The mass of brown hair fell from her head, the sixteen year old having just released it from it's bun. She was more fortunate than most other orphans in Republic City, at least she had a job, a place to stay and no other siblings to watch out for. Her final shift at the end of the day was finally over and she had a few hours to sleep before the Pro-Bending matches started. Usually she was so tired at the end of the day she would sleep right through the roars of the crowds and she often had an adorable fire ferret to wake her up when the crowd was gone. Part of her job was to make sure that the arena was always stocked with equipment, fresh tablets for the other earth benders to earth bend during the matches, clean the water in the pool and keep the gym area and the bathrooms clean for the athletes.

But she knew that she couldn't go to sleep just yet, so she cracked open an anatomy book, more specifically the veins and arteries. "If one is losing large quantities of blood, then it is best to try and control the bleeding. One way to do this if there is something lodged in the human body that has caused a series wound, is to leave it in the body until it can surgically be removed" this is when the young earth bending girl dozed off, leaving a steady stream of saliva on the book. It was then she dreamed of her old life traveling with a band of evil benders, the exact sort that fuels the fire of the Equalist Movement.

She remembered all the people she killed for the sake of killing, and how dirty she felt afterwards. Sometimes, entire villages would fall to the group's bending only she would spare the children but their fire bending leader would often lecture her about it would be cruel to leave so many orphans. He was right of course, but she could just never bring herself to kill a child. She had her one wanted poster up, her in the red and gold dessert get up, her hair in two buns and an iron mask that glittered in light.

This time she was woken up by a familiar yet unwelcome face-Tahno of the Whitefalls Wolfbats. His deep voice said "Good morning sunshine" he tossed her a rag with fresh sweat on it "put this in the laundry..." he then smirked his trademark brown nosing grin "or you can keep it as a gift. I don't care". She hated Tahno, the arrogant asshole that always cheated yet somehow managed to pay off the refs so they don't call their fouls. But part of her deal with the owner was that she couldn't join the league or bad mouth the players. She lifted the dirty rag with her thumb and forefinger and went out to the Cobble or the Black Market of Republic City and sold it to one of Tahno's fans for two hundred yuoens.

The Iron Maiden of Yao Dai bought herself some dumplings and cabbage juice from the angry food vendor woman and waited in her living space (which was also the supply closet) for the cute fire ferret to come and tell her that the matches were over and she could start cleaning the arena and replace the earth bending tablets.

Meanwhile, Bolin was always wondering where Pabu would go after the matches, so this night he and Mako followed him. He kept scratching at the door to the supply closet, and stopped when they heard a girl's voice say "All right, all right little friend! I'm coming-" she stopped when she opened the door, clearly surprised to see two young men around her age standing there.

The older brother said "Hey I know you! You're the kid that works here and cleans everything right?"

"That's me..." she said shyly as Pabu climbed up her pants and onto her shoulders "He just comes and lets me know when the matches are over so I can replace and clean everything" she tore off a bit of dumpling and gave it to the fire ferret, who nibbled on it gleefully.

With a small chuckle, the younger brother said "He seems to like you..." he trailed off "we never got your name...I'm Bolin and this stiff over here is my older brother Mako!"

"I'm Kala" she said "It's very nice to meet you both!"

Bolin and Mako both laughed and Bolin said "Don't gotta be so formal with us! We're friends now!"

"Friends?" Kala looked confused "But we've only just met..."

"So?" he lifted Pabu off her shoulders and said "If Pabu likes you then we do too! It takes a while for him to warm up to new people so for him to cozy up to people so quickly you gotta be a nice person!"

"Speak for yourself, Bo" his brother coldly said, but he was just joking around "but I don't see why we can't give her a try" he winked at her, making her giggle.

"Hey! You wanna go for some noodles now?" Bolin asked.

"Sorry, but I gotta clean the arena and put new earth bending tablets in the slots..." she got her cart and put the needed supplies on it and wheeled it to the edge.

"I'll help ya!" Bolin said "It'll take less time if we work together!" he was about to earth bend a walkway for them to get to the ring but he remembered that it was mechanical and took forever to reach them.

"The quick way is much more fun" Kala smiled and she walked back a few steps and went on to a full run, sliding as the wall extended itself all the way to the ring.

Bolin laughed and said "You're an earth bender! Just like me! You should totally join the league!"

