"I still can't believe you arrested the Avatar." Liang threw his girlfriend a look over his shoulder. He checked the expiry date of the bread in his hands and kept it back on the shelf, sighing.

"Yeah, well," Zhu was torn between deciding whether she wanted oolong tea or white dragon tea. The latter was expensive but to die for. "She was tossing the cops away like sacks of rice. And she picked a fight with some Triad members. Ruined a couple of shops." Maybe I should splurge this once...

The man slipped in a carton of eggs in the basket that Zhu was carrying, "What kind of a person is she?" He took the basket from her hands and walked further down the grocery store, "Why don't you just get tea bags for both?"

"Tea bags?" Zhu scoffed, keeping the bag of oolong tea leaves back from where she picked it, "Tea made from tea bags is polluted and fake and plastic-y and fake. It's like people are finding shortcuts to enjoy the most delightful things in life." She placed the white dragon tea leaves in the carrier, next to the baijiu, "Korra is...hot-headed. A 'shoot first and ask questions if alive' person. Like...she feels that being the Avatar gives her the privilege to get away with anything."

Liang let out a hum in response.

"Do you need spinach?"

"Yeah. And cabbage." He gestured, "Didn't you buy fireflakes a few days ago?"

Zhu rolled her eyes, nudging him with her hip, "I did and then I ate them so I bought more. That reminds me," She moved closer to him, giving way to another customer, "Will you come to the match tomorrow? The Fireferrets are playing against the Tigerdillos. Ugh, no! Don't buy that brand of konpeito. It's disgusting."

"If I do come for the match," Liang smiled at her and Zhu felt her heart flutter, "I can't stay for long. I have work."

She furrowed her brows, "Doesn't your shift end early?"

"I'm covering for Officer Nam."

They checked out their groceries and stepped out of the store. The late evening breeze was cool against their skin. Liang insisted that he carry the heavier bags while walking her home, despite her protests.

"I'm capable of going back home by myself, you know." She laced their hands together as they walked.

The man shrugged, his brown eyes looking at her warmly, "Maybe I just want to spend time with my girlfriend."

"Aren't you sweet." Zhu brought Liang's hand up and kissed the back of it.

They made small talk all the way till Zhu's house. Liang's declined her offer of coming inside for a while. He stood at the bottom of the stairs of the gate, with his hands in his uniform pockets. Zhu turned to look at him, her back pressed against the cold metal of the gate.

"Thank you for walking me home, Detective Liang," She smiled fondly, "I will see you tomorrow."

His gaze made her want to melt, and as he tilted his head upwards, leaning towards her, Zhu's breath hitched. Their arms curled around each other and -

"You're blocking the way."

Lin Beifong's voice made the two jump apart. Zhu hit the gate with the back of her head. Liang stumbled a little further away from the entrance.

"Chief-Chief Beifong," The man laughed nervously, tugging at his collar. "I didn't know...I didn't..that you...here…"

The woman crossed her arms with eyebrows arched, unimpressed, "This is my house."

"Of course..I-I mean.."

"Go home, detective."

Liang opened and closed his mouth wondering what to say. He looked towards Zhu, who was rubbing her head in pain. He turned back to the lady, "Good-goodnight, Chief." To Zhu he spoke more softly, "Goodnight, Zhu. I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Zhu waved at him, biting her lip. Before she could say anything to her mother, the metal behind her disappeared and Zhu fell backwards. Instead of crashing to the ground, she did a backflip and stood up straight.

"Uncalled for." The girl frowned at her mother, who simply brushed past her, through the garden and up the stairs of their front door. Zhu stood on her toes and looked over the stone wall that surrounded their house, to see if she could spot Liang. Unfortunately he was there anymore. Huffing, she followed Lin inside.

Placing the groceries on the kitchen table top, Zhu frowned at Lin, who was busy rummaging through the pantry. The woman was mumbling under her breath about one smug Avatar.

"Kazu ate the last apple pie, if you're looking for it." Zhu sighed, sorting the vegetables in the refrigerator.

Lin cursed loudly. There was a crashing noise and the firebender could only guess that her mother had flung the earthen pot from under the sink, where she usually hid her snacks. There wasn't much of hiding since everyone knew that Lin stacked up on food to satisfy her stress eating habits. Only Kazuki had the gall to mess with the terrifying woman's food.

