Asami walked blindly, taking turns at random as she stalked through the dark city streets. A thin layer of snow crunched underneath her boots. It was still the middle of the night, and she met no one.
Ostensibly she was on her way back to Korra and the others, but Asami was in no hurry to get there. She'd volunteered to return to Katara's to share the news of Korra's return, but she'd left the old waterbender hours ago. Since then, she'd simply been walking.
The events of the past few hours ran through her head on an endless circuit. The initial trip from Katara's to the small warehouse that Team Avatar had made their rendezvous point. The mixed feelings of excitement and shame as she lied easily to her friends about her journey to the South Pole. Her blush at Mako's eager embrace, oddly unfamiliar after two weeks apart. The joy and relief when Korra had arrived shortly after, whole and unharmed.
The shock as Korra flung her arms around Mako and kissed him. The crushing humiliation as he kissed her back. Asami's face burned at the memory.
Coming down from her thoughts she found that she'd turned into an empty, open square. In the center stood a statue of a man, perhaps ten feet tall, his feet astride a large stone plinth. The statue was surrounded by a ring of stone benches covered in patches of snow and ice. The entire area had an unused look that made Asami think it had been some time since the residents of the Southern Water Tribe had spent time idling outside.
Asami made her way over to the closest bench, brushed off some snow, and sat, suddenly tired. The moon was now high in the sky, and its light cast deep shadows among the stone. The wind had picked up a little, and swirls of snow danced across the vacant square. She shivered.
It wasn't that she was still in love with Mako. Thinking about it now, she wondered if she ever really had been. When they'd met, completely by chance, she'd been totally swept off her feet. Mako had been so different from the posh, insipid men who typically chased a good-looking, wealthy heiress like herself. Part of her was enthralled by his rags to riches—or at least, rags to famous pro-bender—story, excited to be dating someone with a bit of an edge. The other part of her enjoyed Mako the project, introducing him to the fine foods, clothes, and culture of Republic City's high society.
And, she had to face it, she'd liked the attention. Mako was handsome, a professional athlete, and very obviously attracted to her. His close friendship with the Avatar, whatever it had eventually become, had also pulled Asami into the limelight. When the Equalists first emerged as a serious threat, she'd been thrilled to be considered part of the tight-knit team tasked with taking them down. It was only after Korra was kidnapped that she understood Mako's closeness to the Avatar might be more than mere friendship. Their breakup hadn't been pretty, but after a few months the bitterness faded and she'd be pleased to discover that she could still consider both him and Korra friends.
Asami slumped forward and rested her chin on her hands. Thinking of those first, heady days with Mako had used to make her feel sad. Now, she was starting to see how superficial they had really been. Mako had wanted her, and in his way had been eager to please. Yet looking back, she was hard-pressed to think of anything he'd done for or with her that hadn't been completely generic. Walks in the city, drives in her car, flowers from a stall, pro-bending matches, a few particularly memorable sessions in her pool while her father was away. But Mako had never asked her about her inventions, her future plans, or what she thought about world events. She'd picked all the restaurants. He'd never so much as made her a cup of tea without her asking for it first. She'd had fun, but now she couldn't shake the feeling that she could have been anybody.
Asami shivered again at the thought of hot tea. It was very cold now, and the heat of her walk had dissipated. Even in her suit she would have to get indoors soon. But she was in no hurry to return. What she wouldn't give for a roaring fire, right here in the middle of the square. The thought made Asami a little sad. Iroh had never mentioned a return journey, presumably keeping his options open. There would be no more campfires for her.
The worst part wasn't the realization that Mako and Korra made more sense together than he and Asami ever would. It was that she'd been completely and publicly humiliated. When Asami had discovered the theft of nearly all of Future Industries mecha tanks, Mako had been there to lean on. She'd seen all her hopes and dreams for rebuilding the company, for making a name for herself in her own right, crumble in the light of that devastating loss. Mako had been sympathetic, and in the wake of he and Korra's split he'd also been available. He'd told her he believed in her. He'd looked at her with his brilliant, red-gold eyes, his face full of genuine concern, and she'd suddenly clung to the idea that someone, anyone, was in her corner. That was all it had taken.
But Korra's recent ordeal, a fight with a powerful dark spirit, had apparently made her forget all about the fact that Mako had ended things. And the look on Bolin's face when his brother had kissed the Avatar had told her everything she needed to know about how secret she and Mako's rekindled relationship had been. Asami had now been left twice by the same man, for the same woman, and though she was furious at Mako she was more furious with herself for having allowed it to happen in the first place.
