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CHAPTER SIX - JUST A PART OF YOU

Jinora rummaged around her room getting ready for a trip of some kind when Tenzin walked in. "Dad? Should you be walking around?"

"I'm fine. More importantly, where are you going?"

"If I told you, you'd just try to stop me, Chairman."

"Jinora," he said with a stern tone. Sick or not, he was still her father.

She turned to him, reluctantly.

"Jinora, you went to the headquarters to get the Red Lotus files didn't you?"

Her eyes widened. "Wait, Dad... what files?"

Tenzin: "They have some files in the library, you didn't get them? Well, they're not of much use, anyway. I've looked over them, nothing we don't already know. Just some of Guru Laghima's works mixed in with some of Zaheer's."

"Dad, I looked through the library, there weren't any Red Lotus files." Jinora thought for a moment. "That means..." Jinora made to fly to the White Lotus headquarters again.

"Jinora, wait!"

. . .

"Who has the keys to this door!?" Jinora asked the lobby, pointing to the broken door on the ground.

"…But… it's broken," someone pointed out.

Jinora: "Who. Has the key. For this door," she repeated.

Someone pointed to the man with the keys. Jinora approached him.

Jinora: "Did someone come in here looking for Red Lotus files recently?"

"Yes, yes they did, she was a metalbender cop, she was assigned here to guard us."

One of the Chief's girls? "The files aren't in there anymore, I think that person might've taken them. Who was she? Did you get her name?"

"Her name was... her name was... Oh, Detective Kaili! That was it! She took them away but I thought Grand Lotus Ranlok brought them back?"

Jinora: "Ranlok? Why would he?"

"Well he noticed the door was open at the time and saw the missing files, then I saw him looking for the Detective."

Jinora: "What happened next?"

"Well, I don't know, I was busy doing something else at the time so I didn't stick around."

"Any one of you saw what happened!? Did you see Detective Kaili afterwards!?" she addressed the lobby again, but none of them said anything. After all, most of the staff had been relocated, this headquarters was about to be shut down.

Detective Kaili... she took the Red Lotus files and... Ranlok followed her...? Was she onto Ranlok? There was no reason for her to be interested in those files unless she had some suspicions about him. I have to talk to Lin

Jinora shot through the door once again.

. . .

Chief Beifong had just hung up the phone when Jinora entered her office.

"Chief! One of your metalbenders might be in danger. Detective Kaili. Where is she?"

"She called in sick the day the of the summit, haven't heard from her since. I sent some guys to her place to check on her and they just called me, said she wasn't home. Jinora, what the hell's going on?"

"Chief. Ranlok, he was Red Lotus. I think they took her!"

"Jinora, that's not possible. Ranlok was one of the victims of the-"

"Chief! Kaili was on to Ranlok, she dug too deep, she was looking at his Red Lotus files he had in his library! And when she confronted him, he took her!" Jinora was self aware enough to know she sounded like a crazy conspiracy theorist at this point, but she knew Lin listened to reason. "Think about it, how could someone get a bomb into the summit unless they were a member of it? It had to be him!"

"You're saying that Ranlok suicide bombed the summit? Jinora, that's... this- this is too much to take in right now, I can't-"

Jinora: "Fine, whatever the case is, right now, we need to find Detective Kaili. This is the only lead we have, Chief! Look!" She pulled and rolled out a large map to spread it across Lin's desk. "These are all the old secret Red Lotus hideouts. There's one in Omashu, one in Gaoling and one in Ba Sing Se."

Lin: "How did you get this?"

Jinora: "Long story. We need officers at these locations. And I'm coming with, just tell me where to go."

Lin turned around to face the window and contemplate for a while. It's been one thing after another recently. With all these investigations, she hadn't even had time to mourn. And now this? She sighed. "...Security's tight in Omashu and Ba Sing Se. Regular members would blend right in, but for someone as high profile as Zaheer, it would be too big of a risk. Not to mention we only have one balloon." She met Jinora's eyes again. "You and I are going to Gaoling."

"Do you have jurisdiction there?"

"No, but Gaoling is Beifong Town, I'll pull some strings."

. . .