"I'm going to beat that brat's butt." Lin hissed, biting into a soggy biscuit, "Kick his ass all the way to his fancy palace."

"I'll make tea." Her daughter stated, guiding the woman to the dining table by her shoulders. "Are you still upset about Councilman Ten-"

"No." Lin snapped and the iron window panes rattled, "I don't give a damn about him. It's Korra. That rude, irresponsible little - Her head is in the clouds. Did nobody tell her about the bloody Equalists? That girl is inviting trouble for everyone. I never knew the White Lotus to be so damn incompetant. Useless. Now I'll have to increase security, send out more patrols. Not to mention Tarrlok's being a - a -"

"A bitch?" Zhu placed a steaming cup of tea in front of her mother, and sat across her.

"Exactly. Watch your language." Lin offhandedly grumbled the last sentence, sipping from her cup as Zhu did the same. "He's going to be over the damn moon, now that the Avatar's here. That hog-monkey's been wanting to set up a task force to fight the chi-blockers but none of the other council members agreed. Thank flameo -"

"A team of metalbenders, I assume." Zhu interrupted.

Lin sighed heavily, pressing a hand to her temple, "The hate crimes are increasing every week. A waterbending healer was found murdered in his office in the Jade Lily estate."

Zhu let out a whistle, "They're making their way to the city central then."

"It's not the Equalists," The police chief said grimly, "It's their followers. And a few groups of benders are claiming to 'fight back'. The Triads, Agni Kais, they're all getting involved in this. The slums are becoming unsafe too. Children getting caught in crossfire..."

The mention of children being injured brought back memories of the trafficking incident. Zhu grit her teeth as something pricked her heart.

"I can work with Guo and the non-profit organization he set up," She said, "We can try to shift some people to the underground tunnels."

"The sewer system?" Lin frowned.

Zhu nodded, "There's a small community of homeless people who stay there. We can build shelters, set up tents and provide the necessary facilities. If Chen's willing to help - and from what I remember, he did say he is - we can maybe design a cleaner environment for the people to live in. The sewers by the port side, the ones that flow into Yue Bay...Chen said that there were a few errors in the construction. Maybe we can use a couple of water benders and earthbenders to redirect them towards the treatment plants. Those tunnels are one of the few to get sufficient sunlight. We can make it habitable. The NGO said that they'll help look for employment for the homeless. Work that'll help them get by."

Her mother narrowed her eyes in curiosity, "You seem to have put a lot of thought into it. Where did you get the city plans?"

"Honestly, Chen has more ideas than I do. He came up with most of it." Zhu grinned, "We came across the blueprints by accident while we were in the City Library."

"What about Guo?"

"He's agreed to participate." She picked up the empty tea cups and made her way to the kitchen, "He was already planning on approaching the council with a similar project. I'll ask Chen about it when I see him. Speaking of which," Zhu poked her head out of the kitchen, "Where is he?"

"No idea." Lin looked at her, "Guo's in the legislative council, isn't he? Why is he…?"

Zhu shrugged, "Tarrlok. He's been giving non-benders a tough time in a passive aggressive way. Gives them mostly redundant work, sends them home early. Guo has a lot of time on his hand, now that Suvi is in school."

Her mother got up from the chair, "Well, can't say I'm surprised by his behaviour," She referred to Tarrlok, "Good luck on the project." Lin's features softened at her daughter's smiling face, "Stay safe. Don't get into trouble."

"I'll try my best."

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Liang leaned sideways, towards Zhu, "But I think the waterbender is half-assing this match."

The two were sitting in one of the middle row seats at the the Pro-bending arena. The waterbending member of the Fireferrets, Hasook, had stumbled and crashed into Bolin. Both of them had fallen off the playing area and into the moat. Zhu had cursed loudly, surprising the family sitting next to her. The match had been tough from the beginning. The Fireferrets lost the first round to the Tigerdillos, but won the second. Mostly due to Mako. And now, in the final round, the firebender was facing off against the entire team by himself.

"Hasook's always been bitch." Zhu replied, biting her nails.