Asami blinked away a few frustrated tears. What was she, some backup option for every man in her life? She'd felt like the center of her father's universe after her mother had died, but in the end, Hiroshi Sato had been willing to sacrifice her for a pack of raving lunatics. When she thought about it, for years he'd also kept her far from the business side of Future Industries, despite her obvious interest. She was proud of what she'd done with the company since she took over, but with fresh eyes she saw that no one, not the investors nor the staff nor even her own father, had wanted that outcome.
Asami wiped at her eyes and looked up at the statue in the center of the plaza. She realized that she recognized the man. It was Councilman Sokka, brother of Master Katara and one of the original members of Team Avatar. His long, angular face was topped with the kind of traditional topknot that had gone out of fashion long before she was born. He looked tall and resolute, his blank eyes staring into the distance as if in challenge to some unseen threat.
Asami remembered that Sokka, too, had been the only non-bender on the original Team Avatar. She didn't know as much about Councilman Sokka as she knew about Aang and his wife, and she found herself wondering if he'd ever felt jealous of the Avatar. Or if he'd ever been left for a powerful bender, for that matter. Asami had never felt treated differently by her bender friends, but it was true that even with her mecha augmentation there were some things she'd never be able to share with them. Even someone like Iroh, who only seemed to use his bending for menial tasks unless there was an immediate threat, was certainly expected to bring home a powerful firebender to join him in the Fire Nation one day. However well they had hit it off on their trip, someone like her would never belong in that world. In her darkest of thoughts, Asami sometimes wondered if the Equalists had had a point after all.
She shook her head and tried to focus. She knew that she was being selfish, and that the middle of a war was no time for sulking. Korra had also returned with chilling news about Chief Unalaq and his plans, and it seemed that time was short. Asami had been so thrown off by the abrupt end to her relationship with Mako that she was only starting to process what it all meant. According to Korra, Unalaq's ultimate goal was to merge with an ancient dark spirit called Vaatu to form some kind of anti-Avatar. She seemed to think that if he managed to free Vaatu from its prison by the end of the next day, a time of some sort of cosmic alignment called harmonic convergence, it would set off a chain reaction that would plunge the world into 10,000 years of darkness and chaos. If Unalaq wasn't stopped, and soon, the civil war would be the least of their worries.
Asami jerked her head up. She'd been so wrapped up in her own self-pity that she hadn't put things together. Korra had said that Unalaq wasn't only stirring up dark spirits; he was actually working with them. Which meant that the spirits' attacks for the most part weren't random. They were an extension of his army. She and Iroh had barely survived the encounter with the dark spirit at Fa Re, and she suspected then they'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. What would it mean to have a deliberate, coordinated attack from a force of dozens, or even hundreds of the creatures?
Iroh had gone alone to the spirit portal after Unalaq. And Iroh didn't know.
Asami returned to the building where Korra and the others were staying just before sunrise. It had taken her far longer than she'd wanted to find her way back after hours of wandering the streets at random, and at one point she'd had to backtrack significantly. She slipped as quietly as she could through the big gray doors that formed the side entrance; she didn't think she'd been followed, but the team had agreed to try to not to advertise their location. As soon as the door clicked closed she heard a shout from inside.
"Asami!" yelled Mako, running to her. He stopped short just in front of her, as if he'd suddenly thought better of it. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly instead. "We were so worried. Where have you been?" To his credit Mako actually did look concerned, although Asami thought it would be a long time before she believed anything he said completely.
"Is everything all right?" called Tenzin as he jogged over to them. He looked scared. Completely bald and one of the tallest men she knew, the airbending master towered over Asami. He put one hand on her shoulder, almost shaking her. "Is my mother okay? Jinora?" Tenzin's oldest daughter was under Katara's care at a nearby healing center.
"No, no, everything is fine," Asami said, reaching up to remove his hand. "I just got a little lost on the way back, that's all."
"Thank goodness," sighed Tenzin. He put one hand on his bald head and gently massaged the large blue arrow tattooed on his scalp. "We had almost decided to go after you."
Asami felt a twinge of guilt. She'd been so wrapped up in her own thoughts it seems like she'd forgotten about more than just Iroh's danger. "I'm sorry if I made you worry. We can go now. I'm ready."
"Go?" said Tenzin, puzzled. By this time the rest of the group had gathered as well: Korra, Mako's brother Bolin, and Master Katara's two other children Kya and Bumi. They clustered around Tenzin and Mako, their faces various mixes of confusion, concern, and exhaustion. It seemed like everyone had had a rough night.
"To the spirit portal," Asami said. "To stop Unalaq." She cursed herself for having taken as long as she had to return, but now that she was back they couldn't spare another minute. But Tenzin shook his head.
