Disclaimer: I don't own atla or lok
There were a lot of things that Lin found annoying about her younger sister. There was her sarcasm, her ability to not take things seriously, and her exceptional skill of evading any kind of punishment. Yes, it seemed that between the two Bei Fong girls, the more mischievous side of Toph's personality had been inherited by Su while Lin was blessed with her mother's determination and loyalty. Of course, most of the traits of the chief of police could be seen within both her daughters, but there were some characteristics that were more dominate than others.
However, at the moment, Lin stared at the sight before her and the jealousy (may she ever admit it) was seething directly at her precious baby sister.
"Su, move your arms like this."
"Like this?"
"No, your arms are too stiff. Let them flow."
As the sixteen year old Tenzin grabbed Suyin's arms, fifteen year old Lin growled from her spot in the shade. The sisters were at Air Temple Island, like usual, on a strangely hot spring day. Toph was working, Aang was in Ba Sing Se, and Katara was volunteering her time along with Kya at the downtown hospital. There were only four children left on the island. Suyin was getting lessons from Tenzin on making her dancing more fluid. Lin was observing from the side with her arms and legs crossed. And Bumi…
Well, speaking of Bumi…
"Why the angry face, Bei Fong senior?"
Lin swatted the brown unruly hair out of her face. "Get out of here, idiot."
The twenty year old just plopped himself down next to his favorite Bei Fong. "No can do. I don't leave for the United Forces until October."
"Can time move any slower?"
"If you continue just sitting here, it would. Come on, Lin. Let's do something. You know that Bei Fong Junior and Baldy aren't going to be doing anything else all day."
Lin thought about her options. She was getting awfully bored and irked at just watching her sister and her best friend. As much as she wanted to just pull her sister away, she knew that any kind of action would leave her with no explanation for herself other than…things that she has been denying lately. Her best bet would be to do something with the avatar's oldest son. To her, Bumi wasn't so bad, as long as you knew how to tame him.
"Fine." She got up and dusted herself off. "Let's go to my house."
"Wahoo!"
The two eldest of their respective siblings walked towards the docks of the island. Tenzin and Su halted their lessons when they notice where they were headed.
"And where are you two going?" Su asked.
"Out." Lin answered back indifferently.
Tenzin wiped the sweat off of his forehead. His arrows, just months old, seemed to glisten with the droplets of sweat on them. "Mom is going to be mad if you aren't back by dinner."
Bumi just scoffed. "Pfffff. I'm twenty. What is Mom going to do? Ground me?"
His little brother just looked at him seriously. The future recruit nodded.
"I'll be home, little brother."
It was Suyin's turn to scold her sibling. "Mom said we are having dinner here too. I thought you had the academy later?"
The sound of her thirteen year old sister just irritated Lin even further. In addition to regular school, the eldest Bei Fong was starting to attend police force academy. In fact, all of Lin's focus seemed to be put on the academy, in hopes of impressing her mother. Toph had announced she was proud of Lin with whatever she accomplished. The answer was not good enough for Lin and only motivated her to try harder. "It's a non-student day. We'll be back by dinner."
And with that Bumi and Lin walked away from the other two.
"So does the academy really have a non-student day?"
Lin let her eyes look at Bumi for a second before answering. The avatar's first born had his hands holding the sheathed sword behind his head as they walked through the city to get to the Bei Fong estate. Sokka had taught him well. "No."
"What?" He put a hand to his chest. "Bei Fong Senior skipping out on school? I'm appalled."
She shoved him off the sidewalk right when a car was passing. Lin couldn't believe how high pitched he had squealed.
"I already know how to use metal cables. Going there for that lesson would be a complete waste of my time."
"I don't know if you noticed, but you almost caused my untimely death."
"I know. Almost isn't good enough."
Bumi just turned away from her. The two continued walking through the streets of Republic City. It wouldn't be another ten or fifteen minutes until they would reach the Bei Fong home. It didn't help when Bumi would try to flirt with every single woman that passed them.
"No you have a fantastic day, Miss."
Lin groaned when the woman was out of hearing distance. "Do you feel the need to do that every time we pass any member of the female species?"
