Lin was once again pulling a double shift, finishing up this month's crime stats report that needed to be filed at city hall tomorrow. Aside from being having the routine meeting at city hall, tomorrow also marks Lin's first ninety days as the chief of police.
She lightly rubbed a crick at her neck as she proofread the document.
Having taken over the Republic City Police Department when her mother, the metalbender Toph Beifong, stepped down, Lin Beifong recognized that taking on this responsibility goes beyond upholding the family legacy.
She pushed on, double checking the figures. Hoping that this was enough at least to keep the council contented. While some of the council members saw her growing up, she knew they were going to be fair as in all their dealings. However, the rest of the members were likely to be more difficult with her, with the mistaken notion that they needed to compensate for the perceived bias of the city founders. It also did not help that her mother was not as charismatic as the other founders.
Lin sighed tiredly as she pulled out another case folder; she had her work cut out.
Tenzin frowned deeply at his bowl, as though the stew his mother prepared offended him greatly.
His sullen mood was out of place amidst the boisterous laughter of his family at the dinner table. On another day, he would have eaten his sea prune stew with gusto. Tonight, he should have done so as well, given that his mother went all out with the dishes as the extended family was present.
Bumi, his eldest brother, arrived two days ago on shore leave. His uncle Sokka, meanwhile, landed at Air Temple island that afternoon, in preparation for tomorrow's council meeting.
His uncle continued to regal the table with stories, getting more and more exaggerated as the night wore on. His father, the Avatar Aang laughed accordingly at the right moments, encouraging the stories further. Beside Sokka, his wife Suki held his glass upright without skipping a beat as he pounded on the table in emphasis on how heavy the imported cabbages were in the Southern Water Tribe. Tenzin's sister Kya chatted their aunt's ear off at her other side.
It was a lovely meal indeed and the company was not so bad either. In fact, Tenzin was looking forward to this family dinner. The week was ending and it was particularly challenging one.
He had a long session with the new Air Acolytes earlier and he had a vague impression that they were not taking him seriously as they would his father. He just wanted to have a relaxing night with the family and Lin.
Granted, Lin was practically family. But it was her that Tenzin was specifically anticipating to spend time with that night. He had a lot of things on his mind but he knew Lin's presence would help tamp down his worries.
Katara noticed her son's preoccupation as the dinner went on. Every couple of minutes or so, Tenzin would look up at the doorway, as though expecting someone. As the night went on, his mood turned sour.
Presently, he attempted to stab the sea prune with his spoon.
"Tenzin, dear, would you like a fork?" Katara called out, lightly touching his arm, startling him from his reverie.
"Wha-?" Tenzin was drawn out of his thoughts, as the stew splashed on his robes when the prune slipped from his utensil.
"Fork? Or a knife?" His mother held out a small table knife to him. "Is something bothering you?" Katara had an inkling on what (or rather who) was on his mind. "How was the session today?"
Tenzin shrugged but took the knife. "It was fine, mother." He wanted to share his misgivings about the air acolytes but did not want his siblings to overhear. "We were able to start and end on time." Lame as it was, that was the only positive outcome of that meditation session.
"That's good to hear," Katara took a bite of her own stew. "They are from the Southern Air Temples, right? How is the restoration going on from their end, did they share anything about it?" She intended to draw him away from his obviously stormy ruminations.
Just as Tenzin was about to respond, Sokka suddenly turned his attention to mother and son. "Heeey – I knew I forgot something! Where's Lin?"
Tenzin grew uncomfortable as the table went silent, each person looking at him expectantly. He cleared his throat as he loosened his collar. "She's still at the precinct, I believe." He did not miss Katara and Aang share a look but he chose not to acknowledge it.
"That young lady is working too hard," Sokka run his hand at his beard. "On the other hand, look at her sister Suyin, with two kids at the age of twenty-four. I mean, sure they're both productive, if you get what I mean. Am I right?" He elbowed his wife, looking for affirmation. Suki looked nonplussed. So he leaned to his other side, elbowing Bumi instead, who gave him a thumbs up.
