Gone With the Wind

by PierceTheVeils

Summary:

Before Harmonic Convergence, Opal Beifong had a peaceful, sheltered life as the nonbending daughter of a genius inventor and famous metalbender. She never expected distant cosmic phenomena to upend her identity. Much less her relationship with her family.

Notes:

Shout-out to my beta Cuileth for making this story come together. I enjoy working with you on our LoK project, and may this fic be the second of many.

Chapter 1: The Game

Looking back, at least Opal’s day had started somewhat normally.

Getting a sense of routine back after Harmonic Convergence had been challenging. Not because everything had changed, but because at first, despite several warnings to the contrary, nothing had. All that had happened for Zaofu was an extended lockdown where the domes stayed up during the day. It took nearly two weeks for Mom to allow visitors from outside Zaofu in again. Everyone had heard reports of spirits running free in the world, yet no one had seen any in their vicinity. It felt as if the world around them had shifted while Zaofu alone remained the same. Their biggest change was the pair of fugitives living in the guest house.

For all that the threat of “dark spirits” stirred up fear among the citizens, Opal dreamed of meeting a spirit one day. They sounded so mystical, so fascinating! She’d heard the swamp where her grandma lived was a hotbed for spiritual activity pre-convergence. Opal could only imagine what it was like now. 

So when Mom finally announced she was taking three of Opal’s brothers on a “retreat” to the swamp, Opal had been crestfallen to hear she couldn’t come. Mom justified Opal’s exclusion on the grounds of protecting her, as usual. “We don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the kingdom yet, sweetie. I’ve heard the bandit gangs are getting bolder. It’s not safe enough for you out there.”

Typical. Huan wasn’t a fighter either, but Mom still invited him. She could have just said what this retreat was really about. Mom, Huan, Wing, and Wei all had something in common with the legendary Toph Beifong. Something that, despite sharing a quarter of her blood, Opal did not possess. Now sixteen years old, Opal had come to terms with the fact she would never have a talent for bending, try as she might. Not metal, not earth, not anything.

Her only consolation was that she wasn’t the only one being left out of the fun. Opal watched from the mansion entrance to the Beifong estate as Dad kissed Mom goodbye. She could just about make out their conversation from where she stood. “Be safe out there. Come right home if there are too many evil spirits or criminal gangs.” 

Mom just laughed. “We can handle ourselves, Baatar.”

Huan’s eyes widened at the prospect of fighting either enemy. “I’m only going to see how the cosmic shifts in the universe have manifested in the balance of nature. Their changes in the flow of harmony is going to spur the most incredible new art the world has ever seen.”

“Speak for yourself. I want to hit bandits with rocks!”

“Yeah!” The twins cheered, high fiving one another. 

Mom grinned at their enthusiasm, putting a hand on each of her sons’ heads to calm them down. “You send a guard for us if anything happens to you here. We’re always ready to turn around if there’s an emergency.”

“We have the entire guard of Zaofu with us. I think we’ll be the safer ones.” Dad kissed her on the cheek once again, stirring immature retching noises from the twins. “Goodbye, dear.” He pulled back to give each of his departing sons a pat on the shoulder. “Goodbye, kids. Come back in one piece for me.”

Wei grinned. “Don’t worry, Dad. The only one who can break us into pieces is Grandma! And she likes us too much to do that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Huan echoed what his brother had said to him earlier. “The last time I showed her my metal statues, she ruined them with forced realism!”

“Ruined? She made them better.”

An argument broke out among them, one that was only broken up by Mom raising her hands in warning. Experience told Opal that if her brothers kept pushing, Mom would cover their mouths with metal bars from her necklace. She only kept them muted for a few seconds, but it was long enough to get her point across. “You three better not bicker for the whole journey. The roads aren’t built for cars near the swamp, so we’ll be taking part of the journey on foot. Now say goodbye to your father.”

“Goodbye, Dad!” chanted a chorus of three voices. 

“Bye, Opal!” Mom waved to her before turning around. She slung her overnight pack over her shoulder, prompting the boys to do the same. Opal waved them away with forced cheer, then disappeared back into the Beifong mansion.

This sort of thing happened almost every year. Mom took her bending children with her on an adventure in the Earth Kingdom while the rest of her family stayed home. Rarely was it ever a family trip where everyone was invited. By this point, Opal, her father, and her one remaining brother had a routine set up.

Baatar Jr. appeared behind Opal in the great hall right on schedule: too late to see anyone off. “Have they left already?”

“You know they have. Your room can see the front gardens from its window.” Opal elbowed him for pretending. “I could see your light on.”

Junior didn’t deny Opal’s allegations. If anything, his half smirk confirmed them. “Well, you know what happens next.  Dad is going to send the kitchen staff home early so he can cook dinner tonight.”

“As long as he doesn’t want to fry sea prunes again, we can let him.” Opal chuckled at the memory. “He should stick to the cuisine he grew up with.”

Dad took Mom’s absence as permission to take over their food menu. While Mom preferred the lighter, vegetable dominated dishes of Gaoling and the southern Earth Kingdom, Dad had grown up on meat heavy dishes from the north. His mountainous hometown of Beishan was famous for their hundred ways to cook wild wolfbear. Dad acknowledged the southern diet was healthier, but he still found special occasions to bring his childhood favorites to the table. There would not be a leaf of kale on anyone’s plate until Mom returned.

“I’m fine with dinner. It’s what comes after that I’m more curious about.” Junior leaned over to whisper in Opal’s ear. “What game do you think he’ll make us play tonight? Body Bender? Mansion Murder?”

“Do we still have all the pieces for Mansion Murder? I seem to remember someone flipping over the board after his ‘systematic deduction method’ failed to catch the real killer.”

“That is because our father did not arrange the cards correctly. He gave the killer two weapons and no room.” Junior defended himself, pointer finger raised in the air. “I am not normally a sore loser.”

“Mmhm. Tell yourself that.” Opal elbowed him in the side once again. “If it’s Body Bender, you already know we don’t have a chance. Dad is incredibly flexible for a man his age.”

Junior shook his head in premature defeat. “It’s all the time he spends reaching into the maintenance hatches. He’s been showing me how to do dome repairs, and the spaces are really tight. I wouldn’t be so confused about this if Dad and his friends hadn’t designed them this way. Why did he make his own job harder?”

“I heard my name?” Dad walked up behind them in the great hall. He grinned at the sight of his children hanging out together. The light from the chandelier caught his glasses just right to hide his eyes from view. “I spoke with our new guard captain outside. Apparently, your mother has left us in her care for the week.”

Opal suppressed a snort. That must be what Kuvira told herself to feel better at night. She couldn’t handle the fact that bending talents notwithstanding, she wasn’t Beifong enough to go on family retreats anymore. Opal wasn’t looking forward to seeing Kuvira around the mansion, but it gave her a sick pleasure to know they had both been excluded this time around.

“What would you two like for dinner? I want us to enjoy this evening with just the three of us, so I sent the rest of the staff home. Our visitors have the night off too.”

Junior and Opal shared a look. For all that they loved their dad, he could be quite predictable.

Opal knew what her next line should be. “Will you make something from Beishan, Dad? I’m sad we didn’t get to visit your parents this year.”

Dad sighed, smile fading a few watts. “I’m sad about that too. First the blizzard, then the road blockades from bandits, and now this Harmonic Convergence thing. It seems like their part of the kingdom never catches a break. I’m glad I agreed to raise my children down here.”

He lingered for a moment in his sadness, then perked back up. “I asked the chef to leave some pieces of cowpig out to defrost. It won’t taste as good as wolfboar, but we can’t exactly hunt those down here.”

“Is there anything we can do to help you in the kitchen, Dad?” Junior asked. It was polite to offer, but they both knew their dad wouldn’t enlist their help. He took so much pride in knowing how to build things from scratch, be they buildings or meals. 

“No, you two just relax. But don’t go hiding in your rooms. I want us to play some games together after dinner.” He winked. “I planned something I know the two of you will love.”

Which of their childhood games had he dug out from the far corner of the estate closets? Only time would tell. In the meantime, Opal and Junior honored his request. They settled down in the sitting room near the kitchen, a Pai Sho board between them. Opal let Junior explain the rules of Pai Sho to her, but she doubted they would have time to actually play. Another fun thing about Beishan cuisine was that many of its dishes could be prepared in less than an hour. 

“When do you think Dad will realize we aren’t kids anymore?” Opal asked Junior, cutting off his monologue of game rules.

He looked up at her, eyes wide. Her question had caught him unawares, but he recovered quickly. “Well… he hasn’t noticed it about me yet. And you are a kid.”

“Am not!” She protested, crossing her arms. “I’m sixteen.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Opal, but our mother made sure the age of adulthood in Zaofu is eighteen. Just like it is in the United Republic.”

The United Republic. The place where Mom had grown up. No one else in their household had ever been. Not even Dad. 

“You know I’m not talking about laws, Junior. I’m talking about the fact that we don’t have the same brains we did as kids. We don’t like the same food or play the same games. When are our parents going to notice the difference?”

“Maybe it would help if all of you stopped calling me ‘Junior,’” Junior fired back, a hint of hostility creeping into his voice. He scrubbed it away before continuing. “If I knew the answer to your question, don’t you think I would have used it already? Do you think I like being treated as if I have the same maturity level as the twins?”

“You could have just said ‘I don’t know’,” Opal pouted. “It’s not my fault you and Dad share a name.”

Junior sighed. “I know. I’m not blaming you.” He paused, considering if he wanted to share his next confession. By this point, the Pai Sho board was completely forgotten. “If getting my name changed didn’t have to go through our mother, I would seriously consider it.”

Opal nodded in sympathy. There were disadvantages to being the children of Zaofu’s governor. Not only were they held to higher standards of behavior than the rest of the city’s children, but any interaction they had with the law and society took on a personal dimension that few outsiders understood how to deal with. It didn’t help that their mother could have them interrogated by Aiwei for the most childish of matters, like who broke her flower vase. 

Despite that, Opal still knew they were fortunate. She didn’t have to see much of the Earth Kingdom to know poverty was everywhere. Whenever The Zaofucian Chronicle ran a national story, it was all about the crime and corruption plaguing the world outside their domes. Compared to the widespread fear and starvation in other states, Opal would take cringey game nights with her father any day. 

Zaofu was safe to the point of stifling. Junior of all people understood. They’d talked about this before. Which was why Opal felt he was the best (and first) person in their family to tell about her plans for the future. “When I’m old enough, I’m going to move out. I want to make a difference in the Earth Kingdom. Join a traveling charity or something.”

Junior broke eye contact with her in favor of staring at his hands. “Good luck with that. I tried to join Builders Without Borders last year. Do you remember how that went?”

Opal winced. She did remember. Builders Without Borders was a group dedicated to bringing modern home conveniences to every corner of the world, not just the major cities. They installed things like flushing toilets, water filtration systems, and underground sewer systems all over the countryside. Their work ensured that people of all states and nations could have clean water and sanitary bathrooms. It was filthy work, but a noble calling for someone as inclined towards infrastructure as Junior was. 

Their mother had cried for days about the decision, demanding to know why Junior couldn’t just help people in Zaofu keep their homes maintained. Never mind that no one in Zaofu had a house older than thirty years. Everyone already had the greatest conveniences modern technology could offer. That didn’t matter to Mom. Instead, she had wailed  about how she never saw her own mother while she was growing up, how she wanted to be there for every moment of her son’s childhood. It was a gut wrenching display of emotion that made all of her children uncomfortable.

Their dad was quieter. He simply went despondent and refused to speak with Junior or aid him with his application. After days of constant drama and no support from anyone, Junior changed his mind about joining. He hadn’t tried to leave Zaofu since. As “compensation,” their dad had involved Junior in more building and renovation projects around the city, even letting him propose his own projects for consideration. Proof he didn’t need to leave home to pursue any skill he wanted.

