A/N: This is an adaptation of one of my favorite scenes in Legend of Korra. Breaks my heart everytime. Feedback/criticism welcome. Hope you enjoy!
Lin's Decision
by englishwhaler
Everything was going terribly. Republic City, the cultural and technological behemoth founded by the late Avatar Aang, was under siege. The anti-bender movement known as the Equalists had militarized with the aid of Hiroshi Sato, the city's crown industrialist, and was attempting to seize control of the city. Four of the five members of the governing council had been captured or killed and what remained of the police force was fighting for its survival. The Avatar herself had taken to hiding rather than face what seemed like an unwinnable fight.
And what was worse, Lin Beifong, the chief of the Republic City Police, had no control over any of it. It grated against her sharper than any knife and she hated it. She felt helpless and scared, and she hated that too. She watched as large columns of dark smoke billowed from nearly all corners of the metropolis; the Equalists surged on with no regard for the city or its citizens. They were destroying Aang's city, her mother's city, her city, and she could do nothing to stop it.
But she could do one thing. She could keep Aang's son, Tenzin, and his family of airbenders – the last airbenders – safe. The future of Aang's legacy and the Air Nomad culture depended on it and in this task she could not let herself, would not let herself fail. They had escaped together from the airbenders's home on Air Temple Island after it had come under attack from Equalist airships, the same ones that pursued them now. Tenzin's airbison, Oogi, flew with haste, but the airships flew faster.
"They're gaining on us!" Lin shouted over the wind.
"Faster, Oogi," Tenzin said, snapping the reins. Oogi accelerated but the airships kept coming, their shark-like metal bodies pushed forward by their powerful turbines.
The closest airship fired a cable toward the airbison, hoping to ensnare the group in an electrified net. Lin launched her own metal cable to meet the net and smashed it to pieces, but the airships advanced undeterred. Lin watched as the severed net fell earthward. They needed more time, but with Oogi tiring quickly it was inevitable that the airships, fueled by their mechanical stamina, would eventually catch them. There was only one decision to make, and Lin had already made it.
She flicked her cable and wrapped it around the one that had been produced by the airship. She stood and the wind increased, blowing her gray hair into her eyes. She didn't want to turn around, to see the faces of Tenzin's family, but she did. Pema, Tenzin's wife, held their newborn baby, Rohan, and Meelo, their son, held onto her; the girls, Jinora and Ikki, held onto each other. Their faces were scared and uncertain and despite the resentment Lin harbored, she knew she had to do it. She had to do it for her; she had to do it for Tenzin.
Lin closed her eyes and looked down, taking a final deep breath.
"Whatever happens to me, don't turn back."
Tenzin heard this and whipped his head around, his eyes filled with shock and confusion. "Lin, what are you doing!" But Lin wasn't there anymore. She had run down Oogi's back and, using a flick of Oogi's tail, launched herself into the air.
Lin swung toward the first airship on her cable, its hull becoming larger and larger in her vision. The Equalist sigil, the written character for "equal" painted in black on a red circle, taunted her as she neared. She reached the midpoint of the swing and began to retract her cable and ascend quickly toward the nose of the vessel. Using the momentum of the climb, she again launched herself skyward and came down onto the top of the airship, breaking into a roll to soften her landing.
Lin stood and took a deep breath. Her eyes closed, she slammed her foot on the surface and took in the qualities of the metal paneling beneath her. She would have smiled if she wasn't so focused and, with hair whipping across her face, raised her hands in front of her so that the palms faced each other. She brought her hands around, clenching them into to fists as she did, and moved them down, as if punching the air in front of her from above.
The metal surface responded to her control and a huge gash appeared in the top. Lin grabbed a hold of the exposed metal with her bending and ran down the length of the airship, her face hard and her eyes determined. Like a rug, the metal paneling rolled up and Lin tore a huge swath of paneling from the top of the airship. Her efforts bore fruit as an explosion rocked the vessel and it began to sink, belching smoke and unable to stay airborne. The ship falling fast, Lin ran down the hull in the direction of the second airship and slammed her feet down, ripping a panel free and using it to fling herself toward the second ship.
