Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.
Four days had passed, and Republic City was in an ethereal dream, its citizens were going through the motions of living, in a daze, for even after each day passed, the vitality and energy of the city that he once cherished was now a banished interloper, most people seemingly willing for it to never return. The streets where children usually played only to be scattered by an irate driver now lay empty and barren, and those whose footsteps echoed upon it were glared at with hostility and disapproval, their presence seen as an insult to his memory. Occasionally, the oppressive silence would be broken by the heart wrenching cries of the mourning, their grief spewing out, their hearts and minds overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness and loss, their guttural sobs the only way their agony could be expressed.
They lost him, the man who had brought them together; the one who had treated them as his own, his passion and empathy had resonated deep within their psyche. He was their defender and hero; he was the one who truly represented their will, desire and aspirations as a people. He was their guide; their burning flame who gave them safe passage in the cold darkness life had the potential to represent.
And now, that man had passed from the mortal word.
Avatar Aang was dead.
And it seemed as though he had taken the life of Republic City with him.
And yet life belonged to the living
These words resonated within Lin's head as she trudged her way slowly inside the police station to report for duty. Indeed while ordinary citizens continued to hold their lives in static, it was those who were especially the closest to the deceased Avatar whose absence had left a festering wound in their lives who were trying to return a sense of normalcy to their lives, partly because their duties and responsibilities to the city compelled them to do so, but mostly because of the knowledge that Aang would have been filled with sorrow to see how people were reacting to his death. He was the one who, knowing that his impending death was increasingly becoming near, had said that while he understood that while they would weep at his passing as a message of their love, he had literally begged his family and friends to be try and be happy, even without him.
"This city will need all of you to be there even more than ever" he had smiled, his body weak, but eyes still twinkling, observing those assembled at his bedside "I need you to promise me, to fulfill my one last request, for the sake of Republic City, as well as for yourselves."
And so they tried to fulfill that promise; Sokka volunteering and being elected to the head of the Council of Republic City, his days spent cooped up with old codgers arguing about taxes and architecture, wistfully yearning for the outdoors. Toph attacked her work as Police Chief with even more vigour, pushing her officers even harder than usual; something they didn't think was possible. For her, discussing strategies with her deputies and lieutenants and patrolling the streets herself meant long hours and exhaustive work, meaning less time at night for her mind to wander to her lost friend, someone who an almost constant at her side for so many years. And yet no matter how hard she tried, his face would break through her barriers, one who had offered her compassion and strength in response to her rudeness and stubborn nature, and then the choked sobs and tears would come.
As for Lin, notions such as days became irrelevant to her, each shift became a double shift, then a triple shift, until it became that she would end up sleeping for an hour for the most before resuming patrolling the city with her team, needing to ensure that the grief of the city would not spiral into violence, still a very real possibility. Slowly walking into the Chief's office, where she and the other captains stood waiting for their orders from the Chief, her mind could not help but wander to the man she was doing it all for, a man who she considered an uncle, and even as a father, a man who returned her love with his own, wondering if this is what he wanted, and if he would have been proud of the efforts being made –
"Is there something the matter, Captain Beifong?" a curt voice snapped bringing her from her thoughts. Her mother did not look pleased with her momentary distraction, glaring at her daughter through narrowed eyes. Smothered laughter rippling through the assembled captains reached her ears; it was old news that many in the police force were angered by her rapid ascension through the ranks. At first, the nasty rumors that it was through her mother's influence that she became a captain after only four months of becoming an officer had stung her pride; nowadays she had hardened her heart against her agitators and their lies, knowing that if her mother, the consummate professional, would have barred her from entering if she had proven herself incompetent.
"Not at all, Chief" she replied, making sure to keep all emotion out of her voice, her eyes staring intently at the wall, keenly avoiding any eye contact at all with her mother, not wanting to risk any sort of confrontation. Toph was difficult to deal with in the best of circumstances, and now that Aang was dead, she was in no mood for insubordination, not that anyone was stupid or clueless enough to try.
"Good, keep it that way" Toph turned abruptly and returned to her desk, grabbing her chair and seating herself before barking instructions to her captains.
"Squads One, Two and Three will be patrolling the Fourth District and Downtown Republic City, dismissed." she said, not raising her head as the three captains slowly shuffled out of her office, pausing until they left.
"Squad Four will cover City Hall, Squad Five take Republic City Park, and Squad Seven tackle the Pro-bending Arena." Lin's head snapped up quickly, her Squad Six had just been skipped, surely it didn't mean that they were not patrolling tonight?
"Squad Eight and Nine will move into the Dragon Flats Borough" the two captains stiffened; they would be heading into one of the most dangerous parts of Republic City.
"And Squad Ten..." pausing slightly, as the faintest of smirks crossed her face, not going unnoticed by said captain, causing them to gulp in trepidation " Will be marching through the sewers tonight." The captain could only shake his head and mutter to himself, while the other captains barely contained their mirth; nobody wanted the sewers, the stench clung to them for days they came back, causing them no end of humiliation.
