Sanctuary
by LizBee
"Try to keep him quiet," Lin had said as they set out, but Rohan was almost silent save for some snuffles and whimpers. It was Pema who was weeping, silent tears that spilled down her face onto the baby's head.
They had been walking for ages, unwilling to risk a car with so many streets turned to rubble. Lin had a goal in mind, but they kept doubling back to avoid Equalists and looters. Pema was aching inside, and her milk had come in, leaving her breasts sore and swollen. But Lin kept walking, so Pema did too.
"This way," Lin murmured. She took Pema by the arm. There were deep shadows under her eyes, and she had been limping since their escape from the Equalist prison. She favoured her right arm, too, and brushed Pema's inquiries away with an impatience that was not quite convincing.
She led Pema down an alleyway that ran behind a department store, and came to a stop in front of an old, rusted iron door. Lin pulled a key from some inner pocket.
"Arrogant sons of bitches didn't even search me," she muttered.
The door opened smoothly.
"Watch the stairs," Lin said.
The room below felt more like a cave than a basement, but when Lin lit a lamp the light revealed something like a child's cubby house. An elaborate cubby house, complete with beds, bookshelves, even a hot plate and a rudimentary bathroom.
"What is this place?" Pema asked. Her voice was rough.
"Our parents needed to be sure we were safe in times of crisis." Lin busied herself making tea. "There were three bunkers across the city, but this is the last one. Oolong or jasmine?"
"Oolong, please." Pema sank into a chair beside a bookcase, unwrapping her dress, and helped Rohan latch onto her breast. "How has it not been found? Who owns this building?"
"I do." Lin was matter-of-fact. "It was never a perfect system - there's no secure route here from Air Temple Island - but it will do for now." She poured tea for herself and Pema.
"Thank you. Not just for the tea, I mean-"
"Don't. If you hadn't grabbed that guard's glove, we'd both be dead."
Pema didn't argue. She leaned back in the chair, her mind still racing despite her body's exhaustion. Outside the sun would be rising, and Tenzin and the children would soon meet whatever fate Amon had planned.
To distract herself she perused the bookshelf beside her. There was an old, probably valuable first edition of Aang's account of Air Nomad culture lying on its side. When Pema flipped it open, a yellowed piece of paper slipped out into her lap. It was a faded brush painting of a nude girl, sitting in the very chair that held Pema and Rohan. The girl gazed up at Pema, her dark eyes offering a challenge, or perhaps an invitation.
Pema looked up and saw an echo of that look, thirty years older, on Lin's face.
"Does he still paint?" Lin asked.
"When he has time. Not enough." Pema tried to picture Tenzin and Lin, eighteen or nineteen, stealing a few hours of privacy in the semi-darkness. She couldn't quite reconcile it with the husband who, before the children were born, would fly her out to some remote spot and make love to her under the sky. Even now, sunny, windy mornings meant a locked door and a late breakfast, and he hated sleeping with the windows closed and curtains drawn.
A tear blurred the painting. Pema put it down and wiped her eyes.
"What will we do if Amon takes their bending?" she asked. She tried to picture Jinora and Ikki and Meelo earthbound.
"Can you fly Oogi?"
"What? I mean, yes, of course, but-"
Lin held out an old bison whistle.
"As soon as it's safe, you're to take the baby and get to the South Pole."
"Oh?" Pema swallowed her first answer, which was, And who are you to give me orders? Instead she said, "And what will you do?"
"Rescue Tenzin and the kids."
"All by yourself."
"If I have to."
"I can't fly Oogi that far alone. Not with the baby. Come with me and get reinforcements. You think Kya and Katara won't help?"
Lin looked away. Pema stopped, then started to laugh.
"This isn't funny," Lin snapped.
"You coward! You'd rather face an army of Equalists than tell Katara that Tenzin was captured!"
"I - that's not-" Lin through her hands in the air. "Can you blame me?"
"No," Pema said, "but the shape you're in, you'll die if you go out there alone."
"I do need to rest," Lin admitted. "I seem to have less energy without my bending."
"So take the time. We can't do anything for Tenzin and the kids right now." She was trying to sound flippant, but her voice cracked. Pema took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, trying to release her fear in the exhalation. The anxiety lingered, but some of the tension escaped. She climbed to her feet and carried the baby over to the cot. He was asleep already, the calmest of her children. A true Air Nomad.
"Do you need the bathroom?"
"Go." Lin limped across the room and sank onto the bed, the only one built for an adult. "I need to get out of my armour."
