"Little snowflakes?" A melodic voice filled the small room. Liang slowly entered the room trying to find the source of the crying, but as she approached the small bed, she found a small body, sitting on the side of the bed while crying. Leaning down, Liang took her daughter into her arms, feeling her small body shiver against hers. "Why are you crying?" Liang asked calmly. The little girl cried harder when she heard her mother's voice.
Liang's heart sank as she heard her daughter's cry, and with an agonized expression, she looked at Hikari—who was staring at them with a gloomy face through the doorway—with a look full of guilt. Squeezing her daughter's small body against hers in a soothing way while stroking her hair. Liang stood there for a long time, letting her daughter cry. Running her hand over her little girl's back, Liang placed a kiss on her daughter's hair. "Are you calm now?" She whispered in the little girl's ear, who answered back with a nod while rubbing her hands on her face, in a way to wipe the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "Now, can you tell me why you are crying?" Liang asked softly.
"Do you still love me and Dad?" Little Sora asked in a whisper, nervously playing with her fingers while avoiding looking at her mother. Liang's face obtained two emotions: shock and horror. Shocked to hear what her daughter had just told her; and horror that her daughter had overheard the argument between Hikari and her. Sending out a glance at Hikari, she took a deep breath, searching for the right ways to respond to her daughter. Liang ran her hands over her daughter's hair, arranging them, only then did she respond to her daughter. "Of course, I love you both!" Liang had a small smile on her lips. "Why the question?" When she was not answered, she used her hand to lift her daughter's chin so that she could look into eyes as green as her own. "Sora...why did you ask that?" Liang asked once more.
"I...heard you two arguing..." Sora murmured, sniffling as she looked away from her mother's gaze again. "You were yelling at each other and I heard Dad asking you not to leave." Sora stared at her mother with guilty green eyes. "But you have no reason to leave, Ma! Is it because I didn't listen to you at that time? If so, I promise I'll listen to what you have to say, Ma! Dad and I don't love you enough? If so, I swear I'll love you so much! Like this! " With arms outstretched at a great distance, Sora demonstrated to her mother. The little 5-year-old girl was in despair at the thought of her mother abandoning her and her father.
Liang's heart once again squeezed; but this time, stronger. A lump formed in her throat as she stared at her daughter's guilty face as she rambled on desperately. Guilt a little girl like her shouldn't feel; after all, the only culprit here was Liang. She was the one who would leave behind not one, but two heartbroken people. Even if it's to protect them.
And so, the only thing she could do at that moment was hug her daughter's small body in a tight hold which made Sora stop rambling and hug her mother tighter. Her small hands clutched tightly at her mother's dress as if she was afraid to let go as if she would disappear.
In the afternoon, Sora arranged her green scarf around her neck as she walked closer to the Avatar Aang statue—which was covered in snow from head to toe—where she spotted Bolin and Mako. The two boys were chatting absently, not noticing his arrival.
"Hey, guys!" Sora greeted, chuckling slightly as the guys jumped slightly in fright at his sudden arrival. Recovering from their fright, Mako and Bolin offered her a smile and Bolin walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a warm hug. "Woah!" Sora let out a little squeal as she was lifted by Bolin.
"TASHI!" Bolin exclaimed happily. "I missed you so much! And even though he wouldn't admit it to you, Mako missed you too–"
"Bolin–" Mako tried to get his younger brother's attention when he saw Sora's uncomfortable face, but it seemed Bolin hadn't heard what he said, and continued to speak.
"But we understand that you have been very busy taking care of Uncle Hikari–"
"Bolin...!" Now the one who tried to get the younger boy's attention was Sora. Her voice came out with difficulty because of the force that Bolin's arms applied against her ribs, which ended up making it difficult for air to enter her lungs. But just like Mako, she was also ignored.
"But we got a job! And from what we're told, we'll earn a lot of money when we complete the job! So Mako and I thought of you because we know you need it–"
"BOLIN!" Mako yelled this time, finally getting his brother's attention. "Calm down! You're taking Sora's breath away!" He pointed at Sora's almost blue face.