Liang checked his pocket watch for what felt like the hundredth time, "Zhu, I need to leave."

Mako was dodging the onslaught of attacks. He took down one of the opponents. The crowd erupted in cheers and hoots.

"What?" The girl frowned, "The match is going to end any second!"

"I'm really sorry." He pressed a kiss to her cheek, "I need to get going. Tell your friends I said hi." Liang got up and before Zhu could protest any further, had hurried out of the hall.

Zhu let out a sigh and focused on the match. Now it was just Mako versus the earthbender. They continued to exchange attacks. The firebender broke through the earth discs sent his way. The destruction of the discs made dust engulf the field. The earthbender did not anticipate the shot of fire as Mako leaped out of the smoke and attacked. The opponent flew out of the ring, right into the water below.

"It's a knockout!" Shiro Shinobi's rang, "What a wing-dinger of a hat trick, folks! Mako pulls off the upset of the season, winning the match for the Fire Ferrets!"

Throwing both her hands up, Zhu yelled and punched the air. She pushed past the crowd, ran down the stairs and towards the locker room. Not everyone was given access to the rest of the stadium. But Zhu had casually flashed her Beifong crest that she carried in her pocket with a smug smile on her face, and nobody seemed to question her any further.

She saw Hasook storming out of the locker room. He bumped shoulders with her, scowling at her as he walked by. Zhu sneered at him.

"Bitch."

Zhu was gone before he whirled around at the insult, ready to fight.

"Oh, you're still here?" She walked in on Mako scoffing at a third person and-

"Oh, you're still a jerk?"

Surprise, surprise. Of course the Avatar likes Pro-Bending, Zhu let out an exasperated sigh. She caught the attention of the three. Bolin took two long strides and threw his arms around her, yelling about how they won and that he thought they were going to get eliminated today.

"I was there, Bo." Zhu laughed as he let her go. She turned towards Mako, who was facing the lockers, "Great job, captain. Match was a nail-biter"

"Yeah," The teenager grumbled, "No thanks to Hasook."

"Hey, you're that cop from before!" Korra pointed, "Officer Zhu."

Zhu crossed her arms, "Yes. And you're Korra."

The Avatar tried to reel in her annoyance at the cop's nonchalance. Before she could open her mouth, Bolin interrupted.

"Korra," He wrapped an arm around Zhu's shoulder, "This is my best friend, Zhu. I see you've already met but I wanted to do the introduction any way. Zhu, this is Korra, our new friend -" Mako let out a scoff that everyone pointedly ignored, "- Be nice." The earthbender squeezed her shoulder, sending her a pleading look.

Zhu sighed, "I did say 'no hard feelings', didn't I?"

"Yeah," Korra nodded, "You did say that. That reminds me," She turned to Bolin, "I've been immersed in Bending my entire life but I never learned how to move like that. It's like there's a whole new style here. Think you could show me a few tricks?"

"Absolutely!" Bolin agreed enthusiastically and Zhu snickered.

Mako frowned, looking over his shoulder, "Right now? Come on, Bolin."

"She asked for Bo, not you." Zhu teased. He rolled his eyes at her and she smirked back.

Bolin covered his mouth and whispered to Korra, "Just ignore him." He puffed out his chest, "Yeah, I could show you the basics. I'm just not sure how my earthbending would translate to your waterbending. But we'll figure it out."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, would it, Korra?" Zhu tilted her head towards her. The Avatar grinned at her.

"Nope. Won't be a problem." She crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm actually an Earthbender."

Bolin blinked rapidly, then blushed out of embarrassment, "I'm sorry, no, no. I didn't mean to assume. Cause I, ya know, I was just figuring, with your Water Tribe getup... that you are... a water tribe... gal."

Korra enjoyed the way he fumbled over words, "No, you're right. I am waterbender..."

"Also a firebender, don't forget." Zhu contributed

The curly haired boy rubbed his chin while thinking, "Mhmm. I'm very confused right now."

"You're the Avatar," Mako realized and then lowered his head, closing his eyes, "and I'm an idiot."

Korra had a smug look on her face, "Both are true."

Zhu snickered under her breath. Mako stared at her with irritation. She shrugged, walked over to him, and helped him take off his gloves.

