Lin meets the Beifong family lawyers, and later has a difficult conversation with Nuna
A/N: **Just a general disclaimer that all legal proceedings in this fic are of my own creation, and they will not be accurate.**
"Lin this is Himiko and Daichi. They are our lawyers, and will help us to protect you and the kiddos." Toph said, nodding her head in the directions of the woman and man that stepped into Katara's office. Lin was sitting beside her on the couch, one hand on the swell of her belly, and the other clasping her mother's tightly. Kya was seated on Lin's other side with her arm wrapped supportively around her waist, as Lin had requested that she be in the room.
"Hello Ms. Beifong, Master Kya, Chief Beifong." They both greeted, bowing slightly in respect. The two took the seats across from three benders.
Kya was slightly surprised that they didn't pull out notebooks, but she supposed they were trying to make Lin as comfortable as possible for the first meeting.
"Ms. Beifong, I know these circumstances are not the best to meet under." Himiko started, a kind expression on her face. "I just want to express to you our commitment to making sure that justice is served on your behalf. I and my partners will do everything we can to ensure that we win this case, you have my word." A steely glint flashed through her eyes, and Kya could tell that she meant every word.
Daichi nodded in agreement. "I know that my presence here may be a little unsettling for you, so if you ever need me to step out of the room, just say the word."
Lin swallowed and nodded politely. "T-Thank you both." She said quietly in response.
They both smiled reassuringly to Lin. Himiko was a tall woman of Fire Nation descent, as her golden eyes denoted. Her silky black hair was pinned back into a professional, neat bun, and her makeup was classy but subtle. She wore a smart blouse and skirt with a burgundy robe on top. Daichi was in a business suit that was a dark green that contrasted nicely with his lighter green eyes. His brown hair was perfectly coiffed back. But despite them looking unreachable in their professional personas, Lin could feel their sincerity in their words and expressions.
"Now the police have requested your presence to give a statement, and if you are open to it, it is best if it is done in the next couple days. The sooner the police have their case, the sooner we can get this to the council for a trial." Himiko began. "I know this seems sudden, but we are hoping to get this put through to trial quickly. Doing so will allow you to put this all behind you as quickly as possible and allow you and your children to be able to heal."
"Himiko will be in the room during the interview to ensure that you are not coerced to answer any questions she thinks are inappropriate or irrelevant. It will be important to wait to answer the officer's questions until she gives you the go ahead."
"My officer's better not be asking any inappropriate questions." Toph quipped. She turned to Lin and squeezed her hand. "I will be in the room too, so you shouldn't have to worry, badgermole." She added softly.
Lin swallowed, and her hand tightened slightly around the material of her dress. "Wh-what sorts of questions will they... They be asking?" She asked nervously.
"Quite frankly, Ms. Beifong, they will be asking you everything. They will want to hear about your abduction in your words, so that they can match it to the old evidence. They will want to know what happened after that, and how you came to be with your husband. What he did to you to get you to comply and stay without alerting the authorities." Daichi answered.
Himiko nodded. "The defendants are going to argue that you wanted this. We will need to provide evidence that you didn't. Thankfully we have the evidence of the abduction from 10 years ago on our side. And the letter they sent does not look good in their favour. Not to mention Avatar Aang and Master Kya's testimonies of what happened when they arrived."
Kya could feel Lin begin to tremble and as she ran a smoothing thumb over Lin's side, she gently placed her other hand on top of Lin's that was now gripping the fabric of her dress over her belly tightly. Lin glanced over to her, her jade eyes filled with fear of having to talk about everything.
"It's okay Linny, I know you can do this. Take your time, and take breaks when you need to."
Lin nodded at Kya's reassurance. She felt the waterbenders words were like her healing, spreading a cooling calm throughout her body. She relaxed her grip of her dress, and allowed Kya's fingers to thread through hers. Lin turned back to the lawyers. "Okay. Let's get it over with quickly." She finally said. "But… could… could Kya come too?"
