Old Wounds

The next morning, the Krew and Suyin's family were sitting once again in the dining hall for breakfast. However, Lin was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, has anyone seen Chief Beifong?" Mako asked

"I think she's still sulking in her room." Korra glared at her food.

Apparently last night, Korra brought Opal to talk to Lin to try and get the woman to stop being so salty and moody but it only resulted in Lin yelling at Opal to get out.

"I know she has a problem with me, but she had no right to yell at Opal last night" Su scowled as Wei and Wing ran into the room

" All set for your power disc game, guys?" Su asked her sons, Wei taking a few pieces of fruit from a basket on the table.

"Yeah, all set to kick Wei's butt", Wing smirked, snatching an apple from his brother and taking a bite

"I wanna power disc your face" Wei smacked Wing in the stomach, causing him to choke on the apple.

" You should go play with us." Wei then turned to Korra

"Oh, I don't think I'd be much competition since I can't metalbend", She replied

"Really. Lin never offered to train you?" Su asked

"Nope. And I guessed I never thought to bring it up because I was learning to airbend, then there was the pro-bending, then I got tied up fighting Equalists. It was a busy few months."

"Well, it's probably for the best. I'm sure Lin would be a horrible teacher," Su chuckled, as did Korra " As the Avatar, you should have mastery over all the elements. I'd be happy to show you the basics."

"Really? That would be great!" Korra grinned

"You should try it, too" Opal smiled at Bolin, causing him to freeze

"Uh," He shared a knowing look with Elira. "Nah. I'm more of an Earth guy. The dirt, rocks, y'know, maybe some light gravel. That's kinda where my heart is."

El took his hand comfortingly. Truth was, Bolin had tried metalbending before. Multiple times he had tried but failed.

"Okay, Earth Guy. Well, let me know if you change your mind." Su smiled before suddenly her necklace began to be pulled off and all the cutlery on the table began shaking.

The cutlery then flew off the table, causing everyone to duck for cover as it flew and stuck to someone wearing a metal suit. The person in the suit removed the helmet cover, revealing it to be Varrick.

"It worked! Zhu Li, mark it down. Magnet suit test successful" He grinned as the others peered over the table "Power down"

Zhu Li unplugged the suit, causing everything to drop to the floor with a crash.

"On to phase two: Zhu Li cleans up this mess", Varrick declared and sauntered off as Zhu Li hung her head in disappointment.

*

Later, Su and Korra were walking through a garden with a number of meteorites on pedestals.

"These meteorites are perfect for beginning metalbenders" Su explained, stopping near one of the pedestals "The metals have a unique property, making them easier to bend."

She broke off a piece of the meteorite, which she slowly bent down to her hand before morphing into a star shape, followed by a diamond.

"That's amazing!" Korra smiled

"Here, try it!" Su tossed her the meteorite.

"Okay," Korra concentrated for a while but the meteorite remained in its original shape.

"Ouch! Bo, that was my foot."

"Sorry"

A sudden noise heard in the distance broke her concentration. Looking over, Korra and Su spotted Elira and Bolin watching them, while hiding behind a large rock. El noticed they'd been spotted and quickly pulled Bolin behind the rock again, hiding them from view.

"Bolin? El? Is that you?" Korra called out

"No!" Bolin answered, and Elira nudged him to be quiet.

"What are you doing?" Korra asked

The couple looked at each other for a second before stepping out from behind the rock

"Oh, hey, ladies. We were just uh ..." Bolin glanced at El for help

"Looking for Pabu" She lied, smiling " Pabu!"

"He's on Bolin's shoulder," Korra said

The duo's eyes shifted to Bolin's shoulder, where Pabu was perched

" Oh, look there you are!" El giggled, scratching under the ferret's chin making him purr.

"You know, I thought something was chewing on my ear. Probably need to get a shot. Pabu has sort of a ... a venom --Anyways, so what are you guys doing? You metalbending over here or something?" Bolin quickly changed the subject as he walked over with El.

