A Stolen Future
Chapter 5: Trust (Part II)
The door opened after the first knock, revealing a young woman in a pink robe.
"Are you Lin Beifong?" She asked.
"I-"
"-Yes she is!" Kya said, giving Lin a quick shove through the door.
Lin tripped forward and almost stumbled into the young woman, who easily dodged her, before catching herself on the door. Lin turned to glare at Kya, but it did not last long, as the young woman quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.
"Please follow me, Ms. Beifong, we've been expecting you." The young woman said, leading her down the hallway.
"See, Lin, what did I tell you!" Kya cheered, as she followed them down the hall.
The young woman stopped and turned to face Kya.
"I'm sorry, Kya, but this is a private reading for Ms. Beifong, please go back to the waiting room and enjoy some refreshments."
"Fine." Kya sighed. "I'll see you when you're done, Lin, and then I can say 'I told you so'."
Lin rolled her eyes and followed the woman to the door. The woman slid it open and, with a bow, gestured for Lin to enter. Lin took a breathe, walked into the firelit room and froze when she saw who was waiting inside for her.
"Welcome, Lin, it's nice to see you again."
"I-it's you!"
Standing behind the fire pit, in the center of the room, was the very woman who had caused Lin's worries, Aunt Jun. Lin was so shocked that she did not even register the door being closed behind her.
"We have a lot to talk about, Lin."
"What are you doing here?"
"This is my shop."
"You had a wagon."
"For a time, yes, but then I felt a calling to return to my home."
"Your home. . ."
"Yes, I believe your sister told you that my grandmother was Aunt Wu's apprentice."
Lin vaguely recalled that detail.
"She was wrong." Aunt Jun said. "My mother was her apprentice. Now, please, come have a seat."
Slowly, Lin stepped forward. She was filled with shock and apprehension. Everything in her screamed that this woman was dangerous and not to be trusted, and yet, she had been right. Suyin, against all odds, had been taken out of Lin's life -just as this woman had predicted. Lin had lost so many people in recent years, just as this woman had predicted. Rina was gone forever and Suki would soon be as well. Lin had to make sure that Tenzin would not join them; so she pushed down her distrust and sat on the cushion that Aunt Jun had indicated.
"So," Aunt Jun began, after sitting down, "you've had time to think about what I told you."
"You said that I had two paths in front of me and I'd already taken the first step."
"And you're worried that you're on the wrong path."
"Yes."
"Now, what would you like to know?"
Still feeling skeptical, Lin glanced at the bowl of bones and a thought occurred to her.
"Last time, you read Su's palm but not mine; where did your prediction come from?" Lin asked skeptically.
Aunt Wu chuckled.
"I don't always need to have a person present to check their future, and I have an interest in the future of the Air Nation. You're playing an important role in that future, so I've seen your paths."
"Will Tenzin die?"
"We all die, Lin."
"Will he be killed or die young?" Lin reiterated.
"No, he will live a long life and die as old man surrounded by his descendants."
A smile broke across Lin's face.
"Descendants? Will there be airbenders?"
"Oh, yes, many airbenders will come in the decades to follow."
"Our children will be airbenders?" She said, happy at the news that Tenzin and Aang's loneliness as the last airbenders would be eased.
"No," Aunt Jun said, replacing Lin's happiness with confusion, "Tenzin's children will be airbenders."
"But you said that there would be airbenders and he would be surrounded by his descendants."
"Yes, his descendants not yours."
"We're getting married, I'm going to have his children, they'll be my descendants too." Lin pointed out.
Aunt Jun grabbed Lin's arm and gripped it tightly as she pulled her closer and looked her in the eyes with a menacing glare.
"You will never bear his child! He will leave you for another woman and you will never love another man!"
Lin's eyes widened and she pulled away from Aunt Jun.
"You're lying!"
"What reason would I have to lie, Lin?"
"I don't know, but you said that Tenzin would leave me for another woman and he would never do that, so you must be lying!"
"I was right about your sister, wasn't I?"
Lin froze at the mention of Su's departure from her life.
"Do you really want to risk the future of the Air Nation by marrying him, despite what I've told you?"
Lin stared at the woman as she contemplated her words.
"Tenzin will ask you to marry him next week on the pavilion that you love so much. See if you still doubt me then. You can leave now, don't worry about payment."
Lin clenched her fists and left the room, slamming the sliding door as she walked down the hall. Aunt Jun was a charlatan, she had to be. There was no way that Tenzin would be leaving her and she was going to have his children, just like they had planned.
"Everything okay, Lin?" Kya asked.
Lin was pulled out of her thoughts by Kya's question. She forgot that Kya was waiting for her.
"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be?"
"Because you look mad. What did she say?"
Lin sighed.
"Tenzin will be fine. She just had to tell me that in the most annoying way possible." Lin said.
Maybe it was wrong of her to leave out the rest of Aunt Jun's prediction, but she did not know how Kya would react and did not want to deal with any more of her meddling.
"See? What did I tell ya," Kya said as she threw an arm around Lin's shoulder, "nothing to worry about, now you and my brother can get married and have some cute babies!"
Lin shrugged Kya off and marched out of the shop and back into the bright streets of Makapu.
"Wow, she really ticked you off." Kya said when she caught up with Lin. "What did she say?"
"It's none of your business." Lin said.
"Oh, it must have been something embarrassing!" Kya teased. "Did she advise you not to live with Mom and Dad, cause that could make the baby making process-"
Lin covered Kya's mouth before she could finish her sentence. She was sure her face was bright red and she looked around hoping nobody had heard what Kya had just said.
