Emilia was in the Practice Arena where she had first met her new girlfriend.
She was practicing her metalbending forms that morning with a radio station playing music in the background. A smile and a warm, fuzzy feeling hadn't felt her since Lin Beifong agreed to be her girlfriend. She couldn't be happier.
"Good morning citizens of Republic City."
Emilia immediately stopped what she was doing in a wave of shock, rushed over to the radio, and turned it up to max volume.
"This is Amon. I hope you all enjoyed last night's Probending match because it will be the last. It is time for this city to stop worshiping bending athletes as if they were heros. I'm calling on the Council to shut down the Bending Arena, and cancel the finals or else there will be severe consequences."
Emilia growled at the radio. She had been hoping to invite Lin to come see the final Probending game with her as a small date, but it looked like there either wouldn't be one or she would be working it. With a grumble of annoyance, Emilia sprinted out of the Station and down the couple blocks to City Hall.
When she made it to said Hall, the first thing she saw was a certain metalbending Chief entering the building herself. Emilia smiled, and continued to run to catch up with her. Once inside, the younger officer almost tackled the Chief of Police within the empty entrance hallway of the building and kissed her full on the lips. After realizing who was kissing her, Lin kissed her back.
"Morning!" Emi sang, as they pulled apart and continued to walk further into the building, "What cha doing?"
"I'm going to put my input in for the Council on what Amon said," Lin stated, "I for one want to stand strong against these Equalists and keep the arena open, but you know Tenzin. He might argue with me just to argue with me."
"I don't know if it helps," Emilia voiced, "But I'll put a vote in for you."
Lin chuckled. "Thanks. I don't think it will help, but it will definitely help my spirit."
The Chief pushed the doors to the Meeting room open quietly and stepped in, followed by Emilia. The two listened to the argument happening from the back of the room.
"Probending might only be a game to you," Mako, who Emilia knew from the newspapers as being a member of the Probending team, the Fire-Ferrets, retaliated, "But think of what it means to the city. Right now the arena is the only place where benders and non-benders gather together in peace to watch benders…"
"Beat each other up," Bolin, Mako's brother and also a member of the Fire-ferrets, continued, "In peace! It's an inspiration to everyone!"
"I appreciate your naive idealism," Tarrlok answered with his slimy, calm voice that set Emilia's teeth on edge, "But you're ignoring the reality of the situation."
"The reality of the situation is if you close the arena, you let Amon win," Korra pronounced.
"Yes!" Bolin agreed, "Exactly what she said! Yes!"
"I'm sorry," Tarrlok said, with what was supposed to be a sorrowful expression, but to Emilia it really just looked like his eyebrows were trying to fly away, "But our decision has been made. This meeting is adjourned."
He took the gavel off the table and was about to strike down, but not before Chief Beifong hopped forward with surprising speed and extended one of her cables to snap the gavel in half.
Emilia got into her professional stance since the attention was now on them, but on the inside she was extremely proud that her girlfriend had been able to shoot a cable perfectly to snap the inch wide, wooden instrument in half from across the room.
After the Chief retracted the cable back into her armor, she said:
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the Avatar."
"You do?" Tarrlok asked.
"Yeah, you do?" Korra also asked in astonishment.
"I expected this kind of cut-and-run response from Tenzin," The Chief continued, "But the rest of you, come on, show a little more backbone. It's time that the benders of this city displayed some strength and unity against these Equalists."
"We must prevent the conflict between benders and non-benders from escalating into all out war," Tenzin said with determination, "The Council is not changing its position, Lin."
"Now just a moment, Tenzin," Tarrlok voiced, making Emilia actually like him for a minute as she and the Chief moved up to stand next to the Avatar and her friends, "Let us hear what our esteemed Chief of Police has in mind."
"If you keep the Arena open," Lin persisted, "My metalbenders and I will provide extra security during the championship match. There is no better force to deal with the Chi Blockers. Our armor is impervious to their attacks."
"Are you saying that you will personally take responsibility for the safety of the spectators in the arena?" Tarrlok asked with a smirk.
"I guarantee it," the Chief said with so much passion that is caused a shiver to go down Emi's spine.
"It is hard to argue with Chief Beifong's track record," Tarrlok admitted, "If she is confident that her elite officers can protect the arena, then she has my support. I am changing my vote. Who else is with me?"
