Lin Beifong wasn't sure why Raiko wanted her at the ceremony. She hadn't joined him on the visit to Zaofu two months ago. Tenzin had made the case for reconstructing the Earth Kingdom to Suyin, not her. She had nothing to do with their project across the border.

So why was it that after someone had finally answered Raiko's call and stabilized Ba Sing Se, Lin had to make a formal appearance? Couldn't they see she was busy? Crime never slept in Republic City, and after being away with Korra for so long, Lin was still catching up on developments that had taken place in her absence.

Su's replacement carried herself well. Lin would give her that. The Kuvira girl had a grave seriousness to her that Lin had never observed in Suyin. She understood the gravity of the situation and carried the weight of a massive continent on her shoulders. Despite that, she was youthful. She had the light of hope in her eyes for what the Earth Kingdom could be. Not the dysfunctional echo of a bygone era, not the pity of its wealthier neighbors, but a modern nation capable of standing next to the United Republic. Lin might have liked her speech if she'd gone to hear it willingly. Her applause at the end may have even been genuine. She wasn't sure.

After Kuvira spoke, Raiko took over the podium. As usual, the president found a way to make every situation about himself. What began as praise for Kuvira's initiative and ability to bring the warring factions of Ba Sing Se together turned into an anecdote about Raiko's past working for the city's most prestigious law firm. Anything to attach positive press to his administration.

Lin stood frozen at attention. She was used to Raiko co-opting every single event he attended. Yet when she looked over at where Kuvira had taken a seat, it occurred to her that not everyone at the ceremony was. The girl's face transitioned from shocked to angry to resigned over the span of a single minute. If she wanted to continue in politics after tonight, her poker face would need serious work.

The young man sitting next to her leaned over to whisper. A smile flashed across Kuvira's face, causing Lin to examine the man in more detail. He was tall, slender, and somehow familiar to Lin. With those thick glasses, he looked a lot like… oh, what was his name? Brown or something. Suyin's husband.

The pricks of a needle ran over Lin's spine when she realized who she was looking at. Her nephew. A grown man and complete stranger. In Lin's defense, he didn't resemble his mother at all. Not like Opal did.

After what felt like years, Raiko closed his mouth for the final time that night. The crowd burst into applause, relieved the ceremony was over. Lin directed event security in clearing out guests before making her own exit. On her way out, she overheard the woman of the hour yelling inside the venue's phone booth.

"-my reservation was bought out? Who does that?!"

Lin snorted. Must have been one of the Four Seasons Hotels. They were the only hotel chain in the city that let guests bid on already-booked rooms. Whenever there was a major event in town, their lobby would fill to the brim with upset guests who occasionally got violent. For the sake of the city's police force, Lin dearly wished the company would change their policy.

"I don't have that sort of money! This is robbery." Oh, now they were trying to convince this girl to buy out someone else. Typical. "Don't bother!"

The phone hit the wall of the booth with a resounding clang. Just like how Lin ended her calls sometimes.

It was rude of Lin to eavesdrop on someone's misfortune. She turned to leave, nearly running into her nephew. With his eyes on the phone booth, the man didn't get a good look at her. "Sorry, officer."

"Don't worry about it, kid." She stepped out of the way, suddenly eager to get back to her apartment.

He froze at the sound of Lin's voice. Lin forced herself to stand still as recognition spread across her nephew's face. "Aunt Lin… I-"

Before he could figure out what he wanted to say, Kuvira stepped out of the phone booth. "Baatar, tell me you found us another hotel."

Baatar! That was… wait. Lin thought that was the husband's name. Ugh. This was what she got for not talking to her sister for thirty years.

Baatar looked from Lin to Kuvira, frowning. "No, they're all full with 'refugees,' or people rich enough to flee the looting. Nothing remotely close to our flight out of here is available."

Kuvira growled. Only then did she look up and acknowledge Lin was standing in the empty venue with them. Her tone shifted. "Ah, Chief Beifong. Is there something I can do for you?"

