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"I love you." Lin closed her eyes and rested her forehead against her mother's.
"I love you too mom."
Toph sighed, but as she sighed, the sound became deeper, masculine. Then it grew into a laugh. Lin felt a change in texture from skin against skin to something hard like plastic against skin, meanwhile the laugh growing sadistic, and Lin lifted away and horror flashed across her eyes as she saw Amon before her, his right thumb coming toward her face, and as it made contact she released a blood-curdling scream.
She woke up.
She sprang up panting and covered in a light sweat. Her hands went to her face and she just held her head as she tried to understand what she just saw. A bitterness began to consume her, and in the spur of the moment, she sent her left fist hurdling into the steel wall beside her. Her vision went wet soon after the pain shot through her whole arm. She cried out quietly. It felt like something broke a little. She didn't know her own strength without bending. She visualized her hand going straight through the wall, without a scratch on her.
A bold tear tried to fall over her eyelashes, but she caught it before it fell. She lowered her hand to her eyes, and stared at the little droplet of saltwater. She told herself that she wasn't going to let something, even as horrible as it is, get to her. She wasn't going to cry.
She was watching something much more than a dream. She was floating, and was at a distance away from the scene. Aang and his friends talking to a very odd looking man on branches of a ginormous tree. Korra didn't think such a size possible for a tree.
"Everything is connected." Young Aang said, and then he felt the branch and a light path only visible to him, and, also for the sake of the vision, Korra. She saw what Aang saw for a moment while the path traveled to find Appa.
"I know where he is"! He exclaimed, and in turn ended the vision.
Korra's eyes opened slowly. She let everything sink in, and tried to make sense of it all.
She was still so tired from staying up for about three days, as the Krew traversed the land to get to the very outskirts of Republic City. That's where they all thought was the safest to go. They were staying in the stables of an ostrich-horse breeder couple. They were on the verge of foreclosure, but they were warm and kind, and understood the Krew's dire need to get far away, so they let them stay with them.
She blinked a few times letting the wooden ceiling come into focus. "Everything is connected." She whispered aloud, but no one stirred. Korra didn't care if anyone were to hear her at the moment.
She sat up and felt a tug at her pelt skirt. Bolin was lying on his side, his back away from her, but he was lying on a chunk of it. She carefully and slowly pulled it out from under him and proceeded to get up and walk outside.
"So, what?..." Korra said under the clear night sky, and her heart ached a little from memories of night time camp outs with her dad when she was younger. "Do you want me to touch the earth and find someone?" Silence. Frustration bubbled up in her core. "Why can't you just say something Aang? Why do I have to be meditative for you to just show me something?" Again silence.
She kicked the ground, making a tiny mound next to her heel imprint. "Fine." She sat down under the stars and tried to calm down enough to have a peaceful mind, and she began to meditate.
Flashes of Lin came across to her. Just random memories. When she first met her, when Lin saved her, and such, but then there was one flash that wasn't a memory. It showed a young girl trying to earthbend, and there beside her was Toph, all grown up. Instead of moving the earth the little girl accidentally bent off something from Toph's arm, a type of armband.
"I'm sowry mommy! I'm so sowry"! The little girl started to cry a little thinking that she broke the woman's armband, but Toph only smiled and felt where the meteor bracelet was missing, and then she picked up the little girl into her arms.
"Lin, you did it! You bent my bracelet! And it's not broken." She out her daughter down. "Here. Give it here." She held out her hand for the bracelet and bent it back onto her arm. A fascinated gasp escaped from the young, innocent Lin. Then Toph picked her up again, exclaiming to the world, "Everyone tremble at the might at the next greatest earthbender in the world! Lin Beifong"! Lin cheered along with her mother.
The vision faded away, and left Korra speechless. Her breath turned frosty in the cold winter air. It was a few moments before she finally spoke.
"Lin?... Do you want me to look for her? I-I I cant! I have to stay hidden though! Plus, she's with Tenzin. She's safe." Her voice dropped as she said safe, as if something dawned on her.
She brought her right hand out and splayed it on the ground, and tried to set out a path like Aang did, and find her. It came surprisingly easy to her and she felt the line as it connected to Lin. She closed her eyes and saw Lin sitting in a cell. She almost broke the line, but her training taught her to be patient, and she tried to zoom out and see exactly where she was. And saw it to be the underground headquarters for the equalists.
She was going to try and see deeper and find where she was in the labyrinth of cells, but a worried voice, brought her back, and she lost the line.
"Korra?" Asami called out again. Korra jumped up and ran past Asami, and into the stables waking up the boys. "Guys! Guys! Lin's in trouble"!
