Operation Beifong! - Part 2

The next morning, as the cannon was wheeled out of the factory, Opal, Elira and Pichi watched from their hidden vantage point.

"The test is about to start." Opal whispered into her two-way radio, "They're going to blow up that empty town we flew over yesterday. You're clear to go."

"Copy that. We're going in," Lin's voice replied.

Somewhere in the factory, she stood with Toph, Bolin and Azira, having taken down three of Kuvira's sentries. Someone had earthbent the ground open in front of them, and they each jumped into the pit. In an underground chamber, Toph opened up a hole in the rock to allow them entry into the prison. Inside, a wooden container was suspended in midair by ropes, with Suyin and her family locked inside.

"The guards are on the other side of that door. We'll have to be quiet." Toph whispered, referring to a door on the side of the cavern opposite them.

In the cage, Suyin noticed their presence and, smiling, touched Baatar's shoulder to get his attention. He turned around to look.

"Shoot me over to the cage, and I can swing them back on my cable", Lin declared before turning to Bolin "Bolin, you'll have to catch them since Mom won't be able to see them, and Zira's not physically strong enough"

He nodded, and Lin crouched down "Ready?"

Azira stepped back as Toph walked to the side, and she and Bolin both earthbent a rock column to propel Lin into the air, who landed on top of the wooden cage. It shook from the impact, and the prisoners all grunted from the motion.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the cavern burst open, and a guard looked up at the shaking wooden cage suspiciously. A moment later, the cage stilled, and after glancing around for a second, the guard shrugged and turned around to leave, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Toph used earthbending to open up the wall again, revealing her, Bolin and Azira as Lin climbed up onto the cage again and cleaved an opening from the top.

"We'll get you out one at a time. Come on." She said

Using her cables, Lin lowered Wei and swung him over to the opening.

"I gotcha" Bolin caught him, using his bending to slow himself as the impact pushed him back.

He soon came to a stop and straightened up, smiling. Wei then patted him on the cheek, much to his surprise.

*

On the surface, Kuvira's subordinates had gathered at the cannon to hear her speak as Opal and Elira continued to watch from their hidden vantage point.

"Congratulations on all of your hard work. This weapon is proof that the Earth Empire is the strongest nation in the world. And believe me, this is only the beginning!" The crowd cheered, and Kuvira turned to Baatar Jr. "Fire the weapon."

Baatar Jr. pushed the lever to start the cannon's firing sequence. The spirit vine in the capsule began to glow purple, and suddenly, an alarm sounded.

"What's wrong?" Kuvira questioned as Baatar Jr. opened up the box containing the cannon's circuitry.

"Probably something minor." He said, peering inside and covering his nose due to all the smoke coming from the circuits "I should be able to find the problem"

The machine powered down as Baatar Jr. scanned the circuits, his eyes widening in surprise.

"The distributor pin is gone." He stood up, wiping his hands on a cloth "I swear I locked it in place yesterday. There's no way it could have just fallen out."

"And this could cause the entire weapon to fail?" Kuvira asked

"It could cause it to explode." Baatar Jr. replied

Kuvira scowled and turned to Zhu Li behind her.

"What do you know about this?" She demanded, approaching Zhu Li, who began to back away into the control panel.

"Nothing." Zhu Li said

Kuvira narrowed her eyes before lifting her hand and metalbending something out of Zhu Li's pocket, letting it twirl in front of them – the distributor pin!

"You swore your loyalty to me, and I gave you a chance at greatness." Kuvira grabbed the pin in anger. "This is how you repay me?!"

Zhu Li's fearful expression quickly turned into a glare "You're a monster. I regret nothing."

Kuvira suddenly grabbed Zhu Li's arm and threw her towards Baatar Jr., saying, "Chain her up in the target town. She can see how the weapon works up close and personal."

From their vantage point, Opal and Elira had seen the whole thing.

"Oh no", Opal muttered, she and Elira watching in horror as Zhu Li was taken away.

*

Back underground, all the prisoners had been freed save for Suyin and Baatar, who had pinned himself to a corner of the cage while his wife tried to reassure him.

"Sweetie, it'll be fine. Lin won't drop you, and Bolin will catch you." Suyin said gently.

"No, no. Just go. Just leave me. I'll stay here" Baatar shut his eyes, fearfully.

The sisters gave each other a look; Suyin shrugged.

Lin turned back to Baatar. "Sorry, but I have to do this."

She metalbent a cable around Baatar's right leg, and seconds later, Baatar was swinging upside down from Lin's cable, screaming as he was flung over to the others, landing in Bolin's arms, whimpering.

