A/N 1: Thanks to dear Lady Elvira, my beacon of light.
A/N 2: I've opened a tumblr page for this fic. If there's anything you want to say\ask, some critique or just about anything else, it's right here. blog/shshir
It seemed like Ming Hua had been in that room for hours. He had no idea what was happening to her. No one bothered to inform him, and he wasn't going to humiliate himself by asking. All he could do was stand there, bound, and look at the wall. If they were torturing her somehow, he'd probably hear it. Taking away her bending shouldn't have taken this long, either. Whatever it was they were doing, he's going to be next.
He still couldn't believe they were in there. Apparently, a quiet, joyful life just wasn't meant for him, no matter how badly he wanted it.
It was Noriko who betrayed him, he knew that for a fact. He was a fool to trust her so blindly, as if they can suddenly get along and be a family again. She was too selfish, righteous and greedy to truly accept him, but it was her pretense that hurt the most. How could she act like everything was normal, use him as a temporary meal-ticket while letting the Avatar know of his whereabouts? Ming Hua was right – family means nothing. He was delusional to think otherwise.
The love of his life had some faults of her own, though. As soon as things got worse, she was more than willing to throw it all away. Everything they used to believe in, every ideal and action were so easily cast aside. She's loyal to whichever side's more useful to her at the moment. Just like Noriko.
When the door finally opened, Ming Hua walked out, looking exhausted, but she smiled at him like everything was back to normal again.
"I saved us," she mouthed.
He didn't want to know how.
They boarded the airship, off to an unknown destination. At least they weren't transported as cargo, like they were thirteen years ago. This time, they had seats like everybody else, and they were free to roam the small space. It wasn't like they could run or fight anyone, anyway. It's probably going to be a long ride, as they were generous enough to remove his chains for the duration of the trip, and it's all thanks to Ming Hua being a sell-out.
They sat at the most remote corner they could find, along with the novice lavabender. Maybe it was his way of getting back at them for that ride in the truck.
"Hey – Bolin, right? I gotta know how much you paid her."
"Paid who?"
"My sister. Did she get giants sacks of gold for it or was it for a few coins?"
"Korra doesn't have sacks of gold. We didn't pay her anything, she just called us," he shrugged.
So it wasn't even about the money. She didn't rat on him out of greed, she did it for – what, exactly?
"I'd never tell on Mako like that, even if he were a fake-dead fugitive," Bolin kept chattering. "I figured you have a sister, but I just assumed she was dead, not that she'd pop out sometime – "
"Ghazan," Ming Hua said in silent fury, "is there anything you want to tell me?"
"Nothing you didn't already figure out."
"You've been meeting her for days and didn't say anything?"
"It was pointless, I knew what you would have said," he crossed his arms. He should have listened, though. Trusting Noriko was the biggest mistake he ever made.
"Because you knew I was right!" She didn't yell, but her voice was fearfully deadly. If she had any water, she'd probably attack him one way or the other.
"Sorry for not being able to kill my own family like you did," he rolled his eyes.
"Wait, what?" Bolin looked at her, shrinking in his seat. Ming Hua flashed him her creepiest grin in response. If he weren't so amazingly pissed off, he would have laughed.
"Why won't you leave us alone and let the grown-ups do the talking?" She asked impatiently.
"I have to watch you to make sure you don't talk about evil bad-guy things. It's either me or Mako," he gestured at his brother, silently brooding at them from a distance.
"At least he's quiet," she grunted.
"Ming Hua already talked about everything she could," he said dryly, looking at her. "So much for our thirteen years of silence."
"Will you wake up for once? What good have they ever done for you? You kept all their secrets, but have they bothered getting you out? Unalaq deserted you, Lim took your place, they were all perfectly happy with you rotting away after you failed. You were means to an end," she said coldly. It wasn't anything he didn't already know.
"It's not about the people, it's the cause that matters. You just ruined every shot we had to make a difference."
"There are easier ways to make a difference."
"So you're a democrat now?" He asked dismissively.
"No, I just stopped caring. I liked things as they were," she looked into his eyes. "Didn't you? Wouldn't you have done anything to keep it?"
"Not that," he muttered.
"Alright, so dying, getting imprisoned and losing your bending forever are better options for you? I had no idea how much you enjoy living with me."
"You don't understand. It's like I can't even trust you anymore."
"You're the one who kept a giant secret from me, idiot. I went ahead and saved your life. I took a chance so we could stay together. You're so fucking loyal to all the wrong people. You chose your backstabbing bitch of a sister over our safety, the Red Lotus means more to you than your own life, but I'm the only one who's ever done anything for you," she narrowed her eyes.
"You forgot about Zaheer, but you don't care about him, either."
"Are you really that stupid? Let's go over this together, slowly. Zaheer can fly because…"
"Of all the Laghima bullshit. I don't need to hear more about this stuff, I've had enough for a lifetime."
"Because he lost his earthly tethers," she ignored him. "He got over P'li in a heartbeat. There was nothing else that bound him to the earth," she waited a few seconds. "Don't you get it? You've been friends ever since you were what, thirteen? But you're not a tether. He can fly just as well with you and me around, because we mean nothing to him."
"Ouch," Bolin commented.
Denial was his first reaction. They didn't know how that spiritual crap works. Zaheer was his oldest friend, the one who managed to give him back his freedom. Of course he cared.
"I never had to worry about Zaheer turning against me."
"Don't you dare," she said coldly.
"You betrayed just about every person you've ever known. How can I be sure you won't do that to me once it's convenient enough for you?"
He saw through the restrained rage – something inside her snapped. She kicked his shin with all her might and walked as far away from him as possible.
"Hey, wait, I have to watch both of you!" Bolin called after her, then looked back at him. "I knew I was right about the unspoken attraction thing."
"No one grows a moustache at ten," he agreed absent-mindedly, following her with his gaze.
