Korra let Asami help her into the chain shirt and helped her adjust a tunic over it, hiding the ringlets underneath the thick fabric. "He won't suspect a thing," Asami said, smoothing her hand over the material one more time. She looked down at Korra with watery eyes. "You'll do just fine."
Korra took her hand and brought it to her lips, planting a soft kiss on her calloused palm. No matter how rough Asami's hands were from work, her touch was always so tender to Korra. "I practiced with Suyin as much as possible." She allowed herself to hold tightly to Asami's hand. "I will see you tonight, I promise."
Asami leaned forward and kissed her softly. Korra leaned up into the kiss. Part of her wished she had never done it. Kissing Asami almost felt too good to walk away from. It made her heart ache to even think about it. When they broke apart, Asami whispered, "You had better, or I will follow you into the afterlife and drag your spirit back."
Korra smiled and leaned up for another peck on the lips. "If anyone could manage it, I'm sure you would." With a sigh, she untangled herself from Asami and adjusted the knife in her boot. She had other weapons hidden all over her person, though daggers were nothing like what she was used to fighting with. Already today she had regretted ignoring most of Bumi's close-quarters combat training. "I have been a fool nearly all my life, Asami," she said, summoning up as much confidence as she could. "I don't plan to continue it any longer. I will see you again."
Asami laughed. "I...It's because you're a fool that I…"
"I know," Korra said, stopping her mid-sentence. She stole one last kiss from her before saying, "I need to report to Suyin. Her team will follow me to Zaheer."
"Be safe," Asami said.
"I know my record does not speak well for me, but I'll try." She left Asami to find Suyin and the company of soldiers waiting for her at the stables. Kai had Naga saddled for her. He passed off the reins, his brow creased with worry.
"Are you ready, Knight-Commander?" Suyin asked.
"I have to be, don't I?" she asked. Kai helped her up into the saddle. She glanced down at him and smiled. "I'll bring them back safely, Jinora too."
"They have my daughter," Suyin said. "I will not rest until Zaheer pays for this."
Korra frowned at the older woman. "We'll have time enough for vengeance later, right now I just want everyone to walk away from this alive."
Suyin nodded. "We do it your way, Knight-Commander. Everyone's safety is our priority, this time."
They set off from Zaofu, riding west toward the meeting place specified. Halfway there, Suyin's troops parted from the rest of the group to hide out of sight, in case something happened. The anxiety in her stomach tightened as they neared the plateau in the mountain ranges. The high ridges were an unfamiliar terrain for her. Zaheer no doubt chose the location for its sharp contrast to the plains she had grown up accustomed to. Naga had more than enough trouble climbing to the top. A quick escape would not be an option.
Moments later, she could see figures on the horizon. Zaheer led the way, followed by the woman with a tattooed forehead she recognized as the firebreather. She led two others, both bound with bags over their heads. Bolin and Mako, judging by the build. Where are Jinora and Opal?
Zaheer stopped in the middle of the clearing. "Knight-Commander Korra."
"Where are the others, Zaheer?" Korra called. Her hands tightened on Naga's reins. She had a bad feeling.
"We wanted to make sure that there weren't any tricks." He nodded in the direction of Suyin. "So we will provide you the location of the others once you are in our custody."
"That wasn't the agreement," Suyin growled.
"Given your history, Suyin, I'd say this is a generous proposition." Zaheer crossed his arms.
"Take the bags off their head coverings first, I want to make sure we're trading for the right people," Korra called. The firebreather yanked the bags off. Bolin and Mako blinked against the sunlight. Both of them were gagged and little bruised, but seemed otherwise intact.
Korra turned to Suyin. "We don't have a choice. I'll go with them." Korra slid down off of Naga. She leaned into Naga and stroked her neck, the motion hiding her face from Zaheer. "Get them to safety, and then come find me," she whispered. Suyin's jaw was set tight, but Korra knew she had understood. She turned and walked to Zaheer. The woman shoved Mako and Bolin forward, they stumbled a moment but then started walking. They hesitated as they passed her, but she shook her head, telling them not to try anything. She wouldn't risk Opal and Jinora's life. When she reached Zaheer, he bound her wrists. She glanced over her shoulder to see Suyin removing the gags and bindings from Mako and Bolin.
"Now, where are the others?" she asked.