Her trajectory was tall but she fell with a thud, impacting the metal paneling around her. She brought her hands up and slammed her foot down, again taking control of the metal. She ripped the paneling in front of her in two and began to enlarge the tear. From a hatch behind her two Equalists emerged, each armed with an electrified bolas. Lin, completely focused on destroying the airship, didn't notice as the lead Equalist threw his weapon. It whipped through the air and wrapped around Lin, binding her legs together and her arms to her sides.
A mix of shock and confusion played over Lin's face as she fell down, unable to move. With a hiss and sizzle, the bolas unleashed an acute electrical shock, contorting Lin's face and making her cry out before knocking her unconscious. When the electricity had stopped, the two Equalists approached the now incapacitated police chief and collected her smoking body, taking it down into the depths of the vessel. The airship, prize in hand, veered suddenly and began to turn around, heading back toward Air Temple Island.
Tenzin and family starred on, mouths agape, as the airship began to shrink in size. There was no noise save the wind and the fading thrum of the airship's engines.
"That lady is myyy hero," Meelo said.
"Yes," Tenzin said, his eyes pained and his face limp, "she is." Oogi boosted himself higher with a growl of agreement.
Rain poured down on Air Temple Island, a sheet of gray against the black sky. There was no wind, only the soft patter of rain drops against the masonry. The lights of the temple shined through the gloom and illuminated the paved courtyard outside. A host of Equalist airships floated above the island, tethered into the temple stone, and groups of Equalists patrolled its shores, wary of any Avatar-led incursion. None would come.
Lin, exhausted and in pain, was pushed down onto her knees in the center of the courtyard. She was tired, tired from running, tired from fighting, but she forced herself to look up at the masked man in front of her.
"Tell me where the Avatar is," the man, leader of the Equalists, said, "and I'll let you keep your bending."
Water dripped down from Lin's hair and ran into her eyes. Her vision blurred and she hoped for a second that this was a dream. What a horrible dream, she thought. She blinked the water away but the man was still there, leering.
"I won't tell you anything, you monster."
The man, Amon, was disappointed but not surprised. He had expected her to defy him to the last, and he grinned behind the mask.
"Very well."
Amon approached Lin, the metal in his steel-plated boots clinking as he walked. It only took him a few steps to close the distance between them but it felt like many more. He came to a stop behind her and faced toward her back.
Lin closed her eyes and felt the rain beat against her skin. The stone was cold beneath her but strong. She wondered if her heart would race but its cadence remained steady. She was tired and she felt her mind drifting. She thought about Tenzin, dear, sweet Tenzin, and wondered where he was, if he and his family had reached refuge someplace far from here, far from this madness; she thought about the Avatar, Korra, and wondered where she was, if she was safe; she thought about her metalbenders and how she had failed to protect them, failed to save them. She thought about her mother and was afraid she would have been disappointed.
Lin felt a cold hand grasp her neck but she kept her eyes closed. This is it. Amon's thumb touched her forehead.
Her eyes went wide and a rushing sound filled her ears. Time slowed and Lin began to feel something break inside of her. She felt a crack appear deep in hear heart, and she felt it grow, increasing in size and depth and spreading. She felt as if the stone beneath her knees was being torn apart but the fracturing ground was not underneath her, it was inside of her. Her mind raced, trying to comprehend what was happening, trying to control it, trying to stop it. The cracks grew and spread, increasing in size and frequency, and now her heart raced. There were too many, the damage too extensive, and something shattered. The air was sucked from her lungs and the blood rushed from head. Her vision blurred and then blackened. She felt herself falling.
Her body hit the wet stone. She felt cold. She felt empty.
I tried, mom. I tried, she thought into the void.
I know, my sweet girl. You can rest now, the void answered.