A Legend of Korra Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez (aka SMTsukishiro)

Author's Notes:

This is another late update.

I know I promised to have this chapter up as soon as I got back from my vacation, but I was so hungover the whole experience that I wasn't able to do much-including update this fan fiction-until now. The island we visited was just so breathtaking and so relaxing that I kind of didn't want the vacation to end. XD

Anyways, this chapter is a bit longer than the updates I had recently so I hope that will make it up to you guys. Having said that, I do hope you enjoy reading! :)

Summary:

A promising engineering student. A mysterious woman capable of controlling the four elements. When their paths cross, the resulting collision not only changes their lives and themselves, but the fate of the entire world as well. [Korrasami AU]

The Legend of Korra:

The Schism

Chapter 36: The Third Naval Fleet

Opal knew it was bad when she noted the subtle waver in Asami's voice the moment she described the gauge to her. But the actual gravity of the situation dawned upon her only when Asami came rushing back to the bridge, looking pale, and then—upon seeing the aforementioned gauged—repeatedly muttering, "No, no, no".

It also came as no surprise when Korra had tapped her shoulder and whispered, "What's going on?" to which she could only reply with an "I don't know" and a shrug.

After a short while, Asami turned to them and instead of providing them with the answers regarding her strange, frantic behavior, she only added to it when she said, "Opal, Korra, we don't have much time. Get Kai and the others—and that includes Mako. Hurry!"

"Why?" Korra asked with a frown that Opal was also supporting. "What is the matter, Asami? Why so distressed?"

"Y-Yeah," Opal nodded, wanting to know as well. Though, with the way Asami had spoken asking a question at that moment didn't seem like a good idea. "What's wrong?"

"Fuel," Asami quickly responded. "We've run out of it. We only have a matter of time to get to the escape capsules and jettison ourselves out of here."

Had it not been a life-or-death situation, Asami would have laughed at how comical Opal's stuttering speech, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping, were. But as it stood, there was nothing remotely funny with their circumstance.

"Are you serious?" Opal screeched, which got Korra wincing at the sound. "N-No way! How could that have happened? Was it because of the explosion?"

"I don't know and frankly I don't think we have time to ponder on the cause. We have to get to going!" Asami tried not to sound as exasperated as she felt. Really, why is Opal asking so many questions right now?

"I don't understand," Korra looked utterly perplexed. "Why are we leaving the airship? And while it is still airborne as well. Did you not say how useful it was?"

"Because if we don't," It was Opal who beat Asami in answering. "We're going to die when the airship crashes. And it will without any fuel!"

It wasn't how Asami would have put it, but when Korra looked to her for confirmation, all she could do was nod, just to save time.

Instead of becoming as troubled as the two humans, however, Korra simply looked at them and asked, "Is that all?" As though the prospect of the airship crashing with them on board was nothing to be worried about.

Korra then turned around, intending to leave the bridge, but before she did she asked Asami to open the any of the airship's doors that would allow her to get outside. And then she left without letting the Prodigy say a word in edgewise. It made it impossible for her not to follow the Avatar.

"Korra, wait!" she called out after he dark-skinned, young woman. When Korra did stop a couple of paces away from one of the airships doors for her, she asked, "What are you planning to do?"

The Avatar looked as though she had just asked an un-needed question before replying, "Ensuring that this flying contraption of yours does not go crashing into the ocean, of course. I had thought you would have figured that out."

It took a while for the haze of panic to dissipate enough for her to remember who Korra was and what she could do. She wanted to palm-smack her forehead for forgetting, but settled for silently berating herself.

Still, Asami couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure? Can you?"

Korra chuckled. "After everything I have manage to do thus far despite losing a great chunk of my powers, you still doubt me?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Though it was the truth, Asami felt embarrassed that she had worded what she wanted to say poorly. "I just…You haven't rested enough after what happened at Pohuai and this doesn't seem like a small task."

The Avatar smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for your concern, Asami. But you needn't worry. I can handle this. I've said it before and I will say it again, I am willing to do anything and everything to ensure the safety of those under my care. Now, please, trust me and open the door."

Korra took a deep breath whilst elevating outside of the airship. She could see its descent which started out slow but was gaining momentum. There was still a small smile painted on her face. It was one that was sincere. A smile borne from the genuine worry she felt and saw from Asami.

