"For fuc- Deescalate, Korra! Deescalate!"

Korra ignored Xing and leapt onto Naga's back, and the polar bear dog quickly outpaced the pursuing metalbenders. She didn't know why the supposed law enforcers of Republic City wanted to arrest her for doing her job, but Korra was determined not to get caught. For now, she needed to get to Air Temple Island, where hopefully Tenzin could help clear up the misunderstanding.

It was an aborted hope as metal cables from an airship in the skies wrapped around Naga's leg mid-jump, and then more cables bound the Avatar to put an end to the chase.

Korra tasted the beginnings of despair as she sat in the interrogation cell of the police force's headquarters. Especially after her harsh, unforgiving interrogator revealed herself not only to be the person in charge, but also to share a bond.

"Wait, Beifong? Lin Beifong? You're Toph's daughter!"

The captain barely reacted. "What of it?"

"Well then why are you treating me like a criminal? Avatar Aang and your mother were friends, they saved the world together."

Infuriatingly, the words didn't take on Lin. "That's ancient history." Ancient history? Korra blinked in confusion, briefly wondering if things in Republic City had gotten so bad that it addled the mind of the daughter of the famed Toph Beifong. "And it's got diddly squat with the mess you are in right now! You can't just waltz in here and dole out vigilante justice like you own the place!"

Tenzin's arrival half-saved Korra from her predicament, but her heart also dropped at his cold announcement that she'd be sent back to the South Pole. Her attempts at persuading him fell on deaf ears…at first. But thankfully, Tenzin came around on that very night, just moments away from Korra boarding the ship back home in shame.

"I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it. But you are right, it has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy… But you are his legacy. You may stay and train airbending here with me. Republic City needs its Avatar once again."

Korra didn't hide her relief and gratitude, and the elation she felt at that moment was unsurpassed. Yet, even as she hugged Tenzin and his kids tightly with all the appreciation in the world, something nagged at the back of her head. As if she was missing something…

Only when a small boat docked by the Air Temple Island's lone pier, and a bedraggled but familiar face dragged himself out, did Korra shamefully realize what that something…or rather, someone…was.

She let go of Tenzin's family and turned to her minder with a weak smile. "Oh…hey, Xing. Um…sorry I left you back there?"

The firebender gave her his trademark blank stare. Instead of responding to her, Xing turned to the White Lotus members standing by their ship's boarding ramp and bowed deeply. "I apologize for my negligence," he intoned ritualistically, and Korra found herself almost reciting the words herself as they left his lips. "I will strive to better improve upon my duties as the Avatar's guardian."

And just as before, Korra quickly cut in before Xing could break into the full, remorseful recital. "None of that again," she said as she walked over to the White Lotus group. "I stopped Xing from heading back to snitch on me," she said confidently. "So that's why he's here."

Korra's confidence faltered the moment she glanced at the unamused Xing and his blank stare. "Uh…well, he's here now?"

The boy relented with a sigh and a shake of his head, and returned his attention to his superiors. "Please do not be too harsh on the Avatar for her…reckless actions. I promise that our trip back to the South Pole will be-"

"Uh, Xing?" Korra interrupted, and thankfully he stopped. "I'm not going back."

Her tutor and minder was silent for a few seconds, and then looked over her shoulder to a mildly confused Tenzin who managed to nod at the unasked question. And then Xing sighed again before he looked to the other White Lotus members. "I suppose I'll be staying here too?"

Korra saw them exchange subtle glances before nodding as one. But while she smiled at the fact of having another familiar and friendlier face around in this foreign land, Xing, pessimistic as ever, was far from enthused.

"Per-keh-fookin-ley. Could I at least request an immediate bump to my allowance since city life's going to cost a lot more?"

*****

Lin was woman enough to admit she probably stewed in her thoughts a bit too much as Tenzin left with the Avatar. She didn't see them off, and instead found the next pile of work to focus her attention and banish away her irritation at the latest development involving Tenzin.

Which made it all the more embarrassing (though few would see that) when a sergeant popped into her office to inform her that the Avatar's companion was still in a holding cell.

The Avatar's other companion, who had surrendered much earlier than the Avatar, who Lin had forgotten in her annoyance at Korra and Tenzin.

"Fuck."

What made it worse was that the boy was the complete opposite of Korra. Based on witness reports, the White Lotus agent, Xing, tried to stop the fight with the thugs with words, and received a punch to the guts for his efforts. That in turn set the Avatar off.

The metalbenders at the scene made it a point to note that Xing also tried but failed to convince Korra to stand down, and after she tried to flee, he quietly turned himself over to the police. The sergeant in charge also noted that Xing was muttering a string of nonsensical words under his breath, most likely swear words. Considering that he showed no signs of hostility as he was apprehended, perhaps the words were directed at the Avatar instead?

