Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Art by Kit-N-Kadoodle 

Part 1: The Setup (Or How to Find a Sidekick and Read Fine Print)

The day starts off, quite literally, with a bang. Whoever kicked the door open does it with so much force that it recoils back on its hinges and slams right back in their face. There is a satisfying click as the automatic locking mechanism triggers shut. I lean back into my chair, contemplating the pros and cons of getting up. With my feet propped up on the table and my favoured drink of choice in my hand, I decide today is one of those days where I’m just not in the mood. If they needed to meet me badly enough, they would find a way.

The doorknob rattles for about a half a minute. I idly wonder how long they’d need to realise that it isn’t going to budge. Not for long, as it turns out. The rattling stops and loud fist-banging takes its place. Tuning out the cacophony, I concentrate on my crossword puzzle. An illusion that is not a lie, I muse out loud. Hmm. Tricky one.

I realise the din has stopped when all I hear is the tapping of my pen against the newspaper. That, and the heavy breathing on the other side. Complete silence fills the space for a split second. And then…an ear-splitting crack of metal on wood.

I manage to stick my fingers in my ears in time before the next four shots come in succession. Where the doorknob used to be; a gaping hole stands in its place. They kick the door furiously in again, and once again it only swings about its axis violently and crashes shut. It doesn’t lock this time and merely bounces off the doorframe from its residual momentum.

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF –”

A hand catches the edge of the door and it’s shoved roughly as my visitor reveals herself. A light sheen of perspiration shines on her forehead from her previous exertions, her face dark with a scowl. The revolver in her left hand is still smoking a little. She stops short when she catches sight of me.

“You were sitting there the whole time? You couldn’t open the fucking door?”

“I was lazy.”

“What the actual fuck, Asami? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m not the one who couldn’t open an unlocked door like any other, normal person.”

“And I’m not the one who was too fucking lazy to get off her arse to open said fucking door when someone knocks.”

I look once more at what’s left of the door. She has a point. "Touché."

"That doesn't even make sense in our world."

I set the newspaper down and swing my feet off the table. My day has just gotten a whole lot more interesting. “It’s nice to see you too, Kuvira. It’s certainly been awhile... To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the Great Uniter herself?”

She holsters her revolver and stomps into the room. “It was terrible then. Still is. Who comes up with all these stupid nicknames?”

“Not me, that’s for sure, Kuvira Beifong.”

Her face instantly transforms, as it did all those years ago when I first tried it on her. Only this time, her reaction is a complete one hundred and eighty degrees from the anger it used to provoke.

“No…I…I mean, not yet.” A faint flush creeps up on her cheeks. A soft smile, and she looks almost bashful, a far cry from the furious door destroyer just a few minutes ago. Kuvira blinks.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” I ask innocently.

Kuvira only shakes her head, grinning. For a moment, she seems to have forgotten why she is here, though that can only mean one thing.

She settles for walking slowly about the study, leering at my collection of books and other assortment of half-finished projects on the shelves. I study her as she prowls around. She hasn’t changed much. The slightly militaristic air is still there, the default she falls back on when she’s not being someone else. Her shirt is pressed and neat; not in the latest style of fashion but the kind that one might call timeless.

When she reaches the minibar, she lifts the crystal decanter with its gold-coloured contents and looks over to me, an eyebrow raised questioningly. I nod and she pours herself a drink. Walking back over to my desk, she says, with a smirk. “So…how are you adjusting to life as a law-abiding citizen?”

“Oh, it’s alright, I suppose. Kinda relaxing, actually.” I take another sip. A flicker of hope flares up unbidden and I quash it immediately.

“Really?” She sets her glass down untouched and takes a seat opposite. “And your brain doesn’t feel like melting out of your ears any day now?”

“Well, I keep myself busy.”

“Uh huh.” Kuvira looks unconvinced. “I’m sure you’ve heard? That Opal Beifong is out?”

“I might have heard something on the grapevine… yeah.” I say cautiously, catching my reflection in the glass cabinet opposite. Deadpan. Good.

“She has something in mind. Right here, in the city.” Her eyes carefully scanning mine for a reaction. She gets none. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

I sigh. “Ku, you know I left that life behind me, right.”

“And this –” She gestures an arm around the room, at the oak-panelled walls, the finest from the Earth Kingdom, the polished mahogany furniture and the rich Fire Nation tapestries. “– and this satisfies you?”

“It’s certainly comfortable.”

“Comfortable doesn’t answer the question.”

I know I shouldn’t give in so easily. I can’t fold too easily, I tell myself, even as my pulse spikes. “Everything’s going just fine for me. I’m…content.” The words come easily enough, but I’m not fooling her.

Kuvira’s eyes narrows. “You only say ‘fine’ when you’re at your wits’ end. And on the brink of doing something crazy. Or stupid. Or both.”

She leans forward to whisper tantalisingly in my ear. “Come on. You know you want to. The Asami Sato I know wouldn’t settle for a normal life. A boring life. Opal wants us to get the crew back together again.”

This would be your only chance. I close my eyes to try and pretend to shut out the temptation. I knew there would be no going back after this. “There’re only so many times I can sell the Harmony Tower, you know.”

“As impressive as that was, this is going to be different. This time, it’s going to be big. One last grand hurrah. Before we get too old and have to retire.”

“She always says that.” I say accusatorily. “What does she have in mind? Purely hypothetically speaking, of course.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She says, suddenly coy. “Maybe Harmony Tower big. Maybe Ba Sing Se big. Who knows? Maybe the kind you’ve always wanted. Hypothetically.” She stares me dead in the eye. Kuvira can be very, very persuasive. Her nickname didn’t come from nowhere, after all.

She continues on, “I don’t have any details yet but she’s calling it the heist of the century.”

I blink in surprise. “Ku, I’m all for your career switch, if you’re so inclined, but we both know that I don’t do that. I’m a grifter, not a thief.” But this piece of information is very interesting indeed.

“Your use of present tense tells me you’ve made up your mind.” She catches the slip, and her smile widens. Sighing deeply again, I don’t protest her observation.

I stare at the ceiling for a long moment, an internal battle raging. Debating. The part that is putting up a resistance is feeble at best. Who am I kidding anyway? I only know that the longer I stay here and do nothing, the crazier it would drive me. Probably murder someone and burn the whole place down, and I’m only half-joking.

Kuvira finally flashes the lotus tile up her sleeve she must have been trying to save for last, because she’s using her most neutral tone, “By the way, I hear Detective Korra is now officially Lieutenant Korra. So is her partner. Heard they did good on the UR Bank fraud case.” Oh, Kuvira is good.

Is she now? Now that would an interesting additional element. It has been a while. I can’t help the involuntary grin that spreads along my face. Kuvira stands up, triumphant. She knows she has me now.

“So, Asami Sato. What do you say?” She lifts up her glass.

I clink mine to hers. “Oh alright. Just like the good old days, eh?”

Her glass pause on the way to her lips as she adds, “We might be needing some new blood though.”

“Is that wise?”

“Well, that’s why I’m here. Opal thinks she’s found someone but… you know the drill.”

Finding someone to play a part has never been a problem. Any old swindler to your grandmother would fit right in. But the long con is a whole different art form in itself. You’ve got to rely entirely on your crew and they on you. To say that no small amount of trust is involved is the biggest understatement to make. The lethargy drains away as the gears in my brain start turning. “Does that explain why a teenager has been following me for the past few days?”

“Already? That’s fast.” Her eyebrows shoot up in faint surprise. “In any case, the pieces are already in place. We just need you to…do what you’ve always been best at.”

“Grunt work, you mean.” I grumble mockingly. “You were pretty confident in thinking I’d agree to it in the first place.”

“I was right, wasn’t I? Oh, don’t argue.” She says, cutting me off before my unfortunate habit of unintelligible muttering could start.

This is it. No going back now. Letting out a sigh, I lift my glass again.

“To the crew then.”

“To the crew.”

She gulps her drink down, and then chokes. "What the fuck is this?”

“Apple cider.”

“You’re as weird as ever, you know that?”

I laugh. “I missed you too.”

............................................................

After Kuvira leaves, I immediately start packing. As I flit around the small flat gathering my tools, I mull over the logistics of transporting a certain contraption I was working on, or, to be more precise, individual parts of it, in a duffel bag. The propellers were proving to be a challenge. I don’t really need an underwater scooter-in-a-bag, but you’d never know.

There is firm rapping from the front door; someone is calling out. I cross the space to open it.

“RCPD!”

There is a crash a second time that day. One second my hand is on the handle and the next, I’m flat on my back, staring at the pattern on my ceiling. Beige is such an ugly colour, come to think of it. I’m not really sure why I’d bother having doors at all if no one was going to use them.

I reach up instinctively for my nose, worried. It’s thankfully still in one piece, despite the pain.

“Shit! I’m so sorry!” Firm arms grab my shoulders and I’m suddenly upright again. I freeze at the sight. Definitely wasn’t expecting her to show up. Normally, this would be just about my cue to take off as fast as I can in the opposite direction. But logic overrides instinct and I stay rooted to the spot. Dammit, how can I already be in trouble without even leaving my own flat?

The figure in front of me is similarly petrified, blue eyes widening, clear shock written all over it. Under different circumstances, that expressive face would have been a fascinating study. The gaze hardens as she steps back. My nose isn’t out of peril yet for today, apparently, because a second later, I’m staring down at a semiautomatic.

My hands are up in a flash; “Woah…”

“Sato?”

“Detective?”

My mind is racing as I rack my brains. Did I accidentally kill someone sleepwalking? I did pay my electricity bills, didn’t I? But I do suppose that bit of tinkering lowered them a great deal…Wait, I tuned Mrs Fu’s car the other day; was that somehow illegal? For one wild, irrational moment, the thought of the car belonging to the frail old lady upstairs being fenced merch flashes through my mind. Nah. Then it clicked; the door.

“What are you doing here?” The familiar blue eyes are icy now. There’s a slight rustle of movement behind her and I see another pair of hands holding another gun. He’s dressed in a familiar grey uniform. The fine tremor of his weapon indicate his greenness, a trait similarly reflected in his eyes. Ah, a rookie.

“Uh… I live here?”

She frowns. “Officer, secure the place. You’re under arrest, Sato. Never thought I’d see this day.” I think I hear a faint undertone of glee. Sorry to disappoint, but not today.

I regain my bearings somewhat, crossing my arms across my body. “We both know you’re eager to see me again but maybe a few seconds longer for me to open the door wouldn’t kill you?”

To her credit, her expression doesn’t waver. Oh, how times have changed. There is a slight choking sound behind me. One glare from her over my shoulder silences it. The faint sounds of the other officer moving about fade as he moves from room to room. The silence stretches on as I stare at the former detective in front of me. Maybe it’s just me but her natural bronze skin seems to have gotten darker with time.  I don’t miss the faded dark circles around her eyes. Her lips are set in a straight hard line. It’s strange to see her out of her uniform. Blue suits her though.

“So... Congratulations. I hear you’re Lieutenant Korra now. Has a nice ring to it. I must say I miss the uniform. But the new look suits you, even the hair. Snazzy.” I say with a wink, brushing my hair over my shoulder.

Korra’s response is one of furrowed eyebrows but the corner of her mouth twitches ever so slightly. “You haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“Well, now that you mention it, I supposed –”

“What’s your game here, Sato?” Korra’s gaze is still steady. Maybe I am slightly losing my touch.

“There isn’t one.” Not yet anyway. “I’m not even sure why you’re here.”

“Korra! Other than a bullet-ridden door in the study, there’s nothing here. No one here. No signs of struggle. No blood either.” Her junior officer calls out. Korra lowers her weapon finally and I slowly release the breath I don’t realise I’m holding.

“Blood?” I laugh, all tension draining from my body. “Really? What do you take me for? A common murderer?”

Her jaw works furiously, because she knows I know she knows I’m right. She finally says, “We had a call from one of the tenants about gunshots coming from this flat.”

“That was at least half an hour ago. That’s pretty terrible response time on your part. Why, it could have been me bleeding here all over the floor.”

“Which would somehow have been your own doing.” She mutters under her breath, ignoring the jab. “You live here now?”

“Yep.”

Walking to one side, her radio chatter to life as she activates it. She gestures at her partner and he walks over to me, open curiosity on his face.

“So, uh…Miss…?”

“Sato.”

“Miss Sato, was there a break in?”

“No.”

“What happened then?”

“I locked myself out the study. And I took the liberty of getting it opened again. With mixed results, as you can see.”

“You could’ve just called the locksmith.”

“I guess I could have. Say, Officer –” I glance at his badge “– Officer…Bolin, what happened to Korra’s usual partner? Mako? The guy with that perpetual stick up his arse?”

“He’s my brother.” Whoops.

“Oh.” 

Brother? I look him over carefully. No resemblance at all. This Bolin person was only around my height and there was more bulk to him than his lithe brother, with an open and friendly face not yet hardened by years of service. There’s a guilelessness in his green eyes that would make you feel bad stealing his lunch money. After you steal it, of course. “Well, I see where the good genes went to. Your eyebrows game are way better than his.”

It’s weak but it does the trick. Bolin breaks into a full grin. I file the information in the back of my mind; Bolin. Mako’s brother. Korra’s possible new partner/protégé? Obliviously unaware to proper police procedure of not mingling with potential suspects. I like him already.  

“You guys know each other?”

“We three go way back. Fun times.”

“Really? How did you guys meet?”

I’m about to reply but Korra cuts in.

“That’s enough, Bolin. Don’t let her get to you too. Sato, so the tenancy of the flat checks out. Now, where’s the gun?”

“Buried with the body.”

“Ha. Ha. Very funny. You never had a gun registered under your name.”

“I’m touched you remember after all these years.”

She sighs. “Just cut the crap. I’m not in the mood today for one of your mind games, Sato. Show us your unregistered, we’ll slap you with a fine and be on our way.”

I ponder my next move, seeing I don’t have a gun lying about. And then I realise I could use this. Improvise the situation. I hold up my hands, “Fine, fine.” I head towards the study. Once out of sight, I run towards the window. From there, it’s the easiest thing for me to leap out onto the fire escape and shimmy down the pipe. My thighs burn from the friction and I make a mental note about Kuvira owing me a pair of new trousers.

“FUCK! SATO!”

“DON’T YOU THINK COFFEE IS IN ORDER FIRST!” I yell back as I run as fast as I can, adrenaline pumping through my veins. For the first time in two long years, I feel alive again.

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“Would you say they’re emerald green or jade green?” I ask, pen hovering over the sheet I’m writing.

“What?”

“Asami Sato’s eyes. What kind of green are they? I can’t seem to decide.” I begin tapping the pen against my temple.

“What?” Korra repeats, her face an equal mix of confusion and incredulity. She looks over at me, and then down at report I’m filling out.

“Bo, it’s a police report, not fucking poetry.”

“Yeah, I know but details are important, you know. If I just write black hair and green eyes, that’s practically half the population of the city. Which includes me! So I’m just trying to be as detailed as I can be here. Like I would say my eyes are like the deep-green-of-freshly-cut-basil kind of green, which is a totally different shade to Tu’s, which are like the colour of dead grass flecked with splinters of driftwood and – nevermind. ” I trail off when I see one of Korra’s eyebrows in danger of disappearing into her hairline. Her own cyan orbs (Blue is just fucking blue, she would say) belie her amusement even as she rolls them and shakes her head. She glances back down.

“The fuck is ‘obsidian’?”

“It’s like black, but darker, you know?”

“Riiiight. Anyway I’m going in.”

I nod absently as I continue searching for an apt descriptor. I look around the room and my eyes fall on the rather crumpled packet of pistachios Korra left behind on the table. Pistachio green. That’ll do. So I write that down. Korra heads on into the interrogation room while I remain behind the safety of the two-way mirror, finishing up the report of the rather beautiful but decidedly odd woman who tried ‘escaping’ her own flat. She didn’t get very far before we caught up to her and made her spend the night at the station. She is a strange one, that Sato lady. Her statement wasn’t helpful in any way because all she would say was that her door was locked and had it opened again.

For someone who spent the night in the holding cell, with her luscious obsidian (or was ebony better?) hair of hers still perfect, she looks for all in the world merely inconvenienced, like a person who had their order gotten wrong at an upscale restaurant. She is sitting now at the table, calm, and looking straight ahead into the mirror. She smiles slightly, like someone who knows something you feel you ought to as well, but you don’t. I know she can’t see me but it’s slightly disconcerting; her eyes seems to cut through the layers of optical deception to bore into mine.

Her gaze only breaks away when Korra appears. She sits opposite her, partially obscuring my view of Sato’s face.

“Sato.” Korra’s voice booms over the tinny staticky square box that connects both rooms. “I hope you enjoyed Republic City’s finest accommodation yesterday night.”

“A little cold and hard and lonely, but I suppose I didn’t expect anything different.” The small smile still playing on her lips. Korra’s back is towards me, and I can’t see her reaction.

“If you were expecting a bed of roses, maybe you shouldn’t have run.”

“I didn’t think I was under any obligation to stay.”

“Forgive me but I think you’ll understand that leaving behind destroyed property under mysterious circumstances is bound to raise suspicions. Not to mention you led us on under false pretences.”

“What can I say? I was locked out and needed to find a way back in. So I did, in my own way. I don’t need to tell you more than that. No crime in that.”

“Bullets ricochet, and people could have been hurt.”

“The only one at risk of getting hurt was me. Tell me, what am I being charged for here, Lieutenant?” Her tone becomes cool. Her flippant attitude is gone and she looks thoughtful as she leans forward, arms crossed on the table. She’s calling our bluff. After a word with the Chief, we don’t have actual grounds to charge her with anything, since there isn’t a law against destroying your own door. Her apartment block is not within the city-designated residential quarter, so the firearms rule don't apply. Still, Korra had seemed dead-set on questioning her.

Korra leans back in her chair and doesn’t reply. Sato’s eyes are locked onto Korra’s face and they seem to remain that way for a while; the crackling static of the listening box being the only thing filling the silence of the room I’m in. For some reason, I feel like I’ve lost the thread of the interrogation.

“Am I being charged for something, Lieutenant?” Sato repeats so softly I almost don’t hear it. There’s a strange inflection in the way she says it.

Another long moment passes before Korra gets up. “No. You’re free to go.” Her frustration and disgust is undisguised in her voice. I get up to file the now useless report away and join Korra back in her office, or ‘office’, it being a merely half-partitioned off desk at one corner of the bullpen.

As Asami Sato leaves the station, she catches sight of me and wiggles her fingers slightly in recognition. I’m not quite sure what to do so I wave back. She’s still looking over at us that she doesn’t see where she’s going, and blunders right into Mako in front of her. They’re too far away for me to hear their exchange but Mako is scowling even more than usual. Sato looks unfazed with that signature smile of hers, and pats his shoulder apologetically.

“Well, that was an utter waste of time. As usual.” Korra mutters darkly next to me.

“What was that about though?” I ask, a niggling thought at the back of my mind. I can’t seem to put my finger on it, like a familiar word on the tip of your tongue, just beyond your grasp at that particular moment.

“What was what about?” Korra asks absently as she rifles through some folders on her messy desk.

“That questioning with that Sato lady. I dunno, it seemed like there was something….more?”

“Sure as Koh’s arse there was something more. I mean, where’s the gun she claims to have shot it with? If someone else did it, why doesn’t she say anything? Something doesn’t feel right.”

That isn’t quite what I meant, but then again, I’m pretty new at this. Mako says all the time that I have an overactive imagination. Maybe this is one of those times.

ASAMI

As I head out after dealing with the paperwork, I pass by the bullpen and wave cheerfully at Korra. She scowls darkly and crosses her arms, eyes watchful as always. Bolin lifts his hand, an uncertain grin on his face. I even get to bump into none other than Lieutenant Mako himself, whose face changes the moment he sees me. I feel his trademark glare burn the back of my head all the way out of the station. Between the both of them, they could be in the running for the ‘Glower of the Year’ award. Must be a cop thing.

I cross the road, along with a small crowd as the light turns green. The late evening throng is starting to bustle around wearily, bodies cramped and annoyed after a long day at work, jostling against one another. I spot Kuvira leaning casually against her car bonnet across the street.

“Do I even want to know?” She asks.

“No.”

“Good.”

“You owe me a new pair of trousers.”

“Whatever, Mimi. Get in.”

"Please don't ever call me that." I wince, before noticing her car. “I’m not getting into that death trap of yours, Ku.”

“What? Cabbages are perfectly decent. Not everyone can afford their own namesake of a car.” She smirks. “And I’m driving, which means we’ll arrive in one piece. Including the vehicle.”

I frown. I’m not that bad. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m the best damn driver this side of the city.”

“Keep telling yourself that. But my idea of throwing someone off the tail isn’t driving my fucking Satomobile off a fucking cliff into Yue Bay. Or crashing a biplane. Or running my moped over another fucking – “

“Okay, okay. I get it. And the last one was an accident!” I get into the car and slam the door. The way it rattles hollowly shut goes against every good sense of mine and I shudder involuntarily. I reach into my pocket and toss it to Kuvira.

She flips the wallet open and chuckles. “I see you haven’t lost your touch. Mako looks funny with his new hairstyle.” She comments as she studies the photo beneath the police badge. Riffling through the rest of the wallet, she grunts when she comes up with only a few yuan. “What a cheap bastard.”

“So, where to now?”

“Opal. She said that you’re gonna love our new base of operations.” With one arm behind my headrest and one hand on the steering wheel, she expertly shifts the car into reverse onto the main street in one fluid manoeuvre. I doubt her foot even touched the brake.

“Drive a little slower.” I instruct, glancing into the side rear view mirror. We’ve placed the first Spring Flower tile. Now let’s play.

.............................................

“Air Temple Island? Really?” I yell over the wind whipping past our faces as the speedboat slices through the waters, the speck of land looming larger as we near it. Air Temple Island. Nicknamed ‘The Sanctuary’, the island serves as a popular meditation retreat, spa and resort for those looking to escape the bustle of the city and prying eyes for an hour or two. Though run by monastic-like airbenders and acolytes, a rarity themselves, its clientele boasted of the city’s rich and famous, giving the whole place a strange air of opulent austerity. It’s the de-facto hallowed ground of Republic City, untouched by police, politicians, rabid journalists and the triads. All of which made it the perfect place for the best-kept secret, hidden far above on the closed-off upper levels of the temple tower: the world’s busiest fence of ancient manuscripts.

“I haven’t actually been here before. Seems a bit like painting a target on our backs to me,” Kuvira admits as we step off onto the dock. “But Opal seems to think it’s the perfect spot.”

“She’s not wrong.” It’s been a while since I’ve been here but it’s almost as I remembered it. A young man, barefooted and dressed in saffron robes, approach us and bows deeply.

“Welcome to Air Temple Island. We’re honoured by your presence to –”

“ASAMI!” The young acolyte’s well-rehearsed greeting is cut short by a squeal of delight. I feel a gust of air before I’m caught in a tight embrace. I have the biggest grin on my face as I hug back tightly.

“Jinora! It’s so good to see you too.” I pull back and study the girl in front of me. She’s at least a good 30.5 centimetres taller and must be about nineteen now. “Look at you, all grown up. How’s your family doing?”

“Well, Ikki is currently holding down the fort at the Northern Air Temple. Dad is down south. Had to bail Meelo out again. He –” She breaks off when she notices Kuvira for the first time. “I’m sorry, you have a friend with you. Where are my manners?” She composes herself and bows to Kuvira.

“Hello, my name is Jinora. I hope Air Temple Island is a breath of fresh air and a welcome break for you from the earthen lands of Omashu.”

“Kuvira.” She holds out her hand and Jinora shakes it. “But I’m actually from –”

“Ba Sing Se, even if you belong to Zaofu. But I was referring to the fact that you were in Omashu before you arrived here in Republic City.”

Kuvira shoots me a look and I wiggle my eyebrows in response. “Uhm… right. We’re here to visit a place called –” -she consults a slip of paper in her hand- “– the ‘Void’?”

“Ah, you’re here for Opal.” Jinora nods knowingly. “I can –”

“Master Jinora. You’re wanted on the radio. It’s your mother.” Another acolyte rushes towards us, a little out of breath.

“Oh.” Jinora turns back to us, apologetic. “Asami, you know your way around. The Void is just Opal’s nickname for the room on the seventh floor of the tower. We’ll just have to catch up another time.” She says it with genuine regret. After another quick hug, and a bow to Kuvira, she leaves with the two acolytes.

Kuvira turns to me, “Do you want to explain any of that to me?”

I laugh. “Jinora is an old friend of mine. And one of the best cold readers I know.”

“That sure wasn’t cold reading. She seems nice and all but tell me that wasn’t creepy as fuck.” Kuvira seems impressed, if rather unnerved.

I merely shrug as we walk on. “That was my reaction too when I first met her. Don’t think too much of it.” I had given up a long time ago trying to figure out how Jinora does it. That young airbending master has that knack of knowing things about you that sometimes seems otherworldly. Pure cold reading could only get you so far, but Jinora’s own brand of it can be a little uncanny to the uninitiated.

I lead Kuvira up the stairs to the temple proper, passing by the training grounds.

“What is this place?” Kuvira whispers and I look over at her. Her eyes are wide, taking in the surroundings and all the obviously wealthy people milling about. “It feels…”

“Decadent? But ascetic and like the holiest place on earth at the same time? Yeah, that’s normal.” I pat her sympathetically on the back.

“What’s that?” She asks, pointing out the tiny window as we climb the spiral stairs of the tower.

“Spinning gates. For airbending training. Also great to practise pickpocketing in a crowd.”

“I feel like I’ve fallen through a portal into the Spirit World, like in one of those bedtime kids’ stories.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a drug for that. Come on, we’re here. I think.” I say as we reach a large hall lined with carved stone pillars. A huge closed wooden door that spans from the ground to the ceiling stands on the opposite side. There are no keyholes and in their stead are two openings of tubes that spiral into the well-known symbol of the long-dead ancient Air Nomads. “I suppose this is the ‘Void’.”

“And to think I thought it was a nightclub when Opal first told me about it. How does this thing open?”

“Why don’t you use your nifty revolver?”

“Very funny. But seriously, how do we enter?”

“By letting go of your earthly tethers.” A familiar voice rings across the hall and we turn to see Opal Beifong and her brother Bataar striding towards us. “Well, that’s for the real thing. This just requires a bit of air. Kuv, Asami, glad you guys made it.”

“You look remarkably well for someone who just got out of prison.” I offer as way of greeting, thinking about my own father. “Hey nerd.”

Bataar grins back. “Hey nerd.” He then shifts his gaze to Kuvira and his smile widens even more.

Opal laughs with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “I met your father in there, by the way. His Dad jokes were hilarious. Wouldn’t stop talking about you, daddy’s little girl.”

I’m more than a little annoyed at the mention of my father but the mortification at that nugget of information overpowers the former. I feel my face heating up slightly. I know just how bad Dad could get. “Please tell me he didn’t say anything embarrassing.”

“Well, he mentioned that time you were fourteen and snuck his bottle of fire whiskey –”

“Okay. That’s enough. Why don’t we get down to business?” I say quickly, my face burning. Some things in life are meant to stay dead and buried forever. That episode is one of them. Kuvira actually looks like her curiosity has been piqued. Oh no. One person knowing anything about it is one too many.

“Hmm. That’s what he said would happen.” Opal looks at me appraisingly. I glare back. To her credit, she doesn’t push the matter. “Since we’re all here…” She heads to the door while we watch. I’ve never been inside so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited. She moves her arms in graceful sweeping arcs at the openings. The rattling of the hollow funnels sounds like rushing water. Or air, to be accurate. Bolts could be heard creaking from the inside.

Bataar nudges Kuvira with his elbow. “This feels like we’re entering the lair of the mover villain.”

“I’d like to think we’re entering the let’s-switch-to-my-secret-identity cave of the superbender.” For all their differences, it is no secret that they bond through their shared, if inexplicable, love of very bad and very corny Varrick movers.

Opal catches my eye and sticks her tongue out in mock disgust. “If you two have finished your plans for world domination, we can actually enter said “secret lair”.” We step in and the door closes behind us.

“That’s it?” Disappointment laces Kuvira’s words, echoing my own thoughts. It’s a plain circular room, lit by natural light through the oculus in the high ceiling. Several square mats form a circle on the ground. It’s a meditation room, I realise.

“Yeah, well, the air acolytes hide their hoard of gold in a cave under the island. This is where we offer up our sacrificial blood.” Opal deadpans. Bataar snickers appreciatively. She plops herself into the lotus position onto one of the mats. We follow suit and take our places on the hard ground.

Opal rubs her hands together. “So…to kick things off… Bataar, what’s our financial status?”

“Zero?”

“11.30 yuans if you count Lieutenant Mako’s contribution.” Kuvira says.

“What a cheap bastard.” Bataar comments.

“That’s what she said.”

“A situation which needs to be reversed. Kuv’s already found our mark.” Opal looks at Kuvira and she nods in confirmation. She continues. “One long con. We’ve got to up the stakes this time around, because the money we get this time around is important.”

It’s my turn to lift an eyebrow. How very un-Opal-like of her. The actual sum of money was never her main concern before. We’re missing something here. “Something to do with that ‘heist-of-the-century’ you keep going on about?”

Bataar nods in agreement. “Yeah, Opal, you still haven’t specified any of that to any of us. You delegate individual tasks to us, but you haven’t actually given us the full picture yet.”

“Let’s just say that to pull that off, we need resources. Loads of it in a relatively short amount of time.”

“As I’ve told Ku, we aren’t thieves. Why exactly are we doing this?”

Opal leans forward, elbows on her knees and says dramatically, “Asami, what would you say is the perfect con?”

