Chapter 2:
I know everyone wants longer chapters, so I'll give you this one but it won't be a reoccurring thing for this book. This book is only 90 pages compared to my last book's 197. Lin, unfortunately, doesn't show up a bunch in this season of Legend of Korra, so it would have been even shorter if I hadn't improvised a bit.
People have also been asking me to have Emi give Lu and Gang, but especially Raiko, what they deserve for being super ungrateful and annoying from Book 1, and I'm here today uploading this to answer those demands. Without further a do, Chapter 2!
Emi smiled as she walked side by side with Lin through the city. Lin was the first to break the silence.
"So," She said, "What were you talking to Team Avatar about when you were on the dock?"
"At first I was just trying to get Korra to change her mind about coming to the march tonight, but then I started talking to Varrick about the last time he was here."
"Who's Varrick?" Lin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh come on! He's the funny, random guy that came to Republic City last month to sell his extensive supply of water tribe fish and meat, but his hotel room ended up getting robbed. He's the multi-millionaire that controls the entire global shipping industry. It's called Varrick Industries, and it also invents crazy new gadgets every second. It was the one robbery case where the lower members of the Agni Kai Triad were trying to prove themselves to their new boss, but did an awful job at covering their tracks. They were the ones who stole the gold cufflinks with the diamonds we found that belong to Varrick."
"Oh right," Lin said, now remembering, "Wasn't Varrick the one who said that I was terrifyingly beautiful?"
"Yep, that was him," Emi said with a laugh as they entered the square and market they had seen coming in, "He just says what's on his mind. It's hard to make him shut up."
"It's hard to make a lot of people shut up from what I've learned," Lin said as she watched Emi look around the bustling marketplace.
"Wow this place almost looks as busy as the Police Station," Emi said in wonder, "I've never been to a place that is even remotely close to the business level of the Station."
"If you've never been here, we need to go to the Kishi's Sushi tent," Lin said, leading Emi down a row of marketplace tents, "I've had her sushi since I was a kid, and it is still amazing."
"I could use something to eat right about now," Emi said as they continued to walk. They soon came to a tent with the banner above saying 'Kishi's Sushi! The best sushi in Republic City!'. There was an old lady sitting behind the table where displays of many different kinds of sushi were being presented, and it all smelled delicious.
"Lin," the old lady, that Emi guessed was Kishi, said as she got up slowly from her chair, "I haven't seen you in ages."
"Yes, I'm sorry about that," Lin said as Kishi gave her a hug that Lin had to bend down to return, "Everything has been hectic at the Police Station since Amon's war."
"Oh yes, that war was awful. I've been in this city since it was only a couple of small huts, and an island in the bay where the Avatar was starting to build his temple. It was so sickening to watch it turn to conflict," Kishi said, looking very sad for a minute before her face lit up again, "But I shouldn't dwell on the past especially since I have very little future left. Would you like to introduce me to your girlfriend?"
"How did you…?" Emi began to ask before Kishi cut her off.
"Even though this city is very big, young one, word travels fast here," she said, "But I never did hear a name with the rumors."
"My name is Emilia," Emi said, giving the old lady a respectful bow, "I've been told by Lin that you make delicious sushi."
"The best in Republic City, my dear," Kishi said, going back around her table to sit in her chair, "I've been making my grandmother's recipe for almost a century, and it never strides away from the fine line of extraordinary."
"Well then," Emi said, casting her eyes down to the display table, "I'll have one of every, single kind please!"
"You said you would like something to eat," Lin laughed, "Not everything."
Kishi laughed too as she started to put a piece of every kind of sushi in a bag.
"I'm happy that someone from such a younger generation is even paying attention to me right now," Kishi said, "I appreciate you being so excited about the food that takes me hours to make every day."
Kishi finished her task, and gave Emi the bag.
"This is free of charge, ladies," Kishi said, "For your effort and work for this wonderful City."
"No, I can't possibly," Emi said, getting her wallet from a pouch on her armor's belt, "Is this enough?"
Emi placed down 20 paper yuans on the table, and Kishi's eyes went wide.
"Sweety, I can't take all of this," Kishi said, trying to give Emi back her money, but Emi persisted.