Emilia watched in no surprise as all the Councilmembers, except Tenzin, raised their hands.
"The arena stays open," Tarrlok said with satisfaction, "Good luck in the finals."
Korra, Mako, and Bolin started cheering and thanking the Councilmembers.
"And good luck to you Chief Beifong," Tarrlok said, addressing the stern Chief.
Emilia watched in suspicion as Tenzin walked down the steps toward her Chief.
"A word, please, Lin," He said only loud enough for Lin and Emilia to hear it before heading out of the room. After watching him leave, the Chief came over to Emilia and whispered.
"If I don't come back in 5 minutes, come and make up some excuse to get me out of the conversation, alright?"
"Got it!" Emilia whispered back, "But I don't trust him. Are you sure you don't want me to come along?"
"Thanks, Emi, but I can handle him myself," Lin said as she winked at the girl and then walked out of the room, following Tenzin.
Emilia sighed as she watched her go, checking the time so she knew exactly when it would be 5 minutes later.
"Hey Emi!"
Emi smiled at the Avatar as she came over with her friends.
"I can't believe that grumpy boss of your's is letting the arena stay open," Korra said with a laugh, "It's strange seeing her actually be nice."
"She's not all that bad once you get to know her," Emilia assured the Avatar, "But then again, she just hates you because of how you made a first impression, in an interrogation room."
"Oh, you got taken to the Police Station!?" Bolin gasped, "How did that happen?"
"I'll tell you guys later," Korra said, "But first I want you to meet the only police officer who likes to talk to me. This is Emilia."
"Hi," Emilia said, giving a small wave, "I've heard about you guys in the newspapers and on the radio. I'm definitely rooting for the underdogs tonight."
"Thanks, officer, ma'am," Bolin said, giving a humorous salute, "I'm Bolin!"
"I'm Mako," Mako said with little or no interest at all.
"Nice to meet you," Emilia said, more to Bolin then to Mako, "Sorry to cut this conversation short, but I'm needed elsewhere."
She checked the time again, and it was exactly at the 5 minute marker.
"I'll come with you since I need to talk to Tenzin," Korra said before addressing the bending brothers, "You guys can ride to the Arena with Naga. I can pick her up there."
"It's fine Korra," Mako said, "We can walk."
"Suit yourself," Korra said as she and Emilia walked out of the room.
"Tarrlok's playing you," Tenzin said in the hallway he had chosen to have this conversation in, "And I don't want to see you get hurt."
"I know what I'm doing and the risks that come with it," Lin retaliated, with her arms crossed.
"In that case I'm going to be by your side during the match."
"You don't need to babysit me," Lin said through a scowl. Lin Beifong had her reasons for everything, and she had her reasons for breaking up with Tenzin too. He was overprotective, overpowering, and flat out annoying. She was beginning to wish she had taken up Emilia on her offer to come to this conversation with her. Now that was someone who actually cared about her, but let her have her own space and freedom within their relationship. Emilia had confidence in the Chief's abilities, and therefore didn't worry all that much about her when she worked which was a big improvement from Tenzin.
"It's for Korra," Tenzin argued, making up an excuse, "I want to make sure she's safe."
The Chief of Police narrowed her eyes at the Master of Air. He was always bad at lying, just like his father before him. She could see straight threw him. She took a glance over his shoulder as something shiny that caught her eye. It was the gleam of a well polished, metal uniform. Emilia, followed closely by the Avatar, came around the corner and stopped at the end of the hallway. She smiled as she caught the Chief's gaze, and waved enthusiastically. Lin had to admit to herself that Emilia was adorable. She would do anything to make her happy, and she had to admit she was in love with it. She needed some positive energy, and at least a mile's distance between Tenzin and her.
"Do what you want!" Lin retorted angrily, "It's not like I've been able to stop you before."
Lin began to march off in the direction of the young officer. Even though the Avatar began to speak to her, she just kept going. She didn't want to deal with that immature girl right now. She just wanted away from politically powerful people, and around the person whom she knew cared about her the most.
"Are you okay?" Emilia asked with concern upon seeing how infuriated the Chief of Police was, "Did that Tenzin guy hit on you, because if he did, I can sure as spirits hit him right back in the middle of his big, fat nose."
