#positive energy small om tattoo

[jolivira]

I can’t believe I did it!

The final chapter of my Legend of Korra fanfiction: Sacrifice for a Lost Cause

Chapter 9

COSMIC ENERGY

It was finally time. Korra was as ready as she ever would be.

She had left Naga at the Water Palace. Despite the strong resistance from the polar bear-dog, eventually she gave in and agreed to stay behind. As she was leaving, Korra tried her best not to see or be seen by anyone, in special her parents; she knew that if she encountered them, even for a mere second, she would want to give up on her quest.

A few hours later and she was crossing the spirit portal and heading to the opposite portal. Korra carried nothing but the clothes on her body, everything else had been left with Naga.

Once in the Northern Water Tribe, she followed her gut and headed to the place that had the biggest spiritual presence in their culture, since the very first days of the avatar: the Spirit Oasis, home to probably the strongest and most important spirits for waterbenders in general. Tui and La.

Days ago during their meeting, masters Tenzin and Jinora had refused to give their personal opinion on the last chakra. They offered advice on how to proceed with the meditation itself, explained to her where Aang had failed and, most importantly, why. But they never suggested a place to go like they had with all the other ones.

The crown chakra was special, the hardest type of energy to set free to roam through your body. Some call it the bridge from the human mind to the universe as a whole, she also knew what it would lead to happen.

The world needed it to happen.

Korra walked through the tall temple that marked the entrance to the Oasis. It was the first time she had ever seen it but she could sense a strong familiar pull towards it.

Her breath was immediately taken away by the beauty of the place. Past the circular wooden door was a big lake protecting a small grass patch and the Koi Fish Pond, as it was called. None of the bodies of water here were frozen, in fact the air was miraculously warm and cozy, somehow the open sky there presented brighter stars than in the other parts of the land.

The two bridges that led to the pond were small and looked extremely fragile. Ancient. The waterfall that stood behind the temple had a constant flow of water but Korra couldn’t hear any sound coming from it.

Once she reached the end of the short bridge, Korra took off her boots before stepping on the grass.  As her skin came in contact with the leaves, Korra felt strong energy waves running through her body, she was surrounded by purity of it. She approached the circular pond and observed the structure that stood behind it: a traditional spiritual gate engraved on wood to symbolize the merging overlap between the physical and spiritual worlds.

About 50 years ago, Aang had meditated here to seek the spirits’ help. And on the same day Princess Yue gave up her life to save the Moon Spirit, at this place they became one. Or better, they went back to one being.

Seemed appropriate as a closure to her journey. Whether it would end up to be heroic like Aang’s story or tragic like Yue’s, that was another matter entirely. It was honouring to see everything with her own eyes. Korra respectfully bowed to the Koi Fish; Tui and La were swimming in a perfect circle, their eternal dance where balanced opposite forces pushed and pulled, never touching and never getting further away from each other.

Korra then sat under the wooden spirit gate, she settled in full lotus position and took a deep breath closing her eyes, calming her interior. A second later she opened them and saw it:

They were all there, every single one, she was sure. Across from the pond in front of Korra, floating just centimeters above the lake, light spirit forms of all the avatars were sitting cross-legged in deep meditation. Some were old people, the centuries old masters, but it also surprised her to see two or three very young children there as well. They all stood together in the same glory and sharing of the same will.

She recognized some faces: Aang was right in the front alongside avatar Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk and Yangchen. Korra couldn’t see all of them, but she managed to recognize Yutae and Zei Kan a little farther in the back. Lishiamo and Wan were probably reaching the entrance of the lake as there were about one hundred faded white figures. Looking again, the spirits all seemed to be in a peaceful sleep state.

Seeing them all there, patiently waiting for a reunion with Raava and Korra’s spirit, it all made her head go dizzy and her heart sorrowful. They were so close now… she needed to succeed.

Korra interlaced her fingers with the ring finger pointing up, right thumb on top of the left one. She lifted her hands to the height of her chin to complete the om mudra. Her eyes focused directly on the past avatars, barely blinking. She took a deep breath and meditated on the crown chakra on the very top of her head.

