A note for you lovely people: I'm getting ready to move. I am going to try to update next week and the week after as I have been, but don't panic if you don't see anything from me for the next week and a half or so. It may take a bit longer than I want to get settled (and get my internet set up). I will definitely be back, both to finish this (we still have a few chapters to go, after all) and to post new stories!
As always, thank you to Amira Elizabeth for the encouragement for this story. And my readers and wonderful reviewers so far, another huge thank you.
I will be back soon. In the meantime - enjoy!
All Their Light
Chapter 4
The case connected to one of Tau Be's assaults happened to be a vast fraud ring that had just recently been closed. Eighteen people were arrested, all serving several years now in the city's jail. One of those people was the woman who had pressed the charge against Tau Be and then so quickly dropped it again. Lin made a quick call when she arrived to work the following morning to make arrangements to see her as soon as possible, and the warden promised to have the woman brought to an interview room in the prison within an hour.
She had not yet told anyone else aside from Tenzin of her suspicions, and he had listened calmly as she brought him back to the kitchen for dinner. It was her plan to investigate alone, without throwing a spotlight on anyone in Tsung's family unless she absolutely had to. That meant not including Jaluu or any of her detectives until she had a sure lead one way or another.
"Lin?"
She removed her hand from the receiver of her telephone, where she had left it as she lost herself in thought, and blinked, coming back to see Tenzin entering her office. "Hi," she said with a lopsided grin. "What are you doing here? I only left thirty minutes ago."
Still, though, she stood as he walked toward her, reaching out to accept his touch and his chaste kiss. He brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek before stepping back, letting a more professional amount of space open between them. "I was on my way to City Hall," he said, "I thought I would stop in."
Lin smiled silently at him, her eyes meeting his and moving briefly over his face, taking in every line and contour. A wave of contentment washed over her very quickly, making her limbs warm with his nearness. She was happy to see him. She was happy that she could touch him without guilt or fear of someone noticing. She was happy he came to see her as often as he did, bringing his love and his presence into her consuming work.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?" he asked, returning her smile and taking her hand when she made no motion to return to her desk. A small gesture that meant the world to her.
"For caring," she replied simply. She squeezed his fingers and, not waiting for him to respond, continued to change the subject. "I was just about to head out again for the prison to talk to someone about the case we were discussing last night. Would you like to join me?"
"I promised the children I would be there for their training this morning. I think Jinora is tiring of having to be in charge of her siblings and wants to be taught again for a few hours," Tenzin added with a small chuckle. "I'm going to pick something up from my office and head over to the island to spend the day with them. But I appreciate the offer, Lin, truly. I'll be home with you tonight, will you fill me in then?"
Lin pulled her hand free of his and raised it to his face, drawing him down to press her lips to his cheek. She lingered there for a moment before pulling away. "Of course. I will tell you every little thing that happens today."
"Are you sure it's safe for you to be looking into all of this alone?"
"Absolutely," she told him firmly, rubbing her thumb over his skin to soothe his worry the moment she felt it start to rise. "There is nothing dangerous about any of this, I'll be fine. Mere information gathering. Boring, really."
Tenzin walked with her to the entryway of her office, taking her coat from the rack and holding it up for her to slide on from behind. He pulled her hair gently from the collar before she could do so herself. Lin reached for the door, about to open it fully, but she paused and suddenly pushed it all the way closed with a soft click as the latch caught and turned around to look at him.
"Are you all right, Tenzin?" she asked, studying him closely. "Your temper the last few days has been worse than mine, I'm worried about you."
He was silent for a moment, dropping her steady gaze and looking over her shoulder at the photograph taken at her inauguration as Chief so many years ago, hanging on the wall by the door. The medal she had been given, awarding her the new rank, was framed just underneath it beside her mother's. Her lips were quirked, in that grainy black and white picture, a tiny, almost imaginary smile that could not be seen in her eyes. People had fawned over it as she graced the cover of the newspapers for nearly two weeks, their young hero walking in Toph's footprints to keep their city safe from chaos and threats and fear. Lin did not like the photograph; it only brought back memories of times she would rather forget, of her mother and sister leaving, and of the responsibility she thought she had wanted.
"I suppose," Tenzin said after another minute of quiet between them to bring their conversation back around, "I am just having a bit more difficulty dealing with change than I thought I would. I did not think it would be quite this hard."
Lin stepped forward, putting a finger under his chin to bring his eyes up to hers again. He looked at her sadly, and she could feel his pulse quicken with anxiety as they breathed together with his confession. "I understand," she told him, her voice kind to immediately dispel any worry he may have had of pushing her away. "Tenzin, I understand. As much as we love each other, we couldn't just snap our fingers and go back to the way things were. You have your family now," she whispered, stroking his cheek, "and Pema, and you have to balance all of that with guiding an entire nation. You did not have those things on your shoulders before."
"And with you," he interrupted gently. "I do not want to be without you, Lin."
