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flameohotwife · 3 years

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kataang 19 for the ask fluff T_T

19. "You know, I think my parents would be proud if I brought you home."

This *also* turned super long, and a little sad in parts though I still think (hope) it's adequately fluffy. I am apparently incapable of ficlets at this point. I'm sorry! Read here or on ao3. Rated G. 3k words.

Katara was freezing. She had only been gone from the Southern Water Tribe for a year and already she had forgotten how cold it was there. They had decided to take a quick trip to Katara’s home to officially tell her father they were together after finalizing the Harmony Restoration Movement in Ba Sing Se, and were quickly approaching the South Pole on Appa. She wrapped her parka more tightly around her, shivering.

“Aang, don’t worry,” Katara comforted from the saddle. Even from this distance she could see his nervous fidgeting. He gave Appa instructions and climbed back to join her and Sokka and Suki. Toph had just recently found her first metalbending student, and was not about to leave Yu Dao to go to “a block of ice I can’t see or bend on.” So the two couples journeyed southward, with a lot of talk of “oogies” from Sokka, a lot of snippy comments about the thinness of tent walls from Katara, and a lot of unsure glances from Aang and Suki.

“Yeah, Aang,” Sokka chimed in as the airbender settled in next to his girlfriend. His girlfriend! It still felt strange to call her that. It seemed too informal for all that she meant to him, but anything more would sound ridiculous coming out of a thirteen-year-old’s mouth. “Don’t worry about the tribe. They already love you, remember? The kids are just going to want a bunch of rides down Appa’s tail again.”

“Oh! They haven’t gotten to see him fly, yet!” Katara added excitedly.

“Plus, you’re the Avatar,” Suki said, rolling her eyes. “You stopped the hundred-year war! If that doesn’t endear you to everyone, I don’t know what will.” Suki rubbed her arms over the green parka Katara had made her, looking down uncomfortably.

“You helped, too, Suki,” Katara reasoned, leaning over to place a hand on her friend’s arm. “And Dad already knows you’re together and definitely approves. You helped break him out of prison!”

Suki smiled back at her in thanks while Sokka wrapped an arm around his girlfriend proudly. “The truth is,” he started, “Katara and I couldn’t have picked better people to pair off with, and the Southern Water Tribe has been starved for happiness for a long time, now. Neither of you have anything to worry about. They’ll be proud to know you. I bet there’ll even be a feast!” He rubbed his belly with his free hand.

“But, I let all those warriors get captured… on the Day of Black Sun,” Aang said. He had kept his guilt over that day to himself for so long, but Katara knew. She knew it had hung heavy on his heart since the moment she found him crying on Appa, and she knew that he needed to clear that pain away.

“Aang, look at me,” she said, taking his face in her hands. “The Fire Nation knew we were coming that day, but you couldn’t have known that. None of us did. We trust you as the Avatar and we trust you as Aang—that hasn’t changed. Warriors are led into danger all the time. That’s what they train for. Nobody blames you.”

Aang took a deep, clarifying breath. He tried to remember what Guru Pathik had told him about accepting the bad things that have happened and forgiving himself. He had to keep the pools of his chakras flowing, and while this guilt hadn’t accumulated to the point of blocking his water chakra, he knew it could if he didn’t keep it in check. He released his breath, feeling much warmer and more confident than he had a moment ago, and smiled at Katara.

“Thank you, Katara.” The way he looked at her caused her breath to catch; she still wasn’t used to the pure, unadulterated devotion in his eyes. Her heart swelled with it, and she went in for a hug.

She expected Sokka to call out “Oogies!” but he just sat back with his girlfriend and rolled his eyes. Her brother was much more used to these displays of affection than she gave him credit for, anyway. She had hugged and touched and even kissed Aang on the cheek so many times throughout their journey to end the war, and he hadn’t batted an eye. Kissing seemed to be what brought the cries of protest out, but even those seemed half-hearted the more he was forced to witness it.

Katara felt that telltale swoop in her stomach as Appa started his descent, and separated from Aang, grinning widely. They were here! She could hardly contain her excitement, and Aang fed off of it. He would do anything to make her happy. He jumped back to Appa’s head to steer him towards the center of the village.

The children who had been outside playing all gathered together when they saw the large shape of Appa in the sky. Some of them even recognized him—shouts of “It’s the sky bison! It’s Aang! It’s the Avatar!” could be heard as the group approached. The ensuing ruckus drew adults out of their huts as well. Katara noticed there were more snow huts than tents, now, probably thanks to Pakku and the benders he’d brought from the North when he sought out her grandmother, who was just joining the throng of people. She saw her father’s face among the crowd, as well, and her heart soared.

She and Sokka were leaning over the edge of the saddle, waving to everyone and sporting wide, toothy grins when they finally landed. As soon as Appa’s feet touched the snow they both jumped down, rushing to greet their family. Aang and Suki hung back a moment, unsure of their place, until Hakoda pulled back from his children to open his arms to them, smiling.

“It’s so good to see you Aang, Suki,” he said, embracing them all in a group hug. His voice was warm and strong and he hoped it was welcoming, too. Whatever his feelings about his kids growing up and moving on, he wanted their partners to feel safe and loved and cared for here.

When they all pulled back—some a little teary eyed from the reunion—they saw Kanna and Pakku making their way over. Gran Gran was smiling in a way Katara wasn’t sure she had ever seen before. She looked so happy. So at peace. She had lived her entire life in the war and had been the one to tell Katara (and Sokka, when he would listen) the stories about the Avatar when they were younger. Katara supposed this all must be like a dream come true for her as well. She hugged each member of the group in turn.

“It’s good to see you again, young airbender,” she said to Aang, before turning to Suki and the others. “And it’s wonderful to meet you, Suki. Pakku tells me you’re quite the warrior, from what he could tell while you all were camped outside Ba Sing Se. I’m so proud of all of you for stopping this war.”

They seemed to remember the rest of the village was watching them, and Hakoda cleared his throat. The kids stopped playing on Appa’s tail to listen to their Chief.

“Everyone! Sokka and Katara are home and they’ve brought guests!” he started. His voice boomed powerfully across the ice. “I’d like you to meet Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors, and of course you all have met Avatar Aang and his bison already.” There was some applause and squeals from the children, and Aang blushed and waved. “I think this calls for a celebration. Let’s feast in the new council lodge tonight!”

“I told you,” Sokka whispered to Aang. Aang chuckled in return as the crowd cheered once more before returning to their business. Hakoda invited them all into his hut and they sat down in front of the fire with some tea, along with Gran Gran and Pakku.

