Chapter Text
Rina never thought that she would ever reach a point where she was incapable of crying any more tears. But yet, here she was. Proving herself wrong again.
She just felt so numb. Someone could have stabbed her in the chest and Rina wasn’t sure that she would even blink. The stabbing cold of the metal walls and concrete floors didn’t even give her any indication that she was alive anymore.
The sound of footsteps caused Rina to pause in her wallowing. They sounded different from the footsteps that indicated that it was mealtime, but Rina couldn’t be sure. She didn’t exactly trust her mind anymore. The door to her cell room opened and two Equalists guards walked into the room. Rina stared at them with disinterest with green eyes that were uncharacteristically dull.
“Get up,” one of them grunted out, causing Rina to stare at the ground.
Slowly and shakily getting to her feet, Rina glared at the Equalist soldiers who opened the cell door for her. She walked slowly towards the entrance but paused when she spotted the metal cuffs in their hands. Metal she used to be able to snap with a minor tense of a muscle.
Rina held out her hands to the Equalist guards, who slammed the cuffs around her wrists. She stared down at the cuffs for a moment before she was tugged forward. Her metalbending armor remained discarded—completely useless—on the ground.
She was led through the halls and silently looked for the exits and kept track of how many turns that she took. It’s not like she could actually escape with three guards surrounding her and her hands trapped against each other, but old habits die hard.
Rina was shoved into an old paddy wagon with a few other prisoners that she didn’t particularly recognize. The back of the truck was tapped three times, before the truck set off. Rina leaned back against the wall of the truck, letting her body shift with the bump of the truck.
They eventually came to a stop and were unloaded one by one. Rina glanced up and noted the pro-bending arena in the distance. Fitting that the Equalist movement would want their big moment to happen at the center of bending in the city.
Bastards.
The prisoners were split up into different groups. It seemed that Amon had specific plans for his victory rally. After he obliterated the Air Nation from existence, save for many little baby Rohan, he was going to go down the line and show off all the other benders he had ‘equalized’—destroyed, Rina argued—to his crowd of fans.
“This cell,” one of the Equalist guards grunted, jerking his finger towards the door.
Rina was tugged into the cell, that seemed to be already occupied. Lin Beifong stood up from her cot, a harsh scowl on her features at the sight of the Equalists before it dropped and shattered on the ground when she spotted Rina being held between them.
“No,” Lin whispered out, grabbing onto the cell bars. Rina could make out the tears forming in her mother’s eyes, which, of course, caused tears to form in her own eyes.
“Step back, prisoner,” one of the Equalists demanded.
The door to the Beifong cell—apparently, anyway—was opened. Rina was pushed to the door and once her cuffs were removed, she was pushed the rest of the way into the cell. The door was slammed shut behind her and the Equalists moved out.
But once the door to the cell room was closed, Rina finally broke down. Throwing herself into her mother’s waiting arms, Rina let out a series of sobs into her mother’s shoulder. Lin held her daughter as close to her as she could, tears streaming down her own cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Rina,” Lin spoke softly, resting her head against Rina’s. “I’m so sorry.”
Lin had never felt so defeated in her life. If there was ever a constant in her life, it was earthbending, and later her daughter. And now her earthbending was gone, most likely for forever, and her daughter was broken by the same loss.
Even though her own bones were weary from the loss of her connection to the world, the newfound heaviness of her metalbending armor, and deep pit of despair growing in her stomach, Lin Beifong pushed all of that aside.
Rina needed her help. Rina needed her. So, her own pain would take a backseat for now.
It took some time for the tears to dry before the two Beifong women sat on the small cot in the room together. Rina sat further back on the cot with her back resting against the cool metal of the wall while Lin remained on the edge of it.
“Did they take your armor?” Lin asked quietly, glancing down at the uniform issued black undershirt and green pants that Rina wore.
