When I finally feel comfortable enough with a group of characters and their world to write something longer than a short story, I really take my time with it. I've been working on this for a while, and so being able to post the first chapter of a multi-chapter work is truly exciting for me. It won't be terribly long compared to what I may have written for other fandoms in the past, but I do hope you enjoy regardless!

As for timeline, this is set between seasons 3 and 4 while Korra is recovering/off hiding from the world. Since it is compliant with canon, all the Lin/Tenzin relationship building, if that is what you're here for, is subtle and can pass as either friendship or an actual "thing". Read what you will, friends! No spoilers for any episodes.

Silence of the Sound

Chapter 1

The bright afternoon sunlight of early spring shone down across the cobbled streets of Republic City. Tenzin paused in his quick stride and took a deep breath, pulling the fresh, crisp air into his lungs. There was still just a hint of the past winter lingering, coming in at night to nip through the shutters with the wind, but there was no denying warmer weather was quickly coming. It was a relief, truth be told, after the hard frosts and heavy snows.

He picked up his pace again, patting his chest once to be sure the roll of parchment he had tucked into his robe before leaving City Hall was still secured there. It was, of course, but he knew he would be needing it in just a moment and feeling the bulk of it helped him at least pretend the next few minutes would go smoothly.

The stark shadow of the police headquarters blocked the sun and he raised his head, eyes skimming over the many gleaming windows and quickly finding those of Lin's office, facing the city proper. He had no idea if she was in there or even free to see him, though he would at least try her here before waiting hours longer to catch her at home. Their friend needed an answer as soon as possible.

He opened the main door, met immediately by warm air as it swirled past him outside into the chilly day.

"Good afternoon, Master Tenzin!"

He smiled at the greeting, walking over to the front desk and the young man standing there – a new recruit he recognized as Akrosh, just given his badge last year. "Good afternoon," Tenzin replied, glancing around at the deceptively calm lobby. "I was hoping to have a few minutes with Chief Beifong, is she available?"

"I'm not sure," Akrosh muttered, looking over the duty roster on his side of the desk. "Let me check, I'll be right back!"

Tenzin watched him dart past the corner before looking around again. There were a few people milling about, but surprisingly few given the time of day. Perhaps it was a slow week. He sighed, thinking back to the times before Lin was Chief of Police, when he could just walk right by this desk with a wave to go find her himself. He might have been able to continue doing so after her promotion, if things had worked out differently between them. Maybe he still could now, really, he just hadn't pushed his luck.

"I just phoned her, Master Tenzin, she said you could go right up!" Akrosh said brightly as he returned to the desk and pulled out his chair.

"Thank you," Tenzin said with an appreciative nod.

The interior of the precinct was much busier than the lobby had appeared to be. Noises erupted from various departments as he passed through the hallways, stepping around officers and detectives alike as they hurried to and fro. So definitely not a slow week after all. He tried to keep himself out of the way as a clerk rushed by with a stack of papers until, finally, he made it to the inner sanctum of desks that surround the double doors of Lin's office.

The detectives there, some bent over files, some working together, barely glanced up at him as he walked by them to knock on her door.

"What," Lin's muffled response came, and he took that as his welcome to enter.

Very slowly, he swung the door open and let himself inside. His gaze focused on her immediately, sitting at her desk surrounded by scrolls and files and stacks of paper as she read over a report, inkpen held between her teeth with one hand. Her narrowed eyes darted up to meet his briefly before dropping back to her paper, already beginning to read again.

"What do you want?" she asked shortly. "I thought I cancelled dinner tonight."

"Hello to you, too," Tenzin said with a chuckle.

"I know I said you could come up, but this really isn't a good time. We just caught a break that could help us bring down a huge section of the Triads. So," she said with finality, "if you are only here to chat, you can turn your ass around right now."