But that wasn’t the point of joining Builders Without Borders. Opal understood that. Why couldn’t their parents? 

“I guess we’re just lucky to have parents who love all five of us. Sometimes they love us too much. Forget I said anything.” Opal looked for ways to change the subject. Nothing came to mind at that moment.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to think long. Less than a minute later, Dad appeared in the doorway with the dinner bell in hand. He rang it three times, an earnest smile on his face. “Dinner is ready!”

Opal jumped out of her seat, frustrations evaporating. The delicious smell of roasted cowpig wafted through the open door to the kitchen, calling her inside. She ran to the partially set table for a spot at her dad’s side. Junior took his place across from Opal. In place of a centerpiece, Dad had laid out the glorious, evenly roasted flanks of cowpig with apple slices along the dish’s borders. There was enough meat to feed the three of them in various ways for the rest of the week. 

As a clear afterthought, their dad had also steamed a pot of rice and cut up scallions to sprinkle on top. He served each of them with a generous scoop of rice and thick cut of meat. Each plate came with a crystal glass filled with water, and there was a full pitcher in the center for anyone to get a refill.

The meal was simpler than was typical in the Beifong household, and Opal thought it smelled delicious. There was something special about eating a meal prepared for you by a loved one. She thought it was romantic how so many spouses cooked for their significant other every meal of every day. Perhaps one day she would learn how to cook and do the same for a man she married.

Dad cut into his meat first. He took an experimental bite, then hummed. “Mm! Just like your grandfather would make in the winter. I’m glad we stocked up on all the right herbs before bandits shut the roads down.”

Opal cut a smaller bite off of her own chop. She agreed with her father. The juicy flavor of the cooked flesh paired perfectly with the dry rub Dad had applied to the skin. “It’s incredible, Dad.”

“I cooked this for your mother when we started dating. Would you believe she’d never had to cook a day in her life when we met?” He shook his head in incredulity.

“I can,” Junior responded. “Remember when we all caught contagious bird pox and sent the staff away to quarantine? She tried to cook us soup. ‘Tried’ is the important word here.”

“Be nice to your mother. She was the only one not coughing up fits at the time. She did the best she could to nurse everyone back to health.”

Opal had been nearly three when the bird pox incident occurred. Not only had Mom been the only one not to get sick, she had also been pregnant with Wing and Wei at the time. Opal didn’t have any memories from that part of her life, but she imagined it had been utter chaos. 

She turned the subject back to the present day. “Thank you for cooking tonight, Dad. I love what you’ve made for us.” 

“Thank you, Opal. I’m glad you like it. We’ll have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow as well. As much as I enjoy our chef, I think he’s also happy to get a few days of vacation.”

The rest of dinner proceeded in a similar manner, with lighthearted small talk and easy camaraderie. Opal was used to being left alone with Junior and her dad. As a result, she felt closest to the two of them in her family. In a big family like theirs, it was important everyone had a member they could connect with and feel close to. It would get lonely on the Beifong estate otherwise.

After dinner was over, Dad called the two of them into the gaming parlor. Opal and Junior shared knowing looks before following him in. Time for the moment of truth: what game from their childhoods would they all be playing tonight?

Not any game Opal recognized. Laid out before them in the parlor were three rectangular folding tables pushed together. A triangular side table sat in the middle, ensuring minimal gaps between the flat surfaces. The tables were covered with small wooden cups halfway full with water. At the outer ends of each rectangular table was a small, lightweight ball. Each ball was dyed a different color: yellow, gray, and green.

Opal turned to Dad in confusion, Junior mimicking the motion. “What is this?”

“I didn’t want our game nights to get stale, so I thought I would teach the two of you a new game. I learned this one when I attended the university at Ba Sing Se.” Dad’s smile was equal parts excited and anxious. “Now, I made a few modifications so that three people could play at the same time. And while this game is typically played with beer, I don’t want to encourage binge drinking among my children.” He paused. “If you all want to, you can have one bottle of beer each to drink from upon scoring. You’re both old enough to drink a little bit, as long as it’s at home with me or your mother.”

Between the comments about beer and the setup of the cups on the table, Junior was able to connect the dots. “Is this beer pong?”

“Water pong, in our case, but yes.” Dad looked between Junior and Opal. “Have the two of you played before? At a friend’s house, maybe?”

“I haven’t,” Opal reassured him. She clapped her hands together in excitement. Had Dad overheard them complaining earlier? How long had he been planning this? “Will you explain the rules to us, Dad?”

“Sure! It’s really easy. All you have to do is take your colored ball and throw it such that it lands in the cup of one of your opponents. That is how you score. Each player takes turns attempting to score. Typically, these games are played one on one, but I wanted to make sure we can all play together, so it’s one on one on one. Free for all.

“When you score, your opponent has to drink the water inside that cup. In games where the cups have alcohol in them, this impairs the opponent’s playing abilities. The more you score against someone, the drunker they get. For our purposes, I am willing to let the scorer of the point take a sip of some beer. One bottle each shouldn’t be enough to impair any of us.

“Also so we can keep track of points, we will keep the empty cup at the feet of the person who scored in it. Whoever has the most empty cups before them at the end of the night wins… bragging rights.” Dad decided after a moment of hesitation. “Bathroom breaks are allowed at any point during the game, but your turn will be skipped for as long as you are away. Plan accordingly.

“That’s about it. Any questions?” 

Junior had one. “Can we score on ourselves? You know, throw the ball in the cups right in front of us?”

“Good question! No, you may not. Any ‘points’ you score on yourself will not be counted in your total. You also won’t drink from those cups, so they remain in play for your opponents to target.”

Opal also had a question. “If we run out of cups in front of us, can we still play?”

Dad had to think about that one. “I don’t think we’re going to make it that far tonight. I set up two dozen cups on each side, and I’ve seen beer pong games that took all night with just one dozen. Hmm…” he stroked his chin as he considered the possibilities, “I say yes. Otherwise two players could gang up on the third to knock them out of the game as early as possible. Let’s discourage you two from ganging up on your old man, shall we?”

“How do you know one of us wouldn’t team up with you?” Opal asked, a grin on half her face. “And who gets which color?”

Dad held his hands out in front of him, gesturing for them to each pick their own ball. “First come first served.”

Junior immediately took the gray ball. His position ensured his back faced the room’s fireplace. Perhaps a warm spot in the room, but one where the light was less likely to obscure his vision and more likely to hinder his opponents’. Opal saw through his strategy right away.

For herself, Opal chose the yellow ball. She was facing the window, or north. She would be able to see when night fell and the domes closed. Not so much a strategy as a distraction she liked to witness sometimes. After so many years, watching the domes close above her was as comforting as a blanket over her body. 

This left Dad with the green ball at the table nearly facing the fireplace. The flames reflected themselves in his glasses, giving his expression an extra layer of determination and fierceness. Once everyone had chosen their places, Dad disappeared into the food larder. He came back with three bottles of beer, setting one next to each person. “Who would like to make the first throw?”

“...I will,” Junior volunteered. He bent over the table, ball pinched between his fingers. He angled his ball so it would bounce on the center table.

Bounce right over the rows of cups in front of Dad, that is. The ball rolled away on the floor, forcing Junior to run over and retrieve it.

Next it was Opal’s turn. She’d never been good at throwing games. Darts with her brothers growing up were a nightmare, and not just because three of them could metalbend. Even Junior had scored more bullseyes than her, and that was before he got glasses.

She squinted, imagining her ball flying into Junior’s center cup in a single swift arc. She drew the ball back behind her head, then launched her yellow ball…

…Right into her brother’s face. It hit him square on the forehead. Junior winced, catching the ball as it bounced back down. “Are you trying to use me as a backboard? Do our rules allow that?”

“To avoid injuries and potential arguments, I will rule against human backboarding,” Dad decided. “Give your sister her ball back.”

Opal held out her hand towards Junior. He dropped the ball in her palm. They both returned to their stations to await their father’s next move.

Dad took notice of their anticipation. He laughed nervously. “Don’t think I’m going to be some master. I haven’t played this game since before Opal was born.”

Aiming carefully for a cup on Opal’s table, Dad bounced the ball on the center. It hit the rim of two wooden cups before bouncing again, onto the floor. “Drat.”

No one scored on their first try. That was normal for a new game, Opal supposed. She made it her goal to land the first point of the night when her turn came around.

For now, it was Junior’s turn again. This time, he also aimed for Opal’s table. Instead of overshooting like last time, his second toss lacked the force to land in any of the cups. It rolled over to the end of her table like a miniature bowling ball, though one incapable of knocking over any “pins.” He swore under his breath.

“Don’t get too upset, son. It takes time to learn the exact amount of force you need.”

Opal was back to the front of the line. She held the yellow ball tight in her fist, breathing deeply. She felt the air in her lungs push out through her nose and over her fingers. She imagined the air floating alongside her ball, guiding it on its path. Once she felt appropriately psyched up, she drew her hand down and gave the ball an underhanded toss. 

Immediately she knew she’d messed up. Instead of aiming for Junior or Dad’s cups, she’d thrown the ball straight ahead. What a waste of a turn!

Opal desperately pawed the air, willing the ball to correct course as it bounced off the center of their setup. Incredibly, it must have hit the very edge of the table just right, because the ball swerved towards Junior. It bounced a second time before reaching any cups, then landed on the floor.

“What was that?” Junior asked, imitating Opal’s hand motion. 

“I don’t know.” Opal shrugged it off, then ran to collect her ball. 

Dad waited for her to come back before commenting on the matter. “That was impressive, Opal. I’ve never seen anyone bounce a curveball in beer pong before. The closest thing I can think of is bouncing the ball off the side of one cup to land it in another, and that takes weeks of practice.”

“Well, I don’t know how I did it, so it probably won’t happen again.” Though now that both Dad and Junior had called attention to it, Opal was curious. How had the ball changed trajectories so easily? Could she do it again if she tried?

Her musing was interrupted by Dad scoring the first point of the night. He’d successfully landed his ball in one the cups closest to Opal, causing water to splash out of it. She blinked, startled, then applauded politely. “Good job, Dad!”

“Thank you.” Dad popped open his beer for the occasion. He gestured to the cup of water he had scored in. “Shall we drink together?”

Per the game rules, Opal lifted the cup with a ball in it from her side of the table. She returned the wet green ball to her father, raised the cup to her lips, and drank all the water inside. “Ahhh.”

Junior watched them drink in silence. A moment later, he added, “good job, Dad.”

Opal didn’t pay much attention to Junior’s turn. All her eyes registered was that he’d thrown the ball towards his father and missed. When it was her chance again, she once again drew in a deep breath. Opal mimicked the underhanded throw she had done earlier, this time aimed firmly towards her father’s cups. As the ball soared through the air, she flicked her fingers on both hands towards each other. 

Again instead of flying straight, the ball wiggled left, then right in the air. It caught the rim of the corner cup, knocking it off the table entirely. The water spilled at Dad’s feet. He jumped back in surprise. 

At first, everyone was quiet. Junior broke the silence with an open palm slapping the table, the vibrations sending ripples through everyone’s water. “Opal is cheating. I don’t know how, but she is.”

“I am not!” Opal protested. “Is it even possible to cheat at beer pong?”

“Clearly, it is. No one can throw a ball like that without there being other forces at play. It’s basic physics.”

Their dad was silent as Opal and Junior argued. He picked Opal’s ball up off the floor, tossing it back and forth between his hands. He held up his own ball for comparison, wordlessly checking the two for differences. Dad’s facial expression suggested he didn’t find any. 

“So because you know physics, you’re a master at how to throw a ball? Leave me alone.”

“Just because I don’t have the motion down yet doesn’t mean I don’t know what is and is not possible for a normal game. You’re acting outside the bounds, Opal!”

Next, their dad considered the natural air currents of the room. The fireplace running meant the chimney was open. The domes hadn’t closed yet, so it may be possible for wind to come through the opening. Dad walked behind his son, observing the flames for any sign of disturbance.

