Even after the storm had passed, it was clear that communication had been cut off entirely. It was still impossible to reach anyone in Republic City. They could no longer reach the Fire Nation and both the Water Tribes remained conspicuously silent.. The complete radio silence made Mako nervous. He pulled his brother and Asami outside, folding his arms as a chilly breeze blew in from the sea. He did a few breathing exercises to keep warm.

"What is it?" Bolin leaned back against a railing on the porch.

"I feel like we're missing something really important. I'm worried about Korra, and Azula. I wish we could be in two places at once. But we can't just stick around and just hope that everything will be okay."

"Some day I'll invent a way to do that. Be in two places at once," Asami said, her face almost entirely serious. "I wish we could contact Korra. I want to know if she's okay, and she might know where we're actually needed the most. It hurts to say it, but if we're needed more in the Fire Kingdom or one of the Water Tribes, then that's what we should do."

Bolin straightened up, looking between the two of them. "Couldn't we try to contact Korra through the Spirit World? Or Opal or Jinora? I'm really worried about them. Opal's going to kill me for being gone so long."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Bolin, but none of us are all that spiritual." Asami put her hand over his on the railing. "I wouldn't know where to begin and I've watched Korra meditate. But it was a nice suggestion."

"You're right." His face fell. "I guess it was a dumb idea."

"It wasn't a dumb idea. We just don't have anyone that's all that spiritually attuned."

"What about Ty Lee?" Mako suggested. "She's not a bender but she's experienced and she's seen a lot."

Asami shook her head. "Chi-blockers specialize in blocking off chi, I don't think that helps when we need to connect to the spirits. I once found a book of their techniques, when I was cleaning out dad's office. It's disciplined, but maybe not in the right kind of way that makes it easy to cross over to the Spirit World."

"And by the time we try to go to the North Pole, it would have been faster to just go straight to Republic City by boat or air and that's assuming we don't get lost on the side side before we get to the Republic City portal." The inaction was frustrating, and Mako wanted to get moving now that they were rested.

"Split up."

The trio looked at Ty Lee, who was standing in the doorway to her home. She smiled, and gestured at them. "Two of you go one place, the other go the other."

"That's not a bad idea." Asami didn't have to think it over very long to figure out where Ty Lee's thoughts were going. "I know the transmitters in Republic City by memory, I can probably get them back up, and if the Red Lotus is controlling them I'll have a lot of help. Korra, Chief Beifong, the airbenders…" She nodded her head at Mako. "And the Fire Lord could use your help and emotional support. She has to hold her people together while mourning her mother and grandfather."

A wry smile crossed Mako's face. Once, Korra had nudged him at Asami because she'd needed support and now Asami was nudging him towards Azula. "You might be right."

Bolin held up his hands. "I'll go to Ba Sing Se. We've got friends there and there's all those people I was trying to help get a roof over their heads and someone has to make sure they're okay and it might as well be me."

"Are you sure about that, bro?"

He nodded firmly. "Yeah. Yeah I am."

Ty Lee regarded them all as they spoke, feeling a twinge of her own grief for Zuko. Then she glanced back inside. "I'm glad that's settled, but there's one more thing. I'd like one of you to take Rei away from Ember Island. It's only a matter of time until the Red Lotus comes for her, and with you three here it might give them the idea to look. They can't be allowed to find her."

"I could take her to Republic City," Asami volunteered. Rei was adorable and she wouldn't mind getting to know her better. "She'd be safe with Tenzin. There isn't really any place I can think of that's not dangerous right now anyway."

"She could be safer with her aunt." Bolin looked at his brother, and cocked his head. "You could take her with you. They've got a ton of guards on the Fire Lord now and we rooted out the terrorists, plus she totally likes you."

"Putting all the royal family in one place is like painting a target on their backs. But it's probably also fairly secure, compared to some other places." Mako punched his fist into his palm. "But we don't know that for sure and we won't until we get there."

"With Iroh abdicating, the throne would fall to her if something happened to Azula." The danger that Rei was in made Asami sick to the stomach. She was just a child, ten years at the oldest, and the Red Lotus wanted her dead. They were monsters. "Whatever we do we have to be careful, for Rei's sake."

Ty Lee clapped her hands together, once. "Well, is she safer with her family, or with the Avatar and the airbenders?" She studied them after she spoke.

"This feels like a damn coin toss," Mako complained.

"Lets figure out how we're going to get transportation, and we can discuss what to do with Rei while we're planning." Ty Lee beckoned them back inside. "And don't give me that look. I may be old but I'm not fragile. I can travel."

