"So, you're telling me even during the day no one saw anyone suspicious or anything out of the ordinary?!" Kya yells at the men in front of her.
Korra had brought up to Kya the arrow she had found on the door and the note with it. Kya had gathered the men patrolling and none of them seemed to know anything about it.
"Maybe it was one of those kids you brought back with you, Korra." One of the men exclaims.
Korra scowls at the guy. She trusts her friends with the exception of one but she's sure he wasn't capable of it. Wasn't he? Could he be able to do this? Korra never really like the guy to begin with. Kya seems to notice Korra debating with her thoughts and clears her throat to get her attention.
"None of them could've done it." Korra tells him. "I checked on all their rooms before I went to head to my place and they were all there, asleep."
"What about before you went into their rooms?" The guy pressed on. "They could've done it before you checked them. Maybe it was that chick who was eyeing you earlier today. I didn't see her with her group when Eden led them to their house."
Korra slammed her fists on the table. "Watch what you're saying, soldier."
"That's impossible. Asami was with me the whole time and I dropped her with Korra in the infirmary after. Katara can even confirm it." Kya interrupts. "But seeing that no one really has an idea about what's going, you're all free to go but that doesn't mean you're not receiving any punishment from this."
Everyone groans at this but gets up and starts to leave the room. They were not looking forward to being whipped, even if it was just a few lashes. Korra was about to leave as well but Kya stops her.
"He may be right, though." Kya says slowly to her.
"WHAT!" Korra growls. "You think Asami had something to do with this too?!" She throws the red arrow at Kya and it was about to hit her but Kya catches it with no effort.
"No, of course not." Kya sighs, looking at the arrow intently. "I meant that maybe one of your friends might be behind it. It can't be a coincidence. Do you think you have an idea on who it might be?"
"I don't know, Kya. I know I don't like him but it doesn't seem like Mako's capable of doing something like this." Korra tells her honestly. "And I trust the rest of them."
"Maybe you're right." Kya drops the arrow on the table. "I hate to say it but we might have a mole within us."
Korra agrees with her. "Phoenix isn't going to like this."
Asami woke up feeling great. She hasn't slept like that ever since Korra had disappeared. Almost every time when Asami couldn't sleep, she would call Korra and she would be there in a flash. She tried calling Mako but he would dismiss it, as if it were nothing. So she just kept calling Korra instead of him.
She had just gotten fresh out of the shower; place her make-up on and into her change of clothes when she hears screaming and people struggling. She hurries down to see what the commotion was all about. She sees two siblings fighting each other in a fist fight.
"I'm telling you the truth!" Mako blocks the punches Bolin sent. "I'm trying to gain your trust here."
"Oh yeah?" Bolin was lucky enough to land a punch right into his brother's stomach which made Mako stumble back. "If you want any of our trusts, you have to earn it!"
"What's going on?" Asami asks them.
Bolin was shock to see her. "You're home? When did you get here?"
"Around six or so, I think. The Avatar dropped me off." Asami tells him. "Why? What's this about?"
"Mako just told us that those red hooded man might be after him." Joyce glares at Mako.
"Why would they be after you?" Asami asks him.
"He says he's not saying anything until we're all at the Conference Hall. He says everyone needs to hear it." Joe answers. "Better than repeating it again, I guess."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why they're having a brawl here." Asami crosses her arms and frowns.
"He said that he may have information on what had happened on that night where everything changed." Joyce says. "So, Bolin's trying to beat it out of him but I guess it's not really helping."
"Did you a get a message from the twins this morning?" Mike asks Raf who just entered the team lounge. "Too early in the morning, to be honest."
"Yeah, I did. I also stopped by at their place to see if something had happened."
"And did you find anything?" Mike puts down the magazine he was reading.
Raf shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary except both Asami's moped and the twin's car were not in the garage."
"That should be expected. They did decide to take that little vacation we were given by the big man upstairs." Mike says pointing the ceiling. "And I will never understand why they only have one car; they could've bought another one."
"They've been together for so long; it might be tough for them to be separated seeing they only have each other. And you guys should take a break too." Beifong says as she enters the room after her morning jog. "We could all use it, to be honest."
"You got the message too, Captain?" Raf throws her a water bottle.
