In Her Eyes, I See The Stars Dancing

Salvation

Asami couldn't breathe. She tried her best to inhale air but there was nothing to take in. She thought of dying. Thinking. She's still thinking. Everything hurt. She felt every bone and every muscle of her body implode on its own. There it was again. The feeling of wallowing of her insides. As if being churned and twisted into all sorts of ways imaginable. She started feeling it ever since that day, in Raiko's office.

Asami and the others entered Raiko's office. The rustle of steps merely echoed in the four corners of the room. She briefly looked over one of the high windows and saw the ray of the sun peaked through, hitting the floor. They all gathered in front of Raiko's table who sat on his chair waiting for everyone to settle down and find their place. Tenzin on the far right stood quietly, stoned features prominent. With the new air bender suit Asami made, it still took a while to get used to him wearing it most of the time. If not for him putting on his usual robe on top of it, Asami thought nobody would take him seriously as a master airbender.

Tin was there with them as well. She has the privileges given being Asami's assistant and helping her with ideas and new inventions to help with defensive strategies. If needed. Surely, Asami thought, they would have to prepare for the worst.

Varrick, beside her, finally stripped from his green army uniform that of Kuvira's, is now wearing his usual, blue-colored water tribe suit. He looked more serious than before, a significant change from the past year when Asami last saw him. Sure, he would crack jokes every now and then, but she could see the tiredness in his eyes and Asami wondered what horrors he had seen from the camps inside the army.

Beside him was Wu, who looked more like a leader now. Bolin wasn't with them as he joined Lin and Opal to save their family from Kuvira.

Then there was Korra and Mako. Both were focused on Raiko. He addressed them and told them that the borders were being secured and added the mecha tanks Asami had proposed after all. He also mentioned the troops guarding the rail lines from across the city.

Asami was tuning in to what he was saying and then suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain on the side of her stomach. As if an invisible knife had stabbed her. It was tolerable, but she flinched slightly. She would've groaned, but she didn't want to disrupt the man speaking before them.

She stopped listening; the pain was still there. She could sense it slowly digging in deeper. She held her side briefly, but surprisingly, it stopped hurting. Tin nudged her gently and looked at her quizzically.

She eyed Asami, directly looking at the blueprint in her hand and then her eyes pointed to Raiko.

Right, the plan. Varrick explained it in the most Varrick way and Asami just rolled her eyes and opened the blueprint for Raiko to see but not before Varrick almost hits her with his hand gestures.

"A flying mecha suit!" His voice boomed inside the four corners of the room, with vines spiking out of some openings and windows. Asami let him do the talking. She was half-listening because the strange feeling on her side still bothered her. She could feel it going up to her chest now, and it stayed there, taunting.

"Where does the spirit ray come out?" Raiko asked.

Varrick went in all seriousness and responded, "It doesn't have a spirit ray. So I'm telling you what I told Kuvira; that technology should not be used!"

And in all honesty, even if Asami hadn't said it. Everyone in the room except for Raiko himself would've wanted to punch him. Even Wu. Raiko insisted on wanting spirit energy to be used as their weapons as it is already being used anyway.

Asami stopped listening again as she glanced briefly at the window. Something's wrong. The gnawing feeling had stopped growing but she knew it was still there.