Lin, Opal and Bolin set out to scope out Zaofu, and meet up with the World's Greatest Earthbender.
Disclaimer: Many parts of this chapter are taken right from the transcripts of Legend of Korra. Credit goes to the writers.
Lin was glad Saikhan had asked her to attend the meeting with him. She donned her special armour that was made for her when she was helping the police force. It was very similar to her previous Chief's uniform, but instead of the thick gold trim, she had a bright emerald green, with a thin strand of gold on the borders. Her badge was also a matching green with gold trim.
She gave Bumi and Haru a hug and kiss, before leaving the house to attend the meeting with the leaders of the other nations that were still in the city from the coronation, which was just Tenzin, Raiko and Fire Lord Izumi.
Lin couldn't help but agree with Raiko on his points. But conceded, once they received the information from Korra and Bolin, who had both interrupted with Opal and Varrick respectively, that protecting Republic City's borders did make the most logical sense.
After the meeting concluded with no help being offered for Su's family, Lin made a quick exit to the nearest phone.
Thankfully Bumi was home and answered the phone quickly. "Beifong residence, Bumi speaking."
"It's me."
"How did the meeting go? When are they going to get Su and help Zaofu?"
"Bumi, they aren't going to help. The other world leaders would not get on board with reclaiming Zaofu. They are going to defend Republic City and that's it." Lin let out a sigh, rubbing her temple. "You realize what this means right?"
"Go get your sister back, Linny. I will take Haru and head to the Island, just as an extra precaution."
Lin closed her eyes in relief, but also part of her was terrified. "Thank you, love. Give our boy a hug and kiss from me."
"Be safe, I love you."
"I love you too; both of you."
She hung up the phone. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.
Lin set off outside, finding her niece talking with Bolin.
"Pardon me, lovebirds, but I need a word with Opal." Lin gestured to the side and Opal walked in that direction. Bolin went to follow her, but Lin raised her hand to stop him. "Privately." A couple years ago she would have included him in their conversation, but he had lost that right when he left to support Kuvira against their - her - advisement.
Opal looked up at her Aunt in concern once they were alone.
Lin sighed. "I'm sorry, kid, but Raiko couldn't convince the other leaders to attack Kuvira."
Opal frowned as she processed what her aunt said, "so our family…"
Lin looked away for a moment, then back to her niece. "Looks like we're going to have to save them ourselves."
"Don't you think some other people would agree to go with us?"
"This is an unsanctioned and dangerous mission into enemy territory." She cast her eyes down. "We can't ask other people to risk their necks for our family." She then looked Opal in the eye. "If we want to break them out, we'll have to do it alone."
"But what about Haru, what happens if you get hurt or captured? I can't ask this of you Aunt Lin."
Lin placed a hand on her niece's shoulder. "Bumi has him. He already knows what we are going to do. We both understand the risks, and we both know that this needs to be done. So let's focus our efforts on our family, okay kid?"
Opal nodded and hugged her aunt, even with the uncomfortable armour. Lin wrapped her arms around her as well, both drawing comfort in each other.
They were walking back to where Korra and Mako were talking, Bolin seeming to have left already, when they noticed Jinora appear suddenly in her spirit projection.
"Korra! The vines! They're taking me! Help!" She called out, before vanishing.
Lin sprung into action, and quickly ran off in the direction of the spirit wilds. She hoped Mako had the sense to call for backup.
When she arrived at the entrance to the spirit wilds, she was happy to note that there was already a police presence arriving. Lin took charge as Saikhan was not at the scene, the officers quickly followed her directions.
"Get everyone out of here. Put up a perimeter. Cancel all tours. Somebody get a hold of Tenzin."
Korra and Mako ran up to the scene, joining her near the blockaded entrance. "We gotta get in there and find Jinora."
"I don't think anyone should be going in there right now." Lin said, disagreeing.
"I know I'm not the old Avatar I used to be, but I can do this." Korra replied assuredly, her fist tightened in front of her chest.
A vine suddenly emerged from the wilds, narrowly missing all three of them.
Lin turned to both of them with a concerned look on her face, but she resigned to agreeing. "Be careful."
Korra nodded, and Mako gave her a small smile. "We will Mom," he said quietly as he passed her, before following Korra into the wilds.
