WE PART WAYS: PART 3

ASAMI

The way to refuell a ship is simple.

Calibrate the thermometer, slide the fuel into the carbon extrationer, close the hatch and read the degrees up to 40. Simple.

But refuelling a SATO ship required some minor difficulties.

"Uh, Asami, doesn't the fuel go in the hatch, and not in the actual engine?"

"I know what I'm doing."

At least, I hoped the instruction manual knew what it was doing.

Kai was right. Usually it did go into the hatch, and following its arrival it's automatically collected by the carbon extrantioner. But my dad was an odd sort of guy, and by odd I mean criminally insane enough for us to have to go through one hour for the fuel to be automatically collected.

"Hope it doesn't run in the family," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Asked Highton-Hight, I automatically corrected myself. He was perched upon the ship, acting as lookout. He seemed nice, but I had to remind myself that so did Kai, and then what the little brat put us through. Plus, the fact that they had known each other from when they were younger was a dis-heartening bonus.

"Nothing," I replied hastily,"Just repeating instructions out loud."

Kai looked at me curiously, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not I just spewed lies from my mouth. He didn't stop staring, and after a couple of seconds I glared at him, intending to yell at him to get on with his job of reading the degrees. But he barely acknowledged me, he just stared. His expression turned from blankness to wonder.

"She has to teach me how to do that," he said hazily.

"What?"

"Look behind you."

I did, and I realized it wasn't me he was staring at.

It was Korra.

Bolin in her muscular hands, she was bending a tornado made out of pure air, sucking up all the dirt and branches around it. She was forty feet off the ground, so we couldn't see her face, but I knew what was plastered all over it: A huge smile.

When she was close enough, she landed by dropping the tornado, erasing it from existence and heading towards us in free-fall. when she was about fifteen feet above ground she quickly cushioned her fall with a wisp of air, delicately gliding towards us.

"I take it the plan went well?" I smiled when she was within earshot.

"Yeah, except when faint-man here felt the need to pass out in the middle of his speech." Korra shuffled the unconscious body up a little; Bolin was in danger of slipping out of her hands entirely. "What did he eat for lunch?" she whispered to herself involutionary.

Hight coughed from his perch. " Uhhh... shouldn't we, you know, get going before we ...well...die?"

I felt a sharp pang of reality. Everything depended on me now.

Everyone was on my hopefully capable hands.

"Go," I gestured to the ship. " I'll take it from here."

Korra nodded, and rested her hand on my shoulder. " You can do this," she reassured, as if reading my mind. She sprinted off towards the ship, Bolin in her hands.

Okay, lets do this.

I took inventory: Three fuel tanks, each equivalent to a week of travelling. But the problem was that my father-criminal mastermind- had made the ship so that it took the fuel directly into the engine, which could cause danger of a malfunction.

I heard Hight cough again. " Shouldn't we-"

I cut him off. "Yeah, I got it, just go back into the ship!" He jerked back, surprised by my outburst, but I didn't need an extra viewer ready to point out all my mistakes.

That's when I heard the engines, fluttering so close I was surprised I didn't hear them before. But which each second the noise got louder, and I wasn't about to look.

I smiled grimly to myself.

What's life without risks, right?

I dump the fuel into the engine.