Chapter 2 –Old Wounds
Morning twilight turned the sky purple as Sokka dropped from his shop skylight to landing of his loft. He winced as pain shot up through his left leg. He limped into loft and smiled as the familiar scent of jasmine tea tickled his nostrils.
"You're going to permanently cripple yourself if you don't slow down," Toph scolded as she handed him the tea cup.
Sokka took a sip of the tea. "It's just the old war injury acting up," he said dismissively. "I just need to take it easy for a couple of days and it'll be fine."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Hero," Toph snarked. "You're not getting any younger you know."
Sokka cocked his eyebrow, "Are you implying I'm getting old?"
"I'm not implying anything, I'm saying it straight out," Toph explained. "You need to consider quitting while you're still ahead, before that bum leg finally gives out on you and gets you killed. You've had a good run. Maybe it's time to relax and let the next generation save the world."
Sokka frowned. He decided it was time to change the subject. "Speaking of the next generation, Lin was awesome. You should have been there, Toph! The girl is a natural leader and a heck of a cop."
"I know she is, Dunderhead! That's why I wasn't there. In case you haven't noticed, I'm grooming her to take over my job one day. She has to prove to herself that she can. She can't do that with us looking over her shoulder."
"I know, Toph. I was down at the docks anyway and I got a little carried away. I had the opportunity to help out and I did. I guess part of me just can't accept that she's grown up." Sokka said, defensively.
Toph punched him in the shoulder and then wrapped him up in a hug. "You've been a great father to her, Sokka, and that's one of the reasons why I love you. I know you want to protect her, but even papa wolves know they have to let the pups hunt on their own sometime."
…
"Of course," 'the Empress' began, "I'll require some assistance to draw the Wolf out. Fortunately, I already know the perfect opportunity."
Wu Ten Fat looked at her skeptically. "Would you care to elaborate on that?"
She smiled beneath her veil. "Right now, six million Fire Nation gold pieces are sitting in Republic City National Bank's vault. It's the final payment of war reparations from the Fire Nation to the Earth Kingdom. In three nights, four armored wagons will transport the gold to a special train which is supposed to deliver the treasure to Ba Sing Se. We are going to hijack those wagons."
The fat mob boss was incredulous, "How can you possibly know that? There are not more than five people in the world that know the schedule for those payments."
The woman laughed, "You amuse me, Mr. Fat. You may as well ask me how I kidnapped the Omashu prince and got away with the ransom. Or how I assassinated the Earth King in his own bed chamber. I have many talents."
"That, was you? That's….insane!" Wu Ten exclaimed.
In an instant, the woman's amusement turned to fury as she grabbed Wu Ten by the shirt collar with her left hand and ignited a blue flame in her right, "Never question my sanity if you wish to continue your miserable existence."
Wu Ten gulped, "Sorry…I didn't mean to question…I just…it's hard to believe is all."
The woman released her grip and extinguished her flame. "You would do well to believe it, Wu Ten Fat. You have no idea what I am capable of. Now, where were we?"
"We were talking about hijacking a gold shipment," offered Wu Ten.
"Yes. We will hijack the gold shipment and when the Wolf intervenes, I will kill him."
"How can you be sure he'll intervene?" asked Wu Ten.
"Because I'm a people person." The woman smirked.
…
Sokka was tinkering at his workbench when Lin walked into his shop. His face broke into a wide, toothy grin at the sight of his daughter. "Lieutenant! What brings you by my humble shop?"
Lin scowled at him, her barely contained furor burning in her emerald eyes, "Don't start, Old Man. I'm mad at you."
"Lin, I'm sorry. I know I should have let you and your squad grab that fugitive on your own. You're more than capable of handling yourself," apologized Sokka.
"You're damn right I am! You have no idea how hard it is to prove I've earned my position on my own merits and not because I'm the Chief's daughter."
Sokka sighed, "Lin, your mom is harder on you and has higher expectations of you than she does anyone else on the force, except maybe herself. No one questions that you've earned what you have."
Lin softened somewhat, "Even so, I need you stay out my way, Dad. My squad needs to know that I can keep it together when things get tough. They'll never know that if we keep finding our cases gift wrapped for us by the Wolf. And I don't want to be put in a position where I might have to bring you in."
Sokka smiled. "Fair enough. I'll keep my distance, but I'll be ready to help in case you ask for it. Is there any particular place I need to stay away from?"
Lin answered, "Yeah. The bank, three nights from now. My squad is detailed to provide security for some kind of shipment. I don't know what it is but it must be pretty important because it's a joint operation with a United Forces platoon with me in overall command."
Sokka knew exactly what the shipment was, but his face betrayed no emotion. Zuko had asked him to discretely provide overwatch of the transfer in Republic City. He knew that if anyone were to try to take the shipment, it would be most vulnerable while it was in transit to the train station, so he planned to watch the route. He didn't need to go near the bank to do that.
"You have my word, Lin. I won't go anywhere near the bank."
