Chapter 92

In the aftermath of Kuvira's announcement, Lin and her family retreated to Air Temple Island together for one last meal before they would inevitably be forced to act.

Just as Yunjin had warned them, Kuvira had stood before the assembled crowd, with the rest of the world leaders behind her on stage, and had declared herself the leader of a new Earth Empire. She had denounced Wu and his whole coronation, and refused to step down. The world leaders sent Su in to try and talk sense into Kuvira, but the results were the same. Kuvira refused, and with an army at her back, there was little anyone could do about it without declaring war against her and the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Raiko was not so bold, and Izumi too careful. They weren't certain yet about what to do about Kuvira. Nor, to be fair, were Lin and Tenzin. Su wanted to get back to Zaofu, certain that Kuvira would go there next, but it was difficult to say what Su could do if an army rolled up on Zaofu. Lin was worried, and wanted to go with her sister, but before she could she had other business to tend to.

The kids had volunteered to go looking for Korra, all except Yunjin, who would be going back with Kuvira early the following morning. Lin had decided to go with them, not because she didn't think Ronen and Sora were perfectly capable themselves, but because Jeia wanted to go and Lin wanted to monitor the girl and see how she did on such an expedition, and also Lin was kind of going stir crazy sitting around the island every day. She was used to being in the action, and even though she had been grateful for the time off from it, she wouldn't mind getting back into it from time to time. Tenzin was originally supposed to go with them, but Raiko and Izumi were asking him to stay in the city to discuss diplomatic ways of dealing with Kuvira, and despite how little Lin cared about Raiko, she knew also that her husband was needed, and assured him that they would be fine searching for Korra without him.

Akira had already left on her own search of Korra that afternoon, teasing Ronen that she'd find Korra faster. The day after Yunjin and Bolin left with Kuvira and Junior once more, Lin and the kids started their own journey. Asami wanted to come along, but she and Ronen were still overseeing some of the infrastructure changes in the city, and decided to stay behind for now, hugging Ronen tight and urging him to find Korra and be safe. Su returned to Zaofu with Opal, who was back from a recent mission and wanted to go home for a bit to be with her family, especially with the looming threat of Kuvira.

Before she left, Tenzin held onto Lin for a long moment, seeming reluctant to let her go. Where before they were almost used to being apart for days at a time, now he had gotten used to having her with him more than ever, and it was difficult for them both to say goodbye. They had struggled to let Yunjin leave again just the day before, after barely two days spent with him, and now Tenzin had to watch the rest of his family go. He was even less used to being without them as Lin, and she knew how desperately he wanted to beg off all other responsibilities to go with them instead. But Lin gave him a firm kiss and a promise to return soon, and it must have been enough to bolster him to release her. He was tearful by the time he hugged the kids though, and Lin had to usher the three of them up onto Sora's sky bison before anyone could get too weepy.

Lin had never let Jin and Sora have sky bison even when they were well beyond the point that they would have received one in the old Air Nation, had known them too well to trust it. The last thing she had needed to contend with while raising preteen Yunjin and Sora was an easy means for them to escape or wreak havoc. They might have been exceptional at airbending, but they had also been exceptionally reckless, and she wouldn't have been able to rest well knowing they could fall off a sky bison or crash or run away in the middle of the night. But now that they were seventeen, she could hardly say no to them. Within a week of receiving her tattoos, Tenzin had taken Sora to the Eastern Air Temple to look for a sky bison, and one had chosen her within the first few hours. Sora had fondly and not so subtly named the gentle beast Kyuti, and they had been soaring the skies together ever since. Kyuti was a bit skittish, but she had the perfect familiar in Sora, who could soothe the most troubled souls.

Ronen, Sora, Jeia, and Lin traveled on Kyuti for the entire day, flying over the Earth Kingdom – now Earth Empire – first. They all assumed that Korra hadn't traded the South Pole for the North, and that it was more likely she'd find somewhere to hide in the Earth states rather than somewhere in the Fire Nation. Traversing the new Earth Empire was a bit tricky though, as they had to avoid Kuvira's military and any lingering bandits. They did more flying than landing, soaring way up above the clouds, only swooping down long enough to get a visual down below, or to stop in deserted areas they deemed safe. Every so often, Sora would meditate, reaching out with her spiritual gifts to search for Korra's familiar energy, but so far she was coming up empty handed.

As evening fell, Sora landed Kyuti in a wooded area and the four of them plus the bison slept for the night. In the morning, Ronen complained about sleeping on the ground – Sora wouldn't let him sleep on Kyuti's back because the bison had a tendency to roll around in her sleep – and Jeia complained about the sun waking her too early. Lin felt oddly refreshed after a night sleeping under the stars, and Sora was far used to it by now. After a disappointing breakfast, they all scrambled back up onto Kyuti and continued their search.

Another day passed with no results, and Lin could tell that Jeia was becoming impatient. The girl kept huffing and asking Sora if she'd found Korra yet, or saying she could find Korra herself if they'd let her on the ground for ten minutes. Lin used the opportunity to try and preach patience, a lesson that was more Tenzin's style, but one that Lin had had to adopt after putting up with their hard headed kids for twenty years. Lin needed to teach Jeia patience, and what better opportunity than an uneventful mission? Lin tried not to make it sound like a lecture, because Jeia never responded well to a lecture, but Jeia knew exactly what her mother was up to and kept giving Lin an exasperated look. And Lin could definitely see Ronen snickering behind his hand at her, as if he thought his mother shouldn't be teaching anyone how to be patient.

