Chapter 4:
Here's another chapter everyone, and I hope you all are enjoying with story! I'm going to keep this short and sweet. My love for reviews and my offer for drawing anything that is related to this story still stands. Any word from my fans is nice to read, and I'm always excited to see, and possibly answer, any questions, requests, or comments. Check out my DeviantArt under FantasyMajesty to see my artwork for this story, but without further adieu, Chapter 4!
The next morning both officers found it hard to get out of bed. They were well relaxed, and Lin wished she could always feel this way. But with a job like the one she had, she couldn't feel anything other than stressed if she hoped to do a good job. A pair of lips to her neck brought Lin back down to earth. Lin moaned as Emi licked a bruise she had made with her teeth last night. The purple tinted skin made Emi feel a sense of hunger, and she couldn't help the new love bites she was giving her girlfriend. Lin's gasps and moans made her bite harder, and Lin couldn't believe that this woman was taking pleasure in giving her of all people love bites. With one final kiss, Emi pulled away. She tenderly licked the blood from her harder kisses in an apologetic way before getting out of bed. Lin had to smirk as Emi made her way to the bedroom door, and, in a teasing sort of way, walked into the living room of the apartment. Lin chuckled before getting up too.
They spent the rest of the morning doing nothing but eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and playing Pai Sho. It was Lin's turn, and she was scratching her chin in thought. Emi took the time to look at Lin. She was now wearing a light green workout shirt that had snap fasteners all the way down the front with no sleeves, a pair of black sweatpants, and an emerald green ribbon of fabric around her waist. Emi smiled. She was reminded of how Kya, during her argument with Lin, said that Lin had no other clothes besides her uniform, which was false. Lin did have a wardrobe even if it was mostly workout clothes and it was all black, grey, or green. Emi loved when Lin was relaxed enough to put in the effort to wear something besides her uniform and her signature white tank top and uniformal dark grey sweatpants. When Lin was relaxed, Emi was relaxed.
"I win," Lin smirked as she placed a Pai Sho piece down on the board. Emi broke out of her trance, and looked down at the board. Lin had indeed won. Emi just stared at the board for a minute before looking up at a triumphant looking Lin. "What happened to you?" Lin asked with a laugh. "You were winning not even 60 seconds ago."
"I got distracted," Emi said truthfully before she went back to lovingly watching Lin. Lin just rolled her eyes.
"You need to go back to sleep," Lin said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You obviously didn't get enough."
Just then the phone rang, and Lin pursed her lips together in annoyance.
"Once a month I get a day off," Lin grumbled as she got up from her chair. "Why can't I get a break?"
Emi just continued to watch her as Lin aggressively took hold of the phone, and lifted it up to her ear. "This is Chief Lin Beifong, who is this?" Lin asked into the receiver.
"Sorry for bothering you Chief, but it's Mako," Mako's voice could be heard through the phone. "Song told me it was your day off when I called the station, and needed to ask for your permission."
Emi, who could hear what Mako was saying over the phone from where she sat, saw Lin's pupils get smaller.
"Permission for what?" Lin asked with a harder tone of voice.
"As you know, Avatar Korra has been kicked out of the city, and she's preparing to leave. She and Tenzin are going out into the Earth Kingdom to search for new airbenders with my brother, Bumi, and one of Tenzin's kids in one of Asami Sato's airships, and they're asking me to come along. I was wondering if I could take a leave of absence for maybe a few weeks to a month?"
Emi could hear Mako's voice getting quieter and higher towards the end of his statement. Both her and Mako were waiting for Lin to start yelling, but it never came.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood kid," Lin said, "But you know that you won't be paid when you're away."
"Oh of course Chief. Thank you. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Fine by me," Lin said before putting the phone back on it's holder, hanging up. Emi just stared in amazement.
"I can't believe you didn't blow up," Emi said.
"Although I find his new vacation to be irritating, I'm in too good of a mood to ruin it through my own actions," Lin said before sitting on the couch, "And I can't find anyone better than him for his job, so it would be waste to get him scared to the point where he won't want to come back." Emi smiled as she got up from her chair, and joined her. She rested her head on Lin's shoulder, and Lin rested her head on Emi's.
