Enjoy!

Warrior Raging

Chapter 3

"Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Pema asked, watching Lin closely as she unfolded a map on the kitchen in Air Temple Island's main house. Her hands were wringing against her skirt. "Why can't we all go with you?"

Lin glanced up at her, almost ready to brush off the question with a dismissive response until she saw the genuine fear on the younger woman's face. "I'm as sure about your safety as I am about anything," she said, her voice firm enough to allay her concern. "The threats were made directly to me and indirectly to Tenzin, not to you and not to any of your children. If I imagined even for a second any of you were in danger, too, none of you would still be here."

Pema nodded and took in Lin's confident posture as she looked back at her map again. "But why Tenzin, then? If they were threatening you?"

The question was an innocent one, truly – Pema had no idea what she and Tenzin had been getting themselves into over the last several years beyond their dinners together every other week – and she forced the rigidity from her shoulders. "Because Tenzin," she said slowly, choosing her words carefully, "is my oldest friend, it's not a secret. They likely think targeting him is the easiest way to get to me."

"But isn't fleeing the city showing them their tactic worked?"

Lin sighed, laying her hands flat on the map and lowering her head. "I am not fleeing," she said, words soft to hide her frustration. With the situation more than with Pema, but still present regardless. "I am following a lead to help close the case and getting your husband out of harm's way at the same time."

Pema didn't respond, though she wasn't given much of a chance when Tenzin and Jinora came into the kitchen carrying small bundles in their arms. "Here we are," Tenzin said brightly, setting them down by the bags he and Lin had already packed. "Sleeping rolls. Much better than sleeping on rock, wouldn't you say?"

"Come look, Tenzin," Lin said with a gesture to the map. "If we fly out west over the bay toward the ocean, we can turn north to cut around the mountain range here before making our way east toward the swamp."

He nodded, thinking quickly over her proposal. "A good idea. Very unlikely anyone would see us leaving that way. Oogi can -"

"Absolutely not. We are not taking Oogi."

"But -"

"No, Tenzin, he is too recognizable. We'd be seen in a minute." Her flaring temper instantly eased at the flustered expression on his face, and she reached out to touch his arm for a moment before dropping her hand. "Do you think you could carry us both with all this stuff with your glider? Only over the water and to the other side of the mountains, we can walk most of the way from there. Or I can bend us over the land, if needed."

"Yes, all right." He smiled at her, one that reached his eyes and vanished again.

It sent a small thrill through her, that look, as she realized in that moment he was considering the amount of time he'd get to spend holding her so close without needing an excuse. She blinked and looked away from him quickly. Pema was still watching them as they planned the trip, oblivious to what had just passed, and her presence was making this suddenly uncomfortable. Jinora's eyes, though, had widened slightly in suspicion at the tiny interaction and Lin pursed her lips as she met the girl's perceptive gaze across the room.

"Great," she muttered, folding the map up and packing it into her rucksack. "Are we ready to leave? Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, I'm ready. I only need to get my glider. Would you like to meet me in the courtyard?"

Lin nodded, making to follow him as he left the room. But she paused in the doorway, glancing over her shoulder to see Pema and her oldest daughter standing together and looking so concerned.

"Pema?"

She brought her head up, startled to hear her name, and waited for Lin to continue. Tenzin stopped in the hall, confused, and stilled his steps as well. "If at any point you feel unsafe, or as though you need more protection here than the White Lotus – or your children – can provide," she inclined her head politely at Jinora, who smiled widely in return, "you do not have to hesitate to call my station for help. They will send officers immediately and, if you only say the word, an airship to bring you all to a safe location outside the city. You don't have to be afraid."

"Thank you, Lin," Pema whispered. "Be safe."

"We'll be back in just a few days," she said in return, turning away to put an end to the conversation she had started.

"Do you – do you have enough food?"

It was Lin's turn to be surprised at Pema's question, and she stopped to look at her again. "I think so." She opened he bag and peered inside, seeing what she had snatched from her cabinets without thought forty minutes ago. Pema took a step forward and boldly took hold of the bag to see for herself. Lin watched, mildly bemused as she rummaged through.

"Give me twenty minutes," Pema murmured, her face turned down as she already began to unpack what Lin had shoved in there, "and I'll have a week's worth of fresh food prepared for you to take."

xXx

The air was chilly as Tenzin shifted and pulled currents to keep them afloat over the water. Mountains were coming closer, finally allowing them to leave the wide expanse of the ocean behind. Lin tightened her arms about his shoulders, trying not to move too much as he worked hard to keep them just below the deepening clouds. They couldn't travel like this the entire way, it would tire him far too much holding them both, but she couldn't deny appreciating the strength of his body under hers, solid and confident.

