"Should I stop them?" The avatar asked the group as they watched what had quickly escalated into a knock down, drag out fight. Every adult shook their heads or flat out told her not to intervene, though Bolin was a little worried, not wanting (or ready to) see anyone seriously hurt. Besides which, there were three kids nearby and the oldest couldn't be eleven-years-old. And worse, all they could do at this point was keep the children at a safe distance and watch as rocks and metal went flying in all directions as the two badgermoles continued to fight.
"Hi." He waved down to a little girl as she looked up at him with a curious and very worried expression, obviously result of seeing her mother in a brawl with a mean looking woman and the only available comfort being a bunch of strangers, "I'm Bolin."
"My name's Opal." she said so shyly.
"Well, that's a pretty name, Opal." Bolin bent down on one knee so he could shake her hand as a loud crunch came from the fighters' direction, "You're family name is Beifong, right?" she nodded, and Bolin smiled at the confirmation that he actually wasn't the youngest Beifong, "Hey, wow! That makes you my little cousin."
"Really?"
"Yep, that's my mom over there...flinging boulders at your mom..." he pointed in his mother's general direction, and instantly regretted it. Not really a good first impression when meeting her aunt, "Yeah, don't worry, she's not as mean as she looks." Opal didn't seem to believe him as she ran off nearly in tears, Bolin almost followed her, but continued to watch his mother nervously. Like every other adult, he needed to be ready to step in and stop someone from getting hurt.
"Who you think will win the match?"
"I have absolutely no clue.", Now the eldest Beifong had experience, endurance and brute strength in her favor. Her baby sister, on the other hand, still had the advantage of youth, and she had speed and agility on her side. Lin was agile for an earthbender, but Su was just plain graceful with her movements. Soon though, it was becoming more and more clear that Su would wear herself out far more quickly than Lin, so if the eldest sister could just hold on for a little while longer, she'd win the fight, "I mean, I they both have different things going for them."
"Opal, get back here!" A man with glasses shouted and came running out of the mansion and towards the sisters, making every spectator turn their heads. They'd all been so entranced by the bending battle that none of them noticed the little girl come back into the yard and run into the makeshift fighting arena to stop the violence. The two combatants noticed just a little too late, each moved with lightening speed. They couldn't stop the rocks, but they could bend the rocks to the side to stop them from hitting the child, and hit each other instead. Su went flying via huge boulder, landing hard on the roof of a stone gazebo. Lin took several rocks to the left knee and thigh, sending her to the ground with a pop.
"Mom!" The youngest, or formally the youngest, Beifong ran over with the rest of team avatar to help his mother off the ground while the airbender air jumped up on the gazebo to lower the matriarch safely to his siblings and the man with glasses. Standing ridged as the dust settled was a little girl who just realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to get between to fighting badgermoles. Tears filled her eyes and whimpers left her mouth as she watched the benders get assistance,
"Don't cry, Opal." the child's mother said softly with unfocused eyes, obviously very dizzy, "Your Aunt Lin and I were just ostrichhorse playing. Isn't that right, Aunt Lin?" the older of the siblings leaned her weight against her boy, and glared at her baby sister before turning her gaze away stubbornly.
"Yeah, that's right." No adult would believe her, and even Opal didn't seem sure.
"See? We shouldn't have been playing so rough. Thanks for stopping us before we really got hurt. Now why don't you all go with your father and eat an early lunch." she gave the man, who know Bolin assumed to be her husband, a pleading look.
"Yes, why don't we go make it together?" Each child had their own separate reactions. The eldest child, a boy about eleven, eyed everyone suspiciously. Opal was rubbing her tears away, hiccuping as she walked away. Two little boys had to be pulled away, each waving, but one even shouting 'you gotta play earth soccer with us sometime, Aunt Lin!'.
Everyone couldn't help but smile, except the eldest Beifong, but grumpiness almost always trumped cuteness when it came to her. "Let's lay these two stubborn badgermoles down somewhere for a healing session." Kya suggested, without really giving either sister a say in the matter. Su huffed and Lin grunted, but neither where in any shape to fight as they were carried away to a guest room and laid in the bed. Both sisters refused to look at the other while water was brought in. Kya stood by Su's side and healed her head, while Korra did the same with Lin's hip.
"So, this has an interesting family reunion." Bumi forced conversation, only to get a glare from everyone, "What? It has. Kinda reminds me of the old days when mom and Aunt Toph would go off to 'settle their differences'."
"They got into a lot of fights?"
"Oh yeah. It always sounded like the island was having an earthquake and typhoon at the same time."
"I always hated that." Kya remarked evenly, going back to her work, "It scared me when they fought."
"Me, too." Tenzin nodded solemnly, remembering those times as the rare moments he could take refuge with his big sister.
"That's not gonna work." Lin growled with a glare at all three cloud kids, completely ruining the heartfelt moment, and the chances of their little impromptu plan working.
"What's not gonna work?" The waterbender sibling asked so innocently.
"You three trying to make Lin feel bad for attacking me." Su shot offhandedly, making everybody wince as they knew exactly what was to come.