Thankfully a couple hours later, and after Korra and Mako left to visit Zaheer, Jinora and the others made it out of the spirit wilds. Lin commanded the officers to continue keeping the wilds locked down for the time being and to report back to Saikhan.
Lin hitched a ride with Tenzin and the others to Air Temple Island, where she quickly set off to find Opal, who was already preparing Juicy.
Lin tried not to grimace at the sight of the leaking air bison. 'Disgusting' she thought as she saw it blow a snot bubble.
Opal turned to her aunt. "You made it. I almost have everything loaded. Uncle Bumi gave me a bag for you and helped gather some supplies for us."
"Perfect." Lin launched herself onto the back of the bison and gestured for Opal to pass her up the next bag.
"Where are you going?" The two Beifong women look up to see Bolin running towards them.
Opal looked at him, anger showing on her face and in her tone. "We've got some family business to take care of." Lin decided to let them speak, not wanting to speak with the young man at the moment herself, and quickly set about taking stock of the bags and supplies.
Bolin looked down, wringing his hands. "All right, listen. Before you go, I just want to tell you that I understand how you feel. I know there is nothing I could do or no big gesture that could make up for all my mistakes, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying to win you back because... I love you."
Opal glanced back over her shoulder at him in surprise, before turning away again. "Thanks for saying all of that." She said softly. Bolin started to leave dejectedly, but stopped when she kept talking. "You know... there is one thing you could do to win me back."
Bolin turned back to her eagerly. "What is it? Yes, I'll do anything!"
Opal turned to face him fully this time. "Come on a secret mission with us."
"Where to?"
"Zaofu. We're going to rescue my family."
Bolin's facial expression became serious. "Of course, I would love to help."
Lin sighed in preparation of being stuck on an air bison with the quarreling couple. She was thankful though, that they had someone else coming. It never hurt to have another bender on their side who understood the risks. Not to mention, it was partially Bolin's fault. She sighed again thinking about the sweet boy who had cried when she asked him to be part of her family; she pushed away the hurt that brought up because he ended up leaving too.
"Let's get a move on you two." She called down to them gruffly.
Opal's sky bison landed on the outskirts overlooking Zaofu. The three disembarked and made their way to the edge of the mountainside to get a better view.
"All right, let's do this!" Bolin said. He turned to Opal. "Saving the Beifong's and saving our love, because I vow to repair the rift that has grown betwixt us and make us whole again!"
Lin, irritated due to listening to Bolin speak nonstop on the trip over, walked between the two and gave Bolin a small shove as she passed him. "You. Zip it. Now. I had enough of your babble on the way in."
"Yes, ma'am." Bolin replied timidly, Opal not being the only Beifong he needed to make amends with and he didn't want to make Lin more upset with him. They both then followed the elder Beifong to the edge, crouched out of sight and observed the city.
"Kuvira tore down all the domes. Why would she do that?" Opal said in shock. She could hardly look at the state of her beloved home torn up like this.
Lin pulled out a spyglass and surveyed the city below. "She's got a whole battalion of troops stationed there. There's no way we'll be able to spot anything useful from here. We'll have to go in for a closer look."
"Don't bother. All the prisoners have been moved."
The three turn, startled at the voice.
Lin was shocked to see her mother's cloudy gaze looking back at her for the first time since Aang's passing. "Uh... hey, Chief."
"Hey, Chief." Toph responded.
Opal ran and hugged her grandmother. "Grandma Toph!"
Toph pulled back from the hug, put her hands on her granddaughter's arms, and squeezed slightly before letting go. "You were only up to my waist the last time we were together."
Lin glanced over to her left when she heard Bolin start to freak out. "Oh, man! Ohh, I can't. This can't be happening!" She rubbed her forehead in exasperation; sometimes she never understood this kid. 'Make that most of the time', on second thought.
Toph raised an eyebrow. "What?! Do you have to pee or something?" Which made Opal giggle.
Bolin shook his head. "No... well, now, maybe. You're my hero! My name is Bolin. I'm dating your granddaughter, I mean, kind of. I may have screwed that up, but that's why I'm here and you're my hero! Oh, I said that. Can I have a hug too?" He rambled. Lin is just grateful he doesn't mention her involvement in his life, or well... prior involvement.
"What's up with him?" Toph asked her eldest.