Lin laughed as Emilia started demonstrating her punches into free air with a concentrated, but humorous, face on.
"No he didn't, don't worry," Lin said, taking one of Emi's hands and intertwining her fingers with her, "If he did, he would have gotten that knuckle sandwich from me instead… And then probably you later."
"You know it," Emilia confirmed, tightening her fingers around Lin's, "I would punch him all the way to the South Pole then all the way up to the North pole if he did anything else to hurt you. Actually I would do that to anyone who tried to hurt you, but especially him."
Lin smiled. It felt so good to have someone to talk to again. So many years of being alone had been starting to get to her. She would go from her small apartment to the Police Station and then back to her small apartment again. She was too busy protecting the city to have time for making friends or finding another relationship. Besides such relationships, friendly or more, would get in the way of her work, or worse, would be targeted to get to her. Lin decided not to think about that. She knew that this woman who loved her could take down a charging flying bison with her bare hands if she wanted to.
"So," Emilia said with a cheeky grin, breaking the silence, "What's your plan for tonight Chief?"
The entire Police Force was deployed. Chief Beifong had placed 20 boats in the water, 4 ships in the air, and more than 50 of her elite officers within the walls of the Probending Arena. It was 3 hours until game time, and the officers on the inside were doing a sweep of the entire building. Every crack and crevice within the grand building was being searched. No stone was left unturned.
The Chief herself was in the large, dome-shaped room which served as the actual Arena. Officers everywhere had flashlights, and were checking under the stands and in the player locker rooms. Emilia was helping with this task. Her flashlight's glow illuminated the shadows underneath the seats. She saw nothing suspicious or endangering.
"All clear!" She called to the captain in charge of her area. He gave her a thumbs up before turning.
"All clear, Chief," He called to the master metalbender who nodded to him in acknowledgement. Emilia turned off her flashlight, and strapped it back onto her metal belt. She looked over at the Chief longingly, but she knew she couldn't go and speak to her love with all of these people in the same room as them. She then decided to just do her job, and followed her captain to the next section of stairs.
Lin Beifong watched as Emilia followed her captain to their next assignment, taking in how her body moved with every step and how tight her suit was.
"How is the security sweep going."
You could always count on Tenzin to darken her mood.
"Fine," Lin said firmly.
"They've checked underneath the stands?" He asked.
"Yes," Lin said a little more firmly, her anger starting to rise.
" And you have enough officers to cover all points of entry?" He persisted.
"I have the skies, the bay, and every nook and cranny of this place covered," She snapped, turning away from him, "Now leave me alone, and let me do my job."
"Lin," Tenzin sighed, knowing he was pushing it, "With so much on the line it would be nice if we could help each other out, at least for one night."
"Like old times?" Lin said, remembering how they used to play as kids.
"Like old times," Tenzin repeated, presenting the smallest of a smile.
Lin's first thought was to do what Emilia had talked about earlier and just punch him in the face. But then she thought of the way he was trying to be friendlier towards her, and how Emilia was always kind to anyone she met. With that, her decision was made.
"Okay," She agreed to his proposal, "I'll try to be less abrasive than usual."
"I would appreciate that," Tenzin said as he went into his stoic airbender stance which Lin knew meant he wasn't moving for a long time. She sighed, remembering about his earlier promise to stay by her side during the match. This was going to be a long night.
Emilia was enjoying these seats to the match. Of course she wasn't sitting, she was standing, in a doorway no less. She was one of the officer standing in front of a door, out of many, that led into the arena. She was technically at work, but no one said she couldn't sneak peaks at the game every now and then. She was beginning to think that Tahno was even more creepy then Tarrlok with his girl-like hair and his infuriating smirk. Maybe all male, lady looking waterbenders were like this. Emilia wouldn't know. Growing up in the fire nation, she hadn't seen many waterbenders. Spirits, even her family, who were earthbenders and firebenders, were the only earthbenders for miles around. That's how Emi's father was so good at his police job because all the criminals were firebenders and are expecting the police officers to be firebenders too. Nope! They get surprised when a huge boulder smacks them in the face.
Emilia laughed at the thought. Her father was a good police officer, and was extremely funny. She was really wanted Lin to meet him, they would get along smashingly.