“So, Dad, there’s actually a reason we came down here,” Katara opened once they were all settled on cushions around the low, circular table. She was sitting between Aang and Suki, and her father was directly across from her, flanked by Sokka and Gran Gran. Pakku sipped his tea observantly between Aang and Kanna. “Aang and I…” She grabbed his hand under the table. No matter how confident she was in their relationship, she’d never had to announce a new relationship to her family before. She felt sure she’d never have to, again. “We’re together, now.”

Hakoda smiled. Kanna beamed. Pakku looked like he had accidentally swallowed the bitter leaves of his tea, but Katara ignored him; he always looked that way.

Hakoda was the first to speak. “I figured this would happen eventually,” he said, laughing when both Aang and Katara looked somewhat shocked. “I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. And the way Katara was so protective of you, Aang, when you were in a coma...and her heartbreak when you left? I knew there was more than just friendship going on, even if Katara was too hard-headed to admit it.”

“Hey!” Katara protested.

“He’s not wrong,” Sokka spoke up. “You were the one who kept putting it off. Even after Aang kissed you at the Invasion…”

“You knew about that?!” Aang asked, flabbergasted.

“Toph told me,” he shrugged. “The subs were made of metal… she could feel it.” Sokka shuddered.

Both Aang and Katara were as red as tomato-carrots at this point, but Kanna actually laughed.

“Do you remember what I told you when you left the South Pole?” she asked, speaking to her grandchildren.

“Yeah, yeah, something about it being our destiny to help Aang, I think,” Sokka answered.

“You said…” Katara gasped, eyes wide. “You said our ‘destinies are intertwined with his.’” She looked at Aang, smiling. “I thought it was just about ending the war, but…”

“I also called him your boyfriend, that day, if you’ll remember,” Sokka pointed out. “You denied it then, but face it, Katara. You were already smitten from the day we met Aang.”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “I was.” The blush was even higher on her cheeks, now. Aang looked as though someone had just granted him his biggest wishes: a mixture of surprise and glee covered his face as he looked at her. He squeezed her hand under the table, not completely sure she was still real; that this wasn’t a dream. Katara had really liked him for as long as he’d liked her?

“It was the same for me and Suki,” Sokka continued on. “The moment she beat me...again... in that dojo on Kyoshi Island, I knew.”

“Awww, Sokka,” Suki cooed.

“I mean, any girl who can take down a Water Tribe warrior is girlfriend material, am I right?”

Everyone at the table exchanged glances before simultaneously rolling their eyes and laughing. It was so good to be around family again, Katara thought. But what was even better was that she still felt at home and comfortable—maybe even moreso—with Aang there by her side. She could see him at future family gatherings, see him as an adult, proudly holding their child at the Solstice Festival in the South, comfortably talking with everyone from the children to the elders. It filled her with warmth, and she pressed her shoulder into his as the conversation went on well into the afternoon.

That evening, after the feast, there was dancing. It was different from the dancing they had done before, in the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. Katara and Sokka, along with the rest of the tribe spent much of the evening laughing and teaching Aang and Suki to dance in the Water Tribe way, readjusting their form, feeling the heavy beat of the drums; the qilaut.

At one point Aang and Katara stumbled outside for some air, clutching their stomachs which were beginning to ache from so much merriment. They sat back in a snowbank, arms around each other, watching the stars twinkling in silent chorus above them, taking comfort in each other’s presence.

“You know,” Aang said after a time, “I think my parents would be proud if I brought you home. Would’ve been proud, I guess. Gyatso, too. We could have celebrated and eaten fruit pies and sang and danced at the temples...” Katara looked up at him, expecting to see the grief and sadness etched in his face that was so often there when he spoke of his people, but he looked...wistful. Like he was perhaps picturing such a reunion, and her heart ached for all that he had lost. She had never even heard him mention his parents before. “Being here, around your family and your tribe… it’s been so wonderful, Katara.”

She wrapped her arms tighter around his waist, pulling him ever closer. She kept her sapphire eyes focused on the light flickering out from the lodge behind him, feeling like perhaps this next thought was too much, but she wanted to open it up to him. To be there for him in the same way he’s been there for her for so long. “We could visit the Air Temples,” she suggested, quietly. “I know the other Air Nomads are gone… and it might be… sadder. A lot less celebratory. But… I’d like to visit your home again now that the war’s over. I’d like to learn your dances. Learn about your people.”

They turned to each other then, both their eyes sparkling in the starlight. “I’d like that,” Aang whispered as a tear escaped him with a choked sob.

“Hey, Sweetie,” Katara comforted, reaching up to gently stroke his cheek. She realized that in the few months since the end of the war—probably actually since she’d broken him out of the iceberg—he hadn’t had the chance to really be. To reflect. To grieve. “It’s okay to be sad, you know? To miss them. You’re not alone though. I’m here. I’ll always be here.”

Aang clung to her then, letting his feelings flow. They listened to the sound of the drums inside, and she rocked him, whispering how strong he was, how amazing it was that he’d found a way to end the war that was still true to himself; to his people. How proud they would be. How proud she was.

Eventually, he lifted his head from her shoulder to kiss her slowly, tentatively. He was still mostly letting her take the lead in their physical relationship, but he couldn’t think of any other way to thank her then. No words seemed sufficient. His hesitance melted away the moment she moved her lips against his, though. His hands gripped her waist as best he could in their sitting position before moving to thread into her hair. He could feel his heart starting to beat just a little too fast. He felt lightheaded, but in a good way. He pulled back for a breath, and they both giggled. Kissing was still new, but something they both clearly enjoyed finally being able to do together.

“You called me ‘Sweetie,’” he said, realizing. She’d never called him anything other than Aang before. His heart fluttered.

“Is that okay? Sorry, I didn’t even realize…” Katara was pulling at her hair and looking anywhere but at Aang until he stopped her with another kiss, though it was much quicker this time.

“I loved it, Sweetie,” he teased back, but somehow it felt like the most natural thing in the world to call her.

“My mom used to call me that,” she admitted, shyly. “I don’t know why it just came out when I was talking to you…”

“Did I ever tell you what the guru told me about love?” Aang asked. Katara shook her head, confused. “He told me that ‘love is a form of energy,’ and that the airbenders’ love for me hasn’t left this world, but was reborn in new love.” He looked pointedly at her. “Our love.”

Katara took in a sharp breath. She felt at once shocked, humbled, and overflowing with pure, confident love. Sokka certainly wouldn’t believe it, but it made so much sense to her. The instant connection she had felt… the fierce need to protect him… her intense love for him that was as big as an entire nation. She couldn’t help but smile widely.

“Maybe...” Aang started. “Maybe your mom’s love for you was reborn, too.” It seemed like such an outrageous thing to say, but at the same time, like the most obvious thing in the world. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She believed it, too. “I love you, Katara.”

