Chapter 51
Lin's goal was to get the kids on their way to Zaofu as fast as humanly possible, but she was very quickly reminded of how absolutely impossibly children were.
Tenzin had to go into the city for an urgent council meeting to discuss the disaster of Tarrlok and Amon's rising power, but getting Sora to unlatch herself from around his legs was proving to be difficult. Yunjin was no help, too busy standing to the side with folded arms and pursed lips as he sulked silently. And Jeia had her legs locked around Lin's waist and her arms so tight around her mother's neck that Lin was struggling just to breathe. She could let go of the toddler and hold her arms out at her sides completely and Jeia would not even budge. Lin began to consider that perhaps telling the kids last minute that they would be leaving soon hadn't exactly been the best idea. Only minutes ago at lunch, Sora had been convincing Yunjin not to argue, that leaving was their best option, but something about the finality of it all had set her off.
"No go," Jeia was repeating in a fierce mutter, jerking away with a screech anytime Su came near her.
Sora was weeping into Tenzin's cloak and pitifully whimpering, "We're supposed to be a family. We're supposed to stick together. Bad stuff always happens when we split up."
"It won't be for long," Tenzin soothed. "And you'll be with family. Think of how much fun you'll have with your cousins, and I bet Uncle Bataar has some new inventions to show you –"
"I can't have fun without you!" Sora wailed, and Lin grimaced at the shrill tone. She thought Sora was getting a little old to be throwing such a fit, but she figured it had more to do with the girl being scared.
"Of course you can!" Tenzin cajoled. "And when your mother and Ronen and I come join you, we'll all have fun together. I promise, sweetheart. Everything is going to be just fine."
"You're lying," Sora mumbled miserably.
Tenzin sighed and looked helplessly over at Lin, who had decided that enough was enough. She knew the kids were mad or scared or upset, but clinging to their parents wasn't going to help anything. They had to learn to let go and do what they were told, to do the hard thing even if they didn't want to. Their very lives might well depend on it.
Lin strode the few steps over to Tenzin and Sora, Jeia still holding on just as tight, and gently but firmly squeezed Sora's shoulder. "Come on, kid," she said, in a no nonsense tone that only worked on her kids half of the time. "That's enough. I know you're worried, but your father and I have done this before. We're gonna be fine, and so are you, if you quit this blubbering and go to Zaofu with your Aunt. It's time to toughen up." She turned her gaze onto Yunjin to add, "And if you want to be treated more like your older brother, then you need to earn it. That doesn't just mean learning how to fight. It means following orders and accepting that you can't always be in the thick of it. There are other jobs that are just as important, and right now yours is protecting your sisters and yourself in Zaofu. Are you gonna straighten up and do it, or give up just because you're pissed at us?"
Yunjin scowled at his mother for several seconds, but she could see her words sinking in as his face slowly began to relax, and his slumped form straightened just a tad. He was trying not to be too obvious, to not let her know so quickly that she had won, but the spark in his eye was more like determination now than anger, and she knew that she had gotten through to him.
Sora, on the other hand, only continued to sob, and Tenzin was giving Lin that look he always gave her when he thought she was being too harsh. Lin could only shrug.
"How about this," Su interjected after a beat, looking at all three kids, but moving over to place a hand on Sora's back, "instead of leaving right now, we'll leave when your dad gets back from his meeting. Your mom can help you pack up some of your things in the meantime, and then when your dad gets back we can all have one last dinner together as a family before we have to go."
Yunjin shrugged in offhand acceptance of the suggestion, and Jeia loosened her grip around Lin's throat just a little to peer over at her father.
Sora's whimpers slowly petered out into occasional sniffles, though she kept her face buried in her father's robes for several long minutes, drawing the moment out like the drama queen that she was. Until finally, she turned her head slightly and mumbled so quietly that they all leaned in to hear her better, "I guess that's okay."
Lin sagged with relief, and held out her hand to Sora so that the girl would finally detach herself from her father.
But Yunjin intervened before Sora could make up her mind, offering his own hand to his twin sister as he said, "Come on, Sora. I need you to help me find my glider."
Sora squeezed Tenzin tight one last time and said, "Be careful, Daddy," before lacing her finger's through Yunjin's and letting him lead her away. As they passed by, Yunjin locked gazes with his mother and nodded firmly.
Well, at least I can still get through to one kid, she thought.
Tenzin watched the twins walk away, some sorrow of his own on his face. He was just as upset about them leaving as Sora was, but he knew the importance of getting them somewhere safe. He would not jeopardize them for the sake of his own emotions.
Lin moved the hand that she had offered to Sora and held it out to Tenzin instead. He accepted it, and they shared a brief moment of solemnity, hands squeezing tight, and then, a second later, they disengaged and the moment was over.
Tenzin straightened his spine and cleared his throat, and then told Lin, "I'll be back as soon as I can."
Lin frowned as a thought occurred to her. "You shouldn't be going alone," she said.
"The children need you here," Tenzin pointed out.
"I'll go with him," Su volunteered.
Tenzin seemed to find that agreeable, but Lin felt her stomach curl at the thought. She opened her mouth to argue, but snapped it closed immediately after. It was a fight she wouldn't win, and she didn't want to alienate her sister when Su was doing so much for her.
Instead, Lin decided to trust that the two of them together would be a formidable force, that they would watch each others backs. She reached out to squeeze Su's shoulder and sincerely said, "Thank you, Su."
Su smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I probably won't get to do anything fun. I'll just be sitting in City Hall, bored out of my mind, listening to politicians bicker."
"I hope so," Lin said seriously, not finding it within her to laugh at the moment.
"Relax," Su implored. "We'll be back in no time. Go be with your kids."
"Be careful," Lin urged, "both of you."
"We will be," Tenzin promised, leaning in to give her a short kiss on the mouth. Then he kissed Jeia's cheek and added, "Be good for Mama, I'll be back soon. I love you both."
"Love you, Dada," Jeia murmured, laying her head down on Lin's shoulder.
Tenzin was already backing away, blowing kisses at Jeia as he went, and the toddler reached her hand up to 'catch' them and bring them down to cradle over her heart. It was all very depressing, considering Tenzin and Su were only going into the city and would be back in a little while, and despite knowing that they would more than likely be fine, Lin still felt her chest tightening with something akin to fear.