"No, please take it," Emi said, pushing the yuans back, "Take it as a thank you for giving Lin a good memory for her childhood."
Kishi smiled and gave an "alright" as she put the money in the pouch around her neck. With a final goodbye to the old lady, Emi and Lin started back on their way to the Cultural Center.
"Oh my goodness," Emi said as she ate piece after piece of sushi, "She wasn't lying when she said it was the best in Republic City."
"Isn't it great?" Lin asked, smiling at how much Emi liked it, "My mom on her off days, which were usually Saturdays when the marketplace closed later than usual, would take me and my sister there to get sushi for our dinner. We never got tired of it."
Emi presented a piece of sushi to Lin which Lin took and, without hesitation, put it in her mouth.
"While you had sushi as your end of week treat," Emi said as she continued to eat, "I had Fire-Baked Cake Pops. They were to die for! When you come to the Fire Nation with me, I'm going to have to take you to the town bakery."
Lin looked at Emi with surprise.
"You want to take me to your house town?" Lin asked nervously.
"Well, of course," Emi said instantly, as they passed the entrance to a dark alleyway, "I'm going to share everything with you just like you are with me. You will also need to go visit the Lavabird's hatching grounds by the volcano. Those birds are so cute, and their feathers are so beautiful. But you need to watch out because they've been known to bi…"
Lin suddenly covered Emi's mouth with her hand to make the younger woman stop talking. Lin stood perfectly still, and Emi realized she had heard something that made her uneasy. Lin slowly took her hand away from Emi's mouth. Emi didn't make a sound either as she tried to pick up the noise Lin was hearing.
Emi heard the sound of wood hitting something, of someone yelling frantically, and an animal in yowling distress. Lin took off at a run down the alleyway with Emi on her heels. Emi saw in the middle of the alleyway three teenage boys with sticks hitting something while a little girl was trying to stop them. One of the boys pushed the girl over, and raised his stick to hit her. He would have too if it hadn't been for Lin's quick hand snatching the stick. Lin broke the stick in half with her bare hand, and grabbed the boy by his collar. The other two boys freaked when they saw the two cops, and turned to flee. Emi shot out her cables, wrapped them around the boys' waists, and pulled them back. She then continued to grab their collars too, and hoisted them in the air, so they couldn't escape. Lin growled at the boy she was holding, but her face softened when she saw the look of complete fear on his face. Lin looked at the two boys Emi was holding, and saw the same faces. These were just kids trying to be the 'cool ones', but Lin hoped this encounter would change their point of view.
"If I ever here or see you doing anything like this again," Lin screeched in his face, "You'll go to jail for the rest of your natural born lives, you hear me?"
The boy nodded his head desperately at the infuriated Chief of Police. Lin turned her heated gaze on the two other boys who also quickly nodded their heads too.
"Good," Lin said before she dropped the kid to the alleyway floor, "Now get out of here!"
He didn't need to be told twice. He bolted down the alleyway faster than a rampaging Falcon-cheetah. Lin gestured to the two boys Emi was holding onto.
"Let them go."
Emi released her grip on the boys, and they ran after their other associate. Emi then turned to look at the little girl who was still on the ground. Emi reached down, and picked up the girl. The girl put her little arms around Emi's neck, and Emi could feel her shivering in fright. Lin looked down at the animal that the boys had been beating. It was an owlcat that thankfully appeared to be getting up. Lin reached down, and picked up the owlcat. The owlcat didn't protest, but instead tried to reach out to the girl. The girl turned her head to look at the animal.
"Come here Pika," She said, extending her arm to the owlcat. The owlcat jumped out of Lin's arms and extended its arms. He extended his wings and beat them over to his human. The little girl hugged the owlcat to her chest as Emi rubbed soothing circles on her back.
"Are you alright, cutie?" Emi asked the girl, clearly worried about her condition.
"I'm okay," the girl said, leaning back enough to look Emi in the eyes, "Thank you for the help. Pika appreciates it too."
The owlcat gave a meow in acknowledgement before giving Emi a nuzzle under the chin.
"We're happy to help," Emi smiled at the girl, "Is their anywhere we can take you? Perhaps back to your parents?"
