Avani didn’t respond to Kasai’s comments about threatening her. She kept a cold expression on her face, and waited for the woman to arrest her for doing nothing again. At least she’d have a reason for getting Avani into trouble with the pigs this time, even if it was weak, which was more than she’d had last time.

She didn’t think Kasai was all that terrible to her, not all the time. As long as she didn’t force her to interact with other cops, lock her up or try to get her killed, but here she was trying to achieve at least one of those. Admittedly, she doubted she was doing it out of spite. 

They were just too different. They’d lead very different lives. It felt natural for Avani to feel distrust and hatred towards cops. She’d ended up on the other side of the law like her mother before her. The trust Kasai seemed to expect for her to have for them to help her didn’t exist.

Avani didn’t much care for the gang members as friends either. If anything, she should have left Republic City before being dragged into this mess. Perhaps if she went back to her home city of Ba Sing Se she’d avoid both groups, then when matters had settled down she could return. Kasai would likely not let her go free after confessing something like that though, as she could tell the gang about it and make everything more difficult.

She was noticeably surprised when Kasai turned her back on her to walk back to her car, after she had finished speaking. Was she not going to take her in…? Wasn’t that part of her job? Avani worried that she may have taken it too far if Kasai wasn’t going to bother doing even that. 
“Uh… Aren’t you going to… you know…” Avani mumbled. 

It wasn’t that she wanted to be arrested. It was more that she was already regretting some of what she had said and didn’t want Kasai to get in trouble because of her. What would the pigs do if they found out she had let Avani leave the city? She could be a useful witness to them, but she was definitely a suspect too.

She glanced back at her motorcycle for a second, wanting to forget everything and actually escape. It wouldn’t be that easy though. 

“Wait!” Avani exclaimed, and used her earthbending to move herself between Kasai and the car before she entered it. The gaze that met her was as hard as a moment ago. “Look, you’ve got me stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I didn’t mean what I said. I panicked, okay.” She sighed and frowned. “I’m sorry. I don’t think those things about you. I think you’re special.” Well, for a cop she certainly was. “I’d rather not pick a side. If I could, I’d go back in time to make sure I never dealt with cops or criminals to this degree. Except for you, maybe.” She smiled shyly. “If I was alone in this I’d be on the next train out of here. But I’m not, and I don’t want to get you into more trouble than I already have with the pigs… Shouldn’t you take me in at the very least?”

She couldn’t believe she was suggesting it herself, and yet, it didn’t make her feel dumber than she had when threatening Kasai.