Yuki awoke to a gentle kiss on her cheek. She stiffened, stretching with a groan.
"Where are you going?"
"To work."
She felt another kiss to her cheek.
"Don't go," Yuki murmured, squinting. Mako hovered above her, police uniform still unbuttoned.
"I've got a job to do," Mako teased, dragging his hands through her hair, "And so do you, last time I checked."
Yuki buried her face in her pillow.
"Work sucks."
"Believe me, I know."
Yuki peeked out from the blanket, watching Mako button up his jacket. He did it slowly, his newly bandaged hand proving to slow him down.
"How is your hand?"
"My arm and hand are completely fine."
Mako sat down on the bed, leaning over to tug the blanket off Yuki's head. "So don't worry too much."
"I will worry," Yuki grumbled, "Because you've done enough worrying about me."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"Hmph. It doesn't have to make sense."
Mako chuckled again. The sound made Yuki feel warm. She scooted next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her head.
"I'll be back in the evening."
"Me too."
"Then, I'll see you soon."
Once Mako left, Yuki dragged herself out of bed. She got ready, finding the house to be empty of her family. They were earlier risers, having already gone to the camp to help Zhu-Li. After grabbing a bite to each from the kitchen, Yuki went to go help her family. She arrived just after breakfast was being handed out, opting to walk around the camp to assist people with their needs.
For the rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon, Yuki busied herself with helping those that asked for any assistance. Sometimes it was to look for someone's belongings in the wreckage, or at least try to. Sometimes it was requests to find pets. Yuki had fished a few cats and dogs out of cramped areas by the time the sun was setting.
She sat down on the grass, leaning against a metal pole. Yuki sat by the gates of the camp, rubbing her legs. The spirits were quiet today. They were probably still resting from the earlier fiasco. Yuki wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. It all felt like a waiting game. Waiting for something to happen whilst feeling anxious.
Not to mention, the dragon-eel spirit's question still agitated Yuki. Was she for the spirits or for the humansʔ It was a cruel question to ask.
Yuki stood up, stretching her legs once more before heading in a different direction. She walked towards the construction sites where Asami's office was at.
~~~
When she arrived, Yuki was quick to notice the sudden increase in security around Asami's office.
"Uh-"
"State your business." Said an armed guard.
"...Yuki... Child of the Blue Dragon." When that didn't seem to make him budge, Yuki tried again, "Friend of Asami Sato?"
The door behind him swung open.
"Sorry, you can let her in too. Thanks," said a very tired looking Asami.
The guard stepped aside, nodding at Yuki before Asami dragged her inside.
"Everything okay?" Yuki asked as Asami closed the door.
"For the most part," Asami said, "Just taking some precautions."
"Did something happen?"
Asami sighed again, "I already told this to Korra so please don't freak out."
"I'll do my best?"
"Last night a few triad thugs came to my door led by a woman named Jargala. They threatened me and wouldn't leave unless I paid them off."
"Oh wow," Yuki raised an eyebrow, "The leader of the Creeping Crystals came to you? Then what happened?"
"I managed to get them to leave," Asami said, sitting back down at her desk, "I just... rather not take any chances right now."
"I don't blame you." Yuki sat down, "I'm actually surprised Korra isn't here trying to play bodyguard too."
Asami smiled, rolling her eyes a little, "She might've had a few choice words, especially for Jargala, but I reminded her that she has bigger things to tackle."
"And how'd she take that?"
"Rather well actually!" Asami beamed, "We have a date tonight."
"Oh, that's nice." Yuki said, without any enthusiasm to back it up, which Asami definitely noticed.
"Everything okay?"
"Uh, totally! I just came to visit and uh-"
"How are things with Mako?"
Asami had put her pen down, tilting her head in question.
Yuki sighed, slumping in her chair, "We're both too busy to even grab a date with each other. But we manage to get a good night's rest with each other every night so I really can't complain too much."
"Perfectly fine to be sad about it."
"I know, I know." Yuki rubbed her face with her hand, "I just want to get this entire spiritual ordeal over with so I can go on a date with my boyfriend."
"Maybe we can even do a double date!" Asami piped up.
Yuki gave her friend a weary glance, "No offense but that sounds terrible right now."
Asami laughed, reaching out to squeeze Yuki's empty hand.
"Sorry. We'll wait till after you've gotten your fill of single dates."
Yuki hummed in agreement, glancing at the setting sun outside Asami's window.
"When did you say your date was at again?"