She catches it and takes a few gulps. "Yeah, I did." She wipes her face with her face towel. "We have nothing to worry about." She turns to leave for the showers.
"Yeah, you may be right." Mike whispers to himself.
Mako stumbled out of the house with a few bruises on his arms and a black eye. Bolin came out looking the same. The twins and Asami had tried to interfere but to no avail, they seem to make it worse when they try to keep the brothers away from each other.
They were about to have at it again but someone hold Bolin in place and he was about to yell when it was someone he wasn't expecting.
"K-Korra?" He stutters out.
"Hey, Bo. What's this all about? I thought you looked up to this guy." She gestured at Mako who was being held in place by Opal and a guy he hasn't met.
"I used to!" Bolin spat. "Not until I found out he was lying to me, to US the entire time."
"I had to do what I had to do!" Mako protested. "It wasn't like I was given a choice in the matter!"
"You could've walked away!" Bolin was in tears due to his anger. "And none of this would've happened!"
Mako was about to say something, but the look Korra shot at him made him quiet and look down at his shoes.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about but we're taking you to the infirmary." Opal says. "We're having the meeting in less than an hour and you guys can't show up like this."
She turns to the boy beside him. "Shadow, give me a hand will you?" Shadow begins to approach and get Bolin out from Korra's grasp.
"Shadow?" Bolin looks at him.
"Yeah, or you can call me Kai." He shrugs while walking behind Opal and Mako. "Anything works for me."
"And what about you, Eden?" Bolin looks at her. "Does a pretty lady like you have a pretty name?"
Opal laughs which made Bolin have a wide grin on his face. "You can call me, Opal." She turns and smiles at him.
"Opal." Bolin repeats. "What a lovely name."
Korra watches as the four begin to head to the direction of the infirmary. She shakes her head with a small smile on her face and was about to get into the house, she was greeted by a fierce hug by the twins and Asami who was smiling at the back of them.
"Korra!" Joyce shouts excitedly. "You're here!"
"So you finally decided to come out from your cloak, oh great Avatar." Joe laughs.
"Did you tell everyone about me, 'Sami?" Korra pulls back and turns to face Asami.
"No, of course not." She smirks at her. "They're just not dumb as you think they are."
"I thought I was being subtle with my whole new look." Korra pouts.
"To be honest, I love the hair." Asami winks at Korra which made her blush.
The twins look back and forth from Korra and Asami and then at each other and had a knowing smile. Joe clears his throat.
"I'm going back in to take a quick shower before the meeting starts." Joe says before entering the house.
"I'll go get change and maybe eat something. No clue on how long the meeting is going to be." Joyce quickly adds and follows her brother inside.
"Sure." Korra says to them. "See you later, okay?"
She turns to Asami and holds out her arm for her to take. Asami gladly loops her arm around Korra's and they begin to walk away from the house. The twins peer out from the window and they can honestly see that both Korra and Asami had a little bounce as they walk.
"They deserve each other." Joyce starts.
"They're good for each other." Joe agrees with his sister. "They balance each other out."
"Did you sleep well?" Korra asks.
"It was alright." Asami admits. "It could have been better though."
Korra raises an eyebrow at her and Asami just smirks which made Korra shake her head and laugh. Asami then realizes that Korra was still wearing the same clothes from when she rescued her and gave Korra a concern look.
"Korra." She says slowly. "Did you get any sleep?"
Korra looks at her and sighs. "No, something happened on the way."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"No, no one was hurt but there was an arrow at my door with a note on it. It didn't look good." Korra didn't feel like lying to her. It wasn't right and she trusts Asami. She stops walking and turns to face Asami. "It's one of the arrows those red hooded men use. No one saw anyone suspicious and the soldiers patrolling think it might be one of you guys who did it."
"A note? What did it say?"
"No one is safe, Avatar." Korra whispers. "It seems like someone's trying to get to me. Like, make me riled up about something or I don't know." Korra ruffles her hair. "I don't like thinking it's one of our friends but I don't like thinking that we might have a mole in our organization either."
"Red hooded men." Asami ponders. "The Red Lotus, you mean?"
Korra looks at her with raised eyebrows. "You know about the Red Lotus?"
Asami nods. "Kya mentioned about them earlier when she took me to you. I didn't get it at first but since I already know about the Agni Kai Triad, I had to cross them out and the only one left was those red hooded men who broke in."
