Thirty Years Ago

Blood soaked the ground, and the little girl pressed her palms into the chest of her father. Her eyes were red and tears streaked her face as her father choked out the last of his breath. She looked up as the earthbender lifted giant slabs of rock over his head but she didn't move. Too scared, and too stubborn to leave her father. But the girl wasn't alone. Identical hands grasped either of hers, and three pairs of identical eyes watched in terror as the rock hovered in the air. But the triplets didn't join their father in death. Ice pierced their attacker from behind, and the rocks fell to the ground on either side of him. He stumbled once, and fell.

A woman approached them. A water-tribe woman, and in place of arms were tendrils of water. Through her fear, the girls felt a spark of wonder. A shorter man stepped around from behind their saviour. He had green eyes, and his hair was a thick and messy brown mop. He knelt in front of the girls. "Are you all right?"

Amaya straightened her back and stated, "We're fine."

The green eyed man nodded, and then pointed at the dead Earthbender, his tone gentle but firm. "This man abused his power. And because of him your parents are dead. What if there was a way to level the playing field. To give power back to the people?"

"They're just kids," the woman complained. "You don't need to give them the full speech."

He glanced back at her. "They need to hear the truth, more than any adult."

The sisters shared looks, and then began to whisper back and forth in a strange, hodgepodge language that the man couldn't understand. He'd heard of this. Identical siblings often developed a language of their own. It was Amaya who turned to him and spoke for the trio. "Would that make it hurt less?"

"Yes." He held out his hand, his smile inviting. "My name is Zaheer, and we are going to do something very special. Do you want to change the world?"

Twenty-Five Years Ago

Fire, water, and earth were flung about the make-shift arena like something out of a pro-bending match. Amaya twisted through the air, dodging her sister's attack. She'd become the de facto leader of the triplets, and her mastery of fire was already impressive. She lashed out with a burst of flame, then landed in a crouch. Lihua landed in a similar position to her right, and Nuo to her left. Earth and Water to round out the sisters, and both were nearly as natural in their element as Amaya was in hers. Nuo cracked out with a sudden whip of water, feinting at Lihua but angling the attack at Amaya at the last second. Nuo stumbled back and Amaya tried to cut through the water with a spike of flame. The water hit her full in the chest and she landed on her back, skidding several feet.

The battle over, Lihua jogged over to her sister and offered her her hand. Amaya took it. "Good trick."

She glanced at the Red Lotus master watching them. Nuo shook her head. "Amaya, no."

The young firebender just smiled, and then pivoted on her heel and lashed out at their master. Predictably, a stream of water and rapid flurry of rocks joined her fire. The master flipped back, landing on the palms of her hands. Twin pillars of earth rose up with her as she sprang up, and in the same fluid movement the pillars shot through the air towards the girls. They knocked down Lihua and Nui and Amaya shot a look at them. When she turned her attention back to their master she got a facefull of mud and dirt.

The old woman approached them, clucking her tongue. "You must learn patience. Only once you learn patience can you transcend the here and now. Go and meditate on your failure today."

Patience. Always with the patience. Amaya struggled with patience. "I want to speak to Zaheer!" She brushed dirt off of her face. She knew that Master Jun was able to commune with the captured leader in the spirit world, and she wanted to learn how. She needed to. The man had changed her life and she owed him everything.

"Patience. Meditate. Zaheer will come to you when you are ready, and no sooner. You must be spiritually attuned, and you are far from that."

Twenty Years Ago

Patience. Patience. Always with the patience. Even her sisters had stressed the need to be patient, but she'd always suspected as though they were only here for her, rather than for their own needs. They weren't like her. They didn't understand, and they didn't believe. She loved them, they were her only family, but they'd never be on her level. She was fifteen and already she knew her destiny lay in changing the world.

But patience The only time she felt any sort of patience was in meditation. It was the one time and the one place she felt she could relax, and let the weight fall off of her shoulder. It came easier with practice. She just hated the practice.