"Oh..." Bolin said in a regretful tone. "Sorry, Sora." He returned to set Sora's body back on the ground; finally freeing her from the grip of his arms. "I didn't mean to take the air out of your lungs."
"It's okay, Bo," Sora said after managing to recover the air that had been stolen from her and massaged her ribs, trying to rub the pain away. " Missed you too." She ruffled his hair while offering him a sweet smile. "Even your annoying brother..." The last part she said in a whisper.
"Hey! Don't think I didn't hear that last part!"Mako complained, furrowing his brows as he glared at Sora. The older girl just ignored Mako's glare and ruffled his hair as well.
"You're messing up my hair, Sora," Mako complained as he shooed the older girl's hand away from his hair.
"Okay! Okay!" Sora put her hands in front of her, letting out a chuckle at Mako's reaction. This was one of her favorite pastimes. Piss him off. "Now... Tell me about what we have to do in this job."
"We will sabotage a truck that will be transporting new Satomobile pieces." Mako began by explaining.
"And what happens after we sabotage the trucks?" Sora asked, arching her eyebrows. "As far as I know... none of us can drive."
"I was going to get to this part." Mako rolled his eyes slightly. "Three more guys will go with us. We will just sabotage the transport and the other guys will take care of the rest."
"Okay." Sora nodded. "And when do we start?"Sora asked, her eyes darting between Mako and Bolin.
"Tonight," Bolin said. "They're coming to get us," Mako added.
In the dead of night, Sora got up from her place and sneaked out, leaving her father to rest. Meeting Mako and Bolin again at the Avatar Aang statuette, the three of them started walking. As they walked, they noticed how deserted the streets were – which was to be expected – no one was wandering around at that time of night. But apart from a car or two, the streets were free of people. They were just walking, with the light from the power poles illuminating their path as snow fell from the sky into the ground.
Looking up, Sora noticed that the sky was also clear of police zeppelins flying overhead. But, as she was watching the dark sky, a noise caught her attention. It was a red car; with a sleek design featuring a golden lion tortoise insignia that gleamed on the front grille. She could see three men at the front of the car; and the one at the wheel pointed with his thumb towards the rear of the car, saying:
"Hurry up! We have a job to do!"Then Mako, Bolin, and Sora climbed into the back of the car and soon after took off.
During the journey, one of them looked at Sora through the small window that separated the interior from the exterior of the car, with a frown. And Sora stared at him too. The man was bald, had big lips, and very thin eyebrows – as Bolin had described to her as they walked-she assumed he must be Mushi. The two stared at each other without breaking eye contact, until the bald man lowered the small window so that he could address Mako.
"And who is this?" Mushi asked the boy while indicating to Sora with his head "Is she your girlfriend? Did you bring your girlfriend to the workplace? Did you hear that, guys? Mako brought his girlfriend with him! Isn't it adorable?" Mushi mocked Mako to his friend, Two-Toed Ping, who joined in with his laughter. "Did she come to give you emotional support, Mako?" Mushi arched his eyebrows as he watched Sora's face.
"No," Mako replied with a frown. "She's our friend." And he got closer to Sora to make Mushi take his eyes off her. "You can stop looking at her like that." Said Bolin as he also approached the older girl while staring at the bald man with a frown.
"And what did you come here for?" This time, Mushi asked Sora.
"Isn't that obvious?" Sora asked. "Mako said you needed some help." Then she lifted her shoulders slightly "So... here I am." She said, giving the bald man a tight smile.
"Is that it?" Mushi asked as a smile played at the corner of his lips. "I just hope you don't intrude on our job." He said in a serious tone; without having a smirk on his lips. "If not..."Mushi's voice dropped by an octave as he moved closer to the small window, staring at Sora with narrowed eyes. He almost succeeded in intimidating Sora. Almost.
"If not, what?" Sora asked as she leaned her body forward a little, glaring at Mushi as she furrowed her brows. "What are you going to do, baldie?"
