In Harms Way - Part 2

Oogie flew over Lake Laogai before landing on an island in the middle of the water.

Zira stood by the water's edge, completely in her own world, as Jinora sat down, ready to start meditating.

"If anything goes wrong, come back immediately," Tenzin ordered

" I will." Jinora smiled

She then shut her eyes, and Tenzin walked off with Korra. They noticed Zira standing by the water's edge and Korra gave Tenzin a nudge

"Go talk to her. I'll keep an eye on Jinora," She said

"Thank you" Tenzin nodded before heading towards his mother.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly but calmed when she realised who it was.

"Mom, are you okay?" He asked

"I'm alright. Just thinking," Zira replied

"You know, of all the stories you told me as a boy, you never talked about your time in Ba Sing Se much", Tenzin stated

"It's not a time I like remembering", Zira muttered

"I understand" Tenzin wrapped his arm around his mother. "I miss him."

Zira smiled sadly, fiddling with the locket around her neck. "So do I."

"Zira! Tenzin!" Korra suddenly called

The two quickly headed back over, seeing Jinora now standing up.

"What happened? What did you see?" Zira inquired

"The airbenders aren't there! It's completely deserted." Jinora looked down

"They're not down there?" Tenzin gasped

"Jinora, you've read all about Ba Sing Se and Zira; you've been here before. Can you think of any other places the airbenders might be?" Korra questioned

"They could be in the catacombs beneath the Upper Ring", Zira guessed

"Or the ancient sewers beneath the Lower Ring", Jinora added. "Or the maze of tunnels that connect the rings together, or they could be—"

Tenzin sighed. "There are just too many places. There has to be another way to locate them."

"Maybe there is" Korra knelt in front of Jinora" How did you find me during Harmonic Convergence?"

"I don't know. I just kind of focused on your energy. I think our spiritual connection led me to you." The little girl replied

"Maybe you can find El the same way. Or even Kai; I know you two have a connection" Korra smiled

"What do you mean "a connection"?" Tenzin raised an eyebrow

"I don't know. Let me try. I'll see if I can find El first. Find out if she's really with the others or not" Jinora knelt on the floor once more and shut her eyes, focusing hard on her sister's energy.

*

Below ground, the airbenders were still in training, and many of them were exhausted. The Dai Li sergeant was bending multiple earth discs to the airbenders, who attempted to block it with airbending. But only Kai and El were able to block the attacks. The others weren't so lucky. Getting hit over and over by the discs.

The sergeant bent out more earth discs, and Kai suddenly blocked the attack meant for Yung.

"Thanks." He smiled at Kai

"You again?! If you have time to help your friend, then you're not getting enough rocks for yourself!" The sergeant snapped and attacked Kai with multiple discs.

Kai managed to deflect the first two and dodged the next two, but was subsequently struck by the fifth and knocked down.

"Kai!" Elira cried, rushing to his side as the sergeant stood over them, smirking.

"I guess you're not as good as you thought." He sneered

Elira glared at him, but as he turned his back, she smirked mischievously. Conjuring an airball in her hands, she then flung it at the sergeant as he walked away.

The sergeant cried out in surprise as the ball swept him off his feet into the air.

Elira laughed, jumping onto an air scooter and controlling the airball carrying the man as the two zoomed around the room while the other airbenders stopped to watch. Many of them smiling and laughing.

"Awesome!" Kai cheered as El sped passed him.

"You!" Two Dai Li agents earthbent a rock in front of Elira, causing her to fall off her air scooter.

But as she landed gracefully on her feet, she was encased in an earth shell.

Her airball disappeared, and the sergeant fell to the ground with a thump. Many of the airbenders were still laughing but immediately stopped when the sergeant stood up.

"What's the matter? Can't handle a little wind?" Elira smirked, and the sergeant glared at her

"Throw her in the hole!" He ordered, and the two Dai Li agents grabbed Elira and began hauling her away.

