-:-


Book 1: Redemption
Chapter 1: Insubordination


Even though thirteen years had passed since that fateful day, Lei still remembered it crystal clear. It was strange to think just how much her life had changed since then. She had mastered earthbending by the age of twelve—much like the legendary inventor of metalbending, Toph Beifong. Determined to make her father proud, she enrolled in the training program for Republic City's elite metalbending officers—the same one he had entered as a young man so many years ago. But such success at a young age doesn't always guarantee personal satisfaction.

Deep within police headquarters, Lei was brooding in the hallway, her long braid hanging down as she folded her arms and leaned against the wall. A few minutes passed before she was approached by her best friend, with two cups in hand. Despite being two years her elder, Taifeng wasn't much taller than her. His mid-length black hair was neatly styled, framing his diamond-shaped face, and pairing nicely with his wrinkle-free uniform. He raised a thin eyebrow upon noticing Lei's scowl, though he brushed it away with a smirk.

Still, he couldn't mask the concern in his pale-blue eyes as he held out a cup of tea and teased, "Can't even go fifteen minutes without me, huh?"

She let out an amused snort as her lips twitched into a wry grin. "Oh, of course. What would I ever do if you took another thirty seconds?" After taking his offer, she added, "Thanks."

Light glimmered off Lei's gray armored uniform as her childhood friend leaned against the wall and took a sip of his own morning tea. "Hey, you know you can always talk to me, right? What's wrong?"

She let out an exasperated sigh before venting, "I just don't understand why this is taking so long. I became a cadet and broke the record for the longest training period after fourteen months. Now I've nearly quadrupled that. I should've been made an officer years ago!"

He narrowed his eyes and scoffed, his tone harsh as he commented, "At least you have an option, and aren't stuck as a beat cop."

"Not really, considering I've been doing the same stuff you have and some training," she argued. "Besides, you only started two years ago, and—beat cop or not—you're still an official officer. You'll probably make it to detective by the end of the year."

He pursed his lips for a few moments before flashing her an encouraging smile. "And you'll probably make officer then too. I guess we both just need to be a little more patient…"

Before the metalbender could respond, Taifeng's father came rushing down the hall. Lei could see the resemblance in their faces, though Lee's deep green eyes, trimmed facial hair, slight wrinkles, and pale skin helped to tell them apart. Not to mention that Lee was significantly taller and had a broader build.

The middle-aged man stopped before the teens as he turned to Lei and explained, "There's a brawl between triads on Thirty-Ninth Street. Chief Beifong is sending out the team."

The corners of her lips curved into a grin. This was her chance!

Taifeng whipped around in a huff as he called back, "See you later, Lei."

The younger teen frowned as she watched him go, but followed her mentor up to the roof of the massive headquarters where the other Metalbending Officers were waiting. As she stood and watched for the zeppelin to take off, Captain Lee faced her.

"Cadet, this is a dangerous mission," he began. "Our goal is to stop the fighting, and that's it. The others and I will arrest any stragglers, but I want you to stay by my side no matter what. You haven't been on any triad raids, so this is just an observational experience for you, understood?"

Lei could barely contain herself as she eagerly glanced around for the airship, barely paying attention as she repeated, "Yeah, stay by you."

Right on time, one of the massive Police Airships arrived and extended its ramp from the bottom of the ship and onto the roof. Lei and the other officers quickly boarded, and took off.

Captain Lee put his hands behind his back as he addressed the group. "This is a level two emergency, so there's no time for slow maneuvers. Everyone needs to hit the ground running to disperse the violence as soon as possible. Am I clear?"

In unison, the cadet and officers saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Lei's mentor then turned to her. "Cadet, what is the most important rule of being one of the Metalbending Elite?"

"Safety comes first. If a situation looks bad, hold back and wait for backup. There's always another day to track down the culprit as long as you're alive to do it."

He nodded. "Good. Remember it well."

