Fathers (Part 2)

Kimi opened the door of her room at the inn only to see Lin, Bumi and Tenzin standing there, Lin and Bumi with wide grins on their faces. "Hey Sis." Lin said happily.

"Hi guys," the young woman replied, "What are you doing here?"

"We kind of need your help." Lin said, angling her neck to look around the room, "Is your mom here?"

"No. Come in guys, tell me what's wrong."

The kids stepped in and Bumi closed the door tightly behind him. Lin got right to the point, "You know, the way you stepped up and told Sokka who you were got me thinking. I don't know anything about my real dad." the little girl looked at Kimi, "You always knew that Sokka was your dad, I don't know anything about mine, only that his name is Moo-Chee."

Kimi felt for her, "I know exactly how you feel Lin, but I don't know how I can help you."

Tenzin spoke next, "We are going to the hall of records to see if we can find her birth certificate or anything else. We need your help in distracting the guard."

"Why do you need me for that?"

"Well, for one," Lin said, "almost everyone in this city knows us. Secondly, even if they didn't know us, you're better…equipped to distract the guard."

"And what makes me more equipped?" Kimi asked wondering why they chose her.

"We were hoping you could use your feminine wiles to distract the guard." Tenzin answered.

"And you think that will work because?"

"It's because, well," Tenzin stammered rubbing the top of his bald head nervously.

Bumi stepped in, "It's going to work because you've got a rack that could stop a tank." They all gave Bumi strange looks, he shrugged, "Hey, what can I say, before I knew you were family I took a good look." he turned to his brother, "You know you did too Tenzy." The young air bender blushed.

"Will you help me?" Lin asked, "I just want to know who he is. You know what that's like."

"Yes, I do." Kimi answered, "Let me get dressed and we can go."

.~.~.

Kimi strolled into the hall of records and up to the desk where the guard sat turned around in his chair. "Excuse me," she said in a melodic tone, "I think I'm lost. I could really use your help."

"Well this is not the information desk," he snipped, "it's the hall of records. If your lost I suggest you go-oh-" he said as he turned around and caught an eye full of who was at his desk.

There Kimi stood in a simple, sleeveless, knee-length dress that was cut very low at the neck and very high at the right hip. Her long curly hair cascaded down her back where she had her hands clasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry to bother you," she said with a pout, "I'll just be going then."

She turned and pretended to start to leave, exaggerating the sway in her hips as she took a few steps. "No, I can help you." the man said jumping up from behind the desk and going after Kimi. She smiled as Lin, Tenzin and Bumi snuck down the hall to the records room.

.~.~.

It wasn't hard for Lin to find her and her mother's name in the records room, after all there weren't very many Beifongs in the world, and they were the only two in the city. They went through her small file first. The only things in there were copies of her school and a copy of her birth certificate.

"Hell no." she said at the sight of her father's full name, "Well, now I know why she named me Beifong."

"Tenzin looked at her, "I always thought he didn't have a last name, like us." he said motioning at himself and his brother.

"Oh, he has a last name alright." she said passing the paper to the boys. Tenzin covered his mouth to suppress a laugh while Bumi just let his out, "It's not that funny, okay."

Tenzin passed the paper back to Lin, "No, it's not funny." he looked at his older brother with a stern face, "Now Bumi, you apologize to Miss Goo-Chee-La-Poo-Chee." and in a rare show of his childhood he and his brother fell into each other's arms laughing.

Lin huffed and started going through her mother's file, which was full of things pertaining to her job and the founding of Republic City. Then she found a set of three scrolls labeled 'Divorce'. She spread the three out amongst them and they started to read.

The scroll she'd passed to Bumi were the actual divorce papers, she had the statement that Aang had written as a witness and Tenzin had the scroll that would hurt her the most. It was the statement from her father.

They each read over the papers in their hands quietly. Bumi and Tenzin traded worried looks with each other, too nervous to look at Lin because they didn't want to tell her what the scrolls said. Tenzin finally looked at her and saw her rolling the paper back up, her eyes full of tears.

"Alright," she said quietly, "let's go." She took the other two scrolls from the boys, rolled them up, and tucked them into her shirt before putting the drawer back. "Kimi's probably tired of talking to that jerk by now."

.~.~.

"Oh wow, you're training to be a cop. That's amazing." Kimi said as she was perched on the edge of the guard's desk, leaning over just enough for him to attempt to look down her shirt.

"Yeah, "the young man said in a smug voice, "I can't wait to be able to train with Chief Beifong."

"That's so interesting." she said as she watched the kids sneak out, "Oh goodness, I've been talking to you for a really long time. I'd better get going before my group starts looking for me." she didn't give him time to say anything, "Thanks for your help." and she rushed out of the door.

.~.~.

They silently made their way to Sokka's house because it was close and he was hardly ever there. Lin used her key to get in then locked the door behind here. The others followed her into the kitchen where she untucked her shirt and let the scrolls fall onto the table.

Kimi was acutely aware of the silence among the usually talkative group. "Do you want me to read the papers first?" she asked Lin.

Lin looked at the papers in front of her. She didn't say anything at first, then, "He didn't want me. He left because Mom wouldn't give me away. He told Aang that he was leaving and not coming back." she said flatly, bottling the emotions she was feeling. "What did yours say Bumi?"

