Tonight has not gone as planned. Hana has always prided herself on being a young woman with a plan. Always a plan. She hasn't grown up easy, not many people have in Republic City. The only way she dealt with her upbringing was to become meticulous. Be aggressive. Be unwavering. Be organized.
It's this strategy that got her into the Arai society. That, and a die hard will to see this so called 'revolution' through until it had peacefully lapsed on both sides.
It only took a few months to integrate herself into the Equalist ranks. Secret underground societies run rampant in Republic City if you know where to look for them. The Arai's had a plan. Hana liked that about them. They were deliberate with their preparations. No one would fall into Equalist territory before they were ready. It was a risky operation already; there was no need to add more variables to it. The balance of the country hung in the discord. Mistakes were not an option.
So they trained in secret to learn the ways of chi-blocking, invented aliases, learned all the secrets. Then, they plunged headlong into a brewing fellowship that would kill them if they were ever discovered.
Hana hadn't seen any other members in sometime. They were all completely immersed, and for good reason. If they could pick themselves out of the crowd, odds are so could everyone else. It was every man for himself inside the fellowship until bridges of hope and peace could be built from the inside out. They were a long way from that end –and most of them knew it. Hana did more than any of them she suspected, but it hadn't stopped her from joining. It hadn't stopped her from tattooing the Arai symbol on her bicep, it hadn't stopped her from leaving her family and it hadn't stopped her from donning the costume and attending rallies. Not much did stop her. She was not a girl to let things stand in her way.
Which is why tonight is so frustrating for her.
The rally had gotten out of hand. Not even the Arai knew of Amon's startling power. It complicated things. It complicated things further when the whole venue when to hell and her team of fellow Equalists found themselves in the alley out back face to face with the Avatar herself and two other benders. Escape was the only option but just as soon as she thought she was in the clear she lost her footing. Before she knew it she was lying on the ground with two cracked ribs and staring up into the eyes of three people who probably intended to hurt her worse if she didn't explain who she was.
The breeze is cool on her face, but it doesn't ease the burning sensation of her side. Her body is strong, lean and packed with sinewy muscle, but her momentum in the fall crushed the left side of her torso. It's near impossible to breathe. Even harder to try and explain herself while her vision is swimming back and forth.
"This underground movement –how many are involved?" the older of the two males asks.
Hana wets her lips and holds back a grimace, "We call ourselves the Arai society. There are about thirty of us."
"Thirty?" he scoffs, "How do you expect to bring down Amon with thirty people?"
"We don't wish to bring down Amon," she murmurs.
The Avatar stiffens. Hana should have guessed that would strike a nerve. She watches the other young woman throw up her arms, bright eyes blazing.
"Whose side are you on?"
"We are on neither side," Hana snaps, "We want peace. We cannot allow ourselves to favor one over the other if we are to bring harmony."
"So you're fine to just sit and watch while Amon takes away people's bending?" the Avatar yells.
She takes a step forward. The older male seems to flinch, as if about to reach out to hold her back, but thinks better of it. Hana regards the young woman with narrow eyes. Her countenance doesn't change.
"No –this is as startling news to us as it is to you," Hana says and swallows, "We won't stand for dictatorship and abuse of power like that. What I'm trying to say is that we have to be able to see both sides of this argument to come to peace. Bender privilege and terrorism is a real phenomenon. The fact that enough people are threatened by it to follow someone like Amon is proof enough. We must remedy that before progress can be made."
"She has a point," the younger of the two males speaks up. He and Hana lock eyes for a brief instant and she gets tangled in his eyes. Hana rips hers away first to glance at the Avatar.
The young woman's face is a haze of emotion, but Hana can sense some of what she's saying is sinking in. On the surface the Avatar's aura is rash and impulsive, but she has sense. It seems she has no further arguments. Her mouth quiets. She folds her arms back over her chest.
A long silence passes. The older male looks to the Avatar.
"Korra?" he prompts.
The Avatar heaves a sigh of defeat and her arms swing back at her sides. She looks down at Hana with a grim face.
"If what you're saying is true, then I guess we're allies."
Hana says nothing. The silence pervades. Until the younger male speaks up, his emerald eyes wide and questioning.
"So what now?"
More silence.
"Your friends aren't coming back for you, are they?" the older boy asks and looks up at the rooftops where the Equalists last disappeared.
"No, our orders are to leave anyone who falls behind. I imagine they assume I've been captured. They think there's nothing they can do for me now," Hana says. The breath finally stings her side enough to prompt a hiss of pain from her. She grips her side again.
The youngest boy stiffens.
"Korra, can you heal her?"
The Avatar looks around, "Not here."
"Then we'll take her to the apartment," he urges.
The older male, who looks distinctly related to him, narrows his eyes, "Bolin."
"What? Like Korra said, we're allies! We screwed up her plan and threw her off a roof; the least we can do is fix her up. Right?" Bolin passes a pleading look back and forth between the two standing.
The older boy's nostrils flare and he gives a curt nod.
"Fine."
