Note: Welcome to "Crescendo". Before your read, we wish to warn you that the story contains violent and possibly disturbing content, so be advised. This opening chapter acts as more of a prologue before things really get going, but we try to update frequently so that more will happen soon. Also, we highly value feedback, so if you have anything you want to say, we encourage you to let us know. It really helps the writing process. Thanks, and enjoy.

It was love at first sight.

The immeasurable love the boy felt at that moment easily surmounted every tangible feeling he had before. And yet, his emotions did not overwhelm him, but bubbled softly beneath the surface. As the leaves fell tenderly to the plush soil below, the boy felt an incredibly calming sensation run through him. Even with the blackness of the ground and the chillness of the wind blowing through the air with mild force, and the emptiness around him, he felt blissful, gazing openly, wondrously, in shock and awe, at the magnificent beauty before him.

Yes, he decided. It was truly a brilliant statue.

The boy was only five when the granite statue of the Avatar was constructed, but now he was twelve, and his mind had matured in ways his superiors would never have dreamed of. He could truly admire the piece of artwork for all that it represented, all of its cracks and ridges forming perfectly into a single, astounding vision.

Oh, there were so many things to admire about the Avatar statue. For one, it stood tall and proud in the middle of Avatar Korra Park, a park so lovely and serene that no one ever happened to be walking by when the boy was present. It gave him time to relax and admire the statue in all of its glory. But that was just the atmosphere, and the boy could amuse himself for hours about the various activities taken by others in the area, many of which he had only heard of, and never seen.

But of course, anyone who could not appreciate the full grace of the statue itself, in his eyes, was completely insane. The amount of craftsmanship placed into every nook and cranny of the Avatar's face was awe-inspiring to him. The boy had once taken upon himself to compare the statue to the actual Avatar's appearance, based on a newspaper clipping he had acquired when he was ten. He had concluded, after spending hours upon hours gazing at both objects with squinted eyes and a stuck-out tongue, that even though the statue was based upon Korra when she was eighteen years of age, and the photo he had of her was from when she was twenty-three years of age, the two were almost, nearly, meticulously identical in every way conceivably possible.

This, as well, amused the boy very much.

Then, naturally, there was the legend, which he might have enjoyed more than the statue, if he was honest with himself. What was there not to enjoy about the legend? It was a classic story of friendship, family, comedy, tragedy, triumph. A story of a young girl destined for greatness with impossible expectations, and achieving greatness beyond anyone's wildest imaginations. The boy very much liked that story. He liked it so much, in fact, that he wished he could have taken part in such a globe-trotting, high-thrill adventure. For him, that was a rather impressive feat, because as far back as he could remember, nothing impressed him at all. None of the great Water Tribe legends or Earth Kingdom folklore ever seemed to elicit a response from him when he was younger. They simply seemed boring to an advanced intellect like him, for what did adults know about entertainment anyway? However, this particular tale of the Avatar, of the Equalists, of the Spirit Portals, of the Red Lotus, of the Earth Empire, of companionship, of emotion, of fear, of pain, of love; it all seemed so indescribably perfect to him, that even at the slightest mention he would burst into fits of unparalleled glee.

Thus, it was decided at the ripe age of eleven, that he would make visits to the Avatar statue once per month, in order to fully pay tribute to all that the site meant to both him and the world. Every morning of those special days, he would wake up from his bed, put on his fanciest attire, take the twenty minute stroll from his abode to Avatar Korra Park, sit in front of the statue cross-legged, and stare at the statue for at least a good hour or two, always making sure to smile as brightly as he could at the memories that flooded his mind.

This lasted for two months before the boy realized that it was not good enough, so he increased his visitation to once every two weeks. A few weeks later, when he still felt unsatisfied, he raised his quota to once per week.

At this point, he felt he had properly managed his time to only visiting the statue once every three or four days, which led him in front of the statue early one morning near the end of summer, the soil beginning to fade black and wind brushing through the air carelessly. His routine was no different this day than it was any other. He sat cross-legged in front of the statue, humming a light tune to himself in the empty field. The tremendous stories had already begun flowing through his thoughts like a raging storm, filling him with such happiness that the wind was numb upon his skin.

After one hour and fifteen minutes had passed, the boy stood up, brushed himself off, and bowed to the statue gracefully. He continued to hum his merry tune as we went home on his usual path, counting his several thousand steps he would need to take back to his home.

