Water and Earth

Chapter 6

The sun was just beginning to rise when Lin slammed her apartment door behind her. She took the stairs, jumping two at a time and racing to the parking lot to her car. Before long she was back at the precinct, walking with purpose towards her office and startling some sleepy officers in the process. She quickly scribbled something on a small piece of paper and practically ran outside again, past the parking lot, and towards the large aircraft hangar a few hundred yards back. She wasn't surprised to see Bolin leaning against a wall, completely asleep. She cleared her throat. Bolin's eyes shot open and he nearly fell over at the sight of the chief. "Chief Beifong! Hi! Wow you sure know how to sneak up on a guy." "Good morning to you too. I need to take a blimp. Here's the signature you need," she said handing him the slip of paper. "Um, Chief? It doesn't have the destination part filled out." "I don't see how that's important," Lin said, breezing past him and ascending the ramp of the blimp. "It's just," he started. "Are you questioning your superior officer?" Lin snapped. "No, ma'am," Bolin said timidly. Lin smiled to herself and pressed a small blue button to retract the ramp up into the air vessel. It wasn't too long before she was floating off the ground in the police blimp and sailing away from Republic City. She grabbed a pair of binoculars from the main console and could see the beginning of the lush vegetation off in the distance. When she found herself at what looked like the heart of the swamp, she shot an anchoring cable down into the trunk of a tree and secured the blimp. She then dropped down and lowered herself to the ground on another cable, landing gracefully on a twisted mess of roots. "Alright, mom, where are you?" she whispered, bringing her right foot up to her knee. Lin bended the metal off the bottom of her foot and brought it down hard on the ground, sensing the vibrations all around her. "Of course," she mumbled.

Lin made her way through the swamp by swinging herself from tree to tree with her cables, trying to not think about the various outcomes of the conversation she wanted to have with her mother. Despite the 50 years of anecdotal evidence that made her want to turn back and forget the whole thing, she soldiered on. "You call that a punch?" a voice echoed nearby. "Come on, you're going to have to do better than that!" Lin sighed and swung herself high in the branches of a neighboring tree, observing the scene below her. She could clearly make out two young swamp benders thrashing vines and mud towards an elderly Toph who was dodging each attack with ease. Lin watched as Toph sent a tidal wave of mud towards the two swamp benders, sending them floating down the adjacent river. "Come back next week when you learn how to fight!" Toph called to them, laughing to herself. She sighed and clasped her hands behind her back. "Hey, Chief," she called up to Lin who slid down the tree to join her mother on the ground. "Hi, Chief," Lin replied. "I see you're making friends." "Oh those guys? They like to come by from time to time and spar. It's not much competition for a blind old lady but they'll have to do. Come, let's have some tea." Toph led Lin towards a small hut made of mud erected at the base of a tree. "What brings you to my neck of the swamp?" asked Toph as she prepared the water for tea. "Well-" Lin started. "Here, have a seat." Toph earth bended two seats and a small table from the ground and gestured for Lin to sit. Lin complied and waited patiently for Toph to bring over the two cups of tea. "Now, what is this all about? You and Su get into another fight?" "No, mom, Su and I are fine. Everyone is okay. I just thought we should catch up and talk." Toph raised her eyebrow and sipped her tea. "You came all the way here to 'talk?' Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Lin's face turned pink as her mind raced to think of a topic. There was a pregnant pause before Toph spoke. "Is this about your little adventure the other night?" "What? I have no idea what you're talking about," Lin said quickly. "Lin, pretending I can't see didn't work for you when you were ten and it doesn't work now. I told you, I can see you and Su through the vines. I saw what happened the other night," she said with a mischievous grin. "Why did I come here? I knew this was a bad idea," Lin said, getting to her feet. "Lin, it's not a big deal," Toph said casually. Curious to find out more about what her mother meant, Lin took a seat again. "What isn't a big deal?" "You and Kya!" Lin's face burned bright scarlet and felt as though all the wind had been knocked out of her. "Katara, Aang and I had known for years you two had something between you. I will admit, you did a good job throwing us off the scent by dating Tenzin, but I knew that Twinkletoes Jr. was never your type." Lin sat in stunned silence. "Was this why you wanted to come all the way here? To tell me information I already know?" asked Toph. "I... No! I didn't come here to tell you anything, actually. I came here to maybe get some answers." "So it's not about Kya?" Lin furrowed her brow. "No, it's not about Kya. I mean, maybe, I don't know!" Lin ran her hands through her hair and tried to regain her composure. "What do you know about Kya and I when we were younger?" She asked measuredly. "You two were always thick as thieves. Katara and I began to speculate if you two were together when you were about fifteen but shortly after you and Tenzin started dating. I still noticed how your heart beat like a hummingbird around her, even when you were on his arm." Lin clenched her jaw and gestured for Toph to continue. "And did she have a crush on you- I could feel her pulse race every time you two were together. Must have driven her crazy to see you with her brother. So give it to me straight, did you and Kya have a thing when you were younger?" Lin noticed how Toph made sure to have her feet planted firmly to determine if Lin was telling the truth. "No. We never were together. I didn't know Kya was... that way." Toph let out a laugh. "'That way?' What does that mean? Aren't you 'that way' as well?" "I don't know," Lin said quietly as she felt tears of frustration begin to prick her eyes. "I didn't mean to assume... it's just that I thought you knew. Hell, I thought everyone knew and you were finally coming to tell me." Lin stared down at her untouched tea and said nothing. After swirling the tea leaves around in the warm water she said, "I thought if I came here I could get a better understanding of myself... what I want or I guess what I wanted when I was young." Toph let out a long sigh. "Lin, there isn't any point regretting any of the choices you made in the past. If you want to mope around and feel sorry for yourself, be my guest but how about instead of throwing a pity party go out there and get after what you want!" "It's not that easy." "Of course it is! You've done it before when you said you wanted to become police chief and here you are! If you want to finally ask Kya out after all these years I suggest you get moving. You're not exactly getting any younger." "You always know exactly how to cheer me up," Lin said sarcastically although she smiled slightly. "I don't even know if that's something I want and even if it is- and I'm not saying it is- what if I'm too late? Over thirty years too late. Ouch!" Lin felt the pile of earth she was sitting on bounce her off and onto the cold hard floor. "I've had enough of your whining. You're a Beifong! And how do we handle things?" Asked Toph. "Head on," Lin mumbled. "Exactly. Well, I'm off to go soak my feet in some mud. This was fun. You and Su should visit more often." Toph gave Lin a curt nod and strutted off into the back part of the hut. Lin, still on the ground, was still processing what had just occurred. She got to her feet and rubbed her lower back which was now sore thanks to her mother. I guess that's it then, she thought to herself. Lin made her way back to the police blimp and fired a cable up around a sturdy steel beam. She pulled herself up and slashed the anchor line, freeing the blimp from the tree. As she found her course back to Republic City she found her head filled with more questions than she had when she arrived. This was going to be a lot harder than she had anticipated.