But speaking of smashing.
"Oh come on Ref, there was some funny business in that last play," Tenzin yelled just a few stand seats below Emilia's position. She was positioned at the top of the stairs, and Tenzin and Lin were at the bottom of said stairs watching the match. There was a reason that Emilia picked the spot she did. She was watching the Chief's back for her to make sure nothing hurt her. That meant she was also close enough to hear the funny conversation going on between the two.
"Wouldn't have guessed you knew the rules of Probending," Lin said, trying hard not to laugh.
"I've been brushing up," Tenzin said, crossing his arms and trying to look as professional as possible, "That Wolfbat blateingly bent a disc outside of his zone."
Emilia couldn't help but give her own chuckle at the usually stoic Airbender. His enthusiasm for the game he thought was bombardic, according to Lin, was amusing.
The match continued with the Wolfbats winning the first round. From what Lin, Emilia, and the rest of the officers could see, no dangerous movement had been seen so far. The only dangerous things happening were what the Wolfbats were throwing at Korra, Mako, and Bolin. But thankfully they handled themselves to tie round 2. Emilia wasn't surprised when Korra took the lead on the tie breaker, and gave Tahno a complete water punch to the face. Emilia inwardly cheered the Avatar on. That slimy creep just got what he deserved.
"I can't believe your sweet-tempered father was reincarnated into that girl," Emilia heard Lin say to Tenzin, astounded, "She's tough as nails."
"Reminds me of someone else I knew at that age," Tenzin responded, referring to Lin, "You two might get along if you would only give her a chance."
Lin gave a huff and Emilia shaked her head. Tenzin was right though. From what Emi had seen of the new Avatar, she was strong, confident, and mighty. Those were three words that Emi would use to describe Lin too, and whatever negative thoughts Lin had for Tenzin shouldn't get in the way of a friendship that could undoubtedly happen. Of course, it could only be a friendship and nothing more or else Emilia would rain evil spirits on the one responsible.
Round 3 was awful with the Fire Ferrets giving it their all, but the Wolfbats, having obviously payed off the refs, crushed an earth disc into Tahno's bending water and smacked each Fire Ferret straight off their feet and into the drain.
"Oh come on," Emilia heard Tenzin say as he sent an angry gust of air right in Lin's face, "Those were illegal headshots! Open your eyes ref!"
Emilia was with Tenzin for once. That wasn't a fair match at all. But her job was to protect the spectators and not become one herself, so she did a scan of the crowd. She saw nothing out of the ordinary before some movement caught her eye. She squinted down a couple rows, and saw a young man pull up his supposed "scarf" and place it around his nose and mouth. She then saw him place his hand into his container of popcorn, and pull out what appeared to be a mechanical glove from inside. She looked harder and saw a glowing green, circular device engraved in the middle of the device. She recognized that device as being the power disc that powered most automobiles, specifically Satomobiles. She knew what they were, and this man was moving forward with it, right towards Lin.
"Chief, duck!" Emilia screamed as loudly as she could.
Thankfully, Lin heard her and ducked at the last minute causing the Equalist to hit nothing but air, which happened to be Tenzin's air. Lin then spun around and nailed a new Equalist behind Tenzin with a rock to the face. Emilia, breathed a sigh of relief that didn't last long. She heard an electrical sizzle behind her.
She ducked just as the Chief did, and kicked the Equalist behind her, much like a poodle-pony would, with her metal plated foot. He doubled over in pain which gave Emilia time to snatch the electrical glove and ironically shock the Equalist into unconsciousness. She then turned back to the arena space, and jumped down the flight of stairs to her girlfriend. She smashed into an Equalist causing him to tip over the balcony of the stands and into the pool below. Some of the other metalbender officers had seen the disturbance caused by the Equalists attacking Tenzin, Lin, and Emilia, so they were able to avoid the Equalists sneaking up behind them in the dark. But other officers on the other side of the Arena were not as fortunate.
Emilia ducked again, shocking the Equalist again with her new glove. She wove the metal cables of her uniform around another, sending him into the pool as well where he was shocked.
Emilia in confusion watched as Korra, Bolin, and Mako were electrocuted in the pool themselves by Amon's second in command, then she watched as Amon himself rose from the circular platform in the center of Arena pitch before advancing on the Wolfbats.