"I attacked you?!" His mom sat up in the bed, aggravating her hip, and immediately felt Mako and Bolin's hands on her shoulders, obviously ready to try and stop her from starting another fight during the healing session. While they didn't seem interested in punching, their was a verbal sparring match,
"You threw the first punch!"
"You were begging for it!"
"You were being a jerk!"
"You went behind my back!
"I did not! They just showed up!"
"Yeah, we did!" Bolin shouted in a desperate attempt to stop the arguing.
"Oh yeah ri-" Lin was half way through her comeback when her son's words finally registered. She turned her attention away from her sister and gave Bolin a glare that made him feel like his soul was withering away at the sight of it, "I thought I told you to stay away from her." the fact that her voice was even scared the young Beifong more than her shouting ever could.
"You make it sound like I'm a drug dealer."
"Stay out of this, Su!" Lin barked in her sister's general direction, "What did you think you were doing?"
"We thought that-
"That I wouldn't find out? How many times are you gonna disobey me before you finally get it through that thick skull of yours that-"
"It's my fault, Lin." Asami stepped in to get her best friend out of trouble, simultaneously breaking her vow of silence towards the chief, "After everything my father did, I wanted to see him in jail more than anything, so I talked Bolin into coming here."
"You think I don't want him in jail, Girl? But this isn't worth it. Su's every bit as dangerous as your father is."
"What?! I am not!" she nearly knocked Kya square in the nose with her head as she she shot off the bed, "I saved your life, you stubborn bitc-badgermole! And I'd do it again! Four men might have died, but at least you weren't dead along with them!" The woman began to choke up, "And if things been reversed and you'd had to trade their lives for mine, you would've done it without a second thought! Because I'm your family and you have a bigger responsibility to me than you did to them! But you're too much of a masochist to be grateful when someone spares you pain, so go back to your city and jump in front of all the arrows you want and don't expect me to be at your funeral!" She left, slamming the door behind her.
The room was quiet for the rest of Lin's healing session. Or at least until someone knocked on the door and the man with glasses stuck his head in, "Hello, my name is Bataar Beifong, could I have a moment with Lin please?" he asked politely, and despite their better judgments, everyone filed out.
"Hey Uncle Tenzin?" The earthbender got his attention quietly as they walked out of the mansion, "Who's right, Mom or Aunt Su?"
"Bolin, they both have valid points." Sitting down on the grass, Tenzin invited them all to do the same, and told them all about the years preceding the ambush, and it became clear why Lin just couldn't bring herself to trust Su's claim of turning a new leaf.
After a good deal of pacing around and trying to get calm enough to go to her children and tell them that their aunt was really a horrible person and they'd never see her again, Su came to the conclusion that she needed something to do to get to that level of peace if she was going to explain this without hurting them. She decided that she didn't want Lin to be in her city when she did have that talk, least her kids try to go make things better on their own like her nephews did. So the matriarch took Aiwei, Kuvira and a few more guards to ready the woman's airship. The air was thick and quiet as they made their way to the dry docks, the guards lowered the gangplank and they made their way into the airship only to have a growling animal stop them all in their tracks.
"Nice sealhound..." Su said softly as she backed away a couple of steps, "We're going to have to tie this one up." As they each went for the cables at their waists, a command rang out,
"Tǎoyàn! Down!" As soon as it heard the voice, the animal's growl ceased and he laid down on the airship's floor passively, though it kept a close eye on the strangers in his territory, "What are you doing here?"
Su looked over the teenager, he didn't seem to be angry, just curious. He had a polarbear dog behind him and a fire ferret on his shoulder, which lead her to believe the animals had been left in the visiting airships, and he was gathering them to feed and walk them,"Just helping your mother get out of my city."
"I don't think she'd like you being here."
"She wants to leave, we're speeding up the process." she gestured for her guards and adviser to leave, "But if you don't want us here, I guess we'll let Lin do her own work." just as she took her first steps to leave as well, Bolin hesitantly called out,
"But...that's not gonna help. We'll just go back to pretending you don't exist, and I don't wanna do that. Sure, you and mom are having issues, but all siblings do. We're still family."
"Look, I know this is probably hard for you to hear, but your mom isn't going to listen to reasoning, she's too self centered." And as predicted, Bolin began to get angry and offened.
"Look, I know this isn't easy for you to hear, but my mom's not selfish at all. She's always thinking about everyone else, her officers, the citizens of Republic City, the avatar...she runs around like a decapitated hogchicken and she still makes time for me, Mako and Asami. And yeah, she's hardheaded and overprotective at times, even protecting us from you when she probably shouldn't, but that's because she worries about us."
"Bolin, you don't understand, okay. If Lin could only look past herself long enough to notice that I'm different now-"
"You're the one being self centered! She gave you plenty of chances to straighten up, but you kept lying and committing crimes, and now you're mad because she can't trust you anymore. Look, I know you're really sorry for what you did, but I also know you really had to cut my mom pretty deep for her to push you away like that. Maybe you should think about how she must feel for once, instead of just calling her bitter and selfish."
