Korra stared blankly at the Fire Nation helmet as it sat coldly in her hands, her vision resting on the lifeless eyes of the skull shaped visage that seemingly stared back at her. All her life, for as long as she could remember, her dream had been to become one of the Fire Nation's elite soldiers; to earn the mask of a Fire Nation regular and show the whole world what she was made of, and what a mere colonial could do.
She still remembered the day she had earned her first set of armor, and the feeling of joy and pride that swamped her as she showed her parents. It was a day she would never forget, she thought that her parents would be proud of her, but instead, they met her with a look of fear and apprehension. It was a scene that was burned into her memory forever.
And now, with all that has happened, her discovery of her Water Tribe heritage, her time living with her people and her discovery as the Avatar; the mask felt alien to her. It was almost mind-numbing trying to reconcile the two viewpoints. In some way, the Fire Nation had marked her (well, literally) and that identity would always be a part of her, whether she liked it or not, but she was also the Avatar, and a member of the Water Tribes, literally caught between two worlds.
It was fitting, she thought, how the Avatar herself was as off balance as the world. Was she supposed to destroy the Fire Nation then to restore that balance?
But that didn't sound right. Perhaps her uncle Unalaq was right, the answer to this world's troubles extended beyond just beating the Fire Nation, there must be another way.
There had to be another way...right?
The Fire Nation had taken much from her, her childhood, her freedom, and her family, but she had also made herself a life there. At that moment, Korra felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of having Mako, Zhenjin, Asami and the rest of her friends as enemies; she felt her gut run cold as she recalled just how horrifying it had been when she had fought against Rho. Somehow, despite the man's cruelty, she found herself sickened from the thought of killing him. The look on his face as he gripped her arm pleadingly, and the warm moist blood running down her hands. She wanted to forget him. Forget everything. His cruelty, his fear, his very existence...if only to give her some measure of peace.
"Korra."
It was Tarrlok.
"Earth to Korra!" The young waterbender waved his arm frantically in front of Korra's face, snapping her out of her trance. She turned to her side and saw that Noatak and Zuko had finished putting on their disguises as well.
"Are you alright?" Tarrlok asked. "You've been sitting there, spacing out for the last ten minutes now."
Korra blinked, her eyes re-adjusting to her surroundings as thought she had just awoken from a deep sleep.
It had been Noatak's idea to dress them all up as Fire Nation soldiers, to better infiltrate the Prison Compound and free the prisoners. And it hadn't taken long before Zuko and Tarrlok managed to salvage one of the Tundra tanks from amongst the wreckage. After making sure all the unconscious Firebenders were either tied up or frozen in place. Korra instinctively flinched away from the red spot that still splattered the snow, Zuko having moved Rho's body long ago for Korra's sake.
"Sorry..." Korra said softly as she pulled herself to her feet, and was quickly rewarded with a jolt of pain from her back.
"Don't push yourself too hard." Noatak offered a hand to her, but Korra waved him aside gently.
"It's fine." She said sheepishly, giving her shoulders and arms an experimental stretch. When an even greater surge of pain shot through her back, she flinched visibly.
