Linorra Week Prompt, 8/15: Bloodstain

Summary: While on the journey to the Southern Water Tribe to see if Katara can restore Korra's bending, Korra notices that Lin doesn't seem to be feeling well.

Disclaimer: Written on the drive to my new apartment. (My dad was driving. I can't drive.)

Pairings: Korra/Lin ("Linorra", "Korralin")

Author's Notes: Linorra Week is happening right as I'm moving cross-country and testing for my Tae Kwon Do third-degree black belt. AUGH.

Korra couldn't sleep. Again.

Oogi didn't have the stamina to carry Korra, Mako, Bolin, Asami, the airbending family, and Chief Bei Fong on the most direct route to the South Pole, so they were taking a small ship. Korra was constantly surrounded by water she no longer felt a connection to. The soft lapping of the water against the hull that Korra could clearly hear now that they were moored for the night was close to torture. So she tiptoed out of her room.

At first she wasn't sure what she was looking for; her mind was fuzzy with lack of sleep and she felt somewhat directionless. Then she realized her feet were carrying her to where Chief Bei Fong was sleeping.

Not that everyone else had been unsympathetic—quite the opposite—but the Chief (Korra couldn't help but think of her with that title, despite the fact that she had resigned) was the only one who knew how it felt to lose one's bending. Korra had asked her about it that morning when they were both unpacking their things; the airbending family had a large room on the boat, Mako and Bolin had a smallish room, and both Korra and Asami had their own rooms. The ship's captain had a room, but there were no other places for any guests to sleep. Rather than doubling up with Korra or Asami, Chief Bei Fong had offered to sleep in one of the common areas; Korra's room was really large enough for two people, though, so the Chief was keeping the few belongings she had brought on the trip in there.

"Chief?" Korra had asked hesitantly, nervous about talking to her about anything personal but sick of not being able to discuss how empty and frightened she felt without her bending.

"I resigned, remember? You may call me Lin, if you wish."

"Okay. Lin." Korra took a deep breath. "Did it hurt?" She could barely get the words out. "When Amon took your bending. Was it...painful?"

Lin regarded Korra steadily. "In every way possible, yes."

Korra blinked back tears. "I just feel so...so empty without my bending. I know I can airbend, but I can't remember a time when I couldn't waterbend. I'm cut off from the water. It feels lonely. Sad and lonely." Korra had begun to cry in earnest then, and had moved to turn away in shame, but before she knew what was happening, she felt herself wrapped in a tight embrace, and it was the Chief—Lin—who was holding her.

"It does feel lonely, doesn't it?" The voice was so gentle Korra hardly recognized it. "It feels half like missing a limb, half like missing a close friend."

"Yes," Korra sobbed. "That is it. Exactly."

Korra had been ashamed of her tears and tried unsuccessfully to stop them; she apologized for crying, but Lin had touched her hair and told her "Don't say you're sorry for your feelings. I know you're suffering. Go ahead and cry."

Korra didn't know how long she had stayed there with Lin holding her, all of her fear and insecurity and pain flooding out in loud, ugly sobs. Lin never complained, even when her shirt was soaked with Korra's snot and tears. Instead of complaining, she had told Korra that she was available if Korra needed to talk about the loss of her bending.

It had been so comforting. Korra had always loved hugs, any hugs as long as they were consensual, but something about the one embrace she had shared with Lin stuck with her. Maybe it was that Lin didn't seem naturally affectionate, so it must have meant she felt truly sympathetic toward Korra. Maybe it was that when Korra had stopped crying, she felt calmed and safe in the former police chief's arms, but as soon as Lin let her go she started feeling frightened again.

Lin was asleep now, or at least ostensibly asleep. She was lying on her side on a pile of blankets and not moving, her back facing Korra. As Korra crept closer, she noticed that Lin's shirt was oddly colored; when she was only a few inches from Lin, she peered through the low light to realize in horror that the back of Lin's shirt was covered in a half-dried bloodstain. The little cry of alarm escaped Korra's lips before she could stop herself; immediately Lin turned over to face Korra, tense and primed as if ready to leap into battle. She rubbed her eyes when she saw Korra, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Avatar?"