Very few people in the Four Nations’ history had become a Mahatma, that is, a Great Soul. A person that opened the last chakra successfully and lived the rest of their lives as a guru. They all had the same characteristics though: they learned to separate anxiety for the future, from the reality of the present; unanswered questions such as “what is my place?” and “why am I here?” had vanished for them, losing all meaning. By connecting to the Universe, there was no reason to worry or wonder about the impossible. Some isolated themselves looking to find peace while many walked the world to share their wisdom with others. They all had no attachments to their life nor any fear of dying, walking miles barefoot and only carrying water with them.

Korra’s focus now was to think like them, aspire to become one of them. The avatar must put the world’s needs before their own personal beliefs, and that meant Korra had to leave it all behind. Without the knowledge of the past, the future would most certainly lead to chaos, as true balance demanded sacrifices.

She thought of what attached her to this world, what mattered most to her, what would make Korra give up everything for?

From the high stars above, Korra saw specs of light shooting down like meteors. Their glow was significantly different from the avatars’, these were sharper and had a silver aura to them. The shiny lights danced in the air and moved freely around.

The more the lights moved, the more definition they gained to their shapes and forms. One of the flashes reached the pond and circled the water following Tui and La’s rhythm. A few seconds passed by quickly and four figures shot from the water.

Standing in front of her, Korra saw Toph and Lin and right behind them were Bolin and Mako. Each one had influenced her life in a unique way, they all had shared their own strength with her. Korra loved and admired them deeply.

She stayed still as they walked past her, crossing her physical body with their silver essence. Each one that passed she could feel a pull at her heart and stomach. Korra fought the urge of looking back to see them go once the four of them had crossed. She couldn’t look back, it would be the proof that she wasn’t ready, that she wasn’t able to go through with it.

Korra took a deep breath and watched as another light shape sprint through the skies as it circled the pond. First, three spirits merged from it, then later another two. She saw Katara’s old figure, her hunched back and her braided hair; beside her were Tenzin and Pema. The three of them symbolized her past with Aang, but they were also her support, her reinforcement and encouragement to keep going and to keep fighting. They had taught her how to protect herself and how to love others. It hurt even more to imagine them leaving.

The three of them passed through her at the same time, she felt every inch as they got closer, every step they took towards her. And then they were gone.

Korra had no time to think or regret her choice once the next two spirit forms in front of her started marching as well. Her parents.

Senna and Tonraq were smiling, they looked proud of their humble beginnings and proud of Korra’s many achievements. They were at the core of her origins and the ones she needed to show the outermost respect and gratitude for their consistent care.

Instead of walking though, the image of her parents’ memories reached down and engulfed Korra’s body in a hug. She felt their spirits fading through her as the hug melted away from her grasp. Her heart beat faster and her breathing stopped for a second. She couldn’t see, but she had to feel the intense pain as they went. It finally made the tears start forming in Korra’s eyes, both from the physical and psychological pain she was feeling in that moment.

Korra was now breathing harder, her eyes stung. She pushed past, ignoring all of it, focusing on the avatars in front of her: Zei Kan’s willpower reached her along with Lishiamo’s strength, reminding her of the purpose of this quest.

Although she had the thoughts clear in her mind, it didn’t stop the wet tears from rolling down her cheeks. Korra did not dare moving even an inch from the mudra and, regardless of her body begging her to stop, she kept going.

One more light descended to circle the pond and four more ghostly images, four pairs of feet gracelly touched the grass. Korra watched nostalgically as Jinora, Ikki, Meelo and Rohan calmly paced around in her direction. Differently from the visions back at Makapu Village, the four of them were now grown up. They all had blue master tattoos except for Rohan, of course, who was still fifteen years old. Their expressions were soft, they wore the clothes Korra had last seen them on.

The air kids represented for Korra the bright future ahead, it was the safety of a nation she had fought tooth and nail to guarantee. She was their safeguard and their protector, looking out both for their physical and personal wellbeing. And thanks to their close relationship, the Air Nation was more prosperous now than it had been in the last 200 years. All thanks to these kids; kids that she would soon need to start referring to as adults.