The commotion he caused certainly drew attention. The guard from before stormed through the door once more, quickly sounding an alarm. As metal panels around the door slid aside, an imposing mecha tank emerged, ready to respond.

The tank advanced menacingly, unleashing a torrent of fire toward Lin and Suyin, who were precariously perched atop their cage. Quick on her feet, Lin grasped her metal cables and deftly severed two ropes holding up the cage while narrowly avoiding the flames that surged toward their companions.

Without hesitation, Azira leaped in front of the others. With a graceful twirl, she positioned herself, arms outstretched, effectively splitting the blaze and shielding everyone from harm as the cage began its swinging descent towards their side of the cavern. Lin and Suyin jumped from the cage, landing safely among their group. In an instant, Suyin hurried to embrace Toph, who welcomed her with a warm smile and a heartfelt hug.

"We got 'em. We're coming out." Bolin said into the two-way radio.

"Copy that. But you might wanna hurry. We've got a bit of a problem up here," Opal's voice replied through the radio, causing Bolin to frown in worry.

*

Outside the factory, a hole opened in the ground, and Lin, Bolin, and Suyin emerged from within, observing their surroundings before climbing out with the others. Looking up, Suyin smiled when she saw Opal, who glided down with Pichi at her side, and pulled out her bison whistle to summon Juicy and Mochi. Looking over, Opal smiled happily when she saw her family.

"Mom! Dad!" She rushed over to hug them before turning to Bolin, "Thank you"

Bolin smiled and nodded at her before Pichi appeared by his side and attempted to pull him away by the back of his shirt, flapping her wings strenuously and chattering. Noticing the lemur's panic, Bolin glanced around, noticing someone was missing.

"Where's El?"He asked

"Kuvira caught Zhu Li and threw her in the town. El went to try and save her," Opal revealed

"By herself?!" Azira gasped 

"I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen", Opal explained 

"But that cannon's gonna be ready to fire any minute," Bolin exclaimed before standing with a determined look. "I'm going after her!"

"You can't go in there, kid. It's suicide—Kuvira's onto us. Elira can handle herself," Lin argued.

"But she's out there alone! I'm not leaving her. Not again!" Bolin declared, "And Zhu Li and I have been through so much together. Toph, you said Zhu Li was lying about fixing the cannon. She must have been trying to stop it."

"For all you know, she could just have been covering her butt because she made a mistake," Toph said

"No, Zhu Li doesn't make mistakes," Bolin claimed adamantly.

"Could be our best chance to stop Kuvira." Suyin cut in

"Maybe take out that weapon." Lin considered

Just then, Mochi and Juciy came flying in, landing on either side of the group. Pichi chattered and perched herself on Mochi's horn as Bolin climbed onto the bison.

"You guys focus on that cannon. If we make it out, we'll meet you in the mountains," He said.

"We'll buy you as much time as we can", Opal smiled.

Bolin nodded before flicking Mochi's reins, "Moch, yip yip!" and he took to the skies.

"If you all want to get yourselves captured again or worse, that's your business. I'm through." Toph declared, standing up, "And Sparky, I suggest you do the same. Don't think I haven't noticed you struggling"

"No. As long as I can move, I'll fight to protect my family." Azira's eyes hardened. She tried to stand up, but her legs were wobbly. She was obviously tired from the day's events, but she was trying to hide it.

She stumbled, and Suyin and Lin quickly caught her and helped her sit back down.

"You're gonna kill yourself if you're not careful", Toph scowled

"We'll make sure Bolin and El get out safely. I promise," Lin pledged.

"Stay here and rest. Watch out for Baatar Sr. and Huan," Suyin added.

Azira looked reluctant before closing her eyes and sighing, giving in. "Go. Quickly"

Nodding, Suyin, Lin, Opal, Wei, and Wing all headed off to face Kuvira, leaving just Baatar, Haun, Toph and Azira.

"So, how have you been, mother?" Baatar asked

Toph glared, "I told you never to call me that."

Baatar looked away, crestfallen.

*

Elira flew silently over the town, scanning around for wherever the soldiers had trapped Zhu Li. She gasped as she finally spotted her friend tied to a water tower.

"Zhu Li!" She cried, flying down and folding up her flight suit.

"El?" Zhu Li gasped as the airbender rushed over to her and began pulling on the metal handcuffs binding her to the water tower. "What are you doing here?"

"Right now, saving you", Elira smiled.

"Well, you better hurry. From the looks of it, the cannon's about to fire," Zhu Li warned, spying in the distance the cannon's turret sliding into place, focusing its sights on the town.

The cannon gradually charged up, a purple energy ball forming, but just as the blast was released, earthbending fissures pummeled the side of the cannon, knocking it to one side and disrupting its aim.