Ah, the perfect con. Just as the void is unattainable even for the most dedicated airbenders, the perfect con has always been elusive, even to the best in the game. Many come very close, as we did in the past. The perfect con isn’t just one thing; it’s many things: to con the unconnable, a con so clean that the mark stays unaware long after the deed is done, or a con so dirty the mark can’t do anything about it despite being aware of being conned, and perhaps the hardest of all, to con one who should have known better. We’ve managed one or the other but never all of that at once.

“I’d assume the perfect con actually involves a confidence trick, and not outright burglary.” I say. Not to say we haven’t stolen anything in the past; that we have done aplenty but they were always part of the con and not the goal in itself.

Opal throws her hands up in the air. “You can’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darlings. I’ve got it all planned out. You won’t believe how productive you can be when you stare at four grey walls long enough. Just this one last job and we’ll go down in the history books!”

“Or jail.” Kuvira reminds helpfully. Opal shrugs nonchalantly. “That has always been part of the risk. But I’m not going to do it if you guys are not fully on board.”

I’m slowly trying to piece it together. “Opal, Ku mentioned recruiting.” The reason why I’ve been tasked to set up the gauntlet. Opal nods. Her eyes are bright with unbridled excitement.

“Why?”

“Because we’ll be needing an extra pair of hands when we steal the Avatar.”

Chapter Text

BOLIN

The rays of the evening sun streaming through windows throws the loft into relief, shadows alternating with slants of orange light. One patch of orange moves and pick up speed as it races across the space, disturbing the illuminated pinstripe patterns. Like an Ember Island shadow play, the orange patch reveals itself not to be light, but the fur of a different fiery nature as it jumps into my face.

“Pabu! Hey, buddy. Hope you didn’t miss me too much.” I scratch Pabu behind the ears and set him down. Kicking my shoes off, I sink comfortably into the cushy sofa and placed my feet on the table, tossing the small package addressed to Mako I found at the front of our door onto the table.

Being a rookie cop is a lot less glamourous than I had thought. It’s my third career switch so I have plenty of catching up with Mako and Korra to do. I had imagined adrenaline-pumping highway chases, getting into bloody shootouts with triad baddies and as I handcuff them, the love of my life would call out to me from the sidewalk, heralding my heroic status. Alas, the only blood-inducing activity so far are my papercuts. It’s hardly a chase of any kind as I walk my boring beats, and the only one calling out to me is Chief Beifong as she tells me to ‘haul my arse’ to wherever she wants it to. Korra’s decision to take me on as her junior partner when Mako transferred made this job a little more bearable. So while I still don’t really get to chase the bad guys yet, at least I have my best friend for company.

I hear Korra bustling about in the kitchen. Just as fatigue threaten to overtake and my eyes flutter close, I hear a sharp crack on the wood. I snap them open to see two ivory white porcelain cups and a bottle of chilled sake on the table. She pours them out and hands one wordlessly to me.

“Thanks.”

“Thought you could use it.” She settles next to me and downs hers in one gulp. After refilling her cup, she leans back and stretches her feet out against the edge of the table. Lighting a cigarette, she takes a long drag from it. A soft sigh escapes her. Pabu jumps onto her lap and she strokes the fire ferret absently as she stares at our worn and scratched-but-no-less-beloved coffee table. She’s unusually silent today.

“Korra?”

“Hmm?”

“Yuan for your thoughts?”

She doesn’t say anything for a moment, still wholly invested in the staring contest with the table in front of her. “I got it opened again.” She finally says.

“Got what opened again?”

“I got it opened again…” She repeats, frowning slightly now. “She didn’t say or write ‘I opened it’…there’s that bit of ambiguity right there…” She takes a sip of her sake and lapses back into her brooding. I’m lost but I know better than to interrupt now. She’s now in what I call the Mako-zone, since that was my brother’s whole schtick, all the time, even at mealtimes. Korra only falls prey to it when she’s neck deep in a case, which makes now a bit unusual, since I know that all she has on her plate at the moment are three relatively straight-forward fraud cases that, in her own words, were ‘insultingly pathetic attempts’.

Both our thoughts are disturbed by the opening of our front door. Mako staggers in, two large cardboard cartons in his arms. Perched precariously on top are smaller packets with delicious smells emanating from it.

“Mako, you’re just in time! Here, let me get that for you. Dinner, Korra!” I say happily as I set the takeaway on the table.

“Yeah, thanks so much, bro.” Mako huffs as he heaves his boxes to one side of the room and sets them down, before dusting his hands.

“Cold case?” Korra asks sympathetically as Mako joins us at the table. Korra scoots to the floor and grabs her share of dinner of dried tossed wantan noodles. I’m having the same; only it’s the soup variation.

“Yes and no. It’s for the case I’m currently working on. Want to cross-check some stuff.” Mako pulls his box of artic chicken rice towards him and begins wolfing it down.

“Nu onnff?” I swallow my noodles. “What happened to that one where the guy died in that burning Satomobile?”

“Turned out to be a revenge murder… Results from the chi profiles from the scorch marks just came in today. Tracked it down to the wife who apparently caught him with his pants down.” He sighs, before catching sight of the small wrapped box on the table. “Hey, is that for me?”

“Yeah, we found it when we came in.” Korra replies him.

Mako carefully inspects the package, before cautiously shaking it. Something rattles inside.

“I seriously hope it’s not a severed finger from the triads or something.” I say half-jokingly, thinking of our old associates who weren’t too happy when both of us ended up joining the force.

Korra deadpans. “Then they’d have sent it to the wrong address.” Mako looks up, confused.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” I say, tapping my chin. “Say, Korra, shouldn’t it be Under Desk–“

“–South West Corner –”

“– of RCPD HQ.” Korra winks and we high-five with our chopsticks.

“Come on, you guys. That was just once–“

“– a month.”

“– for two weeks straight. Possibly three.”

Korra can no longer keep her straight face and snorts, and we both burst out laughing. Mako merely folds his arms tightly and scowls at us.

“Aww, Bo. Look, our little spitfire is pouting.”

“Ooh. Spitfire…that’s a good one.” I say, clapping my hands. Mako’s expression is priceless.

“I am not pouting!” Mako protests and visibly shudders. “And don’t call me spitfire!”

Smirking, Korra leans over, murmuring, “You didn’t seem to mind when Rin used it on you.”

Mako could only sputter even more and his ears redden. “I..I…”

“Wait, Rin number?” I ask.

“Five? I don’t know. I lost track after the third Rin he dated. Shame though, maybe we should tell Wu to change his name to Rin.” For some inexplicable reason, my dear brother has a partiality for people named Rin. Wu is his new junior partner, and unhealthily infatuated at the moment.

“For the record, I’m still here….wait, what?”

“Really, bro, for a detective, you don’t notice the googly eyes he makes at you, like, every time you open your mouth?”

“He’s just transferred from Ba Sing Se so he’s still adjusting, I guess. He’s just a little… over-enthusiastic, that’s all.”

“Right.” Korra and I say in unison. “You keep telling yourself that.”

Mako shakes his head and finally opens the package. Even though I know no sane person would want to gift Mako with anything and despite the actual possibility of a severed finger, I peer curiously over his shoulder. He gives it a shake and out falls a wallet and a police badge.

“Isn’t that wallet…yours?” Korra asks curiously.

Mako checks his breast and back pockets and frowns. “I could have sworn I had them with me this morning.” He flips it open. It’s empty.

It doesn’t seem like much of a mystery to me. “You must have dropped it and someone found it.”

“No…it doesn’t make sense to send it here.” He pinches the bridge of his nose and thinks for a moment. “Shit.”

“What?”

“Sato. She must have lifted it when she bumped into me at the station.”

I laugh. “That strange lady we booked yesterday? She doesn’t strike me a pickpocket.”

Korra snaps her fingers suddenly, as though realising something. “She’s definitely up to something. I’m going to the Chief tomorrow to set up surveillance.”

“Woah, Korra. That’s a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?” And to Mako, I say. “And how do you jump to the conclusion that she’s the one who sent it here?”

“Bo, you don’t understand. This is Asami fucking Sato we’re talking about here.” Mako shares a look with Korra, who nods in agreement.

“It’s her calling card. Let’s play a game, catch-me-if-you-can.” She mutters; there’s deep-rooted bitterness in her tone.

Asami Sato. The woman with the pistachio green eyes. Sato. “Sato. She doesn’t have anything to do with the Satomobile, does she?”

“Her father is Hiroshi Sato so, yes.” Korra answers, her voice flat. Hiroshi Sato, founder of Future Industries, convicted for tax evasion, illegal mining and industrial espionage, among other things. It was years ago and I didn’t follow the case at that time but I vaguely remember it since it was all over the papers. I was only still in college and Mako was just starting out at the police academy. But this new information only serves to make me even more confused.

“I don’t get it. Why would an heiress to a multi-million yuan company steal a cop’s wallet?”

Mako snorts. “She’s as much heiress to Future Industries as Tu is heir to Uncle Chow’s fruit stand. After her father was arrested, Future Industries’ board of directors kicked him out as CEO, his personal shares used to pay off the massive fines for all the years of illegal mining, which he hid from his investors, and all his other assets were frozen. His daughter didn’t have enough shares in the company to claim directorship and the board didn’t want her as CEO. They still kept her around as an engineer because she was apparently a really good one.”

“What caused the…uhm…switch of career?” I’m paying full attention now; it’s not every day you hear a story like this.

“Don’t really know.” Korra shrugs. “She quit after a few months after the trial. Disappeared off the radar for a while. Turns up in the city one day again. A few of Hiroshi’s accomplices who got scot free during the trial started filing for bankruptcy. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.” She pauses, and drinks a bit more of her sake. “But she’s probably been doing this far longer to be this good.”

“What did she do?”

Mako picks up her thread. “Don’t know. She only appeared on our radar after the Harmony Tower incident.” The Harmony Tower is one of the most popular public landmarks of the city.

“Apparently she tried selling it to unsuspecting scrap dealers. And we heard that it wasn’t the first time either. So we don’t know how many times she single-handedly pulled that scam off before the last one went to the police. There wasn’t enough evidence and it fell through. But her little stunt caught their eye and they recruited her.”

“They?”

“She’s now part of a crew who are the most notorious in the business, the ones we have been keeping an eye out for. They operate mostly in the Republic Earth but every once in a while, they run jobs here.”

“Wait. Why haven’t you guys arrested any of them already if you know all that?” I ask, incredulous.

She lets out a long sigh. “The billion yuan question. Oh, we’ve arrested them plenty of times, and not a single fucking conviction.” She stares into her empty cup. “I need something stronger than sake.”

Mako shakes his head and explains. “Knowing something and proving it isn’t the same thing. Korra and I have been trying to catch them ever since we made detectives. Fuck, we even spent a better part of a year time trying to pin them with a charge that would stick before they go underground again every time after a con. Most of the time, the victims are too embarrassed to go to the police and aren’t willing to testify because usually there’s an illegal aspect to the scam that might incriminate themselves. Or worse, they aren’t even aware that they were being conned in the first place.”

“So, what happened to the case then?” I suddenly recall the time when Mako and Korra were completely stressed out on one particular case and the sleepless nights they pulled. But I wasn’t a cop then, so they never talked about it around me. This must be the one.

“Their ringleader got arrested two years ago on an unrelated charge and that broke up the crew. As far I know, nothing new came up and the trail went cold…until yesterday.”

“You know, it can’t be coincidence that this is happening around the time Beifong is released.” Mako muses.

“Wait, she’s out?” Korra sits up straight, alert.

He nods. “Didn’t you know? Lu down at precinct mentioned it in passing.”

Her noodles has long grown cold. “That’s it… Definitely going to have a word with the Chief tomorrow. I won’t let them get away again this time.”

His tone is a little wistful as he says, “I wish I wasn’t in Homicide now. It’d be nice to tie that loose end.”

My head is spinning slightly; I must have heard wrong. “Beifong? What has Chief got to do with it?”

She waves her hand dismissively. “Different Beifong. Her niece is the mastermind of their tight little grifters’ group.”

“That’s…uh…is that normal?” It’s a little overwhelming for me right now.

Korra rubs her face. “It’s…kinda complicated. Don’t you ever mention it in front of the Chief if you don’t want your head bitten off.”

“I thought it was well known that the entire Beifong family were all into law-enforcement?” I ask, scratching my head. I was even roommates with one of the Beifong twins, Wei (or possibly Wing; I never could tell) at the police academy. “And I thought the black sheep of the family was their elder brother Huan? Because he decided to be an accountant instead?” Wei and/or Wing must have related that story a hundred times by now, each time looking just as disbelieving that their brother could dare eschew their family tradition.

Mako shrugs and shovels another spoonful of rice into his mouth. “Nah. The real black sheep are the eldest and the youngest. Given their reputation, I suppose they would want to leave that part out.”

“She was raised by her grandmother, who was an infamous con herself, blind notwithstanding. I can’t imagine what family reunions must be like, especially when her mother, Suyin, works for Lotus.” Lotus is the international law-enforcement agency of the four nations. Being a Lotus agent is such a prestigious position because it is notoriously hard to get accepted into; the highest honour for any police officer.

“In any case, I wish you luck, Korra.” Mako stretches and yawns. He pulls over one of the carton boxes. Like a rock that begins its inevitable descent into the waters, he sinks his nose into its dusty contents. Korra is staring out the window over the city, chewing on the pad of her thumb, already lost in a reverie of her own. I head to bed, unaware that today would be a life-changing catalyst of things to come.

Chapter Text

ASAMI

“No.”

The word comes out firmly. There’s a certain finality in the way Kuvira says it. Opal’s face falls slightly. She looks at me next, a silent plea etched on her face.

“Only if I’m driving the getaway car. Because I’d be driving myself to the nearest police station to save them the trouble.”

“You’re not allowed to drive.” She points out.

“Exactly.”

Bataar is next. “Look, baby sister, I admire your ambition, but it’s just insane. And in the very slim event we do get away with it, and they don’t lock us on a boiling rock somewhere and throw the key away, it feels…wrong somehow?”

“Bataar is right, you know. Steal the Fire Nation crown jewels or the Northern Water Tribes’ fishes for all I care... but the Avatar? What can go wrong? Oh, wait. We’d be at war.” Kuvira is understandably a little worried. You know it isn’t an exaggeration when even Kuvira is having second thoughts. The Avatar, after all, is more than just a jewel; it is the diplomatic symbol of the entire a world, both a physical and political representation of peace and balance.

“I’m disappointed you guys think so little of me.” Opal rubs her forehead with her palm and shakes her head. “Enter the most valuable gem in the world right here under our noses and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What would you do?” She looks at us expectantly. We exchange glances but don’t say anything more for a while.

It’s left unsaid but it’s pretty clear what everyone else is thinking: either Opal has truly lost her mind, or she has actually thought this through. I’m not sure how much time passes before Kuvira exclaims suddenly, “Holy fuck.” She reaches the same conclusion as I do. I imagine my face mirrors Kuvira’s as she stares at Opal with awe. She says slowly. “The perfect con.”

Opal smiles widely. “Exactly.”

.................................................

In theory, it is a rather simple plan, and as Opal laid it all out in detail, I become convinced that this could actually be pulled off, with the right preparation and improvisation. But, first things first. The Avatar would arrive in Republic City in three months’ time. There is still a lot of work to do, because mainly we lack the finances to pull it off.

I enter my flat. Something is off. I look around, finally finding the source of my apprehension when I see the misplaced wrench on the shelf. Someone has been here. I readjust my assessment when I hear a faint sound coming from the study. I pick up a larger wrench, and creep towards the bullet-ridden door. I nearly kick it open before I remember what happened the last time. Deciding that if someone really had it out for me, I wouldn’t have made it past the front door; so I simply push the door open, and cringe at the sight.

Seated at my table, with his muddy shoes propped up, is a young man in unkempt clothes. He’s leaning back in the chair, arms behind his head of extremely messy hair, with a rather self-satisfied expression, looking like one who’s basking in luxury of the place. Up close, I see that he isn’t a teenager; he’s around twenty or twenty-one. How does Kuvira even pick these people out? Days before she came calling, I had already noticed the tail. It was subtle, but not subtle enough.

“You have ten seconds before this wrench finds its new home in your brain.”

His eyes snap open, revealing the pale green that betrays his heritage. His cocky grin fades slightly as he scrambles to his feet.

“You must be Asami Sato. I’ve been wanting to meet you.” He flashes a winning smile but I’m unimpressed; people breaking into my place and leaving tracks of mud all over my desk do not really make for good first impressions. I ignore his outstretched hand.

“Five seconds.”

He continues on, unfazed as he disguises his useless gesture by pretending to do a small arm stretch. Smooth.

“Name’s Kai…you might have heard of me.” He has nothing if not confidence; I’d give him that much.

“Two.” I raise my voice slightly in warning.

“Word on the street is that– You’re planning a job, and I want in!” His voice squeaks on the last bit he manages to squeeze in before I fling my wrench. I telegraph my motion clearly enough, and he throws up his hands automatically. I’m expecting him to dodge or earthbend but the wrench freezes in mid-air, its path diverted by a spinning cushion of air. It smashes into the minibar. An airbender?

“Hey, lady! Chill.” His demeanour changes as he glances towards the evidence of violence behind me. He’s slightly nervous now, but maintains his composure. “Look, I’m new in the city, but ask anyone; I’m the best short con artist out there.”

“I’m not quite clear on how your criminal history could be of any interest to me.” I trust Kuvira’s talents, but I like to keep my cards close. You can never be too cautious in this business.

“Everyone I’ve asked says you’re the best long con grifter in town.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m an engineer, and you don’t look like someone who can tell the difference between a charge-air cooler and a radiator.”

He’s looking confused, and for a brief moment, I debate putting him out of his misery but I’m having far too much fun to stop.

Kai is persistent though, and tries again. “I’m sure we could work out some kind of arrangement...”

“You mean me calling the cops for breaking and entering instead of trying to get rid of the intruder myself?”

“Well, first of all, there was no breaking. I mean, the window was already open, so technically, that was only the entering part. And secondly, when you threw that thing at me, there was breaking but no entering. But not a simultaneous breaking and entering.”

“Out!”

“Okay, okay.” He fumbles in his tattered jacket and places a purse on the table. I recognise the dark red velvet. “As a show of good faith. Bet you didn’t even know.” His grin is smug.

“You sure have some gall lifting a purse right in front of a police station.”

The flicker in his eyes confirms my wild stab in the dark. It was, after all, the busiest area I’ve been all week. It’s not often I get blindsided like that, and I’m beginning to see how he might be a good fit. Still, he’ll have to prove his worth first.

“Ah hah! I knew it! You really are the Asami Sato.”

“Well, I have no trouble remembering my name on my own, so a good day to you now. I don’t need to push you out myself, do I?”

He stubbornly persists. “In your purse, there was a slip of paper that said, ‘Y560. ATI’. Do I take that as an invitation?” That’s certainly what the note says, if one knew how to decipher the coded message.

“Maybe your head still has some space for a brain, after all. Day after tomorrow, sunset.”

The stranger named Kai grins giddily like a kid at a candy store, finally moving towards the window.

“Wait.” He pauses, and his youthful face lights up once more hopefully.

I hold out my hand. “My paperweight.” He shifts guiltily and pulls out the die cast model of the SportSato from behind his waist and puts it back down on the table.

........................................

“So, what do you think of him?” Kuvira asks over her noodles the next day. It’s a hole-in-the-wall sort of place, inconspicuous in the heart of the middle-class district. It’s also one of the best. Like any good restaurant, reputation precedes open advertisement. Just as its reviews spread by word of mouth, the right words in the right ears at the right time have led Kai to us, whether he realises it or not. No such thing as coincidences in this world of ours; just another Pai Sho tile in a bigger game.

I shrug. “Too early to tell. But he has quick hands, and a quicker mouth.”

“You did not just say that.” It takes me a full second as she arches one of her perfect eyebrows. Kuvira could be so juvenile at times. I elbow her hard in the ribs and she chokes loudly on her soup, earning glares from the other patrons nearby.

“What’s interesting is how you managed to dig up an airbender who’s willing to ply our kind of trade.”

Kuvira finishes coughing and looks up, surprised. “I didn’t know. Hmm…must have been one of those rare few who slipped through the cracks. Not too smart if he’s already showing off his tricks even before he’s in.”

“To be fair, I did throw a wrench at his head.”

“I suppose that’s a step up from raining a fucking bucket of meteor rocks on someone’s head. Whatever happened to polite introductions?” Kuvira says, dabbing a napkin to her lips. I suppose she’s never going to let me live that one down. How else was I supposed to know who I was dealing with?

“Sorry.”

“You’re not.”

“Sorry for not being sorry?”

Kuvira merely snorts good-humouredly in response. “Anyway, Kai has a rap sheet longer than my arm. Ambitious little runt, and he’s good at what he does but the small circuit is all he’s been in though.”

“I guess we’ll soon see if he’s up to task. So, how’re things on your side? What angle are we working on him? The Badgermole?”

“They’re quite the golden couple actually, both privately and publicly. Unfortunately, his wife is blissfully unaware that her husband has a weakness for the ostrich horses, so much so that he has a separate account just for that. As director of several public investment companies, he siphons them on a regular basis to fund his habit.”

“Ah, the classic Wire it is then.” People like Raiko sicken me. Of course, one might think we’re no better, but none of our marks can ever be considered ‘innocent’ by a long shot. I’m well aware my father is no paragon of virtue either, but even he had standards.

Kuvira nods, and stands up to leave, slipping a folded piece of paper into my hand. “Shopping list from Opal,” she says with a wink. “Oh, and have fun babysitting the new kid.”

I sigh and study the list carefully, mentally noting and arranging the details, even as I balk slightly at one particular item. I’m going to have my work cut out for me but this is what I enjoy the most, the meticulous planning and preparations. Just like setting up all the tiles on the Pai Sho board.

Chapter Text

BOLIN

Don’t fuck it up this time, Lieutenant, was all the Chief had said, and we took it as her tacit blessing, even though officially, there isn’t a case yet. One might say that the Chief had faith in Korra’s instincts, but her track record in the past few years and being the youngest promoted to her rank would show that faith is completely unnecessary. Following Asami Sato for a couple of days now has been uneventful, insofar that it seems she’s only doing the kind of things the average workaholic does. She goes to work early in the morning, comes back home late (I suppose she lunches at her workplace too). Today is different, however. She leaves the office around lunchtime with a box and while I tail her, Korra stays behind to find out more. So far she had only visited a couple of second-hand shops, the wet market and a pro-bending memorabilia shop. Nothing out of ordinary. I radio Korra my current position. Half an hour later, she slips into the seat beside me.

“Status?”

“Still inside the restaurant. Which reminds me, I’m really hungry right now.”

“We’re still at work, Bo.” Despite that, she whips out a cold wrapped rice dumpling from somewhere and tosses it at me. It’s terrible, but better than nothing.

“Did you find out anything?”

“Sato just applied for vacation leave. Apparently finally cashing in on all that overtime.” She wrinkles her nose and sighs heavily as she adds. “I think I might have accidentally agreed to a date with the secretary for that bit of info.”

I laugh. “What can I say? It’s hard to resist when you decide to turn on that charm of yours. ‘Bout time you got out of the house, have a little non-work fun.”

“Don’t you start. I get it enough from my parents who are convinced I’ll die alone with ten polar bear dogs otherwise. Who says I don’t have fun? I date plenty of people.”

“Dating and breaking up with Mako four times in the same month counts as just one person, Korra. And that one time you had a real, honest-to-Ravaa date, it just had to be one of Mako’s exes.” I mutter, rolling my eyes.

“That was just dumb luck. I’m avoiding all Rin’s in the future.” She grins slightly, amused by the memory. “Between you and me though, I’d bet I was the better date.”

I peer through my binoculars, scanning the front and back entrances of the restaurant. Still no sign of our quarry. “You know, had circumstances been different, I’d say Sato’s your type.”

“I am not taking relationship advice from someone who dated Eska.”

“Point taken. But I won’t say that didn’t just hurt a little…right here.” I gesture to my heart and glance over but she quickly moves her face towards the car window. Being with Eska was one of the best and most terrifying times of my life. Or as Mako once bluntly summed it up, it was like ‘watching an inevitable car crash happen in slow motion.’ I fall silent, and Korra turns back to me, patting my arm sympathetically.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s right for you. She’s probably just around the corner and – Bo, start the engine.” Korra suddenly sits up straight in her seat and I notice the change of tone. I scrabble around at the ignition, firing up the old car. Looking around, I don’t see any sign of Sato.

“What’s the hurry? Her Satocycle is still there.” One of the things I found out about Sato is that she goes everywhere with that Satocycle of hers, having earned a suspended driving license for one too many speeding tickets. The only reason she could still ride a motorised bicycle was based on a technicality, the Satocycle being below the minimum weight for a vehicle that would require a license. Other than her various traffic misdemeanours, there isn’t much else on record to indicate she is anything other than your average citizen.

“Not her. Her. Looks like Kuvira is back in town too.” I follow the jerk of her head and see a smartly dressed woman getting into her car. Her hair is neatly braided and tied in a bun, giving off an air of professionalism. The most striking feature of her face, however, is the beauty mark under her right eye. There’s a purposeful and confident stride in her gait. I wait until her car is nearly swallowed up by the traffic before easing our own onto the main road, maintaining the distance but making sure I don’t lose her according to Korra’s guiding instruction.

“Kuvira? You mean the…the ‘roper’? I ask, trying to recall the term Mako had used in his old notebooks. I had gone through them the night before, after realising that official records at the station were all but useless. Green eyes, black hair; green eyes, black hair; green eyes, black hair; green eyes, black hair. What kind of profile descriptions were those?? Sure, there were grainy black and white photographs but everyone knows no one ever looks like their mugshots. People rarely go around in real life looking that pissed off.

“Looks like someone can actually decipher Mako’s pig chicken scratch. But yeah, that’s the one.”

“I thought we were following Sato?”

“Change of plans.” Korra explains, seeing the confused look on my face. “We’ve studied many grifters; and we figured that the best of them had a system of some kind. They didn’t necessarily stick to them, but after a while we realised that each of them had certain roles to play during their longer cons.”

“So that explains the ‘roper’ part?” I notice that Mako had labelled all of them differently.

“The roper is the one responsible for identifying and roping in potential marks, recognising the gullible ones. She has plenty of charisma, the kind that could convince you to leave your family and march for her on the battlefield.”

I laugh at the vivid imagery as I took a left turn. We seem to be heading to a quieter section of the city, where the number of Satomobiles give away the status of the kind of people inhabited these spaces. The Cabbage of the common plebs I’m driving seem almost out of place here. I stop at the corner of the street when Kuvira’s Cabbage comes to a halt near a carpark.

Korra continues on. “I figured we’d be closer to catching them if we know who they’re planning to con in the first place.”

“Makes sense.”

“Then you have the Beifongs. Junior is just mostly behind-the-scenes support for the rest of them. Like Sato, he has some sort of technical background. His younger sister is the main brains behind most of their scams. She acts as the ‘inside woman’ and isn’t afraid to flaunt her family’s name and clout around.” Korra mimics a high-pitched voice with an accent. ‘Hi, I’d like to introduce you to this too-good-to-be-true business deal, which worked wonders for us Beifongs.” She returns to her normal voice. “Fucking nightmare all round.”

“Suyin could always disown her.”

“Well, best she can do is pretend she doesn’t exist, I guess.”

“Sheesh. Man, that’s…complicated.”

“Tell me about it. So, anyway, Sato’s the fixer of the group, the jack-of-all-trades, so to speak. Locations, people, items; basically everything needed to convince the mark of the con’s legitimacy. Her engineering background makes it worse, because security systems are child’s play for her. Waste of her talents, if you ask me.” I catch the same slight hint of bitterness there. She falls silent. Kuvira is still in her car. I’m wondering how long we would have to wait when she steps out. The purple vest she has on now looks faintly familiar, like some kind of uniform.

She heads to the hotel across the street and says something to the valet, who shrugs and walks away. A couple of minutes later, a slick little black Satomobile pulls up at the entrance. The driver gets out and without so much a glance at Kuvira, tosses his keys at her, and strides into the hotel. With a subservient bow, her serious face as impassive as ever, Kuvira gets into the car and drives away.

“Korra?”

“I know.”

I ask anyway. “Did we just witness voluntary carjacking?”

...............................................

“Any leads?” Mako asks absently that night at the station, barely looking up from his own case. It’s late and the bullpen is empty, save for us four.

“Well, other than the smoothest daylight robbery happening right in front of my eyes, no, not really.”

“What’s up with your partner?” Wu pipes up sleepily, surfacing from a mountain of paperwork. Dark rings circle his eyes, and his cheeks seems gaunter than usual.

I’m not altogether sure myself. I look over to Korra, who is sitting at her desk. With her fingers at a steeple pointed downwards and eyes closed, she looks less like a cop and more like a meditating monk. Unlike Mako, who tends to wear down a path with all his pacing about, which, as it happens, is exactly what he’s doing now.

Either she is deep in thought or she has fallen asleep. Knowing her, both are equally likely possibilities. Slumping into my chair, I can’t help but feel today is another wasted day. Korra had decided that continuing to follow Kuvira in the elite neighbourhood in our current car would make us stick out like sore thumbs, so we had to call it a day. Opting against issuing an all-points bulletin and numerous discreet phone calls later, she had dropped into her contemplative state and had remained like that ever since.

There is still light under Chief’s door as well. I watch shadows flicker in a steady rhythm, as though someone is pacing behind the door, my head begins to droop as I slowly swivel in my chair back and forth. Korra’s desk rings suddenly, its shrill cry echoing through the nearly empty building. My chair creaks violently as I start at the sound. Wu similarly jumps, hitting his lamp and he ends up clutching his head in agony on the floor. Only Korra remains unperturbed at the disturbance. Without opening her eyes, she answers it.

