After Dinner:
Lin sat alone in the parlor of the guesthouse, reading the Zaofu Newspaper. Her armor lay discarded carelessly in the corner of the bedroom. Her boots were the only metal on her that remained. The headlines of the Zaofu paper were even fluffier than those in Republic City. It seemed everything in Zaofu was plated with platinum or gold. "The Flying Boar Dance Troupe of Zaofu bests the Badgermoles of Omashu", "Varrick of Varrick Industries teams up with the matriarch's husband Baatar to revolutionize trains", "New metalbending school opened by former student of Suyin in the south neighborhood", "New Trade Deals struck with the Formerly Nomadic Sand Bending Tribes of the Si Wong Desert!"
Huh, didn't know the sandbending tribes had anything to trade. Last time I checked, they didn't which is why they had to loot the trains to Ba Sing Se to make their living. Lin thought to herself as she turned the page with a frown on her face and one foot planted firmly on the ground. She looked up and folded the newspaper down even before her visitor knocked on the door.
"What do you want now, Korra?" Lin demanded as the young Avatar entered the room slowly.
"I— How'd you know it was me?"
"Think my mother let me get past the age of four without being able to see with my feet?" Lin replied sarcastically, not turning, but resting her hands on her knees and looking down.
"Sorry," Korra said.
"Why are you here? I was about to go to bed," Lin said dropping the newspaper down on the table in front of her, still not looking at the Avatar.
"I just brought someone who wants to talk to you," Korra said nervously as Opal hesitantly entered the room behind the Avatar.
"You want to talk? Then talk," Lin growled folding her arms and legs.
"I'm sorry being here has been so hard for you. When you showed up, I was so excited to get to know you. I heard so many great things about you from mom and Grandma Toph. So, I guess I was kind of sad you didn't want to know me. Believe me, I know my family can be a little crazy and overwhelming some times, but—"
"You don't know anything about our family," Lin said quietly.
"What?" Opal asked, a little shocked.
I should have let her finish. There is no turning back now. Best remove myself from the situation before things get worse. Spare her the pain. She doesn't need to know what happened years ago. "Get out."
"Sorry, did I say something wrong?" Opal asked stepping back with her hands up, open palmed, innocently.
"GET OUT!" Lin snapped .
Tears formed in the young airbender's eyes as she ran out of the guesthouse.
"What's your problem? Don't get mad at Opal! I asked her to talk to you because I thought it would help you snap out of whatever funk you're in. But I guess I was wrong," Korra yelled at Lin.
"Why don't you focus on fixing the world and stop trying to fix my family?" It has been broken beyond repair.
"Su's right. You're never going to change. You're always gonna be a bitter, lonely woman."
Maybe you're right, but you should know life is never easy once you hurt me. "You should choose your words carefully, Avatar, or else people won't be as willing to help you the next time you start a war."
"I don't—didn't—" Korra stammered.
"Get out," Lin ordered.
"You can't—"
"Get OUT!" Lin yelled bending the metal floor up to make a wall between herself and the Avatar before launching her out the door, slamming it shut, and jamming the frame so it couldn't be opened without metalbending again.
As she felt with her seismic sense, the Avatar storming off, a single tear rolled down the Police Chief's face.
Flashback:
Lin – 22, Suyin - 16
"Calling all units. Property reported on the corner of 5th and Harbor. Suspect's vehicle headed south on Hallow Boulevard. Units responding, identify." The station coordinator announced on the radio.
"Unit three responding." Lin replied as a satomobile sped past her. Lin yanked her vehicle around, banking the road to aid the turn and began her swift pursuit. As soon as Lin became close enough, she bent a cable out of a rather large spool on the side of her car and ripped off a rear tire of the criminal vehicle sending it spiraling out control. She stopped her own, leaping out of the side with ease, restraining two suspects as soon as they emerged from the wreckage.
Ha! Stupid children! She thought to herself as she noted their youth and agility. She ducked to the side as a rock flew past her face then weaved to avoid a strip of metal.
"Leave them alone!" a voice only too familiar begged.
"Su?!" Lin gasped yanking the two youths ensnared in her cables towards her, securing them with platinum quickly before turning to her baby sister. Lin punched a hole in the side of her own police car in frustration. "So you're robbing stores with the Terra Triad now?"
"I didn't steal anything! I just drove the car. I owed my friends a favor. It's not a big deal."
"I'm not letting you get away with this!"
"What are YOU going to do, officer? Arrest me? Like Mom would let THAT happen," Suyin replied with a dismissive wave of the hand.
"What a good friend you are, leaving your friends to suffer the consequences of YOUR mistakes!"
"Ha! At least I have friends." the teenager replied smugly. "Besides, how can I get them out of prison if I'm also locked in?" Suyin asked with a smirk, continuing to walk away.
"Don't you take one more step!" Lin yelled warningly.
Suyin brushed her off and continued.
Lin caught her wrist with a cable. Suyin only stopped for a moment before bending her cuff into along blade and slashed the cable, snapping it back at her sister's face.
Flashback:
Lin – 22, Suyin - 16
"What were you thinking? And what were YOU thinking? You two have put me in an impossible position!" Toph scolded both of them in her office after rescuing Suyin from the high security cells and tracking down Lin who was on patrol in the city.
"You're mad at me? She's the one who is a pledged member of the Terra Triad now, committing theft, assault and battery, AND evading arrest-" Lin replied.
"This is all YOUR fault!" Suyin shrieked.
"I was doing my job!" Lin yelled back.
"All right! Enough! Here's what we're going to do. Su, you need to leave the city immediately," Toph decided.
"What?! Where am I supposed to go?!" Suyin protested, crestfallen.
"YOU are going to stay with your grandparents. Lin, give me the arrest report. I will have Do and Minh go to the hospital and get all of Su's records. Su, your citizenship of Republic City will be revoked so you can't come back," Toph listed.
Both Suyin and Lin looked appalled.
"Mom, what are you doing?! You can't just erase her off the face of the earth! She's a human being! Criminal or not, people know her! They'll talk regardless what you do! Might as well lock her up and put the victims' hearts at ease! There were witnesses! We CAN'T cover this up!"
"I am the chief of police! I cannot have a daughter in jail!"
"So once again, Su gets to do whatever she wants and there are no consequences,"
"This is our only option!" Toph yelled rubbing the sides of her head. "Now get out of my office, both of you!"
"BUT-" Lin began to protest.
"One more word from you, Lin and I will strip you of that uniform and exile you too!" Toph threatened. Lin held it in and closed her eyes, her jaw throbbing with pain from the wound that resulted from the altercation that took place earlier that afternoon.