Audrey (Legend Of Korra Fanfic)

Book 2: Chapter 10: Emotions

Audrey's breath caught in her throat, how does she know? The thoughts that kept her up last night just came true. The worst possible outcome just became her reality.

"What?" Was all she could muster. Whether she said it in surprise or fear she couldn't tell.

Lin turned to her officer, "Are you alr-"

I huge bang bounced off the walls. Audrey stood up quickly, her fists in the air.

A muffled yell could be heard from the otherside of the door. The voice female, and somewhat familiar.

"Is that the Avatar?" Audrey thought aloud.

Lin walked to her door and opened it.

"What the flamey-o happened here?" She asked, shocked at the sudden commotion.

Audrey, who was still shaken from the recent events slowly made her way to the door behind the chief.

"I broke up with the Avatar." Mako said sadly.

The Chief smirked, folding her arms,"You got off easy. You should've seen Air Temple Island after Tenzin broke up with me!"

She turned to Audrey, who took a moment to process what she just said. "I'll come back to you about the case. I want all files checked and queried by noon." Audrey blinked. How could she be so calm about that? She just confirmed all the rumors about her relationship with the Councilman. Doesn't that remind her of anything?

"OK." She said simply, walking back to her desk, she sat down.
"Right she mumbled, you have three hours! Three hours..." She shook her head. "Complete what you can control." She slapped her face and tackled her files.

The work day eventually finished. No further information was given to Audrey about her case. She couldnt tell if it was a relief or not, in the end the anticipation of what could happen only fueled her increasing anxiety.

"Audrey?" Lila touched her shoulder. They both stood in the elevator. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Audrey trailed off, seeming to convince herself more than anyone.

She heard a button being pushed, she looked up, Lila just pushed the stop button on the elevator. Audrey looked confused, "We have one of those?"

Lila ignored the comment and turned to Audrey. "I'm going to ask you nicely."

"I'll politely decline." Audrey snapped, the stress getting to her. She brushed past Lila and pushed the button to resume the elevator.

Lila felt insulted, she was only trying to help. She could feel her insides boil, with a sudden anger, "I am only trying to help you! You don't have to do everything alone! Ever since you walked in today you've been a mess- YOU ARE A MESS!" The elevator fell silent, a heaving Lila quickly cooled off, realising she said too much.

The elevator doors opened on the floor Lila needed to get off.
She turned to Audrey who stared at the ground.

"Audrey I-"

"Get. Out." She hissed.

Lila walked out quickly before the doors closed, confusion and hurt filled her.

Audrey felt herself wanting to break, she wanted to scream and cry, but she couldn't- not here
Not now. All she could do was keep staring at the ground, the floor beginning to blur as the tears began to form.

A woman walked into the elevator on the next floor. The Chief huffed as she reached out her arm to press the button in the lift, only to realise that it had been pressed already. She turned to Audrey who quickly looked up, the sudden movement causing the pools of tears to flow over her eyelids. Audrey silently cursed herself.

Lin's face softened, "Kid- are you OK?

"Yes Chief." Audrey choked, the buildup in her throat betraying her.

"The woman made a nasty accusation. You'll be fine- I promise." The promise not only surprised Audrey, but Lin too.

"You know, if all this stress is pulling you down, you should take a day off tomorrow. " Lin stopped herself- what was she doing? She hardly knows the kid.

It took Audrey a few moments to compose herself. She gave the woman a small smile, one of gratitude but also of hope. Lin Beifong was still her mother, whether the woman knew it herself or not.

"Thank you Chief." Audrey responded as they both got off the elevator and going their separate ways.

Audrey got home, her mind blank and her body on autopilot, but as soon as the door closed everything crashed on her like a wave on a candlelight.

Audrey stood inside the apartment, the key still in the door- but locked. Her back fell against the door as her body crashed to the ground, she hugged her knees as the floodgates opened.

What was she going to do?

~•~

Audrey sipped her tea slowly, watching the traffic through the window. She'd woken up with sore eyes and a headache. She felt sick. The phone began to ring in the living room.

Audrey stood up and picked up the phone slowly.

"Audrey speaking." She mumbled.

"AUDREY! It's Mako! We have a plan on how to find out who's responsible for the bombing!"

"Really?" Audrey responded, she was interested but sounded bored.

"Are you OK?"

She ignored the question. "Get to the point Mako."

Mako sighed, " I think I know how we could find out who is truly responsible for the bombing." He paused.

"Yes? You said that already." Audrey said bored. She really wasn't in any mood to be excited.

"I think we should create a bait ship, to lure in the bombers. Then we capture them when they attack."

"This is ridiculous." Audrey muttered. She took the phone away from her ear to hang up.

"WAIT!"Mako yelled, loud enough for Audrey to hear.

"You're right!" He gasped, "You're right. This plan is ridiculous, it's a long shot, the risk is high and we could just be trapping ourselves. But this is why I came to you. You're the best chance we have in succeeding, you're the greatest waterbender. You're our only hope." He finished, waiting for her response. After a few moments, Audrey responded.

"I'll get back to you."

She turned and hung up the phone, not trusting herself to speak further. She pursed her lips to keep them from trembling.
The greatest waterbender? How could he? She just bloodbended.

She felt the tears threaten to spill. But held it in.

Suddenly someone knocked on her door. She held her breath, hoping it was the wrong door and the whomever it was would just walk away. But, to her dismay, the knocking continued. She walked over to the door, hands trembling but a stiffened stance. She turned the knob and saw a tall man dressed in red uniform.

"Audrey. Hi. Chief Beifong told me you were not at work today, she said- are you okay?" Iroh asked, he walked in closing the door behind him. He watched her, struggling to respond to his question as her throat closed up with guilt.

She opened her mouth and closed it. Unable to form words.
Iroh, without thinking, walked to her and hugged her. She stood still for a while, rigid in her stance, but soon crumbled with a choke which turned into sobs. She lifted her arms and gripped him tightly, holding on to the only stable person in the room.

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