"Eight o'clock. I'll leave in about an hour. Do you have any plans?"
"Hm, then I guess I'll head back to Air Temple Island."
"Are you sure?"
"Yea, I just wanted to at least pop in and say hello." Yuki stood up, making her way towards the door. But as she reached for the doorknob, something in her stilled.
"Well it was nice seeing you today. I really hope -Yuki?"
Yuki held her hand up, drawing her finger to her lips. A rumble within her head sounded. Yume had been silent for a while but now she could hear the dragon growling. Yuki tightened her grip on the door, pressing her ear towards the flat surface. A muffled thud sounded from outside. Asami rose from her seat, pulling out an electric glove from her drawer.
Before Yuki could make any moves, a loud crash came from the nearby window, sending one of Asami's security guards careening into the desk. Asami jumped out of the way while Yuki stumbled back from the door. It fell forward, off the hinges, letting more intruders enter.
"Asami!" Yuki shouted, blue fire bursting from her hands, "We gotta get out of here!" As she shouted, a burlier man grabbed Yuki's arm, throwing her against the wall. She groaned, rolling her head back before kicking the man in the guts with fire in her feet. He stumbled back, allowing Yuki to twist her arm out, blasting him again with fire. Another man from the side tried to grab her, but Yuki ducked and punched him with her first. Asami was somewhere else, electrocuting another attacker.
Yuki looked around. The security guards were down, leaving her and Asami to defend themselves. Yuki slipped a hand into her pocket, pulling out the whistle to call Yue. But as she did, someone slammed into her, rolling her onto her back. Yuki felt the whistle slip out of her grasp. She shouted in annoyance, looking up at her attacker. But as she did, a stream of gas blasted her right in the face. Yuki choked on the pungent smell, feeling her eyes and nose burn from the intensity. She struggled under the weight of someone, legs spasming.
"A-Asa-*cough* -mi!" Yuki tried to speak, gasping as the gas clouded her vision. She flung her arm out, trying to grasp onto anything, but someone slammed something harsh against the side of Yuki's head, and her vision went black.
~~~
Yuki wasn't new to blacking out. She wasn't new to waking up in an unfamiliar situation. She wasn't new to waking up with her arms tied and unable to move. But she was new to the feeling of wanting to puke her guts out upon opening her eyes.
Something heavy rested in the back of her tongue, tasting old and sour. Yuki blinked her eyes open, feeling incredibly nauseous. She took a shuddering breath, feeling shivers all over as she pressed herself against the heavy chains that wrapped around her body.
Wearily, Yuki tilted her head back, letting out a groan. A muffled voice joined the noises in her brain,
"Yuki! Yuki?" It was Asami's voice, Yuki knew that, but she felt sluggish, turning her head to the sound. Asami was in front of her, her figure fading in and out of Yuki's view. Nearby was an old man, whom Yuki could not piece together in her mind. As she tried to think, unable to reply to Asami's frantic calls, Yuki looked down, spotting a grate on the floor next to her. She leaned over, feeling the heavy weight being pushed from the back of her tongue, out into the open.
A terrible retching sound followed. Whatever Yuki had previously eaten spilled from her mouth and down the grate, down to whatever unfortunate sewer creature that would witness the spillage flow through the pipes. But even after she was done puking out her food, Yuki felt her body convulse, needing to puke something out, anything. She coughed, tears coming forth from her eyes as spit dribbled out of her mouth.
She let out a shuddering breath, shaking as she felt some bits of clarity return to her. She weakly coughed once more, feeling strength return to her.
"Ow," Yuki murmured, turning back to Asami, "What did I miss?"
Asami stared at her with wide eyes.
"A-are you okay?"
"More or less."
"Uh, well-"
"I've never inhaled poisonous gas before," Yuki cleared her throat, "Good to know I can recover from that."
"Right," Asami sighed, kneeling in front of Yuki, "Okay, let me just-"
"Hurry it up," said a gruff voice. Yuki turned her head, eyes widening.
"What the fuc-"
"Shut your mouth," said the man.
Yuki's ears perked up. "Tokuga?"
Yuki hadn't seen Tokuga since the spirit incident. It seemed that the dragon-eel spirit had really done a number on him, warping his half his face to mimic the skin and warts of a reptile, replacing one of his arms with a long tentacle.
"What, never seen a man overtaken by a spirit?"
"Not as badly as you."
Yuki didn't flinch as Tokuga stalked near her, "I'll drug you up with the gas again."
