Return to Republic City

The waters around the Southern Water Tribe were always cold. A young man wrapped his dark orange scarf around his neck a little tighter. He was reading a newspaper as he sat on the deck of a Water Tribe ferry bound for Republic City, the capital of the United Republic of Nations. The front page had a picture of a group of criminals tied up in front of a tall, bearded man, wearing a maroon-colored overcoat, with his arms crossed over his chest. However, despite his semi-serious posture this man had a huge, and almost contagious, grin on his face. The headline for the article read, "United Forces Commander Bumi Outfoxes Pirates in Southern Waters".

Although the ferry that the young man sat on was Water Tribe in affiliation, it was clearly of Fire Nation design. Made from rough, heavy metal and billowing thick black smoke, the ship was most likely purchased shortly after the end of the Hundred Year War. The 19 year-old scanned the deck of the ship looking at each of the other passengers.

It was a small ship, so there was only himself, a Water Tribe family with a mom, dad, and 2 girls, an elderly man who was the captain of this ferry, and a group of 3 men all huddled together. The three of them were forced to share a blanket between them. He chuckled to himself, tugging on his dark brown winter jacket. They must not have come prepared for the arctic climate. He then turned his grey blue eyes to the east, looking at a United Republic battleship heading back to its patrol after stopping off at the Southern Water Tribe.

"I hear that's Commander Bumi's personal battleship," said the ferry captain, "He's supposed to be some sort of mad genius when it comes to strategy. and his charisma is supposed to be so enthralling that he can lead his men headfirst into an obvious death, only to come out the other end smelling like roses."

"He-he. Yeah, you could say that again," the young man replied while casually running a hand through his unkempt, dark hair.

"Oh? Do you know Commander Bumi or something?"

"You could say I'm familiar with his work," he said, smiling fondly.

"Uh-huh. By the way, I don't think I caught your name," the captain inquired while rubbing his chin.

The young man smiled a lopsided grin.

"The name's Koda. Republic City born and raised," he said jovially while pointing his thumb at his chest, clearly happy to be returning home.

The old captain scratched his balding head like he was trying to remember something mildly important. "Koda… Koda… Why does that name sound so fami-"

"IT WAS YOU!"

A shout sounded from the other end of the deck. One of the men sharing the blanket burst to his feet, pointing an accusatory finger at Koda. The other 2 immediately jumped up and, without any warning, started to waterbend ice spikes towards him.

Koda seemed completely unfazed by the surprise attack as he kept a neutral expression despite the situation. He dodged the incoming assault, expertly bobbing and weaving through the storm of ice shards. He quickly closed the distance between himself and his attackers with almost unnatural agility and speed.

Koda moved in on the first waterbender and delivered a hard punch to his gut, causing him to double over onto his hands and knees. Not wanting to get hit while his back was turned, Koda turned towards the second waterbender, who was just out of arm's reach, unwrapped his scarf from his neck and whipped the second attacker across the face with it.

The blow seemed to hit with more force than a simple cloth scarf should have, knocking the aggressor off his feet and hard onto his back. Then Koda spun back and delivered a hard overhead kick to the back of the head of his first target, driving his face into the hard, metal deck and knocking him unconscious. All the while, Koda casually wrapped his scarf back around his neck as he did so.

All of a sudden, a high-pitched squeal cut through the air. Everyone turned to see the man who first yelled holding a dagger on a little girl from the Water Tribe family. The captain and the girl's family were apparently too distracted by the attacking benders to notice as the third man crossed the ship during the initial attack and snuck behind his victim. "All right. That'll be enough of that, I think," he said, smugly as he inched the blade closer to the young girl's neck. The young girl was starting to tear up now, but too terrified to make a noise.

In response, Koda raised his left arm, palm facing up. He really hated cowards like this guy. "Wow, you really are an idiot, aren't you?" Koda asked, almost nonchalantly, as he glared at the villain, any of his previous humor gone now, "You know who I am and still decided to try something like this?" Koda then flicked his ring finger back.

"What are you-?" the man with the knife began to ask when suddenly his weapon was ripped from his grasp and began to float in the air. Koda clenched his fist and swung his arm around, the blade mirroring his movements. The dagger flipped around and hit the last assailant square in his temple with its hard pommel, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. With the threat now gone, the young girl rushed back into the arms of her parents.

"You're a metalbender?!" the ferry captain exclaimed in surprise. With Koda's jacket now open, the captain could see the green tracksuit jacket, the metal gauntlets, his light blue t-shirt and the metal armor he was wearing on his legs, as well as two spools of cable strapped to his hips.

And as the sudden and tense situation seemed to have been resolved, realization seemed to dawn on the old man. "Wait a second. You're him! That big-name lieutenant with the United Forces, Bumi's right hand man: Koda the Sonar. You just took down all 3 of those guys in like 15 seconds!"

Koda turned and smirked up at the old man. "Not quite," he said.

He then thrusted his right arm forward, a metal cable shooting out from one of the spools on his hips. The cable snaked over the edge of the boat, and an undignified scream came from where the cable disappeared to. Koda then spun and whipped a fourth man up from over the edge of the ferry and dropped him none too gently onto the group of attackers. He and the others groaned in apparent pain.