"My parents aren't around anymore," The girl said, pressing Pika closer to her chest, "They left me in an alleyway just like this one when I was smaller than I was now and said they would be back to get me soon. They never came back, so I started roaming the streets for food and shelter. I'm staying the nights with this nice, old man just down the road, but I spend the days by myself while he's at his job. I'm okay. No need to take me to child jail."
"Child jail?" Emi asked in confusion.
"I just call it that, but the technical term is orphanage," the girl said before looking up at the darkening sky above them, "I better get going before my host starts to get worried. Thanks again for your help."
Emi set the kid down, and she turned to leave.
"Wait!" Emi called to her before she could go, "What's your name?"
"The man I'm staying with calls me Hisa," the girl said, "I can't remember the name I was born with."
"Well Hisa," Emi said, "If you're looking for a place to stay during the day, just come down to the police station and ask for Emi or Lin at the front desk, okay?"
"Okay," Hisa said as she held Pika, "Thank you!"
Hisa then turned away, and ran down the alleyway in the other direction from where Lin and Emi had come from. Emi watched the girl safely exit they alleyway before turning to Lin.
"I'm glad we took that walk," Emi said as they started to walk out of the alleyway.
"We too," Lin said
When they got to to the cultural center, Lin was happy to see that her orders had been heard and done. There were multiple police trucks stationed outside the blockade of metal police barriers that would be keeping the Southern Water Tribe protesters away from the possible Northern Water Tribe supporters. There were police officers everywhere. Metalbenders, other benders, and Non-benders alike were stationed at their specific stations, and Lin smirked with pride.
"Raiko can't complain to me about how efficient my officers are anymore," Lin whispered to Emi as they walked towards Song, Akira, Jiro, and Naoko, who were all standing underneath the large statue of Sokka that stood tall outside of the center. Song had a clipboard with everything Lin had ordered him to do written down on it, and was telling lost officers where to go. Akira, Naoko, Jiro, and the rest of Emi's prized battalion of officers were standing motionless in a line with their backs to the center.
"Very impressive Officer Song," Lin complimented him, "In record time too."
"Thanks Chief," Song said, looking tired and out of breath, "But I bet you could have done it faster."
"I don't know about that," Lin said, "I'm not as quick as I used to be."
"Oh, hush," Emi scowled, placing her finger over Lin's lips to make her stop talking, "You can easily keep up with me. You need to be very quick if you can keep up with me and my gabby mouth."
Lin rolled her eyes before she noticed the large group of Southern Tribe protesters heading down the street in their direction.
"We better get into position," Lin said, nodding at Song, who ran off to his own position. Emi stayed next to Lin which she was happy about. Now that she was second in command she could stay by Lin during these kind of things. Emi sighed in disappointment when she saw Korra come out leading the group of Southerners. The Avatar hadn't listened to her, but that was nothing new. Emi shouldn't have been surprised. Rebelling was in a teenager's personality. Emi cringed internally when she heard all the Northerners booing at the Southerners and the Avatar. Korra could sometimes be stubborn and uncooperative, but she didn't deserve this shouting mob.
"Get out of this city!"
"You're a danger to all!"
"Get a real dog!"
The last shout made Emi ponder how intelligent these protesters were. That wasn't an insult. That was just stupidity, and someone shouting just to shout. Emi was beginning to think that this was actually just going to be a peaceful protest and nothing more.
Boom!
Emi and Lin turned around in shock when explosions started to go off within the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center. Fire and smoke started to rise from the broken windows and torn out holes of the building.
"Call the Fire Department!" Emi cried to her officers as Lin metalbent the metal off of her foot. She hit the ground hard with her foot, and closed her eyes. Lin saw the interior of the building, and gave a sigh of relief when she saw no one inside.
"It's all clear," Lin cried out to Emi as she directed the waterbendering officers into formation. Emi nodded her head before giving the waterbenders the signal to start spraying water on the building. All Emi and Lin could do was sit back and watch as fire trucks came, bringing more water and helping to diminish the fire. This was not good.
