Senior Year

I was amazed at what I saw as Oogi made his way towards the courtyard.  Beifong, Opal, and the airbending children were outside with the White Lotus guards, the chi blocker intruders being led away to with their hands tied behind their backs.  As Oogi landed, the children ran to their father, who was upset but grateful that his family was safe.  He left soon after to greet the newest addition to his family, Beifong, Korra, and Mako close behind him.  As I watched them disappear, I looked to Opal, who was hugging Bolin tightly.

Bolin looked up at me. “What do we do now?  They’re just going to keep sending chi blockers here until they capture us.”

My hand raised to my chin, gently wrapping my fingers around it as I thought.  As I looked up, I saw in the distance two more airships on their way to the island.  Not good.  We don’t have much time to figure out a plan.

Looking at Opal, I told her, “Go tell Korra about the incoming airships.  I have to run to my room.”

I didn’t bother sticking around for her answer.  I rushed quickly up to my room to where my schematics were.  I didn’t want to do this, but I couldn’t take them with me.  Lighting the large lantern that served as a reading light, I begun to tear up my schematics and feed them to the fire.  It was like tearing pieces out of my heart, all my hardwork burning up in mere seconds, but I couldn’t let Amon or my father get ahold of these designs.  They’re creation was to protect, not to hurt people.

A gentle knock broke me from my thoughts as I lit the last of the torn pieces in the fire.  I turned to see Korra standing by the door, her eyes on the latern as the paper burned. “What are you doing?” she asked, walking over to me.

I looked at the fire. “Making sure my father doesn’t take anything I’ve created and use it against us.”

Watching as the fire turned the paper to ash, I shook my head and blew the flame out.  Taking Korra’s hand, we began to make our way back to the courtyard. “What’s the plan?”

“Tenzin’s going to take Beifong and his family away on Oogi.  I guess that means we have to take the extra ferry to get out,” Korra replied, rolling her shoulders.  She’s already put a lot of work in. 

The thousands of different ideas that ran through my mind were only leading me towards one option.  Moving at a quicker pace, I made my way down to the garage to my Satomobile.  I grabbed my tools, sliding underneath and starting to replace all of the parts that were currently on the ground.  I was so busy reconstructing the internals that I failed to notice Opal and the boys make their way into the garage with Naga.

“What are you doing, Asami?” Opal asked.

I pulled myself out from underneath the car, standing up and reaching into the car for my keys.  My girl started up with a lovely pure.  I smiled as I looked at Opal. “Getting our getaway vehicle ready.”

Bolin looked at me confused. “Uh…Asami…This is a car.  How are we supposed to use it to cross the water?”

I looked at Korra. “Think you can make an ice bridge long enough for us to cross over to the docks?”

She smiled. “Too easy.”

I nodded, noticing an approaching White Lotus member.  I recognized him as the head guard, but his name failed to come back to me.  Everyone turned to look at him, his grim expression at what was about to happen.

“We will cover your escape, but you must leave now.  The airbenders and Chief Beifong have already departed,” he said, his eyes on Korra.

“You can’t just-“ she began to say, but he raised his hand up to silence her.

He breathed in deeply before releasing his breath with a smile. “It’s our duty as the White Lotus to protect you, Avatar Korra,” he said, bowing to her. “It’s been an honor.”

He left, joining the ground of White Lotus guards as they prepared for the incoming airships.  Though they knew they wouldn’t come back with their bending, they still chose to defend us as we escaped the island.  I sighed as I climbed into my car, Opal taking the passenger side, while Korra and the boys climbed into the back with Naga.  The bravery that others have can be inspiring.

I quickly pulled out of the garage, making my way down the dirt path that wrapped around the back of the island.  We had gotten halfway down the path when I noticed movement on the cliff above us.  I couldn’t believe my eyes; it was Leu.  No one else had noticed him, and he was about to attack.  My mind thought of two thoughts simultaneously as he began to jump towards us:  Korra and the White Lotus guards.

“Opal, take the wheel!” I shouted.

She quickly grabbed the wheel as I climbed over her.  The others didn’t have time to react, their confusion overtaking their reactions.  Leu was falling straight for us, his batons lighting up with electricity.  One foot planted on the side of the car, I launched myself at him, colliding with him midair as the car drove out from underneath me.  We landed on the ground, Leu underneath me, as the car squealed to a halt.

“Asami!” I heard Korra shout.

Dodging a punch from Leu, I hit him hard in the jaw and turned to the car. “Get out of here!  You have to leave now!”

Mako and Bolin were both holding her back, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m not leaving you!” she shouted.

Struggling to keep Leu on the ground, I looked back at Korra. “Korra, you need to leave.  If Amon gets you, then the world is doomed.  Please!” I pleaded.

A short silent moment passed before Korra stopped struggling, allowing for Opal to drive the car away.  My heart clenched at the thought of being away from Korra again, but I couldn’t let Amon catch her.  A punch to the gut knocked the wind out of me, and Leu was able to push me off of him.  Coughing hard, I wasn’t able to block the kick that connected with my ribs.  Grabbing my side, I moved as quick as I could away from his second kick, but my movements were slow.  His batons in hand, he swung one at me, which I was able to dodge, but my slow reflects allowed for the second to connect with my back.  I fell to the ground, my hair covering my face, as my vision started to blur.  At least she got away.  A small smile crept onto my face as I finally lost consciousness.

