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[ Hermione could make a rather nasty comment about how Korra does seem to get herself into stupid situations without trying particularly hard, but she doesn't.

She sounds tired, though not as much as Korra does, and her voice is low and careful, measured, trying to get all the information before she jumps to conclusions. ]

I can help, just - I need a picture, a video, of where you are, something I can picture in my head.

[ Hermione sighs, breathing out. ]

I'll bring you home.

[ there's no need to rub it in, hermione. korra already knows. ]

I don't want to get you in trouble, [ she starts, knowing that hermione is a high profile seelie figure, which is why she was asking for someone hermione knew — a friend she had on the other side. korra knows she's a disappointment, and she couldn't bear it if hermione looked at her that way.

still, through a heady sniffle, korra dashes her hand across her eyes as she lifts her locket to take a video of the surroundings: a desert stretching around her, rubble at her feet. and in the distance, far, far in the distance, at least a three days' walk, is the Void. ]

Just tell me where to go.

Going to help find a Seelie in trouble isn't going to get me in trouble.

[ If anything it might prove her dedication to the cause. The only issue would be if the Unseelie caught sight of her - and if that happened then she could apparate away quickly enough, Korra in hand.

The video is more than enough, though, and Hermione's heart leaps as she sees the Void. It's a familiar sight, now, thanks to her time in Leathann, and she sighs before she nods her head.

A second later, she's at Korra's side - or, rather, in front of her - looking a little worse for wear. ]

Let's go.

[ and the moment korra sees hermione's state, she steels her arms. after everything she's seen, korra knows that she could really use a comforting hug, to just remind her that there's a reason she's fighting, to remind her to never give up — but immediately she realizes that's selfish. even if she watched a whole race of creatures walk into the void without ever looking back, korra has to keep herself composed for hermione's sake.

calling over her shoulder to a gathering of crumbled stone, korra reaches and holds out her hands. ]

Naoki, c'mon...

[ and a young girl, looking like a smaller version of mako, peeks her head out before running to korra's side, clinging tightly as korra takes hermione's hand. ]

Ready.

[ her badgermole is already days underground, finding its way back to the citadel. ]

[ For her part, Hermione doesn't say anything. She just smiles at Korra, nodding her head and moving forward. Rising up to take her place at the Citadel, understanding all the things she had to do and all the choices she was likely to make in the future, alongside the hatred and violence she had seen in Leathann... It was exhausting, mentally and physically.

She does hesitate, for a moment, when she sees the little girl, but - this is the Drabwurld. Naoki... She turns her eyes to Korra, raises her eyebrows, before she takes the girl's hand again.

There's a pop and a spinning feeling, a little dizzy, and then they're inside Hermione's rooms, a fire burning gently in place. ]

Here we are.

[ korra's head spins as they arrive suddenly, and after a few seconds she collapses back onto a couch; naoki becomes rizhao, and leaps behind korra, pushing her tail against her mommy's back to keep her from collapsing like the mountain.

it takes korra a second to compose herself, reaching to rizhao and sliding her fingers over the deer-like horns that adorn her head. ]

Are you okay?

[ she asks it of hermione, more concerned for her family than she is for herself. ]

[ Hermione softens as soon as Rizhao is Rizhao again, slipping forward and moving around the room. Her cloak - lions decorating it - is placed over the arm of a chair, her bag is placed over on her desk and... She simply breathes. For a long moment, all she does is breathe, lets herself have a few seconds, thinks back to the sand and the Void and, then, she steps over and settles down to sit beside Korra.

She doesn't bother reaching for Rizhao right now; if the dragon wants to say a proper hello she'll come over. ]

I'm fine. I've been in Leathann, helping people that don't particularly want to be helped and enjoy throwing tomatoes at us.

[ Hermione shakes her head, a small smile reaching her face. ]

Are you?

[ and come forward rizhao does, stretching herself across hermione and korra because even though she's encroaching on thirty feet, she still thinks she's a lap critter. ]

I joined my past life to try and save the Pyrii, but when he passed out the mountain collapsed. [ she sounds.. slighly haunted, and draws her fingertips down rizhao's mane as the dragon gently coos her support. ] In the end, they just marched off.

All of them.

The took one look at the Void and went forward.

None of them looked back.

None—

Korra --

[ Hermione reaches out, quickly, her fingers sliding through Korra's and holding them gently, squeezing her palm with a gentle tenderness, with everything she can muster. ]

I'm sorry, I had no idea, I never thought...

[ Something comes over her and she blinks back her tears, shifting closer and nudging at Rizhao so she can lean against Korra, holding her a little tighter.

She doesn't know what to say, the tight feeling in her throat almost too much, but even now... ]

It's like Leathann. They know the Void is getting closer, the end is coming. They're afraid and they believed we might be able to fix it, but all that faith is starting to go thin.

[ that's all it takes — korra's hand tightens in hermione's, and other other arm reaches forward to wrap around hermione's shoulders, tugging her close in a hug. they both need it, she decides. they both need the comfort and support as they try and digest what's happening to this world.

she doesn't know what to do. her instinct as a human being tells her she needs to fight tooth and nail to make sure people here are safe, that none of them die, and it's in direct conflict with her instinct as the avatar. it's the part of her that tells her she needs to right relentlessly to protect the future and anyone who could come from the new worlds that crop up.

but coming face to face with the literal end is terrifying, and korra tightens her hold on hermione. ]

What are we supposed to do?

[ Hermione wraps herself around Korra just as tight, drawing her close and leaning into her, offering her an embrace, comfort, friendship, sisterhood - all of it. It's easy, to sit like this, to pretend the world isn't literally destroying itself outside, and Hermione wishes it could be like this forever.

For the first time in a very long time Hermione doesn't have the answers and that terrifies her. She stands and feels the weight of it, the pain and the way that it tightens around her chest, and her eyes squeeze shut. The sense of failure claims her for a long moment and it feels like breathing is too hard, like her throat is tight -

but then she's shaking her head, squeezing, forcing herself to calm down. ]

We make sure we don't give up. We fight, Korra, for our friends and the people we love. We remember that we're not alone and, no matter what happens, we can keep hold of them and stand at their side, remembering to be brave.

Edited 2015-05-15 23:17 (UTC)

[ something about those words gives korra leave to laugh between her frightened tears, drawing in a short sniffle and rubbing the heel of her hand against her eyes ]

've you ever thought of giving speeches? [ she grins, though the action is wet, and rizhao takes to licking both girls' faces to dry their tears. ] I think you'd be good at it.

[ She shakes her head, drawing Korra closer and feeling something warm spread across her. Harry was always the one who gave the speeches, even if he hadn't really wanted to, and finding herself in that position... It's strange. She has to force herself to relax, to shrug away the way that something tight takes over her, her chest hurting, until she curls up a little closer to Korra.

At least she can give speeches - a point in her favour as a Marchioness. ]

I hadn't, but I might give it a try one day.

[ sniffling slightly, korra pulls back just enough to rest her forehead against hermione's, her eyes closing. rizhao coos, a higher-pitched whalesong than it will be when she grows, but she remains alert, wanting to help the two girls she regards as family above all others. ]

You might not even have to write them beforehand.

[ Hermione does laugh then, a little thing, and she draws Korra closer and shakes her head. It's a fond thing and she finds herself relaxing a little as she leans against Korra, laughing a little as she reaches out to stroke along Rizhao's back, as gentle with her as she is her sister. ]

I'd like to practise, at least.

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