“Lieutenant Korra.” She drawls out, sounding perfectly awake. After a long drawn-out moment, during which I wonder if she has fallen asleep on her caller, she finally says, “Mm hmm. I see. Thank you, Jin. I owe you one.”

Korra opens her eyes and hands me a note with a scribbled license plate number. “Bolin, if the owner of that black Satomobile reports his car missing tomorrow morning, tell him the police are looking into it.”

“But – wait. Why are we saying that when we know exactly who stole it?”

“Precisely why we can ignore it for now. What’s more important is where she took it. A car that swanky, Kuvira’s trying to impress someone.”

“Who was that on the phone?”

“Bartender of Kwong’s Bar. Someone matching Kuvira’s description was seen chatting all night to someone important. Could be their mark. He says this is the third time they were there this month.”

“Who?” I ask, impressed and curious all at once.

“Raiko, our city’s potential fucking mayor.”

Chapter Text

ASAMI

“Our current balance is five thousand two hundred and eleven yuan and fifty cents. That’s hardly enough to cover –” Bataar breaks off as the rattling of wooden flutes and the locking mechanism interrupts him. Someone is opening the door. Opal immediately kicks up the dust with a sweep of a leg while Bataar and I scramble to stuff anything of importance under the tatami mats. As the dust clears, we make out a figure standing in the now open doorway, his mouth slightly agape in surprise. For a moment we don’t move, and we have a brief but silent communication through our expressions.

Bataar: What the heck?

Opal: Asami?

Me: Not part of the plan.

Opal: Should we be upset?

Me: If you think it’ll help.

I clear my throat.

“Kai?”

The sound of his name seems to bring him to his senses and he straightens his collar, not that it improves his messy and unkempt appearance in any way.

Opal crosses her arms, her face stern. “I’m afraid you’re interrupting a meditation session.”

With an easy-going smile, he glances quickly around and I watch his eyes take in everything before he opens his mouth. “That’s what that was? Oh, I’m really sorry.” He somehow manages to sound sincere despite the mischief in his eyes. “It’s nice to see you again, Ms. Asami. I know it’s a bit early for our appointment but I’d rather not keep you guys waiting.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I didn’t actually know what ATI stood for. 223 possibilities, according to the phone book. Could have been anything from Arjun’s Training Institute to Ayam Turtle Inn. So I figured I’d – “

Bataar picks up Opal’s cue and turns angrily to me, “What’s going on?”

“– follow you instead.” Kai finishes, ignoring him. “Air Temple Island, huh? Last place I’d think of.”

“I’m afraid you’ve made a mistake of some kind.” Opal is unrelenting.

Kai looks at me searchingly for help. I sigh. “I said ‘at sunset’.”

“I was totally going to wait until then, but then one of those Air Nomads or monks or whatever said I could come up here.” What the hell, Jinora?

“Kai here is looking for a job.” I start to say, and he nods enthusiastically, but Opal cuts me off. “We’re not recruiting. And he’s just a kid.”

“I’m twenty-one!” He cries out. Bataar studies him intently and mutters darkly under his breath. “I bet he can’t even drive.”

“I can!” He huffs.

“Asami, we need to discuss this.” Opal’s eyes are hard and despite myself, I flinch involuntarily. Turning to Kai, I tell him to wait on the other side as the door shuts. Bataar’s and Opal’s shoulders relax once more and they drop the act.

“Is this thing soundproof?”

“Yep.”

“How long should we let him squirm?”

Bataar looks at his watch. “I’d say ten minutes.” He stretches out his legs and lean back on one elbow. “Seems like a sharp kid.”

Opal looks thoughtful. She looks at me with a slightly apologetic look. “Something tells me he’s going to be an unpredictable variable…you’ll have to keep a close eye on him.

I shrug. “Kai’s quick learner. I didn’t know he was following me this time around. But what was Jinora thinking? Springing that on to us.”

Bataar chuckles. “I guess even airbending masters are still susceptible to charm.” He pulls out a Pai Sho board from his bag and sets it up. I sit opposite him and start to play, while Opal continues her scribbling of plans in her notebook.

.......................................................

Approximately half an hour later (our game still being at a stalemate), we emerge from the room. Kai is leaning against one wooden pillar, almost nodding off by now. Opal rouses him with a small gust of wind at his face.

Kai jumps up and looks eagerly between us. His eyes land on mine and I hold out a hand. “I believe something else was mentioned in the note.”

He empties his pockets and hand us wads of notes in various states of wear. “558 yuan. Sorry, but the boat ride here costs me two yuan.” He grins sheepishly. Taking the money, I hand it to Bataar.

“Listen up, Airhead.” There’s a warning note in Opal’s voice. “We’re only letting you play on our team because Asami here is under some delusional fancy that you have potential. I trust her, so don’t make me regret this decision. She tells you things, you listen. You got that?”

Kai wavers slightly under Opal’s glare and gulps. “Ye – yes, ma’am.” Bataar and Opal leave, and I find myself alone with Kai, who turns to me. I wave off his stammer of gratitude before he could start. At the docks, Jinora is waiting, seemingly for me, and she indicates she wants a word with a small incline of her head. Kai waits behind as we walk out of earshot.

“You wanted to talk to me, Jinora?”

She tilts her head slightly and studies me carefully with her clear brown eyes, eyes that make her seem wiser beyond her years. Finally she says, “I don’t know exactly what you people are planning during your ‘meditation sessions’, nor do I want to know, and I won’t ask either. But you’re my friend, Asami, and you seem… under a lot of stress.”

I laugh it off, playfully adding, “When am I not stressed?”

She doesn’t return the smile. “Something…feels different this time. Your aura.”

Okay, now we’ve entered that hand-wavy realm of her spiritualism. Something I never really bought into. Still, my pulse starts racing as I manage calmly enough, “What are you trying to say?”

“It’s just … the path you’re on…” She shakes her head, as though thinking better about it. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.” I hope so too. Her voice is quiet and soothing. I feel a slight chill run through me despite the sunny weather. Jinora seems to know things she shouldn’t, and frankly, it’s a tad creepy.

“Thank you, Jinora.” She nods gravely before giving me a small hug, whispering softly in my ear, “It’s a dangerous game you’re playing, Asami Sato. Be careful.”

“I always am.”

I take my leave and join Kai, who is currently kicking up pebbles in impatience, at the waiting ferry. In the distance, Jinora waves us farewell, but it doesn’t escape me that her wave to Kai seem more hesitant, shy even.

“So…where do we start?” Kai breaks into my train of thought.

After a moment of deliberation, I reply, “Little Ba Sing Se.”

“Ooh, are we going to pull off a job there?” He asks excitedly.

“No, we’re going shopping.”

........................................................

Kai, it would seem, has a certain boundless energy to him, and wouldn’t keep his trap shut during the entire ferry ride from Air Temple Island. I’m only half-listening as I mule over Jinora’s words. I quickly learn of the various short cons and scams he pulled off in the past. A little too overconfident, bordering on cockiness; he’ll have a lot to learn. He might have continued yakking during the journey to Little Ba Sing Se but the wind whipping past us on the Satocycle prevented him from doing so. Three hours later, after navigating through the various shopping Rings, he has new clothes and a new haircut.

“You clean up pretty well.” I say appraisingly as I make him turn a full circle on the spot. He tugs at his suspenders, rocking back and forth on his heels, admiring his new getup. A few girls walking past giggle appreciatively and his ears turn red.

As we walk the streets to our next destination, I decide to begin the first lesson. “Everything you know about your short cons? Forget them, Kai. They’re just bad habits that’ll make you slip up.”

“Aren’t long cons basically the same? Just that there’s higher risks, but higher returns as well.”

“In essence, yes. But that’s just the bare bones of it. Have you ever played Pai Sho?”

He glances at me quizzically and shakes his head. “That boring game for old farts and people nothing better to do? Nope.”

“It’s a curious game. So many variables, so many outcomes.”

“And?”

“It has rather flexible rules, and that’s why you can play it many different ways. And to know which way you should be playing it requires you to know your opponent.”

“What are you saying?” I have his full attention now.

“The difference between us and common thieves is that we make our mark want to give us their money. But first of all, you have to know what motivates a person, what makes them tick, when to start with a White Lotus or a Rock tile.” I explain.

“Fooling people, I get that.” Kai nods sagely.

“It’s more than that. It’s about predicting what their next move is, three steps before they do it.”

“So you’re saying you cheat people out of their money by…what’s this got to do with Pai Sho again?”

“I’m saying that the same principles apply. Sometimes they move a tile you don’t see coming, but you’ve got to re-strategize and keep playing anyway.”

“That sounds like a lot of work, and only works if you really know the other player beforehand. What if they call your bluff, since they might know you as well?”

“Half the game is won when your opponents doubt themselves. That’s why it’s called a confidence trick. Not because you give me your confidence, no, but because I give you mine.”

He’s looking a little confused as we reach the music store. “I don’t quite get what you mean.” After waving a greeting to Mr. Chung, we head to the unobtrusive wooden door at the back. Just before we enter, I reply, “While we were walking, you picked four people’s pockets. But you’re eager to learn the ropes, and I used that to distract you.” I hand him two of his steals and his own wallet back, ignoring his awed expression. “Come on, we’re here to collect another tile for our game.” We make our way up the narrow steps.

“Is it me, or do you get the feeling of being watched?” Kai murmurs, pointing at the decorative painted masks that line the walls of the narrow and dim corridor. We turn the corner. “Why are we even –

“AAAAAAAARRRGGHH!”

Both of us scream at the sight, though Kai’s one distinctively goes on for much longer. A single disembodied white mask looms mid-air menacingly in the shadows.

“Spirits take my mother!” He yells and backs away in fright. I would have laughed at his rather creative swearing had my heart not been pounding as hard. The illusion of the floating mask breaks as they step forward and a hand reaches out to remove it to reveal a familiar face.

My heart slowly settles back to a more normal pace as I mumble. “Enough with the theatrics, Uncle Noa.”

“Asami! I’ve been expecting you.” Noatak pulls me into a hug, which I return warmly. He looks at Kai and raises an eyebrow.

“It’s all right, he’s with me.”

Noatak doesn’t ask further and holds out his hand in greeting, which Kai tentatively takes after a furtive look in my direction. “Sorry about Amon. I was just testing it out when I heard you come up.” Noatak gestures to his mask. He turns and we follow him into a smaller room. Here, it’s well-lit and the air reeks of paint and turpentine. Half-finished masks lie scattered around. In the centre, there is a small cluttered table with a sofa and several stools that encircle it. We take our seats and Noatak pours us tea. Kai is unusually silent and still beside me.

“Is that for your new play?” I ask curiously, making conversation. I study the mask, plain but for a single red circle on its forehead. The simplicity of it makes it all the scarier. 

“You could say that. It’s one of my best work, or so Lieu says. It’s going to be a tragicomedy about two b– ah! – but that would be revealing spoilers.” He chides gently, setting the mask aside. We sit there, drinking tea, discussing inconsequential matters for a while, like techniques on making realistic prop weapons before he finally goes to the point.

“I suppose you’re only really here for this.” He pulls a small wrapped package and an envelope from inside his robes and hands it to me. I slide another envelope towards him in return. He takes a quick look inside and nods in approval. Leaning back, he takes another sip of tea before asking. “Have you seen your father lately, Asami?”

I say wearily. “Well, I would have had he not broken his parole. Again.”

Noatak reaches out and pats my hand. “I know it isn’t easy, since… well.”

 “Yeah, I know. I’m doing my best to cope, in the only way I know.”  I stand up, and Kai follows suit. “Thank you…for everything.” As we return to the main street, Kai finally speaks up. “Who – what was all that about?”

“He’s an old family friend. I was calling in a favour.”

“What’s in the package he gave you?”

I shield my eyes from the setting sun as we make our trek back towards my Satocycle.

“Another crucial principle of Pai Sho, Kai, is patience.”

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“Officer Bolin! Why are you dawdling?” The all-too-familiar voice barks across the entire bullpen. Everyone studiously continue doing their thing, each trying to exude discipline and focus.

“I was just –” I had only barely just arrived, a little out breath after realising that Korra had already left for work.

“Stop your yapping and just get your arse in here now.” I feel for all in the world like a schoolboy being called in to the principal’s office. “Mummy is calling,” Hasook whispers as I pass by but I ignore him and the muted snickers behind me as I reach the Chief’s office. He wouldn’t have dared make that same remark had Korra or Mako been around. My face burns all the same even if he isn’t quite wrong; the Chief did take us off the streets after all.

Korra is already inside, standing behind the Chief with a smirk plastered on her face. Oooh I’m so going to get back at her for letting me sleep in. I feel a bit more relieved that she’s there though. Even if it were to be something bad, at least someone has my back. One might think that one would get some leeway as her adopted son. But at work, Lin is first and foremost the Chief of the Republic City Police Department, personal relations be damned, which might explain why she doesn’t give ‘a single flying fuck’ (her words, not mine) that we’re trying to build a case involving her niece. She isn’t even on good terms with her own sister, Suyin, who is clearly on our side of the law.

“Chief? Sorry…late…Massive traffic jam.” I mumble out an excuse. It takes me a moment to realise there’s someone else there. A tall man with dark piercing eyes in green and pale grey tunic is standing to one side. Metal decorate his arms and around his neck. I get the feeling he isn’t from around here.

“As I was telling the Lieutenant, this is Aiwei, from the Zaofu Special Branch.” The Chief explains. She nods at me, “This is Officer Bolin, her partner.”

The man stirs and looks me over carefully. Instead of shaking my hand, he only gives me a curt nod of his head. He addresses Korra next. “I came to Republic City to request assistance pertaining to a certain…sensitive matter, but it would seem that our interests have inadvertently aligned.”

“How so?” Korra asks, her arms loosely crossed, her expression all serious and professional, but as someone who has seen her in all her different moods by virtue of being her friend, housemate, and colleague, she’s trying very hard not to laugh at Aiwei’s somewhat pompous delivery.

“Beifong was recently released from your prisons. Zaofu is a city with no secrets, so it naturally came to our attention that she arrived in the Metal City shortly after her release, despite being unofficially exiled. She left almost as soon, but her meeting with a few…notorious persons during her brief sojourn was enough to ring warning bells.”

“Meaning?” Korra doesn’t believe in wasting her words.

“I believe she is planning another one of her infamous long confidence scams and Chief Beifong informs me that you share my sentiments. If we pool our resources together, perhaps we could finally build a successful case against her and her accomplices.”

“Zaofu is a long, long way from Republic City.”

“I am clearly aware that I am out of my jurisdiction, but I am requesting the Republic City Police Department to allow me to assist you.” Aiwei pauses for a moment before continuing. “This is her last job before she retires, hence this would be our last window of opportunity to catch them.”

“What makes you so convinced that it’ll be her last job?” I ask.

“I have that information on good authority. People tend to talk and word travels, and I happen to be able to filter the difference between fact and fiction. Like the fact that you said you were late due to a traffic jam is untrue.” He says quietly, staring at me.

I gulp nervously and feel the urge to look away from his intense gaze. Korra shoots me a look. It’s spooky, like he could see all the way to my soul.

“If you would give me a moment, all of you.” The Chief nods at us. Before Korra can speak, she holds up a finger. “You too, Lieutenant.” We all step out of her office. There’s a faint suspicion in Korra’s eyes as she glances at me. After a few minutes of awkward silence between us, the door opens again.

The Chief frowns, “All right, but Lieutenant Korra is still in charge of the investigation.” Aiwei nods and acquiesces gracefully. “Of course, Chief Beifong.”

.......................................................

I’m sitting in the back seat of the car as usual, ever since Aiwei, also known as the Spooky Truth Guy, joined us on our surveillance of the Beifong crew. Only Kuvira and Sato had been seen moving all over the city, and so far none of us have caught sight of the Beifongs. Kuvira’s carjacking stunt was apparently short-lived, because the owner had not reported it stolen and after a discreet phone call later, had not found it missing either.

Korra’s only wry comment on Aiwei being added to the team is, I can’t really trust a guy who doesn’t use contractions when he talks, but she’s grateful for any help we could get, even if she doesn’t seem to like him all that much. Through him, we learn a bit more about the Beifongs. It’s all very fascinating, but not very helpful in the end.

The only thing we’ve managed to establish is that the mark is going to be Raiko, who is going to run for mayor in the upcoming city’s election, and this is only going to complicate matters. (Fucking bureaucracy, both Korra and the Chief had complained). Korra had wanted to warn him, or at least include him in a sting operation but Aiwei suggested that it might scare them off if they noticed police approaching him, as they would most probably be watching him as well. So the plan now is to let them proceed with the entire thing, and catch them in the act. The only problem now is establishing when and where it is going to take place. Korra and Aiwei are up in the front, quietly discussing the case while I drift off into my own thoughts. Surveillance isn’t like it’s portrayed in the movers at all. It basically consists of sitting around in the heat for hours on end. All for nothing, except the knowledge that Sato and Kuvira have questionable tastes in their choice of noodle shacks.

“Hang on, who’s that?” Korra asks suddenly, breaking the silence. Aiwei leans forward with the binoculars, but I snatch it out of his hands. Finally, some action!

“Hey!” I ignore his outburst, and I peer through them and see…nothing. I’m not really sure who or what I’m supposed to be looking at. Through the glass window, I see that they are still at their table. Aiwei snatches the binoculars back with an annoyed expression. After a moment, he admits, “I have never seen him before.”

“He’s a little too young to be a mark.” Korra replies.

“Hmm…but he is very well-dressed… the city’s rich do get younger nowadays.”

“Do you think he’s with them?”

“It’s possible, but a crew like Beifong’s would be a little out of his league.”

“Wait…Who are you guys talking about?” I ask, confused.

“If you had been paying any attention at all, we are referring to the young man who just joined them at their table.” Aiwei’s voice is curt, and still very annoyed.

“Oh.” I laugh, “You mean Sato’s driver?” Both Korra and Aiwei turn in unison in their seats to face me, identical inquiring looks written on their faces. I shrug, explaining that I had seen the kid a few times now, hanging around Sato and at the Future Industries racetrack at the edge of town. Later, I had seen him driving her around town in a black and red Satomobile. I had double-checked the license and it belongs to her. Nothing had seemed like anything out of the ordinary so I left it out in the daily report.

“And you didn’t think that was important enough to tell us?” Korra asks, deathly quiet, and I know I’m in trouble. A lot of trouble. You see, when Korra was upset, she would yell and rage with all the temper of an angry firebender, which makes me thankful she isn’t one. But when she speaks softly, like she does now, she is beyond angry; she is furious. The last time I had seen her like this is when Mako had forgotten to feed Naga for two days when she was away for a seminar.

“I…uh…like you said, he’s too young to be anything. I mean…uh…it made sense Sato could afford hire a driver and…uh…he looks innocent! … uh …I didn’t think – “ I’m blabbering now, but I can’t help myself.

“The problem is, you did not think, Officer.” Aiwei’s voice is like ice.

“That’s enough, Aiwei.” Korra’s voice is equally sharp. “How long has that kid been hanging around her, Bolin?”

“Uh…I dunno…a few days maybe?” I say nervously, aware of the perspiration on my forehead, and it’s not from the heat. No one says anything else for a while, and the silence drags on until Sato and the said subject appear at the door of the eatery, talking. He says something to her and she shakes her head, amusement written on her face. She says something in reply, and even from this distance, his self-assured smirk is apparent. He follows her to her moped and they ride off together. Korra takes a few snaps of them with the handheld camera.

“Do you want to follow them or Kuvira, Lieutenant?” Aiwei asks in deference, fully ignoring me now. I’m not sure whether to be upset or relieved. Korra bites her lip, debating a little while before making her decision.

“Let’s split up. We need to find out who the boy is, what kind of role he plays in the grand scheme of things.”

..........................................................

Korra and I are at the docks, where Sato had dropped off the boy. Aiwei had gone back to the station to find out more about his identity. As we wait for the next ferry to Air Temple Island, I try apologising but Korra merely rubs her face tiredly with her palm and waves it off.

“It’s fine, Bo. We all make mistakes.” She gives me a reassuring smile. It is a short journey to the island. Air Temple Island is a really, really cool place, a nice place to unwind from all the stress of the city and the best part of it is how welcoming they are to everyone. You even get complimentary soya bean pudding in sugar syrup here from the Air Acolytes.

As we walk up the stone steps beneath the huge archway, I glance at its inscription carved in the stone: If you look for the light, you can often find it, but if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.

“Good evening and welcome to Air Temple Island,” An Air Acolyte greets us politely, but she glances at my uniform uncertainly.

I whistle lightly and look away as Korra does all the talking. Korra bows back and smoothly says, “We’re not on here for work. I’m just dropping by to say hi to Jinora.” Korra has to say that because Air Temple Island is sacred ground, and it’s the unspoken rule here but Korra is personal friends with the airbending masters so there’s that.

We walk around the courtyard for a while and I’m checking out the pebble garden when Jinora comes out to greet us.

“Korra! Bolin! It’s been a long time.” Jinora hugs us both in turn.

“Nice to see you again, Jinora.” Korra replies. “Sorry I don’t come around much anymore. It’s just that work and…all that, you know.”

“I do know.” She nods, understanding shining through her sympathetic face. “And that’s why you’re here, right? Work?”

Korra rubs the back of her neck and nods guiltily, giving her a sheepish smile. “Well, you make it sound like I don’t…well…I guess…yeah?” She quickly adds, “I know about your hands-off approach to the material world and everything but you’ve always been a great help in…stuff.”

“If you’re trying to keep tabs on her, you should just –”

“What? No, no.” Korra cuts in quickly. “We’re just wondering if you’ve seen someone…” She then launches into descriptive detail of the boy we saw with Sato and before Jinora can reply, who should appear but him in the flesh.

“Hey, Jinora! I was just thinking –” He breaks off when he notices both of us. “Uh…sorry to interrupt. I – I just remembered where the toilets were.” And with that, he backs away and disappears around the corner.

“That’s him, Korra!” I exclaim in surprise.

“Jinora, who was that?” Korra demands, but Jinora avoids looking her in the eyes, and shifts lightly from foot to foot. “What is he doing here?”

She says quietly, “I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know myself.”

Korra looks frustrated. “You know a lot more things than you say you do.” Her tone borders on accusatory.

Jinora sighs. “I’m not lying to you, Korra.”

“So you’re saying you don’t know him and he just happens to be a guest on the island?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that I don’t know what he does here. The Air Temple is open to all airbenders, after all, and we don’t question their place here.” Jinora looks at Korra straight in the eye. I have a sudden idea, and it seems crazy but it’s worth a shot.

“Korra, I think Jinora has a crush on the kid.” I say loudly. Jinora turns bright red at that. “Oh ho ho, she so does! Your dad is going to have a fit!” I continue on gleefully.

“What? No!” Her voice is slightly more high-pitched than usual and she looks flustered.

“You’re right. I think the look on Tenzin’s face would be priceless.” Korra joins in, laughing now.

“I do not have a crush on Kai!” Jinora suddenly reverts to being a typical teenager, that period of adolescence that sometimes seem to have skipped her altogether, with all her calm spirituality and wisdom.

“I suppose he’s quite the dapper…even if he seems a little too worldly for your types.” Korra muses, winking at me. “But I guess that’s Zaofu boys for you.”

“He’s not from –” She breaks off, realising what we’re doing.

“Well, Jinora, I better not keep you. Bolin and I will be going now.” Korra says brightly.

Jinora covers her face with her hands, shaking her head slightly. “Ugh, you’re just as bad as her.” She raises her eyebrow, and Korra’s smile fades a little.

We take our leave, and on the ride back, Korra nudges me and grins. “That was good work, Bo.” Her expression turns thoughtful. “Interesting. I’m thinking… maybe Yai?”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure his accent is Northern.”

Chapter Text

ASAMI

It’s been a few days and Bataar informs me that we’re still a little short on capital, despite the two of them running as many short cons as possible in a short space of time. Kai has since stuck to me like a shadow, which made my job of keeping an eye on him a lot easier. I realise early on that Kai didn’t respond well to people telling him what to do, when Kuvira tried ordering him around to run menial errands like getting us lunch. Another problem is that he keeps stealing stuff from the rich clientele on the island, which we didn’t really care if not for the fact it would offend our host greatly. He even tried stealing from us and only stopped when Opal threatened to kick him out of the crew. But Kai is very good at what he does so I made Kuvira make a bet loudly with Bataar and me that he couldn’t bring in half of what we pulled in unless he robbed blind grandmothers of their life savings, which created the desired effect. Over the next two days, Kai scammed and picked his way to a tune of almost two thousand yuan. Even Bataar is grudgingly impressed.

We are heading to the outskirts of the city today, to a place that is dear to me. As we pull up in front of the guardhouse, a man dressed in dark grey and red overalls is waiting for us. He waves at the guard and the boom gate opens.

“Ms. Asami, it’s good to see you again.” Ichiro smiles warmly, his kindly eyes lighting up. He has always been one for formalities and only after countless gentle reprimands had he compromised; instead of ‘Ms. Sato’, it became ‘Ms Asami’. Whatever questionable decisions my father had made, he had always been good to his employees. Ichiro had been no different, who lost his job by the sole misfortune of being Hiroshi Sato’s personal maintenance engineer, as had all those who worked in the mansion. Dad’s shadow looms large, but it sort of pays off sometimes, in the sense it allows me access to places I no longer had official clearance to.

“Thank you for allowing me in on such short notice.” I grasp his hands, and notice they seem rougher and more lined than I remembered. I feel a twinge of guilt for not keeping in touch more. I introduce him to Kai and we proceed on to the sizable racetrack. He doesn’t ask any questions about Kai, for which I’m grateful. I do try keeping my lives separate, even if it’s unavoidable at times. My black and red Satomobile is already sitting there. I can’t resist running a hand affectionately across its shiny bonnet.

“I’ve tweaked with it a little since you left it here. Hope you don’t mind.” Ichiro says as he flips the bonnet open. I immediately spot the new turbocharger and feel like my birthday’s come early. “Well, I’ll leave you two here. There’s nothing planned for the rest of the day, so take your time.” He hands me the keys and walks away, leaving me and Kai to it.

“Another old family friend, huh?” Kai asks the moment Ichiro is out of earshot.

“Something like that.” I keep my tone light.

“What are we doing out here?”

“We need you to learn how to drive.”

“I can drive!” He becomes defensive. After a moment, he falters slightly under the scepticism I’m giving off. “Granted, it’s forged, and it’s Republic Earth’s but it counts, right? Why would I even need to drive?”

I’m reluctant to mention my suspended license, that annoying detail that severely limited my mobility. “You’ll see.”

.................................................

“Okay, now shift into second. Clutch, shift, release clutch. Now ease up on the brake. Accelerator.” I say as Kai dutifully follows my instructions. We have been at it for three hours now. The car finally smoothly transitions in its gears.

“That was really good, Kai. You picked it up way faster than Ko– a lot of people.” Kai beams at the compliment. I switch places with him, and after checking to see if the coast is clear, it’s my turn to take it for a spin, Kai whooping in delight next to me. Even though it has been a while, everything comes easily back, and the car responds exactly how I want it to. I’m in my element, enjoying the high and the feeling of freedom.

“You know, I’ve wondered…is this why are you named after a car?” He asks, fingers gripping into his seatbelt as I go for a couple more laps.

“I think you’ll find the reverse is true.”

“Wait…you’re Hiroshi Sato’s real daughter? As in, it wasn’t an alias or because it was cool sounding?”

“Surprise, surprise.” I say, deadpan. Everyone remembers the villain, but rarely considers his kin. I brings the Satomobile to a slow cruise and looks over at me as though seeing me for the first time.

“Why do you do it then?” He asks, curious. “I mean, aren’t you already super-rich already?”

“Until my dear old man squandered it all by getting greedy, you mean. But no, it’s not the money. It’s never been about the money, for any of us.” Still, Kai seems unsatisfied with my answer and looks at me expectantly.

I arch an eyebrow. “If you’re expecting a tragic backstory, there isn’t one. It’s like…engineering, I guess. Why do we need machines to go faster, further, or fly higher? Because we can, really. After my first con, I got a taste of it, and didn’t really look back ever since.” It’s the truth, albeit an oversimplified one. Other than driving, it’s the only thing that pretty much provides that adrenaline rush I so crave. I glance at him. “How about you?”

It’s his turn to shrug nonchalantly. “Money, pretty much. Growing up in some dirt town in the middle of nowhere… there’s nothing to lose. Besides –” He stretches back.

“Feet!” I growl, and he lowers them from the dashboard, before he continues, “– besides, I could get used to living in the lap of luxury.”

“Don’t count your harmonies before you set your board.”

I have Kai practice his driving by ferrying me around the city in the Satomobile over the next few days, after giving him a freshly minted Republic City license.

..............................................

“How are things moving along, Kuvira?” I ask, slipping into the booth opposite her. It’s the first time I’ve seen her in a couple of weeks. We’re in another little noodle place which has near to non-existent service, the only upside being that it provides privacy as a result. The noodles are frequently over-starchy and the broth too salty, but this doesn’t seem to faze Kuvira one bit as she happily tucks in.

The premise of our con is simple enough. In gambling, the results of pro-bender games are usually relayed through wire to betting parlours. Radio operators could delay the relay long enough to pass on the information of matches to their accomplices, and take a cut of the winnings. It is also possible to create an illusion of it, and this is where we come in.

Kuvira has been busy priming our mark, Raiko, first by gaining his trust, and then letting him on in on a secret: that she had a cousin who happened to be one such radio operator. The mark would be disbelieving and in jest, Kuvira would propose to place a small bet for him in good faith, which would naturally pay off. She would say no more of it until Raiko himself again brought it up, at which point after much reluctance and discussions with her ‘cousin’, would let him in on it. For an addict like Raiko, one-off bets are never going to be enough, and it wouldn’t take long before the mark gets bolder and greedier. And the greedier he is, the more we can take him for.

