She was certain her eyes were open, but her surroundings could have fooled her. The room was darker than night, the floor colder than ice. Lin's cheek pressed against the concrete, entirely numb. There was no feeling, no sensation, no acknowledgement from her old friend. The earth ignored her, pressing against her tear stained cheek without so much as a 'hello.'
Lin's hands found the floor on either side of her body and she forced herself up with a grunt, head pounding in protest. The dull ache in her veins hummed inside her body, assuring her that she was, unfortunately, alive. But if she were alive, that simply meant there was more work to be done.
The first order of business was to figure out where Amon's followers had taken her. The last thing she recalled was that soul-splitting moment in lightly falling rain on Air Temple Island. She remembered the pain, she remembered the emptiness, and she could have sworn she remembered her mother's voice- but only the pain and emptiness were present now.
Her hands spread out on the ground before her; the pavement was smooth, commercial. It was not Air Temple Island- that much she was sure of. She had been moved at some point. She felt her way to the nearest wall, accidentally knocking a metal bucket along the way. The clanging sound of it echoed in the small space, a cruel reminder of her sightlessness- both ocular and seismic.
Frustration boiled inside her chest and the steam rose in throat, escaping into the air through her mouth. Her scream would have shaken the ground once upon a time. The tears appeared in short order, but she was not overtaken. She continued to crawl along the floor until she met a stone wall; her hand ran up the side carefully and her body rose behind it.
Standing finally, she let her forehead rest against the wall a moment. It was a surreal moment, standing in the dark room, utterly blind and still feeling as if she were spinning. She needed water, she needed sleep, she needed her bending.
Her hand ran along the cool wall, searching again. She began following it, slowly identifying her space. She came to a metal door and instantly found the handle. Her shaking hands pulled and jostled it without much effect. Her fist pounded the door, "Is anyone out there?"
No response.
She sighed, collecting her thoughts. She was reminded of the story her mother used to tell about the first time she manipulated metal. Lin banged against the door again, "I have to pee," she shouted and then she laughed at herself caustically. The memory of her mother's voice, the hope in her mother's story warmed her insides, but the unforgiving metal door cooled her quickly.
Her fingers slid along the wall beside the door, finally settling on a beaded string. She pulled it and a light from above flickered on. It was dim, but illuminated enough of the space for Lin to deduce she was in a maintenance closet. A mop and a broom rested in one corner, the empty bucket she had displaced lay on its side at the opposite end, a stack of fliers advertising upcoming pro-bending matches were piled along the far wall and a linen bag full of dirtied rags sat beside.
She groaned at the indignity and as her voice tapered off, she could have sworn she heard another. Her attention won, she pressed her ear firmly against the metal door listening intently. It sounded as if a struggle was coming her way. There was incoherent whining, barking orders from another voice, and the shuffling of feet. Lin's heart sped up and she found adrenaline momentarily salving her wounds.
Quickly, she grabbed the broom and snapped the end off, taking her place back beside the door. Her hand reached out and pulled the beaded chain again. The sound of the scuffling and her own heartbeat filled her ears as she waited under the cover of darkness.
Lin inhaled deeply as she heard the lock on the door being turned. Light spilled in, along with a woman clutching something to her chest. The brightness of the hall light was blinding, but it didn't slow Lin at all. Her arm struck out just as the woman passed, catching her aggressor directly in the face with the broomstick.
He reeled backward into the hall and Lin exposed her position, stepping into the light to deliver another blow to his face. The goggles on his mask cracked as he fell back onto the floor unceremoniously. Another equalist appeared behind him, waving his weighted cables menacingly.
Lin engaged him, tangling his cables around the splintered broomstick and pulling him toward her so that his crotch met her foot forcefully. He doubled over with a screech and Lin's foot rose to his shoulder, shoving him over with finality.
A third equalist came from behind and Lin rounded on him instantly, swinging the broomstick at his midsection. The equalist deftly avoided her strike and threw one punch at her shoulder. It was an attempt to incapacitate and Lin recognized it immediately. She wasted no time lifting her stick again to block the man's wrist. She used the broomstick to force his hand to the ground, pinning his arm long enough bring her knee to his shoulder -felling him with one solid jolt.
Ready to run, Lin turned and met the blunt end of a bo staff directly in her face.