“Admit it: you’re a sore loser. You don’t like that I’m picking up the new game faster than you are.” Opal watched their dad out of the corner of her eye, curious to what his investigation would uncover.

“That isn’t true. I just want our game to be fair. Why is it so hard to get fairness in this house?”

She didn’t think she was cheating. Despite that, Opal didn’t have an explanation for the ball moving the way it had. If anyone knew how to explain strange or unusual phenomena, it was Dad. 

Dad arose from his crouched position besides the fireplace, shaking his head as he did. No wind from the outside to blame for the ball’s trajectory. What about wind from the inside?

But where would such wind come from? How was it this wind only struck during Opal’s turns? Why hadn’t it affected them before… or since?

Now he was murmuring to himself. Opal couldn’t make out the words, but the sound of their dad’s voice caught Junior’s attention. “What do you think, Dad? Do you think Opal is cheating at our game?”

Instead of answering Junior’s question directly, Dad handed Opal his ball. The green one. His tone was even as he spoke. Deceptively calm. “We’re going to pause our game for the moment. Try throwing this ball, Opal. Do exactly what you just did again.”

Opal gulped, accepting the ball from her father. Had she done something wrong? She threw the ball underhanded once again, watching as it sailed across the table in a clean arc. Nothing strange about that throw.

Dad retrieved the ball for her. As he returned it to her, he said, “Tthat isn’t what you did before. Add the hand motion back in.”

“What?”

“This thing,” Junior demonstrated the closing of his fists towards each other. “What was that, anyway?”

“I was just hoping the ball would fly straight,” Opal explained, blushing furiously. “It doesn’t have anything to do with how the ball moves in the air.” 

“Let’s be sure of that.” As before, Dad’s tone was low and tranquil. Opal wanted to find it comforting, but she couldn’t. “Try again.”

Opal breathed in deeply through her nose, exhaling loudly through her mouth. She was putting way too high stakes into this interaction. It was a family game night, not a criminal interrogation. Losing her first game of beer pong was not going to change her life forever. 

She threw the green ball a second time, this time repeating the hand motions. Opal dearly hoped nothing strange happened.

It was not to be. As with her throw in the game, the ball wiggled midair. First left, then right. 

But why?

Opal closed her fists again and again, watching them obsessively. The only thing she noticed was that her left hand closed a fraction of a second faster than her right. And here she had thought they moved as one.

As before, Dad retrieved the ball. Instead of making her repeat the experiment with the green ball once more, however, he took the gray ball from Junior and handed it to her. “Try again with this one. Make a different hand motion. This time, focus on making the ball change course.”

Opal took the gray ball in her hand. She held it up to her eye level, examining it. Aside from color, the ball was no different from the other two used in the game. Why did her father keep making her switch balls? Why did he think she was doing this on purpose? He didn’t really believe she was cheating at their game, did he?

Swallowing her growing sense of anxiety, Opal threw the ball yet again. Just as it left her reach, she swatted the air with her right hand. The ball followed the direction of her hand, as if pushed by an outside force.

But she hadn’t swatted that hard. Not hard enough for the air to move the ball like that, at least. What was going on here?

Opal turned to her father, voice faltering. “Dad? What’s happening to me?”

He covered his mouth with his hand, expression unreadable. Opal could barely hear his next words. “It shouldn’t be possible.”

“What shouldn’t be possible?” Junior asked. “What is Opal doing?”

Dad lowered his hand. He inched closer to Opal, laying an arm around her shoulders. She melted into his touch. “I’ve seen this in a game before. There was only one person I ever met who could make balls move midair in this way.

“His name was Aang. Avatar Aang once visited Zaofu when Junior was a baby. Toph was the second of his close friends to have a grandchild, and he wished to congratulate the family. He saw me playing this game with your mother and asked for a turn. His.…” Dad drew a deep breath in, as if preparing himself for what he was about to say. “His airbending made the game quite simple for him.”

Opal froze. She blinked, uncomprehending. What was her father saying? She shifted in his embrace, eyes searching for answers on his face.

Junior was just as shocked as Opal was, but he reached the conclusion before she could. “How can Opal be an airbender? No one in our family is.”

The deceivingly calm voice was back. Its vibrations rumbled through Opal’s cheek as she pressed her face into Dad’s side. “I don’t know. But we need to bring your mother home.”

Just then, a sharp knock came at the gaming parlor’s door. All three Beifongs gasped, turning around.

Through the door stepped a young male guard. “Fire out. Domes are about to go up. No trapping smoke in the–”

“Hold it!” Dad leapt forward, releasing Opal from his grip. She nearly lost her balance as he let her go. “I need you to run and intercept Suyin right away. She needs to come home right now!”

The guard drew back in surprise. “Why? Is everyone all right?”

“She needs to come home. I can’t let her go a whole week without hearing the news.”

“What news?”

Dad looked at Opal with a mix of pride and trepidation. “We have another bender in the family.”

Notes:

I imagine a version of this story has been written already, but I had fun with it nonetheless. First three chapters take place during early Book 3, and chapters 4 and the epilogue take place during the Zaofu arc of Book 3, when Korra and Co. arrive in the domed city. All chapters have been written and betaed, I just need to do final edits and post them.

We had a lot of creative freedom with Baatar Sr., as you may have noticed. I hope readers enjoy this take on a character who clings so often to the background of the scene. We also get to investigate more of what Baatar Jr. was doing during Book 3, where he had NO LINES. Headcanons away!

I will generate the series later, but this fic takes place in the same universe as "Parties of the Rich and Famous." The fics have almost nothing to do with each other (you don't need to read that to get this one), but my project partner (Cuileth) and I are building an AU and chose to start with fics of minimal canon divergence.

Hope you're enjoying the story so far! I will post the next chapter shortly.

Chapter 2: The Gift

Opal waited with her father and brother for Mom to return. While Dad and Junior put the pieces of their game away, Opal sat in a chair pulled up to the still-burning fire, shivering despite the warmth. 

She didn’t understand what was happening to her. She didn’t feel any different than she had yesterday. What had changed inside her?

How could she be an airbender? All the airbenders had died over a century ago… all except for one: Avatar Aang. And Aang had died a couple years before Opal was born. After he passed, the only airbenders were his son and grandkids… or so Opal had thought. 

Aside from the Avatar, bending was supposed to be hereditary. As far as she knew, there were no airbenders on the Beifong family tree, not even from the generations before the war. The only possibility that came to Opal’s mind was her dad’s family. Beishan was close to the Northern Air Temple, after all.

“Dad?” she asked him.

“What is it, Opal?” 

“Did your parents ever tell you about Air Nomads in the family?”

He shook his head. “They were neighbors for centuries. I guess it could have been possible there was… intermingling. But Beishan had a history of not liking their neighbors in the temple. They didn’t like how they would occasionally interrupt the wolfboar hunt or how none of their people believed in traditional marriage. They didn’t realize how much they would miss having the Air Nomads around until after the Fire Nation killed them. At least, that’s how the oral history from the village elders goes.

“If there was a child in our family sired by an Air Nomad, your ancestor wouldn’t have said a word about it. And it wouldn’t explain how we went so many generations without another airbender in the family, either.”

Opal groaned. That wasn’t the comparatively simple answer she’d been looking for. Alas, her father raised a logical point: why had it taken so many generations for the ability to make a reappearance? Why had it manifested at sixteen when three of her siblings could bend by age five?

She held the yellow ball from their game between two fingers. Tossing it slightly in the air, she twirled her finger in a spinning motion. Opal wanted to see how long she could keep the ball in the air.

As had happened the last ten times she tried this, the ball stayed in the air for a few seconds. Just long enough to defy a nonbender’s expectations. But Opal’s motions weren’t consistent or coordinated enough to keep the ball still, and it would always fall back into her lap. One time, the ball had bounced off her knee. She had hastily snatched her toy back before it landed in the fire. 

Opal shook her head. Part of her still thought this was an elaborate joke. She would wake up the next morning normal again, and this would all just be a crazy story from family game night. She reached for her bottle of beer from the game and drank freely. It was a pity they hadn’t used beer for all the cups. 

As if sensing her spiraling thoughts, Dad walked up to Opal from behind and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t in trouble, Opal. You haven’t done anything wrong. I know change can be hard, but your family is coming home to get you through it.” He squeezed her shoulder affectionately.

Opal looked up. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Junior emptying the water from their cups into a large bowl. She laid her hand over her father’s. Their fingers laced together, then squeezed as one. “I love you, Dad.”

“We love you too, Opal.” He bent over to kiss her forehead, the whisper of stubble tickling her skin. She closed her eyes, soaking in the comfort as if she were still a small child. When he pulled away, Opal’s hand lingered on her shoulder. 

The rest of the evening passed unbearably slowly. Opal watched the fire fade into embers. When she started shivering again, Dad laid a woven blanket over her chest. He and Junior pulled up chairs of their own, sitting next to her in silence. 

Out the window, the shine of the moon and stars stayed visible on the Beifong estate. To compensate for the possible security vulnerability while they waited for their governor to return, the guards patrolled the grounds in roving laps. The moonlight lit up their armor like liquid silver. 

Opal couldn’t make out anything they may have said from so far away, but she wondered if they knew about her already. Had the one guard told the rest why Mom was coming home? Did everyone on the estate know? Was Opal going to have to field their questions for the next month? The thought made her head spin. Opal didn’t have a lot of experience being the center of attention, and every opportunity she’d gotten had been colossally embarrassing. 

Mom, Huan, Wing, and Wei returned to the Beifong estate shortly after midnight. As luck would have it, they had just set up camp for the night when a squad of Zaofucian guards called them back. Their race to the Beifong estate had been swift. 

As the guards raised the domes hours later than normal, Opal, Junior, and Dad listened for Mom’s entry into the manor. All three of them were drifting in a state between asleep and awake, bodies frozen to their chairs. There had been no point in trying to sleep. Mom would have woken them up anyway, what with news like this.

“Where is she? Where is my incredible daughter?” Mom called from the entrance.

Opal rose from her chair, letting her blanket fall unceremoniously to the ground. She debated whether to call her in or run to her, but Dad made the choice before she could decide. “We’re in here, Suyin!”

The doors burst open. Mom ran inside, tackling her daughter with a frantic embrace. Opal gasped for air as her mother shook her from side to side. “There you are. My beautiful girl. I always knew you could do it.”

Really? Mom always knew Opal would airbend one day? What did she know that Opal didn’t? She wiggled out of her vice grip to ask, “What do you mean, Mom?” 

Mom replaced her hug with two hands on Opal’s arms, running her fingers up and down the long sleeves as she spoke a mile a minute. “The guards told me you’re a bender now! Tell me everything about what happened. Did you raise the ground? Did you bend the spoons at dinner? I can’t believe I saw every child’s first bending except yours! I’m so sorry I missed it, dear. It just came so… so late. Why?”

Oh. Opal understood the confusion now. They hadn’t told the guard what type of bender Opal was, had they? It was natural he’d assumed earth and metal. 

“Mom… I’m an airbender.”

Her jaw dropped. Mom released Opal’s arms, her own hanging awkwardly outstretched where she’d let go. “I… sweetheart. Air? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom. I’m sure.” Opal showed her the trick she’d been practicing with her little ball. This time, the ball stayed in the air a full five seconds before its rotation broke form. Opal didn’t manage to catch the ball as it fell, so it bounced away after hitting the ground, landing at Huan’s feet.

Mom watched the display with rapt attention. When it was over, she shook her head as if escaping a trance. It was a long moment before she spoke. “Well. That is airbending. How long have you been able to do that, Opal?”

“I didn’t know I could until today. Dad, Junior, and I were playing a game. It just… happened.”

Mom pursed her lips, thinking through the possibilities. “Well, if you had airbending in your bloodline all along, then it shouldn’t have taken so long to appear. Your brothers presented so early. They were traditional cases when it came to earthbending. Is it normal for airbending to present later?”