Unfortunately for them, good fortune never lasts, and the ‘cousin’ would get cold feet for some reason (Bataar usually likes using the needs-to-be-with-dying-wife-in-some-remote-Fire Nation-Island excuse and he makes it pretty convincing). The roper would call the whole thing off but the mark would attempt to make one last killing, usually by putting up ridiculous amounts of money. During the information relay, it would be unclear or complicated enough to make the mark place the wrong bet and lose. It’s a clean con, and the mark would walk away never knowing the truth.

“Good? I don’t know. I’m reeling him in in a couple of days, before he bleeds us dry.”

“That soon?”

She shrugs “What can I say? He’s a greedy bastard. Should’ve seen how his eyes nearly popped out of his head when we handed him the 10 000 yuan winnings. According to Bataar, we can’t really afford anything more above that.”

“How much do you think we can take him for?”

“Oh, 50 000 easily. Think of all the election campaign funds – sorry, private donations– he could dip into, if he was a little short.”

“Not a very honourable public servant, is he?”

As with chronic gamblers, they tend to self-destruct, and Raiko being a public figure is both a huge risk and an insurance.

“Which reminds me, how’s the babysitting?” Before I can reply, Kai appears and slips into our booth next to me, eyes shining.

“Sorry I’m late but I managed to get few extra yuan for the operation.” He pulls out a pouch and hands it to Kuvira, who pockets it immediately without looking.

“Okay, Airhead, listen up.” Kuvira is indifferent as Kai visibly bristles. “So it’s going to go down like this –”

“I already know. Asami’s briefed me” He interrupts her and mechanically recites. “I’m just your lowly driver and after I drop you and Raiko off, I’ll bring Asami. She’ll meet you and the mark to help pool your wagers. And then you do something and when he’s distracted, I’m to switch the bags at the counter.”

“Right.” Kuvira replies, still a little annoyed at his interruption. “And always remember the first rule.”

“What’s that?”

“Always look out for number one. No one’s going to have your back in there, ever. First sign of trouble, you adapt and get out.” She leans slightly forward. “Got it?” He nods.

.................................................

“In Pai Sho, there are many moving pieces at any one time and if you don’t keep track of all of them, even the strongest tile could be your downfall, if placed in the wrong position at the wrong time.”

“You really like that game that much, don’t you?” He asks. He doesn’t seem like his normal self today. From where I’m sitting, I notice his knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel too tightly. “Seems like they’re just a bunch of contradicting rules about moving things around on a board, if you ask me. And people spend hours on it. All for what? Nothing.”He’s slightly rambling now. Maybe it’s the nerves talking. It’s his first long con, after all and we’re heading to meet our mark in person for the first time.

“Games aren’t much of one if they don’t have rules. Besides, like Pai Sho, grifting has its set of own rules.”

“Isn’t it a bit too late to give me lessons now?” He sounds on the verge of panic as I check my makeup and hair in my mirror.

“What’s rule number one of the con?”

“A sucker is born every minute?” His tone is curt.

“That’s disrespectful, Kai. Pai Sho teaches one humility, and if you can’t respect your opponent, it’s not going to be a very good game, because you’re almost always going to lose the moment you start underestimating them.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine, whatever.” In the rear view mirror, I see him roll his eyes slightly. “I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with coppers to have any respect left for them.”

I shrug amicably. “The police are just doing their jobs; we’re playing against the system, after all.”

“Didn’t Kuvira mention that the first rule is to look out for number one?” His fingers drum impatiently on the steering wheel as we stop at a red light.

“Well, there are a few first rules, and all equally important. So rule number one, is that you can never cheat an honest man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Anyone can be cheated.”

“Technically, yes. But I meant a successful con. Scams work because people are inherently greedy, because they all want something for nothing. All we do is to feed that greed, and give them nothing for something.”

“…” Kai hums tonelessly in acknowledgement, though he doesn’t seem any more relaxed than before. “We’re here.” The car pulls up in front of Republic City Four Elements Hotel. The white and cyan building isn’t the tallest building around, but it’s still one of the most iconic places in town.

“Hey, Kai?” I squeeze his shoulder slightly. He turns, a frown on his face. “You’ve been acting jumpy since this morning. What’s wrong?”

He doesn’t reply as he faces the front again, shutting the engine off. He leans back and doesn’t move for a moment. His tone serious and not at all like his usual exuberant self, he murmurs softly, “You think I’ll ever be a good grifter?”

I laugh. “You worry too much. Relax, everything is going to be fine.” I grab my briefcase and we make our way through the grand lobby. I’m a little ahead of him when he speaks up again.

“Asami…wait.”

“Hmm?”

“…nothing. It’s nothing.” He shakes his head. I take the lift to the second highest floor and enter through polished double doors into the betting parlour of the hotel. It’s a very luxurious place; not your average locale for a pint with your barman who doubles as a bookie on the side.

Of course, while the Four Elements does have a betting parlour; it’s one floor below us. This particular room is one of many that the hotel rents out for events, in which we more or less replicated the parlour. Here, well-dressed men and women are calmly wagering bets from 10 000, 20 000 yuan. When you see such large amounts of money exchanging hands, it’s easy to get lost in the moment. And like everything else, everyone in this room, from the bored looking tellers to the doorman, is in on it.  Except the mark, that is. I think I spot a few familiar faces of the underworld despite their disguises. At the far end of the room, I see Kuvira standing with Raiko, who is possessively clutching a briefcase, listening to the radio announcing the result of a local ostrich horse race. She sees me and I nod subtly but she gives no indication of recognition.

I pretend to study the chart listing the odds for the Pro-bending Champions League, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her lead Raiko out through a connecting door at the side of the room, where they will presumably wait for Bataar to call on the radio regarding the results of the semi-final of the Capital City Catgators vs the Mo Ce Mongoose Lizards match. As professional pro-bending tournaments rarely end in complete knockouts, each round has a fixed time length, during which higher stakes wagers could be placed right until the final minute of the final round, seeing as a single player could always make an upset.

I approach the closed door and knock. Kuvira opens it, ushering me in and shutting the door quickly again. The room is small and rather bare, with only a table and two chairs and a radio. It is well lit by large windows on all three sides, the one adjacent to me slightly ajar for ventilation. The mark is sitting on one of the chairs, a man in his fifties, silver threading his otherwise black hair. His round horn-rimmed glasses and moustache lends him a rather respectable figure, which probably serve him well in his career. His briefcase is on his lap as he stares at the silent radio in anticipation.

“Ms Jian, I…I’ve brought it like you asked.” I insert a tremor in my voice as I nervously push my large glasses up my nose.

Raiko frowns at the sight of me, and glares between me and Kuvira. “I didn’t think you’d entrust this…enterprise… to anyone else.”

Kuvira replies easily. “It’s fine, Naoko. Rei is my most trusted assistant.” She nods at the briefcase in my hand. “Thank you, Rei. Did you withdraw all of it?”

“Y…yes. Um...60 000 yuan.” Kuvira had proposed fifty thousand yuan, asking him to match it but Raiko, on realising this would be his last chance of a sure win, had pushed for a lot more. Never underestimate a person’s greed. I flick open the briefcase, angling my body away from Raiko, but still giving him a small glimpse of the neat stacks of green and red lining the bag.

“Good.” Kuvira says, taking the bag from me. “Now I need you to go back to my office, and –” Her words are cut off as Kai rushes into the room, breathless. His face is ashen.

“Asami –” He begins, and I can see Kuvira’s eyes widening in alarm. He’s breaking character. He isn’t supposed to be inside here. But all of that doesn’t matter anymore as the door crashes open again.

“Freeze! RCPD!” Click. Click. Click. Click. The sound of guns cocking, a sound you never want to hear, ever.

“Hands where I can see ‘em!” Four cops surround us; I only recognise Korra and her new partner. Another officer, a tall slim man in a strange uniform, nods at Kai.

“You made the right choice, Kai.”

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“His name is Kai, hails from the northern provinces of Republic Earth; petty theft, burglary, basically everything on the list a professional small-time criminal has…what else do we know about him?” Korra asks, leaning back in her chair and looking from me to Aiwei. The Zaofu agent had come to the same findings after calling his own contacts, though I especially love how it wiped the smug look off his face after telling him we found out just as much and even about his rare bending ability before he did.

“I showed the pictures around…Skoochy tells me he’s seen him around recently, hustling up quite a storm. Saw him giving Shady Shin the slip when he tried kicking him off his turf. Shady Shin confirmed it, and he had some Red Monsoons bothering him because they thought he was one of theirs.” I reply, feeling a bit more accomplished this time, even if I had to part with a week’s allowance for that intel. “So he’s not triad either.”

“What is interesting to know is how he is connected to them.” Aiwei comments.

“It isn’t uncommon to rope in helpers for cons.” Korra says slowly. “Especially for jobs that require manpower for the authenticity. Still, my gut feeling is telling me that he plays a much bigger part.”

“I agree, and if you are right, he could be our way in.”

“The weak link.” She says slowly.

“So far your plan has been to catch them red-handed, am I right?” She nods, and he continues. “We do know for sure by now that Raiko is their mark, and going off what we know of their histories and the histories of their victims, their scam would probably contain a few…legality issues. Which would make it rather difficult to persuade Raiko to voluntarily take part in any sting operation. However, he could probably be persuaded to testify against them after the fact, if he had enough reason to believe it would never go to court.”

“So you want to offer this Kai kid a deal, and get them to plead guilty?” She’s frowning slightly. “You almost make it sound like a win-win situation, but who is to say he wouldn’t warn them first?

“According to my source in Ba Sing Se, Kai was involved in a short con and he would have spent at least five years in prison had his victims pressed charges. We could use that.”

While Korra’s eyebrows are still furrowed in concentration, I wonder out aloud. “Why didn’t they? Press charges, I mean?”

Aiwei sighs a little. “The victims’ daughter thinks she’s in love with him and begged them not to.” A collective groan rises in the room and I see Hasook rolling his eyes over at his corner. “Classic.” He mouths at me.

“All right, settle down, all of you.” Korra mutters, and rubs her face tiredly. “What about the Beifongs then? We’ve only seen one of them so far.”

“Junior has never operated without his sister, and we have seen him meeting with Kuvira and Raiko at Kwong’s Bar at least once. So we can be certain they have a hand in this.”

“I don’t really like this.”

“We do not have much of a choice if we want to finally get the lot of them behind bars, and this is our last chance to do so. They never use physical force to make their mark part with their money, so the only way is for them to admit guilt is if they are backed into a corner.”

...........................................................

“You see how it is, kid?” Korra drawls the question out, hooking one arm behind the armchair and slouching. The young man is sitting opposite the table, trying, and failing, to look equally bored. His left leg is shaking restlessly under the table. Aiwei is next to Korra, his back ramrod straight as he studies him through steepled fingers. I’m behind the glass, observing. They have been sitting there in complete silence for about ten minutes before the kid started squirming in his seat. I almost feel sorry for him.

“Kai, do you remember Sen?” Aiwei asks calmly. He doesn’t answer but his body twitches slightly at the name. “Well, she has come to her senses and her parents are going to press charges after all.” He remains silent, eyes darting between the both of them.

“One might think one could have a fresh start here, but no, going right back to it. My, my.” Shaking her head, she addresses the ceiling, having taken a particular interest in it. Aiwei pulls out some photographs and lays them neatly in a row.

“We know that Beifong and her crew are pulling their one last con, and we know exactly who the mark is –” – he taps Raiko’s photograph, the one when he met with Kuvira – “We even know where it is going to go down. The Four Elements Hotel.”

For the first time, Kai talks. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but cool, you guys know all that; so what?”

“So this looks very bad for you.” Aiwei pulls out another photograph of him and Sato together, and another of him with Kuvira and Bataar Jr.

“We know you’re involved.” Korra cuts in sharply. “And unless you’re willing to do what we want you to, Republic City can send your sorry arse straight back to Ba Sing Se, where I heard the prison grub is much worse than ours here, to put it lightly.”

“Which is?”

“Just go on doing what you are doing, as if this meeting never happened.”

“And then, what?”

“And you will walk.” Aiwei says all of it very calmly, as though merely suggesting to have tea at his grandma’s place.

“I’m not a rat.” Kai’s hands ball into fists.

“Be smart, Kai.” Korra murmurs. “It’s a ruthless world out there.”

“It’s your choice, Kai. Look out for number one. It is not every day you get out of jail for free.”

.......................................................

“Alright, so later, when it is all over, we’ll take you to a safehouse, where you will give your statement. Together with Raiko’s testimony, all of them have no choice but to plead guilty.” I say cheerfully as I hand him back his driving license and wallet on his way out. Kai glares at me, and merely snatches them back.

“See ya later, buddy.” I call out, but he disappears into the streets like a ghost.

Korra frowns. “He’s not your buddy, Bolin.”

“But he’s on our side now, isn’t he?”

“That doesn’t make him your buddy. He’s just a weasel snake who’s going to sell out his friends.”

I raise an eyebrow at her. “I find your stance rather hypocritical.”

She shrugs. “Doesn’t change the fact he’s only out looking for himself. What happened to ‘honour among thieves’? I don’t agree with it, but I can at least respect the sentiment.” She straightens the paperwork on the desk and assembles the team. “Okay, people, listen up. We know when and where the exchange of cash is going to take place, and I want everyone in position.”

......................................................

The room we’re in is much smaller than the betting parlour we just walked through. Rich muted colours of the four bending elements were the basis of its elegant décor while framed posters of pro-benders and racers decorate its walls. Even the grilles of the betting tellers are glided in matte gold.

But here, the room is unadorned save for two leather wingback chairs and a polished wooden round table with a radio on it. Raiko’s chair has been knocked over and next to him is Kuvira, dressed in a business suit. Standing in front of the open adjacent window is a woman I’ve never seen before. Her brown hair is a neat bun on top of her head and she’s wearing black-rimmed glasses. Two briefcases are lying on the floor, one next to Raiko and the other between Kuvira and the other woman’s feet.

“You made the right choice, Kai.”

For a moment, the scene is frozen in time. Everyone who isn’t a cop has their hands in the air. I feel like I’ve walked in into a business meeting instead of a scam.

“Kai, you can wait outside.” Korra says it quietly, but it fills the small room all the same. The effect of those words are evident as both Kuvira and the woman turn towards him, different shades of green fury directed at him. He looks like someone just died, hanging his head, and avoiding meeting their eyes.

“You fucking piece of shit!” Kuvira growls at him, and makes to advance to him but Korra aims her gun right at her, stopping her in her tracks.

“Enough! Mr Raiko, I’m afraid you’ve been a victim of a confidence scam.” Korra starts barking out orders. “Hasook, get him out of here. Bolin, get the briefcase.” Hasook escorts a bewildered-looking Raiko out of the room while I head towards the woman.

There’s a flurry of motion and I’m not quite sure what happens next but one second I’m bending down to retrieve the briefcase and the next, I’m hurtling towards Korra, who sidesteps me, and smelling the musty smell of the floor rug. I feel pain on my left butt cheek as though I’ve just been kicked in the arse. Which…it turns out, is pretty much what happened as I roll over and flip myself back up to see her holding a gun. My gun.

“You don’t want to do this.” There is a warning tone in Korra’s voice, but the woman isn’t even looking in her direction. Her focus and her gun are trained on Kai.

“Asami…” His voice is pleading, his body slumped and arms loosely hung at his sides, palms out-turned. Asami? As in…Asami Sato? Realisation hit me when I look at her again; her eye colour being the only feature she did not change; none of that shade of lipstick or eyeshadow that I’ve come to associate with her is present. I don’t know about the rest of the team, but her disguise has me fooled.

“Final lesson, Kai.” Her voice is all anger, but there’s a certain sadness in her eyes.

“Sato, don’t–…”

Her arms are shaking so badly that the shot she fires goes into the wall behind Kai, the sound reverberating in the small space. She takes aim again, but there’s a flash of motion from Aiwei and another gunshot goes off. Crimson explodes from the back of her head and she stumbles backward from the force, slamming against the open window. Time seems to slow down as she…she falls out the freaking window.

“Hold your fire! Hold fire dammit!”

“ASAMI!” A scream from the kid; I might have been screaming as well, I don’t know. Time starts again, and everything is a blur now. Kuvira rushes past me to the window, yelling. Korra follows, shoving her forcefully aside, already bending water out of her pouch at her side.

Chapter Text

ASAMI

I stumble backwards, the heel of my boot catching on something. My back hits something hard, and to my horror, gives way as I lose my balance. I hate heights. I hate heights. No other coherent thought makes it through.

Terror drowns everything out but the blue of her eyes as I fall, fall until everything goes black.

°°°

“Your daddy said we’re not supposed to.”

“Rules are made to be broken, Mi.”

“But…but – “

“You’re not scared, are you?”

I peered over the white crest of the hill, where the otter penguins slid down the steep plane of snow before flinging themselves off the edge of the cliff into the icy waters below. I gulped.

“What if I f…fall?”

She bent a small globe of ice between her mittens, making it fluidly twirl around her. “If you fall, I’ll catch you. I’m a waterbender, remember?”

“Ko– rra!” I whined.

“Relax, will you! You won’t fall. All you need to do is let go and roll to the side before they reach the end. Easy peasy.”

Five minutes later, I went screaming, tumbling over the edge of the cliff into the dark abyss. All I remembered that day was her screaming my name and a water whip rushing towards me.

I broke my arm that summer.

°°°

“Asami!”

“Asami!” The stinging pain on my left cheek rouses me and I open my eyes, slowly. Bright blurry orbs slowly form high overhanging lightbulbs. Two pairs of green eyes hover above me. Why are they the wrong colour? Wait, what? Nothing makes any sense at the moment. My whole body aches as I struggle to differentiate between reality and phantoms.

“Is she okay? There’s so much blood.”

“I think she’s in shock.”

“Why is she clutching her arm? Is she in pain?”

“Op… Opal?” I croak out, finally making out their faces. Her face swims into view. Her brows are furrowed in worry and she’s chewing her lip. Bataar appears next, his expression mirroring hers.

“Are you hurt? I…uh…sort of landed on you.” That explains the bruise-like pain on my thighs and arms.

“I…I don’t think so.”

“What’s the square root of the answer of twenty-eight multiplied by sixty-three?”

“Forty-two?”

Relief washes over his face as I slowly push myself up. Opal exhales and hugs me tightly. “Thank goodness you’re okay.” She pulls back.

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

I close my eyes, and try to think. I’m falling, the wind rushing past me, and then –. My pulse starts racing. Breathe, just breathe. It takes me a few minutes, but other two don’t rush me.“Well, last I remembered was being shot in the head.” I reach back to pull my fake hair bun and the rest of the wig away. It’s a bloody red mess now, with some grey matter hanging out.

“Are those actual brains?” Bataar looks horrified, and just this side of queasy.

“Pig’s. So is the blood.” I wipe my hand clean on Opal’s trousers, before she swats it away. I have to remember to ask Kuvira how it looked when it went down. “And then I tripped over the rug or something. That’s all I can remember anyway.”

“Hmm.” Bataar hums thoughtfully. “You must’ve passed out on your way down.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“I think my heart stopped for a moment when I saw you fall out that window instead of the briefcase.” Opal continues checking the back of my head for any real injuries, and sighs in relief when she finds none. Just a few scrapes on my cheek and chin. I look around me, and tossed to one side is a large glider. Beyond the lightbulb is only darkness. We seem to be in some sort of warehouse. A breeze wafts through, making me shiver. I’m suddenly aware of how cold I feel and looking down, I notice something.

“Why are my feet wet?” My boots and stockings are soaked through.

“Oh, your cop caught you right before I did. But our combined weight was enough to break the ice whip. Just as well…because finding out why there’re pig’s brains sticking out the back of your head instead of your own would be plenty suspicious.” Opal explain, gesturing towards the glider. “You weren’t light, by the way, and I barely managed to turn the corner before we crashed.”

If you fall, I’ll catch you…

Not now. Of all the times for old, unwanted memories to crop up. Shaking my head to get rid of them, I catch them looking at me in concern again. “I’m all right, really.” Sorting out the strange mix of emotions swirling inside, the most prominent one is disappointment. I really thought Kai, despite being the opportunist that he is, would still retain some sort of decency.

As though reading my thoughts, Opal mutters. “You know, I didn’t think we had to go to Plan B, if you asked me.”

I merely offer a dejected shrug. It’s a good thing we still have an insurance to fall back on.

“Where is everyone else?”

“They’ll be here soon. Here, drink this. It’ll make you feel better.” Bataar pours out some tea– where did he even get some? –and hands it to me.  

BOLIN

“Raiko, I don’t think you appreciate the importance –”

“Just give me back my money and let me go!”

“The money is presently evidence. With your testimony, they’ll plead guilty, and it won’t even go to court.”

“I can’t be implicated in something like this! Tell me, Officer –” Korra is clearly trying very hard not to lose her temper. “Am I under arrest?”

“Mr Raiko, please –”

“Am I under arrest?”

“No.”

“Then, I’m leaving.” With that, he stands and marches out. Korra slams a fist in frustration onto the table, muttering under her breath. “Well, that idiot won’t be having my vote anytime soon.” The water in the glass has completely frozen over. She finally sees me, and frowns. “Well?” She’s been really on edge ever since our raid, and I don’t blame her. It was going so well, too. And then someone gets shot, and according to Korra, her comrade swoops in to grab her. It almost feels like something out of a comedy, if only it didn’t cost us our case.

“I called up every hospital in the vicinity of the hotel, but no one showed up with a gunshot wound.”

“She was shot in the head. Either she’s dead and they dumped her body somewhere or…” She trails off, eyes narrowing suddenly.

“Korra?”

“Where’s Aiwei?”

“Err…he volunteered to take Kai to the safehouse – “

“I haven’t told him the address.”

We stare at each other for a moment. “This is not going to get any better, is it?”

“Lieutenant!” Hasook nearly trips himself over as he burst into the room. “Lieutenant, the prisoners! They’re….they’re gone.”

“What you mean, gone?”

“I mean, they’re not in the lockup. Aiwei signed them out!”

Korra pinches the bridge of her nose and asks calmly, “Are the briefcases gone too?” Hasook gulps and looks at me desperately. I slowly back away. “Well…they’re there…but…”

“But what?”

“Only the cover notes were real, the rest were just magazine cuttings.”

“Someone, please wake me up from this clusterfuck of a nightmare.” Korra punches the wall once, twice, and we wince on her behalf. “Bolin, Hasook, find out who this Aiwei really is.” Hasook shoots me a look, and I shrug as she storms to the Chief’s door and kicks it right open. Nothing good will come out of this. We retreat out of range of the Chief’s wrath to the bullpen. I place a call to Wei Beifong, figuring he might know something since he grew up in Zaofu.

ASAMI

“Next time you decide to jump out a fucking window, you should let us know first, woman.” Kuvira glares at me, looking for all in the world as though that was my plan all along. Despite her nonchalance, she’s a shade paler than normal. I feel a rush of warm affection towards all of them. “Why did I think that just because you weren’t behind a wheel, something wouldn’t go horribly wrong?”

“Nice to see you too, Ku.” I mutter drily. Despite myself, my legs are still shaking slightly. There’s nothing more terrifying than unexpected freefalling, an experience that I really don’t need repeating.

She shakes her head. “Unbelievable. We ought to get Bataar to set up trampolines below any window you stand at next time.” With a few graceful flicks of her wrists, small metallic parts emerge from the discarded wig. She bends them back into a thin flat piece before wiping the blood off and reforming it into an armband.

“Sure...leave all the grunt work to me,” He mutters, humouring Kuvira, before Opal shushes him. We hide behind the steel pillars and watch as the tall agent shoves Kai in front of him. He’s in metal cuffs but he offers no resistance as he is led onto a chair. On the table in front of him are some blank sheets of paper.

The cop produces a pen and pushes it towards him. “Now, hold up your end of the deal.” Kai stares blankly at him, his face looking more than a little shell-shocked. His metal cuffs suddenly fly upward and he is lifted slightly off the chair before he slams back down. The movement jolts him back into reality, and he finally stirs.

“You shot her.”

“Sato shot at you. I saved your life, Kai.”

He shakes his head. “She…they thought I betrayed them.”

“This is your last chance at freedom. Don’t throw your immunity away. Write.”

Kai merely frowns at the pen and paper in front of him. “No.”

“You want to rot in Ba Sing Se? If you don’t start writing, I’m going to add this crime to your old ones and make sure you get the full five years –”

“I DON’T CARE!” He roars, his voice echoing in the empty space. “I’m not a weasel rat, never will be.”

The Zaofu agent laughs. “That is not very smart, boy. I tell you what they are going to do now they all think you are the mole and cause their friend’s death; they are going to spin it and pin everything on you. These people have friends everywhere; you will be…what is that term…ah…– shivved – in the holding cell before you can say Ba Sing Se. Look out for number one, Kai.”

“I told you, I don’t care. You can take your confession and shove it up where the sun doesn’t shine.” His quiet defiance and loyalty is oddly touching.

“So you are not going to admit that Opal Beifong and her crew executed a confidence scam on Raiko?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The fake cop glares at him for a moment before standing up and declaring out loud. “He’s all yours.” Bataar, Kuvira and Opal step out from the shadows, the latter clapping slowly. Kai straightens up in his seat and frowns, confusion plainly written on his face.

Opal steps forward. “Well, he’s right you know. We have friends everywhere. In my book, you still betrayed us by not telling us the cops were on to us. And Asami Sato is still dead.” She nods at Kuvira who walks slowly towards Kai. There’s a chilling menace in her calm and methodical demeanour as the metal armband unfolds itself. Bending it into a sharp point, she walks forward while the agent moves out of the way for her. Kai’s eyes widen in comprehension for a moment before he bows his head down and merely closes his eyes, awaiting vengeance. His lips moves silently, as if uttering a final prayer.

Opal pulls out a porcelain bottle from behind her and hands it to Kuvira, who knocks the cork off expertly with the metal. Placing the bottle of fire whiskey down with a thud, she says, “Congratulations.” Kai opens his eyes, and the poor kid looks dumbfounded at he stares back and forth from Kuvira to Opal. With another flick of her wrist, his metal cuffs falls open. I take it as my cue to emerge from the dark.

“Wha..? H – h –how?” He stammers. “I – I don’t get it.”

“It was just a test, Kai.” I explain. “All part of the plan. Except for the falling out of the window part. That was…um…improvisation?” Opal rolls her eyes.

“Think of it as the job interview. And a fundraiser. And a test run.” Opal chimes in.

“Wow. Spirits. Wow” He repeats, and lets out a huge sigh of relief before sinking his head into his hands, mumbling incoherently into his hands.

“What? You think we’d be handing out application forms to fill?”

“Who is he, then?” He jerks his head at the silent man dressed in Zaofu colours.

“On paper, Aiwei, top agent and resident truthseer of the Zaofu Special Branch.” He inclines his head slightly before breaking out in a huge boyish grin; quite the jarring sight. “My real name is Hong Li.”

“Hong Li is a good friend of ours who graciously agreed to help out.” Kuvira says, and Hong Li shakes all our hands, including Kai’s. He rubs his bald head and pulls the thin, flexible disguise off, revealing a head full of black hair. “Man, this makeup stuff is itchy.” He says cheerfully, pointing at his lined face.

“You missed something.” Bataar points out.

He laughs. “I draw the line at the nosering, Beifong. You’re lucky that no one at the HQ knew the real Aiwei is a lot darker than I am. And did you know they were watching you the entire time?”

“Really?” Opal sends a sidelong glance at me.

“Oh yeah. But I got rid of most of the stuff before I left.”

“Thank you, Li. That was a pretty fine performance.”

With a slight bow, he replies courteously. “Always.” Straightening up, he leaves the building before coming back with the briefcases, which Bataar checks thoroughly before nodding in approval. Opal hands Li a thick packet which he subtly pockets away, and we shake hands once more before he parts for good. Kuvira turns to Kai.

“Well, Airhead, looks like you pulled through.” Her smirk is smug. “And I was right. Pay up, Asami.” I toss a coin to her, and she catches it deftly out of the air.

“They had a bet on whether you’d turn on us or not.” Bataar explains.

“And you bet against me??” He’s incredulous, staring at me.

I shrug. “Well, I had faith in you, but I like to hedge my bets.”

He rubs his face. “Ugh…’all the moving tiles’ you were talking about…I think I need this.” Kai groans and picks up the bottle of fire whiskey and takes a swig. He winces, and sputters it out, steam coming out of his ears.

Bataar snorts derisively. “Greenhorn.” He pours them around, and everyone takes a glass. Opal raises an eyebrow at me when I refuse one, content to toast with my cup of tea instead.

As we leave the abandoned building, I turn to Kai, “Welcome to the crew.”

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“I’m telling you, Bo –thump!– I’m going to – thump thump! – catch those criminals –thump!– if it’s the last thing I do!” Her final kick sends my sparring pad flying away. I’ve never seen Korra this pissed before. It’s been a couple of hours and she still has a lot of steam to let off.

“Well, this will be the last thing I do too.” I rub my very sore wrists. Her expression softens a little.

“Sorry, Bo. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. It’s just…”

“S’fine.”

She plops herself down, back flat on the mat, arms outstretched. I strip off my sparring gear before joining her on the mat, turning my head to look at her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, Kor. It’s not your fault, you know. He fooled all of us, even the Chief.”

“Knowing that doesn’t change things.” She squeezes her eyes shut. It has been one very long day, and a very horrible one at that. So it turns out that while there is indeed an Aiwei from Zaofu who was authorised to seek out the Beifong crew in Republic City, apparently he never actually made it to the city. They still don’t know where he is, and we still don’t know who the fake Aiwei was either. Raiko refused to give any sort of statement and washed his hands off the whole matter.

