BALANCE | CHAPTER FOUR
𝐓he airbender woke up to a start. Cloud groggily pushed everything away from her on the shared bed in the small room of a decent apartment as she stretched her arms. But then suddenly she caught a whiff of something burning in the air. Her eyes went wide and she abruptly sat up from the bed, staring at the chipping paint on the walls for a second until her mind slowly processed what was going on.
The room looked normal, except for the few books scattered on the bedside table, the Air Nomad cape hanging on the door, and the discarded Republic City police uniform strewn across the chair.
It only took her a minute. Then Cloud decided to go to the kitchen where the awful burning odor was coming from. The airbender only had one person in her mind.
"Hmm," Cloud drawled, sarcasm laced in her tone as she entered the kitchen. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
"Cloudy!" A certain firebender jumped in surprise, a nervous smile on his face. Mako stood in front of the stove without a shirt on, a smoking pan held in his right hand, and a spatula in the other. "You're awake."
"Yes, I am." Cloud walked towards him, puckering her lips in suspicion as the man tried to hide the cooking pan from her eyesight. "What are you cooking?"
"Uh... something?"
"Mako."
Mako sighed defeatedly and placed the pan back on the stove and the spatula on the counter. A frown appeared on his face as his shoulders slumped down. He looked adorable, with his dark hair all over the place, pointing in every direction, despite the fact he was shirtless and he had really nice arms. Cloud tried to ignore that fact. Failed.
"I thought I'd try something new," Mako grumbled. He sent her a defensive look, his eyes resembling a kicked puppy. "I'm not a bad cook."
"I know... You should've told me though." Cloud looked at him adoringly, placing her hands on his shoulder and squeezing them, releasing some of the tension around his broad shoulders. Her hands trailed on his, and she held them as she looked up at his face. "I could've helped."
"I didn't want to wake you," Mako sighed under his breath, trapping her between the counter, letting go of her hands and putting them on her hips. "You looked really peaceful."
She suddenly grinned and smacked his shoulders. "You were very right about that, fireboy."
"Cloudy!" He groaned, watching his rowdy girlfriend grab a piece of bread on the table instead as she walked away.
"Go get ready," Cloud told him before a playful grin slipped on her face. "Your dear wittle prince's probably waiting for you in his junior suite now."
"Not you, too," Mako grumbled, throwing his head back in disbelief.
That only made the grin on her face grow wider, and she blew a playful kiss towards him as she drifted back towards their shared room.
"And put a shirt on!" He heard her yell one last time as she left his sight.
The broody firebender could only shake his head to himself as he watched her disappear into the room, and yet her presence still lingered. He was sure she'd be the one he'd spend the rest of his life with, and he wouldn't have it any other way. For some reason, everything felt right this time. As if the dominos just fell imperfectly perfect in place.
Something was wrong. Cloud had felt it before Jinora's spirit suddenly appeared in front of her and told her the news. Both terrible and good. The only good thing about what she had said was that they'd found Korra. And the bad thing was that Kuvira had her entire army marched on Zaofu for some reason. They had to do something about it. Quickly.
Cloud didn't waste time going back to the Air Temple Island, calling out her flying bison, Kiko, and immediately flying out of Republic City. She made sure to drop by the precinct and informed Mako that she was leaving. The skyline disappeared behind her as she clutched the reins. She only brought her glider and her emergency bag just in case something like this happened. This was an urgent situation, and thankfully, Cloud was always prepared for the worst. Perks of being in the military, I supposed.
She arrived just after Kuvira left with her accomplices and before Korra appeared with her three cousins. They settled in one of the rooms in Suyin's home. Everybody was there, Suyin and Bataar Sr., Huan, Wei and Wing, and lastly, Opal, standing and sitting around the table. Unease was clear in their expressions, along with anxiety as they pondered over Kuvira's words. She was becoming a danger to everybody, at least that was one thing clear.
Cloud desperately wanted to believe the woman had good intentions, but the ways she was enforcing them were nothing close to it.
"Cloudy," Korra breathed as the older girl neared them, dressed in the usual Air Nation clothing, the old one, and gripped a wooden glider in one hand. Cloud looked just like the first time she'd seen her a few years back. "You came."
Cloud immediately threw her arms around her neck, the latter crashing into her arms and returning her embrace. She shut her eyes, the air around them becoming calmer. "Don't do that again. Leave without a word."
"I'm sorry," Korra muttered, laying her chin atop her shoulder. "But I had to go. I needed to figure something out."
"Have you?" Cloud asked quietly, looking into her azure eyes as they parted. Her Earth Kingdom green attire seemed to bring out the vivid colors in her eyes along with the worry hidden beneath them.
Korra merely pursed her lips and hugged her once more, and Cloud simply wrapped her arms around her body. No other words were needed for a moment, the comfort of each other was enough for now.
The three younger airbenders, Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo were quick to jump toward her as soon as the rest of them finished saying their hellos to their oldest cousin. As Wei stepped away from Cloud after exchanging a wistful conversation with her, he joined his family and Korra. Cloud was immediately buried under multiple smaller bodies trying to hug her at the same time, and she tried to return them all.
"You did amazing, kids," Cloud smiled, a hint of proudness in her tone. "I'm proud of all of you. I'm sure your dad is, too."
Jinora smiled half-heartedly, seemingly the only one out of her siblings to realize the real length of their situation. "I know. Thanks, Cloudy."