Lin rolled her eyes, ignoring Bolin's pout. "He's an actor." That one sentence explained everything, so Lin brought the subject back to the task at hand. "So, you already checked the city for Su? How did you know she was captured?""
"I've been living in the swamp and keeping watch on Zaofu through the vines."
Lin ignored the intruding thought that her mother obviously cared more about Su if she was only keeping an eye on Zaofu.
Bolin raised his eyebrows. "Sure, okay, makes sense." Though it was obvious he still didn't fully comprehend.
"By the time I got here, they were gone. I snooped around town and heard that they were taken away to some nearby prison camp."
Opal turned to Bolin with a newfound bitterness in her voice, glaring at him. "Where would that be?"
Bolin looked down, ashamed. "There's a factory and reeducation facility not too far away."
Toph turned her head in Bolin's direction, disbelieving his words. "How do you know that?" She asked accusingly.
"Bolin used to work for Kuvira." Opal said, her voice still bitter.
Toph turned in her granddaughter's direction, confused and agitated. "How did you end up dating the kind of dipstick who works for Kuvira?"
"Used to!" Bolin emphasized.
Lin began to walk away, done with this useless part of the conversation. "It's not his silver tongue, I can tell you that."
Opal guided Juicy along another mountainside as they approached the reeducation camp, trying to maintain cover so that they weren't seen.
Bolin turned to the two older Beifong's beside him. "So how long has it been since you two have seen each other?"
Toph sat relaxed, with an easy smile on her face. Lin, however, had her arms crossed, and a frown marring her face.
"Little while now. Couple of years." Toph said unbothered.
Lin turned to her mother, shock on her face at her blasé tone. "Try twenty." She said gruffly.
"Ah, time flies when you get to be my age. I'm surprised you came to save Su. I thought you guys didn't get along."
"Su and I finally worked out our old grievances."
Toph laid back on the saddle. "Good, glad we can put all that behind us."
"Right. 'We'." Lin replied sarcastically. She couldn't believe her mother could just sit there, uncaring. She knew her mother didn't care about much, but Lin couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt at the neglect of care to her feelings. Though Lin berated herself for thinking her mother would change.
Juicy touched down behind some rocks on the outskirts of the factory. They quickly scoped the area and entered through a hole Toph bent into the metal wall of the main building.
Both Toph and Lin used their seismic sense to try and locate their missing family members, which led them to discover a cavern below. A cavern that was unusually guarded.
They felt a rush of adrenaline as they were almost caught by Kuvira herself, but managed to hide. They managed to overhear Kuvira's plan to test the large weapon they had seen only a few moments before. After she and her men left, the four were able to return to where they left Juicy.
Surprisingly, it was Bolin that came up with an intelligent plan.
"Hmm. Kuvira wants every single one of her people to see the weapon test tomorrow, so the factory will be mostly empty then. That's our best chance to sneak in and free Su without being spotted."
Opal looked at him mildly impressed. "Good thinking, Bolin."
"Thanks." He put a hand to his head. "I kind of have a headache now."
It was now nightfall, and the four were eating a late dinner of their packed rations of instant noodle cups, with a pot of tea heating over a small camping burner.
Lin, faced away from the others picking at her food, and couldn't help but miss her boys. She should be at home right now, enjoying Bumi's wild bedtime stories while cuddled up together, but no… she had to be here with her mother of all people.
She heard Bolin speak to her mother behind her. "So let me ask you about metalbending. Su tried to teach me, but I couldn't get the hang of it."
"I used to have an academy to train metalbending. Even blockheads like you can figure it out with the right instruction."
Lin grumbled, "yeah, you're a real sensitive instructor."
"I did learn how to lavabend." Bolin interjected.
Toph replied somewhat impressed. "Really? It's a very rare ability." She smiled. "Maybe you do have some talent."
"I can't believe... you think I'm talented?" Bolin fanned himself, trying and failing to contain his excitement. "That means so much to me coming from my hero." 'You once said I was your hero,' Lin thought bitterly.
"Yeah, she's real encouraging." Lin mumbled sarcastically.
"Hey! I'm blind, not deaf." Toph called out to her eldest daughter.
Bolin tried changing the subject. "So here's something I've always been curious about: Who's Lin's dad?"
Lin whirled around with her eyebrows furrowed, eyes flashing, and lips pursed. A moment of silence ensued. Bolin gave her a scared expression, realizing he messed up. Again.
