There was an explosion, a fire, and several screams. Lin leapt out of her bed and ran into the smoke filled hall. She used her seismic sense to locate all of the children and ran deeper into the smoke to grab them before they asphyxiated or burned. She snatched up Rohan first then Ikki and jumped out of the window while Jinora flew out on her own with her glider to the courtyard.
"What happened?" Tenzin demanded appearing with Meelo and a bunch of other air acolytes.
"I don't know, but I am going to find out!" Lin replied thrusting Rohan into his arms before running back into the smoke filled building. She raised a wall of earth the size of the fire and kicked it down the straight hallway, smothering out the fire against the opposite wall then used her seismic sense to try to find any tunnels beneath the dormitories or anyone trying to flee the scene. There was a new tunnel, no doubt, but she couldn't sense anyone running through it. Lin sunk herself into the ground and into the tunnel and ran down it as far as it would go. Dead end. Whomever tried to sneak into their house must have been an earthbender and must still be close, unless whatever exploded had a timer...
After a few more seconds contemplating the possibilities there in the darkness, she launched herself through the earth and resurfaced to find the waterbending members of the white lotus dampening the rest of the smoke, and putting out the remaining small fires.
"Lin!" Ikki's cries of terror cut through the night as she raced towards Lin with assistance from her airbending. "Please please please don't leave us again! Please!" Ikki begged with tears streaming down her face as she clutched Lin's dirt-covered pyjamas.
"When did I leave you? I've been close the whole time," Lin replied returning the hug in an effort to comfort the distraught child.
"Just now! You ran into a burning building to try to go after whoever it was! They could have hurt you! Please, Can't you just stay with us? We are stronger together! We can protect each other! Please?!" Ikki cried hiccupping between words. She looked truly terrified. Lin glanced sideways at Jinora and Meelo who seemed to agree with their sister, then she turned to Tenzin who reached out to rest an arm on her shoulder.
"You worried us all when you ran back towards the fire. Did you at least find anything?"
"No. Just a new escape tunnel that wasn't planned to be dug for anybody." Lin replied accepting a hug from him as well. "Someone wanted to get to the children, clearly."
The boys all had to double and triple up in their rooms to make room for the girls to occupy have the rooms in the boy's dormitories while the girls' ones were being repaired. Air Temple Mountain didn't seem as safe anymore. It resembled the original AirTemples greatly, but was still just stone structures on a mountain of earth. Any earth bender could carve their way up to it and apparently they had new enemies. Lin settled in a room with Jinora, Ikki, Opal, and Rohan, but couldn't fall aslee. She didn't want to leave for work in the city the next morning and she didn't trust the useless White Lotus members anymore. As Chief of Police, she had command of the entire police force, but didn't want to exploit that authority for selfish reasons like protecting her loved ones. She was still heir to the Beifong estate, she could hire guards. But they have no loyalty. Anyone could come by and offer a higher price and they would gladly step aside.
"I am not letting you pay for guards, Lin!" Suyin yelled after Lin called her for advice on security for her family. "You're family, Lin and if you need them, take them. Their oath of loyalty is to our family name. I can send an airship with two dozen of them by this evening. They work in shifts and can feed themselves..."
"I appreciate your offer, but I should probably speak to Tenzin first-"
"Nonsense, Lin! The Zaofu guards are the best in the entire Earth Kingdom. All of them are trained in seismic sense and truth-seeing. They could probably give your police force a run for their money, if I don't say so myself,"
"Yeah, I'm sure," Lin groaned. "Look, I didn't ask for a security force, I just wanted ways to keep my- Tenzin's children safe while we're both at work."
"I understand completely! In which case, I'll send three dozen!"
"Su!"
"I'll speak to you later, Baatar is calling me! Cheers, Lin!"
Lin growled as she heard her sister hang up the phone.
"What did she say?" Tenzin asked curiously as he followed Lin to the gondola the next morning.
"Apparently she's sending THREE dozen Zaofu guards here to look over the mountain,"
"Don't you think all this is sending the wrong message? I mean, three dozen guards from ZAOFU?"
"That's what I thought at first, but as time passed I realized it is necessary to keep your children safe. Earthbenders are the only other ones who can get up here and hurt the children and the Zaofu Guards are trained in seismic sense..."
