Would appreciate feedback as you read this one. This is one I went into with big plans for but then I'm not sure if it turned out well or not.
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"Out of the way!" Opal Beifong rolled her eyes as she was passed by (y/n), the boy who had recently become her partner in this quest to help stabilize the earth kingdom. She couldn't wait until she was partnered up with Kai once again instead.
"What is your problem?!" Opal huffed as she sped up to catch up to the boy who had once been a part of Korra's team avatar before the poisoning and their subsequent drifting apart.
(Y/n) didn't bother to answer Opal's question as he continued through the trees of the forest. He suddenly stopped and motioned for Opal to be silent. "The bandits" he whispered as he clenched his fist and stared ahead.
Opal quickly used her airbending to get up into the trees above the bandit camp. She began to build up the winds as she thought about her new partner. He had never been particularly kind to her, even when they had come to recruit her for the new air nation and she was getting tired of it.
Soon enough Opal had wiped out the bandit camp and (y/n) had secured the now unconscious bandits with metal wire that had been supplied to them by Opal's aunt.
Opal glided down to the ground before landing and smirking. "Looks like that's one less group of-"
(Y/n) quickly grabbed Opal and pushed her behind him and to the side, out of the way. She yelped in surprise before landing on the ground face first and hearing a loud explosion.
Opal quickly turned her head just enough to see (y/n) flying backwards into a large tree. "What happened?" Her head was still ringing from the explosion as she got up and turned to see where the explosion had taken place.
A bandit with a knife was now laying unconscious right behind where Opal had been with his feet severely burned, where Opal had been there was a crater where (y/n) must have used his combustionbending to attack the bandit.
The bandit could have killed her, she suddenly realized. She had been clumsy and he had snuck up on her. She had been saved by the boy who she had just been thinking terrible things about.
"(Y/n)!" Opal quickly ran to the boy who had been sent flying back by his own explosion. She sat up the unconscious boy and looked him over for injuries. He was a bit bruised but there wasn't much visible damage. "Wake up (y/n)!" she slapped the boys cheek to try to wake him.
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(Y/n) groaned as he woke up in an unfamiliar place. "Where am I?" The combustionbender growled as sat up, wincing in pain. He looked around and saw Opal sleeping in a nearby chair. "Beifong!" The girl suddenly woke up and looked up groggily. "Where are we?"
The airbender rubbed her eyes as she tried to remember what was happening. "I- we're back at the village that the bandits were attacking. You needed a doctor. There was some internal bleeding and bruising" she stood up and walked over to the boys hospital bed. "You saved me, thank you"
The only response Opal got to her thanks were a quick nod of the boys bed as he slowly made his way out of the bed, stretching his body and wincing again as he tried to ignore the pain. "You okay?"
Opal couldn't help but look away and smile as he asked that, it was cold as always but now she felt there was something sweet and almost kind too, she didn't know why she hadn't seen it there before. "I am" she nodded quickly as she picked up the boys bag. "Just a couple scrapes"
"Good" (y/n) rubbed his forehead, comforted by the warmth that resided there as he looked at Opal. He was confused by a quick glance she sent in his direction before looking away and turning back once again as she held his back out to him. "Thanks" he took the bag, his hands momentarily touching hers as he took it, Opal almost seemed to shudder at the touch but (y/n) took it as his injured head playing tricks on him.
Opal frowned as she looked away again and walked towards the door, she didn't know why she was reacting like this, she didn't want to be. "I take it you want to be off as soon as possible?"
"Absolutely" (y/n) nodded as he put his bag on his back. "Now if possible"
Opal nodded and opened the door. "Alright, but your going to continue to rest while I fly us on Juicy"
"I won't argue with that" the boy rubbed his head as he wondered where this concern that Opal showed him was coming from.
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"Look out!" In a quick fear induced panic Opal quickly shot out her hand at the raider that she had realized was shooting arrows at (y/n). A gust of wind shot out and knocked the man backwards and sent his bow flying far away from him.
"I had that" (y/n) spoke as he dodged the last of the arrows that had been fired and looked at a group that had come up from behind him and Opal. He used his bending and the ground beneath them suddenly exploded and sent them all flying up before they all fell back down and hit their heads.
"I had that" Opal parroted the boys words with a small smirk before yelping in surprise as she was tackled by someone who snuck up on them and knocked into (y/n) before the three of them fell.
"Opal!" She could hear both surprise and fear, or maybe anger, in (y/n)'s voice as he looked up and saw that the woman on top of them was trying to stab Opal with a dagger.
"I'm fine!" Opal grabbed the dagger and hit the butt of it against the raider's head before push in her up into the trees with airbending. "I'm fine" she let out a sigh as she realized that the woman was the last of them.
They were silent for a moment as Opal closed her eyes and lay back in order to take the moment to relax.
"If you're okay then how about you get off of me?" Opal's eyes suddenly opened again and widened as she realized that she was still on (y/n).
"Sorry!" Opal spoke as a mixture of embarrassment, fear, and surprise flew through her body. She quickly got off of the boy and turned to help him up. She could see pretty clearly that a very similar mix of emotions was running through his head and his face as well.
Opal couldn't help the small smile on her face once again. It was bittersweet to see that she had been wrong about the boy, nice because he obviously was more than he seemed and he was starting to change but annoying because she had been so wrong for so long.
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The airbender and the combustionbender sat in silence atop Juicy as she flew them through the sky. Opal sat in the drivers seat as she held the reins while (y/n) sat in the saddle that was on the Sky Bison's back.
"(Y/n)?" Opal asked suddenly which caused the boy to quickly look to the girl who still had her back to him. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You can" (y/n) responded with a shrug. "Whether I answer or not is another question"
Opal rolled her eyes before turning her head to look at the boy. "What's with the whole mean guy act?"
"Act?" (Y/n) asked with a confused look. "It's not an act. I'm not a good person Opal"
Opal shook her head. "See I used to think that, I wondered why in the world the avatar would want you of all people by her side. But over the past few weeks you've let this whole act of yours slip a bit, even if you didn't notice it I did"
(Y/n) was the one to shake his head this time. "I honestly have no clue what you're talking about Opal. Maybe you're just trying to rationalize the fact that you're starting to tolerate me"
"Maybe" Opal conceded with a shrug. "But I have a theory" she turned her body and stared at the boy until he motioned for her to go on. "I think you did something bad once, something so bad that you've convinced yourself that you're some kind of beast, a monster, a bad person. So you play the part" Opal just stared, waiting for an answer which she didn't get.
She then continued on once she knew she wasn't going to get a response. "I've decided that from now on I'm here for you. I'm going to find out whatever it is that you did and I'm going to prove to you that whatever it is doesn't make you a bad person, just a good person who did a bad thing"
(Y/n) lay down and turned his body away from Opal. "It's a useless mission but do as you please. I'll be rid of you once we get to Omashu anyways, that's when you get partnered up with Kai again right?"
Opal carefully stood up and walked over to the saddle. "I'm not just leaving you behind there" she spoke as she got down on her knees and looked down at the boy who faced away from her. "We can be a team, us three. Or we can tell him to head back to the air temple and we can continue on the way that we have been. I mean it when I say I'm going to convince you that you're a good person again"
"Good luck with that" (y/n) shuddered a moment later as he felt Opal run a hand through his hair.
"I don't need luck" Opal spoke as she smiled at the feeling of the boy shuddering, glad she wasn't the only one who could be made it shudder by the touch of the other. "I have had basic psychology classes"
Word count: 1736
(Thoughts? Criticism? Requests?)