My eyes slowly opened, everything still a blur.  It was dark, that much I could tell, so I could only assume it was night.  My arms were stiff, chained above my head and high enough were I couldn’t sit down.  My throat was dry, and the headache pounding in the back of my head didn’t help things.  Slowly, I willed my legs to move so that I could stand properly and relieve the stress that was pulling on my shoulders.  I groaned as I tried to inhale; I was pretty sure I had at least a couple broken ribs. 

Looking around, I was surprised to see that I was at the arena where they had held the championship tournament, the same arena where Amon had made one of his attacks.  I recognized this room as one of the training rooms, boarded up and used for storage it looked like.  I wonder how long I’ve been out.  I started to jiggle the chains; they were connected to a metal railing, so it wasn’t looking like I’d be able to pull them off.

A door opened on the other side of the room, and Amon entered with my father and Leu right behind him.  That mask he wore, the white stone-faced expression on it, sent shivers down my spine, but I wasn’t about to show my fear to them.  They walked over to me, Leu’s eyes narrowing the closer he got to me.  The hatred he felt towards me was quite obvious, and it was deeply shared.

“Asami Sato, so good of you to finally join us,” Amon said, his hands behind his back.

My eyes narrowed, my silence the only response he was going to get.  Stepping forward, he leaned forward slightly so that we were eye to eye.  His eyes were as blank and cold as the mask he wore.  To think that he cared about anyone was beyond me; those eyes of his were ones that belonged to a madman.  He leaned back and walked back over to my father and Leu, his attention on the former.

“You may say your piece, Hiroshi, but understand that her decision is her own for the time being,” he said, his back still facing me.

My father nodded, taking a step forward.  He looked tired, like he had lost some weight since the last time I had seen him.  Yet, my feelings didn’t change; here was a man that I had respected, looked up to, for most of my life, and he had betrayed me and my friends.  He had tried to hurt Korra.  All because he thought he was doing it in memory of my mother.  He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, not wanting to hear anymore excuses exit his mouth.

“I don’t want to hear it.  I’m not joining you, and if Mom could see you now, she’d tell you the same thing.  You don’t feel love for her anymore; you’re just full of hatred!” I spat at my father, smiling when his face turned red with anger.

Slap.

The backhand smacked hard across my face, and I knew that there would be a mark there for a couple hours. “I see now that there’s no chance to save you,” he said, storming out of the room.

Amon stayed for a few minutes to watch my father storm out before leaving the room as well.  Only Leu stayed, his attention focused on me.  We stood there, eye to eye, in a stare-down before his fist connected with my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.  I fell as far as my chains would allow me, coughing hard as my lungs tried to bring the oxygen back into my body.  Leu left right after, and I was left alone in the room once more.

It was several hours before anyone would return.  I was on the verge of letting exhaustion take over my mind and body when the doors swung open violently.  Two chi blockers were dragging a body inside, and to my horror, it was Chief Beifong.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed her chest moving up and down slowly, but it looked as if she had taken a beating.  They chained her up next to me and left without saying a word.

It wasn’t long after that she started to wake up, the daze look in her eyes as she tried to figure out where she was.  When she finally looked over in my direction, a look of dread came over her, the silent question ringing loudly in her mind.

I shook my head. “They got away.  I distracted baton boy long enough to allow them enough distance.”

Beifong sighed in relief before looking towards the ground. “I’m sorry, Asami, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait for reinforcements.  They…they took my bending away,” she said softly, a bitterness to her voice.

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it any longer. “The good news is that Amon doesn’t have his hands on the airbenders or Korra.  That’s what’s important.”

I nodded, looking up towards one of the many windows high above us.  The sky was clear, the moon was out, and we were trapped.  I closed my eyes, my mind racing to thoughts of Korra.  Her smile, her laugh, the way she’d try her hardest to make sure that everyone around her would smile.  Soon.  I’ll see her sooner than I think.  I just know it.

Two days passed.  We were fed once each day, water being given sparsely.  My shoulders begun to hurt when I hung too long, but I could only stand for so long.  By Beifong’s reactions, she was having the same trouble.  Most of the hours, we slept to gather our strength, waking up only to adjust our bodies.  There wasn’t much else we could do. 

By the conversations that I could hear from the passing guards, life on the outside wasn’t much better.  They had found my Satomobile deserted, no luck in locating my friends and Korra.  The White Lotus guards and any benders that were captured in the takeover were stripped of their bending, sent away to jails similar to the one where we had found the missing police officers.  They were aware of the United Republic Forces making their way to Republic City, and I could only pray that somehow, they would be enough to end this nightmare my father and Amon had created.

On the third day, I could hear the guards rush fast past the room we were being held in.  Excitedness rang through their voices as they shouted at one another.

“Did you hear?  We caught the airbenders!”

“Really?  That’s awesome!”

“Finally, we can show those benders who’s really in charge now!”

My heart sank.  No.  After all that we did, he still ended up catching them.  I looked over at Beifong, her face dipped down as tears ran down her cheeks.  I struggled against my chains, but it was a useless effort.  I didn’t have the strength to break out of them; Amon had seen to it by starving us.  I hung from the chains, my own tears rushing down my cheeks at the thought of what was about to happen to the airbenders, what could happen to Korra if she was caught.  I close my eyes tightly as I willed my thoughts to reach her.

Please Korra.  Please stay safe.  Please stay away.