Out Of The Past
"Sorry about Ikki. Sometimes she can be a little but... much."
"That's alright, it's what little sisters do. Not that I would know first hand or anything," Asami replied, lounging on her cot.
"What I would give to be an only child, just for one day," I sighed.
"Are you kidding? You have it made! You have a whole family, an island full of people that love you. I'm all by myself."
"You have Mako," I said, kicking my legs in the air, playing with my toes out of boredom.
"Yeah..." she sighed, lost in thought.
"You have me, too, of course. And Bolin and Korra. We're a family."
"Get up, i'm busting you out." Lin said, suddenly appearing at our door, ripping it off its hinges and tossing it away.
"And Lin!" I grinned, jumping off of my cot in glee. I ran and hugged her, "Thank you!"
"Come on, let's go save your boyfriends," she said in her usual cut-and-dry voice. I jumped up and down as Asami joined us.
"Thanks, I owe you," she said, speeding up to a trot. We arrived to find Mako standing by the front of the cell, his hands over his ears.
"Asami!" he exclaimed. Bolin squeaked in the background. Lin broke off the door and Asami ran in to kiss Mako. I ran to embrace Bolin, but he appeared to be... busy. I squeaked myself, covering my heated face with my hands and turning around.
"Hate to break up the reunion, but we have an Avatar to rescue."
"Wait- what happened to Korra?" I exclaimed, no longer embarrassed.
"She's been captured by Amon."
"No," Mako said with a start, "We have to save her!"
/
We burst into Tenzin's office, where he sat on the phone. He looked surprised to see us, but the expression quickly passed.
"I have to go. Call me back the minute you hear anything," he said quickly, hanging up. "Kazumi!"
"Dad!" I ran forward, hugging him as he stood to greet me.
"What are you doing here? You should be in prison, and Lin, you should be in the hospital!"
"I figured you could use our help finding Korra," she said firmly, quite proud of her actions. I noticed her police badge was missing from her uniform.
"Do you have any leads?" Mako asked Tenzin, stepping forward anxiously.
"No, not yet."
"What about Naga? She can track Korra from her scent, right?" I said hopefully, looking up at him.
"I'm afraid her polar bear dog is missing as well. My guess is that they're somewhere underground."
"Just like my father's factory, how predictable," Asami scoffed, although clearly hurting.
"Yeah, that makes sense!" Bolin exclaimed, "When those chi-blockers had me in their truck, it sounded like we drove in a tunnel!"
"I know where to start!"
/
Lin metalbended the gate open and we ran into the tunnel. Mako used his firebending to bring light to the situation.
"This way," Mako said, turning down a tunnel.
"What if Korra's not down there?" Asami said.
"Then we pick another tunnel until we find her!" he snapped. Asami looked hurt and stopped walking for a moment. She started moving again when she came by Bolin's side.
"Hey, is Mako alright? He seems really worried about Korra."
"Yeah, we all are," Bolin said casually.
"I know, but he's your brother. Do you think he likes Korra as more than a friend?" Asami pushed. I know you know something, Bolin. Spill!"
"W-what? No! That's just gossip! Where'd you hear that? Crazy talk, that is! All they did was kiss-" I stopped walking, causing us to collide and stopping Bolin from finishing his sentence, but the message got across.
"They... kissed?" she said in shock, staring at Mako. Before the conversation could go any further, the sound of motorcycles became apparent.
An equalist on a motorcycle drove up, somehow triggered an opening mechanism for a door, and left, the door shutting behind him. Lin ran out and metalbended the door open. We moved swiftly and quietly as we approached the equalists.
"Everything was delivered to the prison, sir," an equalist said, reporting to their superior.
"That must be where Korra is!" Tenzin whispered.
"We need to get down there," Lin said, signaling with her hands to run to the tram and jump in. We hid inside as the tram moved down the tunnel. We jumped out, hiding in the shadows. A light flashed as the tram arrived.
While the equalists were distracted by the empty tram, Lin sent a metal cable to grab the equalists and drag them into the tunnel.
"Keep an eye on them," she said, using her seismic sense to search the prison.
"I wish I could do that," I mumbled, jealous of her awesome ability. All my feet did was ache when I walk for too long.
"Is Korra inside?" Mako said urgently.
"I don't know," she said, "let's go- not you, Kazumi. You stay here with Bolin."
I crossed my arms and huffed in distaste. I watched them go, all but Bolin and I standing over a couple of equalists.
"Having Tenzin as a dad stinks sometimes."
"Maybe, but he's just trying to keep you safe," Bolin pointed out.