“I don’t see how it could be.” Dad stood to join his wife by her side. “Avatar Aang could bend from a young age. He said his one airbending child presented at age four.”

“Maybe Harmonic Convergence really did change the world,” Huan suggested. He walked over to Opal, giving the ball back to her. “The farmers on the land we passed through said the air has smelled different since then. They must know if they spend all day outside, right?”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Wing complained. “If Harmonic Convergence could bring the airbenders back, why didn’t Avatar Aang go through it? He wanted his people back, didn’t he?”

“Harmonic Convergence happens once every ten thousand years. Avatar Aang couldn’t choose when it happened. And he would have been too old to fight Vaatu if he’d stayed alive for it,” Huan argued back. “Besides, how could he have known this would happen? You really think a guy like Avatar Aang would have risked the destruction of the whole world just for the chance to see airbenders again? He already had a son who could do it!”

“I think we’re getting off topic,” Dad stepped in between Huan and Wing before their debate could continue. “Did the four of you hear anything else about Harmonic Convergence causing strange things to happen?”

Mom shook her head. “Nothing directly from that. Plenty of spirits messing around with humans, though. No one said anything about airbending.”

They turned to face Opal as one. She squirmed under the combined attention of all her parents and siblings. As if sensing her discomfort, Mom clapped her hands together, plastering a smile onto her face. “Well, it’s late, dear. We don’t need to get to the bottom of this tonight. Why don’t we just celebrate this gift for what it is?”

Mom took Opal’s hands in her own. It looked like they were standing before an altar together. “Opal, I’ve always known you would do incredible things one day. This may be the first incredible thing of many! You know, airbending is even rarer than metalbending in our world today. You could be part of a new generation!”  Mom gave Opal another tight hug. When she let go, she gestured for her sons to come closer. “Come on, boys. Congratulate your sister.”

Huan reached her first. His eyes were sunken underneath his tangled black mane, suggesting he had been asleep when the news first reached them. Even after the race back home, he still didn’t look awake. “Congratulations, Opal.”

“Thanks, Huan.” Opal didn’t know what else to say. 

Next to approach her were the twins. They reached Opal at the same time, each sticking a hand out to shake. Opal used both hands to shake them as one, laughing inside at the silliness of it all. Wei added to the amusement with his best impression of a radio announcer: “Congratulations on your new bending talents, big sister! Tell me: will you be joining us in the training dojo tomorrow?”

Training? What kind of training could Opal get here? No one in Zaofu knew how to bend air. She just shrugged, releasing the twins’ hands. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see what Mom has planned for me.”

Junior was the last to approach Opal. It was then she realized that he hadn’t said a word since Mom returned. Junior had a habit of not speaking much around the whole family. He was livelier in one on one conversations. 

He stopped a foot away from her, eyes staring past Opal. His voice was low, spoken only for Opal to hear. “Congratulations. You can bend.”

Opal straightened. It didn’t seem as exciting coming from Junior. It sounded like he was having as hard a time believing it as she was. “I can.”

“And what about you, Junior?” Mom turned to him, as if just remembering he was also present. “Do you have anything you’d like to tell or show us?” 

Junior’s eyes widened to the size of his glass lenses. Now it was his turn to stiffen. He turned to face Mom like a deermoose caught in carriage lights. His voice was barely above a whisper. “No?”

No one had anything to say to that. Junior pulled back, ducking his head into his broad shoulders and long robe. He looked like someone had poured cold water down the back of his shirt.

Dad frowned, shaking his head just enough for Mom to see it. Mom realized too late the embarrassment she’d caused her son. “Well, that’s okay too, dear. Every child is different. We all have our talents.” She leaned over to pat Junior on the elbow. He flinched at her touch. 

Unsure of how to salvage the situation, Mom turned the conversation back towards Opal. “I’ll ask around tomorrow if anyone knows more about late bloomers. Some of the Zaofu historians have old airbending scrolls from before the war in their possession. We can ask to borrow them and look for bending instructions. 

“Oh! And I’ll ask my friends in other states if they’ve seen any airbenders pop up recently. Maybe Huan is right about Harmonic Convergence shifting the balance of the world.” Mom pursed her lips, then smiled. “It’s a strange new world out there. And it’s come to reach us in the best way possible!”

“Wait. Are you going to tell everyone in Zaofu about me? Everyone in the Earth Kingdom?” Opal paled at the thought. And she’d been worried about the guards gossiping about her. “Shouldn’t we wait, Mom?”

“Why?” Mom asked. “All bending is a gift. Because of the war and its tragedy, air is the rarest element of all. Even after the war ended, our only airbender was the Avatar.”

“None of us were alive when this happened, but it was news all over the world when Avatar Aang had an airbending son. He was the first airbender to be born in over a hundred years! There are old newspapers out there celebrating what his talents meant for the world.” Dad reminisced. “My entire hometown traveled to the Northern Air Temple when Avatar Aang visited with a young Tenzin. My mother was upset that she was too pregnant to make the trip, and she demanded my father stay behind with her. They were both sad to miss the opportunity.”

“So people thought all airbenders had to come from Avatar Aang, right?” Huan asked. “Only his children and their children could make airbenders. What does it mean if that isn’t true anymore?”

“Good things.” Mom’s response was automatic. “It means airbenders will return to our world at a rate much faster than previously believed. Having all four elements in the world will help us return to a balance no one alive has ever lived with. Your sister is going to be part of that balance.”

Opal felt dizzy. Her head was spinning with all this talk of world news and global balance. It was far too much far too soon.

Wasn’t this what she had wanted? To be part of something bigger than just herself? It would make a big difference in the Earth Kingdom if airbenders started living among them. 

This just… wasn’t what she had meant when she thought about making a difference. Opal didn’t want to be known for who she was: Beifong, airbender, whatever. She wanted to be known for what she did. Who she helped and the values she embodied through her actions. That was what being raised as a nonbender had taught her. Her deeds would live beyond any trait she acquired at birth. The design and execution of Zaofu’s domes would live beyond Dad, after all.

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?” Opal asked, letting a yawn slip through for emphasis. “We want to make sure this airbending is permanent first, don’t we?”

“Of c– why wouldn’t it be permanent?” Mom began to agree, then stopped. “Bending is a lifelong gift. It doesn’t go away on its own. And no one is going to take it away from you, Opal. Not while you’re under Zaofu’s protection.” 

No, of course not. It would be far too selfish to deprive the world of an airbender. Opal hadn’t had time to consider if she wanted her old life back, nor should she linger on the question. It wouldn’t lead her anywhere.

“I know, Mom. I’m just tired. I wanted to stay up to tell you, but I’m not used to being awake past midnight.” 

Mom’s expression softened. She gave Opal another hug, this one far gentler. “Of course, dear. I know this isn’t something you could have expected to happen. I’m just as surprised as you are. Surprised, and overcome with joy. You’re a wonderful girl, Opal. I’m proud that you’re my daughter.”

Those words nearly brought tears to Opal’s eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time her mother had been proud of her. It must have been years.

She returned her mom’s embrace. “Thanks, Mom.”

Mom held her there for a moment, rubbing her palm up and down Opal’s back. When Mom pulled away, she turned to her sons to dismiss them. “Alright, boys. Go to your rooms. You can unpack in the morning if you’re too tired tonight. Our visit to your grandmother is canceled pending further notice.”

The twins groaned. Huan crossed his arms, using his hair to hide the smile growing on his face. Opal spun in a circle looking for Junior’s reaction, only to realize he wasn’t in the room anymore. Where did he go? When had he left? 

As Huan, Wing, and Wei left for their bedrooms, Dad approached Opal one more time that night. He kept his voice low while he spoke to her. “You should get some sleep, too. Tomorrow’s going to be very different from what you’re used to. I don’t know the next time you’ll be available for a game night with Junior and me.”

Opal’s face fell at the idea. Now, she regretted mocking their game nights as childish. She tried to smile through the realization that she could lose that part of her life. “I guess that means you won our first and only game of water pong.”

“I still have it in me,” he quipped back, not smiling back. His eyes looked as tired as Opal felt. “Goodnight, Opal.” 

He walked away before Opal could say goodnight back, stopping only to address Mom. The exchange left Opal feeling empty inside. Like all the warmth Dad had had for her that evening had burnt out. 

She was the last one to leave the game parlor. When she passed Junior’s bedroom door, the room was already dark. Opal frowned, confused. Junior never fell asleep that quickly. The man was a textbook insomniac. 

Did he not want to talk to her? Opal raised her first to knock, then hesitated. It was really late, if not by Junior’s standards. Given how much trouble he had falling asleep, he probably wouldn’t like it if she woke him up. Maybe it could wait until morning.

Rushing to get ready for bed, Opal finally crashed at half past one. Her dreams were littered with visions of people in yellow dancing among the clouds.

Chapter 3: The Gulf

The next morning flew by in a whirlwind for Opal. As promised, her mom asked everyone she knew for more information about airbenders, airbending, and delayed presentation in benders. From what they could gather in the airbending scrolls owned by historians (which were not easy to read given the archaic dialect), the first thing a new airbender needed to do was realize their element was everywhere. This was easy for earthbenders, who had the ground beneath them everywhere they walked. Waterbenders had to be a bit more creative in dry environments, but there was a reason they lived on ice and next to oceans. Meanwhile, firebenders had songs and poems about their love of the sun in the sky, the fire that never truly went out.  

But air was in more places than even that. Air was in every room Opal had ever visited. Air traveled in and out of her lungs every few seconds. Air was omnipresent, yet it was also an invisible element. People only saw the air when it acted on something else. The trick to airbending was not to see the visible object on which the air acted, but to sense the air itself. Opal shouldn’t look at the ball she was trying to float in the air, but focus on the air current keeping gravity from taking its course. Airbenders’ focus on the unseen parts of the world made it easy for them to transfer the philosophy to spiritualism. Hence why they had been known for being monks and gurus.

As for the news from other states… It turned out Huan was right. Harmonic Convergence had turned nonbenders into airbenders all over the world. The greatest number of cases so far had been reported in Republic City, but there was news of the phenomenon in Omashu, Gaoling… even places as distant and remote as the Si Wong desert. It was still unknown why certain people gained the ability and not others. For all Opal knew, it was completely random. 

“So it’s not as rare as we might have thought,” Mom actually sounded disappointed at this news, then turned her perspective around. “That just means you have a lot of people who understand what you’re going through, dear!”

Did that mean Opal would meet any of them? Well, not right away. Mom wanted to see what knowledge she could impart from earth and metalbending first. According to Mom, she had already made alterations to the traditional earthbending styles by incorporating the more fluid motions of water and air into her teachings. Maybe there were more opportunities for transferability than one would expect to find from opposite elements.

Besides, she wanted a chance to connect with Opal the way she had with three of her sons before. Mom wanted to train Opal in the dojo. Having never joined Mom in training before, Opal wasn’t sure what to expect. Part of her was afraid she was going to get jumped in a sparring session.

“Go easy on me, please,” she begged before they began. Wing and Wei snickered from their place in the gallery. Their presence only made Opal more nervous.

Mom paused her application of sports bandages to her wrists. She took note of her daughter’s terrified face and softened. “Sweetheart, we aren’t going to try any fighting moves today. I just want to help you feel more connected to the element. Bending is more than hitting people with rocks… or wind, in your case. It’s about having a connection to the natural and spiritual world. A connection more people are finding now that spirits live among us again.”

Upon hearing Mom’s lecture (and realizing they weren’t going to watch their sister get pelted with rocks), Wing and Wei got bored and left to play their game outside. Mom didn’t tell them to leave, but she allowed herself a private smile as the door closed behind them. Opal breathed a sigh of relief.

The first thing they focused on was centering the self. They performed warm up stretches together. Then, Opal zeroed in on her balance while her mother tested her with distractions ranging from tickling to tripping. Already, Mom’s first attempt to trip Opal was successful. Opal yelped as her butt landed on the thinly padded floor.

