Author Note: Many many thanks to ToasterMarketingBoard for editing this chapter!

The shrill ring of Asami's bedroom phone shook both girls from their deep sleep. Korra rolled over with a groan, pulling her pillow on top of her head to muffle the sound. Asami got up and padded across her room to pick up the receiver.

"Sato residence."

"Asami, it's Suyin," the matriarch replied curtly over the phone.

"Suyin, what's the news?"

"The ship is all prepped and ready to go. What's the forecast for the end of the trial?"

"Uh, let me ask Korra." Asami covered the mouthpiece of the phone and turned to the bed. "Korra?"

The only response was another groan. The older girl rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Korra, this is serious."

The Avatar peaked out from under her pillow. "What?"

"When are Jinora and Tenzin predicting the trial to be over?"

"Today."

Asami put the receiver back to her ear. "It's expected to be over today."

"Then we will plan on leaving this evening. We want to be in the area before they start transporting her."

"Were you able to connect with Mako and Prince Wu?"

"Yes, they were not aware of the situation. Fortunately the boys are with us and will be attempting to take control of the delivery of you-know-who so there is no resistance."

"What do you need us to do in the meantime?"

"Call my ship once the verdict is announced."

"Understood."

There was a pause.

"How is Korra doing? She seemed a bit off when we parted."

"She's fine, just concerned about you all going out there without her."

"Mmm… Korra isn't very good at sitting on the sidelines," Suyin said, more to herself than Asami.

"She is not."

"Once she joins us, you'll be our only man on the outside, you know. Think you can handle it?"

"I've got Tenzin, I don't think he'll be joining Korra and Lin."

"That is true."

"Korra did tell me you're leaving me here to pay the bail money."

Suyin laughed. "I didn't think of that, but it's a smart idea. Well, we need to get going, I'll expect a call from you in a few days."

"Sounds good."

Asami hung up the phone and turned back toward the bed. Korra appeared to have fallen back asleep during the conversation. Asami was wide awake now, so she headed out of the room to start working on breakfast.

The engineer switched on her radio before rummaging in her kitchen for food.

'This just in, only an hour into today's session of Kuvira's trial and it was declared over. The jury members were swiftly escorted out of the courtroom to begin their deliberations. Yesterday we heard some impassioned speeches from the Air Nation asking the jury to spare Kuvira's life, but our courtroom expert still thinks it's a fifty-fifty chance the jury will decide on the death penalty. This of course would be the first in Republic City's history. I'll be back this afternoon with any updates from the courthouse, and now we go to the weather…'

Asami turned the dial to a music station.

"Fifty-fifty my butt…" she murmured as she started whisking a bowl of batter.

It was the third meeting of the day and it wasn't even noon. Wu felt his eyelids start to droop. He just needed to hang in there until lunch time, counting on food to give him a second wind for the afternoon meetings to follow. The prince glanced down at his notebook; he had stopped taking notes hours ago and had been doodling on and off.

If Mako was here he would at least have someone to have the occasional side conversation with, but he had stopped attending meetings after the Beifong visit. The firebender had gone into full detective mode and had become suspicious of everyone around them. Wu personally didn't think the arrangement to have Kuvira executed was any more than a few vengeful leaders wanting to ensure she got the harshest punishment possible. Not one person in the Earth Kingdom could say they were not affected by Kuvira's actions in some way. Many of the state leaders present had been made to hand their territories and resources over to the dictator.

Wu let out an audible sigh. After explaining all of that to Mako, he claimed that just because there is an obvious explanation, doesn't mean it's the correct one. So he yielded and cut the firebender loose. Wu had to admit Mako was in better spirits since getting back into his old field. The firebender seemed pretty sullen when they left Republic City, despite being the one insisting on coming out here. The prince had tried to get him to talk, but he denied over and over that there was anything wrong. Wu couldn't help but wonder if it was more girl trouble; it was something the detective was good at getting into.

The prince sighed again. 'If only he'd stop chasing girls for a while and notice the healthy relationship right in front of him.'

Mako was a detective, but hadn't caught a single clue Wu dropped in his lap.

'Or he's ignoring them…' he thought to himself.

Wu always knew he liked men and women and was never ashamed to pursue either. It wasn't until he learned he was next in line for the throne that he had to hide one of his preferences from the public eye. Now that he was disbanding the monarchy, he really couldn't care less about what any of the stuffy senators and statesmen thought.

Wu started to notice people getting up, so he too began to gather his belongings. Waiting outside the throne room was Mako. Wu smiled; the firebender was playing dark and mysterious, with his back resting against the wall and eyes cast down on the floor. As if sensing his presence, Mako looked up and spotted Wu.

"Lunch?" Mako asked.

Wu's smile grew wider. "Lead the way!"

