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AUTHORs POV

It was another day, Korra told Lei that she contacted Tenzin yesterday, while she was talking to Kun. Korra was sending Opal to the Northern temple today, so Su organized a farewell party for her. Mako and Lei continued to keep their relationship a secret from everyone else. When nobody looked, they would sneak away from the group and end up talking for hours. They were walking around the estate, keeping a safe distance from each other just in case anyone saw them.

"I hate that we're leaving tomorrow," Lei said truthfully, Mako raised his eyebrow.

"Why? I thought you always hated staying in one place," Mako chuckled, Lei smiled as she thought about the fire nation, how she always wanted to explore instead of staying in the palace all day.

"Yeah, but I meant I'm gonna miss vacation and breaks from all the drama," Lei sighed, Mako's eyes lit up as he thought of an idea.

"Don't worry, when everything with the airbenders and that Zaheer guy are taken care of, I promise to take you anywhere you want to go," Mako said, as he took her hand. Lei smiled cheekily at him and let his hand go.

"We're trying to keep it a secret remember," Lei said, as they kept walking.

"Keep what a secret?" a voice said from behind them. They turned around and saw Asami approaching them. Mako had immediately wondered if she had seen him hold Lei's hand.

"Um, we wanted to keep Korra's birthday suprise a secret," Mako said quickly, Asami narrowed her eyes.

"But her birthday is months from now," Asami said, Lei looked at Mako, who seemed just as frozen as she was.

"Yeah, we know, but we wanted to plan ahead, you know," Mako added, as he rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what else to say.

"Why don't we go to the meteor garden? I heard Bolin and Korra were training there," Lei smiled awkwardly, quickly changing the topic.

"Oh, yeah, that's where I was heading," Asami said, Lei sighed in relief.

"Perfect! Let's go," Mako said awkwardly, as he gestured the way to Asami, who narrowed her eyes at them as she walked ahead of them. Once she was far enough, Lei smacked him in the arm for coming up with a weak excuse.

Asami, Mako, and Lei made their way to the meteorite garden, where they found Bolin and Korra training with Wei and Wing. They each had a partner, Bolin with Wei, while Korra was with Wing. Bolin was holding a meteorite trying to spar against Wei. He tried his hardest, but he couldn't bend it. Suddenly, Wei smacked him with a metal platform.

"Trial by fire, easiest way to learn metal bending," Wei said confidently, as he bended a meteorite in front of him and threw it at Bolin. They were walking towards the pair, as they saw Bolin scrape the ground with his foot, causing a small rock to form. Just as Wei bended the meteorite, Bolin threw that tiny piece of rock right in the middle of his forehead, causing Wei to drop the meteorite and rub his forehead in pain.

"Nice shot, Bolin. But I thought you were supposed to be practicing metal bending, not earth bending," Mako pointed out, Wei looked at Bolin with an annoyed look.

"Yeah, cheater," Wei mumbled, as he crossed his arms.

"Mako, metal bending is extremely difficult, no one gets it right away, if they can get it at all," Bolin said impatiently, just as Korra perfectly bended the metal wire around her waist and threw Wing off his feet, causing him to stumble to the ground.

Korra jumped in joy as she exclaimed, "Woohoo! Metal bending champion!"

"Oh, sure, cause she's the Avatar," Bolin said dissapointedly, Lei rolled her eyes.

"Guys, it's time to get cleaned up. Tonight is Opal's farewell dinner," Asami said, Bolin groaned.

"Now, I gotta say goodbye to Opal? This is the worst day ever!" Bolin complained, as he walked away from the group looking very gloomy.

Everyone went their separate ways to get ready for the dinner. Asami and Lei went back to the guest house to freshen up and beautify themselves. Lei looked around the room to see that most of their stuff was already packed, since they were leaving tomorrow. Once they were done getting ready, Asami and Lei made their way to the dining hall. When they arrived, Korra, Opal and her family were already sitting on the table. Lei took a seat next to Korra, while Asami took the empty seat in between Varrick and Korra. After a few moments, Kun arrived and sat right next to Lei, who acknowledged him by giving him a smile, he smiled back. Mako entered the room with Bolin, both of them not looking happy. Bolin took a seat next to Opal and Varrick. Mako glared at Kun, Lei rolled her eyes at him, as he took a seat next to Wing and Aiwei. Shortly after they arrived, the food was served and everyone started digging in. Lei started eating as well as engaging in a conversation with Kun.

