Rebel
by LizBee
"Tenzin!"
His feet had barely touched the ground when Lin threw herself into his arms, heedless of the disapproving frowns of the onlooking Acolytes. Tenzin wavered for a second before giving into her hungry kisses.
"I missed you," she said when they paused for breath.
"I gathered."
Ba Sing Se evidently agreed with her. Lin was leaner than he remembered, and Tenzin could feel muscle beneath her clothes. Her hair was scraped back into a severe queue that emphasised cheekbones she hadn't had when she left Republic City.
In the interests of peace, he decided not to ask how many classes she was skipping to participate in illegal earthbending matches.
The Chief Acolyte pointedly cleared her throat.
"Master Tenzin," she said, "we welcome you to the Ba Sing Se Air Sanctuary and offer you our hospitality."
"She's been glaring at me for half an hour," Lin whispered, her arms still tight around his hips. "She thinks I'm out to corrupt you."
"Well, I'd hope so."
Tenzin kissed her one more time, then released her and bowed to the Acolyte.
"Thank you," he said, making a desperate attempt to remember the rest of the formal reading. Enlightenment escaped him, so he just said, "My father gave me some messages."
The Acolyte sighed.
The Chief Acolyte's office overlooked the courtyard, and Tenzin struggled to give her his full attention when Lin was hurling cabbages at Oogi below. Most of the messages from Air Temple Island had been written down, but a handful were verbal. It was an expression of his father's trust, Tenzin knew, that he was allowed to convey such private correspondence, but it was a badly timed honour.
"Thank you, Master Tenzin," she said when he was done. "I'll have replies prepared for Avatar Aang and Acolyte Yun before you leave." She stood up, blocking Tenzin's view of the courtyard. "Will you be staying with us at the Sanctuary?"
"No," said Tenzin, ignoring the flicker of disapproval in her eyes. "Thank you, but I'll be staying in the city."
The Air Sanctuary was set outside the city walls, on the edge of Lake Laogai. As a boy, Tenzin had spent the train journeys into the city marvelling at the countryside that held so much history. As a man of nineteen, he was more interested in the taste of Lin's skin and the way she shuddered when he licked her earlobe.
"Public indecency's a crime, you know," she said, pushing him away.
"You care?" Tenzin reached for her, then realised she was serious. "You move to a city where your mother isn't chief of police, and suddenly you worry about committing crimes?"
Lin shrugged.
"Or was that the - ow! Don't punch me! Isn't assault a crime?"
"Stupid questions should be."
"Does your dorm count as a public place?"
"I moved out of the dorms." Lin's smile transformed her face. "It was going to be a surprise."
"I love surprises."
The Beifong house was modest by the standards of the Upper Ring, which meant it was only half as large as Air Temple Island. Most of the furniture was still covered in drop sheets.
"So this is a surprise for your mother, too," Tenzin guessed.
"She'd kick up a stink."
"Didn't you like student housing?" Tenzin had fought to live on-campus while he studied. It wasn't that his parents wanted to control him, they just couldn't imagine that he'd want to trade the familiarity of Air Temple Island's dormitories for a similar lifestyle with strangers.
"No privacy." Lin pulled her hair over her shoulder and began to undo her braid.
"I forgot. You're a spoilt only child who doesn't play well with others."
"I like my space."
"That's what I said."
"Never learned to share."
Lin kissed him lightly on the lips. "I was going to try sharing my bed."
"It's never too late to start."
He explored a little while Lin showered. She occupied only a handful of rooms, leaving the rest untouched. Her textbooks lay in an untidy pile on the dining table. Some looked like they hadn't been opened at all.
Among the few exceptions were The Laws and Regulations of Ba Sing Se (186th edition) and The Book of the Dai Li by Grand Secretariat Won. Here Lin had gone so far as to add marginalia, most of it comparing Ba Sing Se to Republic City. She had a surprisingly detailed knowledge of Republic City's laws, probably because she had dedicated the last few years to bending and occasionally breaking them.
Another well-read book was a volume of classical poetry, the type of old-fashioned stuff that Lin had previously made fun of. There were no notes, but a number of pages had their corners turned down.
"Light reading," said Lin, taking the book from his hands. "You hungry?"
"I'll get my hat."
Lin took him to a noodle bar in the Lower Ring, decorously holding his hand on the train. With his tattoos hidden with long sleeves and a hat, Tenzin fancied they looked like any young adults. If any young adults of the Upper Ring ventured so far from their wealthy milieu. His father said the city was less divided now than in the past, but Tenzin still found it shocking to see how successfully the wealthy had removed themselves from the poor.