Everything went black.
She woke for a second time in the darkness. The room was silent, her eyes opened and she saw nothing. Her hand reached up to her face, feeling a sticky trail of blood running from her nose along her cheek and into her hair.
This time, the desperate feeling was too much to bear and she sobbed without restraint. It was okay she decided, just this once, to let it all out.
Her mind raced as her body shook recalling all mistakes she'd made leading up to this moment; feeding into Tarrlok's plans, relinquishing her job, failing her city, surviving.
Her sobs quieted a bit and she reminded herself that at the very least Tenzin's family had escaped; she had not failed them, she had not failed Aang. She wiped at her eyes, grateful for this one thing.
It was Aang she thought of as she stood on Oogi's back, poised to jump. Her eyes scanned the solemn faces of his descendants, scared and unsure. She wondered briefly if this is what Aang's brothers and sisters looked like as the Fire Nation marched into their temples.
This would be her great gesture, sacrificing her insignificant life to protect them in his honor. She owed him that much. With that in mind, her gaze shifted to Tenzin. Her thoughts turned selfish then and her face twisted at the memory of that moment, even now. The memories that played out in the span of a second as she watched him were enough to remind her that there was no room for selfishness on the overcrowded back of his sky bison and her decision was made. It would be better this way, less complicated, more honorable. It was letting go in the extreme.
And it had worked, mostly.
Tenzin escaped, his children were safe, but she was alive. Another strangled sob bubbled out of her at the thought.
She was alive, but so utterly dead.
She took in a shaking breath and heard a soft gurgling off to the side. Pausing, she listened for it again and again a gurgling sound came with a small, sweet little coo.
Lin scrambled upright, suddenly aware that she was not alone in this closet. She nearly struck out in the darkness at whomever her cellmate was for letting her carry on like a pathetic sap without saying a word. She stood along the wall, feeling for the beaded cord.
Her stomach sank when she pulled it and illuminated Pema in the corner cradling Rohan gently.
"No," Lin groaned in disbelief, "no, no no," she repeated to herself. Pema watched her quietly.
"How can-? You got away…" Lin argued futilely at the proof of her failure before her.
Pema looked exhausted and nearly as defeated as Lin, though she did so without the trail of drying blood on her cheek. Her eyes were heavy and red as if she had been crying right alongside. Less than 24 hours ago, she'd given birth. Lin wasn't sure who was in worse shape at the moment.
"We turned back," Pema told her with a hint of bitterness in her voice. Her intonation made it clear that turning back for Lin was not an idea she supported.
"That idiot," Lin grumbled under her breath, "I specifically said not to."
"I heard you," Pema offered pointedly.
Lin ran a hand through her hair, catching the bit that was matted with blood with a groan. She used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her cheek and turned back toward the door, trying the handle again.
"They took your bending," Pema said aloud. It was factual, if a little panicked.
"Nothing gets past you," Lin sighed sarcastically as she continued to jostle the handle.
There was no return comment and Lin's shoulders sloped, feeling a hint of guilt. Acerbic comments were hardly gratifying when thrown at someone ill equipped to reply in kind. She turned to find Pema quietly crying into the palm of her free hand and she sighed.
"I'm just frustrated," Lin explained softly.
Pema's head snapped up, "It's not you," she clarified, "I'm crying because my children are probably getting their bending taken right now and I'm trapped in some maintenance closet totally powerless."
"They're with Tenzin?" Lin asked.
Pema gave her a nod and sniffled. Lin sat back down on the floor across from her and looked her in they eye with conviction, "He won't let that happen."
Pema shook her head, crinkling her eyes so that a few fresh tears slipped out the sides, "You didn't see them."
"I don't have to," Lin insisted, "Tenzin would die before letting anyone harm those kids."
Her certainty was cold comfort for Pema, whose tears simply fell harder in agreement; if Amon were intent on harming her children, Tenzin would surely die in the process.
Lin let go of a vexed sigh, "I didn't mean it like that."
Pema continued to weep, pulling Rohan close as she did. Lin was content to allow Pema this moment of weakness and she averted her gaze from the tears she shed in an effort to be polite. Lin busied herself by running her hand along the hinges of the door, wondering desperately if there were just some way to make it out of this place- wherever it was…
Abruptly, her fingers caught on the edge of the middle hinge and she whirled around, cutting Pema's sniffles short, "Where are we?"