Jinora couldn't let the Red Lotus recognize her, she couldn't disobey her mother's explicit orders any further, so she wore the full police raid squad uniform and headgear. She was the first to jump out over the supposed headquarters of the Red Lotus, falling in the through the opening in the metal roof that one of the metalbenders had just created for her. There was no one in the main hall. She ran through all the rooms, she checked everywhere, in the storage closets, behind the bar - nothing. She came back and stood at the front, facing the rest of the squad as they broke in. "They're not here."

The Chief walked up behind her and put her left hand on Jinora's right shoulder. "It's not over yet, kid, let's check Omashu and Ba Sing Se."

The rest of the squad realized that the place was empty and gathered around the Chief, awaiting orders.

"No," said Jinora. "They're not here... but they were."

The Chief and her squad looked around at the half-empty drinks and unfinished Pai Sho games littered around. "Someone tipped them off." Jinora turned and pointed her palms to the squad behind Lin and lifted them. They struggled in the air.

"Jinora!" shouted the Chief. "What are you doing!? Put them down!"

Jinora: "How did they know we were coming!? It had to be one of them, Chief! We were the only ones who knew! One of them is working for Zaheer!"

Lin: "Jinora, we were all together from the moment we stepped inside the airship! When would they have time to contact anyone? They didn't even know where we were going until they got on! The only ones who knew beforehand were me and you! Now, put them down, Jinora!"

Jinora did so. They all took their helmets off to breathe after they landed. Jinora did the same, but just to show her face to Beifong. She didn't apologize to the potential traitors. "Then who warned them?"

Lin: "I don't know, Jinora, but there's gotta be another explanation."

Jinora sighed and folded her arms. Beifong's men and women were still recovering. "What are you waiting for!?" she barked at them. "What, were you winded? You're letting them escape! Sweep the area!" They quickly got up and hustled at the command.

Beifong looked on with eyes sharpened with worry. Why did you have to go and die?

Korra...

THREE HOURS AGO

"Everyone, can I have your attention, please?" Kaili got up onto a table. She had found herself at the center of attention once again. And she would have to get used to it if she was to lead the Red Lotus like her ambitions possessed her to want. The election was coming up, but there was a more important matter.

Kav: "Hey," called the bloodbender. "We didn't elect you to call the shots yet!" he said jokingly. He was the one who was most likely to win the election. Some laughed.

"This is important Kav!" Kaili insisted. "I just came back from the spirit world. Word is, there's a bloodbender coming for the Red Lotus."

"A bloodbender?" one of the muscular earthbenders at the bar called out, still amused. "Well, I'm sure he ain't gonna be no match for Kav over here. Get him on the job, he'll take him out!"

"Yeah!" Kav said, flexing his arm and grabbing his bicep. "I'll take him!"

The room cheered in support of Kav.

Kaili: "No, no, no, you don't understand," she pleaded. "This guy's different, okay!? He doesn't need a full moon to bloodbend, alright? He was doing it in the Spirit World, against a powerful spirit! He's bad news!"

The cheering stopped. "No way!" someone shouted.

Kav trusted Kaili more than to think she was overreacting to wild rumours, but still had to check. He walked near the table she was standing on and looked up at her. "Kaili," he said, more serious than she'd ever seen him. "You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes! The spirits don't lie to me!" she said to Kav before looking back at everyone else in the hall. "We have to leave! Now! Everyone get in your cars! We need to go out into the desert until this thing blows over!"

The room whispered, the men and women sat there gawking at each other until-

"Well!?" Kav shouted at them. "What are you waiting for!? You heard her! Let's move!"

. . .

The last person got inside the last car, two people already waiting inside, hurrying him. "You really couldn't hold your bladder at a time like this?" asked the driver. When the driver could start driving at last, they drove east, towards the midlands, where they would hide until further notice. They were a good distance away from Gaoling when one of the passengers looked out the back window to see a Republic Police airship hovering above the city they had just fled.

"Hey, hey, hey, look at that!"

The driver regarded the rear-view and even turned his head around for a moment. "What are they doing here in Gaoling?"

"I thought it was a bloodbender coming for us, the cops don't have any bloodbenders! What was Kaili talking about?"

