Takes place after "The Battle of Zaofu"

Jinora broke the silence once they passed over the mountains, leaving Zaofu out of sight. "Thanks for getting us out of there."

"You're welcome." Ikki appreciated hearing some gratitude. "So what happened before we got there?"

Jinora tried to describe the fight. Meelo held Opal's arm as she cried. Ikki was surprised both my Korra's failure and by Jinora and Opal's intervention. "You broke your oath?"

"You use aggression?" Meelo cried out accusingly. Despite being born an airbender—or perhaps because of it—Meelo had not been made to take an oath of nonaggression. Sometimes his sisters doubted that he ever would, since he had much militaristic tendencies. But he knew what it meant to those who swore it.

"We weren't attacking!" Opal said, angry and still tearful. "We were defending Korra!"

"But we did interfere with her one-on-one battle," Jinora admitted. "So that broke the truce, and gave her the right to retaliate."

"She was about to kill Korra!"

Jinora was less certain—Kuvira had poised her metal bands in the air, but those might have been to gag and blindfold Korra. Would Kuvira really have killed the Avatar? The other nations would have been furious if she had done so. On the other hand, it would have made sense to do so during consensual one-on-one battle, bearing a strong argument against the Avatar's involvement in the nation's internal affairs.

"We should've just gone home." Meelo's tone was grumpy. "We did our mission and found Korra. We didn't sign up for this to watch her lose."

"We didn't sign up at all," Ikki pointed out, "Dad enlisted us, remember? You were happy to be given the honor."

"Look at it this way," Jinora said. "If we hadn't come—if Korra hadn't at least tried to use diplomacy—your mom would have stood her ground, and Kuvira would have stormed the city. We avoided a huge battle. At least this way no one died."

"So what now?" Meelo asked.

"We have to get back to Republic City," Jinora said. "Maybe our dad and the other world leaders can help stop Kuvira."

Opal didn't seem consoled. Even if the world leaders could help, there was the question of whether they would. "My dad called the United Forces yesterday, and they didn't come in time to make a difference."

"Well, we can't go back there now," Jinora snapped. "We have to get Korra to safety and tell people what actually happened. Standing up to Kuvira will only work if a lot of people are united against her."

Opal huffed, hugging her legs to her chest. Jinora turned away to look at her, slightly more gentle. "Look, we've been in situations like this before. Waiting for help, or planning something that will take a while, doesn't mean giving up. It means we do everything we're capable of doing, while being patient for the things we can't control."

"You sound like your dad." Startled, they noticed Korra stirring, though she remained lying in the saddle.

"Korra!" more than one of them exclaimed.

"You're okay," Ikki said. Korra flexed her arms experimentally and rubbed her face, groaning. Ikki faltered. "You are okay, aren't you?"

"I'm fine." Korra lowered her hands from her face. "But I lost. I'm so sorry, Opal."

Opal didn't respond. She couldn't say "That's alright," because truly it was far from alright; but it wasn't the kind of apology she could verbally accept. Not that she really blamed Korra. If she didn't blame her, there was no need to forgive her.

"You'll get 'er next time," Meelo said confidently.

"You three are really optimistic," Opal muttered.

"I think they get that from Katara," Korra said. "Sometimes it helps, and sometimes it's just … annoying."

But Jinora explained, "There's a reason why we're optimistic. As I was saying: We know things will work out because we've been in the situation you're in now, Opal. And so has Korra. Our home was attacked, and our dad made Korra wait for the United Forces to come free the city, which they eventually did."

Ikki nodded. "And when Equalists captured our family, they separated us from our mom and our youngest brother. But Korra set us free, and we were able to get back to them."

"That's true," Korra said, sitting up with some effort to face Opal. "And like you, I once had a relative threatening my family and my home, and I was the only one able to get away. I've been separated from friends and family more times than I can count, but we always found each other eventually—and saved each other if we had to."

"Don't forget," Ikki piped up, "when the Red Lotus captured us, and we were waiting for help, we didn't just wait. We made our own escape plan. Maybe your mom and brothers will too."

Opal hadn't thought of that. It was a hopeful idea, a plausible possibility. Still, she would be eager for the chance to take back her home and free her family.

"I wanted to see Bolin before leaving Zaofu," Korra remembered. After finding out from Suyin that he was so close, she had been looking forward to seeing him. "I hope he's okay."

"I can't believe that Bolin would go along with this," Opal said.

Korra looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"No, I mean I really can't. Either Kuvira lied to us on the battlefield, or she's still feeding him lies about what she's doing. He wouldn't keep working willingly if he knew the truth. And if he knew that my family's been imprisoned—"

"Maybe he'll find out, and try to free them. If there's one thing I know about Bolin, it's that he's really loyal." It was something he had in common with his brother and grandmother.

Talking about Bolin made Korra think of Mako, and Asami, and everyone else she knew in Republic City. Since the airbender kids had found her, she had been trying to imagine returning to her friends and allies. This was going to put a huge damper on her reunions. But, considering the situation Opal was in now, any kind of reunion would be better than none.