It was late in the afternoon. Mako was resting on the couch in Wu's bedroom. He had decided to make it his own sleeping quarters until the whole situation with Kuvira was put to bed. He allowed himself to completely stretch out his legs; the couch was more than big enough for sleeping. Mako wondered who this bedroom belonged to originally, considering its size.

His eyes had just started closing when the phone rang. Mako perked up right away and stumbled over himself to answer it.

"Hello?" he asked into the receiver.

"Mako?" the female voice on the other end of the line asked.

"Asami."

There was a brief pause. Mako felt his stomach clench and heart start to race; it had been weeks since he had spoken to her.

The firebender cleared his throat. "So uh, what's up?"

"Suyin wanted me to let you and Wu know that the verdict already came back, they're going to execute."

"Shit, already?"

"Deliberations started this morning, the jury didn't even bother pretending like they gave the decision any real consideration."

"Well I should go find Wu, we don't have much time to work with."

"Okay, just a heads up, Suyin is having me be the point of contact, she can only be reached by radio now. I'll be camped in my office, since I have a radio remember my office number?"

"Yeah."

"I will touch base with you tomorrow morning, around six AM your time."

"Okay," Mako said, nodding, "hopefully we'll have some good news by then."

The conversation stopped, followed by another long pause.

"Mako… I…" Asami started.

"Who ya talking to?" Mako heard Korra's voice ask in the background.

"I'll call you tomorrow," the engineer said hastily as she hung up.

The firebender slowly hung up the phone. Once the receiver was out of his hand he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Gotta find Wu…" Mako said aloud, nodding his head to reassure himself. "You can do this."

Asami placed the phone was back on its cradle. She then turned around to face her girlfriend, who was shutting the apartment door behind her.

"It was Mako, I just told him the news."

Korra walked closer. "You talked to Suyin too?"

"Yes, they're in transit now."

The Avatar flexed her shoulders and then shoved her hands into her pockets. "This is all happening really fast, but I've still got a lot of to waiting to do."

"That's the name of the game, hurry up and wait," Asami said, sitting down on her loveseat. She patted the spot next to her and Korra dutifully sat down.

"We need to say goodbye for a while, until this is all over. You need to be at the Air Temple and in the public eye, and I need to be completely disassociated. I'm going to be staying at my office, so I can be by the radio. If there's an emergency, send Ikki."

"How about I just see if she can stay there with you, keep you company?"

Asami smirked and leaned closer. "You're not worried about us being cooped up alone together in my office?"

"Not a bit," Korra replied, leaning back into the couch. "I never asked, is she...?"

"She's a bit young... but she thinks so."

"So that's your thing in common."

"That, and a few others," Asami replied, flipping her hair.

"Well, if things do go bad, at least I know in a few years there'll be someone around who can take my place."

"You're terrible," Asami giggled, knocking her shoulder into her girlfriend's.

"Can you at least come to the temple to sleep?" Korra whispered.

"No, I can't leave the radio, Suyin's orders," the older girl said, leaning closer. She pinched a few of Korra's short brown locks between her thumb and fingers. Asami smiled; she really did like her girlfriend's new hair style. "You should get going, before I change my mind."

The comment caused the Avatar to grin and she started nuzzling the girl beside her. "I don't want to go."

"Are you a puppy now?"

"This is what Naga does when she knows I'm leaving," Korra said, leaning her body weight on Asami and starting to make loud sniffing sounds as she nuzzled.

The engineer giggled when Korra's exaggerated sniffing tickled her ear. She tried to push the Avatar off, but was too clumsy from laughing. "Okay, that's enough!"Asami was able to breathlessly get out between fits of laughter. Korra stopped her attack and rested her head on her girlfriend's chest, and mimicked Naga's whine.

Asami looked down at Korra's big blue eyes and sighed. Her breathing slowly returned to normal. She eventually reached out and combed back the hair that covered Korra's face. "I'm gonna miss you too goofball."

When Mako found Wu he was already in a meeting discussing the news about Kuvira. He tried to act casual as he took a seat across from Wu at the large table. The people in the room didn't even acknowledge Mako's late arrival and continued speaking. To his relief a few others arrived after him.

The Governor of Yi rose to address the table. "We have yet to decide if we want the execution to be open to the public or if we should keep it limited to just government officials and party leaders."

The room filled with murmurs at the statement.

A man Mako recognized as a representative from Omashu spoke out. "I took a look at the design for this 'lightning chair' we had commissioned and I don't think the public should be subjected to an experimental death machine. We have no idea how long this could take or how gruesome it will be." He began passing around copies of the design.

Hushed conversations broke out as they looked over the paper. One made it into the firebender's hands and he quickly examined the illustration. The signature of the late Hiroshi Sato jumped out right away and he silently prayed Asami had not agreed to make this device, even as a cover.