Koda then opened up his jacket and shot out several circular metal bands from inside his coat and used his metalbending to restrain all 4 of the men and then linked them together just to be safe. And not just because it would make the ride extremely uncomfortable; no sir.

"Now I took care of all the bad guys," Koda confirmed, "Also, it's not Lieutenant anymore. I've resigned from the Republic military. I left from Bumi's battleship back at the Southern Water Tribe, so I could catch a ride on this ferry to take me back home."

"Okay," the captain said. He and the other passengers seemed to finally start to calm down now that the situation had apparently been dealt with. "But why did these guys try to attack you?"

"I have my suspicions," Koda said as he walked toward one of the men in question. He reached down and ripped the sleeve off the man's shirt, revealing a tattoo of a blue sea raven. "Just as I thought. The Neo-Southern Raiders. Most of them are criminals, banished from the Southern Water Tribe."

"They use old Fire Navy ships from the War to attack traders and merchants on their way to the South Pole as some sort of revenge for their exile," Koda explained. "They're from that last band of pirates Commander Bumi and I took down just before I left the United Forces. These 4 are probably stragglers that we missed. I bet they thought they could take me 4-on-1 now that I'm not with the military anymore."

"No, we aren't stragglers," one of the pirates suddenly said. He seemed to be sporting a pretty impressive welt on his face from where Koda smacked him with his scarf. "We were on a scouting run when you attacked our ships and captured our crew. We did everything right. We disguised our ships as freighters and hid all our weapons and most wanted crewmen in smuggling compartments no one should have been able to find. No one except you."

"We have nothing left now, thanks to you," the pirate said with his voice now taking on a distinct edge. "I know who you are. You're nothing but a worthless piece of garbage whose own father didn't even-" He was interrupted as the blanket they were all using was suddenly shoved into his mouth. It was followed by a swift kick to the side of his head, sending it bouncing off the metal deck of the ship, knocking him unconscious.

"No one asked you, filthy pirate," Koda said. Then he summoned the pirates' dagger to him from its position where it had landed on the other side of the ship. The dagger then began to spin wildly in the air above Koda's fist like a buzz-saw. "So, does anyone else feel like sharing their opinion of me?" he asked.

The other three quickly shook their heads.

…

Koda was sitting in a meditative stance at the bow of the ship. He was focusing his senses throughout the ferry, trying to pick up even the most minute details. Currently, he was attempting to monitor the heartbeats of the 4 pirates on the other end of the ferry. This was a common practice he did when he was emotionally unbalanced. Koda seemed to have been greatly affected by what that pirate had said to him.

He was taught from an early age that meditation would give him greater focus and allow him to become more spiritually attuned. He wasn't so sure about the spiritual side of meditation, but it did help him to calm down when he was worked up like this. As a byproduct, Koda found out that by using meditation, he could greatly increase the range and clarity of his Seismic Sensing.

"Land Ho!"

Everyone turned to the front of the vessel, and sure enough, they could see the vast skyline of Republic City. Koda chuckled at the ferry captain, "He-heh. I didn't know anyone actually said that, Old Man," his good mood clearly having returned sometime over the journey.

"Of course they do," the old sailor replied. "How else would everyone be able to know we're about to reach our destination?"

"Umm…Couldn't you just say, 'We're about there,'?" Koda asked.

"Ha-ha! You're funny, kid," the captain laughed as though he had just been told a great joke. "By the way, when those scoundrels attacked it seemed almost like you knew that it was coming. Why is that?"

"Well, that's because I basically did see it coming," Koda replied. "I knew that fourth guy was hanging over the edge since before we left the Water Tribe. Most people don't hang onto the outside of a boat in arctic waters unless they have something planned."

"But how'd you know he was there?"

"The same way I know that, on the way here, 8 fish accidentally ran into the underside of the hull and then picked up 3 extra barnacles near the stern," Koda explained.

"Huh?"

"By using my earthbending, I can use even the smallest of vibrations to give me a sense of the world around me," he explained with an easy smile, "They didn't call me 'The Sonar' for nothin'."

"About that, why'd you leave the United Forces?" the captain asked, "I heard you were the youngest officer in history. Joined up when you were 16 and made Ensign by 17, well on your way to beating out Iroh as the youngest General of all time. You are supposed to be some sort of rising star."

"Well, it's kind of a personal story," Koda said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, I'm sorry I asked then."

"No, it's okay," he assured the captain, "When I was younger, I was lost and lacking purpose. I'd spent my whole life in Republic City just going along with what everyone else decided for me. Doing what they wanted me to do without ever really asking if that's what I truly wanted. I was being pulled in a lot of different directions. However, one thing I did know that I always wanted to do was to help people like Avatar Aang, but I wasn't sure what the best way to go about it was. Finally one day, I decided that I needed to go out to see the world like Aang did.

"I figured that joining the United Forces would allow me to get out of the city while giving me the opportunity to help the rest of the world. My uncle pulled some strings, and I was allowed to join on as a Cadet, even though I was just a teenager. Now after 3 years of barely getting to see home, I decided that Republic City is where I'd be of the most use. Also, I'd get to see my family more, and that's always nice," Koda finished up, smiling fondly at the thought.

Just then a low, deep rumbling sound came from above their heads. Everyone looked up and saw a large sky bison soaring in the direction that they had just come from. "That looks like Councilman Tenzin," the captain explained, "Rumor has it that he's heading to the South Pole to train the next Avatar in airbending."