Finally, at half past eleven in the evening, Lin found herself unlocking the door to the apartment after satisfactorily completing the documents in time for tomorrow's meeting.
"Tenzin, I'm home." She called out, as she took off her boots and removed her armor. "I'm sorry I'm late." She pulled her long black hair from the bun it was in the whole day. "Had to finish up some paper-." She finally realized she was alone. "Work."
The dark and empty room puzzled her but she ignored the unease that crept and proceeded to the bathroom to wash her face.
Seeing the empty space where she and Tenzin kept their toothbrushes and toiletries, Lin cursed.
She just realized she forgot something tonight.
After somewhat successfully averting the disaster called Sokka's big mouth by introducing dessert, Katara followed her youngest child who excused himself to the patio once dessert was served. She studied his stiff posture as he gazed at the distant lights of Republic City.
"Son, is everything okay with Lin?" Katara was not one to beat around the bush. "She's not in trouble, is she?"
Tenzin shook his head quietly. "She's fine, Mother." He really did not want to discuss his relationship right now.
"Don't mind Sokka," Katara plodded on. "He's just probably excited to hear about more grandchildren within our group. You know how he doted on Iroh when Zuko used to bring him over." She smiled in recollection how Sokka had pranced around with the toddler on his back, pretending to be a dragon.
"Iroh is just a couple of years younger than me." Tenzin grumbled, not liking where the conversation was headed.
Katara waved him off. "You were well in your teens by then – a far cry from toddling little Iroh." Seeing no further comment coming from her companion, she gestured to the side buildings. "Do you want me to call on the Air Acolytes to prepare Oogi tonight? I had them bring him to the barns as I thought you'd be staying overnight. They can easily prepare him for your quick trip back to Republic City though."
"No, it's fine." The tall airbender was starting to hate that word: fine. "Oogi's probably resting already. And I haven't decided yet if I'll stay tonight," His equanimity would be sorely tested should he see Lin now. "I can always borrow a glider to get back to the mainland."
"Well, if you're sure," His mother gave him a side hug. "You know your father and I are always here for you and Lin, right?" She felt him nod. "Don't stay out too late – it's a bit chilly these nights."
Lin fought with herself as to whether she should drop a call to Air Temple Island at this time. She wanted to speak to Tenzin. Correction: she needed to apologize for forgetting about the family dinner.
Seeing that it was almost midnight with no hint of Tenzin or Oogi in sight, Lin decided to risk waking the household up.
"Pick up, pick up," Lin murmured as she heard the phone ringing.
Unbeknownst to her, the raucous cacophony made up by a drunk Sokka, Bumi and Kya drowned out other noises within Aang's house.
Rolling his eyes as he saw Bumi throwing back a large tankard, Tenzin decided to retreat to his bedroom to bid his time before going home to Lin. There was no way he would allow himself to be dragged into Sokka's drinking game, which was likely to happen should they see him crossing the threshold to glide away. With a highly skilled waterbender in said drinking group, he did not want to take any risks of possibly being pulled into the ocean at this late hour.
With fatigue eventually overcoming him, Tenzin barely felt the mattress shifting nor did he feel the bed dip with the weight of another person joining him. He sighed sleepily as he curled closer to the source of warmth beside him.
Note: Originally posted in AO3 and tumblr. Posting this here as well :)
This is actually the first fanfic I wrote (even before Contentment and Airbender's Wife. Let me know what you think; hope you give this story a chance.
Not sure if this plot has already been done, or if this is a familiar trope already, but just the same I'll be posting it here as I've started to rediscover the fandom recently. I've been fascinated by the Linzin pairing and I wanted to give it a shot. There was something very poignant about them and while I'm a sucker for angst, I wanted to try to give it a try to give them a happy ending. This is also non-canon compliant, obviously.