He lifted is eyes to her, but she kept looking at the papers on the table. "About the same, they were more official. Saying that your mom was divorcing your dad because he abandoned the two of you."

Lin nodded her head, still pretending to be strong, "Okay. Tenzin, what does yours say?"

The young man looked at his best friend, "Lin, I don't want to say."

She finally looked up at Tenzin, "Tell me what it says." she demanded.

He closed his eyes and turned his head, "I can't tell you what it is. It is best that you don't know." He looked at her, "You know enough. Why keep going on with this?"

Lin grabbed the scroll off of the table and opened it. Her eyes stretched when she saw that it was a statement from her father. As she read, tears formed in her eyes. The letter spoke of how he'd told Toph since before they got married that he never wanted children and how when Toph came to him saying that she was pregnant he tried to he tried to change his attitude, but he couldn't. He wrote that Toph's parents had said that they would take the baby and raise it. When she refused he'd told her that it was him or the baby and she'd made her choice.

The scroll fell from Lin's hands and she put them to her to her and she put them to her face and sobbed, "He didn't want me." she cried "Even before I was born he didn't want me."

Kimi wrapped her arms around her new little sister, "Then he's a fool and it's a good thing he left because it gave you a chance to have a real dad," she reached and picked up the scroll, looking it over. "He's an idiot Lin. You are special and you are loved. If he didn't want to be a part of that then it's his loss."

"Yeah Lin," Bumi chimed in going over and wrapping his arms around the girls. "the guy's an ass. He doesn't deserve to be your dad."

Tenzin sat, reserved as always, but a strange sensation coming over him. He was angry that this man had hurt Lin. How could he not love her? How could he not want her? Tenzin wanted to go to Lin and take her in his arms. He wanted to be the one to make her feel better, but he didn't know what he could say to a girl who just found out her father never wanted her.

He also wanted revenge. He wanted to track down this man that made Lin cry and make him pay. How dare he hurt her like that? How dare that man hurt his Lin?

'My Lin?' Tenzin thought 'Where did that come from?' He stood up, "Lin, let's take Oogi for a ride, the fresh air will do you good."

"That's a good idea Tenzin." Kimi said, "I have to get back, but I'll come check on you tonight." and she kissed the top of Lin's head. Lin nodded.

"Yeah," Bumi said, "I'm supposed to meet Dad at City Hall. I'll see you guys later."

.~.~.

Tenzin landed on the little island in Yue Bay that his father had created a few weeks earlier. Aang planned on placing a museum there to house all of the Avatar artifacts that he'd been collecting for years. For now the island was bare.

As soon as her feet touched the ground Lin bended an underground cave and went in. Tenzin and Oogi followed her, the bison opting to lay down not far from the opening. Tenzin went to where Lin sat and kneeled in front of her. He placed a hand on hers, "Lin, it's okay." he said, trying to comfort her, "You don't need him."

Lin pulled her hand away from her oldest friend, slid her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. Tenzin crawled closer to her and lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, "Really Lin, it's going to be fine. If he knows how wonderful you are then he's kicking himself every day."

Lin turned her head away from him. Tenzin didn't know what to do. He tried to think of something he could say or do to make his friend feel better, but he couldn't think straight. The only thing that was in his mind was how miserable she looked. He was at a loss, so he reacted out of pure instinct.

The boy reached out and pushed the girl's wavy black hair away from the side of her face. When she turned her head back to him he cupped her face and kissed her.

He felt her tense for a second, then she relaxed. He had never kissed anyone other than a peck on his mother's cheek so he wasn't sure if he was doing it right. He just knew that at that moment it felt right. He lingered on her lips for what felt like a long time, but was only a few seconds.

When Tenzin pulled away, Lin's eyes were still closed and her lips were stilled puckered for a moment. When her eyes popped open she looked stunned, then angry, "What the hell was that all about?" she said in her usual demanding tone.

Tenzin blushed and rubbed his neck, "I don't know. I thought it would take your mind off things."

"Oh!" she yelled jumping to her feet, "So you think that you're such a manly-man that you could kiss me and everything would just go away!" she shoved him down. "How dare you!?" then she stormed out of the cave mumbling something about Tenzin stealing her first kiss.

.~.~.

The rest of the week went on. Once again, Kimi helped Tenzin, Lin and Bumi sneak into the hall of records so they could return the scrolls to their proper places. The persistent guard asked Kimi out and she agreed to a date on the following Monday knowing full well that she was due to leave that coming Friday. When the young man went to the inn looking for Kimi he was very disappointed.

.~.~.

That Friday, Kimi's departure was full of tears, hugs and promises to write often and visit as soon as possible. As soon as Sokka found out that Kimi was his daughter he sent a letter to Hakoda telling him where to be when the ship filled with students arrived so he could meet his granddaughter.

.~.~.

When Kimi stepped off the plank, she noticed that her fellow college students had pooled a short distance from the ramp. She wondered what all the commotion was about, but her thoughts were lost when she heard someone say, "He's looking for Kimi, there she is now."

The crowd parted and at its center stood her grandfather, Chief Hakoda. He gave her the same look that Sokka and Katara had given her, haunted and full of tears. Bato was standing beside him. He leaned over and said, "See, and you thought I was losing my mind."