"I got it" Asami said to Korra. She signaled to three officers nearby to get into one of the police cars. She hopped onto the driver's seat and stepped on the gas, sirens flaring.

First, she followed the smoke, then she let the wreckage left by the firebender on the loose lead the way, the earthbenders on the car clearing the road. She was baffled. Why leave such a noticeable trace if you were trying to escape? This dude must be maniacal, trying to cause as much havoc as possible.

She slammed the brakes making everybody in the car pivoted violently in their seats, a wall of blue flames blocking the entry to narrow alley.

"On foot it is, then" said one of the officers, slamming the car's door and firebending the flames away. He then run into the alley, Asami and the two other officers following suit.

Asami couldn't see past the hungry blue flames that engulfed her vision seconds after stepping into the alleyway, but she could have sworn there was a shadow climbing up the fence at the other end of the passage before the two officers blocked the flames with ramparts.

Asami run to the metal fence ignoring the firebender officer yelling her to stick behind him. The metal seemed to be melting from the heat, now turned an angry bluish red. She had never seen something like it outside her workshop. She had never seen blue fire at all. A certain uneasiness grew inside her. She fidgeted with her glove, making sure it worked.

The hot fence was bended away, and the chase continued. The fugitive made no efforts in hiding its trail, a tail of blue fire marking its passing. It was so devoid of sense that Asami worried for a second about the fugitive luring them to a trap. But its moves seemed too erratic to be on purpose, led more by panic and less by reason.

And finally, the chase came to its inevitable conclusion. The fugitive was trapped. It had cornered itself on a dead end, walls of tall buildings blocking any possible escape route. It tried creating its own anyways, aiming the fury of its firebending to the stoic walls, trying to will them into submission.

The target of its wrath swiftly changed when Asami and the officers started closing in from behind. Asami raised her gloved hand prepared to knocked the fugitive out, but stood frozen in place, unsure about what to do.

The other officers didn't seem to hesitate as she did. The two earthbenders tied the fugitive's hands and feet from a distance with the metal wire from their suits. They tensed the line up until the fugitive layed laying starfished on the ground, the metal wire glowing red from the blue flames still shooting from its extremities, scorching the skin beneath.

"Stop" she said under her breath, unable speak any louder. None of the officers heard her, and kept tightening their grasp on the fugitive, who was screaming from its self-inflicted injuries.

"STOP, STOP" Asami shrieked, her voice breaking "Stop, it's just a child"

A girl, as far as she could tell, maybe four or five years old, she was small, and she was scared and in pain.

The earthbenders looked at each other in confusion, still not letting go. Asami's desperation escalated "Let go of her, she has nowhere to run, she won't escape" she wanted to sound firm, but her words came out more like a plea. It didn't matter, it worked, and the earthbenders let go of the girl.

She immediately breathed out a weak column of fire from her mouth, her hands too sore to do so, and scattered to a dark corner. Her silhouette disappeared, but the traces of blue flame escaping her nostrils was still visible against the black wall.

Asami told the three officers to back down while she walked carefully towards the girl, weak blue flames appearing in disapproval every time she made any sudden movements. She was a few steps away from the girl when Asami gained enough courage to speak.

"Hi there, I'm Asami" she said sweetly, but the girl still got startled by the voice and instinctually drew a circle of fire around herself shielding her face between her knees. Asami felt a knot form in her throat "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you" the girl didn't attack as Asami kept approaching, but she didn't seem to believe her words either, after all, only seconds ago they were chasing and restraining her.

"We were confused, we just thought you were a bad guy" she kneeled beside the girl, finally close enough to see her clearly. She was huddled over, cupping her injured hands, reddish markings going up her sleeves. Asami fought the impulse to stare in horror and instead looked up at the girl's face, piercing eyes almost as blue as the fire she produced staring back at her. "But now we know it's just you, so you don't have to run or be afraid anymore" she tried hiding the shaking in her voice, trying to sound reassuring "I am so sorry about earlier, but I promise we can help you now" the girl turned slightly towards Asami as this one stretched a hand, inviting her to grab it. "Maybe find your mom and dad"

Asami had to pull her hand away quickly as a new flame with renovated vigor stood between her and the girl. She tumbled backwards but managed to catch herself, unburned. The three officers behind her were already coming to her aid, but she dismissed them with a slight move of a hand, begging them not to move, suspecting it wouldn't end up well for either party involved.

"It's okay, we don't have to do anything you don't want to" she reassured, getting closer to the girl once again "Can you tell me your name?" She asked but no words came out of the girl, only a quiet whimper as she blew on her hands, the last attack invigorating the stinging in her wounds. "How about we make your hands feel better first" for the first time the girl seemed to acknowledge Asami's words, and gave her a barely-there-nod. Asami breathed out, letting go of a sigh she didn't know was holding. "We have to get out of here first, though" she held her hand out once again but this time the girl grabbed onto Asami's fingers. Her skin was scorching hot.

The girl tried to walk, but limped and then stumbled to the ground after a few steps, her ankles also burned from before. She looked up at Asami, her little heart-shaped face filled with uncertainty "It's okay, I can carry you" she kneeled before the girl who immediately stared at her electric glove with panic written in her face. Asami removed it hastily, tossing it to the side, far away from them, regretting not having done it sooner. She could almost feel the tacit complaint from the officers behind her. "That's nothing for you to worry about" she said, stretching both arms out for her.

And slowly, doubtfully, the girl approached Asami, wrapping her arms around her neck and her little legs around her torso. Asami wobbled up to her feet, suddenly burden by a weigh far greater than she was prepared to carry. But she remained steady nonetheless, a firm hand pressed on the girl's back, feeling her quicken heart beating against her palm. She closed her eyes before walking back to the officers, whose faces looked bewildered.

"Where's Asami?" she heard a familiar voice howl not too far away, and she felt the little girl shrink in their embrace, trying to burrow further into Asami's chest. As a response, Asami quickly shifted her touch from the girl's back to her nape, almost protectively, stroking the tangled-up hair as she stepped outside the dark alleyway.

She saw Korra covered in ashes and dirt in the distance, only the girl in her arms preventing her from running to her encounter. Korra saw her too, her face shifting from worry, to relief to confusion. But even if she didn't fully understand, she noticed Asami's methodic and calculated steps, and slowed down, approaching her wife as if she was a scared fox antelope.

They reached each other and Korra placed a hand on the arm Asami was wrapping the girl with. "Who is she?" she whispered, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl's face, nestled in Asami's neck.

"I don't know".