But she sucked in a deep breath and forced the worries aside. She took Jeia back into the house, where the twins had already begun to pack their bags, subdued but cooperative now. Lin went to do the same for Jeia, making sure to pack her favorite toys and plenty of clothes, and debated for a solid minute before deciding to add the stuffed armadillo-lion that was a gift from Lieutenant Jeia.
Afterwards, Lin went to help Jin and Sora, who were taking a lot longer to decide on what was essential to take and what wasn't. They didn't have a whole lot of possessions, not with Tenzin's teachings of simplicity and non-materialism, as well as Lin's own distaste for clutter after years of living with her mother and Su, the two most cluttered people she'd ever known. However, what the kids did have were objects that were very important to them, and the uncertainty of their current situation was making it difficult to leave anything behind. They had no idea how long they would be gone or what might happen while they were away, and it took a while for Lin to convince them that the rest of their stuff would be right where they left it when they returned home.
It was just as Lin was replacing some of the things Sora had needlessly dragged out of her closet that Ronen came running into the room, breathless and grim-faced as he skidded to a halt, followed by a cacophony of distant sounds from outside that sounded an awful lot like explosives. And Lin felt her stomach drop, while the shoes in her hands fell from her suddenly slack grip to clatter to the floor.
"Mom," he said urgently, "you better come see this."
Lin raced out into the courtyard with all four of her kids in tow, and found Korra and the other three teens already there, already staring out at the city with similar expressions of surprise and dismay, and when Lin saw why, she felt the weight of the world come crashing down around her shoulders.
Republic City was under attack.
Su and Tenzin were subdued as they clambered atop Oogi and took off into the sky, but they were only silent long enough to level out. Then, Su immediately began questioning Tenzin about the Equalists and how they fought. She knew a little, from what Tenzin and Lin had said about the electric gloves and the chi blocking, but she wanted to know everything that he could tell her before they reached City Hall. He did his best to accommodate her, thankful for the distraction and also glad that she was taking it seriously. They may not even face an attack, but it never hurt to be prepared. Considering that she had never faced the Equalists or their weaponry, Suyin was at a distinct disadvantage, but she was not to be underestimated either. She was a Beifong after all, and even though she had not had reason to participate in a true battle in many, many years, she had still been raised a fighter. Tenzin did not doubt that she would be a great asset to have should he need one.
As it turned out, he could have used quite a few assets that afternoon.
The two of them had only just disembarked from Oogi when the first strike came. Tenzin was still talking as he walked, focus on Su striding beside of him and not on the window washers just above them.
He sensed the unnatural buzz vibrating through the air before he saw the cause, and he hurled Su out of the way first while shouting, "DOWN!"
Tenzin dodged and then leapt into a mid-air spiral to avoid the three electrically charged bolas whirling towards him. He heard Su grunt and the clink of metal, but she did not cry out in agony, and so he felt certain that she had avoided the attack as well. He did not have time to look for her as he landed on his feet and immediately blasted his own assault at their attackers. But the moment he stretched out his arms, his wrists were snared, luckily not by electric bolas this time, which would have spelled the end for him. Instead, he side-stepped to avoid the Equalist flying at his head with an outstretched leg, dodged and evaded several jabs, and would have hurtled up into the air in a tornado spiral to shake off the two still holding his wrists if he had not caught sight of Su out of the corner of his eye. She was too close, and if he was not careful, his counterattack could inadvertently harm her too.
Luckily, Su wasted no time in joining the fight. She hurled sharp metal pieces like knives at the Equalist giving Tenzin trouble, and the man was momentarily distracted trying to avoid being struck. In the same motion, Su stomped her left foot into the stone roof, and two pillars erupted beneath the feet of the two holding the cords around Tenzin's wrists. One of them went hurtling up into the air, their grasp on the cord yanking free, and came crashing back down onto the roof a second later and moved no more. The second was able to stumble back a step, just enough to avoid the same fate as his companion. He was knocked onto his back by the assault anyways, but kept a tight hold on the cord, and yanked Tenzin forward a few steps. But Suyin was sprinting to the other side of the roof, in the direction of the third Equalist, and Tenzin used the opportunity to spiral up into the air, controlling the whirlwind enough to keep it from spreading across the roof to where Su was, but taking the Equalist still holding his wrists with him.
The cords came free from around Tenzin's wrist, and his attacker went flying away to land atop the roof of another building. Tenzin settled down gently on his feet a few moments later, and was relieved to see Su still standing, the third Equalist unconscious at her feet.
Her hair had become a little disheveled, and she jerked her head back to flip it out of her face as she said, a little breathlessly, "Well that wasn't so bad. I was expecting more. I barely broke a sweat."
Before Tenzin could advise her not to get too arrogant, Tarrlok's squirrelly aide came rushing out onto the rooftop to join them.
"I'm so relieved to see you!" he said.
"The other council members?" Tenzin immediately questioned. "Are they all right?"
"I'm afraid not," the aide responded. "I just received a call from Chief Saikhan. They've all been captured!"
Tenzin exchanged an alarmed look with Suyin. "This can't be happening," he murmured, thinking of his family on the Island, who were in more danger than he'd first imagined, and of his sister-in-law standing beside him, who he had inadvertently brought into danger with him.
Tarrlok's aide said, "The leadership of Republic City rests in your hands now."
Suyin snorted in disbelief. "Well, no pressure there. Who the hell is this guy?"
But Tenzin could not respond to Su's attempt at a joke, because he had just felt the weight of the world fall upon his shoulders, and he knew that it was up to him to coordinate a defense against Amon and his Equalists. There was no one left but him and Saikhan and the police, perhaps Lin and Su, even though they had no real authority. But what did authority matter when Amon was on the verge of taking hold of the city?
A fact that became even more certain a moment later, when the sounds of explosions began to erupt all throughout the city. The building upon which they stood shook beneath their feet, and Su and Tenzin rushed to the edge to look out at the destruction taking place. There were also over a dozen Equalist airships that could be seen in the distance floating through the skyline. Tarrlok's aide wailed in dismay, and Su shook her head rapidly in disbelief. "I can't believe this," she gasped. "I can't believe… What do we do Tenzin?"