"So he left me with you," I smiled.
"Well," Bolin boasted, flexing his muscles.
"I meant because you care about me, not because you're strong. Not that it hurts," I smirked.
All of the sudden, a siren sounded. I jumped, alert and ready to fight.
"Let's go!" Bolin shouted as everyone ran into view. "Into the tram!"
We jumped in and took off. Bolin used earthbending to trap the equalists and prevent them from following us.
"Try to chi-block that, fools!" Bolin exclaimed, jubilant.
"We've got company!" I shouted, the pitch of my voice getting higher as they grew closer.
"Hang on!" Lin shouted, metalbending the rail to raise toward the ceiling. She earthbended a hole in the ceiling and we flew through it. We slammed on the ground, shaking our bodies around like pinballs.
"We have to get to City Hall. Now." Lin said with a tone of authority only she could have. I tried to follow her orders, but I ended up walking in the wrong direction due to my dizziness.
"Kazumi, this way," Bolin said, grabbing my arm and giving me a good directional tug.
We ran as fast as we could, for reasons unknown to me. They must have found something interesting while they were in there. Certainly not Korra.
/
"Thank you all for meeting on such short notice," Tenzin said formally as we entered City Hall.
"Chief," Lin addressed Chief Saikhan curtly.
"Lin," he nodded abruptly.
"Do you have any news on Korra?" Tarrlok asked, feigning concern.
"Yes," Tenzin said, stepping forward and raising his hand to point accusingly, "You kidnapped her, Tarrlok!"
"What? I'm shocked you would accuse me of such a thing! I told you, Equalists attacked and took her!" he said innocently, but I was getting bad vibes from him.
"There were no chi-blockers. You planted the evidence, Tarrlok!" Tenzin accused, pointing at him.
"That is ridiculous!" Tarrlok shouted, infuriated.
"It's true! He took her!" a mousy voice said from above. I looked up and saw the council page cowering from behind a pillar. "When I was leaving last night, I saw councilman Tarrlok bring Avatar Korra down to the garage."
"That's nonsense!" Tarrlok yelled, "You're nothing but a squeaky-voiced liar!"
"Why did you wait until now to fess up?" Lin asked, crossing her arms.
"I was scared because... Tarrlok is a bloodbender! He bloodbent Avatar Korra!"
My eyes widened in Korra. I had heard about bloodbending. It was a terrible form of waterbending and was illegal in Republic City.
"Tell us where you took Korra," Tenzin said, taking a stance, focused on Tarrlok. I followed suit, taking an airbender stance against him. The others took defensive stances as well, prepared to take on Tarrlok. Suddenly, I felt as if my whole body were crying out in pain, and my voice only echoed the agony. My blood was on fire, still, yet expanding within my very veins. I was no longer in control of my body, I was frozen, only moving in short spasms as I attempted to regain control. I began to slip into unconscious, my vision going red, then black, and then the pain was gone.
My eyes seemed to be pulsing, my body sore, my head reeling, as if I were dehydrated.
"Wake up!" I heard Lin's voice, followed by a slapping sound. I squirmed, rolling over to see everyone wrestling with consciousness. Remembering the situation, I shot up.
"Bolin, wake up," I said, shaking him.
"Five more minutes," he mumbled sleepily, rolling over.
"Bolin!" I persisted, shaking him again.
"Oh, Kazumi, I had this awful dream that Korra was avatar-napped by this evil bloodbender." He said, completely oblivious to what just happened.
"That wasn't a dream, Bolin. He just knocked us out."
"Seriously?" He shot up, looking around. "Where is he?"
"He escaped," Saikhan said, "I'll alert the force." He and the other council members left.
"We can still pick up his trail," Lin said determinedly, "Let's go."
/
"You four take your sky Bison, Kazumi. Tenzin, we need to talk," Lin said, a tone of finality in her voice as she approached Oogi.
"Ooh, someone's in trouble," Bolin whispered scandelously.
So we split up, Tenzin and Lin on Oogi, and my friends and I on Aika. After a while, we heard a howl that sounded familiar. Naga.
"Down there!" Mako shouted. I too kus down, landing by Korra, who lay limply over Naga's back. Aika landed and I immediately jumped off, running to Korra.
"Korra! Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.
"Where's Tarrlok?" Bolin asked, alert to danger.
"Hey, give her some space!" Mako said, stepping ahead of me and picking up Korra. He began to walk back to Aika, placing Korra carefully on her back. I watched Mako comfort Korra with his soft words and Asami's hurt expression as she watched the man she loves love someone else.