"I'm sad that you're leaving tomorrow," Kun said truthfully, Lei smiled and put her fork down on the plate.

"I'm gonna miss our small little talks," Lei said truthfully, as she wiped her mouth from excess food.

"You know what else I'm gonna miss?" Kun whispered, she raised my eyebrow.

"What?" Lei asked curiously, Kun smiled.

"Pissing off your boyfriend," Kun chuckled, as he looked at Mako. She looked at him and saw he was staring at them the whole time with his arms crossed. Lei shook her head and smiled at how easily jealous Mako gets.

"Excuse me, everyone, may I have your attention please?" Su said, as she hit her spoon lightly against the metal cup. Everyone's attention turned to her.

"Tonight, my beautiful little girl leaves for the air temple. Opal, none of us could've been more proud of you. You're an incredible daughter, sister, friend, and soon to be air bending master," Su said softly, as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Here's to Opal, may she lead us into the new era," Su said, as she raised her glass. Everyone grabbed their glass and raised in Opal's name.

After the dinner, everyone had went to the loading dock to say goodbye to Opal. She boarded the airship ready for her. As the airship started to ascend, Opal looked down from her window as she waved goodbye to everyone, especially Bolin, who looked heartbroken by the scene. After saying their goodbyes and the airship was out of sight, everyone headed to their guest house for a good night's sleep as the dome started closing for the night.

Although, everyone was fast asleep, guards were posting for the night, watching the estate. What the guards didn't know that four specific criminals were able to sneak in. They were hiding under a bridge, making sure they were undetected. Once the coast was clear, they crossed to another section of the estate, making their way slowly to Korra's guest house. They used the bushes and trees to hide from the guards. Pabu had waken up and made his way to the window, somehow feeling an unwanted presence. He climbed up the window and caught sight of the criminals, making him to screech in a high pitch that woke up Bolin.

He sat up and looked around, to see Pabu scratching the window, "Huh? What's going on? Ugh, Pabu go to sleep,"

Bolin laid back down as he tried to get some sleep while Pabu was scratching the window. Meanwhile, the four criminals made their way to Korra's window, where they saw Naga asleep. Minghwa used her water arms to create an ice pick to cut a hole through the window. Naga woke up and noticed their presence, causing her to stand up and roar at them. However, she was quickly silenced when blow darts were thrown at her. Korra woke up from the sudden noise and took notice of Zaheer. She was about to fight back with her fire bending when she was shot in the leg with a blow dart, causing her to faint. Ghazan and P'Li climbed in and grabbed her. As they made their way out of the guest house, Pabu jumps on Bolin trying to get his attention.

Bolin sat up and looked at Pabu, who made his way to the window again, "What? Ugh, Pabu, it's not playtime right now. We are seriously going to have a talk about-- WHAT THE HECK THEY'VE GOT KORRA!"

Bolin's shout caused Mako to wake up and saw the criminals run away with Korra from the window. The two brothers quickly climbed out of bed, to go after the criminals. Mako opened the door to their guest house as he saw them.

"Let her go!" Mako shouted, as he sent a fire punch towards them while Bolin sent a boulder at them. P'Li easily augmented the fire Mako had sent into nothing while Minghwa broke the boulder Bolin had sent. It was their turn to attack, so Ghazan sent a large boulder at them, causing Bolin to create a shield from the ground, while P'Li sent a fire punch at the same time that Zaheer sent a huge gust of wind, combining their attacks into one. The boulder that Ghazan had sent, broke Bolin's shield. Mako and Bolin ran behind a column to take cover from the shots that they continued to fire.

"They've got Korra!" Mako shouted, then sirens started alarming around the estate, causing everyone to wake up from their sleep. Two spotlights were shining on the four criminals.

"So much for the element of suprise," Minghwa commented.

"Back up plan," Ghazan said, as he carried Korra on his shoulder. P'Li destroyed the spotlights with her combustion bending. She redirected one of her beams to hit the column right next to Mako and Bolin, causing them to launch backwards, right in front of Asami and Lei's estate, who had just gotten out of the door. Lei immediately went to Mako's side to help him up.

"Are you alright?" Lei asked worriedly, as she held his arm while he sat up.