That betting parlour turn out to be fake, and anyone useful we could arrest were long gone in the ensuing craziness went down in the side chamber. It’s still a little hard for my mind to wrap around what must have been a super complicated scheme. And the ones we did manage to arrest were mere stooges hired to turn up, all dressed up at the hotel. So that was another dead end.

All that is left is a cold trail and one very embarrassed RCPD. Korra is taking it very personally, as she always does when she feels like she’s failed in her job. I let out a breath.

“You okay?” She sits up, studying me carefully. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Nah…it’s just… I feel sorta bad. Like none of it would have happened if she didn’t get to my gun.”

“They’re pros, and have been doing this longer than you’ve been a cop. If anything, I should have seen it coming. Should’ve known better.” She slaps an open palm on the mat.

“I actually thought that kid was on our side.”

“You know…for a moment I thought…never mind.”

“Thought what?” I ask curiously.

She sighs. “That it was going to work. They looked like they really thought they were ratted out on… I guess that was all an act. But it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I think I’m going to hit the showers now.”

“See you later at home then.”

“You’re not done yet?” I ask, surprised. It’s nearly midnight now. Toza is already grumpy that we stayed this long as it is.

She pushes herself up to her feet and shakes her head. “I still need to… process. Maybe some fresh air would clear my head. Could you do me a favour and feed Naga?”

“You’re going to go running? At this hour?”

“I just need to think, that’s all.”

“Suit yourself.” I know Korra can handle herself, but I still worry. Ever since her accident three years ago, she’s taken to closing herself in at times. “Be safe, Kor.”

She gives me a mock salute. “Always.”

I return home to a darkened loft, after taking a detour to feed Naga. Her size and bulk prevented our landlord from accepting her into the loft even though there is more than enough space for all of us. It takes me a moment to realise Mako is in the living room. He’s sitting on the floor, head on the coffee table, and drooling all over the papers of his cold cases. He barely even stirs as I lift him onto the couch.

Despite being tired and my body crying out for rest, I keep tossing and turning in my bed, the day’s events playing through my mind. I wish I could have been more useful, or faster, or something. Anything that would make me feel like I could be decent at something for once. 

ASAMI

It’s almost one in the morning when I reach home. It’s been a long day. I should be tired after all the excitement, but I’m not, still feeling the high of a con successfully pulled off. The lift isn’t working again, so I take the stairs. As I turn the corner of the final landing to the floor that would lead to my flat, I stop dead in my tracks. Sitting on the steps, elbows on knees and her head bowed down, is the last person I want to meet again today.

“Korra?” She looks up frowning, before glancing quickly at my feet. Thankfully I had an extra set of clothes and shoes in the car for emergencies, and the makeup is thick enough to hide the growing bruises of my fall.

“Where were you between one and three this afternoon?” Her voice is quiet, going straight to the point.

“Are you really going to interrogate me in an empty stairwell in the middle of the night?” The buzz I was feeling moments ago quickly ebbs away. Under usual circumstances, I would have quite enjoyed this part of the game. But nearly dying isn’t exactly usual circumstances.

“Answer the damn question.”

“I was at the theatre, at the premiere of the new play.” I reach into my handbag, unfolding an autographed playbill. Not that whatever I say would matter much to her; she’s a good detective, after all. But the alibi would hold up. It isn’t the most difficult thing in the world to pay someone to dress up like me to sit in a private box in a darkened theatre, and having a few friends in the right places to vouch for me doesn’t hurt. It’s just as well that we planned for this eventuality, because if Kai had not opened his mouth, the disguise would have made this unnecessary.

“Why do you always do this?” The frustration in her voice is palpable, bouncing off the walls in the stairwell. She jumps up, hands balling up. She’s so angry she slams the wall once with the side of her fist. Closing her eyes and taking slow deliberate breaths, her fist remains against the wall. She’s taking it more personally than I thought.

“Do you want to come in?” I ask quietly instead. I want to apologise, but I can’t. She looks exhausted, suddenly much older than her twenty seven years somehow. Her short hair causes a few strands to fall forward, and I resist the urge to tuck them behind her ear. I don’t think I’m allowed to do that, not anymore anyway.

Her eyes snap open, disbelief written on her face. “You’ve got some nerve, Sato.”

“I…I…you just look tired.” She stares suspiciously at me, her head tilted slightly, as though trying to figure out any trick I might be trying to pull. I won’t pretend that doesn’t hurt, but I don’t blame her. The least I can do is offer a drink, all things considered. Simple physics tells me that Opal would have never caught me and land safely at the same time. I catch her staring at my arm, which I had been rubbing absently to soothe another blue-black there beneath the sleeve. Her frown deepens further.

I stop immediately and manage as lightly as I can. “Cold night. I guess some old wounds still ache.”

“They usually do.” She replies cryptically as her eyes meet mine.

Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she gives up, for now. Just as she reaches the bottom of the landing, I call out.

“Korra?”

She stops, turning back to look at me with a silent question on her face.

“I…I heard on the radio this evening that you caught someone falling from the ledge of a hotel today…” I hesitate for a moment. “That person is probably… grateful you saved their life today.”

Something flickers in her blue eyes. Before I can figure what it is, it’s gone, and her eyes are hard again. Without another word, she leaves. I listen to the steady thump of her footsteps as they echo through the stairwell before fading, before turning to head into my flat.

Once inside, I lean against the closed door and squeeze my eyes shut, wondering for the first time how many enemies I’d make when this is all over.

Chapter Text

ASAMI

It has been two weeks since the con, and Opal’s idea of lying low is to literally lie on the beach on Air Temple Island. She is over at her corner, absent-mindedly drawing in the sand with small controlled gusts of air. Bataar is busy massaging Kuvira’s shoulders. Kai is nowhere to be found. Probably wherever Jinora is, I suppose.

I flip through the papers, one headline catching my attention. Looks like Raiko is still leading the polls in terms of popularity for mayor, but only because the alternative is a racist bigot, so that doesn’t count for much.

Placing them aside, I turn my attention to the small pile of letters I had ignored in the past few weeks. Some are useless advertisements, another the quarterly review of Future Industries. The last one seems to be a bill of some sort. I gaze out at the waters of the bay for a minute or two before taking my time to open the letter. Sitting straight up, I read it again, and again, just to make sure there isn’t a mistake. This is bad.

“What’s up with you?” Kuvira, lying sprawled against Bataar, nudges me with her foot. I pass the letter to her wordlessly. She needs to read it just once before offering her typical succinct assessment.

“Well, shit.”

Well, shit indeed.

“Don’t look at me like it was entirely my fault, Ku.”

“So it’s mine then?” She raises an eyebrow at me. We go back and forth, bickering loudly about whose fault it is before Opal raises her voice at us.

“What are you two going on about over there?” Kuvira shows her the letter.

“How did you end up with a ten thousand yuan fine??”

“Well, technically it’s only nine thousand and seven hundred…”

Opal reads aloud. “…payment of damaged property exceeding paid deposit as stipulated in the tenancy agreement, in which the tenant’s signature is taken as consent – her eyes narrow as reads further – …accrues a daily interest of five percent since the day of the alteration of its state, in addition to the compensation of psychological trauma of the other residents…  –”

“That’s total crap.” I cry out. “They can’t do this.” Words cannot describe the regret I feel for not reading fine print. What did I ever do to you, Mrs Fu?

“It says here ‘it’s the landlord’s prerogative to assess the conditions of the provided facilities –”

“Facilities? It was just a fucking door...” Kuvira growls.

“What exactly did you two do this time?” Opal is trying hard to maintain her displeasure, but her lips tug slightly at its corners. She pinches the bridge of her nose, wearing her familiar not-this-again expression.

“…with five additional peepholes at the moment.” I add as diplomatically as I can. “Or one giant one, depending on how you look at it.”

Opal closes her eyes for a moment. “For the sake of my sanity, I don’t think I really want to know what sort of dumb shenanigans the both of you get up to.”

Kuvira glances at me. “I think that’s for the best.” I nod in agreement.

“Bataar, tell me again why I put up with these two.”

“Because you’d rather have them distract themselves pulling pranks on each other rather than on you? Besides… they’re fun.”

“See, Opal, we’re fun.”

She throws up her arms in the air. “…says the person who tried getting my brother to build her a personal mecha tank, just because you thought it looked cool in a mover.”

“Hey. A girl can dream, can’t she?”

Amusement dances in her eyes even as she shakes her head in exasperation. “I suppose you don’t have the cash, Asami?”

I shake my head, not exactly rolling in money when what’s left of my father’s fortune is non-existent these days. Grifting is all fine and well but that was before Opal’s arrest. My current-slash-suspended day job as a draughtsman didn’t bring much in at the moment. Of course, there’s the car, but I draw the line at selling the only sentimental property I have left.

For the first time, Bataar’s expression turns thoughtful. “What we gained from the con is barely enough to cover our upcoming one.”

“Still…” Opal chews at her lip, waving the letter in front of me. “Both of you have to sort this out. One way or another. We’ve our schedule to keep to.

............................................

“How exactly are we supposed to raise that fucking much money within a fucking week?” Kuvira asks, despite knowing the answer to her own question. One week isn’t enough to pull off another long con. I’ve roped Kai in to help me, who is more than happy to indulge in his kleptomania.

“Why don’t you just ignore the whole thing? You’re a criminal, after all.” Kai spoons another mouthful of homemade sweet soya bean curd, courtesy of the Air Acolytes.

“What? No. I have standards, Kai!” I say indignantly. “It’s a matter of principle.”

“Are you going to make another Pai Sho analogy?”

“Just because you’re in the crew doesn’t mean you get to be a smart arse.”

“Why don’t we just rob a bank?”

Kuvira and I answer in unison. “We’re not thieves.”

He shrugs. “Jinora would say it’s a matter of semantics.”

“Jinora would also say jumping into a volcano after burning down an entire country while riding a dragon is dead romantic, so I wouldn’t take everything she says at face value.”

“Jumping into a volcano would only make you romantically dead.” Kuvira snickers a little too enthusiastically. “What?”

“I guess you try.” Kai pats her on the arm sympathetically. “Ow!”

“Don’t you touch me.”

“Aaand she’s back.”

BOLIN

It’s been a nice relaxing day, and we’re just lazing around on the couch. Mako, because he’s currently in a leg and arm cast when he heroically pushed someone out of harm’s way, and then there’s me, who is here to make sure my brother doesn’t leave the house for work, as ordered by the Chief herself. That doesn’t stop him from trying to work from home yet again, and the papers keep piling up as he methodically goes through old folders and reports, all while jotting down and consulting his own notes. Wu is presumably down at the station’s archives; being my brother’s partner is not one a position to be envied, and I’m surprised the poor guy hasn’t quit or asked for a transfer yet. Mako has managed to burn out at least two previous partners before the warning by human resources.

Since there’s never rest for the wicked, Korra is currently away, interviewing witnesses of another case. I’m conflicted, because I know I should be out there helping my own partner, but I can’t help but feel relief for the reprieve. Ah, off-duty days. A more or less non-existent word once you’re no longer a regular beat cop. It’s been a week and a half since the fake Aiwei fiasco, but there is nothing to do but to move past it. The Chief certainly didn’t blame us, but it only made Korra throw herself deeper into work. According to the Chief, the real Aiwei did turn up eventually, in the swamp, of all places, with no memory of how he got there.

“Why do you keep going through those old files?”

Mako doesn’t answer immediately, his face perpetually scrunched in concentration as he finishes reading the page, before setting it carefully to one side.

“You know the case I’m working on, the one with dead woman they found in the city park lake?” I nod, knowing the vague details since it made for interesting speculation during breaks in the bullpen. So some poor couple out for a romantic evening beneath the stars find a twinkle of light suspended in the middle of the lake, which turns out to be the gleaming hilt of a knife sticking out one very dead, floating person.

“We still don’t know who the vic is, even the labels of her clothes were shorn off. It’s been more than a month, and no one has come forward to identify her.”

“Maybe it’s a triad hit?”

“That was our first avenue of inquiry. But no one has claimed responsibility, and you know they aren’t exactly shy about that kind of thing. It’s mind-boggling. And when you don’t know the vic, it’s that much harder to find out the motive.”

“But I guess you must have some sort of lead?”

“It’s a bit of a wild hawk goose chase, honestly.” He admits, shrugging slightly. “An old drunk we interviewed mentioned that mysterious deaths were cropping up… again. I thought that the way he said ‘again’ made me think that there might have been other unsolved cases like it. Of course, the man was pretty high on cactus juice so…but still…we don’t have much to go on, so it’s worth a shot.”

“And I’m guessing no luck so far?”

“There have been plenty of unsolved deaths in the last few decades or so. Sifting through one by one to see if anything matches the current one is taking a long time but we don’t have much else to go on.” Mako stretches himself, wincing as he shifts to a more comfortable position. “People ought to watch where they’re walking.” He grumbles. “So…Korra seemed surprisingly chipper when she left this morning.”

“I was telling her about how I found a loophole in our rent agreement that would allow Naga to live in the loft with us.” Korra had lived with her on a boat at the docks for quite a while before Mako found us this place. The only downside is that Naga had to live in the basement of the building, something that always annoyed her.

She had only been half-listening when I had been explaining the details of one-upping our landlord. “So you see…the threat of being bled dry would make him agree so fast that – Korra?” Her eyes had widened, as though a thought had suddenly struck her.

“Bleed them dry…of course. Not much, but still…” Murmuring to herself, eyes on me but not seeing. “Bolin, you’re a genius!”

“I’ve been trying to tell you that for the last ten minutes!”

“No…I don’t mean that but…you’re still a genius!” She literally lifts me off the ground with her freakish strength. Grabbing her jacket, she all but runs out the room.

“Where are you going?”

“…not over till the fucking painted lady speaks.” She yells cryptically over her shoulder.

“I still have no idea what that was about.” I tell Mako, and he shakes his head in amusement. Just as he opens his mouth to say something, my stomach rumbles loudly, announcing its distress at being empty at this hour. It’s nearly two in the afternoon.

“I guess your belly read my mind.” He chuckles.

“Fine, fine.” I mutter, getting up. “Just stay put, doc’s orders, don’t move and if you need water or anything, make Pabu do it for you.”

“Right.” He drawls the word out, glancing at the fire ferret snoozing on the window sill. “Remember to ask them to add more fire flakes.”

............................................

I jog through the familiar streets until I’m standing in front of my favourite place in the world. Ah, Narook’s…doesn’t get any better than this. As usual, there’s a line even though it’s past lunch hour, and I find myself standing behind a woman with dark short bob of hair which curl at its ends. I bounce impatiently on my toes, because the lady in front is taking her sweet time ordering, changing her mind a few times. And when she starts to pay, she figures she wants to change her money at the same time. I edge closer, hoping it would make her hurry if she realises there’s a line behind her.

And then she starts to speak, and I forget my hunger, and everything else.

“I’m sorry, I have a lot of change here, could you change them for a ten?” There’s an apologetic note in the lilt of her beautiful voice.

“Sure thing, miss.” I peer over her shoulder to see her hand over a wad of notes as Narook places a ten yuan note on the counter. She folds it carefully and tuck it away in her purse.

“Hey, miss…you gave me too much… there’s nineteen yuan here…” He starts to count again.

“Oh, let me just throw in an extra yuan to make it an even number…and you can give me a twenty instead.” He complies, but something nags at the back of my mind.

“Hang on,” I say, peering over her shoulder. “Narook…you’re supposed to only give ten more.”

Narook frowns, and the customer glances sideways at me at the interruption, her short hair obscuring half her face. She turns back to Narook, tsk-ing at herself “Ah, he’s right…you already gave me a ten…silly me. Maths isn’t my strong point.”

“It’s fine, miss. Didn’t catch that meself. Thanks, Bolin.”

I hear her thank him, and she turns to leave. The world stops spinning for a second time that day.

If I had thought her voice was beautiful, it’s nothing compared to the owner of those clear eyes of fresh olives. A light smattering of freckles pepper her perfect nose, her skin the colour of two parts cream to three parts coff –

“Ahem.” She clears her throat, the quiet way she does it is adorable.

Her cheeks are now light pink; I realise I’m staring, and blocking her path.

“Uh…uhm…” Smooth, Bolin. Real smooth. The moment is over far too soon as she nimbly sidesteps me, but I turn quickly to follow her out.

“Hey…uh…” I falter, but she turns back to me, wariness evident on her face.

“Doyouwanttohavelunchwithme?”

She blinks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?”

“Uhm…do you want to have lunch with me…I mean, I realise what a dumb question that is because you just ordered your takeaway and you probably bought the noodles for others too because that’s a large packet but of course I don’t mean to assume that you don’t eat – maybe it’s for you but I’m not saying you look like you eat a lot either not that there’s anything wrong with that because I do too and by the way you’re beautiful –” I clap my hand to my mouth and shut my eyes. What’s wrong with you, Bolin? Without opening them, I mutter in mortification, “I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“Well, you started out pretty coherent before going a little woolly at the end.” I’m surprised that she replies me, thinking she might have ran off in the opposite direction already. I hear a smile in her words, and I risk a peek. Amazingly, she’s still there. Her free hand on her hip, lips twisted in amusement.

“I did ask for an extra helping of kale. And I’d love to have lunch with you.” She says, turning back into Narook’s, before glancing back to see if I’d follow. Mako and his fire flakes is going to have to wait a while. But I order a delivery for him anyway, before he sends out a search party to find me.

I believe the universe works in the strangest ways. Six hours and five bowls of seaweed noodles later, I’m officially, and irrevocably in love.

And I don’t even know her name yet.

Chapter Text

Part 2: The Real Deal (Or How to Steal the Avatar and Your Heart in Less Than 60 Days)

ASAMI

“Opal, you’re freaking me out.” I announce as Kuvira slurps another strand of her noodle.

“Huh?” Opal blinks, and stares at me blankly.

“You’ve been staring at Kuvira and sighing for the past five minutes.”

“Oh good, I thought it was just me.” Kuvira places her chopsticks down, and arches an eyebrow at Opal seated opposite her. “I think I’ve made it clear that it’s your brother I’m into, not you.”

“I didn’t notice anything.” Bataar offers good-naturedly.

“That’s because you were too busy staring at her too. But actually, Opal was staring at her noodles.” Kai quips, snickering slightly. “And blushing whenever she slurps them.”

“Just shut up and eat your rice, Kai.” Opal says hotly, and turning to me. “I’m just hungry, okay? And Kuvira being a perpetually food machine doesn’t help.” She has a point; Kuvira has an unusually large appetite when it comes to noodles. I need my brain food to think, as she once said. But Kai isn’t off the mark either.

“The lady does protest too much, methinks.” I say lightly, trying to drown another fried dumpling into the house’s special; a pink-coloured and rather fragrant dip, an adventurous mix of salty and sour.

Opal rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She takes a sudden interest in the dip, which is made of fermented krill mixed with just the right combination of shallots, chilli and a hint of lime, and starts picking at it with her chopsticks. “There’s a lot of pepper in this.”

“Those are shrimp eyeballs, actually.”

“Uh huh.” Putting her chopsticks down, she starts drumming her fingers impatiently on the table. “But hurry up, all of you, I want to go over our plans again, for Kai’s sake.”

“What’s the rush?” Kuvira remarks. Propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her clasped hands, she leans forward conspiratorially, “Tell us his name.”

Red creeps up Opal’s neck until she’s blushing furiously. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, coy now. “Wh…what? There’s no one.” Opal is a horrible liar. Kuvira looks unconvinced, glancing meaningfully once at me, but lets it go without comment.

We leave the eatery in Little Ba Sing Se and head towards The Void, passing through the courtyard of the Air Temple. Jinora, the other acolytes and her guests are walking the Bagua, a slow and fluid exercise with lots of circular movement. It’s supposed to be a relaxing exercise regardless of one’s bending ability. Jinora spots us, and gives a tiny wave, her eyes lighting up. I wave back, before realising her eyes are on something or someone past my left shoulder. Figures.

Rolling my eyes, I let my hand fall. Bataar nudges me, grinning. He lowers his voice, “And I thought we were all professionals here.”

I raise a knowing eyebrow at him. “You’re one to talk.”

“We’re not letting you operate a radio ever again.” He mutters, turning beet red.

“Oh, yeah, no. Trust me, it was a sufficiently traumatising experience.” I had regretted fiddling with the frequencies during that Gaoling job. I really, really didn’t want to know where on earth Bataar learnt such filthy vocabulary. I couldn’t look at the both of them straight in the eye for days afterward.

“Traumatising? Traumatising is when you convinced Kuvira to test out your spark glove–”

“How is it my fault she gets other ideas?”

“Asami, you put ideas in people’s heads for a living.”

“Is this a formal complaint?”

“…no.”

...............................................

“So, let me get this straight…you want to steal the… Avatar?” Kai asks, folding his arms, looking extremely sceptical.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of it?” Opal shoots him a questioning look.

“Oh, I know what it is. Precious jewel with weird powers. Yadda yadda.” He waves his hand dismissively, as though it’s the most normal thing in the world for people to discuss stealing something.

“You don’t believe it’s true?” Opal asks curiously. “According to the old legends, it’s gave you the power to bend all the elements.”

“You could rule the entire world.” Kuvira points out. “Legend or not, plenty of people would want to procure it for themselves, or die trying. Countless wars have been fought over it... remember the Hundred Year War? It all started because the Fire Lord refused to hand the Avatar over, using it to consolidate his own power. ”

“Meh.” Kai shrugs, picking at his teeth with a toothpick. “Ruling the world is overrated. Whoever dug it out of the iceberg was a nuisance, if you ask me.”

“In any case, the nation safekeeping it would pass it on to the next nation. It so happens the United Republic of Nations will be its next gatekeeper. The gemstone would be an exhibit for the public for exactly one week before it goes into the vault for the next few decades or so.”

“Not saying you guys aren’t capable but…what I don’t get is how we’re ever going to fence something like that even if we do succeed. Unless you’ve already got a buyer.”

His trepidation is understandable. The more precious or rare an item is, the more difficult it is to sell it on the black market. This narrows the list of potential buyers considerably to truly serious collectors, people willing to admire their ‘purchase’ in the privacy of their own spaces, forever hidden away from public eye. Otherwise, most would rather not risk having such a hot item on their hands. On the bright side though, it makes competition less stiff.

Opal shakes her head, and explains. “Buyers. Plural.”

“You’re going to split it up?” 

“That’s not what she means.” I reply. “Why sell something once when you can sell it three times over?”

Kai mules it over for a minute, brows furrowing together. “Oh?...Oh! So we sell to one, keep stealing it back, and sell it again?”

“That is rather…convoluted.” I laugh. “And unpractical. You’ve got to start thinking like a grifter, not a thief.”

“You keep saying that, but we’re about to pull off the biggest heist ever.” He argues back.

Surprisingly, it’s Kuvira who decides to put Kai out of his misery. “The only thing we’re going to sell are fakes, Airhead.”

He seems to deflate slightly. “Oh, so it’s just a fake heist, then?”

“Well, no, we have to still pull it off and hold onto it just long enough to convince our marks it’s the real thing. That the place has really been broken into and the Avatar stolen. The press would be all over that, so that’s covered for us.” Opal continues on. “Right now, we have two months before the WHITE Lotus delivers it to Republic City.”

“And you’ve actually found buyers?”

“Opal and I have identified potential buyers but we have to be extra careful to make sure they really are what they seem, because the police and everyone else will be on high alert.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure that ‘General’ Zhao guy is legit…frankly I think his obsession is…scary.” Opal mutters.

“Where do I fit in all of this?” Kai looks eager now. If only he knew how risky this job is. Opal nods at Bataar to continue.

“The money from our previous con is mainly for me and Asami, to figure out a way to reproduce fakes that would seem genuine.” He hesitates. “As for you, try to read up on anything you can find regarding the Avatar.”

“You’re relegating me to research?!”

“It’s an important role, Kai.” I say in the tone of voice a healer might use to placate a disgruntled patient. “It’s crucial we lie low and not draw any attention to ourselves for the time being.”

“She’s right. Another thing…I don’t want to be a downer but I hope everyone realises what’s at stake if we don’t pull it off?” Opal looks at every single one of us in turn, her expression serious. Lifelong imprisonment is an unappealing notion, but the payoff would be worth it. We all nod in silent acknowledgement.

 She looks at her watch, eyes widening slightly and jumps up. “Well, I guess we’re all clear on what needs to be done. Asami, Kuvira, you guys still owe that ten thousand.” With that, she hurries out of the room.

“What was that about?” Bataar wonders out aloud but we shake our heads, being in the dark as well. Kuvira pulls out a stash of yuan and hands them over to Bataar, “I only managed to rake in a couple hundred or so in the last couple of days.”

Pulling out my own purse, I take out a bulky envelope. There’s about two hundred yuan worth of Varrichips inside.

“You gamble?” Kai asks, surprised.

“It’s just Pai Sho.” Pai Sho gambling isn’t really my thing, and it’s difficult to win a lot without risking the management taking notice. Alternating between purposely losing games and then winning them so as to not make it obvious is taking far too much time. Time that we can’t afford, especially with all the preparations we have to do.

She glances over at me, tapping her concealed revolver in her vest lightly. “This is fucking hard. I have half a mind to actually rob a bank.”

Bataar laughs out loud, giving her an affectionate peck on the temple. “I think that counts as ‘not lying low’, dear.”

I turn to Kai, “I’m going to need your help. Ready to put your skills to the test?”

.......................................................

“Know anyone who can bend glass?” Bataar looks up from his parchments, fragile things yellowed with age. He taps on them with his pencil. “From these diagrammes, I can more or less work out its shape and size but it’s not really clear what material it resembles.”

“I think that’s the point. It’s a one-of-a-kind piece of rock.” I say absently, studying the schematics of the building that is going to house the Avatar, trying to find weaknesses to exploit.

We’re in my study today, because it’s more comfortable place to work in than a locked meditation room on a hard stone floor on the island. “You’ll be interested to know that City Hall commissioned an unusually large amount of platinum from Future Industries and Cabbage Corp.”

“Wouldn’t it be ironic if they commission Future Industries to design the security for the Avatar?” Bataar asks.

“I’m not going to compromise FI if it comes to that.” I reply a little too sharply, and then adding, “It’s wouldn’t be far-fetched for them to employ some of FI’s manpower, but I doubt they’ll let them be entirely in charge of the operation. They’re still mainly an automobile company, after all.”

“Headed for the island?”

“Not at the moment, it was just some small talk with an old co-worker. City Hall does requests for certain materials from time to time, so it may turn out to be nothing. But the fact it’s specifically platinum is interesting.”

“Hmm, I guess it’s –” He breaks off as someone rings the bell. I find Kuvira standing there outside. She grimaces slightly when she spots the newly-repaired study door, the cause of our predicament. She aims an imaginary gun at it and pretends to fire, smirking at me. I can’t help but give a grin of my own.

“Hey, thought I’d drop to check on you guys. Anything you need?”

“See if you could figure how they’re dealing with the logistics of transporting the Avatar.” I say, showing her the blueprints. Reconnaissance is something of Opal’s particular specialty, not mine or Bataar’s.

“All right, I’ll check it out with Opal. Your haul coming in okay?”

I wave my hand dismissively, “It’s going, I guess. But my mark is annoying… to the point I’m thinking of calling it off because he’s just such an… a pain to deal with.”

Kuvira laughs. “I’ll take your word for it.” She takes off her jacket, and unhooks her gun harness. Together with the revolver still holstered in it, she tosses it to Bataar. “Hold onto that for me, will you?”

I recognise it as Kuvira taking extra precaution, even though she has a license to carry it. Skulking around construction sites and warehouses as an armed civilian is usually a recipe for disaster.

She leaves, and we get back to work.

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“I’m in love, Korra.” I say that night during our usual sparring session, dropping flat on my back, a stupid grin on my face.

Korra’s face looms over me, peering. “Is it Eska again? You know I have a restraining order on her, right? Please don’t tell me it’s Ginger. Or Wei.” She looks slightly suspicious.

“No, of course it’s not any of…wait. Why would you even think of Wei Beifong??”

“I don’t know if you have a twin thing.”

“I do not have a twin thing! I don’t even swing that way.”

“Yell louder, will you?” I lift my head up, but we’re alone in the gym.

I lower my voice and murmur dreamily, “She’s definitely nothing like Eska. She’s…there’s no words to describe her. She’s funny, so smart, and…” I sigh. “…beautiful.” Korra places her hand on my forehead, grinning now.

“Hmm. Your temperature’s normal.” I swat her hand away, sitting up.

“I’ve never felt this way before.” I say seriously. “And I don’t even know her name.”

“Wait a minute…does this person even exist?”

“Yes! We just sat there and talked for hours…and I’m too dumb to even ask for her name!” I’m a little hysterical now but Korra pats me on the back.

“Hey. Hey. Don’t say that, you’re not dumb.” Korra has always been a better emotional support than Mako, and I’m grateful for that. “So are you going to meet her again?”

“Yeah, I am… Tomorrow night, at Narook’s”

“Well, I’ll make sure we keep out of the way of that place then.” She says, winking at me. Her lopsided grin is infectious, and then I’m grinning along with her. “Don’t want to scare your date off.”

...................................................

Opal. Such a beautiful name, for a beautiful person.

There’s an easiness in the way we connect, talking about just anything under the sun. The way her eyes sparkle with life when she speaks, a certain liveliness and spirit of a life lived to the fullest, especially when she talks about her travels and the people she’s met, reminding me of things I’ve since buried, reminding me that’s how I want to live. To feel wonder at the world, to feel…alive.

It’s the same sort of fulfilment that Mako and Korra seem to find in police work that I sorely lack. I’ve always known I love helping people but being a cop doesn’t give me that same sort of gratification.

“You seem to live such an exciting life…” I say, trailing off when I realise I might have sounded envious. She reaches across the table, and covers my hand with her own.

