You are all wonderful, truly. Thank you so much for your kind reviews. When I say they make my day, I mean it. I also appreciate every reader, even if you don't leave a message behind.

There is some foreshadowing for Season 4 here, as well as a single spoiler for Season 3. I've already written ahead to the last chapter - there will be nine, by the way! - and I believe these are the only spoilers that managed to make it in.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! Enjoy!

Silence of the Sound

Chapter 6

Compared to the trip by ground, the flight did not take long. Within two hours, Oogi was beginning his descent. The house and its spacious property opened below them as the bison landed with a resounding thud. Lin and Tenzin were still for a moment, looking toward the dwelling. It was somewhat early in the night, not yet midnight, and the lights inside were still burning cheerily. A bleached sheet had been raised over the broken door to keep the winter chill out, but otherwise everything seemed just as it had the previous evening.

"Well," Lin grumbled with a heavy sigh, "let's get this over with."

Tenzin followed as she slid off Oogi's back, leaving their belongings in the saddle. "You really made a mess of his front door, Lin, do you see this?"

She gave him a sneer over her shoulder that gave no hint of a joke. "I wasn't exactly in full control of myself at the time. Or do you already not remember the whole ordeal?"

He was silent. Not for lack of response, but because the sheet had been pushed aside and an old man was peering at them from inside. Lin stopped so suddenly at his appearance Tenzin nearly collided with her. He came up close behind her and placed his hands on her tense shoulders, letting her know he was there for whatever happened next.

"I was hoping you would return," Weyoun said softly, smiling at them and standing to the side to make space for them to pass once again to the interior of his home. "Please, come inside out of the cold. Can I offer you something warm to drink? I still have the kettle on the fire."

"That would be very kind, thank you." Tenzin dropped one hand and moved the other down to the small of Lin's back when she remained stationary, urging her to move. She did, hesitantly taking the few steps inside.

"My name is Tenzin," he offered in way of a habitual greeting as they followed him into a spacious kitchen on the opposite side of the house as the sitting room they had been in before. He noticed Lin craning her neck to keep that room in view as long as she could before they turned a corner. "This is Lin Beifong. We apologize for the damage we caused earlier, it truly was an accident."

"Don't pay it any more mind. I can have someone fix it for me in a few days once the weather lightens up."

Tenzin glanced at Lin, jerking his head in a way she knew meant he wanted her to propose to fix it herself in a conciliatory gesture, but she scowled back at him angrily and made no such offer. Weyoun, not noticing their silent communication, went about gathering two more ceramic cups from the wooden cabinets over the sink and measured sweet-smelling jasmine pearls into sheer cloth bags. The water was already simmering, and he brought the entire kettle over to the table for them to pour themselves.

"Forgive me not being a full host, my hands shake these days. I don't mind so much for myself, but I would not want to make a mess of your drinks." He motioned for them to have a seat. Once they were settled with steaming mugs, he turned to Lin and gave her another warm smile that she did not return. "A Beifong, are you? I met your mother once, when I was much younger. She stayed here with me and my family for the night as she was passing by. A true firecracker, that lady. My boys adored her."

"Most people do," Lin muttered, turning her hardened gaze down to her tea as she took a sip and not pressing for more details. Apparently Toph had been everywhere and she was far too used to that by now to care.

"Weyoun," Tenzin said softly to bring the older man's attention back to him. "Lin and I came by earlier to speak with you about some things that have been going on in the town nearby."

He frowned and folded his aged hands on the tabletop. "Yes, of course. I assumed it was something along those lines. I so rarely get visitors these days, now that my sons are grown and my dear Vee Luo has passed." He nodded once, a firm expression on his face. "What has that wicked man done now? As if he could cause any more destruction than he has already done."

"Who are you talking about?" Lin asked rigidly, awareness caught again. She set her cup loudly on the table and caught eyes with Tenzin.

"The man who built the town you're bringing news from. My mind has been foggy in recent years, I'm not able to recall his name. Tall fellow, blue eyes. I try to avoid him when I go by, truth be told. Chel, the innkeeper – he and I are friends, he offers me a room for the night so I do not have to see anyone else before I leave with what provisions I came for." He sighed, his shoulders slouching in defeat that had been there a long time. "I wish that man had never come here."

Before either Lin or Tenzin could ask him to explain, Weyoun turned to Lin again, his gaze concerned and openly sad. "I'm aware of what happened to you the other night, I am truly relieved to see you are all right. I was in my garden covering some early vegetables against freeze when you arrived. Ku informed me of everything as soon as I came back inside, but you were already gone. I looked for you as well I could with no luck. I'd have never forgiven myself if anyone lost their lives because of us."