"Hey, guys," Wing called, standing by the large entryway with a faint smile. The usual grin that he shared with his twin brother, who stood behind him, was scarce from his face. "Come on. We'll take you to your rooms."
As her cousins were sent off to their rooms, Ikki and Meelo insisted on staying with Jinora in one room, the walk back to her usual quarters in Suyin's home was silent. Wei and Wing stood on each of her sides, unusually quiet and less rambunctious than they usually were. Cloud narrowed her eyes, then she let out a loud sigh that almost blew the twins off their feet as they abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway.
"Okay, spill," Cloud said bluntly, glancing back and forth at the similar faces before her with suspicion.
"Huh?"
"Wha...?"
Wei and Wing obliviously tried to avoid her perturbing gaze, stiffening ever so slightly. They were hiding something, and Cloud knew, because they were her friends, and right now, they were acting pretty off for her to think that nothing was wrong. Cloud threw her arms up, giving them a look that said, 'You gonna tell me or what?'. Wei was the first one to break.
"Mom has something planned," Wei muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as he sent her a guilty look.
Wing elbowed his twin brother's guts, groaning, "Dude!"
"What?" Wei shot him a glare. "It's Cloudy."
"Fair enough," Wing muttered.
As they stopped bantering, Cloud spoke uneasily, shaking her head. "And she's bringing the two of you?"
Wing pursed his lips, sharing a glance with Wei. "Yeah."
"Great," Cloud quipped, leaving no room for argument as she started to walk away, her back turned to them. "I'm coming with you."
"Cloudy, wait—" Wei tried to stop her but she had already entered her room and shut the door behind her with a loud thud. Well, there goes their answer. He sighed under his breath and turned to his twin brother who barely reacted. The more the merrier. "I guess we should tell Mom."
"Be my guest," Wing shrugged.
It was late at night when the plan came to movement. Suyin wasn't too happy at first when the twins told her that Cloud knew something was up, but she didn't have much of a choice knowing how stubborn the airbender can be. Besides, another set of useful hands wouldn't be so bad. Truthfully, Cloud just didn't want anything to happen to them that's why she insisted on coming. She wasn't up for an assassination at midnight as it would go against everything she stood for.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Cloud muttered between Wing and Suyin, Wei beside her, atop a thick branch of a tree after knocking out one of Kuvira's lookouts.
"This only ends in one way," Suyin said with resolve.
Cloud glanced at her, but her face was hidden by the balaclava they all wore, matching their whole black outfit. She pursed her lips, turning her attention back to Kuvira's encampment where her army settled. A few hours ago, Korra was sent out to speak to Kuvira in an attempt to convince her to back down. The sun had gone down, darkness now encased the ground. Korra should be back at Zaofu by now, and she will not find the matriarch there.
"Are you sure this will work?" Wing turned to his mother, his voice in a hushed tone. "Even without Kuvira, they could still crush us."
"Most of this army has been forced into service by Kuvira," Suyin said firmly. "If we take her out, they'll have no reason to fight. Tonight we end her reign of terror.
Cloud, Suyin, and her sons hid underneath one of the hundreds of tanks in the camp, watching as a mecha tank on patrol marched past them. They quickly scramble out from their hiding place and take off through the maze of tanks. As a beam of light from a watchtower sweeps past, they take cover behind another tank. When the beam has passed, they advance, finally coming to a stop behind a few stacks of boxes very near Kuvira's hut.
As another mecha tank passes, Suyin peers through a crack between boxes at the hut, still guarded by mecha tanks. Stepping back, she stomps forcefully on the ground, using seismic waves to see past the obstacles in front of them. The waves radiate outward, traveling past the mecha tanks and throughout the hut, where she'd sense Kuvira asleep in bed.
"She's alone in there," Suyin whispered. "Now's our chance!"
"Su, you're not actually..." Cloud snapped her head towards the woman, a concerned frown slapped across her face.
Suyin barely listened, making the twins glance at each other with unease. "This has to happen now."
Cloud sighed, stepping beside Wei as the three simultaneously bend the earth beneath themselves, twisting on the spot, they disappeared into holes below them. They reappeared inside the hut, three holes open in the thin metal of the floor and they rose from them. Bending cables from her hands, Suyin, in the middle, wraps the sleeping figure tightly with them, before rolling her over to look at her face. The terrified face, however, does not belong to Kuvira.
"Holy Shu," Cloud cursed under her breath.
"Don't hurt me!" The familiar woman on the bed exclaimed.
Suyin took off her mask in surprise. "Zhu Li?"
Suddenly, a siren blares outside; the central support pole withdraws into the ground as the metal sides of the tent fall away and spotlights shine down on the three of them as soldiers and mecha tanks surround them. Cloud tensed, her grip around her staff tightening. Kuvira stepped from between two mecha tanks.
"I knew you'd try a sneak attack. You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance," Kuvira said with venom. They shifted, exchanging looks with each other. "You were afraid to join me when I became the leader, and now, you're afraid of a fair fight. You've always been a coward. Take them!"
"Cloudy, go!" Suyin yelled, knowing she had better chance to get out of the situation. She also knew a fight would be useless in the middle of an army. That's why her first thought was to make the airbender leave.
Cloud, with great reluctance, quickly glanced at Suyin and the twins before she blasted herself upwards and instantly disappeared between the night clouds with her glider. She made a mistake looking back and saw the mecha tanks shot lightning at them to incapacitate them. Her breath caught, forcing herself to look ahead. She needed to get back inside Zaofu and warn everybody else.