"It's okay, Asami, we weren't leaving yet. Get some rest first. You look frozen."
"No, it's really fine." She jogged over to where she'd left her things and began putting on her glove. "I'll be ready in a minute."
"Asami, wait," said Tenzin. "Harmonic convergence isn't for another 12 hours or so. We know that Unalaq has moved the bulk of his army to protect his access to the spirit portal. We can't just go rushing off now."
"We can't just sit here, either!" she snapped. Her voice rang loudly in the mostly empty building. Why couldn't they see that they had to go now? Every second they stood around here stalling was a second that anyone who'd gone off in search of Unalaq would have no idea of the danger he was in.
Asami realized a half second later that the whole group was staring at her. Tenzin looked at her through knitted brows, his face a combination of worry and anger. Mako's eyes were wide with shock. Korra gave her a bewildered stare.
Bolin took a step towards her, his green eyes pained. "We're not just sitting here, Asami," he said earnestly. "I promise. Commander Bumi and me and Mako have been looking at the maps that Chief Tonraq gave us, and Korra thinks maybe if we make some kind of distraction a few of us can get past the army." He held up a map as if to prove that they had, indeed, been working.
Inside, Asami was furious. Team Avatar's planning was where Iroh's had been days ago, and with far more resources at their disposal. Was "some kind of distraction" really the best they could come up with? But she knew now that she wasn't going to convince anyone by acting like a crazy person. She needed some kind of argument, a reason to move faster.
"What if," she said slowly, trying to appear reasonable, "what if someone were trying to stop Unalaq, but they didn't know that he was working with the spirits? Or about Vaatu, and what could happen if it was freed? They'd have no idea what they were up against. If we wait here, they could be walking into a disaster, and it would be our fault for not helping."
"Asami," said Tenzin in a calm voice. He sounded like he was talking to one of his children. "The Water Tribe resistance are either with us or captured; at any rate, everyone who would pose a serious threat to Unalaq is accounted for. We were waiting for Korra before mounting any kind of offensive ourselves. No one is rushing off after Unalaq unawares, I promise." He peered down at her, his gray eyes curious. "Unless there is anything that you're not telling us?"
Asami swallowed. Executed he said he could be executed. "No," she said. "I don't know of anything in particular. I meant, maybe, what if some of the citizens decided to take matters into their own hands?" She looked pointedly at each of her companions. "I know most of us would try to defend Republic City ourselves, if we thought we had no other choice."
"With the Avatar," said Tenzin, "or with at least some kind of trained force. Not alone."
Korra stepped forward. "Tenzin, maybe Asami is right," she said, turning to the airbender. "I don't know that anyone is crazy enough to try to go one-on-one with Unalaq, but we only have a few hours until harmonic convergence. We should go now and end this."
"No," said Tenzin. "Look at you, both of you. Korra, you're exhausted. You've barely been back a couple of hours, and Asami here just arrived as well. If we go after Unalaq now, we may as well hand him the victory." He looked at the entire group. "Get some rest, and that's final. That means all of you. Even if you can't sleep, find a cot and close your eyes anyway. We'll leave in a few hours, I promise."
Korra opened her mouth to object, but Tenzin cut her off. "My bison, my rules, Avatar Korra. If you want to get there on Oogi instead of hiking six miles in the snow, you'll do as I say." Korra snapped her mouth shut and glared at Tenzin, then made her way to a nearby cot and sat down in a huff. Mako hesitated, then went and sat beside her.
Asami closed her eyes, defeated. If even Korra had caved, the argument was well and truly over. She would just have to hope that whatever Iroh was up to, he would be okay for the next couple of hours or know enough to get out if he found himself in over his head.
Right, because backing off from a fight sounds just like him. She groaned inwardly, remembering the hard pressure on her shoulder as Iroh had shoved her out of the way of the charging spirit, instead taking the full hit himself. He wasn't reckless, but she knew he wouldn't back down if he thought his actions could save others.
All she could do now was wait. As powerless as it made her feel, she had to admit that she would be of little use alone. There was no way that she could go to the portal herself without at least some of Team Avatar. Besides, her plane was miles away, and even if she could get to it she knew it would be almost impossible to sneak up on the encampment with the sound of the engines. They would hear her coming from miles away.
Because planes are loud, she thought suddenly. Planes are obvious. And though her own aircraft was both far away and best kept a secret besides, unless she was mistaken, Asami wasn't the only person in the South Pole with a biplane. Perhaps the idea of a distraction wasn't as bad as she'd thought.
"Bolin!" she called, "I have an idea. I'd like to take a look at that map of yours. Have you ever wanted to fly?"