"I…"

Lin gave up on her response, not sure what to even reply to from his statement. Instead she just slowly shook her head and looked away, confusion and stale anger making her words hesitate on her tongue. She glanced to Tenzin, hoping he'd sense her discomfort with the situation and take over.

He did, inclining his head just enough for her to notice before asking, "Can you elaborate for us, please?"

Weyoun let out a long breath, looking between them with guilt. "You are right, of course, you do deserve the full story. Do you have time? I will have to start at the beginning, you need the entire picture in order to understand."

"We have plenty of time," Tenzin answered politely. "Begin wherever you would like."

"Yes, well, it started here when I was a child, you see."

He pursed his lips for a moment, staring down at his hands in thought. The silence stretched and, before Lin could hurry him, Tenzin slipped a hand from the table and placed it gently on her leg in an effort to help keep her calm. She clenched her jaw and sighed, forcing herself to relax again.

"Yes, when I was a child. There used to be a mining town just down the mountain, not far from here. We mined the most beautiful marble." He smiled faintly, the memories returning. "Once, when I was a boy, I went out to play in one of the older abandoned tunnels while the adults were working. I snuck past the barriers they had up and went far down, following the tracks and tracing the earthen walls with my hands. All I had was a lantern, but I saw it as a great adventure. I wanted to be a miner myself, like my father. They were in need of Earthbenders, I had only to wait a few more years until I was sixteen to join him."

Once again, he lapsed into silence. It extended for a few beats before he raised his head again and continued. "Well, the tunnel collapsed in on me. I used what little Earthbending skill I had at the time to keep from being crushed, but I was trapped regardless. The lantern went out. I was alone in the dark, shut in the bowels of the earth where no one even realized I had gone. I thought I was going to die there, and I surely would have if Ku had not come across me by pure chance."

"Ku?" Lin interrupted, unable to restrain herself when the name was mentioned a second time.

"The spirit who saved me," Weyoun explained with a faraway shine to his dark green eyes. "I was just on the edge of death, truly, when he came through the earth there. Air was gone, I hadn't the strength to keep holding back the stone from falling on top of me. I was ready to give up – and then, there he was. He gave me just a touch of his strength, enough to lift me straight through to the surface."

Lin and Tenzin glanced at one another, not sure where this story was going to lead to the present.

"That was that," he said shortly, laying his hands flat on the table and spreading his fingers. "I did not see Ku again for seventy years. I became a miner, just like my father, and worked in those mines until they ran out of marble. That is why your mother was here, Miss Beifong, to see that marble. It truly was some of the most beautiful in the Earth Kingdom. I never did let my own sons play in the mineshafts, though."

"This is all very fascinating," Lin said slowly, trying not to sound as frustrated as she felt, "but -"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Weyoun finished for her with a small quirk of the lips. "It is not just an old man's fancying of his younger years, though I wish it were." His face sobered. "Several years ago, Ku came back to me. I…am not exactly sure what had happened to him, though he had been injured in some way. It was as if his very essence – his soul, I suppose it had to be – had been split in two, and only half of him was able to return. He told me a Waterbender had done some terrible ritual in an attempt to gain control over him, but it had gone wrong somehow, ending with Ku being split the way he was.

"I gave the half that came to me sanctuary here, in a piece of marble. For a while, he would bind with me – since I had been spirit touched by him so long ago, my soul did not react badly to his – but it is horribly draining. I was only able to do so long enough to garner the information to find where Ku's other half is before I had to give up on that particular undertaking. Ku lost most of his own strength not long after. At least, the half here, with me, did."

"Let me guess," Lin muttered, scowling deeply. "Rala has the other half."

"Yes," Weyoun whispered. "You have to understand, when the halves split, they each took different parts of Ku with them. These halves are not equal, nor do they share the same qualities. The half I have is concerned for what is going on, empathetic and afraid, and rather weak. The half – Rala, is he, then? – has, is angry and dangerous and full of power. Two halves make a balanced whole, though apart they cannot exist in any kind of solitary equilibrium."

"So," Tenzin hedged as he digested this information, "is Rala using his half of Ku to…to kill people? That is extremely excessive, don't you think?"

"Tenzin, if he's had this power for years, he has probably taken the lives of more people that we're aware of," Lin pointed out quietly, covering his hand with hers where it still rested on her leg. "But, what I'm still not sure of, is why he suddenly wanted to get you involved in this?"

"I think I may know," Weyoun said. They both looked at him, and he took a deep breath. "You are an Airbender, am I correct? And so you have a connection to the Spirit World?"

Neither Lin nor Tenzin mentioned his daughter's bond was far stronger than his, but Tenzin nodded slowly. He turned his hand over to thread his fingers with Lin's, seeking her comfort as this unraveled. "Most Air Nomads do, yes."

