99 A.G
Lin woke up in darkness once more. For a moment, she thought she was back inside her worst memory. Her hands moved by instinct, searching for her rifle or any other weapon she could use against her enemies, but nothing around her looked like Korea anymore.
She also realized that she had her prosthetics back, and that her body felt a lot heavier than in the memory.
'Right, I'm Lin Renshi, not Kim Jae-bun anymore.' she thought a few times over to calm her mind.
The spirit world surrounded her with thick black fog and the faint shapes of trees, the scenery of a jungle at night, yet there were no sounds of animals or wind against the leaves. The jungle was there and not there at the same time, twisted into shadows and pale trunks that faded whenever she tried to focus on them.
Her chest hurt a bit, and she remembered the pain she had to endure seconds before passing out. The lightning had gone through her body, and even 'here', wherever 'here' was, she could still feel the echo of it in her ribs and spine. It was a miracle that she was still able to move normally.
She grimly realized that she had gambled everything on one attack and still failed to return. If she didn't manage to defeat the spirit with that one attack, then it was highly probable for it to still be around, which would mean that maybe she still had a way to return to the real world, only she couldn't see the creature anywhere close.
For several minutes, Lin remained on one knee, taking long breaths and forcing herself to calm down and think normally. Panic would not help her after all, and she needed to keep her strength if she had to fight the creature again.
She had no weapons, and her fire still felt distant inside her. If the beast had survived the lightning, then she would have to come up with another solution. Lin forced herself to stand and started looking for anything that might be useful in a fight.
The fog in front of her parted before she could take a step, and a figure emerged from it, tall and glowing with a warm orange light. It had two heads joined to one another, both crowned with flame, and four sets of arms resting at different angles.
The sight should have made her react, maybe even brace for an attack, but the instinct never came. For some reason she felt calm and not threatened by the new entity's presence. The spirit stopped a few steps away from her.
Both faces studied her with calm interest, and when it spoke, the voices came together as one. "My daughter."
She raised her chin. "What…Who are you?"
"I am the Great Spirit Agni." he said.
Lin stared at him in disbelief. The great fire spirit smiled gently, either amused by her silence or patient enough to wait for it to pass. "I have come to help you."
Lin laughed, because the situation was just so ridiculous. Her chest still hurt but she couldn't stop herself. The sound felt wrong in the fog, yet once she started, she needed a moment to force herself to be quiet again.
Agni did not seem offended. "Do you find something amusing?"
"Well, the rumors were true after all." Lin pressed one metal hand against her side and took another careful breath. "Blessed by Agni himself. My soldiers are going to be insufferable if they ever learn of this."
The spirit's smile remained. "They are not wrong."
Lin's humor faded. "You are actually bestowing me with a blessing?"
"Yes." he said, simply.
"For what purpose?"
"When the time is right, I will ask something of you."
Lin was not sure she wanted to owe a spirit anything, as, if the stories were true, no spirit was truly benevolent and their request could be very complicated to fulfill.
"Do I have a choice?"
"There is always a choice, but I believe it to be a fair exchange. I will give you a task, in time." Agni said. "In exchange, I will return you safely and healed enough from the damage you gave yourself."
"What task?"
"To protect a dear friend of mine."
Lin frowned. "I didn't know spirit had friends in the real world."
"Well, she is a spirit as well, but it is true that she is in the 'real world' as you call it."
"I see. What happened to the other spirit? The one who trapped me here in the first place."
"Hei Bai will be fine, although you did manage to hurt him, which is something I never thought possible for a human. But once he is recovered he will have enough strength to take humans to the spirit realm again, I suggest you don't linger in his forest ever again. As it is my responsibility I will help to reduce his hatred toward humans. I hope to convince him, and make him realize that the forest will just grow back again, without issues. Everything heals with time, after all." he explained.
Lin was relieved, as no one wanted a resentful spirit after them to be honest.
"That is good to hear, I never thought spirits could be so reasonable. Is there any more information that you can give me, regarding your friend that needs help?" she asked.
"In time, you will see me again and I will tell you more about it. It has yet to come, so you have time to prepare." Agni said.
Lin disliked not having all of the answers, but helping each other and gaining the favor of a Great Spirit sounded good enough for her.
Agni lifted one of his hands, and the fog around them began to thin. The black trees pulled apart, revealing a faint light beyond them. Lin could feel heat again, not from the spirit, but from her own body. Then followed a calm and warm feeling, her pain going away.
"Farewell, my daughter. It is time for you to return." Agni said.
"Goodbye, great spirit. Till we meet again." Lin bowed.