"No. Forgive my intrusion. I was on my way out." Once again, Lin turned to leave, ignoring the needle pricks she felt as she turned her back on the pair.

"Aunt Lin, wait!" Baatar called out after her. She cocked her head around. "You… don't know of a cheap place we could stay for the night, do you?"

Lin grit her teeth. "Try Air Temple Island. Tenzin never turns a guest away." She hesitated, then added, "you might see your sister, too."

Twin grimaces. The two shared a glance, then asked. "Any other suggestions?"

Lin checked the clock on the wall. Quarter to ten at night. "Not at this hour. I know you two just got out of Ba Sing Se, but I still wouldn't send you to the east side at night." The east side had plenty of affordable lodging, but it was also a hotbed of gang activity.

Kuvira shrugged. "Maybe we can sleep on the airship. We have to be there at sunrise anyway."

"No, we don't have to do that." Baatar shuffled on his feet, neck receding into his shoulders. "I'm sorry to ask you when it's so late, but… is there room at your place, Aunt Lin?"

"There is not."

"We can pay you," he cut in. "We'll give you the money we brought for a hotel room."

Lin crossed her arms. "I'm not rejecting you to be cruel. I just… don't live like my sister does. My apartment doesn't have a place for visitors to sleep. The last time I shared my living quarters was with a protected witness."

"We don't need much. Last week, we slept in tents at Bosco Square."

"I don't want to be on the streets tonight," Kuvira added. "Not when it's just the two of us. We're not familiar with the area, and we're too exhausted for an effective watch."

At this point, there was no way Lin could walk away in good conscience. If she was going to acknowledge Su as part of her life again, that meant extending courtesy to the woman's children… well. Child and his business associate. She scowled. "I better not hear any complaints tonight, understand? Follow me."

Sighs of relief. "Thank you, Chief Beifong."

Lin led the two away from the venue to where her car was parked. "How did you all get here after the airship?"

"President Raiko arranged a car for us to arrive in."

"But not to leave in?"

"No."

Lin shook her head. "Typical Raiko. He only cares about appearances."

"I don't care what his motivations for supporting us are. As long as he gives us the aid he originally promised Suyin, we can tolerate his antics." Kuvira was talking to herself more than she was Lin.

Baatar shook his head. "I don't know what I was expecting from tonight. If we wanted to have credit stolen from us at events thrown in our name, we would have never left Zaofu."

Kuvira snorted. "Your last birthday party. That was ridiculous."

Lin stopped in front of her car. It was an older, dingy brown model. She'd parked under the same streetlight she always did, located three blocks away from the event center. Gesturing to the backseat, she told her guests to climb in. As Lin began the drive she'd taken a thousand times, the unfamiliar chatter continued on behind her.

Eventually, the conversation turned back around to her. "So… Aunt Lin. Is this an undercover police car?"

"No. It's mine."

"Hm." In the rearview mirror, Lin could see Baatar examining the cloth interior. "No offense, this just… isn't what I imagined a police chief driving."

"Flashy cars attract attention. Do you have any idea how many criminals would trash my car if they were given the chance?" Lin spoke from experience on the subject. She had once saved for months on a fancy convertible only to have it ruined in a week.

"So you park far away in an unassuming vehicle. They never suspect it's yours," Kuvira finished. "Smart."

"I suggest you do something similar. Don't invite any more attention to yourself than your mission requires. Marking your vehicle or lodging as special paints a target on your back."

"That's a good point. We'll keep that in mind." Kuvira hesitated, then pushed forward. "Chief Beifong… while you're in an advice giving mood. How does your police force handle riots peacefully? The ones in Ba Sing Se happen on a scale I've never seen in Zaofu."