"I love you," Emi whispered as she rubbed her cheek against Lin's shoulder.
"Where did that come from?" Lin asked.
"It's just the fact that you're never boring. You always surprise me."
"Well in that case, I love you too… for not being boring," Lin smiled.
Emi laughed before closing her eyes, and sighing.
"We should do something," Lin said randomly as she lifted her head.
"Okay," Emi said as she too lifted her head. "What do you want to do?"
"Something simple that doesn't cost that much money," Lin said, "Because you know with Raiko's mood swings we're almost broke."
"Our other officers are broke," Emi corrected. "Since we help each other, we've got twice the money that they get. But on a better note, we could go to your favorite restaurant downtown. I know it's a ways, but it's worth the walk and the money."
Emi remembered how she would walk all the way there and back when Lin was injured after Hiroshi Sato's attack on them in his secret factory underneath his giant mansion. She would walk to Ba Sing Se and back just to see Lin smile.
"If you want to, I'm all in for it," Lin smiled.
So that evening they went to the restaurant, ate a fantastic meal, and then walked around downtown for a bit. Emi had to stop at the candy store, but other than that they just walked, talked, and looked.
"I think that you would look great in this," Emi told Lin as they looked around a clothing store as she sucked on a lollipop. She was holding an emerald colored gown that was backless, thick shoulder straps, no sleeves, and a cut up the right side. It had shimmering, silver sequins along the left shoulder strap which then went into curls along the neckline which made it look like it had gotten blown in the wind. There was a silver ribbon tied around the waist that got knotted into a bow in the back. Lin took one look at the dress, and started laughing.
"The day I can actually pull off that dress is the day that I get a job more interesting than Chief of Police of Republic City," Lin chuckled into her hand.
"Laugh all you want, but I still think you would look good in this dress," Emi persisted before they exited the store.
"Do you just want to go home?" Lin asked.
"Sure, we can have some alone time," Emi smirked before giving Lin a wink.
The two metalbenders walked back to their condo, but they were surprised to see three White Lotus members right in front of the door to the building. Lin and Emi exchanged confused looks before addressing them.
"What seems to be the problem?" Lin asked them.
They all turned when hearing her voice, and you could see their faces visibly brighten.
"Are you Lin Beifong?" the first one asked.
"Yes?" Lin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who wants to know."
"We were sent by Lord Zuko and Chief Tonraq," The second one said. "He told us to tell you to protect the Avatar at all costs."
"Why does the Avatar need protecting?" Emi asked, coming up to stand next to Lin. The White Lotus members looked suspiciously at Emi, and Lin growled quietly in her throat.
"Anything I know, she can know," Lin snarled. "She's trustworthy."
"Our apologies," The third one said, bowing her head with respect. "It's just that all White Lotus members are on high alert because Zaheer has broken out of prison."
"What?" Lin asked in shock. Emi started to get worried when she noticed Lin's face go three shades paler. "How?"
"He is an airbender now," The first one explained. "He has already gotten Ghazan and Ming Hua out of their respective prisons, and Lord Zuko believes that they are going after P'li next. The Avatar will be their next target, and Lord Zuko needs you to protect her."
"Who's Zaheer?" Emi asked.
"I'll explain as soon as I get all the information I need," Lin whispered before addressing the White Lotus members. "I would protect her, but she has been exiled from Republic City by President Raiko. I believe she is heading to Ba Sing Se from the latest reports."
"Well you need to find her, and bring her back," The first one said. "Before Zaheer finds her."
"We will leave first thing in the morning," Lin glowered. She wasn't up to taking orders from anyone that didn't deserve the authority. "But if you'll excuse us." She pushed past them into the building with Emi trailing behind her. Once they were in the elevator Emi asked again.
"So who's Zaheer?"
Lin sighed. "Do you know about the Red Lotus?"
"I believe so," Emi said. "We're they the ones who got imprisoned 13 years ago?"
