Chapter 11: 'The Things We Burn For'
"How many times have I told you to slow down, you're gonna open up that wound again!" Mako fretted as he stalked Kuvira across the Northern Water Tribe airfield, heading in the general direction of one of the metal clan's airships.
Kuvira marched on, dismissing his comment with a wave of her hand. "It's been days since that happened. I'm fine, I've had a lot worse, believe me. Right now we need to follow this Red Lotus trail whilst it's still hot."
Desna and Eska skated forward so that they glided on either side of Mako. "Yes, please leave our city detective, you two fools have managed to cause quite the uproar here with your 'diplomatic visit'. Perhaps we should take a trip to Zaofu and Republic City to return the favour."
"That sounds like an excellent idea, brother," Eska replied coldly.
Tonraq suddenly took a hold of his niece and nephew's collars and yanked them backwards with ease. "And you two are lucky I don't bring the might of the Southern Water Tribe's forces to the north through the spirit portal after what Captain Kuvira and Mako discovered here. The Red Lotus have been hiding here in plain sight, some of them dressed as your own guards. You're lucky I don't upturn that empty palace of yours."
"Are you accusing us of harbouring terrorists, uncle?" Desna questioned as he stood rigid in the Water Tribe Chief's hold.
Tonraq realized his grip on them and pushed them backwards. "No – if that were the case neither of you would have heads right now."
"Can't say it wouldn't be an improvement..." Kuvira muttered as she metal bent the airship ramp downwards.
"That would be an interesting adjustment to our appearance. I wonder if any of our clothes would compliment such a look," Eska spoke thoughtfully before their Uncle turned to face them once more.
"I'm accusing you two of blindness. Two pairs of eyes on the throne and you can't see beyond the walls of your palace, of what's actually happening in your city. This place could've been a breeding ground for Red Lotus cells," Tonraq spoke, his voice laced with anger.Don't go crazy here, Chief. Mako tapped Kuvira's shoulder before nodding in their companion's general direction.
Kuvira nodded firmly. "Don't let him do something stupid. Last thing we need is another international incident."
"I'd advise you two to watch your backs, not for me, but from your own citizens. The Red Lotus are on the march, and they have a particularly problem with world leaders who ignore the plight of their own people. I don't think they'll take well to you two," Tonraq warned as he clenched his fists.
Mako placed a wary but firm hand on his shoulder. "Time to go Chief, we're wasting time here."
Tonraq looked ready to do just that when Desna made another comment, one so quiet that the Chief probably wasn't meant to hear it. "So we should be expecting a visit from cousin Korra soon? Eska, is she a Red Lotus pet or prisoner?"
Tonraq rounded on them, sending a shard of ice flying in his fury. "HOW DARE YOU!"
Mako darted past the Chief, sliding along the ground and punching his fist into the air at the same moment, melting the ice with a precisely aimed ball of fire before it could cause any harm. "Tonraq! Cool it!" he pleaded whilst raising his hands upwards, ready to defend again.
Tonraq's eyes burned with the same fury that the Avatar had inherited. Before he could launch another attack a pair of metal cables wrapped around his wrists, pulling him down into the snow as Kuvira strained to hold him in the distance, metal plated boots slipping against the ground. It gave Mako a brief chance to really try and calm the Chief down.
"One comment isn't worth starting an international war over, we've got enough problems as it is." Mako stretched out a gloved hand and he bent over slightly. "The longer we stay here, the longer Korra stays a prisoner of the Red Lotus, the longer my friends remain in danger. We have a lead that needs to be followed." Tonraq took his hand reluctantly as Mako pulled him upwards, skilfully hiding the strain on his face. So heavy...
"Thank you, Mako..." Tonraq muttered as he sent one last glare across to his icy relatives, who remained unmoved by their near conflict. Had they just assumed Mako would intervene? Probably.
A whipping sound echoed across the landing strip as Kuvira retracted her cables. "Lets get out of this place before it kills us all."
"Agreed," Mako exhaled as he shadowed Tonraq up the ramp until he was safely inside the airship.
Kuvira stopped Mako halfway up. "I can see why Chief Beifong values you, that was some good work. Calming down a man mountain with just a few words."
Mako shook his head. "I know Tonraq pretty well, it wasn't too difficult."