Su only walked down the gangplank, soon followed by her nephew and the sealhound. He went one way, taking the animals to the others, she supposed. She went another way, thinking and fuming. Bolin had no right to say those things, he didn't know anything about it. Sure, she'd made some mistakes, but Lin's the one who kept their family separated. She kept walking around the grounds and thinking, and the more she walked and thought, the more angry she became. Finally, she stormed back to the guest room,
"-walking sand tornadoes. And both are benders." she heard her husband's voice through the crack in the door.
"Yeah, Su was that way when she was a kid. Good luck."
"Thanks, we'll need it. I don't know how we'll deal with their teenage years."
"I doubt they'll be as bad as her."
"You don't think so?"
"Do either of them think weapons make good birthday presents?" Baatar must have answered silently."Su gave me a chain whip for my sixteenth birthday." Su rolled her eyes, waiting for the inevitable comment about that being an obvious tip off to the trouble maker she'd be, "Then threatened to beat up the firebender who burnt the damn ugly flags. Don't think she ever found out I told him to do it." Su was surprised, looking back yes, she should've known Lin had gotten rid of the ugly fabric, but she'd never thought about it before, so she never figured it out.
"What exactly are the flags on a chain whip?"
"You really aren't much of a fighter, are you?" The rest of the conversation wasn't worth hearing, but Su stood their listening anyway, somewhat smug. She'd always said Baatar and Lin would get along great, and she was right.
By the time their talk was done, Lin felt like an ass. She didn't regret what ignoring her sister all these years, but she shouldn't have started a fight in front of those kids no matter how much Su was asking for it. Then a few hours after her brother-in-law left her to think about what she did, her kids cautiously entered starting with Bolin who was holding a tray of food, and ending with Asami who was holding a blackened part. Lin could guess what that came from.
"It was an accident." Her boy grinned innocently with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Who are you trying to fool? You knuckleheads wanna stay, so you fried something on the airship." And all four of them collectively panicked.
"Well, we better be going..." Bolin set the tray on the coffee table and they all started towards the door at a sprint.
"Hold it!" They screeched to a halt, "What the hell were you thinking? That if you gave it another day, me and Su will shake hands and play nice?" they all looked to each other, then pushed Bolin forward to answer for them.
"...Maybe..."
"Not gonna happen, Boy."
"Why not?" he whined almost like he used to when she told him he couldn't have a second helping of dessert, "Mako used to be a criminal, he came clean, maybe Su finally did, too."
"You're a hopeless optimist."
"Couldn't you try to patch things up?" Mako finally got the backbone to speak, "She's family, and it really does look like she's changed." She didn't answer, only ate her food as they all pouted.
"Mom, if she hadn't joined the triad, she wouldn't of known about the plan to assassinate you, and you'd be gone, and we'd never met. Then, who knows what would've happened."
"You'd probably both be Triple Threats." Lin grunted, not letting on how the very idea shook her to the core. She'd never thought of that.
"And I might be an equalist." Asami was brave enough to sit down as she made yet another good point. It turned her stomach to think the girl could be anything like Hiroshi.
"It doesn't change what she did." she finished her meal and pushed the tray away.
"She probably didn't mean for it to happen." And this was the point where she realized that she would not get any peace for the rest of her life if she didn't agree to try to reconcile. Groaning, she leaned back against the cushions,
"If I promise to talk to her tomorrow, will you drop it?" They all agreed, quite enthusiastically, and settled in on the couch with her, "I'm not making any promises. You all get that, right?"
"Well, at least you can say you tried." Bolin yawned as a semi comfortable silence overtook them all and laid his his head on her shoulder while Korra leaned up against him. On her other side, Asami was curled up with her head on Mako's chest, and he was resting his chin on her head. Soon that silence turned into even breathing and snores.
"Four full-grown knuckleheads with no better place to sleep but my couch." She shook her head, but couldn't stop a gentle smile from forming her face as she laid her head on the back of the couch, "Gonna have a sore neck in the morning." she grunted before falling asleep herself.
The arrival of Suyin's sister would not have a major effect him, Aiwei was almost certain of that. After all, he was just tasked to report developments to this city, and had no missions in the works. But he also believed that having as much information as he could on everything was essential to his work, so he wanted to know all he could about the woman before he sent a letter off to his superiors. And so he found himself on Lin Beifong's airship in the middle of the night.
He took great care while going through the woman's items, she was a trained investigator, so if he made a mistake, she was sure to catch on. Always priding himself on his good memory, he mentally inventoried every item until he was certain that he, for lack of better words, knew who Lin Beifong was beneath that iron exterior. And once his task was complete, he gave a quick stomp to make sure that everything was exactly the way he'd found it.
"Odd." he said quietly to himself, finding a secret compartment on the ship, and finding it strange because most secret compartments weren't meant to hold a suit of clothing. Curiosity got the better of the truth seer and he went to intestate. With a few basic metalbending movements, the door opened and the earthbender nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't known what to expect, but a blue and white uniform wasn't it. His eyes narrowed and a dark frown overtook his face, "She's with the White Lotus."