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The guards wouldn't stop whining.
Rae was standing by the hole in the ground, ready to help her family climb back up once Lin, Bolin and Toph managed to release them. She let out a long and deep sigh, her head falling back in annoyance while the chained up guards started thrashing around.
Extending one of her hands, she let one of the metal plates wrapped around her forearm fly toward the guard, latching itself on his mouth. Realizing there was no hope, the guard's whining gradually stopped and Rae sighed in relief.
The small radio at her hip buzzed and she quickly grabbed it. "Rae is the coast clear?" she heard her mother's voice say.
"Yeah, you can come up," she replied.
As she put the radio back through the loop of her belt, she felt multiple pairs of footsteps from the hole she was guarding. Wei was the first to poke his head through and Rae extended her hand, letting the young man grab it.
"God, you've gained weight," exclaimed the woman as she struggled to pull him up.
"You haven't held me since I was eleven, Rae," muttered the young man with a joking smile, "of course I've gained weight."
The woman rolled her eyes and pushed him away from the hole when his twin poked his head through. Su came next and then Huan and Baatar, and finally Bolin, Lin and Toph. Rae helped all of them up, frowning but not questioning Baatar's shaken up state.
Opal flew in a few minutes later and blew her bison whistle before she saw her mother. At the sight, she ran towards Su and the two women hugged warmly.
"Thank you," said the young airbender to Bolin, but Lin interrupted them.
"let's move."
"Kuvira caught Zhu Li and threw her in the town," said Opal, making Rae rise to her feet from her spot between the twins.
"What?" exclaimed Bolin, "no, I have to go save her."
"It's too dangerous Bo," said Rae, bringing her hand to his shoulder making Lin nod and say, "You can't go in there, kid. It's suicide. Kuvira's onto us."
"We've been through too much together, "Bolin said sadly. "I can't leave her." He turned to the eldest earthbender of the group and frowned. "Toph, you said Zhu Li was lying about fixing the cannon. She must have been trying to stop it."
Toph didn't believe his words, "For all you know, she could just have been covering her butt because she made a mistake."
But Rae had to agree with Bolin. She had known Varrick for a long time before Bolin and befriended Zhu Li rather quickly. The Guardian knew the woman. She was smart and calculate and never in her life would she make such a big mistake. "No," said Rae with a shake of her said, "Zhu Li doesn't make mistakes."