"Huh, you don't say," Koda replied, only seeming mildly interested. He did seem to recall his grandmother mentioning that the new Avatar was being trained at home with teachers being brought to her, rather than traveling the world like previous Avatars.

Koda noticed they were finally coming up to the docks. He grabbed his bag, preparing to disembark. "Well, kid. You seem to have things figured out. That's not something most your age could say," the captain said, "Have you got a job lined up yet? If not, I could always use a deckhand who can handle himself in a scrape."

"Thanks for the offer, Old Man, but I've already got that handled," he replied with a smile. He then turned to the four prisoners and started hauling them to their collective feet and led them near to where the exit ramp would be lowered.

"Now don't you worry about them, son," the ferry captain said. "I'll get ahold of harbor security, and they'll make sure that those pirates make it to the Police Department." However, speak of the Devil, and he shall appear. Or, in this case, she shall appear.

Standing at the pier, waiting for their arrival, was a grey-haired woman wearing the uniform of Republic City's metalbending police. She had a stern posture, and her steely, green eyes told all who looked upon her that she was not to be trifled with. This woman was Lin Beifong, daughter of the legendary Toph, and Republic City's current chief of police. What the ferry captain didn't know, however, was why she was waiting at his dock. He hadn't even been able to call in about the attack since his outdated ferry lacked a radio. She watched the approaching ferry as it came into dock; noticing the tied-up criminals being led by a young metal bender with an orange scarf.

"Well then," Lin said with a slightly-amused half smile, "It looks you're starting the job early, aren't you, Officer Beifong?"

"Oh, you know me, Mom," Koda said, wearing a similar smirk, "I always like to get a head-start on my work."

…

A young woman sat in the stable beside a large white, four-legged creature. She had a darker complexion; common for those of the Water Tribe. The creature somewhat resembled a cross between a Labrador and a polar bear, easily at least 750 Kg. Looking forlorn, you could easily mistake this young woman for any ordinary teenager dealing with ordinary issues. However, this was no ordinary girl. She had trained since the age of 4 to be the world's greatest bender. Currently, a master of three of the four elements, this young woman was Avatar Korra.

She had just been informed that she would have to put off her airbending training. Tenzin, the son of the previous Avatar and the only Airbending Master in the world, had informed her that her training had to be put on hold due to issues that needed to be resolved in his home of Republic City. Korra had suggested that she go with him in order to train and help with the conflict, like her duty as the Avatar required. However, she was told that it was too dangerous. Tenzin and the leaders of the Order of the White Lotus, a group dedicated to protecting the Avatar, ordered her to remain at the South Pole until he returned.

Korra had her arms wrapped around her knees when she opened her cyan-colored eyes. Great determination showing in them. She wiped a few strands of her dark brown hair out of her face and walked over to a saddle sitting to the side. At 5' 7", one wouldn't think this girl could lift a saddle meant for such a large animal, however she apparently had no issue with it.

"Alright Naga, it's time for me to quit sitting around and waiting for everyone to tell me I'm ready. It's time that I showed them," Korra said to the polar bear dog.

"Nice night for an escape, isn't it?" a voice sounded out from behind.

"Katara?" Korra said as she turned around. Katara was the wife of the previous Avatar and a Waterbending Master. She was the one who taught Korra everything she knew about waterbending. "I have to leave. I have to find my own path as the Avatar," Korra said with conviction.

"I know you do," Katara assured her, "Aang's time has passed. My brother and many of my friends are gone. It's time for you and your generation to take on the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world."

"Thank you," Korra said, grateful for Katara's understanding, as she walked up and hugged her mentor in farewell.

"Just remember, Korra. The Avatar is never alone," Katara explained, "Don't be afraid to rely on your friends for support. Although you wield great power, you are still only human, and you can't do it all alone. Remember that, and I know you're going to be a great Avatar."

"I will," Korra replied as she climbed onto Naga, "Let's go Naga. This is the beginning of our first great adventure!"

…

Officer Beifong sighed. He had been in Republic City for a little over a month now and on the beat since his second day in the city. Needless to say, the job was a lot more boring than he expected, and it had a lot more paperwork too. Koda immediately wanted to get to work cleaning Republic City's streets of the Triads and those rogue chi-blockers calling themselves 'Equalizers,' or something.

Unfortunately, all he had done so far was patrol some low-risk areas like the park, business district, and some high-end shopping centers during the late morning/early afternoon, the safest part of the day. Apparently, this was common practice. It gave the 'rookies' a chance to get their feet wet before throwing them into the deep end.

The most exciting thing to report so far was a minor fender bender between a satomobile and a truck hauling a load of cabbages. The machines and drivers were both fine, however, the driver of the truck wouldn't stop lamenting his ruined cabbages that had spilled out onto the road during the accident. He kept insisting that Koda needed to arrest the driver of the satomobile and demanded capital punishment. Only in Republic City.

Koda was the outlier of the police force, he wore a leather jacket with the collars up. The jacket opened and showed a blue t-shirt and he wore black metal gauntlets that covered his hands and went up his sleeves. He also had managed to convince the Chief to let him wear his scarf with his uniform, on top of his jacket.