Mom extended a hand to lift Opal up. “If you were an earthbender, I would tell you to stand your ground. Push back if you must. But those scrolls make it sound like you need to dodge me. Step away, but keep your balance.” She frowned, eyes growing wistful. “Maybe if you had stayed in my dancing troupe this would be a quicker lesson.”

Opal rolled her eyes. She had tried to join the dancers back when she was thirteen. The activity of dancing was nice enough, but Opal never felt included in the dance troupe. Not even among the girls her own age. 

For one, their routines made heavy use of metalbending to move sculptures alongside the dancers. The bending was beautiful… and impossible for Opal to do. About half the dancers were metalbenders, and they tended to dominate the lead roles in performances. Nonbending dancers were only there to support the leads in most productions.

More importantly, the dancers acted like an exclusive clique of mean girls to Opal. They tolerated her when Mom was around, but not a single one of them had ever tried to befriend Opal after practice. The dancers went shopping and partied together all the time, and Opal never saw any of it. Their inside jokes cut like the edge of the metal props she would sometimes brush against during practice. Opal had quit after a year.

All that wasn’t to say Opal had gained nothing from her dance lessons. She positioned her feet square beneath her shoulders, toes pointing slightly outwards. The next time Mom came for her, she treated it like a dance where the two performers never touched. In her stepwork, Opal became aware of the air between her and her mother, the way it moved around their bodies. She quickly found it felt far more intuitive to move along with the current instead of against it. 

Pleased with her progress, Mom picked up the pace, putting Opal’s reflexes to the test as she dodged one jab after another. She knew if Mom brought her bending into this, the exercise would become impossible. 

A drop of sweat fell from Opal’s brow. She panted, hot breath blowing against the current of her movements. Opal reached out to the current around her, begging it to lend her speed, to carry  her further and faster than Opal could move on her own.

The air answered her call, wrapping around Opal as she danced out of her mother’s way. Mom must have felt it; she couldn’t reach her as easily now. She paused her assault, eyes glowing with pride. “You’re doing it, Opal. You’re connecting with the element.”

She was, wasn’t she? Opal laughed, joy hitting her for the first time since last night. She hadn’t thought bending would be this fun! She bounced around the dojo, the airflows of the room carrying her along. When Opal jumped, the air held her like a harness, keeping her aloft a second longer than normal. She cheered with delight before landing back in front of her mother.

“Why don’t we pause our session for now?” Mom suggested. “Are you getting hungry, Opal?”

She was, now that Mom mentioned it. Opal bounced over to the dojo entrance, eager for lunch. They still had plenty of roasted cowpig left over from Dad’s cooking last night. The thought of getting seconds made her mouth water. 

Mom and Opal served themselves leftover meat wrapped in bread. The kitchen staff wouldn’t be back for a few days; Dad had promised them some vacation while most of the family was gone, and Mom didn’t want to break that promise to them. 

Soon after they sat down, Wing and Wei came to join them. Wei took one look at what Opal was eating and snorted. “I thought airbenders were vegetarian.”

Opal paused in the middle of chewing. She had completely forgotten about that. She swallowed, the juice of the meat staining her mouth. “Do I have to give up meat now?”

“No, not now,” Mom reassured Opal with a hand on her shoulder. “That’s something you can decide later when you learn more about airbending and what it means to live as a bender in their culture.”

And with that, airbending was back to not being fun. Opal already had a culture. She had grown up in Zaofu all her life. Her culture included a love of education. An endless pursuit of new possibilities. The determination to unlock an individual’s full potential. She was willing to embrace new ideas, but the thought of giving up her old ones scared her.

Why did being a bender dictate what beliefs a person could have? They were all people at the end of the day. Didn’t it make more sense for a person to decide for themselves what their philosophy would be?

Wing laughed, picking up where his brother left off. “Are you going to shave your head too, Opal? You’ll look like a man!”

“No!” Opal covered her hair with her hands, eyes widening in fear. “Not my hair.”

“Boys, if you can’t be nice to your sister, you aren’t allowed to eat lunch with us. I will send both of you to your rooms,” Mom scolded them. 

Both of the twins immediately fell in line. They hung their heads and spoke as one. “Sorry, Mom.”

“And what do you say to your sister?”

“...Sorry, Opal.”

“Thanks, you two,” Opal accepted their apology. She tried to continue eating her lunch, but the cowpig meat didn’t taste as good as it had a minute ago. Now Opal felt like she was going to get in trouble for eating it. For enjoying the food her father poured his love into last night.

Speaking of Dad… “Where is everyone else?”

Mom shrugged, waiting to swallow before she responded. “I saw Huan in the garden earlier. He’s been inspired to craft a new sculpture. Your father said he had a new project underway in his lab. I assume Junior is in there with him, though I haven’t seen him at all today.”

Opal hadn’t seen Junior either, now that she thought about it. That alone wasn’t unusual; Junior could go a long time without being seen if he wanted to. But usually when he hid it was for a reason. Someone had embarrassed him, or the twins were trying to prank him again. His personal record was two weeks before Mom ordered the guards to flush him out. They had to make sure he was both alive and in Zaofu.

Opal still wanted to talk to Junior about last night. She’d missed her chance after all the craziness went down. Today was shaping up to ensure Opal never got a moment to herself, either. If she wanted to check Junior’s usual haunts, she would need to find a way to escape Mom first. 

And Opal wasn’t ready to do that yet. She couldn’t remember the last time Mom had spent more than an evening or an afternoon with her. Running Zaofu was a lot of work, and when Mom did want to spend time with her kids, she usually chose the ones who shared her interests. Anything else felt like a task Mom checked off her to do list at the end of the month. 

It wasn’t that Mom didn’t love all five of her children. She was just always busy. That was what Dad always said, and he was no stranger to busyness either. Opal believed him for the most part.

When lunch was over, Opal followed Mom back to the dojo for another round of exercises. This time, Mom wanted to use her bending to replicate something she had observed on Air Temple Island in her youth. Her plan took a few minutes to set up, so Mom made Opal wait outside while she made her preparations. 

“Okay, come back inside!” Opal followed her mother’s voice. Hanging from the ceiling in the dojo was an obstacle course of rectangular metal sheets. Each sheet was spread just far enough apart that they wouldn’t hit each other while spinning. 

“On Air Temple Island, the airbenders blow wind through their obstacle course to make the panels spin. The challenge is to make it from one end to the other without being hit.” Mom paused to consider the setup. “Their obstacle course uses wood, I think, but I can’t bend that, so we’ll make a substitution.”

Opal performed terribly at the exercise. She tried to follow the air currents around the spinning sheets, but the current was too twisted. It changed too quickly for her to keep up. Opal copped several blows from the metal pieces, leaving bruises all over her limbs and back.

She could see why real airbenders used wood. Even though the sheets were thin, they still packed quite the punch while spinning rapidly. Perhaps also relevant was that the real exercise used air to move the obstacles. An airbender who paid attention to the currents could follow the path laid out for them. In obstacles manipulated by bending, the correct path was less clear. If it even existed.

After just one attempt, Mom stopped the spinning. She ran over to check on Opal. “That… looked like it was very difficult. You didn’t get any cuts, did you, dear?”

Opal rolled up her sleeves and skirt, looking for any signs of the skin breaking. She only found bruises. “I don’t think so.”

“We don’t need to do that again. Not today.” Mom soothed Opal with fingers through her daughter’s hair. “I’m sorry, Opal. I’m trying everything I can think of to help you.”

“I know.” Opal smiled reassuringly. She didn’t want Mom to give up just yet. “Do you want to try meditation together? I’ve done a few guided sessions before.”

Mom returned her smile, the corners of her grin leaving wrinkles around her eyes. “That sounds really nice, dear. We’ve had a lot to think about today. I suppose it is time to clear our heads.”

While Mom took down her impromptu obstacle course, Opal returned to the main Beifong mansion to fetch mats they could sit on. She thought it would be nice if they meditated in the garden together. The scrolls had said an important part of airbending was connecting with the flow of nature, after all. What better way to do that than to be among plants under the open sky?

On her way to the garden gazebo, Opal passed by Huan. He was wrangling a steel support beam taller than both of them combined into a near circular shape. Opal took special notice of Huan’s stance, how both feet pointed outwards and remained firmly connected to the ground. The sleeves of his robe were rolled back, revealing the physical strain bending put on his arms. Huan groaned with exertion. He didn’t notice Opal watching him, even though she was clearly standing in his line of sight.

Opal waited for Huan to put the beam down before calling attention to herself. She didn’t want him to drop the heavy metal on himself. “Hi Huan. What are you making?”

“A tribute to the open spirit portals on both ends of our earth.” He could barely speak through the panting. “The charge in the air outside Zaofu inspired me. We live in a new world, Opal.” He paused to catch his breath. “I guess you knew that already.”

Not everyone could understand Huan when he caught the fever of inspiration. It was easy for him to lose track of time when passion hit. Despite that, Opal admired his dedication to bringing new things into the world., his refusal to pursue dominant standards of realism in his art. In a way, Huan was just as much an inventor as their dad. “I’m excited to see your piece when you finish it.”

“Thanks,” he breathed, finally taking note of the mats under Opal’s arms. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m getting ready to meditate.”

Huan raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you meditate? Turning airbender doesn’t mean you have to turn into Avatar Aang, does it?”

“I’ve meditated before!” Opal objected. “Just because the air nomads invented most of the meditation forms doesn’t mean they own it.”

“Maybe not, but you’re still doing it to be like them,” Huan argued. “You shouldn’t feel the need to conform so much. Not every bender of an element has to be just like all the others. You should be yourself, Opal.”

That… was strangely kind of Huan to say. It reminded Opal of what she had been thinking about at lunch. Nice to know there was someone else who shared her perspective. “Thanks, Huan. I still want to try more air nomad things, but I won’t forget what you said.” 

Huan shrugged. “Okay.” He looked at his sculpture in progress, then at Opal again. “This is going to be loud. You should probably meditate somewhere else.”

In other words: get lost. Opal received the message clearly. She said a quick goodbye to her brother, then took her mats to the other end of the garden. The one littered with life size statues of her grandmother, each bent into existence over a decade ago by the woman herself. This wasn’t her favorite part of the garden, but the hedges did muffle the noise of Huan bending metal. 

Opal shook out both mats, laying each one flat on the ground a couple feet apart. It took Mom a few minutes to find her, but once she did, they sat down together and prepared to meditate the afternoon away.

“This was a good idea,” Mom said. “I can’t remember the last time I did this. We always stay so busy here in Zaofu.”

“Yeah,” Opal agreed. “I’m glad we have a reason to do things together today.”

Mom looked over to face Opal, mouth open in shock. “Sweetheart, you didn’t need to become an airbender to spend time with me. We always spend time together.”

Not entirely true, but Opal didn’t think now was the time to argue. “Of course, Mom. Are we ready to start?”

Mom furrowed her brow. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to press the issue. Then her expression relaxed. She must have decided to drop it. Mom crossed her legs on the blanket and held her palms open at her sides. “Let us begin.”

Opal tried to focus on the slow breaths and rhythms of meditation. She really did. Her mind was just too clogged with thoughts. Hearing Huan work in the distance made her think about what he’d said to her. About how she should be her own person as a bender. 

Which of course made her think about what Wing and Wei had said to her at lunch. About how she needed to change her lifestyle to fit her new abilities. No meat, no hair. Opal wasn’t ready to take either leap. 

She liked the feeling of airbending. She wanted to learn more about the skill and grow her new ability. Did she have to change who she was to do that? Would she have to leave home to learn more? There was only so much Mom could teach her from scrolls. In Republic City, there lived a family of airbenders who had been part of the culture all their lives. What if she joined them? 