Lin came to her senses, hearing shouting, and movement around her. When she finally could see clearly instead of feeling drowsy, there were soldiers gathered around her. She was on the ground near the gliders, with Lieutenant Toma kneeling beside her and two soldiers holding back the others to keep space around her.
Aiku's chosen earthbenders were there too, pale and sweating, their faces carrying the same strained confusion and panic.
Toma released a breath when she turned to look at him. "General, you are finally back with us."
Lin pushed herself up before anyone could try to help. She felt fine and her movement responded well to her chi. She summoned a small flame to her hand and was happy enough to watch it flicker into existence.
"How long was I out, Lieutenant?" she asked.
"You weren't 'out' as you say, you were simply not here. But answering your question, maybe a few minutes after the rest of us came back." Toma said. "To me it felt as if I was crossing a thin veil. When I stopped feeling dizzy, several others were also getting their bearings back. You were the last of us to return, we thought you were lost to us."
Lin glanced at the soldiers. None of them met her eyes for long. They had seen something in the spirit world as well. There was dread and horror in their eyes.
"We angered a spirit called Hei Bai, it took us to the spirit realm where he was meant to punish us. I won't pry as to what you saw there, but know that seeing you all alive and still able to stand and not break down speaks very well of you. I'm proud." Lin said.
"H-how do you know about the spirit?" Sergeant Feng, one of the earthbenders, asked.
"He talked to me once I broke free from his visions. I fought him briefly, managed to injure him actually, although I took damage as well. It's good to see that I am fine now." Lin said.
Lin could see everyone's eyes were wide in shock, and was already dreading all of the attention she would receive once word got out of this encounter. She decided to keep quiet about speaking with Agni.
"We shouldn't stay here anyway, I don't believe the spirit can be killed. Let's leave this place at once." Lin said.
"Er, right away, ma'am!" Toma saluted, sprinting away.
'I hope to never encounter Hei Bai again.'
----0000----
Princess Azula was frowning after reading the last letter from her father. She did not enjoy displeasing her father, and she had spent most of her life making sure to only give him reasons to approve of her.
She had always strived to be perfect in his eyes, and every report sent back to the capital had been faultless in her opinion. Which is why she did not understand the mistake that had angered her father.
The Fire Lord was displeased that she had been away from Lin and had failed to monitor her movements. She couldn't understand where the paranoia of monitoring Lin came from. Worst of all, he hadn't even cared about the gift she had pushed to give him, renaming the city in his name. She had worked hard to put down any attempts of rebellion successfully and he didn't even congratulate her.
Besides, Azula was sure that Lin already reported every movement she made. That was one of the things that made the reprimand feel unnecessary. Lin was disciplined to a degree that bordered on absurd. If she had a plan, someone wrote it down.
If she encountered something unexpected, someone wrote it down. If she decided to visit a village, inspect a rail line, or punish an officer for incompetence, the result would reach the right desk before anyone had time to invent a rumor.
'What threat is father even considering here?' she thought, confused.
In her young life, Azula had met ambitious nobles already. She had seen officers try to hide their failures or take advantage of others achievements. She knew what ambition beyond their own station looked like, she knew what hunger for power looked like, and Lin simply did not have it.
What Lin cared about most was winning the war, bettering her nation, and helping her people progress in every aspect they could. Her father's fixation on her loyalty made less sense the longer Azula spent with her.
If Father decided Lin had stepped outside some imaginary boundary, what would he order Azula to do? Threaten her? Test her? Remove her? The thought made Azula's fingers tighten around the letter in anger.
Lin would die for the Fire Nation, she would die for her father without hesitation. Azula was certain of that. She was also becoming certain that her father did not care about others as she had hoped.
Spending her time away from the capital had opened her eyes to that reality. Being away from her father had given her a new perspective. But most of all, she realized how little he actually cared about her.
For years, Azula had believed that if she was perfect, Father would be proud of her. Looking back, she could now see how narrow that perfection had been. Firebending, command presence, court etiquette, intimidation, strategy. Those were useful, but they were not enough.
Lin had started teaching Toph mathematics, engineering basics, geography, history, manners when she could force the girl to sit still, and even basic medical knowledge, topics she didn't know much about because her father had prioritized firebending practice.
Even when Lin had been made a tutor, her father had scheduled for her to practice firebending above all, and had not allowed Lin to teach her anything else other than tools for war. Now, Azula had learned too much by listening from the side to those lessons.
The most embarrassing example still made her face heat whenever she remembered it. Her body had started bleeding not long ago, and no one had warned her properly. She had known enough from scattered comments to understand it was not a wound, but that had not stopped the panic when it first happened.
