Asami couldn't breathe. She tried her best to inhale air but there was nothing to take in. She thought of dying. Thinking. She's still thinking. Everything hurt. She felt every bone and every muscle of her body implode on its own. There it was again. The feeling of wallowing of her insides. As if being churned and twisted into all sorts of ways imaginable. She started feeling it ever since that day, in Raiko's office.
Asami and the others entered Raiko's office. The rustle of steps merely echoed in the four corners of the room. She briefly looked over one of the high windows and saw the ray of the sun peaked through, hitting the floor. They all gathered in front of Raiko's table who sat on his chair waiting for everyone to settle down and find their place. Tenzin on the far right stood quietly, stoned features prominent. With the new air bender suit Asami made, it still took a while to get used to him wearing it most of the time. If not for him putting on his usual robe on top of it, Asami thought nobody would take him seriously as a master airbender.
Tin was there with them as well. She has the privileges given being Asami's assistant and helping her with ideas and new inventions to help with defensive strategies. If needed. Surely, Asami thought, they would have to prepare for the worst.
Varrick, beside her, finally stripped from his green army uniform that of Kuvira's, is now wearing his usual, blue-colored water tribe suit. He looked more serious than before, a significant change from the past year when Asami last saw him. Sure, he would crack jokes every now and then, but she could see the tiredness in his eyes and Asami wondered what horrors he had seen from the camps inside the army.
Beside him was Wu, who looked more like a leader now. Bolin wasn't with them as he joined Lin and Opal to save their family from Kuvira.
Then there was Korra and Mako. Both were focused on Raiko. He addressed them and told them that the borders were being secured and added the mecha tanks Asami had proposed after all. He also mentioned the troops guarding the rail lines from across the city.
Asami was tuning in to what he was saying and then suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain on the side of her stomach. As if an invisible knife had stabbed her. It was tolerable, but she flinched slightly. She would've groaned, but she didn't want to disrupt the man speaking before them.
She stopped listening; the pain was still there. She could sense it slowly digging in deeper. She held her side briefly, but surprisingly, it stopped hurting. Tin nudged her gently and looked at her quizzically.
She eyed Asami, directly looking at the blueprint in her hand and then her eyes pointed to Raiko.
Right, the plan. Varrick explained it in the most Varrick way and Asami just rolled her eyes and opened the blueprint for Raiko to see but not before Varrick almost hits her with his hand gestures.
"A flying mecha suit!" His voice boomed inside the four corners of the room, with vines spiking out of some openings and windows. Asami let him do the talking. She was half-listening because the strange feeling on her side still bothered her. She could feel it going up to her chest now, and it stayed there, taunting.
"Where does the spirit ray come out?" Raiko asked.
Varrick went in all seriousness and responded, "It doesn't have a spirit ray. So I'm telling you what I told Kuvira; that technology should not be used!"
And in all honesty, even if Asami hadn't said it. Everyone in the room except for Raiko himself would've wanted to punch him. Even Wu. Raiko insisted on wanting spirit energy to be used as their weapons as it is already being used anyway.
Asami stopped listening again as she glanced briefly at the window. Something's wrong. The gnawing feeling had stopped growing but she knew it was still there.
In the background, Korra argued with Raiko. Raiko shot back with Korra supposedly being the bridge between two worlds. In which Asami would've said something, but she couldn't find her voice for some reason. She couldn't focus.
Something's going to go wrong.
She tried to come back to reality and be in the meeting. Korra thought to talk to the spirits. Surprisingly, Wu came up with an idea to evacuate the citizens out of Republic City. Away from the danger. A brilliant plan, Asami admitted.
And Asami is now thinking. Mind whirring, engines running. She can hear the buzzing in her head because whatever it is that she's feeling would have something to do with planning and safety. Korra caught her eye quickly and mouthed, you okay? Asami nodded and forced a smile. She could see the look of concern in Korra's deep blue eyes and she broke contact. Korra will ask again later, Asami thought, because that's how she is, and she can't think of an answer to tell her because she doesn't know what's wrong, but something's going to go wrong.
Tin finally introduced the trackers she invented and had first used when, well, when they were looking for Korra. It'll help them be aware of each and everyone's positions when the time comes that it is needed.
Mako told Raiko about a possible giant mecha tank. Raiko doesn't listen. He thought it's best if everyone stays in Republic City for now. Better security if everyone was there. Korra is annoyed but agrees on it anyway.