"Want to give it a shot?" Su offered

"Nah, it's okay. I mean, only like one earthbender in a hundred can metalbend." Bolin said, and El took his hand, squeezing it slightly.

"Well, don't believe everything you hear. The only thing limiting you is your attitude." Su smiled

"Well, maybe I'll just ... I'll just stay and watch." Bolin used his bending to make a rock bench for him and El before sitting down.

El sat down beside him, taking his hand again as Korra turned back to the meteorite in her hands. She waved her hand over it, trying to change its shape, but it again stayed the way it was.

"Try to focus on the fine pieces of earth within the metal", Su instructed

Taking her advice, Korra concentrated on the meteorite again before moving her hand up, and the meteorite suddenly changed shape.

"I can't believe it! I'm metalbending!" Korra grinned at her success.

"Wow, you picked that up really, really quick. Guess you're that one in a hundred." Bolin muttered, turning away downcast, and El looked at him sadly.

"Great job, Korra." Su smiled, placing a hand on the Avatar's shoulder.

The two continued on with their lesson as El and Bolin continued watching them from the stone bench.

"Hey", El squeezed Bolin's hand again "Keep in mind, Korra's the Avatar. She's going to pick up things easier than most of us. And you'll get there too one day; I know you will"

"El, you know this isn't the first time I've tried. I've been wanting to metalbend ever since I heard about Toph. She's my biggest hero," Bolin sighed, shaking his head" But let's face it, El, I'm just not cut out to be a metalbender."

El frowned before placing her spare hand under her boyfriend's chin and turning his face to look at her. "Yes, you are, Bolin. It's like Su said, it's all about attitude. If you think you're gonna fail, then you're gonna fail. So you have to believe in yourself, dirt brain. Like I believe in you."

"What would I do without you?" Bolin gently caressed the back of El's hand with his thumb, staring at her softly.

"Crash and burn" The airbender smirked, kissing her boyfriend softly, before standing from the bench, their hands still interlocked. "Come on, let's go have some fun and explore."

Bolin smiled and allowed his girlfriend to pull him to his feet.

"Hey, guess what?-- You're it!" El suddenly hit Bolin on the shoulder before running off, giggling.

"Hey!" Bolin laughed and ran after her

*

After a few hours of exploring Zaofu and goofing around, El and Bolin found themselves back in the meteorite garden. They snuck up behind a meteorite pedestal with Bolin whistling nonchalantly.

Glancing around, they were the only ones there, so Bolin grabbed the meteorite from its pedestal.

"Come on, Bo, you can do it", El encouraged, Pichi copying her with a chitter, as Bolin attempted to bend it.

He tried and tried and tried. But had zero luck. The meteorite refused to change its shape.

"Hey, Bolin, hey Elira"

The duo jumped, and Pichi screeched as they whirled around, seeing Opal standing behind them.

"Opal!" Bolin quickly hid the meteorite behind him "Oh, wow, you ... really know how to sneak up on someone."

"What are you doing?" Opal asked

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," El lied as Bolin backed up towards the pedestal and tried to put the meteorite back without Opal seeing.

"Just ... just thinking about my body and moustaches that I might have in the future," Bolin said before the meteorite fell off the pedestal, making El cringe as it hit the ground.

"Why are you two acting so weird?" Opal stared at the duo, confused why they were acting so strange

The couple looked at each other, having a silent conversation.

"It's up to you, Bo. It's your secret," El said

Bolin sighed "Okay, I wasn't really thinking about all my moustaches. I'm just frustrated. I've been trying to metalbend, and I can't figure it out. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's embarrassing. This isn't the first time I've tried, and I've been wanting to metalbend ever since I heard about Toph. Your grandmother is my biggest hero!" Bolin explained

"My mom grew up learning from Toph. Just go train with her," Opal encouraged. "Stop being so scared."

"She's right, Bo. If anyone can teach you metalbending, it's Su" El took her boyfriend's hand as Pichi jumped onto his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek with a purr.

"Go on. Go for it," Elira smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I'll do it" Pichi jumped onto Elira's head as Bolin quickly pecked her cheek and ran off. "See you later!"