Korra lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and Asami seeing Korra relax, she gives out a small smile.
"I'm sorry if you thought I had something to do with those people." Asami holds Korra's hand and gives a reassuring squeeze which made Korra squeeze back. They started walking hand in hand in silence to the building where Asami thinks the Conference Hall is at.
"Asami?" Korra breaks the silence. "Why were Mako and Bolin fighting?"
Asami tenses, she honestly didn't know what to say to Korra. "They were fighting about something that happened a long time ago."
"Which was?" Korra looks at her in the eyes and kisses her forehead. "You can tell me anything, alright?"
Asami nods and swallows. "Mako and my father had some kind of deal that went down. I don't know how far it goes but Mako said he'll say something about it later in the meeting. He says everyone needs to know."
"Wait, your father and him made a deal? Did something happen to your father?"
Again, Asami nods and hesitates a bit. "My father…he…he passed away the following day when you disappeared." Asami wipes the tears from her eyes that were about to fall. "I was so sc-scared."
Korra kisses both Asami's eyes and brings her in for a hug. "I'm so sorry, 'Sami. I didn't know." Asami begins to sob slowly on Korra's chest. "Sssh, I'm here. I won't disappear on you again." Korra tightens the hug a bit and rubs Asami's back slowly to help her get everything out and to calm her down.
When everyone arrived, they were greeted by the voices of people arguing in front of them and they didn't sound too happy about whatever they were discussing about. Korra and Kya were there with the people in front of them and with the looks on their faces, things weren't going too well.
"I have a bad feeling." Bolin starts. "Are you guys feeling what I'm feeling?"
"Vulnerable." Joe says to him while looking around. "I feel vulnerable right now."
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Joyce admits. "I'm really wishing one or two of us stayed behind and didn't attend the meeting right now so if anything would have happened to us, we wouldn't be that screwed."
"Guys, could you please calm down?" Mako whispers at them. "Your negative vibes are affecting everyone in this room."
Asami looks around and sees that almost everyone in the room had their eyes on them or on her. She wasn't really sure but she had nothing to be afraid of and they shouldn't be afraid too.
"You have nothing to worry about." Asami tries to relax the group. "We have nothing to hide, right?"
"Easy for you to say." Mako hisses. "You have the good graces of almost everyone here."
Asami glares at him. "It's nothing like that but even if it is, it doesn't make them trust me now, does it?"
"She's right." Joyce tells him. "They don't trust us and we don't trust them."
"Even Korra?" Bolin turns to her. "I mean, she pretty much saved our behinds today."
"I don't know, Bo." Joe answers him. "I hate to say it but is she really the same Korra we know?"
"I do trust Korra." Asami admits slowly. "She's still the same Korra I know but something about her scares me. It's like I know her but then I don't."
Kya clears her throat to get everyone's attention.
"Welcome to Zhao Fu."
"Look, it's either one of them. I don't like thinking that one of us may be behind…this!" A woman gestures to the red arrow and the note in her hand.
"But what if it is?" The man asks her. "What if the person that did this made them as a get away free card? It's the perfect opportunity to do it."
"Tenzin does have a point, Su." Kya tells the woman. "There's no such things as coincidences. Whatever happened, it was planned out." Kya pauses. "Asami gets cornered by the triad then her and her friends get ambushed in their home by the Red Lotus and now, the very same people are threatening Korra."
"And what if you're wrong?" Su hisses at them. "What if it's really one of those kids who did this and they're just laughing about it right now?"
Korra sighs. "If it does come down to either one of them." She looks at Su straight in the eyes with a determine look. "I'll personally take care of it."
"Even if it's Asami?" Su raises her eyebrow at her.
"It won't." Korra answers sternly.
"But if it does?" Tenzin's curiosity got the better of him.
"I…" Korra hesitates. "I'll…take care of it."
Kya places an arm on her shoulder. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
"Welcome to Zhao Fu." Su proclaims to everyone. "Let's be clear about one thing. To the existing world, we are just mere shadows. Nobody knows about us and no one shall ever know about us."
"I am Suyin, Commander of this organization. You may also know me as the Phoenix. This is Tenzin, the Phantom." She gestures to the man beside her who gives a low bow. "And you have already met Templar and the Avatar."