The meeting had ended but the feeling lingered, still wondering what was there to come.
There was a wave of calm enveloping her. Asami isn't one to get in touch with her feelings, but everything seemed to be making her aware of it all at once. All she saw was black. Something invisible was pulling her out. There was this one time she ever felt this pain before. Everything surrounded her with fire. All red and hot and heavy and she blinked and blinked but everything was too much. She called for someone; her mother, her dad, Korra, but nobody could hear her. She was just there, standing, waiting, and waiting. Asami started to think maybe this was her eternal damnation.
"Weld hotter, tighten tighter! The president said we only have two weeks to get these hummingbirds humming!"
Asami could hear Varrick even with her door closed on her small cubicle in the factory she made to organize paperwork and sketches for the suit. So she blocked the noise, Varrick's mostly, with the clanking of metals and the dragging of materials on the floor and tinkered the control system to be more efficient inside the hummingbird suit.
The feeling is still there, heartbeat still fast, and Asami learned to just ignore it in a short amount of time. She doesn't have time to think about something going wrong now because most people's lives will probably rely on them for this to work. It has to work.
Removing the excess weight will make the tank fly lighter at a higher altitude.
There was a knock on her door and then it creaked open. Asami was lost in thought but her eyes shot on the door. She was about to tell that person to leave her be for now, but the short chestnut hair peeked through the crack and came to realize that Korra's smile tethered her from falling hypothetically in her mind. She smiled back at her.
"Hey, everything alright?" Asami asked. Korra closed the door and walked over to her side on the table as it was facing the room entrance. She leaned back on the table and crossed her arms across her chest and sighed.
"The spirits wouldn't help. I tried talking to them," Korra ran her hands through her hair and continued, "they didn't want to be a part of this, this human war."
Asami raised an eyebrow, "They live in Republic City as well. Why wouldn't they help defend it?"
"They think I have the same intentions as Kuvira. Using spirits as weapons. They don't want to further abuse their energy." Korra looked defeated, "I don't know what else to do. I guess it's just up to us now."
Her pencil broke as Asami stopped sketching and stared at the paper. I can do something, Asami thought. I can at least make the hummingbird so functional and useful that it'll help stop Kuvira's army. Wishful thinking she would work so hard to come true. It's to help keep the citizens safe. It's to help the ones I love safe. It's to help Korra.
Korra.
She mindlessly grabbed another sketch from where Korra was leaning, in which she instinctively moved out of the way. And Asami got lost in her thoughts once more. She grabbed another pen from the drawer on her right and she sketched and wrote notes. She tried to respond to Korra with a simple nod and mhhm, and at one point, she thought her hand had its mind of its own, but she kept going. Better heat system, check. A faster accelerator could be better. GPS attached to the antenna to send signals, done. Asami kept working and working if only to keep the person in the room with her safe, and she kept sketching because if stopped, the feeling would be there again. Asami doesn't want to feel it, the strange, creeping feeling and she compared it to a ticking bomb and when it explodes, if it explodes, she's afraid of what the outcome will be.
"Asami?"
She was still deep in her sketches, so she didn't hear Korra call her.
"Asami?" Korra's hand held hers, the one she used for sketching. Korra's hand was warm and waiting. She held her there and looked up to see blue eyes staring at her, "everything okay?"
The look Korra gave made her stop. Concern was visible in her features and Korra waited for Asami to answer.
Asami glanced down on the paper and then at Korra. She sighed and leaned back on her chair. She loosened her grip on the pencil and Korra let go of her hand. Asami pinched the bridge of his nose and shook her head.
"I- I don't know." She met Korra's eyes once more, knowing she would give in, "I've had this strange feeling. Sometimes it does get intense and it hurts me internally. And then it's gone before I can even react to it. But I just know it's there. It's weird," Asami broke her gaze and watched as she fidgeted with her fingers, "I think I remember feeling it when I was a child. That something's gonna go wrong. The fire, with my mom..." Her voice faltered and Korra, always quick and always ready, wheeled Asami's chair in front of her. Korra crouched and touched both her cheeks.
"We're going to be okay. We have to be." Korra smiled lovingly and Asami warmed at the comfort she was giving. At that moment, she knew Korra wanted the same thing. When everything settles down, we go somewhere. Just the two of us. A part of Asami wanted to be selfish, why can't we just go now? Getting away from the danger and going somewhere safe isn't the best option right now, but Asami is tempted. They wouldn't leave them to fight the battle alone.