"What happened to you?" Korra whispered. "Your back..."

Lin's face fell. "I was hoping the bleeding hadn't started again..."

"But what happened? Was it the Equalists?"

Lin nodded. "I should change the bandages. I have some spare ones in your room, but I didn't want to wake you."

"I couldn't sleep. And even if I were asleep, if you're injured...I wouldn't mind. Come on, let's get you some new bandages."

Lin got up, keeping her face flat and free of emotion. Knowing Lin, Korra guessed that she was probably in pain and doing a good job masking it. She was dressed in a pair of loose cotton pants and a white tank top. After she managed to stop being distracted by the rate at which Lin's white shirt was turning red, Korra noticed that it looked like Lin's whole torso was bandaged. After Korra let Lin into her room and help her find her spare bandages, she peeled off the shirt; it was tacky with blood and stuck to her back. "I think this shirt might be a dead loss," she said somewhat irritably, as if the problem were the shirt and not how much blood she was losing. Korra saw that she was right; Lin was wrapped in bandages from waist almost up to her neck. "Korra, would you mind giving me a few moments of privacy?"

"Wait, what?" Korra blurted out. "You don't want help?"

Lin raised and lowered one shoulder so slightly Korra could barely see the movement; doubtless that kind of motion was painful for her. "I wrapped the bandages myself earlier. If you could bring me some water, though, I don't want these to get infected."

Korra shook her head. "If I were still of any use, I could use water to heal those."

Lin looked at Korra rather sadly. "You shouldn't talk like that. Your bending loss is only temporary, and even if it's not, you should never call yourself useless."

Korra sighed. "I can bring you some water." She went to the kitchen area where clean water was kept. She heated it in a kettle on the stove, wishing so hard it hurt that she could firebend to heat the water; Katara had taught her some non-bending-related things about healing, one of which included how to wash wounds and keep them clean. Korra had mentally scoffed at the lessons, believing she would always be able to heal with waterbending, and had only paid attention because she liked and respected Katara. Now she was glad she listened.

She brought the kettle of warm water to Lin, who was sitting on the floor facing away from Korra. She had removed her bandages, revealing long red stripes down her back. The wounds were deep, and clearly still open, appearing to have scabbed over only slightly. Lin turned to look over her shoulder at Korra as she entered. "Water. Thank you."

"What...um...what did that? It looks like it was a knife."

"No, a whip. I think it was a bullwhip. I didn't get a particularly good look, but it feels like I was struck several times along the same...trajectory, I guess you could say."

Korra forced herself to look more closely. There appeared to be four long, thick whip wales, but each wound was actually composed of many clustered strokes. "But...Tenzin and Pema, and the kids...they weren't hurt. Neither were a lot of the other prisoners...former benders..."

"I was being interrogated regarding your whereabouts. Before Amon took my bending, he said he would let me keep it if I told him where you were. Of course I point-blank refused. But one of his lieutenants thought it was worthwhile to try to torture me into telling them where you were. I gave them false information to try to throw them off your trail, but...that was of no help, apparently." Lin smiled feebly. "I'm sorry."

Korra failed to see why Lin was apologizing. "It's not your fault. I revealed myself to Amon when I tried to tell everybody the truth about him."

"Well, thank you for the water, anyway. I should wash these before it gets cold..." Lin reached for the kettle with one hand, keeping one arm over her chest for modesty's sake, but Korra pulled away. "It's okay. I can probably reach better."

Lin shook her head. "I wouldn't ask you to that."

"Lin, losing my bending was hard enough, but I was also a waterbending healer. It's bad enough that I can't heal you, but it's about killing me to see you injured knowing you were hurt protecting me and now I feel awful I didn't even think of coming to rescue you after I found out you were captured by the Equalists. Please let me help you with this." The words came out in a rush.

Lin thought for a moment before replying. "If it will help assuage your conscience, then you may help."