"But we're airbenders. We're supposed to be a peaceful-"
"Look, Tenzin! Think of it this way. The guards from Zaofu are not here to protect you, persay. They are here to protect me and my SANITY. I cannot rest or focus on anything at work unless I know you and your children are safe."
"Lin!"
"I have an idea! Once they arrive, try them. If you decide you don't like them, try to make them leave! I dare you! Apparently they have orders to only answer to me!" Lin said jumping onto the gondola and metal bending the door jammed shut so Tenzin couldn't walk on after her.
"Lin!" He yelled following. With a subtle raise of a hand, she bent a stone wall between him and the gondola, stopping him dead in his tracks.
That evening, Lin returned from work with a cart filled with sheets of metal.
"What is all this?" Tenzin asked indicating the delivery.
"Supplies. Jinora agreed to help me design new armor for the police force. Now I know you don't like her getting involved with anything that isn't explicitly direct humanitarian work, but I assure you, she will only be judging the aesthetics. I will be deciding everything involving the weaponry," Lin said firmly, walking past him without another word.
"Ready kid?" She asked passing a courtyard where Jinora and Opal were practicing a form.
"Can I come too?" Opal asked.
"Of course!" Lin said with a smile.
Tenzin sighed in frustration and boarded the gondola to ride into the city. Somehow, he found himself on the front steps to the Sato Mansion in the upper ring of the city.
"Tenzin?" Bolin exclaimed, shocked to see the airbending master looking so glum on the steps.
"Can I come in?" Tenzin asked.
"Sure, what's up? Everyone is taking dinner by the pool in the back yard!" Bolin said enthusiastically.
"It's Lin, she's just- so stubborn!"
"Are you just finding that out now, because it's kiiiiind of obvious," Bolin whispered.
"I just thought... things would be different this time around. I mean, Su always talks about how people change and I just thought ... Oh never mind! I don't know why I came here! I'll just go-" Tenzin said turning around and hurrying towards the door.
"No! Staaay! Maybe Mako can help! He's better at giving advice than me and he's been with loads of ladies! Now, I don't know much about your private life, and no offense but from what I've heard, you only ever dated one girl in your life and that's Beifong,"
"What do you call Pema?"
"Well based on what your brother told us, you kind of just married her and started having kids; there was never really any dating."
"Krimeney! I'll have to have a word with him." Tenzin grumbled.
"Come on, MAAAAKOOOOOOOO! Tenzin needs your help!" Bolin yelled throwing an arm around the old man.
"What happened?" Korra and Asami asked appearing first.
"NOPE NOPE! I only need Mako! We have to duscuss very private and sensitive MAN stuff!" Bolin said shooing them away.
"Is it about Beifong?" Korra asked smirking.
"It's not- hmph!" Tenzin fumed, his head turning various shades of crimson with his rage and humiliation as Korra and Asami walked away laughing.
"Okay, so the daggers in the sleeves stay, there will be two sets of cables. I am keeping the ones I have threaded through the sleeves, and I am replacing the ones on the hips, but instead of having the spools on the back just open, I am thinking of covering it with metal plates like this," Lin said bending a sheet of metal into thin uniform slices, stacking them, and slapping them onto the backpiece of the prototype standing up on the table, covering the spools of cable.
"It looks like Kuvira's armor kind of," Jinora commented.
"But with a LOT more metal," Opal commented.
"It gives more wearer more options though. Previously, Lin only had the cables and daggers. Now she can fling these things at anybody and be protected from a fall of blow to the back while preserving the integrity of the spools there," Jinora said.
"My thoughts exactly. Now for the sleeves. The average metal bender has an accuracy score of 40%," Lin began to say.
"Wow! That's actually really low," Opal muttered making a face.
"So, if you equip one with at least a hundred strips of metal, one should be able to make at least forty hits. Now the real question, is should they go here, or here?" Lin asked lifting six stacks of metal strips onto to the upper arm and then moving it to the lower arm.
"What do you think of an asymmetrical look? You could do one high and one low," Opal suggested.
"I hate asymmetrical looks." Lin replied instantly.
"You could put one complete set on the upper arms and lower arms," Opal thought aloud.
"Wouldn't that be too heavy, though? A metalbender must allocate some of their bending just to maintaining the armor so that it will move with them as they move. That leaves less bending capacity available to focus on the fight in front of them," Jinora mused.