Would this be the way Mom finally allowed a child to leave Zaofu? Would Opal succeed where Junior had failed in finding a calling beyond the domes?

Opal frowned, then forced her expression to smoothen. Junior… she still needed to find him. She wanted to talk to him about what was happening to her. About the changes happening in the Earth Kingdom. After all their years of being left at home together, Opal felt like she could talk to Junior about anything. Him and Dad both. 

As for why she hadn’t seen him around the mansion… well, Mom had embarrassed him last night. He was probably going to avoid her for the next few days. If Opal found some time away from Mom, she could probably track him down. She would check Dad’s workshop first.

Opal sighed, content with her plan of action. Now that she’d sorted through her thoughts, she could try to use meditation for its intended purpose. She turned her mind towards the breath in her lungs, the slight breeze on her skin, the soft glow of the sun on her face. All was peaceful. 

Her reverie broke when the clank of metal armor came marching towards them. A guard. Opal screwed her eyes shut, refusing to open them for the interruption.

Mom had no such refusal. “Captain. Is something wrong?”

Oh. Not just any guard, then. Kuvira. Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

“You missed the security briefing this morning. Aiwei and I waited as long as we could for you.”

“Ah, that.” Mom didn’t sound concerned. “My apologies for not sending word to either of you. My early return to Zaofu does not mean I have returned to our regular check ins. I continue to leave security matters in your and Aiwei’s hands while I tend to my daughter.”

Unable to resist temptation, Opal cracked open one eye to see Kuvira’s reaction. The thick eyebrows on Kuvira’s face creased at the mention of Opal before returning to blank professionalism. “The rumors are true, then. You gave birth to four benders.”

“I did,” Mom confirmed, smiling wide. Both of her eyes were open. “I don’t think I deserve all the credit for Opal here, though. We still don’t know exactly how she gained her airbending."

Kuvira turned to look at Opal for the first time in that conversation. Opal was quick to close her eye before Kuvira’s gaze landed on her. “I see. Is there anything the guards can do to help your new airbender fly?”

Somehow, Mom missed the mocking undertones of the question. She took it as completely genuine. “Not at the moment, but thank you, Kuvira. You’ve always been so good to this family.”

“Anything to return the favor.” Her armor creaked as Kuvira bowed. Opal listened as the woman responsible for her family’s safety stomped away in thinly disguised anger.

Once Kuvira was out of earshot, Mom shifted back to Opal. “Shall we continue?”

Opal shook her head, opened her eyes, and stood up. She didn’t feel like meditating anymore. Not out here where anyone could walk up to them. “Actually, I want to go see Dad. I’ll eat dinner with you later, and we can keep training tomorrow. Is that okay, Mom?”

“Of course it’s okay, dear.” Mom stood up as well, then bent over to collect their mats. “I know this is a lot for you. You can just let me know when you need rest or time alone. Tell your father I said hello.” 

“I will.” With her promise, Opal left her mother’s side for the first time that day. She crossed the Beifong estate to the far side of their dome. The workshop was inside a tall, soundproofed building where Dad worked on so many of his repairs, inventions, and experiments. As far as Opal was concerned, it was a step below spirits in terms of being magical.

She knocked on the door. No one answered. That was normal if Dad was working on something loud, though. She carefully opened the door, vigilant for sparks or flying debris.

Nothing. Dad wasn’t there. Neither was Junior. The only people inside were their “long term visitors,” Zhu Li and Varrick. They leaned over a set of blueprints, talking passionately among themselves. Or rather, Varrick was talking. Zhu Li was mostly nodding and listening.

Not interested in talking to either of the foreigners, Opal closed the door as quietly as she could. She spent the rest of the afternoon searching the city for her father and brother, but spotted neither man. It didn’t help that everywhere she looked, another Zaofu resident stopped her to ask questions about airbending. From childhood friends to new arrivals, everyone wanted to hear her story. It was from them that Opal learned she was the only airbender to appear in Zaofu.  No matter where she went, there were always people running up to her, ruining her search for Dad and Junior. 

Neither one showed up for dinner, though Huan did. Mom still didn’t seem concerned. She claimed she’d sent food to the workshop for everyone inside to enjoy.

When Opal checked Junior’s door at the end of the day, the light inside was still dark. Gathering up her courage, Opal knocked on Junior’s door.

Silence. She knocked again. Was he ignoring her? 

Swallowing her concerns, Opal opened the door just enough to peek inside. “Junior?”

Nothing. Opal opened the door further. She walked over to Junior’s desk. It was covered in papers, sketches, and ink stains, but the chair next to it was vacant.

She turned to the bed on the other side of the room. Made and untouched since at least that morning. 

Where was he? Now Opal was getting concerned.

Chapter 4: The Goodbye

Notes:

This chapter takes place during Book 3, Episodes 5, 6, and beginning of 8. I summarize the events of the episodes where needed for understanding, but I don't go into too much detail because I'm not trying to transcribe canon. With that in mind...

As the days extended past a week, it became increasingly obvious Opal needed outside help to learn airbending. For all that Mom tried to train her, there were some lessons that didn’t transfer between elements. This was a hard truth for Mom to accept, but it was one Opal had suspected since the first night. Opal wasn’t sure how they told the airbenders in Republic City about her, but Mom must have made the call somehow.

What came next was the most eventful day in Opal’s life so far. Not only did she meet Avatar Korra, but Korra gave her her first true airbending lesson! If this was how all airbending lessons would go, Opal was excited to continue them. 

As if meeting the Avatar wasn’t exciting enough, Korra traveled with Bolin, the famous mover actor from the Nuktuk series! The guy was even more handsome in person. Opal was too shy to tell him she’d seen every episode of the mover series, but she was glad when they got a chance to talk about other things. 

Then, of course, there was the matter of Lin Beifong. Opal’s aunt. Because Mom never spoke to her sister, Opal had never met her aunt before. At first, she was excited to learn she would have family with her if she left for Republic City, but the more time she spent with Lin, the less interested her aunt seemed in getting to know her. It was hard not to take Lin’s prickliness personally. 

Among things that were hard not to take personally… Junior made a reappearance at dinner the night Avatar Korra arrived. He made no mention of where he had been for the last several days, nor did Opal get a chance to question him about it. He and Dad simply ran away to pursue a “breakthrough” on installing tram stations between the domes. That was what both men had been up to since the canceled retreat, it seemed.

Much like Huan, Dad and Junior could get carried away when the lightning of inspiration struck. Such events often made them hard to locate or hold to a consistent schedule. Usually, Opal didn’t mind, but considering how much she’d been wanting to talk to both of them, their persistent absence rankled her. 

Junior still wasn’t sleeping in his room. Opal had once again gotten brave enough to barge in there last night because she wanted to tell him she could be leaving Zaofu soon. Nothing. The bed was made and cold, like it hadn’t been touched in the last week. Opal knew Dad kept a cot in his workshop, but it was rare even for them to stay overnight. Furthermore, the cot could only fit one person. They couldn’t both be using it. 

Even in their busiest of times, Dad and Junior never went this long without talking to her. It felt deliberate at this rate. Like they were intentionally isolating themselves from Opal and the rest of the family. 

Opal couldn’t mope during dinner. She had to be a good hostess to the guests. As much as she enjoyed talking to Bolin, it was hard not to let her mind wander. Opal didn’t come back to earth until Lin stormed out of the room. She blinked, trying to figure out what had happened.

“Why is Lin traveling with you? I didn’t think she ever left Republic City before,” Mom asked Avatar Korra, clearly trying to keep her tone polite.

Avatar Korra shrank down in her seat, embarrassed by what had just transpired. “She’s supposed to be my protection. And the Republic City Police Department is getting their first audit. She’s on a mandatory vacation.”

“I didn’t know the Avatar required additional protection,” Mom remarked, keeping her tone light. She glanced out at the rest of Korra’s entourage. “Are the rest of you serving as guards as well?”

“No, they’re my friends.” Korra rushed to explain. Mako and Asami (if Opal remembered their names right) were too busy glaring at Varrick to answer any questions.

Some people at the table tried to keep the conversation going, but dinner didn’t last much longer after that. That night, Opal went to the garden to practice airbending by herself. Bolin approached her again, and they shared what had to be the most romantic moment Opal had ever had. It amazed her how such a famous mover star could be so awkward and down to earth. She found it sweet how approachable he was. It was nice that he gave her the chance to feel like a normal girl again. 

When Avatar Korra found her and asked her to speak to her aunt Lin again, Opal spent the whole walk over thinking what she wanted to say. She thought about what she would say to her father and brother if they ever stopped avoiding the rest of the family. It was kind of the same, wasn’t it?  Lin had withdrawn from the rest of them far longer than anyone else, but Opal was no stranger to members pulling away when relations became strained. Not anymore. 

“When you showed up, I was so excited to get to know you. I’d heard so many great things about you from Mom and Grandma Toph, so I guess I was kind of sad that you didn’t wanna get to know me.” Opal waited for her aunt to say something. Anything.

When no response came, she kept talking. “Believe me, I know my family can be a little crazy and overwhelming sometimes, but I would love it so much if you would be a part of it.”

Lin’s voice was quiet. Deadly, like a knife slicing through the still night air. “Get out.”

Opal’s face fell. This was what she had been afraid of. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?”

This time, Lin turned to face her. Opal could see the anger gathering on her face. A storm cloud ready to strike vengeance onto the earth. “Get out!”

The dam broke. Opal’s tears fell freely down her face. She ran out of the guest room and disappeared down the corridor, not waiting for Korra to follow her. Opal collapsed in the game parlor and sobbed.

It wasn’t just about her aunt, though Lin’s rejection also hurt. No, it was the buildup of being alienated from the two family members Opal had always considered herself closest to. Mom could be wonderful. So could Huan and the twins. But it wasn’t the same. 

Opal was tired of contenting herself with half a family. They all lived in the same house. Since when had it grown so large that such distance could develop between them?

Just then, the front door to the mansion swung open. Opal searched for the breath between her sobs. When she found some, she called out, “Who’s there?”

The footsteps came closer. The door to the parlor swung open, bringing a burst of air from the foyer in. Half of Opal had been expecting Avatar Korra. The other half thought it would be Bolin again. In the end, it was neither person.

It was Dad.

“Dad!” she called out. She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. Sure enough, her father was still the one standing in the doorway. 

Dad took one look at the tears streaking down Opal’s face and ran towards her. “What’s wrong, Opal? What did I miss?”

“Everything!” Opal buried her face in Dad’s chest, familiar smells of metal and motor oil stuck to his clothes. “I need you.”

Dad put his arms around Opal, letting her cry without judgement. He gave her a minute to let it out, then asked. “Are you afraid to join the other airbenders?”

“A little.” It was true. For all Opal had dreamed about moving out of Zaofu one day, this was all happening so fast. She’d had so little time to prepare for it in her mind. “I’m gonna miss you and Mom and my brothers and Zaofu.”

“I understand.” Dad withdrew one arm. He used the other to guide her towards a chair by the cold fireplace. The same chair Opal had sat in when she first discovered her bending. He sat down beside her before continuing. “I’m going to miss you too, but I know you will choose what’s best for you. I can’t… teach you what Avatar Korra and Master Tenzin can. Your mother can’t either, though she has tried.

“Zaofu was meant to be a city where everyone can cultivate their own talents. It took us more than twenty years, but thanks to you, we finally found one we can’t nurture at home.” Dad smiled at his attempt for a joke. “I want you to have everything you need to live your best life, Opal. Even if you can’t have it here.”

“I don’t need you to teach me airbending. I need you to be my dad.” Opal felt a second round of tears gathering in her eyes. “I haven’t seen you at all since our last game night.” 

Dad hung his head, breaking eye contact with Opal. He took a deep breath before apologizing. “I know, and that is my fault. I’m sorry, Opal. 

“You may have noticed your mother and I divide our attention among our children. While we both love all five of you, we also know that every child needs different things. I was better at teaching the boys how to shave. Your mother was better at teaching you how to tend to your monthly bleedings. Does that make sense?”