Lin had been surprised that no one had explained it to her earlier, then had handled the matter with the same calmness as usual, being extremely patient with her. She had explained what was happening, what supplies to keep ready, what pains were normal, and when to summon a physician.
Azula had hated needing the explanation. She despised the fact that even common soldiers seemed to know more about that than she had, it was ridiculous. She was the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, and no one had bothered to teach her something that was basic to everyone else.
Azula placed the letter on the table and leaned back in her throne-like chair. She had been distracted from these thoughts in New Ozai. Spending time with Mai had been enjoyable, even if Mai would rather complain than admit she was having fun.
They had helped apprehend a few rebel sympathizers trying to smuggle messages out of the city, although there were fewer of them now than Azula had expected. Most of the resistance had either fled, surrendered and imprisoned, or were now buried 6 feet under the ground.
After that, Azula had taught Mai how handguns worked, and Mai had taken to them with ease. She complained about the noise, of course, and about the smell, and about the amount of cleaning involved afterward, but her aim had improved quickly. The weapon suited her style, and it was much harder to dodge than her knives and arrows.
Azula's mouth curved a little at the thought. She would have to ask Lin if there was a way to reduce the noise in future designs. Mai had called it irritating, which meant she would keep using the weapon while acting annoyed and frustrated with every shot.
Azula missed Lin a lot now. She could admit as much, though she would not have said it out loud where Mai could hear. Mai had already teased her enough over the past days, and Azula had no interest in giving her better ammunition.
Still, it was true. Lin was supposed to arrive in New Ozai soon, and Azula found herself anxious for her return.
Her mind returned to the present issue at hand. Her father's letter. For the first time in her life, she decided that her father was wrong. Moreover, if her father could not see the benefit of having someone like Lin in the Fire Nation, it meant that anyone similar to her would face the same wrath.
He wasn't fit to rule if he was actually hindering the people with the most talent and commitment in their nation, and Azula started doubting that they had the best people they could have at the positions that mattered most.
Blue fire caught along the edge of the letter and ate through the page in a few seconds. Azula held it until the last corner blackened, then let the ash fall into the tray beside her desk.
'This is unacceptable, I'll need to plan for my ascension immediately.' she thought with angry determination.
----0000----
Lin arrived at New Ozai's airfield late in the day they were supposed to arrive. After the encounter with Hei Bai had delayed them, they had to fly in the dark for the last couple of hours. She expected the airfield to be mostly empty by the time the four gliders landed.
The train convoy should have reached the city by now, and the soldiers assigned to receive them should have been dismissed to the barracks or sent to unloading duties. Lin intended to report to the palace, bathe, eat, and get her deserved rest after the ordeal.
But when the glider descended toward the landing path, she saw a company of soldiers waiting near the edge of the field. She also spotted Azula's palanquin standing in front of them, and she was surprised they had waited there all day for her arrival.
"I wasn't expecting everyone to be here waiting for us." Toma said from behind her.
"Indeed, it seems I've worried some people." Lin replied.
Toma snorted but said nothing more. The glider rolled across the leveled stone and slowed as the ground crew caught the frame. Lin unfastened herself and climbed down, testing her body now back on land. It felt fine after Agni's intervention, and her fire responded properly now, fortunately.
Azula was already walking toward her when she finished stripping the glider's gear off. Lin could see that Azula's face was relaxed and felt relief at the sight. At least she wasn't being received with bad news.
"Lin!" Azula said, still a few steps ahead of her. "You are late."
"Hello, Princess." Lin bowed.
Once Azula was close enough, she smiled and pulled her into a casual hug. Azula went rigid for half a breath, making Lin think her hugs were not as expected as Toph's were, before returning the hug with more force than she expected.
"I missed you." Azula whispered, surprising the young general. Azula was not someone who was used to giving words of affection.
"I missed you as well." Lin replied. She could see enough color in her cheeks to understand the princess had surprised herself too.
"We can catch up in the palace, right now I need a bath." Lin said.
"Right…" Azula answered. "That would be best."
The soldiers gave the proper salutes as Lin passed, and Azula walked beside her toward the palanquin. On the way back, Lin walked beside the procession making small talk with Azula as the servants pushed it uphill.
Once they arrived at the palace, Lin promptly detoured to take a quick bath before joining the rest for dinner. Governor Ukano received her with his family. Michi, his wife, gave her a warm welcome while Mai stood beside her mother with her usual blank expression, and TomTom tried to reach for Lin's metal hand until Michi caught him by the sleeve.