Mako headed inside, followed by Asami and then Bolin. Ty Lee looked suddenly tense, and he didn't say anything as it was obvious she had more to say.

Ty Lee worked her jaw for a moment after closing the door behind them, her attention focused on the wall. When she looked at them again, her eyes were watery. When she spoke, her voice cracked, the weight of decades behind it. "I'm alone now. Mai's gone. My Azula passed away so long ago and now Zuko. We lost Sokka and Aang so young and then Katara and all my sisters. I've been many things in my life. I was a bad guy then a bodyguard and I like to think once that I became one of the good guys. I can make a difference one last time."

Asami shared a look with the brothers. On a fundamental level she understood. In Ty Lee's place, if Korra had died, and she'd lost Mako and Bolin and she was the only one left. And if there was nothing more for her to do, she'd want to do whatever she could to help those who came after in the following generations. Raising Rei had become Ty Lee's last duty for her old friends, but that time was coming to an end.

It was Bolin who responded first, by lifting Ty Lee up in a gentle-for-him hug. "Toph's still kicking! Maybe you could see her again."

"I think I'd like that. Suki too." Ty Lee patted his shoulder, and laughed. The lines on her face had been made by laughter and even as she'd realized how alone she was, she'd also realized that she wasn't. New friends and the spirits of the old ones looking down on her.

Bolin set her back down. "I don't think anything could possibly kill Toph. I wonder if I can find her and get her to help too."

"I don't know," Ty Lee said. "If someone taunted her about picking up a mountain she'd probably die trying."

Korra peeled back the bandages to get another look at her side and grimaced. "Well that's better than it was." It had bled pretty badly, but the healers had done their best, and Korra's own healing had supplemented them.

"You were lucky it missed something vital." Kya's weak voice came from a bed nearby, and Korra walked stiffly around a cart to reach her. Kya lay popped up slightly by pillows. Under the sheet, Korra knew she was heavily bandaged, healers having to change her dressings every few hours.

"I'm the lucky one?" Korra looked the waterbender over, shaking her head in disbelief as she summoned water from a pot to give the worse of Kya's injuries another healing session. "One of those things put a hole in your stomach, I don't know how you're still alive. I mean Beifong I can understand, she's made of platinum."

They both looked over at another bed, where Lin was sleeping. They'd all been dragged to the same building, and while a healer had worked on Korra, Korra had focused her attention on saving the two older women. Avatar State healing could work miracles, but it had been touch and go. Korra didn't know how they'd even survived this long, and she was worried that Kya still might not make it. Her eyes glowed as she worked. She'd lost Katara, her parents were missing, her wife… she wasn't going to lose Kya and Lin, too.

Kya seemed to pick up on Korra's thoughts. "We'll be okay. Lin ordered me not to die. I can't disobey that order, she'd find a way to bring me back just so she could discipline me. … I'd probably enjoy that."

"Thanks, I didn't need to know that." Korra straightened up, the glow in her eyes fading. She inspected Kya's wound, then reapplied the bandages. "Get some rest, that's an order."

"Yes ma'am."

Jinora was waiting for Korra in the other room. It was a crowded little room. Most of this floor had been turned into a make-shift hospital, and there was a planning area in the apartments on another level, including one Korra knew was Mako's.

Tenzin sat in one corner, his arm in a sling and a bloody bandage around his head while Opal tended to him. Her movements were robotic, her mind clearly elsewhere. Ikki and Meelo were helping out the healers with other wounded and Jia was trying to organize the chaos into something efficient. Korra wished her lyck.

"We still don't know where Asami or the others are. Amaya has made no demands or any threats about them, so I'm assuming they're alive." Jinora sounded more calm than Korra felt.

Worry ate at Korra's stomach. She needed another day at least before she could risk fighting anyone on Amaya's level. Your average bender or soldier she could handle right now, but Amaya? She knew she wasn't ready yet. Her hands formed fists and she took a deep breath.

"Korra, it will be okay. You're connected to them. You'd know if anything happened."

"I know, I just…It's been nearly two days" Korra blew hair out of her eyes, making her hands relax. The more she tensed up the worse her side hurt. "I'm losing everyone I care about. My parents are missing, Asami and Mako and Bolin are missing. Tenzin is hurt, Lin is pretty bad off and I don't even know if Kya will make it. The Red Lotus holds over half the city. I need to get back into the fight, just to keep my mind off of this."

Jinora put her hands on Korra's shoulders. "You need some more time. You nearly pulled a grandpa there. I don't know what we'd do without you."

"It wasn't that bad." Korra ran a hand over her face. "And you guys did pretty well without me before. How many airbenders do we have still?"