Mako cleared his throat. "Who made the chair, do we have it here on site?"

"Cabbage Corp, we'll be picking up the chair in Republic City when we collect Kuvira," said a statesman from Gaoling.

Mako rose from his seat, with the paper still in hand. "As some of you may know, I am a fire and lightning bender; given the electrical nature of the chair I'd be happy to escort the crew for the pickup. You never know what could happen with an experimental device like this when exposed to changes in cabin pressure." The firebender sought out Wu's eye as he sat back down. He could tell the prince was not happy with the sudden change in their plan.

The representative from Omashu nodded. "I think that's a good idea. We want this to go as smoothly as possible, so we can put this whole mess behind us."

Wu raised his hand. "I agree, and I'd like to volunteer for coordinating the ship for the pickup. Mako and I can get started on it now, so it can leave as soon as possible. I trust you all to decide the execution plans and I will support whichever decision you come to."

The room murmured with a positive response.

"Thank you Wu," another statesman called out.

The two young men got up from their seats and started to leave the throne room. Wu was halfway down the hall by the time Mako was shutting the door closed.

"Wu, wait up!" Mako called out, running to catch up with the prince. "I'm sorry, but I saw an opportunity for an in, and I took it."

Wu stopped and turned around. "We had a plan."

"We did, but I didn't even get a chance to find out if you were even able to execute it, this all happened so fast, it was Asami who told me the verdict."

"Well that's what you get for skipping out on the meetings," the prince said with a huff.

"What I've been doing is just as important. Besides, this won't mess with the basic part of the plan, and now I can make sure everything goes smoothly. I never liked the idea of sending a crew without anyone we knew we could trust."

"Well, now you're going to be under a lot more suspicion when this goes down, which was the point of having us stay here."

Mako confidently crossed his arms, "I can handle it."

Wu let out a long sigh. "When did I start being the level headed one?"

"So, who did you have in mind for our crew?"

Wu led Mako down a series of halls until they came to a door labeled as 'staff quarters' which brought them into the staff wing of the palace. He noted the major shift in decoration. The royalty wanted to make sure their staff knew where they stood. They finally stopped in front of a door and Wu knocked twice, then once, and then twice again. Shortly after the boys heard the lock click and they opened the door.

"Hey cousin!"

"Tu?" Mako said, blinking a few times."What are you doing here?"

"Helping you outta this jam."

Mako turned to a grinning Wu. "I don't understand?"

"We worked together in the evacuation and stayed in touch. When I found out he was back in Ba Sing Se to help the reconstruction we met up for lunch and shopping."

"Shopping?" the firebender asked, bewildered.

Tu stepped up to his cousin and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Dude, fashion, weightlifting and fruit are my passions. Wu gets it, and when he told me you needed a crew for a secret mission I gathered a bunch of my buds and here we are."

Wu turned to Mako. "So?"

"I gotta hand it to you, this is pretty brilliant." The firebender turned and looked around the room at the twelve or so muscular young men. He couldn't help but nod approvingly; put these guys in a uniform and no one would give them a second glance.

Wu walked to the center of the room. "We're going to have you guys ship out tomorrow, and Mako will be accompanying you. Be in uniform at the airship dock at sunrise."

The young men nodded as the prince spoke. Wu walked back over to Tu and reached out his hand. "Thank you again, Tu."

Tu shook the offered hand and placed the free one behind his head. "Anytime, Bro."

Mako extended his hand to his cousin as well. "Really, this is a huge help."

"It's no big deal. We should all hang when it's over."

When Wu and Mako were outside of the room, a panic struck the firebender. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What about a pilot? None of these guys look like they know how to fly!"

Wu chuckled and slapped Mako on the forearm. "We're using my personal pilot, of course."

"The one that flew us back to Ba Sing Se? When did he become your 'personal' pilot?"

"Yan Yan was part of my royalty severance package. The states knew I was giving up a lot of wealth by stepping down, so they made sure I was taken care of," Wu said, walking ahead of Mako.

"What else did they give you?"

The prince shrugged as he kept walking."Access to the royal airships, Yan Yan included, a small diplomatic position, once this 'new government thing' is all figured out, and a quaint little home in the upper ring."

The Sun had just barely begun to rise over the inner ring wall when the gang all met at the airdock. Tu and his crew were perfectly disguised as military grunts, right down to their formation.

Yan Yan, who was quite old and small, hobbled out of the ship and made his way over to Wu.

"She's ready when you all are," the little man murmured.

"Great, they're ready to go." Wu turned to the group. "All aboard, boys!"

The guards had nearly finished getting in when a woman started running towards them.

"WAIT!"

Mako and Wu looked behind them to see who it was, but they did not recognize her.

"Yes?" the firebender asked, cocking his head.