"Modest," Kuvira grinned as she gripped his hand suddenly, sending Mako's heart racing in ways he hadn't expected. Ways that only Korra had ever managed. "I never thanked you properly, for not leaving me in the crazy house to bleed out. Even when I told you to go away. I didn't really want you to leave. I still don't."
"I – I couldn't just leave you there, Red Lotus or not. Never. That's just not me," Mako smiled nervously before he squeezed her hand back, relishing how warm it felt in this freezing climate. "You can make it up to me with dinner in Republic City after all of this is done, after my friends are safe."
"Of course, the mission comes first," Kuvira nodded in understanding. "Now lets get inside the airship before we both freeze to death and your cheeks go any redder. We've got a big old map to take a look at inside, lets try and find this place on the coastline."
Mako ran a hand through his hair frantically to rough it up again after the snow had flattened it before following the Captain up into the airship. Definitely not the cold that'd made his cheeks this red.
Asami eyes flitted open hesitantly, only to be greeted with near blinding light. Daylight. But her cell was always so dark...
She sat herself up as quickly as her half asleep body would allow, rubbing at her eyelids to try and could coax some cognitive function back to her brain. When her eyes finally adjusted to this strange and sudden change in lighting the landscape around Asami became startlingly clear. But no less confusing.
Meadows of beautiful, purple flowers stretched on for miles in every direction, bookended by some gorgeous, alien like, icy blue mountains off in the distance. This was like no place she'd ever been even though she'd travelled all over the world. Across all Four Nations. The air here was so pure, so fresh, nothing like the salt and seaweed heavy atmosphere of the Red Lotus lair.
"A dream...this has to be a dream..." Asami muttered to herself as she pulled her jacket off and tied it round her waist. The deep blue water tribe shirt she now wore was extremely warm in this environment. So she was still wearing the same clothes she'd fallen asleep in when Rei and the others had headed off to Ba Sing Se the night before. That happened in dreams...right? She could manipulate the world around her, so of course she'd be wearing the same clothes. Maybe she was dead. She tried so hard not to be in recent weeks.
The old pinching yourself routine didn't seem like it would be a very thorough or scientifically sound test, especially give how real everything else felt here.
Perhaps not scientifically sound, but as good a test as she could think of right now. "Aghhh..." Asami hissed quietly as she tapped a hand against her nose. Yup. Still pretty messed up despite Rei's healing. It probably would be for a while.
"Why would I dream that into existence...? Still carry this pain with me...?" Asami mumbled to herself as she began to walk in no particular direction. Talking to herself out loud was normally the quickest way the engineer managed to find a solution to a problem. This was a pretty big one, though shouting probably wouldn't make much of a difference, and it felt wrong to upset the peacefulness of this place.
"Think Sato...you can still feel everything from your physical body, all those cuts and bruises, even that dull ache of hunger you've gotten so used to," Asami continued, halting herself for a moment at a small, clear pond. She reached down to run her calloused fingers through it, feeling the dirt between her knuckles wash away. The liquid was like nothing she'd ever touched, soothing and yet electrifying at the same time, sending an absurd tingling sensation up both of her arms.
It was familiar in some ways, reminding her of being chi-blocked by an equalist outside city hall. But instead of her chi-paths growing tighter, locking up entirely, it felt like the opposite. As though they were being opened. The small cuts dotted across her fingers, currently immersed completely in the water, seemed to fade away into nothingness. An incredible warmth filled her.
When the CEO pulled her hand out completely it looked good as new. No damage, no dirt. Nothing. Even the calloused bits of skin, from years of working with machines and tools, had been smoothed out of existence. That wasn't something Asami was particularly pleased with. She'd earned those.
"Healing water like nothing I've ever seen. Not even with Master Katara..." Asami stared hard at her reflection. The cuts on her face remained, the darkness under her eyes a little frightening. She hadn't realized how battered looking she'd become until now. She wasn't so different from Rei or any of them. Just one of the crowd.
However, Asami did approve of the new style in which her hair now sat. Tied up with a water tribe arm band. It made her look older, professional. Like a proper CEO. She couldn't help but smile at that, smiling even more when she saw her slightly dorky expression staring right back at her. Unfortunately, the reflection quickly dissolved into sadness.
I look so much like mom...what would da – Hiroshi – say?
Asami pulled her Future Industries jacket back on, tapping the empty inside pocket. For years she'd carried her mother's ring. It wasn't one from an engagement, or marriage. Or any particularly notable event. It had belonged to Asami's grandmother, and passed down to Yasuko, who'd worn it almost everywhere. Not because it signified anything, some bond or unity, it was just a really, really nice ring. The engineer had gushed over how beautiful it was since the day she was able to speak, and her mother had promised it to her after she passed.