“What’s wrong, Bolin?” Her voice is quiet, and her gaze steady, like nothing else matters except me. It’s both a wonderful and terrifying feeling.

“It’s just… I don’t know. My life seems so bland in comparison. I don’t know how my brother or best friend does it. Being a cop…” I shrug, sighing heavily. “It just doesn’t feel like me, you know?”

Her olive green eyes flashes, and for one infinitesimal moment, her expression becomes shuttered. And then it’s gone. Huh, weird. Must be the lighting in here. She releases my hand, and the warmth doesn’t reach her eyes this time. “I know what it’s like to feel… left out. To be the odd one out.”

I suddenly finding myself telling her things I haven’t told anyone else. Not even Korra. “I…I think…I don’t know. I feel I’ve been useless all my life. Even when we were living on the streets, Mako’s always been the one to take care of me. And then I thought things were pretty good for a while, being an amateur pro-bender. It seemed like I was finally good at something. And then Mako and Korra went on to the police academy. I stayed on…and we kept losing. It made me feel like…like it wasn’t really me, after all.”

Hanging my head, I poke at my noodles, appetite lost. “So I went to college, but I couldn’t figure what I’d really want to do either until the Chief convinced me to try out for the police academy, where all I learnt was that I couldn’t metalbend for the life of me.” I add the last bit with a laugh, but even the sound feels hollow. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t…like I can’t… make a difference. Most of the time it feels like all our efforts are for nothing. The crooks get away and then there are the victims, where they’re just as bad and I’d find myself thinking they deserved it…and then I feel horrible that I even think that way…what’s the point of it all?” Looking into the reflection of my soup bowl, she must think me pathetic.

“I think comparing yourself, and trying to live up to family’s expectations…it’s a recipe for disaster.” She says, looking out the window, gazing at nothingness, before turning back to me. There’s a long moment of silence, before she tells me about her own family. How her brothers are all talented benders, except the eldest, the only one she’s close to. How being a non-bender was okay as a kid, before her inexplicable ability cropped up. It didn’t make her feel special, but it attracted hushed whispers about affairs and illegitimate children. How her own mother sent her away, caring more about her own image than her daughter, and how she grew up with her grandmother instead.

“So everything I’ve done…I’ve tried becoming the opposite of everything she is.” A ghost of a smile plays on her lips. Her hands are trembling slightly, and it’s my turn to cover them with my own. Narook closes, and I lead her outside, and we walk aimlessly through a nearby park in comfortable silence.

It’s late, and she turns to me, holding my eyes with her own.

“Opal…”

“Hmm?”

“It’s easy being… me… around you.”

Her lips look so soft. I step closer towards her. Do it, Bolin. Before I can work up the courage, she reaches up and presses her lips chastely to my cheek.

“You’re sweet, Bolin. But I’ve got to go.” There’s more than a hint of regret in her voice, and sadness in her eyes.

I lie awake that night, and don’t get any sleep.

..........................................................

“So what you’re saying is that a woman sold you a miniature platypus bear, which…” I glance again at the report to make sure I read it right. “which…uh…poops money?” It’s been nearly a week since I’ve last seen Opal. The days feel longer, bleaker somehow but the promise of seeing her again gets me through the worst of it.

“Well, I wouldn’t know if it was a woman or a really feminine boy!” The man sporting a thin moustache, dressed flamboyantly in Water Tribe’s colours, throws up his arms in the air in exasperation.

“Mr Varrick, maybe you could be more specific on why you believed it could…uhm…poop money in the first place?”

“Because it did the thing!”

“Could you be a bit more explicit…maybe start from the beginning, please?”

“Do I look like Mr. Exposition to you, kid?”

“It’s not helping the readers of your statement.” I try explaining. This is more than exhausting. His handwriting was not only almost unintelligible but it had the vocabulary of a five-year-old. There must be at least twenty ‘things being done’ in it, so far. And this guy is supposed to be some sort of genius.

“Fine. She inserted one bill into its beak, and six hours later, it pooped out two!” He produces the two notes, practically flinging them in my face. Leaning towards me, lowering his voice conspiratorially, “Don’t let it get out that my platypus bear can do that.”

“Sir, you do realise that counterfeiting is a crime? And that you knowingly purchased a… device which claims to do so makes you complicit as well?”

“What?! Zhu Li, why didn’t you say something?” He says angrily to a woman standing submissively to one side. Her impassive face doesn’t give anything away. It must be my imagination but for a moment I think I see her sigh a little in exasperation.

“We require you to give up this device at once to the police –”

“Who says anything about giving you folks my platypus bear? Perhaps this could be replicated with vine energy …” He’s talking to himself now, before snapping his fingers. “Zhu Li! Back to the yacht!”

“Wait, do you want to press charges?”

“Who cares about that now?! I’ve got a levitation lesson to get back to!” He’s almost at the door before he turns back again. Producing a card, he hands it to me. “Oh, and if you’re interested, here’s my card. You’ve got a face I could make famous, and I have an unerring knack for such things.”

I glance at the business card embellished with the logo of a blue ship: Varrick Global Industries. And below that: Founder: Varrick. CEO: Varrick. CFO: Varrick.

Okay, that was one weird… And then I notice the two hundred-yuan note on the ground. I pick them up and study them. They’re identical, down to the serial numbers. I quickly rush to Korra’s desk, where I find her finishing up a report.

“Hey, Korra. Look what I got.” I say excitedly.

“Hey, what’s up?” She puts her pen down.

“I think we might have a counterfeiting ring to bust!”

Korra lifts an eyebrow and studies the notes carefully, flipping them over a few times and holding them to the light. “Why? Did someone say they have a magical box that can double your income?” She hands them back to me.

“Uh…yeah...except he says it’s a miniature stuffed platypus bear.” I deflate slightly when I realise her meaning behind her question. “You mean you’ve seen this kind of thing before?”

Shrugging, she signs her report before filing it away. “It’s a very old-fashioned kind of scam. The second note would have been placed there beforehand. Both of them are real enough, and only the serial number would be tweaked to match. Nobody falls for it anymore…except greedy idiots.” She chuckles a little, “Platypus bear? Now that’s a new one.”

“Oh.” Well, that is disappointing. “Guy didn’t press charges though.”

“Figures.”

“But run it by Ren, just in case it’s really a counterfeit…and then we would have a serious problem.”

When I return, there is a flurry of activity in the bullpen. Excited whispering everywhere. Korra’s chair is empty. I stop by Wu’s desk and ask. “What’s the fuss all about?”

“Well, a bunch of the oddest looking group turned up. I mean, seven-foot tall and armless women? It’s like the circus was here. They’re in the Chief’s office now.”

Chapter Text

ASAMI

“The Avatar Memorial Island is quite the strategical location.” Kuvira announces, arms behind her back, looking every bit like a seasoned military commander. “With only one single entrance into the building and being surrounded by sea, it’s easy to track visitors of the public coming and going. In the event of a break-in, it’s relatively simple to lock the entire building down, and if you manage to get that far, there’s still an entire bay to cross to safety.”

“Having a waterbender and more earthbenders on our team would make things easier.” Kai begins, looking deep in thought. He’s definitely getting into the swing of things.

She shakes her head. “Not really. A waterbender would only get you there but that’s about it. Even though the floors are marble, all you need is a layer of platinum and you wouldn’t be able to bend anything beyond that, so tunnelling from below is out.”

“The island is currently closed to the public for ‘refurbishment’ so we couldn’t get that close. I spotted them shipping in what seems to be sheets of platinum, so it’s safe to the say the entire place would be reinforced with it.” Opal says. “And just like before, presumably everyone who visits during the day would have to be chi-blocked before entering.”

“What if we strike during transit instead?”

“They’re big on compartmentalisation; that’s why it’s difficult to track its movement. No one knows who does what, and trying to find the right person to bribe isn’t cost-effective. Not to mention taking away the element of surprise.”

“Hmm. Okay. We’ll just have to work with what we know. How about your side of things, Kai?”

“You know, there is so much literature on it, it’s impossible to separate fact from fiction. So the myth is that it contains the essence of Ravaa, the Great Spirit of Light and that it’ll amplify your bending. Like if you’re an earthbender, you could literally carve out an entire island. You know…that sort of thing. But no bender who hasn’t been chi-blocked has been allowed near it so far to test that out.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “That whole thing about gaining the ability to bend all four elements is actually rubbish…unless you’re some kind of special snowflake.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you gotta be blessed by Ravaa or the spirits or some crap to actually be able to tap into the power of the stone. The last guy who could, historically, which was like a million years ago, supposedly died in a volcano, but that hasn’t stop the next sap from thinking they are the chosen one.”

“That’s actually good news. At least we don’t have to build some kind of chi-enhancing device if anyone who touches the stone suddenly gets amplified bending.” Bataar muses. “It would be a hard sell to our clients.”

“It glows though. That much most of the different old texts of the different nations can agree on.”

“What?” Bataar’s eyes nearly bug out at that rather inconvenient detail. “I know it changes colour depending on the light but…glowing?”

“That’s true…at certain angles, it’s green and some other times it’s amber. It glows a little but it’ll turn bright white when you direct your chi at it.”

“I don’t follow.” He answers for both of us, crossing his arms “You mean like throwing rocks at it would make it glow brighter?”

“No. It’s hard to explain. I mean, it’s like you’re bending, but not.” Kai glances at Kuvira and Opal for help.

Kuvira walks over to us. “This is what he means.” She pulls back a fist and aims it at my shoulder. I automatically flinch, but her fist stops short of contact. I feel…something. It’s not quite air, but…

“Pressure.” Bataar says slowly, when Kuvira repeats her motions, this time at him.

Opal explains, nodding. “Bending is essentially extending your natural chi outside your body. It’s just energy, and when it resonates with the energy of an element, it responds to your chi.”

“So what you’re saying is the Avatar would turn opaque if someone did what she just did?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of glow do you mean? I need quantifiable definitions.”

“With the ‘brilliance of a thousand suns’ is the exact phrase if I remember correctly. Look, the entire thing was couched in poetic language.”

“This is more…challenging than I had imagined.” Bataar sighs heavily. “Tungsten is out, I guess.”

“We could use electroluminescence.” I suggest. And white colour would be…tricky. Not impossible, of course, but tricky.

“A few hours is too short a window.” He reminds me.

“Is it going to be a problem?” Kuvira looks from me to her fiancé, eyebrows furrowed together. “It makes me nervous when you two start with your geek talk.”

“Other than the fact we’re trying to replicate a one-of-a-kind gemstone, which frankly, defies all natural laws of known minerals? Nope, we’re going to be just fine.”

“I’m being serious here.”

“So am I.”

He shrugs. “Look, you know that Varrick mover we saw a few days ago? All that while I was thinking I could probably build that villain’s weapon of mass destruction even though it looks ridiculous as anything, given the right resources.”

“Okay. We’re trusting you and Asami on this.”

....................................................

“That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.” I state, surveying Kai in his strange…getup. He’s wearing large brown turban, which makes him head look oddly disproportionate. But even stranger is the flowing white beard that reaches to the middle of his chest. It has been a long week, and I’m tired, partly because we keep hitting dead-ends. The lack of information we have on our part makes me feel insecure. But the comical sight of Kai hovering in front of my workshop window in his outfit is enough to lift my spirits a little, and I unlatch the window to let him in.

“Is that how you address your honourable, venerable swami?” He asks in mock anger.

“Oh, forgive me, lord honourable, venerable swami, I didn’t think you’d be a twenty-one year old.”

“Instinct is a lie, told by a fearful body, hoping to be wrong.”

I start to laugh. “That is…actually pretty good. Not that I know what it means.”

“It means if something is something…, you blind yourself to the realities of new possibilities….or something.”

“You hang around Jinora too much nowadays.”

He shrugs, grinning mischievously. “What can I say…Air Temple Island has a large library.” He pulls a thick wad of cash from beneath his beard. “For only four thousand yuan and…extras, you can learn to levitate in three simple lessons.”

“Impressive.” I nod my approval, wondering who his mark was. He starts unravelling his turban, and a strange assortment of…things fall out. Then I spot an all too familiar-looking miniature stuffed platypus bear. Huh, what are the odds? He starts rummaging among the junk from his turban.

“You know…I never really got to thank you for…you know…getting me into the crew.” I figure this isn’t the time to tell him that he was handpicked from the start. That boy has a big enough ego as it is. He pulls out a long, thin metallic object and presents it with a dramatic flourish in front of me. “So this is for you.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s just a hex key, Kai.”

“See, knew you would know what it’s for.” He gestures at the rest of his steal. “I just grabbed most of it on my way out.” He hands me a few palm-sized glass capsules. “There’s the stuff you wanted. There’re practically hundreds of them so I doubt they’d miss any.” He hauls all of it back into his undone turban into a makeshift sack and throws them over his shoulder. “Anyhow just wanted to ask if you need anything more.”

I do a quick mental calculation of our collection so far. “You can tell Opal we’re good to go. Thank you, by the way.” He nods, and he starts to leave, one foot on the window sill, apparently still having no notion of the function of a door.

“Wait, did she say anything about her wingsuit? Does it need adjustments?” I remember just in time.

“Dunno about hers, but mine is totally fine. Reminds me of wings of those…ah…what do you call those creatures? Ah, got it.” He cocks an eyebrow. “It’s like I’m…

“Kai, no.”

“….Wolfbat Kai!”

Yep, I’m officially living in a bad comedy.

“All right, Wolfbatman, off you go….and you still have your beard on.”

“Oh, right.” He yanks it off and tosses it at me. “See you in the morning.” I watch him leave, and then count the money. It’s nearly a thousand short but I don’t begrudge him the money; he’s more than earned his cut.

.......................................................

I’m staring at the blueprints for so long and recalculating everything so many times the print is starting to blur at this point. My headache is growing, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to will it away, pressing my fingers to my temple. I almost fall out of my chair when I hear the annoying shrill. I glance at a clock next to me. It’s nearly three in the morning. A fisheye view of Opal greets me at the peephole, and I let her in, wondering what could be so urgent at this hour.

“Hey, Asami. I know it’s late, but I saw the light at your window. You’ve a minute?”

I try, and fail to stifle a yawn. “Sure. Want a drink?” She acquiesces, and I fetch her a cup of sake.

“I’ve always thought you were a teetotaller.” She says, accepting the cup and taking a sip.

“Only sometimes.” Opal settles down into the couch, and I sit on the other end, adjusting so that I’m facing her. She doesn’t say anything further for a while, drinking quietly from her cup. Despite the lateness of the hour, she doesn’t seem affected by it, her eyes still bright and clear.

“How long have we been friends, Asami?” She asks suddenly, breaking the silence.

I’m taken by surprise by the question. It’s an odd one, and while she’s still one of my closest friends, I’ve always been closer to Kuvira than her. “A long time, I guess.”

“Do you still remember what I said when we first met?”

Ah, when I first joined the crew. “That you needed me for what was going to be your last job.” I smile at the memory. Almost a decade later and look where we are.

“Yeaaah…I know I always say that.” She grins slightly, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “But I’ve been thinking…”

“What?”

“That this really ought to be my last score.” She takes another swig of her cup. “You know what they say, right? Quit while you’re at the top?” She has a point, but there seems to be more to it.

“What brought this on?” I ask quietly.

She looks thoughtful. “Well, I…I...” Blowing out a breath, she mutters almost inaudibly. “I...I met someone.” Oh?

“Oh?”

Rubbing her palm on her face, she groans slightly. “Wow, that sounds corny when I say it out loud. It’s such a dumb phrase. Do you ever wonder why whenever someone says that, it usually always means–”

“Opal?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Sorry.” She trails off, staring back down into her cup.

“Can I ask about that, or is that breaking the rules?” We have an unspoken rule among us; we don’t try to pry into the other’s past or personal issues, which is how I’ve always liked it. In any case, Opal, Kuvira and Bataar know each other far longer than I have them, so it’s a little strange why she’s opening up to me now.

“It’s just…I don’t know. Ever since I met Bolin, I’ve been thinking about… what it’s like…you know… to just live a regular life. There’s just this sort of…wholesomeness to him and...” A faint blush appears and she falters, too embarrassed to go on. Bolin? Why does his name sound so familiar? I try to think back to where I first heard the name.

I’m thinking, trying to find the right words to say, when she speaks again. “I figured you might have experience…about this sort of thing.”

“What sort of thing?”

“Making difficult choices…where your heart is concerned.”

Her cup is empty, and she looks at me imploringly. Taking the hint, I rise to refill it. And then my eyes fall on the door of my study, and I finally make the connection. Really, Opal? Of all the people you had to fall for, it had to be a cop, and of all the cops in Republic City, it just has to be Korra’s partner. The universe has a twisted sense of humour. Groaning inwardly, I return to the living room.

“I suppose you falling for a cop does complicate matters a bit.” I hand her the cup, placing the bottle onto the table. Her head jerks up, eyes widening in surprise. I wave it off. “Yeah, I know of him. Long story.” A sense of unease starts to rise, and I try to tamp down the growing panic.

“How did you deal with it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on, Asami. We’d be blind to have not noticed that there must have been something between you and that cop of yours.”

“Opal, it wasn’t like that…not how you think. But that’s neither here nor there. This isn’t about me.” I chide gently, trying to steer the conversation away from dangerous waters. Not a topic I want to deal with tonight.

“Bataar and Kuv would kill me if they knew.” She laughs nervously, taking a sudden interest in the carpet.

“Were you working an angle on him?”

She shakes her head. “What? No… Actually, I thought he was working on me, and I played along at first…but then I realised… he has no clue.” She starts picking at her sleeve. “Just two people who happened to meet in a noodle shop. Honestly, I didn’t think my life would –”

“– resemble one of Ikki’s trashy fanfiction?”

It lightens the mood, and despite herself, Opal chuckles, but it doesn’t last. Her expression grows serious once more. “I don’t like lying to him about what I do for a living.” I wonder what could go wrong? Please, please don’t let this go where I think it’s going.

“Do you…what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe after this con, I could tell him….”

“Yeah, maybe.” So she’s not calling the Avatar job off. We can’t stop now; I’m so close.

“I mean I’m going to retire. We’ve been at this for so long…it’ll probably break up the crew for good.” She doesn’t say anything more for a moment, and I have no reply either. Her eyes finally meet mine, her gaze enquiring. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

All I can do is shrug, trying not to let my relief show. “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life. We’ll be okay.”

Opal lets out a sigh and laughs softly. “I’ll figure out a way to break it to the others... later. But I’m not going to hear the end of it from them.” Getting up, she hugs me gratefully. “Thanks for this… It didn’t feel right… keeping it from everyone.”

“No, I get it.” I hug her back, fighting off the wave of guilt that washes over me. As I see her off, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing myself. Yes, I am. I repeat it silently to myself. This is for her; I owe her that much.

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“Are you all right, Opal?” She looks up from her quiet reverie, and my breath catches, the way it always does when she looks at me. I could never get tired of the view.

We’re on the lake, sharing one of the many turtle duck boats gently drifting on the calm water. Night hasn’t quite fallen, but the crescent moon is already visible against a sky painted a beautiful hue of seamless purple and orange.

“Yeah. I was just… thinking.” She traces a pattern absently on my palm with a finger, the gentle touch sending a light shiver down my spine.

“Yeah?” I ask, trying to prompt her. At times, she would talk at length enthusiastically but there are also times like these, where she would fall silent, with an almost pained expression in her eyes.

She shifts in my arms to look at me, gazing deeply into my eyes. “I…I like you, Bo. I like you a lot.” Her voice is soft, and a little sad.

“I like you a lot too, Opal. But you say it like it’s a bad thing.”

She sighs deeply, turning away. “What would you do if you find out that your idea of me is just an illusion?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean just that. If one day you wake up and realise that I’m not who you think I am?”

“Well, to answer you, I have a few questions of my own.” She raises an eyebrow in puzzlement, an expression that only makes her look even more adorable.

“Have you killed someone before?”

She blinks in shock. “What? No.”

“Ever kicked an animal for the fun of it?”

“No.” She looks completely nonplussed now.

“And finally, everything you’ve told me, did you lie about any of that?”

“No? I mean…I probably might have…erm…omitted a few details, but for the most part, no.”

“Then we don’t have a problem!” I say happily. “Look, I don’t have the cleanest past either, but we all make mistakes.”

“I think there’s a difference between circumstance, and willing participation.”

“Hey, no one held a gun to my head while I ran numbers and hustled for a triad.” This time, her eyebrows nearly completely disappear beneath her bangs. Okaaaay, maybe telling her that isn’t such a good idea. But while she looks surprised, she doesn’t seem very upset.

“And now you’re a cop?”

I shrug nonchalantly. “Life’s funny sometimes. All I’m saying is, it can’t be all that bad. You’re a good person, Opal.”

She looks away again, this time trailing her hand in the water. Taking a deep breath, she grabs my hand all of a sudden. “I…I think we should take a break, just for a little while.” Whoa whoa. Wait, what?

“Why?” I cringe inwardly, wondering if I blew it again. “Did I say or do something wrong?”

“It’s not you, Bo.” She closes her eyes for a moment, before opening them again. “I mean, can you wait?” Wait for what? Opal seems to read my mind and says. “Just give me three more weeks, that’s all I’m asking.”

“To do what?”

“I just need to… deal with something first. Just three weeks.” She’s acting a little strange now. Three weeks before the next date doesn’t seem to warrant a break up, and I tell her so.

Her lips set in a grim line. “You might change your mind about me before that time’s up.”

.......................................................

We’re all in the loft that night after Opal leaves me by the lake, celebrating Mako’s and Wu’s breakthrough in their case that led to the successful arrest and confession of the murderer of the lady on the lake. Mako is still in his leg and arm cast, so the celebration had to be here. Only my brother could solve a case while incapacitated. He had been very reluctant but after two glasses of fire whiskey, he’s loosened up a little. It isn’t long until the entire place is filled with the smell of tobacco and alcohol. The phonograph playing some popular jazzy tune in the background, adding to the festive mood.

I’m sitting near the window seat, just taking in everything. The numb of Opal’s…rejection? Was it even that? – has yet to wear off, and I’ve never felt so alone in a crowd before. The weight of it is crushing, a growing tightness in my chest but for Mako’s sake, I stave it off as best as I can, drinking quietly in my corner, and distracting myself by listening to their conversation.

“Why did she do it again?” Korra asks lazily, swirling her glass of baijiu, her poison of choice, inexplicably avoiding fire whiskey like the plague as always.

Wu is still coherent enough, knocking back his fire whiskey before wincing in regret. “Plain old revenge, that’s what it was all about.”

“Always comes down to that, doesn’t it?” Mako mutters. He waves his good arm at the messy pile of papers and the cartons of dusty boxes at the corner. “The cold cases were a dead end though.”

“I know…don’t remind me.” Wu groans loudly. “At least you didn’t have to…hic!… to deal….hic!… with Ryu down at …hic!... Archives. That man is one…hic!...unhelpful apathe…hic!...tic blob.

Wu doesn’t last much longer, and his head droops into his bowl of fire flakes. Sighing and shaking his head, Mako grabs the scruff of his shirt and pulls his head out. “He was going on about some odd-looking people down at headquarters a couple of days ago. Meant to ask what was it about.”

“Oh yeah, that.” Korra glances around unnecessarily, before leaning in conspiratorially. “Get this. The Chief’s sister and a bunch of other agents from RED Lotus came down today. I happened to be delivering my report to the Chief. You should’ve seen her face. Hah! Thought a vein might’ve popped.”

“RED Lotus? Why would they be here?”

“Apparently –and this is the part where Suyin Beifong started throwing her weight around and tried kicking me out, but the Chief made me stay anyway, just to spite her – I can see why she doesn’t like her – … where was I again?”

“Apparently?”

“Right. Apparently…,” She pauses, losing her train of thought again. “…you know that the Avatar is due to arrive in two weeks’ time?”

“Really? I thought…well I had no clue, come to think of it.” At this point, I don’t really care but my mind dimly remembers that while they were sister organisations, the Republic Earth Division dealt with the really serious threats. Their name is a misnomer because their organisation spans beyond borders and across the entire world.

Korra is unfazed, shrugging. “Top secrecy shit and all that. So –”

“Isn’t that task for the WHITE Lotus?”

“Stop interrupting me, Sharkbrows. I’m getting to it. So, as I was saying, the REDs got a tip-off that someone is planning a heist on the Avatar and they sent Beifong in to set up a task force and investigate.”

“Are you part of it?”

“Why would I be? I’m Fraud, not Robbery. Besides, no self-respecting fence would go near it with a ten-foot-pole.” She lights a cigarette, puffing out the smoke towards the ceiling.” I’m just telling you what I heard.”

“Maybe they’d want it for themselves?” Mako struggles to open a fresh bottle of fire whiskey with one hand, before Korra does it for him. He offers her a glass but she demurs.

“Look, whatever it is, it won’t be a one-man job. You get a few buggers after one stone and one of them is bound to get greedy.”

He doesn’t argue back, and drinks silently. Korra gets up, swaying slightly on her feet before heading towards me.

“Hey, scoot over, Bo.” Korra wiggles into the window seat, finally ending up sitting facing me, shins and knees pressing against mine. She peers intently at me over her cup, her eyes half-lidded from the alcohol. Tilting her head slightly, she nudges me with one shin. “What’s wrong, Bo?”

“Who…who says anything is wrong?”

“I’m a detective. But I’m your best friend first.” She continues to regard me with those blue eyes of hers, her expression unyielding until I finally crack.

“I don’t really know what happened. We were hitting it off great and then suddenly Opal says she can’t see me anymore.” Emotions finally overwhelm the tightness in my chest, and hot tears start to flow as I start sobbing loudly.

“Opal?” Korra blinks a few times. “Not Beifong, right?” Her words click some vague something in my brain but right now, I’m a mess. Why, Opal, why?

“I don’t know!” I’m yelling now, almost hysterical, crying harder now.

Korra, after stumbling a lot, pulls me into a bear hug. “I’m so sorry, Bo.” I settle down, and glance up in time to see anger in her eyes. Korra jumps up, grabs another bottle of sake and chugs it. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and staggers towards the door.

“Where…are you going?” I try getting up, but the world spins and I collapse back onto the cushions.

“To defend your honour.”

ASAMI

It’s past midnight as I turn the corner to my flat when I feel a hand clamp down hard on my shoulder. Muscle memory kicks in and I react on instinct, twisting my assailant’s wrist around and shoving them hard against the brick wall.

“Unnghh!”

“Korra?” I release her wrist and the back of her neck. “I’m so sorry.” She turns around, and nearly jabs me in the eye with her finger.

“You!” She half-snarls. “You’ve been fucking…hic! Bolin.” Her boots bumping into mine; she’s so close that I can smell her breath and the cigarette smoke clinging to her clothes. Has she been drinking? Bolin? The pieces quickly fall into place. For crying out loud, Opal, look at what you’ve gotten me into.

“I’m not sleeping with your partner, Korra.”

She eyes me suspiciously, clearly out of it, slurring her words. “You haven’t been fucking with him? Messing with his head?” Nope, you’re still my favourite candidate for that.

“No. Look at me; what’s my name, detective?”

She sways slightly on the spot for a moment, finally grabbing my shoulders for support. “Asa-mi Sato.” Her thick Southern lilt creeping back into her voice in her intoxicated state.

“Did Bolin mention the name Asami Sato?” I say it slowly and clearly, careful to avoid Opal’s name. The last thing anyone needs is a drunk, pissed-off Korra tearing up Air Temple Island just to wring Opal’s neck.

She’s frowning now, taking one step back. I suspect the crick from craning her neck to look up at me isn’t worth the effort. “No?”

“Right. So I’m in no way screwing with your friend. Physically, or mentally.” It’s a struggle to maintain my straight face. Korra is starting to pout, her lower lip jutting out in that strangely adorable way of hers, pondering my logic.

“No?” She repeats again.

It’s a losing battle, and once the chuckle starts, I can’t stop myself. I’m laughing so hard that Korra just stands there dumbly, clear confusion on her face.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I grip her arm to steady myself, but she doesn’t resist. “How did you even get here?”

“I…uh…don’t know.”

“You should go home.”

“No, wait. I was supposed to… do something.”

I wonder if Opal told him. Nah. She’s too smart to give away anything. But there is no way Korra is capable of going back safely in that state. I hook one arm under one of hers.

“Let’s just get you home now.”

After much struggling and huffing, I manage to manoeuvre her onto my nearby Satocycle before realising I don’t know where she lives now. It takes me another fifteen minutes to get to her wallet for her address, and then back onto the moped, during which time she threatened to arrest me about five times. It’s quite the feat that I manage to somehow not let her fall off during the journey while riding one-handed, but that’s mostly because I am going at a fire snail’s pace, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around her waist. There’s a strangely familiar pang at the close proximity, but one that I quickly push away.

We finally make it back to her place, and I lower her to the ground. The address seems familiar but I can’t place it. No one answers the door, despite me ringing the bell repeatedly. Maybe she lives alone now. Taking out a small flathead tension wrench and a bent hairpin, I begin picking her lock. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Korra staring, but her brain is still clearly soaked in alcohol when she mumbles. “Where… am I, Mi?”

“Home sweet home, sweetheart.” I’m having a lot more fun than I should.

Her words, while slurred, manage to form a comprehensible question. “Why…how you know…pick a lock?”

“You taught me, don’t you remember?”

Hiccupping loudly, she struggles to keep her eyelids open. “Where… key...”

“No, you didn’t give me a key, Korra.”

“Why…not?”

“You’re going to hate yourself for asking that question in the morning.”

Her head lolls against the wall as she asks suddenly. “Are you going… steal the Avatar?”

The question catches me off guard. Korra, always the detective, even when she’s wasted. “I’m not stealing anything; don’t worry.” It isn’t exactly a lie.