"Kya, you are barely back in my good graces -don't blow it." Lin warned the older woman before removing her hand.
"Fine, I'll try to lay off. . . on you. Tenzin is another story."
Lin rolled her eyes and began to walk away.
"Oh, come on, Lin! Aren't we gonna spend some time together?" Kya said as she followed Lin.
"I've spent the entire day with you." Lin reminded her.
"I've only been awake for a few hours."
"And before you were awake, I had to stay at the inn and keep an eye on you until I determined that you were fine -you're fine, go entertain yourself in a way that doesn't involve alcohol."
"Lin we were making progress, let's keep it going and hang out until Tenzin is done with whatever it is he's doing."
"Lin!" Tenzin called from behind her.
Lin could not help but smile at Tenzin's timing.
"It was nice hanging out, Kya." She said with a smirk.
"Seriously?" Kya complained, as Lin turned away to face Tenzin.
Tenzin was running to her and waving with one hand while the other was hidden behind his back. The stupid smile on his face was infectious and Lin could not stop herself from smiling as he approached.
"I thought you were helping your dad." Lin said when he stopped in front of her.
"I was, but I told him that there was something that I really wanted to do for you, so he let me go early."
Lin felt her smile grow more, as Tenzin moved the arm from behind his back to present her with a panda lily.
"Thank you." Lin said as she took it and held it to her nose to sniff. "I take it this means the volcano won't be erupting?"
"You'll have to wait and find out tomorrow like everyone else." He said. "Now, I was wondering if you would like to accompany for a hike and picnic."
"Can I come?" Kya asked.
Tenzin's eyebrow's rose in surprise as he noticed his sister for the first time.
"Kya?"
"Wow, what a great greeting for the sister you haven't seen in. . ."
"Four years." Lin reminded her.
"Yeah, you haven't seen me in four years and that's all the greeting I get?"
"I saw you last night!" Tenzin defended. "You threw up on me!"
"Well I don't remember that, so it doesn't count!"
As the siblings bickered, Lin could not help but smile. There was no way that Aunt Jun's prediction was true. She was a charlatan -a convincing charlatan, but a charlatan none the less. She almost had Lin fooled, but she had overreached when she said that Tenzin would leave Lin for another woman. How could the man who has stood by her through everything, leave her?
All Lin had to do was wait till the end of the next week, to prove Aunt Jun wrong. If Tenzin did not propose to her by then, she would have her proof that Aunt Jun was wrong. Once she knew that there was nothing to worry about, she would propose to Tenzin herself.
Unfortunately, Tenzin did propose to her the next week -just as Aunt Jun had said. Lin rejected Tenzin's proposal, telling him that she was not ready to get married and needed time to think. Could she still risk marrying Tenzin after everything that Aunt Jun had said? She did not want to believe anything that the woman said, but she had been right about so much, what if she was right about this? What if by marrying Tenzin she was dooming him to be the last airbender?
She never told Tenzin about Aunt Jun's prediction. On the night of his fourth proposal, she let it slip that she had concerns about her ability to bear children. Tenzin suggested she ask his mother to check if she was really worried, but Lin was worried that Katara's answer would put the final nail in her and Tenzin's relationship. After his fifth proposal, things went too far and she and Tenzin slept together. At first, she panicked, realizing what she had done. It was wrong, it went against the rules of society and the precepts of the Air Nomads. It would be scandalous if anybody found out what they had done. It would be particularly bad for Tenzin who was responsible for upholding the teachings of the Air Nomads.
What if she had gotten pregnant? That thought made her pause. Aunt Jun had said that she would never bear Tenzin's child, but if she could get pregnant that would prove her wrong and she would be free to marry Tenzin without fearing the end of the airbending race. It would still cause a scandal if people knew that she had gotten pregnant out wedlock, but the joy of a potential airbending child would outweigh it.
Lin was thrilled when her period was late, but waited a week before saying anything to Tenzin. Despite the circumstances, Tenzin had been over the moon at the news of their potential child. Lin had to remind him, multiple times, that she did not know for sure as he babbled about the future he envisioned with their child. Lin found herself getting carried away by Tenzin's excitement and later his parents'. It came to an abrupt halt when Katara tried to confirm the pregnancy and informed them that the amniotic sac was empty. There was no baby. A few days later, Lin's body finally caught on and Tenzin held her as she suffered a miscarriage.
Over the course of the next twelve years, Lin found herself bouncing back and forth between trying to follow the rules, giving into her desires, and secretly trying to get pregnant. There were several times when she hoped she was pregnant, and three more where she truly believed she was -only to be left in tears when her body betrayed her.
There was a part of her that said that she should tell Tenzin about Aunt Jun's prediction, but she was terrified that he would leave her upon learning that she may be unable to give him the children that he needed so desperately. The thought of a life without Tenzin was too painful to bear, so even as she steadily lost hope that she would ever really get pregnant, she continued to hold onto him for as long as she could. As the years went on, she began to put up more walls to prepare herself for the possibility of Tenzin leaving her. Despite her preparations, the thought of Tenzin leaving her just seemed too unbelievable; with his constant professions of love for her, his marriage proposals, and all the little ways he showed his undying love for her. It was unthinkable that he could leave her for another woman. . . until he did.
I had not realized how long it had been since I last updated. There are only two more chapters left, hopefully I'll be able to get them updated in a more timely manner now that things are settling down a bit.