It mixed with the unconfining premonition, but she had to tuck it deep in the pits of her stomach. When everything settles down.
"This is something we do not come back from if we don't choose tactfully. A lot of lives are at stake, Korra." Yours especially. Asami said and she didn't ignore the slight quiver in her voice. She held one of Korra's hands on her cheek and she let it stay there.
"I know, I know." Korra responded, "Wu and Mako are trying to convince all the citizens of Republic City to evacuate as soon as they can. They've managed... 18 families for now." She winced at the thought as she straightened up.
Asami now held Korra's hand on the armrest, "It's gonna take a lot of convincing for them, but I believe in Wu, believe it or not. Most troops are now stationed at every border, securing each unit. General Iroh II should be arriving tonight together with his army, which would give us more manpower. Your mecha tanks are a huge help and with these hummingbird suits, I'd say we'll have a fair fight when it comes down to it. I won't let Kuvira hurt anyone. I'll do what I can." Korra said it matter-of-factly.
Ages ago, there was a time when Korra would just run fist-first into a fight. Asami would think to herself how this girl would be the one to bring balance to the world; hot-headed, impatient, and reckless.
"Right," Asami convinced herself, but not enough to believe it.
"We've survived a lot of battles in the past. Don't you trust us to do the same with this one?" Korra smiled, trying to alleviate her worries.
"You mean that one time you lost your bending?" Asami said. She didn't mean to snap but the feeling wouldn't allow her to calm down. It's back again, more aggressive than ever. That one time you almost tried to end your life because you thought you weren't worthy of being the Avatar anymore? Asami thought. Korra had told her one time three years ago the night after Jinora's ceremony.
"Or the other time when your uncle tried to end you? The whole entire world? And spirits know what happened in the spirit world because I wasn't spiritual enough or strong to help you because I couldn't bend elements?" Asami couldn't stop thinking, "Or when Zaheer had poisoned you and it took you three years to come back and I had to find you in the Earth Kingdom-"
"Okay, I get your point, Asami." Korra paused. She gripped Asami's hands and squeezed it, "but wouldn't you have faith in me enough to win this one?"
"The last time, Korra, you almost didn't make it," Korra wiped the tear in Asami's she didn't realize was falling. Then, she pulled Asami up from her chair and hugged her.
"But I'm here now," Korra whispered in her ear, "I'm here and I'm better. The last time, yeah, I almost didn't make it, but I did. I did what I had to do, and thanks to you. You kept me going."
Asami let the comfort of Korra's body engulf her, like a burning candle on a cold night. Korra faced Asami and then kissed her. It was gentle and aggressive at the same time.
"Let me do something for you in return," Korra turned them around and now Asami is sitting on her desk. Her one hand was already on her breast and the other sliding up her pencil skirt.
"Promise me one thing," Asami managed to say, already out of breath, before she got lost in Korra's entire essence, "please don't die."
And Korra responded with two fingers inside her and her tongue in Asami's throat.
Asami opened her eyes and she saw her mom. Smiling so tenderly and so warm that she wanted to run right away. Run towards her but her feet were stuck. And then Hiroshi came out of nowhere and stood beside Yasuko. She called for them. To go to where she was standing, but they just looked at her.
And then everything turned red, hot, smoke everywhere. And Asami called for them again, but Yasuko and Hiroshi slowly disappeared like a picture being burned. Still, they just looked at her and Asami couldn't take anymore but all she could do was stare back, trying to scream, though no sounds were coming out of her mouth. Pain was the only visible emotion in her features and she tried so hard to reach for something so close, yet so far away.
Ever since Asami could remember, punctuality was the first etiquette she has learned when attending prestigious galas and important meetings. Better three hours too soon than a minute too late, her father used to always say. And the deadlines were one of Asami's obstacles. If you manage your time well, you won't panic and rush to finish a project. That's what her mother used to say as well. Something that she carried growing up and is still being practiced by Asami. This was put to test until now when they decided to check on Kuvira's army camp to at least get some intel of what they will be facing.
They were greeted by a literal giant mecha tank not even hours away from the borders of Republic City. Cut those two weeks of preparation into less than a day. Everyone scrambled to get to their places and helped everyone evacuate the city.
"I will try to talk to Kuvira," Korra had said, but the dictator wouldn't budge and asked for them to surrender.