"No necessarily." He was already staring at a business woman walking by. "I haven't hit on you."
Internally, Lin felt the blow hard in the stomach. If there was one thing that Toph had tried to press upon her daughters, it was not to care about appearances. The advice was harder to put into use when her children had two working eyes. Suyin and Lin admired their mother very much, but sometimes the chief of police couldn't help with these things. Both Lin and Suyin got advice from Kya and Katara about how they should dress and fix themselves on a daily basis. However, they couldn't help the fact that the Bei Fong girls were just late bloomers. Suyin was fine, being only thirteen, but Lin was going on sixteen and she still had the lanky body of her younger self. She was just starting to develop and finally look her age. Lin would never admit it to anyone, but she'd like to impress at least one boy (and one who she thought sported his arrow tattoos nicely).
She acted like the comment didn't faze her. "Thank the spirits."
Lin didn't expect his voice to come close to her ear. "You're under aged."
"Get away, you creep." Her voice had pure venom, but she was trying to fight off smile that was creeping onto her face. She appreciated the implication of any attraction towards her, even if she saw Bumi as a brother.
"I'm just messing with you, Bei Fong! You're like the little sister that I always wanted." Bumi let his arm drop to her shoulders.
Lin rolled her eyes. Surprisingly, she didn't shake off his arm. "You already have a little sister."
Bumi just smirked. "You weren't listening. I said that I always wanted."
"Kya is going to kill you."
"When hasn't she tried?"
The two had finally reached Lin's home after some more flirting and abuse. Lin walked over to the mail box at the front of her home and checked for any bills or complaints about property destruction that she had to inform her mother about. Bill. Bill. Complaint. Letter.
Lin's mind stopped at the sight of the handwritten envelope that she assumed enclosed a hand written letter. It was addressed specifically to Toph.
Toph Bei Fong – To Be Read in Private.
"What an absolute idiot."
Bumi had heard Lin mumble to herself. The young man had been looking out into the distance, waiting for Lin to invite him into the house. He approached quickly and looked over her shoulder. "What is it?"
Lin was giving the envelope the special annoyed face she only saved for when Suyin did something that hit every one of her nerves. "Some genius decided to write my Mom a letter."
"I don't see the problem."
She shot a look at him. It had caused Bumi to flinch. "My mother is blind."
The twenty year old just scratched his head. "Oh yeah."
"Idiot."
"Aunt Toph doesn't act like she is blind. That's why I and everyone else forgets."
Lin just pushed past him and walked towards the door. He followed obediently behind her. After metalbending the lock open, the two entered the Bei Fong abode. They passed by the kitchen where Lin dumped the bills and complaints on the dining table. However, she held onto the beige handwritten envelope and made her way into her room. Bumi jumped onto her bed while Lin sat on the edge.
"Well?"
The eldest Bei Fong shot her friend a look. "What?"
"Aren't you gonna open it?" He gave her a questioning expression. "You obviously brought it in here for a reason."
She put her eyes back on the envelope. The letter was addressed to her mother. Then again, it's not like she wouldn't have found out about it sooner or later. "She is probably going to make me read it."
"There you go. Pop that sucker open and read it out loud."
Lin pinched the hand closest to her. Bumi jumped about two feet off the bed in surprise. "It says To Be Read in Private, Scruffy."
He rubbed his hand gently while holding it close to his chest. "You know, some people like my scruffiness. And come on. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone."
She scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm going to read it to myself first. Then I'll see if you are worthy."
The fifteen year old tore the top of the envelope open and carefully pulled the white stationary out. Lin unfolded it carefully to find a small paragraph written in pencil. Using her observation skills, the eraser marks in the back indicated to her that whoever had sent the message was having second thoughts about what to say. The information in here was obviously important.
Bumi stayed silent as his friend's eyes danced over the words in the letter. He had been staring at Lin's eyes moving back and forth. He was surprised to see them widen. This was something big. When she finished, Lin let her hands holding the letter fall to her lap. Her thoughts were all over the place as she looked into the air for an answer. A minute later, she picked up the stationary and began reading again.