In the town, the two women gasped in fear, noticing the blast heading for them.

"EEELLL!" Out of nowhere, Bolin dove down from the air, tackling Elira to the ground and covering her as the cannon's energy beam blasted over their heads, moving up to punch a smoldering hole into a rock face directly behind the town.

The group looked up, staring at the hole in shock before Elira glanced over her shoulder at Bolin in surprise.

"Bo, why are you –"

"Never alone, remember?" Bolin said, helping her up as Mochi landed close behind them and Pichi flew down, perching herself on her horn.

Elira stared at Bolin speechless, her stormy grey eyes wide in shock.

"Come on, we gotta get outta here!" Rushing over to Zhu Li, Bolin bent up a rock and used it to break the handcuffs holding her to the water tower, eventually freeing her.

*

Back at the cannon, Kuvira looked around for the source of the disruption and spotted Suyin, Opal, Lin, Wei, and Wing exchanging blows with her soldiers.

Opal dodged and weaved, using her airbender agility to avoid all the boulders thrown at her. Then, she retaliated with several blasts of air, sending a few soldiers off their feet.

The family were working like a well-oiled machine, with Wing and Wei even tag-teaming and throwing a huge boulder at Kuvira's soldiers, who'd set up stone barricades, forcing them to scatter or be crushed by the boulder.

The soldiers continued sending a barrage of rocks at the family, forcing Suyin to rise up a stone wall, which Wing and Wei raised higher, protecting them.

The battle was at a stalemate, with both sides hiding behind earth walls. Seeing an opening, Suyin goes to engage Kuvira atop the cannon, sneak attacking her from the other side before bending the metal from the cannon at her former protégée, who managed to stand her ground.

Bending a panel from one of the circuit covers, Suyin formed it into makeshift armour, flipping over Kuvira. They continued to fight, using their environment, containers, railings, and anything metal they could use to aid them, until Kuvira managed to snag Suyin's arm with her metal cable and send the woman flying across the cannon. This gave her the opening to bend the armour around Suyin, sending her off the cannon.

As Suyin got up, more of Kuvira's soldiers approached her, only for Opal to land in front of her mother, sending them flying with a mighty gust of air. Behind her, Wei grabbed hold of Suyin and propelled them into the air with a column of stone, and Opal followed them using her wing suite.

Mid-air, Wei shot out his metal cable, which tangled with Wing's. Wing then pulled them towards their stone barricade, Opal flying in just behind them. Lin quickly patched up the hole with a large boulder.

Opal took out her bison whistle again, calling for Juciy, as rocks hammered down on their barricade. Eventually, one of them broke through, and the barricade came down!

Kuvira's soldiers and mecha tanks surrounded the Beifongs. They were trapped!

But before Kuvira's lackeys could descend on the family, the earth beneath the soldiers and tanks shifted and knocked them all down in a giant, powerful wave.

At the same time, a great, powerful torrent of fire blasted at the cannon's nozzle, melting the front of it and rendering it unusable.

The Beifongs turned around and saw Toph and Azira standing there with their arms outstretched. The last of Azira's flames flickered and then died down. The two legends were soon joined by Baatar and Huan on Juicy and Elira, Pichi, Bolin, and Zhu Li on Mochi.

Toph pointed at Kuvira, up by her canon. "You give metalbenders a bad name!"

And those final words, they all climbed onto the bison and swiftly departed. Kuvira watched them go with narrowed, angry eyes.

*

The group soon stopped in a secluded area in a bamboo forest to rest for a bit after the fight. Elira was helping Azira sit down on a log, the old woman now having her walking stick back with her, and Pichi climbed onto her lap, curling up with a purr. Elira then looked up and made eye contact with Bolin across the clearing where he was standing with Zhu Li, Opal and her brothers.

He smiled tentatively at her, and to his surprise and joy, Elira smiled back. A faint blush bloomed on her cheeks before she looked away bashfully. Seeing the interaction, Azira chuckled and put a hand on Elira's, causing her to look at her.

"Go get him, Lotus Flower, " she encouraged.

Elira's blush intensified in slight embarrassment before she turned to Bolin again, seeing he was still watching her with a soft expression. Elira subtly gestured with her head for him to follow her. Bolin's grin widened in hopeful excitement, and he eagerly followed her out of the clearing.

After walking for a few minutes to ensure they were far enough from the rest of the group, they soon stood facing each other in awkward silence for a second before Elira finally spoke.

"You know, you didn't have to do that, Bo, " she said, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Do what?" Bolin asked

"Come after me into that town. Push me out of the way when the cannon fired"

"Of course I did. I wasn't about to let you get blasted by that spirit canon. Just like I wasn't gonna let you get grabbed by that vine when we were in the Spirit Wilds," Bolin declared

"But that was completely different. It was a vine that, at worst, would've only thrown you about a bit. This...this was a deadly spirit death ray that blew a hole into a mountain! Totally different," Elira argued.

