Dinner:
"Tonight, for your dining pleasure, I present a seared wild Kyoshi Elephant Kori, paired with a ginger-infused pea tendril and hibiscus root salad!" Suyin's Chef presented proudly. The heavily tattoed, pieced, big-bellied man with a long beard braided into three ropes looked rather... out of place wearing an apron standing in Suyin's lavish dining room.
"Stunning!" Suyin commented on the presentation of the dish placed in front of her by servers. The chef bowed and took his leave, crossing another man on his way out.
"Sorry, dear! I'm going to have to take dinner in my office. I just had a major breakthrough on the ram station remodel," the rather frazzled-looking middle aged man informed his wife in a hurry, followed by a nearly identical, smooth-faced, younger version of himself carrying a stack of papers.
"Well, don't let me stand in the way of inspiration!" Suyin replied waving to him with a soft smile.
"You're the best!" Baatar yelled running off down the hall.
"That was my brilliant architect of a husband, Baatar, and our eldest son, Junior. He engineers all of my husband's projects."
"Five kids, what a nightmare,"
"No, no. My children are a blessing!" Suyin replied shaking her head before taking a sip of wine.
"Yeah Mom used to say that too, but she never meant it," Lin muttered looking away.
Before anything got too out of hand, Bolin eased the tension. "Mmmm. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical when he said "pea tendrils"," He said with a laugh. "but this is delicious!"
"I know, right. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal in my life." Opal giggled.
Lin frowned. Of course she hasn't. No doubt Suyin coddled her. None of these kids have any idea what the world has to deal with. None of these kids have even the slightest notion of the struggle of those on the streets.
"Oh. I had plenty when Mako and I were living in the streets," Bolin replied nonchalantly as Opal's face dropped in horror. "I mean, you'd be surprised how bad food from a dumpster can be!"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Opal said sympathetically.
"You should. You could ask your mom all about it. I'm sure she's had plenty of experience with harbor trash in her pirating days," Lin interrupted quietly.
Suyin shot her a look, but neither Bolin nor Opal heard.
"No, no, it's okay, that's all in the past. Things are great now. I got to be a pro-bender, fought against a dangerous revolution, became a mover star, and now, I'm helping the Avatar rebuild a whole nation." Bolin said rapidly, trying to ease Opal's nerves.
"Wow. Your life sounds so exciting!" Opal said enviously, folding her hands in her lap.
Lin rolled her eyes and Suyin pretended not to notice.
"So, Korra, how is your search for the new airbenders going?" Suyin asked.
"Honestly, not great. We had to rescue a whole group of them from the Earth Queen who wanted them for some elite division of her army," Korra replied.
"Oh she's horrible! She thinks she can just do whatever she wants!" Suyin replied with a dismissive wave of the hand.
"Sounds familiar," Lin muttered with her lips touching her own glass of wine.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing... Nothing at all," Lin lied glaring at her sister.
Flashback:
YOU ARE READING
Old Wounds
FantasyI know a couple people have done rewrites already, but I still feel like something is missing. It couldn't be just Suyin's lack of self-accountability to cause Lin to hold such a huge, long grudge. So I added a few flashbacks that could have contrib...