“I love you too, Aang. So much.” She leaned in to kiss him again, feeling like nothing could quite top this feeling. They’d said ‘I love you’ so many times in so many ways; in small gestures, in touches, in roundabout ways, even before they’d been together. But this… this seemed much bigger.

Finally, they stood to return to the celebration. Surely people had noticed their absence by now, though they were thankfully still young enough to avoid any terribly embarrassing rumors. As they walked back to the hall, hand in hand, they shared a look before opening the door.

“Ready, Sweetie?” Aang asked, eyes shining with pure joy.

“Ready, Sweetie,” Katara responded confidently. She squeezed his hand before pulling him inside with her, already moving to the beat of the drums again. Their hearts were so full. Their lost loved ones were never truly gone from this world, and they would cherish that fact for the rest of their lives together. Even in their grief they were connected, and by their love they were healed. It was beautiful.

#kataang #kataangtag #fluff prompts #vanillabutspicy #asks #the guru episode #katara #aang #kataang fanfiction #sweeties #meet the family

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bulletproofteacup · 4 years

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Fancy Parties, Life Saving, and Teenage Idiocy

[prompt #103]: “Doctor AU” // Zutara Month #26: “Sacrifice”

Prompts by pxroxide-prinxcesss

[summary]: Teenage espionage + healing + Season 2 + zutara (like obviously)

***

This is not how Katara expected this party to end, hiding from the Dai Lee in a shadowed alcove while healing a grievously poisoned Prince Zuko.

Her dress is ruined, of course, and that is perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this entire night. Zuko will live, of course, and she will beat the snot out of him for this when he comes around. It only makes sense that he would wade right into their delicate operation and ruin the entire thing (for such a talented fighter and sneaky bastard, he’s such a drama queen).

He groans, eyes fluttering.

“I am going to kill you.” she mutters under her breath, angling her hips.

He’s half propped up against the wall, half pinned there by her hips and legs. To any party goer passing by, they’re an inebriated couple engaged in an illicit embrace. Scandalous, yes, but not entirely uncommon. It will buy them enough time for Katara to bring Zuko back from the edge of actual fucking death.

On top of their Earth Bending, Dai Lee agents were not above using poison and Zuko was not above waltzing right into the trajectory of three of their darts. A single could knock an elephant koi out. Three might even kill a notoriously annoying Fire Prince. She doesn’t even know why he’d been in Long Feng’s library, but they’d both nearly been caught by his personal guard.

Katara has been pulling poison out of his veins for nearly a quarter of an hour when he finally comes around. One moment he is limp in her arms and the next he has jolted back into consciousness, his freakishly warm hands tightening on her forearms. His grip is painful. She curses, poisoned blood splashing over his black shirt. “What did you do to me?” he slurs.

“Let go,” she snaps, “I’m trying to save your life, you idiot.”

“Why are you here?” he growls, “Is the Avatar here?”

She huffs. “Of course not,” she says, “It’s just me and Toph. And you now, apparently.”

He seems to realize the compromising position they’re in--she’s literally smushed up against him. Zuko blinks and despite all the blood she’s just pulled out of, he blushes like a school girl. She opens her mouth to tell him to stop being so spirits damned foolish, but then he pulls himself upright and their bodies are still flushed up against one another. Her mouth goes dry.

He’s a head taller than her and broad shouldered (frankly, it’s a miracle she’d been strong enough to drag his block-headed body away from the Dai Lee and into this alcove). He smells like incense and herbs and teenage boy.

“You saved my life?” he rasps, gold eyes meeting hers.

She nods dumbly, then catches herself. Back to business, Katara, she tells herself. “The Dai Lee hit you with enough of that poison to knock-out an elephant koi,” she explains, “I pulled out as much as I could--you’re going to feel woozy for a while.”

Sure enough, he steps away and staggers. She catches him. “Be careful, you oaf,” she says, “We need to find Toph and get out of here.”

“I don’t need your help,” he grumbles, “I was doing just fine before you stumbled into my way.”

“Are you serious?” she cries, “I saved your life!”

He rolls his eyes. “You blew my cover--I was perfectly hidden in that library until you stomped in.”

“I did not stomp!” she retorts, “I was perfectly sneaky!”

“Why in Agni’s name are you even here?” he asks, peaking out of their alcove.

She doesn’t have a chance to answer. “Someone’s coming!” Zuko hisses.

He reaches for his swords. She stops him. “Just follow along, okay?” Katara whispers back.

She shoves him back into the alcove, until all of him is hidden against her. “They won’t think twice if we’re just some couple,” she explains, “Work with me here.”

He doesn’t protest--which Katara is incredibly grateful for. He is, unlike her friends, a professional. Zuko’s arms come around her and he angles his head down, kissing her very suddenly and very expertly. The idiot even tastes like spices, she thinks before her mind melts. She might be Very Good at Sneaking, but even Katara is a teenage girl and there is little to do besides hang on when a teenage boy is kissing you like there is no tomorrow. Which there won’t be, judging by the slowing footsteps.

“Alright alright, love birds,” Toph says behind them, “Break it up, we’ve got escaping to do.”

She doesn’t seem to acknowledge the fact that Katara has acquired a Fire Nation prince or that her heart is literally beating ten-thousand miles an hour. Zuko and Katara spring apart. He’s just as red-faced as she is and the thought is somehow completely delightful.

They don’t get a chance to acknowledge The Moment, because Toph is already hurrying them along. “Those dunderheads are on their way,” she snaps, “We’ve got to go now or not at all--You can’t play tonsil-hockey with all of them sugar queen.”

“Toph!” she hisses, humiliated.

The earthbender snorts. “Now or never, sugar queen.”

Katara turns back to Zuko, but between one moment and the next, he’s completely disappeared. How he managed to squeeze out of the alcove, especially when she was in it with him, is beyond her. “Zuko?” she whispers.

“He’s running for his life,” Toph says, almost apologetically, “Just like we need to be doing right now.”

Katara touches her lips and follows her friend down the hall.

***

They manage to escape, of course, even if they don’t find any more information about Appa. Toph doesn’t seem annoyed--if anything, infiltrating a hoity-toity party to sneak into Long Feng’s personal office and library has made the earthbender even more insufferable. Katara, on the other hand, can’t seem to forget the way Zuko’s lips felt on hers. She’d saved his life and he hadn’t even thanked her. What a jerk.

“Toph?” she whispers as they walk back home through the upper ring.

“Yeah?” Toph mumbles around a mouthful of cheese dumpling.

Katara is still nibbling at her own. “Do you think Zuko made it out safely?”

Her friend has the good sense not to tease her. Toph shrugs. “If you guys are right about him--and snoozles says he’s nearly unkillable--I’m sure he’s made it out,” she says, entirely unconcerned, “Why on Earth was he doing there anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Katara shrugs, “He was looking for something, just like us, and I saved his life.”