Lin took a deep breath in. This was a far cry from the silent drive she'd been expecting to make back home. "There's no easy way to handle a riot. Prevention is ideal; the best riot is one that never happened in the first place. When that isn't possible, you need boots on the ground in every sector. Constant communication." Lin rambled about riot control for the remaining duration of the drive. Between the Equalist menace and the Water Tribe Civil War, the last few years had given her police force plenty of field practice. All the while, Kuvira listened to her with rapt attention.

At half past ten o' clock, Lin pulled into her single car garage. She made sure to leave extra room on the passenger side of the vehicle when she parked. After her guests for the night climbed out, she motioned for them to follow her up a steep, narrow set of stairs. Instead of using her keys on the apartment door, Lin bent the inside of the locking mechanism to the open position. It was a trick she'd learned decades ago when Suyin locked her out of their shared bedroom.

With a flick of Lin's wrist, the hallway light to her apartment turned on. To her right was a barren kitchen, its pantry barely stocked. To her left was a coat closet followed by the bathroom. Take five steps further, and one would stand in Lin's living room, complete with a couch, coffee table, and a radio. Her bedroom sat adjacent to the bathroom with a towel closet sandwiched between the two. There was only one window in the entire apartment, and it hovered over the couch, giving Lin a magnificent view of the street.

Lin stepped aside to let her guests in, observing their expressions as she did. Both parties were trying very hard not to look dismayed. She pointed them towards her couch. "There it is. Your place to sleep for the night. You turned down Air Temple Island for this."

"It's a nice place," Baatar reassured her. "This whole apartment must be about… five hundred square feet?"

"Close to it. I'm never here, so there's no point in paying for space I won't use." Lin didn't need to justify her life choices. Least of all to these two. "There's less to clean as well."

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Kuvira asked.

"Go ahead." Lin pointed to the correct door. She offered Baatar a seat on her couch while she stepped into her bedroom to remove her uniform. Lin had a tank top and pants on underneath, but the act of undressing in front of anyone made her feel vulnerable.

When she emerged, Baatar was sifting through the box next to her couch. "We like to snoop?"

He straightened up immediately, sending his glasses askew. "Sorry, Aunt Lin. I… noticed the reflection of metal inside and wanted to know what it was."

"They're service medals. I get one every time the police force closes a big case and the city feels like celebrating."

"And you keep them in a box? Not… I don't know, on the walls?"

She listened for malice in her nephew's questions and found none. Only genuine curiosity. "I tried that. None of the arrangements looked right. Now, there's so many of them that I don't bother."

Baatar straightened his glasses. "I only suggested it because Mom said that's what Grandmother did with her medals. At least until-"

"Until Su got better at metalbending and made a game of pulling them down." Lin fought a smile off her face. "I remember."

Lin had done it too as a child. Suyin would have been too young to remember it, but Lin had once broken her mother's medal of honor. She cried all afternoon, only calming down when her mother got home and bent the metal back into the correct shape. After chiding Lin for crying so much, she taught Lin how to undo dents and cracks in any type of metal object. Once Suyin was older, Lin put the lesson into frequent practice.

She sat down next to her nephew on the couch, enjoying the silence between them. Opal's interactions with Lin were otherwise pleasant, but the girl talked constantly. It was a relief to know someone in her sister's household was capable of shutting up.

The silence remained until Kuvira burst back onto the scene. She had her suit from earlier folded against her chest. In its place she wore a white tank top with green shorts underneath. Her bun from earlier had been replaced with a loose braid. She bowed before Lin. "Thank you, Chief Beifong. And thank you for accepting us on such short notice."

"Don't mention it, kid. I figure I haven't been much of an aunt these past…" Lin blinked. She looked over at Baatar. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"Twenty-four years, then." Lin stood to get herself a glass of water. "I'm not offering back pay, but I guess it's time I acknowledge your existence."

"I like being acknowledged." Baatar shifted when Kuvira took Lin's place on the couch. She sat significantly closer to Baatar, to the point where their knees knocked together. They leaned against one another in a not-so-professional way. "Did you know you had nephews and a niece before arriving in Zaofu?"