She hums incoherently in response and I push the door open. The waft of strong alcohol and cigarette smoke is enough to make me gag. What the…?  I’m not quite sure what to make of the scene before me. The scratchy end of a record is playing from somewhere. Bolin is curled up on the window seat, three empty bottles lying near him. His brother is snoring loudly on the floor, his left arm and right leg in a cast. Another slim man I don’t recognise sitting on the floor with his head on the table, next to an overturned bowl of fire flakes. So that’s RCPD’s finest for you, folks. And to think Opal’s complaints of how Kuvira and I spend our downtime. It’s good that they’re all currently unconscious, because it would have been a tad more awkward otherwise, to say the least.

I manage to drag Korra in, who finally passes out completely. Lifting her from below her shoulders, I more or less unceremoniously drop her on the couch, nearly falling over her in the process. Something moves in my peripheral vision, and I quickly turn around, catching a blur of white before being knocked off my feet.

My scream is cut short when a crushing weight steals my breath, and a growl fills my ears.

“Nng… Na…Naga!” Gasping for air, I grab at the fur of the massive polar bear dog. I didn’t know they grew that big. Sensing my distress, she lifts her paws off me, and starts licking my face in recognition.

“Shh, easy, girl.” It takes a while to calm the excited animal, scratching behind her ears to appease her as she wags her tail frantically, alternating between sniffing and licking my face. Mako groans and I freeze in my place. But he turns himself over, his body stilling once more.

I finally exit her loft after I carefully edge myself to the door, trying to make as little noise as possible, despite the slobber I’m slowly being covered in. Letting out a sigh of relief, I chuckle to myself, wondering how mad she’d be if she wakes up and remembers that we had an almost civil conversation.

BOLIN

I groan, turning over. Everything hurts. Everything. My head, my body, my heart. I try opening my eyes, before realising my mistake. The bright sunlight pierces through, and I roll away in instinct, only to slam down hard onto my face to the ground. I’m being hurled round and round in a tiny box, even with my eyes shut. The nausea is too much and I start retching where I lie.

Two strong arms wrap around me, and I’m slowly moved until I’m finally sitting upright. A warm wet towel wipes my face.

“Rise and shine, Bo.” The voice is detestably cheerful.

“Please don’t yell.” I beg, my head pounding furiously.

“I’m practically whispering.”

I risk a peek, and see a bucket placed in front of me. Grabbing onto it, I empty the rest of the contents of my stomach. Korra’s face swims into view. She’s already dressed for work, bending the rest of my vomit off the floor into the bucket. I hate her; remembering that she doesn’t suffer from hangovers no matter how much she drinks.

“Listen, I’ll cover for you today; you just lie down and rest.”

“Okay.” I murmur pathetically, curling up into a ball. “What happened yesterday?” It felt like my world was ending, but it was supposed to be a happy occasion too? My head hurts too much to make sense of it all.

“Mako solved his case, and you had a breakup... I think…that’s all I can remember, anyway.” Opal. It’s slowly coming back now. “Oh, and I had the weirdest fucking dream.”

She leaves, and I’m left to face a painful reality on my own.

Chapter Text

Part 3: The Aftermath (Or How They Should Have Just Rob a Bank)

ASAMI

All of our months’ of careful planning have led us to this. The security is the top-notch marrying of technological innovation and the bending arts. But our combined ingenuity gets us past the sentries, past the outer platinum pressure plates, even past the lava. No one saw that one coming. Bataar even managed to replicate the gemstone in question, thanks to Varrick’s batteries. It created a glow strong enough for all intents and purposes, even if it was initially purple. But after plenty of experiments, we came up with a special coating that would give the impression of white.

And yet, here we are.

Getting caught in the act.

Dangling who knows how many feet in the air, the only thing between me and life-imprisonment is the thin metal cable around my ankle and arm; all that strain only supported by sheer willpower and desperation of the woman above me, the only giveaway being the laboured breathing. From the way I feel my blood rushing to my head, I’m pretty sure I’m upside down.

It’s almost pitch black save for the soft glow of the Avatar somewhere above me. Or below, I can’t tell anymore in my disorientation. I have no idea where Kai and Opal are, but every now and then I hear a gust of air. On the other side of the door, there’s a steady pounding as they try forcing their way in.

“It’s not going to hold both of us… you need to let go of me.” I pant as I struggle with the cables.

“N…n…” Kuvira can barely form her words, as we sway below her. I can hear Bataar somewhere to the left below (or above?) me, presumably hanging on for dear life as well.

I attempt to disentangle myself, but the cold metal twists even tighter, holding me in place. “I’ll figure a way out. You guys go.”

“N..no. Ba..taar. You. Let go.”

“Wh…what?”

“Please.” Self-loathing drips from her voice. “It…has. To. Be you.”

“Kuvira, I know this place. I can get out on my own. Let go.”

“No. Bataar.”

“But –“

“Please.”

“I’m going to break us out of here. We’ve only one shot.” Opal’s disembodied voice floats out from somewhere behind me and seems to circle as she continues. “They have a combustion bender with them. Get ready.”

“Bataar. Now. I can’t – ”

Real life isn’t like Pai Sho. It’s not a slow methodical game where your opponent patiently waits their turn for you to make the next move. When the stakes are high, desperate people turn to desperate measures. All that adrenaline pumping when you’re immobile has to go somewhere. Pai Sho doesn’t teach you about the way your heart races so hard, it feels you’re going to have a heart attack. That maybe a heart attack is preferable when everything starts going wrong. But what you do learn is the fact that it is hardly the best time to question your choices in the midst of a move.

The commotion outside grows louder with every painful second.

And when the sound of gunshot echoes in the dead air, my ears ringing, I know I just made the biggest mistake of my life.

...............................................

We somehow manage to reach the shore and crawl into the large storm pipe. Kuvira is on all fours momentarily before collapsing sideways in exhaustion, her face contorted in agony, though I’m not entirely sure it’s from her extreme physical exertion, or the fact she shot Bataar.

I chuck our homemade underwater scooter and gear to one side. Kuvira is supposed to get rid of the evidence, but I doubt she’s capable of bending at the moment, especially after supporting all that weight and bending the metal blades at full speed to get us across the bay. I hope Opal and Kai stuck to the backup plan and are now back on Air Temple Island.

We’ve to keep moving, we aren’t safe yet. I stagger to my feet, shivering. Crouching down once more, she doesn’t protest, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carry her, piggyback, into the depths of the sewer. Progress is slow as I slosh through shallow…water? (I don’t really want to think about it), dragging our gear behind, our soaked clothes adding even more weight. The stench makes it difficult to breathe.

It seems like an eternity as we walk on in silence in the dark. I’m too busy trying to follow the mental map of winding tunnels I’ve memorised before I realise the warm wetness trickling down my neck. Kuvira’s crying. The very idea of it is terrifying and it sends a chill down my spine that has nothing to do with the cold. My gut twists painfully, questioning the kind of friend I am, feeling guilty all over again.

We reach our destination, an abandoned and little-known underground research facility my father was trying to build before he was arrested. With my keys, the rusty gates open, creaking from disuse. After half an hour and even more walking, I find the old, filthily dusty room, but it’s dry at least as I let Kuvira down to the floor as gently as I can and scrabble around for a bit before finding the lantern I stashed.

“What the fuck happened?” She finally croaks out, referring to the fact we were ambushed by the RED Lotus. They weren’t supposed to be there. Unless they were warned beforehand. I turn so that I’m facing her. I take a deep breath.

“I…I’m the one who tipped them off.”

There is a short silence before Kuvira speaks. Her expression is inscrutable, her voice low and chillingly calm. “You better have a very good explanation or I’ll kill you for making me shoot my own fiancé.”

She has never threatened me before. In fact, she never threatens people, ever. Kuvira doesn’t believe in making them. So when she says she would kill me, I believe her wholeheartedly.

°°°

“What’s the matter, Asami?” I looked up from the board to see him looking with warmth and affection at me, his voice full of concern. Picking up one of the flower tiles I just lost, I played idly with it, wondering how I should go about this.

“Did you ever love Mum?” I quietly asked. His reaction was instantaneous, and his whole body stiffened at the question. A hard look came into his eyes and he frowned deeply.

“What…why do you ask?”

“Did you?” I wanted to be sure first.

“It’s been a long time, Asami. Why bring up ghosts of the past?”

“Don’t evade the question, Dad.” One way or another, I will get the truth out of him.

His hand curled and uncurled into fists as he studied me carefully, almost as if I was the Pai Sho board now. I didn’t back down from his scrutiny, staring unflinchingly back. He lowered his gaze once more to the board. I expected no reply but after a long moment, he finally answered, the words barely audible.

“I…I did...do. I do. Very much so.”

“Then why didn’t you ever talked about her, not even a mention on her anniversary? Why were there no photos, or any evidence she existed in our home? Why won’t you ever tell me anything when I asked about her?” Only one worn photo survived his purge, a moment when we were once a whole family, one that I guarded zealously.

I took a deep breath, lowering my voice further. “Why didn’t you tell me my own mother worked for RCPD??”

At that, his head jerked and he averted his eyes, rocking slightly in his seat. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“Yes, it does. Can you imagine what it felt like, to grow up thinking your mum must have been a horrible person despite your memories telling you otherwise? Oh no, you never talked bad about her, but you wouldn’t talked about it at all. As I grew older, I thought I understood the implications.” I laughed bitterly. “For so long, I didn’t trust my own brain, my own heart. After all, how reliable does a six-year-old remember?” I took another deep breath, trying to will away the sadness threatening to overwhelm me.

“Asami, I…I’m sorry you found out this way. But I was only trying to protect the both of us.” He squeezed his eyes shut, his face twisted in pain. My heart broke when I realised he might not have known at all. “I’m sorry I never told you before…what do you want me to say?”

“You told me she died in a fire. But what you should have told me is that Yasuko Sato was a cop, a hero who died protecting this city.” He flinched at the sound of her name.

“That was no lie. Yasu – she – was killed in a fire started by the triads. In a brothel. In one of the shadiest neighbourhoods in town. And then I find out she had already been suspended from the force – which she didn’t tell me – six months prior to that. What’s a man supposed to think?”

“You thought she was cheating on you.” I sank my face into my hands, wondering if things could have been different if we both knew the truth from the start. No, I know it would have been different. Dad must have suffered so much in silence; I love him but I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t know him to be a bitter man. He was trying to protect me, after all.

“What you didn’t know is that the suspension was part of her cover.”

“What do you mean?” He asked very slowly, clearly afraid of the answer.

“They set up a very special task force to take down the triads in a rather…unorthodox way. Where they’d wiretap mob bosses and went after them and dirty cops on their payroll aggressively, all without warrants…plenty of things that would get them indicted today. Even called themselves the ‘Triad Squad’. Not everyone agreed with their methods, but it was very effective. Mum was part of it.”

“Why didn’t they tell me this? I was made to understand she wasn’t killed in her capacity as a police officer.” Shock gave way to grief, which slowly gave way to anger.

“Because everything was unsanctioned on paper. You would’ve caused an uproar and jeopardise their operations. Even after it was over, they kept a very tight lid on it…until recently when the documents were finally declassified. That’s how I found out. Then I hired two different private detectives. Most of them are either retired or dead – it was risky business, after all – but I tracked down an old member of the squad who’s still alive.. It took me nearly a year to piece everything together.” I pause, giving my father time to digest all the information. Our Pai Sho game lay long forgotten on the table. “The thing was, Mum needn’t have died at all.”

Dad’s head snapped up. “What?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “They could have pulled her out in time, but the commanding officer had refused, on grounds that they would have been compromised. It turned out that she was taking kickbacks on the side as well, and Mum had a separate task of investigating her. So with her conveniently out of the way, the squad leader didn’t face any repercussions, and got all the credit, nevermind all the others who worked alongside her. She was heralded as a big hero who effectively crippled the triads, overshadowing her own sister. In fact, that feat of wiping out the Agni Kai Triad earned her a place in the Lotus.”

“Who is she?”

“Suyin Beifong.”

°°°

“You could say the universe likes screwing with me, that the person who caused so much grief to my family turned out to be the mother of my friends and partners in crime.” I laugh, but it’s a mirthless sound.

“So everything so far has all just part of your plan?” Kuvira’s voice is hoarse, and even in the dim light, I can see the anger in her eyes.

“You used us.” It isn’t a question.

I nod truthfully, but not proud of it. “I wanted to get her. It took me a while, to study her before I finally figured it out but I needed a crew to pull it off. Opal had just gotten into prison herself, and I made Dad plant the idea of stealing the Avatar in her head.” Part of Hiroshi Sato’s success is due to his employees, having a knack of making them enthusiastically bring his ideas they think are their own to reality. But Opal’s plan of selling the fake Avatars is her own brilliance.

“He broke his parole by crossing Republic Earth’s borders. In exchange for freedom, he made a deal with them, and the nature of the Avatar would bring the matter to the RED Lotus’s attention. It was a calculated guess that they’d send a native of Republic City here.”

“And then what?” She’s frowning now, crossing her arms tightly. “I still don’t see your endgame here.”

“I knew they would come after us, and I planned…well, for me to get caught instead of – instead.” I falter for a moment, but Kuvira makes a motion for me to continue. It’s a wonder she hasn’t split my head open yet. “I would get caught, Suyin would try to make a deal with me for the location of the stone, but I would tell her our real plans for it. People like her are so predictable; she’d let me get on with it and ask for a share of the con, and then when I give her a cut, she’d arrest me for attempting to bribe an agent, and you can be sure she wouldn’t turn over the full amount of the ‘bribe’. That way, she’ll be able to kill three hawks with one arrow, and would be a huge win for her. It’d be hard to resist the temptation.”

“But then you’d get Kai to plant the real Avatar on her, and along with her cut, would make it look like she took it off you to sell it off on her own.” Kuvira finishes for me. “You were going to fuck her over completely, is that it?” No, I was going to take away everything dear to her, like she did to me and my father.

“No, it’s fair play, which is more than she deserves. All I was doing was to feed the greed, like we always do. She would have had every chance to walk away.”

“And if she didn’t bite, you would rot in jail for the rest of your life. And if everything did go your way, Opal and Bataar would hate you for the rest of their lives.” She doesn’t include herself. Interesting.

“It was a…gamble I was willing to take. As for the latter, it’d be something that would seemed like mere improvisation on my part of a bad situation.” They aren’t supposed to ever know.

“The only question is, why the fuck you didn’t tell us? Why didn’t you tell me? I’m your friend, Asami.” The hurt in her voice is evident, and I wince involuntarily. I never wanted it to come down to this.

“Because all of you have history with her. I don’t know about Bataar, but we both know that Opal, no matter how bad her relationship with Suyin is, she still…while I wouldn’t call it love…she would never have agreed to do this to her own mother.” It’s something I recognised and accepted early on, because I could never do that to my father, had the roles been reversed. I fall silent, deep regret leaving a bitter taste at the back of my throat. How did it turn out so wrong?

“Is there anything else you’ve been lying about?”

“No. I give you my word.”

She pushes herself off the ground, shoving my arm away when I try to help. A pistol is suddenly aimed at my face. “Don’t fucking touch me.” I flinch at the coldness in her voice, not the weapon. We continue moving through the tunnels, me leading the way, half-expecting to feel lead at the back of my head anytime. We’re almost there when she finally speaks again.

“I would have gone along willingly with it if you told me.” Her quiet admission takes me by surprise, and it shows. “You know why I let Bataar go, and not you?”

I shake my head. The thought did occur to me though.

“You’re right, I do have history with Suyin…just not the good kind. Right before we shut ourselves in the chamber, she was there… and that puzzled me.” I wonder how she knows that. It had been very dark even before we locked ourselves in. I must have given something away, because she explains.

“I felt the meteorite necklace she always wore, and her presence made my decision. If it was you or me or Kai, we wouldn’t have made it out alive. Bataar is a Beifong, he’d be fine. And Suyin does love nothing more than her reputation and her family name.” There’s more than a hint of bitterness there, and I wonder how I miscalculated that. “But I’m not saying I forgive you for lying.”

“I know that.” I’m not sure whether she ever intends to, not that I blame her. “So, what now?”

“You better fucking improvise and get us out of this mess.”

We emerge into Dad’s old workshop. I make sure the trapdoor is closed securely, and drag a table over it. The lantern in my hand throws the place in sharp relief, and for the first time, I look at her again.

“Wait, Kuvira…”

“What?”

“That isn’t your gun.” The silver pocket pistol is a tiny oddity in her hands.

“I use my unregistered on jobs.”

“Where’s your registered revolver?” I ask slowly, remembering the last time I saw it. She stares at me, her features tightening as understanding dawns.

“Shit.”

Chapter Text

BOLIN

“All I’m saying is that maybe, just maybe – let your brain wrap around that for a minute – you were wrong.” Korra unceremoniously drops another stash of old documents into the cardboard box. Mako is still incapacitated and unfit for work, and that made him irritable company. It doesn’t help that Korra enjoys aggravating him. I’m so tired, suddenly sick with them there.

We’re currently helping him pack away his cold cases files and bring it back to Archives. The mundane task helps keep my mind off Opal. I can’t help but notice it is two days before the third week is up, and I wonder. It still seems incredible that I dated the Opal Beifong. Korra doesn’t remember putting it into my head in her drunken stupor that night, and I make sure I don’t enlighten her. After Korra left that morning and I felt human enough again, I checked the records again, and sure enough, it was the Opal. She had long hair two years ago, but it was her. Why didn’t I recognise her from the start? What kind of cop am I if I couldn’t connect simple dots?

Mako uses his one good arm to chuck Naga’s ball across at her head. It doesn’t even reach her as the impact sends another box toppling from the coffee table, spilling its contents. I groan inwardly. I spent all evening on those.

“The fuck, Mako?!” Flicking her wrist, she sends the water from his cup to his face. “You know how long it took Bolin to sort them out according to dates? And it’s your crap, too.”

“Children. And to think I’m the youngest here.” Sighing loudly, I bend down to grab the small pile of photographs that fell out of a folder. Apparently they’re of victims of a fire started by some now-defunct triad. Absently flipping through them, a particular one catches my eye, but I can’t place my finger on why. I check the case date. It’s a little more than two decades ago. It’s weird; I would’ve only been a kid back then but I feel I’ve seen this woman’s face somewhere before. I rack my brains, shutting out the rest of Korra’s and Mako’s now full-blown argument. Maybe it’s just the circumstances of her death than reminds me of my parents’ own.

“Yasuko Sato.” I read aloud. Was she related to Asami Sato? There’s certainly a likeness. But then again, Sato isn’t such an unusual name, even if it belonged to one of the most infamous men in the city. Was Hiroshi Sato’s dead wife Yasuko? I don’t remember any news piece about her.

“What did you just say?” Korra whipped her head around, breaking off their bickering.

“Nothing. Just a vic I thought looked familiar somehow. Maybe it’s one of those things where they say there are seven people on earth who looks exactly like you.” She peers over my shoulder at the photograph I’m holding, before snatching it out of my hand. I turn to see her frowning and scrutinising the photo carefully.

“Korra?”

“Give me a sec.” She looks around for a moment before finding the right folder, and she starts skimming through it. Running her finger down the report as she reads, she stops when she is near the bottom third of the page. “Huh, this is interesting.”

“Mako. Do you know why they blacked out this part?”

He takes the report from her and studies it, looking thoughtful. “No idea. Must be some classified detail from the higher-ups. You can ask Ryu down at Archives if you’re willing to risk a brain aneurysm, if you want. But he’ll know.”

“Why the sudden interest?” I ask.

She waves it at me. “It’s mentioned here that she was an off-duty police officer at that time. But something’s fishy about the report.” Muttering under her breath, she adds. “Why didn’t she tell me?” Why would Sato be sharing her life story with you? This isn’t the first time I get the feeling that those two know each other more than they let on. I ought to ask her about that one of these days. But the curiosity is muted, drowned out by the sorrow in my heart.

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” She becomes quiet after that, getting down to finally packing the files away in their respective cartons.

Late that night, I get up to take a pee. I catch her smoking by the window seat, deep in thought, looking out at the city.

..................................................................

“Avatar Memorial Island is a Code Five. I repeat, Avatar Memorial Island is a Code Five.” That place has been under surveillance ever since the Avatar arrived in town. The whole city has been abuzz ever since the jewel made its arrival in the city. Three drunk kids tried breaking into the place on the opening night itself, but with RED Lotus task force in place, I doubt anyone would actually try to steal it for real.

It’s every kid’s dream to see it once in their lifetime before it is hidden away again. Mako is a hopeless case, while Korra is indifferent to it (I don’t like being chi-blocked just to see some glowing glass now that I grew out of my Avatar obsession phase as a kid), she agreed to go with me later that week. I suspect it’s her attempt to cheer me up over my doomed relationship. She still doesn’t know. I wonder if Opal would’ve liked to visit it. No, stop thinking about her. Today would be exactly three weeks since she asked to give her the time.

“All units, respond. Code Zero. I repeat, Code Zero. Block all vehicles leaving city.”

“Dammit, I really wanted to watch that mover.” Korra grabs the car radio. “Unit Four responding. Code Three.” She slams on the brakes, flips the sirens on and makes a neat three-point turn in the opposite direction. She weaves in and out of traffic expertly until we hit the foot of Kyoshi Bridge in little less of the time it normally takes to get there.

“You can really drive.” I should feel more excited at the prospect of a potential high-speed chase, but I only feel nothing.

“I had a good teacher.” She waves it off distractedly.

“All units, respond. Pursue suspect in black van, Cabbage make, on Kyoshi Bridge.”

“Unit Four responding. Code Three.”

The van is easy to spot, because whoever is driving must be either drunk or have a death wish. Other vehicles make way for us until we’re right behind the fleeing van. Surprisingly, the black van slows down at the sight of our lights and sirens, and actually pulls over.

“Something’s up.” I say, rather unnecessarily. “This is the police, get out of the vehicle and put your hands on the roof.” There’s a short pause before the driver steps out. This is suspiciously auspicious. She exchanges a look with me, before we both get out of the car. Her hand rests on the butt of her gun, approaching the van cautiously. I concentrate on the earth in the concrete around us, preferring to use my bending than guns.

Korra swiftly handcuffs him, reads him his rights and turns him around. She starts in surprise, and her tone softens a bit. “Gommu?”

“Hey, Officer Korra. Officer Bolin.” The driver smiles sheepishly, revealing dirty crooked teeth. Wait, I’ve seen him before, back when I was on the beat. Was this just a case of car theft? Code Zero is for big emergencies.

“I’m sorry, but we’re going to have to bring you to the station.”

He only nods, and follows us docilely back to our car. On the way back to the station, Korra starts questioning him.

“What’s going on, Gommu? How did you even get this van?”

“Well…” He shifted uneasily in his seat but answers readily enough. “This kid gave it to me and two hundred yuan to drive as fast as I could when I heard the Code Zero on the police scanner.”

“Where were you headed?”

“Nowhere. He told me to stop when the cops catch up to me and I thought that seems fair. Don’t want meself getting into trouble. Am I in a lot of trouble?” He adds, worriedly.

“Not unless you cooperate and tell us everything; it’s going to be fine.”

Korra grabs the radio. “This is Unit 4. Suspect has been apprehended on Kyoshi Bridge.” Just then, the radio crackles back to life, urgency beneath the professionalism pouring through.

“Unit 6 responding. Code Three. We’re taking a detour. Fire just broke out in Dragon Flats Borough.”

“All units, respond. Code Zero. Yue Bay Harbour. Create blockade at entrance of bay. Pursue fleeing white motorboat.”

“Unit 7 responding. Code Six. We need backup. Just passed the SWTCC. There’s some sort of disturbance. Send units there, we’re continuing pursuit after suspects.

“All units, respond. Code Zero. Central City Station. Create blockade. All tracks to stop running immediately.”

“All units, respond. Code Zero. Prevent every and any airship from leaving Republic City airspace.”

“Busy night, eh?” Gommu offers.

“What’s with all the Code Zero’s tonight?” Something big is going down.

We’re handing over Gommu to the officer for processing when Hasook rushes over to us. “Lieutenant, Chief asked for you. Now. Avatar Memorial Island.” That can only mean one thing.

Someone is trying to steal the Avatar.

.................................................................

There are plenty of people on the island when we arrive, and a police motorboat leaves, its siren switched on. Someone must be injured. The Chief is already waiting by the water’s edge with some other important-looking people.

“Chief.” Without further ado, Korra gives a brisk version of our arrest. “It was a fucking decoy.”

“Yes. So was the motorboat. It’s smart, we’re being stretched thin at the moment.”

“If I’m looking to making an escape, Air Temple Island is a pretty good bet.” Korra asks, glancing at the island to our right, a dark oasis of calm and quiet in the distance despite the excitement around us and in the city.

“Lieutenant, we need you to–” Chief’s words are interrupted by someone behind us. I wonder who’s brave or stupid enough to dare to do that.

“You must be the Lieutenant Korra I’ve heard so much about.” We turn as Suyin Beifong, all dressed in black, introduces herself. Her resemblance to her sister is minimal, from appearance to demeanour. She smiles at us, but there’s a certain forcedness behind it. To one side, a man with shaggy hair and a very tall woman in similar covert-looking clothing are speaking to the WHITE Lotus sentries, evident from their distinctive blue and white uniform. “I understand that Air Temple Island is off-limits to law-enforcement.” She gives the Chief a pointed look that I don’t understand.

“I’ll handle this, Su.”

“Might I remind you that I outrank you, Lin?” Her tone is still pleasant, but Chief stiffens at her unveiled threat. I don’t like her. No one speaks to the Chief like that. It’s good that Mako isn’t here to see this; he can be very protective of her. I see Korra frowning, glancing from one woman to the other.

“Someone attempted a heist on the Avatar. The persons responsible…got away, and we need you to follow up on any possible leads.” Chief is speaking unusually slowly.

“But –” I break off immediately when Korra steps on my foot. Suyin is watching us carefully. “But – er – attempted?”

“We manage to thwart it in time, thanks to our agents.” Suyin says smoothly, talking over Chief once again, and I can see the scar on her cheek whiten in ill-concealed annoyance in the moonlight.

“Any suspects?”

“I managed to clip one of them before they fled.” Suyin produces a sharp metal strip. There’s a tiny bit of blood on the edge. “It isn’t a gunshot wound, so they might risk a hospital. Check them out.”

Chief adds. “See if you can find out anything about the decoys from your contacts, Lieutenant.”

“Of course, Chief.” Korra nods once, and with only a curt jerk of a head in Suyin’s direction, she turns away.

When we reach the docks once more, I turn to Korra. “What was all that about? Why didn’t she send for Tahno instead?”

“Chief’s hands are tied somehow and Suyin is preventing her from telling us something… Something else is at play here, and I don’t like it.”

“What do we do now?”

“Do as Chief says. We’ve got to go to Air Temple Island. She knows I’m friends with Jinora.”

“How? We can’t just take a boat over. They’ll spot us from that island. You heard her –”

“Bo, you’re forgetting something.” She smirks at me. “I’m a waterbender, remember?”

............................................................

“Before you say anything, yes, I know it’s late, and yes, I’m here for work.” Just as Jinora opens her mouth to reply, Korra adds hastily, “Sorry.” She looks surprisingly awake at this time of the night. Grabbing her sleeve and pulling her inside, Jinora says, “I’m glad you’re here. Come quick!”

I glance at Korra, bewildered but she seems just as lost as I am.

“Jinora…is that your blood?” Korra is staring at her arm sleeve, and then I realise Jinora’s hand is the source of the stain.

“No.” She doesn’t elaborate, as she guides her deeper into the private residence, past a long hallway before stopping before a wooden door. Sliding it open, I spot a figure crouched over another prone figure.

“Jinora, did you get the clo –” The figure turns around, and I feel my blood run cold. Opal?? Her hands are soaked in crimson, pressing down on the wound on the side of the writhing figure below her. She trails off, her eyes widening in shock before the blood drains from her face as she catches sight of us. Try as I might to deny it, the final piece falls into place.

“Jin…Jinora?”

“It’s okay, Opal. Korra will help us.” Jinora turns to Korra, her eyes beseeching, her usual calm demeanour replaced by desperation. “Please, won’t you? Please…help Kai. For me.” Korra blinks, her eyes analysing the scene before her, regarding Opal with deep suspicion. Without another word, she’s bending from her pouch, the water already glowing in her hands as she moves towards Kai. He looks terrified and tries backing away, evidently recognising us. Jinora rushes over, holding him down, murmuring soothingly. “It’s all right, Kai. She won’t hurt you.”

I grab Opal by the arm. “What’s going on?” Please let it be all a giant misunderstanding. Opal pulls me out of the room, and away from it. The blood on her hands look terrifying, and I wipe them with my own handkerchief. She doesn’t meet my eyes, her body trembling all over. Opal suddenly sinks onto her knees, shaking, her eyes shining with unshed tears. I wrap my arms around her comfortingly, against better judgement.

“Bo, I’m so so sorry. I’m sorry. I…I…I left him behind…how could I?”

“Left who behind?” I ask gently.

She looks up at me. “Just tell me…is he alive?”

“Who? Kai?” I’m very confused now. The kid seems like he’s going to be okay, now that Korra is healing him.

“No…Bataar. That… bitch. She left him.” The sudden hardness in her voice is jarring. “She shot Bataar.”

“Your…mother?” Odd, I’m under the impression that everyone got away. But Opal looks confused.

“My what?”

“You were saying Suyin shot your brother?”

She’s frowning now. “What has this got to do with my mother?” Blinking back surprise, she asks, alarmed. “Suyin Beifong is here?” Huh, she doesn’t know. She asked about him, which means he isn’t here but the Chief didn’t say anything either. What on earth is going on?

Pressing a small clump of what seemed like a dirty rag into my hands, she starts speaking quickly. “The Avatar in the museum right now is a fake. Get this to Aunt Lin as soon as you can. And only her.” I feel something hard beneath the rag and suddenly I’m afraid to look inside. “I don’t – can’t – trust anyone else right now, Bolin.”