Zaheer smiled at her. "Do you think your life is worth so much?" Korra didn't have time to shout a warning before Zaheer and his gang threw small orbs to the ground. Brilliant flashes exploded across the plateau. Zaheer gripped her tightly and dragged her away. She screamed for help, unable to see anything but spots dancing in front of her eyes. The last thing she heard was Suyin shouting orders before she felt a sharp pinch of a needle in her neck and was plunged into darkness.
Asami waited on the walls of Zaofu. She had lost track of how long she had been sitting there, staring at an empty road. Thousands of thoughts flashed through her head as each moment ticked by. They should have been back by now. She knew that even if they had to travel more slowly with the addition of Bolin, Mako, Opal, and Jinora they should have arrived at Zaofu long before now. Something went wrong. That much was certain. She was terrified to discover how badly the meeting had gone. Did they have to fight? Was someone injured? Korra...spirits protect her.
At last, she saw figures moving along the road. As they moved closer, she was able to make out Suyin at the head, followed by a few of her soldiers. She strained her eyes looking for Korra. Bolin, and then Mako came into sight. But what about the rest? The grim look on their faces told her almost everything she needed to know.
"Please let her be alive." Her heart hammered in her chest as she made her way down from the wall to meet the group. When they opened the massive gates and let them through Asami rushed to Suyin. "What happened?"
"Zaheer told us to trade Korra for Mako and Bolin, and then said he would tell us the location of Jinora and my daughter." Her eyes were red and rimmed with tears. "As you can see, he didn't hold up his end of the bargain."
"What about the ambush?" Asami searched the faces of the men riding behind Suyin. "You had a plan."
"He had something that made flashes of light. Magic maybe," Bolin said. He shrugged and then winced. "We couldn't see anything, and when the light faded, they were gone."
"You shouldn't have let her trade," Mako growled.
Suyin shook her head. "It was her decision. We couldn't risk Jinora and Opal."
"You mean you couldn't!" Mako shot back.
Asami could see Suyin stiffen. "Mako…" She moved to his horse and tugged on his leg. His eyes darted from Asami to Suyin before he turned his horse and headed to the stables.
Bolin stopped his horse beside Asami. "We'll think of something. We'll get her back." She watched him follow his brother to the stables and hoped he was right.
Asami stared at the polished armor on the table in front of her and tried to keep the tears at bay. Mako and Suyin had spent the better part of the day in yelling matches about the best course of action. Now night had fallen on Zaofu and the keep seemed empty without Korra's presence.
She distracted herself by running her hands over the fine details of Korra's curiass. She wanted to scream. They had planned and practiced and in a single strategic move Zaheer had made it all meaningless. The chain shirt wasn't going to help Korra now. They were doing who knows what to her, and Asami was stuck in Zaofu staring at her armor. I should have gone with them. The thought had resonated through her mind over and over as the day wore on. Realistically she knew that it was likely that her presence would have changed nothing, but it still stung.
The door to her workroom creaked open. In one fluid movement she slipped her hand into Korra's gauntlet and whirled to face the potential threat. Kai froze in the doorway. He looked somewhat worse for wear, with scratches along his face, and dirt covering most of his body.
"Where have you been?" Asami asked.
Kai motioned for her to keep her voice down. "Don't wake the whole keep," he hissed. Asami crossed her arms and waited for him to continue. He sighed. "This morning when they marched out, I followed them."
Asami's eyes widened. "You what?" She opened her mouth to yell at him for doing something so dangerous, but he held up his hand to stop her.
"I followed Zaheer, too. The others had surrounded the meeting place, but I hung back, didn't want them to know I was there. There was a flash from the plateau and then I saw Zaheer sneaking away with the tall tattoo lady. I tracked them to the southern mountain."
Her breath caught in her throat. "You know where they're keeping her?"
"Mostly. I think they might be in a cave system or something, but they have to be around there. I came back here as fast as I could and slipped in with the night changing of the guard."
"Why all the secrecy? We should go get Suyin so we can go get Korra."
"Do you really think Suyin is going to risk her daughter's life like that? She'd stop us from going." Kai shook his head. "No, we have to do this ourselves. I would have done it alone, but one against four isn't my preferred odds."
Asami glanced at the large sack stowed carefully in the corner of the room. She smiled and lifted her hand, still in Korra's gauntlet. She flexed her fingers into a fist."Then let me even them."