"I knew Su had kids. I didn't know how many." Lin leaned on the wall, nursing her cup of water. "She sent an announcement of your birth to my old address. Your brother too. After I didn't respond to the second one, I think she got the message. Hope you aren't offended that I didn't visit."

Baatar shrugged. "I was a baby. I wouldn't have remembered either way."

"True." She took another sip. "I know Opal has told me, but I still don't remember everyone's names. You're Baatar, and then…?"

"Then it's Huan. He has long hair. Opal is third. You know her already. After Opal are the twins, Wing and Wei."

"How do you tell the twins apart?"

"Are you looking for physical characteristics or personality traits?" Kuvira asked.

"Either."

"Wei is more likely to instigate situations. Wing follows him. They both like to get into messes around the estate." As Kuvira offered her explanation, Lin remembered that she'd used to be Zaofu's guard captain. Her assessment must come from experience.

"They sound like a pair of youngests." Lin tried not to project her own experiences onto the boys. "What are the age differences between everyone? I know Opal is seventeen."

"Huan is twenty. Wing and Wei are both fourteen." Baatar frowned. "We're very evenly spaced out."

All planned, probably. Lin wrinkled her nose at the thought. "And you all grew up in Zaofu your whole lives?"

"Yes. Until recently, I'd never spent more than two weeks outside the domes. Opal was the first one of us to move out." Baatar thought about how he wanted to phrase his next question. "I know Republic City is big. Do you see Opal very often?"

"She visits on occasion. We talk." Lin questioned whether she should bring up what she thought next, but she supposed it did relate to how the pair ended up in her apartment. "She and Tenzin told me what happened when you left for Ba Sing Se."

The two winced at the reminder. Kuvira addressed the matter first. "Things… got out of hand. It's not how I would have chosen to depart."

"Does that night have anything to do with why you're here and not on Air Temple Island, then?"

"A lot to do with it, yes. Even if it is returning the favor." Baatar frowned. "The day after Ba Sing Se was stable, Opal visited our forces. She yelled at her boyfriend before leaving without a word to me."

"She shouldn't have taken her anger out on Bolin. He wasn't even in Zaofu that night," Kuvira piled on, then cocked her head. "Of course, neither was Opal. She probably just assumes Su is being honest about everything."

Let's see. How much of this was Lin's business to know? A year ago, she would have avoided mentions of her sister like the plague. One thing Lin remembered clearly about Suyin was her propensity for drama. Lin still wasn't sure how involved she wanted to be in the daily theatrics. So she issued a neutral statement. "Both you and Opal are old enough to make your own choices."

Kuvira seemed to sense Lin's reticence. She apologized, "Sorry, Chief Beifong. I know you just made up with your sister. I just… think it's amusing that the second you aren't estranged anymore, Su finds a different relative to demonize."

"I don't think it's like that. Mother was just caught off guard. We surprised her with our campaign, and she felt blindsided. Once she sees more of what we're doing, she'll come around to support us. Opal too," Baatar argued. "I may not like what Mother said about me, but it wasn't 'demonizing.'"

"I wish it were that easy. Us being right is no guarantee of Su seeing the light. She portrayed Chief Beifong as a joyless witch for thirty years, and for what? Getting arrested over a crime she actually did commit?"

Lin sighed. She didn't want to drag up the past, but it was clear these two only had pieces of the story. Many a investigation could be distorted from the view of incomplete evidence. She rubbed her scarred cheek as she clarified the matter. "The arrest was only the beginning of it. After Su left for her grandparents, I thought I never wanted to see her again. When she sent me letters, I burned them. When Su ran away from Gaoling for an 'adventure' and our grandparents demanded I run after her, I refused."

She finished the last of her water. "I thought about her a lot more than I cared to admit. I knew if something bad happened to her on her travels, that I… I would be guilty." Pause. "Then a few years later, I heard she was getting married. From what I can tell, it sounds like her life turned out fine.

