"So, this is your team?" Asami said.
Lin stole a glance over her shoulder, where Kuvira and Kya stood a few steps behind her outside the open gangway of their airship. The vessel was small, only large enough to fit a few passengers, but much faster and more inconspicuous than one of the larger, slower models. They had been prepping for takeoff for the past few hours now, since well before dawn. Early morning sunlight had only just begun to poke its way above the horizon, basking the Republic City airfield in dull, orange light. Both President Sato and the Avatar had come to see them off.
"This is it," Lin replied, with a nod. "The smaller the better, really. We'll be able to better get around unnoticed that way."
Korra looked back and forth curiously between the three members of the team. "I thought you were going to ask Anraq and Azula?"
"I was," Kuvira said, "but I couldn't find them. No one's seen them in a couple days, actually. Lord Zuko, too. We're not sure where they are."
"Really?" Korra scrunched her eyebrows with concern. "That's... strange."
"We'll keep an eye out for them," Asami said. "They can't have gone too far. Unless they left the city, although I can't imagine why they would have."
"It's all the same to me," Lin said, with a simple shrug. "Just means I don't have to put up with Azula during this mission. That wasn't a prospect I was looking forward to, if I'm being honest."
"So, do you know for certain where you're going?" Asami asked.
Lin nodded. "According to General Iroh's intel, Yula is currently touring around the Earth Kingdom, visiting her supporters. Apparently, she's making appearances to let the people know she cares about them or whatever." She scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "I don't buy that for a second. She just wants to maintain their support so that when she attacks us, the people don't turn against her. That's my bet."
"Currently, she's in Omashu, and should be there for the next couple days," Kuvira added. "We'll try to make it there before she leaves, but if not we'll follow her to her next destination and deal with her there."
Korra took a step towards Kuvira, and held a hand to her arm. "Just be careful, alright? If anything happens to you..."
"I'll be fine," Kuvira said, giving her girlfriend's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I promise."
"Don't worry about a thing, I'll keep these two in line." Kya smiled as she stepped between the other two women, holding an arm around both their shoulders. "And in shape. Spirits know at least one of them is likely to do something outrageous and get herself injured."
Lin frowned, shifting a glance towards her girlfriend. "You don't need to coddle me, Kya."
"Yes I do," she replied, grinning back at the police chief. "It's my job."
"In any case, we should get going now," Kuvira said. "The sooner the better. If we're not back in a week, consider the mission a failure and start fortifying your defenses."
Korra leaned closer, tenderly pressing her lips against Kuvira's. "I love you. Be safe."
"I love you, too." Kuvira stroked her fingers against Korra's cheek, and gave one more kiss before pulling apart to join the others on the airship. "I'll see you again soon."
Korra stood back and watched the gangplank retract behind the group. Within moments, the small airship lifted into the sky. "If they're not back in a week, I'm going after them."
Asami looked back at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I'm sitting out right now because I can't take needless risks when the world needs me." Korra huffed out an annoyed sigh and crossed her arms over her chest. "I may have promised Kuvira, but I'm not going to abandon her if something goes wrong, either. Or Lin and Kya. So yeah, I'm sure."
"Well, if it does come to that, you know you'll have all the support you need," Asami said.
Korra nodded. "Thanks. I guess for now, the best we can do is wait."
"And continue to prepare." Asami watched the airship a moment longer, as the vessel distanced itself through the sky. With a thoughtful breath, she turned and waved Korra along to follow. "Come on, let's grab some breakfast or something. I need some tea before I get to work."
Kuvira squinted a careful gaze around the landscape, as she made her way down the airship gangway. Ten hours of flying later, and they had finally settled down in the middle of a rocky canyon about five miles outside of Omashu. The sun beat down from high overhead, burning bright in a cloudless sky. Sweat beaded across her forehead, a far cry from the winter chill in Republic city. This close to the equator, winter was nonexistent.
"Is this the spot?" she asked, holding her hand above her eyes to block the sun.
"According to the coordinates we received, yes," Lin said, as she unfolded a map of the Earth Kingdom. She stared at it, drawing a finger across the area outside of Omashu. "The meeting place should be right around here."
