In the dark, Jinora held Ikki's chilly hands. If daddy had married Chief Bei-Fong, maybe she would be a metal bender - maybe she'd be able to undo the cuffs. But maybes didn't do her any good here. Outside the door, she could hear the Equalists talking: no words, only a mumble here and there. In a squeaky whisper, Ikki asked, "Where do you think Mommy and Meelo are? Do you think the acolytes are okay? Will the scary mask guy take our bending?"

"I don't know," she whispered back and raised her linked hands to brush at the bangs flopping over Ikki's damp forehead. "We'll just have to wait for Daddy and Korra to find us. We'll be okay." If only she were a better air bender. Grandfather Aang had gotten out of tougher straits than this when he was barely older than Jinora was now. "Try to think of a way out, okay?"

Ikki nodded, though they both knew if Jinora couldn't come up with a plan, they were probably sunk. "They must know Mommy's not a bender. So they won't hurt her, right?"

"I hope so," Jinora said, then clamped her hand over Ikki's mouth. She heard footsteps outside the room, more mumbling... If daddy had let her read the reports about Amon, maybe she could prepare, maybe she could- "Ikki, if you see an opening, go for it."

"But wha-" The door opened, and Ikki set her little cuffed feet against the wall and shot a blast of air from her mouth. She tumbled out into the hall, right between Amon's legs, and had flipped herself upright against the wall before his henchmen could more than turn around. Shuffling, pushing with her elbows along the wall, Ikki took a deep breath and oriented herself. Her cuffed wrists twirled and whisked in tandem, and she hopped unsteadily onto an air scooter and sped away.

"Catch her," Amon casually commanded his forces, and the Equalists were off in pursuit. Amon himself turned back to Jinora, stepped toward her, and wisely closed the door behind him. The small smile of pride that had lit Jinora's face at Ikki's escape faltered, and she felt her heart shaking her frame. Ikki would probably be caught, since she was cuffed by both hands and feet and there was little chance of her getting past whatever guard watched the exits. But Jinora could face Amon first, and it felt right that she'd tried. "You will be the first air bender," Amon said, as if reading her thoughts.

"Please don't hurt my mother," Jinora said, despising the tremor in her voice. "She's not a bender. Most of the acolytes aren't, either."

"I know." Amon bent down, though he still seemed to tower over the huddled girl. Her eyes caught on his hand, the hand with which he would steal her bending, draped over his knee.

She took a shaky breath and tried to find his eyes in the shadow of his mask. "Please," she said, wincing as the hand lifted toward her, "don't take Ikki's bending."

The hand paused, drifted back to his knee. "Ikki."

"My sister." Jinora took another breath, then another, but she couldn't steal her lungs enough and her voice still shook. "I'll be okay if you take my bending." And, as much as she loved being an air bender, she thought she would. Some of her favorite figures in all of history were non-benders, and she would still have reading, and mommy was a non-bender and she still got a love story, so Jinora thought she could handle it. "But air bending isn't just a weapon or a skill to Ikki. She air-bends when she's happy or frustrated or angry; it's as much a part of the way she deals with life as laughing or crying or screaming." Her eyes stung when she blinked, and streams of tears leaking down her face. "Don't take it away from her. Take mine." Everything was so blurry; she closed her eyes tight, wiping at her face. The cuffs clinked. "Mom's always wanted a non-bender."

She felt a warm thumb pressed against her forehead, and a sob wracked her body. Tight, pulling, locking - she felt strange and heavy, like coming off the very edge of sleep. The pressure eased. She found her knees and buried her face in the bright yellow fabric that smelled of air bison and wind and trees. Vaguely, she recognized the sound of Amon's footsteps retreating, the door opening and closing as the masked man left her in the dark.

A minute later, more footsteps, and she rushed to dry her face and calm her burning lungs as the door opened again. An Equalist's silhouette stood against the hallway's light; she flung a little bundle toward Jinora, who grunted as Ikki's weight hit her. The door slammed shut.

"Ikki, are you okay? They didn't electrocute you? You didn't see Amon?"

Ikki pushed herself up and coughed a little and Jinora gentle checked her face for cuts. "Yes, no and no. What about you?"

Jinora smiled, clasped the little air bender's hands between her own, and said, "I'm okay."