"Yes," Lin said. "They were a team of four who went after Korra when we first realized she was the Avatar. She was probably only three at the time. They tried to kidnap her but were stopped and imprisoned. Zaheer is their leader, and he now has airbending. It took many master benders to take him down the first time, and he was a non-bender. I hate to think how much effort and skill is going to be needed to take him down this time."
"Wow, so he's really bad huh?" Emi asked as the got to the door of their condo. "Well, we better start packing."
"The latest report says that Korra is in Ba Sing Se as the Queen's personal guest. They're in one of the guest houses in the Upper Ring."
Emi was reading through the reports that Song had been grateful enough to give her this morning before she and Lin had taken off in one of the Police Airships. They had gotten to the Police Station at 5:30 to take one of the ships, but someone had seen them and tipped it off to Raiko. He came to the roof of the Station demanding why the Chief of Police and the second in command were leaving Republic City. He first accused them of having done something illegal, and they were just trying to flee. Lin, not being a morning person, had gone on a rant about how she and Emi were going to Ba Sing Se to help the Avatar because her life was in danger. She then proceeded to tell the President that Lord Zuko and Chief Tonraq had asked for her help personally, and if he wanted to stop their mission he would have to take it up with them. This was enough to make the President back down before the two officers departed. They had left Song in charge, and he had given her the reports upon their arrival at the Station.
"Hopefully they will let us in," Lin said. She was in the pilot's position, and Emi was sitting on a bench behind her. "I've heard that the Queen is not happy about Avatar Aang and Lord Zuko taking Earth Kingdom territory to make Republic City, and so a huge Airship that literally reads out the words Republic City Police will not be welcomed with kind hearts."
"If anybody ever told you to not do something you wanted to do, I would feel some pity for them after they got beat to the bone," Emi chuckled. "No one says no to the great Lin Beifong."
Lin just rolled her eyes as they came up to the Ba Sing Se wall. Emi got up from her seat to look out the window in front of Lin.
"Oh wow," Emi gaped.
The city was circled by a huge wall that looked like it took ages to build even with earthbending. Outside the city was a desert, but inside the city was water, greenery, and lots of people. Emi could see the layers of the city from the air. She could see the upper ring with it's simmering palace, the middle ring that was bustling with merchants and shopkeepers that were wealthy enough to buy the occasional jewelry, and the poor lower class. Emi's heart sank as she looked down at the people who were living in garbage with only rags to wear. She could see children digging through trash piles, looking for food. She could see beggars on the streets with sunken faces from malnourishment, and nothing in their tip jars. It was simply awful.
"Oh those poor people," Emi said sorrowfully as they passed into the middle ring.
"The stench is even worse," Lin said. She too felt sorry for the people in the lower ring. "Most of them lose their sense of smell and sight by the time they hit 60, if they get that far."
"How can the Queen let that happen?" Emi asked in anger. "How can she just let them live in those conditions when she has vaults full of money?"
"Maybe because she uses that money on temples and gardens dedicated to her," Lin said as she pointed out the window. Lin was right. There were fountains, and lushes gardens, and multiple expensive buildings that were either newly finished or under construction. The upper ring looked like a utopia compared to the lower ring.
"Well, we definitely know she's selfish," Emi snarled. They flew to the docking port that was right in front of the huge Earth Kingdom palace that had stood tall for centuries. Lin and Emi were surprised when they let them dock the ship. Lin and Emi walked down the ramp, and were met by servant and two Dai Li agents. Emi though they were really creepy by the way that they covered their eyes with their circular, ancient, earthbending hats. Lin, however, having seen them before, was not fazed. She walked up to the servant, who gave her a low bow.
"It is an honor Chief Lin Beifong to welcome you to Ba Sing Se," the servant said.
"It is?" Lin asked as she crossed her hands over her chest.
"But of course," the servant said. "Any relative of the greatest earthbender in the world, especially her daughter, will be honored in the Earth Kingdom's capital. I hear that you are looking for the Avatar. Please follow me to the house they are staying in."
The servant turned around, and the Dai Li agents stepped aside to let them pass. After the two officers started to follow the servant, the Dai Li agents started to follow behind them. Emi kept a sharp eye on them before it hurt her neck to do so. She turned to Lin with a smirk instead.