"What did you say to me?" Mushi asked with an angry tone.
"I said–" Before she could even say anything, Bolin and Mako covered her mouth with their hands.
"She didn't say anything," Mako said in a nervous tone. He didn't want trouble with Mushi. He then looked at his brother. "Did you hear her say something, Bolin?" Bolin quickly shook his head as he gave Mushi a nervous smile. "No! I didn't hear anything!" Then Mako spoke to Mushi. "You have to excuse our friend. She doesn't know how to control what comes out of her mouth sometimes." Sora just stared at the two out of the corner of her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows even more. Of course, she could control what came out of her mouth; but, she wouldn't let that bald man, with extremely thin eyebrows, intimidate her!
"Stop trying to pick fights with children, Mushi." Said the tanned man behind the wheel. In the rearview mirror, Sora could see how he seemed to be irritated by it all. By the tanned skin, black hair, and curved nose, Sora deduced that it was Viper. "Instead of getting into trouble with the girl, try to concentrate on what we came here to do, okay?" Viper said in a gruff tone, tugging on Mushi's shirt, causing the man to back away from the small window.
"Or we'll have to deal with the consequences of this with the boss!" Both Viper and Mushi and Two-Toed Ping trembled at the possibility of being punished by their boss.
"But– didn't you hear what she said to me?"Mushi asked in an indignant tone, turning around once more to glare at Sora, who also reciprocated with a glare. Viper decided to ignore the whining man next to him, gripping the steering wheel hard with his hands, one of his eyes twitching slightly as he pulled the car into a dark alley, stopping the car. "Now we just wait for the signal–" Viper then slapped Mushi, making the bald man snap out of his staring contest with the white-haired girl.
"Come on, Mushi! So what if she called you bald? Is it some lie by any chance?" Mushi shook his head. "Then be quiet and concentrate on this job, you hear me?" Mushi nodded, at last, remaining silent.
The group was then silent, hidden among the shadows of that alley where they had stopped the car. During this wait, the group of six outlined different reactions to the uncomfortable silence that settled in the car. Viper drummed his fingers absently against the steering wheel; Mako fingered the loose end of his scarf; Bolin played with Sora's fingers; Mushi grumbled softly and from time to time he passed his hand over his hairless head, having Two-Toed Ping beside him staring at him with amusement; Sora leaned her body more against the bench, arms crossed, enjoying the snow that was serenely falling from the sky with a neutral expression, while she felt Bolin playing with her fingers.
"Hzrr...Tzrt..." The noise of the radio cut the silence. "Viper?" The radio spoke. "Are you listening?" Viper took the radio from his pocket and pressed the intercom so he could talk. "Viper on the ear."
"Get ready." The voice on the other end of the radio warned. "The truck is directed towards where you are." Viper pressed the intercom again and said, "Roger." And the radio went silent again.
"Here we go, boys," Viper said with a crooked smile. "And a girl." Sora corrected the elder but scowled when she had been ignored. "I preferred the other guys." An elbow slammed into her lower right side, making her grunt. That area was still sore. And she glared at whoever had done it– Mako. "And why did you do this?" Mako sighed heavily. "Try not to get in trouble with these guys."
"Alright."
A few minutes later, Sora heard the noise of a car in the distance, and the one causing that noise passed them by – not realizing where they were hiding. As soon as the van passed them, Viper started the car, pulling out of the dark alley and following the cargo truck.
Following the truck for some time, with a distance between the vehicles, Sora noticed something. The truck seemed to have accelerated. "Shit." Viper cursed under his breath. "The driver realized that he is being followed." Viper floored the accelerator and slammed the car into the back of the truck, causing the truck to be pushed forward by the force of the impact. The truck, even after the heavy crash, accelerated once more to create distance between them, and, to their surprise, the back doors opened and two guards- covered from head to toe in black- began to attack them.
