I own everyone in this chapter except for Bumi. I think that's a first...
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Enjoy the chapter :3
Zahira came home five hours, exhausted from the long interview.
"Mommy!" a chorus of voices greeted her. Bumi watched as she embraced Melati and picked up Meili and Liwei.
"Hey Z, how did it go?" he asked, taking Meili and giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.
"It went well," she said simply, shooting her husband a we'll talk about it later look.
He, picking up on it, faced the children. "Kids, can you go to the playroom? Your mother and I are going to make lunch, and as much as we love you, we need peace and quiet."
After the children left the room, the couple went to the kitchen.
"So how did it go?" he asked, getting out ingredients for zhajiangmian, a spicy noodle dish common to the Fire Nation.
She turned away, starting to dice scallions and garlic.
Bumi, worried, started to chop up Komodo chicken, adding the pieces to the large wok.
"What I tell you will not leave this kitchen, okay?" she said, adding in the scallions and garlic and stir-frying them.
"Of course," he said, adding in some chili sauce and starting on the noodles.
"The attack on my fleet was not related to the attack on Korra's compound."
Her husband stopped, watching as the contents before him simmered.
"Are you saying that there are two anti-bending lunatics on the loose now?"
"Yep," she replied, taking down dishes and glasses. "Only, the one I'm currently after is more seeking revenge on one bender than on all of them. However, tomorrow I'm headed back home due to a lead."
"Already? Not bad," he said, serving the meal onto plates. "But you do realize Korra's birthday is in eleven days, right?"
"I know. But hopefully my visit to JSB won't take too long."
"WHAT?" Bumi yelled, nearly dropping the glasses of water he was placing on the table. "Why are you going back to your mother's old mental institute? I thought she was okay!"
"My mother is, but my suspect on the other hand…"
Bumi sighed, pulling his wife into his arms and kissing her ardently.
"I'm going to miss you," he murmured.
"Oh for spirit's sake-"
Husband and wife whirled around to find Melati leaning in the doorway, arms folded across her chest.
"I was going to ask if lunch's ready, but I'm not so sure I have an appetite anymore."
"Ha, ha," her mother retorted, cheeks slightly red. "Can you get the twins?"
Their daughter promptly disappeared and came back a few minutes later with her siblings in tow. Everyone quickly settled in and devoured their meal. Bumi and Zahira kept shooting each other glances.
"Kids, your mother and I have something to tell you," Bumi said.
The clattering of chopsticks stopped as the kids put them down and faced their father.
"Is something wrong?" Liwei asked.
"No, everything's fine," Zahira reassured him. "But I have to go back to the Fire Nation to visit a suspect."
"Ooh, cool! Where are you going?" Meili said.
"I'm going to JSB."
"WHAT?" the children yelled. Small sparks emerged from the twins' fingers. Zahira's eyes widened.
"Z, what just happened?" Bumi asked out of the side of his mouth, trying to act like nothing happened.
"I think they just created their first sparks."
The next morning Zahira boarded the ship bound for JSB. After giving her children hugs and kisses, she left Bumi with explicit instructions to start the twins' firebending training under her mother. By afternoon, she had reached JSB, which was on one of the smaller islands in the Fire Nation.
JSB, also known by its formal name Jingshenbing, was a mental institute where only the most severe cases went. It was also where Azula went due to the extent of her mental breakdown. Situated on picturesque Rua Island, its calming atmosphere was crucial in healing its patients.
"Well, it's beautiful, I'll give it that much," Captain Hong said after stepping off the ship. "Did you ever come here yourself?"
"Every year. My mother would bring me along so I could visit with the patients and nurses while she received her annual check up. I still visit when I can as well."
"Rea Zahira!"
The two soldiers turned around to find a young nurse running up to them.
"Chuntao!" Zahira laughed, embracing her old friend. "This is my superior, Captain Hong."
"Pleasure to meet you, Captain."
"Pleasure's all mine. Out of curiosity, why did you call my soldier Rea?"
"It's her royal title. Since she is part of the royal line that would take over the throne should anything happen to the Fire Lord or his family, she and her family gets a special honorific. For example, Rea Zahira's mother would be Domina Azula, since she would be the one to ascend to the throne first. Rea Zahira and Oxan Bumi would be next, with Setas Melati and Meili and Jyan Liwei coming after them."
"Wow, that is...pretty confusing," remarked Captain Hong. "So do you know anything about a patient named Xin Li?"
Chuntao's face darkened.
"Let's go inside. We can talk about it there."
The group ended up in a small, dark filing room where someone was already waiting for them.
"Niang, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back at Wushu?"
The graceful young woman strode towards the master sergeant.
"I want to help. I love my godmother, but whatever's going on has to stop."
Rea Zahira looked at her superior, who simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Chuntao chose a file and spread its contents out over a table.
"Xin Li was one of our worst cases. We were dispatched to get her by her neighbors after her breakdown, and brought her here. She stayed in Level 5 housing."
"Is that high?" Captain Hong and Niang asked.
"It's the highest level there is," Zahira replied. "She must have been severely broken."
"She was-did nothing but rock back and forth and babble to herself all day for the first couple years," Chuntao said. "But over time she got better. Eventually she was able to function just like the rest of us could. When we told her she qualified for RF, she left against our wishes."
"RF?"
"Stands for restricted freedom," Zahira clarified. "For a couple hours a day for however long the doctors say, you could leave the institute and go about the town like any other person. The doctors do this so they can gauge how well you would do in real life. The better you do, the more time you're given. You're supposed to do so well that you can leave the institute. How long was her RF sentence, Chuntao?"
"16 months."
"That long?" Niang said, slightly shocked.
"If you had seen Xin Li you'd have been surprised it was that short."
"Do you know where she went?"
"The official answer? No."
Zahira raised an eyebrow. "And your answer?"
"I hear she's running the Hama Inn. No one's been able to confirm, though."
Zahira looked at the group assembled around her. "I think it's time we paid a visit to the market."
At lunchtime, the group descended upon the bustling market.
"So why are we at the market again, Rea?" Captain Hong said over dumplings.
"I find that you can learn a lot about life through markets," Zahira said while chomping on fire flakes. "Now why don't we go to some stalls?"
The group then fanned out, each finding a stall that interested them. Niang was examining a set of daggers when she overheard some conversation between a fellow shopkeeper and the proprietor.
"It's a shame Xin Li's not here. I have a beautiful butterfly sword that she would love."
"Yeah, I know. I hear she's off in Republic City visiting family."
"Good for her. She works so hard, she deserves to have a vacation."
Niang's blood ran cold.
Sovan.
