Night Peril

Why do you Keep Reaching for my Hand?

The sun appeared suddenly in Lin's room and she squeezed her eyes.

"Wakey wakey, Beifong!" Izumi's voice boomed through her room.

"Izumi- why are you here?" Lin attempted to cover her eyes with a pillow.

Izumi scoffed in disbelief, "I can't believe you forgot you made plans with me today. How dare you, horrible friend behavior." she joked.

"Oh fuck, are we supposed to go for breakfast today?" Lin lifted her head up to see Izumi dramatically nodding her head.

Lin slammed her head back down into her pillow with a groan. "Let me get dressed." Her voice was muffled.

Izumi smiled at her friend and left her room, closing the door behind her.

She walked down the hall. A picture of Lin and Tenzin replaced the one of Lin and Suyin on the stand. Izumi looked at it and smiled a bit until she remembered Kya's confession. Kya could open up an entire can of worms if it became known she had feelings for Lin.

Izumi went into the living room and motioned to sit on the couch when a flash of green caught her eye.

She walked to the chair and picked it up.

"Alright, I'm ready. Just gotta grab my- oh, do you like that?" Lin saw Izumi holding the green scarf.

"Yeah... It's Kya's?" Izumi said.

"Uh- well- she gave to me the other night at the coffee shop." Lin said, reaching out for the scarf. She wrapped it around her neck and put her shoes on. "Ready to go?" She asked.

Izumi nodded her head and followed her out of the door.

"I'm gonna take you to this great little diner. It's down the road from your work, actually." Izumi scanned the road with her eyes as she drove.

"I think I know that place. My mom used to take me there with my sis- with Suyin..." Lin trailed off.

"We can go somewhere else if you'd rather not relive your childhood?" Izumi tried to lighten Lin's mood.

"No, it's okay. I could use some better memories." Lin said with a half smile.

The ride there was quiet, but not uncomfortable. That's one thing she loved about being around Izumi. They could just sit in silence and still have a pleasant time.

Although when they got to the restaurant and got their food, Izumi wasn't slow to pick up a conversation.

"How's work going?" She asked Lin.

Lin nodded her head slightly while she chewed her food. "It's going fine. I've been doing some foot work here and there, but it's still mostly desk duty." She said.

"Mostly desk duty? You'd think she'd have you working cases and being out in the field by now." Izumi took a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, well, I have a feeling I'm being punished for the incident with Suyin." Lin raised her eyebrows.

Izumi scoffed and stabbed into her pancake, "You didn't do anything wrong. Even if you did, I think you've gotten your karma." She lightly gestured to Lin's scars.

Lin shrugged her shoulders lightly. She pushed her plate away a bit and leaned forward. "You know, I'm not even mad. I mean, I'm mad, but it's just getting too damn draining at this point. Suyin is staying out of my life and that's that. And if my mother wants to be on her side, I'll cut her out off too." Lin picked up a piece of bacon.

Izumi looked at her friend, partially feeling sorry that she feels the need to shut her family out. Although, she couldn't blame her. Lin was scared and is being punished for arresting a criminal, while Suyin was probably living the high life in Gaoling.