As they waited for their rapidly approaching destination, Lei took a mental inventory of what tools she had. First, and most important, were the two spools of cables on her back that she could run through each sleeve. Each one could extend up to fifty yards, and she could easily manipulate their shapes into other useful items, like knives. Her armor was a given. It was built to help officers withstand physical attacks, but still give high mobility. Finally, she had two sets of metal handcuffs at the back of her belt, which she could easily bend to catch criminals ahead of her, if need be.

Sirens blared from within the airship as they arrived, drawing her full attention as the hatch opened below. Winds whipped around the cabin as Lei looked down at the streets. Two groups of rival triads were fighting in the Small Business district, but they had just stopped. The men all glanced up before dispersing down the nearby streets and alleyways.

Two senior officers jumped out first, using their cables to direct their falls to the lines of cables above the streets before propelling themselves ahead in pursuit of three gang members. Another two officers came down and went in the opposite direction.

Following Captain Lee and another pair, Lei jumped from the airship and extended a cable from her sleeve to grab onto a wire and swing to the street below. She shortened the length of her cable and released it from the wire as she hit the ground, sprinting behind Captain Lee into an alleyway with fierce determination.

She was only a few steps behind her mentor as they gave chase to the triad members. From the colors of their outfits, the cadet could tell that there was one of each of the three common bending disciplines. The waterbender glanced back before splitting off to a smaller alley on the right while the earthbender raised a wall, blocking the metalbenders' way. Lei pursed her lips as Lee launched himself over the wall. He could probably handle those two easily.

Turning down the other alley, she called back, "I've got this one!"

The teen ignored Lee's call for her to stop as she pursued her target down the dark and crowded alley. It was thinner than the last one, and lined with all sorts of small dumpsters, mops, buckets, and boxes. The waterbender whipped around as he bent a bucket of dirty water into her path, freezing it just under her foot. Lei stumbled and propelled herself forward, sliding until she hit the ground again and continued her chase. He glanced back and scowled before frantically throwing whatever he could get his hands on into her path. The cadet jumped onto the dumpsters, avoiding the clutter as she crossed the alley, full focus on the triad member as she closed the gap even further.

A waking homeless man froze as he saw them go by. Just ahead, the waterbender stopped as he came across a tall chain-link fence blocking his path. He tensed before reaching to a pouch of water on his belt and taking a horse stance, ready to fight.

Latching onto one of her handcuffs with her bending, Lei sent them flying toward the man. At the same time, he launched water in her direction. In one fluid motion, he clenched his fists, freezing the handcuffs midair, followed by using the rest of his water to encase her dominant hand in ice, leaving her unable to bend with it.

She scowled as she pulled her frozen hand to her side, but she didn't have the time to free it. The gang member was already halfway up the fence, clearly out of water to attack with.

The metalbender smirked as she confidently declared, "Not today!"

Using her non-dominant hand, she bent the fence around him, trapping the man. The waterbender writhed around as he tried to escape, but was unable to get far. Lei confidently strolled over and handcuffed him before bending the fence back to its original place, dropping the criminal. He groaned as he landed and the brunette put her foot on his back, holding him there.

As she kept him in his place, she raised her frozen hand and used the other one to bend the cable through her sleeve and morph it into spikes, breaking through the ice. The cadet repeatedly clenched and stretched her dominant hand to relieve the stinging numbness. Once she was certain that she was otherwise unharmed, she bent the cable through her sleeve and pierced the ice that encased her other pair of handcuffs. After returning it to her belt, Lei smirked at the triad member, grabbed him by the handcuffs, and forced him back down the alley. At the intersection, she saw Captain Lee standing there, a deep frown plastered on his face as he watched on.

Lee was silent the whole trip back to headquarters, even after the arrested gang members were brought in for processing. With nothing else to do for the moment, Lei went off to take her lunch. Meanwhile, Captain Lee was called into the chief's office.

He frowned as he stepped inside, but stood at attention.

Chief Beifong was sitting behind her desk, a serious expression on her face as she asked, "Do you know why I sent your team instead of Saikhan's?"

