Disclaimer: I don't own lok.
Suyin hadn't meant to ignore the first two knocks on her door. Her attention was finally won over when the door unlocked. She stood up at once and readied to attack.
Lin rose an eyebrow at her little sister.
"Still think I was gonna attack you after three years?"
The Zaofu matriarch recognized her feral features and relaxed just slightly. She was still anxious after everything that had went down. "Sorry, Lin. I thought you were someone else."
"Someone like?"
"Are you here for something?"
The chief of police once again eyed her sister hesitantly. She knew something was biting at Su. The way she was looking worn down, nervous, and the fact that her hands were kneading each other was a sign that Suyin Beifong was plagued by a worrisome issue. If anything, Lin already threw up a red flag when she found her sister ready to attack. "I just thought you'd like to go out and get something to eat. It's dinner time."
"Oh. I hadn't noticed." The youngest of the two Beifong's continued to avoid eye contact with her sister. "If you don't mind, I'd actually like to stay here. Still tired from the trip and all."
Lin closed the door behind her. "That's fine. I'll just order some Chang's."
Suyin smiled forcefully. "I'm sure you have other things to do. I'll be fine by myself."
"The station knows you're in town. They understand. I was feeling a bit tired myself. Probably going to take the rest of the night off."
The chief of police noticed her sister go slightly back to normal. A hand was on her hip as she answered back. "That isn't like you. You're nocturnal."
Lin scowled back to normalize the conversation. "Ha ha. Very funny. You come up with that one yourself?"
"Actually no." Su chuckled. "I'm fairly certain Mom said something like that when I was still in the city."
"That hag." The older of the two crossed her arms. "Nonetheless, you're stuck with me for the night."
Suyin waved her hands up front. "Lin, really. I'm quite tired and I am thinking about skipping dinner and going straight to bed-"
"I already ordered the food."
The Zaofu leader flinched backwards. "When did you possibly do that?"
"Half an hour ago. While I was waiting for you to come down to the lobby for dinner. You asked me earlier today if I wanted to have dinner together and I said yes. I figured since you bailed, something was bugging you thus you would ignore feeding yourself." Lin was looking at her younger sister with a look saying she was caught.
Su attempted to defend herself. "I did not-"
"Don't even try lying." The chief of police pointed down to her feet and wiggled her now bare toes. She had retracted the metal from her boots a long while ago. Suyin silently realized she wasn't focused. "What's wrong?"
The younger Beifong wasn't letting up so easily. "Did I ever tell you how annoying it is when you worry about every single thing that happens to me?"
"Now that sounds nostalgic." Lin crossed her arms tighter. "But really. What's going on? Is someone targeting you?"
Suyin stopped her sister's mind before her body could take action. "I'm fine, Lin. No one is coming after me."
"You were going to attack anyone that came through that door." Lin pointed forcefully at the door behind her. "Who is it? Is it a triad? Kuvira's men?"
It seemed that Su only caught her first accusation. "I don't have any enemies in this city any more, Lin. I detached myself."
"So it's Kuvira then, right?"
"That traitor isn't any sort of threat to me."
The chief of police pressed on. "My career as a detective has allowed me to infer with great accuracy. Zaofu is a major city that Kuvira hasn't conquered yet. She's looking at you Su."
"Your point?" Suyin turned around and stared out the hotel window.
That didn't stop Lin from grilling her further. "You're doing that thing when you hide your face from me. I already got a reading from your face. You're scared."
"I am not afraid of her."
"Not scared as in helpless. Your fear has to do with the fact that everything is taking a complete 180 from what you intended."
The younger Beifong gritted her teeth. "Shut up."
"First Aiwei betrays you shaking up your trust. The red lotus infiltrates your supposedly secured city. After that, you turn down helping the earth kingdom unite once again putting guilt on your shoulders. Kuvira and your eldest son ditch Zaofu to do what you refused to do. Now, your city is being threatened. Why wouldn't you be paranoid?"
Su turned around and Lin had deja vu from when they were younger. "Do you enjoy doing that? Smacking me in the face with my own reality? I know all that, Lin. I didn't need to hear it again coming very rudely from you. But then again, you don't have a single sympathetic bone in your body."