It's senseless, she told herself. That I should revel in the thought of someone worrying about me. Had it been anyone else, I would have scoffed at their worry. But with her…it's…different.

Korra had wanted to explore why she thought and felt that way, but now was not the time. The airship was going to crash—her promise to Asami would be broken—if she didn't do anything soon.

Sucking in a breath, the Avatar then maneuvered herself just above the airship, letting her feet gently touch its crown. Taking the airbending stance, she began to swirl her arms about, summoning as much of the wind spirits as she could to aid her.

She frowned when she felt there were only few of them answering her call. Fear shot through her, albeit only for a second before she shook it away, at the thought of the spirit realm's current state of affairs thinking that she ought to check on it soon.

Still, the few who answered her call were enough to slow down the airship's rapid descent to almost a crawl. The danger of crashing into the water still loomed over them, but Korra now had enough time to remedy that situation as well.

She gently lowered the airship until it was merely a foot above the ocean. Then, changing stances, she turned to her waterbending. With it, she summoned the water to coat the airship's underside—which she suspected was not built to act as an ocean vessel—and protect it. After which, she carefully examined her work making sure that all was set before she released the wind that was keeping the airship aloft.

The airship immediately hit the water with a much stronger force than she had anticipated making her wince. The Avatar hoped that she hadn't caused anyone any injuries with that—though she honestly didn't care if the same was not true for that human she had bound in one of the cabins.

Korra stayed where she was for a while longer after that, making sure that the airship (Should I still call it that? She wondered) stayed afloat. It was only when she was satisfied and left with no room to doubt that it would not sink to the bottom of the ocean did she leave to return and check up on Asami and the others.

Asami was very fortunate that she had opted to take a seat as she waited for Korra to do what the Avatar had intended to do. She was, likewise, glad she had told Opal to do the same. After all, the sudden way they had landed forcefully over the ocean after having their unplanned descent, due to the airship's lack of fuel, had been so strong that anyone standing would have been knocked off their feet, or banged their head, or both.

For a moment, both she and Opal had held their breaths, waiting for the water to start seeping into the airship. Asami knew the vehicle wasn't built for the oceans—or any type of body of water. When the airship stayed in-tact and not a drop of water squirted out of the metallic floors, they finally released a sigh of relief.

With legs that were still slightly shaking from the ordeal, Asami stood up and said, "I better go and check on Korra, and make sure to close the door."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Opal agreed as she too stood up and tried to shake away the nervousness that she felt. "And I will go and check up on Kai and Naga. And maybe Mako as well."

The two friends nodded at each other, before they each went their separate ways.

The young prodigy's feet moved quickly down the hallway. She wanted to make sure that Korra hadn't pushed herself beyond her limits, not when the Avatar wasn't in peak strength yet. She stopped running when she saw Korra sprawled on the floor leading to the door, arms splayed upwards with her legs sticking out of said door.

Korra looked peaceful as she slept and Asami tried her best not to make any noises that would wake her up. Heaven knows the chocolate-haired girl needed the rest, after all they have been through in such a short amount of time.

The Prodigy sighed, however, as she was faced with a dilemma. She couldn't very well let the Avatar sleep right there and there. She needed to close the airship's doors—the very same doors that Korra's dangling legs made impossible to close. She had thought about the likelihood of carrying the sleeping girl by herself towards an unoccupied cabin, but quickly shook that thought away. There was no way she could manage that. Korra might look small as she slept, but she was pretty heavy and Asami had no doubt in her mind that trying to do so would only result to getting the Avatar a minor injury, or two.

And when she thought about that, she really had no choice but to let Korra sleep where she lay. It was not something she would have wanted. After all, the floor was metallic, hard and cold. Not to mention that the draft from the open door, the humidity from the ocean, could potentially be a cause for sickness. Not that she was entirely certain the deity-turned-human before her could get sick or get cold. Korra hadn't shown any sign of either so far, except for those bouts of weakness and headaches she suffered from time to time. Still, that didn't stop Asami from going into one of the rooms and taking out as many pillows and blankets as she could carry, bringing it for Korra to use.

Once she was certain that Korra's head was resting comfortably on the pillow, her body cocooned by the blankets, she took a seat beside the sleeping Avatar. She was entirely hesitant what to do now. She didn't know how she would steer the ship now that it has been turned into an aquatic vehicle.

