Title; Breath of Life

Fandom; Legend of Korra

Era; Various

Pairing; Lin Beifong x Tarrlok

Rating; M

Title Credit; "Breath of Life" – Florence and the Machine

Plot; Original idea

~Warnings~

Drama

Smut

Romance

Chapter 1

~Meeting~

The alarm rang. Lin's eyes opened, and she grumbled as her peaceful sleep was interrupted by the bell-like sound. She turned the alarm off and stretched her tired body. She hadn't slept too well the previous night. Well, actually she hadn't been sleeping well that whole week. She had some horrible nightmares that caused her to wake up in cold sweat. Then it was simply too hard to fall back to sleep. Saikhan said it was because of the stress, but she disagreed. She knew there was another reason for this. Tenzin. The man she had fallen for all those years ago. The man who had broken her heart. The man who had run away with another woman. Pema. That damned non-bender who offered herself completely to Tenzin in order to win him over.

Lin groaned frustrated. Why was she even bothering with all this? When Tenzin broke them up, the romance between the two was already blowing out. It was still painful, though. Lin could remember how she felt when Tenzin declared their relationship over. Then, Pema had appeared. She had apologized to an astonished Lin and had left with Tenzin. Lin didn't cry. Not there; not in front of them.

With those thoughts in her head, Lin pushed herself from the bed and removed her night robes. She walked to the closet and picked an undershirt and a pair of underpants, as well as socks. After pulling them on, she used her metal bending to dress in her uniform. It was heavy and uncomfortable, but Lin was proud to wear it. Taking her mother's place as Chief of Police meant the world to her.

Without bothering to comb her hair, or put on any make up, she made her way downstairs and pulled on her coat before heading out of the house and locking the door. Lin's house was small, but warm. With the Beifong fortune she could buy the largest Mansion in the city, but she was never interested in such luxuries. She didn't even have a Satomobile, even though she could drive. She liked going to work on foot. If she needed to, she asked Saikhan to drive her back in the evening. And he never refused.

In less than half an hour, she was entering the Police headquarters. Her officers were greeting her formally, and she was nodding back at them. Except for Saikhan, no body else had a close relationship with the Chief of Police. They probably found her too intimidating to open up to her. She didn't care. Being sensible was for the week. Being cold and detached would prevent her from getting hurt again.

Entering her office, she found Saikhan leaving a small pack of papers on her desk. "Morning, Captain." She greeted formally. "Good morning, Lin." He teased with a playful smirk. He liked to tease her when she was trying to sound formal. She shook her head and pulled off her coat. "Had trouble sleeping again?" he asked, watching her as she went to the coffee machine to prepare her morning coffee. "Yeah. It has reduced a little, but I still feel exhausted in the mornings."

"Maybe you should stop drinking so much coffee." He shrugged.

"If I stop drinking coffee, I'll be falling asleep on my desk in the morning." She yawned.

The phone rang. "Get it, will you?" she sighed, turning her attention to the coffee machine. Saikhan nodded and picked the phone up. "How can we help you?" he paused for a moment. "Councilman Tenzin, good morning." He greeted. Lin froze in place, hearing Tenzin's name. What in the world could he want now? What ever it was, it couldn't be good. "Lin, it's for you."

Lin feared he would say that, and taking a deep breath, she took the phone from Saikhan. "What is it?" she asked coldly. "Alright, fine. I'm coming." She shut the phone down and tuned to Saikhan, who starred at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked.

"The new Councilman from the Northern Watertribe has just arrived. I should go meet him." She mumbled, pulling her coat back on. "Manage my paperwork while I'm gone." He nodded and watched her as she headed out of the office.

Lin made her way downstairs an out of the headquarters, not paying attention to the officers giving her weird looks. She wasn't in the mood to meet anyone right now, but as the Chief of Police, it would be rude not to show up to welcome the city's new authority figure. All she knew was that the Councilman was a male, and the youngest person to ever hold such a post.

She reached City Hall a couple of minutes later, and entered. All the Councilmen and Councilwomen were expecting her. Lin avoided to look at Tenzin, even though she could tell he was starring at her when she entered the room.

"Ah, you must be Chief Beifong." Lin heard an unknown voice call her, and she assumed it would be the new Councilman's. She turned towards the voice to face a tall young man. His skin was dark and his eyes blue. He was wearing traditional Watertribe clothes, and he had his hair caught in three long ponytails. "It's an honour to finally meet you." He declared, grinning charmingly at her and he took her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

He was trying to be charming, but what he didn't know was that Lin wouldn't fall for these. Seeing she wasn't going to say anything, the man bowed his head before introducing himself. "I am Councilman Tarrlok. The new representative for the Northern Watertribe."

Lin nodded, but again remained silent. Tenzin broke the awkward silence. "Well, then. I guess we can let Chief Beifong go back to her duties now. I'm sure she's pretty busy." She glanced at Tenzin and turned to leave, happy this was done. While she was heading to the exit, she heard fast footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn to look. Tarrlok caught up with her. "Chief Beifong, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Lin stopped and turned to look at the young man standing before her. She had to admit, he was very handsome. "Spill." She replied coldly, urging him to speak. "The other Council members have decided to invite me to dinner, in order to welcome me to the City. I was just wondering if you could be so kind to escort me?" he questioned.

Lin was taken aback. Why would a guy like Tarrlok ask her to escort him out. She was a lot older than him and not exactly the dating type. "Why don't you ask a girl your age, kid?"

Tarrlok paused for a moment. "Apart from the fact that I don't know many people around the City, I believe you would be the most beautiful partner for me." She was flattered. It had been a while since someone had complimented her like that. She wanted to agree. She really did. But the thought of Tenzin showing up with Pema was making her stomach turn. Oh, screw Tenzin! He wasn't going to define her life.

"Alright." She agreed.

Tarrlok grinned. "I will come by to pick you up at seven." He declared and reached to take her hand in order to kiss it again, but Lin had already turned around and was heading to the exit.

A/N; So, I know you're used in me posting Lin/Tenzin but my muse is gone right now, so I decided to try a new pairing. I will continue posting Linzin, however. Please, review to tell me your opinion. Thanks!