"I'm afraid, Master Tenzin, he may want you as host for his Ku, to give him a physical body rather than his current unstable self. One who is spiritually aware can usually stand to have a spirit bond with your soul without facing death the way any other person would."

"Let me get this straight here," Lin said before Tenzin could reply – though he was a bit too flabbergasted to do so, anyway. Her fingers squeezed his almost painfully in her growing rage but he didn't pull away from her, needing the contact as she put the pieces together for them both. "Rala dragged us, dragged Tenzin, out here in order to let the broken half of a spirit leech off his body for all eternity like a parasite?"

"In theory, it may be possible."

She shook her head, glaring at her friend when he still didn't speak. "No. Absolutely not. We're leaving, right now. We're going home and leaving this mess -"

"What if we retrieve the other half of Ku's soul from Rala? Would the two be able to rebind with one another and repair the damage to Ku's whole self?" Tenzin asked suddenly, focusing on Weyoun rather than Lin. He could feel her eyes burning into his face, her fury palpable.

"I have been wanting to do that for a very long time," the other man admitted, "but I have been afraid to go anywhere near this Rala. He is very dangerous with the spirit, far more powerful than I am."

"Tenzin, no."

"We have to, Lin." He turned to her, but she pulled herself away to stand from the table abruptly and put her back to him, arms crossed tightly so he couldn't even reach for her hand again. He could only assume that her anger was brought from fear rather than him going against her wishes, but he would not be able to get her to talk openly about it until they were alone.

"I will go with you," Weyoun suggested readily. "I can bring the other half with me, so we can let Ku rebind as soon as we find the second half. Once that has been done, Rala will not be able to do anything to regain control over him."

Tenzin nodded in approval. "Do you know where Rala is keeping the part he has?"

"No, unfortunately. I know it is somewhere dark and closed from what I have seen, but otherwise -"

"In his home," Lin muttered under her breath. "In some kind of small locked chest. I…saw it the other night when – well, I just saw it. The clasps are metal, I can bend them open without the key."

"Thank you, Lin." Tenzin wished she would release her arms so he could squeeze her fingers once more, as much for his comfort as hers at that point, but she was still standing stiffly away from her chair with no intention of returning. "Shall we make our way over there after dawn?"

The other two agreed, Lin resentfully and Weyoun with enthusiasm.

"There is one other thing," Tenzin pointed out with some reluctance, trying to catch Lin's eye. "Should we attempt to contact the Earth Kingdom Army? Surely they have an outpost somewhere near here. Rala is a murderer, he will have to be arrested."

"Don't bother," Lin spat. "They're useless now that their Queen is dead, spread all over accomplishing nothing. And if you even think of mentioning Kuvira to me, Tenzin, I swear -"

He held up an appeasing hand before her temper could flare any worse. "She didn't even cross my mind. But what would you suggest, then?"

"He's still a citizen of Republic City by birth. I'll arrest him myself."

Tenzin couldn't exactly say he was surprised, and he could tell there was no talking her down now that her decision was made. She had angled her body away from him, putting the conversation to an end without any hope for it to be reopened. He felt his stomach clench with anxiety and did his best to push it away before moving on to the next hurdle of the evening.

"I do hate to impose on your hospitality," Tenzin said to Weyoun once the tension had dispersed into the silence, "but do you possibly have space for us to stay the night? We left town in quite a hurry and have nowhere else to go."

Weyoun smiled and braced his hands on the tabletop to stand. "Of course! My sons' rooms are always ready for use by the weary traveler, rare though they may be. Unless you only need one?"

"Two, please," he corrected gently. He noticed as Lin relaxed ever so slightly near the wall, her arms finally falling to her sides.

"You'll need to light the fires, if you want them – kindling and flint are on the mantle – but otherwise both beds are made. Come," he gestured and led them out into the hallway toward the stairs. "Right up here."

They followed him as he hobbled up the stairs and pointed to one room, and then another beside it. "I never did get electrical lighting out here, didn't see the point. There are oil lamps just inside for you to light. I'll be downstairs, I usually sleep in my sitting room. Let me know if there is anything else you need."

They watched as he went back down the staircase, disappearing into the room where the sphere of marble was resting over the fire. Lin reached for the doorknob of the first room, opening the door to let a rush of chilly air out. The space obviously had not been used in a while.

"Well," Tenzin said after a moment when it became clear she wasn't going to speak first, "I guess I'll see you in the morning."

He had taken a few steps down the dark hall when she called his name, and he stopped, turning around. She hadn't gone into her room yet, still paused on the threshold. She turned her head to look at him. "Why do you keep doing this?" she asked.

"Doing what?"