Opal murmured her assent. Where was Dad going with this?

“Well, it was the same idea with bending. Your mother is a world class earth and metal bender. I am not. When we started having children, we knew there was a chance our children could inherit her abilities. We agreed that she would take the lead in teaching those children to hone their talents. While she did so, I would tend to the nonbending children and ensure they never felt cast aside. It wasn’t quite an even split between the groups, but it was a neat arrangement that two pregnancies produced benders and two produced non-benders. Her last pregnancy being twins skewed the calculation a bit. That’s all.”

Now Opal was connecting the dots. “So when I showed signs of airbending, it was Mom’s turn to take the lead in raising me?”

Dad nodded shamefully. “Keep in mind that we never expected airbending to enter the picture. This arrangement wasn’t meant to divide you and your siblings or make one group feel superior to the other. It was only meant to ensure all our children got the attention they needed to be well-adjusted in life. I thought by stepping back and letting you spend time with your mother that you would have the best experience with your new abilities.

“But now, I can see that wasn’t what you took away from the arrangement. How… how are you feeling, Opal?”

“Like you abandoned me when I was scared. You’re the one I always go to when I have a problem or don’t know how to do something. Even when you didn’t have the answer, you always helped me find it. But when I needed you this time, I couldn’t find you anywhere!” Opal sobbed. “Just because I have airbending now doesn’t mean I’m not your daughter. I’m the same person I was last week.”

Dad took Opal’s hand in his own. “I’m sorry. I should know that you’re still my daughter. I… I pull back when I’m struggling with how I feel. I thought I was doing well watching all my children grow up, and then this airbending showed up, and I… I knew you were going to need someone other than me to help you figure out what to do with that. I don’t have the answers, and I can’t help you find them this time either. That made me feel like a useless parent. To be honest… most of my kids don’t really need me for much.

“I didn’t want you to see how upset that made me because I didn’t want you to feel like it was your fault or that I don’t support your endeavors. I thought giving my mind something else to work on would calm my emotions, but it didn’t. And now you could be about to leave, and I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” Dad was on the verge of tears as well. “I will always support you, Opal. I’m just not sure how to anymore.”

Opal blinked back the last of her tears, shocked by her dad’s confession. She had never imagined he could be vulnerable like this. In her mind, Dad was a hero. A genius inventor and builder who would do anything for any of his children. Her parents had the perfect marriage and the perfect home. It was the kids who needed to measure up to their standards, not the other way around.

This time, Opal reached out for her father. “I just want what we’ve always had. I want to be able to play games with you, and talk to you, and make meals together one day.”

“That sounds really nice,” Dad smiled. “But if we play pong again, you need to promise you won’t cheat with bending.”

Opal laughed, mostly out of relief. “I promise. Will you write to me if I leave with Avatar Korra?”

“All the time,” Dad promised. “And if the Earth Kingdom mail system doesn’t get my letters to you fast enough, I’ll join Varrick in investing in a package delivery company using airships that can reach you faster.” He joked, then sobered up for one final apology. “I’m sorry I haven’t been the dad you needed these past few days. Will you please forgive me, Opal?”

“Of course I forgive you,” Opal agreed easily. She squeezed her father’s hand, a gesture he returned before releasing her.

“Thank you. I promise I will continue to support you however I can while you train. If your mother is ever able to return to Republic City, we could visit you there too.”

“Huh?” Opal tilted her head, confused. “Mom can’t visit Republic City? Why not?” Suddenly, she remembered the tension between her mom and her aunt at dinner. “Is it because her sister hates her? Did she get her banished from Republic City somehow?”

Dad’s eyes flashed behind his glasses as he realized his mistake. “It’s… not my story to tell. All I will say is that your mother lost her relationship with her older sister when she was younger than you are now. A lot of things have changed since then. I hadn’t even met your mother by that point.”

Now Opal was extra curious. What could be so bad that it broke siblings apart for thirty years? Opal had been angry with her brothers in the past, but she couldn’t think of anything that would make her cut them out of her life. 

Then Dad shifted in his chair, changing the gear on their conversation as he did. “While we’re talking about older siblings… I want you to know I tried to convince Junior to come with me tonight. We were going to talk to you together. He is not ready yet. Please don’t hold that against him.”

Opal frowned. The sudden mention of Junior brought the vision of his empty room back to her mind. So he was hiding from her. It was deliberate after all. “What do you mean?”

“Your brother feels his emotions very strongly, but he keeps them locked deep inside. Expressing himself and being heard doesn’t come naturally to him. I can relate to that.” Dad sighed, shoulders sagging with a mix of fondness and pity. “Your brother is… very upset right now. Not at you, he understands this isn’t your fault, but at the situation. It would seem that he feels isolated from you and his other brothers in a way that’s, um, worse than it was before. I thought giving him a leading role in our tram development would boost his spirits and remind him of what makes him special, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Like me, I think he’s using the project to avoid the rest of the family.”

“So he’s refusing to see me? And everyone else… why? Because he’s jealous?” Opal thought she would be sad again, but she wasn’t. She was tired of being sad about Lin and about Dad. Her body only had rage left in it. “I can’t do anything about that!”

“I understand.” Dad put his hands out in front of him, trying to calm Opal down. “Like I said, this isn’t your fault. I want you to understand why Junior isn’t here because I hope you will forgive him. Even if… even if he does miss his chance to say goodbye to you.”

“Why should I forgive him when he can’t apologize? When he won’t even bother to show his face to me?” Opal asked, not expecting an answer. She crossed her arms and huffed. “If he wants to ignore me, fine. I guess I can ignore him too. Soon, it won’t even matter. I’ll be in a new place with new people and I won’t need him for anything!”

Dad listened to her with growing sadness in his eyes. “I can’t force you to feel a different way than you do. I just… I didn’t have any siblings growing up. I think what your mother lost between her and her sister is a tragedy. When we married, we both agreed we wanted lots of children who all loved and supported one other. That is still what we want for all of you.”

“If Junior wants me to love and support him, he can love and support me first. Why do I have to be the bigger person? He’s older than me!” 

“He is older than you, I know.” Dad acknowledged placatingly. “It’s easier to love someone when they open themselves up to it. It’s harder when they turn themselves away, fearing they aren’t worthy of you.”

Opal growled, anger giving way to frustration. “You can’t guilt me into this. You came to me and apologized, so I forgave you. I’m not going to forgive Junior when he can’t even bother to say he’s sorry.”

Dad put his hands up in surrender. “Then I hope I can convince Junior to change his mind about seeing you off. I know how much that would mean to you.”

Opal swallowed, trying to put her unpleasant feelings away. She didn’t like arguing with her dad. Not when she knew he meant well. “I hope you do.”

Dad rose from his chair. Opal did the same. They walked towards the door to the foyer together, then embraced. Opal relished having the affection of her father again. If she left to join Master Tenzin, she would miss her dad’s hugs dearly.

When the embrace ended, Dad was the first to pull away. He looked her in the eyes and solemnly promised, “I’m going to go speak with Junior again. As many times as it takes. You… wouldn’t know where he’s been going lately, would you? He never approaches the workshop from the direction of his room.”

Opal shook her head, lips pursed tightly. “I’m surprised you don’t know either.”

“Well, I’ll look for him. I built this place. I know where all the best hiding places are.” Dad turned towards the door, a sense of self-assuredness entering his step. “I’ll see you again before you leave. If you do choose to leave. I love you, Opal.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

With her dad’s promise at the front of her mind, Opal was able to sleep in peace. Yet in the chaos that followed with her mom fighting her aunt, she nearly forgot about her own sibling drama. It wasn’t until the last meal before she left Zaofu that she remembered.

Junior snuck in at the last second. He sat several seats away from her between Dad and Huan. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot. He ate little and said nothing. So much for Dad convincing Junior to talk to her.

After Mom gave her farewell speech, Opal watched as servants packed her things onto the airship. She waited as long as she could to board. Yet while both her parents, Huan, the twins, and Bolin all gave her heartfelt goodbyes, there was one person she missed hearing from. One person she could barely see behind Huan as her ship floated higher in the sky.

“Goodbye, everyone.” She whispered, knowing they couldn’t hear her.

Opal didn’t think Junior would wait thirty years to talk to her again. Not like her aunt had with her sister.

At least, she hoped he didn’t.

Notes:

Obviously there's no evidence Baatar Jr. is hungover during Opal's farewell dinner, but we get so few frames of him in that scene it's easy to forget he was even there. Kuvira (who hasn't been named yet) gets more screen time than he does. It's almost funny how ignored he is during the Book 3 episodes in Zaofu.

So yeah. He and Opal are having sibling problems. Don't ask your mom and aunt about how to resolve those, you hear? Baatar Sr. tried to play peacemaker, but there are limits to his abilities. He's not as forceful a personality as his wife can be. At least, not in my characterization of the guy.

Next up: the epilogue. POV switch incoming!

Chapter 5: The Grievance (Epilogue)

Notes:

Played a lot of "Apple" by Charlie xcx while editing this one.

Baatar Jr. hated confrontation. He had since he was a little boy. When his grandmother hurled clumps of dirt at him in attempts to “force the earthbending out,” he had hidden on a wooden rooftop until dinnertime. When the twins made a game of pulling his glasses off his face with their bending, he replaced the frames with platinum while they took turns hitting each other outdoors. No fighting, no talking back. Baatar didn’t have it in him.

And why should he? If he kept his head down and waited long enough, a lot of his problems went away on their own. Those that didn’t could typically be neutralized with a mix of handiwork and ingenuity. It may not be the bravest way of handling the situation, but doing so created the least amount of conflict. When had his staying silent ever created a problem for his family?

Baatar was doing right by his sister in leaving her alone. He and Father both agreed that Mother was more suited to handle the bending children. Opal had a lot to catch up on when it comes to being a bender, air or otherwise. She didn’t have time to reminisce or share the complaints about their childhood with him. 

Baatar could tell himself these things. His brain would believe them in time. Yet his heart still caused him trouble. From the moment Opal transformed in front of him, he couldn’t look at her the same. Knowing how fearful and insecure she’d been that night, treating her differently would hurt her. And if Baatar stood in front of Opal and said he was happy for her, they wouldn’t need Aiwei to tell them he was lying. It would be obvious.  

That was why he’d refused his father’s request tonight. Father had given him the heavy sad eyes, backing away slowly in the hopes he would silently guilt Baatar into changing his mind. Not this time.

Opal might think she missed him now, but that feeling would pass. Baatar’s presence wasn’t meaningful enough to be missed in anyone’s life. From the moment he was born, Baatar Jr. was destined to be an afterthought of a person. His parents knew it when they gave him a duplicated name.

Baatar navigated the servants’ hallways, sulking in his thoughts. He stopped in front of the quarters where he’d left toiletries and clothes, fishing the key out from underneath a sparkling silver trophy on the doorside table. The suite’s regular occupant was a bender; she never used the key for anything except visitors. Lately, Baatar had become the suite’s secondary occupant.

After unlocking the door to a dark entryway, Baatar put the key back where he found it. He stepped inside, flicked the lightswitch, and placed his shoes on a crooked green mat. Next to his shoes sat dancing slippers and casual slides, the former showing clear signs of wear. 

A few steps in, Baatar sank into a black futon with a green throw blanket cast off to one side. His bed for the last few nights. Baatar sat on the side with his pillow, head scrambled with thoughts ranging from tram momentum equations to the ball defying physics in his sister’s hands. 

Baatar was grateful for his temporary accommodations. If there was one place his family would never look for him, it was among the servants’ quarters. Even Father in all his genius hadn’t found this “hiding spot” just yet.

Time ticked by as he waited for the suite’s regular occupant to return. She never stayed out too late. Not when she had work the next morning, at least. Baatar thought about grabbing a bottle of beer from her ice chest, but there had only been one left last night. It would be rude to deny her the last fruits of her wages. What if it had been a long day?