On the third day, they arrived in a village on the outskirts of a desert far south. It was bright and early but Jeia wasn't cranky for once. She went with Sora to find something for breakfast that was warm and fresh, while Lin and Ronen stopped at a few stalls to buy some more supplies. They had packed light, and with Jeia's appetite they were running low already.

The village they had wandered into had a handful of Kuvira's soldiers, but nothing to be alarmed about. Lin and the kids could have fought all of them off if need be, but the soldiers didn't pay them any mind long enough to recognize them anyways. Lin had taught all of her kids how to blend in, and they had left Kyuti about a mile out. Sora had her tattoos covered, and aside from the scars on their faces, Lin and Ronen didn't stand out too much. Unless someone was looking for them, it was doubtful they'd run into any problems. They didn't know if Kuvira would have told her soldiers to do anything if they came across Lin's family, but with the way Kuvira was trying to purge the Earth states of any dissenters, it was doubtful they'd be welcomed. Kuvira knew they were on Su's side, and she and Lin had never gotten along anyways. Lin figured it was only a matter of time before they found out what plans Junior and Kuvira had for them. She was trying not to be too concerned about what Kuvira's reign would bring, but she could already see the effects it had on her kids. Ronen had been in a foul mood for most of the trip, and Lin had just assumed it was because he was missing Asami and worried about Korra, but she began to realize that it was more than that when he started arguing with her over fruit.

While buying supplies, he suggested they get some oranges, but Lin knew that Jeia had recently decided she hated them, and simply said, "Nah, get the apples instead."

Ronen huffed and tossed the oranges back down into the fruit stand, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Do what you want! It's not like I've ever been able to stop you before."

He stomped off, and Lin was too surprised to react at first, staring over at him with her mouth agape in bewilderment. Then she turned to look at the fruit vendor and awkwardly said, "Uh, I'll be back."

Lin followed Ronen over to the next stall, hanging back for a moment as he angrily sifted through bolts of cloth as if he was going to make a new outfit and was pressed for time. Lin slowly shuffled up next to him, hands clasped behind her back as she tilted her head to catch his purposefully averted gaze. "All right, kid. Spill it."

Ronen ignored her for a few moments, still tossing cloth around, and then he blew an aggravated breath out of his nose and turned to face her with pursed lips. "You all knew about Kuvira's plans and didn't tell me. You let me sit there and be blindsided."

"Well, to be fair, we only knew for a few hours –" Lin tried to defend.

"And this isn't the first time you've kept things from me," Ronen interrupted. "You think I can't handle it."

"It isn't that we think you can't handle it," Lin argued, bracing her hands on her hips. "Your brother just didn't want you to react before it happened. Your heart's in the right place, but sometimes you think with your morals first."

"So none of you trusted me to keep a secret that could endanger my brother's life," Ronen accused.

"It's not like that –"

"Then what is it like? Because it sounds to me like you all think I'm some kind of morality dictator, like I don't put my family first."

"Well that wasn't what we were thinking," Lin insisted. "I was thinking that I didn't want to make you choose. I know it's difficult for you to do the wrong thing. But it's not like we think less of you because of it. Hell, I admire you for it. You're a better person than I'll ever be."

Ronen looked away from her, fiddling with the cloth spread out in front of him again, this time with far less frustration. "It's not so great," he muttered. "You might say otherwise, but I know how the others are. Yunjin and Jeia don't trust me. Korra doesn't trust me. They think I worry more about what I think is right than them." He looked suddenly over at his mother again with hurt in his eyes. "But that isn't true."

Lin reached out to squeeze his arm with understanding in her gaze. "I know it isn't. I know you. And they do too, they just haven't quite figured it out. They look at things differently than you do, and they don't see your side yet. But they will. I'm sure Korra already does; she's just got her own issues to deal with."

Ronen shrugged. "I just feel like everything is about to get crazy again and we're not even on the same side. I don't want to wake up one day and find out my family went to war while I was sleeping."

"I hear ya, kid, but it won't be that way. We're in this together. And Jin and Jeia will come around. If this gets dicey, they know they can come to you for –"

A scream rang across the plaza, somewhat faint due to distance, but shrill enough to catch the attention of everyone in the vicinity, and familiar enough that Lin and Ronen's heads immediately snapped in that direction.

Without a word or even a glance, they both darted in the direction of the sound, sprinting as fast as they could, weaving around stalls and shoving past various shoppers and vendors that stood in their way. On their way, the scream abruptly stopped, and Lin nearly tripped with the effort she made to try and run even faster. Her pulse was pounding in her ears and her lungs were burning and her stomach was climbing up her throat. She had only heard Sora scream like that twice before, and one of those times was when the Equalists were electrocuting the girl to make it easier to drag her to Amon. She could not fathom why Sora would be forced to make that sound again, but whatever it was would not be a simple misunderstanding.

When Ronen and Lin finally reached the origin of the sound, they found a street in ruins, store fronts torn apart and debris littered all along the path. And in the center of the destruction lay Sora, limp and sprawled on the ground, blood pooling beneath her head.

Jeia was nowhere to be seen.

Lin skidded to her knees before Sora, kicking up dirt and dust that she violently waved away from her face before carefully lifting Sora up into her arms. She could feel Sora's breath and a steady pulse and for that she could be grateful, but her chest remained constricted and Sora was entirely unresponsive.

Lin cast her gaze around the street again, saw a man unconscious not far from Sora, dressed in clothing typical of the sandbender tribes, with a familiar metal dagger jutting out of his shoulder. But still no Jeia.

When Ronen dropped down across from his mother, Lin thrust Sora into his arms and commanded, "Stay with her," and then surged to her feet even though her legs had gone numb with fear.