"No, ma'am."

Lin weaved her fingers together as she explained, "Keeping Chen away from tough jobs won't help her. You have to trust her abilities, Lee. You can't hold her back because of what happened to Shang." She lowered her hands as she added, "She'll make a good officer."

Captain Lee pursed his lips for a few moments. "With all due respect, Chief, if she can't listen to orders, I'm not so sure about that."

Lin furrowed her eyebrows as a frown tugged at her lips.

-:-

Right outside the chief's office was a room filled with the desks of all the officers. Lei was standing beside the one she used when she didn't have any Metalbending Elite assignments. Taifeng was looking up at his childhood friend from his own desk as she finished her story.

She had a wide grin plastered on her lips. "…it was awesome! I wish you were there to see it."

He laughed. "Sounds like one heck of a sight." A few moments passed before he added, "You know... you just pulled off your first tough arrest on the job. I'll have to treat you to dinner to celebrate."

Lei smiled back at him, but before she could respond, Chief Beifong stepped out, her tone clearly displeased. "Lei. In my office. Now."

Glancing to Taifeng, he gave her a shrug. Cadet Chen immediately followed the chief into her office and stood at attention. As she sat down, Lei found Captain Lee standing beside the chief's desk. She furrowed her brows slightly as she waited for them to speak.

Lin weaved her fingers together as she told her, "Due to your consistent failures to listen to your superior officer, I'm putting you on paid leave until further notice."

Lei's eyebrows twitched downward as she argued, "At least I caught the guy!"

Lee's voice was stern. "Disobeying direct orders like that is not justified. We would have gone after him after arresting the other two together."

She frowned. "I just wanted to help. I really want to be an officer."

"If that's what you really want, then you should listen to my orders. If you can't do something so simple, then maybe you aren't cut out for this job."

Lei frowned as she held her tongue.

After a short silence, Chief Beifong addressed her again. "Captain Lee will contact you when you're allowed back on the force. In the meantime, I suggest you read over the handbook again. You're dismissed."

Lei nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

-:-

The sun was setting when Lei was finally entering her small house, a permanent scowl on her face. As she closed the door behind her and took her first steps inside, she saw her sister gathering her purse—she must have been on her way out. Jin tensed as she saw Lei before flipping her dyed red hair in a haughty motion.

"Why are you home so early?" she asked.

"I got in trouble and was put on leave," the brunette grumbled. "If it happens again, then that's it—I'll be fired."

Jin rolled her eyes. "So what? Big deal."

Lei's eyebrow twitched as she hissed, "Well, someone has to uphold Dad's legacy."

Jin narrowed her eyes as she snapped, "Just because you're the only bender, that doesn't make you the only one who can do it!"

"Well, I'm the only one trying," the metalbender argued. "You're too busy mooching off your thug of a boyfriend to care! Dad's probably rolling in his grave right now for you even associating with that loser."

The twenty-year old scoffed. "Tahno's not a thug! And being a defending Pro-Bending Champion hardly makes him a loser. At least I can make meaningful relationships, unlike you!"

She stormed out the door, roughly pushing her younger sister out of her way. Lei huffed as she stomped into her room and closed the door behind her. She took a seat before releasing a groan and rubbing her temples. Why was everyone so uptight today? She was just trying to do her job.

After composing herself, Lei dug out the handbook and started reading.


Rule 1: Officers should work as a team for the good of everyone. Solo hero acts often lead to officers being killed or injured. Trust your colleagues and show them that they can trust you.


A clear image of her father's body in his coffin flashed across her mind's eye. Lei tensed before shaking the memory away and focusing on the book.

Later that evening, Lei heard the front door open. There was a Pro-bending game tonight, so she was certain that it wasn't Jin. With that in mind, the cadet put down her handbook and peeked into the foyer to find her mother closing the front door.