Emilia had to avert her eyes when another Equalist charged at her. She wove him in cables too, and flung him at the Equalist who had currently pinned Tenzin causing both of them to go tumbling across the walkway and banging their heads on the stands.
"Thank you," Tenzin said as he got up from the floor. Emilia nodded her head in acknowledgement before turning to find the Chief. She was in the middle of a fight between two Equalist where she had to constantly dodge the gloves and still attack. Lin noticed a woman in the stands defending her small daughter who was trying to firebend at the Equalist advancing on them with his glove raised. Lin growled and grabbed the Equalist by his ungloved arm and flung him over her head and onto his back, hard. She was momentarily distracted, and the Equalist behind her took advantage of it. Lin cried out as the volts of electricity spread throughout her body due to her metal suit. She fell over the balcony, and into the pool.
Emilia watched in horror as Lin fell into the water with a crash, and started to sink due to the weight of her suit and her unconsciousness. Emilia, without giving a second thought, strapped her new globe to her belt and jumped over the balcony herself and dove into the water. She swam as fast as she could to Lin. She grabbed her by the waist, and started to swim up which did prove difficult due to Lin, her armor, and Emilia's own armor's weight pulling her down. But she persisted, swimming behind the refereeing station that came out of the water itself so she had a good amount of cover. Emilia heaved Lin onto the platform at the very bottom of the refereeing station where multiple metal supporting bars and cables and wires made it so you could get up onto the dry concrete safely, but it was also hard to see what was inside, much to Emilia's liking. She noticed that all movement above had gone down meaning that all fighters (Tenzin, Korra, and the metalbending officers) were all in positions similar to Lin, but hopefully not drowning.
She turned to her love, metalbent her armor off, and she gave her CPR. Come on, wake up, Emi thought fearfully as she worked. After a couple seconds of thumping hands and mouth to mouth, Lin started coughing and spitting up water. Emi had her sit up, so she could breath easier.
"Th…an…ks," Lin struggled to say between her deep breaths.
Emilia answered with a hug of relief since the metalbending Chief was breathing and was not dying like Emilia had been fearing. Lin leaned into her embrace, relieved that Emi was okay too.
"I believe I have your attention benders of Republic City."
Both metalbenders went still when they heard Amon's voice echo in the large Arena.
"So once again the Wolfbats are your Probending champions," Amon continued through his microphone in his hand, "It seems fitting that you celebrate three bullies who cheated their way to victory because every day you threaten and abuse your fellow non-bending citizens just like the Wolfbats did to their opponents tonight. Those men were supposedly the best in the bending world and yet it only took a few moments for me to cleans them of their impurity. Let this be a warning to all of you benders out there. If any of you stand in my way, you will meet the same fate. Now to my followers. For years the Equalists have been forced to hide in the shadows, but now we have the numbers and the strength to create a new Republic City. I'm happy to tell you that…"
Emilia tried to continue listening, but she heard something else. She parted the metal cables of the platform to get a good look. She saw Korra, Bolin, and Mako tied up to one of the Probending platform's concrete, support beams, and Bolin talking to his fire-ferret friend who was trying to chew through the ropes that bound them. Lin looked too before bending on her armor again.
"Let's go," Lin said with courage.
"Let's," Emilia said with her own grin.
They quietly jumped into the water and proceeded to swim underneath the surface, as not to be noticed, to where the Fire Ferrets were tied up. Emilia and Lin, even through the water, heard the smash of breaking glass. The started to swim faster. They skillfully jumped out of the water, startling the Avatar, her friends, and the fire-ferret who Emilia now knew was named Pabu. But that was nothing compared to the shock of the explosion that ignited above them. Lin and Emilia both hit the floor like every officer learned during training.
After the explosion subsided, Emilia sprang to her feet. She extended the sharp, metal blade from her uniform's sleeve, and perfectly chopped the Fire Ferrets ropes in half.
"Woah," Bolin said in surprise, having not expected a sharp blade to fall inches away from his leg.
The Fire Ferrets got up, and Korra immediately created an ice sheet over the water so she could see where Amon was going. He and his followers were almost lifted all the way up to their airship on cables that were suspended through a hole in the Arena's glass ceiling (which must have been the thing that sounded like shattered glass), and Korra went into attack mode.