Lin stomped her foot into the ground and reached out with her seismic sense as far as she could, looking for something, anything… She couldn't pinpoint Jeia, but she could sense a disturbance, a trail that would very likely lead her in the direction Jeia had gone – or more likely been taken. She followed that trail with even more haste, using the earth beneath her feet this time to propel her forward faster, so that every stride was stronger and took her farther. The path led her out of town, and as she emerged from the cluster of buildings, her line of sight was opened wider. Then she could spot movement in the distance, a group of figures, moving with suspicious speed, but nothing about them that Lin could make out except that they were dressed much the same as the unconscious man near Sora, all except for the tiny figure dressed in black held between them.

Jeia.

Lin stomped both feet into the ground at once, propelling herself high up into the air and far across the space between her and her youngest, wrenching rocks out of the ground and trying to fling them as much as herself in the direction of the kidnappers.

But as she came to land, and attempted to pull the same maneuver once again and close the distance, the earth fell out beneath her as the once firm ground turned to shifting sand. Lin kept running, not letting her steps falter even in her desperation, not when she needed to reach Jeia. She could not stop, no matter how her muscles and lungs screamed, no matter how far she had to go.

But Jeia and her captors had reached some vaguely familiar shapes waiting for them out in the sand, a means of escape that would get away from Lin too fast, no matter how hard she ran.

Sandsailers.

Sandsailers that they climbed onto, with Jeia still in their grasp, and which they used to propel themselves across the desert at a speed Lin could never hope to achieve. She shouted a protest and threw the metal around her body like knives but nothing reached them. She couldn't reach them.

But she kept running. She kept running and running until she was sure her legs would give out and her lungs would explode. Till the sun was burning her skin red and the sand she kicked up had filled her shoes. She did not stop running until she reached the end of the scorching wasteland – it must have only been about two miles to the next town – and she found the sandsailers abandoned there, with no trace of anything left behind, and the trail had gone cold. She followed what footsteps she could, but the town was small and cramped and whatever disturbance the abductors had left behind was long gone.

Even so, it must not have escaped the townspeople's notice that a group of sandbenders had come trampling through the village with a child held between them. Unless Jeia was unconscious or otherwise subdued and not fighting back. Unless the sandbenders had changed outfits. Unless the sight of sandbedenders was entirely uneventful because they were living on the edge of the desert. Still Lin tried, still she frantically asked anyone she could get to stop, grabbing strangers as they bustled through the street going about their day, her voice hoarse as she panted and choked and barely managed to speak. She idly thought that she was likely not making any sense, that she likely looked crazed asking about a child and the kidnappers from the desert. She soon realized she wouldn't be getting any help from the frightened or annoyed or just plain confused villagers that she cornered. She would have to investigate on her own, would have to scour the whole town for Jeia herself.

Jeia was taken at breakfast time, and by the time the sun began to set, Lin had not found her. However, she did find someone that had seen Jeia and the supposed sandbender tribe. The woman remembered because she had thought it was a little odd to see people dressed like sandbenders traveling away from the desert. The woman's hometown was right at the center of the southern Earth Kingdom, between where the desert ended and a forest began, and she pointed Lin in that not so specific direction, and admitted that, yes, now that she thought about it, she had seen them carrying a young girl.

So Lin went to the forest, and tried her seismic sense, and wandered through the edge looking for clues, but she found nothing, and the forest stretched on forever in every direction, growing thicker with every mile. She knew that she could go no farther on her own, that she would only end up lost, that Jeia and her abductors were long gone and who knew in what direction? It was getting dark and thunder clouds were rolling in; the air had turned moist, threatening an oncoming storm. She called Jeia's name and she prayed to whoever might be listening to help her, to please send her a sign, to please help her find her baby, but no one answered.

And as thunder rumbled above her, and the skies opened up, and rain began to pour down upon her, drenching her raw skin, she dropped to her knees as her legs finally gave out, and desperately and achingly wailed, "JEIA!"

But the forest was silent in the wake of her agony, and Jeia was gone.


Korra woke with a start, and found herself in unfamiliar territory, with no idea as to how she got there. To be fair, she had been waking up in unrecognizable places for six months, but this time felt different. She remembered running into Akira and chasing herself into the swamp, and losing that subsequent battle and then… That was it. And she had no idea why the spirit had brought her to the swamp or who she was supposed to find. All she knew was that she was sore and defeated, and frankly a little embarrassed. Part of the reason she hadn't gone back to Republic City in the first place was because she was ashamed of what she had become, and now Akira had seen it all.

Korra looked around to take in her surroundings, and found herself lying in a cave. At the entrance, bathed in dim light, Akira was sat on the ground, using her waterbending to try and remove the mud from the inside of her shoes, but it didn't appear to be going well if her pinched expression was anything to go by.

She must have sensed Korra shifting awake, or perhaps heard Korra's pained groan, because Akira turned just as Korra sat up and said with plain relief, "Oh good. You're awake." She climbed to her feet, leaving her shoes behind, and moved over to be closer to Korra.

"Sorry about all that," Korra said with chagrin, struggling to keep her gaze on her friend.

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to people running away from me," Akira jested. "I take it you didn't win?"

Korra huffed, folding her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. "I haven't won a fight in a long time. I'm not sure I can anymore."

"Nonsense," Akira waved off. "You've just been out of practice for a while. I haven't exercised in a while and man am I paying for it today. One run with you and my muscles are dead."

"I just don't understand why I can't get back to my former self," Korra sighed. "It's like I'm a step slower. I'm tentative, I'm out of sync. I just can't get back in the groove."

Akira looked uncertain for a moment, hesitating to speak and drumming her fingers against her hip.

