Opal

"air"

- Lin, your niece is the new airbender! Isn't that amazing?

Opal is the daughter of Suyin Beifong and Baatar, half-niece of Lin Beifong, and granddaughter of Toph Beifong. She was the first new airbender to be instructed by Avatar Korra.

History
Suyin introduced Opal to the Avatar and her friends as her airbending daughter. Opal excitedly greeted Korra, and Bolin introduced himself to the new airbender, commenting on her beautiful name. The young airbender blushed and reintroduced herself. Opal was also introduced to her aunt, Lin, and was eager to meet her after hearing her mother's stories about Lin. The Chief of Police, however, was not interested in making her acquaintance, but rather wanted to leave as soon as possible. While Korra had originally planned to bring Opal to Tenzin at the Northern Air Temple, Suyin instead suggested that Korra train Opal at Zaofu.



Just before dinner, Opal admitted to Korra that she was not good at the art, prompting the Avatar to show her basic movements and stances. The two slowly walked around in a circle and made eased swirls of air around each other. Opal was complimented by Korra, being referred to as a natural, for which she thanked her instructor.

At dinner later that night, Opal was left slightly stunned when Lin claimed that Toph had never believed her children to be a blessing. When Bolin stated his enjoyment of their meal, Opal agreed and said she had never had a bad meal in her life, only to be told by the earthbender of Mako and his street life and their encounters with disgusting food. Opal apologized for her lack of awareness, but Bolin assured her it was all in the past. The airbender was impressed by his adventures, calling his life exciting.



After dinner, Opal began practicing airbending. Bolin approached her in a flirtatious manner, which caused her to inquire why he was acting strangely. When he responded by asking the same question, Opal said she did not like how he was talking to her and began to walk away. Bolin quickly jumped in front of her and apologized, saying he got self-conscious when he knew a girl liked him and thus had been acting stupid. The girl wondered where he got the idea that she liked him, but soon revealed that she was joking, before telling him to just be himself. The two gazed at each other as Korra arrived, seeking Opal's assistance with a matter.

The two girls approached a still-annoyed Lin in her quarters. Opal apologized to Lin for the visit being hard on the metalbender and acknowledged that she had heard many stories about Lin from her mother and even her grandmother, Toph. She admitted that she was sad because Lin did not want to get to know her. Opal continued by saying that her family could be "crazy and overwhelming" at times, but that it would mean a lot to her if her aunt would be a part of it. Lin only told her coldly to get out. Opal quickly expressed remorse again, believing she had said something wrong. After receiving the angered request a second time, Opal ran out of the room in tears.

The next morning, Opal was feeling better following the altercation. When Suyin offered Korra lessons in metalbending, Opal asked Bolin if he wanted learn as well; however, Bolin declined in an awkward manner. She later found Bolin attempting to metalbend without being seen. Being told that he wanted to learn the sub-art because he was a fan of Toph Beifong, she advised him not to be afraid to seek lessons from her mother. However, when Bolin countered that she too was scared to leave her home for the Northern Air Temple, despite her desire to learn airbending, Opal realized he was right. Labeling their talk as nice, the young airbender embraced him.



Sometime later, Opal discovered her mother and Lin physically fighting each other, much to her horror. She intervened, halting Lin and Su as they both prepared to hurl objects at one another, and blasted the weapons away. She reprimanded the two for fighting each other and witnessed Lin collapsing. Sixteen hours later, Opal was passing by the dining hall when Lin spotted her, called her in, and apologized for her earlier behavior, explaining that she and Su had a complicated relationship. Opal concluded that being in Zaofu made Lin uncomfortable. When her aunt suggested that she go to the Northern Air Temple, the airbender told Lin that she did not want to disappoint her mother by leaving her home. Lin stated that Opal must make decisions based on what she wanted, not to make someone happy, confessing that she became a police chief to please Toph only to receive the opposite result. Opal later talked to her parents about the matter, and they both agreed to let her move to the temple for her training.