Although he originally intended to rely on his metalbending to move around the city, Koda was required to use the standard-issue police motorcycle. He was only allowed to use his bending while in pursuit of suspects and criminals. Apparently, it could cause a panic or something; people are so over dramatic sometimes. And unfortunately, he did have to wear a helmet while riding said motorcycle. There was no way out of that no matter how much he groveled to his mother. It was city law, not a department regulation.

It was about lunchtime, and Koda was patrolling the area around the docks. His stomach grumbled in irritation. He had skipped breakfast this morning and settled for a pot of coffee.

Coffee was an odd concoction that he and Bumi came across on their travels near the Foggy Swamp. It was similar to tea but instead of leaves, it used the grinds of a certain type of dried out beans to flavor the water. No one on the battleship had liked it's incredibly bitter taste initially. However, one day when the all their tea leaves went bad unexpectedly, everyone had to settle with drinking coffee for over a week. Even after their tea leaf stocks had been replenished, the crew found that they couldn't start their days right without a cup of the stuff. It was like some sort of insidious plot.

Koda was getting ready to turn his motorcycle towards the direction of his favorite food stand when suddenly the dispatcher's voice came in over the radio, "Attention all units. Attention all units. We're receiving reports from the area around the docks of a large, white creature on the loose. Last seen on the intersection of 7th and Roku Drive, causing traffic interference as well as a collision. Any units in the area please respond."

Groaning to himself, Officer Beifong picked up his transceiver. Lunch would have to wait. "This is Unit 4-4-2. responding. I'm en route to investigate," he replied.

"Roger that. All units be aware: Sergeant Sonar is responding."

He growled after hearing his 'nickname.' Unfortunately for Koda, the news that he had brought in 4 pirates before his first day on the job and the fact that he was the Chief's son had spread like wildfire. This, as well as his former reputation as an officer with the United Forces, led to a whole mess of rumors and speculations. Apparently, the most popular theory was that Lin was grooming her son to be the next chief of police, in record time, and she had arranged for him to be on the ferry when the pirates attacked. That way he'd already have a nice feather in his cap right at the beginning of his career.

The rumors were obviously false; anyone who spent more than a minute with Lin Beifong knew that no one, not even her own son, got a free ride in her department. Despite that, there was still a lot of frustration and resentment. Given his former epitaph and the idea that he was likely to soar through the ranks, many of the other officers, and now dispatchers apparently, had taken to referring to Koda as "Sergeant Sonar."

Koda turned down Roku Drive and followed the trail of frustrated drivers and pedestrians. There were several vehicles on the sidewalks and spun around in the wrong lanes. He found the collision that the dispatcher had mentioned. It was between a small green satomobile and a dark grey hauler truck. Luckily no one was hurt, and even more lucky, there were no cabbages involved this time. He sent word to dispatch to send in traffic officers to sort it out. He had to track down the creature that did this before any more damage was caused or someone got hurt.

After interviewing several of the witnesses, Koda was informed that the creature had a rider, and they were last seen heading down Lotus Avenue, near the city park. As he was driving his motorcycle down Lotus Avenue, Koda spotted the food stand where he normally bought his lunch. Not so normal were the large white, furry hindquarters and wagging tail that were sticking out of the side. Obviously, this was the animal he had been looking for.

Koda parked his bike and approached the scene cautiously. He didn't want to spook the beast, and have it rampage again. Finding another quality food stand in this city that didn't charge an arm and a leg would be impossible, after all. Getting closer, he saw a beautiful, young woman about his own age approach the stall owner. She had an athletic build with dark, caramel-colored skin and was wearing Water Tribe clothes.

"We'll take one of everything, please," the Water Tribe girl requested as she picked up a kebab with several pieces of cooked meat on it.

The stall owner, an older woman with light brown hair, was obviously less-than-thrilled that there was currently a huge slobbering animal sticking its large head into her stall. The stall owner curtly replied, "That will be 20 yuans."

"Uh, I don't have any money," the owner of the beast awkwardly said.

Clearly frustrated with the whole situation, the older woman quickly yanked away the kebab and exclaimed, "Then what good are you to me?!"

In response, the Water Tribe girl merely hung her head and directed her beast out of the stall. With it finally out in the open, Koda could clearly see that it was a polar bear dog, an animal native to the South Pole. That was surprising. He could vaguely recall that Commander Bumi once told him that polar bear dogs couldn't be domesticated.

"Don't worry girl," the young woman said, consoling her companion, "This city's huge. I bet we can find a place to rustle up something to eat."

…

Korra was pulling Naga away from the food stand they had just visited. In her rush to get started on her first great adventure, she only now realized that she forgot to bring any money along. Getting by in the city without any money would be difficult; she had assumed Tenzin would be able to take care of that after she met up with him.

She knew she had to feed Naga soon. Hopefully, there was a forest or stream nearby that they could forage in. She was about to climb onto Naga's back when a voice spoke up from the other side of the stall, "I'll cover their tab, and I'll take a lunch special myself, please."

Korra turned to thank the generous stranger but stopped when she saw that he was about her age. He was tall, easily at least 6'3, with a strong yet lean, athletic build. He was very handsome, and his grey blue eyes seemed to be analyzing her. Feeling self-conscious, she looked away from his face and realized that he was wearing metal bracers on his arms and leg guards that covered his feet and went past his knees. Lastly, her eyes settled on his green leather jacket with an orange scarf that had a blue t-shirt underneath.