"Let's get down to business immediately." Tenzin tells them. "We would like to ask you a few questions regarding on the recent attacks that had happened and anything that relates to it."
"Of course." Joe speaks up. "But we would like to ask you a few questions as well."
Korra and Kya look at each other with worry and then Korra gives her friends a questioning look which Asami answered with a questioning look of her own as well. Suyin and Tenzin share a look but then agreed to what Joe had requested.
"Very well, Joe." Su answers. "We ask you a question then you answer and we will do the same to your questions."
"Miss Sato." Asami turns her attention to Tenzin as he spoke. "Are you aware that Hiroshi Sato, your father, was making and selling weapons to the Agni Kai Triad?"
Asami froze in her seat. "No, I wasn't aware of that."
"Were you aware that he and your friend, Mako were connected?" Tenzin continues.
Asami nods slowly. "Not at first, but I found out later after he had died and Mako made confirmation of it."
Tenzin nods and scribbles down onto his paper while Kya signals Joe to ask them questions. He was about to ask his questions but Asami quickly spoke.
"Six months ago, when you took Korra, were you the ones who took Mako and I from the cliff?" Asami asks but she was only greeted by confuse looks from the people in front of her. In the corner of Korra's eye, she sees Mako tensing up.
"I'm sorry, but no." Kya answers her. "We only took Korra that night."
"Why did you take Korra?" Bolin asks. "Why not everyone else?"
"Korra had potential to be one of us." Suyin answers him. "We had been observing her for a long time."
"I still find that creepy, by the way." Korra mumbles but Suyin ignores her.
"So, I'm guessing you had nothing to do with those four men hanging and the empty crates left in the abandon building?" Joe asks.
Korra and the others shared a look before Tenzin answers. "We had nothing to do with those deaths. As from what you already know, we do not leave traces behind."
"Except the part you left Korra's blood and equipment behind." Bolin remembers grimly.
Kya hesitates before she answers. "That wasn't for you. We had information that some certain people wanted Korra so we had to leave evidence to them that we had taken her."
"And from what we know, they were the ones who took the weapons and killed those men." Tenzin continues. "They were going to get her after she saw Mako and Asami hanging there but got distracted with Kya and her team."
"We sent in four soldiers to get her out while we dealt with them. The soldiers were ordered to use force if it was necessary." Kya tells them. "We took their trap for Korra as our advantage to get her out of there."
Asami looks at Korra who doesn't seem faze by what they were discussing. Korra, sensing someone was looking at her, turns her head and sees Asami looking right at her. Korra gives her a look that she knows all too well that they will in fact, talk later.
Asami turns her attention back to the others. "So, what you're saying is that the Red Lotus, Agni Kai Triad and my father were all connected?"
"You are correct." Suyin gives her a soft smile. "Korra was right about you. You're really perceptive with everything."
Mako suddenly stood up and made everyone look at him weirdly. He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the conversation any longer. He sees his brother look at him and was trying to say something at him but he couldn't hear it. He sees Korra and Kya approaching him but he holds his hand up to stop them.
"No, please stop." He lets out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "I need to tell you something."
Mako inhales and exhales. "Okay. I needed the money and Hiroshi offered it. I was able to pay him back later on but he said he wanted me to do something else for him." Asami turns to look at him with wide eyes. "Yes, Hiroshi and I knew each other before you and I met, Asami."
"When you guys returned to Republic City, he told me to keep an eye on you and Korra since he needed Korra or the Red Lotus did." Mako says slowly. "He didn't want both of you to get close since losing Korra would take a toll on you so…"
"But that didn't work now, did it?" Korra smirks at him and he shook his head.
"No, it didn't." He sighs. "Even when Asami and I were together, I could never separate the both of you. Later, he found out that the Red Lotus was planning on using Asami as bait for Korra and Hiroshi was furious at me for letting that happen hence we were found in the abandoned building."
He turns to look at Asami who was trying to hold back her tears. "I'm sorry, Asami. He wanted you to be safe that's what I was sure of."
Asami couldn't take the information Mako gave to them. She stood up and started running to and out the door. Korra immediately went after her without hesitation. Opal and Kai who were about to enter the room were startled when Asami and Korra came running out of the sudden.
Kya, seeing the two persons standing outside the door, gestured them to come in.