Would the steering wheel still work? What about fuel, do we still need it? Is Korra controlling the ship? How can she when she's asleep? Those questions were amongst the things that swirled in her mind as she watched, from the open door, the ocean that stretched before her.

Had she been feeling tired from their ordeal, she would have fallen asleep as well—much like what she had guessed Opal had, when her best friend didn't return. But sleep was far from her mind. Asami was far too worried about a lot of things, especially with what Mako had tried to tell her before.

Mako. The young heiress wanted to go back to him and ask him to continue with what he was talking about before Opal had interrupted them. She weighed the option in her head. It wasn't as if she was worried that he would be dangerous as Korra thought he was. If anything, Asami's indecision stemmed from imagining what the Avatar would think about her going in there alone, unarmed.

The emerald-eyed, young woman scoffed. And although it was just her imagination that was giving her an idea of what Korra might say, Asami had already pieced together an argument in her head. And the more she thinks about her retort, Asami's began to slowly make up her mind. Before long, she found herself walking to the direction of the bridge with the thought of getting her Shock Glove before heading for Mako's cabin-turned-cell.

"Commander," one of his subordinates rushed towards him, a report tucked under his arm as he gave a salute. He, of course, returned the show of respect—something the man before him waited for—before continuing on with what he had come to report. "We've detected an unidentified object on the north-western Huo Sea."

As if to make his statement credible—more so than it already was—he procured the report tucked under his arm and handed it to his superior, who had his eyebrow raised upon hearing the report.

Tentatively the Commander took the report, flicking through the other pages he found no interest in before allowing his eyes to settle on the grainy image taken from their Naval Patrol Units. It was hard to tell what the object was, apart from it being afloat and quite a bit larger than the ships and boats that were known to traverse that region. And with the growing tension amongst the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, the Commander was hard-pressed to investigate.

"Is there anyone still within the vicinity of this…object?" the dark-haired commander asked.

The officer nodded. "The Third is still there. They were part of the naval escort for that big-shot that visited Crescent Island."

The Commander nodded once again and ordered, "Contact them. Inform them of this unidentified item floating near North-Western Huo. They are not to engage whatever this is. I am going to rendezvous with them in Shu Jing."

"You're going to go with them?" The officer was incredulous, though this was not the first time his commanding officer did something like this. "But, sir—!"

But the officer should have also known that there was no way he could dissuade his commander once a decision was made. And, judging from the look the Naval Commander was sporting on his face, he was already determined to meet with the Third Fleet at Shu Jing—just as he had said.

It took quite a lot of maneuvering and strength to put Mako—along with his chair—upright again after Asami found the Mercenary on the ground, possibly from the stunt Korra had pulled with their airship. Once she had done so, however, and even when Mako still bound, the Prodigy still found herself finding comfort in the weaponized glove she wore. The way she favored the hand that wore it did not escaped the captive mercenary.

"Relax, Miss Sato," Mako had chuckled, finding amusement in how strung-up Asami was. "I'm not the enemy here."

"Are you not?" Asami found herself asking.

"If this is about that kid and that gigantic dog of his, as I have said before, I was just doing my job." Mako replied calmly. "I was tasked to protect this airship and I found them snooping around. I wasn't about to just let that go."

"You could have just gone and told them off. Instead, you tried to beat them up. And from the way Opal and Korra recounted the events to me, it sounded as though you had no intention of stopping had Korra not held you down."

Instead of defending himself, Mako merely snorted before proceeding to change the subject by saying, "You didn't come here just to grill me on that…did you, Miss Sato?"

"You were saying something before Opal interrupted," Asami hoped that was enough to get the man to continue on with what he had intended to say. She wasn't in the mood to play word-games with him. "You said you were looking for me. If not for your fee, then why?"

Mako's amber eyes stared straight into Asami's emerald ones. It was as if he intended for her to see through the graveness of the news he was about to deliver, and it made the young prodigy that much more anxious.

"You've been gone a long time, Miss Sato." It was stated a matter-of-factly. Not that Asami would have argued about her length of absence from Republic City. She knew how long she had been gone. "You can imagine how Republic City is taking that. Especially when people have thought you've been kidnapped."