"You're a metalbender," Korra said with amazement, finally noticing the spools of metal cable strapped to his waists.

"Yeah, and I'm also a police officer," he said with a half smile, clearly amused by her reaction. He then set 30 yuans on the counter as he waited for the food. "We'll take it to-go, please," he said.

"Oh," Korra began, suddenly remembering her manners. "Thank you for buying our lunch," she finished by bowing.

"Are you sure about that, Koda?" the grouchy stall owner asked as she picked up the cash. She clearly knew the officer well. "Looks hungry enough to eat an ostrich horse," she said and then turned her attention to Naga, "That big dog does too."

"Hey!" Korra exclaimed in irritation.

The officer merely smiled. "I'm positive," he replied as the older woman handed him 3 bags of food and 5 yuans. "Thanks," he said, accepting the food. "You can keep the change. I'll see you tomorrow," he finished as he turned towards Korra with their lunch.

"Again, thank you so much," Korra said, accepting 2 of the bags.

"Happy to help. Why don't we eat in the park?" the officer suggested as he pointed behind him, "It's just around the block."

"Oh, sure," Korra replied. "Come on, Naga."

She and Naga followed their benefactor around the block and into the beautiful city park. The sight almost took her breath away. The park was huge with rolling hills covered in rich green grass, a rarity in the South Pole. The leaves on the trees were changing color in the autumn air, preparing for winter. She could see fish swimming in the crystal clear water of the slow moving stream. They walked along a stone path and over one of the many quaint, little bridges that stretched over the streams at various locations until they reached a small clearing beside the stream. The officer then used his earthbending to summon a circular slab about waist-high to use as a table and 2 small square stools to sit on.

…

Koda was extremely happy that he finally got to have some lunch. He took a seat on one of his newly-constructed stools and decided to introduce himself, "By the way, if you didn't catch it before, my name is Koda."

"Oh right, my name's Korra," the Water Tribe girl said as she rested her hand on the polar bear dog's head, "and this is my friend, Naga."

Koda reached into his bag and pulled out several pieces of meat. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Naga," he said, opening out his open palm to feed her. He stood there as his whole hand, up to his wrist, was suddenly engulfed in the dog's huge mouth. To his surprise, however, he felt no teeth bite down on him as Naga slowly pulled her head back, taking the tasty treats with her but leaving his hand behind. Doing a quick finger-count, Koda reached down and began to pet Naga on the head and down the back of her neck. "Aww, you're a good girl, aren't you, Naga?" he said as he attempted to wipe all the saliva off his metallic gloved hand and onto her fur.

Korra smiled at the scene as she sat down. "I guess this means Naga likes you," she said, noticing how Naga was starting to lean into Koda's hand.

"Well, of course she does," Koda said as he lowered his face in front of Naga's and started to scratch her ears, "She's just the sweetest, little puppy. Isn't that right?" In response, Naga opened her mouth and licked his entire face, causing the front of his normally untamable hair to stand straight up.

Korra and Koda doubled over in laughter upon seeing this. Upon hearing her mistress' amusement, Naga jumped to her feet and started to bark happily as well. After a good minute, Korra and Naga calmed down. "So," Korra began as she tried to strike up a conversation, "how long have you been a police officer?"

"A few weeks now," Koda replied. He pulled his scarf out of his jacket and started to wipe his face and hair with it.

"Oh," she said with a small amount of disappointment, "I was hoping you could give me some metalbending tips."

"You're an earthbender?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Oh, does that shock you?" she said with smug amusement.

"Meh, not really. This is Republic City," Koda replied. "I heard there are a couple of rookie pro benders who are full-blooded brothers. One is a firebender and the other is an earthbender." He continued, "Anyway, I'll have you know I've been metalbending since I was 7. And I've had plenty of practice working with the United Forces for the last 3 years." Normally, he wouldn't be so boastful, but Korra may have wounded his pride a little by suggesting his metalbending was subpar.

"Wow, that's amazing!" she said in astonishment.

"Thanks," Koda said modestly. "By the way, how'd you end up with Naga?" he asked. "My commander once told me that polar bear dogs couldn't be tamed."

"Well, it all started when I was a little girl," Korra began. "There was a storm approaching, and I heard a pack of polar bear dogs howling in the distance. I told my parents that I wanted to go play with them. But then, my dad was all like, 'Korra, don't you go playing with those wild animals. They could eat you up in one bite.'"

Koda chuckled at her impression of her father.

"Later that night, the storm was in full swing and I heard the howling of a polar bear dog near our house, so I decided to go out and investigate," Korra continued.

"Wait, how old were you?"

"Like 5 or 6, I think," Korra said dismissively. "Anyway, I went out and found Naga here, all alone. She got separated from her pack, thanks to that blizzard," Korra said as she pet Naga affectionately. "And your commander was right. Normally, polar bear dogs aren't that fond of humans. But luckily, Naga was just a pup and I happened to have some fish jerky on me, at the time. After that, I used my bending to make us a shelter, so we could ride out the storm. The next morning, my dad found us and dug us out. And well, the rest is history."

"Wow," Koda said. "That sounds like quite the adventure."

Korra smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that was an adventure."

