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"You have no idea how much I want to hit you right now!"
"Please don't! I love my face!"
Rae groaned as she stood in front of Varrick, who was weirdly hiding in the skin of a bear-like animal. She massaged her forehead with on hand, while the other was pointing accusatorily at the man. She was furious when Asami, Bolin and Mako led her and the general to the room where Varrick was hiding, and her anger spiked even more when they told her what the man made Bolin do.
"Do you realize the danger you put them in?" asked Rae, pointing to Asami and the two brothers, "If the north found out they were hiding you, they would be in prison!"
"Relax, Rae," started Varrick, not caring about her angered state, "Nothing bad happened! They are safe and, most importantly, I am too."
The woman only rolled her eyes. "Iknik Blackstone Varrick," she started, making Varrick freeze. His eyes widened at the usage of his full name before he glared at Bolin when he let out a small giggle. "You do that one more time and I'll put you in prison myself!"
The man rolled his eyes, ignoring his assistant's words telling him to not cross the Guardian, and turned the body of the bear to face Iroh. "General," he started, "control your woman! I'm too young to die from an enraged Beifong!"
Rae's eyes widened at his words, and she stepped forward in order to slap him somehow, but Iroh's hand intertwined with hers, making her stop her movement from the jolt that ran though her body the moment they touched. Asami stepped in between them and glared at Varrick before turning to Rae.
"You two need to calm down," she started, "You are acting like children!"
Both rolled her eyes at the same time yet didn't utter another word. After Asami was sure that they wouldn't start arguing again, she stepped away and stood next to Mako.
They all paced the room in silence after, waiting for Korra. Bolin had left to see his girlfriend, even though it was more Eska that dragged him away from them. The silence wasn't as tensed as before. Varrick had offered Rae a cup of her favourite tea that Zhu Li made as an apology, and the woman gladly accepted, even though she pondered if she should spill it on him. Iroh's, having guessed what she wanted to do, shook his head, and send her a pointed stare. With an amused eyeroll, Rae gladly drank the tea and the atmosphere returned to normal.
"If I knew a cup of white tea would make her stop sending death glares at someone," whispered Mako to Asami, "I would have done it a long time ago."
The young woman stifled a laugh and turned to stare at Iroh and Rae, who were sitting on a couch rather closely. She watched them warmly as they talked, forgetting their boredom as time passed.
When Korra barged in the room, Rae's head rose immediately as she saw the distressed woman. She put the cup down and rose from the sofa before walking to Asami, Bolin and Varrick's hideout, Iroh close behind her.
"Unalaq's a liar and a traitor!" exclaimed the young Avatar, making Rae sigh. It hurt the woman that Korra didn't trust her and probably had to figure it out on her own, getting hurt in the process.
"I've been trying to tell you that from the get-go," said Varrick but they all ignored his remarks.
"What happened?" asked Mako.
"I found out the truth about my dad's banishment. Unalaq hired the barbarians to attack the tribe, then he told them to hide in the spirit forest, knowing my dad would go after them!"
Rae frowned at Korra's words. She knew Unalaq was a snake, but never thought he'd go that far to achieve power. After all, it was his brother he betrayed, his own blood. Rae couldn't imagine herself doing that to her mother or aunt or cousins. In her mind, it was an act of insanity even.
"Unalaq wanted your dad out of the way so he could become chief. It was a setup!"
"Just like the whole trial... I can't believe I trusted them."
"It wasn't your fault Korra," stated Rae softly, "one way or another, he would have found a way to do it without your trust."
Korra's eyes softened at her words, but her expression was quickly flooded by determination, "I'm busting my father and the rebels out of jail. I need your help."
"If you do this, there is no going back."
Rae nodded at Mako's words. "he's right," she said, making all of them look at her, "And we can't all help. Varrick is still wanted, and we can't risk getting General Iroh involved."
"We can't risk getting Rae involved either," stated Asami while looking at the Avatar.
However, the woman only shook her head, "my ties to the Republic City police have been cut and I have yet to restore them. I don't have any official links to any important institutions apart from the Metal Clan of Zaofu, but they aren't important in this matter. I have nothing weighting me down. On the contrary, Varrick is probably the only one that can get us through the barricade, so we can't afford to get him arrested, and Iroh is still working as a general for the military."
"I can get back to the United Forces," said Iroh, speaking for the first time since the Avatar arrived, "If things so south, I can try to talk the President of Republic City in Korra's favour."
"I can handle myself!" exclaimed Varrick, making the woman roll her eyes.
The Avatar nodded and turned to Iroh. "Thank you, General," she said in appreciation. Her eyes drifted to Rae, who nodded, knowing that Korra would want her by their side. Asami and Mako expressed their desire to help along with Varrick.
"Then so be it," said Korra, with a small smile.
The door opened abruptly, making all of them turn to look at a dressed-up Bolin. He was wearing a traditional northern coat and his hair seemed to be gelled back, but what came out of his outfit was the blue betrothal necklace sightly secured around his neck. Pabu had met the same circumstances as Bolin. He looked like he was in such pain that Rae's heart ached at the sight of the poor animal.
"I don't even want to know," stated Mako as he stared at his brother.
"So," started Asami, "I'm guessing the breakup with Eska didn't go well?"
"No, no," said Bolin sarcastically, "the honesty thing worked out great—so great, that she decided we should get married!"
"Sorry..."
"I'm pretty sure the guy is supposed to give the girl the betrothal necklace...?"
Rae nodded in agreement at Korra's words. She felt sorry for the boy but couldn't contain her amusement as a small smirk escaped her lips.
"I guess Eska didn't get the memo..."
Varrick turned to look at the boy and said, "look, the only way to deal with crazy women is to lie big and leave fast. It works in both romantic relationships and friendships! Trust me, it worked with Rae!"
The woman frowned and looked at Varrick. She opened her mouth to speak but the man totally ignored her and went back to his useless advice for Bolin, "Lucky for you, Varrick's got your back! Now gather around Ping Ping. Let's talk plan."
Both Rae and Iroh kept their distance while the others got closer to Varrick. The Guardian rolled her eyes at Varrick's antiques and Iroh looked weirdly at the five. However, when Varrick's loud voice directed to them echoed through the room, they both hurried in the circle formed by the gathering people, trying hard to hide the red tint to their cheeks.
"You too, lovebirds! You won't want to miss this!"
