" Mom ! Dad ! " Opal said excitedly and run to hug them. She then turned to look at her boyfriend. " Thank you. "
Bolin smiled back at the young Beifong showing his affection toward her.
" Let's move. " Lin reminded them that they are in enemy space.
" Kuvira caught Zhu-Li and threw her in the town. " Opal informed them.
" What ? No, I have to go save her. " Bolin stood up.
" Bolin, I don't think that this is a good idea. " Kitiara countered hesitantly.
Zhu-Li was a friend of hers as well. Leaving her to die was... unacceptable for her but still... her family's safety came first.
" You can't go in there, kid. It's suicide. Kuvira's onto us. " Lin warned him.
" We've been through too much together. I can't leave her. Toph, you said Zhu-Li was lying about fixing the cannon. She must have been trying to stop it. " Bolin retorted gazing at Toph.
" For all you know, she could just have been covering her butt because she made a mistake. " Toph remarked with a raised eyebrow.
" No, Zhu-Li doesn't make mistakes. You guys leave. If we make it out, we'll make it to the city somehow. " The lava bender stated.
From his facial expression Kitiara could say that they couldn't change his mind.
" Bolin, no ! " Opal shouted. She watched as Juicy landed next to her. She air bended and landed softly on his neck.
" You guys get out of here. I have to go with Bolin. " She said before flying toward the city.
" Could be our best chance to stop Kuvira. " Su said to her older sister.
" Maybe take out that weapon. " Lin spoke thinking of a plan.
" We can't let Opal be the coolest ! " Wing commented.
Kitiara rolled playfully her eyes at this one. " We're a team. We can't leave them behind. "
" If you all want to get yourselves captured again or worse, that's your business. I'm through. " Toph shook her head.
" Watch out for Baatar Sr. and Huan. " Suyin gently placed a hand on her back.
Afterwards, the Beifongs left to face Kuvira leaving Toph, Huan and Baatar Sr. behind.
" So how have you been, mother ? " Baatar asked the former Chief.
" I told you never to call me that. "
***
Baatar did all the preparations for the test. The man looked through a pair of binoculars and watched as Bolin, Opal and Juicy were into the city heading to save Zhu-Li.
" Opal ? No ! We have to stop the test ! " Baatar turned to Kuvira.
Kuvira did not respond while the weapon continued collecting energy.
Seconds before the blast was released a column of rocks, powerful earthbending from more than one person, hit the cannon.
With the aim disrupted, the blast hit the giant rock near the city instead of the city, its first target.
Bolin, Opal and Zhu-Li stared that the giant hole created by the most powerful weapon which ever existed.
" Whoa. " Opal whispered in awe, shock and fear.
Kuvira gripped a metal bar to keep herself on her feet as the cannon shook violently.
She then proceeded on searching the source of the disturbance.
The Great Uniter spotted Su, Lin, Wei, Wing and Kitiara fighting her soldiers.
The Beifongs were throwing rocks at the Earth Empire's followers while they were reciprocating with both rocks and metal.
The four earth bending Beifongs were devided into two teams.
The first team was comprised of Suyin and Lin. The two sisters were working together, surprisingly in perfect harmony.
The other team was made by Wei and Wing. The twins were a duo, they had been training and fighting together from the beginning of their lives.
Both teams were combining their skills and staminas to bend bigger rocks and protect each other from enemy hits.
But the one truly enjoying it was Kitiara.
The Kyoshi Warrior loved watching her cloak moving after every movement of hers.
Someone would say that a single air bender would stand no chance against a bunch of earth and metal benders.
Wrong.
Kuvira's jaw fell observing her former commander.
Kitiara was in the middle of the battle.
Kuvira's followers were bombarding her with metal.
However, the air bending mistress was either avoiding or shielding herself with her air bending. ( in her fight with Kuvira, Korra used air bending to shield herself from her metal, that's exactly what Kitiara is doing right now )
The woman was rarely attacking her enemies but was giving a main advantage to her team.
Without the thought of having to defend themselves from all the hits, the two Beifong teams could land more hits and create more damage to their enemies.
Both of the sides created earth walls to hide behind. Kitiara was the only fighter who did not hide for her mother's displeasure.
An idea suddenly crossed Su's mind as she watched a slightly disoriented Kuvira looking down at the fight.
" Lin, cover me. " She said.
She did not give time to the Chief to respond, knowing very well that her sister would intend to stop her.