"Look Korra, you and Naga seem very nice, but now, I need to ask you some important questions," he said putting his elbows on the table.

"Okay," she said uneasily, realizing the conversation had suddenly taken on a more serious tone.

"How long have you been in Republic City?" Koda asked.

"A few hours now."

"Did you arrive at the docks?"

"Yes," Korra answered slowly as she was starting to feel self-conscious.

"Alright now, it's vitally important that you tell me the absolute truth from here on out," Koda explained. "If you lie to me, I'll know," he finished. Koda subtly retracted the metal soles of his boots and began to focus his Seismic Sensing onto picking up Korra's heart rate and breathing.

"Okay," she said, now feeling very nervous.

"After you arrived, did you and Naga go running through the streets, scaring pedestrians and causing cars to veer off the road?" he asked, focusing all his senses on Korra.

"Yes," Korra said as she hung her head. "But we were just so happy to finally be out of that cramped compartment on the ship that we ran out without thinking. Also, the South Pole doesn't have nearly as many people or satomobiles as there are here," she tried to explain.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Koda said with a sigh. "That means that I'm gonna have to take you both in."

…

Korra's emotions were kind of all over the place right now. First, she had finally made it to Republic City, which was awesome. The city was huge and unlike anything she had ever seen. However, not everyone was as open and accepting as she had been led to believe. The people had yelled at her and Naga in frustration as they went down the streets.

Granted, they probably weren't used to a 750 Kg polar bear dog running them down during their commute. Still, they were hungry, and no one was willing to help them out unless they had money.

But then Koda, a good-looking man that was around her age (maybe a little bit older), had shown up and offered to buy them lunch and took them to a beautiful park. Also, he was apparently a metal bender and a cop. How cool was that? They had a nice meal, and Naga even seemed to really like him. But now, he was saying that she had broken the law, and he had to "take them in."

"Take us in. You mean you're going to arrest us?!" Korra asked with alarm in her voice. "But no one was hurt… right?" she said, suddenly not so sure of herself.

Koda raised his hands in an attempt to calm her down, "No one was hurt, and you aren't being arrested. However, people could have been hurt in all the chaos you caused," he explained. "Luckily, most of what happened are minor infractions. I can try to pull some strings to let you off with a warning. The real issue is the collision that you caused while running through the streets," he continued, "You'll have to talk to the owners of the vehicles to see if they decide to press charges."

"Okay," Korra said, relieved that she wouldn't have to try to evade arrest, "What happens if they do decide to press charges?"

"You'll have to pay a fine to the city and, likely, will have to cover the costs of the vehicle repairs," he replied. "However, considering you couldn't even buy your own lunch, I think that might present a bit of an issue."

Korra looked down in embarrassment; she could feel her cheeks heating up. Tenzin could probably cover any costs, but she really didn't want that to be the very first thing she said to him after sneaking away from the South Pole, against his orders.

"So, what should I do?" she asked, completely lost in this situation. Couldn't they just ask her to face down 20 firebenders or wrestle a saber-tooth moose lion? She could handle that sort of stuff, but asking a total stranger for forgiveness? She wasn't so sure.

…

Koda could tell that this whole situation was making Korra extremely nervous. For some reason, that made him uncomfortable. He argued with himself back and forth before finally coming to a decision. "Alright listen," he said, "I'm gonna tell you what to do to get those guys to drop any charges against you. But you can't tell anyone that I told you to do this, okay?"

"Okay, but why?" Korra asked

"Because cops aren't supposed to tell suspects how to avoid charges!" he replied with exacerbation.

"Alright, I'm listening," she said, clearly paying close attention.

Koda then began to explain the importance of being extra polite to the drivers. He told her to make sure that she mentioned how relieved she was that no one was hurt. Also, telling them a story about how she lost control of Naga because the sailors didn't feed the two of them on their journey probably wouldn't hurt either. "And finally," Koda said, "with big, puppy dog-eyes, tell them 'how horrible you feel about the whole situation and that you are so very, incredibly sorry and that it will never happen again.'"

"And you think that'll work?" Korra asked with some doubt. Clearly she was unaware of how cute she was when she was nervous.

"I'd almost guarantee it," he replied.

"Isn't that lying, though? I mean, I didn't actually lose control of Naga," she said.

"That's why I said not to tell anyone," Koda explained. "Besides, it's more of a white lie to make them more sympathetic."

"Well, alright. Let's go get this over with," she said with uncertainty as they headed out of the park. They were walking along in silence as they made their way back to the drivers and the officer in charge of the scene when Korra suddenly asked, "By the way, why are you helping me out?"

Completely caught off guard by the blunt question, Koda nervously scratched his chin and looked over at the city's skyline. "Oh, I don't really know," he replied lamely. Yeah right, he knew damn-well why. Korra was a pretty girl, and he was a 19 year-old guy. Goddamn hormones; at this rate, he'd be fired before the end of the month.

Not quite sure if he was telling the truth, Korra simply shrugged it off. "Well, whatever your reason, I want you to know that I really appreciate it," she said with a smile.

Koda could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she said that. "Oh yeah, sure. No problem."