"What's the situation?" Kya asks the girl.
"We may have found our mole." Opal answers.
Asami didn't know how long she was running and she had no idea where she was going. She just couldn't stay there and listen to all the things Mako and her father did just to keep her away from Korra. Asami came to a full stop when her legs couldn't keep up anymore and she was out of breath.
A hand gently lands on her shoulder and she turns around to see Korra giving her a soft smile. She launches herself to Korra and starts to tremble slightly, she was trying to hold back the tears that were about to fall.
Korra holds her securely around her arms and whispers. "Let it all out, it's only me."
She feels Asami shaking her head and tightening her hold on to the darker woman. Korra sighs and she leads them to a nearby tree where they sit and held each other in silence.
Asami didn't know how long they were holding each other but she just love hearing Korra's steady breathing and heartbeat. She looks up and sees a peaceful sleeping Korra. She smiles to herself and ends up falling asleep herself while being unaware that they were being watched.
Kya told Bolin and the others that they could go back to their house but they have to be accompanied by Kai, just to be safe.
The twins offered to make dinner for all of them since it was already late and no one has eaten since lunch time.
"So, what's with Korra and Asami running off like that?" Kai breaks the silence. "It looked like they were in a hurry to get out or something."
"Korra went after Asami." Joe answers. "Asami just took off running."
"Hey." Joyce pipes in. "You would be too if you find out that our father hid secrets and not the good kind."
Mako excuses himself and leaves Bolin with Kai on the couch.
"What's up with your brother?" Kai points his head towards Mako retreating to his room.
Bolin sighs. "He's the bringer of bad news but I guess he had a point of protecting Asami."
"I wouldn't know what to do if I was in his position, to be honest." Joe tells everyone.
"Yeah, it's really messed up." Bolin says.
Kai was about to say something to them but his attention was taken away when he sees people running. He peeks out from the door and sees Opal and her twin brothers chasing after a man and a woman.
"Stay here and don't leave." Kai orders everyone before he runs out following Opal and the twins.
"So, who is it?" Tenzin asks Opal as they enter a room with Wing and Wei standing beside the door.
Opal takes a deep breath before she answers."Aiewei and Sim."
Suyin immediately stops in her tracks and turns to look at Opal wide-eyed. "Aiwei and Sim?"
Opal nods her head. "Yes, we caught them trying to sneak away when we closed off areas while you guys had your meeting. I guess they felt pressured."
"Something isn't right. Why would they do such a thing? And why now?" Kya asks. "Aiwei and Sin are good people."
Tenzin looks at the close doors. "We won't know unless we ask them."
"I took them in when they lost everything." Su whispers.
Kya puts a hand on the Phoenix's shoulder. "Hey, it's not your fault alright? They strayed away from you."
"She's right, Su." Tenzin looks at her. "This wasn't your fault."
Su sighs. "Open the doors."
When Kya and Tenzin opened the doors, they were immediately pushed aside by Aiwei and Sim who came rushing out. Sim drops two smoke grenades as they ran out.
"D-Don't let them escape!" Suyin coughs out orders to Opal and her brothers to go after them while Suyin helps Tenzin and Kya up.
"We need them alive!" Tenzin screams out.
Korra stirred in her sleep hearing a faint rustling of bushes from her left side and she suddenly had the worst feeling in her gut and whatever that feeling was, it was always right. She quickly wakes Asami softly and tells her to climb up the tree. Asami doesn't question it, seeing the look on Korra's eyes made her know that something was up and she quickly climbs the tree with Korra's help and stays there.
"No use of hiding any longer!" Korra roars after knowing Asami was out of harm's reach. "Come out and play!"
Two women came out from her left and one man from her right. Asami didn't like what she was seeing, their three assailants looked pretty skilled and she was actually having doubts if Korra could handle all three of them. Asami then realizes that Korra had no weapons on her.
"State your business here." Korra hisses at them.
"We were given orders to wait for Aiwei and Sim near here." The man tells her with a sly grin. "But you two turn up instead and this is way better than we hope. We can get a lot of money from each of you."
"Aiwei and Sim?" Korra looked puzzled. "They're the moles?"
"That's correct." One of the women answers while she walks around cautiously as she takes out twin blades from her back.
"You're not from the Red Lotus." Korra observes them. "Who're you? Who hired you?"