"Yes," Asami admitted, crossing her arms. "I've heard about that. And I also saw the wanted posters blaming Korra as the one who abducted me." She glared at Mako, as though it was all the Mercenary's fault. And, to be honest, Asami felt a bit that it was. "Why didn't anyone say anything about that? Chief Bei Fong—"

At the mention of the Chief of Police of the Republic City Police Department, Mako immediately cut her off. "—was unavailable. Neither were her three subordinates."

"Unavailable? What do you mean 'unavailable'?" Asami found it hard that Chief Bei Fong, Lu, Gang, or Gommu to not be able to stand up for the Avatar. Not when they knew the truth. She couldn't fathom what could have kept all four of them engaged to not even provide one measly statement of defense for Korra's sake.

"That's beside the point," Mako shook his head—the only thing he could move. "Believe me, though. If we could have spoken out, we would have. But, as it stood, and given the kind of disarray Republic City is in…" he let his words hang for much longer than a second.

The Prodigy couldn't help but feel frustrated with Mako's theatrics. She couldn't take the man seriously, feeling as though the prolonged pauses, the choice of words, and everything else that went along with how he was speaking with her was so rehearsed.

"Get to the point, Mako," sighed Asami.

"The point is, whatever troubles you and your Avatar friend got yourselves into was something none of us could have stopped. Besides, can you imagine a mere mercenary such as myself being able to convince President Raiko not to believe a word that Councilman Tarrlok says? Doubtful, right?"

It was. But Asami kept that to herself. Instead, she asked if that was all Mako had come to say.

"Of course it isn't." Mako scoffed. "You were the one who steered the conversation away."

An exasperated look was what, Asami believed, drove Mako to continue even without her urging.

"Your father, Miss Sato." Mako, whether he knew it or not, had captured the Prodigy's attention with those four words. All sorts of things—frightful things—began to get hold of her imagination, of something bad happening to her father.

Asami Sato swallowed as though there was a huge lump on her throat. The question that needed asking had to be forced out, afraid was she to know the answer but needing—all the same—to hear it.

"What about my father?"

"He has…made quite a bargain with me when he employed my services."

Whatever Asami had expected him to say, that was not it. She had thought something bad had happened to the Sato patriarch. But she welcomed the relief that came at knowing that the mercenary had not come bearing ill news regarding her father. Whether Mako noticed her relief, however, she did not know. Nor did she discern whether he concerned himself with it or not as the Mercenary simply went on speaking.

"Mister Sato was quite generous. He paid me—in full, and out-front—a large amount of Yuan just to make sure I deliver you back to him, unharmed. He also wants to deal with your 'kidnapper'. Make them pay for laying a hand on Republic City's most prized…gem. We both know how impossible it would be to harm that Avatar of yours. So, that's out of the question…bringing you back, on the other hand…" Again, he let the statement hang.

"You and I both know that I don't intend on going back to Republic City just yet…" Asami said. "Whether my presence is sorely missed or not, I can't back down. I can't go back. Not until I've helped Korra and seen this through."

"I think you misunderstand me, Miss Sato. It doesn't matter if you don't want to return just yet." With the way his amber eyes looked at her, Asami knew that Mako was not joking. "And if I wasn't being restrained, I would have followed through with my orders. However, considering that you were my client—and the fact that you still owe me my fee—I'm letting you know another part of my job as one of your father's hirelings."

It was the first time since learning of Mako being in captivity, and as relatively safe as she felt with having the Shock Glove with her, that Asami was glad Korra had bound him with her airbending. Had Mako been free to roam—as she had first thought of allowing him to, once she'd proven that he had no ill intentions towards them (which had been proven otherwise)—well, she didn't want to dwell on that much.

Similarly, she did not wish to dwell in that room for much longer after hearing him admit his true agenda. Without another word, she quickly left the room, making sure it was firmly and securely shut before making a beeline towards the Kai and Naga's room where Opal was.

Opal had been overly protective of her ever since she had shared with the Earth Kingdom native the true nature of Mako's presence. The promising, young Historian had even made it a point to keep Asami from getting within hearing distance near the man's cabin, and whenever she needed to pass by it had ensured that Kai, or Naga, or both, were with her. It was utterly ridiculous.