"Anyone else?" The sergeant snapped at the airbenders, who all looked down and avoided eye contact.

"Not so tough now without your ring leader" The sergeant smirked down at Kai as he watched El being taken away.

Kai clenched his fists before turning and throwing an air blast at the sergeant.

He easily dodged it and immobilized Kai in an earth shell, just as had been done to Elira.

"Throw him in too!" He snapped.

Two more Dai Li agents grabbed Kai, and both he and El were then dragged away to solitary confinement.

*

Elira sat bored in her dark cell, twirling balls of air around the floor in an attempt to entertain herself. She knew her little stunt would land her in trouble, but she wanted to make the others laugh and try and keep their spirits up while they waited. She just hoped her prank didn't make things worse for the others.

Something suddenly flickered in front of her, causing her to look up. She jumped back in surprise when Jinora's ghostly green spirit appeared in front of her.

"Jinora?" She gasped

" It worked!" Her sister grinned

"Wha-How are you here right now?"

Jinora knelt in front of her. "Shh, quiet. It's a high-level airbender move. With a little spiritual stuff thrown in."

"Cool! Think you can show me how to do it? I wanna freak out the others," Elira smirked.

Jinora giggled. "It's good to see you, too. We've been looking for you and the other airbenders. You are with them, right?"

"Yeah, I am. After you went back inside, I spotted Gun hurrying down the street and decided to follow him. But it was a trap. Two Dai Li ambushed me and threw me down here with the others," El explained.

"We're going to get you all out of here. Where are we anyway?" Jinora asked

"Underground somewhere. Other than that, I have no idea" Elira shook her head.

"I'll figure it out. Don't worry." Jinora stood up

"Jinora?" El called before her sister could disappear. "See you soon, kid."

Jinora smiled and then floated upwards out of the cell. Reaching the surface, she glanced around and gasped upon seeing a grand structure in the distance.

"The Earth Queen's Temple!"

*

"I can't believe Miss Queeny Smug Face had them right under our noses the whole time!" Korra exclaimed once they were all back at the house.

"We have to get into that compound tonight and get Elira and the airbenders out", Tenzin declared

"All right. We go in under the cover of darkness: two small insertion teams and a third on the outside. Then all we'll need is twelve tons of blasting jelly, a medium-sized bulldozer and ... does anyone have a badger mole that knows Morse code?" Bumi asked, making Tenzin sigh

There was a sudden knock on the door

" Oh great, not the Queen again." Asami huffed, irritated

"Everyone, act natural", Zira ordered. "And Bolin-- "

"I'm on it!" Bolin turned to Pichi on his shoulder and pointed toward the ceiling. The lemur gave a chitter before flying off and hiding.

Bolin then opened his outer shirt for Pabu to climb in, but the ferret chirped in protest.

"What? Hey, I'm not sweaty this time!" He pointed at his shirt, and Pabu finally jumped in, wiggling around a bit.

Tenzin glanced at the others before he opened the door. But it was not who they were expecting.

"Kiyi?!" Zira gasped, seeing her little sister on the other side of the door.

"Hello, everyone" The old woman waved as she walked inside

"Aunt Kiyi? Wha-How'd you know we were here?" Tenzin questioned, all of them staring in shock as Kiyi embraced Zira tightly.

"Zira and I have been exchanging phone calls. She told me about your quest to find airbenders," Kiyi explained. "I was missing you, so I thought I'd join."

"And you didn't think to tell us? Do Zuko and Azula even know you're here?" Zira asked, raising an eyebrow

"Nope. They both left to do something; I don't know, they wouldn't tell me," Kiyi shrugged.

"Kiyi..." Zira sighed and went to say something else when there was another knock at the door

"Oh, what now?" She huffed

Tenzin opened the door again, and his eyes widened again in shock

"Lin? What are you doing here?" He gasped as the chief of police walked inside.