"Ten who can still fly or fight. And you know we still needed you."

Korra smiled at her. "I know. But you guys still did really good when the world still needed balance and spiritual guidance. But we need some more information. Take two others. Just be careful and don't let anyone see you." Korra thought about it for a long moment. "Find out how defended their radio jammer is. If anyone is trying to reach us, right now they can't and I if we can take out their jammers we can try to get some news or coordinate with other nations."

Spiritual guidance… Something occurred to Jinora, and she grabbed Korra's hands. "Wait! They're jamming the radio, right? But they can't jam the spirit world. What if I projected myself, trying to find Mako or Asami? I'm closest to them, I should be able to make contact."

Korra picked Jinora up and twirled her around. Her side twinged, so she set her back down. "Jinora, you're a genius! Okay slight change of plans. Pick three airbenders you trust the most and send them out to scout the jammers, then try to find the others. I'll rest easier knowing they're okay."

"And then maybe we can put out these flames of rebellion." Jia rushed over, looking frazzled. Her hair was no longer in it's neat bun and one earring was missing. Her business skirt was torn and scorched, and Korra didn't think that she'd even slept in two days. But not many of them had. The only sleep Korra had gotten had been while healing up.

"Maybe I can dump the ocean on everyone." The joke fell a little flat. Korra shrugged, then took Jia by the arm and made her sit down. "But you need to rest too. We'll fall apart if you start falling apart, I think the only reason we're still going is because you're so good at organizing."

"Too much to do." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, then glanced past Korra towards Ikki.

Korra followed her gaze. "Is everything all right with you two?"

"I think so. But I'm worried about her. When we were at Future Industries torching R&D, she was fighting Ai Li. They both fell of a catwalk and Ai Li burned to death in the fire." She gripped Korra's arm. "I've tried to tell her there was nothing she could do, that it wasn't her fault and she didn't kill her, but she blames herself. It's my fault, I should carry that weight, I hear the screaming every time I close my eyes and I don't want Ikki to-"

"Hey… hey, it's okay." Korra unhooked Jia's hand from her arm and squeezed it. "Neither of you are at fault. Ai Li put herself into that position, she took your technology and used it to hurt people. She wasn't a good person, not like you and Ikki. And in a fight, sometimes people get hurt and you can't help that. That's a lesson I was taught early. But it wasn't like either of you stabbed her to death or deliberately used your bending to murder her. It sounds like it was an accident."

Jia nodded, lowering her head for a long moment while she collected herself. Korra smiled tiredly. "You rest, I'll go talk to Ikki, I think she needs to hear this too."

She watched Korra cross the room to Ikki, and speak to her in low tones. Ikki's face quickly crumbled, and Korra enveloped her into her arms. They hugged like that for a long moment, before Korra lifted the woman up and carried her over to Jia. "You, sit here. Both of you rest. And remember, what happened wasn't your fault. You're still good people."

Stepping away, Korra headed towards Tenzin. Ikki watched her go, then turned her head towards Jia. "Do you believe her?"

"I… don't know. I want to. Do you?"

Ikki swallowed and shook her head. "I don't know either, but I have to try."

Silently, Jia took Ikki's hand, and held it on the armrest between them. After a moment, Ikki leaned against her, laying her head on Jia's shoulder and closing her eyes. She was out so quickly that it startled Jia. She listened to the sound of Ikki's breathing, loud and close, wondering how Ikki could fall asleep so closed her eyes and let the sound of Ikki's heartbeat lull her to sleep.

"They're really cute together," Opal said, as she dragged a slightly protesting Korra away from Tenzin to make her sit down and rest.

"Yeah they are, but come on, there's still work to do!" The Beifong glare was strong, especially with Opal, so Korra sighed and sat down. "You were out there more recently than I was. What's it like for everyone?"

"We've got most of the populace staying out of the way, but besides the police a number of people have turned against the Red Lotus. A lot of the New Equalist supporters realized they were being used again, and turned on them too, but they don't trust us and they don't trust the benders. There's a lot of… tension between everyone. One spark and this alliance breaks apart.

Korra leaned back, resting her head against the wall and staring at the ceiling. "That's going to be a big mess still, once all this is over, even if we all stick together"

"I guess the whole elections thing didn't really solve the underlying problems."

"Something to think about later," Korra agreed. "We need to get to the bottom of that or this will just keep happening in one form or another. My job is keeping balance, maybe this time I'll be able to actually help. I was...kind of young and stupid back then."

Opal laughed, and it felt like the first time she had since Bolin had disappeared. "I think everyone goes through that phase, and occasionally it comes back for a few weeks."