It hadn't come to that. Yasuko had given Asami the ring before her death, a few nights before. She hadn't made a grand gesture out of it either, simply saying that it went well with her daughter's wonderful, green eyes and her new hair bow, always done with a smile too. That was that. Did she know she was going to...
Guilt tugged painfully at Asami's heart as she sunk to her knees. "And you gave it away like it was nothing...to some pirate...for what? For some Water Tribe clothes that haven't made any difference? That have made you look like the woman you took that ring from!"
Droplets of rain began to fall lightly against the back of Asami's head but she barely took note, staring at her reflection with such venom that it would hopefully kill it. This 'Sato'. This Red Lotus tool just like all the rest.
It was so long since Asami had actually blinked that the reflection started to distort and blur before her. A quick rub of her eyes sorted that out...but now...now the reflection had changed...that wasn't her smile. Only Korra ever made her smile like that, and the Avatar wasn't here.
A soft hand grasped her shoulder firmly. "Asami...please don't cry sweetie..."
Asami spun herself around, nearly tumbling into the pond behind her but the hand on her shoulder kept her steady. "This is a dream...it has to be dream. You're always in my dreams, my nightmares. That smile hurts me, especially now...please don't smile at me like that, not after what I did..."
"I'm your mom, it doesn't matter what you do. I'll always have a smile for you my little engineer," Yasuko cooed as she kissed the top of her forehead tenderly.
It felt so real. SO REAL. Asami wanted to bottle it up and lock it away for safe keeping. This lost feeling of warmth, of home.
"You're not. You can't be...I saw you..." Asami started to croak, unable to look this cruel phantom in the face. "...I saw you burn...I still see you burn, every time somebody firebends at me...when I fall asleep alone at night..."
Yasuko embraced Asami tightly when the CEO started to sob lightly. There was nothing Asami could do but lean into this embrace, relish it. She clung on to her mother's maroon shirt more tightly than to anything she had held in her life. It was the same, the same texture, the same color, the same perfume. An expensive Fire Nation spice.
"Little engineer...not so little anymore. Taller than me," Yasuko whispered softly and she rocked Asami back and forth in the same motion that she had when the CEO had been a toddler, running a hand down her back in tandem, soothing the engineer until her sobbing faded to light sniffles. She titled Asami's head up and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes. Same nail polish.
"I don't understand...what is this place? How can you – how can you possibly be here? Did I really die?" Asami trembled as she gripped onto her mother's forearms like a vice.
"No sweetie. This is the Spirit World," Yasuko assured.
"It rains in the Spirit World?" Asami questioned as she looked up to darkening clouds above.
Her mother laughed heartily at that question. "Trust you to ask that, ever the analyst. Everything illogical needs to be explained so it can become logical. You get that madness from your father."
"No I don't," Asami replied a little more harshly than she intended. "That's me. That's always been me. I don't let emotions cloud my decisions, my logic."
Yasuko tightened her grip on her daughter's shoulders. "That would explain the ring."
"The ring?" Asami asked, a little confused by her mother's sudden change in tone. "I'm so sorry about that, I had to use it to help a friend. There wasn't another way."
Yasuko narrowed her brows. "A friend? You gave away a family heirloom, a gift from me to you, for a friend?"
Asami lightened her grip. "...not just a friend, okay? I sorta fell in love with the Avatar, I guess. I needed to help her."
Yasuko's nail began to dig in a little to the engineer's shoulders. "And that makes it okay does it? You love her more than me?"
"Of course not!" Asami retorted as she tried to shift away from her mother's grip. The ground beneath her now squelched from all the rain that was pouring down from over head. "That ring wasn't you! It wasn't! Its just a piece of metal with some precious stone attached!"
Yasuko pushed Asami backwards a little, retaining the grip on her shoulders and clamping down. "I should change your name. Not my little engineer anymore. A little thief!"
"What're you talking about?!" Asami shouted. "You gave me that ring! It wasn't you. You're my memories. That's how you live on, not through a piece of metal." She stared Yasuko hard in the face, green eyes, her eyes, staring back at her. "And you're not my mom! She understood me like no one else! She'd never call me a thief! And she knew what it was to love someone unconditionally!"