It also did not go unnoticed to Korra. But for whatever reason, the Avatar had refrained from asking her—or anyone else—about it. Even when the strangeness of it all didn't seem to wane even after days went by. Granted, she had expected Korra to wave it off as some strange things humans did for the first few couple of days. But when a week had passed and there were no rapid-fire questions coming from Korra, Asami began to wonder.

But how could she broach a subject that would end up with her speaking of things she would rather not share? At least, not yet? Especially about something she felt Korra would take Hiroshi and Mako's side on?

Asami supposed, the reason—at least, the one she told herself frequently when Opal asked if Korra had been informed of Mako's purpose—was because Korra was busy. Or as busy as someone who had to keep her concentration focused to keep the ship from sinking whenever it was on water or crashing whenever the Avatar deemed herself capable of giving it flight (which she had done so twice in the course of the week). The only times they were able to talk were when Asami was giving Korra directions and she doubted breaching the subject then would be a good idea.

Opal let it slide, though. Well, when it came to Asami. Mako, on the other hand, received no such treatment. The food that Opal prepared for him, she delivered without much care. She didn't even bothered to help their captive eat. How Mako was able to finish off the contents of the plate of food given to him was a mystery—one Opal did not feel compelled to unravel, nor ask the man about. She even made it a point to completely ignore him whenever he tried to strike a conversation with her during those times she did check up on him or bring him food.

Kai, for the most part of their journey, had took to bettering himself. Whenever he was not needed and had time at his disposal, he would head to the cargo bay to train. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened. It stung too much that he had to be rescued by the Avatar—the person whom he was supposed to be the one looking after.

As for Naga, the Polar Bear Dog had taken to sticking by Asami's side. Where Asami went, she followed. Often the Prodigy would find the Avatar's canine companion staring at her with weapon's grade adorableness that made it impossible for her to shoo the Spirit Animal away even when Naga was keeping her from quickly and efficiently completing the repairs that needed to be done. Briefly, she wondered if Korra had ordered Naga to keep an eye on her, or if it was simply the large, fluffy animal's own decision to do so. Whatever the truth behind that may have been—and however much slower Asami found herself working—she was grateful for the company.

All in all, everything was a relatively peaceful and uneventful in the airship—considering who were onboard. That was, until they were a day away from reaching Shu Jing—one of the islands closest to where they were.

It came unexpectedly, even though, in hindsight, they should have anticipated something like that transpiring. But as it was, they did not. And they found themselves being roused from their sleep—the Avatar, included—by the loud and deafening sound of sirens, not the least bit similar to those that rang during the explosion and the fire. With the never-ending, earsplitting noise from outside the airship was also the flickering red lights that cast eerie shadows on the surface of those it touched.

Even with how urgent everything seemed to be, Asami couldn't quite get herself out of bed. She was tired, understandably so, and all she wanted was to stay tucked in bed. But when the chaos outside did not wane and a sonorous voice carried by a static-y broadcasting system mingled with the already maddening sound, the young engineer could only groan as she pushed herself out of bed, making sure to grab her Shock Glove, and staggered out of her cabin.

She bumped into Opal and Kai, both of whom had the same question directed at her: "What's going on?" Both looked just as bedraggled and dazed as she was.

"The coastguard, I assume." Asami managed to inform them, which served to quickly shake whatever remnants of sleep Opal had been clouded in.

"The coastguard?" It was something the Historian had failed to consider.

And though Kai had barely a grasp of what was going on, he was still of mind in guessing, "We're in trouble again, aren't we?" And he didn't really wait for anyone to say anything about that. Judging by the looks both the young women with him wore, he knew his guess was not far from the truth.

He sighed, turned on his heels and muttered, "I'm going to wake up Lady Korra…"

The Commander stared at the vessel—an airship. Or more specifically a Future Industries airship, if the insignia burned on the side was to be believed—before him. His mouth was drawn in a thin line, his strong jaw set straight. He was the only one whose jaw had not dropped on the floor and whose eyes were slits instead of saucers. As he looked around him, he noticed the mirrored looks of confusion among his men and even those of the Third Naval Fleet—the coastguards of the Fire Nation.

He couldn't blame his men. Even he was surprised by the sight that greeted him. Had he not been drilled into keeping his emotions in check by his mother, he was certain he would be gawking as well. It was not every day that they come across an airship buoyant on water without any signs of sinking. And if that had not been enough to put them all within the precipice of awe, the airship's underside had been shimmering with an unknown light, made even more visible by the blanket of the night.

