The first date was set for the following afternoon. Tenzin had expected Ahnah to be smug and triumphant when he asked her to be first. Instead, she surprised him by accepting with grace. Everything from her words to her posture suggested the greatest humility.
When the time arrived, Tenzin reluctantly knocked on her bedroom door. It quickly slid open to reveal the Water Tribe girl. She hadn't exactly dressed up for the occasion—it was just a casual picnic after all—but she had styled her hair differently and was wearing a scent that seemed to fit in perfectly. Anyway, she looked very nice. Tenzin offered her his arm and led her down the hall. Other girls peeked through their doors as the pair passed. There was a lot of giggling left in their wake.
It was a relief to be outside and away from the frivolous girls. The picnic site wasn't very far away. Just a short walk through a copse of trees. The pair rounded one last corner, and the picnic blanket and meal came into view. As did Lin Bei Fong.
Ahnah stiffened at the sight of the woman, but said nothing except, "Ms. Bei Fong."
Lin had come directly from police headquarters. She cut quite an intimidating figure in her uniform. She gave the girl an appraising stare and only nodded in greeting.
Tenzin eyed the two women a moment before clapping his hands together. "Excellent. Shall we get started then?"
They sat down and once all the food was passed around, Tenzin decided to begin the interrogation—er—conversation. "Why did you volunteer for this assignment, Ahnah?" he asked with a friendly smile.
Ahnah blinked before answering. "A White Lotus member at the North Pole approached me a couple weeks ago and asked if I would like to accept the honor. I thought such an opportunity to be the best way to honor my tribe and let me make a difference in the world." As full of herself as the girl had paraded before, she seemed very meek now by comparison. Her smile appeared genuine and her tone was perfectly polite. She was everything a girl should be when being courted.
Lin and Tenzin exchanged glances before Lin asked, "What did you do before you were offered this…opportunity?" She could tell that Ahnah was annoyed at being questioned by her, though the girl hid it very well.
"I was actually training to be a healer. I'm not a waterbender of course, but there are plenty of things that can be done without bending. I know things from headache remedies to how to set a broken bone." She appeared to be very proud of this.
Tenzin nodded his head slowly in acknowledgement of her skills. "That's very interesting," he remarked. "I think you and my mother would get along swimmingly. She would probably love to help you continue your training while you're here."
"That would be lovely," she said, seemingly charm personified. "Now I'd like to ask you a question."
Lin mostly stayed out of the conversation. Occasionally, she'd squeeze in a question or modify one of Tenzin's answers. Ahnah might have been a conniving chit, but she certainly was a great conversationalist. She had a clever head on her shoulders, albeit a jealous one. Realizing this made Lin dread future outings. With how vain most the other girls were, the dates would be spent listening to a hussy giggle and watching her bat her eyes until they practically fell out.
Due to their inanity, however, Lin could write most the other girls out of her mind entirely. Tenzin would never consider them in a million years. No. It was Ahnah and her silver tongue that worried Lin. And then there was Pema. What did Tenzin think of her?
Tenzin scheduled the rest of the dates on consecutive days in the interest of fairness. That made it pretty easy for Lin to miss dates. Her job served as an excellent excuse. The few she did attend left her wanting to bash her brains out.
One date that Lin missed was the one with Kimi. She was easily the most beautiful of the girls. She was also the most quiet. Tenzin noted that she would stand and listen to the other girls blather and gossip, but she never joined in. Occasionally she would smile at what they said, though, and that's what caught Tenzin's attention. Hers was a gorgeous smile. Rosy lips and cherry blossom cheeks that dimpled ever so slightly. Always genuine too.
Tenzin led her through the trees by the hand instead of the arm as he had with the others. When they arrived at the picnic site, Kimi seemed astonished by the lack of Lin.
"Oh!" she said, her voice like a songbird's. "The others said Ms. Bei Fong would be here." Her dark eyes darted about as if Lin would emerge from the greenery at any moment.
"Not today. Lin couldn't leave work soon enough," Tenzin explained. "I'm sure you don't mind."
"Of course not," she agreed, blushing.
After they had eaten a bit of their meal, Tenzin asked the same question he'd asked the four girls before Kimi. "Why did you volunteer for this assignment, Kimi?"
Kimi blushed and averted her eyes. Tenzin knew without a doubt that Kimi was acting that way because she was truly shy and not because she was flirting as the other girls had. There wasn't a single coquettish bone in her body. Tenzin liked that.
"My father insisted, really. He had always hoped to marry me off to someone…um…important," she answered. She absently twisted her hair around a finger and prodded anxiously at her plate.
"Do you want to be here?" Tenzin asked apprehensively.
Kimi met his gaze and nodded vigorously. "Very much. I admire you greatly, and I find the island very inviting. Airbending culture is fascinating."
Tenzin subconsciously flicked his gaze to wear Lin sat on previous dates. He felt foolish when he realized what he was doing and cleared his throat. "What did you do before you were offered this opportunity?"