"I'm going after Amon," she declared.
"Be careful," Mako said before Korra jumped into the water and created a tornado of water pushing her up to the Arena's now cracked glass roof. Lin ran over and grumbled upon seeing the Avatar waterbending her way up into the sky.
"See, this is why I don't like her," Lin confessed before extending her cables back up onto the spectator's platform, "She doesn't think things through."
With that said, Lin metalbent her way to higher altitudes. Emilia sighed before turning to Mako and Bolin.
"Do you want a ride," Emilia said, pointing up.
"Yes please," Bolin said before Mako could give his trademark 'no'.
Emilia extended three cables. One attached itself to the balcony above, and the other two around the waists of the bending brothers. Both brothers gave out a cry of surprise when they were hoisted into the air right after Emilia who landed with ease before turning and catching the brothers before the face planted and placed them on the ground.
"Wow that was so much fun," Bolin said with excitement, "Can we do it again?"
"No!" Mako expectantly answered, looking like he was going to barf.
Emilia chuckled before marking her eyes on the Chief.
Apparently Korra's waterbending only got her halfway before Lin had taken over. Emilia watched with a smile as Lin grabbed the Avatar around the waist with one of her cables and threw her perfectly through the hole in the roof. Emilia then locked eyes with Lin who motioned in Police sign language 'going to roof, need back up'.
Emilia gave her a thumbs up before extending her cables.
When the two metalbenders made it to the roof, Emilia's jaw dropped in shock. All the police airships were in the water and all the boats were on fire. Emilia hoped that all the officers that were in those vehicles were okay.
Emilia was brought back to reality when she hear and saw the Lin shoot her cables at the nearest rising Equalists, and brought him to the ground. Emilia followed in stride.
She, Lin, and Korra continued fighting off the Equalists. They were trying desperately to get on the airship that Amon was on so they could finish his reign of tyranny, but his Chi Blockers weren't allowing that. They continued to save each other's skins from electrocution and harm while also fighting off the ones who wanted to harm them. Finally Lin was able to get a hold of Amon's airship, and raised herself towards it. Emilia continued to fight off the Equalist who were trying to get to the Chief. She kicked, punched, and metalbent anyone who came near her. When she finally hit the last person, she landed right next to Korra. Both girls heard a cracking sound underneath them. The glass roof shattered, and they fell through. Emilia immediately went to extend her cables, but not before another cable came into her view. On instinct she and Korra grabbed it. Emilia looked up and met eyes with the Chief who gave her a knowing smile. She returned it before Lin swung them over to the spectators balcony and dropped them off. Emilia landed first then raised her hands and caught the Avatar. Lin landed next, and immediately walked over to them.
"You two alright?" Lin asked, resting her hand on Emi's shoulder after she put Korra down.
"Fine,"Korra said with a hint of a smile, "Thanks to you."
"Don't mention it, kid," Lin said before looking up at Amon's leaving airship, "Looks like we lost this one."
After Bolin, Mako, and Tenzin came over to see if Korra was okay, Lin and Emilia walked away.
"I can't believe Amon did this," Lin said, sorrow clear in her expression, "I played right into his hands."
"You did what you thought was right, Chief," Emilia said, "Plus, no one would have handled that situation better than you just did."
"Ha, right," Lin chuckled sarcastically, "It's not like the best person for the job is electrocuted, and then flung into a pool which almost kills them."
"You did that to protect that little girl," Emi said, "That move is worth the title of the best for the job."
"I don't think the Council will agree with you though," Lin responded grimly.
Emilia pulled Lin into an empty hallway, and pushed her against the wall.
"Don't you dare think about what those annoying, creepy Council members," Emilia growled, pushing her hands into the Chief's shoulders to keep her still, "They don't deserve a moment of your time, Chief."
After Lin realized she wasn't in any real danger, she started laughing.
"You're right," Lin smiled, "You are the only one who deserves my time."
Emilia slammed her lips against Lin's in a heated kiss before moving her lips to the Chief's earlobes, which she now knew were sensitive, and sucked.
Lin moaned, running her fingers through Emilia's hair.
"Emi," Lin breathed, "In the future, when we are alone like this, call me Lin."
Emilia gently bit down in response, making Lin gasp.