Though they were obviously frightened, he knew his men would stand their ground. And it was that thought which comforted him.

Taking the mouthpiece for the coastguard ship's broadcasting system, the Commander cleared his throat before addressing the vessel and those within it, saying, "To those onboard this unidentified ship, this is the Fire Nation Third Naval Fleet. You have been surrounded. Please provide your identification and clearance and we shall let you pass."

The Commander of the Fire Nation's Naval Fleet waited for any sign from those onboard; any reply. He let a heartbeat pass, and then another. Before long the seconds had mingled into minutes and his men started to fidget. He made a mental note to chastise them for that later. Much later when this whole hullaballoo had been dealt with.

When there were no signs of life, he contemplated on boarding the ship with a handful of his men.

Again, he placed the mouthpiece near his lips and repeated his earlier statement. And again, when minutes passed without any response from the other "ship" or its occupants.

"Commander, should we board it now?" the question from captain of the Third Naval Fleet was asked with a quivering whisper.

A nod was all the Commander gave as a form of an answer. He let the Captain pick the men that would board the ship with him, while he set about getting ready himself. As soon as he was, he boarded one of the fleet's smaller boats and gave the signal to lower it into the sea. As the boat was being lowered, those still on the Third Fleet's main ship then cut the sirens and the lights out allowing the area around them to be basked in darkness with only the surreal light from the airship's underside and that of the moonlight to illuminate them all.

As the boat inched closer to the seemingly unmanned airship, only the sound of the sea lapping on the side of the vessels could be heard. Once they got to the suspiciously opened door of the airship, the Commander and his chosen men of ten began to scale it one by one until all of them had boarded the vessel as stealthily and quickly as they could.

Or, at least, he had thought they had been quite cautious. But, judging from the two, irritated-looking, young women—and the growling (and impossible large) dog with them—standing a few feet away, keeping him and his men from going further than the airship's entrance.

Immediately, the Commander stood at top form, dusting invisible flecks of dirt from his uniform. For some reason, both women looked familiar, though he could not quite place—not just yet—who they were and why that was so. So, instead, he cleared his throat and introduced themselves and their reason for boarding their ship.

"We are the Fire Nation's Third Naval Fleet," the Commander began and when neither woman—nor the ginormous dog—changed their stance, he cleared his throat again before pressing on. "Your…airship is floating on Fire Nation waters without clearance. If you have the papers with you, allow us to check and we will be on our way."

"And you took this time of the night to check?" the caramel-skinned of the two young women said, frustration oozing in waves. She had her arms crossed, glaring at him and his men.

"We have our reasons," he replied, sternly. "You are onboard a suspicious ship. We have our protocols. Now, if you have the papers, we can get this over and done with."

The caramel-skinned girl looked over at the porcelain-skinned one—the one whom he really felt as though he had seen somewhere before, somewhere recent. He watched as both conversed silently, his gut telling him that trouble was underfoot.

"The papers, please." The Commander went on. He really wanted this to be over and done with.

It was at that point that one of the men he was with startled him with a cry, followed by a finger pointed at the direction of the long-haired, young woman.

"Sir, that girl," his subordinate had said. "She's that Asami Sato. The one who was kidnapped!"

All heads—including his own—swirled to the direction of the young woman in question. She looked like a dear caught in the headlights.

"Then that would mean…"His words trailed off. His mind already knew what it meant. They were on-board the kidnapper's vessel. And though some things didn't make sense to him at that moment, one thing did: he needed to rescue this Sato girl and get her back to her father. It was the right thing to do.

And so, without giving much more thought on the matter, he ordered his men to escort the two, young women to their boat while he and a few others would venture deeper into the airship and search for the culprit behind Asami Sato's abduction. It was a competent plan, one that was without any flaws—or so he thought.

The moment one of his men tried to escort Asami Sato out of the airship, however, there was a sudden flickering of blue light in her direction. And, an instant later, his subordinate had crumpled into the ground, completely knocked out.

Before anyone could actually comprehend what had happened, the other girl Asami Sato was with suddenly produced a staff that was hidden in the shadows and had whacked another man down. It was enough of a signal for the large animal—who had, up until that point, only been growling—to pounce.