"Good point. So we're back down to one set on each arm. Upper or lower?" Lin asked.
"Lower, because there's already a lot of metal up top with the new shoulder pads and collar." Jinora decided definitively.
"Full bands or triangular?" Lin asked slicing off two corners of each stack of metal strips by curling her fourth finger ever so slightly.
"Full bands! It gives you more material to work with!" Opal declared. Lin straightened her fourth finger again and the cut off metal returned to the stacks, fusing back together into rectangular strips.
"If the bands are long enough, you can bend them into fitted rings. Then you don't have to waste your bending to keep them stuck together. They'll just sit there," Jinora added.
Lin elongated the strips and bent them onto the lower part of the new gauntlets.
"Okay and the collar?"
"Eh, I don't think it is necessary. It's just a thing my mom liked to do that several women in Zaofu copied," Opal said waving her hand like all the other women in her family did.
"Fair enough," Lin said scrapping pre-cut strips of metal.
"Legs, shins?"
"Definitely."
"Lastly, I want to line the armor with a non-conductive fabric. After the equalist movement, non-benders everywhere have been buying those electric gloves declaring it a weapon of self defense. They say it is no different than a spear or sword. It's bullshit in my opinion. You don't need training for a glove. Either way, a fabric lining would provide insulation against the electricity," Lin said unfolding a large piece of black fabric, laying it out over several desks.
"Wouldn't you overheat?" Opal asked.
"With most fabrics yes, but I have had this one in development for a few years. It is specially designed to wick moisture away from the body and allow air to flow through more easily," Lin replied.
"Woah!" Jinora gasped as Lin used metalbending to manipulate the scissors, cutting out the pattern of the dress. She had to thread the needle herself, but then could use metalbending to guide it along the seam, making uniform stitches with little effort in no time.
"I wish I was a metalbender," Jinora sighed longingly. Lin frowned at her. "Sometimes," she added.
Lin tilted her head in suspicion. "Okay, I guess I'll take that."
"Aunt Lin, did you ever wish you could bend a different element?" Jinora asked as Lin bit the thread and tore the needle off before tying a knot.
"Every day growing up," Lin replied absentmindedly placing the needle back into the pin cushion, lifting the black and green dress up to against her body.
"Which element did you want to bend?" Jinora asked.
"Air," she replied without hesitation.
"Why?"
"So I could..." spend every day training with Tenzin. She began but stopped when she felt the familiar footsteps of her best friend approaching the classroom.
"Hey, ladies. How is the new uniform coming along?" Tenzin asked appearing in the doorway of the classroom where Opal and Jinora were kneeling on the tables watching Lin craft the new armor and uniform.
"It's getting there," Opal replied enthusiastically.
"May I see it?" Tenzin asked.
It was a reasonable request but Lin still huffed and tuned her back to him. Opal spun the armor around on the desk so Tenzin could see it from every angle.
"It looks great!" Tenzin said with a smile.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Jinora asked.
"Maybe something emerald or green to represent your Earth Kingdom heritage." Tenzin said to Lin more than anybody. He walked over to put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed. "Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. There really is no harm in letting them help you. I was overreacting and I see that now. I guess I was-"
"Can we talk about this later?" Lin growled, cutting him off.
Tenzin sighed in defeat. "Yes, I suppose...Will you guys be in in time for evening tea?"
"Yeah, we're almost done," Lin replied bending off the new uniform and replacing all the excess and metal scrap back into the box in which it all came.
"We'll I'll see you all inside soon," Tenzin said taking his leave.
"Are you made at my dad?" Jinora asked with genuine concern.
"No more than I usually am,"
"Do you guys not like each other?"
Lin took a deep breath with her hands on the black fabric that she just placed inside the box on top of the scrap metal. "We're just, very different from each other. Most of the time it is a good thing, we balance each other out, but sometimes we disagree. It is normal."
"He always disagreed with my mom too, but it always ended very differently than his disagreements with you,"
"How so?"
"She always ended up crying."
"I'm sorry, kid. It must have been hard."
"I am really glad you're here now!" Jinora said leaping over the desks with a gust of wind, trusting Lin to catch her.
"I'm really glad you're here too, kid. I am!" Lin replied returning the embrace.
"So can we see you in the new armor?" Opal asked trying to diffuse the tension.