Bolin had a look of awe on his face, "No... way." He turned to his brother and Zhu, then whispered, pointing at Korra, "The Avatar!"

"So, she's the one you arrested yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Nice."

Mako and Zhu sat on the stairs, talking about things here and there. The latter had rarely spent more than five minutes with the brothers since she was busy with her job. She usually saw them early in the morning, when she dropped off their breakfast. The last time she had promised to spend time with them, Zhu had left in the middle of their dinner, declaring that she had solved the murder because of something Bolin had said.

Secretly feeling glad that she was here, Mako stared at the back of her head. Zhu's shoulder was brushing against his knee as she sat one step below Mako. He offhandedly wondered how long Zhu's hair was because always wore the same braids in the front, the same buns tied at the bottom of her scalp. It suited her. She always looked nice.

Refraining from slapping himself, Mako blinked the thoughts away. He turned back to Korra and Bolin. His brother was giving her pointers about how she should always be on her toes, and not flatfooted. Korra nodded, shuffled on her toes for a bit and then punched the air, sending two disks flying swiftly into the net.

"Wow, nice adjustment! You're a natural at this." Bolin praised, widening his green eyes.

Mako hmphed and nodded, "Not bad."

Korra's shoulders drooped and she pointed at Mako, turning to his younger brother, "What's it take to impress this guy?"

The firebender furrowed his eyebrows, "What? I said not bad." He then shook his head, pushing off of the side of the stairs, making Zhu look at him, "You know what, it's getting late. I think I'm gonna turn in. You kids have fun." He walked past Korra and said sarcastically, "Nice to meet you, 'Avatar Korra'."

Korra forced a smile and replied in an equally dry tone, "Yeah, been a real pleasure."

"See you upstairs, bro." Mako called before calling for Zhu, "You coming?"

"Yeah." Zhu got up, straightening her kimono top. "You should get back to Air Temple Island soon, Korra," She walked past the Avatar, patting her on the shoulder, "We both know Tenzin's temper. He'll probably ground you or something if he finds out you snuck out."

"I didn't sneak out!" Korra insisted, looking slightly peeved.

"Oh?" Zhu looked over her shoulder as she followed Mako out of the gym, "Doesn't he feel Pro-Bending is a disgrace?"

Korra clicked her tongue but accepted that if Tenzin were to find out she's been avoiding air-bending training, he'd lose it. More so if he found out she snuck off to watch a match even after he specifically not to. Maybe he'd send her back home…

Clicking her tongue again, she turned to Bolin and pointed her thumb to the door, "What's with the two? Are they dating?"

"Wha?" His eyes widened, "Oh, no, no." He waved his arms in front of him, "Heh, not at all. Zhu's going to fix our equipment. Usually when she comes over after a match, she stitches up the rips in our uniform. Between you and me," Bolin leaned closer as if he were letting Korra in on a secret, "It's like she's a sewing and knitting maniac."

"Huh." Korra nodded, "And...upstairs? You guys live here?"

"Yeah, we live in the attic," Bolin shoved his hands in his pockets, "Nothing fancy, but we got a killer view. Now, let's get back to bending?"

Up in the attic, Zhu was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, calmly pulling the needle and thread across the tears in Mako's uniform. Mako was munching on an apple, sitting on the other end of the sofa. He watched as her fingers worked nimbly.

He found himself watching Zhu a lot whenever she was around.

"Is that all you're eating for dinner," Zhu glanced at him for a second before looking back at the fabric in her hands.

"Yeah," He took another bite, "I'm not that hungry. Besides, Bo loves the cabbage wraps."

Shooting him a withering look, Zhu turned over his tunic to examine it, "Hmm. Sure."

"So...Korra."

"What of her?"

Mako shifted in his seat, chewing, "What's she like?"

"Funny," Zhu folded his tunic and set it aside, "Liang asked me the same thing today. I wonder why people are so taken by her."

"Maybe because she's the Avatar?" He said, surprised by her nonchalance.