"Uh, I think that might be it?" Kya squinted towards a jagged rock formation nearby, where a bright flash of light flickered repeatedly in their direction. Most likely a mirror someone was using to reflect sunlight at them.
Lin led the way towards the reflecting light. A man dressed in casual Earth Kingdom attire waited for them at the base of the rock formation, looking no different than an average citizen. She waved to him in greeting. "You the United Forces scout we're supposed to be meeting?"
The man nodded, and pulled his hand up in a firm salute. "Sergeant Kim, ma'am, at your service."
Lin returned the salute. "Nice to meet you. What information do you have for us?"
"From what I've been able to gather, the Dragon Empress is still inside Omashu, but she's planning on leaving early tomorrow morning," the sergeant explained. "If you want to get to her before she leaves, you'll have to do it tonight."
"What's the best way inside the city without being spotted?" Kuvira asked.
"There's a sewer system that runs beneath the city. You can access it from a drainage pipe near the bottom of the gorge. Once you're inside, you'll need this." Sergeant Kim reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of folded papers. "It's a map of Omashu, as well as guard schedules and patrol routes. The empress is staying in the palace at the very top of the city. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any details about the guard layouts inside the palace, so you'll be on your own in there."
"That's fine, we'll figure it out," Lin said, as she looked over the map and schedules. "Thank you, Sergeant."
He nodded, and gave another salute. "My pleasure. Anything to help get rid of this empress and her damnable regime. I need to get going now. Best of luck."
An hour later, they sat together a mile outside of Omashu, beneath a rocky overhang. Not a lot they could do right now other than wait for night to come so they could infiltrate the city. Kuvira tapped her foot impatiently, arms folded as she glared out over the rocky gorge around them. With a deep huff, she stood up and marched away from the group.
"I'll be back," she said. "I'm going to scout the area around Omashu, make sure there aren't any surprises waiting for us when we infiltrate tonight."
"Just be sure to stay out of sight," Lin said.
"I will." Kuvira pulled a pair of binoculars out of her pack and waved them at the police chief. "I won't be getting very close."
When Kuvira was gone, Kya set her own pack down in front of herself and unzipped the top of it. She reached inside and pulled out a small, sealed container. "So, you hungry? I packed seaweed wraps."
Lin grimaced with disgust. "You know I don't like seaweed wraps. They're too salty."
"Which is why I went light on the salt and made yours with that sweet sauce you like." Kya opened the container and offered it to Lin. Half of the seaweed wraps inside had been slathered with a thick, orange sauce.
Lin raised an eyebrow, staring at the container. "Okay... now you have my attention." She hesitated briefly, before reaching inside to take one of the wraps, nearly stuffing the entire thing in her mouth at once with a large bite.
"Well?"
Lin swallowed the bite, and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Alright, they're pretty good." With one more bite, she finished off the first wrap and moved on to the next. She ate it just as quickly, and grabbed a third.
Kya grinned "Looks to me like they're more than just 'pretty good'."
"Don't butter yourself up too much," Lin said, as she swallowed the last of her food. "They're just seaweed wraps."
"Admit it. You enjoy my cooking."
Lin gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well, I certainly don't hate it."
"Oh my, what a compliment," Kya said, with a roll of her eyes. "You know, if it weren't for my cooking, you probably would have burned down the apartment by now."
"That was one time!" Lin insisted. "It's not my fault the grease got out of the pan."
"Riiight, the grease just jumped out of the pan and started a kitchen fire all on its own."
"Hey, I did plenty fine cooking for myself my whole life before we moved in together."
Kya frowned, planting her hands against her hips. "Instant noodles do not count as cooking. Neither does takeout."
Lin crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. "I'm telling you, I can cook just fine."
"Alright, then when we get back you're going to make us a nice big dinner," Kya said, with a challenging smirk. "I'm talking a full three course meal, and no cheating. That means you can't buy pre-packaged food at the store, take it out of the containers, heat it up, and claim you cooked it yourself."
Lin deepened a guilty frown, averting her eyes away from her girlfriend's critical stare. "That was also only one time..."