"Keep making such awful choices," she clarified, narrowing her eyes and averting her gaze to the smooth wood under her hand.

He retraced the steps he had taken, returning to her side. She was working very hard to keep whatever she was feeling from coming to the surface, but he could still sense at least a fraction of her distress. "Would you not make the same choice, if you were in my position?" he asked, coming close and brushing her hair to the side so he could see her face. "This is a matter of protecting people who cannot protect themselves. It has nothing to do with me. You do the same thing every day as Chief of Police."

"This is not the same, Tenzin, and you know it." She brought her hard eyes to his again, the sudden movement making his hand gently hit her cheek. "Your life – yours, specifically – is in danger."

"Yes," he conceded, meeting her angry stare with his soft one.

"I understand you're doing this to help Weyoun and the spirit and all the nameless people in the village…but can't you just stay here tomorrow and let me take care of it?"

"You…you want to go alone? You don't want to leave?"

She sucked in a frustrated breath through her teeth. "Of course I want to leave. But I'd rather keep you safe than watch you go through what I did, and if that means going by myself to Rala, I will. I can handle it just fine. Will you give me that much?"

Tenzin moved his fingers along her jaw before cupping her cheek in his hand. Her offer made his entire chest ache with adoration. "I can't, Lin. I have to go with you, you know that."

"I figured as much," she mumbled, shaking her head away from his touch. "Go get some sleep, Airhead."

He nodded, stepping away from her again when she broke his gaze completely.

But then, "Tenzin?"

"Yes?"

"There is one thing, that Weyoun said…" She paused, biting her lip for a second as she thought over her words. "About being spirit touched, and only those who have either that or a connection to the Spirit World being able to survive their souls binding with Ku."

She let the question fade, and Tenzin raised his eyebrows. "What are you wondering about?"

"How did I survive it, then?" she asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "I've never had either of those things."

Tenzin chuckled and lowered his head, rather amused by her confusion. "But you have been spirit touched, Lin."

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"By Korra, when she restored your bending," he explained easily with a lopsided grin. "She used the Avatar state to do so, which connected her to the spiritual powers of the past Avatars and the Avatar Spirit itself." Lin stared at him blankly, exhaustion making her brain sluggish. "She used spiritual energy on you."

She dropped her gaze abruptly and pushed the door further open, obviously uncomfortable at this revelation. "Right, then. Goodnight, Tenzin."

"Lin -" He reached out and touched her arm lightly, halting her retreat this time. She raised her tired green eyes to his again. He did truly have a question for her, but he realized then that part of the reason he was preventing her from leaving his side all of a sudden was because he did not want to be parted from her, even by a single wall between their rooms.

"What?" Lin pressed when he fell into silence. "Or are you simply not willing to let me go to sleep? Surely you're tired, too, numbskull." It was a joke, though there was a sharp edge to the words brought by sheer fatigue.

"I was wondering about something myself," he finally admitted, pushing his thoughts from seconds before into the recesses of his mind, hopefully not to return later. "So we know now Rala wants to use me as a shell for his half of Ku. Why, then, did the half here, Weyoun's half…attach itself to you? I was standing right beside you when it happened and felt nothing."

She heard the guilt in his question, poignant and hurting, and relaxed against the doorframe to look at him more closely through the semi-darkness of the hallway. His expression was pained enough for her to notice, but she did not reach out for him despite the twitch in her fingers that wished she would. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, searching for the correct way to phrase what she wanted to say.

"I don't know," she whispered after a second without breaking his gaze. "Aren't you supposed to be the spiritual guru here?"

Her ribbing didn't gain a laugh and she shrugged. "When it – he – was…was bound to me, I could tell how frightened and lost he was. Separated as the halves are, he wasn't able to express to me, necessarily, what was going on, but I could still feel the panic and desperate need to get back to where he came from – which I now understand as the need to find the other half of his soul."

She paused for a moment, finally cutting her eyes away to a vague point over Tenzin's shoulder, unable to focus for much longer. "With Ku split the way he is, he can't function. All he is now, is emotion and raw power, without the guidance and grounding that comes with the whole. Perhaps…perhaps he could feel the elemental bond we share through earth and thought I could help him find that other half again. Obviously, it went awry."

"Just a bit, yes," Tenzin agreed softly.

She chuckled under her breath. "We've really found ourselves a mess, haven't we?" She pushed off the wall and made to go inside her room and to the bed calling her name, feeling herself falling asleep on her feet. "Goodnight, Tenzin. Seriously now."

"Sleep well, Lin."

He watched as she closed the door behind her, cutting him off as she disappeared. No matter how tired he was – and he was very, very tired – he had a sinking feeling he would not be able to sleep well himself without her near him that night.