The next day Lin came barreling out of her office in a furious wurlwind. Other officers got out of her way as she stormed over to Emi desk where she looked at her in concern.
"I got a call from Raiko," Lin explained, and that was all the explanation Emi needed to know why Lin was so mad, "He says he's coming over to the station right now to have a meeting with me. He's mad that we haven't had any good leads in the bombing case yet. Like you can get a good lead after one day? Who does he think he is?"
"He thinks he's the man of all men," Emi answered her rhetorical question on purpose, "But he's the idiot of all idiots. Just ignore him and do it your own way, and you'll get the job done. You've always gotten the job done your way."
"He just doesn't trust me enough to let me do it my way," Lin have a frustrated snarl, "It's like he has me on a leash or something."
"Well, he'll soon learn that you bite," Emi chuckled, "And you bite hard and don't let go."
"I wish I could bite him without getting fired," Lin grumbled, "I'd make him go crying back to his mother."
"Please don't bite him," Emi said, pretending to gag, "You don't know where he's been. You could catch some crazy bad disease like Selfishness Syndrome or Cowardly Chicken Pox."
Lin showed a smile for the first time that day, and Emi grinned happily. She loved it when she was able to make Lin smile. It made her smile.
The doors to the room banged open, and everyone looked up. President Raiko was standing in the threshold with his two huge bodyguards standing close next to him. Way to ruin the moment.
"Beifong, office, now!" Raiko commanded before entering Lin's office without so much as a look. Emi growled deep in her throat.
"I really hate that guy," She said through her gritted teeth.
"And now I have to deal with him," Lin said with annoyance before walking away and entering her office. The whole room was quiet, so Emi was able to listen to Raiko's demanding voice through the wall.
"How did this Cultural Center attack happen right under your nose?" Raiko bellowed making Emi think about possible assassination plans, "And why haven't you arrested the Northerners responsible?"
"We're working on it, sir," Emi heard Lin say, and Emi was surprised about how calm she sounded.
"Well work harder," Raiko continued to yell, "If you don't give me results soon, I'm going to find someone who can."
The nerve of that guy! Emi was furious! She knew that Raiko had been threatening Lin, but hearing it herself made everything worse. How dare he speak to her like that! If she got her hands on him…"
Emi looked up when the door to the room opened again, but this time it was someone better than Raiko that entered the room. Mako stepped through, and walked over to Lu and Gang's desk.
"I've got a break in the bombing case!" He announced which made Emi extremely happy. More information, less yelling, "I IDed the guy I saw at the scene!"
"That's great Mako," Gang said, his big afro bouncing with his movements.
"Yeah, you better run that into Beifong right now," Lu agreed, and Emi straightened up in fear. Oh, if Mako cut into Lin's meeting, he would either be yelled at or fired. Neither option was good, so Emi tried to get his attention from across the room. It didn't work.
"You think?" Mako asked hopefully, completely falling for Lu and Gang's prank.
"Sure, you're going to be a hero," Gang said with a sly smile. Oh no. Not good.
Mako took a look at his picture, not looking over his shoulder as Emi who was still trying to get his attention, before heading to Lin's office door. He knocked on it quickly before entering. Emi face-palmed her forehead. One of the main rules in the department was that you needed to wait for the host's permission before entering their office. Mako was in for a treat.
"What makes a rookie B-cop think he can interrupt my meeting with the President!" Emi heard Lin shriek from inside her office.
"I… I… I'm sorry," Emi heard Mako stutter as she glared at Lu and Gang who were laughing like they had done something clever, "I just… um… found something out about the bombing."
"Well give it to Lu and Gang you moron!" Lin snapped from inside, "Now get out!"
Poor Mako, Emi thought to herself as Mako went back to Lu and Gang's table.
"Sorry was she busy?" Gang asked, sounding apologetic towards Mako, but he had obviously gotten a good laugh from the whole ordeal.
"This is the guy I saw sneaking out of the building right before the explosion," Mako explained, placing a picture on Lu and Gang's table, "He's a member of the Agni Kai's. Someone must have hired him to make it look like Northerners hit the Cultural Center."
Lu looked at the picture for a fraction of a second before putting it in a drawer in his desk. Emi narrowed her eyes at the act. What kind of detectives were they? Did she have to do everything herself?