"We need to get Korra out of here immediately. Her life's in danger," Lin proclaimed

"What?! What's going on?" Korra questioned

"I just got word from Lord Zuko and Tonraq," Lin stated

"Zuko? Is he okay?" Zira stepped forward, looking concerned

"Wait, why is Lord Zuko with my dad?" Korra asked but was ignored.

"Zaheer and the others have escaped." Lin declared

"How is that possible?" Tenzin muttered

"Because Zaheer is an airbender now."

"No ..." Zira gasped, sharing a horrified look with her sister.

"All right, hold on! Will you quit ignoring me and tell me what's going on? Who's Zaheer? Why is my life in danger?" Korra demanded

The adults shared a glance, Tenzin looking at his mother unsurely.

"She deserves to know, Tenzin," Zira said, and the airbender turned back to Korra.

"Shortly after we found out you were the Avatar, Zaheer and three others attempted to kidnap you. Luckily, your father, General Shai, Lord Zuko, Chief Sokka and I were there to stop them. We apprehended the criminals and locked them away in prisons designed to impair their abilities," He explained.

"So that's why you and my dad sheltered me away," Korra muttered

"It was for your own safety," Tenzin added

"Why were they trying to kidnap Korra?" Mako asked, stepping forward

"We spent thirteen years interrogating them, but they never broke. To this day, no one knows what their motive was," Lin explained. "Now we need to get you back to Republic City, where I can protect you."

"No ... I'm not running," Korra argued.

"Korra, you don't understand. These criminals are like nothing you've ever faced before," Zira warned

"Look, I'm not a little kid anymore. You don't need to protect me. I came here for one thing: to find airbenders. Plus, El's been taken, and I'm not leaving without her or the other airbenders," Korra declared, determined.

Lin sighed. "Fine. Let's get them and get out of here. Where are they?"

" In a military compound, and we're busting them out," Korra replied

"Count me in" Kiyi grinned, and Zira turned to her with her arms crossed. "What? I said I wanted to join you, so I'm joining."

Zira just sighed again and shut her eyes.

*

That night at the royal temple, two royal guards were on patrol, but as they turned a corner, they stopped when they spotted Jinora standing there all on her own.

"Hi." She waved

"Hey! What are you doing here?" One of them snapped

"Oh, it's just that little airbender girl who came with the Avatar. You shouldn't be walking around here all alone." The other one said

"I'm not alone," Jinora smirked and pointed behind the guards.

They turned around, seeing Team Avatar behind them in fighting stances. Before they could yell out, the team quickly knocked them out and tied them up, heading inside the temple.

Hurrying along, they quickly hid as two patrolling Dai Li agents passed by them. Once they were gone, Tenzin turned to the others.

"Mom, Bumi and Korra, come with me to find the airbenders", He ordered, then looked at Bolin, Jinora and Mako" You three, find Kai and Elira. We'll meet on the surface shortly. Radio us if anything goes wrong."

The others nodded, and they headed their separate ways. Jinora and the boys headed down a corridor while Azira, Korra, Tenzin and Bumi raced down a stairwell.

Reaching the prison cell, Korra opened the door, letting light flood into the room and waking the airbenders.

"What's going on? Who are you?" Yung questioned

"I'm the Avatar, and I'm getting you all out of here", Korra declared

The airbenders began muttering, "We're leaving?/ Where are we going?/ El was right?"

"Everyone, please! You must stay calm and quiet if we want this to work." Tenzin warned

"What to work? We're sneaking out?" Yung's eyes widened

"Yes, and we must leave now," Korra replied

"We're going to get you away from the Earth Queen and out of the city", Tenzin added

He and Korra both ran out of the cell where Bumi and Zira were waiting and stopped by the entrance as the airbenders quickly followed them. Yung, however, stopped to talk to them.

"There's two airbender that are not here. One of them is Master Elira, but the other one is called Kai. We need to get them," He said

"We're already taking care of it," Zira told him.

Bumi was crouching down low beside the cell door and speaking into a walkie-talkie, "Topside, this is Papa Bear. The breezies are in the hold; cue the balloons!"