"We can't let them take her," Mako groaned.

"I don't think they'll get far, look," Asami said, three of them looked to see that the Zaheer had nowhere to go. They were surrounded by metal benders, Lin took some action as well. Lin, along with Su and the twins, bended the metal platforms and surrounded them with the platforms around them and above them.

"We have you surrounded, it's over. Release the Avatar," one of the guards said, Lei remembered her name being Kuvira. Lei approached them with caution with Mako, Bolin, and Asami, as the silence filled the air. Suddenly, the ground beneath the metal platforms became hot flaming magma, causing Lin to jump back right in front of us.

Bolin's eyes were amazed as he said, "No way! That guy is lavabending! That's awesome--ly not good for us,"

The four criminals were surrounded by a pool of lava making it impossible to reach them. They continued to fire attacks, causing Lin, Lei, Mako, Bolin, and Asami to hide under the cover of the metal platform. Zaheer suddenly started using his glider staff to suck the air around him, but the metal benders used it as an advantage by grabbing him by his wrists using their metal wires. Successfully, they pulled him to the other side where he continued to fend off more metal benders. Lei and the others continued to hide under the platform. Lei took notice of Zaheer, as he fought off some metal bender guards, and was about to run at him but she was stopped by Mako grabbing her wrist.

"I know what you're thinking but I'm not letting you go," Mako said sincerely, as he tightened his grip on her wrist.

"Just get Korra, I'll distract Zaheer," Lei said, as she quickly got out of Mako's hold and ran towards Zaheer. Mako was about to run after her but he was stopped when a boulder was being sent to him, so he ducked back into cover hoping Lei was alright by herself. While Lei left to fend off Zaheer, they didn't notice the P'Li's beam going straight for them, until it was blocked by Su. They looked back as they saw Su and the twins as they ran to them to hide under the platform as well.

"How did they get in here?" Lin asked angrily, as another explosion erupted.

"I don't know but we are not letting them escape," Su said, as metal benders continued to try and contain the criminals. They tried crossing the moat of lava with the metal platforms but they were launched into the air and back on the ground.

"There's no way to cross that moat," Asami pointed out.

Su looked up at the metal dome and said, "We don't need to cross, Lin and I can drop in from the top of the dome on cables,"

"That's a great idea, except we'll get blown up the second that third eye freak sees us," Lin said, right before another explosion erupted.

"She's a combustion bender, if one of you can stun her, her powers will be knocked out temporarily," Su said, Mako immediately had an idea.

"Bolin can land a shot," Mako said, remembering what happened at their training hours ago.

"I can?" Bolin asked, feeling unsure and anxious.

"You have to take her out right before we drop down," Su informed Bolin, before quickly making her way out of the platform.

While the others were taking care of getting Korra out of there, Lei had run up to Zaheer, as he continued to knock out some of the metal benders. He took notice of Lei and sent a crescent-shaped air swipe right towards her. She quickly jumped over it, while sending a few blazing arcs by kicking into the air. Zaheer easily deflected them with his glider staff, as Lei landed safely on the ground. She stood tall as she faced her opponent. Zaheer had looked up and saw Korra being carried by Lin, as they ascended up to the top of the dome.

Zaheer widened his eyes and shouted, "No!"

He spread out his glider and rose to the sky but Lei quickly stopped him by sending a fire whip by clapping her hands together then bringing it down. He fell on the ground and looked back at Lei, angrily.

"You stay away from Korra!" Lei shouted angrily, as Zaheer got up. He looked up and saw that Korra was almost at the top. He quickly sent another air swipe at Lei, which she deflected with a fire punch. However, Zaheer sent another air swipe at her, causing her to get knocked back into a wall. She fell to the ground as she groaned from the hit.

"Lei!" Mako shouted, as Zaheer tried to catch up to Korra and Lin. Mako went to Lei's side as his emotions were filled with worry. He put her head in his lap to support her. He had watched the whole scene before him as the four criminals disappeared into thin air.

"Did you get Korra?" She breathed out, Mako turned to her.

"Yeah, they escaped. Does anything hurt?" Mako asked worriedly, Lei smiled at his concern and held his hand.

"I'm fine, I think I just need an ice pack and a really good massage," Lei chuckled, Mako sighed in relief and smiled.