Emi got up from her desk, and walked over to Lu and Gang's table. The two detectives' eyes widened in fear as she came over.
"Picture, now," she commanded, holding out her hand.
Lu immediately lunged for the drawer, and gave Emi the picture. Emi looked at it, and nodded her head.
"Yep, this is a member of the Agni Kai," Emi confirmed, remembering the guy from past battles, "He hits a mean under-chin fire punch. Was there anything else that you found out Mako?"
"I was able to get the remote that they used to detonate the bombs from them as they were driving away, and I gave it to them," Mako said, pointing to Lu and Gang.
"And did you do any work with the remote, or any work at all," Emi asked, glaring at the two.
"Uh… yes! Of course, we did," Gang said with one of his awful-but-he-thinks-it's-charming smiles.
"You realize I'm a Truth-seer, right?" Emi asked with a raised eyebrow.
Lu and Gang exchanged nervous glances before giving her a sheepish smile.
"Get me that remote!" Emi roared, giving Lu and Gang quite a fright before they ran out of the room.
"That will finally make them exercise," Emi said as she looked at the picture.
Mako laughed before saying: "Thanks for the help."
"Well, if you keep up the good work, you'll get more of it," Emi said as a panting Lu and Gang came back and gave her the remote. It was a new model, and it looked like it was newly built. So they were looking for a manufacturer.
Mako gave Emi a salute before going back to his desk, and Emi nodded at him before taking the evidence back to her own desk to examine. Emi looked at the remote, and noticed something on the inside of the activating switch. Emi looked, and noticed a light grey dust-like substance stuck inside the remote. So the person who used the remote was also around this substance.
Emi was disturbed yet again when Raiko slammed Lin's office door open then closed. Emi kept her eyes narrowed on Raiko as he walked over to Mako's desk. Mako stood up respectfully before Raiko started talking.
"I've heard good things about you," he said and Emi grumbled with annoyance. There goes Raiko trying to get at least one person at the Police Department to like him. "You've made some big Triad busts for a rookie," Raiko continued with his compliments.
"Thank you, sir," Mako said with not emotion like a good officer.
"And you're dating the Avatar, right?" Raiko asked, making Emi raise an eyebrow. That was a quick change of subject.
"Yes sir," Mako answered.
"I'm concerned that she might be getting some bad advice from Varrick," Raiko said, using Mako as a way to get into what Korra might be up to, "You wouldn't happen to know if they were planning anything that would compromise the security of Republic City, now would you officer?"
Emi leaded forward to catch as much of the conversation as possible. She was very confused about what they were talking about, but Raiko obviously knew exactly what he was talking away.
"Let me remind you that you have sworn an oath," Raiko stated after Mako was quiet for a while, "You're a man of the law before anything else."
"Yes sir," Mako said again, not breaking his emotionless state.
"Keep up the good work," Raiko said before he surprisingly started to move towards Emi's desk. Emi was beginning to get suspicious and on edge before Mako spoke up.
"Wait," Mako said as he hung his head and closed his eyes, "There's something you should know."
Raiko turned his head with a sly smile on his face. Emi barred her teeth at his back as he turned around to face Mako again.
"Oh, is that so?" He asked.
"My brother came by my apartment earlier today and said that Varrick was planning to help Korra convince General Iroh to take troops down to the South to fight Unalaq. They didn't want you to know about it."
Emi's eyes widened with this new information. She knew that Unalaq was the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, but she didn't know that Korra was specifically mad at him. She knew that Korra was mad at the Northerners for striking against the South Pole, but maybe she had been telling the truth when she said the war was more complicated that it appeared. They had been standing on a wooden dock through the conversation, so Emi wasn't able to get a read on them with her Truth-seer abilities.
"Are they now?" Raiko asked, scratching underneath his chin before giving an almost kind smile to Mako before placing his hand on the teen's shoulder. "Thank you for your loyalty to Republic City."
"It was my pleasure sir," Mako said, giving Raiko another respectful bow.