In all his being, Raiko had no choice but to give in and follow what Kuvira wanted. He surrendered and the gang had to come up with a plan. When you try to stop someone, hurt them even, anything to stop them from doing the most atrocious thing in the world, you strike straight to their heart. And often, it isn't the one beating inside the body, protected by the ribs and muscles and layers of skin, but of the person.
They manage to execute a heist to kidnap Baatar Jr. and stop the colossus controlled by Kuvira.
Sometimes, the thing about villains is you think they have a heart, but in fact, the only thing pumping in their body and what flows in their veins is desire and power.
Asami had witnessed how Baatar Jr. broke his own heart and Asami had seen how Kuvira would do anything for desire and power. This is where she realized that this would end horribly one way or another. The purple light shot from all the way across the city and the look on the eldest Beifong's face is something that she will remember and is all too familiar for Asami's liking. Betrayal from the person he loved the most. The factory was blown to pieces and luckily, everyone had survived. The platoon of mecha tanks led by the colossus marched towards the city, all high and mighty, knowing they would rule Republic City.
Asami is in her office with Varrick, Zhu Li and Tin to tinker and ready the two remaining suits. But, unfortunately, all the hummingbird suits in her factory got blown to pieces. Asami is frustrated because why can't Kuvira just stay on schedule so that they could prepare more and have a fair fight for the love of spirits. It annoyed her even more because the hydraulics was still broken.
"I can't stabilize it. I thought you fixed the hydraulics!" Asami yelled at the roaring engine and flapping wings of the suit at Varrick.
"I did! Twist harder!" Varrick shouted back.
Asami tried. She really did. But both her and Tin crashed in a pile of boxes. They opened the head and got out of the suit.
"This is a lot more complicated and dangerous than I thought," Tin mused, wiping off some dirt in her pants and then helping Asami out of her chair.
"We have to figure out how to do this quick or else we wouldn't be any of help to them," Asami said. She fixed her hair and removed a strand off her face tucking it behind her ear.
Just then, a bald airbender, Asami doesn't recall his name, came to the basement looking frantic as if he'd seen a ghost.
"I hope you have something in here that can take out a platoon of mecha suits," he gestured with his right hand and continued, "Kuvira's troops are headed this way!"
Varrick replied, thinking and planning in his head, "I know how to take down some mecha suits...."
The electromagnetic pulse was able to stop the platoon of mecha suits, but not enough to stop the colossus. Apparently, it's only powered by the spirit vine energy. Finally, Baatar Jr. was awake and explained how they made the giant mecha suits. They all gathered in Asami's basement office, regrouping and deciding what move they should do next.
Asami feared that they were running out of time and resources. The gnawing feeling is back again, swirling in her stomach and making her nerves spark like a short circuit.
She scanned around the room, looking at all the dejected faces. Finally, she met Korra's eyes for a quick second and gave her a sad smile, she knows it, mask with a reassuring one. Asami thought if this would be the end of it, then she'd gladly fight and die amongst the most extraordinary people she has met. Baatar Jr. said the colossus is unstoppable anyway.
"It's not."
Asami followed the direction of the voice and was surprised to see Hiroshi free from the shackles of his own doing. Lin was beside him.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" Asami asked, bewildered along with others.
Lin was the one to respond, "I got him out of jail to help. I figured we need all the geniuses we can get our hands on right now." Lin glanced at Hiroshi and continued, "If the prison is still standing, when this is over, we can throw him back in."
Of course. Who else would have the sharpest mind in the city other than the creator of the Sato mobiles himself? A truly innovating man whose transgressions are forgotten at this time. Though, the looks of the people around them appear to have a hard time swallowing it. War commencing at the heart of the city, what choice did they have? And Asami was just glad to see her father. And she was delighted to have someone help them too.
Hiroshi must've gotten the inkling idea that the crowd didn't want him there and so he spoke, "I know what you all must think of me, but I love Republic City and I would do anything to save her."
"You think you know how to defeat this thing?" Korra asked. Eyebrow raising and arms crossed. She wouldn't blame Korra if she still had her reservations about her father.
"You must act like an infection, break the skin and attack the vital organs. Disconnect the heart and the brain and this beast cannot live," Hiroshi calmly responded, but his tone indicated sternness, one he had mastered through public speaking and by leading one of the most progressive companies in Republic City.
"How are we supposed to get inside?"
"Future industries have plasma saws for cutting platinum. If we had one on the mecha suit." Hiroshi answered.
"But the saws are way too big. We'd never get the suits off the ground," Asami chimed. She has been having a lot of trouble already trying to make the suit as light as possible so it can fly at a higher altitude when need be.