“No,” she stated with her voice barely above a whisper. “I took it off.” A moment of silence passed between them before Rina turned back to her mother. “It was just dead weight anyways.” Rina stared at her knees before resting her head against the wall once more.
“I understand,” Lin sighed, admitting to herself that the weight of the metalbender uniform was quite a lot for someone who did not bend metal. Not anymore, anyways.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Rina whimpered out, lowering her head slightly.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything,” Lin replied immediately, reaching out to grab Rina’s shoulder. “Hey, look at me.” Rina picked up her head, turning to meet the same jade eyes that she wore herself. “None of this is your fault, Rina.”
“I know, but . . . I just feel so . . . helpless,” Rina sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. “And you sacrificed yourself for us and we didn’t even get away and—”
“—Rina, I knew what I was doing. I knew what could happen,” Lin assured her daughter, moving to sit back against the wall herself. “And it seems that this Equalist operation was a lot bigger, and a lot more well-funded than we thought before.”
“I’ll say,” Rina replied, looking at her lap. A moment of silence passed before Rina spoke, “Amon wants to end the Air Nation at some big rally of his.”
“I figured,” Lin mumbled, looking grave for a moment. “But they haven’t captured Korra. Certainly, we would have heard something from the guards if they did.”
“She’s our last hope at this point.” Rina lowered her forehead to her knees. “The world’s last hope, even.”
Lin and Rina sat on the cot, rather disheartened and exhausted from their last few days. Who knew that having your identity, the way that you connected with the world around you, forcibly ripped from you would suck the absolute life out of you?
But the sound of approaching footsteps, which sounded hurried, caused Lin and Rina to share a look. Lin got to her feet and walked over to the bars to try and see if she could make out who was running through the halls.
Did the Equalist rally go awry? Were the United Forces here? Was Korra here?
“Tenzin!” Lin suddenly shouted, which caused Rina to scramble to her feet.
She rushed to the bars, gripping the bars so tightly that her fingers ached, when the door to their cell room opened haphazardly. Tenzin stood in the doorframe, freed from his bonds, and seemingly unharmed. He didn’t look like he lost his bending based on the lack of utter despair written across his face.
“Lin! Rina!” Tenzin ran over to the cell as the rest of his family filed into the room. He tested the strength of the metal door before taking a few steps back and lowering into a stance. “Get back from the door. I’m going to bust it open.”
Rina and Lin shuffled to the far side of the cell. Tenzin threw a sustained blast of air at the door, trying to lift it off its hinges or break the lock. The hinges proved to be the weak point and snapped as Tenzin sent another sustained air blast. He ran over and pushed the door back far enough for Rina and Lin to slip out of the cell.
“Rina!” her siblings called, piling onto her.
Rina hugged them back tighter and tried to manage a smile, but her lips refused to budge from their stoic line. Lin and Tenzin embraced briefly before Tenzin turned to Rina. He hurried to pull his eldest daughter into a tight hug, holding her to his chest. She hugged him back, burying her face into his chest like she would when she was a small child.
“I’m sorry, Rina. If I had been—”
“—Dad,” she cut him off, pulling away for a moment. “I know.”
“We should get moving,” Lin interjected, glancing around at the group. “Before the Equalists catch up to us.”
Again, Rina thought.
The four airbenders formed protective barriers around the others with Tenzin and Meelo at the front and Jinora and Ikki at the back. Lin helped Pema along, who was still recovering from her labor and slow on her feet, while Rina held baby Rohan in her arms. He was asleep, for which Rina was thankful.
The group hurried down the hall to try and escape the pro-bending arena before they were caught by the Equalists who hadn’t fled the scene. Tenzin knocked open an exit door when Ikki yelled out a warning.
“They’re coming!”
Tenzin spun and saw Equalists charging at them. Jumping forward, he delivered a strong and sustained blast of air. The Equalists were quite literally blown away by the attack and their backs smacked loudly into the wall down the hall.
“Go! Go! Kids, knock down anyone who’s in your way!”