Toph snorts. “Saved a little more than his life, I think.”

Katara pelts her with bits of dumpling. “Don’t tell Sokka, got it?”

And because she’s Toph, she refuses to agree.

***

Zuko watches, hidden in the shadows across the street, as the waterbender--as Katara--enters the ornate house where the Avatar lives. It seemed the right thing to do, he rationalized, to make sure she got home. She’d saved his life after all.

Zuko touches his lips and tries not to think about how utterly blue her eyes were. How utterly beautiful she was in that green dress--stained and blood covered that it was. Of course, given his luck, he fails. He can’t seem to get her voice out of his head. She’d called him an oaf and actually....said his name. He can’t even explain how gratifying it was to hear Zuko on her pretty lips and not...Lee.

Zuko knows where the Avatar lives, but all he can think about is the Avatar’s waterbender.

Spirits, he’s in trouble.

#zutara #zutara month #zutaramonth #atla #writing #tea induced insanity #zuko #katara #shameless fluff #writing drabbles #and yet again i went way over the ten minute mark #why is this my life

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justcallmehermione · 4 years

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I’m baaaaack!!!!!

Thanks to la cuarentina and life settling down now that I’m in my mid-20s, I started writing fan fiction again. My first goal is to finish all my former WIPs so I can start on new things in all the fandoms I am now part of. In the mean time, here’s chapter 8 of my Linzin piece!

Story: Small Bump Rating: M for some delicious smut Pairings: Linzin, Tokka, and Kataang

FF.net

AO3

Chapter 8: The Announcement “Do you really have to go?” Izumi whined, “I was really looking forward to going through all this pregnancy fun with you.” The pout on her lips grew bigger by the second.

Lin sighed, “Yes, we do. It’s about time we let everyone else in on our secret.”

“Don’t worry Izumi, we can come back before both the babies are born,” Tenzin tried to reassure her.

“I guess I’ll just have to settle for letter writing until then,” Izumi gave up.

“That’s the spirit, turtleduck,” Zuko chimed into the conversation.

“We best be going if we want to be back home before dinner,” Tenzin reminded them.

Lin walked to Izumi and gave her a big hug, and then turned to her uncle and gave one to him, “I’ll miss you both. I look forward to seeing you soon,” she told them. Tenzin did the same, hugging the two and waved goodbye as he ascended to Oogi’s back.

“Let us know you arrive safely!” Zuko called out to the couple.

“We will!” Lin assured her with a shout back. “See you soon!” And with that Tenzin signaled for Oogi to begin the trip back home.

…

Lin was trying to rest on Oogi’s back, but she could not get comfortable. In the past few weeks she had been experiencing some mild back pain, especially as her waist started to expand with the growing baby inside of her. Thoughts were racing through her head about what would happen when she got back home. Lin decided to get up and sit next to Tenzin on Oogi’s neck.

“Hello, love,” Tenzin said as Lin snuggled close to him. She sighed in response. “Would you like to share your thoughts?” he probed.

“Just nervous about telling everyone, I guess. I don’t think I’m ready for the attention we’re going to get,” she confided.

“I understand. I’m sure once the papers hear, we’ll be begged for interviews left and right,” he mentioned. Lin groaned in response. Tenzin sighed and continued, “I know. I’m not looking forward to it either.”

Tears started forming in Lin’s eyes and she managed to get out, “What if she isn’t an air bender? You know that’s what they all want from me! What if I don’t make their hopes and dreams come true?” Tenzin paused for a moment. He hadn’t realized she was putting so much pressure on herself. Sure, he knew that the pressure was there for any and all of their babies to be air benders, but he always pushed that to the back burner. He preferred to focus on the fact that he and Lin, the woman he loved and vowed to spend his entire life with, we’re going to bring their love to fruition in the form of a happy and healthy child.

He tried putting his thoughts to words to comfort his wife, “Lin, stop, please. You’re stressing over something that doesn’t matter as much as you think it does -”

“Doesn’t matter?” she interrupted, “You of all people should know how much it matters! You spent your whole life being the second air bender in the entire world! How are you not stressed?”

He tried to continue, “Because Lin, I love you with every fiber of my being. The only thing that matters to me is that you stay happy and healthy throughout your pregnancy and that when the baby comes he or she is just as happy and healthy. My number one priority is you and it always has been and always will be. Forget about duty and legacy. I love you and want you for you. The fact that you’re carrying our child is all I need to be happy and excited. I will love you and the baby. Forget about what the others think, please!” “Are you sure?” she inquired further, “You’d be happy even if the baby is an earth bender or even a non-bender?”

Tenzin reassured, “As long as that baby is half me and half you, the only thing that matters to me is that you are both happy and healthy and I will love you both until my dying breath.”

Lin started to cry more, “Oh, Tez! I love you. If you of all people can put the pressures aside, I can try to do so as well. Thank you.” She leaned her head on his shoulder while he put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too, Lin. Let’s try to rest, we’ll be landing in Republic City soon enough.”

…

“Lin, we’re home,” he whispered, gently shrugging his shoulder to arouse his snoozing wife. Lin’s eyes blinked open and she lifted her head and looked around. Tenzin had landed Oogi in the park nearby their apartment. He hadn’t taken them to the island like she thought he was going to.

“Why are we here?” she inquired.

“Well, I thought it would be nice to freshen up a bit and spend a little time relaxing before we meet the family at the island,” he explained, “Do you mind?”

She smiled, relieved to have some more time before revealing their secret, “This is perfect,” she assured him.

Tenzin grabbed their things and joined Lin on the ground as the two walked the three blocks to their apartment. The building with the tea shop on the first floor and the two apartments on the second floor wasn’t much, but it was the first place Lin and Tenzin were able to call their own. Well, not entirely, the family who owned and ran the tea shop downstairs and lived in the back part of the second floor were there too, but the studio in the front with the big windows that looked down on the bustling street below was their sanctuary.

Lin smiled as they made their way up the stairs on the side of the building and entered their home. Su Yin had done an excellent job of taking care of the few plants Tenzin had grown from seedlings while they were away. He dropped the bags right in the entryway and flopped down on the mattress that was on the other side of the room.

“I missed this place,” he sighed into the mattress.

Lin walked over and sat down on her side next to him and nodded, “It’s great to be home, with you.”

Tenzin rolled over on his back and pulled Lin’s arm in an effort to get her to join him. She complied and snuggled up next to him, resting her head on his chest. He beamed up at the ceiling. This was his paradise. He was positive that he could be stuck living in a tent for the rest of his life, but the only thing he would need to make it perfect would be for Lin to cuddle up to him just like she was at the moment.

Lin sat up and winced, bringing Tenzin out of his own head and looking her over, trying to assess the problem. “What happened?” he demanded to know.