Hiroshi held his chin while he closed his eyes. Asami has seen this a lot of times before. He visualized the following steps and thought of ideas. She got it from him after all.
"I think I can add an electrical element to the welding torch on your suit and convert it into a plasma saw. Then we'll just have to land on the giant and cut open a hole big enough for someone to get in."
Like a metal mosquito.
Asami heard Varrick say how he squashed mosquitoes that landed on him.
She left the comment floating in the air and let it stay there.
All she could see was darkness. She would've laughed because she can already hear Hiroshi saying, you can't see the darkness, can you? Asami stood up and walked in no direction. Looking, feeling, touching. She couldn't feel anything. And then she wanted to-
Scream! Asami wanted to scream. Korra was able to help steady the colossus with the water in the river, giving them an opening to cut through the platinum on its leg. Unfortunately, Varrick and Zhu Li's hummingbird got hit. They had to remove themselves from the suit before it exploded.
Hiroshi was halfway cutting the platinum when a block of ice started to fall.
"Dad we have to go!" Asami bellowed.
"Almost there," Hiroshi said, focussing on cutting through the colossus.
"Dad!"
"Almost there!"
The hand of the colossus completely unbounded itself from the ice and Asami yelled, "Dad! Now!"
She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs. She wanted to scream at Hiroshi. She wanted to scream at Kuvira. She wanted to scream at Hiroshi because he had overridden the controls. Wanted to scream at him because why did he eject her seat and not his. She wanted to scream I love you too.
She wanted to scream when her chair shot out of the suit and saw the way it got squashed by the giant mecha suit's hand.
But no words came out. Just pure horror and shock were all she felt as the parachute opened had Asami tumbling across the ground.
She doesn't know how long she stayed on the ground, but Asami wanted to stay there. She finally understood what the feeling meant all this time. It twisted and turned, and she felt like she was being a stab a thousand times. Asami thought being stabbed was less painful than what she is feeling right now. Or if she's feeling anything at all. She let herself succumb to the monster inside, a similar feeling when Yasuko died.
"Asami!" Tin called for her amidst the chaos, "Asami! We have to go." She kneeled beside Asami and tried to help her up.
"Asami please," Tin begged and Asami looked at her and took a deep breath. She managed to get up and put one arm around Tin. The colossus exploded, and they could feel the ground rumbling beneath them. They walked away from the wreckage, avoiding metal posts and broken roads along the way until Asami let go of Tin and dropped to the ground.
She broke into sobs. She put her hand on her mouth to stop herself from crying but she couldn't. Tin was there to console her. And then something snapped, and she broke down.
"Spirits, Tin. I don't know what happened- He didn't want me to help- He sacrificed himself," Asami managed to speak in between her cries leaning into Tin.
"I'm so sorry Asami. I'm so sorry," Tin didn't know what to say. She let Asami cry until she couldn't anymore. It has finally dawned on her what happened. Fully realizing, accepting of the reality.
Hiroshi Sato is dead.
There was a purple light forming somewhere in the wilds and Tin was able to shelter them on the stairs going down to a basement of some store. The purple light emanated strange energy and power they both felt and then suddenly, a light shot up from the sky. They couldn't figure it out, but Tin checked everyone's tracker. She has managed to put them on their clothes to see their location.
Korra is nowhere to be found. Tin looked at Asami and she already knew.
Korra. She needed to find-
Korra!
Asami screamed in the darkness and she didn't realize she was dreaming when an unfamiliar warmth started to cover her entire body. Her throat constricted and then suddenly, she couldn't breathe. She longed for Korra. She wanted to touch Korra and then Asami opened her eyes. Then there was Korra.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're safe. You're in Air Temple Island. Nobody is out to get you anymore. I'm here. The war is over. It's been a week, sweetheart." Korra cooed, stroking her while hugging her. She said it as if she had been repeating the words many times now.
Hiroshi Sato is dead.
She cried in the arms of her lover and let herself be comforted by the Avatar.
"Deep breaths, follow my breathing," Korra instructed.
Hiroshi Sato is dead.
Asami followed Korra's breathing, as instructed and soon enough she was able to steady her own. Her whole body felt sore and weak still, so she held on to Korra. At least in the physical world, she would feel like she was safe. Like salvation. Because her mind kept replaying the events that have now been identified as her eternal damnation.
Hiroshi Sato is dead.