"Come on," Tenzin told her, beckoning her to follow him back across the rooftop to where they had left Oogi. "We need to get to police headquarters."
Upon arriving at headquarters, Tenzin was no more hopeful than he had been before. The police were doing all that they could, according to Saikhan, but they were spread too thin, and things were getting out of control. It was clear that all of the city's efforts would not be enough, not yet anyways, and Tenzin had one of the communications officers send out a wire to General Iroh in the United Forces. It would take a couple of days for them to arrive, but it was the only solution he could see. In the meantime, he would get his family to safety, and then return to aid the United Forces in fighting back.
"Send a wire to Zaofu as well," Su insisted, and the haunted look on her face made clear that she understood what Tenzin was thinking without him having to say it aloud. He supposed it must have been rather jarring for her, coming into the revolution only last night, to suddenly see the place she'd once called home being demolished before her very eyes. He would have sought to comfort her had there been time. "I have a few airships to spare and my Metal Clan is trained to fight."
"Is it safe?" Tenzin asked with some concern. "Will you have enough left to defend Zaofu?"
"There will be plenty, don't worry," Su assured, "and the domes will keep anything out."
It was immediately after Tenzin and Su's messages had been sent that the phone lines went dead, followed by the emergency alarms, and then the lights and everything else in the building went out too. After that was noxious gas that came billowing in through the vents and the cracks in the door, and Tenzin had to use his airbending to surround the communications officers, Saikhan, and Suyin in a protective bubble as they rushed outside.
Being outside, however, turned out not to be much better. The gas had hardly cleared from in front of them when Tenzin spotted no less than six mechatanks in a semicircle around them. He could have cursed at the sight of them, remembering how unwell he had fared against them the last time, and wondering how he would ever get back to his family now. He only hoped that Lin had the forethought to escape the island with the kids while she had the chance.
"These guys don't look friendly," Su muttered, sounding as frustrated as Tenzin felt.
Tenzin started to warn her, "Watch out for their –"
But he never got the chance to say it, and the weapon he had been most concerned about turned out not to be the biggest problem. Instead, there was a new feature, one that Tenzin didn't recognize and which hadn't been there the last time. One of each mechatank's arms ended in a rounded shape that turned out to be large magnets, which pointed straight at Tenzin's group and sucked up the two metalbending officers right off the ground, along with Saikhan and Suyin a second later. Tenzin had just enough time to make a decision between saving Saikhan or Su, and then directed his gust of wind straight at his sister-in-law, wrapping it around her metal-clad form and tugging with all his might. But the magnets were strong, were holding the two officers and Saikhan without effort, not allowing them to budge even an inch, and the one Tenzin fought against was winning too. He could feel Su beginning to slip from his grasp, because air was not meant to be used as a rope, and Su was covered in too much metal, had wrapped her torso in it before they left the Island in an effort to protect herself. And now her protection was about to be her downfall, and Tenzin was too weak to stop it.
The magnet won, and Su cried out in shock and outrage as Tenzin's grasp broke and she clanged face first against the mechatank's magnetic hand.
"SU!" Tenzin cried, reaching out for her, but was forced a second later to evade as the rest of the mechatanks came rolling straight at him. He blasted two back and evaded several attacks, all while, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Su and Saikhan and the others being loaded into the back of a truck. Tenzin fought fierce and hard, but was slammed into the side of the building and barely managed to slow his plummet to the ground. He crashed to the earth and his body erupted in agony, but still he tried to sit up. The world was blurring around him and his vision began to darken at the edges, and his muscles did not comply with his demands, but still he tried to get up, to move, to fight back, breathless as he mumbled a desperate, "Su….no….no….Su…."
But she was already in the back of the truck and the truck was speeding off, disappearing around a bend, and just like that, Su was gone. She was gone. And Tenzin lost consciousness shortly after.
Upon seeing the devastation taking place in Republic City, Lin had wanted nothing more than to go and find her husband and her sister, and then take her whole family as far from Amon's reach as she could possibly go.
But she could not leave Sora, Yunjin, and Jeia unprotected. So Korra, Ronen, and their friends immediately volunteered to go and find Su and Tenzin and ensure their safe return to the Island. While Lin certainly didn't revel in the idea of Ronen going out there in that mess, to possibly lose three of her loved ones to Amon's grasp, she could not dissuade the boy, and there seemed little point in trying. They were fully at war now, and Ronen would not be able to avoid a fight regardless of whether or not he ran headlong into it.
So Lin begged him to be safe and stayed behind with her three youngest. She told Jin and Sora to go inside and hide, to protect Jeia, and that, if things went wrong, to jump on a sky bison and get themselves to Zaofu by any means necessary. It seemed a monumental burden to place on the shoulders of two twelve year olds, but there was no time for delicacy in war.
Two Equalist ships came to the island's edge shortly after, and Lin stood alone in the courtyard, waiting, while the White Lotus battled the first wave of foot soldiers. It wasn't long before Amon's Lieutenant crested the hill, surrounded by his own battalion of Equalists, and Lin wasted no time in lashing out. She was quick and harsh and unrelenting, thinking of her children just inside, of the family she had out in the city, and she poured all her rage and worry and power into her bending.
She took out most of the Equalists in the first few minutes, but it was one against fifteen and, eventually, her cables ended up wrapped around the Lieutenant's kali sticks – he had apparently replaced the one Ronen stole from him – and then electricity was coursing through her body and she dropped to the ground with an agonized cry. She fought to pick herself back up, but her muscles were twitching and refusing to cooperate and she could barely grunt her frustrations let alone bend. Lieutenant was coming at her and she knew, once he reached her, she'd be done for. She would not rise again and they would take her straight to Amon, probably her kids too, and she just needed to move!
"Hey, asshole!" a familiar voice rang down upon the courtyard, and Lin and the Equalists all looked up to see Yunjin swooping down upon them on his glider – and off in the distance, Sora was not far behind. "Get away from my Mom!"