"What?" Korra asked. "Just say it. You think I'm a hot mess." It was something Akira said about people, mostly the people that she found exasperating, which was a lot of people.

Akira smirked. "Well, yes, you are both of those things, but that's not what I was going to say. If you want my honest opinion…"

"I do," Korra said when Akira paused.

"I think you're scared," Akira said bluntly. "If you go back to being the Avatar, you're afraid you might get hurt again, so your brain is doing all these crazy stunts to keep you away from the danger."

Korra shook her head. "I don't think that's it."

Akira shrugged. "Maybe not. What do I know about Avatar stuff?"

"Maybe it's the first thing you said," Korra considered, "about being out of shape. Maybe I just need to train more. I hit a wall in the South Pole, but I was fighting the same people. Maybe I just need something new, something that isn't some creepy image of myself."

Akira nodded but she didn't look totally convinced. "Yeah, maybe."

Korra thought about it some more, and then she perked up with some excitement. "Hey! You're the granddaughter of Katara and Aang. You've got to be pretty good at fighting, right?"

Akira snorted. "Uh, I mean, I can hold my own, but my mother wasn't Lin Beifong. I didn't spend my childhood training like my cousins. If you're looking for a good trainer, we'd probably be better off taking you back to the city."

"I don't think I need a great trainer –"

"Wow, thanks," Akira scoffed, but her blue eyes twinkled with amusement.

"No, I don't mean it like that," Korra rushed to assure her, scrambling up onto her feet. "I just mean that I need someone good but not the best. Clearly I'm not at my best and if I tried to fight Lin right now I'd get my butt kicked. But maybe if I spar with you I can try to get back into shape without all the distractions and the pressure."

Akira appeared to consider it, and then she said, "Ah, what the hell. I guess I can throw you around in the mud for a while, but you owe me a new pair of shoes."

Korra nodded with excitement. "As soon as I'm back to my old self, I'll get you whatever shoes you want."

"Well let's get you back into shape then," Akira said with determination.

"Great. We can start now," Korra said, already walking towards the mouth of the cave.

"You want to start now?" Akira said in disbelief. "I just cleaned these pants!"

"I'll get you some new pants too," Korra promised. "No sense keeping them clean for another couple hours.

Akira groaned, and pouted even as she followed Korra from the cave.

Korra grinned and dragged Akira out to an open clearing to begin.

But Korra wasn't smiling for long.

Either Akira was a much better fighter than she let on, or Korra was even worse than she had thought. Akira was tossing Korra all over the swamp and she barely looked fazed. She was out of breath, because she really was out of shape, but aside from that Akira could still knock Korra down more often than not.

Korra was growing frustrated and dismayed all over again, and Akira must have seen it because she brought a halt to their training saying, "All right, that's enough for today. I think we both need some rest."

Korra nodded glumly in agreement.

"We should think about how we're gonna find food," Akira advised as she ushered Korra back towards the cave they'd been in earlier. Korra still did not speak, gaze downcast, so Akira went on. "We could leave here, y'know? Go back into town and find a less disgusting place to spar, sleep in a bed for the night."

Then Korra did speak to reply, "I think I need to stay. That spirit said I had to find someone here. I should probably start looking I guess. But you don't have to stay here with me. I would understand if you want to leave."

"No, no," Akira said quickly. "I'm with you. I'm just not sure how this smelly swamp is conducive to your health. But if there's someone here you need to find, then we'll find them. I can always go into town later and stock up on food so we can…"

Korra came to a sudden halt, and she felt Akira bump into her shoulder when she didn't realize quickly enough that Korra had stopped. In the distance, Korra had caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to get a better look. She half expected to see herself staring back at her, but the ethereal specter was not Korra. It was humanoid and female, but that was where the likeness stopped. The shimmering woman was much older, with graying hair wrapped up in a headband, and long bangs dangling over milky, unseeing eyes. She wore Earth Kingdom garb and had bare feet, and she looked oddly familiar, but Korra couldn't place who it could be.

But as the spirit woman jerked her head in a beckoning gesture, and began to turn away, Korra once again felt the unexplainable pull to follow.

"Is it you again?" Akira whispered, apparently unable to see whatever Korra was, but she was also looking in the wrong direction.

"No, it's someone else," Korra answered, and then grabbed Akira's hand. "Come on. Let's see where she's going." And Korra hoped that it would lead her to the answers she needed.


Ronen could not really remember a time before the twins. His father had always told him how helpful he had been when his mother was pregnant with them, when Jin and Sora were babies. But Ronen only had vague memories of them being that young, and couldn't really recall a life without them. However, when Jeia came along, Ronen was well past eleven years old, and he remembered a lot from that time, even things he would have rather forgot. He remembered his mom being pregnant and more often sick, how careful everyone had to be around her, like they thought she might break. He remembered her growing as Jeia grew within her, and how, towards the end of the pregnancy, she finally let him lay his hands on her belly to feel the baby move. And then the siege of headquarters and the attempted kidnapping of Ronen and the twins happened, and there were some strenuous weeks were Mom had looked dreadful and newborn baby Jeia even worse. Ronen remembered the adults' hushed voices and serious looks and thinking his baby sister might not survive.

But Jeia had beat all odds and thrived. Ronen had been there for so much of it, to see Jeia overcome all kinds of obstacles, to see her take her first steps and say her first words, and he and Jin and Sora had been just as excited – if not more so – than their parents. Jeia had walked to Ronen before she had walked to anyone else. She had said her first words to Yunjin – probably because she was trying to tell him off. She had been molded not just by her parents, but by each of her siblings, and they in turn had benefited from having her around, even if they hadn't always been able to see that at first.