"See," She whispered, "No one messes with Lin Beifong."
Lin rolled her eyes again before messing up Emi's hair playfully.
They walked through the many gardens and over bridges that went across man made rivers and streams full of exotic fish and plants of many colors before reaching an impressively big house that stood right in the middle of it all.
"If the Avatar is home, she will be in there," The servant said with another low bow, "You may contact us if you need anything."
With that he turned and left with the Dai Li agents following behind them. Emi glared suspiciously at the agents as they shielded their own suspicious gazes underneath their hats. After their eye contact was disrupted by a wall of a building and Emi made sure they were gone with her seismic sense, she turned to Lin.
"Everyone here is creeping me out," Emi said nervously. "Let's get out of here as soon as possible."
"Agreed," Lin said before knocking on the door. The two officers heard whispering and movement behind the closed door before it finally opened. They were met with the surprised face of Tenzin.
"Hi Airhead!" Emi greeted cheerfully.
"Emi, Lin, what're you doing here?" He asked with shock clear in his voice as Emi and Lin walked into the room and he closed the door behind them. Bolin, Korra, Bumi, Jinora, and Mako were also in the room looking just as surprised.
"Who were you expecting? A squirrel-toad?" Emi asked with a smirk.
"Something similar," Bolin said as he cringed.
Before Emi could ask who he was referring to, Lin got right down to business.
"We need to get Korra out of here immediately," She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and addressed Tenzin. "Her life's in danger."
"What?" Korra asked in alarm. "What's going on?"
"We just got word from Lord Zuko and Tonraq," Lin continued, ignoring the Avatar.
"Why is Lord Zuko with my dad?" Korra asked, persisting with her questions just as Emi had the night before. Lin, stop ignoring her, Emi thought, I know you two don't get along very well, but at least try to be nice.
"Zaheer and the others have escaped," Lin still continued to tell Tenzin.
"How is that possible?" Tenzin asked.
"Because Zaheer is an Airbender now," Lin told him.
"No…" He whispered in a kind of fear that Emi hadn't seen on his face in a while. Not since Amon at least. This guy must be really bad. Ugh, Emi thought, here come more bruises to add to the collection.
"Alright, hold on!" Korra yelled to finally get their attention. "Will you quit ignoring me, and tell me what's going on? Who's Zaheer? Why is my life in danger?"
"Okay so basically Zaheer is the leader of this group called the Red Lotus that is made up of four people including him," Emi explained really quickly. "They tried to kidnap you when you were little, but were beaten up in the process and sent to jail. Zaheer has now broken out of jail because he used to be a non-bender, but is now an airbender and he is supposedly trying to kill you. But I found this out for the first time last night, so I think that these people can explain it a little better."
"Yes that is basically the summary," Tenzin said with a glare in the young metalbenders direction. Emi just smiled back since was proud that she had gotten Tenzin angry by stealing his thunder. "The more detailed summary is that your father, Lord Zuko, Chief Sokka, and I stopped them before they could succeed, and we locked them away in jail cells made to impair their abilities."
"So that's why you guys sheltered me away," Korra realized.
"It was for your own safety," Tenzin confirmed.
"Why were they trying to kidnap Korra?" Mako asked as he walked up to stand next to Lin.
"We spent 13 years interrogating them, but they never broke," Lin told him. "To this day no one knows what their motive was." Lin then turned her attention to Korra again, and stepped forward. "Now we need to get you back to Republic City where we can protect you."
"No, I'm not running," Korra said with glaring eyes and a whole lot of stubborness.
"Korra, you need to listen to us," Emi butted in. "These criminals are highly dangerous, and will kill you on sight."
"They are nothing like you have faced before," Lin said with fire.
"Look, I'm not a little kid anymore," Korra continued stubbornly. "You don't need to protect me. I came here for one thing, to find airbenders, and I'm not leaving without them."
"Fine," Lin grumbled. "Let's get them, and get out of here. Where are they?"
"In a military compound, and we're busting them out," Korra answered.