Do you want to change the world? The words had followed her for ten years. After Zaheer had been captured, Amaya had felt as though his destiny had fallen to her. She would change the world, she would bring about the end of those who made the defenseless suffer. For her family.

"Do you still want to change the world, Amaya?"

Her eyes snapped open. She was still sitting beneath a tree, but it was a different kind of tree. The world seemed to be far more colorful, and it felt less static. The sky seemed to waver like she was underwater. And she wasn't alone. Amaya looked up at a man standing before her. His hair was longer now, and going grey. He held his hand out. She didn't hesitate. She reached up and took it. "I want to change the world, Zaheer. I don't want people to suffer any more."

"You and your sisters have a great destiny before you, and you are not alone." He looked up at her, amused that she was already taller than him. "I have many lessons for you. The elements, history, why the regimes that choke the land have become so corrupt. But here, we will have all the time in the world."

Amaya swallowed her nerves. This was it! Of all the people he could have come to, he'd found her. "Where will we start?"

"Air. We will start with air. The elements start from air."

Thirteen Years Ago

Amaya had made a mistake three years ago. She'd let herself get involved with another member of the order, and for a time it had felt as though she could have pursued a different life. But her ambition and her destiny meant she had to follow another path. But that mistake, and the son that had resulted from it was one she would do again.

He smiled up at her, and she knelt to pick him up. Her son was the future, and she would bring him a world of freedom. "Some day, little one, you'll live in a world where there is no one to rule over us but ourselves."

"Lesson time already?" Nuo chuckled.

"Brain washing," Lihua muttered, folding her arms and leaning her head over the back of her chair. Amaya pretended she hadn't heard that.

"If we teach them now, then the future will be a better place," she insisted. "Even if the Red Lotus fails, even if we fail, the next generation can carry on our work."

"Have you stopped and thought about all of this, though? Thought it through, I mean really thought it through?" Lihua came over to take the boy from her sister. He squirmed in her grasp, and she put him down so he could play. She gestured at their surroundings. "Our lives are good. I'm happy. I forgot what that felt like. I met this girl in town, and-"

Amaya snorted. "We're happy, but other people are miserable. Including that girl of yours."

Before either of Amaya's sisters could respond, old Master Jun came running. "Girls! Girls! There is news on the radio! From Ba Sing Se!"

"What is it?" Amaya turned towards Jun.

The old woman's expression was one of pure jubilation. "The Queen is dead. Zaheer has killed her. It has begun!"

Every instinct in Amaya's body told her to get in the Sato-mobile and go to the city. To help her mentor and the people who'd changed her life. This was the time, this was what she'd trained for, prepared for.

"What should we do?" Nuo turned to her sisters.

Every instinct screamed at her, but she didn't move. "We stay put."

"But this is it," Nuo said. "They're free, this is the time!"

Amaya shook her head. "I want to go, but our place is here. If they fail, it will fall to us. If they succeed, they'll call for us. I've been training with Zaheer. We're his back up. When he calls for us, we go. And if he doesn't call for us, that means he's failed."

Lihua folded her arms, expression perplexed. "What do they hope to accomplish?"

The answer came to Amaya without her really needing to think on it. "Step one is to destabilize the governments. Step two is to end the Avatar cycle."

Six Years Ago

It's almost time, he'd said. There was one lesson left. They were many, they would be strong, and like he promised they'd blot out the sun. The lessons had been many. Air and then water, then earth and finally her natural fire. Again, and again, in a loop like the Avatar cycle. And then had come the new techniques and knowledge. The bending of energy, the manipulation of shadows, how chi flowed through her body..

"We'll begin with your element. Fire."

Fire, air, water, earth. As always, Zaheer led Amaya through each of the elements and each of the forms. "Practice, study, train. You have already progressed farther than I could have ever hoped. But you will need time to master the techniques I'm about to show you. With them, you will succeed where I did not."

"It will also give the Red Lotus more time to prepare," she pointed out. "They're still in hiding.".