That was an amusing thought.

Lin personally headed for the Xing's cell and found a boy no older than Korra sitting on the bed with unmistakable Fire Nation features in the dirtied attire of the White Lotus, sans the cowl. He stared at her with amber eyes and gave a single nod in greeting. "Officer. How may I help you?"

He was polite and reserved, far too much so compared to the impulsive Avatar that he supposedly tagged along with.

"You're Xing?"

Xing nodded again as he got up. "White Lotus Initiate Xing, assigned as the Avatar's minder." He sketched a formal bow, managing to look fully composed and dignified despite his current state and surroundings. "I bear full responsibility for not keeping Avatar Korra in check as I was tasked with. On behalf of my order, I apologize for the Avatar's…inappropriate behavior."

Articulate and well spoken, though his words sounded mechanical, as if he had them stored up for repeated use. That brought up a rather interesting picture.

"If you'll allow me, I can contact the local branch to obtain compensation for all those affected by the…incident."

Lin shook her head. "No need." She bended the metal door open. "You're free to leave. Tenzin's claimed responsibility for the Avatar's mess and will be taking her out of the city."

The way Xing froze was almost comical. He stared widely at her for a few seconds, as if searching for something. Then he blinked, and his shoulders slumped. "Ko- Avatar Korra…overlooked my presence here, didn't she?"

That's a nice way of putting it. Lin winced even as she nodded. "Sorry. I got too…engaged in dealing with them that I also forgot until just now. Please accept my apologies, on behalf of Republic City's police force."

More heavy silence, and then Xing sighed defeatedly. There was definitely something rather bleak about his ties with Korra. "If you do not mind, officer, how long has it been since the Avatar left?"

Still restrained, still polite. A shame he's White Lotus and not a prospective recruit. "About an hour ago."

"To Air Temple Island?"

Lin nodded. Rather impressively, Xing didn't leave the cell immediately, opting to bow instead. "Thank you. If I may impose on you some more, could you tell me what is the best way to get there? And if it'll be possible with…" He checked his pockets, and made an annoyed noise. "No yuans?"

Keeping a sharp enough situational awareness when most people would be glad of just getting out of the building. A pity that a calm and collected head like his was rendered useless by a reckless Avatar.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"The ferry to the island's just down the main road, and will likely be free of charge for those of the Order of the White Lotus," Lin assured, but then she saw how the sunlight was turning orange outside and felt more pity for the boy. "Though I'm not sure what time is its last call."

Still Xing remained in his cell. "I…see. Thank you for your help, officer. If you don't mind…"

Lin nodded, and only then did the White Lotus boy step out and hurriedly walked out of the building. She picked up more nonsense words as he calmly rushed out, and decided to chalk it up as an occupational hazard from working with the Avatar. "Poor kid's got his work cut out for him."

She genuinely wished him all the best, though that sentiment didn't manifest in the slightest as Xing just managed to cross the street when a moped turned a corner and slammed into him to send him tumbling.

*****

In hindsight Asami shouldn't have taken that blind turn so quickly. She just managed to skid to a stop to avoid running the man over, though considering that he was sent sprawling several yards by the impact, the alternative barely seemed any better.

She quickly got out of her moped to see to her unintended victim's condition. A few bystanders also began to move in to help. With her adrenaline fuelling her worry, Asami barely registered the significance of the man's robes. "Oh no! I'm s-"

To everyone's surprise, the man stood back up with a foreign curse and brushed himself off. He barely gave her a glance. He was younger than she thought. "Sorry 'bout that. My fault. Please report to the White Lotus office for compensation. I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry."

White Lotus?

And then he began to limp off with surprising speed.

"W-Wait!"

He didn't slow in the slightest, and Asami's guilt led her to return to her moped and drive after him. She brought her vehicle to a stop in front of him to make sure she got his attention.

The man seemed too distracted by his pain, but he remained annoyingly polite. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I really must-"

"Where are you headed?" Asami cut him off. "Look, you're too hurt to walk, let alone run. At least let me make it up to you and take you where you're headed." She'll pay for his medical bills later, obviously.

He paused for a second in thought before eyeing her in a peculiar way. It was an entirely cold and calculative gaze, one that she rarely got from people her age. "Thank you," he finally agreed with a weary nod.

"Hop on."

It was only as he did so that Asami finally picked out some details. His robes were disheveled and suffered some slight tearing here and there. His face, though locked in a grimace, showed no further signs of damage, though the unkempt hair on top was clearly singed at certain spots.