It brought back many memories, and she closed her eyes and lowered her face to the side of his neck to keep them at bay. That was a dangerous road, one neither should be walking. It was suddenly very clear how stupid she had been to allow it to happen again at all.

Only thirty minutes later, Tenzin rounded the edge of the mountain range to bring them to the northern side. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon and, after flying a ways further to find a good place, he turned them downward toward the nearest mountain and a ledge up high near its summit.

"Sorry," he said as she released the rope binding them together and untangled herself from around his back. Her bag had gotten twisted and it took a moment, but eventually she was able to get her feet on the ground.

She just smiled at him, dismissing his apology. "Don't worry about it. We've already made great time, take all the rest you need. Besides," she added, her grin turning lopsided, "I'm just glad you're not wearing that ridiculous suit."

Tenzin laughed and sat heavily on the dusty ground, leaning back against a rock and setting his folded glider close beside him. "Are we still headed the right way?"

"I think so, yes." Lin pulled the tightly folded map from her rucksack and opened it on the ground, taking a seat as well. She glanced upward to trace to angle of the sun – now just a blob of orange – and then at the range of mountains around them. "Yes," she said again, eyes scanning the paper. "We're right here, exactly where we should be by now. Republic City is right over that way -" she struck her thumb out over her shoulder, indicating the other side of the mountains "- and we've come around the northern side as we planned."

She was silent for a few minutes, taking the time to refold her map and repack it safely away. "I hope Ma went back to that horrible cave," Lin muttered. She nodded her thanks when Tenzin handed her a bun from his bag, holding it in both hands and not taking a bite. "I won't have the faintest idea where to look if she's not in the swamp."

"We can cross that bridge if we come to it," he said softly, touching her shoulder to bring her gaze up to his.

She smiled faintly at him, her eyes tired and the exhaustion showing in her face as much as on his. It truly had been a long day; it was hard to imagine just that morning she had been at work as though it were going to be a normal day and yet now here she was, out in the wild far from home. "I know you're only here because we had to get you out of the city, but I'm glad you're with me. I'm not sure I'd have taken this little trip alone."

"I'd have come regardless. Of course I would have," he insisted at her wary look. "I was going to offer tonight, if you hadn't already come to a decision. Though that was before your hand was forced."

"Thank you. Really, Tenzin," she said clearly, putting her hand on his leg. "I appreciate your company very much, and likely will even more by the time this is over."

"You are very welcome, Lin." He smiled at her, truly meaning his words, and she felt herself relaxing the slightest bit through her stress. "Do you think we need to go any further tonight?" he asked, saving her from having to talk any longer on a subject he knew made her uncomfortable. "If not, we can go ahead and settle here."

"We've come far enough for now, I think. Let's stop for the night."

Tenzin yawned before she had even finished speaking, and chuckled slightly before saying, "I'm going to unroll the sleeping rolls, then, because I feel like I could go to bed right this moment, I'm so tired."

She didn't bother responding as he quickly finished his bun and stood to stretch. She watched as he picked up both rolls and brought them closer to the cliff's face, away from the ledge, and unrolled one all the way flat, untying the strings to release the blankets to fold open. He paused for a moment then and glanced up at her, unsure. "Would you like to…like to share one?" he asked, attempting to make his question more casual than it really was. "We might be warmer together with one unfolded and the other over us."

It was an excuse, she knew, for them to continue sleeping with one another the way they had been, but despite what reservations she'd had earlier that day she couldn't bring herself to find them again. She wanted to feel his arms around her and there was no denying that, none at all. She lowered her head, almost ashamed with herself as she pushed down the guilt bubbling in her stomach and dissipating.

"We can share," she murmured.

He nodded, not saying anything, as he finished getting their small camp ready before the quickly fading light vanished. She joined him after forcing the rest of her own bun down – she wasn't hungry, but she needed to eat – and carefully removed her coat, belt, hauberk, and gauntlets, setting them on the ground by his folded cloak. It was chilly without the metal on her body, growing colder still without the sun, and she got comfortable beside him. His arms reached for her immediately and she rolled to rest her head on the smooth plane between his shoulder and chest as he pulled the blankets tight around them. Warmth descended to stave off the cold autumn wind.

"You left your boots on," Tenzin laughed softly, nudging her legs with his.

"If we have to get up and run in the middle of the night, I'm not wasting time putting them back on," she said simply. "Besides, my feet are cold."

Lin turned her head slightly to gaze up at the sky, now dark and dotted with stars. A bright glow could be seen in the south, reflected off the sparse clouds, and she moved her arm to point it out before placing it back on his chest. "We can still see the spirit portal from here. It's brighter than the half moon."

"It's amazing, isn't it," he mused, looking in that direction, "everything that has changed in such a short amount of time."