Old Wounds

Chapter 5: Old Wounds, Part 1

As Lin emerged from her lonely guest house, she wondered what she had done in a previous life to deserve such pain? After a restless night, a migraine still bashed her brains. Light danced across her eyes, and even the quietest sounds rang louder than a gong held up to the side of her head and banged. She should rest until it passed, but felt like she couldn't. Lin's mother was always there for the last Avatar, so Lin felt like she couldn't abandon the current avatar. No matter how petulant a child she was, Zaheer and his cronies were out there somewhere and Lin couldn't let her die.

As she rounded a corner of another building on her way to go find food in the main house, Lin heard a couple of guards talking.

"How many push-ups did you do last night? Cause I did like fifty," One guard asked another flirtatiously.

"What do you two think you're doing?! Get back to work!" Lin reprimanded them before being overcome with a wave of pain. She winced and pinched the bridge of her nose as her head pounded in agony.

"Is everything all right here?" Aiwei asked.

"The Avatar is in danger, and nobody seems to give two shits about it except me. Even these two knuckleheads are just standing around here chit-chatting," Lin barked.

"Don't worry, Zaofu is the most secure city in the world!" Aiwei assured her.

"I'll be the judge of that! I'm going to check every inch of this place!" Lin declared. Knowing Suyin and the type of company she keeps, I wouldn't trust anything anyone here says even if he is a truthseer.

"Lin, you don't have to work while you are here. You need to relax," Aiwei insisted.

"I'm fine!" Lin snapped before being hit by another wave of pain, this time coming across her entire body.

"It doesn't take a truth seer to know that you are under a dangerous amount of stress. If you don't deal with your suppressed feelings, there will be severe consequences to your health ... and your job." Aiwei warned her.

"I'm not interested in talking about my feelings."

"You won't have to say a word. I know a great acupuncturist in town who will be able to help you," Aiwei said handing her a card.

"Hmph,"

Acupuncture. Kya always did rave about it whenever Lin had a particularly bad day. Tenzin had done it a couple times. Even Aang did it a few times and had nothing bad about it to say. It couldn't be so bad. Lin knew she had to do something to clear her head of such toxic thoughts or else, she wouldn't be able to fight when Zaheer and his band of benders caught up with them. It was inevitable, Lin knew, but nobody seemed to realize or care. She could only look after herself at this point and was very near to give up trying to help everybody else.

The acupuncturist, Guo had her lay down as he raised dozens of needles above her at extremely precise locations.

"How many of those things are you going to stick in me?" Lin asked a bit rougher than she should have.

"I'll be placing several needles on each of your acu-points. There's nothing to be scared about."

"I'm not afraid of needles!" Lin snapped back.

"Please, close your eyes and take a deep breath. This process corrects an imbalance in your chi. Please tell me if you feel any pain or pressure."

"I can't feel a thing."

"That's unusual. Your chi must be powerfully blocked. We're going to need more needles." Guo said opening a drawer in another room.

Or it could be the fact that my mother made us believe all metal was simply an extension of ourselves, born of earth.