"What? Are you in trouble?" Lin's voice asked

"No!" Bumi whined, " We've got the airbenders, and we're headed out! Bring the airships. No one likes code names anymore."

"Copy that. We're on our way."

*

El was lying in her cell when the sound of the door opening made her look up. Rubbing her eyes at the sudden brightness, she looked up and beamed upon seeing Bolin and Mako and Jinora standing in the doorway.

"Come on, El. Let's get you outta here" Mako smiled

"Don't need to tell me twice" El grinned and practically jumped out of the cell into Bolin's arms.

"I was so worried about you. Are you okay?" He muttered

"I am now" Elira kissed him sweetly before smiling then down at Jinora when she joined their hug, "Come on, let's get Kai."

Heading a little further down the corridor, they came to a second cell. Elira opened the door, and they spotted Kai sitting inside.

"Come on. We're getting you out." El smiled

"Kai!" Jinora squeezed past into the cell

She hugged Kai tightly before kissing his cheek, making the boy freeze with a goofy grin.

"Aw", Elira giggled as her sister blushed

"Tenzin's not gonna be happy about this!" Bolin added, grinning

"Then don't tell him." Mako rolled his eyes

"How can I not? This is too juicy!" Bolin exclaimed

Kai stood up and approached the brothers. "Thanks for coming to get me. I'm really sorry about stealing your wallets and running away and getting you stuck on that train."

Bolin sighed and hugged the boy. "Aw, we can't stay mad at you."

"Yes, we can! I had a lot of money in that wallet!" Mako scowled

"Guys, come on!" Jinora called, moving out of the cell

The group then ran down the hall and turned a corner but skidded to a stop when they saw the rest of their path was blocked by three Dai Li agents.

"Deserting Her Majesty's army is high treason. Punishable by death!" The Dai Li sergeant snapped before he and the other two agents simultaneously bent rock gloves at the group.

*

On the surface, Korra hid behind a wall and stared at the courtyard outside the temple. After seeing no threats, she turned to Zira, Bumi and Tenzin.

"Come on! It's clear."

They ran out but don't notice the Dai Li agents hiding in the structure of the temple. They jumped down and quickly surrounded them.

"So, you've discovered my elite army", The Queen appeared, walking through the agents " I see their loyalty still needs some work."

"These airbenders shouldn't be used as weapons! They have a right to choose their own paths." Korra snapped

"These airbenders are Earth Kingdom citizens, and I am their queen. Taking them will constitute an act of war. If you disobey me, I will bear down on you with the entire force of my kingdom!" The Queen threatened

"Taking my granddaughter was also an act of war!" Azira cut in angrily.

"Exactly! Elira is not an Earth Kingdom citizen! You had no right to conscript her!" Tenzin added

"They're leaving with me!" Korra glared

"No, they're not!" The Queen turned and walked away, and with a wave of her hand, the first row of Dai Li agents began bending rock gloves at Team Avatar and the airbenders.

Korra went to counter-attack but stopped when all of the airbenders began bending blasts of air back at the Dai Li, who attempted to hold their ground.

Bumi looked up, seeing the airship flying overhead, which then lowered its ladder for them to climb.

"Come on!" He called, and one by one, they all began to climb.

*

Down below, El and the boys were still fighting the sergeant and the other two Dai Li.

Mako avoided a rock glove and then threw a fire blast before Bolin jumped over him, kicking a rock. El then leapt over them both, throwing a gust of air at the agents who successfully evaded Mako and Elira's attacks. However, one of them was knocked against the wall by Bolin's rock.

Another one charged at them, but Elira swept them off their feet with a swipe of air, and Bolin kicked another rock at them, sending them crashing into the wall.

The only one left was the sergeant.

Mako firebent at the last remaining agent, but he stopped the blast with an earth pillar before sending a rock glove spiralling quickly past the older benders and catching Jinora's wrist!