Ukano seemed eager to ask about the operation, and Lin gave the practical report first. General Fong's mountain base had been destroyed. No survivors had been found, several documents had been recovered from the ruins and would be sent to intelligence, and the earthbenders had performed well.
"That is when things got delayed…As we were to return, we got attacked by a spirit." Lin retold.
"What?!" Azula said, shocked.
"Apparently we angered a spirit called Hei Bai, who attacked us unexpectedly. We are not sure how but he pulled us into the spirit realm, intending to punish us for burning the forest around the mountain."
Lin's audience paled and didn't seem to find the right answer to what she just said, so she continued.
"After that, each of us were forced to relive our greatest regrets, but I managed to break free from those visions. That is when he told me where I was."
Lin described what the spirit world looked like, and although Ukano listened with skepticism at first, it faded as Lin continued to explain in detail.
"Clearly I wouldn't be able to negotiate with the spirit. I couldn't firebend in the spirit realm for some reason, so fighting him was not ideal. I used lightning to injure the spirit, the only bending I could feel I was able to do. It worked but at the cost of great damage to my body."
"But you are unhurt… are you not?" Azula asked, concerned.
"I'm uninjured. Believe it or not, it was the Great Spirit Agni who found me next. And he healed me. He also told me that he would give me his blessing in return for helping him in the future. I was able to come back unharmed thanks to him." Lin finished.
"So the stories are indeed true…" Ukano said at last. "You were blessed by Agni."
Lin chuckled. "Who would have thought of all things said around here for that to be true…"
"Wow, and you are actually telling the truth. Hey, metalsticks. I'm glad you are back." Toph's voice echoed through the room.
Lin turned her attention to her, she spotted her in a hole on the walls to the side. "Toph, you were spying on us I see."
"It is not forbidden for her to be here actually, but I thought you were asleep already, Toph." Azula said.
"To be honest I think I could hear Lin's steps from the city's entrance. It's difficult to sleep after hearing that." Toph said, exaggerating.
Azula rolled her eyes at her, then turned to Lin again. "Either way, Toph is right, I'm glad you are alright, Lin."
"Thanks, princess."
Ukano looked thoughtful for a few minutes before his face lit up.
"This could be very useful, you know? " Ukano said. "The soldiers already respect you. If they hear that Agni himself actually blessed you, morale would rise at once, even if some don't fully buy the story."
"Mmm…I do not want that story to spread actually." Lin replied.
Ukano paused. "With respect, General, that may not be wise. This is the kind of story that becomes valuable propaganda. They would eat it up easily!"
"While that is true, rumors about that particular topic have been going on for a long time. I don't think it will have much impact." Lin said. "Besides, I do not need a few soldiers thinking spirits favor every decision I make, my results will speak for themselves already."
Mai rested her cheek on her hand. "Well, it is good to know that we are in good hands at least."
"Then I will leave it in your capable hands, as my daughter says, General. Do let me know if you change your mind, however. I'd be happy to spread the word." Ukano said.
"Thank you, governor. I appreciate your support." Lin said.
"Of course." Ukano laughed jovially.
----0000----
After dinner, Azula asked to speak with her privately. They went to one of the sitting rooms overlooking the rail yard below the palace. The city was lit for the evening, and trains moved between the platforms with steady columns of smoke rising from their engines.
Lin stood near the window while Azula crossed the room once, then stopped.
"So… you were injured. How bad was it?" Azula said, arms crossed.
"Painful, but I lived. Nothing to worry about, what matters is that I'm back and well." Lin said.
"While I concur…" Azula's eyes hardened. "You should have taken me with you."
"I don't think anything would have changed, Azula."
"For me it would have!" She almost shouted. Azula then sighed heavily. "I could have been there for you."
"I still think it was better this way, I wouldn't want you to be perturbed by the visions the spirit might have shown you."
"Oh please, I'm stronger than that." Azula scoffed. "You will take me next time, that's an order." she said angrily.
Lin turned from the window fully. Azula was angry indeed, but she didn't understand why she was so upset. It felt more personal for some reason. She had waited at the airfield for hours, admitted she had missed her, and now stood before her furious that she had been left behind on a dangerous mission.
It was certainly surprising, for the princess barely showed her emotions in the open. She couldn't come up with a reason immediately, but it was clear that the princess had been distressed in hearing about her getting hurt.
Lin thought back over the past months. Azula's constant presence, her attention to Lin's teachings, the irritation whenever Lin left without her, and the way Azula reacted whenever Lin gave her approval.
Her mind went back to the few times where Azula had asked to talk to her privately and a dangerous realization made its way into her head. The possibility had been there for some time, but Lin had not wanted to examine it too closely.