"Yeah, because I caught you."
With a grumbling sigh, Lin threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, if you're so insistent, I'll make us the best damn meal you've ever had. When I'm through, you'll be begging me to cook for you again."
Kya grinned. "Just be sure not to set the kitchen on fire."
"One time!"
The pair sat in silence for several minutes. Kya dug into the container for the standard seaweed wraps she'd made for herself, while Lin studied the map of Omashu, as well as the guard routes and schedules. If they were going to infiltrate the city tonight, at least one of them needed to have that information memorized.
Shortly after finishing her food, Kya set the container back into her pack and zipped it closed again. She sat there with her knees tucked up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs. Her gaze settled on Lin, watching the police chief study the map. A warm smile curled across her lips.
"So," she said, with a gentle chime in her tone, "are we ever going to talk about it again?"
Lin didn't even glance up from the map. "Talk about what?"
"You know what."
This time, Lin set the map down. She raised a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose, uttering a deep sigh. Yes, she did know. Of course she knew. That didn't mean she was ready to talk about it again. "Kya... I still don't know if it's the best thing for us."
"And why not?" Kya moved closer, holding her hand tenderly against her girlfriend's arm. "We love each other. We already live together. We want to spend the rest of whatever short time we have left in our lives together. Right? So why not get married?"
"It's just..." Lin turned her head away and sighed again. "I don't really think I'm wife material."
"Lin, come on, you're being ridiculous. You're already a damn fine girlfriend. What makes you think being a wife would be any different?"
"Because it... I don't know. It just seems so official." Lin looked back at her with a distant frown. "Do we really need to exchange jewelry, sign a piece of paper, and have a ceremony to declare our love? Seems a little unnecessary to me."
"You know, of the two of us, I'd have thought I would be the one afraid of commitment." Kya reached down to take hold of the other woman's hand, linking their fingers together. "Come on, Lin. It's not like we have to adopt any kids or anything. Spirits know we're probably way too old to manage that anyway. I still want to marry you. I want to put a ring on your finger, kiss you in front of all our friends, say 'I do', and be your wife."
Lin gave her fingers a loving squeeze, but her attention faltered, shifting down to Kya's neck. "Would you be wearing a ring, too? You already have a betrothal necklace. I'm not..." She huffed another deep sigh and looked away, staring at the ground. "I don't want to make you replace it."
Kya paused, softening a curious stare at her girlfriend. "Is that what this is really about? Lin..." She held a finger to Lin's chin and turned the woman's attention back towards her, so they could look each other in the eyes. "You wouldn't be replacing Yuka. Nothing could. But I've moved on from that. You're the woman in my life now, and I want to move forward with you. Together."
"I'm just... I'm afraid I'll disappoint you," Lin muttered, with an uncertain frown. "As a wife. I know I'll never be able to live up to what Yuka meant to you."
"Lin, stop worrying about living up to imaginary expectations," Kya insisted. "You're everything I could want. I love you, and there's no one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."
Lin's frown relaxed, lifting with a gentle rise of tenderness. She stared into Kya's eyes and held a hand to her cheek. The touch was soft, loving. "I love you, too."
"At least think about it? For me?"
"Alright... I can do that."
Kya smiled, leaning in close to give Lin a deep kiss. "Thank you. Now, you should get back to studying those schedules. At least one of us is going to have to know what they're doing tonight."
Several hours after night had fallen, the team made their way to the bottom of the gorge below Omashu. The drainage pipe was easy enough to find, sticking out like a sore thumb against the sheer rock wall that made up the base of the city. From the look of it, the pipe was plenty large enough to fit inside at full height.
"This is it," Lin said. "Let's get moving. We'll only have a small window of opportunity before the next guard patrol passes by the street where this pipe leads." With a simple flick of her hands, she bent open the metal covering of the pipe. Heated waves of rotten stench burst outward, forcing her to recoil with disgusted gagging.
"Oh my spirits," Kya uttered, pinching her nose shut. She took a few steps back to avoid the thick, unspeakable sludge that gushed out of the pipe. "That is... oh spirits..."
