Moon Drops

Have the Foresight to Judge Yourself According to your Epiphanies

It was the morning of their fifteenth day here—and yes, Tarrlok was keeping track. Reluctantly Takotna had permitted her son and daughter-in-law to stay in her home for the duration of their time in the North. Sitting at the quaint dining table, Tarrlok sipped lightly at the edge of a tiny glass containing his favorite brew of jasmine tea. It was steaming and warm, but if he didn't drink it now it would grow cold from the low temperatures the North had to offer. His mother was seated across from him. She hadn't been able to even look at him since he had ambushed her with his terrible confession upon his arrival, but even so she had still been willing to let them stay there—they were the only family she had left. Tarrlok didn't expect her to forgive him. In some senses, he didn't want her to forgive him. No details had been left unexplored that first night when he had filled her in on all the events that had happened since the last time he had seen her. Tarrlok had covered everything: the moment he had graduated from the Northern Water Tribe University, his election to Councilman of Republic City as the Northern Water Tribe's Representative, challenges with Amon, Korra's arrival to Republic City, the encounter with Noatak resulting in the loss of his own bending, the self-inflicted "accident" with Noatak and the motor boat headed for Red Sand Island, all the time and money spent on his medical treatments and hospitalization, his re-election, the tensions between the two Water Tribes, and finally he had finished with the circumstances of his marriage to Korra. He had known it was a lot of information for his mother to absorb, and he had talked more than enough to satisfy the need for conversation. For now what they needed was the silence.

Tarrlok went to sup another sip of his beverage, but a monster in the guest room of his mother's home was on a rampage. That monster's name was Korra. She had insisted that this morning she needed to focus on her meditations and would not be joining them for breakfast. Tarrlok was more than certain that meditation usually meant quiet and retreating into your own thoughts. From the sounds he had been subjected to all morning, however, Korra's version of meditation seemed to have a striking resemblance to what you would expect from a rabid pack of hungry platypus-bears.

"GRRRRAAAHHH!"

More of Korra's frustrated howling was carried into the small dining area, causing his mother to flinch slightly. The councilman thought he had heard the sound of wood snapping in half that time—he would have to investigate that later. He set down his empty glass just as Korra stomped out of her room. He gave her his sly smile, knowing something had really stirred up her temper this morning. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?" She asked defensively, plopping down next to him and reaching for a bowl of rice at the center of the table.

"Things not going so well with the Spirit World today?" He asked her with a bit of an arrogant chuckle.

She wanted to threaten him and tell him she wasn't afraid to use her Avatar powers to beat him up in front of his mother. Given the current situation, however, that didn't seem to be the appropriate response. Much to Korra's surprise, her father had given Tarrlok his blessing within the first six days of their stay here—which, for obvious reasons, did not sit well with Korra. She was, however, trying to uphold her own mental bargain by being less abrasive with Tarrlok.

For the past week or so, as Korra was getting to know Takotna, the woman had been teaching her a few simple things that Northern Water Tribe wives were expected to do. Based on what little Korra had gathered, throwing out insults and physically upstaging her husband were both off-limits. She sat there quietly, a scowl on her face, as she took an angry bite out of the food his mother had been kind enough to prepare for them.