"I helped my mother in her duties. When I had spare time, I'd like to…um…I'd like to sing," she replied, the last of her words spoken very softly.
"Really?" Tenzin asked, eyes widening. "Would you mind singing now? I've always loved music."
With more blushes, Kimi obliged. The tune she sang was a Fire Nation lullaby. Her voice was clear and sweet. When she finished, she looked at her feet and mumbled, "It sounds much better when I accompany it with a harp."
Tenzin clapped. "I doubt anything can sound lovelier than that. I'd love to hear you sing more. Any time. I'll also arrange for you to have a harp in your room."
"Thank you very much," Kimi said. The smile his words brought to her face was dazzling. "I'd be honored to sing for you."
As their date continued, Tenzin felt more and more at ease. These girls weren't as terrible as he had once thought. At least, Kimi wasn't.
Pema's was the last date. The reason for this was that Tenzin had ordered the dates by asking the first girl he saw for the next available slot. Tenzin hardly ever saw Pema except at meal times. In a way, it was refreshing to have a girl that didn't fawn over him at every opportunity or watch his every move like a hawk. However, it bothered Tenzin that she seemed to have absolutely no interest in him. Why was she even there?
He was glad Lin was going to be at this outing. He imagined, with a shudder, himself and Pema eating in absolute silence because the girl kept ignoring his questions. Of course he was being silly. She was perfectly civil…just odd.
Lin was also glad that she could make the date. She'd allowed Pema to talk at—not with, at—her several times during the preceding week. Lin didn't respond much, but she internalized all the girl said. She still wouldn't say she liked the young woman, but Pema was by far her favorite.
When Pema and Tenzin approached the picnic blanket, Pema was wearing a smile that didn't reach her uneasy eyes. Though, she did appear to be relieved to see Lin waiting for them. Lin could sense that her heart racing wildly. What could that possibly mean? The girl perplexed her.
Tenzin began just as he had with everyone else. "Why did you volunteer for this assignment, Pema?"
The reply seemed oddly rehearsed. "I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life, so when a White Lotus member approached me about all this, I saw no reason not to go for it."
Lin leaned forward when she delivered her line. "What did you do before you were offered this opportunity?"
"Um. Mostly I helped my father at his tea shop. I was in charge of baking pastries and rolls." Pema looked at Lin instead of Tenzin when she answered. This time her reply seemed perfectly natural.
"Is that so? Do you consider yourself a good cook?" Tenzin asked.
Before Pema could answer, Katara entered the clearing. She was obviously surprised to see Lin there, but made no comment. "Tenzin, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but there's a phone call for you. They say it's urgent," she explained.
Tenzin rose quickly and hurried back to the house.
"Sorry Pema dear," Katara said before following her son. "He'll be back soon, I'm sure."
Lin placed a hand on the ground so she could tell when Katara was out of earshot. "Okay, Pema," she said seriously, eyeing the girl closely. "I know you're lying about why you volunteered. I insist you explain yourself."
Pema's cheeks reddened, and she looked at the ground. "I'll only tell you if you promise you won't tell Tenzin. I don't want him to know."
"Why did you think I waited until he left?" Lin pointed out.
Pema gave a half smile. "I know you're going to think this is silly."
Lin raised an eyebrow.
"Okay. I'm sure you know Tenzin visited all the Air Temples with Avatar Aang."
Lin nodded. The trip had only been a month or so, but to the young lovers that they were back then, it seemed much longer. "I'm surprised you know that. You can't have been more than six."
"That's right. I was barely six. Um… Well, I guess to make a long story short, I was playing where I shouldn't have been. I fell. Tenzin was there just in time to catch me."
Both eyebrows were raised now. "So you've met Tenzin before?"
"It hardly counted as a meeting. He delivered me safely into my mother's grateful arms and was on his way. I fear I've quite romanticized the moment in my head. I guess you could say I had a crush on him from that moment on. I never told anyone about my silly infatuation, but I always dreamed I'd go to Republic City one day and see him again." Pema offered a self-deprecating smile. "You can imagine my delight when the White Lotus told me I was eligible to marry him." Her smile disappeared. "As soon as I was shown a current picture of him, I realized my little crush had grown. But then we were told about you. And I met you. And Tenzin basically told us that he'll love you forever." She looked at her hands in her lap. "My heart broke. Partially for me. Partially for you. And partially for Tenzin."
Lin's nose tingled, and she blinked rapidly to stop tears from forming.
"I know I don't have any right to say this, but I love him," Pema continued, choking somewhat on her words. "I don't want to see him unhappy, and he can't be happy with anyone but you. He can't have you, and no one could ever take your place. Especially not me. I feel so guilty trying to talk to him. Spirits, I feel guilty even looking at him."
Lin reached a hand to rest on Pema's shoulder. "Oh honey," she whispered. She didn't know what else to say. What could she say? She decided immediately that the two of them would be friends. Because they needed to be friends. Because they wanted the same thing.