She smiled at him, one that did reach her eyes - a smile so few other people ever saw. "Yes," she agreed. "You have all those things now. And I...I've been alone for so long, myself, that I have grown used to simply living that way, with only my work to consume my time. I will have to get used to the fact again that I have someone else to live for, to truly live for, and not merely a memory of something lost. All I ask for, Tenzin, is your patience."
"You have it. Oh, Lin, you have it and so much more." He reached up, cupping both hands to her face and leaning in to press his forehead to hers. "I am sorry for ever losing my temper with you," he said softly, the sincerity so sure it warmed through her. "This pressure just keeps building around me and I do not know how to continue handling everything I must do. Leading a nation is overwhelming, how my father...how anyone does this is beyond me."
Lin wrapped her fingers around one of his wrists. "I am here for you, Tenzin. Let me help you."
"You already do so much…"
"I do my job, is all," she said with a little lopsided grin. "I want to help you. There's a bit of a difference. Let me share your weight and all of the stress that comes with it. Please."
"All right," he agreed, finally giving the words a quiet breath of life.
She felt his posture change as he did, his muscles relaxing through his back and shoulders. She relaxed with him, falling forward slightly to let her chest rest against his, and she brought her arms down to wrap around his waist when his fingers curled into her hair. "Everything will be fine. We'll both be fine."
"We're together now," he continued for her, tilting his head so their noses brushed until he was able to press their lips together for the briefest second. When he pulled away again a moment later, she could still feel him against her, close and warm. "That is so important to me, being with you. I never want to lose you again."
"You won't. Your rare foul moods won't scare me off so easily."
Her smile broadened, eyes moving up to meet his so he would hear her joke and the affection behind it. "We still have to find our way," she murmured, shifting to let her mouth move against his as she spoke, "but I am not afraid - and I am not going anywhere. We've been through too much to let our future together go to waste." She raised a hand to run across his cheek before letting it rest around the back of his head, pulling him into her kiss.
The ringing telephone on her desk broke the moment quite abruptly. She dropped her head to his shoulder with a frustrated sigh, turning her face to scowl at the jangling phone as it continued to ring. Tenzin laughed softly, running his hand through her hair once and then lightly across her jaw to bring her attention back to him, even if she did keep her head pressed near his neck, taking in the heat of his body.
"You have things to do," he said, grinning down at her. "Go. I'll see you soon."
Lin ignored her phone until it fell silent and then raised her head all the way to fully meet his eyes. "Your temples will be rebuilt, Tenzin," she told him confidently. "Let me handle whatever is going on with Tsung and then we can find the next step with the Air Nation, all right? Together. You will not be doing any of this alone."
xXx
The woman, who had given her name as Kiki during her several encounters with police, was waiting under guard in the earthen-tiled visitor's room at Lin's request by the time she arrived. This was a room used for the lower-security inmates when their families arrived to see them, the ones who did not pose any kind of threat, and she wanted to be able to interrogate this woman without having to go to much difficulty herself - or without putting her on guard. Reading her responses through the softly packed clay would work perfectly for that.
"You can leave us," Lin said to the guards as she sat at the table across from Kiki. The woman glared at her, but the guards nodded politely and walked out of the room.
"What do you want?" Kiki asked the moment the door swung closed behind the guards to leave them alone.
Lin studied her in silence for a moment, taking in her young but already aging face; the way her narrowed, restless eyes were always moving; the agitated tapping of her heel against the ground and the jostling movement of her leg. "I have a few questions for you," she said softly, forcing her to listen as she placed both Tsu Be's and her own file on the table.
Kiki leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I already told your cops everything I know about the fraud stuff," she snapped. "I have nothing else to say. Not to you, not to anyone else. I'm just going to do my time and get out of here."
"I am not here about whatever you were involved in with this 'fraud stuff'" Lin said, her eyes flicking up to meet and hold hers. "I am here about what I assume is a completely different matter." She opened Tau Be's file and removed the form she had filed with his assault against her, sliding it across the smooth surface of the table in her direction.
The woman paused for a brief moment, her gaze still locked with Lin's, before reaching out to reluctantly take the paper and looking fleetingly over it to see what it was she was supposed to recognize. "No." The word was quick and harsh, and Kiki smacked the form back onto the tabletop face down, her hand flat over the back. "I am not talking about this, either. I don't care who you are."
"I see."
Lin could feel her anxiety through the floor and could see it just as easily when her leg began to bounce even faster, but she silently tugged the paper away from under her hand and put it back in the file again as though she had no more interest. It only took a second longer before Kiki spoke, her voice spilling out like a small flood.
"It was all a mistake," she said. "It was. Look, I just got caught up in something I didn't understand. I got myself out of it. If I say anything now our deal will break, I can't do that. I like my freedom."
"You don't look very free to me," Lin pointed out with a raised eyebrow, giving her just enough to keep talking without realizing how much she was saying.
