Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Opal was leaving for the Northern Air Temple.
Rae was sitting in the dining hall that evening, her eyes threatening to close at any moment, as she listened to Su's speech. To her right, Wing and Wei shed a few tears and to her left, Mako complained about the seating chart. When they finished eating, Rae cornered Opal and gave her a tight, unexpected hug.
"Be careful," she said with a smile, "and kick some ass."
The girl laughed and embraced her cousin. When they let go, Rae didn't follow the others to see her leave, mostly because she was exhausted but also because once the aircraft with Opal would start flying, she wouldn't see anything.
She went to her room and changed into a comfortable pair of large black trousers and a black sports brasserie before getting comfortably in bed. The door opened before she could close her eyes, and Rae waited for the bed to sink next to her.
Once both were in bed, after they exchange small kisses and soft goodnights, Rae finally closed her eyes. But something troubled her. She couldn't keep her eyes closed. Her ears picked up peculiar sounds that she couldn't recognize. Her hand traveled to the wall behind the bed.
"Something is wrong," she whispered after her palm met the cold metal of the wall. Iroh frowned and got to his feet at the same time as Rae and they both exited their room.
Mako and Bolin came running though the hall, screaming 'they got Korra' over and over again. Rae's eyes widened and broke in a run, following the two brothers, with Iroh close behind.
"Let her go!" shouted Mako once they were outside while throwing a few fire blasts.
Rae left the water whip come at her, and she used her Waterbending to control it and sent it back at Ming-Hua. Before the woman could send another water blast at her, Rae pushed a few fire balls towards the group of criminals. Her blue fire mixed with Iroh's standard yet extremely powerful flames.
Even though it was four against four, the criminals were skilled, too skilled, even for the Guardian and the Fire Nation Prince. Iroh and Rae hid behind a pillar, Ming-Hua's blasts not stopping.
"They have Korra!" shouted Mako to one of the guards. The sirens started blaring and numerous powerful lights found the four criminals. But P'Li used her combustion power to destroy them, sending Mako and Bolin flying.
Rae winced when she felt them fall but her attention switched to the criminals. They were trying to run away, but the guards had them surrounded. The Guardian came out from behind the pillar and, when she realized Lin, Su, Wing and Wei were there too, the five started Metalbending the criminals in a cage.
"We have you surrounded! It's over! Release the Avatar."
The Guardian started walking towards the trapped group, but she stopped, her eyes wide. She felt the ground shake and heat up, and before Iroh could go closer, she took his arm and pulled him behind her.
"Everyone! Get back!" she shouted as the ground beneath them started turning into lava. She used her Earthbending to propel herself and the general backwards.
The fight went on, and Rae found herself attacked by water every minute or so. Ming-Hua's attention was entirely dedicated to the Guardian and her companion, and she couldn't keep away the smirk from her face.
P'Li seemed to be stuck on trying to blow up Lin and the brothers, now accompanied by Asami, Su and her twins. Iroh stood close to Rae, hidden by a metal board. They were both trying to get cleans shots at the criminals, but Ming-Hua and Ghazan found immense interest in them.
"Rae!"
At the mention of her name, the woman turned towards the place her mother was once.
"Bolin needs to take a shot!"
The Guardian nodded at Mako words, not quite sure what they had in mind. The metalbenders weren't with them anymore, and Rae guessed they needed to make a distraction. She turned to Iroh only to see the small sparks at his fingertips.
"No," she said loudly over the explosions, her hand catching the one engulfed in sparks, "No lightning. We're surrounded by metal and a small mistake could blow us all up. Trust me, I almost did it once."
The man nodded and the two started delivering blows at the criminals. Their fire unbalanced them, and Bolin, with only a small pebble, hit P'Li right in the forehead, making her miss her explosion.
Rae felt two pairs of footsteps land near the criminals and her eyes widened slightly, finally understanding what her mother and aunt did. But, as they tried to go back up, Ming-Hua's water tendrils grabbed Lin's leg. The Guardian narrowed her eyes when she left it and started sending endless blue flames to the waterbender.
Ming-Hua groaned and turned to Rae with an angry expression. "You just can't get enough of me, can you," snarled the criminal. The Beifong woman didn't budge, not until a powerful air gust pushed her down.
When she got back up, it was awfully quiet. There were no explosions, no air current controlled by Zaheer, and the lava was all hard. They disappeared.
The Guardian left a hand grab her forearm and she groaned, leaning her body on Iroh. "They're gone, aren't they?" she asked after she managed to stand by herself. The man muttered a small 'yes'. "Where's Korra?" asked Rae again, her voice becoming agitated.
"Calm down," said Iroh, placing his hands on her shoulders, "Lin and Su got her out."
The woman exhaled and nodded before she turned to the destroyed yard. Zaheer managed to enter Zaofu. No place was safe anymore.
~
They were all waiting for Korra to regain her movements. Aiwei gave her an antidote for the toxins that flooded in her blood, and they waited. Rae was sitting by Korra's side on one of the sofas. Iroh was standing up beside her, with Suyin by his side. His hand rested gently on the Guardian's shoulder, calming her down.
"How could you let this happen?" started Lin angry, "You assured me this is the most secure places in the world!"
"It is," started Su, "I don't know how this happened. Obviously, this was a well-planned operation, so don't blame me."
Rae shook her head at her family's antiques and pressed a hand on Korra's knee when she tried to move.
"It would seem they had some inside knowledge of Zaofu," started Aiwei, "they must have been working with someone."
"The guards," said Korra as she sat up, "it had to be one of them."
When Aiwei agreed with Korra, Rae frowned. She wasn't the best at detecting lies because her seismic sense was sometimes too overused and every small tremble overwhelmed her senses, but she felt a small change in the tremors around her when Aiwei uttered those words of agreement.
"Question them all!" exclaimed Suyin with an anger Rae had yet to see, "Whoever betrayed my city will suffer the consequences!"