"Jinora!" Elira cried as her sister was pulled, screaming towards the sergeant, who held the back of her shirt, smirking at the others.

Kai and Elira's faces harderend in anger

They both charged at the sergeant, who sent a boulder at them. Elira ran across the wall and over it while Kai slid underneath.

Kai kicked a sweep of air at the sergeant, knocking him off his feet and making him release Jinora; then, he was blasted back by a strong air blast from Elira.

"I guess I am as good as I thought," Kai smirked, standing over the grunting agent.

"Jinora, you okay?" El knelt beside her sister.

"I'm okay", Jinora smiled " Now let's get outta here."

*

Up in the airship, the final two airbenders were just climbing aboard, and Bumi talked into his walkie-talkie to Lin in the control room.

"Everyone's in. Let's go!"

The airship began to fly off as Zira, Tenzin, and Korra were still standing on the temple scaffolding, firing air blasts and fireballs at Dai Li agents attempting to climb the temple and stop the escape.

Tenzin then whistled for his bison "Oogie!"

The bison groaned and flew down, letting the trio bend themselves up into the saddle before flying after the airship.

Zira looked over the edge, seeing the Queen watching them from her temple.

"You are a disgrace to your father's memory!" She yelled, pointing at her

The Queen glared at her, turning to her Dai Li agents

"Take down those airships!" She howled

The agents then began bending rocks at the bison, who easily dodged.

"Mother, was that necessary?" Tenzin sighed

"Completely", Zira smirked

"Where are the others?" Korra questioned as a rock narrowly missed her head.

"We need help!" "Wait for us!"

Bolin and Elira's cries were heard from below, them, Mako and the kids running down the temple steps.

The Dai Li agents rose to new heights on earth pillars and began firing down at the escapees.

Korra steered Oogi away from the airship down towards them.

"Everybody, hang on!" Bolin called over his shoulder before sending himself and his allies into the air with an earth pillar.

"Woohoo!" Elira cheered before Oogi flew over to break their fall.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Kai grinned

"You got that right", Elira laughed as she and Mako pulled Bolin into the saddle.

"Elira!" Tenzin embraced his daughter tightly. "Thank goodness you're alright. I was so worried."

"Me too," Bolin joined the hug making El giggle as Tenzin scowled a little.

*

The next morning, the airship landed near some ruins atop a range of hills in the desert, and Tenzin, Korra and Elira stood addressing the new airbenders.

"I know that none of you chose to become airbenders. But now you do have a choice. We can relocate you somewhere safe, or you can come with me to the Northern Air Temple to live in peace and train as Air Nomads. You are no longer anyone's property. What path you decide is up to you." Tenzin stated

The airbenders were silent for a moment, thinking about their options. Yung suddenly stood up,

"I want to go with you," He declared

"Me too." Another stood

"Count me in."

As more airbenders stood and agreed to go with Tenzin, Elira glanced up at her father, seeing tears forming in his eyes as he smiled.

Later that day, as the sun was beginning to set, Elira stood with her father again. This time saying goodbye.

"Dad, please don't try and convince me to go to the temples", She begged

"I wasn't going to," Tenzin replied, surprising his daughter

"You weren't?"

"No, I'm not. I heard about what you did while locked up. You took charge and kept everyone's spirits alive." Tenzin placed a hand on her shoulder. "Like a true leader."

"I wasn't trying to be a leader. I just wanted to make them smile," El said, looking a little doubtful.

"You gave them hope, Elira. Something only a true leader can do." Tenzin smiled and hugged her tightly as Korra came up to them.

"Good luck at the Northern Air Temple. I'll send more airbenders your way when I find them." She smiled

"Be careful out there. Both of you. Stay safe." Tenzin looked at the two girls.

"We'll try" El nodded

"Seems like wherever I go, I make a new enemy." Korra frowned

"But you made some new friends too. You did well, Korra" Tenzin hugged the Avatar, holding his arm out for El to join the hug.

"This is only the beginning." Korra smiled