She waved him off, “It’s nothing, just some back pain. I’ll be fine.”

Tenzin still looked concerned and asked, “Should I phone the island and tell them we can’t make it tonight? I could make something up about having a cold from flying in the winter sky or say that Oogi needs a rest…” Tenzin babbled until Lin put her finger on his lips. She leaned across the bed and kissed him, her lips warm on his.

“I’m fine, Tez. Let’s get cleaned up and head over to the island. I’m starting to get hungry and I’m sure your mom made something tasty for our arrival,” she assured him.

Tenzin nodded, “Okay, but only if I get to watch you bathe and change.” He winked at her and kissed her passionately, tilting her head back so she would open her mouth so he could dart his tongue inside.. Lin allowed it and answered back by nibbling on his bottom lip.

“We’ve been gone for almost two months now, another hour or two won’t make them miss us anymore, right?” Lin asked. Tenzin nodded in agreement and eagerly watched as Lin straddled him and continued to kiss him.

Tenzin’s member started to grow harder and he involuntarily pushed his hips up to rub against Lin, trying to relieve the mounting pressure growing in him. Lin responded by starting to rock slowly back and forth, pausing at the right spot that helped her pleasure build.

Clothes started coming undone and were thrown haphazardly around the bed. Tenzin reached up and cupped Lin’s breasts, giving both nipples a gentle squeeze. A moan escaped Lin and she eased herself on his throbbing member, continuing her rocking motions from earlier. Tenzin kept one hand on her breast and slid the other down to rub the spot he knew would push her over the edge. As he was trying to bring his wife all the pleasure and happiness she deserved, he looked up and watched her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open as her breaths started coming out quicker and quicker. Tenzin felt like the luckiest and happiest man in all Four Nations. He had a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. They had a place to call their own and many adventures ahead of them. Once they both reached their peaks and lay on the bed snuggled in each others’ arms, Tenzin squeezed Lin a little tighter than normal, hoping to never let this moment end.

…

“They’re back!” Katara shrieked when she saw Oogi land with a loud thud outside the main house. “Aang, Sokka, Toph, they’re back!” she yelled again, trying to get everyone’s attention. She ran out of the house, arms wide open waiting to embrace the newlyweds.

“Hello, Mother,” Tenzin said after he jumped off Oogi. He accepted her embrace.

“Hi, Mom,” Lin joined their hug.

Katara gushed, “Two of my babies are home! I’m so glad. I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures and --”

“Quit hogging the kids, and let them give the rest of us love, Sugar Queen,” Toph interrupted as she, Sokka, and Aang came out of the house. They took their turns greeting the newlyweds and welcoming them home.

“We missed you all very much and are happy to be back,” Tenzin informed them.

“Yes, let’s go catch up over the copious amounts of food I’m sure Katara and the acolytes have made for us,” Lin stated.

Toph laughed and patted Katara on the back, “She’s got you pegged, Sugar Queen!”

Sokka agreed, “She’s not wrong, the house has smelled delicious and I haven’t been able to taste test anything, despite many attempts! Let’s eat so my taste buds stop hating me.”

…

“That was delicious!” Lin exclaimed, after finishing the last crumb off her third plate.

“I don’t think I’ve seen someone eat that much since Sokka at our wedding feast!” exclaimed Aang.

Lin blushed, “Well I can’t help it, I’m…” she hesitated, looking to Tenzin for affirmation. He smiled and nodded, urging her to finish what she wanted to say. She smiled back at him and continued, “Well, I am eating for two now, so I’ve been eating more lately.”

Katara gasped, “What did you just say?” Sokka’s and Aang’s mouths dropped and they gaped, looking from each other, to Tenzin, to Lin, and back again.

Toph cried, “That’s right! My baby is having a baby of her own! I’d never thought I’d see the day!”

Ignoring Toph’s blind joke, Sokka turned to her and asked, “How did you know?”

“Heartbeat detector over here,” Toph reminded them, “So it was either Lin was pregnant or they got a pet Turtleduck while visiting Firelord Zuzu.”

Aang got up and went around the table to where Lin and Tenzin were sitting. He put his arms around both of them and gushed, “That is wonderful news, kiddos! I’m so excited to meet the little one!”

Katara joined her husband, “Yes! It is wonderful news! Oh there’s so much to talk about and figure out…” Katara rambled on.

Tenzin slid his hand across the table and Lin grabbed it and squeezed it gently. He was so proud of his beautifully courageous wife and was so happy they finally got to share their news with their extended family. Tenzin couldn’t imagine a more perfect life for himself.

A/N: Yeah so, life happened. Adulting started in full swing. And I basically abandoned anything and everything FanFic related for a while. But thanks to quarantine/life settling down a lot more, I am back. Also, wanted to add that Lin is probably around 3 to 4 months pregnant at this point and it’s winter time in Republic City by now, which means they’ve been married for a good month by now.

#linzin #fan fiction #small bump #lok #atla #justcallmehermione

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iruka-2013 · 7 years

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Fanfic: Winds of Change - Red Lotus, Part 2 (9/11)

Summary: Book 3 AU in which Asami becomes an airbender and goes with Tenzin to the Northern Air Temple, while Kuvira joins Team Avatar. Approx. 50,000 words so far. (Based on this post by Ikkinthekitsune.)

Previous Chapters:

Prologue: New Airbender Chapter 1: Thief

Chapter 2: Captain of the Guard Chapter 3: Traitor

Chapter 4: Level Zero Chapter 5: Earthly Tethers

Chapter 6: The Crew Chapter 7: Red Lotus, Part 1

Chapter 8: Airbending Master My fanfiction master post

The metalbender’s name was Eun Hwan, and he was a descendant, as he often boasted, of one of Toph Beifong’s original students. He had other skills besides bending—he was a fine archer, played a mean game of Pai-Sho, and sported an impeccable pencil mustache—but the four masters had particularly wanted a metalbender for this mission. Eun Hwan had been promised the honor of poisoning the Avatar with his own hands.

Like most Red Lotus recruits, he had joined in the vague expectation of “changing the world,” little realizing the dullness of life as a deep-cover operative, especially with most of the organization’s leadership locked in prisons scattered across the world. The work he’d gotten to do since being activated, though, had more than made up for the years of tedious waiting.

He knew there were individual agents stationed around Four Nations, but for this operation Grand Master Zaheer had summoned one of the largest groups of Red Lotus operatives ever assembled. Besides the four masters and Eun Hwan, there was Jing-Gui the firebender and the earthbender Guozhi and his two nonbender acolytes, who had labored for months to convert the old airbender cavern into the Red Lotus base in these remote mountains.

Grand Master Zaheer’s plan had been to trick the Avatar’s allies with Master Ming-Hua’s false hostages, bury them in the disintegrating Air Temple, and capture and transport the Avatar to the caverns where the airbenders would be held. There Eun Hwan would help the masters dispatch her.