Ronen had watched Jeia grow, and in an instant he had watched her disappear. Even worse, he hadn't even been there to see her be taken, to try and save her. He had only seen the aftermath. The ruined street, the remnants of battle, Sora unconscious and bleeding and Jeia nowhere to be seen. Ronen had watched his mother run off to look for Jeia, and at first he was hopeful, at first he was certain that his mother would get Jeia back.

When night fell and there was still no sign of either of them, Ronen was beginning to fret. The village police had been over the scene, talked to the few witnesses, and they had no idea who would have taken Jeia or why. They were actually more concerned to find out that Ronen and his family were there, seeming to think that the reason trouble had come to their small town was because of the Beifongs' presence. They got a healer for Sora and the mysterious man dressed like a sandbender, but they were pretty clear that they wanted Ronen and his family out of town as soon as possible. Kuvira's soldiers had been alerted too, and were making frequent visits to the rooms the village sheriff had allowed Ronen to stay in while Sora recovered. The healer did what he could for Sora, and assured Ronen that the head wound was not too severe, but that she would likely be disoriented for a few days and probably experience some memory loss. The supposed sandbender would also live, and the metal shard had been removed from his shoulder and sewed up. He was cuffed to a bed in a separate room connected to the one Ronen and Sora were in, and sedated so that he wouldn't wake until closer to morning. The healer would be back to check in on the two patients the next day, and Ronen was left to sit and worry, while Sora slept and his mother and Jeia remained missing.

Ronen didn't want to panic, or make anyone else panic, but after hours of pacing, he sat down and wrote three letters. The first went to Asami, in which he told her what had happened and asked her to break the news to his father, because his father ought to know but Ronen couldn't leave and he didn't want his father to find out through a letter. It was bad enough having to tell everyone else that way. The other two letters went to Yunjin and his Aunt Su, because Su was nearby and could arrive in a matter of hours, and Yunjin had the resources to search the Earth Kingdom with Kuvira's army, though Ronen was still crossing his fingers that such a thing wouldn't be necessary. He kept hoping his mother would walk through the door and Jeia would be with her and all would be well.

Instead, Ronen was in and out of the rooms, wandering outside hoping for his mother to show, and checking in on Sora as she slept. And when he finally saw his mother at the end of the street, even with her face cast in shadows, he felt his hopes vanish. She was dragging her feet and even in the dark of night he could see that she was defeated. And there was no Jeia, which was answer enough in itself.

Ronen felt his shoulders slump, and his limbs felt too heavy, but he dragged himself forward, reaching for his mother before they even closed the distance between them, and when he was finally close enough, he wrapped his arms tight around her shoulders. He had to swallow his pain even as tears filled his eyes. He couldn't lose it in front of his mother, not when she needed somebody to be strong for her, even though she was doing her usual good job of suppressing her own emotions. She was shaking in his arms and wreaked of sweat and mud. He didn't know what to say to her, so he said nothing at first.

She broke the silence after several long moments with a fragile, "Sora?"

"She's okay," Ronen assured, sucking in a breath when it came out strained, but his words were still stilted. "Concussion, she's still sleeping, healer says she might not remember much."

Lin pulled back and her expression had hardened. "The man that was on the ground –?"

"He's inside too," Ronen said quickly. "Sedated until morning."

"The rest of them were dressed like that," Lin revealed. "They got away on sandsailers."

"You caught up to them?" Ronen asked in surprise.

"Not exactly," she muttered. "I could see them, but I couldn't reach them in time. I tracked them to the next village but they got away, somewhere into the forest. I knew I couldn't find them on my own without more information, or at least faster transport."

"Do you think the man we caught will tell us anything?" Ronen wondered.

"Oh, he'll talk," Lin said darkly, murderous intent in her eyes that sent a shiver down Ronen's spine. Without another word, she strode past him into the motel, and he hastily followed her.

She went to Sora first, sitting on the edge of the girl's bed and gently stroking her forehead, stilling near the spot where her head was bandaged. There had been a deep gash running along the side of Sora's head, from just behind her ear all the way to her eyebrow, but it was a much smaller cut now and protected by gauze, and the healer had said it would barely scar. She stirred at her mother's touch, but did not wake for an hour more.

Without taking her eyes off of Sora, Lin murmured, "We'll have to tell your father."

"I already did," Ronen assured her in a whisper. "I sent letters to Asami, Yunjin, and Aunt Su while you were gone. I figured it'd be better for Dad to hear it from Asami, or at least, she can stop him from doing anything stupid."

Lin nodded, and now that she was in the dim lighting of the motel room, he could fully take in the sight of her, and she looked pained. Her cheeks were sunburnt and her hair a mess of frizz. Her clothes and skin were streaked with dried mud and clumps of sand. He couldn't know how badly her body must hurt, but he imagined she was in quite a bit of pain considering the way she was hunched over and the fact that she had been gone all day. He knew she wouldn't have paced herself, that she would have pushed herself far beyond her limits to try and reach Jeia. He probably would have done the same.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Why don't you take a bath?" he suggested. "I'll let you know if Sora wakes up."

Lin seemed only to just notice that she was dirty, glancing down at herself half dazed, and for a long moment she just stared at Sora, until Ronen thought that she would just ignore him altogether. But then she cleared her throat and croaked. "Okay."

She rose slowly, wincing as she did so, and Ronen pointed to a bag laying on the empty bed nearby. "I got our things from Kyuti. There's some clean clothes in there for you."