Tenzin pulled out one of the chairs on the other side of her desk and sat down heavily. She glared at him for the intrusion, ready to send another harsh volley of words his way, when he reached into his cloak and drew out the parchment. Her glare moved from him to it, lessening from anger to wary curiosity. Rather than explain what it was or even hand the scroll over to her when she started to reach for it, he asked, "Do you remember Rala?"

"That kid who teased you endlessly in school?" Lin could tell by Tenzin's expression that she was correct, and she sat back in her chair, lowering the pen from her lips. "What about him?"

"You know he settled a small town in the Earth Kingdom not too far from here, up in the mountains? He's been living there with his wife for the last thirty years." He paused, waiting for her to say something, but she just raised an eyebrow. "Well, with where their village is situated in the mountains, they're still getting a bit of snow. It seems there was an avalanche last week. Three people died, and about twenty more have been temporarily displaced while their homes are reclaimed."

"So?"

"Right, well." Tenzin finally handed over the parchment but, curious as she was before, Lin didn't unroll it. Instead she set him with a firm gaze, wanting to hear it from his mouth. "One of those three people who perished was actually – oh, you know I'm not good at this. It appeared she was dead before the avalanche, due to causes unknown. And, if their healer is to be believed, she was the third person to die in such a way in the last two weeks."

A tense silence fell as Lin opened the scroll and quickly read through it. Tenzin watched her, starting to get anxious. "Rala wants you to come help him," she said dryly after a moment as she neared the end. "Is he dense, or does he just not remember how cruel he was to you?"

"Lin -"

"He made you cry, Tenzin!" she said, a sharp edge lining her voice. "More times than I can count! He was awful to you when we were children!" She crushed the parchment between her hands. He lurched forward, almost attempting to stop her, but she threw the ball of paper into the fire grate in the corner, turning to look at him with a startlingly pained expression on her face. "After everything he put you through as a boy, are you seriously considering going out there to help him like this?"

He could feel his neck turning scarlet. The memories still hurt, and the fact that she remembered them just as intensely made his chest ache. "I don't know that I have a choice. People are dying."

She didn't have a response. She looked away from him, back down to her desktop – still organized despite the incredible mass of documents – and turned her lips down in a deep frown, losing herself momentarily in her own memories. Through the haze, the one thing she saw clearly was Tenzin, eight years old and sobbing against her. She also vividly recalled punching Rala squarely in the face by the time they were twelve for one nasty stunt that left Tenzin with a broken ankle.

"Will you come with me?" he asked abruptly.

Lin met his wide eyes, and suddenly his visit here in her office made sense. Her shoulders slumped, torn between her desire to continue protecting him and needing to stay right where she was, working with her officers on their case. "Tenzin…" She began to shake her head slowly, the movement halfhearted and sad. "You know I can't. The Triads…my job…I can't."

"Please, Lin?" he whispered, leaning forward to rest his hand, palm upward, on her desktop. "We would only be gone two days, three at the most. All he's asking for is assistance in finding the cause, and I need your help to do that."

Heaving a heavy sigh, she raised her hand from where it was resting on her thigh and covered his, squeezing his fingers tightly. "Fine."

They both let it go unsaid that the help he was seeking from her in this instance, aside from her professional opinion, was her strength to face his childhood bully again. He smiled at her, resisting the urge to kiss her knuckles with gratitude as he would have many years ago. As if sensing it, she slipped her hand away. "Thank you."

She pursed her lips into a thin line, considering what she had just agreed to. "Don't get me killed," she muttered. "Or maimed. Or injured in any way, shape, or form. Got it? That's not what I'm signing up for. All I'm after is a nice trip to the mountains to take a look at few bits of evidence to piece together for someone else's benefit."

"Absolutely." He grinned kindly, starting to get to his feet. "I'll go reply to his letter now – I do wish I still had it, by the way, thank you so much, Lin, for burning the thing – and I'll let you know as soon as he tells me when to depart."

She just scowled at his back as he left.