She jumped on top of the cannon throwing a rock at Kuvira who dodged the attack just in time.
Suyin fought her former protégé, but Kuvira proved to be more powerful than what she thought.
Kuvira knocked Suyin off the weapon.
Luckily, Wei caught her before she hit the ground. Wei threw his cable at Wing who reciprocated the movement.
Their cables intertwined and Wing pulled him mother and twin into safety.
As she was fighting Kuvira, the earth bending Beifongs had created a safe circle by creating big walls.
The moment they were inside, Lin blocked the last gap and the family was surrounded by rocks.
Someone threw a huge rock in their direction. Kitiara air bended it away with ease.
The ground shook as their walls fell.
No more hiding.
The family embraced themselves for the battle.
One for all and all for one.
But the fight never came.
The earth beneath their feet came to life. It shifted like a wave, knocking all of Kuvira's forces with only one hit.
Terrifying.
Perfect.
Cool.
Kitiara looked at her grandmother. The one who said that she wouldn't come for them.
The one who saved their butts as Toph would claim.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Who could hate their grandma after this one ?
Toph pointed a finger at Kuvira. " You give metalbenders a bad name ! "
Kuvira did not reply. Shock still present on her face as she had difficulty in believing that a single grandmother defeated a small army without even moving more than one tiny finger.
Kitiara was a little late to notice the presence of the rest of their team and Juicy.
After this statement, the family jumped on Juicy's saddle and the sky bison flew away.
***
" Thanks for coming to save us, Mom. " Suyin told Toph after they landed in a forest.
The trees provided splashes of shade creating a rather relaxing atmosphere.
" Yeah, thanks, Chief. " Lin said awkwardly.
" I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was just... you know. " The Chief continued.
" Look, I know I wasn't a great mother and grandmother, but one way or another, I ended up with two great kids and... many... wonderful grandchildren. I even got two twingle toes ! You were... good enough to risk my bony old butt for, anyway. If you can just find some way not to hate me, maybe that's enough, at least for me. " Toph declared with a sad smile.
" Me too. " Lin said and hugged her mother.
Kitiara looked at the two women ambracing each other.
She wasn't sure if they wanted a moment alone or if they had no problem with her joining them, so she decided to risk.
What was life without risk, after all ?
The kyoshi warrior walked toward them and kneeled next to Toph.
Feeling her through the ground, Toph smiled and wrapped her right hand around Kitiara's waist.
Kitiara grinned, finally being sure that she was welcome and she embraced her tiny grandma.
Lin, who was still standing on her feet, kneeled as well to be able to hug both of them.
Hugging her daughter and mother felt... so good.
It made her feel that she was the happiest person in the world.
That specific moment was imprinted in not only in the hearts of the trio but also in the rest of their family.
Su was smiling like an idiot.
She was such an enthusiastic person and watching her family reunited was more than great.
Now, Lin wouldn't hate Toph because she chose not to throw Su at prison.
From now on, she wouldn't blame herself for being the reason behind the fact that Kitiara had never met her grandmother before.
Everything was perfect.
" You know, I never had any family except for my brother. " Bolin said joining their hug. " Until a few years ago. " He tightened his grip around them. " And reuniting with them made me realize how special it is. "
" Argh, enough ! " Toph shouted and pulled away.
With her gone, Bolin and Kitiara collided.
" Enjoy the ride back to the city with the gum flapper here. " Toph nodded toward Bolin.
Lin escaped his grip and then shove him away from her daughter.
" Aren't you coming back to Republic City with us, Grandma ? " Opal questioned.
" No, my fighting days are over. Don't tell Korra, but my back is killing me now. This is why you didn't see Katara messing with that civil war nonsense. At some point, you gotta leave it to the kids. " She waved her hand in the air walking off.
" I want to thank you for coming back to save me. And don't be too hard on Bolin for working with Kuvira. His heart was in the right place. " Zhu-Li assured Opal.
" I think Bolin has worked his way out of the polar bear doghouse. " The air bender kissed his cheek.
" Yessssss ! " Bolin celebrated.
" We should get going. I'm afraid I have bad news to deliver to Republic City. " Zhu-Li informed them.
Kitiara raised an eyebrow. " And those bad news are... ? "
Zhu-Li took a deep breath. " Kuvira is going to attack in two weeks. "
Everyone looked at her in shock and fear.
" Fuck. "