He watched his mother move at a glacially slow pace, her movements stilted and mechanical, wobbling almost like she was drunk. He wasn't sure if she had overextended herself that much, or if she was just in a state of shock from the day's events. Everything had been so normal only a few hours before. Even with Kuvira declaring herself Emperor, it hadn't been a total surprise for any of them, nor was it really anything out of the ordinary considering the type of lives they had. But Sora and Jeia being attacked in the streets, and Jeia being taken by some random strangers was something new. Ronen and the twins had nearly been kidnapped before, but their parents had almost expected it, had planned for it, had known who the kidnappers were. In this case, Ronen had no idea who would have taken his sister or why. And why just Jeia and not Sora? And how had they even known that Jeia would be somewhere in the Earth Kingdom and not on Air Temple Island?

It was all very jarring and confusing and Ronen could understand why his mother looked like she was the one suffering from head trauma.

When she came out of the bathroom with wet hair and a fresh set of clothes, she looked a little less stunned but still haunted. She sat down next to Sora again, and this time stretched out on that side of the bed as if she was prepared to take a nap. But then she asked Ronen, "Did you find anything on the man?"

"No, he didn't have anything on him," Ronen answered. "Do you think a sandbender tribe is behind this?"

Lin shook her head as she slouched against the pillows behind her. "No. What reason would they have? There weren't any demands. If they were after money, we would have heard something already. Sandbenders aren't very tapped into the politics of the rest of the world, and your father and I never pissed any of them off as far as I'm aware. I think someone hired them."

"But who?" Ronen exclaimed, unable to contain his frustration. "Who would want to hurt Jeia?"

"It's probably not about her," Lin sighed. "It's about me, or your father, or all of us maybe. We've made a lot of enemies over the years."

Ronen rubbed his face and sighed too. He wished whoever it was had taken him instead. He wished he had some idea of who could have taken Jeia.

Ronen sat down on the empty bed next to his mother and Sora, and he watched his mother dozing off for brief minutes at a time, like she was too exhausted to keep her eyes open, but too frantic and alert to stay asleep.

Eventually, Sora woke, and Lin immediately stood up. Ronen jolted up too, and returned to Sora's bedside as she stirred. She opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the dim bit of light in the room and blinking rapidly. She looked at her mother and Ronen with clear confusion and tried to sit up, but instantly hissed, clutching at her head.

Lin urged Sora back down with a hand on her shoulder saying, "Easy, kid. Just lie still. You're all right."

Sora squeezed her eyes closed and breathed in deep through her nose before slowly blowing it back out. "What happened?" she questioned weakly, squinting her eyes open again.

"Well," Lin started, glancing over at Ronen with a frown, "we're not exactly sure. What's the last thing you remember?"

Sora considered it for a long moment, brow furrowed in thought. "I – I don't know," she stammered. "I – we were – we were home, I think. W – where are we now?"

"In the Earth Kingdom," Ronen supplied, when his mother just continued to frown. "We came here looking for Korra."

"Was it just the three of us?" Sora inquired, rubbing her brow.

"And –"

"Yes," Lin cut Ronen off. "We separated for a few minutes, to get supplies while you went to find breakfast, and some people attacked you. We aren't sure why, or who they were. But I'll figure it out. Don't worry."

Sora shakily reached up to grasp her mother's hand. She was pale and looked very tired and nauseous, exactly like the healer had said she would be. "I'm okay. I guess I lost but it wasn't too bad, right?"

Lin nodded and squeezed Sora's hand, while gently smoothing short strands of hair back from her face. "That's right. Just rest, kid. We'll talk more when you're feeling better."

"Do you want some water?" Ronen asked his sister.

"Maybe a little," Sora mumbled, already sliding back down the pillows.

He quickly grabbed some for her, and helped her take a sip, and a few minutes later she was asleep again.

"You sure it's okay to let her sleep?" Lin worried.

"The healer said it was," Ronen told her. "She needs to heal. We only have to worry if she starts exhibiting worse symptoms, but he said he stopped the swelling so we shouldn't have to worry."

Lin nodded in acceptance and went back to watching Sora.

Ronen said, "We have to tell her."

"Later," Lin insisted. "Let her rest."

Ronen was silent, and so was Lin, but after a beat she suddenly spun on her heel and stalked towards the door on the other side of the room, where their prisoner was being held. Ronen rushed after her with some concern.

She burst through the door and strode right up to the side of the bed, grabbing the sleeping man by the front of his shirt and shaking him with a commanding, "Hey, wake up."

Ronen opened his mouth to tell her to be easy, that the guy had a deep, gaping wound in his shoulder, but he snapped his mouth shut when he considered that his mother wouldn't listen and the guy had been involved in kidnapping Ronen's baby sister.

After being shaken around for a bit, the man finally woke, trying to swat weakly at Lin's fist around his shirt and squinting at her blearily in confusion, but his wrists were chained to the side of the bed and he never came close to reaching her. He looked down at his hands with a furrowed brow, and then seemed to come awake a little quicker, his eyes widening.

"Where did they take her?" Lin immediately demanded, not giving the man time to think.

He looked back up at her and slurred, "Who?"

"My kid," Lin growled. "Jeia Beifong. Where were you planning on taking her?"

He shook his head. "Dunno what you're talkin' about –"

"Don't play stupid," Lin snapped. "I already tracked the rest of your crew across the desert. It's only a matter of time until I find them. Tell me where they are and I may be merciful."

"I know nothing," the man denied.

"Who are you working for?" Lin shouted, and a sharp pointed blade snapped out of her wrist gauntlet, poised right against the man's throat.

He tipped his head back and swallowed, but still argued, "I have nothing to say to you."

Ronen stepped in then, because it looked like his mother was about to lose it and he didn't want her doing anything rash. He grabbed her wrist and gently tugged, calmly murmuring, "Okay, Mom, ease up. We'll find her. With or without him. Let's just regroup."