"I'm free from his entire fucking family!" Kiki retorted angrily. She leaned forward in the chair, face angry. "They're all crazy, every one of them. This…" She waved her hand in the direction of the file and the charge. "This was just the last straw, I couldn't take it. I wanted to get out, and his father told me I couldn't leave unless I took it all back."
"So he did hurt you?" The question was quiet this time, holding much more compassion than anything else so far.
"Yes," Kiki bit out. "We worked together. About two years ago, he asked me out and...I don't know, I guess I loved him. It all seems so blurred now. We were engaged for a few months before I realized I just couldn't do it."
Lin was quiet for a moment, letting Kiki gather herself again when she felt the fury pouring out into the earth below her feet. "This deal you mentioned," she said softly. "What were you referring to? Did Tsung and Tau Be put some kind of restriction over you when you broke your engagement?"
Kiki laughed bitterly, looking away toward the windows set high in the wall near the ceiling. Very little sunlight was coming in, kept at bay by the thick snow-filled clouds. "It appeared our entire engagement was some kind of arrangement between Tau Be and his dad, I never had any say in what he did. So yeah, I guess you could say they gave me some 'restrictions' when I wanted out of that pit. One of those is not talking about it," she added pointedly.
"Listen to me," Lin told her, moving the files aside and waiting until she met her steady gaze again. "I am not opening an official investigation into anything yet, and I will not use what you tell me if it will put you in danger. I promise you, I will keep you safe. Whether that means relocating you when your sentence here is finished or by putting Tsung and his son in jail if I find cause, no further harm will come to you. But in order for me to help you, I will need to know where to even begin."
She thought about this, her heart thudding quickly and sending the heavy waves through the tiles. Finally, Kiki sighed and placed her hands on the table, looking down at her fingernails listlessly before splaying her fingers flat.
"I'm probably going to dig myself into a bit of trouble here, telling you all this," she muttered under her breath, "but I helped Tau Be - or his dad, really - launder money. I have a brain for it, you know, money and numbers. His father has a bunch of shops or something. I don't know if he owns them or just owns the properties or what, but all I needed was access to the financial records. Just a few changes here and there - " She waved her hands in a small, half-hearted gesture. "The yuans poured in from all over, into his family bank account. None of the store owners ever noticed."
Lin was quiet, taking in as much as Kiki was willing to tell her. She paused to take a tired breath before continuing. "I worked for them that way for the entirety of my relationship with Tau Be. They have a bunch of other people working for them like that, too, I never met any of them. We're all paid pretty nicely, but part of my...leaving negotiation included returning anything left I hadn't already...well, spent. It's why I went to work for Khan before I was arrested, doing - what I was actually arrested for. I was broke."
This was all completely new information, and Lin's heart began to sink even if she had almost been expecting it. There had been a part of her still holding out hope - mostly for Tenzin - that everything she had found before this meeting was coincidental and able to be explained away. Tsung's guilt was undeniable now.
"I think…"
Lin brought her gaze to the young woman again as she began to speak into the silence around her. Kiki's face was drawn and rather sad as she looked up to the windows and the dim sun trying to come through.
"I think they have some other stuff going on, too. Nothing really bad, not like the Agni Kais or anything like that, right, but Tsung is so money-hungry. When they threatened me to keep my mouth shut after...after Tau Be hit me, when I left, I took him seriously."
"Kiki," Lin murmured, her voice sympathetic, "what did they say to you that scared you so badly?"
"I don't...I don't want to talk about it." She shook her head and diverted her gaze away from Lin's "Just leave me out of whatever happens next, please. I don't want to be brought back into any of that, I never want to see Tau Be again."
"I've already given you my word that I will keep you safe, and I will. You do not have to worry about that."
Kiki looked at her, the anxiety easing from her features as, likely for the first time, she understood exactly who she was speaking with. "Thank you," she whispered. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, toward the closed door, before saying, "I know there were some pretty shady people working for him, too. For Tsung, I mean. Tau Be's friends. Tau Be tried to be like them, sneaking around, breaking into places and getting into fights - but his little posse was a lot better at it. Once - once I was at Tsung's house, just hanging around waiting for Tau Be, and found a room filled with really nice stuff, just sitting on shelves like a weird museum. I didn't stick around to look, but it felt off, you know what I mean?"
"Yes," Lin agreed with a nod. "I do."
"So," Kiki said with a mirthless laugh. "How much more am I charged with now? I'm probably never going to get out of here, am I?"
"I am not charging with you anything." Lin gave her a small, fleeting grin. "I didn't hear anything, did I? And even if I did, I suppose I did force you to tell me whatever may have passed between us. I can't arrest you based on that." She rose to gather her papers together to leave, and she paused for a moment. "If you need anything at all after this, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. Do you understand? I will not forget the predicament you have put yourself in to assist me."
The smile she received in return made everything worth it, and in that moment she remembered why she loved what she did. Helping people was her life.