Pema took her time washing herself and combing the tangles out of her hair. When she emerged, Lin was still sitting on the bed, her feet and arms bare but otherwise fully armoured.
"I'm going to need your help," she said, her voice flat. "Please."
The armour was secured with a series of intricate catches that ran down Lin's sides. Pema examined them, wishing the light was brighter.
"You'll have to stand up," she said. Lin obeyed, holding her arms out.
It felt weirdly intimate to kneel at Lin's side and peel her armour away. It was on the edge of Pema's tongue to ask if Tenzin had ever done this, but she said nothing.
"Korra will be keeping close to Amon. She won't let anything happen to your family."
Lin sounded like she was trying to reassure herself as much as Pema. If she shared Pema's fear that the Avatar was imprisoned or dead, she kept quiet.
"Tenzin would know to come here," she added. "We talked about evacuating you all here the other day." Her smile was crooked. "No time. Mom was right. Should have built a tunnel."
Pema undid the last catch and stood to lift the armour over Lin's head.
"Thanks," said Lin. "I couldn't-"
There was no conscious thought behind the kiss, just a brief awareness of Lin's proximity, coupled with a surge of desire. Not for sex, precisely, but intimacy and touch and reassurance that she wasn't alone.
Lin froze for a second, then she relaxed into the kiss, returning it as her arms snaked around Pema's waist and she pulled her gently onto the bed.
Lin tasted of sweat and grease and metal, and she was leaner and more muscular than Pma had imagined. But she shivered when Pema licked her earlobe, a sigh escaping her lips.
"Sorry," Lin murmured, pulling away a little. "That was - I didn't mean - I didn't realise how much I wanted to touch someone."
It was the first time in their long, cold acquaintance that Pema had seen Lin caught so completely off-guard. It was downright charming.
"I kissed you, remember?" Pema squeezed Lin's hand. "Thanks."
For the first time she noticed that Lin's right arm and shoulder were covered with mottled bruising that extended beneath her top.
"Does it hurt?"
"Like hell." Lin lay on her back, reaching up to play with Pema's hair.
"How are you?"
"I don't think prison breaks are a standard part of post-natal care." Pema lay back, putting her head on Lin's good shoulder. "But I'll live."
"Good." Lin took her hand. "We'll wait a few days," she said, her voice growing drowsy, "see what's happening. If we can help Tenzin and the kids, maybe get some help from what's left of the Forces, we will. If not, we'll go south."
"You won't leave me, will you?"
Lin's sigh held a hint of her old exasperation. "I won't leave you, Pema. I promise."
Satisfied, Pema buried her face in Lin's neck and gave in at last to exhaustion.
She didn't know how long she slept, but if it was more than a few hours the baby would have needed feeding. Instead she was woken by the sound of the door opening and familiar light steps coming down the stairs.
"Tenzin?"
"Mom!"
"Quiet, Ikki," Jinora whispered loudly, "the baby and Chief Beifong are sleeping!"
"Come here," said Pema, her muscles protesting as she sat up. She pulled the kids into her arms, while Tenzin picked up Rohan, now crying, and brought him to her. Ln was waking up as well, giving a grunt of pain as she rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her good elbow.
"You remembered," she said to Tenzin, her voice softened by sleep.
"Before we even reached the prison, we heard rumours of your escape." Tenzin's arms were around Pema, and he stroked Rohan's soft hair as he suckled. "Thank you."
"Dad," said Jinora, yawning, "can we stay here for a while?"
"I'm soooooooooooo tired," added Ikki. Meelo was already asleep at Pema's feet, a finger still up his nostril.
Tenzin helped Pema chivvy the kids through a semblance of their usual evening routine, although he was swaying himself. When the children were finally asleep he sat on the edge of the bed, Lin curled around him, and put his head in his hands.
"I should go back out," he said, reaching for Pema. "The city's full of rumours. I need to find Korra."
"You're no good to anyone in this state," said Lin, reaching up to squeeze his shoulder. "Get some rest. The city can wait a few hours."
"You're right. As usual." But Tenzin didn't move until Pema climbed past him to reclaim her earlier place beside Lin. Then, with a grunt of exhaustion. he lay down too, pulling the blankets up and wrapping his arms around Pema.
"This could get awkward," Lin mumbled.
"Go to sleep, Lin," said Tenzin.
"Hmph."
After a minute, Lin's hand slid across Pema's belly, her fingers entwining with Tenzin's.
Pema smiled as she fell asleep.
end