The Girl After

Chapter 7

"I still don't believe you," Asami whispered harshly to me. "My father would never do something like this."

"Why would I lie to you?" I whispered back. "Why would I lie about something like this?"

With no response, Asami scoffed and looked away from me. The metalbenders bursted through the doors, and we all piled into the workshop. "Dad?" Asami called out. "Hello?"

An officer spoke up, "Chief, the estate has been secured. No one has left the workshop since we've arrived."

Lin mulled this over, then thought aloud, "Perhaps we just couldn't see him leaving..." She ambled around the room for a moment with her hands clasped behind her. Once she is in the center of the room, she stops. Lin raised her leg, the bottom of her metal boot retracting to reveal the sole of her foot. She stamped her foot to the floor, all in silence. I'd only seen her do this twice in my lifetime - both of which were to get me out of trouble - and I was amazed each time.

Lin used to tell me of how her mother used to teach her to "see" with her feet, and it had confused me for an extremely long time. Back when there was still hope of me being a bender, we'd spent hours on end trying to teach me to use such technique. It always ended in frustration and tears of disappointment.

Always.

Lin stood straight again as the bottom of her shoe closed again. "There's a tunnel beneath the workshop," she said, "running deep into the mountainside."

"What?" Asami crossed her arms and scoffed in annoyance. "There's no tunnel."

"Yes, there is," I finally said. Asami glared at me, as if I had just kicked Bolin's pet fire ferret across the room. I ignored the look. I pointed towards an empty patch of the floor. "The entrance is right there."

Chief Beifong nodded and followed my gaze. She took an earthbending stance and rips a portion of the metal floor from the ground with a thrust of her arms, tossing it aside and revealing the tunnel.

Everyone except me and Dakota step forward to inspect the hole. Dakota stood next to me in Asami's place, whispering, "Don't think that I'm going to forgive you just because you helped us."

I smirked bitterly, "Oh, you're still here?" She scowled, making a choking noise as I approached the others, leaving her behind.

"I don't understand," Asami exhaled. "There must be an explanation."

Korra spoke gently to console her. "Maybe you don't know everything about your father," she said. "I'm sorry."

Lin snapped for her officers' attention. "Officers - into the tunnel." They quickly began filing down the stairs into the darkened tunnel. Mako, Bolin, Asami, and I begin to follow; but Lin shakes her head and says, "Uh-uh. You kids stay here. Officer Song, keep an eye on them."

As Officer Song followed his orders, I continued to follow Lin, but her hand blocked me. "That includes you, Leinani," she said.

"What?" I frowned. "No! You wouldn't have known about any of this if it wasn't for me!"

Her frown deepened, accentuating the scar on her face. "It's likely that we wouldn't have had to if it wasn't for you." She added, "Don't forget that you are involved in this crime as well, young lady." With that, she followed her officers into the tunnel with Tenzin, Korra, and Dakota following. Dakota glanced over her shoulder, sticking her tongue out to mock me. I only rolled my eyes as Song led me to join the others.

"Nice going, Nani," Mako said dryly. "You just can't go a day without causing trouble in someone's life, can you?"

"Shut up, Mako," I grumbled.

He persisted. "You nearly get Bolin killed during one of your missions -"

Bolin frowned, warning in a low voice, "Mako, stop."

"-and you ruin his first real relationship-"

Now, Asami was coming to my defense, "That's enough."

"-and, the cherry on top, you're helping the Equalists hurt innocent people! You know, Leinani, your grandmother would be absolutely ashamed of you if she knew everything you done." Mako always knew just how to get under my skin. He, unfortunately, was very good at it. This is a prime example.

I lunged at him with every intention to hurt him, only to be grabbed by, Bolin, Asami, and Officer Song. I growled, "Let's not forget, Mako. I'm the only reason you and Bolin even had a home! I'm the only reason you have a Pro-Bending team! If it weren't for me, you'd still be on streets and working for Shady Shin." I struggled against Bolin's grip on my waist, grunting as I tried to free myself.

A loud crashing echoed throughout the tunnel, making us all freeze and look at the tunnel.

"What was that?" Bolin asked.

I explained with a single word: "Hiroshi."

Mako frowned. "We need to get down there and see what's going on," he said.

Song shook his head as he backed away, leaving me to be restricted by Bolin and Asami. "Absolutely not! You're staying put until the chief gets back."

The brothers looked at one another and gave slight nods. Bolin slowly released me and kept his hand on my back, tracing letters in between my shoulder blades like we did on missions.

P-L-A-Y-A-L-O-N-G

I looked at Asami, who gave a curious look. I mouthed, Play along. She nodded, but kept her hold on me. The brothers share a nonchalant expression. "Alright," Mako shrugged. "We'll stay put. But can we wait outside or something? It's really dusty in this workshop." He stifles a smile as he rubs his nose.

"No," Song insisted. "We're waiting right here."

"Okay, but don't blame me if I start snee... If I start snee... If I start..." Mako began sniffling, wiggling his nose and rubbing at it.

"What's your problem?" Song asked. I stood a step back, nudging Asami to do the same.

"I'm about to-" Mako leaned back as if we were about to sneeze, then throws himself forward and 'sneezes' a massive blast of fire at Officer Song, making the man stumble back. Bolin stomps a pillar from the ground and slams it into Song. As the officer falls onto his back, the brothers pin him down. Without needing instruction, I search Hiroshi's workshop and find rope, tying Song and leaving him bound to a barrel and gagged.

"Sorry, pal," Mako says. "We know you were just doing your job."

Bolin cut in mockingly. "Yeah! Just stay put until the chief comes back. That sounds very familiar, doesn't it? Why? Because you said it!"

"Bo," I frowned, suddenly in Triple Threat Triad mode. "Stop goofing off."

The four of us approached the tunnel, but Mako put a hand on Asami's shoulder to stop her from going. "Asami, you should stay here," he said. "We'll check it out."

She shook her head, her dark locks following every movement. "I have to find out the truth about my father," she responded.

"I understand," Mako said with a nod. "That's why I'm going down; to find out for you."

Reluctantly, Asami nodded. "Alright."

As I began heading into the tunnel, Mako's voice stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?"

"This is mostly my fault, isn't it? I'm going to fix it." I began walking again, but Mako grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back up into the workshop.

"Oh, no you don't," he said. "You're staying right here with Asami."

I jerked myself from his grasp and scowled. "You can't just yell at me for causing all of this, then keep me from reconciling it," I protested. "Asami can protect herself. I'm going whether you like it or not." I didn't wait for a response - I was already halfway down the stairs. I heard Mako sigh heavily as he and Bolin rushed after me.

"Slow down, Leinani!" Bolin said in a whisper/shout. "You don't know what's up ahead."

"Yes, I do," I said flatly without slowing my pace, "and we're going to face this head-on."