…

"It was so cool how you just metalbent all that damage out of that truck," Korra said. "You were all BAM," she said trusting her left fist out, "and that huge dent was gone. And then you went VROOMPH," bending both hands to her chest like she was lifting weights, "and the bumper and step bar are all straightened out and put back together." She grinned while thinking of the impressive bending display. "It was like watching time move in reverse."

"Yeah well, I figured if there was no damage to the vehicle, the owner wouldn't have anything to complain about," Koda replied, holding his hands behind his head in a relaxing manner.

Korra was feeling much better; Koda's plan had gone off without a hitch so far. They had managed to convince the truck driver to agree to not levy any charges against her. They had approached the scene of the collision and saw that only the truck driver and responding officer were still there. Apparently, after he had given the officer all his information, the owner of the smaller satomobile had been released. Korra then apologized to the truck driver as Koda had instructed, and with Koda right there, vouching for her sincerity. The driver agreed to let the incident slide.

Currently, they were backtracking through the park in order to reach the home of the owner of the green satomobile. When Korra suggested riding Naga, Koda told her he wouldn't allow her to ride Naga until after they had dealt with the mess she had already caused.

He then, jokingly, told her that if she really wanted, Korra could ride with him on the back of his motorcycle. He quickly laughed at her blushing face and said that cutting through the park would be quicker. She frowned to herself, she never said she was against the idea.

Korra was interrupted from her thoughts by the sound of a megaphone screeching to life. "Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders? Then join the Equalists!" a short pale man said as he stood atop a small table to make up for his diminutive stature. "For too long, the bending elite of this city have forced non-benders to live as lower-class citizens. Join Amon, and together we will tear down the bending establishment." The protestor was standing in front of a large poster of a man wearing dark, black clothes and a white mask.

Before Koda could stop her, Korra quickly approached the anti-bending protestor. "What are you talking about? Bending is the coolest thing in the world," she declared as though it was a simple fact.

"Oh yeah," the protestor shot back, "let me guess. You're a bender." His sideburns seemed to bristle in anger as he was interrupted.

"Yeah, I am," the young woman confirmed.

"Then I bet you'd just love to knock me off this platform with some waterbending, huh?" he asked, trying to goad her into attacking.

"I just might," Korra replied as she clenched her fists to her side.

At this point Koda had approached the scene. "Alright that's enough of that," he said, placing a hand on Korra's shoulder, "Everyone here just needs to calm down."

"You see! The system is so corrupt even the police will try to silence the truth!" the protestor declared over his megaphone, grasping onto the opportunity.

Koda chose to ignore the protestor and, instead, addressed the crowd. "Listen up, everyone. The United Republic of Nations is a free state. That means that every person, bender and non-bender, regardless of their heritage, is allowed to freely and publicly express their opinions," he explained. "However, the United Republic was founded upon the ideals of harmony and peaceful coexistence. It's wrong to use the freedom granted to us to try to incite violence against those that are different or who don't believe everything exactly as you do. It goes against everything that we, as citizens of this great nation, stand for."

At this point, the protestor had begun to loudly chant "Equality Now" through his megaphone over and over again in an attempt to regain the crowd's attention and drown out the officer.

Finally having enough of the man, Koda then reached out with his metalbending and yanked the megaphone out of the protestor's grip and continued. "I know the people of Republic City are good and honest. It's why I choose to put my life on the line to protect this city and those who call it home. Please, don't allow the fear-mongering of a single, angry man to turn you against a young woman who you don't even know."

With his speech finished, Koda turned and walked back to Korra. The crowd had mostly done as he'd asked and begun to disperse, leaving the Equalist protestor by himself. "You know I could have handled that," Korra said as she put her hands on her hips. "Still, that was kinda impressive. You diffused a really tense situation. You're pretty good at talking to people."

"Thanks," Koda replied. "As a member of the police department and a former military officer, it's sort of important that I know how to properly answer questions from the press and diffuse volatile situations like that."

The Equalist protestor had gotten off his platform and angrily marched up to the two of them. "Alright, you've said your speech, Officer," he said with a sneer. "Now return my property to me," he demanded with his hand outstretched.

Koda glared down at the man, knowing full well he was planning on continuing with his hateful rhetoric as soon as he and Korra left. Most likely, the protestor hoped to provoke another bender into attacking him, like he had just tried with Korra.

"Actually, City Ordinance states, 'Any gathering on public property which exceeds 80 decibels must have a permit.' You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?" Koda asked innocently.

The protestor merely ground his teeth together in anger, continuing to hold out his hand.

"Didn't think so," Koda said as he crushed the megaphone in his hand. He then dropped the shattered pieces into the Equalist's outstretched hand.

…

Koda was currently sweating bullets, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. Just because everyone told him he was good at speaking to large groups of people that didn't mean he enjoyed it. In fact, he absolutely hated public speaking. However, even he could tell that situation was about to escalate quickly, and something had to be done.

Korra, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, retelling the story with her own flair added in, "…Then you were all, 'I'm sorry, sir, but City Law says you're not allowed to be a whiny jerk in public.' And then you just took that megaphone and crushed it with your bare hands."

Koda sighed internally; he actually hadn't meant to do that. He could get in serious trouble for destroying private property for no reason. Koda had been high on the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, and he had acted impulsively. "Actually, I used metalbending to do that," he corrected her.

"Yeah, I know," she said, "but it was still totally awesome!"