However, something distracted his along the path. Located exactly three hundred and forty-two steps away from the statue was a park bench, to which he held no particular affinity. Often when passing by this bench, he would spot a small squirrel scurrying about with two oversized nuts in its cheeks, puffing out like inflated balloons. The squirrel was such a common sight that he usually found his eyes wandering to it whenever he passed.

Yet, on this random morning, the squirrel was nowhere to be seen. Instead, someone sat there, occupying the bench, interrupting the flow of the scenery. As the boy walked past, he examined the woman carefully, and in all but a moment, his heart filled up with an incredible sense of discovery. The woman, dressed in blue and fur, brown hands pressed together on her lap, blue eyes gazing inattentively into the distance with a youthful mind lost well in thought, was caught in the eyes of the boy for well over a minute before his mind snapped back to reality.

Why, that was the Avatar sitting on that bench.

Korra, as it turned out, despite arguably being one of the most important people in the world, was never called out in public much. No tabloids caught her eating at lunch, no autograph hungry fans clamored for her attention, and no one aside from her friends and politicians ever gave her much of a thought. She supposed that her lack of fame was probably due to a vast misunderstanding and confusion of her role as "bridge between two worlds", even though that was hardly much of a problem anymore. Who would be a part of her fan club anyway? Given all of the mover stars and dashing models and corporate giants, the celebrity world treated her as a small fry; a situation she was perfectly comfortable with.

So, she was rather surprised when a small boy walked up to her, and smiled brightly.

"You're the Avatar, aren't you?"

Korra turned her head, and looked at her new company. He was a young boy with shaggy, black hair that fell all over his face, big, staring, brown eyes that looked at her markedly, and a massive smile that never seemed to fade. He wore something of a dark grey suit, buttoned down the chest, matching slacks, and spiffy black shoes that were one size too big.

"Avatar Korra?" the boy repeated. Korra shook her head, and gathered her attention.

"Uh, yes?" she responded.

"I'm Masaki," said the boy with satisfaction. "It's really a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh… thank you," Korra said with a small smile. She looked left and right, but no one was around. "What are you doing here all alone, Masaki?"

"I was walking down the path over there, and I saw you over here."

"Mmhmm."

Korra looked carefully at the boy. He simply smiled back.

"Hey Masaki, how old are you?"

"Twelve," Masaki said with a grin. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Korra giggled. "Well, not a lot of twelve year olds are walking in the middle of this park without any adults around. We should really get you back home safe."

"That's not important now," Masaki insisted. "It's not every day I get to meet the Avatar. I must say, you look a lot prettier in person than you do in stone."

"Aw, thanks. That's sweet of you."

"Hey, would you mind if I asked some questions?"

"Uh…" Korra stammered. The boy's smile never let up, not even a smudge. Several different thoughts ran through Korra's mind. The first was that this child was actually starting to creep her out, just a tiny bit. The second was that she needed to get this mildly creepy child back to his parents. Even though the park was named after her, she would be lying to herself to suggest that it was wholesome all of the time. There could be a million thugs or kidnappers waiting around every corner, and the boy looked rather small and defenseless. The third thought that ran through Korra's mind was that she had an admirer. Korra never had an admirer before, and even though Masaki was someone creepy with his never-ending smile, he was also undeniably cute, with his small stature and big shoes and shaggy hair. And so, Korra figured, since she was going to stick with the kid anyway, she might as well amuse him.

"Alright, alright," Korra gave-in happily. "What do you want to know?"

Masaki froze, his smile falling from his face. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but the occasion overwhelmed him, and he had no idea what to say.

"Um… uh…" he twitched. "Do you… well… do you like being the Avatar?"

Korra smiled gently. "Yeah. I really like being the Avatar. It's probably the best thing about me."

"What… what's your favorite element?"

"My favorite?" Korra thought about the question hard. "That's hard to describe. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Water is my native element, and it's cool and gentle, and can heal as well as attack. Earth is stable and sturdy, and fire has a lot of beauty behind it. But I might have to say air, because of the balance it brings. It requires a lot of focus to maintain, and after all of the trouble I went through to achieve it, and the times the… tranquility and peace it brought me helped me through some tough times…"

Masaki stared at her, showing no change of expression. Korra mentally slapped herself. She was talking to a kid. More so, she was talking to a young boy. Did young boys care about tranquility and peace? Did this boy actually want to hear a life lesson? She should have known better. After all, she was a kid once, wasn't she?

"Nah, who am I kidding?" Korra said with a shrug. "Fire's definitely the coolest. It's pretty freaking awesome to shoot flames out of your hands."