Considering that the police headquarters was just behind them, did he run into trouble?

Also, there were White Lotus members as young as her? She always thought that you had to be of a certain age to be a full member.

The moped rocked a little as it supported his weight, and Asami glanced over her shoulder. "So, where to?"

"The ferry to Air Temple Island, please," her passenger answered tightly.

"Right. Hang on tight." Asami noted how he did so by immediately holding onto the bars behind the moped. It was mildly noteworthy; most people first asked where they should hold onto. A few ambitious idiots used it as an excuse to put their hands where they shouldn't be.

They took off in silence after that, at least for a few awkward seconds. Asami broke first. "I'm Asami. Sorry again for that. It was honestly my fault for going that fast."

"Xing," he replied. "It's alright, I've had worse."

Asami would've chalked his reply down to male bravado, except that the tone he said it implied that he was being truthful. "You don't say?"

"Bending practice…"

Right, those can be nasty in the wrong situations… But she didn't expect the White Lotus training regime to be that harsh.

Xing let out a soft grunt, and then Asami almost swerved her bike into another crash when she heard something snap behind her.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine," he answered, clearly untruthfully. "Just…aligning the bones…"

Knowing that he'll be kicking up a troublesome fuss if she took a turn to the doctor now, Asami kept her eyes on the road and continued on towards the ferry station. Seconds after hearing the snapping of bones, she was sure she felt heat radiating from behind her, washing against the back of her neck.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." And this time, he actually did sound better. Asami decided not to think about it too much just yet.

They reached the station right as the last of the evening sun was going out, and Xing was clearly dismayed at finding that he'd have to wait for the operator to be back from dinner. But even in that state, he was clearly doing his best to maintain his composure, muttering a few words Asami didn't understand as he looked about the docks for an alternative transport.

At least he was standing straighter now. In fact, he was barely limping at all, and if not for his clothes and the dirt, Xing could look like nothing had happened to him at all. Probably some secret White Lotus healing technique?

And, now that the adrenaline's worn fully off and Asami got to reprioritize her attention, she found herself noticing more details about him. Like how underneath his calm facade, Xing was wound up tightly, likely from whatever he was hurrying towards. He was also not so engrossed in his mission to fail to formally thank her for the ride.

"My thanks, Miss Asami, for your time and consideration."

Xing was also being too polite. Asami was all-too familiar with that tone. He was someone either at the bottom-most rung of the organizational ladder, or was saddled with a high-stress task that was subject to volatile feedback from superiors.

She saw Xing walk off towards a returning fisherman, and now that she knew what to look for, Asami saw how his composure warped and bent under roiling emotions. There was a twitch on his brow, his hands clenched and unclenched out of sight, his feet shifted in and out of a combative stance… He was having a bad day, and her almost crashing into him probably didn't help matters.

Seeing the conversation ending with Xing slumped in defeat, Asami decided to butt in and walk over to Xing. "Everything ok?"

"I'll…have to wait for a bit, it seems."

Asami nodded over to the fisherman. "He's not taking any passengers?"

"Not any who can't pay," Xing replied sheepishly and a tad bit defensively. He was broke, she realized.

Did he get mugged or something?

Frowning at the whole situation, Asami walked over to the puzzled fisherman and didn't bother negotiating for a price. She asked how much he was charging, paid the requested sum, and headed over to Xing to deliver the good news. The look of surprise on his face was highly satisfying, though she could have done without his deep bow of gratitude.

"My sincerest thanks, Miss Asami."

"Please, Asami's fine." She paused for a moment to deal with a sudden whisper in the back of her head, and then gave him a speculative look. "You'll be back in the city soon, I hope? I still owe you a medical checkup at the very least."

"You're being too kind m- Asami." Huh. His smile wasn't too bad when it wasn't so forced. "I'll be fine, I assure you. And the little accident is already cast away from my thoughts."

Yeah, his courtesy was most definitely a defense mechanism. Did the White Lotus use scapepuma-goats?

"But to answer your question, I don't expect to be back in this city anytime soon." He paused, and from his posture Asami knew the next words to leave his mouth would be lies. "Still, it was nice…experiencing this city, for however short my visit here was."

So he was mugged then. Ran into the triads or Equalists, perhaps.

She watched him leave with the fisherman, and found it a damned shame that it'd be the last she'd see of Xing.

Which was why Asami was most pleasantly surprised to see him the next day, standing stoically beside Councilman and Airbending Master Tenzin on stage while Avatar Korra gave a rousing speech to the city. He looked good in a clean uniform, though the cowl hid his hair and obscured the top of his face. She'll have to find the chance to pester him later.