Maybe he didn't want to belong here.
"This place is supposed to do something amazing with tofu," said Lin, leading him through the narrow streets. It was past nine, but the Lower Ring was still crowded and busy. As electricity became more common, some places never closed at all.
"Actually, I'd rather have the chicken."
Lin's raucous shout of laughter was loud enough to disturb passers-by.
"I knew it!" she said. "Step one foot off the island and you're eating meat! Have you tried Kyoshi Island barbecue yet? Sokka does it with seal steak, the fat just melts-"
"Lin," he was glad it was too dark to see him blush, "it's not a big deal."
"No, no, it's just funny."
"I mean it!"
She stopped and squeezed his hand.
"Sorry," she said. "Tell me about it over dinner?"
In truth, Tenzin didn't even like meat very much: it turned out to have a strange, chewy texture, and the taste masked subtler flavours.
"So what's the point?" Lin asked.
"That..." Despite all the months of self-justification and rehearsing his arguments, for a few seconds he was lost for words. "Being an airbender isn't the same as being an Air Nomad."
"You're leaving the temple?"
"No!" Tenzin picked a piece of chicken out of his noodles and forced himself to eat it. "I'm just considering my options."
"I see." Lin concentrated on her meal for a few minutes. "What does your dad think?"
"We haven't exactly talked about it." He pushed his bowl away. "He'd be hurt."
"And then some." Her bowl empty, she reached for his. "And your mother would murder you."
"I hadn't thought of that."
"It'll be like when Bumi joined up with the Forces, only worse."
"It's..."
He paused, not wanting to sound childish, but Lin just smiled and said, "Not fair. Yeah. Like our parents were obedient automatons who did exactly what their elders wanted without question." Her smile faded. "Hypocrites."
It was a thought that Tenzin had held privately for a few months now, but it was still shocking to hear it out loud. He looked away, wishing the subject had never come up.
His eyes fell on a young couple at a nearby table, both wearing the uniforms of candidates for the Dai Li. Both had steaming bowls of soup in front of them, but they were ignoring their food. Their attention was on Lin, naked hostility in their faces.
Oblivious, Lin was still describing the various failings of Tenzin's parents and her mother.
"-thinks that if I go to university I'll forget about the police and become a proper little scholar-bureaucrat like you. No offence. But we both know that's not for - are you even listening?"
He leaned forward. "Man and a woman, sitting two tables over. Friends of yours?"
Lin reached for her bag and made a show of searching through it while she glanced over her shoulder.
"Never seen them before in my life."
"They seem to know you."
"Funny. I've hardly committed any crimes in this city at all." Lin's voice was light and casual. "Are you done? There's a place a few blocks from here that does the best mochi I've ever eaten."
Tenzin narrowed his eyes, watching as she settled the bill and strode back past the staring couple, her braid swinging in rhythm with her hips. Six months ago, Lin would have challenged the two to a fight, police or not. And it wasn't just that she was away from her mother's domain. He was pretty sure the Dai Li would make a point of making Toph, along with the rest of the world, aware of any trouble that Lin got into. But Lin seemed happier and more centred than she'd been in years, and it couldn't be because she was enjoying her studies.
He thought about it as they walked down the street. Then realisation struck, and he stopped.
"You're a Dai Li candidate as well, aren't you?"
Lin laughed. "Took you long enough!"
"Are you crazy?" He grabbed Lin's arm, guiding her through the street until they reached a relatively quiet spot. "The Dai Li have hated your mother like poison for thirty years. And you just ... what, turned up at a recruitment centre and asked if they'd have you?"
"I turned up at headquarters," said Lin. "And for the record, they hate me, too. Which is why I need to be so good they can't turn me down."
"Oh, good, that makes perfect sense. If you're a lunatic. What the hell are you doing this for?"
"Weren't you listening? Mom won't let me even think about joining the Republic City Police Force until I've gone to university. She thinks I'll show her up-"
"That's not remotely what she thinks!"
"-because I'm a better metalbender than she is."
"The Dai Li don't allow metalbending at all!"
"I know," said Lin, "but they'll come around."
"Really? It took a whole decade to turn them into a proper police force." Toph had played a big part in that, which was why she was so resented now. He couldn't imagine what the upper echelons of the Dai Li had said when Lin applied for candidacy. Well, no, he could imagine, but it was all unpleasant.
"I thought you'd be happy for me," said Lin. "You always said I needed to find my path."
"I know. I just ... thought it would be Republic City."