Pema blinked up at her with watery eyes, voice hitching slightly when she said, "I already said, a maintenance closet."
Lin took a deep, steadying breath, "Yes, but a closet in what building? That didn't look like the temple basement out there."
"We're in the bending arena," Pema explained, "they said they were going to make sure everyone got to see Amon wipe out the last airbenders. They're going to broadcast it."
Lin was giving her and absent nod as she leaned back against the door, sliding down to a sitting position, distracted by this information, "Why would they bring me all this way?"
She looked up at Pema, "Did they say why they brought me here?"
Pema shook her head, "I didn't even know you were here until they threw me in this closet."
Lin's lip curled as she let out one derisive laugh, "Just when you think it can't get any worse, they pair us up as cell mates."
Pema chuckled too, hollow though it was, "I know, right?"
After a moment, Pema spoke again, "We passed Qian in the hallway, two of the equalists had her gagged and wrists tied together, they were marching her off someplace."
It occurred to her then, why she had been moved.
"To the platform, I'd assume," Lin stated, a ghost of a smile splitting her face, "If they want to make a statement of their power, parading a bunch of impotent Council Members out in front of the public is great way to show you've won."
Pema's lip quivered again, "They have won, haven't they?"
Lin shook her head, "No, not yet. They'll be coming back for me and when they do," Lin explained, rapping her bruised knuckles lightly on the door just over her shoulder, "they'll have to open this door again."
Pema looked past Lin at the door she leaned against with a hint of anxiety, gathering her robes in her free hand she scooted herself backward slightly, "What makes you so sure they'll be back?"
"My last name," Lin told her plainly.
"Do you think they'll try and take him?" Pema wondered fretfully, looking down at the cherubic little boy in her arms.
"Yes."
Pema's head dropped forward as tears spilled down either side of her face with complete abandon. Lin pushed away from her spot, coming to sit alongside Pema, whose face was now buried in the swaddling of the child that sat in her lap. Lin lifted an arm, letting it hover tentatively over Pema's shaking shoulders. She weighed her options and finally, with an expression that was caught somewhere between worry and revulsion, Lin let her arm drop.
The contact startled Pema out of her crying jag and her head snapped up, catching Lin's eye for a sobering moment.
"I'm sorry," Lin apologized, "I shouldn't have said—"
Pema cut across her, expression shifting from fear to gratitude and finally settling into determination, "Don't apologize. Just tell me how we're going to stop them."
"Right," Lin agreed, pulling her arm back with relief.
Lin launched into their new escape plan as Pema listened intently. Lin slipped the bracers off her forearms as she spoke, unlatching them at the hinge to expose a glinting dagger sheathed just inside the casing.
"I know you're a pacifist," Lin began, "but if we're going to get out of here you may have to use this."
"They threatened my children," Pema told her quite simply and Lin gave her one curt nod.
She didn't bother to question Pema's commitment any further. In Lin's view, there had always been some element of Pema that didn't quite line up with the beliefs of the Air Acolytes, something that lay just under the surface- something a little more calculating than their pacifist teachings allowed.
With her role set, Pema removed her outer robes, bunching them up and covering the bag of used rags in the corner and settling Rohan on top.
Meanwhile, Lin slipped off her metal boots and passed one of them to Pema. They both began working, slamming the steel corner of the heel into the holdings inside her bracers to shake the dagger loose.
Rohan cried out in response to the grating sound of metal on metal, but neither woman paused to comfort him- instead they wordlessly continued chipping away.
After a few minutes the blade Lin was working on was liberated by one final, powerful blow and it bounced out, clinking along the concrete floor.
Pema looked up from her work with a bit of wistful alarm. Retrieving the dagger, Lin caught a glimpse of Pema's bracer and sighed- it hardly had a dent. Undeterred, Pema brought the corner of the metal boot down with all her strength and the sound it made told Lin that she was far too weak to do this on her own.
Without a word, Lin reached out and took over, slamming her boot over and over until the second blade came free.
"Thank you," Pema offered meekly as she crawled back to gather Rohan in her arms.
Lin shrugged, "Don't mention it."