Korra gestured for Opal to sit next to her, then put her arm around her friend. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine."

"And I'm the Earth Queen. I know you're worried about Bolin."

Nodding, Opal closed her eyes and leaned against Korra. "I have to believe he's fine. But I don't know what I'll do if he never comes home."

A lump formed in Korra's throat. "He'll be fine. They all will. But we have to focus on the city and stopping the Red Lotus. We can worry about them later."

And mourn if they had to.

The deck swayed from side to side as Asami carefully made her way towards the stern. Rather than risk discovery by commandeering a company ship, Asami had purchased passage on a cargo ship to the mainland. Once they reached their destination, she would take a much faster airship back to Republic City, while Mako and Bolin continued on to their own destinations. This all hinged on airships actually running, which wasn't entirely likely, so plan B would require aggressive negotiations. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that. Not with Ty Lee and Rei in tow. At least they were traveling light. Rei had one bag, and Ty Lee had packed two, making no comment about what was in them or why they were necessary. The rest of them just had what was on their backs.

Bolin was with Rei, standing at the railing as Ember Island disappeared in the distance. Asami leaned against the railing next to them. "Under other circumstances this would feel peaceful, and a little exciting. Like we're off on another adventure. But right now I just feel so...uneasy."

"I've got a good gut feeling," Bolin assured her. "Though maybe I'm just a little queasy."

"I just don't know what we're going to do about those airships, or those weapons."

"Well if they're under crewed and there's some kind of remote thing going on, maybe there's a way to block the signal without, uh, ramming airships into each other. Then we can… turn them against each other." Bolin shrugged at her, then nudged her with his shoulder.

Asami rolled her eyes, but a smile ghosted across her lips. "I was making the best of a bad situation. But I'll get to thinking about it. Something tells me there's more to it than we can see. If Amaya can control shadows and borrow her sister's bending..." Asami trailed off, then straightened. "What if they're using spirit energy?"

"Can they do that?" Bolin's eyes widened and he flashed back to spirit cannons and giant mechs.

"Anything is possible."

"..Asami! Bolin!"

Both turned at their names, to see Jinora's floating, transparent form. All the weight on Asami's shoulder fell away, and if Jinora wasn't incorporeal she would have hugged her. "Jinora! I'm glad you're all right! Is Korra okay? Did she get away? How is everyone?"

"She's fine, but worried to death. Chief Beifong and Kya were both badly hurt and my dad is out of the fight too."

"That's great!" Bolin threw up his hands, then dropped them. "I mean Korra being okay. Your dad and the others being hurt. That's not so great. Mako's okay too, though! He's below decks with Ty Lee. Oh we met Ty Lee!"

"Really?" Jinora raised her eyebrows. Ty Lee? Royal Guard to the Fire Lord Ty Lee? The Ty Lee that fought against her grandfather before changing sides? She hoped she got to meet her.

"Jinora, how safe is Republic City right now? Do you have any word from the Fire Nation or Ba Sing Se?" Asami gestured at Rei. "This is Rei, she's the Fire Lord's niece. We need to protect her but we don't know where it might be safest."

Rei didn't say anything, and simply stared in awe at the astral projection.

"Mom's got a little shelter going that she can hide out in. The city is split right down the middle between the free areas and the neighborhoods held by the Red Lotus and a few areas where new Triads have formed in the chaos. Your ramming attack disrupted most of their airship communications and we've taken advantage of that. Last word we heard from anywhere else were the airship attacks, and bombings in the North and South Water Tribes." Jinora's face grew longer. "Chief Desna was killed, and Korra's parents are missing."

"Oh no…" Asami leaned heavily on the railing. Hearing about Kya and Lin was bad enough. Tonraq and Senna were like parents to her. They'd welcomed her into the family as though she was one of their own and she'd grown as close to them as she'd ever been to her father. But Korra had to be hurting worse so she couldn't let herself focus on her own worry. "How is… how is Korra handling it?"

"She's distracting herself, being a real pain in the healers' butts, actually. She'll need you if… the worst is confirmed."

Asami nodded shakily. "Okay. Our plan won't change then. I'll take Rei to Republic City and leave her and Ty Lee with Pema. Bolin will check out Ba Sing Se and Mako will continue on to the Fire Nation and help Fire Lord Azula."

"And now we know what to attack," Bolin said. "Take out the big command ships and we suddenly gain an advantage!"

"I'll let everyone know you're all okay," Jinora blinked away.

"I'll never get used to that," Asami admitted. "Come one, lets go tell Mako and Ty Lee the news."

"Which of us breaks it to him that the Chief is badly hurt?"