"Are you going to be most comfortable and able to answer their questions if Master Kya is with you?"
There was no hesitancy is Lin's response this time. "Yes."
"There should be no issue with it, badgermole." Toph assured her daughter. "We often allow this to happen with… similar situations, so don't worry." Toph avoided calling Lin a victim, as she had always hated that word. Her daughter was a survivor as many women before her. She would survive this too.
Lin gave her mother's hand a squeeze of gratefulness, a small, relieved smile gracing her face.
The two lawyers coached Lin on how the interview would go, and how to answer questions.
"Before we leave for today and get the interview scheduled, there is one last topic we need to address." Daichi said, looking hesitant for the first time.
Himiko straightened up and she nodded. "The courts will also need Nuna's testimony of what happened too. It is best, due to the events, that she do this without you being in the room, Ms. Beifong. However, we would encourage another adult that she trusts to go in with her to make her more comfortable. It will be done in a less formal way, as most interviews with children are."
Lin froze. Icy dread filled her veins. "No, no, you don't understand." She felt clammy, but she needed to protect her baby. What would the world think of her, if they knew she could bloodbend… She hadn't even spoken to Aunt Katara yet about helping to train Nuna so that she didn't hurt herself or anyone else by accident.
"Lin, she will be okay. She is a strong girl. She will just need to tell them what she saw, and how she got hurt." Kya said, trying to reassure her friend.
Lin closed her eyes as tears started forming, she knew she would have to tell them now. There was no way out of it. "There is something you need to know… Nuna, she is going to need protection… The public can't know."
"Know what, badgermole?"
"Nuna… she's a…" Lin swallowed, "she's a bloodbender." She finished in a whisper.
The other four gasped, and then the room went dead quiet.
"How…" was all that left Daichi's mouth as he gaped in horrified shock.
The young mother swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I… I didn't know until that moment. But Tulok's family are waterbenders who can bloodbend without a full moon. And then… then there is me, I am a second generation metalbender… So I suppose she is able to bend the iron in blood. I… I was hoping to speak with Aunt Katara to give her training to control it. I don't want her to hurt herself by accident."
"Mom… she will be happy to help with that. Are the others…" Kya trailed off, her unfinished question hanging in the air.
"Tarrlok is, as was his older brother, Noatak, but he left almost 3 years ago now. A-as for my other children… They haven't shown signs yet, but I would assume that they probably also are. They are so young…" Lin sniffed, trying to hold back her tears of despair. She knew she wouldn't be able to protect her children from the scrutiny of the world, despite her best efforts.
"We'll protect them, baby." Toph said with conviction in her voice.
"And we will do our best to keep it out of the trial." Himiko promised. "But we can't account for the defendants not using it to their advantage. You will need to prepare that it may come out."
Lin, while reassured by the others, couldn't help but still feel an anxious bubble in her chest.
Lin found Nuna later that afternoon tucked into a window seat with a warm blanket and one of Kya's old books from her childhood.
"Hey pebble." Lin said, tucking a stray hair behind her daughter's ear.
Green eyes looked up from the pages of her book and a small smile graced her lips. "Hi Mama."
"May I join you?"
Nuna shifted forward a little, making space for Lin to sit behind her. She then settled back into her mother's side, tucking a bookmark into the book and setting it aside.
"I'm sorry we haven't really had a moment, just the two of us." Lin said softly, wrapping one arm around her first baby. Her other hand brushed over her forehead. "How are you feeling pebble?"
The young girl looked out the window, biting her lip. "I don't understand why. Why did Daddy hurt you? Why did he hurt me?"
Lin's heart broke at hearing her daughter's words. "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry." She pulled Nuna up onto her lap, despite it being a tight squeeze because of the baby bump, but she held her tightly. Nuna buried her face into Lin's shoulder. "Your father… he didn't mean to hurt you baby. He loves you so much. Never forget that, okay?" Lin said, hoping that she was able to reassure her child.