Bolin jumped at her booming voice, but rubbed his tired eyes, sleep still looming over his mind. Asami ran up to her side her eyes wide with curiosity, and Mako slowly stood up, sleep looming over him as well.
"What? How do you know?" Asami asked.
"Aang contacted me and showed me how we're all connected, then he showed me all these... these... I don't know! It was like all these moments centered around Lin, and, well... She's in trouble"!
"Hold on. Did you actually see her in trouble?" Mako asked half awake.
"Yes! Yes! Before Asami interrupted me, I connected to her and she's at the equalist's headquarters! She's in prison"!
Bolin finally pipes up, "Well, if she's in prison why doesn't she just- Oh..."
"They took her bending." Asami finished. Silence fell onto them. Korra settled down as she realized how Lin was actually in trouble. Bolin and Mako were fully awake now, and Asami crossed her arms around her chest tightly to comfort herself.
"Well... What do we do?" Mako asked openly. They all looked at each other, sadness lining their eyes.
"I want to go and look for her."
"Korra, no!-" Mako interrupted her, an edge in his voice.
"Well, I'm not going to just let her rot in there"!
"Tenzin said-" Mako continued.
"I know what he said"! Mako fell silent, a brooding look in his glare. Bolin stood up, and came next to Korra. She sighed. "You didn't see what I saw." Bolin placed his hand on her shoulder, reassuring her of everything.
"What did you see?" Asami asked gently.
"I saw Lin as a little kid... Learning how to earthbend." They all stayed quiet, waiting for her to say something else.
"Is that all you saw?" Asami persisted.
"Well, it was much more than that. I mean... I." She bowed her head and sighed. Words raced in her head, but wouldn't come out properly. "Guys, she's lost everything, but her life." She looked up slightly, and eyed straight at Mako, matching his anger. "She needs us."
"But, what if we get caught?"
"Well, do you think we're just going to stroll in in our get up? We'll find disguises. Steal some equalist's outfits! We'll be fine."
Bolin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and Asami did the same. "You're right." Bolin proclaimed. "Maybe it's just the earthbender in me, but I think we should help her."
"Yeah, I can imagine what she must be feeling." Asami agreed.
"Mako?" Korra pleaded.
He huffed, but broke, and joined in their group hug. "Thank you." Korra said.
They all sat down, and planned yet another attack upon that prison.
"Korra! Watch out"! Bolin cried out as an electric baton almost smacked her across her back. She dropped low and swung her leg around in a circle knocking him down hard, and gave him a nice kick to the stomach. "Go! Go find Lin! We'll take care of these guys"!
"Asami! Come with me"! Korra yelled, and they both started sprinting toward the east wing in search of Lin."
"Can you see her"!
"Stop"! They skidded to a halt, and Korra slammed her hand into the wall and made a path and felt her. "Got her! Follow me"!
"What else can I do?" Asami said laughed off, as they continued racing toward the amazing woman down the hall, and to the right.
As Korra felt close she started shouting out Lin's name, and Asami followed suit.
Lin thought she heard something. She ignored it though, blaming it on the pipes or something. But then she heard something again, and she couldn't ignore it. It was real. She got out of the bunk, and walked up to the bars, grabbing the cold steel. An ache welled up in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to tear them apart.
Then she heard it again, but now it actually sounded like something. She walked frantically over to each side to see the farthest she could down the hall, and then she heard her name distinctly, and the voice was familiar as well.
"Korra?" She gasped. "Korra?"
"Lin"!
Lin saw Korra running toward her, Asami close behind. She was never so happy to see anyone in her life. But worry seeped into her at the same time.
"Korra! What are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" Korra answered winded as she reached Lin's cell door. "Step back." Lin hurried to the back without an objection, and Korra stomped the ground, crushing the door up with the earth that rose from her will. She lowered the earth. and Lin came running out without hesitation. Freedom never felt so sweet.
A powerful urge to hug the girls ravaged her mind. She fell to its power and brought them close and they hugged her back tightly, as if it would make up for all the cold and lonely days and nights she had spent here. "You are an idiot Korra." Korra simply laughed.
They separated, and Lin continued, "But, thank you. And also, how in the world did you know where I was?"
Asami handed Lin one of her electric gloves, which Lin complied to also without hesitation.
"Come on, we'll talk while we run." Lin only smiled and obliged.
"Aang contacted me a few nights ago, and taught me how to find you. Funny thing too, because he was looking for your mother without even realizing it! Anyways, I used that technique, and now here we- WHOA"! Three equalists cut them off, and a spar broke out, and ended quickly. The three girls took them men down with absolute ease. But, then five more equalists came flying towards them.
"AAAGH! I don't have time for this"! Korra moved the earth move underneath the men and they fell into the pit, and she replaced the earth over them. But still more came. Thoughts of Bolin and Mako came across Korra and Asami's minds.