"Try not to throw up," Kuvira said, giving the waterbender a firm pat on the shoulder. "You have to take the lead."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you're the waterbender," Lin said, holding her hand over her nose. "So you're the only one who can keep that sludge off us on the way up. Unless you'd rather swim in it."
Kya grimaced in revulsion as she made her way towards the pipe. "Ugh..."
The going up the pipe was easy enough, as Kya managed to bend the sewer sludge safely around them on their way up to the city. That didn't help the smell. While Kuvira and Lin could hold their noses shut, Kya needed both her hands to bend properly, leaving her fully exposed to the putrid scent during the entire way. By the time they reached the grate leading into the streets above, her face had gone green and soured, on the verge of vomiting.
"Alright... we made it," she uttered, finally able to hold her nose shut. "Can we please get out of here now?"
Lin peered through the slots in the grate. "We should still have three minutes before the next patrol comes through. Let's move."
With a simple thrust of her arms, she bent off the grate and climbed through the opening into the darkened streets beyond. Kya followed close behind, with Kuvira bringing up the rear. Silence and emptiness greeted them, not a soul to be found wandering the city streets. They could thank the nightly curfew instated ever since Omashu had joined the empire for that, allowing them to remain unseen as they ducked into one of the surrounding alleys before the next guard patrol came by.
"We need to get to the palace," Lin said, looking up to the top tier of the city. The darkened silhouette of the palace loomed above them, carving against the backdrop of the night sky. "We'll take the route between the eastern mail chutes. In about twenty minutes, the guards will change shifts, meaning that entire path will begin to empty out. That will give us small windows to advance without being seen."
Kuvira nodded, and peered out the alley. A group of four guards marched down the street and disappeared around the corner. "Alright, let's go."
Forty minutes of sneaking, hiding, and running later they reached the top level of the city. Lin led the way with trained efficiency, ordering them along with silent hand signals and keeping them out of sight of every single guard patrol along their path. The time she had spent memorizing the guard routes and schedules did not go to waste in the slightest. That advantage ran out once they reached the palace. From here, they'd be going in blind. Mostly, anyway.
"Give me a second," Lin said, as she raised one of her legs into the air. The bottom of her metal boot slid open. Keeping her eyes closed, she stomped against the ground and concentrated. "Yula's bedchambers are at the rear of the west wing. I'm counting six different guard patrols on the way there, but I think I can get us through unseen. Follow me."
Lin made a beeline for the rear wall of the palace, towards a blind spot in the guard patrols. She shifted apart the stone wall as quietly as she could and slipped inside, while Kuvira and Kya followed. When they were inside, she closed the wall behind them and led the way through the tall stone corridors. Even without knowing guard routes in advance, Lin found a clear path to their destination. Every so often, she paused to utilize her seismic sense, refreshing her understanding of the palace layout.
When they made it into the west wing, Lin halted in front of the bend that led towards the royal bedchamber. "There are two guards stationed outside the doors. We'll need to do this fast and take them down before they can alert anyone else."
Kuvira nodded. "I'm ready."
Lin raised a hand and counted to three on her fingers. As soon as she held up her third finger, both she and Kuvira lunged around the corner. Lin fired both police cables from her wrists, while Kuvira shot off a pair of metal strips from her bracers. The guards didn't even realize they were under attack before the cables wrapped around their waists and spun them off balance. Their sharp gasps of surprise silenced when the metal strips wrapped over their mouths. Lin reeled in the cables, dragging the guards across the ground. Kuvira raced forward to meet them halfway down the corridor, and delivered two sharp blows to their heads. Both guards slumped unconscious to the floor.
"The next patrol is heading away from us, but they'll be returning soon," Lin said, as she released the cables and reeled them back to her wrists. "We need to do this now."
Kya made her way around the corner to join them outside the bedchamber. "Speaking of which, who's actually going to, you know... do it?"
Kuvira bowed her head with a deep sigh, not allowing the pause to linger. "I will."
"Are you sure?" Lin narrowed a questioning gaze at her. "I know you and Yula have... well, a history."