Zhu shifted so that she was facing him, still sitting cross-legged, "Yes, but...she hasn't done anything to deserve that respect. Just because she's the reincarnation of Aang and Roku and the hundreds before her, does not mean that she deserves to be on the pedestal the people place her on. Besides," She scowled, "she feels her Avatar status is supposed to impress everyone she meets."

Mako raised his brows, finishing the remaining apple, "Isn't it?" He burnt the apple core.

"Not unless she proves herself worthy of the title." Zhu's scowl deepened. "It's frustrating to see her act so immature."

"I thought you met her once?" Mako leaned back. "Aren't you being a little too harsh."

"I did. And I was there when Chief was speaking to her. Ugh, the arrogance - I just -" She punched into her palm in annoyance but then let her shoulders drop, "Maybe...maybe you're right. I am being a bit harsh. She's lived her whole life in the South Pole. Korra must be fascinated by the city. But…" Zhu covered her face with her hands, suddenly feeling exhausted, "I'm worried. With the Equalists and everything. Chief's been participating in every raid and it's becoming more dangerous. Have you heard the damn speeches?" She lifted her head, frowning, "They're so full of hate and so...so charismatically written!"

Mako blanched, "What?"

"Yeah, the content? Very alluring to the non-benders crowd. Full of empathy and sympathy," Zhu grumbled, "The Revelation, my ass…"

"When did you hear the speeches?" He asked.

"Once or twice, they've taken over the radio." She replied, "A few times on patrol. My colleagues and I talk about them from time to time. What started off with peaceful protests for non-benders' rights has turned into mob lynching."

Mako looked deep in thought, "I see. Maybe that's why the triads are so unsettled. They're creating alliances with each other and are mostly trying to get back at the Equalists."

"Shady Shin tell you all that?" Zhu clicked her tongue. She didn't want Mako or Bolin anywhere near the Triple Threat Triads. Zolt had taken a special fondness towards Mako after the boy proved that he could take on dangerous jobs. It was after winning multiple favours from the triad's boss that Mako was able to settle with just keeping accounts.

"He tried to rope me into working for them again." He scowled, "Like always."

"You need to tell Bolin," Zhu insisted, "You need to tell him to be careful of them. People are dying, Mako. Benders and non-benders. Bolin will be safe if he stays away from the Downtown side. Both of you will be safe."

Mako rested his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in comfort, "Don't worry about us, Zhu. I'll take care of Bo. We'll be fine. " He smiled at her, "You need to be careful too."

"Yeah," She looked away from him, placing her hand over his.

Every bone in Zhu's body wanted to curl up next to him, to bury her face in his neck. The heat she sensed from his body felt really comforting. She didn't want to leave. Maybe she could shift closer to him…

Liang's face flashed across her mind, jolting her out of her thoughts. Zhu felt disappointed with herself for having such feelings when she was perfectly happy with her nearly perfect boyfriend. The smile melted off her face. She convinced herself that it was the fatigue and distress that made her think this way. And it wasn't as if she was physically deprived of affection.

Zhu gave her friend's hand another squeeze, put on a poker face, and got up. Mako frowned at the sudden change in her visage. His eyes followed her as she jumped on the window sill and turned to him.

"I'll see you later, Mako. Goodnight."

Before he could reply, she was already gone. Mako tilted his head a little in confusion, shrugged, sighed and made his way to his bed.

Zhu spent the first half of her day chasing criminals and interrogating them. There had been an attack on a family of non-benders who lived in a neighbourhood with a majority of benders. The father and his teenage son had sustained heavy injuries while the mother had a cut across her forehead. Zhu and her new partner, Panuk, rushed the family to the nearest clinic. Panuk, being a waterbender and a trained medic, did his best to heal the three and stopped their bleeding wounds.

The two cops took the family's statement while in the clinic and made rounds, asking the neighbours about the incident. By late evening, they had arrested the earthbender after tracking him down. The perp said that he belonged to the Creeping Crystal triad but the gang did not claim responsibility for the incident. Needleless to say, they imprisoned a very pissed thug who screamed about how the victims got what they deserved for being non-benders. A very threatening look from Zhu shut him down.

"Good job, partner." Zhu thumped Panuk's shoulder as she left the station and made her way to Guo's office in the City Hall.