Raiko nodded his head before Mako sat back down at his desk. The President then turned to Emi again, and Emi clenched her fingers into the wood of her desk to keep herself from attacking Raiko. Emi relaxed a little when Raiko took his attention off of Emi and started whispering in one of his two bodyguards' ear. Emi was able to catch most of the conversation. Something about getting a car ready to go down to the docks. Raiko seemed to be wanting to deal with the Avatar himself. After the bodyguard he whispered to bowed and walked out of the room, Raiko again turned his attention to Emi.
"Are you the great Captain Emilia that I've been hearing so much about," Raiko asked, casting his eyes downward at Emi like he was some deity and she was just a peasant woman.
"That would be me," Emi said, and she was happy to see that Raiko looked taken aback about her lack of respect towards him. You aren't making me stand up, bow, or say 'sir', Emi thought to herself.
"Well, I've heard how marvelous a leader you are, and how all of your officers that you command would rather lay down their life than see you get hurt," Raiko said with a raised eyebrow.
"Where exactly did you hear that from?" Emi asked, tapping her fingers on her desk, "Because I assure you it was not my officers. No one in this building would every say something so sappy unless it was on a dare."
"I hear rumors," Raiko said, straightening his fancy jacket.
"So you rely on gossip instead of hard facts?" Emi asked as she dramatically gasped, "Are you telling me that the President of the United Republic gets all of his information from rumors? Aren't you the one who is supposed to resolve conflict and defend our city with diplomatic solutions? How would you be telling the truth to other Nation leaders if you were getting all your facts from rumors?"
"I don't get all my information from rumors," Raiko said, looking down his nose at the metalbender, "I just can't plug my ears to the gossip that flies around the city."
Emi stared at the President, trying to read him, and Raiko stared right back.
"What do you want from me Mr. President?" Emi asked mockingly.
"I just wanted you to have a heads up about a possible promotion if I'm pushed to my limits," Raiko said as he straightened out his suit again.
"What do you mean?" Emi asked as all her playfulness washed away. He better not be saying what she thought he was saying. She was in second-in-command.
"Chief Beifong isn't doing a very good job right now, and her age might be getting to her," Raiko said with no emotion like he didn't know he was insulting Lin. "I'm thinking about possibly putting you as the new candidate for Chief. What do you think?"
The whole room fell silent. Emi knew that that everyone there was fearful about her reaction to what the President was saying about her girlfriend, and they were right to be fearful.
Emi slowly stood up from her chair. She snarled and let her teeth show as she banged her palms on her desk. She leaned over her desk towards Raiko, and put her face very close to his. Raiko took a step back in alarm, clearly not expecting this kind of a reaction.
"How dare you call Lin old!" Emi shrieked at the top of her lungs, "How dare you say she's not doing her job right! She's the best Chief of Police for miles around, and you're saying she's not doing her job! She's got a perfect track record, graduated from the Academy with honors, and she's the best fighter around! Those are facts! Maybe if you listened to facts more than gossip, you would know that!"
Raiko, who was now hiding behind his second bodyguard, opened his mouth to reply, but Emi cut him off.
"I will never want to be Chief of Police as long as Lin wears her badge! I will give her anything she wants, and that will certainly not change now for the likes of you!"
"I didn't realize you were friends," Raiko said, wiping off his coat after her realized he was acting extremely cowardly against a yelling woman.
"You obviously haven't been in this city for too long," Emi aggressively whispered as she got right in Raiko's face, "Because almost the entire city knows this. Here's another fact, I'm Lin's girlfriend."
Raiko's eyes widened as he took a step back again.
"I see I have made a mistake," Raiko said as he gestured for his bodyguard to leave first with him bringing up the rear.
"Well that's nothing new," Emi growled as the doors to the room closed behind Raiko. Emi sat back down at her desk with a annoyed sigh. She then looked up, and saw everyone's eyes on her looking very shocked that she had yelled at the President and didn't get fired.
"What are you liver-lips looking at?" Emi snarled, "Get back to work!"
They all immediately did as they were told, and Emi rested her tired head in her hands. Unknown to her, Lin gave a loving smile as she looked at Emi through the the spyhole in her door. She had watched the entire event, and couldn't be more touched by her girlfriend's display of affection.