Yunjin kicked his feet out in front of him and a blast of wind struck the Lieutenant full on in the face. The man went flying away from Lin, and Yunjin brought his feet down just in time to land softly on the ground. He immediately closed his glider, and then swung it like a club, sending a sweeping arc of air at the two Equalists rushing toward him. Sora landed directly next to him, but kept her glider open as she hurled it straight at one of the Equalists like a giant paper airplane. The wooden point of the glider struck the Equalist in the forehead and they went down.
"Kids! Get back inside!" Lin demanded, fearful of the harm that might befall them should they remain to fight. She was still struggling to gain control of her own body, her muscles twitching as she struggled to simply form a fist. She could not get up off of her knees, she could not help her children if they needed it.
But both of the twins ignored her command.
Sora and Yunjin turned to each other and clasped both hands, spreading their arms out into a circle. Then, with a nod, they kicked off up into the air, spinning together in a spiral, creating a tornado that petered out once they were several meters up in the air, and it looked like they would simply fall. Instead, they began to spin once more, racing towards the ground this time, but in the direction of the Equalists. The twins barreled through the Equalists at lightning speed, the torrent of wind surrounding them hurling masked figures every which way. When the twins landed, they separated to stand back to back, and kicked sharp air attacks at any Equalists still standing.
Then Lin felt a hand on her shoulder, and she was dismayed but not surprised to see Jeia standing at her side. "Jeia, go back into the house this instant," Lin half ordered, half begged, but Jeia only shook her head.
The toddler looked out at the battle taking place, squinted her eyes in concentration, and then raised her hand. There was a metal pipe wrapped around her little arm, the one that Lin had been using to teach Jeia how to aim at targets when they had time to have their bending lessons. The pipe unraveled, and then shot out to smack against the back of one of the Equalists charging towards Jin and Sora. The Equalist only fell to their knees, but the pipe wrapped around their torso, locking their arms down at their sides, and they flopped to the ground without anyway to get free.
Lin sighed, but couldn't help but praise, "Good aim, kid."
By that point, the White Lotus had come to join the fight, and with their help, Jin and Sora took down the last of the Equalists. And then finally Lin could rise to her feet without shaking, and she went to help capture the subdued Equalists, until all of them were tied up and relieved of their weapons.
"Take these Equalists and lock them in the Temple's basement," Lin ordered the White Lotus, before turning to face her kids, softening her tone just a little. She told them, "Y'know, I hate when you don't listen to me, but…you did good, kids."
"So you're not mad?" Sora asked hesitantly.
"No, I'm not mad," Lin assured, tugging Sora against her side in a one-armed hug. She beckoned Yunjin to her other side, and Jeia toddled forward to hug her mother's knees. "And I'm sorry for being so harsh with you guys earlier. I know you're all strong and smart. I don't make these decisions to hurt you."
"I'm sorry too," Yunjin admitted in a quiet murmur, as if it pained him to say it. "I know you just want us to be safe."
Sora added, "We don't wanna go to Zaofu, but we will. No more arguing."
Lin opened her mouth to respond, but all of them were distracted by the sound of a sky bison swooping down to land just behind them, and they all whirled around to see.
Lin felt relief lift some of the weight from her shoulders when she saw Tenzin at the reigns. She had been so worried, when she had seen the city under attack, that it would be too late for him. And then she saw Ronen leaping off of the saddle too and she thought that maybe she had been worried for nothing. Her family was safe, and though the Equalist threat had not been vanquished entirely, they were together now, and they would be able to figure out a plan to get the youngest to Zaofu and then mount their own attack against Amon.
Jeia and the twins immediately went running to Tenzin, who enveloped them in a crushing embrace, expressing his relief that they were all okay. He looked over their heads at Lin, and there was something in his eyes that she could not fully understand. He appeared…regretful? Ashamed? But why? she wondered. Perhaps it had something to do with the city falling. It would be just like him to blame himself.
Lin would ask him, but first, she went to her eldest son, who was rushing towards her, an unnamed sorrow in his own gaze, and she frowned as he came crashing into her chest, squeezing her tighter than she thought was normal when they had only been apart for a brief period. Perhaps he had been worried for her and his siblings when he saw the two Equalist airships hovering over the island.
But then Lin realized what the problem was, why Tenzin and Ronen were looking at her so strangely. She could see Tenzin and Ronen plainly, and watched Korra and all three of her friends disembark from Oogi. But there was someone else that had gone along that was not in the saddle. Someone else whose pointed absence was more telling than the look on her husband's face as he came striding carefully towards her.
Lin stepped out of Ronen's embrace and took two steps back, because she felt like the world was about to come crashing down around her and she didn't want anyone else getting caught in the maelstrom beating down on her. She looked directly at Tenzin, because she didn't want to lock gazes with Ronen when her emotions were so raw, and she thought her voice might have cracked when she demanded, "Where is she?"
"I'm so sorry, Lin," Tenzin murmured, stopping a few paces from her, either uncertain of what she might do if he got too close or simply assuming that she wanted the space. Part of her wanted him to hold her, but another part didn't want him to even breathe the same air as her. "I'm so sorry. The mechatanks showed up, we were outnumbered, they have magnets now, and she was wearing metal and –"
"Where is she?!" Lin repeated shrilly, even though she knew it was a stupid question. Even though she knew where her sister would be.
"They took her, Lin," Tenzin confessed at last. "I wasn't strong enough to stop it. I would have been captured too if the kids hadn't shown up when they did. I…I'm so sorry."
She couldn't look at him anymore, so she tried to look away, but nowhere else was better. Sora was weeping softly into Yunjin's shoulder and Ronen was holding Jeia, and Korra and the other teens were all staring at her, and everyone was staring at her, and they all wore the same expression of pity or sympathy or something else that she despised. She thought that maybe they were waiting for her to snap, but she wasn't going to. She could feel her chest tighten up in the way that it did when she was about to cry, but what would crying do? It wouldn't bring Su back, it wouldn't save Su's bending. So she tamped down on the emotion trying to crawl its way up her throat and swallowed back the tears. She could not allow herself to indulge in such emotion, not now. She had the rest of her family still to think about, and she could not be permitted to grieve anyways. Not when it was her fault. She was the one that had asked Su to come to the city. She was the one that let Su go off with Tenzin when she knew that it might be dangerous, when she knew that Su had no prior experience with the Equalists. It was Lin's fault that her sister had been captured and so it was guilt that punched her in the gut.