"You can call me Shark." Shark gives a low bow while he wields a mace. "And these two women are Fox and Vulture."
"The Trio." Korra says.
"Ah! So you've heard about us?" Fox smirks at Korra while approaching her slowly who cautiously takes a few steps back. "I'm impressed."
"I must say." Korra starts while she looks up at Asami who had a worried expression on her face. She winks at her and that made Asami give her a confuse look but Korra turns back to look at her three opponents once again. "I'm not that impressed with you. You have a knack of attacking harmless civilians and like to prove your strength by hanging one of them. Your kind disgusts me." She says with amusement.
"Enough!" Shark barks out. "Come quietly and no harm will be done to you and your friend."
"I don't think so." Korra suddenly pulls something from her back which was concealed by her jacket and she launches it at her unsuspecting enemies.
Asami then notices from the top that Korra was stalling and trying to make the Trio form a semi-circle which would be easier for a glaive to hit its targets but as soon as Shark and Fox fell down with their throats cut open, Vulture was able to block the glaive and it ricochet to the ground.
Korra begins to take up speed and use her shoulder to bump Vulture head on. Vulture stumbles but soon was met with a roundhouse kick, letting her twirl and fall to the ground while letting go of her twin blades. Korra picks them up and twirls them around her hand.
"Tell me who hired you and I might let you live." Korra hisses at her.
"Screw you!" Vulture hisses back. Korra didn't like it one bit so she decides to throw one of the twin blades between the woman's leg that made the girl whimper in fear.
"I won't miss the next one." Korra gives her a death glare but when Vulture refuses to answer again, Korra was about to throw the blade but she felt a familiar presence hugging her from the back which made her stop and relax.
"Enough, Korra." Asami gasps out. "Please stop."
Korra sighs and drops the weapon making it pierce the ground while Vulture gives out a sigh of relief when suddenly Aiwei and Sim came out screaming out of nowhere. Korra immediately recognizes them and was about to grab her small knife from her pocket and launch it at Sim but someone beat her to it. Sim gets pierced on a bark of a tree with the knife on his hand while Aiwei and Vulture run off to the distance.
Opal and her brothers then came out and stopped, seeing Korra and Asami standing too close to each other.
"Took you long enough." Wei pants out; trying to steady his breathing but Wing only shakes his head.
"I didn't do it either." Opal answers back while she lies down on the ground, panting.
Korra turns to see someone come out of the shadows and a big grin was found on her face. "Nice shot, Kai."
Kai smiles sheepishly at her. "Thanks, Korra." He looks around and notices two other bodies lying on the ground. "Did something happen?"
Korra nods her head. "These guys were his and Aiwei's ticket out." She gestures to the woman trying to get the knife off her hand. "I don't think that's a good idea." Korra says to Sim.
Wing approaches Sim and taps her shoulder making her turn to look at him but she gets a punch to the face knocking her out.
"That's for making us ran after you." Wing says while he pulls out the dagger out. Wei scoops Sim up and lets her dangle over his shoulders while walking back. Kai and Wing does the same to Shark and Fox and followed right behind Wei.
Korra wraps her arm around Asami's shoulders while Asami grabs hold of her hand and they slowly followed the people ahead of them while Opal walks beside them.
"Seriously, was it that hard to stop them in their tracks?" Korra asks Opal who avoids her gaze. "It should have been a piece of cake."
"I…We hesitated." Opal sighs. "They're both like family to us and it was hard."
Korra was about to comment on it but Asami gave her hand a soft squeeze which made her look at her and nodded. She then pulls Asami closer to her and gives a quick kiss on her head. They walked back in silence to where Asami was staying. Bolin came out to ask what had happened but stop, he was now staring at the bodies they were carrying.
"Wha-…Who are you people?" He manages to say.
Korra, Opal, Kai, Wing and Wei looked at each other and began to show a crooked grin before turning to face Bolin.
"The Heaven's Devils."
A/N:
This took longer than I anticipated but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :]
I would like to thank to all the people who followed and favorite this story, it really puts a big smile on my face. :D Thank you to: Kelleh3, XenaWP, esther, Samace and Gu3st for your awesome reviews! You guys rock on! And I'm sorry to say, Gu3st, but there won't be any bending in this story. :D
Happy New Year!