He doesn't move. No one does, for a moment. So the younger boy makes the first notion and arrives in front of Hana with a hand extended. She reaches up with her good arm and he pulls her up like she's made of air. But she hasn't accounted for how difficult it would be to hold herself up, and the pain in her side dulled the pain in her twisted ankle. She hasn't noticed it was even injured until that instant. As soon as she stands her balance fails her and she crashes into the boy, her white hair swirling and jaw clenched.
"Woah –I've got you," he murmurs in her ear.
With one elegant, fluid motion that a first glance would deem him incapable of, he hooks his grip under her shoulders and under knees and gently eases her into his arms. He's sturdy, built like a tree. Her much smaller figure folds into the vice of his arms. She wraps her good one around his neck and settles against him.
"You okay?" he asks, and she can feel the reverberation of his voice in his chest.
"Yes, thank you," she lies.
Her side is on fire, and now that her ankle has been acknowledged it throbs. But the promise of relief is near so she bites her tongue and holds on.
The older boy retrieves her helmet from beside the dumpster and tucks it into his bag. Then Bolin leads the way, easing into the shadows of the alleys with firm, deliberate steps. The other two lag behind and Hana can hear the harsh murmurs of their whispers echoing. She doesn't blame them. It's a lot to take in, in just a matter of minutes. She's trying to pick out what their saying when Bolin starts to speak.
"The name's Bolin," he says and the white gleam of his grin shines like a beacon, "I'm sure you've heard of me."
His plucky attitude is kind of endearing. If she wasn't in so much pain she might have smirked.
"Can't say I have."
He falters but quickly regains his bravado, "I'm a member of the pro-bending team with those two wackos back there -Korra and my brother Mako. We're the Fire Ferrets!"
She feels his chest puff proudly. She almost feels bad for not knowing who he is. But she's never had much time for recreational activity. And she hasn't been in Republic City long enough to even know who's famous and who's not. There's even such a thing as pro-bending? News to her.
"That's nice," she says, for lack of anything better to say.
There is an uncomfortable silence. A bright light from an overhead streetlamp illuminates her face. It makes her squint and she buries her face into his chest until the shadows consume both of them again. He tightens his grip on her.
She can just barely pick up what Korra and Mako are whispering about ten steps behind them.
"Do you think I should tell Tenzin?"
"Should we tell anyone? Taking this information outside of this group could get the Arai publicity they don't want."
"How do we know we can even trust them? You heard her, they don't even want to bring Amon down!"
"They don't want to help him either, Korra."
Her ears strain, but as soon as she's got a grip on the threads of conversation Bolin speaks up again. His soft baritone tickles at her ear. His body is warm. Her side throbs in slow, deep pangs.
"How's your rib? Are you doing okay?" he asks.
She wants to be annoyed with his constant interjections but can't find the heart to. She's never been much into romance like other teenaged girls. But there's something undeniable about his square jaw and boyish, crooked smile. He's naïve, and energetic. He's everything she's not. But he's strong both in body and spirit and in his grip she feels safe for the first time in a long time.
"I've had worse," she offers him a smile to be polite and he returns it with such exuberance it makes her ache.
"That sounds ominous," he wrinkles his nose in sympathy.
"How about you?" she asks.
"Me?"
"Yeah, pro-bending seems like it could be potentially dangerous. You ever get hurt?" It's a boring question but she's just trying to make conversation now. He's putting in the effort; the least she can do is return the favor.
He beams.
"Oh yeah, I've been hurt loads of times! This one time I got hit with a— "
He continues on the entire way back. She lets him talk, telling stories of different injuries which then progresses to stories about his favorite matches and the Avatar's induction into the team. She nods when appropriate and asks a few questions but mostly she just lets him talk. He's good at it. Very charismatic –and dare she say, cute.
He talks all the way up to he and his brother's apartment that rests above what he describes as the arena. It's a small place with long bay windows that reflect the stars into little pinpricks of silver on the floor. He lays her down gently on the couch in the corner, mindful of her ribs.
"Good?" he asks as he slowly slides his hands out from under her.
She nods, "Thank you."
He grins and nods back. Mako and Korra then enter behind them. They've ceased their whispering. Korra runs a pail of water and then kneels beside Hana on the couch with it. Her hands glow blue and they move over Hana's ribs.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" Hana asks, hoping to make pleasant conversation as easily with Korra as she had with Bolin.
"A friend," Korra murmurs.
Her eyes are distrusting. But her hands work magic and the pain starts to ease.
"Thank you," Hana tries again.
Korra nods with an affirmative hum. And then she's finished speaking. And Hana's finished trying to win her over.
She heaves a low sigh and sweeps her eyes over the Avatar's shoulder to find Bolin watching the process from his position in the corner where he's leaned back with his arms crossed. His green eyes glow like fire in the dark. Mako disappears into the adjacent room. Her eyes drift back to Korra whose dark face is arranged into a mask of mistrust.
Facts will not be enough to convince the Avatar of her sincerity, she realizes. To have thought she or Mako would accept her as willingly as Bolin seems to have been a mistake. So she keeps quiet. She'll let them decide for themselves. If they think she's not to be trusted and send her out, then so be it. She's survived on the streets before.
She can do it again.
A huge thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! Enjoy!