"Yeah, I'm sure," she replied, with a slow nod. "I'm the one who got Yula involved in this in the first place. I should be the one to end it."
Lin didn't argue, but she did offer a reassuring touch to Kuvira's shoulder. "The ceiling is high. I'd go for an aerial attack, drop in from above when she's not looking. End it quick."
"Right... I can do that."
"We'll stand watch outside. Good luck."
Kuvira tunneled into the stone walls of the palace, moving as fast as she could without making any noise. Silent, like a shadow. Within moments, she positioned herself in the ceiling above the bedchamber. She leaned forward, opening a hole large enough to peer out of. Yula sat in front of a dresser some fifteen feet below, brushing her hair in the mirror. Completely unaware. Completely vulnerable. Kuvira sucked in a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and extended the metal plates along her bracer into a long blade. Moment of truth. This was how she stopped a war.
By murdering a woman who she used to call her friend.
"I'm sorry, Yula," she whispered, as she let herself fall free from the ceiling.
Her descent took but a moment. A moment that crawled, warping her senses in slow motion. Yula noticed Kuvira's growing shadow beneath her. She looked upward, saw the attack. Too late to defend. Too late to save herself. Panic flared in the young woman's eyes, and she screamed—a terrified, frightened scream. That split second shook something in Kuvira. Recognition. Understanding. Something was wrong. This woman, this girl—this wasn't Yula
Time sped up again. Kuvira shifted her blade at the last possible moment, a desperate attempt to avoid vital organs. Sharpened steel punctured clean through the girl's abdomen, out the other side. The girl crumpled against her with a squeal of agony, coughing a spray of blood onto the floor.
"No..." Kuvira held herself close against the girl, keeping the blade in place to plug the bleeding. Dear spirits, she was just a girl, no older than seventeen. "No, no, no... You aren't Yula. Why aren't you Yula?"
"I'm... sis-sis...ter..." the girl uttered, choking her words out through quiet shrieks of pain.
Kuvira's mind flared with memory. This girl had been at Zaofu, when Yula met them before the attack. This was Yula's sister. "Shayu... That's your name, right?"
"Hurts..." Shayu sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her face contorted with a miserable combination of horror and torture. "It... hurts... s-so... much..."
"I know, it's okay," Kuvira insisted, in as soothing a tone as she could manage. A miserable attempt at consoling the poor girl. "Everything's going to be okay."
Shayu turned a confused, anguished look towards her. "Why...?"
"You weren't supposed to be here," Kuvira muttered, squinting her eyes shut tight. "You were supposed to be... Damn it, why aren't you Yula?"
Shayu slumped limp against Kuvira and broke into another fit of sobbing. "Can't f-feel... legs... I-I can't..."
"Kya!" Kuvira called, raising her voice as loud as possible. "Kya, get in here! I need you!"
The bedroom doors burst open, as Lin and Kya raced inside. They froze halfway across the room, when they noticed the scene within.
"What in the flameo—" Lin's eyebrows lifted in recognition. "That's not Yula!"
"Yeah, I know," Kuvira said. "It's her sister."
Kya gasped, holding a hand over her mouth. "She used her own sister as a decoy? Did she know we were coming?"
"I don't know, but we have to help her!" Kuvira eased the sobbing girl onto her side, and waved for the waterbender forward. "Kya, get over here. I can't remove the blade until you're ready to heal, or she'll lose too much blood."
"Okay, okay, just a second." Kya dropped to her knees, guiding out a stream of water from a small vial on her belt with a wave of her arm. The water bubbled around her hands, and began to glow. "Ready, on three. One, two... three!"
Kuvira retracted the blade in a single motion, drawing a lash of crimson into the air. Shayu loosed an anguished scream, as Kya placed her hands on both sides of the wound. With a glowing pulse of water, Shayu's blood ceased flowing, remaining inside her body. Moments later, frantic shouts burst from down the corridor outside the bedchamber. Lin ran to the entrance and looked down the hall, where no less than ten guards were sprinting towards them.
"Kya, you'd better hurry." Lin flicked her wrists, extending a pair of blades from beneath her bracers. "We're about to have company."