Pema bounced Rohan in her arms gently, hushing him with a soothing voice. When he quieted, Pema looked up continuing, "No, I mean- thank you, for what you did back there."
Lin nodded once, reiterating, "Don't mention it."
"I know you didn't do it for us, I know you and Tenzin-"
"I said, 'Don't mention it," Lin snapped. She held out a blade, "Here, take this."
Pema nodded, accepting the blade and Lin's words at once.
Lin stood, making her way to the pile of rags that had so recently doubled as a makeshift bassinet. She gathered a few rags, wrapping them carefully around the blunt end of the dagger in her hand to create a handle of sorts.
Pema mimicked her action without a word. They worked in silence before Lin spoke out, "I did it for Aang."
Pema looked up and they locked eyes for a moment, "I wish I had gotten to know him," Pema replied softly.
Lin nodded, looking back to the project in her hands. She tied off one rag and gathered the next, "…he would have liked you."
Lin neglected to catch Pema's eyes then at the risk of seeing the smile that undoubtedly adorned her face, it was a little too much give on Lin's part and she opted to watch her hands instead- swaddling the blade carefully, much in the same way she did her babies.
It was then that Lin realized that in their own way, they'd both done something right by Aang today.
Her reflections were cut short by the distant sound of a shouting voice. Lin and Pema met eyes then, as the words the voice shouted remained indiscernible. Lin jumped to her feet, gripping her blade as the shouting grew closer.
"Meelo?" Pema asked, almost to herself.
"Moooooooooom!" the voice called out, "we're here to rescue you!" The whooshing sound of air gusting down the hallway at great speed lifted both women's spirits and Pema scrambled to her feet, pushing past Lin to bang on the door.
"In here honey! I'm in here!"
In seconds the soft footfalls of a whole host of airbenders settled to a stop outside their door and they heard Tenzin's voice for the first time, "Pema! Are you in there!?"
Pema burst into a fresh set of tears, "Yes! Yes! I'm here!"
"Stand back," he instructed, but she was so wrapped up in the excitement, Lin took it upon herself to physically pull Pema back into the recesses of the closet.
In an instant, the closet was filled with a shrill gust of air hissing it's way through the cracks. Then, with an eerily silent boom, it was sucked from the room, unhinging the door in the process.
Lin and Pema lurched forward, gasping for a breath as they spilled out of the closet and into the hall.
The children descended on Pema in short order, encircling her with grateful hugs.
Tenzin on the other hand reacted to Lin first, shock settling into worry as he reached out, "Lin, you're bleeding."
Lin stopped his hand, just before it reached her cheek, "I was bleeding."
Tenzin searched her face, looking down at her bare forearms and the blade that hung from a dirty cloth in her hand, putting all the ends together, "He—Amon, he- got to you."
"If you and your children still have your bending then it doesn't matter what happened to me," Lin returned evenly. Tenzin didn't seem convinced, fixing her with a pitying gaze that caused her to turn away.
"We need to get out of here," Lin announced, "and quickly."
Tenzin nodded, stepping past her to hoist Pema to her feet, "Honey, do you think you can run?"
Pema nodded, shifting on her feet unsteadily. Tenzin's gaze swiveled to his oldest son, "Meelo, you lead the way."
"You got it!" Meelo returned excitedly.
"Girls, help your mother," Tenzin followed as Jinora and Ikki took up residence at either side of their mother, linking arms just behind her back.
"I'll take up the back," Tenzin finished, noting one last imbalance. There was no way Pema was going to be able to carry Rohan and keep up with the rest of them. Tenzin stepped forward, gently taking his newborn son from his wife's arms. Gratefully, she rested her weight on her daughters' shoulders.
Tenzin's eyes darted from the face of his newborn son to the face of his oldest friend. He would need his arms free to bend.
Tenzin held the baby out toward Lin, "Lin…if you would."
Lin nodded, gently taking the baby from his proffered hands without a word. She adjusted the newborn in her arms. Looking down at his smiling eyes, she caught a sudden pang of familiarity that seemed to ease whatever guilt she had been carrying since she discovered the airbenders had been captured. In fact, it seemed to ease a deeper guilt that had been with her for many years before that. It made her smile, genuinely, for the first time in weeks.
The world's newest airbender smiled back, a perfectly innocent smile that was just like his grandfather's.