Jinora led the way down the stairs with Ikki and Meelo close behind her. But she paused and started to fire air blasts at the Equalists who were running up the stairs. Ikki and Meelo joined her, but Rina knew that they needed a more permanent solution.
Tenzin and Lin, who slipped out from under Pema’s arm, pried the door behind them shut with a metal rod to prevent the Equalists from following after them. Handing Rohan quickly to Pema, Rina ran over to some boxes by the wall. She ripped it open and found smoke bombs inside.
“I got smoke bombs!”
“Kids, form an airball around us!” Tenzin ordered while Rina ran to the front.
Pulling the chord, Rina dropped it down the opening in the stairwell. It went off halfway down, filling the entire stair well with knock out gas. The Equalists who had been running up the stairs were incapacitated by the smoke while the airbending kids kept their group safe.
Once enough time passed, Tenzin stepped forward. Swinging his arms around, Tenzin gathered the residual air around him before blasting it down the stairwell to clear it of smoke and any Equalists who had climbed up after them.
“Let’s go! Be careful on the stairs!”
Getting into the lower levels of the pro-bending arena, Rina led them through a side exit through the lower pipes. Once Tenzin sealed the manhole cover, they hurried down the pipe towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Air Temple Island could be seen in the distance.
“Amon’s a waterbender!” they suddenly heard, causing Rina, Tenzin, and Lin to poke their heads out of the pipe.
They watched, utterly shocked, to see Amon bending in the middle of a large waterspout without a mask and without a scar. The Equalist supporters suddenly stared in disbelief at their fearless leader, their supposed savior, who turned out to be nothing more than a fake. A fraud.
Amon was a waterbender.
It was all a lie.
Except the part about him being able to take a person’s bending away. When the earth around her and the metal beneath her feet didn’t call out to her, Rina realized that part of Amon’s story was still painfully true.
That was real.
Rina sat on the edge of Air Temple Island, staring into the water. Silent tears dripped down her cheeks as she rested chin against her knees. She’d asked to be left alone. She knew that her parents were worried about her, but there were enough other problems going on.
Republic City was in shambles when the United Forces under her Uncle Bumi arrived at the scene. The Equalists were scattered without their leader, but more than likely still there, hiding in the shadows to strike again. The entire police force—at least the bending portions of it—had been wiped out. The city was destroyed, in more ways than one.
Then there was dealing with the aftermath of Korra losing her bending. She had unlocked her airbending, so she wasn’t a non-bender, but all of the other elements refused to bend to her will. And Rina knew that Korra was struggling too, but she was far too caught up in her own wallowing to offer the Avatar any consolation.
And besides, Rina didn’t want to get in the way of anything.
She looked up when she heard a groan. Oogi landed beside her, grunting, and groaning in greeting. He took a few steps closer, before plopping to the ground next to her. Rina sighed, rubbing his cheek softly, before staring back down at the water.
“Hey, Oogi.” The sky bison groaned in response, before nudging her in the side. At the third nudge, Rina pushed his big head away from her. “I’m not in the mood, Oogi. Go see Jinora or someone else.” But Oogi was undeterred by her response and nudged her again. “Oogi,” Rina warned before she was pulled into the equivalent of a hug by the sky bison.
Squeezed between Oogi’s big head, and his shoulder, Rina struggled for a moment. But she stopped fighting against him a few moments later. Sighing, she turned and buried her face into Oogi’s white fur, fresh tears coming to her eyes. The sky bison nuzzled her back, allowing her to cry into his fur.
While Oogi comforted Rina, the other extended members of Team Avatar gathered in the dining room for dinner. They would be setting out early the next morning for the South Pole with an escort from the United Forces. Lin stared at the empty place setting beside her and got up to look for her daughter without a word.
Tenzin watched her leave, before noting Rina’s absence as well. Excusing himself from the table, Tenzin stood up and trailed after Lin. Though the older Beifong woman didn’t have her seismic sense anymore, she knew where to find her daughter. And Tenzin trusted Lin’s instincts.