It was a dangerous thought to have. 'Azula might have feelings for me.'
Lin did not know if the princess understood that herself. She also did not know what answer she wanted. Azula was dear to her, that much was true. She had become one of the few people Lin wanted near her even when there was no practical reason for it.
Saying the suspicion aloud could damage their trust, and ignoring it could make the situation worse later. Azula was still waiting for a response impatiently, and her mind was going a thousand thoughts per second to try and come up with a course of action.
"How about this?" Lin began, "To make it up to you, you may travel with me in my private quarters on the train convoy. Just the two of us. We will have time to catch up on lost time, and if something happens you will be there with me."
The change in Azula's emotions was brief, but Lin caught it instantly. Surprise came first, then clear satisfaction that she tried to hide behind a composed expression. Lin had trained her for years, she knew when Azula was pleased.
"That would be acceptable." Azula said, placated.
Lin nodded and kept her own face calm, although she felt anything but calmed.
----0000---
Lin was having trouble sleeping that night, and after the third time she opened her eyes without having rested at all, she got up to drink a bit of water and see if that helped.
The room given to her in the palace was comfortable enough. The bed was softer than she preferred, the blankets were heavy, but those were just excuses that normally wouldn't even make a difference in her sleep.
After drinking a bit of water, Lin remained on her back for a while, hands resting over the blankets, thinking about the princess. Looking back, it was clear that Azula cared for her, although she wasn't sure to what extent.
Lin could admit that she cared about Azula as well. Years of working together had made the princess one of the few people Lin wanted close. Azula was intelligent, disciplined when she wished to be, and willing to join her nation's soldiers in the frontlines rather than just rule from the safety of the throne.
It was true that she was also cruel at times, proud, and sometimes eager to be feared instead of respected, but those were things that were being corrected with time and guidance. Lin valued competence above most things, and the talent to learn from your mistakes instead of repeating them again and again. Azula had an abundance of both.
Lin also valued loyalty, and friendship. Azula had given her plenty of that as well through the years, which was surprising coming from the Crown Princess. There were a few things to consider though, if she indeed had feelings for her.
A relationship between them was doomed to fail in her opinion. The first problem was her position. Azula was the Crown Princess, and thus Lin's superior, one who would one day likely sit above everyone else in the Fire Nation.
A relationship between them would never be seen in a good light by others. Some could say Lin had pursued Azula to secure her own position. Others could say Azula had used her authority over her. Both accusations would be useful to her enemies, and both could damage the princess' authority.
Another problem was the state of the world. In terms of relationships and public opinion, it was backwards even for her own world standards, which weren't that high to begin with in her opinion. Same sex marriage was illegal back in her own world, and even in some countries, being homosexual was punishable by death.
A relationship between two women would become the scandal of the century here, especially around the royal family. Fire Priests, nobles, court officials, and bitter relatives would all have words for it. None of their words would matter to Lin personally, but they would matter to Azula's claim, reputation, and eventual rule.
In her old life, Lin had never cared about gender in that sense. She had never had time to explore a loving relationship. Throughout her young life, she could never live comfortably enough to put her mind into those topics. She had thought that maybe, after the war, there would be time for other things, and then she had died before reaching that future.
And lastly, there was Azula herself. She was young, maybe even too young for Lin to treat this casually, even if Azula was more mature than many people twice her age. Four years gap would mean little once both of them were adults, but right now it mattered.
Although Lin had never been old in either life, she had enough memories to remember more years than she felt herself to be. Azula was brilliant, but brilliance was not the same as experience and maturity.
If Azula truly had feelings for her, had she thought about what that meant? Had she considered the repercussions? Or what her father might say? Or how about a succession crisis due to the scandal? Or had she only followed the pull of affection without realizing how impossible it would be?
Lin doubted she had but she wasn't really certain either. Azula was not careless, and although still young, her mind usually would plan ahead for most eventualities.
'What if she already acknowledged what she was feeling? What if she already has a plan in motion? Is it worth it to pursue a relationship if it's good enough?'
Maybe after the war was won they could eventually explore their options. She wasn't opposed to the idea, but it would still be difficult. It could always stay a secret, but she doubted someone as proud as Azula would hide it away.
Or perhaps Lin was giving her too much credit. She was just about to turn fourteen after all.
'I have to come up with a present for her birthday. Maybe the newest handgun would suffice.'
She turned onto her side and closed her eyes again, trying to push the previous thoughts away. By the time the first light of morning reached the window, she was still thinking about it, unsure what to do.
Safe to say, she did not get much sleep that night.