The Metal Clan

After a disasterous dinner, Lin retired to her room, furious with her insufferable sister. Su acted so high and mighty with her fancy city, personal chef, and worldly knowledge, but Lin knew better and would not be taken in by all these frills. Seeing Varrick was the last straw; a man who the Chief personally put behind bars due to reckless endangerment of the public, fraud, and conspiring to kidnap the president of the United Republic. Now, the matriarch of the Metal Clan was allowing him to walk free under her roof! This reminded Lin of when they were younger, and Su could do whatever she wanted without regard for rules or consequences.

Needless to say, Lin could not bring herself to quietly seethe all through dinner, so she yelled, stormed out of the dining room, marched all the way back to the guest house and slammed the door.

Hoping to find some peace in solitude, Lin decided to make herself comfortable. She peeled herself out of her metal uniform and hung it in the closet, then made some tea. Noticing a newspaper on the tea table, she opened it and began to read, finally able to take her mind off her situation. Even if the news was negative, it still felt more comforting and familiar than the thought of spending time with her sister.

Lin sat on the chair in the living room reading for a long time, feeling much calmer without people around. She was in the middle of folding over the "World Affairs" section when there was a knock at the door. Still stinging from dinner, she was only willing to welcome certain company, if any...

"Who is it?" She asked in a deep, unenthusiastic voice, hoping it wasn't Suyin.

The door opened tentatively.

"Hey, it's me." Korra said softly, feeling more sympathetic toward the Chief now that she knew some about her childhood. Lin turned toward the Avatar, her expression severe, indicating that she did not want to be disturbed. "I brought someone who wants to talk to you." With a genuine smile, Korra opened the door fully, revealing Opal, Suyin's middle child at the top of the steps. A few short moments of silence passed as Lin considered what Opal could possibly have to say to her.

Lin folded up the paper and dropped it on the table in front of her. "If you want to talk, then talk." She said irately and sat back in the chair, crossing her arms to close herself off.

"I'm sorry being here has been so hard for you," the young Beifong said as she walked over to her estranged aunt. "When you showed up, I was so excited to get to know you. I'd heard so many great things about you from mom and grandma Toph."

Yeah, right. Lin thought as she fixed her gaze downward while Opal spoke directly to her left. She couldn't believe that her mother and sister had any nice things to say about her at all.

"So, I guess I was kind of sad that you didn't want to get to know me..."

Lin furrowed her brow at these words, feeling like she was being guilted into reconciliation. She had no quarrel with Opal, but that did not mean she wanted any part of this family.

"Beleive me. I know my family can be a little crazy and overwhelming sometimes," Lin closed her eyes; 'overwhelming' didn't even begin to cover it. This kid had no idea what she went through and the real reasons she chose not to reach out to the Metal Clan. "But I would love it so much if you would be a part of it."

"Get out." She articulated clearly, demanding the young girl's departure so Lin did not have to say anything more on the subject.

"Sorry. Did I say something wrong?" Opal asked with innocence and insistance.

Lin clenched her teeth, rage filling her up again as it did at dinner. After everything that happned, Lin had every right to feel angry. Years ago, she made a concious decision to remain distant, and this teenage girl was not going to make her feel guilty about it. "Get out!" She repeated with more force and eye contact.

Lin looked away as tears filled Opal's eyes. Her neice fled the building without another word. Korra, who had been waiting by the exit, took another step in.

"What's your problem?" Korra asked out of frustration. "Don't get mad at Opal. I asked her to come and talk to you because I thought it would help you snap out of whatever funk you're in! But I guess I was wrong!"

Lin stood immediately and faced her. "Why don't you focus on fixing the world, and stop trying to fix my family!" She growled, her fists tightly clenched.

"Su's right." Korra said spitefully. At the thought of Korra taking her sister's side in all this, just like everyone always did, Lin crossed her arms and turned her back to the Avatar for fear of showing her vulnerable side. She couldn't possibly know about all the years of resentment that factored in to these outbursts, and obviously did not understand how painful it was for Lin to be stuck in Zaofu.

"You're never gonna change." Korra continued. "You're always gonna be a bitter, lonely woman."

Lin's heart jumped into her throat, the words "bitter" and "lonely" still echoing in her head as Korra turned to leave. Her facial expression tightened with grief as she gingerly cupped her hand over her eyes and mouth to hinder any tear, or wimper that might try to escape her lips, before she was alone. Only when the doors slammed shut did she begin to cry.

She hunched her shoulders and clutched her torso, teardrops streaming down her cheeks. Korra was right. Lin was lonlier than ever before and, even though she refused to let anyone in, she was tired of feeling like she was the problem. All three of her most intimate relationships ended, through little fault of her own, with bitterness and pain; her ungrateful sister, her emotionally unavailable mother, and Tenzin, who betrayed her by falling in love with another woman. Each of these situations left her with emotional, and a few physical, scars. It's no wonder why she was so quick to push people away.

Lin didn't even want to go there in the first place. Now, because the Avatar would not take no for an answer, she was trapped in this metal city without even the option of leaving on her own. On top of that, she had no idea how much time would pass between taking the aribenders to the Northern Temple and returning to Republic City where she felt she could best protect Korra from four dangerous criminals. This thought only fueled the fire burning underneath the surface and momentarily dried her eyes as she experienced the need to destroy something.

No longer feeling the need to restrain her temper, she swung around and sent the chair she was sitting on flying across the room and smacked it into the metal bathroom door which dented on impact. Sensing the lump in her throat well up again, she stompped toward the couch, upending the tea table in the process. She practically fell onto the coushins and sat forward, her hands cradling her face as the crying began again. Unable to control herself, Lin wept for a while before eventually laying sideways on the couch and falling into a restless sleep.