Lin paused when she spotted Rina, who was still held against Oogi’s side, on the edge of the island. The edge that faced the statue of Aang, which General Iroh had unmasked hours previous. The outline of the Amon mask could still be seen in the waves. Hearing footsteps behind her, Lin turned to see Tenzin walking towards her.
She nodded to him, before turning back to Oogi and Rina. Tenzin stopped beside her, the two standing in silence for a moment. But Tenzin feared if he didn’t speak soon, a torrential word-vomit would work its way out of his mouth. And it would probably only make the situation worse. He turned to Lin, who didn’t meet his gaze.
“Lin, I’m . . . I’m so sorry.”
“I know you are,” she replied simply, keeping her eyes trained on Rina.
“There’s no way I’ll ever be able to repay you for your sacrifice for my family. And I know our relationship is . . . complicated, but I . . . I’m sorry I failed you. And I’m sorry that I failed as a father to Rina. I couldn’t protect her from Amon. If I had been stronger—”
“—Don’t,” Lin cut him off, turning to face him finally. “Don’t go down that path, Tenzin. You’re only going to hurt yourself. And that’s the last thing we need right now.” Though her tone was harsh, her features softened moments later. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “None of us were strong enough to defeat him. It’s not your fault.”
“I’m worried about her. About all of you,” Tenzin stated, which caused Lin to look away. Another beat of silence passed before Tenzin spoke again. “I talked briefly with Bumi. He said that his men found her armor. I asked him to bring it here, but I wasn’t sure . . .”
“Probably not the best thing for her to see right now,” Lin admitted quietly, crossing her arms over her chest. “She’s . . . I don’t think she thinks she’s worthy of it anymore. It’s just a reminder of what she . . .”
“I’ll put it in the attic then, until she’s ready to decide.”
“Thank you.”
A beat of silence passed between them before Tenzin asked, “How are you doing, Lin?”
“I’m fine.”
“Lin,” Tenzin sighed, turning to face the stoic former Chief of Police. “You don’t have to . . . if you need help, I’m here for you. For you and Rina. Always.”
“I know,” Lin replied quietly, keeping her gaze focused forward.
Tenzin moved to say something else when Lin stepped towards where Oogi and Rina were sitting, noting the way that her daughter slumped. Tenzin joined her as they walked quickly to Rina’s side, to find that she had simply fallen asleep.
Oogi groaned, nudging Tenzin’s side as Lin moved to grab their daughter. But knowing that Lin was far too stubborn to ask for help even though she was injured and in need of assistance, Tenzin moved down to kneel beside Lin.
“I’ve got her,” Tenzin assured her, before leaning down.
Carefully taking his eldest daughter into his arms, Tenzin led the way back into the house. Lin opened the door to Rina’s room, before Tenzin slipped inside. He placed her carefully on the bed before Lin moved to take her shoes off.
He quietly remembered them doing this routine when Rina was much smaller. There was one time that stuck out to him. After a long day at a festival, Rina had fallen asleep after a sugar crash, courtesy of her Great Uncle Sokka. Tenzin had carried her all the way back to Air Temple Island, her small head resting against his shoulder, and a small trail of drool wetting his outer robes.
It had been a simpler time. A much simpler time. For all of them.
Korra had yet to be discovered as the Avatar. Amon and the Equalist movement didn’t exist, at least to their current extent. He and Lin were still together—they had even held hands as they walked home from the festival. And Rina hadn’t even come up to his knee yet.
Everyone had their bending. Everyone was safe.
Lin stood up from Rina’s bed and yanked the covers up, covering their daughter in blankets. She turned back to Tenzin, who was still caught up in his thoughts. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his shoulder, breaking him out of his reverie.
“You should get back to the dining hall. I’m sure that you could use some food.”
