Suyin observed her sister from distance. She was busy rolling her eyes at Prince Wu, who was talking animatedly talking to a very exasperated Mako. Su saw him turned to Lin and made an angry gesture, balling his fists and grimacing. Lin hastily turned on her heels, pretending not to seen her former detective, and walked out of the hotel, towards her officers. Su hesitated, and then followed her outside. She patiently waited until Lin ordered few officers around, giving them instructions along with curt nods and tilts of her head. A man, who appeared to be her second in command, promptly saluted Lin and retreated towards a police mobile. Others closely followed his suit. Lin dragged a hand down her tired face and started walking towards the open café at the other side of the hotel. Su followed.
Lin dropped to an empty table facing the sea as a waitress hurried towards her.
"How are you this wonderful morning chie-" She started only to be cut off by the chief.
"Jasmine, plain, extra large" She said, pinching the bridge of her nose, as the waitress pouted behind her menu and started scribbling down the order. "And make it two."
"You knew, didn't you?" Su asked, occupying the chair opposite to Lin's as the waitress nodded with a pleasant smile at Su and walked away.
"Please, you were boring holes in to my head," Lin mumbled, looking at Su over her metal clad hand, "and your feet were thundering behind me for the last fifteen minutes".
Su shifted her eyes in an uneasy manner which Lin recognized to be a nervous say. "Will you go with me to Saofu?" She asked, looking at Lin directly in the eye.
"So, Kuvira is after the metal clan?" Lin asked. It was more of a statement.
Su stayed silent as their tea was severed. The ridiculously large mugs filled their nostrils by emitting the invited fragrance of jasmine with the steam. "You still drink a bucketful?" Su commented nonchalantly, observing the mug of tea in front of her.
"I bet you cannot finish that!" Lin challenged with a slight smile. "Never could, never will be."
Su huffed, as she took a sip from her mug. She let her eyelids drop as the warming liquid descended down her throat, inhaling the soothing fragrance liberally. "That's the stuff!" She mumbled in contentment. "So, will you?"
Lin did not answer. She took her sweet time drinking from her mug.
"Lin!" Su prompted.
"I'll talk to Raiko and arrange a troop from united forces sent to Saofu." Lin said, not taking her eyes off the mug. "Kuvira will be a tough opponent. You need to be ready when she comes."
"Will you come with me?" Su asked again, this time leaning a little forward over the table.
Lin put her mug down and looked at Su in a confused manner. "I cannot recommend metal bending police forces to be sent to Saofu right now. They need to be at ready if a situation occurs. I'm sure you understand."
Su threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I need you to come with me." Su said. "I don't need the police. I have troops."
Lin regarded her with stoic face for a while. "Why?" She finally asked.
"Please, Lin" Su said, averting her eyes from Lin. "She's after my home."
"If you expect me to be a moral support," Lin said, taking her mug to her lips for another sip. "You are out of your mind. I'm a bitter loner who cares only for myself, remember, oh and for the city"
Su did not look up. She bit her bottom lip hard, raking her brains for a good response for the biting remark.
"You know I didn't mean that!" She mumbled, still staring at her fingernails.
"Sure you didn't!" Lin let out a little chuckle. "But don't feel bad, you were right!" She said with no resentment whatsoever in her voice, as if she was just stating a fact.
Su looked at Lin with anger in her eyes. "The only one who you don't care about is your damn self." She hissed. "You know why I call you a bitter loner? Because you never let anyone in!"
Lin dropped her gaze to her mug once more. "What do you want Su?" She asked, "Shouldn't you be more concerned about Saofu than my personality?"
"Come with me!" Su said once again.
This time Lin put down her half emptied mug on the table, giving her full attention to Su. "I don't understand" She said tersely. "Why do you think me standing by your side will help you protect Saofu? You never looked up to me. You never wanted me by your side at anything! So, why now? What's going on, tell me the real reason."
Su sighed. "You'd never understand Lin" She said putting her mug down as well. She drew out her purse and placed few yuans on the table, stood up, went around the table to grab Lin by upper arm, making her stand up as well. "Walk with me."
"But I'm not finished with me-" Lin started, annoyed.
"Yes you are." Su snapped as she dragged Lin out towards the beach.
"I'm scared." Su said, folding her arms and looking at the sea before them.
"You should be." Lin said, unknowingly mimicking the same pose. "But you have the necessary resources to win this fight, plus the united forces' troops-"
"All I ever wanted was a sister Lin, A sister!" Su said abruptly, cutting Lin short. "Not a police officer, not a protector, not a mom, not a nanny, just a sister!"
Lin's lips pursed tightly. "It wasn't much of a choice. I had to be all those things." She said quietly. "And don't think, even for a single second that I enjoyed-"
"Busy been all those things, you forgot to be the sister you were meant to be." Su said, once again interrupting Lin. "I wanted what you had with Kya, and Ursa."
Lin continued to watch the waves, not uttering a single word. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Su turning to face her.
"I know I reacted too harsh, I know I don't deserve to ask you this," She placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, gently grabbing and turning her around so that they were facing each other. "But I want you to come with me, I want you to be with me when we win, or fall." She said, peeping to Lin's eyes. Lin felt the old Su-magic working. When she peeped in to Lin's eyes with those puppy dog eyes of her, Lin always lost. "I've tried hard for thirty years Lin. You ought to give me a second chance."
Lin let out a measured breath. "I'll talk to President Raiko." She said. "Given that Saofu is the only city standing in the way of Kuvira, I don't think he'll protest it, if I decided to take a team to Saofu. I'd need to place the deputy in command for the time being to watch over things here-" Lin stopped abruptly as Su flung her arms around her neck.
"Thank you so much Lin," She mumbled to the crook of Lin's neck. "You'd probably not know how much this means to me."
Lin grimaced as she awkwardly patted Su on the back. "But don't expect me to clean up your mess this time." She grumbled, trying to suppress the smile that rose to her lips. "I'm just going to fight by your side."
"That's all I ever wanted." Su said in a shaky voice. To Lin's horror, she felt Su's tears running down her neck. "I'm just glad, you chose the right time to do so," She added in a watery chuckle. "If you did fight by my side in the past, we'd probably share a cell in prison!"