"I'd love to, but the boss wont let me. It's part of the deal I made with him- I get to sleep in the supply closet if I clean up the place and don't talk back to him and the pro-benders. That way he won't charge me rent..."

Bolin looked down and said "Oh...well, me and Mako live in the attic of this place! Mako works in the power plant supplying the city with electricity! We could ask to see if it's okay if you move in with us!"

"No, that's okay. I don't wanna impose more than I already do. I'm fine sleeping in the supply closet..." she gave him a sad smile.

"It just seems so cramped and cold in there...do you at least have a blanket to keep you warm?"

"I'm warm enough" she said as she put the last tablet in it's place and to her amazement, the job got done in half the time it took her to do it alone "So how about those noodles?"

At the noodle shop, they shared a good laugh and she said "So tell me about yourself; how'd you end up at the Pro-Bending game?"

"Me and my brother lost our parents ten years ago to a fire bender after he mugged them. After that we spent alot of time on the streets doing odd jobs for the Triple Threat Triad. Mostly running numbers and extra muscle stuff. Then the boss found us in a fight and wanted us to join the league. How about you?"

"I lost my parents when I was ten. Then I started traveling with-" she chose her next words carefully "the Angi Kais till about a year ago. They had me doing some cage bending and what not" she sipped up her noodles so she wouldn't have to talk about her old life anymore.

"Cage bending? What's that?"

"It's exactly like Pro-Bending, but there are no rules. Two people keep fighting till one of them knocks out or dies" she hated that she was lying to him, but she had to keep her secret.

"Sheesh..." he said "D-did you ever..."

"Kill anybody? No. Just knocked their noggin's around a few times" she giggled.

When the waiter came by for the bill, Bolin took out some money and paid it. "I got it. The man's supposed to pay for the lady!"

"You didn't have to. I have my own money" she took out her remaining cash and tried to offer it to him.

"No, I'd feel bad if I took your money..."

"And I'd feel like a moocher if I didn't give it to you" she said and thrust it in his face "Now take it!"

"No!" Bolin said "I'm not takin' money from a girl!"

That same unwelcome voice from earlier popped in with "I'd take your money, Cleaning Lady but you'd have to do something for me first" this caused Kala to grit her teeth and take it in silence.

"Shut up Tahno! This isn't any of your business!" Bolin shouted.

"What?" said the raven haired asshole "She's offering you money to do it with her probably the little-" his blood began to harden and something metal began poking through the skin. Most of the patrons were all shocked to see the great Tahno on his knees struggling to breathe.

"Finish that sentence you little shit...I dare ya..." Kala was in stance with her fist clenched and the eyes of a dead person flashing through.

Bolin looked at her and realized that she was doing this "Stop it!" he grabbed her waist and lifted her off the ground, releasing Tahno from her hold.

The clearly frightened water bender backed away "You're a freak! Just wait till Botaku hears about this!" he then ran off with his tail between his legs like a whipped dog.

Bolin let her down with "What did you do to him?"

"I have a little extra thing I can do...I can bend the iron in peoples blood and make it do what I want it to..." she then collapsed in his arms "but it leaves me anemic..." he carried her back to her closet, where her cot was laid out between a shelf and the wall. She was very cold to the touch and the blanket she spoke of was a thin sheet with holes in it. She shivered in his grasp, and he decidedly took her up to his bed and cuddled with her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Sharing my body heat with you...what's it look like?"

"Looks like we just had fooled around and now it's the afterglow" she said sarcastically.

"Shut up woman" he said, wrapping his strong arm around her "You're sick and it'd be uncool of me to leave ya there and freeze."

"Why are ya being so nice to me?" she clutched onto his undershirt.

"Cause you're my friend...and friends are always nice to each other right?"

"Yeah" she blushed slightly and fell asleep in his arms.

Then everything changed when Avatar Korra came around. Amon started rounding up benders and taking away their bending, Mako started dating Asami, but worst of all Bolin turned his attention to Korra. However, he always included Kala on their outings yet he barely paid any attention to her when they were with Korra. Though the small belching contest was quite hilarious to watch. She had that small token of happiness in the few months of being ignored.

Later that night when she came back to her closet, she found an even more unwelcome guest "Tali..." the water bender in his late teens smiled wickedly at her as he used a gentle water whip to bring her closer together.

"Long time, no see" he placed a rough kiss on her lips, so hard it made her bleed a little "Iron Maiden..."

