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𝐂loud made her tornado vanish, letting the firebender fall until he was close enough to cushion his drop. Mako grumbled under his breath, removing the dust from his clothes as the brown-haired girl helped him up from the ground. With a grin on her face and a scowl on the other guy, the two people with opposite personalities walked toward their friends and family together.
They didn't realize they were still holding each other's hands until the crowd dispersed, and a young boy ran up to their group. Cloud immediately let go of his hand, the latter trying to hide how nervous he was as he touched the back of his neck. They moved closer to the little boy to hear what he had to say,
"Hey! Hello. If you're looking for airbenders, you just found one," He beamed, then proceeded to demonstrate his airbending abilities, the group becoming excited. "I wanna join you, guys."
"Get outta town!"
"We got our first recruit," Korra said in relief before explaining the situation to the kid. "Just to be totally clear, we're going to be heading to Ba Sing Se, then the Northern Air Temple to live as nomads and rebuild the Air Nation. All that sounds good to you?"
"Yeah, Ba Sing Se, rebuild the temple, Air Nomad what-do-you-do, I'm in. Let's go right now."
Kai was a bundle, and Cloud was already starting to like the kid. He also explained to them that he doesn't have parents anymore (which was pretty sad) and that was when Tenzin decided to take him in. He reminded her of the two brothers in some way, and overall, he was just happy that there was someone willing to join their cause.
Cloud and Mako were the last ones to board the airship. However, the latter suddenly stopped and walked away towards the windows, which made the brunette follow after him rather confused. He stared out a window and noticed a group of rough-looking motorcyclists outside their airship.
"Guys! I think we got trouble," Mako warned.
The whole group turned around as the lead motorcyclist got off his motorcycle and took his helmet off. He walked up to the airship and removed his glasses, which fully showed the hard look on his face. He clenched his fists and his deputy earthbends a rock from the ground and gets into a fighting stance.
"Release the boy, or we'll take him by force."
The airship doors opened and Korra fought the group, but in the end, the truth came to the front. Kai was a thief and the Earth Kingdom sheriff just wanted to capture the troubled child.
The kid slipped away but thankfully, Mako had caught him before he disappeared out of nowhere. All thanks to Korra and Cloud, they managed to convince the eldest airbender to take the boy instead of letting him rot in jail. He was too young for that, and besides people can change with a little help. He was just probably doing everything he could to survive and out of all of them, Mako and Bolin understood that pretty well.
Cloud leaned over the railings, watching Jinora, Kai, and Asami watch over her father who was practicing his airbending with the new recruit. It was a fun sight to see, and the fact that they were just above the Earth Kingdom, flying in an airship was amazing as well. It made everything better that she has a new glider now, although it'd take a bit of time to forget about her old one that she'd been through with so much.
"It's so exciting to be on a diplomatic mission to Ba Sing Se. What's the Earth Queen like?" Hearing Korra ask her uncle about the queen made her turn her attention to them.
"I've never met her, but I've heard she can be quite... demanding," Tenzin answered. He wasn't sure either and it made the young airbender scrunch her nose in response from obvious disdain.
Bolin appeared not right after with his older brother on his tail. Seeing the happiness etched on the earthbender's face was enough to put a smile on Mako's, and it was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen. She doesn't have a sibling, but she does have her little cousins and her close friends. That's more than she could ask for.
"I wonder how many airbenders are down there," Korra mused, the airship approaching the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se.
As they got closer, the sun was shining so brightly and Cloud blinked, and when she opened them, she gaped at the expansive city beyond. The airship finally managed to pass over the wall, and she looked down, at least she tried to from the railings, and frowned at the sight of the Lower Ring, smoke billowing from several buildings. She grimaced when she smelled something rather unpleasant. That went the same for Mako, Bolin, and Korra, who recoiled from the smell, the two brothers holding their noses.
Korra grimaced. "Uhh, the Lower Ring looks terrible."
"Yeah, I can smell it from here," Bolin said as he covered his nose. "No wonder Dad left."
The smell wasn't the least of her worries but the people who had to live there were. One thing she hated the most was seeing people struggle when those people who had the power could just help them, but knowing those kinds of people, she doubted they would. Cloud wanted to do something but she had no power, at least over them. If she lived in the Earth Kingdom, she would give all the help to those who need it.
The airship flew over the ring before making it over the Inner Wall and into the Middle Ring. Cloud was continuously tapping her foot on the floor. She was getting excited to fly around and see what's the scene about. The airship continued to fly until it reached the Royal Palace, Cloud grinning from ear to ear.
Glancing around, she could see a couple of green airships with the Earth Kingdom logo, along with a few small flags on the ground. The roof of the palace was shining gold. As the airship descended, landing with a slight cloud of dust, Cloud pursed her lips before creating an air scooter and went down the ramp, ignoring the well-dressed Earth Kingdom man who welcomed them, the gust of wind slightly stumbling him off his feet.
She briefly heard Tenzin's agitated voice calling out her name, but she just grinned in response. She zoomed around and went back to her friends once they exited the airship. Mako glanced at her and shook his head, the female airbender playfully sticking her tongue out at him before abruptly jumping on his side with her arm around his neck. She was taking him down, but the firebender managed to balance himself and stood straight with an annoyed frown on his face, the girl almost dangling from his side like a koala.
"Cloudy, stop," Mako huffed, gently unlatching her arms around his neck and letting her stand next to him as the girl scrunched her face with a smile.
"Oh no, the queen hates animals," Gun, the Earth Queen's secretariat said after noticing the animals around them. It made a certain airbender a little disbelief that someone could hate an animal. "You'll have to get them out of sight."
"Well, I can just stash Pabu in my shirt." Bolin scratched his head before tilting around to look at Naga and Oogi. "These two are going to be a little tougher."
"Come with me, hurry, I'll take you to your quarters." The party walked over a bridge spanning the water. "Now, when you meet the queen make sure you bow low enough, that's very important, and don't look her in the eye, she can't stand that. If any food is served, don't eat before she eats. Well actually, I have to taste her food first, then she eats, then you can eat. Better yet, just don't eat."
"Seems like an awful lot of rules," Korra commented.
Gun sighed in exasperation. "Oh, you have no idea. And I'm the one who gets in trouble when people don't follow them, so please, please for my sake try not to upset Her Majesty."
"Eh." Cloud shrugged, then a grin slowly appeared on her face. "No promises."