Something had gone wrong. The Grand Master had promised them a nation to barter for the Avatar, but Master P’Li arrived in Eun Hwan’s Air Temple tower room carrying a single scorched, unconscious airbender slung over her shoulder. She dropped the woman to the ground and turned to go.

Eun Hwan heard a faint clattering noise and squinted at the floor. “What’s that?”

P’Li stopped and looked back. A small, round object had been jarred out of the unconscious airbender’s pocket. She knelt and picked it up.

“I recognize that,” said Eun Hwan. “It’s Guozhi’s lotus tile. He’s been missing it for weeks.”

“The airbenders have found the Lotus Cave,” Master P’Li murmured.

“We should tell the Grand Master immediately. Our base is compromised.”

“Not necessarily,” P’Li said. “The airbenders don’t know about our organization. If that’s where the boy and Tenzin’s siblings have fled, we may be able to regain a few of our hostages.” Taking the tile, she turned to go.

“Wait,” called Eun Hwan. P’Li looked back again and raised a silent eyebrow.

“Forgive me, Master,” he murmured, suppressing a nervous desire to stroke his mustache, “but the Grand Master gave me instructions to put two dozen airbenders in chains and move them to the Lotus Cave. What should I do with this one?”

P’Li faced him, her mouth twisted into a scowl. “The plan has changed. Ghazan and Ming-Hua are dead and the other airbenders have escaped, thanks to this little spider-rat.” She gave the prisoner a kick. “If we make careful use of her, we can still lure the Avatar into our trap. Keep her in this room, but put her in chains and gag her.”

Eun Hwan bowed his head. “Yes, Master P’Li.”

Soon after he had finished carrying out P’Li’s instructions, Grand Master Zaheer arrived with the portable radio set. He nodded, satisfied, to see the prisoner properly secured. “Good. The Avatar will be calling soon, and we need to be ready.”

“You think she’ll bargain her life for only one airbender?”

“For this one, yes.” The expression in Zaheer’s eyes made Eun Hwan shiver.

There was no warning. Zaheer moved too quickly for Eun Hwan to block the heavy hand that pushed him back against the wall, its fingers splayed against his chest. The Grand Master closed his eyes in concentration, and Eun Hwan froze with horror as he felt something alive reach inside him, to the very center of his body.

The living force of Zaheer’s chi pooled in Eun Hwan’s lungs and began to expand sickeningly—sharpening, filling his chest with knives—until it cut off his breathing with a strangled gurgle.

Zaheer’s lips pulled back in a slow, ghastly smile that carried more than a hint of madness. He opened his eyes. “Tenzin was killed before I could finish with him. I’ve discovered the ideal way to finish off the Avatar. We may not even need your poison.”

Eun Hwan stared into the Grand Master’s calculating eyes, his mind a welter of panic. Every Red Lotus knew what would happen to someone Zaheer considered a loose end. He was about to die.

The moment lasted an eternity. Then Zaheer narrowed his eyes and unclenched his fingers. Eun Hwan found—to his own astonishment—that he was still alive. As his lungs resumed their normal function, he began to hyperventilate.

Zaheer cocked his head. “However… perhaps we can still use a metalbending archer.”

Eun Hwan could only gulp in response. Zaheer crossed to the other side of the room and settled into a meditation pose, waiting for the Avatar’s call.

The metalbender massaged his aching chest with a trembling hand. If what he had just felt was the Grand Master’s ideal way to destroy the Avatar, it was almost enough to make Eun Hwan pity the girl.

Shan poked his head onto the bridge of the Zaofu airship. “Captain—lookouts report a herd of sky bison heading our way.”

Kuvira exchanged a look with Korra. “How many?”

“A dozen at least. With passengers.”

Korra smiled for the first time in hours as they raced to the airship’s upper deck. The first bison had hardly settled when one of its passengers airbent herself down from its back and leaped into Kuvira’s arms.

“Kuvira!”

“Opal,” Kuvira gasped, hugging the younger girl back. “How did you get away? Where’s Zaheer?”

“He captured the Air Temple and tried to take everyone hostage. Asami and Kai managed to knock out their combustionbender’s powers so the bison could get away. They stayed behind to help Tenzin fight. Kya and Bumi were with them.”

Kuvira, her eyes blazing, held Opal at arm’s length. “Were you the last to get out?”

“I think so.”

The rest of the Metal Clan had arrived on deck, and Opal ran to embrace her mother and Bolin. Jinora edged through the crowd of airbenders toward the Avatar. “Korra, we heard an explosion from behind us. It could have been the gas lines.”

Korra exchanged a look with Kuvira. “That could mean Asami and the others found a way to fight back.”

“Or that something has gone horribly wrong,” Kuvira said. “The mass escape will weaken Zaheer’s hand, but we have to know how many hostages he still has. Are you ready to try talking to him?”

Korra took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

“I’m coming too,” said Jinora, straightening her back.

“And us,” Mako added, glancing at Bolin.

Kuvira didn’t look entirely pleased, but she nodded. “Very well.”

The airship’s radio officer already had the transmitter tuned to the Air Temple’s frequency when the five of them entered the radio room. Bracing herself for a confrontation, Korra picked up the handset.

“Hello? Zaheer?”

The answer came immediately. “I’m here. I’ve been waiting for your call.”

I’ll bet you have, thought Korra with a smirk. “I hear the airbenders were more trouble than you bargained for, Zaheer. In fact, I’d guess Tenzin and the others have escaped by now too.”

His reply shocked her to the core. “Tenzin is dead, and his siblings as well. I finished them myself, as a sign of our seriousness.”

Stunned, Korra looked at Jinora’s ashen face, then at Kuvira, who pursed her lips and shook her head. He’s lying.

She couldn’t entirely banish the quaver from her voice as she called Zaheer’s bluff. “Then it sounds like you’ve got nothing left to negotiate with, and I’ve got no reason to keep talking to you.”

“You’re wrong, Avatar. You’re forgetting your friend Miss Sato. She is still in our hands. I’m willing to bet you’ll trade your life for hers.” The gloating in his voice made Korra’s heart sink; this was no bluff.

“Why should I believe anything you say?” she countered.

“Miss Sato is enjoying her beauty rest at the moment, but if you call back in ten minutes I’ll provide you with proof that’s she’s here. Meanwhile, I want you to listen carefully. I have a procedure for your surrender.”

Korra saw that Kuvira was ready with her notepad. Any details Zaheer provided would be valuable in planning their attack. “I’m listening.”

“You will fly your glider at noon to the top of Laghima’s Peak. You can send two of your allies in an airship to the southeast landing of the Air Temple to get Miss Sato. You’ll find her in the bathhouse. I assume you have some means of communication?”