"Girls, I'm home!" She turned and frowned upon catching her youngest daughter's pout. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Lei sighed as she approached her mother and explained everything that had happened that day. When she was finished with her tale, her mother put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure Lee means well. He just wants to make sure you're ready," Ping told her with a soft smile. "Don't worry, he'll let you back soon enough."

She sighed. "I hope you're right."

Ping flashed her a grin. "I'm always right, Lei. So, please, don't worry yourself over it."

The metalbender relaxed as she smiled back. "Thanks, Mom."

The middle-aged woman pulled her into an embrace. "I love you very much, sweetheart."

Lei returned the hug. "I love you too."

Ping pulled away and placed down her bag as she explained, "Nanuq is still with a patient, so we're inviting Haku over for dinner."

Lei's thoughts turned to her neighbor as she laughed. "He'd probably forget to eat again if we didn't."

"I can't argue with you there," she commented. "Could you go get him?"

The brunette nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Lei stepped outside and onto the small sidewalk that lined the street. Dull houses were clustered all around with only short fences to separate their small yards. Across the street, an old couple was listening to the radio on their balcony. From the cheers, she could tell that it was probably one of the first Pro-bending matches of the night.

Turning to the side, the teen made her way over to the house directly beside hers. Having finally gotten used to the placement of all the cracks, she was able to navigate in the dim lighting without tripping. Once at the front door, she knocked loudly. A few moments passed with no answer, as usual, so she let herself in.

The interior of Haku's house was much like the Chen's, though the furnishings were vastly different. As Lei walked to the back of the house, she passed Nanuq's healing dummy where she practiced on her days off and held the occasional lesson or two. Making her way up the narrow stairs to the second floor, she found the light on in Haku's room at the end of the hall—marked his by the overflow of books right outside the doorway.

She smiled as she peered inside and saw him engrossed in the mounds of open texts before him. Being of Water Tribe descent, he had flawless dark skin, and long brown hair that he kept tied at the back of his head. His mother had a tendency to cut it unevenly, though, leaving him with layers of thick hair flowing around his ears. Truth be told, if he ever bothered to go out and talk to people, girls would probably flock to him—or should she say, women? After all, he was a year older than her.

Lei grinned as she called out, "Heya, Haku. What're you doing?"

He jolted up from his slouched reading position as he turned to face the door. Upon seeing the younger woman, he smiled warmly. "Ah, Lei. It's good to see you again. I'm just reading a bit. What brings you here?"

She laughed as she folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "You know, if anyone else said that, I'd say it's a lot more than just a bit of reading. Anyway, your mom's working late tonight, so I came to invite you to have dinner with us."

He raised his eyebrows before glancing to the clock on the wall. "Oh! It's much later than I thought." He smiled graciously. "Thank you for the offer. I'll only be a moment."

"Take your time."

Lei watched on curiously as Haku marked all his pages and stood before meeting her in the doorway. He towered a full head taller than the brunette, smiling down with deep blue eyes as he thanked her again for her generosity. With neighbor in tow, she made her way back home.

-:-

Long after dinner, Lei found herself alone in her small backyard, practicing her earthbending as she listened to the radio. Shiro Shinobi's voice rang out loud and clear as he commentated on the Pro-bending match.

"There you have it folks, after being in Republic City for only a few weeks now, the Avatar has joined the rookies, saving the Fire Ferrets from forfeiting the match! She may have mastered the elements, but can she master Pro-bending in time to snatch a win?"

Lei tuned out the announcer as her mind wandered elsewhere. She just had to get back into the force no matter what. Not for herself. Not just to support her family. Above all, she had to do it for her father. She was going to make him proud from wherever he was watching on in the Spirit World.

She grinned as she shattered a boulder. It was time to get to work.


Author's Note: By the way, I imagine Jin as the Wolfbats fangirl with red hair and green eyes. I figured that since her only spoken lines are giggling and howling in cheer of the Wolfbats' entrance, using her as a character would be fair.

Please let me know what you think so far. I hope that you're enjoying the story!