She looked back at him and he could see the rage and the determination in her eyes, but she softened a little at the sight of him, and she nodded and pulled her fist away. She followed Ronen from the room, all the way to the doorway, upon which she gave him a guilty look and said, "Sorry, kid, but I need to find out where your sister is."

And before Ronen could even register her words, she had stomped her foot into the stone floor and a wall erupted between them, cutting him off from the room. His heart leapt into his throat as he realized what she was about to do, and he slapped his palm against the rock door, shouting at her, "Mom! No! Don't do this! Mom!" He scrambled along the rest of the wall, where it had been built with wood, and hammered his fist against it and called out, but she ignored him still. He ran across the room to the bag of supplies and pulled out his grappling hooks, which he then rushed over to punch into the wall. He scraped against the wood over and over, tearing holes into the wall, but it wasn't enough for him to break the whole way through to the other side. He heard the stranger make a choked sound of pain, and Ronen desperately called, "Mom! Stop! Please!"

"Ronen," a small voice broke into his frantic thoughts, and he whirled around to see Sora trying to rise to her feet, swaying and clutching her head. Ronen rushed over to stop her, ushering her back into bed. "Wha's going on?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry," he told her, sitting down next to her. "It's okay. Just go back to sleep." He held her against his side, positioning her so that one of her ears was pressed against his chest and the other was covered by his hand. She was too tired to fight him and didn't seem to figure out what he was doing, and she fell back to sleep in a matter of minutes.

Ronen, on the other hand, had to sit and listen, wincing every time he heard the man cry out, his stomach feeling sicker with every minute that passed. He could only imagine what his mother was doing and he wanted it to stop.

It wasn't that long before the stone wall dropped and Lin stepped out. Altogether it had maybe been fifteen minutes, but to Ronen it felt like it had been hours. He was shaking as he rose to his feet, gently laying Sora back down, and his voice was hoarse when he stormed up to his mother and exclaimed, "What the hell was that?!"

She walked right past him and began sifting through their things, throwing a few supplies into a smaller bag as she replied, "I got him to talk."

"And was it worth it?" Ronen demanded. "If anyone finds out what you did to him you'll be arrested."

"They can try," she muttered.

Ronen could have torn his hair out. "You can't just torture people!" he hissed, mindful of Sora this time.

She threw a shirt down with a huff and whirled on him. "He helped kidnap an eight year old girl and nearly gave Sora brain damage. Spirit's only knows what his cronies could be doing to Jeia right now. He's lucky I didn't skin him alive."

"Don't you think I know that?" Ronen snapped. "I want him to pay for this too, but we can't lower ourselves to the inhumanity of people like him or we're no better than they are. We could have found Jeia another way –"

"Think about the statistics here, Ronen!" Lin barked back. "With every hour that passes, the likelihood of finding a kidnapped child, much less finding them alive, decreases exponentially. We don't have time to waste. Now, I need to go follow this lead. When your father and Su get here, take Oogi and Su's airship and follow the desert west to the Chukan village. On the other end, the forest begins, and you can start searching from the skies. When Sora is well enough, she can use her spirit bending to look for Jeia's energy. If I find out where Jeia is first, I'll come find you. I'll have to take Kyuti. Look after your sister."

And with that she left, before Ronen could get in a word edgewise, and okay maybe she was right to be frantic and maybe they didn't have time to waste when it came to Jeia's well-being, but the whole thing just made him feel ill. And yet his mother didn't seem all that fazed, and maybe it wasn't for him to worry about saving her soul, except that if he didn't, who would?


Yunjin stood before Kuvira's desk with his hands clasped behind his back and reported, "My source in the Fire Nation says that the Fire Lord won't engage in any attacks against us. Without Izumi's support, Raiko will not have the means to confront us even if he wants to."

"And this source of yours," Kuvira replied skeptically, her gaze focused not on him, but the small bit of metal she was manipulating a few inches off her desk, morphing it into various shapes as if she was bored, but Yunjin had picked up on enough of her habits in the past eighteen months to know that she was on edge, "you trust them?"

"With my life," Yunjin confirmed, thinking of Jinora and her pretty smile and incredible wit, and even with their relationship being what it was these days, he would trust her implicitly for the rest of his life.

"And you believe that they have good intel?" Kuvira pressed, glancing up from the metal blob to stare him in the eye.

"She got it straight from the Fire Nation princess herself," Yunjin answered. "She and Ursa are on good terms. There's no reason Ursa would have lied to her."

"I remember meeting the princess," Kuvira said idly, seeming to reminisce. "You were there too. You were only just a boy at the time." A dark flash passed over her face and she snatched the metal orb out of the air in front of her. "Ursa was dull and pretentious, like all royals. Her word is not to be trusted."

From behind Kuvira's left shoulder, Bataar Jr sneered. "Ursa is a spoiled child that fancies herself a politician. You'd do well to find better sources from now on."

Yunjin frowned in irritation, and opened his mouth to retaliate.

But Kuvira beat him to it, continuing as if Bataar had never spoken. "However… Ursa will know what her mother has planned. And she would likely be too naïve to think of deceiving this source of yours. I already suspected that Fire Lord Izumi would be too cautious to threaten war with us. Your information seems to confirm that. Thank you, Yunjin. You've done well."

Bataar frowned down at Kuvira, but she didn't see it.

Yunjin inclined his head in thanks. "I serve at the pleasure."

Kuvira smirked. "Don't mock me."

Yunjin smiled good-naturedly. "I would never." And his smile only grew at the sight of Bataar's pursed lips.

Before the banter could go on, a knock at the door interrupted them, and Kuvira called for the person to enter.