“We have some handsets, yeah.”

“So do we. I’ll leave two of my men concealed at the Temple to watch and make certain your side follows the rules. Once you receive confirmation from your people that she’s there, you’ll drop your staff and the radio, then stand still while we shackle your hands and feet. If you resist, she dies. When we have you secured, your friends will be allowed to remove Miss Sato, and we’ll take you aboard our ship.”

“And what happens then? We all go hang out at your summer home on Half-Moon Bay?”

“You’ll have to wait and see. I’ll talk to you in ten minutes.” Zaheer severed the communication from his end.

Korra looked over her shoulder. “Did you get all that?”

Kuvira nodded, pencil poised over the notepad. “I don’t have to be a truth-seer to tell he’s planning to double-cross us. At least now we have some information to work with.”

Jinora had recovered some of her composure, though she still looked shaken. “You think he was lying about my dad and the others?” she asked Kuvira.

“Since he wants leverage over Korra, it wouldn’t make sense for him to kill his own hostages. He may simply be hiding the fact that they escaped after the bison were gone, gambling that we won’t find out until it’s too late.”

“He sounded pretty confident,” said Mako, “but why didn’t he mention Kai? If Zaheer doesn’t have him, and he didn’t get away with the rest of you, where is he?”

Jinora’s expression hardened into determination. “I know how to find out.”

Asami floated on a sea of pain that rose and dipped sickeningly. She couldn’t localize the discomfort; it was everywhere, inside and out, as if a fiery tendril had coiled down her throat and seared her lungs. Her mind worked sluggishly to interpret individual sensations—the painful pressure squeezing her chest, the wrenching in both her shoulders, the roll of cloth wedged between her teeth…

“Wake up, little spider-rat.” She opened her eyes to the sharp noise of a slap. The flare of pain that engulfed one side her face told her that the sound had come from a blow to her head.

She forced her eyes open. The heat of the explosion had reached her after all, and her skin—especially her arms and face—stung as if she’d been immersed in an acid bath. She was lucky to be alive.

Or perhaps not so lucky. Her body felt crushed against the stone pillar at her back; she blinked away stars and looked down to see her torso crisscrossed by at least half a dozen chains. Another chain wound around her lower legs, stretched out on the flagstones before her. Her arms had been pulled around the column behind her and fastened with a few more links between her manacled wrists. The combustionbender crouched over her, her back against the nearby wall.

“That’s enough, P’Li,” said Zaheer’s calm voice from the shadows. Asami squinted into the darkness and made out his shadowy form, seated in a lotus position near Tenzin’s radio set, a uniformed attendant at his side.

He turned to the other man and asked, “Have you found Tenzin’s corpse?”

“The airship crew spotted it with binoculars on one of the cliffs, where the buzzard wasps are gathering,” the man answered. “There’s no way we can reach it before they do.”

P’Li smirked at Asami’s horrified expression. “Just what your master would have wanted. A traditional airbender burial.”

“Understood,” said Zaheer. “Watch them and notify me when they’re finished.”

The henchman clasped his hands and bowed. “Yes, Grand Master.”

“P’Li, loosen her gag.”

P’Li, her lips pressed together, knelt and rolled the cloth gag out of Asami’s mouth, letting it drop around her neck.

Zaheer spoke directly to her. “By embracing the principles of the Old Air Nation, Tenzin forged his own chains. You and I are innovators, Miss Sato, not meant to be tied down by antiquated traditions. I knew how alike we were when I saw what you’d done to Ghazan.”

Asami squeezed her eyes shut, shuddering with sick rage.

“I believe we understand each other,” said Zaheer quietly. “As the world’s foremost airbending master, I’m assuming leadership of the Air Nation. I intend to mold it into the most powerful revolutionary force this world has ever seen.”

Asami raised her head and squinted at him, seeing the change in his eyes since their last confrontation. Her stomach twisted with the realization that the retort on her lips was not a baseless insult, but the truth. “You’re insane.”

Zaheer raised his eyebrows. “I am the future of airbending, Miss Sato. Because I am also a just man, I leave it to you to decide whether your rediscovery of voidbending merits punishment under the laws of the Old Air Nation, or advancement to the rank of master under the laws of the New Air Nation. My Air Nation.”

Tenzin… A sob caught in Asami’s throat, and she forced it down.

When she spoke her voice came out clearly, though it sounded thin and brittle in her ears. “I already answered you, Zaheer. I’ll never join you, and I’ll never help you.”

“You’re about to help me a great deal. But if you wish to die under the heel of the old laws, so be it.” As Zaheer stood up, the mustached metalbender handed him a foot-long iron rod with one end bent and flattened.

Zaheer examined it. “Your former master was too weak and hypocritical to give you the true ancient airbender punishment for the forbidden art. Consider yourself fortunate that we will administer only part of it.”

He stood up and passed the rod to P’Li, who extended two fingers and began firebending the flattened end. Asami read the reversed character molded into the flattened metal: danger.

A hideous premonition struck her. “What are you—”

She never finished the question. With one hand, the nearest Red Lotus henchmen twisted her neck to the side and pinned the right half of her face against the column. At the same time his other hand seized her shoulder and pushed her back harder against the stone.

Panicked, she strained every muscle against her bonds. The chains scraped horribly against the column, but they had no slack. In response the henchman tightened his grip until his fingers friction-burned her skin through her tunic.

Past the hissing of her breath and the dizzying pounding of her heart, Asami heard a new voice from the radio. A voice from another world, another life.

“Zaheer, are you there? Time’s up.”

Instinctively Asami started to call out Korra’s name, then choked back the cry. No—they’re trying to trap her, they want you begging for help…

P’Li, a smile on her face, stepped into Asami’s peripheral vision. Waves of heat poured from the glowing white iron in the woman’s hands; it seemed to scorch Asami even before the metal comet streaked in front of her face and struck hard below her left eye, sizzling and bubbling against her skin.

The stench of burned flesh filled the air, and a fiery flood of agony drowned the pain of her older wounds.

Asami screamed.

The sound hit Korra like a physical blow. Instantly she was on her feet.

“Zaheer!”

“Your proof, Avatar,” said his crackling voice. The radio link dissolved into static.

She would have thrown the Spirits-cursed radio across the room, but Kuvira stepped between her and the table, shaking her head.

Korra turned away and sank down onto the bench. She was breathing hard, her gorge rising, her skin like ice. Asami hadn’t escaped. The Red Lotus had her, and they were torturing her.

Thankfully, Jinora had gone elsewhere to meditate. For a few moments the three friends sat in stunned silence, Mako and Korra exchanging helpless looks, Bolin’s breath coming with a noise somewhere between a whimper and a sob.