After the attack, everyone had gathered back in the manor to check on Korra's condition. No one knew where the criminals had gone and guards were still searching everywhere in the estate. Korra was laying down on the couch, being paralyzed from the blow dart that she was hit with, while Aiwei attended to her, making an antidote for the poison. Lei was sitting on the same couch as Asami and Bolin, while Mako was massaging her shoulders behind the couch to ease her pain. Asami and Bolin exchanged curious glances at the couple.

Aiwei lifted Korra's head and gave her a vile to drink,  and said, "This should neutralize the Shirshou toxins,"

Korra took a sip from the bottle that Aiwei lifted to her mouth. After a few moments, she was able to move some parts of her body and sit up.

"How could you let this happen? You ensured me that this was one of the most secure places in the world," Lin said angrily, as she looked at Su.

"It is, I don't know how this happened. Obviously, this was a well planned operation so don't blame me," Su retorted. Just then, Kuvira arrived with news about the escaped prisoners.

"We searched the entire estate, there is no sign of them," Kuvira said, as she stood tall.

"Well, keep looking!" Lin yelled, Kuvira bowed and made her way out of the room.

Aiwei stood up and said, "It seems they would have some inside knowledge of Zaofu, he must've been working with someone,"

"The guards, it had to be one of them," Korra said, as she rubbed her head.

"I agree," Aiwei added.

"Question them all! Whoever betrayed my city will suffer the consequences!" Su shouted angrily, as she walked out of the room.

Everyone headed back to their own guest houses to rest after the events that had happened. Asami and Lei were at their own guest house getting ready for bed. Asami was fixing the pillows on her bed, while Lei had just gotten out of the bathroom. Suddenly, there was a knock on their door. They exchanged glances, before Asami headed to the door to see who it was. She opened it to see Mako standing in front of the door.

"Hey, Asami, sorry to disturb you but would you mind if I talk to Lei for a while? It's about the case," Mako said convincingly, Asami narrowed her eyes before leaving the door, while Lei stepped outside with Mako, shutting the door behind her.

"What's so important about the case that you had to tell me now?" Lei asked, as she crossed her arms. Mako shrugged.

"I didn't call you out here because of that," Mako said truthfully. Lei raised her eyebrow at him. When she looked at him, she could easily read the gloomy mood he had.

"What's wrong, Mako? Were you hurt from the fight?" Lei asked, as she rubbed her hands on either side of his shoulders.

"No, it's just that, I was really worried about you earlier. You ran off to fight Zaheer by yourself," Mako replied softly, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Lei sighed.

"Mako, you know that it's my job to protect Korra, right?" She pointed out, as she looked up at him.

"Yeah, but who is going to protect you?" Mako paused before saying, "I'm just trying to make sure you don't get hurt again,"

Lei smiled lightly, "I don't want you to get hurt either, but Korra's protection is very important, she is the Avatar,"

"Yeah, but you're also important because you're the princess of an entire nation. How am I supposed to protect you if you keep running into trouble," Mako retorted, as he started getting angry. Lei removed her hands from his shoulders, slightly offended from what he said.

"I don't need protection, I can protect myself. I don't run into trouble, I just steer it away from Korra," Lei reasoned, Mako crossed his arms and gave her an annoyed look. Lei took a minute to process what she said.

"Okay, maybe I do run into it, literally, but I do it to protect Korra. I am older than her, you know, It's been my responsibility to watch her ever since I got to Republic City," she added, Mako gave her the same look.

"I'm older than you, so I guess that means I have a responsibility over you too," Mako pointed out.

"We're the same age," Lei countered, Mako looked at her with the same look.

"I'm still older than you," Mako pointed out.

"Fine, let's agree that we each have a responsibility, whether its for each other or our friends," Lei said, as she gave up from winning this small competition. Mako rolled his eyes and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Lei, it doesn't matter to me how old we are or what responsibilities we have right now," Mako started, then he hugged her tightly, "What matters to me is that I don't want you getting hurt, now that we are dealing with these types of criminals,"

Lei hugged back, wrapping her arms around his waist. They stood there, hearing each other breathe, listening to the sound of their heartbeats, as they held each other in their arms and forgetting everything happening around them.

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AUTHORs NOTE:
This chapter was edited but nothing from the storyline has been changed.

PUBLISHED: October 20, 2019