One of Kuvira's top soldiers entered, a wily man named Zuri that had been teaching Yunjin how to cheat at card games. Yunjin didn't think he'd ever have any practical use for such a skill, but he fully intended to try it out against Jeia sometime, since she definitely cheated at cards.

As Zuri entered, he bowed and said shortly, "Empress."

"Zuri," Kuvira acknowledged.

"I come with a brief report," Zuri explained as he straightened up. "Oh, and a letter for Yunjin."

He pulled said letter from his shirt and went over to hand it to Yunjin, who frowned at the sight of his brother's handwriting. He had only just left Republic City a few days ago. What could Ronen have to say to him? Other than berating Yunjin some more for leaving him out of the loop.

Yunjin began to tear the letter open and read through the short paragraph as Zuri told Kuvira, "The mission you gave me is under way, and so far, it's been a success. No casualties and everything is going according to plan."

"That's good to hear," Kuvira said.

"What mission?" Bataar asked with suspicion. "You didn't tell me about this."

But Yunjin didn't hear whatever else they said, because his ears started ringing and he began to feel faint. The letters he read were blurring together as he reread them over and over, hoping they might rearrange themselves to say something else, hoping that what he was reading was not true.

He was startled out of his panic by a strong hand squeezing too tight around his arm and a firm, "Yunjin."

He blinked, and looked up, and saw Kuvira standing over him now, and he was sitting in a chair that hadn't been there before. Zuri and Bataar were just behind Kuvira, watching him with furrowed brows.

"What is it?" Kuvira demanded. "What does the letter say?"

Yunjin swallowed, but he wasn't certain that he could say it out loud. He handed the letter over to Kuvira, hoping his hand wasn't shaking too much, and he watched her frown deepen as she read over the same words he had moments ago. Then she said what Yunjin was thinking, "This can't be."

"What?" Bataar questioned, trying to peer over her shoulder. "What does it say?"

"Jeia's been taken," Kuvira said grimly.

Bataar looked skeptical. "By who?"

"I have to go," Yunjin decided, surging to his feet. "I have to help them look for her."

"You can't just leave," Bataar scoffed. "We're right in the middle of –"

"Of course," Kuvira cut him off, looking only at Yunjin as she reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Go. Find her. You can take Bataar with you."

"What?" Bataar exclaimed. "But –"

Yunjin struggled not to grimace. "That's okay," he insisted. "I appreciate it, but you need Bataar –"

"Nonsense," Kuvira interjected. "You'll need all the help you can get. I'm sure the two of you will be back in no time. We can manage till then." She turned back towards her desk. "Zuri, ready transport for the two of them. And then return to my office when you're finished. I want a full report on that mission."

"Of course," Zuri said with a bow before hastily retreating from the room.

Yunjin and Bataar looked at one another with shared distaste, but Kuvira had already returned to her place behind her desk, and both of them knew well enough not to argue with her when she made up her mind, though Bataar was more likely to push than Yunjin was.

"Keep me posted," she told the pair of them. "I want regular updates, and let me know if I can help further. I'll instruct the troops around the Empire to keep an eye out for Jeia. If you find out where she is, I can send a battalion to you."

"Thank you," Yunjin said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"How do we know this isn't some lie concocted by your family to pull you out of our work here?" Bataar suspiciously suggested.

Yunjin gritted his teeth in anger. "My brother doesn't lie, and he would never use Jeia like that either."

"Well can't we send someone else with Yunjin?" Bataar flippantly inquired of Kuvira. "My work with Varrick –"

"Will be here when you get back," Kuvira said firmly. "Jeia takes precedent. I'd go myself but I can't leave at a time like this. That's why I'm trusting you to bring Jeia home safe."

The pointed warning was there in her tone, and Yunjin was glad that he wasn't Bataar. He had always thought that his cousin's relationship with Kuvira was weird, and it only got weirder the more he saw them together over the last year and a half. He was starting to think Bataar liked being bullied.

At that, Bataar finally relented, however begrudgingly, and he inclined his head even as his face betrayed his annoyance. "I'll send word when I have more information."

He and Yunjin left Kuvira's office, and when the door was closed between her and them, Yunjin told Bataar, "Look, I don't like having you along anymore than you do. Just stay out of my way, and when I find my sister, you can tell Kuvira it was all thanks to you."

Bataar folded his arms across his chest and eyed Yunjin up and down, looking insulted, but after a beat he nodded once and said, "Deal."

And then they both turned away from each other and stalked off in different directions.


Lin flew through what was left of the night – after arguing with the timid Kyuti for ten minutes about leaving Sora behind – and arrived in the Fire Nation around mid-morning. She landed nearby the address she hoped she had remembered correctly, and told Kyuti she could take off to look for her own breakfast, but to stay close. Then Lin strode up to the door of the quaint, little house, and knocked three times.

She sensed movement from within, and after a short wait, the door swung open, and she was relieved to see a familiar face staring back at her in surprise.

"Chief!" Saikhan exclaimed, scratching his balding head in confusion and a hint of embarrassment, probably over his state of dress, which was a ridiculous set of pajamas that looked like a woman had picked out for him. "What are you doing here?" He looked her up and down and frowned. "Spirit's, you look like hell."

"Sorry to barge in like this," Lin said, after nearly five years of barely a letter between them, "but I need your help."


-Up next: Lin asks Saikhan to help her follow a lead, the cavalry arrives to help Ronen look for Jeia, Korra and Akira follow a familiar spirit through the swamp, and Yunjin tries not to strangle Bataar Jr. Thank you again, my lovely readers, and until next time! I'll try not to hold you in suspense too long ;)-