Skeletons in the Closet
Dawn, Asami, and Bolin were waiting for Korra and Mako to get back from their visit up above the sewer system, checking to see the progress of Amon's destruction. Dawn was giving her and Mako space, not wanting to talk to the boy about what was being said behind her back with her and him possibly being soulmates. Bolin's conclusion left the girl heartbroken as she didn't want what they had to end, and their friendship was now basically just them having small talk. No more dinners, no more hugs, no more anything. Everything just felt empty to her.
She watched as Pabu was doing small acrobatic tricks that Bolin had taught him, her eyes holding dark circles under them as she was a wreck. "You two were gone a while." Asami said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We were doing reconnaissance." Mako said with a bit of anger, his eyes catching Dawn's hunched over position.
"Whatever." She muttered.
"Welcome back! Hope you worked up an appetite, 'cause dinner is served." The homeless man that Korra met stated.
He pulled everyone over towards the pot that was cooking the soup he had caught and made, Dawn being pulled by Korra who sat her down next to her.
"Thanks so much for letting us hide out with you the past few days." Korra told the man.
"Honored to oblige. My associates and I hardly oppose Amon's so-called "equalist" policies. We got benders and non-Benders living together down here. But do you see us fighting? No, sir-ree. We've figured out how to harmoniously co-exist." He said while hugging himself.
"You are a wise and noble hobo." Bolin said, taking a bite of his soup and smiling. "Mmm. This is the best tasting Street gruel I've ever had. Seriously." Bolin complimented as Korra was trying to force feed Dawn who just stared at her bowl.
"I culled it from the finest dumpsters the city has to offer." The man said happily while Asami took a bite and gagged as she spit it back out.
As night rose, Dawn was sitting out on her sleeping bag, watching as Mako walked by her. "Can't sleep either?" He asked and the girl shook her head.
"No, I just..." she paused while looking to everyone in the group who was sleeping. She sighed and got up, nodding her head for Mako to follow as he did so.
The girl pulled him along to a secluded area and she sighed. "I feel empty. Like there is no hope left, and now I know that my brother is being dragged into this and I'm just... scared." She admitted, watching as Mako sighed and pulled her in for a hug.
She stayed in his chest, trying hard to fight her tears. "I'm also upset, because Bolin ended things and making everything awkward, Asami hates me, and Korra, she treats me as if I'm a child." She opened up, not wanting to deal with everything as she also had a big fight coming up.
She pulled away from Mako, and sighed. "Do you think it's true?" She asked, Mako furrowing his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" He asked, and Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Mako, you know. You told Bolin about seeing me the day I was captured. Do you think we are actually soulmates?" She asked, and Mako felt his heart stop beating as she asked.
To be honest, it wasn't what everyone said it would feel like seeing your soulmate. Dawn was extraordinary, but to him, it took time. The more he looked at her, the more he saw how actually beautiful she is, how caring she is, and to this day, how strong she is.
He sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "You're guess is as good as mine. We don't have any other symptoms." He said, frowning slightly as Dawn did notice that. There were a few things soulmates had that Mako and her didn't.
Feeling their pain, reading each others minds, and above all, love. Dawn didn't physically or emotionally feel attracted to him. She just felt stuck.
She sighed, pulling fully away from the boy and sighed. "Thanks for the talk." She breathed out, walking away as she didn't want to discuss their hidden feelings anymore, and the girl knew that maybe it was all just a trick in her head.
<><><>
Today was the day, the day her brother would come in with a fleet of war ships and Dawn was feeling an awful ache in her stomach. It was a warning and she knew something would happen. She kept her eyes out on the water surrounding everyone and she had a frown permanently on her face.
"Coast is clear." Mako stated, and everyone followed him up towards the top of the sewer passage to check over the coast line, Dawn stayed quiet.
"Once the United Forces arrive, we need to be ready to help in any way we can." Korra said willingly, making Dawn smile at her with appreciation.
"They're here." Mako said, pointing out to the water as Bolin gasped and looked over them. "Whoops." He said, seeing he placed the scope on the wrong side to his eye.
Dawn felt her heart beat faster with anticipation, knowing her brother was just out in the shore. She felt someone grab her hand, making her lick her lips and look into golden eyes that matched her own.
"He's going to be okay." Mako promised her, making her nod her head and sigh.
"Amon is tricky. He should have known that they were coming." She whispered, watching the ships closely, and then her eyes drifted towards the water.
"Wait a second. Where are the equalist airships?" Korra asked, and as Dawn looked towards the sky, she kept her eyes on the main captain ship.
"I don't see any mecha-tanks either." Mako informed, only for the ships to move closer and with that, an explosion went off.