El chuckled a little, watching him leave, before turning to Opal. "What about you?"

"What about me?" She asked, confused

"I can tell you want to go to the Northern Air Temple to train with my dad, but you haven't done it because you're afraid too," El declared

"You know what? You're right. I don't want to leave my family and disappoint my mom." Opal sighed, turning away

"I know how you feel", Elira revealed, making Opal look at her again

"You do?" She asked

"Yeah, my dad, he uh...He wants me to one day lead our people. But I'm not a leader. I'm not responsible or distinguished like he is. I guess I'm just scared of disappointing him again," El explained, fiddling with the ends of her hair, and Pichi chittered sadly, still on top of her head.

Opal placed a hand on El's shoulder with a friendly smile. "You just need to have faith, El. Believe in yourself. And if you make a mistake, learn from it and try again."

Elira smiled and let out a small giggle

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just I said something similar to Bolin earlier about metalbending."

"Well, maybe you should take your own advice then", Opal smirked, nudging El's shoulder playfully.

"Thanks, Opal" She smiled and went to walk off.

"Wait, um..." Opal called out but stopped causing Elira to pause.

"Something wrong?" She asked

"I'm going to be honest, the main reason I came out here is because...I wanted to apologize," Opal said

"For what?" El tilted her head in confusion

"Korra told me about you and Bolin. I didn't realise you were already a couple, and I've been blatantly flirting with him right in front of you. I hope you can forgive me?"

El's eyes widened. "No, no! It's okay, really. Honestly, I should've told you from the start, but I just didn't want to cause a scene or make things awkward."

"Well, I promise I won't be flirting with him anymore", Opal pledged. "I can see how much he loves you. You're really lucky, El."

Elira smiled softly to herself. "Yeah, I am."

"So...Friends?" Opal held out her hand

"Friends" El accepted the handshake with a smile

*

In a separate part of the meteorite garden, Su was still training Korra in metalbending. Korra was bending a piece of meteorite between her hands and changed its shape.

"Congratulations. You're the first metalbending Avatar" Su smiled from where she sat observing.

Korra stopped bending and smiled back at the woman before Bolin walked up to them now with Pabu around his shoulders. He looked rather nervous.

"So, umm, I've been thinking, and I'd like to try to learn metalbending", He declared, and Su rose from her seat, walking over to him. "I mean, I'm sure you have a waiting list or something of a couple years, so."

Su placed a hand on Bolin's shoulder. "Let's get started."

The ground underneath them suddenly cracked and shook, causing meteorites to fall off their pedestals and break. Looking over, the trip spotted angry, panting Lin glaring at Su.

"I think Lin is mad about something," Bolin muttered to Korra, slightly scared.

"Su, it's time we talk." Lin seethed

"After thirty years, you're finally ready to talk?" Su scoffed

"When we were in Mom's office that day, you could've taken responsibility for what you did. But instead, you stayed quiet and let Mom throw her whole career away." Lin snapped, marching up to her sister.

"Mom didn't throw her career away. She retired the next year. She was a hero."

"You think she wanted to retire? She was so guilt-ridden about what she did to protect you that she didn't feel worthy of her badge!"

"Look, I admit that I was not a perfect kid, and I've made some mistakes in the past, but-"

Lin let out a sarcastic laugh. "You made some mistakes?"

"Lin, Mom and I already talked about this years ago and worked things out. If you had gotten together with us like we'd asked, you would know that I'm a different person now. I've been a different person for a long time." Su argued

"You think that just because you live in a big, fancy house, and have a chef who cooks you fancy food, that you're a different person? Maybe you could fool everyone else, but you can't fool me. I see right through you," Lin snarled.

Su glared at her sister. "You know what, Lin? You're the one who hasn't changed. You're still a bitter loner who only cares about herself. No wonder Tenzin ended things with you years ago."

That was the final straw for Lin.

Kicking up a large rock, she hurled it toward Suyin, who deflected it using her wrist. Small fragments of the rock fell to the floor.