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“It’s…complicated. When everything is all over, and you don’t hate me, I’ll explain everything. I promise.” She meets my eyes this time, and there’s a mix of sincerity and sadness, the same way she looked at me by the lake. I know I should be angry, but I can’t bring myself to feel that way when I look at her.

......................................................

“I can’t believe she just handed you the Avatar. And I can’t believe you actually dated Beifong.” Korra mutters at me on the drive back. She had taken the news relatively calmly, but I suspect it’s only because we have more pressing matters at hand.

It’s nearly three in the morning, and Hasook has nothing to show after checking the hospitals and healing centres, nor is there any further instruction from Headquarters. No one named Bataar or someone matching his description has been seen. Korra’s attempts at contacting the Chief has been unsuccessful so far. I’m not sure if I’m more shocked at the fact I currently hold the most valuable item on earth in my hip pocket, or the fact Korra doesn’t immediately arrest Opal and Kai. Jinora gives her word to keep them both there, for whatever it’s worth.

“We weren’t supposed to be there, remember?”

“Maybe she had a change of heart.”

“Something’s not right. This was a very well-planned operation, yet it all went to shit somehow. The Avatar’s been on display for four days now. How did they know they were going to hit tonight? Someone betrayed them, maybe it’s Bataar, and that’s why they’re not releasing names.” She drums her fingers on the steering wheel as she continues to think aloud. “That’s no reason for Suyin to be secretive about it; we’re all on the same side. If your girlfriend isn’t lying, she saw Bataar shot by ‘her’, whoever she is. There’re only two candidates for that anyhow, if they didn’t suddenly get a new crew. We’re just missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.”

None of this is making sense to me either. Opal had clamped up after giving me the jewel and wouldn’t say anything more.

“Let’s go to the last known address of Junior Beifong and see if we can find anything.” It’s a short ride to the place, in the heart of the working-class district at the docks. “Or maybe the Chief can finally tell us something.”

There’s a police car already parked outside the building. It’s the Chief’s car. We head upstairs to the room, but the door is already slightly ajar, and we hear someone inside.

“Chief, we have the –” Korra breaks off immediately when we realise it isn’t Lin Beifong. The metal door behind us swings shut.

“The what, Lieutenant?” Suyin Beifong turns around. Uh oh.

Both of us stiffen, and I gulp, my hand already halfway out of my pocket. Without missing a beat, Korra replies easily and the lie goes over smoothly. “The all-points-bulletin out. Where’s Chief Beifong?”

“Lin is indisposed at the moment, checking up on a lead. I borrowed her car. But if this pertains to the Avatar case, you should tell me.”

“It’s a sensitive case, after all, and I’ll only report to my boss.” Korra says defiantly, placing an emphasis on the word.

Suyin’s eyes narrow. “The RED Lotus has higher authority than the RCPD. Which puts me in charge here. So tell me, on whom did you put out the all-points-bulletin?”

“Bataar Jr. Beifong.”

The name produces the desired effect. She straightens up, studying the both of us. Her voice is sharp enough to cut through steel. “What do you have in your hand, Officer?”

Only Aunt Lin. Opal’s words echo in my head. “Uh…nothing? It’s been a humid night, heh.” I say nervously, dabbing the rag on my forehead and feeling the hard material pressing against my skin.

There’s flash of motion, and a thin blade slices the cloth open. Oh shit.

“Hey, what do you know? A glow-y…snow globe…that…uh…glows. Fancy that.” I fumble around. Stupid, stupid.

There’s another flash of motion. I fall forwards, cables wrapped around me tightly, the lump of rags falling from my hand. Why didn’t I ever learn how to metalbend? Korra reacts faster, but Suyin dodges the spike of ice. Attacking again, she soon runs out of ammo as Suyin nimbly dodges all of it with ease, moving like a dancer in the small space. She grabs at her holster, only to find it empty. Without pausing, she charges straight towards Suyin but she’s flung backwards by her metal belt buckle against a cupboard, smashing the cheap plywood. Her raised arm punches the air wildly anyway and a jet of fire bursts from her fist, just like I’ve seen Mako do it a hundred times before. Fire? What the…?

“What the…?” Korra looks even more shocked than I feel, glancing at her fists. But her hesitation costs her, as Suyin–

“Korra, look out!”

The gunshot echoes in the small room, and I can only scream helplessly as the bullet finds its mark.

The movers have it all wrong. The villain doesn’t tie you up and then gloat over their dastardly plans, swirling moustache and all. The hero doesn’t get to stall for time and figure a way out. People who get shot don’t fly dramatically backwards, nor do they get back up charging. Korra merely crumples to the ground, life seeping out of her.

My entire body seizes up and all thought flee from my brain as I watch Suyin aim her revolver at me next.

Chapter Text

ASAMI

“Suyin wouldn’t want anyone knowing her son has been caught at the scene of the crime, but he’s injured…so he would have to get help somehow.” I pace in the abandoned Sato mansion, trying to think, trying to predict everyone else’s reactions. The backup plan worked, and most of the police are just scrambling around the entire city now to contain the decoys and general chaos we paid for.

“It was a gut wound.” Kuvira says flatly. “He was wearing a metal belt.” I don’t have much knowledge on gun wounds but I vaguely remember that it takes a very long time for someone to die from a wound to the stomach, even if it’s one of the most painful, since you could be conscious throughout.

“Isn’t it strange the armless waterbender didn’t come after us? Maybe she stayed behind at Suyin’s orders?”

“All these conjectures are useless! We still don’t know where he is.” Kuvira is getting frustrated.

“No, listen. Bataar is safe, for now. Suyin would make sure of that. As for Opal…” Hmm.

“What? We can’t go anywhere near the island.”

I resume my pacing. “We all heard the gun go off just as she airbent through the roof. So she would know it was you. Opal probably thinks you or I or both of us betrayed her.” What would Suyin do next? Would Bataar tell on us? C’mon, think, Sato.

“And he wouldn’t be stupid enough to take it with him, seeing as he can’t use it.”

“Where were you and Bataar staying? On the island with Opal?”

She shakes her head. “No, at the docks. In one of those cheap rooms near the warehouse district.” Kuvira is frowning deeply, and it’s times like these I’m glad she doesn’t let her emotions overcome her pragmatism. “If they know about Bataar, they’d know I’d be involved too. There’s only one thing Suyin can do to salvage this situation.”

We have to get to the gun before she does.

...........................................................

The place is still, and we get into building unseen easily enough. Two police cars are already parked outside. Kuvira notices the same and looks at me.

“Should we leave?”

The answer comes in the form of ice crashing through glass. On wordless instinct, we both race up the stairs. There’re other sounds of a fight coming from the closed door now, and we approach its source cautiously. Kuvira has her arms raised.

A muffled gunshot goes off. Incoherent screaming. She tears the door open from its hinges.

“Suyin?”

The woman looks up, momentarily caught by surprise, a large smoking revolver in her rather dainty hands. She shoots at us but Kuvira throws up an earthen wall in time. There’s another crash of glass and we hear a car speeding away.

“That’s my fucking gun!” She leaps agilely over the wall, about to give chase.

“Help us…please.” A large man, bound tightly in metal cables, whimpers from the corner. “Please.”

I turn, and the sight that greets me sends a chill to my bones, despite the heat of the night. Korra? Oh no. Korra. No, no, no. I don’t stop question why or how she’s there. I don’t remember my feet carrying me to her. She’s lying there motionless, a dark pool gathering beneath her. No, no.

Pressing my hands desperately to the wound on her chest, I try to stem the flow. Bile rises to my throat while fear wraps itself tightly around my chest. Her eyes flutter open.

“A…asa–?” She’s coughing out blood now. My heart clenches painfully. This is all my fault.

“Shh…you’re okay.” Even though she’s clearly not. A pit forms in my stomach. Don’t you dare die on me, Korra. I’m only vaguely aware of Kuvira screaming at me in the background.

“If she dies, it’ll look worse for you.” I answer numbly back to a question I don’t hear. If she dies, I’ll never forgive myself.

Kuvira returns from the broken window and unbinds Bolin, and he shuffle on all fours towards us, my chest tightening further when I see the tears flowing freely down his face. “Please, help her. I’ll do anything.” He’s practically blubbering by now, becoming an incoherent mess. Kuvira grabs him by the shoulders and slaps him across the face.

“Listen up. Your partner is bleeding like a stuck boar-q-pine, and unless you pull yourself together, she will die!” Kuvira’s harsh tone does the trick, and Bolin blinks, coming to his senses.

“We have to get her to the hospital.” I say, trying to fight the panic in my own voice. Bolin and I help carry her to his car as Kuvira starts the engine.

“No, let me drive.” Kuvira arches her eyebrow at me, but silently shifts herself over to the passenger seat. “Bolin, keep the pressure on the wound.” I turn to Kuvira. “You’ve to help me.” She understands what I’m asking of her, and despite her lips pressed tight together, she nods. Turning around to Bolin, she says, “Try to keep her conscious…but you might want to keep your eyes closed for this.”

BOLIN

Kuvira is right. I ought to have kept my eyes close. She is leaning out the window, bending obstacles and railings out of the way and creating new ramps to flyovers. We reach the hospital in ten minutes instead of twenty, having violated every traffic rule that ever existed, and then some. I’m pretty sure my heart is my stomach. It takes everything in me to keep it together, and I’m not sure if it’s because Korra turning paler with every precious minute or the absolutely horrifying driving skills of Asami Sato. It doesn’t help that she’s misusing the police sirens and lights, but I think it’s justified in this case. As Korra slips in and out of consciousness, I keep talking during the entire ride even if I’m not making any sense.

The car engine dies right as we turn the corner, steam hissing out from the radiator, gurgling pathetically for a few seconds before dying completely.

“Bloody rotten cabbage crap.” I hear her mutter under breath, slamming her palm repeatedly against the dash, unable to coax the poor car to go further, having pushed it past its operating limits. Luckily, we’re already near the hospital, and I run as fast as I can to get help. The last sight I have of Korra that night is her on the stretcher, being rushed to the emergency room. Both Kuvira and Sato don’t try to make conversation with me, nor with each other. And as soon as Korra is rushed off, they turn to leave, Kuvira in particular looking exhausted, nearly swaying on the spot.

“Wait.”

“Th…thank you.” They exchange a glance with each other, and walk away silently.

It has been one strange night.

......................................................

“Hi. Uhm…” The young man shifts on his foot nervously, holding a small bouquet of flowers. Beside him, Jinora nudges him gently and he clears his throat, his cheeks blushing as he glances over at her. They make such a cute couple. “I…uh. Is it okay if you give these to Lieutenant Korra?”

“Why don’t you give them to her yourself, Kai?”

He gulps visibly, but Jinora takes his arm and steps forward. “That’d be lovely, Bolin.” I follow the pair back into the ward. The surgery had been a success, the bullet to her chest just barely missing her heart. They tell me that she might have not been so lucky had we arrived any later. By the fourth day after the operation, Korra is already annoying the hospital staff, trying to hit on them in her drug-induced state. I feel relief; Korra is going to be fine.

“Korra, you have a guest.” She grunts in response, putting down her magazine. I retreat to my corner and settle into my usual seat. Turning to Jinora, she says, “I’m seriously questioning your choice in romantic partners.” But there’s a little smirk on her lips that give her away. Jinora reddens in response with a small smile. Raising her eyebrow at him, she mutters. “Why, if it isn’t my little thief.”

“I’m not a thief.” Kai automatically answers, blushing again.

Korra cocks her head slightly. “Pai Sho is incredibly boring, isn’t it?”

Kai blinks in surprise for a second or two before bursting into laughter. It feels like an inside joke I’m not part of. I catch Jinora’s eyes but she shrugs, not comprehending either.

“Well, anyway, I just wanted to thank you for…you know.” He scratches his head. “Not that I’m saying….”

“Kid, I’m too drugged up on painkillers to remember much of who visited me or what they said.”

“Okay then.” He places the bouquet on her lap, a beautiful arrangement of panda and fire lilies surrounding rare blue artic ones. Not your typical bouquet for a get-well-soon; I wonder if he knows what they signify. Korra reaches out for one of the blooms, brushing its petal gently with her thumb. Her voice is unusually soft when she asks. “You didn’t pick these out yourself, did you?”

Kai grins sheepishly. “I had help with them from a …friend.”

“Thank you.” Surprisingly, Korra doesn’t push it further.

He doesn’t seem to know what to say further, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Jinora turns to him say, “I want to talk to Korra for a little while.”

He nods, giving a little wave. “See you later then?” Just as he’s about to leave, she sighs. “Kai, that isn’t very nice.”

“What?” His eyes are wide and innocent-looking.

“Please give back Bolin his things.”

He sighs and pulls out my wallet and watch, handing them back to me. I didn’t even feel they were gone.

After he leaves, Jinora sits by Korra. “So, how are you really doing?”

“Honestly, I’ve been better.” She blows out a breath, wincing slightly in pain as she shifts to a more comfortable position. She hesitates a little, “Something…weird happened that night.” Looking at me for confirmation, I nod encouragingly. I want to know what that was too.

“Weird how?”

“I think…I don’t know. For a moment, I thought I could …uh…firebend?”

Jinora is hardly rattled by the seemingly impossible. “Probably because Ravaa was nearby.”

“You mean the Avatar.”

“You know, most people get it wrong. The Avatar is actually the melding of spirit and human, and not just anyone can do that.”

“Oookay…I’m going to pretend I understood that.”

“You’re special, Korra. I always knew that, ever since the day we met.”

“Right.” She looks unconvinced. “It’s just…it was really freaky though. But I can’t do it anymore, thankfully.”

Jinora senses her discomfort and changes the subject. “They caught Suyin Beifong already.”

“So I’ve heard.” Korra sighs, shaking her head. “Chief personally apologised to me yesterday for having a fucked up family.”

“People are just…complicated.”

“None of it makes any sense. Why did they do it and go through all that trouble, just to give it back? And why Suyin Beifong did what she did? All because she wants to look like the hero who retrieved the Avatar?”

“You’ll find that people oftentimes act in ways others don’t comprehend. And most of the time, they can be traced back to the most basic of things that make us human. Greed, anger, ego… love.” Korra follows her gaze towards the bouquet on her lap.

Jinora looks up at her, smiling meaningfully. Getting up, she smooths out her dress. “If you can figure that one out, the fundamental desire driving a person, you’ll be closer to the heart of the matter. And then even the most complicated games we play will make perfect sense.”

“You ever considered becoming a cop?”

She only laughs merrily in response. “Wow. No, I’ll have to arrest half my family then.”

...................................................................

“So now you know the truth about me.” Opal says lightly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ears. We’re sitting on the beach at Air Temple Island. She’s told me mostly everything. Not all of it, as she readily admits herself, but enough. There’s a certain relief in knowing she wasn’t trying to use me.

It’s been three weeks since the craziness of what the papers are calling the ‘Avatar Scandal’. A RED Lotus agent, Suyin Beifong, caught red-handed (they love their puns) with the Avatar, almost killing one of RCPD’s finest while trying to frame someone else in the process. Amazingly, she even tried pinning the entire thing on us, but using a weapon that did not belong to her had hardly looked good for her. The metal blade with the blood on it was also called into question, since the blood didn’t match anyone we had on record, even if only Korra and I knew it was Kai’s. The press lap it all up eagerly and had a field day with it, talking about the premeditation of her actions, despite her loud and long protests of innocence, and it opened up questioning of her past possible abuses of power.

They found Bataar, being patched up in a police safehouse by one of the RED Lotus’s agents and Suyin’s subordinate. Her statement had been damning to Suyin, who had tried denying all knowledge of him. Chief had offered Bataar three years in exchange for the name of the buyer, which he willingly gave but maintains he acted alone. No one can explain how he got hurt though, or how the swap between the real and fake jewel happened, and he isn’t saying anything. So the Chief bumps it up to five years. Opal’s official statement mentions her finding the Avatar washed up on the shores of Air Temple Island before promptly handing it over to authorities. I haven’t seen Sato or Kuvira since that night either.

She sighs, drawing circles in the sand, looking pensive. “You know, it’s one thing to think you have a terrible mother, it’s another to know she’s a terrible person as well.” She pauses. “I’m sorry she shot your partner.”

And almost shot me. “It wasn’t your fault. I guess none of us knew she would go that far, trying to protect her reputation.” For a moment, I wonder if I said the wrong thing. But Opal doesn’t seem to mind.

We watch as two winged lemurs dart from tree to tree, one chasing the other frantically. The light shimmering on the water lends an ethereal beauty to the bay.

“I’m still crazy about you, Opal Beifong.” She smiles, a real smile this time, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. She leans towards me, and I can feel my heart pounding so hard, it’s a wonder she doesn’t hear it too.

“I’m crazy about you too, Bolin.” Our lips meet, softly at first, before the kiss deepens as I pull her closer. My heart swells, and I don’t ever want this feeling to end. When we finally break apart, she murmurs throatily, “Did I tell you I’m quitting?”

I pull her in for another kiss, before replying. “Did I tell you I’m quitting too?” The decision had come surprisingly easy. Being a police officer, I realise, isn’t me after all. I want to see the world a bit, and help others in more tangible ways. Hopefully with Opal by my side. Korra and Mako had been supportive, even if Korra is a little exasperated at having to find a new partner. “You were the only partner I didn’t feel like strangling all the time.”

The Chief is more upset than she lets on, even if she would never admit it. ‘Kid, I swear if you break the law, I’m going to chuck your arse in prison and throw away the key so fast before you can say lavabending’.

I assume that’s her way of saying good luck, but I can’t be too sure.

Chapter Text

ASAMI

“Opal isn’t going to ever to talk to me again, is she?” I ask quietly, not expecting forgiveness from her that easily. I hope it was worth it, is all she says in bitterness before slamming the door in my face. Oddly enough, Bataar had been more understanding, when I had visited him in prison a few days ago to tell him everything.

Kuvira kicks at a pebble near the track. “She understands why you did it, but it’s not the same as accepting it. If it makes you feel any better, she’s just as pissed at me, if not more, for leaving her brother behind to take the fall.”

“And what about you?” She looks up. There’s an unspoken coolness between us now, a forced civility in our conversations. No more teasing banter, and none of her pathetic jokes at my expense anymore.

“I’d be lying if I said things would go back to normal, just like before. Just like things will never be the same again between me and Bataar.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t know any other way to show how much I regret hurting them. She only nods, and I wonder if it meant acknowledgement, acceptance or indifference. If only I had been honest from the start…

“I’m the one who pulled the trigger, not you. I don’t hate you, but I’m still fucking pissed. I wished you trusted your friends enough to have your back.”

“I’m sorry.” I’m starting to sound like a broken record.

She sighs heavily. “We’re all just going to need time.” Kuvira tosses one of her duffel bags to me.

“What’s this?” I wonder at its bulk and weight.

“It’s your share. A little under two million yuan, after expenses.”

“What?” I had assumed the entire thing fell through, after everything that has happened. Not that this was ever about the money anyway.

Her inscrutable expression doesn’t change much. “We still had all those fakes lying around, and Kai actually went on with the plan while we were busy being mad at you. Kid has a good head on his shoulders.”

“Want to bet we’ve to spend it all paying fines for impromptu infrastructure redesigning and ruining police property?”

Her mouth twitches a little at its corners, a faint ghost of her old smile. And then it’s gone, her face settling back to its usual stoic expression. It’ll definitely take time, but we’ll get there. I would make it up to them, all of them, somehow. She turns to leave, and I call after her.

“Kuvira?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Everything. That night, for…” I’m not sure how to go on, but she seems to know what I’m getting at.

Waving it off dismissively, she mutters, “I get it. I saw how you looked at her.”

Oh.

“She’s important to you.” It doesn’t sound like a question, just a simple statement of fact.

“You know what, Asami? All things considered, it was almost a pretty fucking perfect con on your part.” She says over her shoulder as way of farewell as she steps up into the carriage. She doesn’t look back. The train whistle blows, and I watch as it starts its slow journey towards Ba Sing Se until it disappears from sight.

Exiting through the cavernous main station, I drop my duffel bag in front of a beggar and his young daughter and walk away, feeling hollow inside.

..............................................................

I’m standing on the cliffs a little out of the city. It’s twilight, the time when neither the day has quite set yet nor has night fallen. Even so, the lights of the bustling city are already glittering in the distance. So few get to enjoy this, but that’s mostly because it’s a fenced-off forest reserve I broke into. Despite the incredibly beautiful view of the night skyline, it’s the furthest thing from my mind tonight.

It’s a special day today.

I’m not particularly religious but there’s comfort in ritual as I arrange the small pile of rocks around the small urn of ash; an illusion of permanence of a capricious existence in a world beyond our control, however fleeting it may last. It’s a little windy tonight, so I forego placing the photograph as I usually do, afraid it might be blown off by a gust. I light a single joss stick and place it firmly into the urn.

Well, ma, I hope that…

BANG!

I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear the crisp staccato ring of a gun behind me, the sound muffled by all the trees arounds us. I whip around so quickly that I trip, and end up landing hard on my butt. There’s Korra, her left arm in a sling and Naga by her side, the pistol in her other hand, angled upwards away from her body, as she fires again into the air. She pauses for a moment, and repeats it once more, her expression sombre. What the heck is she doing? Picking myself up, I suppress a groan. One moment of peace and solitude, was that too much to ask for? I’m really not in the mood for company tonight.

Crossing my arms tightly across my body, I turn to her, muttering fiercely. “What are you doing here?” Honestly, I didn’t think she’d even remember.

Looking slightly taken aback, she lowers her pistol, holstering it immediately. “I…uh…I …nevermind.” Korra backs away awkwardly, uncertainty plain on her face. I frown, noticing for the first time she’s wearing her full police uniform.

“Korra, what were you trying to do?”

She rubs the back of her neck nervously, shifting her weight from foot to foot. The lack of her usual brashness turns my annoyance into worry. Softening my tone a little, I ask again. “Korra?”

“Well, I just thought…you know…your mum, being a cop and all…” She trails off in that awkward way that is Korra. “Maybe I should just go.”

I turn away quickly, realisation catching up to me. The uniform, the three-gun-salute. Oh Korra. I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, feeling a sudden warm wetness on my cheeks.

All of a sudden, I’m crying, crying harder than I ever did in my life, hot tears streaming down my face. Crying for the first time in so many years, all that pent-up grief for a mother I hardly knew, for anger misdirected for so long at an absent father. I thought I could bring her the justice she couldn’t get, to properly mourn her today. But nothing feels right. The next thing I know, a warm arm envelopes me as I continue to sob harder into Korra’s shoulder, clutching her to me. Her hand is on my back, stroking soothingly in slow circles. It’s comforting, and almost unfamiliar with all that time passed.

I tighten my grip, but her hiss of pain brings me back to reality. Jerking away, I only manage a shaky apology when her hand leaves my back to rest on my cheek, brushing away the tears on my face with her thumb.

“Shh…it’s okay, Mi…just let it out.”

I cry a little while more, leaning into her touch, until I run out of tears to cry. I take deep shuddering breaths, racking up dry sobs, embarrassed now that I’m coming back to my senses. Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I back away slightly. Korra lets her hand fall to the side.

For the longest while, we don’t speak, and it occurs to me that it’s been a while since I’ve seen her looking at me like that, without the usual animosity in her eyes or veiled barbs. I’ve forgotten how much compassion her blue eyes can hold. I turn away again, not being able to meet the tenderness in them.

“How…how did you know?” I ask shakily, when I finally compose myself a bit.

“Coincidence. I found your mother’s file. I dug a little more and then I found this.” She pulls out a photo from a pocket. It’s a group picture of the original Triad Squad, and I immediately find the face I’m looking for. Her laughing grin stands out among the other more sombre and professional expressions, one arm hooked around another co-worker. Was that her partner? All those questions burn at the back of my mind, questions I won’t hear her answers to. Over at other end of the group, there’s Suyin Beifong as well. But all of that seems unimportant now. I stare hungrily for a long time at the faded photograph, trying to sear the image in my mind; so little pictures I have of her. I start to hand it back, but Korra shakes her head. “You can keep it. It’ll annoy Ryu more when I tell him I lost it.”

“Thank you, Korra.”

“It’s the least I could do.” She merely shrugs, placing a cigarette between her lips. She tries lighting it with one hand, but the breeze keeps putting the flame from her lighter out. I pluck them both from her, placing the cigarette between my own lips to light it for her. She takes a deep drag, before handing it to me. I hesitate at first before accepting it; never caring for smoking before, but I’m not going to turn away her peace offering. She settles down on the hard ground, leaning against Naga, and I join her, the sides of our bodies brushing against each other. The colours of the sky change imperceptibly as night falls. We continue to pass the cigarette back and forth, talking about everything, about nothing.

After our second cigarette, Korra tentatively leans her head against my shoulder. It feels so natural to take her hand in turn. Her hand is so warm and soft, and my heart skips a beat when she threads her fingers around mine in response. Steady, Sato. Don’t.

For the first time, I ignore that voice and let my guard down a little, telling her the truth about my mother, and she listens quietly. Then she talks about her life, the people she works with, how the first person she wanted to tell about her promotion was me, ironically enough. Neither of us mentions that night.

Watching the smoke curl in the air, mixing with the incense, it almost feels like the simpler times again. Almost. Such a shame we had to grow up.

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Hmm?”

“Honestly, after everything that has happened, I think I need a vacation.”

“A vacation vacation or a just a break?”

“Is there a difference?”

“I suppose not…where to?”

“I don’t know. Just as long as it’s somewhere else.”

“You know, the air here is dirtier, and everything’s louder, messier compared to the South. But the city feels like my real home now.”

“Do you want to come with me?”

“Asami…”

“I know, I know. Just checking. You can’t be both my friend and a good cop as well.”

“I don’t remember saying that.”

“Oh, you expressed it more…colourfully…but I really liked that vase.”

“Well...rude shock is an understatement.”

“You know… those two traits aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Yes, they are. When it comes to you.”

“…I’m touched.”

“Hmm…well, in any case, I think we both know that that particular train has left the station.”

“Don’t quit your day job just yet.”

“Sorry. Bolin drags me along to his poetry nights sometimes.”

That coaxes a laugh from me, feeling a lot lighter than I have in months. She tilts her head upwards at me, her easy, lopsided smile something else I’ve forgotten. Perhaps in another lifetime… I turn my gaze back towards the distance.

We sit a few more minutes in comfortable silence, watching the incense stick burn down to its last ember. At long last, we both get up, her eyes mirroring the reluctance I feel. I embrace her, careful not to apply too much pressure on her healing wound. Breathing deep, her scent, so uniquely hers, fills the senses, reminding me of citrus, of crackling fires on rainy days, and the salty tang of the ocean all at once. She holds me tight, murmuring into my hair, the closest to an admission I’ll ever get. “I’ve missed this.”

“Me too.” There isn’t anything more to say. That train has left the station.

Her metal of her police badge digs into the left side of my chest, a stark reminder of the irreconcilable chasm between us. Her train analogy sticks in my brain as I think of how both our tracks diverged so wildly, how beginnings of a wild youth and studious discipline ended at opposite stations of life, and how our choices would always be set on an inevitable collision course when our paths cross.

She leans her forehead against mine, our fingers lingering for a moment longer, trying to hold on to this precarious truce.

We pull apart, and the moment passes.

I finally open my eyes to see her crooked grin. Hooking her thumb into her belt, she drawls out her words.

“Now that the slate’s clean…I’m still the law-enforcement officer, and you’re the criminal. When it comes down to it, I’m still going to catch you, Sato.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way, Lieutenant.”

The End?

Chapter Text

And thus we come to the end of the first fic I’ve ever completed (not the first I started). It’s been quite the ride for me, seeing that this started out as a one-shot to combat my writer’s block for my other fic (to no avail, as it turns out) and there was a deadline to meet in the midst of completing my degree and moving to a new city. At some point I even felt like chucking the entire thing into the bin.

I hoped you enjoyed the tale, even if it ended on a bittersweet note. This is their song. There was supposed to be an epilogue where we check in with the characters a few years in the future but in the end I decided against it.

Other random notes:
- I started off with a simple goal of ‘try not to make Asami’s life a tragedy’, at which I horribly, horribly failed.

- Most of you might be wondering about Korra’s and Asami’s past but I couldn’t find a way to organically fit their backstory in natural dialogue, not because I was trying to be coy.

- Most of the plot and some lines are directly taken from by films and TV shows such as BBC Hustle, Catch Me If You Can, Inception, Gangster Squad, to name just a few. Bataar’s line “I thought we were professionals” is a nod to Reservoir Dogs, a film I watched while going through a writer’s block. I stole the cigarette-sharing moment from House of Cards and the imagery of the scene with Korra's police badge from mettahuman.

- Initially there was going to be the Beifong twins, Lin and Suyin would have more prominent roles, and Zaheer would be that one totally useless Red Lotus agent who keeps trying to recruit Korra into the Red Lotus like an annoying salesman, much to Lin’s annoyance. Unalaq was going to be in there somewhere as well as Korra’s well-meaning but incredibly boring mentor. Mako as Korra’s original partner and Bolin would have been aware of Opal’s identity. He goes undercover and they would actually be trying to play each other before falling for each other. Bataar turns out to be a mole for the RCPD and that’s why Kuvira shoots him. It would’ve all been very sort Infernal Affairs stuff as everyone played everyone. But that was way too much for my brain to untangle so I just trimmed it down so that I would be able to complete the damn thing.

Thank you to you all, my patient readers for reading and putting up with this nonsense, and a big thanks once more to kit-n-kadoodle who made the amazing art (be sure to check her out) and a special shout-out to mettahuman, whose enthusiasm, support and feedback never failed to cheer me up.

Hope 2015 has been kind to you and happy new year!