Yasuko's angry expression shifted to a grin, one that was almost too large for her face and incredibly malicious. "I am your mother."
With an unexpected amount of strength, Yasuko tackled Asami and shoved her to the ground. Water soaked the back of Asami's head as her head was pushed under, totally consumed by the pond. The water may have been healing before, but it was still water. It could drown her all the same.
Asami punched and kicked at her attacker with all her might, hitting it dozens of time. Her attacker's form began to shift above the surface of the water, now a jet black spirit with an almost humanoid shape. But it definitely wasn't human, with red lines running all across its features and acting as some kind of eyes where a head should've been.
The spirit was incredibly strong too, not budging an inch as Asami's hits became weaker and weaker, oxygen leaving her muscles as water filled her lungs. When the blackness finally came the water remained. Asami could see it everywhere, drowning her all over again.
"I have an idea! Do you trust me?!"
Korra's voice and the sound of splashing. So distant. Not really here. The Avatar was a hundreds of miles away, in Ba Sing Se.
And now dazzling yellow lights. Spot lights. No more darkness.
"The revolution has begun!" Amon. And she was standing right beside him, in the probending arena. Center stage as flashes of blue light sparked off all over spectator area. Asami looked down at her glove and then adjusted her mask so it sat a little more comfortably.
The sound of water again, this time much closer as a spout of blue rose high above the arena platform. The Avatar landed smoothly at the other end, dressed in the Future Industries Fire Ferret uniform.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the Avatar declared as she summoned several earth discs out of the platform floor.
The sight of her made Asami so angry as she clenched her fists. So angry. So much blood spilled already, so much more before this was over.
"Do you want to deal with her?" Amon commented at her side.
Asami nodded as she powered up the glove.
Darkness again. The feeling of water. Drowning again, but the spirit was gone. She didn't even have the energy to lift herself up out of the pond. But someone else did.
"Asami! Wake up Asami!"
A little girl in airbender robes stood before her, looking utterly horrified.
"Jinora..." Asami coughed and spluttered, water streaming from her mouth as the airbender helped her to turn onto her side.
"Get it all out," Jinora soothed as she patted the engineer's back lightly.
When Asami finally found her voice Jinora sat down beside her, keeping a tight grip on her forearm.
"You're really Jinora...aren't you?" Asami breathed heavily.
Jinora nodded slowly. "You need to take it easy. You just bumped into one of the nastiest spirits in the Spirit World. He's a shapeshifter and uses people's darkest memories and negative emotions to drive them crazy. Some people say that he's actually the true form of the Fog of Lost Souls, but I don't think so. He's worse than that."
"Where did he go?" Asami asked as she searched around, still struggling to catch her breath.
"Some other spirits helped me scared him off," Jinora smiled. Said spirits were floating above them in a circle just now. "They...they seem to be drawn to you...it's weird actually...I've been mediating in here for weeks hoping to find Korra, then today I felt this big spike in spiritual activity. I didn't realize it was you because I'd never actually sensed you before."
Asami nodded very, very slowly.
"But I'm getting really off topic! Captain Kuvira and Mako asked me to try and seek out Korra, to find out where the Red Lotus has taken you, but Korra's not been here once since you disappeared and I was starting to think you'd both..." Jinora trailed off before hugging Asami tightly. Now this one felt real. Much realer. Asami hugged back with what little energy she had. "...but I'm really glad you're not."
"We're both alive, Jinora...but Korra's...Zaheer did something to her. She's not the same person anymore. I have to get her out of where we're being held before she's lost forever," Asami explained as best she could.
"That would explain why she's not been in the Spirit World," Jinora nodded sadly.
"Zaheer probably wouldn't let her even if she could. He's got a real hold over her."
"Where are they holding you?" Jinora asked sharply.
"I'd tell you if I could. It's somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, the coastline. South I'd have to say given the weather," Asami replied.
"Anything else you can tell me?"
"There's a market near the Red Lotus lair, used by pirates. It's quite a big market and the Earth Queen doesn't have any authority or military there," Asami explained. "The Red Lotus lair itself is in some kind of old cave system abandoned years ago, it's pretty huge inside. There must be around 100 members that live there regularly. Oh! Oh god...ummm...the Red Lotus...a whole bunch of them marched off to Ba Sing Se just last night, Korra was with them. I can only imagine what they plan to do when they get there."