"That will be all, you are dismissed." Toph ordered, leaving Lin speechless in the middle of the office. Her mother had just completely ignored her, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. The other captains noticed this, causing the Squad Ten captain to mutter spitefully as he left,
"Would you look at that, Poor Lin isn't on duty tonight, she must be too tired, or maybe she's just too weak as usual." A few laughs rose among them, causing Lin to spin around and fixed her eyes on the man, murderous intent in them shining clearly, causing the captain to gulp and walk away quickly, followed closely behind by the others; she had struck him in a very sensitive area in the last training session, and he wasn't that courageous enough to provoke her into attacking.
As the door closed, leaving the two Beifongs alone in the room, Lin turned her attention to her mother, her ire rising rapidly. Just what the hell was her deal? Is she planning on giving me my orders, because I'm not leaving until then. Resolution firmly fixed, she marched over and dumped her body into the battered chair opposite her mother, causing the elder Beifong to raise an eyebrow.
"Is there a problem, Captain?" she said coolly, knowing exactly where the conversation would be heading, Lin's next words confirming just that.
"There sure as hell is a problem" Lin growled, her eyes drilling holes into her mother's head.
"Really, now what could that be" Toph casually replied, knowing she was just making her daughter even more angry.
"Oh I don't know, maybe it has something to do with the little fact that YOU HAVE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO GIVE MY SQUAD ANY ORDERS AND YOU JUST HUMILIATED ME IN FRONT ALL THE OTHER CAPTAINS!" Lin's voice had continually risen until she was shouting into her mother's face, her face red with the force of her screams.
Toph, meanwhile, was hardly impressed with her daughter's diatribe. Leaning back into her chair and dropping her feet completely across her desk, directly into Lin's face, sighing in contentment.
"Since when have you cared what other people thought about you?" She started wiggling her toes in full view of Lin, knowing that it would piss her off even more.
"I don't care what other people think, I do care what my own mother thinks!" Lin answered, slamming her fist onto the desk. "I've been running patrols for the past four days and now all of a sudden you think I'm not good enough, I'm not going to just sit here-"
"Oh would you shut up, you're giving me a bigger headache than the one I already have" Toph cut her off, growing tired of her daughter's ranting. Noticing her harsh words had gained its desired effect, she continued.
"Look kid, you're right, I did exclude you from patrols tonight" Sensing that another shouting fit was coming she continued hurriedly, "Keep quiet and listen, would you? I'm not sending you on patrol tonight because tomorrow you'll be on a special mission, and I need you to be well rested."
"I don't need to rest, I'm ready to move out at any time" Lin answered defiantly, insulted.
"Well that's good to hear, because since your mission will be in the morning, you'll have no excuse for taking a night's sleep, is there?" Toph grinned, knowing she had all but trapped her daughter.
"Oh and in case, you're planning on taking your squad out anyway; I've already assigned them to Captain Hiroh for the night" Feeling her daughter's anger rising once again, she concluded relentlessly "And furthermore, in the event that you plan on going by yourself, without a squad, as your Chief, I'm ordering you to go home and rest. Got it?"
Toph waited silently as the battle she knew was raging within her daughter's mind played itself out; the need to prove herself as the very best and the desire to fulfill her promise to Aang against direct orders of her superior. However, as expected, Lin's next words came as no surprise to her.
"Very well Chief, if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving for the night then." Lin's words dripped with venom, as she stiffly saluted Toph, knowing that her mother would pick up the action through her earthbending; knowing too how she didn't like Lin being so impersonal when they were alone.
"Goodnight Lin" Her mother replied unusually quietly, knowing that her daughter's anger towards her had crossed the line from their professional lives into their personal ones. If it was one thing Toph was susceptible to, not that she would ever admit it, was her daughter hating her, not as Chief, but as a mother. And yet, she knew that her daughter, as stubborn and prideful and she was, was at the point of exhaustion and would end up working herself to the point of sickness if she let her continue. Besides she had overheard one of the captains laughing at how bedraggled Lin's appearance was, and while she herself was never one to care much about looks, she wouldn't let others make fun of her daughter. It had given her great joy, when that same captain somehow tripped on a piece jutting earth that suddenly had appeared near his feet and had broken his nose.
Not responding, Lin marched out of the room, ignoring the looks and smirks of her co-workers and into the darkness of the night. Reaching their empty apartment, she flung herself onto the bed she hadn't seen in almost a week, neglecting to even change out of her uniform, tears slowing welling up and overflowing, too tired to raise her hands to wipe them away; waiting for the cold clutches of sleep to take her, and for the nightmares to begin.
And there it is, the first of probably two chapters of my first story ever! Thank you for reading, please leave an honest review. Also, check out probably the best Chief Lin Beifong story on this site, "A New Kind of Life" by MarblesG, you won't be disappointed.