"I gotta do it now Asami"!
"Are you crazy?"
"Yes."
Korra bent an earth dome around them, hoping that she could concentrate enough to keep it up while she was busy. Korra snapped her fingers igniting a flame so they could see.
"I can help you get your bending back, you just have to focus and do everything I say."
Lin just stampered. This is what she wanted, but was it what she needed? Her mind became calm; the memory of her bending for the first time giving her all the reason to shut up and go along with it. "Okay." Korra nodded and signaled them to all sit down
"Great. So first of all, you're bending's not gone. All Amon can do is block your light chakra, which Aang also so graciously taught me about. We're going to unblock it during all this chaos." She laughed nervously. They could hear electricity buzzing all around them from outside.
"The light chakra is located at the forehead. It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. In order to unblock it, you need to realize that you are not separated from anything. You are connected to everything. We are all connected."
Lin closed her eyes and immediately thought of her mother, how separated she felt from her, but then she remembered all the times she had with Toph. She remembered all the times she bent earth, bent metal, when her mothered hugged her after being raised to chief of police, and after she got her scars. She felt close to her, she felt connected. She swore she felt her mother's presence with them in that little dome.
It opened. Her eyes flew open as the dome crumbled around them. Instinctively she tried to fling her metal ropes around her, but they weren't there. Earth came though. Her eyes went wide as the earth collided into the men. She looked to see Korra waterbending.
"It wasn't her." She breathed. Then her breath caught her throat as she became aware of absolutely everything. She was connected to everything.
She jumped up and got in her stance, power flowing in her veins. She clenched her fists, bending the earth in the equalist's bodies, crushing their veins, stopping the blood flow to their brains long enough to knock them unconscious, then she dropped them.
"Yes"! Korra cried out in joy. "Now let's find the boys."
Lin slammed her foot into the ground and found them a few feet away actually. "No need."
Sure enough the two brothers came speeding around the corner. Their faces saturated in fear, but the sight of Lin lit up their eyes a little.
"We gotta get out of here. Now"! Mako commanded.
"Then let's go." Lin said with such a calmness and just enough edge, it sent chills up their spines. "Get behind me." They are lined up behind her. She lifted them up on a layer from the ground and shot themselves off on it, speeding through the labyrinth of the prison.
She took them to the center where it was wide and clear and punched through the ceiling, and right as the were almost home free screams came from Korra and Mako as ropes twisted around them making them fall off Lin's magic earth carpet.
Lin looked back. Lin looked forward. She landed her "carpet" on the roof, and commanded Bolin to take himself and Asami as far away as possible on the "carpet". She didn't stick around to see if he actually listened.
She jumped through the hole she created. She had the oddest feeling that she should bend armor on her with earth. She couldn't explain where the idea came from, but she did it, and she bent the earth to make her zoom past even the quickest and agile of equalists. Then she came to a harsh stop, as a mecha tank claw grabbed her.
"Be there in a minute guys."
"You've left me no choice Avatar." Amon walked behind her.
"KORRA"! Mako cried out, lying helplessly paralyzed on the floor.
Amon grabbed her neck forcefully, and pressed his thumb harshly onto her forehead. A terrified shriek escaped her lungs, and she closed her eyes out of fear. And nothing happened to her. Well nothing he though should of happened.
Her eyes burst open emitting a bright, white glow. For the first time she willed the air around her to blow around chaotically. Amon only pressed harder, but then Korra started to stand up. She turned slowly and faced him. She lifted her hands slightly, then lowered them bring Amon into the ground. He tried to bloodbend her, but to no avail. She had the strength of thousands of fighters in her.
Mako began to get some feeling back in his body.
Korra took off Amon's mask. She didn't know what she was going to do exactly, but what ever she was going to do, she was going to look at him square in the face as she did it.
His face was fine.
The door blew down, and Lin came in. She saw Amon lying on the floor on one side, and Mako trying to calm down Korra out of the avatar state.
"Are you okay?" Lin had to shout over the noise of the whirling elements blasting around in the room.
"Yeah! I'm fine! Help me out"!
Lin tried to bend the earth the earth in her body and it worked just for a second, but that was all she needed. The elements stopped.
"Tackle her"! Lin barked and Mako hurdled into Korra. He held her close and begged for her to come back.
"Korra, we're okay! Everything's okay! Calm down! Come back to us"! Slowly, but surely, the glow faded away and she completely collapsed, all her energy drained.
"Atta girl." Lin said as she brushed the hair out of Korra's face. "Let's get out of here." Lin punched another hole in the ceiling and sent them up through it. Mako looked down to see equalists coming in to see what happened. They looked up to see the little trio in the air adding two and two together.