"What is it?" He sat up on the bed and put his hands on his knees.
When she didn't answer, Bumi took a chance to look over her shoulder and was lucky when she didn't shove him away. His gray eyes followed the words on the paper.
Toph,
I'm going to be in the city for a couple of days. My refinery is dropping off some minerals and coal for the factories. I was hoping that we could catch up and have some tea. It's been sixteen years since we were last together and I still want to be friends. I also would love to meet your daughters. I'll be in Republic City on the 20th. I'll stop by the police station that evening.
Satoru
Bumi cocked his head to the side. "Who is Satoru?"
Lin shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea. But why does he want to meet up with my Mom?"
The two sat in silence for about two minutes. Within that time, they had passed the letter back and forth trying to solve the mystery of Toph's male "friend". It shocked Lin when Bumi had finally come up with an answer.
"Well duh!" He hit his forehead with his palm. "This guy is either your dad or Su's dad!"
She practically fell off her bed. "W-What?"
"Can't you read? It's been sixteen years since we were last together and I still want to be friends? He wants to meet you and Su? It makes perfect sense!"
Lin shook her head violently. "No, no, no, no, no. That can't be it. This must just be one of Mom's original metalbending students or something."
Bumi clapped a hand on her back. "Stop denying it, Bei Fong. This guy is totally one of your Mom's baby daddies."
He was looking at her with the same eyes that Aang used when he was filled with curiosity. At this very moment, she could see that there was no doubt that he was the son of the avatar. Lin refused to fall for it though. "Bumi, you aren't being funny."
"I wasn't trying to be."
As much as Bumi loved to tease her, he was well aware of the touchy subject of Toph's past lovers. He was five at the time of Lin's birth and was starting to develop a memory. He had remembered seeing only two other men (other than his father, Uncle Sokka, and Uncle Zuko) who associated with his Aunt Toph. The names evaded him now, but he was sure that when he got a glimpse of their faces, something would rush forward from the confines of his mind. Bumi just wasn't sure if Lin wanted to know if this man was one of those two men. Worst of all, she may not have wanted to know if this man was her father of all people.
Throughout his entire thought process, Lin was staring at the letter attentively. The eldest son of Avatar Aang was getting a bad feeling. He instantly regretted even suggesting the identity of the mysterious Satoru.
"Bumi…"
"No."
Lin scowled. "You don't even know what I was going to ask!"
"I do know what you are going to ask and I refuse to accompany you."
"Come on." She turned her whole body to face the future recruit who had his arms crossed. Bumi and closed his eyes and turned his head away from the eldest Bei Fong. "I don't actually want to meet the guy. I just want to see what he looks like."
"Sure."
"Bumi, I'm sure you are just as curious as I am. Don't you want to prove yourself right?"
He shook his head. "Not this time, Lin. Look, I can see where this was going and trust me, I regret even putting my theory out there now. If this guy ends up being…who we think he is, I don't think it may be a good idea if you two met up."
Lin's mind completely ignored the concern that had plastered itself on Bumi's face. "I don't need you looking out for me. If you are going to be this difficult, I'll just go by myself."
"Alright!" He quickly responded. There was no way he was letting Lin go through this sure to be wild ride by herself. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, but Bumi was determined to not let Lin get hurt by pursuing the mystery man. If there was no way he could stop him, he might as well supervise. "I'll come with. But! Like you said, we are not speaking a word to this guy. I'm sure we won't even get to see his face because your Mom would have caught us by then."
She smiled genuinely at her friend. "Thanks."
"Now, go get a new envelope for that thing. You don't want to make it seem like you opened it already."
The girl rolled her eyes. "I knew that."
Their breathing stopped when they heard someone yelling from the front of the house.
"Lin! Grab these groceries will ya! My arms are dying. And where is your sister?"
Bumi and Lin looked at each other. "Shit!"
And there we go. I have a feeling that Bumi and Lin have a good relationship considering they were both the oldest. So who better than to come along? I hope you enjoyed reading! Review are like that song you know every lyric to. You never get tired of singing/reading it over and over again. Thanks guys!
