Skeletons in the Closet

I had been flying for hours, flying as fast as I could. Faster than i've ever flown before. I slowed when I spotted a fleet ahead, dropping closer as I approached.

"Hold your fire! She's an ally!" I heard him shout. I swept down and landed on the deck.

"General," I bowed.

"Call me Iroh," he bowed back, "you must be Kazumi."

"Yes. Your grandfather, how is he?"

"He is well. I've heard so much about you. Your father says you're a master."

"Not yet, Iroh. I'm not nearly ready for my arrows, yet."

"Well, now's the time to prove yourself. What news have you brought?"

"Amon is taking over Republic City. He has immense powers, the ability to take away a person's bending permanently. He means to eliminate bending altogether."

"What are his resources?"

"He has a skilled inventor, Hiroshi Sato," I informed, "he's invented weapons for the Equalists. Ones that protect them from bending, using pure metals and electricity."

"Where is Tenzin? Avatar Korra? Chief Beifong?"

"Tenzin is with my family, they left on Oogi to try to run away until it's safe. Avatar Korra is going into hiding until we arrive to help recover the city from Amon. Chief Beifong is..." I looked down sadly.

"I see..." he said, placing his arm around me comfortingly. "Don't worry, my men are strong. We'll win this battle."

"Whenever we make a move, Amon is always a step ahead. I hope you have a plan."

"I was trained by the best," he smiled, "don't worry."

/

"Miss Kazumi, General Iroh has requested your presence on the deck," a soldier called from my doorway. I yawned and climbed out of bed. We must be approaching Republic City. I changed our of the red nightgown the General had lent me and into my airbender clothing. Just as I finished, the boat shook as if it had been hit by an attack. The blow sent me falling to the hard metal floor of the cabin.

"What the-?" I struggled to my feet as the ship shook again. I grabbed my glider and ran outside. "What's going on?!" It was foggy out, but I could see the flames of explosions clearly through the mist. We were under attack.

"Water and earthbenders, detonate those mines!" General Iroh's voice announced over the speaker. So they were attacking from below! My airbending wouldn't be much use in this case, so I focused on finding Iroh. I headed for the control room, but Iroh ran out and into me. "Kazumi, thank goodness!"

"What's the plan?" I asked, out of breath from all the adrenaline.

"Use your airbending to deflect any attacks from those planes!" I turned around to see a new attack force, courtesy of Hiroshi Sato. I popped open my glider and took off into the air. I used the fog as cover, hiding my from view as I gained enough altitude to be out of their line of sight. They weren't the only ones with air power.

The planes dropped torpedoes and bombs, which I did my best to send off course and into the bay. Some of them hit underwater mines, conveniently. Unfortunately, one of the explosions was too great and took out a ship. Iroh's ship.

I dove down as another bomb headed straight for him. Iroh managed to deflect it, but it exploded when it collided with his firebending. "No!" I watched as he flew off of the exploding ship, falling into the water, unconscious. I dove in after him, at the mercy of the restless waters. I swam toward him, my staff making it difficult, but I managed. As I reached him, I something moving toward us, but it wasn't a mine.

"Korra!" I shouted, only to have water fill my lungs. I sputtered awkwardly, trying to recover, as she swam up to me. She took hold of Iroh and pulled him toward the surface for me. I met her at the surface, gasping for air. "You're okay!"

"Let's get out of here," she said, heading towards shore.

"Right," I said as she grabbed my free hand and used her waterbending to get us out of there quickly.

"Kazumi?" Iroh asked as he regained consciousness, "you saved me."

"Well, Korra helped," I grinned, happy to see both of them alive. Korra took us to her hideout where she had been staying. She tended to Iroh's wounds while I reunited with the others.

"Kazumi!" Bolin said, spinning me around.

"What happened to you? You look terrible," Mako said matter-of-factly.

"You're so sweet," I said sarcastically.

"So what happened?"

"We weren't prepared for the aerial attacks," Iroh said, disappointed in himself.

"I know," Korra said as she healed his arm, "Amon always manages to outsmart us."

"We're not out of the fight yet," he said, gaining confidence.

"I like this man's confidence!" Bolin cheered, "So... how are we not out of the fight?"

"A second wave of reinforcements is coming, but I need to warn them. It's too dangerous to send Kazumi out."

"We have a telegraph," Korra suggested. There was a general consensus exchanged in a glance.

"So, who is the recipient of this secret message?" asked Gommu, a quirky homeless man and telegraph operator.

"Commander Bumi, second division of the United Forces," Iroh said.

"Uncle Bumi?" I asked, excited to see my crazy uncle again.

"Yes, he's a bit of a wild card, but the bravest man you'll ever meet."

"Ready for the message, sir," Gommu saluted.

"Fleet ambushed by Equalist aircraft. Retreat to Red Sand Island until further notice," Iroh articulated.

"Now comes the hard part. We have to figure out how to get rid of all of the aircrafts, otherwise Bumi's fleet can't take back the city," I said with the tone of a leader.

Mako pulled out a map and began pointing, "they flew from over here, so the air field must be here..."

"Everyone get some rest. We leave at dawn."

/

"Love you, little bro," he replied lovingly, engulfing him in a hug.

"Love you too, Big Bro," Bolin said with a sniffle.

"Be careful, Hothead," I said, hugging Korra.

"You too, Twinkletoes," she replied warmly. "You and Bolin take good care of each other."

"Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to Kazumi," Bolin said, wrapping his arm around me.

"It's not her i'm worried about, Bo," Mako said.

"Don't worry, i'll keep him out of trouble," I assured him. We laughed it out, exchanging hugs in our final goodbye.

"Asami," Mako said softly, stepping away from the group, "whatever happens, I want you to stay safe. Even after what happened, I care about you."

"I care about you, too," she said, kissing him on the cheek before quickly turning away. Bolin hopped on Naga, followed by me, Iroh, and Asami.

"Good luck," I whispered as Mako and Korra left to face Amon. I wrapped my arms around Bolin's waist and squeezed as he took off. As we rode, I thought about all of the things that had happened. The things Korra said. That Bolin said. That Mako said. About Lin. About me.

They were true.

Her last words had confirmed that for me. "Kazumi... I'm sorry."

They had said it all.