"Be my guest," Yuki said, glancing at Asami, "But at least have the courtesy of telling me what's going on."
Tokuga glared at Asami, "I let you check up on your friend, not get back to work."
Asami leveled a glare with Tokuga, casting a worried glance at Yuki.
"I'm fine," Yuki said, doing her best to shrug her shoulders while being completely tied up in chains, "Do what you have to do."
"Okay," Asami said, slowly walking back to what Yuki could now see as an airship.
"Your friend is doing me a favor," Tokuga said once Asami left, "She makes me what I want, and you and that man over there don't get killed."
"And what makes you think you could kill me?" Yuki asked.
"Seems like gas is the way to go with you," Tokuga said, holding up a gas cannister with his good hand, "I keep these handy now, all because of you."
"I'm flattered," Yuki said, finally recognizing the older man that stood nearby Asami as she worked, "Wonyong Keum?"
"Dragon child," Keum said, turning his head to nod to her. "How nice to see you here."
"Why's he here again?" Yuki asked.
"Insurance," Tokuga said, "He had the blueprints I needed to give to Miss Sato."
"Right," Yuki shuffled in her restraints, "Remind me again why I'm going to just sit here and wait for all of this to happen?"
"If you try to do anything funny," Tokuga said, "I'll kill Miss Sato and Keum before you even have a chance to stand up."
Yuki sighed. Her mouth still tasted sour, and she felt like breathing it all in Tokuga's face.
"Just tell me why you're doing all this."
"Why, so you can convince me otherwise?"
"No, I just hate to be out of the loop, especially since you have such big plans for Republic City it seems."
Tokuga glared at Yuki, but he seemed to relent.
"It's time that the Triple Threats take control of what's theirs. Republic City will be under the control of the triad very soon."
Yuki nodded, "Got it, got it. So... you're one hundred percent down to run an entire city?"
"What, and your pathetic president was doing so well?"
"Point taken." Yuki stared at Tokuga, "But I still think you're not going to make it."
"And what makes you say that?"
"Well, one just doesn't capture the Avatar's girlfriend and get away with it-"
A sudden blast shook the building. Everyone turned around to see figures run through the dust. Yuki's heart leapt, seeing Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Jargala
"Korra!" Asami shouted from her perch around the airship.
"Asami!"
Tokuga gritted his teeth, turning to one of his men, "Get this ship in the air!"
Tokuga turned to Yuki, grabbing her chains, and hauling her up to her feet.
"You're coming with me."
"YUKI!"
Yuki turned her head to see Mako running towards her. Tokuga turned and flung Yuki into the arms of another triad member.
"Get them all in the ship!" he shouted, turning to fight Mako.
Yuki opened her mouth, only to have a ratty cloth cover her face. She jerked in the arms of her captor as he dragged her into the ship. A sickly sweet stench clouded Yuki's head as her vision began to black in and out.
"Yuki!" Asami's familiar voice rang in Yuki's ears. She shook her head, feet stumbling.
"M-'sami." Yuki slurred, falling into Asami's arms. The chains seemed to loosen as Asami dragged her closer.
"Talk to me," Asami said, "Did they drug you more?"
Yuki kept trying to blink, feeling like throwing up again. It seemed that it was the Dragon Spirit's most logical defense against poison.
"M' fine," Yuki said, hands growing warm, "Jus... jus' need to..." Yuki groaned, feeling her hands grow warm against the chains. Much to her relief, the chains seemed to give way under the heat, and she felt them collapse around her. Yuki exhaled, blue fire bursting from her mouth. The heat seemed to subside the nauseous feeling. But as she began to feel better, a fist collided with her cheek.
Yuki stumbled back, startled to see Tokuga stalk towards her. He grabbed her neck, sword pointed at her face.
"Don't," he warned, "Don't you dare firebend in here."
"And what are you going to do about it?" Yuki managed to choke out.
Tokuga held out the gas cannister, "Wanna see how fire and gas react to each other? Remember your friend is still with us."
Yuki turned to Asami. Slowly she shook her head. Yuki swallowed. They would have to get out of this some other way.
"Let me go," Yuki snapped, gripping Tokuga's arm, "I won't firebend, but you're not keeping me in these chains."
Tokuga loosened his grip and stepped back. His sword was still pointed to Yuki, but he jerked his head do one of his men.
"Get us to the portal."
____________________
A/N:
Little bit shorter, but I had a vision for how it would be organized.
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it!
This is not the last time Yuki's going to want to puke so stay tuned for that... :D
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Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon! :D