The Commander unsheathed the sword that hung on his side, ready to fight of the beast while his other fumbled for the short-distance radio he had brought with him. They needed back-up, more than the number of men he had thought were enough to bring with him.

Asami chided herself as she sidestepped another Fire Nation Naval officer before punching him with the Shock Glove, effectively causing the uniformed man to wreathe momentarily from the influx of electricity into his body before crumpling to the ground. Even though she had the Shock Glove equipped and at the ready, she never really intended to use it against these people who were just doing their job. Had none of them realized who she was, she would have done as they have asked and handed them the airship's manifesto. Already she had been prepared to give them an explanation—one that did not involve any mention of the Avatar. But all that had been flushed down the drain.

Maybe I should start wearing some sort of disguise, Asami mused, before she was snapped out of it by Opal nudging her.

"Can I just ask why you couldn't have just told them they were mistaken?" Opal gave her a withering look—one that Kai would undoubtedly support when he learnt of what she had just done. "Really, Asami…how do you even think we'll be able to get out of this one?"

Korra. Korra can get us out. Was the first thing that popped on Asami's head, and she quickly shot that thought down. She had, upon closer inspection of herself, been putting too much of a burden in the Avatar to always get them out of the trouble they find themselves in. She was more independent than that; stronger. She didn't always want to have to rely on Korra, especially when the Avatar wasn't always going to be there to do so.

Instead, what Asami answered was, "We'll think of a way."

Opal needn't have to voice out what she thought of Asami's answer. One look at her told Asami what the Earth Kingdom native thought.

Before long, they managed to incapacitate all intruders, save for one: the one who had led the others; the officer in charge. He eyed them, sword at the ready, as a veteran swordsman would and both she and Opal knew they had to be careful with him. Even Naga sensed there was something different about the man before them.

"Miss Sato," the man said, raising one of his hands as if it was meant to appease her. "We did not come here to fight. Though we did not really expect we would find you here. Never the less, we—I—am here to bring you back to your father. We are not your enemy. We're here to rescue you."

Opal snorted. She couldn't help it. But a look from both Asami and the man who had yet to introduce himself kept her from laughing outright at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"I do not need to be rescued. From anyone. By anyone." Asami retorted. She made sure to let the man see the Shock Glove; to let him know—if he didn't already—that she wouldn't hesitate to use it on him.

A flash of comprehension dawned on the last standing officer at that moment. And, Asami was just about relieved that he understood, until he opened his mouth and said, "I see. So I take it you have dealt with your captors then?" while still having both herself and Opal be at the receiving end of the Naval Officer's sword.

"Oh, for the love of all that is good!" Opal threw her hands up in agitation. It was then that they heard footsteps coming from down the hall. "You, Officer, I would advise that you drop that sword or sheathe it, unless you want to be thoroughly hurt."

"What are you—?" And even before he could finish what he was about to ask, a sudden and powerful blast of air hit him, sending him to the other side of the wall with a loud crack that had both women wincing.

"Well, I did warn you…"

Post-Author's Notes:

And that is that.

I would just like to say that I know so little about navies and armies that it might not be as I have written here, and even with the research I did, I realize that not all armies and navies-coastguards, included-are the same. So, basically, I just decided to make one that would work for this story.

I also think, despite the few hints, most (if not all) of you know by now who it was that led the coastguard. If you're still not sure if you guessed correctly, then wait a couple of chapters (Chapter 38) for the affirmation on whether you deduced correctly or not.

I know how some (okay, maybe a lot of my readers are starting to wonder where the abundance of Korrasami moments would begin. I know the feeling of reading through dozens of chapters and not being satiated with the relationship progression. I could write more Korrasami moments and make them have that relationship, however, I prefer to work on my own pace as I wanted the characters to grow more. I find it hard to explain, but all I can say is that I cannot hurry in cementing their relationship because that would compromise the story. I apologize if that is not to your liking.

Anyways, Asami's impulsiveness was shown in this chapter...and this will not be the last time when she makes a hasty decision as this particular part of the story (up to the Fire Elemental Core's conclusion) will deal with a specific subject...one I would rather keep to myself for now.

So...as parting words for this chapter, I do hope that is sufficient enough explanation for you guys. Please do share your thoughts with me as they allow me to grow as a writer. And also thank you for your patience with this little work of mine. Until the next update, dream on; fly on!