"Kill the Earth Queen," Jinora decided. "Mako, Uncle Tonraq and Captain Kuvira have been on your trail for a while, last we heard they were in the Northern Water Tribe and heading for Ba Sing Se!"
"Then you have to get this message to them! They could get Korra back!" Asami shouted. This was the chance. She wouldn't need to fight for Korra anymore, just escape.
"I'll tell them, don't worry, but Asami...I've – I've got to send you back to your physical body. I can feel some malicious presence near you in the physical world. I think you're in danger," Jinora admitted grimly.
"Who? What?!
"I – I don't know – but it really doesn't feel good. You'll need to be ready."
"Then send me back and get that message to Mako," Asami nodded firmly. "They have to save Korra."
"I'll send the message," Jinora confirmed. "Now sit still and close your eyes, this is gonna feel a little disorientating and weird."
"That's...that's great news..." Mako muttered as he wiped his cheeks. "Thank you Jinora. Keep in touch and say hi to Bolin and Chief Beifong for me..." He stared at the radio in his grip for a long time before feeling arms around his waist.
"Is something wrong? Are you...are you crying?" Kuvira asked softly. She'd mistaken his tears for sadness.
"Sort of – but I'm relieved," Mako smiled as he turned around in her grip. "Asami's alive! She's actually alive! I don't know how she did it but the Red Lotus haven't killed her!" He placed a hand over his pocket, Asami's bloodied hair clip still inside. I knew you were too stubborn to die.
Kuvira released her grip but kept a hold of one hand. "That's great news. Did she have anymore information?"
Tonraq entered from the cockpit at that point, standing over the map of the Earth Kingdom in the centre of the room. Mako immediately jumped away from Kuvira who narrowed her brows at him considerably.
"Relax boy, I'm pretty sure you and my daughter aren't an item anymore," Tonraq replied casually.
"No – no they're not," Kuvira replied, nudging Mako in the arm with a sharp elbow.
"No – definitely not."
"What was all that shouting about anyways?" Tonraq asked as he surveyed the table.
"We've got confirmation about the possible area where the Red Lotus are based, South of the Earth Kingdom, on the coast, just like Kuro Shin said. Apparently they're holed up in a cave system near some pirate trading post," Mako explained as he moved towards the map, guiding his hand down the coastline.
"Pirates?" Kuvira questioned. "Suyin might be able to help us more than I thought. She's got a bit of a history with privateering...maybe she'll be able to pinpoint this trading post for us."
"Good thing we're headed to Ba Sing Se to meet her...and the Earth Queen..." Tonraq muttered. Suyin and whole bunch of the Earth Kingdom provincial leaders had been called for a meeting in the capital with the Queen. About what, no one was sure.
"There's something else," Mako added hesitantly as he looked up to Tonraq. "The Red Lotus are going to Ba Sing Se too, with Korra."
Author Notes
First off, for those who read my other stuff, you'll know I've recently been contempalting a total move of my works to AO3, i've came to a bit of a comprimise. I'll continue to post my more serialized works, like this story, on FF and AO3, but for smaller, more one off works like one shots and prompts, I'll be posting them to ao3 and tumblr only.
Now onto notes about this chapter:
-Asami meditated into the Spirit World whilst asleep, and she was initially in the same area that Korra created the Republic City portal. Eventually she ended up at the spirit oasis, what the Spirit Oasis is in the Spirit World anyways, since we see that a lot of stuff in the physical world and spiritual world are connected, like the tree of time and that big old tree in the swamp.
-I've not decided what that spirit is caused, but I wanna think it's pretty rarely seen and a bit of a mystery, only drawn to Asami by that spike in spiritual energy that Jinora sensed, and was able to real get into Asami's head, though i'd point out, not enough, since she eventually saw through it. Damn Asami is so smart and sensitive. I freakin love her.
-Asami's guilt over her mother's ring helped that spirit to manipulate her, and her emotions also effected the environment of the Spirit World, hence the rain.
-That crazy vision was a mixture of timeline events and alternative universes, similar to what Kuro Shin saw when Unalaq tried to drown him in the spirit oasis in the physical world.
-Makuvira is now canon. In this story. And I'm pretty happy about that.
- I also wanted squeee over Jinora and Asami's little hug. Sato really needed that.
-Next chapter will be split between Ba Sing Se and Red Lotus lair.
Thanks for reading, please leave your thoughts below. A couple of words will do, or an essay. I'll take either. Happy to discuss anything you want!
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