"Okay, guys! Now it's your chance!" Viper shouted against the noise of the wind, turning the car to the left, and avoiding the disks of earth that were heading towards them. "You too, new girl!" He caught Sora's attention, turning the car to the right, only this time, avoiding the daggers that were coming at them at an absurd speed. Without further ado, the three rose to their feet on the car seat and then counterattacked.
Extending her arms to the sides, Sora stretched her hands upwards, lifting chunks of rocks and forming a shield in front of the car, blocking the onslaught of earth discs and daggers. Wasting no time, Bolin hurled the shield rocks toward the two men, pushing them into the back of the truck with the impact.
"Bolin, get down!" Sora said while pressing the boy against the hood of the car when a blast of flames was launched at them, which before reaching them, the flames were blocked by Mako. In turn, Mako launched his flames towards the man, hitting the guard's arm, burning it and the guard went back inside the car screaming in pain.
"Hold on!" Viper shouted, turning the car to the left - as the van quickly turned onto another street - causing Bolin, Sora, and Mako to be nearly pushed out of the car. "I almost went flying!" Bolin screamed in shock as his body nearly flew out of the car, if not for Sora grabbing him by the collar of his coat. "Block their path!" Viper shouted again.
"I'll take care of it!" Sora said as she leaned her body to the edge of the car and raised her arms, fists clenched, She created a small earthquake that widened from under the truck, causing the truck to lose control and roll over onto its side.
"Good job kids." Viper congratulated as he got out of the car, slamming the door shut. "You can start unloading the goods." He ordered as soon as the other five got out of the car. "And don't forget the passengers." Viper turned to the group. "We don't want them to disturb us." Nodding, Mako and Sora headed toward the truck. Then he turned to Mushi, Bolin, and Two-Toed Ping. "Start transporting them to the car."
"You're heavy," Sora grunted as she lifted Mako's body to help him climb onto the truck. "What are you eating?" she asked him, watching him warily as he walked to the door of the truck.
"Shut up, Sora," Mako spoke back, bending down to open the door, but the door didn't open. "The door won't open!" Mako gritted his teeth in frustration as he forced the door open. "Try opening harder," Sora advised, finding amusement in Mako's effort.
"I'm trying!" Mako snapped, frustrated with the door he wouldn't open. "But... it... doesn't... want to... open...-Wow—!" The door, looking like it felt sorry for Mako, opened suddenly, causing Mako to let out a small cry of fright as his body was unbalanced, and before he could fall, he balanced his body, keeping himself stable. Sora, who saw all that happen in a short time, couldn't contain her laughter. "That was hilarious!" Sora clutched her sides in pain from laughing. "I will never, ever doubt your strength, Mako."
"Stop fooling around and hurry up! We don't have much time!" Viper scolded the two. Mako grimaced, and with a bit of difficulty, he started to pull the driver out, pulling him on the edge of the truck. "Catch him, Sora." And he threw the driver's body out of the truck, which was picked up by Sora who put him on the ground. "He appears to be dead..." She said as she watched the driver's bloody face. Mako stopped what he was doing to look at the girl who was poking the man's body with her index finger. "He's dead?!"
"I said 'appears', not that he is dead," Sora replied by putting her ear on the man's chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Yep! He's still alive!"The two sighed in relief.
"Good." Said Mako going back to doing his task. As Mako climbed into the truck, Sora felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and a shiver went through her body, creating a sick feeling in her belly. Sora immediately looked up at the dark sky, trying to find something that was among the clouds that made her feel so uneasy.
"Sora!" Mako called the white-haired girl. "I'm going to need your help with this one!" But he got no response. "Sora?"
Ignoring Mako's call, Sora focused his gaze on the sky, squinting at the large black shadow that was there, then widening her eyes in panic when she realized who that shadow belonged to. It was the police. "Oh, shit." Sora cursed when sirens echoed in the sky. "Mako! Get out of there!"
Letting go of the man's body, Mako climbed out of the cockpit, ran over the truck's long cargo, and leaped out of the truck, falling to the ground. Without even giving him time to adjust his fall, Sora grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up, starting to run to their car. "Guys! We have to get out of here now!"