"Hey," said the driver, "bloodbenders, cops, boogeymen, whoever it is, Kaili saved us from 'em. The Mother of the Avatar sure has my vote."

. . .

"For Kaili... For Kaili... For Zhu... For Kaili..." It was the day of the election. A man brought out the votes from the box and read them out as a woman tallied the votes on a board. "For Chen... For Kaili..." It would have been Kaili up against Kav, if Kav hadn't stepped down in order to be allowed to cast his vote for Kaili. "For Kaili... For Zhu... For Kaili... Uh... that's it."

A landslide victory.

Kaili made her way to the front of the hastily improvised underground base, where she waited for the applause and whistles to stop. "To everyone who voted for me: Thank you, so much for believing in me. I promise I'll make you proud."

Most of the room cheered.

"To Zhu and Chen and everyone who voted for them:" Kaili bowed deeply. "I promise you that all of your opinions and concerns will be heard and considered thoroughly."

Zhu and Chen bowed in return and their supporters clapped.

"And to Kav: You should have been up here instead of me and I hope you know that I'll be coming to you a lot for advice!"

The audience laughed as Kav smiled and nodded.

"And finally, to all of you: I promise to lead us to victory. I promise to lead the Red Lotus just as my father and Ranlok would have led it and I won't let their sacrifices be in vain. I promise to lead you into a free world without corruption. Without presidents or politicians telling us what to do. Without kings or queens ruling us. We will rule ourselves!" The entire room erupted in cheer.

"Where's the beer?"

WEEKS LATER

It was officially Pema's first day as Matriarch of the Eastern Air Temple. It was a hard choice for Tenzin and Pema to make, but it wasn't like they would be permanently separated. And of course, they had to do what was necessary for the future of their Nation.

Jinora had actually come along with the rest of the family for a change. She decided it was best to give up her search and listen to her parents, like Bumi and the North did. If she endangered the Air Nation, she would regret it severely. She had realized that now. It was time to find peace again. She would have another chance once she inherited the Chair.

They visited the Southern Air Temple shortly after, where Jinora separated from them, briefly. She came to a massive room where she was greeted by a thousand Avatars. Jinora should have felt closure after Korra's burial in the Southern Tribe, but she felt the same as the day she had lost her. Empty.

Korra's statue had already been erected beside Aang's. It looked exactly like her. It's perfect, thought Jinora as she touched her face.

I'm sorry, Korra.

I failed.

THE NIGHT AFTER ZAHEER'S DEATH

Zaheer wandered through the jungle aimlessly. He didn't really have a destination, he was more focused on trying to remember what in the world had happened to him.

Am I... dead? He had heard of a man in a similar situation. The story goes that he relinquished his earthy life and abode in the Spirit World ever since.

Actually... wasn't that man... the man that was watching him from across the swamp?

"Iroh...?" Astonished and hostile, Zaheer instinctively attacked him with his airbending, the wind travelled along the swamp-water as he looked at his own hands. "I can still airbend?"

The wind had reached its target, but the target had circled his hands in front of him, summoning a flame to consume the wind. "You're not alone in that regard, friend," Iroh said, warmly.

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NEXT: CHAPTER SEVEN - THE TALE OF THE FLYING MAN

"This isn't working." Rohan opened his eyes. "I've been meditating for minutes!"

"Patience," advised Jinora, "is the key."

"Patience!" Rohan mimicked in a mocking tone, "is the key!"

Jinora's twitched, and so did her finger, sending Rohan into a nearby tree without opening her eyes.

"Rohan," Tenzin said proudly. "You look more and more like your grandfather every day, especially today."

"That means a lot, Dad." Rohan bowed to his father before seeing him leave the room, Meelo and Ikki were surprised that he was even capable of such a gesture of respect. Maybe his new tattoos actually humbled him somewhat?

"You can't do that!" Rohan protested.

Jinora: "I'm the heir to the Chair. I can do whatever I want."

"But I earned that rank! I'm the strongest airbender on this damn island!"

Jinora's mouth twisted into a sadistic smile as she leaned forward slightly. Rohan had identified his mistake immediately. He forgot to say 'apart from you…'