"I had to say it."
"No, Lin. You are just being an ass."
"No, so I can be your big sister."
Lin observed her younger sibling deflate in just the slightest bit. There was a silence between them as the words sunk in. When Su didn't retort, Lin continued. "Did she talk to you?"
Suyin kept her breath in for several more seconds. She eventually sighed loudly and responded. "I went to her."
"And?"
"Simply, she is after Zaofu."
"Figured as much."
The bed's shape changed as Su sat on the edge. Lin followed and layed down next to her. Her arms were behind her head while her feet dangled over the edge. Zaofu's leader stared down at her hands. "Bataar Jr. and Kuvira are engaged."
The chief of police cringed. "Ouch. She is not a Beifong."
"I don't want her in the family as much as you don't. But obviously, Bataar Jr. doesn't care what I think anymore." Her hands clenched tightly. "She's up to something. And my son...he is in on it."
The older Beifong cleared her throat. "Jr. isn't like that. Or he doesn't intend to be. I've talked to him a lot over the years and let's just say we can relate."
"What are you talking about?"
"He's lived under you and your husband's shadow since the day he's been born. You even named him after your husband. No matter where he goes, he has always been compared to your success. So what does he do? He tries to do the same. He works with Bataar on Zaofu's architecture. But he wasn't happy as you could probably realize now."
Her younger sister looked back confused. "And that relates to you...?"
"Su. That is me." Lin smirked. "Up until now, I'm still doing something that I thought would make Mom happy. You and I both lived under Toph Beifong's shadow and I took it to heart thinking I needed to follow in her footsteps. So I joined the force. But you know what separates Jr. and I?"
"What?"
"When he finally realized that copying you and your husband's achievements didn't work, Bataar Jr. left to make something out of himself. I didn't."
Suyin carefully processed the words. However, there was still doubt in her older sister's explanation. "But you couldn't leave the force just like that. You were Chief. Bataar Jr. had no commitments like that."
"Our stories relate. I didn't say they were exactly the same." The chief of police bent the top part of her armor off leaving her in a dark green long sleeve. "Jr. had the right idea. He just chose the wrong path. Sound like someone?"
"Like mother like son?" Su laughed.
She was surprised to her hear her sister laugh along with her. "Like mother like son."
They sat in silence for a couple more minutes. Coincidentally, the food arrived and Lin was glad she didn't have to shove the food down her little sister's throat. The two ate take out noodles directly from the box. It was something they used to do when Toph would come home late and the two were lazy to cook. Always Chang's and always eating on someone's bed. Even though they had just made up three years ago, the Beifong girls fell back into routine faster than they realized.
Lin slurped up the noodles dangling from her mouth. "As for Kuvira and her army, I'm certain you have that under control."
"I don't know. We aren't defending against a foreign enemy. We're fighting one of our own."
"Yes, but sadly she became a dictator."
"Hopefully the clan sees her that way too."
The chief of police noticed Su's worry come back, hanging over her head like a cloud. Lin nudged her. "Don't worry about it. With you and I leading, this confrontation will end faster than you know it."
Again, a look of surprise crossed over her sister's features. "You and I leading?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm coming back to Zaofu with you."
"You really don't have to do that, Lin." However, by the determined expression on her sister's face. Suyin knew she had already made her decision. "Thank you."
The older of the two just continued eating. "Can't have someone messing with my little sister. That's my job."
Su nudged her harder this time. "I knew you were coming for a selfish reason."
"Of course I am." Lin tried to convincingly keep in character, but a smiled broke out on her face.
"Look at us. Eating noodles on the bed. Wonder what Mom would say if she saw us."
"Something along the lines of, 'why didn't you get me some?'"
The Beifong sister's laughed together.
Suyin was the first to calm down. "Well wherever she is, I'm sure she is doing her part in all of this. You know how she is. She says she isn't going to help, but she finds a way."
Lin chuckled. "I'm gonna take a long shot and hope she found Korra."
"Wouldn't that be a sight?"
"Definitely something I'd pay to see."
This was a request from Anonnim and takes place after The Coronation. Thanks for reading guys! Review or fav!