But Su's sacrifice would not be without reason, Lin would be sure of that. Tenzin had made it back, the last three airbenders were still free of Amon's grasp, and Lin would ensure that her family made it to Zaofu. And then, she would return to the city, and she would tear the fucking city apart until she found her sister and destroyed Amon for all that he had done.
Ronen was never more baffled by his mother than when he saw her deal with grief. In all his life he had only really seen it a handful of times, but every time the rapid change in emotions was so jarring it nearly gave him whiplash. It was like she was experiencing all the stages of grief in the span of a few seconds. He could only catch the brief astonishment and the barest hint of heartbreak before she shut down completely, her face closed off into a mask of acceptance and calm, and he could not understand how she did it. How she could hear such devastating news and simply reject it, as if giving into her emotions would reduce her to ash. She embodied the mentality of an earthbender in every way, stubborn and unmoving as a rock wall, unflinching and impervious to any stones flung her way. Only the largest boulders could make her crumble, but only if she let them, only if she could not erect a new wall to take the other's place.
That was how his mother reacted to the news of her sister being taken by the Equalists. By barricading herself off from her emotions and everyone else. Ronen watched her straighten her spine and lift her chin up high, and in an instant her face was set in determination. She did not weep or rage, she did not even seem to acknowledge that there was a problem at all.
"We need to get going," she said decisively, turning her head in her husband's direction, but Ronen didn't think that their gazes locked. "There will be more airships where those came from and we need to get the kids to Zaofu."
Ronen's father accepted the sudden change in topic with practiced ease. He must have been dealing with it since before Ronen was even born, and it seemed not to even faze him.
Tenzin nodded and turned around to face Korra as she approached him asking, "What should we do?"
"I want you to leave this island and go into hiding for now," Tenzin said.
"I'm not giving up!" Korra immediately protested.
"I'm not asking you to," Tenzin retorted. "I sent word to the United Forces and Su's Metal Clan guards. They will be here soon, and once our children are safe, Lin and I will return. With the reinforcements, we can turn the tide of this war."
It seemed such an easy solution, and yet Ronen knew that there was nothing simple about it at all. He looked down at the little girl in his arms, and Jeia Rai looked back up at him with those dark green eyes they both shared with their mother. But his little sister did not share his fear or sorrow as he thought a four year old should have. Instead, she stared hard at him with their mother's eyes and their mother's resolve. If she felt any concern at all it was locked down behind a metal shield. It was possible that she simply could not understand the magnitude of what was taking place, but Ronen did not think that was the case. Jeia was delayed in some areas, in terms of speech and development, but Ronen suspected that her comprehension skills were above reproach. Even when she did not speak, he could see her calculating gaze taking in everything around her.
Ronen desperately hoped that his siblings would be safe in Zaofu. It seemed unlikely that Amon would have the means to launch an attack on Zaofu for three children when he was in the midst of taking control of Republic City, but Ronen also wasn't willing to underestimate him. Amon had already done far more than Ronen had originally thought possible. In the span of a few months his world had been turned upside down, and he was still struggling to catch up.
Nevertheless, he was his mother's son, and he knew exactly what he was going to do next.
He went inside with his family and Korra and the others, and all of them worked together to hastily grab a few things they might need for their various travels. They loaded the twins and Jeia's things onto Oogi, while Nira and a couple other remaining acolytes prepared a second sky bison. Nira and Tenzin would fly off in opposite directions in the hopes of confusing the Equalist airships that were fast approaching the Island. Someone had suggested taking Su's airship that she had brought, but Lin and Tenzin were certain that Oogi would be faster and capable of more abrupt maneuvers.
Soon Ronen was hugging his family goodbye, telling the twins and Jeia to be careful, that he loved them, and assuring them that he would be safe with Korra. When his mother came to stand before him, she studied him for a second before pulling him into a crushing embrace, and he hugged her back with the same fervor, closing his eyes and allowing himself to feel a moment's sorrow for himself, for his family, for his Aunt Su. They had faced so much already and yet there was more still to come. None of them had any idea what would happen next, if they would make it out the other side intact.
So Ronen reveled in the feel of his mother's arms around him and the strength of her presence, and in a fierce whisper he vowed to her, "I'll find Aunt Su, Mom. I promise."
If possible, she hugged him even tighter and begged, "Be careful, kid. Don't do anything I would do, yeah?"
Ronen pulled back just a little too look at her, to memorize her face as if he would never see it again, even though he knew she would return, even though he had absolute faith in her. And he laughed at her joke that was almost serious, and he wasn't surprised when he felt tears streaking down his face even as he smiled.
His mother wiped the tears from his cheeks and then held his face in both hands, locking his gaze onto hers as she said, "I love you. I'll be back soon."
Ronen nodded, all seriousness again as he said, "I love you too. I'll be waiting for you."
She stared at him for a few seconds longer, perhaps trying to memorize his features too, and then she patted his cheek and walked away before any emotions of her own could spill out. She joined her three youngest children on Oogi, and called to her husband, "Tenzin, if we're leaving, we'd better do it now."
Only a few steps away from Ronen, Tenzin was hugging Korra and telling her to, "Stay safe." He turned away from her to stride over to Ronen and ask, "I suppose there's no chance of convincing you to come with us?"
Ronen quirked his lips up just a little and replied, "I'm afraid not, but I'll be here when you get back."
Tenzin hugged him more carefully than Lin, but no less desperately, and when father and son pulled apart, Tenzin's eyes were shiny with unshed tears. "Be strong, son. Lean on your friends for help while your mother and I are gone. I know that you can do anything you set your mind to, but please remember to be careful. I love you so much."
Ronen felt his throat closing up with emotion again and he choked out a tremulous, "I love you too, Dad. I'll be fine, don't worry. You guys be safe."
"We will," Tenzin promised, and then a blast of wind was hurling him up onto Oogi, where he took the reigns and said, "Oogi, yip-yip!"