"They are but a tool, an instrument, a weapon. I've learned so much from my time in the spirit world." He touched her arm. "I see you've gotten the tattoos, as I instructed. Have you mastered the art of shadowbending yet?"

"The shadows do my bidding." Amaya moved her hands through the air, making their shadows dance. With the new Spirit Portal, training with Zaheer had gotten a lot more hands on and effective. "Just like controlling water, or fire."

"Energy. It's the basis of all the forms, a primordial force so ancient it predates humanity. Earth, fire, air and water. Light and shadow. With these gifts and this knowledge, you are almost ready. I've seen what you must do." He rested his hand on Amaya's shoulder. She looked at it. Frail, the skin hanging off the bones.

"What must I do?"

"I will show you how to share in your sister's bending, to bend their energy through you, and through these tattoos. And you, my daughter, will be the Avatar of Liberation."

Now
When Asami came to, the first thing she'd felt was how much pain she was in. She didn't think that she had any broken bones or serious injuries, but her entire body was sore from the battle and her head throbbed. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the sounds around her. She could feel the drone of an engine, the slight vibration felt through the deck, more noticeable than any Future Industries engine. There was something like turbulance, and Asami realized they were on an airship, and possibly skirting around a storm. She wondered how long she'd been out. She wondered if Korra was okay and what had happened to Mako and Bolin. A hatch creaked and she opened one eye in time to see Mako shoved through it. He stumbled forward and on instinct she went to catch him. Up close, she could see that his face was bloodied and bruised. A shadow loomed over her and she glared at Amaya, but the shadowbender's strong hand closed around her throat and she was pulled out of the cargo hold. The hatch swung shut, but not before she caught a glimpse of Bolin crawling towards his brother.

"What's going on, what did you do to Mako?" She rasped. Asami clawed at the hand around her throat. She could breathe, but barely. Amaya wasn't trying to choke her.

"He's stubborn. Must be the Earth Kingdom ancestry." Worse, their captor was strong. At least as strong as Korra, and she proved by by easily throwing Asami into a chair. She secured Asami with straps on her wrists and ankles.

Once Asami was secure, Amaya looked down at her, momentarily hesitating. But the hesitation didn't last long. "I want the Avatar. And I want my sister back. And you're going to help me get them."

Asami prepared herself for the pain she knew would come. "That's ludicrous. If you think for one hot minute I'm going to help you hurt Korra, you're crazier than I thought." Her head snapped to the side as Amaya backhanded her. She felt her cheek burn, and blood was warm on her lip. She glared at Amaya. "Korra is my wife and my best friend. She means more to me than my own life. You're really going to have to do better than that."

"If you want me to do better than that, then I guess I'll have to show you." Amaya searched through Asami's things. When she turned back to her prisoner, she was holding Asami's glove. She pulled it on and made a fist, smiling at the sparks. "I'll just bet this hurts." She grabbed one of the fingers on Asami's right hand Asami's fingers and snapped it back while simultaneously applying a charge.

Her scream echoed through the airship, ringing off of the metal plating and then reverberating through the cargo hold where Mako and Bolin were being held. Bolin dragged himself to the feet and rammed his shoulder into the door. He pounded his fist against the metal of the hatch. "Asami! Asami!" He slid back down to his knees. "Why can't I bend metal when I really, really need to?"

"It's okay, bro." Mako sat up, touching his nose tenderly. Asami screamed again, and he closed his eyes, trying to mentally brace himself. It wasn't actually okay but if he let it get to him they'd never be able to help her. "I've got a plan. I know you can't metalbend it, but what if you lavabent the metal?"

"There's no way." Bolin shook his head. "I can't find the earth in the metal to bend it, how can I heat it up?"

"I don't know. But maybe if I get it started…" Mako rubbed his palms together. They had to do something. "I'll firebend at the metal, and you take it from there."

Bolin kicked his heels on the deck. "Okay. Okay. We have to try." He glanced down at the deck, and at several bits of dirt. He lifted his foot to look at the bottom of his shoe. "Hey Mako. I've got an idea!"