Dawn's eyes widened, take a deep breath and getting up quickly.
"Dawn, don't do something irrational!" Asami yelled, pulling her back as the girl held tears in her eyes.
More bombs went off, and Dawn shook with every one that exploded, and when she saw the shops start sinking, she shook Asami off. "He's my brother." She muttered, diving into the water as it encased her body and propelled her towards her brother's fleet.
She reached the ships, heading up on the surfaces for air as she heard a low buzzing. She looked behind her back towards land and she sighed. "You have got to be kidding me." She breathed out, seeing war airplanes in the sky, flying towards the ships to drop more bombs on them.
She dove back into the water, missiles diving into it to strike the bottom of the boats. She watched as one more entered the water and she bended the water around it to move up into the sky and hit the plane that launched it.
She knew this was a loss cause, watching men dive into the water for safety and she reached her brothers ship, watching as they were trying to defeat the planes, but it was no use.
Dawn saw his body fall into the water, she swam over to him, bringing him up for air as he coughed and groaned when he saw his sister's face.
She smirked at him and chuckled slightly. "Looks like you do need my help after all this time, Iroh." She teased, the boy sighing.
"Dawn, you saved my life... again." He pointed out while the girl shrugged her shoulders.
"What can I say? I'm the protector after all." She said, lifting her hand and allowing the water to bend them back towards land.
Korra was healing Iroh's arm once they reached the camp grounds, Dawn biting her bottom lip as she listened to Iroh's plans. "I was prepared to deal with Sato's mecha-tanks, but not these new high-speed aircraft." Iroh said while Dawn rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I know. Every time we think we have an advantage, Amon outsmarts us." Korra said and Dawn nods her head.
"Trust me, we know how you feel. We've been dealing with this since day one." Dawn told Iroh, feeling Mako stand right behind her and watching every move.
"No matter what our plan is, he always has a better one." Bolin told the General.
"Amon is winning so far, but we're not out of the fight yet." Iroh said honestly.
"I like this man's confidence. This is where Dawn gets it from." Bolin smiled. "So how are we not out of the fight?" Bolin asked him.
"A second wave of reinforcements is on the way. But I need to warm them. Do you still have a way to get a message out?" Iroh asked his sister, Dawn nodding her head.
"I know just the man for the job." Korra said, pulling Dawn with her the girls showed him over to the hobo who has been helping them.
"And who is the recipient of this top-secret message?" The man asked.
"Commander Bumi, second division of the United Forces." Iroh said while the man cracked his knuckles to get started on the message.
"Tenzin's brother?" Korra asked him.
"Yes. A bit of a wild man. But the bravest commander you'll ever meet." Iroh said while Dawn chuckled into her hand.
"And the best family prankster to have." She smiled, Iroh rolling his eyes. "Our secret missions were always the best." She remembered.
"Ready, sir!" The man said.
"Fleet ambushed and destroyed by equalist aircraft. Retreat to red sand island until my signal. Do not approach the city until you receive the all-clear." Iroh gave out.
Next was trying to figure out how to help Bumi whenever he were to arrive, Dawn looked over the map of Republic City, her brain trying to come up with the safest plan. "Now comes the hard part. We need to ground those aircraft, otherwise Bumi's fleet will never be able to retake the city." Iroh stated.
Mako pointed over towards the map and showed where they saw what direction the planes came from. "They flew in from this direction. The airfield must be somewhere over this mountain range." Mako stated.
"Everyone get ready. We leave at dawn." And then Iroh smirked at his sister and walked away.
"Haha, very funny." She said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
"It's time to take down my father." Asami muttered, mostly to herself, but Dawn heard her and sighed, patting her shoulder.
"We can do this." She whispered to her, Asami smiling, grateful for her friend.
"Wait." Korra stated, pulling Dawn back as everyone stopped. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going with you tomorrow and neither is Dawn." Korra told them.
"What?" Mako asked.
"Why not?" Asami wondered.
"I'm sick and tired of hiding from Amon. It's time i faced him. It's time that we faced him." Korra said, looking to Dawn as she stated at her friends and her brother.
She sighed and nods her head with Korra. "She's right. If something were to happen to Bumi after all this, I would never be able to forgive myself. Iroh you almost died because of him." Dawn stated, staying by Korra's side.
"That's not a good plan. We need to stick together." Iroh said to the girls.
"I'm not waiting for him to hunt me down. My gut's telling me it's time to end this on my terms." Korra said and Dawn agrees with her.
"Iroh, you need to listen to us and trust what we have to say. Spiritual mojo, remember?" She asked, her eyes glowing purple to show him what she meant.