Ronen went to stand beside Korra as they watched the two sky bison take off into the sky, and he reached out to clasp her hand in his. She squeezed his hand tight and they turned to regard one another with similar expressions of worry, but there was solidarity too, and he felt better knowing that she was there with him. He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, and he turned his head the other way to see Bolin there beside him, giving him a small smile of encouragement, and Asami just behind him with understanding in her gaze, and even Mako said, "Don't worry, kid, we've got your back, and they're gonna be fine. Your parents are pretty tough." And for once the moniker of 'kid' did not sound so much like an insult.
"Thank you," Ronen told them sincerely, never more grateful than he was in that moment for having those four as his friends. It had been a tough road getting there, and there were still some bumps in the path, but over the last few weeks they had created a sort of family of their own. His parents and his siblings might be leaving for now, but he was not alone.
He was, however, in the middle of a war zone.
Two of the three airships approaching the Island veered off to chase after the escaping sky bison, and Ronen prayed that his family could outrun them. The third airship, however, came to a stop directly above where Ronen and the others stood. Equalists immediately began to spiral down to the ground, and the White Lotus rushed forward, telling Korra and the rest of the teens, "Go, we'll hold them off."
The five of them all clambered up onto Naga's back, and it was a tight squeeze, Ronen and Asami were barely holding onto the back of the saddle, but they made do, racing down the side of the island and eventually leaping into the Bay, where Korra created a bubble around them so that they could remain underwater the whole way to the city.
Once they reached the city's edge, they climbed into a large drainage tunnel, and they stayed there for a little while, each of them watching in silence as the sun began to set, streaks of fiery orange painted across the sky. Air Temple Island was the only thing to be seen from their vantage point, and Ronen felt his heart breaking at the sight of it, his home, surrounded by Equalist airships, his family fleeing for their lives, and anyone else left there no doubt being taken prisoner. All the White Lotus and some of the remaining Air Acolytes whom he had grown up with would be bound and thrown into cages simply for being benders, or for being aligned with his family and Korra. He was glad that Nira and some others had escaped with his parents and siblings, but he still thought of some of the other people that had stayed behind. He thought of Jorri and Kun, the two White Lotus guards that had taught him how to play cards and gamble in secret until Tenzin found out and had them scrubbing the bison stables with a toothbrush for months. He though of Rina, the woman who had been old for as long as Ronen could remember, and he used to sit with her as she washed clothes and she would tell him stories of all that she had seen in her long life. And he thought of Wa, one of the Acolyte cooks that would always make Ronen or his siblings their favorite snacks if he saw that one of them was having a bad day. Ronen knew nearly all of those people that had remained on the Island to make a final stand, to ensure that he and his family and Korra and their friends were able to escape. And Ronen felt a weight pressing on his chest at the thought of them and the punishment they would face, but he had not given up on them. He knew that they were strong, and they would endure, and when the fight against Amon was over, he would return for them and for his home.
It was the sound of feet sloshing through the drainage pipe that broke Ronen from his solemn reverie, and then Mako's voice could be heard saying, "Korra, we should get moving."
Ronen looked back at the others, and saw Korra's downcast expression as she allowed Mako to wrap his arm around her and lead her deeper into the tunnel, Bolin and Naga falling into step with the pair. Ronen's gaze instantly flickered to Asami, out of habit mostly, still too raw and weighted down by his own emotions to be mindful of the relationship drama that was occurring in their group. Asami watched Korra and Mako with a bitter expression on her face as they strode past her, but kicked off of the wall to follow.
Ronen struck up a slow pace, glancing back at the Island one last time before forcing himself to look away, ducking his head and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He could sense Asami walking beside him, and after a few meters of sloshing through the muck in silence, she quietly asked him, "What will we do now?"
Ronen heaved in a breath of air that got caught in his throat, and had to pause for several second before he was able to answer with the only truth that he knew in that moment, "Now, I find my Aunt Su."
Tenzin felt incredible shame over having lost Suyin to the Equalists, of having been too weak to save her or Saikhan or the other metalbending officers. It was a guilt that he would have to live with for the rest of his life, but it also left him with a chance that he would not take for granted. He had been saved from the Equalists' grasp just in the nick of time, and had been given the opportunity to see his family to safety. He was more determined than ever to ensure that his three youngest children reached Zaofu, that they be safe from harm even if Suyin and Ronen were not. Once Jeia and the twins were safe, then he and Lin would return to the city and take it back. It wasn't just about their parents' legacies anymore, but about their children's futures, and their futures were in jeopardy.
So Tenzin pushed Oogi to his limits, urging the bison to fly faster than ever, even as the two Equalist airships drew ever closer. Tenzin could not let his children be captured. He could not let those airships catch up. He was focused solely on that task, of outrunning them, of reaching Zaofu, of keeping his children safe.
After a short time, he heard Lin behind him slashing at an extended net with her metal cables, only glancing back long enough to see the net being torn to shreds before reverting his gaze ahead.
But then his wife's voice rang out again, carried across the wind to ears that he prayed were betraying him as she shouted, "Tenz, whatever happens to me, don't you dare turn back!"
Tenzin whirled around, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, his stomach leaping into his throat as his mind repeated the mantra, 'No, no, no!' Out loud he cried a desperate, "Lin! What are you doing?! Stop!"
"I love you," she said, to him, to the children, and it sounded so final, and it raised the hairs on the back of his neck. It reminded him of a time from long ago, from a lifetime ago, before marriage or children, when they were just young and in love and she had kissed him goodbye and told him she loved him for the first time before running off to sacrifice herself to Kane, the murderous leader of the Silver Granite Triad that had wanted her head for imprisoning him. She had been willing to give her life for the unknown citizens of Republic City that continued to die while Kane ruled, and Tenzin should not have been surprised that she would willingly give herself over to the Equalists to save her own children. He was not surprised, but he was consumed by grief in an instant, because whatever she had planned would certainly not end well for her, whether it be death or loss of her bending or something equally horrific. And he had only just lost Su to those monsters, had left his eldest son behind in a war zone, and now he was about to lose his wife.