"Not to me", Bolin stated, and Elira's eyes widened "I don't care what it is, a possessed vine or a deadly spirit canon, if I can protect you from it, I will"

Elira stared at him speechless as he continued talking.

"I meant what I said all those years ago, El. In the spirit tree, when you kissed me for the first time. I'm nobody without you. This whole Kuvira thing kinda proved that"

Elira chuckled, "You mean The Tree of Time?"

"Yeah, that. You remember?" Bolin scratched the back of his neck.

"How could I forget?" Elira took his hand gently in hers "It was both the worst and best day of my life. But you are someone. With or without me, you'll always be Bolin. The kind, thoughtful, tends to bite off more than he can chew, dirt-brain, I fell in love with"

Bolin smiled softly "And you'll always be El. The brave, funny, always looking out for others, airhead, I fell in love with"

The two gazed deeply into each other's eyes, their hearts brimming with an overwhelming sense of pure love and yearning. Without exchanging a word, they stepped closer, embracing each other with warmth and tenderness. Bolin enveloped the airbender in his protective arms as she nestled her face into his chest, savoring the familiar warmth and comfort his presence offered.

"I missed you", she whispered, her fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt, "So much" 

Bolin lovingly brushed his fingers through her hair, her familiar scent of wildflowers filling his senses.

"I missed you more," he replied, his voice rich with affection.

Elira chuckled softly, her eyes sparkling as she looked up to meet his "I missed you most."

"Alright, you win," Bolin said, playfully rolling his eyes as a smile danced on his lips.

The two leaned in closer, their eyes gently shutting as their lips finally united. In that moment, the world around them vanished, leaving only the warmth of each other's embrace. It was a sensation they had once feared they'd never feel again, a joy lost forever. Yet fate had other plans, and, alas, here they were—together once more. And God help anyone who dared try to come between them again.

*

When Elira and Bolin finally re-joined the others a little bit later, both of them trying to neaten their noticeably messy hair and wrinkled clothes, Lin and Suyin were standing, talking to their mother.

"Thanks for coming to save us, Mom." Suyin smiled

"Yeah, thanks, Chief," Lin added before pausing and catching Azira's eyes over Toph's shoulder, remembering what the old firebender had told her the night before.

"I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was just ... you know." Lin apologised.

"Look, I know I wasn't a great mother, but Sparky was right. One way or another, I ended up with two great kids. Good enough to risk my bony old butt for, anyway" Toph smiled.

Lin looked surprised and slightly sheepish "You heard that, huh?"

"Nothing gets past me." Toph chuckled, "But if you can just find some way not to hate me, maybe that's enough, at least for me."

"Me too." Lin smiled softly and hugged her mother.

"You know, I never had any family except for my brother, until a few years ago" Bolin suddenly appeared, moving to link an arm around Toph and Lin, much to their surprise as he pulled them close "And reuniting with them made me realise how special it is."

"Argh, enough!" Toph escaped Bolin's embrace, colliding with Lin, who shoved him off. "Enjoy the ride back to the city with the gum flapper here."

"Aren't you coming back to Republic City with us, Grandma?" Opal asked

"No, my fighting days are over. Don't tell Korra, but my back is killing me now. This is why you didn't see Katara messing with that civil war nonsense. At some point, you gotta leave it to the kids." Toph grinned before walking over to Azira, who used her cane to slowly stand up. "I know I'm not gonna be able to convince you to take it easy. At least not when your family is involved. Just don't go getting yourself killed while you're at it. I'm not putting up with this world without you"

Azira chuckled, "Wouldn't dream of it"

She then hugged Toph warmly. 

"I'll be checking in should you ever need me...So long, Sparky." Toph said

"Goodbye. Melon Lord," Azira muttered, giving the earthbender a final tight squeeze. 

Pulling away with one last smile, Toph turned and disappeared into the bamboo trees, as Azira watched her best friend leave with a nostalgic smile. 

"I want to thank you for coming back to save me," Zhu Li said as she approached Elira. "And don't be too hard on Bolin for working with Kuvira. His heart was in the right place."

"I think he's worked his way out of the polar bear doghouse," Elira said, turning to her boyfriend with a teasing smirk. Bolin smirked back, nudging Elira's side playfully, making her giggle as Pichi landed on her shoulder with a chitter.

"We should get going. I'm afraid I have bad news to deliver to Republic City," Zhu Li said, her face grave.

"Kuvira is going to attack in two weeks."