“I’m pretty sure that I’m supposed to be telling you that, Lin,” Tenzin returned quietly. Lin looked away from his gaze. “I can have some food brought here for you. And perhaps something for Rina in case she wakes up in the middle of the night.”
“I would appreciate that.”
Rina woke up to the sound of rain pitter pattering on the roof. Sliding out of bed, which she never remembered climbing into, Rina glanced up to see her mother asleep on a makeshift cot across from her. She got up and walked over to the window, trying to be quiet.
Her room had a view of the open ocean, which seemed to be churned up by the passing storm. She let out a shaky breath as she tried to block the nightmare that had woken her up from her mind again. Blinking and shaking her head, Rina grabbed her boots and slid them back on. She also grabbed a coat but did not tug it on.
Walking out silently to the courtyard with the cherry blossom tree, which was not far from her room, Rina set down her coat on the wooden railing. She stared at the courtyard for a moment, thinking about how many memories had happened there over the years.
It was the location of the photo of her, her mother, and her paternal grandfather that she had found in a box of her mother’s things.
It was apparently where she had earthbended for the first time, not long after she took her first shaky steps, but she didn’t remember it.
It was where she fell out of the tree and nearly broke her arm when her father’s back was turned for five seconds.
It was where her father broke the news about his engagement, and she caused a small earthquake on the island.
It was where she waited, up in the tree and hidden by the blossoms, for the excitement to die down about Jinora’s airbending abilities. She was frankly prepared to spend the night up there that night and might have if one of the White Lotus guards didn’t spot her.
It was where she did the marble trick to entertain Jinora, and then Ikki, and then Meelo.
It was where she and Korra made the agreement to try and get Korra to airbend with more unorthodox methods.
So many memories—both good and bad—swirled around the courtyard for Rina. But they kept flooding and Rina simply tried to turn them off. Stepping out into the courtyard, Rina shivered as the first drops of cool rain hit her skin.
But despite the biting cold digging into her skin and the shiver that ran down her spine, Rina stepped further out into the courtyard. She had never had a particular fascination with either heat or cold—she decided to leave that debate to the waterbenders and firebenders—but the earth always felt warm to her before she lost her bending.
Warm. Inviting. Malleable.
But now, it was just cold. Everything was cold. Foreign. Distant.
So, why not embrace the cold?
Rina held her arms out and closed her eyes, relishing in the cold feel of the rain. She bent her head back slightly so that her entire face could be covered in the cold rain drops. She was quickly soaked from head to toe, but Rina didn’t really care.
She needed to feel something. And if that was freezing cold, then so be it.
Rina returned inside a few minutes later, when she was sure that her lips were most likely blue and headed for the showers. Turning the shower on as hot as it would go, Rina stripped out of her soaked clothes and stepped under the hot steam.
It burned, it hurt—particularly on her feet and the parts of her skin that had been exposed to the cold rain. But it was something. It was at least a reminder that she was alive, that it wasn’t some kind of horrible nightmare.
It was pain. But it was soothing in another way to Rina.
And she knew that wasn’t healthy. Fucked up, even.
But she didn’t have the energy to care.
Resting her head on the tile of the shower, Rina broke down again, the echo of her sobs being masked by the sound of the shower running and the rain outside the house. She hugged herself, her nails digging into her skin as she cried.
Because the stinging pain of the cold and then the heat was incomparable to the pain deep in her spirit.
The trip to the South Pole was expediated with some help from the United Forces. Bumi had provided them with a small ship and when they were close enough that Oogi could make the direct flight, they all piled onto the sky bison’s back and headed to the White Lotus Compound, where Katara was waiting for them.
Rina sat numbly beside her mother, staring in front of herself. But she had a far off look in her eye that clearly indicated that she was barely with it. The sound of a door sliding open got the adults to their feet. Rina turned to watch her grandmother walk through the door, shutting it behind her, and blocking any further view of Korra.