"I always knew you were my favorite brother."

"How many more fingers can you afford to break?" Amaya hissed, her fingers tangled in Asami's hair and their faces inches from each other. "Or should I start cutting them off, would that convince you that you're on the wrong side of history?"

"I won't help you." The pain made it difficult for Asami to focus. Even breathing hurt - she was certain a rib was bruised and there were burns where Amaya had zealously applied shocks. "Even if Korra wasn't my wife, I wouldn't help you. She's the Avatar, her life is more important than mine."

She couldn't bear to look at her right hand, but she could feel her bonds loosening. As long as Amaya didn't notice, Asami might stand a chance and be able to break free. "You're just hurting me because you enjoy it. We both know it."

"I'm not." She shoved Asami's head back against the chair and stormed away. "You wouldn't understand. You're part of the elite, the power structure. You haven't seen what it does to regular people. The suffering we face every day."

"My family built what we had from nothing!" Asami tested how well bolted down her chair was. It wriggled.

"But you grew up without knowing what nothing is like. You're just a spoiled rich girl who's bedding the Avatar. When have you ever known tragedy? When have you looked death in the eye?"

Asami stared at her, suddenly angry, then shook her head. "You're so far into your own martyrdom that you can't see that everyone has problems. My mother died when I was little. I watched my father die fighting Kuvira. Mako and Bolin grew up orphans on the streets. Korra was nearly destroyed by the man you idolize. We've all known tragedy!"

The electric glove sparked again, and this time Amaya brought it towards Asami's face. She closed her eyes, trying to turn away, just as the smell of burnt metal reached the control room.

As soon as Amaya turned towards the direction the smell was coming from, Asami planted her feet and strained as hard as she could. The bolts snapped and she twisted her body, slamming the chair into Amaya just as the Mako burst into the room. The two firebenders held nothing back, and their attacks set most of the controls on fire. Ducking under a fire jab, Amaya grabbed for a control and pulled a lever. A hatch swung open on the starboard side. Amaya struck Asami with a water whip, and knocked her through the sudden opening.

Mako rushed to the hatch as Asami fell out but she was gone before he could grab her. The weather was cloudy and grey and the water below was obscured by mist. Without hesitation, he grabbed a life preserver and dove out of the airship.

Looking at the now empty hatch, and then at the incensed woman who looked like she was trying to choke him via telekinesis, Bolin quickly decided that retreat was the safer option "It's probably safer out there, isn't it." There was a yellow package marked emergency on the wall, so he ripped that down and jumped out after Mako, fire licking at his back.

Jerking the lever hard and locking the hatch closed, Amaya leaned heavily against it and looked at the ruin of the control room. There were blood stains on the floor from her torture of Mako and Asami. Amaya looked at her hands, then ripped the glove off and threw it aside so that she could deal with the fires, and not think about what she'd done. Or think about how she'd have done it again if given the chance. "We will make the world better. My son will never bow to another man. We will liberate the people, whether they want to be free or not. We have to. We have to."

Or else her life would have been for nothing.

It felt like hitting a wall, and all the breath was knocked from Asami's body as she shock of the impact sapped her strength. She started to sink like a stone, and struggled to break free of the heavy chair she was still half strapped to. The surface seemed to fade more and more out of view and panic flooded through her limbs. Korra wasn't here to bend the water away this time. Korra was far, far away but at least she was safe. Asami stopped thrashing as that thought settled in her heart. Korra was safe. Korra was safe. She hadn't lied when she said that Korra mattered more than her own life. Not the Avatar. Korra. And certainly the Avatar was important and Korra couldn't exist without the Avatar, but it was Korra that she focused on. There had always been a part of her that wouldn't have been able to move on if she'd lost her.