Baatar’s instincts proved correct. The door swung open with a slam of force, a sound matched by the thud of metal boots against a stone wall. Helmet in her hands, the first thing Kuvira did upon returning to her quarters was rip the top off her final bottle of alcohol. Only after chugging half the bottle’s contents did she turn to acknowledge her guest. “You see who arrived today?”

“Briefly,” Baatar answered, studying the way stray hairs escaped the tight confines of Kuvira’s braid. “The Avatar has returned to Zaofu in her newest form.”

Kuvira shook her head. “Not her. Her entourage has its own Beifong in it. Su’s long lost sister.”

Baatar frowned, surprised. Mother had mentioned the existence of her sister a spare handful of times. She only had one picture of them together on display in the entire mansion. Photographs weren’t as common during Mother’s childhood, and their blind mother had found no pleasure in them. “Why is my estranged aunt accompanying the Avatar? I thought she was a police officer in Republic City.”

“Chief, actually. She’s on a mission to protect Avatar Korra from escaped convicts who once targeted her as a small child. Convicts who may strike again at any moment. She told us so that ‘local security’ could be on alert for ‘suspicious persons.’” Kuvira snorted, then took another swig of her beer. “Someone doesn’t know how Zaofu’s entry requirements work. This isn’t Republic City. We don’t let just anyone who shows up at our door come inside. If anyone is the security threat in this town, it’s Lin Beifong herself.”

“What? Why would a police chief be a security threat?” Baatar must have missed a great deal at dinner. Not that it was worth entertaining guests just to know. He was grateful Father had given him an excuse not to attend. 

“Because that woman is seconds away from siccing rocks on Su any time they’re in a room together.” Kuvira left her helmet on the counter as she leaned in conspiratorially. “I was in dance practice when the Avatar arrived with her entourage. Not only did your aunt try to hide she was here, she also never spoke about her sister or any of you to anyone in Republic City. Then the guards at dinner said Lin Beifong left early after an escalating argument with Su. They thought they were going to have to step in.”

Part of being guard captain was gathering intelligence on everyone in Zaofu. Even so, Baatar was impressed with how quickly Kuvira found information on people. It was a competition between her and Aiwei on who knew the most gossip, probably. “Any word on why there’s so much tension?”

Kuvira shrugged. “I know they didn’t grow up happily together. The legendary Toph Beifong was never around. Lin would try to lay laws down as the oldest, Su would ignore them, and Toph wouldn’t enforce any decrees Lin made with her ‘pseudo-maternal authority.’” Kuvira put air quotes around the last two words, then finished off her beer. “Those two make your little spat with Opal look like child’s play.”

“I am not having a spat with my sister.” Baatar crossed his arms. Realizing immediately how childish the gesture looked, he uncrossed them just as quickly. 

“Oh, can it. Anyone with eyes can see that you’re jealous.”

Now it was Baatar’s turn to snort. “I don’t want to be an airbender.”

“Never said you did. But you do want to leave Zaofu one day. Opal’s got her ticket out of here and you don’t.” Kuvira grinned when she saw she’d hit the nail on the head. “Su’s trying to delay it for as long as possible, but we all know it isn’t going to last. Even she can’t force the Avatar to plan around her preferences… though if anyone can, it’s probably her.”

Baatar steeled his face. He focused on keeping his heart steady and breathing even. “Seeing the world is one of Opal’s dreams. I’m happy she’s getting her chance to travel outside the domes.”

Kuvira laughed. “You’re going to have to get a lot better at that if you want to get past Aiwei. I’m not even a truthseer and I can tell you’re lying.”

“And that is exactly why I am here and not speaking to Opal right now. She doesn’t need to see me like this.” Baatar let the pain seep through on his face. “It would break her heart.”

“You aren’t going to break her heart. She isn’t that fragile. If airbenders are too weak to handle one brother not supporting them, then it’s no wonder they went extinct once.”

Baatar pursed his lips, caught between laughter and disapproval. Given how long they had known each other, Kuvira was much franker with Baatar than she was for most others. He’d seen what she looked like before erecting a facade of perfect ease. Baatar had been the first person to teach Kuvira how things worked in Zaofu, and Kuvira repaid his kindness with a lifetime of friendship. Between the two, Baatar thought he’d walked away with the better end of the deal. 

“I’m serious. That girl has the Avatar herself here to deliver bending lessons. The biggest mover star in Republic City is hitting on her. Opal is not worried about you.”

Baatar winced. He wished Kuvira had left a sip of beer for him. “No one ever is.”

Kuvira tilted her head, studying Baatar’s face. “You know what I meant. If it means that much to you, you can write to her after she leaves. You don’t have to walk up to her when Su or the Avatar are around, and she doesn’t have to see your face either. Until then, keep your head down. Install some floating trains around the city.”

“...They aren’t floating. It’s levitation caused by the electric pulse running through magnetic fields. Compared to conventional trains, maglev train systems are capable of faster speeds, better acceleration and breaking, and lower maintenance costs.”

“Yeah, and the magnets make them float.”

Baatar sighed. Kuvira was intelligent in many fields. Science was not one of them. “Not exactly. I don’t like that Varrick explained them that way. What we are doing is purely scientific. No spirits, no magic, none of that. This tram system is capable of running entirely on electricity and requires no bender inputs.”

“Tell that to the crew you have laying track for you,” Kuvira teased. She dropped her empty beer bottle in the trashcan. “Isn’t Zaofu a little small for a tram system? We aren’t Ba Sing Se.”

Baatar shrugged. “It’s not strictly necessary here. We’d see much greater efficiency if we were able to connect the network to our suppliers outside the state. But that would raise the risk of people sneaking in alongside the supplies, so Mother would never approve such an extension.” He sighed. “Father only approved of any trams last week to pacify me.”

“I don’t think he only did it for you. I think he wanted something the two of you could do together that keeps you both away from what else is going on. He doesn’t want to let Opal go any more than you do, and he wants to make sure you’re still his child.” Kuvira’s eyes took on a wistful quality as they locked with Baatar’s. They were filled with an emotion he couldn’t place.

“Look at me. Say my name. I will always be his child.” Baatar wished he wasn’t so resentful of this fact. Father was a good person. A genius architect. A loving family man. It wasn’t a bad thing to be just like him. “Sometimes he and I are part of our own family. Separate from everyone else. Opal was in it too, but she’s upgrading.”

“Don’t be so sure it’s an upgrade,” she warned Baatar. In one move, she bent all the remaining pieces of armor off her body. They fell to the floor with a resounding clang, leaving a black, skintight bodysuit underneath. The first time Kuvira had stripped down in front of him like that, Baatar felt compelled to cover his eyes. He straightened the front of his robe over his pants, making sure she couldn’t see how his body reacted to her. “I’ve seen both sides. You’re happier on this one.”

“The grass always looks greener outside the dome.” Baatar said, twisting an old saying. It was literally true; the dome cut off the amount of sun and rain grass received inside Zaofu. It distorted temperatures without offering full protection from the elements in the way a greenhouse would. Any plants that weren’t consciously tended to by humans fared poorly. 

“And you’re more than your dad. You want more than he does. Anyone who talks to you for longer than two minutes can spot the difference.”

Baatar’s instinctive response was, “and who bothers to do that?” But he kept his mouth shut. Here Kuvira was, talking to him now. Not only did she give him a place to crash at night, but she saw more in him than anyone else. 

Instead, he said, “I… recognize the irony in complaining about this to you. No one is a closer outsider to my family than you are.”

“You’re lucky you came out of Suyin’s womb, Baatar. If I hadn’t proven I could bend metal, your mother would have left me on the street.” Kuvira flexed her fingers as she spoke, tone soft and sharp as a quill pen. She crashed on the futon next to Baatar.  

And if Father weren’t around to object, he still would have been abandoned. One of Baatar’s earliest memories was his grandmother suggesting Mother do that very thing. “If the kids you make with Baatar can’t continue our family tradition, maybe you need to leave them both and find a new man.” She laughed at her “joke” loud enough to cover Baatar’s cries. He scurried away from his perch on the roof, convinced his mother was going to throw him away for not being able to bend like her. 

By the time Mother found him, he’d stopped crying. He acted like everything was normal. He never told Mother what he’d heard lest she confirm it was the truth. 

The worst never came to pass. Mother’s next kid had proven able to bend just fine. Huan didn’t use his talents the same way, but that wasn’t the point. Having the ability to bend was all that mattered. Mother had enough bending children to make her and Grandmother happy, and she had made peace with the spare two having other talents. Or so Baatar had thought, until the mystic nonsense of Harmonic Convergence altered the balance of their household. His whole world.

“And what about you, Junior? Do you have anything you’d like to tell or show us?”

Baatar could have shown his Mother any of his blueprints for a tram system in Zaofu. He could have shown her his ideas for how to improve the Satomatons nonbenders in Republic City used to fight on equal terms with benders. But he knew that wasn’t what she wanted to see. He had nothing his mother wanted to see, hear, or celebrate. Opal did. Huan, Wing, and Wei all did.

Kuvira sighed, forcing his train of thought to an emergency brake. “We don’t need to recite our sob stories. I’m going to pester the other guards and see if one of them has more alcohol. You coming?”

Baatar rose from his seat, eager to not be left alone any longer. “Let’s go.”

That was how he and Kuvira spent the next few nights. While the rest of the family entertained the Avatar and her entourage, Baatar spent his days building a maglev train and his nights getting drunk with guards, who kept him abreast of all the outrageous things that transpired during the day. When the drinking party ended, Baatar stumbled back to Kuvira’s room with her. He crashed on the futon, her on her bed behind a folding screen. Each night, there was a temptation to seek more. Each night, Baatar quashed it in fear of losing his free crash site. His closest friend.

The second day, when a clearly-delirious Lin finally challenged her sister to a duel, Kuvira cheered her accurate prediction and wheedled Hong Li into sharing his “welcome to the force” present of hundred-proof baiju with everyone. They recounted stories they’d heard about the duel (and sibling drama more generally) between shots.

Baatar wasn’t sure it was appropriate to drink to his mother being assaulted, considering everyone else in the room was supposed to preserve the governor’s safety, but… well, no one got hurt. Opal, of all people, broke them up before things could get serious. Baatar enjoyed crashing these parties, and he didn’t want anyone to evict him for being too critical. Kuvira’s cosign went a long way. Baatar couldn’t endanger her social standing by acting as a liability.

Father never gave up on trying to make him speak to Opal. The only way Baatar had been able to silence him was to promise he would see her off before she left. When the morning to do so came, it was like all Baatar’s nights of drinking combined together into one hangover. It had been a mistake to try and match the guards’ alcohol intake. He slept for most of the day, drinking nothing but water. It wasn’t enough.

Baatar had never drunk so much in his life. He could barely stand, let alone speak. Kuvira helped him to the Beifong mansion, stopping just outside the foyer. He stumbled the rest of the way along by clutching to the wall. He arrived after everyone else had already been seated. 

It was a blessing that Father and Huan were the only ones who noticed Baatar’s state. Huan nudged him with obvious concern in his eyes. “Are you sick?” Huan mouthed. Baatar shook his head, then winced at the pain drilling through his skull. 

Father, for his part, just looked disappointed. If he was angry, he was saving it for when they were alone. Can’t have their guests think one of the Beifong kids was a wastrel drunk. 

As usual, no one else looked at him. He didn’t even think Opal noticed him. Too busy flirting with her new boyfriend. Why did Baatar even show up?

He couldn’t face Opal like this. Baatar couldn’t face her at all. Maybe when his head stopped pounding, he could write her a letter. All he knew was that he better sleep in his own bed tonight. His liver would not survive another consecutive night of drinking.

At least Baatar had some people on the estate who appreciated him for who he was. Pity none of them were in his family. 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 4 of Legends Beyond Korra (Canon Divergence AU)