braavado | IC CONTACT (FOR HAVEN)

I guess. [This is probably the most uncertain Fujimaru has ever heard her.]

It's alright if they lose some steam over it--we did keep this from people because we didn't want them to get worked up over it when there was nothing we could do. But I don't want them to lose hope that we'll ever rescue our friends from Storage.

[The way that she purposely avoids answering his second question is probably an answer on its own.]

[Conversely, the topic of rescuing people from storage is one that Fujimaru doesn't think he can talk about—not without revealing his own uncertainties about it. He intends to do everything he can to save them, if it comes down to it, but he's not so sure if he wants to explicitly believe that they can be rescued.]

... Korra, you're not that great at hiding things. Answer the question.

[Another pause. This isn't something she particularly wants to discuss with anybody, not with names at least.]

It's fine, Fujimaru. You don't have to worry about it.

... You sure? If anyone is giving you a hard time, you can direct them to one of us, y'know.

'Sides, if anyone's getting upset over not being told about storage, just remember that it'd have been a breach of trust to tell them. I don't know about you, but Cecil trusted me with knowledge about storage 'cause I told him I wouldn't tell anyone else—should I have broken my promise to him? And I wouldn't be telling you much if I thought you were gonna share the info with everyone you knew, for their own good or not.

[Cecil might've 'betrayed' him in the end, but that doesn't mean Fujimaru's inclined to go back on what he agreed, and similarly, if Korra went around telling people about things that she knew Fujimaru wanted to keep private, like the rebel phone, he wouldn't be happy about it.

Maybe he can't really talk about any of this, because unlike Korra or any of the others, he... doesn't really have anyone whose trust he violated by not telling them any of this, but.]

It's a little different. [Korra sighs again. Though Wan had eventually forgiven her for keeping the secrets, his words still echo in her head, making her heart heavy with guilt.]

You sort of expect there to be no secrets when you're really close with someone. Like...other life sort of close. [She gives a soft, strained sort of laugh. If that didn't give it away...] If I tell him, I'm breaking my trust to other people. But if I don't, then I'm lying to him.

I guess there just isn't a right answer in a place like this.

[...]

Ignorance is bliss. If you didn't know anything to begin with, you wouldn't have to keep them hidden. That's the price to pay for getting involved in this kind of thing.

You're right—there's no correct option. For what it's worth, though... while I can't really empathize [as he's been doing this sort of thing for years now], I still don't think we made a mistake. However things are right now, it's not like all of Haven is against you.

[Come what may, she has his support, at least.]

I've been ignorant before. I'm not going to let myself be kept in the dark just because it might be easier. [Korra says flatly.] It's not what an Avatar should do. And that's not the way I do things either.

[There's a pause, and then: ] I guess Tenzin was right. No matter what I do, there's always going to be some people who aren't happy about the choices I make. [Different scenarios, but technically the same concept here.

Korra sighs.]

Morgan said the same thing you did. That she doesn't think we made a mistake either.

People tend to be pretty hard to please. [He's known this all his life.] Don't worry too much about it.

[...]

What exactly is the Avatar supposed to be, by the way? Mako mentioned a few things, but...

[There's a longish pause on her end. What is the Avatar? It's been a while since she's really tried explaining it to anyone.]

It's kind of complicated...

[She doesn't sound like she's dodging around the question, just thinking.]

Not like I've got anything pressing to deal with right now.

[She sighs, still at a loss.]

It might be easier to just start with what you already know. What exactly did Mako tell you?

You can bend all four elements, and there's only one person like you at any time, making it an anomaly that there's more than one Avatar in Haven. That was pretty much it.

That's...the basic explanation, I guess.

[She's surprised Mako didn't go into more detail, but grateful for it, too.]

It's also weird because the Avatar is the same soul reincarnated over and over. Wan is the first. We're separated by about ten thousand years, but we share the same soul.

[Korra pauses.]

Whoever's the Avatar is supposed to mediate between the spirits and the humans, and keep the balance of the world. Being able to bend more than one element is usually the easiest way to figure out who it is.

... So you're someone pretty important, in other words.

[Not that that's a surprise.]

Doesn't sound like a fun job.

[Being important in general never is, though there might also be a bias against spirits on Fujimaru's part there.]

I guess you could say that.

[Were she not feeling so tired, she'd probably be amused by his non-reaction.]

It's not so bad. I like being the Avatar. Helping people is what I like doing, so it all works out.

You can do that without a title and a reputation attached to it, though.

[A pause, and then a soft sigh.]

It's what I grew up knowing. Being the Avatar, I mean.

[She knows people can help without a title, but it's literally all she's known, and sometimes she's not really sure what she would do if she weren't the Avatar.]

[Well, he can understand to an extent. Not so much in the 'helping people' area, but having been a tekigousha for most of his life, he's not sure how he'd define himself without that status—without his right arm or his ability.]

... And here?

[Another pause, this time with an air of uncertainty.]

I don't know. Just...Korra, I guess. Even if people don't know what my title is, it doesn't mean I stop being the Avatar.

But at least it means people want to get to know me because of...me.

... You're used to it being otherwise, huh?

A little. [She doesn't sound too bothered by it, weirdly.] I never really thought about it until I got here. Being the Avatar was what I knew, especially back then.

I guess I got pretty lucky with the friends I made. Mako, Bolin, and Asami didn't really care about titles all that much.

Good for you.

[He doesn't mean it condescendingly; he's genuine about it. That she's had people who ignored her reputation is good to know. Having everyone around you define you by a reputation that's out of your control can be a life-ruiner.

And because Fujimaru's not shy about stating his opinion—]

Still sounds like a heavy duty, though. A lot of people would probably wanna run away from that kind of responsibility, to be honest.

IC CONTACT (FOR HAVEN)

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