When they passed through her body, it was like being tickled by a feather. Korra had never felt such gentle and light energy going through her before, and it only worsened the stinging pain on her stomach.

But again, refused to turn around and look back.

Then, the last one of the cosmic lights shot down to the pond, stronger and brighter than any of the previous ones. Korra observed as the light pulsated every other second until two spirits emanated from it, dissipating all of the light that was previously in the pond.

Naga and Asami were standing right in front of her. More tears started to roll down korra’s eyes as she was reminded of every good memory she ever had with them, and all of that she had learned to love and appreciate most in her life. Naga’s tail wagged from one side to another, Asami had her hand on the polar bear-dog’s head as she gently caressed it.

They slowly walked together in her direction. Naga went ahead running, she barked at Korra, which only made the woman chuckle and smile sadly at her companion. Once she jumped through Korra’s body, she saw all of their past together. The little pup she had saved from the freezing snow back in the South, she saw as Naga grew up and followed her everywhere she went. And she saw herself, not more than the day before, leaving her behind to finish the task.

Naga’s loyalty and unshaken love would still be there for her, forever.

Lastly, Asami walked silently in a slower pace than all of the others. Her spirit kneeled down as Korra felt a gentle hand on her cheek, wiping away some of the tears. A smile spread across her features and she reached up to lay a kiss on korra’s forehead.

Asami moved past Korra’s body, forcing her to say goodbye, to let go of all that she found beautiful and pure in the world. Naga’s and Asami’s spirits continued their walk, Korra could sense their breathing and their own sadness as it expanded and intensified, absorbing all of the Spirit Oasis in the sentiment. Korra closed her eyes for a second time, reminiscing all of their seconds spent together, all of that she had learned. She gave herself a few seconds to recompose, to regain her courage.

With one last deep breath, Korra let all of those attachments go, all of these people that would make her give everything up, disappearing and flowing far away from her.

Korra sensed her eyes glowing as she entered the avatar state, her spirit was transported to a different world, to a different spectrum made of ethereal matter and cosmic dust. All her tears and emotions were gone as she saw herself on a perfect rounded path made of light. At the end of the line there was a bigger Korra, a higher spirit of herself, shining in celestial pink and purple tones.

She started to walk in that direction, then she found herself sprinting down the line, running to reach her pure energy and to finally be connected. Korra extended her right arm towards it. Almost there. So so close.

Everything went white. Suddenly, all around her, everything was too bright.

Korra reopened her eyes. The avatars were still all there, and now they all had their eyes open as well. They weren’t floating in the distance anymore, they were close, becoming a part of her again.

Aang was the first to stand up, he stared directly at her eyes as he approached and kneeled just like Asami had. But instead of dissipating through her body, Aang spirit materialized inside of her, fusing with her and Raava’s. After that she felt them all, Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen. One by one, she felt their minds merge, their lives becoming hers again. She was relieving each second and breathing in each one’s life.

It felt like an eternity. Wan was the last one, his spirit embraced her, sealing their souls together for eternity.

It all came at the same time:

Names, fears, stories, memories, lovers, enemies, villages, identities and so much more. Hundreds and hundreds of years of living, dying and being reborn. Death and doubt and hope and love. It came to a point where it was unbearable to Korra, she felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside, her mind was imploding. All at the same time. Her body and mind screamed together.

The figures and spirits now vanished. Korra was left to the shiny stars and the swimming of Tui and La. Alone. But not quite.

It was with that revelation that Korra’s weeping begun, her chest convulsed and her muscles ached on her skin. Every cell and every organ. Her limbs were weak and her mind was an unstoppable mess.

She did it. She had them back, reconnected by Raava’s light and Wan’s will. All of it, inside her again.

The cycle was finally, finally whole.

Korra’s sobbing could be heard through the rest of the night from that point. the avatar cried for everything that she had leaned with her past lives, cried for her fears and guilt that were finally lifted from her. She cried for those she lost today, and all of the infinite lives she received today.

For hours and hours, sobs and whimpers so strong no one had ever before thought possible.