She sat across the man, staring at the picture of him, Baki and Suvi that she had picked off his table. Suvi had her hair in pigtails, and a tooth missing from her very cheerful smile. The girl barely reached Baki's knees. Zhu gave a small smile and kept the photo frame back.

Guo's desk was a reflection of the sort of person he was. Disciplined, meticulous, dedicated. On one side, he had his files and binders arranged neatly in an order. His writing tools were arranged according to the width of the pencil tip or the colour of the ink. Zhu thought that this was taking it too far. On the other side, Guo had two photo frames placed next to each other, facing him - the one Zhu was looking at before and one with the Beifong family (and that included Kazuki) and the three of them. There was a radio behind the pictures.

"I apologize for calling you here right after your shift." Guo said, setting aside a binder.

Zhu shook her head, "No, it's alright. I didn't want to delay it any further. The sooner we get to work, the better."

The man nodded, "Ah, yes. Considering the current circumstances, time is of the essence. Have you spoken to Chen?"

"Not yet. Haven't had the chance to see him. He's been busy with school. Did you get the chance to go through his blueprints, though?"

"As a matter of fact, I did," Guo smiled in approval, "Remarkably planned, if I say so myself. There are one or two snags, hypothetically speaking, that we may face. My team and I can take care of it. We shall start with paving a proper path to the underground. That includes cleaning, fixing the damaged plumbing, putting up adequate lighting, so on and so forth. Once the earthbenders and the water benders redirect the marked sewers towards the plant, metalbenders can cover those flowing through Kengdao Town with the scrap metal we put together. This was we can cut down on cost by recycling."

Zhu furrowed her brows, "You did not name the shelter as Kengdao Town."

"Indeed, I did."

"You didn't even put any thought into it!" She accused, "It literally translates to 'Tunnel Town'."

Guo cleared his throat, looking unimpressed, "Your job is to direct the orphans and the homeless to Kengdao Town. Do not force them. Tell them about the facilities that we'll be providing and if they are still uninterested, leave them be. I personally spoke to the inhabitants of the underground tunnels. They are on board with the project and seem very enthusiastic. While Lin can't spare any officers for protection, she did send a few scouts to make sure the underground was safe and…-"

"- free of Equalists?" Zhu offered.

"Yes." He cleaned his glasses and put them back on, "In any case, I believe we can start the relocation by the end of this week at the earliest."

Zhu leaned back into her chair, "Sounds great. I can help out with any physical labour when I'm off duty. Are you finished with your work?"

"Almost. I need to file some paperwork. Surprisingly, I was able to do my job today." Guo stated and Zhu could hear the annoyance in his monotonous voice. Years of practise had enabled her to detect the change in his otherwise droll tone. Sometimes.

She switched on the radio, fidgeting with the dial, "Great. When you're done, I'll walk you home."

"There's no nee-"

"Yes, there is."

The finalty in her voice made Guo stop himself from shooting down her offer. Guo was a non-bender and it was late. Zhu did not want to take the chance.

Guo watched the detective surf through the radio channels and then turned his attention back to the binder he put away. Almost immediately, Zhu let out a surprised noise and he looked up.

" -out! The Fire Ferrets come from waaay behind and steal the win!" Shiro Shinobi's voice rang through the office, "What an upset, folks! The rookies, Avatar in tow, have nabbed a place in the championship tournament!" Zhu's eyes widened. "I can not believe it!"

So Hasook did end up quitting.

"Huh."

"The Fire Ferrets…" Guo hummed in thought, "Your friends, aren't they? The kidnapper is the captain?"

Zhu let out a 'heh' before switching the channel again, "Yeah, that's them." With a click of her tongue in annoyance at the Avatar, Zhu settled for listening to jazz instead of the match recap.

hello, everyone!

i tried to update on time today. ive been travelling with the family and i dont have my laptop with me so its very difficult to edit or upload the documents. please bear with me and don't leave multiple reviews/messages asking me to update soon. i mean no disrespect but please try to understand that i have other important work as well. i am a college student after all.

also, the people sending DMs, saying that they do not like how the story is going or that i should change the plot, please feel free to stop reading the fic. i have nothing else to say to you.

thank you for reading! happy holidays, everyone! eat well and stay healthy!