“I’ve tried everything in my power, but . . . I cannot restore Korra’s bending,” Katara announced, staring sadly at the ground.
“But you’re the best healer in the world. You have to keep trying!” Lin pointed out, not willing to give up. Not now. They had come so far. Too far to give up now.
“I’m sorry. There’s nothing else I can do. Korra can still airbend, but her connection to the other elements has been severed,” Katara replied sadly.
The door opened again behind Katara, revealing Korra to the group. The room went silent again as everyone turned to Korra, who stared at the floor. Tenzin stood up from his place at the table with his family, trying to be calm and supportive.
“It’s going to be alright, Korra,” Tenzin assured the Avatar, but she shook her head.
“No, it’s not.”
Korra turned and stormed angrily out of the house. Rina slumped into her seat, staring at the ceiling. There were quiet buzzes of conversation around the room that she couldn’t make out. Or perhaps she could . . . she just didn’t care enough to try. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Rina turned to see Katara smiling sadly down at her.
“Come on, you’re in need of a healing session yourself, Rina.”
Rina wanted to argue, but that would simply expend too much energy. Getting up without a word, Rina numbly followed Katara back into her healing room. She slid off her coat and metal boots before sinking into the tub and laying back.
“Your father tells me that you took a few electric shocks with your metalbending armor.”
Rina nodded silently in reply.
“I can sense that your nerves are a bit damaged from those attacks. And when was the last time that you ate properly, Rina?” Katara asked, staring with concern at her eldest grandchild.
Katara moved her arms around, healing Rina’s battered body, as the former earthbender shrugged in response. The waterbender pursed her lips at Rina’s response, her concern growing more and more by the passing moment.
“Well, it’s your birthday soon. Perhaps I should cook up some seaweed noodles for you.”
Rina nodded again tiredly, but she didn’t move to say anything.
A few more minutes passed before Katara finally cleared Rina, “I’ve healed what I can. But you need to eat, Rina, so that your body can heal itself.” Katara bended the water out of Rina’s clothes as Rina moved to stand.
Rina nodded once more.
“It’s okay to not be okay right now, Rina,” Katara told her granddaughter, grabbing her hands. “But you need to know that we’re here for you. If you need anything.”
“I know, Gran Gran.” Rina slowly lowered her hands back to her sides. “You should probably check on my mom and Pema and the baby too,” was all she said before turning for the door. Katara sighed sadly as Rina closed the door to the healing room behind her.
An hour had passed since Katara had declared that she couldn’t restore Korra’s bending.
Kya had arrived at the house after receiving word about it and helped Katara look over Lin, Pema, and Rohan. Rina sat in the dining room adjacent to the room where everyone was still sitting, a barely touched and now cold plate of food in front of her.
But the slam of the front door opening caused Rina to get to her feet.
She walked into the living room again to see everyone on their feet, staring at Korra, who was flanked by a surprised, yet still determined, Tenzin. Rina noted the fact that Korra looked more like . . . well, herself than she had since the Amon incident.
“I had a vision from Aang!” she announced, causing the group to gather around her.
“Did he restore your bending?” Tonraq inquired immediately, but Korra shook her head sadly.
“No. But he showed me how to do it. And I know how to fix all of this now,” Korra stated, causing murmurs and gasps to break out around the room.
“How? How are you going to do it?”
“Energybending,” Korra stated, causing Rina’s eyes to widen in surprise. “But first, there’s something that I have to do first. Or rather, a few things that I have to do first.”
“What are they?”
“And how can we help?”
“Aang said that I need to connect with my spiritual side more and that my past lives would send me in the right direction,” Korra explained, stepping further into the room.
“Have you connected with any of your past lives? Other than Aang?” Lin questioned, glancing over at her daughter, before returning her gaze to Korra.
“No, but I’m going to,” Korra vowed, her eyes shining with determination. “And I know where I have to start.”
“Where?”
“At the Spirit Oasis. In the Northern Water Tribe,” Korra replied firmly.