"Police!" An intercom voice emerged from the airship. "Stop where you are!"
"Fuck!" Viper cursed. "Hurry up! We have to get out of here!" He ran towards the car, causing Mushi, Bolin, and Two-Toed Ping to drop the last boxes on the ground, and start running towards the car. With everyone in the car, Viper switched on the car and started to hurry out.
"Wait for us!" Sora shouted as she and Mako ran to catch up with the car that had already pulled away. She couldn't believe they'd run off without them. Despite feeling her muscles screaming for help, she didn't stop running.
Sora wouldn't let herself and Mako get caught by the police.
"Wait!" Bolin shouted in desperation. "We have to wait for Mako and Sora!" Bolin said as he gripped Viper's shirt tightly.
"They're on their own, kid." Viper with a straight face, not caring about the boy's despair. "We couldn't stay there, otherwise, we would get caught by the police."
From the airship that echoed the shrill sound of sirens, four policemen jumped out. The officers anchored their metal cables to nearby buildings, ensuring a safe landing.
When two policemen blocked the path ahead of them, Sora and Mako stopped running. With her heartbeat echoing in her ears, Sora started to back away, grabbing Mako's arm so they could get away, but she had to stop when two more police officers landed behind them.
"You are in custody," said a stoic, unshaven policeman, pointing at the two.
Sora and Mako exchanged nervous glances, having a silent conversation between them. Sora nodded, removing her hand from Mako's arm, and turned to the policeman, raising her arms together with Mako's. "Look, mister police, sir," Sora started by saying. "I think you confused us with some other people." She tried to control the tremor in her voice, sweat trickling down her face.
"Not another word." The stoic policeman said in a clipped tone. "You come with us for the crimes you committed today. Arrest them!" The other three police officers ran and prepared their metal cables to arrest them.
Sora just lowered her arms and Mako took that as his signal to attack.
Dodging the metal cable that was heading towards him, Mako used his left leg to pivot his body and launched a roundhouse kick of red flames towards the policeman that was coming towards him. The cop, dodging the attack, slammed his foot against the ground ripping off a piece of dirt, and punched it toward Mako but it was Sora who blocked the attack when she raised her arms and split the piece of dirt into pieces. Taking the chance, the two policemen latched onto Sora's wrists with their metal cables and pulled hard, causing her to fall to the ground grunting.
"I'm sure I'll have bruises after all this," Sora mumbled to herself as she was picked up by the police. Grunting in pain from having her arms in an uncomfortable position, she wrapped the metal cable around her arms and gripped the metal cable tightly and with all her strength, pulled the two police officers forward and slammed their bodies into one another, leaving both dizzy on the floor. Sora left the two there and went to help Mako.
Mako was in an exchange of attacks with the other policeman. When he attacked, the policeman counterattacked. Mako could feel the tiredness wanting to succumb to his body. But when he saw Sora approaching from behind the policeman, he had an idea. Mako focused all of his internal energy and prepared for his next attack. After an exchange of glances, Sora trapped the policeman from behind in a tight grip – her size compared to the policeman allowed her to overwhelm him. Sora didn't have time to express her surprise when she saw sparks spark at Mako's fingertips as her body stiffened from the shock she'd received.
Nearly crashing to the ground with the policeman, Sora was held up by Mako as she tried to come to her senses. Mako looked at the only remaining policeman – who was staring at them with a stoic face, watching them – carefully, waiting for his next action so that she could attack.
"Get out of here before I arrest you." Was all that came out of the policeman's mouth. "Be thankful you weren't arrested today. There won't be a second time." Mako's eyes widened in surprise at hearing that.
Carrying a still bewildered Sora, Mako left as quickly as possible.
Watching the two teenagers walk away, Saikhan sighed heavily and turned his gaze to the agents who were on the floor moaning in pain. "You are an embarrassment to me." Saikhan rubbed his temples in irritation. "Two teenagers. My agents were defeated by mere teenagers!"