"Sure," Lin placed Jinora back on the desk and bent the legs and knee pads first over her socks, shin bindings and black pants. Then she threw the simple black slip over her head and turned her back to the armor. She threw her arms forward bending the back plate onto her body as the chest plate flew over her head. Then she pulled the gauntlets up her arms and threaded the cables through her sleeves.
"It looks so nice!" Opal exclaimed. "Can we go show everybody on the island?" Opal asked.
"Woah there, I don't know yet."
"Well if it is going to be adopted by the police force, the whole city will see it eventually. Maybe you could even try it out and spar with some of the Zaofu guards and White Lotus sentries!" Opal suggested.
"Fine! Okay," Lin smiled and watched as the two girls ran off to find the captain of the guards and ask for their greatest fighters to spar with the Chief of Police. They ended up missing evening tea, opting instead to watch Lin terrorize the young guards in the sparring arena with her new armor. It wasn't until the sun had already set and moon began to rise that Lin became tired enough to sit and rest.
"Never stop learning, even after you become a master of your element," she said to the two girls as she took a few gulps of water before splashing it on her face.
"A word, Lin," Tenzin called appearing in the door of the room that Jinora, Ikki, Rohan, Lin and Opal were all sharing since the girls' dormitory burned. She glanced at him and followed, still wearing the new uniform.
"I was just wondering if you could.. If we..."
"Spit it out already!"
"If we could perhaps... discuss with each other our options before making such big decisions like the children's ctraining.."
"We did talk about that and agreed they'd spend five days with you and one with me.."
"I mean with the guard and everyone else just sort of coming. I was hoping to ask that we have more, open channels of communication and—"
"Look, I have no problem telling you what's on my mind, but you need to speak up too, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to a sputtering wall that can fly,"
Tenzin sighed. She was right. He always got flustered when he spoke with her. It was like they were children again. He liked her too much and just wanted to please her. But she was so confident and headstrong and he was taught to just go with the wind and avoid conflict while she was taught to face everything head on.
"It will take time, but I'm sure we'll manage. We always have in the past," she said placing a reassuring arm on his shoulder.
They walked back to the girls room. Lin bent her armor off into the corner of the room in a messy heap of metal then pulled the black slip over her head. She could sense Tenzin still in the doorway watching as she removed her tank top and pants.
"Don't you have paperwork to review?" She asked pausing.
"Sorry," He said hurrying off. She shook her head and proceeded to remove her pants and bindings and change into her sleep clothes.
"How did you get all of your scars?" Ikki asked pointing at her back as she pulled on her night shirt. Lin turned and looked in the mirror. She was pretty torn up back there.
"Most of the burns I got when I was imprisoned by the Agni Kai Triad," Lin sighed.
"What?"
"How?"
"When?"
"I was fifteen years old and had snuck out of the academy like so many times before and they snatched me up. They were trying to get to my mom. They wanted revenge since she locked up pretty much all of their leaders and half of their best men. They were pretty rough but it wasn't anything Katara couldn't heal."
"And what about the straight line scars?"
"Most of those I got from my mom when we began training with the cables so I could join the police force. Then the rest from various altercations with other gangs."
"Woah,"
"But it's doesn't matter. Nobody ever sees it anyways,"
"What about the one on your face?"
"That one is complicated." Lin said covering it with her hand for a moment.
The next day Lin went to the police station in her old uniform and brought the new one to present to the council and the next highest rank at the Police Force. It was approved unanimously when she showed them the new features and explained how they would help in the field. Just in case, she had every officer go through forty hours of training in it before allowing them to wear it into the field.
Within ten days of the new armor being introduced to the field, the number of police injuries decreased and the number of successful arrests of triad members increased ten fold. With most of the notorious leaders, and most accomplished murderers imprisoned in platinum, ice, or wooden cells, Triad Activity nearly ceased.
In month following, the Republic City Police only made four arrests, three for robberies and one drunken assault.
Maybe... just maybe... they could all rest in a new era of peace.
Okay, this story definitely grew outside what it was supposed to be. I think I may have to change the name, because soon it will get kind of heavy with a new enemy. It is no longer about just Lin becoming motherly to the children and them growing increasingly attached to her and she arguing with Tenzin over what is best for them. I came up with a new enemy/group to explore. Maybe I will change the name or maybe I will publish it as a separate story entirely... Idk yet. Stay tuned! Don't forget to follow/favorite/review:)))