Just then, the duo heard splashing coming from the nearby stream. They turned and saw Naga pulling her head out of the water with a fish hanging from her mouth. Korra grinned. "Hey Naga, be sure to save one for me. I've worked up an appetite," she said.

Koda groaned to himself. "Korra, you guys aren't allowed to fish here. This is a park," he said.

"Aww, but why? It's not like we're hurting anyone," Korra asked. "Besides, the park is public property and I'm part of the public," she reasoned as she began to take her boots off to jump into the stream.

"That may be true, but if you were allowed to fish here then everyone would be allowed to as well," Koda explained. "That would lead to overfishing. The fish wouldn't be able to maintain their population, and it would throw the entire ecosystem of the park out of balance."

That seemed to have an effect on the normally stubborn girl as she stopped removing her footwear and took on a very thoughtful and pensive expression. "Come on out, Naga. We shouldn't fish here," Korra finally said.

In response, Naga's ears drooped down and she looked towards them, longingly. Hoping that it would change their minds. "Fine," Koda relented, "you can keep that one fish, but no more from now on."

With that, Naga happily bound out of the stream with her prize in her mouth, and the 3 of them made their way out of the park.

The long day was finally coming to an end as they approached their original destination. "Alright Korra, we're about there. The driver's name is Mr. Chung, and he owns a shop around the next corner," Koda explained. "I think it might go better if you introduce yourself to him without being escorted there by a cop. Might send the wrong impression," he said as he leaned up against the corner of a building. "I'll be right here if you need any help."

"Okay, if you think that's what's best."

As Korra walked around the corner to meet Mr. Chung, Koda closed his eyes, attempting to perform some light meditation. It had been a crazy afternoon, and he was a little wound up. However, just as he was about to begin, he heard a loud crash coming from the direction Korra had left in. It sounded like rock hitting a metal plate.

Koda quickly rounded the corner and saw Korra facing down 3 Triads, if their outfits and gaudy, golden satomobile were anything to go by. One of the men was already taken care of, lying on the ground in front of his satomobile, dazed. Koda came by just in time to see Korra stomp the ground and send one of the men flying into the air with her earthbending.

"Korra!" he yelled, running to her side.

She and the last Triad turned and saw him. "What the-? A cop!?" the Triad said, clearly beginning to panic. "You're both dead!" he shouted as he thrust both fists forward, sending a blast of fire at both Koda and Korra.

Koda quickly dropped to the ground to dodge the attack while simultaneously reaching into his jacket and pulling out a couple of metal cuffs. These cuffs were similar to regular handcuffs except there was no chain connecting them.

Koda chose to use these cuffs to subdue his targets after he and Commander Bumi came across a rogue lightningbender leading a group of bandits in the Earth Kingdom. Koda hadn't been aware of the bandit leader's talents. And when he tried to use his cables to capture the bandit, he was taken by surprise when the man used the metal cord wrapped around his torso to channel his electrical assault straight back at Koda.

The young officer wasn't sure what abilities this Triad had, so he wasn't going to take any chances. As Koda dropped to the ground to avoid the fire blast, he performed a low spinning kick which sent the cuffs towards the firebender. One of the cuffs clicked around the firebender's right wrist while the other attached itself to his left ankle. Koda then continued his spinning kick until he settled into a kneeling position.

Worried about the civilian, Koda turned to see how Korra was doing. But to his surprise, it appeared as though she had reached into the fire blast and pulled it apart from the inside. Was she firebending?

Realizing that the questions could wait, Koda thrust both of his hands out in front of him and then spun them, one over the other, in a twister-like motion. Mirroring his movements, the cuffs spun as well, causing the firebending Triad to literally spin head-over-heels as he landed hard on his stomach. Koda then clasped his hands together which caused the cuffs to link together behind the Triad's back.

Believing the situation to be over, Koda was surprised when the satomobile suddenly sped past him with the other 2 Triads aboard. "You're not getting away!" Korra yelled as she began to run after the satomobile.

"Wait Korra," Koda said, grabbing her attention. "It's my job to deal with this."

He quickly shot the cables out of his hips. The cables wrapped themselves to one of the many metal cords strung up between the buildings around the city. He then quickly reeled the cords back into his suit, catapulting himself through the air.

He landed on the roof of the satomobile and used his metalbending to keep his boots firmly attached to it. Koda then turned his attention forward. Reaching out, he roughly yanked the entire engine block out of the satomobile and tossed onto the street behind them. Feeling the vehicle begin to decelerate, he jumped off as it came to a stop several meters ahead in the middle of the road.

"Hey, good work there," Korra said as she caught up to them. She then turned her attention to the recently removed engine block sitting in the middle of the road. "What'd you pull out of there anyway?"

"I don't really know," he said with a shrug, "but it looked important."

Before they could continue, however, a loud siren began to blare above their heads. "Police! Freeze where you are!" a voice came out over a speaker.

They looked up and saw a dark grey airship bearing the distinctive insignia of the Republic City Police Department. A hatch then opened up on the bottom of the airship, and several metalbending police officers jumped out, using their metal cables to slow their descent. The newly-arrived officers quickly surrounded the de-engined satomobile and subdued the remaining Triads.

"Well, Korra, it seems that I lied to you," Koda said with a heavy sigh, "It looks like you are going to have to come into the station today."