"Please, Lin!" Tenzin begged, even though he knew his words were futile, just as they had been decades ago. "Please don't!" He wanted to let go of the reigns, to climb back into the saddle and forcibly stop her, but she would be gone before he even stood, and Oogi would slow without Tenzin's constant guidance.
Sora must have caught on too, and she was close enough to leap up and throw herself at her mother, crashing into Lin's knees and holding on tight, her voice carrying as she screeched, "No, Mama!"
But Lin looked at Yunjin, and something must have passed between the two of them, because the boy lunged forward and grabbed his twin sister, dragging her back even as she screamed and fought against his grip. And then Lin was sprinting the length of Oogi's tail and leaping into the air, using her metal cables to pull herself onto the closest airship. And Sora continued to scream, and Tenzin felt his soul tearing in two, leaving his body to go and be with Lin, his lifelong best friend and his wife, the mother of his children, his other half. She had been his whole world for so long that he wasn't even certain how he could function if she no longer was.
He urged Oogi on faster despite the agony that stabbed through him, because he would not let her sacrifice be in vain, because even though he wanted nothing more than to turn back and join her, he had their children to think about. He could not sacrifice them, no matter the cost to his own soul, and Lin would never forgive him for it if he tried. But even as he directed Oogi onwards, he found himself watching over his shoulder, holding his breath, while Sora continued to scream at him to "Go back! Go back! We have to go back! Mama! Mama!" and Yunjin held her thrashing form, and Jeia curled up on herself and covered her face and her ears.
Meanwhile, the first airship went down in a plume of black smoke, the metal roof having been torn the whole way back, and Tenzin bit down hard on his tongue as he watched a vague shape hurling through the air to land atop the second airship. Tenzin prayed and he prayed that the second one would go down too, that it would erupt into flames and go hurtling towards the ocean. Even though it would mean Lin was falling to her death, it also meant that he could go back. If both airships were downed, he could save her without harm coming to the children and they could keep on going to Zaofu as they were meant to.
But the second airship didn't go down.
Instead, there was a brief flash of what could very well have been electricity, but which Tenzin could not be totally certain of from a distance. And then the airship was turning back, going in the direction it had come, leaving Tenzin and his children to fly to safety, but without Lin, who was no doubt a prisoner aboard the ship now, and lost to them.
Sora stopped screaming but she wept loudly, slumped in her brother's arms, and Tenzin wept too, turning back around to face the direction of safety, to focus on the task at hand, because to focus on anything else would tear him apart. His children needed him to be strong, to get them to Zaofu, and so that was what he would do, but it did not mean that his heart did not shatter in the process.
Lin woke to the startling feeling of someone kicking the toe of their boot into her thigh.
She jolted, and then immediately stilled, hissing through clenched teeth as her entire body erupted into agony, every nerve ending still throbbing with the memory of her most recent electrocution. It took her fuzzy brain a moment to connect the dots and remember which time she was waking from, considering how many times she'd been knocked unconscious in the last couple weeks, but her memories came flooding back fairly quickly.
Amon taking Republic City, Suyin being captured, fleeing with her family, being pursued by Equalist airships, and then leaping off of Oogi as Sora screamed and Tenzin pleaded, and she had torn apart one of the ships, but the other had resulted in her downfall.
"C'mon, get up," a gruff voice commanded, and Lin felt several hands grabbing at her body, pulling her up into a half-seated position, and she fought back on instinct despite her sluggish state. She kicked her feet out, and even though her legs were bound by rope, they still made quite an impact when they connected with the shins of the man at her feet. Her arms were useless as she tried to flail them in front of her, her wrists too tightly bound, so she threw her head back instead when someone grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. The pain was torturous, but totally worth it when she heard the sickening crunch of bone as her head hit somebody in the nose.
But then the person in front of her struck the side of her face with a brutal backhand, and she flopped back down onto her side with a grunt, blinking stars from her vision and grimacing as her head, which had already been sensitive, began to throb in time to the beat of her heart.
Someone was spewing curses at her, and then there was a foot flying at her face that she barely managed to get her arms up in time to intercept. The force of the kick knocked her battered forearms into her face anyways, but the blow was far less horrific than it could have been had she taken a boot to the face.
"Hey, hey, enough!" the gruff voice was shouting at someone, and there was a brief scuffle close to Lin's head but her vision hadn't quite resolved yet. "The boss wants her conscious. We haven't got time for this."
"Bidch broke m'nose!" someone spluttered, and Lin probably shouldn't have chosen that moment to choke out half of a laugh, but, well…
She looked up in time to see a now unmasked Equalist, blood spurting from his nose and fury on his face, come rushing toward her with his platinum glove curled into a fist, but the gruff guy stopped him once again saying, "Get ahold of yourself! She's trying to get a rise out of you. Now go on, get yourself cleaned up."
"I don'b wanna miss d'is," the angry Equalist proclaimed, and he looked down at her with a wicked, bloody grin.
It occurred to her then, where they were trying to take her, why she needed to be conscious for "the boss." She was being taken to Amon, and it should have struck some amount of fear through her, but she could only really feel numb at that moment. She was still trying to wake up from what felt like a nightmare. The Equalists surrounding her were bickering, but she only kept one ear on the conversation, using the brief moment that she had to take in her surroundings and ensure that Tenzin and the kids weren't shackled somewhere nearby. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no sign of them, certain that if they had been captured, then the Equalists probably would have kept them together, if for no other reason than to torture them all with having to watch one another lose their bending. Amon's twisted way of making a point. However, Lin did notice that she was tied up in her living room, of all places, and she nearly rolled her eyes at the absurdity. She hoped the idiots had been guarding her well while she was unconscious, because if she had woken and been able to take them by surprise, they would have never found her again. She knew the Island like the back of her hand, and she silently lamented that it was too late for her to take advantage of her location. There were too many Equalists surrounding her, with more pouring in through the door at the sound of the commotion, and she was in too precarious of a position to put up a decent fight, evidenced by her last attempt.
Nevertheless, she was a stubborn Beifong that wasn't about to take her fate lying down, and she fought tooth and nail the whole time they tried to drag her out the door. She bit and clawed at anything she could reach and flailed her legs and even managed to bend a few metal objects to come flying at her captors. But they tired of her antics quickly and started giving her short zaps with their electric gloves. Brief though the shocks were, they were no less painful, and every bit of electricity vibrated through her metal armor and coursed along her skin and burnt through her clothes and the hair on the nape of her neck.