Before Opal left, a dinner was held by Suyin in her honor. The chef made her favorite meal of raw vegetable kale wraps. As Bolin told her he would think of her whenever he saw kale, she called him sweet. Opal also assured him they would be together soon as Team Avatar planned to go to the Northern Air Temple after finding more airbenders. Addressing his fears about the future, she said, until they met again, they would always have kale, and fed the earthbender some of her wrap. Suyin called for a toast and Opal was complemented by her mother as a good daughter, sister, and friend. Her mother also expressed faith in her ability to be a master before kissing her on the side of her forehead. After dinner, she departed on an airship, waving goodbye to her family and friends.



Opal was meditating with Kya and some other airbenders at the Northern Air Temple when Bumi burst in, alerting them of the Red Lotus' presence. As they made their way over to the flying bison stables to escape, Opal was grabbed by Ming-Hua, who used her water tendrils to threaten her life if the others would not come with her. She was placed at a courtyard together with all the inhabitants of the temple until Tenzin attacked Zaheer, Ming-Hua, and Ghazan and ordered everyone to head toward the stables once more. Although they were fired upon by P'Li, who was stationed in a Ba Sing Se airship, they managed to make it to the stables. However, just as they got there, one of P'Li's combustion attacks scared off the bison, leaving Opal and the others at the mercy of the firebender.



Opal and the others were ushered into an airship by P'Li and taken to a cave-complex a few miles away from the temple, where they were released into the custody of four other Red Lotus sentries, who chained them to the floor by their wrists. As Jinora returned from her astral reconnaissance trip, Opal asked if she had been able to discover a way out of their predicament. Although the answer was negative, she was told not to worry. A plan was devised in which Jinora airbent the keys away of one of their guards, which Meelo airbent in Opal's direction, who nimbly caught them, hiding them out of sight of the guard. As he turned his back on her, she swiftly unlocked one of her cuffs, but before she could free herself completely, she was discovered by the guards. However, at that moment, Team Avatar and her mother burst into their prison and swiftly took out the guards, before freeing them all. Opal happily called out to her mother and she received a warm hug. Their moment of intimacy was interrupted, though, when Bolin interjected by pushing Suyin back and hugging Opal himself.



After being freed, Opal and the others were led outside, where they witnessed Korra's battle with Zaheer. When it became apparent that Korra could not both fight the Red Lotus' leader and the poison she had been administered, Opal followed Jinora's lead and started to create a tornado, which eventually enabled Korra to break free from Zaheer's grasp and slam him against the rocks. After her mother and aunt trapped Zaheer in an earthen prison, she complimented Bolin on his typical Bolin action after the young earthbender put a sock in Zaheer's mouth to refrain him from talking.

Personality
Opal is genuinely friendly and easygoing, quickly extending a hand of greeting to the members of Team Avatar when they arrived in Zaofu. She also exhibited some shyness to the group, as she blushed and looked down when introducing herself to Bolin. While practicing her airbending after dinner, she joked around with Bolin after the latter attempted to flirt with her, displaying a little bit of her easygoing side. Her easygoing side disguises her passion and discipline in her interests, such as her focus and training in her newly acquired airbending abilities. At the same time she also possesses a strong belief in honesty and in a person simply being themselves.

She also shows a more serious demeanor as when she stopped the fight between Lin and her mother, angrily questioning why they would be fighting after so many years of separation.

Opal also seems curious and interested in the outside world, reveling in Bolin's tales about his days living on the streets of Republic City. Having spent her life within the safe confines of Zaofu, she seemed impressed by his adventures, calling his life exciting. She also inherited much of her mother's humanistic way of thinking, encouraging Bolin to pursue training in the art of metalbending, believing in his potential to do so.

Abilities


Despite being a new airbender, Opal has shown considerable skill in the bending art, able to seamlessly create swirls of air in tandem with Korra, who referred to her as a natural. While practicing after dinner, Opal was able to perform multiple blasts of air and create a powerful air wave by striking the ground. She was even strong enough to break up a duel between her mother and her aunt Lin, two powerful earth- and metalbending masters, in a single move.

Book Four: Balance (平衡)

 * 401. "After All These Years"