Spoilers through episode 10 of season 4, Operation Beifong. This is written as a companion piece of sorts for Thunder Passes, also posted here, but you certainly do not have to read that one to read this; they both stand alone perfectly fine. I just had a feeling after The Battle of Zaofu that Lin wasn't going to sit back and let Kuvira have her sister, and I'm really glad she didn't! This is told more from Tenzin's point of view, though.
As usual, some hints of Lin/Tenzin if you squint that could pass for friendship. Complete. Enjoy!
Storm Overhead
Tenzin squeezed the crumpled note in his hand, falling into Lin's favorite chair by the large window looking out into her small garden. The parchment skittered to the floor as he dropped his head into his hands, his heart pounding as he fussed over the few words she had left for him and tried to think of what to do next. Her home felt empty, the air inside stale and unused, and he was finding it very difficult to keep his breaths measured enough to stay calm.
Lin had promised him. She had promised – but she hadn't, not really. She had not actually said those words, "I promise I won't". She had simply evaded the full question when he asked, and when he had seen how upset she truly was about Suyin's capture he hadn't pressed.
He should have.
It was Jinora who had noticed Opal was missing that morning, and then Mako asked if anyone had seen Bolin. Tenzin hadn't begun to worry, though, until he went by the police station, hoping to tempt Lin out for lunch – he hadn't seen her in a few days, after all – and the desk clerk dutifully informed him Chief Beifong was temporarily out of contact, no one knew when she would return.
He'd immediately come to her house and, when she didn't respond to his pounding on the door, let himself inside. The short letter, left on a scrap of paper on an end table like an afterthought, only just caught his attention as it truly dawned on him that she was gone.
I'm not going to apologize, it read in her tidy print. Don't bother following us, it will only cause more harm than good.
That was all it said. He'd read the words over three times before crushing the parchment in his fist, fury and panic sitting heavily in his stomach.
She had taken Opal and Bolin, that much was obvious now. So she was not alone, though it also meant she was serious about her mission. But what if she really was going out there to face Kuvira's army? What if Suyin was being held inside her city, or nearby enough to draw attention? What if Kuvira herself was there? Not that he doubted Lin's abilities in the least, certainly not. He was just…worried.
Terrified, was the more accurate term.
He had been pacing the floor of the empty living space for over an hour before he finally accepted that he was feeling ill and sat in the chair she usually occupied.
What if, he thought, this the one question that was truly plaguing him now, I never see her again?
He couldn't recall their last real conversation that did not have to do with work, or the last dinner they'd shared together. The last time he had hugged her, or held her for even a moment longer than he probably should have just to feel her close. All the things he took for granted, because she always survived. Because she was always there with him, by his side whenever he looked for her.
But now…now she was just gone. Gone, and he had no idea when she would return, or even if she would return at all, if someone would soon be bringing news of her death, far from the city and far from him. So many variables, too many questions, making his head ache and his heart pound painfully until all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears.
Perhaps terrified was an understatement after all.