"So if I sound like a joyless witch in her stories… some of it is true. I think the law applies to everyone, and I don't let any wrongdoing slip through the cracks. That is how I became the chief of police." Yet for all the professional benefits of Lin's relentless nature, it cost her a great deal personally. There was no getting around the fact.

Kuvira considered Lin's revelations carefully. "Wanting the law to apply to everyone isn't a bad thing. One of the most enraging things about our work in Ba Sing Se is getting the Upper Ring aristocrats to accept that the rules affect them as well. They seem to think we're only there to manage the Lower Ring 'rabble.' It's better now that they don't have the Dai Li around to terrorize poor people, but old habits are hard to break.

"Even in Zaofu, there were people the guards couldn't touch. So when a regular citizen got caught smoking swampweed, they got imprisoned for a month. But when I caught Huan smoking it to 'improve his creativity,' he had to 'visit' the doctor for a few days. And I couldn't say anything."

Baatar objected again. "Huan made a mistake. Why did you want him to go to jail so badly?"

"I wanted there to be justice. Either you accept that abusing drugs is a mistake the doctor can cure, or you treat it like a crime. You shouldn't pick and choose which people get jail time and which people get treatment. That's what I'm mad at. Not Huan himself."

More drama that wasn't any business of Lin's. She issued another neutral statement. "It doesn't matter where you go. There will always be people who believe they're above the law. I've dedicated my life to proving people like that wrong… for better and worse."

"And I admire that about you," Kuvira insisted, an earnest smile on her face. Lin scowled at the flattery. "I'm grateful for all the advice you've given us already. Do I have permission to contact you in the future, Chief Beifong?"

"I'm busy enough with Republic City, kid. I can't sort out the lawlessness of an entire Earth Kingdom." Lin watched their faces fall at her response. She took things a step back. "If you send me a letter, I might write back. Don't expect a timely response."

Kuvira beamed. Baatar grinned at the sight of it, confirming a theory Lin had developed about these two. "Thank you, Chief Beifong. I appreciate it a lot."

"Hm." Instead of responding directly, Lin took her empty cup back into the kitchen. She glanced at the clock she had mounted in her foyer, and noticed it was creeping close to midnight. Lin had an early day tomorrow. She wasn't interested in any more chit chat.

When Lin returned to her living room, Baatar had shed his shirt and shoes. Lin had growing suspicions about how the couple intended to fit both their bodies on her couch. She pulled a spare blanket and pillow out of her closet and tossed them onto the coffee table. Before turning in for the night, she gave them one warning. "No sex on my couch. If you get horny, do it on the fire escape."

Baatar looked at her in shock. "You know we're dating? Did Opal tell you?"

"No one told me. You two are not subtle." Lin rolled her eyes. "It's only my business if you make a mess in my living space. Oh, and be quiet. The walls are thin."

"Yes, Aunt Lin."

"Chief Beifong. Before you go to bed, how do you recommend we get to our airship in the morning? Is it easy to catch a taxi from here?" Kuvira asked as she grabbed the bedding materials.

"If you're ready to go at six in the morning, I will take you. I wake up at five thirty. Goodnight." Lin closed the door to her bedroom, effectively ending the conversation. She could hear Baatar and Kuvira shifting around in the next room, but no obvious sounds of lovemaking.

Ugh. What an utter joy it was to have relatives in town.


A/N's: This fic could take place in the same universe as my other pre-Book 4 fic ("Division By Unity"), but knowing that fic isn't required to enjoy this one. I just love Lin and thought she would have an interesting perspective on this situation. Fun fact: her apartment layout is partially modeled after my own.

I don't know what else to say. This fic was going to be longer, but then I decided Lin probably wouldn't rise to any sort of bait to shit talk her sister. Lin might have lingering resentments, but she's also very aware of her own role in their estrangement and actively wants to be better by this point. So we didn't dive into all the topics I was planning to cover. Maybe another day, in which I replace the water with some alcohol. Until then, I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think below.