“What’s our ETA for Laghima’s Peak?” Kuvira asked the radio operator.

“Oh-six-hundred, Captain. About six hours.”

“Korra,” Mako said quietly, “you know how much I care about her, but someone has to say this. Asami wouldn’t want you to risk the safety of the world for her. Don’t surrender yourself to these people.”

Kuvira turned to him, shoulders stiff and arms folded behind her back. “We can minimize the risk. Su and I are formulating on a plan to turn Zaheer’s double-cross back on him. We’ll make this work.”

“I have to try,” said Korra thickly. She swallowed and forced some lightness into her tone. “Anyway, after what she did, the Air Nation would probably stage a revolt if I let those rat-vipers keep her.”

“You bet we would,” said Meelo. He stood in the doorway, his small jaw sticking out like an angry catgator’s, and Korra wondered uncomfortably how much of Zaheer’s communication he had overheard. He raised a fist in the air. “No airbender left behind!”

Despite everything, Korra almost smiled. “Right, Meelo. We’ll get Asami back, and we’ll fix whatever they’ve done to hurt her. I promise.”

Canyon winds. Buzzard-wasps hated them.

The treacherousness of ground travel over these subarctic mountains and canyons was part of what had attracted the airbenders to this place thousands of years ago; any creature that tried to reach the Northern Air Temple on foot was likely to wind up as food for scavengers. On the other hand, a carcass that failed to drop all the way to the valley floor, lodging precariously on some crumbling ledge or wind-scoured cliff, would be nearly impossible to reach for a creature with a light body and even lighter wings.

Good thing, thought Bumi as he army-crawled across an exposed boulder hundreds of feet above the ground. Travel by airbending was great if the means were handy, but sometimes good old-fashioned United Forces infiltration tactics were the only way to go. I’d hate to have to tangle with those stingers…

He spared a glance up at the dozen stymied buzzard-wasps jockeying for position against the winds, and the enemy airship hovering beyond them; hopefully the deepening twilight and the screen of winged predators would hide his rescue attempt from the airship’s crew. Somewhere up there, as well, was the tottering Air Temple, its lower levels blown apart by a gas explosion that had shaken the mountain to its roots.

Night vision wouldn’t be a problem for the buzzard-wasps, of course. He would deal with them once he got a little closer. In the meantime, they had one more obstacle to contend with. Bumi felt rather than saw Bum-Ju holding his ground at the center of the snapping swarm, his Spirity glow dimmed almost to invisibility.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Bumi panted.

He dragged himself up and over the final ledge, and his goal came into view—the bloodied, broken body of his younger brother, sprawled head downward on a narrow ledge of rock, barely visible through the jostling bodies of the buzzard-wasps struggling to get close enough for a bite.

As he crawled closer, Bum-Ju’s light brightened enough to give Bumi some idea of Tenzin’s injuries. The master’s robes were blackened, several broken bones were obvious, and a stream of blood from an ugly head wound obscured much of his arrow tattoo. Still, the Spirit bunny hovering over him gestured urgently, as if it still mattered whether Bumi or the buzzard-wasps reached Tenzin first.

How could he possibly be alive? Bumi’s heart was in his throat as he crawled the remaining distance and air-punched a few scrabbling beaks out of his way.

“He’s not yours yet! Get off him, you scavengers!”

The cross-winds that scoured this bit of the rock face tore at him, just as they had the buzzard-wasps, but his weight was too great to be shifted so easily. Concentrating, Bumi let go of the cliff and flung out his arms, creating a whirling sphere that stabilized the winds at its center and pushed back the squawking insect-birds.

“See, Tenzin?” he gasped to the fallen figure. “I wasn’t such a bad student, was I?”

He considered performing a field first-aid evaluation on the spot, then decided that getting down had to take priority. He clenched his teeth and tried not to think of what additional harm he might be causing as he grabbed Tenzin’s arm and hauled his brother’s body onto his own aching shoulders. Then he jumped off the cliff.

It took several terrifying minutes to reach the valley floor. Bumi air-blasted his way down the cliff-face, not trying too hard to control their direction, but using only as much chi as necessary to keep himself and Tenzin from being smashed to pieces against the rocks. Bum-Ju kept even with them during the precipitous descent, sometimes helping Bumi against gravity by tugging on the back of his tunic, sometimes bounding ahead down the mountain to show him the safest path to the bottom.

Kai was waiting where Bumi had left him, in a hidden hollow at the bottom of the canyon, looking after Kya.

One baby bison had left the herd and rejoined them after Kai had dragged him and Kya to safety; the boy had named him Lefty. Kya, her eyes closed, rested against the bison’s side, and Bumi carefully lowered Tenzin to the ground beside her.

“Good boy, Lefty,” Bumi grinned, patting his head.

“I don’t think he can carry us all,” said Kai, “but at least he can help us get these two somewhere safe.”

“I’ll take all the help we can get right now.” By Bum-Ju’s faint light, Bumi searched for Tenzin’s vital signs. Thankfully, he found them—a faint pulse in his brother’s neck, and a fainter exhalation of breath from his lips, a barely visible mist on the face of Bumi’s United Forces pocket watch.

“Dad!”

Bumi nearly jumped out of his skin, and had to clamp both hands over his mouth to keep from letting out a cry of alarm. Before him floated a ghostly life-size version of his eldest niece.

“Jinora!” Kai grinned, jumping to his feet.

The girl’s eyes were fixed on Tenzin. “Zaheer told us he was dead—you and Aunt Kya too, Uncle Bumi.”

“Zaheer was wrong. Aang’s kids aren’t so easy to kill.” Bumi stood up straight and stuck out his chest, only to double over, gasping with the pain of his bruised ribs. Trying to look casual, he lowered himself onto a rock. “Your dad’s the worst off, but we’re taking him someplace safe until Korra gets here with help. Korra is coming, isn’t she?”

Jinora nodded. “With Chief Tonraq, and the Beifong family, and a whole bunch of metalbenders. Where can we find you?”

Bumi scratched at his scraggly beard. “Hadn’t thought that far ahead. Kai, any ideas?”

“I know a safe place—the old airbender cave with the giant red flower painting on the wall. We found it with Asami. Remember, Jinora?”

Jinora hesitated, as if she felt uncomfortable with that idea but couldn’t explain why. “Just be careful. We’re working on a plan to rescue Asami and capture Zaheer and the others. Don’t let them find you again before we get there.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll keep out of Zaheer’s way.”

[To be continued...]

A/N: Only one chapter and the Epilogue (or about 18,000 words) left to go, to be posted Saturday and Monday respectively.

Thanks for all the likes and reblogs so far!

#Legend of Korra #Fanfics #My fanfiction #Winds of Change #Airbending #Asami Sato #Korra #The Red Lotus

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