"Dawn, this is not a mission you should be handling alone with just you two." Iroh told them.
"They won't be alone. I'm going with you." Mako said and Dawn rolled her eyes.
"This is not the time for you to try and stick up for me. Korra and I have this. You don't have to do this." Dawn said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Yes, I do." Mako told her, and she saw a spark in his eyes.
"My grandfather would respect the avatar's and protector's instincts. So I guess I will, even if your my sister." He said, the girl smiling and giving him a hug.
"Be careful." She whispered into his ear, pulling away and then looking to Mako and Korra. "Let's go dorks."
Everyone said their goodbyes, leaving Dawn and Bolin the last two and Dawn took the first step. "Just so you know, I'll always be there for you." She told him, giving him a sad look. "And think about it this way, we met first." She breathed out, not wanting to give up her hope on Bolin as she didn't give him a chance to speak as Korra and Mako were telling her to hurry up.
As she was a few feet away from him, she looked back and saw him mouth 'I know.'
She smiled lightly, then turning around and not giving a second glance as she went up towards Amon and to finally face her fears.
<><><>
As Korra, Mako, and Dawn made it to Air Temple Island, they placed the chi-blocker masks they had stolen a long time ago over their faces and went towards Amon's new hideout. Ever since he had driven the air Benders out, they had taken residence at their place.
"There's Amon." Korra called out, seeing the man enter his war ballon and Dawn nods her head.
"We need to get into the temple. Then when he returns..." Mako started as Dawn sighed.
"We ambush him." She finished, and the three walked towards the temple until they heard a voice stop them.
"What are you three doing here?" The man with the mustache as Bolin liked to call him said.
"Uh, we were just transferred." Mako told him.
"Well, you're getting transferred again. Amon wants extra security at the arena today." The man told them.
"The arena? For what?" Mako asked him, confused.
"The rally. You should have been briefed about this." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"We'll be there sir!" Korra said with a deeper voice.
"This guy just forgets everything, don't worry about him." Dawn excused, patting Mako's shoulder.
"I know another way in." Dawn whispered to the two.
They scooted along towards a secret tunnel that Dawn would use with the kids whenever they would want to eavesdrop on special meetings.
As get walked inside, Dawn looked around the room that was once filled with so much life now empty and cold. "Let's hide in the attic." Korra pointed out, the three following inside and Dawn gasped.
"Uh, we're not alone up here." Mako said and they removed their masks once they saw who was in the cell.
"Tarrlok?" Korra asked.
"I don't suppose you're here to rescue me?" Tarrlok asked them.
"We had no idea you were here. Are there other prisoners on the island?" Korra asked him as the group moved closer.
"No, I'm the only one." Tarrlok answered.
"And what makes you so special?" Dawn asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm Amon's brother." Tarrlok answered as Korra gasped. "Amon is from the Northern Water Tribe. He is a water Bender and a blood bender, just like I was."
"What?!" Korra asked, confused just like everyone else.
"Did you know this all along?" Mako asked him.
"No, not until after he captured me." Tarrlok answered, looking almost ashamed at his discovery.
"How did your brother end up becoming Amon?" Korra asked.
"It all began with my father, Yakone..." Tarrlok said and started giving them the story of his life with his brother.
His father having created a new identity, creating a new family and then his father turned them into warriors with their water bending. His father then took them to learn blood bending, giving them his full story and wanting them to uphold his story.
Dawn looked away, not wanting to know more about Amon but then something clicked in her head. "That's one of the saddest stories I have ever heard." Korra said.
"Avatar Korra and Protector Dawn, I am truly sorry for all that I did to you. I thought I was better than my father, but his ghost still shaped me. I became a soldier of revenge, just like he wanted me to be. And so did my brother. The revolution may be built on a lie, but I think Amon truly believes bending is the source of all evil in the world." Tarrlok told them.
"How did you figure out Amon is your brother?" Mako asked.
"When he took my bending, the sensation was somehow familiar. I later recognized it as my brother's blood bending grip." Tarrlok explained to them.
"If Amon is a Bender, he is lying to his followers. They won't want to follow someone who is Bender since they have grown to hating us." She told them, Mako smiling at her idea.
"And undermine this whole revolution!" Mako said happily.
"Thank you for your help." Korra said as Tarrlok at them.
As Dawn and Mako went to walk away, Korra held onto Dawn's arm. "We can't just leave him here." She said and Dawn scoffed.
"He took me away and placed me in a metal box and almost made me disappear. I'm good." She told Korra.
"Go. Amon can't know anyone spoke with me. Defeat him. Put an end to this sad story." Tarrlok told them, moving to the bars and they nods while doing as they were told.
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