"Don't call me that" she slammed her fist into the wall "I abandoned that name along with Saki's group more than a year ago!"

"It looks like old habits die hard though...I saw that little spat you had with that Tahno jerk. Sorry excuse for a water bender that one" he let loose his hair that was in a wolf tail-just like Korra's.

"How long have you been spying on me?" she glared at him.

"Long enough to see that you've been getting close to a certain young earth bender...frankly I'm jealous...might be jealous enough to freeze his insides..."

"Dont you dare! What's your business here, Tali?!"

"I came to offer you re-admittance into our fair troupe...Saki has forgiven you for your betrayal and wants you home..."

"I AM home! Now get out!"

"Fine" Tali took up his things and was about to leave "I erased the no good water bender and the earth bender's memories for you, so your secret is safe for now. When you're finished feeling like the third wheel, you know where to find us" he then left.

With the semi-finals just a few days away, Bolin was hanging out with Kala in town when he said "Hey you're a girl right?"

With an irradiated look she said "Last time I checked, yeah..."

"Okay stupid question, but my point is I wanna ask Korra out and I wanted your opinion on what do get her!"

"Uhhh..." she smiled and blushed a bit "If you were to ask ME out...I guess I'd like some pink roses!" she pointed to the flowers in the window at the flower shop.

"Great idea!" he purchased the flowers and gave her one "for the idea and your support through all this mess" he winked at her, and she just hoped he got the hint.

Later that night, she went to the noodle shop to pick up dumplings when she saw her friend a sobbing mess over five empty bowls stacked up on top of one another. "Bo? Are you alright?"

He looked up at her with sunken eyes and was blathering on about nothing but she caught that Bolin had seen Korra and Mako kissing. "Hey barkeep!" she called to the owner of the noodle shop.

"Yes, young lady?" he said.

"What do you make these noodles with?"

"Diluted cactus juice, though it doesn't help much when one consumes as much as Bolin did. Poor kid's a mess..."

Then the boy went on to cry about how nobody loves him, and Kala was fighting the urge to grab him by his collar and ensnare him in a passionate kiss. The urge passed quickly as she spied a green noodle coming from Bolin's nose. "Stay here and I'll go and get Mako..." this was the last thing she said to him before the final match in the tournament.

As the ring exploded into a million pieces, Bolin was climbing the posts to get a better look so he could assess the damage being done to the people. Just as he got up to the top and pulled himself up, the ring exploded and pieces of the metal shot at him and wedged themselves between his ribs. "BOLIN!" Mako said, the flash of light came and went. The next thing he saw his heart sank to the bottom of his belly, he didn't even feel the tears fall from his face "Bo..."

Kala of course attended the finals to support her friends (and to see Tahno get what's coming to him) and she was horrified to see the impaled Bolin on the bottom of the ring. "No, no, no..." she thought back to the book she was reading so long ago and what it said about controlling the bleeding with something stuck in you. She saw Korra try to pull out the piece of metal, but she earth bended her out of the way with "Are you stupid?! That's the only thing controlling the bleeding!"

"He may have punctured a lung! He need medical help now!" Korra shot back.

"If he punctured a lung, then we'd hear a sucking sound and his breathing would be irregular!" they both listened closely and no such sound was heard. She looked up at Mako and said "Make yourself useful and cauterize the wound around the piece of metal!"

"What good would that do?!" he yelled at her "Why do you want me to hurt my brother!"

"Because burns don't bleed! He'll need to get it cleaned out later..." she held one side of Bolin down while Korra held down the other side, Mako closed his eyes as he gently worked his fire tipped fingers around the piece of metal.

Kala pushed her fist up to the wound and a dark substance came out "That is lead...it's very poisonous when it gets in the blood..." when all was said and done, the hospital surgically removed the piece of metal and Bolin was allowed visitors one at a time. The last to go was Kala, stroking the side of Bolin's face.

Her belly began to flutter with the butterflies when she finally admitted "I love you, Bolin..."

His weak hand reached up and touched her cheek, a weak smile coming across his face "I love you too, Korra..."

This was the breaking point for her as she bit her lip and ran out, almost crying. She went to the statue of Fire Lord Zuko and under it was Tali "You ready to come back home?"
He extended her iron mask to her and she took it without hesitation.

"The Iron Maiden of Yao Dai is back, baby" her eyes from then on were permanently dead.