most trouble with this one. This chakra is blocked by earthly attachments. What are you most attached to Korra?"
She sees herself and Mako as they play in the snow in the park. She bends herself into a snowman and chases after him.
She and Mako lie under the stars as they discuss their dreams and the future. Hands interlaced, heads slightly touching.
Mako lights a small fire as the light goes out in their apartment for the tenth time that month. He admits how much of a failure he thinks he is. Korra punches him and tells him to not think like that.
She watches as their first night of intimacy takes place.
"Let him go." As he starts to fade, Korra almost stops right there. But she is determined to see this through. Mako disappears and a faint light is set in front of her. She can see herself and all the past Avatars. She walks through it.