"Give me time." Lin took his hand and they resumed their walk to the mochi stand. "When the Earth King reorganised the Dai Li, he made them simplify their entrance exams. No more eight-legged essays on the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se and all that crap. Catch is, you want to be promoted after a certain rank, then you have to take those exams. I plan to work here a few years, go as far as I can, then transfer to Republic City, where we don't have bullshit exams for cops."
"That's ... actually not a bad plan."
"Thanks."
"How long? Until you come back?"
Lin shrugged. "Five years? Maybe?"
Feeling rather small, Tenzin said, "We were going to talk about the future when you finished university."
"Meat-eating airbender babies? That can wait."
"I don't..." He had somehow never made the connection between his vague rebellion against Air Nomad culture and the expectations of his family, and the lives of his future children. Who were, he conceded, as likely to bend earth and metal as air, but they would still be his, and still the grandchildren of Avatar Aang.
"I asked Kya if she ever wanted to give up vegetarianism," he told Lin. "She looked at me like I'd grown a second head."
"Please, she goes on about 'the balance of nature' more than your dad."
"Bumi doesn't."
"He's crazy in his own way." They had reached a tiny, dark little park. Lin unlocked the gate with a twist of her fingers and led him inside, pushing him down on a bench. "Look," she said, sitting down beside him, "ever since we were kids, you've seemed to know exactly what you wanted. And I really envied that. I mean," she looked down, "really. But trust me, you can change your mind, and screw up, and disappoint people, and it's not the end of the world. You can get up and keep fighting."
His throat tight, Tenzin said, "I thought that was what you were doing all along."
"It's a metaphor."
"So you went to at least one class?"
"Shut up."
"Ow!"
"You deserved it." Lin wrapped his numb arm around herself and put her head on his shoulder. "I think you're more of a fighter than you know. But I'm not going to force you into it."
"Lin?"
"Mm?"
"I don't really want mochi. Let's go back to your place."
"Master Tenzin. It's so good to see you again." The Chief Acolyte's smile became rather fixed as she took in Lin's uniform. "Miss Beifong."
Lin tucked her hands demurely into her sleeves. Her smirk was concealed by her hat, but Tenzin knew it was there. She had been looking like the cat that swallowed the canary-frog since she got dressed that morning.
"Do you have any messages for Air Temple Island?" Tenzin asked.
"In my office. Please," said the Chief Acolyte, "come with me."
"Any melons around here?" Lin said. "Oogi probably needs a snack before he leaves."
"You'll spoil him," Tenzin warned.
"So he'll be too fat to fly? You'll have to stay here with me. How terrible."
As they climbed the stairs to her office, the Chief Acolyte said, "I didn't know Miss Beifong was joining the Dai Li. Are they recruiting metalbenders at last?"
"Not deliberately, I think."
"I see."
"Give her a year. Maybe two."
"I shall watch events with interest." She opened the door and sat down at her desk. "I don't want to speak out of turn," she said.
"But you will?"
"But, Master Tenzin, I joined the Air Acolytes when I was a little older than you, and I can't tell you how many of us wish we had the privilege of having been born into this community. Sometimes it seems like you don't appreciate what you have."
Tenzin could feel the blush spreading across his face, but it was anger, not embarrassment. He took a deep breath, wishing he had the courage to say something crushing, but knowing it wasn't an option. Or, at least, not a good option.
"Thank you," he said, his voice strangled. "I'll keep that in mind."
He made his way down the stairs three, four, five at a time. The Acolyte at least had the sense not to follow him.
"What happened?" Lin asked, throwing one last melon into Oogi's waiting mouth. "You look-" she broke off as Tenzin pulled her into his arms, knocking her hat off and lifting her off the ground - "furious.
"Your mother's going to tell you that she made a lot of sacrifices to send you to Ba Sing Se University, and you've thrown them all away to go against her express wishes. What are you going to tell her?"
"That she never once asked me what I wanted." Lin wrapped her arms around him. "What are you going to tell your parents?"
"That I don't know what I want." He rested his cheek against hers. "They'll understand, won't they?"
"If they don't," said Lin, "you can leave. Come to Ba Sing Se. Live with me, study here, don't open their letters."
"And what if I decide that I want to be an Air Nomad?"
"I guess we find out how I look in orange?"
"Yellow would bring out your eyes."
"It'll bring out something." Lin squeezed him, then stepped back. "Go," she said. "Before I try making you stay for your own good."
"Hypocrite."
"Idiot." She climbed up Oogi's leg for one last kiss. "I'll keep an eye out for you."
"You might not have to."
"Just in case."
Tenzin kept looking back as they ascended, until Lin was nothing more than one of half a dozen indistinguishable figures on the ground.
Then he turned his attention forward, to Republic City and his family and the days to come.
end