"He was a guy named Kanto. Nice man, but it didn't really work out between us."
Lin stared in disbelief. 'After all these years of asking and her never telling me anything, she tells Bolin of all people.' Lin was pissed, she turned away to ignore the others again, trying to get a reign on her emotions.
"Lin, I can feel your enraged breathing from here. Just say what you have to say and let's get it over with."
Lin turned to her mother, agitation in her voice. "Just get it over with? Yeah, let's not linger on the fact that I grew up without a dad. No need to get all touchy-feely about it. Just one of those things, right?"
"Hey, I forgave you for all your garbage a long time ago and Su and I worked things out. You're the only one who wants to hold on to this family drama nonsense for the rest of your life."
"Forgave me for what?!" Lin cut in. "And not knowing my dad is nonsense to you? It was pretty important to me. And until now, you would never even discuss it. You know, after Su and I patched things up, I thought, 'maybe I should try to reach out to mom.' But now that we're together again, I remember why we stopped talking." She watched her mothers eyebrows furrow. "You make me furious and you don't even know why. And when I tell you, you don't care. Once we save Su, you and I are finished."
Toph closed her eyes and sighed. "If that's your decision and it makes you happy, then fine."
Lin turned away for a few moments, before getting up and walking off.
Opal and Bolin awkwardly fiddled with their noodle cups, the tension was still very thick.
Opal turned to her grandmother. She felt compelled to try and help. She knew her aunt and grandmother still loved each other, but they were each so prideful and couldn't get past what had happened in the past. She found she agreed with her aunt though. 'How does Grandma not realize that what happened in the past has consequences? At least Mom realized what she had done wrong and apologized.'
"Grandma, can I ask how much you know of Aunt Lin's life since you last saw her?"
Toph sighed. "I know what happened between her and Tenzin after Aang passed. I saw her lose her bending to Amon. But I stopped watching once she started shacking up with Bumi. I can never un-see that now." She shuddered, not caring to think about if the kids even knew Lin had been with Bumi.
Opal frowned at her grandmother. "Wait, you knew she lost her bending and didn't go to her?"
"Eh, she was by then already rescued and about to go to the South Pole. I knew Sugar Queen and Sugar Princess were there and could help more than I could."
"But what about when she was imprisoned for days before that?" Bolin said. "Pema said when she was captured, she was brought to the jail with baby Rohan and Lin was already in the cell, badly hurt. From the time Lin was captured to the time Pema was brought there was at least 4 days."
"I couldn't leave with that many equalists around her. The city was overrun, and I couldn't lose my bending too."
"But you are willing to possibly lose your life for Mom and the rest of the family. What's different?" Opal asked, her arms coming to cross her chest. She, for the first time ever, had this overwhelming anger come over her towards her grandmother.
Toph shrugged. "Lin wouldn't have wanted me there anyways."
"But you're her Mom!" Bolin exclaimed.
Toph just set her jaw and turned her head away from the two kids.
After a moment, Opal spoke again. "So because you haven't been watching Aunt Lin, you should know that she almost died three years ago. If it wasn't for Mom, a Red Lotus combustionbender would have blown her up." She saw her grandmother's eyes widen behind the hair covering her face, mouth slightly ajar in shock. "You also wouldn't know that because of Uncle Bumi, she is really happy now. She isn't alone anymore."
Toph winced in shame, but continued to keep her face turned from the kids. She knew she'd fucked up more times than she has gotten it right when it comes to Lin. Lin always was her quiet, sensitive girl. Most would think Suyin was the most sensitive, but Toph knew that Su was just more expressive - if not sometimes dramatic. But Lin… Lin was the one who took everything to heart.
How could she have just stopped checking in on Lin? For three years? 'I really am the worst mother in the world. She could've died and I would never have known.'
Toph was pulled from her spiraling thoughts when a hand rested on her shoulder. "It's not too late to fix things. Don't let pride continue to damage our family. Trust me when I say you will truly regret not doing so." Opal said before moving over to her sleeping bag, Bolin followed to his own.
'What is that supposed to mean?' Toph thought, before bending the earthen stool she sat on into a raised platform where she laid down. She could feel Lin pacing in the background. There was definitely something different about her daughter, but she decided to give up trying to figure it out tonight. She had another daughter to save first.