Korra dipped a cloth she had also retrieved into the kettle, wrung out the extra water, and gently pressed the cloth onto Lin's shoulder. Lin managed not to flinch as Korra moved the cloth over the wounds as carefully as she could, dabbing up the blood first and lightly scrubbing the wounds to clean them. Lin never moved or made a sound; her ability to ignore pain was almost eerie.

Korra slowly grew used to the sight of the deep, unsettling wounds, and her thoughts began to turn to Lin herself. She was of lean build, not unlike her mother, and even through the cloth Korra could feel the tightly wired muscles of her back. Korra ached to summon healing energy and pass her hands over Lin's flesh, making the ugly marks disappear, never to be seen marring Lin's body again. It was like defacing a beautiful work of art like a statue, Korra thought as she used the tail end of one bandage to dry the dampness the cloth had left. How could anyone bring themselves to mark up something so lovely?

"I think they're pretty clean now."

"Thank you, Avatar."

"You can call me Korra, if you want." Korra turned over the cloth in her hands. It had once been light blue. If she didn't wash it soon, it would be one big bloodstain. "Do you need help with the bandages?"

Lin shook her head. "I would appreciate the help, but this is nothing you need to see."

"I've already seen the, you know, whip marks," Korra protested.

Lin looked surprised. "I didn't mean the whip marks."

"Well...I don't understand." Korra's brow furrowed.

"I meant you shouldn't have to look at me," said Lin gently.

"Well, if you don't want me to, I won't look." But that didn't mean she couldn't help. Korra began wrapping one long bandage at Lin's waist, slowly moving up, staying behind Lin so she wouldn't violate the other woman's desire for privacy. When she was finished tying off the bandage, she asked "Is that too tight?"

"It's fine."

Korra laid her head on Lin's shoulder. She wanted to apologize, to blurt out that she was sorry, that she had probably been either aching to punch some Equalists in the face or gazing at Mako while Lin was being beaten, and it hadn't occurred to Korra once that somebody should go after Lin after she had risked her life for the airbenders. She was the last Bei Fong, a master earthbender and metalbender, former police chief of Republic City, and she had ties to Korra. Of course she was going to be terribly mistreated. She was lucky to be alive. She might have died trying to protect Korra, and she hadn't crossed the girl's mind once. The mental image of Lin's blooded bandages was burned into her mind now, an image pulsing with guilt. Korra couldn't manage to voice any of that, though, so she just whispered "Do you want to stay with me tonight?"

"That's all right. I get more rack time than I do sleep in my bed at home, so my body likely wouldn't know what to do with a comfortable bed."

"Um...rack time?"

"There are bunks in the precinct for when we're working cases around the clock. It's referred to as 'the rack', and sleeping there is 'rack time'."

Korra carefully put her arms around Lin's waist, trying to avoid pressing against or touching her injuries. "Please? I'm used to sleeping next to a big cozy polar bear dog. I feel comfortable with you."

Lin got up with a sigh, forcing Korra's arms to fall away from her. "I know you're feeling lonely and vulnerable right now. Trust me, I am too. But it would be seriously improper of me to sleep in the same bed with a seventeen-year-old girl."

"I couldn't sleep. I got up to find you so I could ask you to stay with me. We don't even have to, you know, cuddle or anything. I just want you to be there."

Lin snickered mirthlessly. "And bring everyone running when you wake up screaming after finding me next to you?"

"If I wake up and find you next to me, I'll probably give you a hug and ask if your back is feeling any better," Korra protested.

Lin thought for a moment. "Go ahead and get into bed. I'll be right back."

Korra lay down. Lin returned in a few moments, having put on some kind of loose overshirt; Korra felt disappointed for some reason. Lin was also carrying a chair with her, which she placed at the bedside. She sat down and reached for Korra's hand; Korra clasped Lin's hand tightly. "Can you sleep sitting up?"

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep, but I'll stay here if you want me to."

Korra moved closer to the edge of the bed and, in a moment of boldness, brushed her lips against Lin's knuckles. "Thanks, Lin. I'm sure I'll sleep fine now."

A/N: This is actually part of a larger story I will write if I have time (HAHAHAHAHA) but if Asshole Scott Card can turn short stories into multichapter stuff, so can I.