The Girl After

Chapter 16

I sat in my room with my knees to my chest. Maybe Bolin was right. After that memory flooded back, I hadn't been focusing. All I could think about was bloodbending. How it had almost killed Gran Gran right in front of me, how it had nearly killed me. My body shivered at the thought.

Part of me agreed with the Equalists. No person should have that much power over anybody else. It was unfair. It was the epitome of injustice.

"Leinani?" A voice called from the other side of my door, followed by a knock. Without receiving an answer from me, the door slid open and revealed the elderly woman from before. "There you are," Mika said with a soft smile. "Why are you not out there fighting?"

"Bolin forbade me," I replied bitterly.

"And you obeyed?" She chuckled. "Why, that doesn't sound like you."

"You don't know me," I said.

"Perhaps you're right," she said as she sat beside me, "but I have heard enough stories from Fire Lord Zuko and your grandmother. Even Katara has tales of your stubborn personality. What's changed?"

I frowned and hid my face in my knees, curling into myself. I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't want anything to do with her. I didn't want anything to do with this Avatar business — yet, here I was. "I'm afraid," I admitted. "I'm so, so afraid..."

Mika laid a hand on my arm. "Of what, dear?"

"Myself?" My voice cracked. "I constantly make a mess of things. I'm abrasive and impulsive, I—"

"In other words," Mika chuckled softly, then ceased when I frowned at her, "you're nothing like everyone's expected of you." When I nodded, she sighed. "Do you think of this a lot?"

I nodded again.

"Sweetheart, you never want to be what people expect of you." She said. "If Fire Lord Zuko had followed expectations, he could've grown up to be like Ozai."

"That's different," I said, finally looking up again. "He had Gran Gran and his uncle Iroh to guide him and help him through all of his decisions."

"Well," she said, thinking it over, "perhaps you need to find a Saki and and Iroh." She paused, clearly realising that I already had a Saki and Iroh in the most literal way. "Perhaps," she rephrased, "you need to find those that will guide you through your trials and tribulations. Why, if Dakota didn't have Korra throughout her life, she would've ended up just like her fa—!" She stopped. Her mouth clamped shut as if she'd said too much.

"Her father?" I asked. "Who's her father?"

Mika was saved from having to answer the question when Jinora suddenly rushed into the room. "Leinani!" Her voice was urgent.

"Jinora? What's wrong?"

"General Iroh just arrived to the city," the young airbender said.

A smile creeped onto my face as a feeling of excitement washed over me. I hadn't seen Iroh since he'd been with me before the interview with Hiroshi Sato, and I missed him more than anything. "That's great news!" I said. However, judging by her expression, it was not great news. The excitement was replaced by fear. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"His ships are under attack."

Upon the news, I broke into a sprint. My heart was racing faster than a rabaroo. Mika and Jinora shouted something after me, but all I could hear was the blood rushing to my ears. Stealing one of the sky bison, I nervously (and not-so-gracefully) soared over the city. I followed the sound of explosions and the thick, black smoke billowing into the sky. I looked in horror at the sight. I looked down at the ground and found a large enough landing space for the furry beast.

I hopped from its back and ran forward towards the water, but a pair of arms coiled themselves around my torso and pulled me off of my feet to stop me. "What do you think you're doing?!" Mako's voice said from behind me.

"Let me go, Mako!" I snarled and pried at his arms to free myself. "I have to go help!"

"You can't help anyone," he said as he pulled me away. "Let Korra handle this." When I didn't stop kicking, he snapped, "Do you see those airplanes up there? They were invented by Hiroshi Sato, and they will obliterate us if they see us. Just let Korra handle it, Leinani!"

I continued to shout for him to let me go. Out of frustration, I slammed the heel of my foot into his knee and freed myself from his hold. He yelped and gave a pained grunt. I looked forward to see a body being flung from the ship by the impact of an explosion. I knew the body very well. Dark hair, red jacket, white pants.

Iroh.

A strained scream of terror forced its way out as I watched him plunge into the debris-cluttered waters. As tears flooded my eyes, refusing to fall, two figures rushed towards me. The figure dressed in green embraced me. The figure in shades of red and black whispered attempted comforts. I felt myself crumbling inside. I felt like a child caught in a nightmare of watching someone — someone that'd acted as my older brother for years — fall limply into an abyss.

"Leinani," Mako's broke through my scattered thoughts, "look. Look, out there!" I looked into the direction in which he was pointing.

Two heads bobbed in the water, nearing the shore. Korra held onto Iroh as she paddled towards us.

I exhaled in relief.

"Of all the years that I've known you," Mako said as he sat across from me at the hideout, "I have never seen you so upset. Not like that." He had ice on his knee, which was swollen from the kick.

"Can we not talk about it?" I asked. I looked down and added, "Sorry about your knee."

He shrugged it off and adjusted his leg, wincing as he moved. "You're changing, Leinani," he smirked weakly. "I can't tell if it's for the better or not, but I can definitely see it."

It was my turn to shrug. A few feet away, Korra was healing Iroh with her waterbending. I stood and held my hand out to assist Mako to his feet. He declined the offer. We joined the others, entering a conversation I didn't exactly want to be part of.

"Every time we think we have an advantage, Amon outsmarts us," Korra said with a frown.

Bolin sighed. "No matter what our plan is, he always has a better one."

Iroh, with a look of concentration, said, "Amon is winning so far. We're not out of the fight yet." He looked up and focused on me for a moment. I clenched my fist. I wondered if he knew what I had done. Had Lin told him of my involvement with the Equalists? Had she told him that I had designed and built a number of Amon's advantages.

I waited for him to scowl and shout at me and declare me a traitor. Instead, he flashed a smile at me before returning to his serious expression.

"I like this man's confidence!" Bolin exclaimed with a proud fist. He paused. "Wait... So, how are we not out of the fight?"

Iroh stood up as Korra ceased the healing session. He grunted and held his wound. Instinctively, I rushed to his side. While everyone looked at me in confusion, Iroh smiled down at me and whispered, "I'm okay." He looked at the group again and stated with determination, "A second wave of reinforcements is on the way, but I need to warn them." He looked at Korra directly, asking, "Do you still have a way to get a message out?"

Korra nodded and smiled. "I know just the man for the job."