Masaki looked at her quizzically, but soon resumed gazing at her in wonder, as if staring into a magnificent star.

"Is there anything else you wanted to know?" Korra asked, actually feeling a small burst of joy making someone else so happy by doing such a simple task.

"So…" Masaki asked. "Where do you live?"

"Air Temple Island, although I've actually started looking for a place in the city. It's hard when you're traveling around so much."

"Do you have a favorite restaurant?"

"Ochi's Seafood, right near the west side of the park."

"What's your favorite food."

"Sea crab soup."

"What's your favorite nation?"

"I don't have one."

"What's your favorite sport?"

"Pro-bending. I used to play it."

"Why did you stop?"

"Avatar duties. I'm still a fan though."

"What's your favorite thing to do?"

"Bend."

"What's your least favorite thing to do?"

"Doing nothing, actually."

"Are you scared of anything at all?"

"Everyone's scared of something. I'm afraid of… uh, bugs. Yeah, bugs and spiders and crawly things. I think."

"Are you lying?"

"Wha—no, never! Why would I do that?"

"Do you like watching movers?"

"No."

"Do you like going shopping?"

"No."

"Do you like sitting around in random park benches?"

"No. This is a rare thing for me, actually."

"Why so? Don't you like the quiet?"

"Not usually. It's one thing to have quiet while meditating, but I think I like being a part of more active things."

"Doesn't it get lonely being the Avatar though? Having all of that power, all of that wisdom, and no one who can understand it all?"

"Well… yes, a little. Being the Avatar is, well, a heavy burden. There is a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, and if I tried doing everything on my own, I'd probably fail—actually, I know I'd fail. Luckily, I have a lot of friends who are able to support me."

Masaki seemed to find this statement rather odd, and pressed forward with a confused look plastered on his face. "The Avatar has friends?"

Korra nodded. "I have plenty of friends?"

"You mean… actual friends? Close friends?"

"Very close."

"Even though none of them are like you? Even though you're the Avatar, and they're just… people? I don't get it. Why does the Avatar need friends?"

"Everyone needs friends at some point, Masaki," Korra said softly, knowingly. Years of Avatar wisdom told her she needed to say something. Somehow, she felt that this was important to emphasize for the boy with the grey suit and big shoes and shaggy hair. "Having all of this power wouldn't mean anything if I didn't have anyone to share them with. I'm not better than anyone, really. They all have parts of them that make them special, like I do, or you do. It's combining those attributes with others that make the difference. I hope that makes sense to you."

"Ohhhhh," Masaki said, rocking on the balls of his feet. He smiled cunningly. "So… do you have a boyfriend?"

Korra nearly jumped out of the bench upon hearing the question, looking as far away from the boy as possible. "Uh… that's complicated."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"That's also complicated."

"Does he/she not appreciate you enough?"

"Can we not talk about my dating habits?"

"Is your sex life okay?"

"How—what!? How do you even know about… don't ask people about that!"

"Oh, are you in one of those 'swinger relationships' I heard about—"

"Okay, enough questions!" Korra said suddenly, rising from the bench. Her cheeks with hot and she pressed her hand against her forehead in embarrassment. "Now that we've got that stuff out in the open, let's go find your way home."

Masaki, as always, simply smiled at her.

"Oh, Korra. I've always known my way back. I just wanted the chance to finally meet you."

Before Korra could inquire further about what he was talking about, Masaki lowered himself into a bow, and then happily walked away.

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Miss Avatar!" he called to her, waving over his shoulder. "Good luck having friends!"

Korra watched the boy leave in utter confusion. She had not meant to lose her cool like that, especially in front of such a small boy. Those last few questions were a bit too personal in her opinion. Then again, given what Masaki was talking about, she doubted he had that much of an innocent mind to taint.

She hoped that she helped him, somehow. He must have had trouble making friends. If she was his role model of some kind, then maybe he would take her words to heart.

Korra looked out at Republic City, the city she had grown to love. So much had changed since she had first arrived. She remembered her eagerness, her brashness, her egotism, and her curiosity upon entering the streets for the first time. That was nearly eight years ago, and still she remained in the urban jungle. Through all of the hardships she had to deal with throughout her life, through all of the crazed cult leaders and war hungry soldiers, she had managed to survive. She had built a new life for herself within this world, one of trust, love, and peace. She thought one more time of the boy, and smiled as he vanished from sight.

In just a few short weeks, she would sink to her knees and cry, staring at his lifeless body and wondering where it all went wrong.