Asami had very nearly resigned herself to her fate when hands broke the bonds and Mako's face materialized in front of hers. Water boiled beneath Mako's feet as he jetted them back to the surface. Asami clung to him, sputtering and coughing, her head spinning from a sudden influx of air. He fixed the life preserver under Asami's arm, holding onto part of it to keep himself afloat. Asami rested her head on it, closing her eyes again as she realized that she wasn't actually going to drown.

"Guys! Guys! Maaaako!"

Craning his head, Mako saw a peculiar yellow boat bobbing in the waves. Bolin used his hands to paddle towards them, and together they helped Asami into the boat.

"What is this thing?" Mako pushed his hand against the bottom. It was some kind of rubber material.

"Inflatable raft," Asami said. She didn't move from where she'd sprawled out. Her hair fanned around her head, drifting lightly in the thin layer of water that had gotten into the raft. When she'd been in the dam break, she'd known Korra would save her. It hadn't really hit her how close she'd come to dying. But they were in the middle of the ocean and Korra wasn't here. She'd almost drowned. She'd expected to. She tried not to think about it, or she'd panic again. "Varrick's invention, actually."

Bolin looked proud of himself for grabbing it. He scooted closer to Asami and tried to get a look at her hand. She pulled it protectively close to her body, and her voice was light and a little distant. "She broke three fingers. Shocked me a few times. Are you guys all right?"

"Nothing I haven't been through before," Mako assured her. "But we need to set your fingers until we can get you to a healer."

Asami swallowed the fear she felt and nodded. "Okay." The thought of losing full function in her hand had already occurred to her but now that she was out of immediate danger and she was coming to terms with nearly drowning, the fear for her hand was rearing it's head. "I trust you both."

Tearing at his sleeve, Bolin started to produce strips they could use to wrap around Asami's hand, while Mako carefully positioned them. They didn't have much they could use as a splint, but he used Bolin's strips to bundle up each finger individually. Then he wrapped several more to hold everything in place. Finally, Bolin held up a make-shift sling, and helped Asami sit up so she could get it on.

She grit her teeth and tried to get through it, but every time she made a pained sound, Bolin flinched. When the ordeal was finally over, she leaned against him and wiped at her cheeks and eyes with her other hand. "Thanks…"

"You don't think we're going to float into a storm, do you?"

Mako shook his head at his brother. "I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe she was just skirting the edge of it. There weren't any other people on board that I could tell. She must be using more of that automation. It's pretty calm right now, just misty."

"Maybe we're close to shore." Asami tried to remember what she could from the control room. There had been several maps with numerous pinpoints, but without knowing which direction they'd gone, she didn't know which one had been their destination.

"Wishful thinking." Grimly, Mako took stock of their situation. An earthbender and firebender in the middle of the ocean. It was almost laughable.

"Bolin, can you… feel land in any direction?" Maybe they were too far away, or maybe they were close enough for an earthbender to be able to feel it.

"I don't think it works that way. Not with all this ocean between me and the seabed."

"A ship might never come in this direction. Or we could be stranded for days. Weeks."

Dazed, and still reeling from pain and shock, Asami tuned the men out. The sky was clearing, little by little, but her vision was hazy. She thought she saw a spirit drifting aimlessly, and she lifted her left hand, finger pointing at it. It resembled a bearded dragon and when it looked at her something about it felt familiar. Like she'd met it once before.

West.

"West?"

Asami's voice started Bolin and Mako. They looked at Asami, who just shrugged. "West. We need to go west… a.. spirit told me." But when she looked up, the spirit had moved on. "At least… I think one did."

"Okay," Mako said, moving to the rear of the raft. "West it is." Maybe he couldn't bend water, but fire bender jet propulsion was the next best thing. He couldn't keep it up constantly, but with short bursts they started to make good time. Asami dozed for the better part of an hour, her head in Bolin's lap. After several hours, land came into view. Exhausted, Mako collapsed against the back of the raft. "We're so close, but I just… I need a break."

Asami shielded her eyes. "You earned it. But I think I know where we are. Dad used to take us here on vacation, and I took Korra here once. That's Ember Island!"