By the time they dragged her out into the rain and across the courtyard, she had stopped fighting, and maybe it actually was fear that stilled her, or perhaps she was simply resigned to the fact that she couldn't fight her way out of this one. At any rate, she was calm as they hefted her across her own damn yard, stilling for a moment so that one of them could carefully bend down to untie her legs, apparently having tired of trying to carry her weight, which on its own might not have been a problem if it weren't for her metal armor. As they untied her legs, another held a shock glove to her chest, and she considered trying it anyways, because what else did she have to lose at that point? But she was just so tired and everything already hurt.
When they shoved her forward she nearly collapsed, her legs barely able to hold her up, numb and tingly and burnt slightly as they were. But they caught her under the arms and hauled her forward, and she forced her muscles to cooperate as best she could, if only to get them to stop touching her. They dragged her out in front of the main temple building, it's glowing lights from inside the only source of light in the dark of night.
The Equalists threw her down at Amon's feet, her metal-clad knees colliding with the stone pavement with a loud clang, and she groaned as pain radiated throughout her body. She was battered and beaten, and she was ashamed to have lost, to finally be brought to Amon's hands after evading it for so long, but she lifted her head and met the monster's expressionless mask unflinchingly, perfectly mustering a scowl with little effort. Despite knowing what power he had, she found that she really was not afraid of him. He might have been able to rip apart her soul, but he was still just a coward behind a mask, and cowards always lost in the end.
He gazed down upon her, but whatever emotion he was feeling Lin could not tell. Was he smiling behind the mask, gleeful at having caught such a prize? Or was he still maintaining that air of nonchalance, as if what he did was simply prophecy, as if it had no emotional purpose behind it?
He was monotone when he finally spoke saying, "Tell me where the Avatar is, and I'll let you keep your bending."
Lin didn't entertain the thought for a single second, practically spitting her response at him as she said, "Fuck you. I won't tell you anything, you monster."
"Very well," he said, unfazed, and then Lin did feel a twinge of fear as he strode around to stand behind her.
Her stomach flipped and her heart rate sped up, she could feel it thumping in the throb in her head and in the quiver of the stone beneath her legs. If her hands were not so tightly bound they might have trembled, but she clenched her jaw and tamped down on the anxiety rising within her. She would not allow any emotion to show through, not in front of all of them.
She breathed in deep and closed her eyes, and she thought of the reason that she was there, not simply because she had lost, but because she had chosen to leap off of Oogi's back and give herself to whatever fate she was dealt. She had done it for Tenzin and for their children, because they were the most important things in her life. Not her bending, not her job, but the people in her life that she loved above all else. She had failed to protect her sister, but she would not fail her children, and so she would gladly lose this piece of her so that they did not come to harm. She envisioned them behind her closed eyelids, but she did not remember them as they were when she last saw them. She remembered them as their true selves, when they were not bogged down by tragedy and turmoil. She remembered Ronen's eager thirst for knowledge, and Yunjin's mischievous smirks, and Sora's bright, compassionate smiles, and Jeia Rai's indomitable will. She remembered Tenzin's warm embrace and his unwavering love for her and for their children. She remembered that her bending was of little consequence, that her children were her heart and Tenzin was her soul.
And then, Amon's hand clamped down on her shoulder, and she took one last desperate moment to expand her senses, to breathe in the earth and feel its soothing presence all around her. And as she reached out, the earth reached back, consuming her, burying her, until she knew not where she ended and it began, until her heartbeat was simply one amidst a hundred million more. She was reminded of her mother, of those big blank eyes and cocky grins, of Toph's easy laugh and stubborn scowl, of the way she used to knock Lin on her ass over and over and over again until she learned how to stand her ground. And it was because of Toph that Lin was able to become the renowned bender that she was, Toph who had drilled into her head that she was a Beifong and she was as strong as stone and sharp as metal. Toph who had forced Lin onto her knees in the rocks and the mud and taught her to feel with more than just normal human senses.
Lin Beifong had been born in a rainstorm, screaming and flailing and red in the face, and she had been placed in her mother's arms, placed into the calloused hands of the greatest earthbender, where she was shaped and molded like clay over several years. And now, some fifty years later, as the rain beat down upon her face and snuck through the cracks of her metal armor, Lin was quiet and still and pale, her mother's touch all around her, in the metal wrapped around her skin, in the earth alive and pulsing beneath her. Lin the earthbender was born in the rain, and on that night, Lin the earthbender died in the rain.
Amon's thumb pressed against her forehead, and it was an almost gentle touch, but the feeling that overcame her next was even worse than she had imagined. She remembered clearly the haunted looks on the faces of those she had interviewed after losing their bending. She remembered Tosuki shuddering and telling her it was like ice in your veins. She had thought that it would be jarring, but she hadn't expected it to be so painful. Amon's thumb on her forehead was like molten lava burning through her skull, and her eyes opened wide and her mouth gaped, and she would have screamed if the air hadn't been ripped from her lungs. It was like ice so cold that it burned, lancing through her veins in white hot agony, and it was as if a fist had buried itself in her chest and it was tearing her soul right out. Only three seconds passed but it felt like an eternity, and then she was falling, falling, falling, watching her spirit float from out of her body and turn to ash before her eyes.
And when she struck the ground, her head collided with unyielding stone, her ear pressed flat against the earth, and she didn't move a muscle, waiting for it to speak to her, to tell her what to do, to tell her that she was not alone.
But for the first time in all her life, the earth was silent.
-Next up! Lin wakes up in prison but she is not alone. Ronen mounts a rescue mission to find his Aunt Su, but will he reach her before Amon does? And Tenzin and the kids run into more trouble on their way to Zaofu. Meanwhile, Iroh and the United Forces and Su's Metal Clan guard are on their way to Republic City. A couple guest stars will make an appearance next chapter, hope you're all pumped. Now, I must go get two teeth ripped out. I know that your wonderful reviews will be a soothing balm for my poor mouth. Until next time!-