"Okay," Su got into a fighting stance. "I guess this is how it's going to be."

Sending a fissure at Lin, Su knocked her off her feet before knocking her back with a meteorite from one of the pedestals.

Rolling on the ground for a moment, Lin quickly got back up and ran at her sister. Earthbending a staircase, while Suyin metalbent the metal panel in front of her to block the attack.

Suyin then flung the metal panel toward Lin, which she backflipped to evade.

Landing on the ground again, Lin bent the many fragments of small rocks lying on the ground and sent them flying at Suyin, but younger Beifong easily weaved through the barrage.

" Should I stop them?" Korra asked Bolin watching as the sisters continued to fight.

"You don't have any siblings. Fighting is all part of the healing process," Bolin explained.

Lin earthbent toward Suyin, but she dodged the attack with a cartwheel as Baatar, Huan, and the twins ran to a pavilion, having been alerted by all the commotion.

"Go, Mom!" Wei cheered, shouldering Wing aside.

The two sisters continued to fight.

Lin metalbent Huan's Harmonic Convergence sculpture at Su, which she deflected and smashed it into a metal wall.

"My sculpture!" Huan gasped and dashed over to survey the damage. Staring at it for a moment, he put a hand on his chin in thought, "Actually, it looks ... kinda better now."

Suyin metalbent three metal panels on the floor toward Lin, which she deflected, but was pushed back by the last one.

Lin began to earthbend rocks from beneath Suyin, who twirled and avoided them.

Lin then kicked up another boulder and threw it at her sister.

Suyin curled a part of the metal wall behind her to shield herself from the boulder before rolling the wall out again and knocking Lin into the pavilion nearby. She landed roughly on the stairs, grunting.

"You've got it out of your system?" Su glared, coming over the small bridge

"Not quite yet!" Lin snapped

Lin stood up and earthbent a part of the staircase leading to the pavilion, while Suyin earthbent a boulder from the ground.

The two of them began to charge at each other, but Opal suddenly interfered by jumping between them and airbending both objects to the side.

"What are you two doing?! You're sisters! Why would you want to hurt each other?" She cried as Elira flew in, landing next to Bolin.

Both Suyin and Lin panted in exhaustion before suddenly, Lin swooned and fainted.

"Lin!" Elira quickly used her bending to slow her fall, preventing her from hitting her head on the ground before they all rushed over, worried.

*

Hours later and El was standing outside Lin's quarters with Korra and the boys.

"Uhh, Whose going to knock?" Korra asked

"Not it!" Elira quickly called, raising her hands and taking a step away from the door.

Korra then shoved Bolin towards the door, causing him to stumble. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Not me! You're the Avatar; why can't you do it?" Bolin backed away, pointing at Korra

"Uhh, I can. But I just thought that ..."

"I'll do it", Mako sighed, walking forward.

He knocked on Lin's door and leaned his ear on the door to hear inside " Uhh, Chief, you've been sleeping for sixteen hours. We just wanted to make sure that you're okay."

Lin's door suddenly opened, causing Mako to fall to the ground with a thud. Looking up, they were shocked to see their chief of police now wearing Metal Clan attire.

Lin yawned and stretched her arms before smiling at the teens as she walked passed. "Good morning."

Mako got back on his feet, and they all watched in surprise as Lin walked away. Elira scratched her head in confusion.

"Okay, so either Lin has a secret, much friendlier, twin sister we don't know about or...We're in an alternate reality!" She cried

Bolin gasped while Korra and Mako just looked at her weirdly.

*

Far away in an unknown location, The Red Lotus were sitting around a campfire in the woods, having presently escaped Republic City. Zaheer sat not far from them, meditating.

"We should've grabbed one of those cops. Maybe they know something about where the Avatar is hiding." Ming-Hua huffed

"She could be anywhere," Ghazan added.

"We'll find her" P'Li glanced over her shoulder at Zaheer. "It's just a matter of time."

After a moment, Zaheer opened his eyes and looked up.

"She's with the Metal Clan"