Nuna pulled back, tears falling down her face. "But does this mean he meant to hurt you?"
The young mother felt her heart stutter in her chest. "Nuna… I… my relationship with your father…" Lin swallowed. Her baby was almost 10, but Lin felt that with everything that has happened and will happen soon, that her baby was going to grow up too fast. She was unsure how to tell her without traumatizing her further. "It's complicated, love. I will tell you more when you are older, but right now a lot of that isn't meant for someone your age. I don't want you to worry about me, okay? It's going to be really hard for a while, and it's okay if you have a lot of feelings. You can always come to me, pebble, always."
Nuna sat there, her jade eyes, so much like Lin's own, staring right into her mother's. After a bit, she finally nodded, realizing that she wasn't going to get more out of her mom at the moment.
Lin placed a kiss on her forehead, before pulling her into another hug. "I love you so much, pebble. So, so much. And none of this has anything to do with how much your father and I love you and your siblings, okay?"
"But he still did something bad." Nuna said into Lin's chest.
"Yes, he did, and that means he is facing consequences for his actions." Lin pulled back and cupped Nuna's face, wiping her damp cheek. "It may be a while until you see him again, but I know he loves you, okay?"
Nuna just nodded slightly.
"I wanted to talk with you about a couple more things. The first is that I am going to be asking Auntie Katara to help you control your bloodbending. I hope that Tarrlok will also join in on those lessons, and eventually your siblings. It is dangerous if you don't know how to use it. I don't want you to get hurt by accident."
"Okay Mama, Auntie is nice." Nuna actually looked fairly excited about the thought of working with the older woman.
Lin smiled, "yes, she is. And I have heard she is a kind and fair sifu, at least that is coming from Uncle Aang. Though he may be a bit partial as he had a crush on her." Lin winked as Nuna giggled at that. "Maybe asking Aunt Kya will be a better option, hmm?"
Nuna nodded, still grinning in amusement. Lin wished she didn't have to spoil the good mood they had just gotten back to. But she knew that she needed to prepare her daughter.
"One last thing I want to talk to you about, okay? And then maybe we can go make some hot chocolate for everyone, what do you say?" Lin hoped that Nuna wouldn't be too upset.
"Oh, yes! Do we have whipped cream too? You know Tarlo loves his with lots." Nuna said with excitement.
"I am sure we can ask Auntie Katara if she has some that we can make." It melted Lin's heart whenever Nuna was such a caring big sister. Lin kissed Nuna's head again, trying to avoid the conversation for a moment longer.
"What is it Mama?"
Lin sighed. "Sometime in the next few days, the two of us need to go to the Police Headquarters."
Nuna frowned. "Is this because of Daddy?"
"Yes, love. We need to tell them what happened. I know it's scary, I am scared too. But we will get through it okay?"
Nuna looked up at her with round eyes. "But I don't want him to be mad at me."
"I know sweetie." Lin cupped her cheek. "But what he did isn't right, you know that. That is why you tried to stop him." She wiped a new tear that slipped out. "You are my brave and loving daughter, and I am so proud of you. Never doubt that for one moment, pebble. Not one moment." Lin made sure that Nuna nodded before continuing. "When the officer speaks with you, I want you to answer them truthfully okay? Don't worry about your father, or me, okay?"
The young girl nodded again. "You'll be there right?"
Lin shook her head and her gut clenched at the disappointed look on her baby's face. "I'm sorry, pebble, but I can't be in there. But you can have anyone else go with you. Grandma, Aunt Kya, Auntie Katara, Uncle Aang… any of them, okay?"
Nuna nodded, but clung to her mama, burrowing her head back into her neck. "I'm scared." She whimpered.
"I know, baby, I know. I am too." Lin held onto her tightly, her nose in her daughter's hair. She breathed in the comforting scent of her daughter. "But we'll get through this. Together."