The woman bent over; her breaths were ragged, as if she had been running for a while. "I'm. Going. With. You." she got out between gasps.

Wu bent down to her level. "Uh, who are you?"

"Yasmine Kaur. I'm in charge of coordinating the collection of the prisoner and package from Cabbage Corp," Yasmine said, finally able to stand normally, though her breathing was still shallow.

Mako and Wu looked at each other in a panic. "Uh… no one told us about you coming on this trip…"

"Well you're not getting Kuvira or the chair without me. I have the authorization and all the documents. You can't fly into Republic City and expect them to hand over a deadly war criminal to just anyone." Yasmine brushed past the two and headed towards the stairs into the ship.

"Shit," Mako cursed once Yasmine was out of earshot.

"What are we gonna do?" Wu asked, grabbing his head. "I'm now very happy that you're going with them."

The firebender smiled. "I knew it was a good idea."

"But it doesn't technically solve our little problem! What are you going to do with her?"

Mako held his chin and closed his eyes. He had not considered this scenario. "When the ship goes down, I gotta make sure she goes out."

"You can't kill her!" Wu shouted, but then quickly covered his mouth.

"I'm not gonna kill her, I just need to knock her out for a bit."

Wu threw his hands into the air. "That's all, just knock some government official unconscious and hope she doesn't remember!"

Mako grabbed Wu by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "Freaking out isn't going to fix the situation, I'll take care of it. You got go hang by the phone because Asami is going to call, and she needs to tell Suyin we have an uninvited guest."

The firebender softened his expression and gave Wu's shoulders a squeeze. "I got this."

Mako let go and headed toward the airship. The prince sighed as he watched him go.

"Bye Mako..."

The sun was as high as it was going to climb, five hours into group's twelve hour flight. Mako had decided to keep Yan Yan company in the bridge of the airship. The small man had a little personal radio by his side and had been playing soft jazz since they took off. It was starting to make the firebender feel like he was stuck in a elevator, so he excused himself. When Mako entered the main deck of the ship it was empty. Tu and the boys were likely sleeping and Yasmine had shut herself away in one of the airship's private rooms, much to Mako's relief. The less time he and Tu's gang had to pretend around her the better.

He had to admit part of him was glad she was there to do all the talking in Republic City; having her there fully legitimized their operation. He just needed to figure out a good way to take her down, at the exact moment when they 'pretended' to crash. It was times like these Mako wish he knew a chi blocker, or knew the technique himself.

Mako was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a soft click. He looked up to see Yasmine closing the door behind her, a folder tucked in one arm. Now that he was no longer in panic mode, the firebender got a chance to take a good look at the uninvited guest.

If he had to guess, from Yasmine's dark tan skin and pale green eyes she was a mix of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe parents; something not commonly seen outside of Republic City, and even in the United Republic territories it was rare. Water Tribe folk didn't seem to marry outside of their people often. Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom marriages were the most common, considering how closely they lived, and from the Fire Nation's occupation during the war.

Her style reminded him a bit of Asami's; professional business attire, with an eye for higher fashion. Yasmin's rye-colored hair was up in a messy bun, and held together with a decorative jade hair comb. What really caught Mako's attention was Yasmine's long slender legs, as they were right in his eye line as she took a seat next to him and flipped open her file. She thumbed a few sheets before selecting one to take out and place on top.

"Are you familiar with Cabbage Corp's downtown location in Republic City? I have their address," Yasmine asked, passing over the paper.

Mako took it without looking. "Ye-yeah." His heart suddenly started to pound at the closeness of woman beside him.

She smiled and looked back down on her notes. "I must admit I'm kind of excited, I've never been to Republic City before. When I heard of this opportunity to visit, even for just a day, I took it."

"I actually live there, I'm just in the Earth Kingdom to help out with the new government planning."

"We're going to have some down time after we arrive this afternoon. Legally we have to give the pilot a rest, so we won't be taking off until the next morning. Do you think you could show me around?"

Mako's brain started to scream as the words "Sure, I'd be happy to, escaped his lips.

Yasmine smiled and took back the paper Mako was still holding. She tucked it back into her folder and stood up. "Wonderful! I figure we can pick up and load the chair from Cabbage Corp after we arrive and then give the crew the evening off. We'll then go to the prison in the morning to collect Kuvira and take back off. I've inspected all the rooms, and I think it would be safest to just have her out here on the deck. That way we can comfortably fit at least four guards watching her at all times. I don't trust her for a second, you know?"

"Sounds good to me, you're the boss… right?" Mako said hesitantly.

"Technically, yes, but I value your input," the woman said with a wink. "I never did catch your name…."

"Mako…"

"Nice to meet you Mako, well I'm going to go rest, let me know when we've landed."

The firebender nodded and watched her walk away.

"I'm in deep shit."

To be continued...