Author's Note: This is PG-13 and there is significant violence.

Thanks to justcallmehermione for the beta!

Disclaimer: The Avatar-verse doesn't belong to me.

The first time Lin killed someone was to protect Tenzin.

She was sixteen.

In late April, Aang announced a prolonged visit to the Fire Nation. He, Katara, and Tenzin would be spending the entire month of June as guests of Firelord Zuko. The visit would serve both diplomatic and personal purposes: building goodwill and preparing for the treaty negotiations between the four Nations and the United Republic scheduled for that autumn as well as revitalizing old friendships.

Upon hearing the news, Lin launched a campaign to persuade her uncle and aunt to allow her to accompany them. She pleaded that she had not seen Uncle Zuko, Aunt Mai, and their children for over two years. She pointed out how Aang had always believed in learning about other nations and how this would be a perfect opportunity. She argued that as a future leader of Republic City developing an insight of the relations among the five countries would be of great benefit.

Tenzin eagerly supported Lin's cause. He took every chance to remind his parents of Lin's reasons and suggest how easy it would be to add her to the party and how Aunt Mai would love to see her favorite niece.

They failed to mention not wanting to be separated from each other for at least a month, possibly longer depending on travel time and if Aang or Katara decided on side trips. With a mere eight months of official coupledom, they begrudged any attempt to divide them.

Aang and Katara weren't fooled.

Fortunately, they found the pair's efforts to be endearing and, truth be told, Lin did have good arguments.

They agreed to take Lin, provided she could obtain Toph's permission. Lin suffered a week of mocking and suspense before Toph ended the torment and said she could go.

Thus, in the early hours of the penultimate day of May, Lin joined Tenzin on Oogi, Katara and Aang traveling on Appa. In addition to the four, the bison carried baggage for a month's stay and three acolytes who wished to explore the Fire Nation. Accordingly, Aang planned to fly at a slow pace, spending the night on one of the outlying minor islands, before continuing to the Capital the next day.

For the first fortnight, Tenzin attended his father in diplomatic discussions and formal visits to Fire Nation cities and monuments. While Katara and Lin accompanied two airbenders on occasion, they spent the majority of the fortnight immersed in their own pursuits. Katara consulted with the palace and city healers, both seeking and teaching new techniques or medicines. With a palace to explore and the royal family with whom to train, Lin never grew bored. Borrowing a carriage, Lin also visited Prince Iroh at his estates outside the Capital. The elderly firebender delighted in serving her tea and hearing stories of Republic City.

At the end of the fortnight, Aang decided to take the following day off which meant Tenzin was free to do as he wished.

"Fresh fish! Fresh fish!"

"Best workmanship in the four nations! Imported directly from Ba Sing Se!"

"You won't find a better bargain anywhere, ladies and gentleman, two bolts of pure silk for a gold piece!"

"A perfect gift for a lady, hear how they sing, decorative and entertaining!"

Lin and Tenzin strolled through the bustling marketplace. Both had dressed in Fire Nation attire, trying to minimize any chance of being recognized and singled out as the Avatar's airbending son and Toph Beifong's daughter. Given the variety of people present, remaining incognito seemed perfectly possible. Neither wanted the attention or deference recognition would bring.

"A toy for your daughter ma'am, look how it spins!"

"Flaming fire flakes, get your fire flakes here!"

One stall sold furs from the poles; another hawked brooches, bracelets, and headbands of the Earth Kingdom. They walked by stalls stocked with Pai Sho boards and decks of cards, stalls brimming with rugs and blankets and woven baskets, and stalls bursting with vibrant flowers and lush potted plants.

When their stomachs growled at the rich scents wafting from the food stands, they paused to purchase snacks to munch while walking.

Tenzin finished his fire gummies and eyed the pair of round miniature mochi cakes resting in Lin's left hand. Sensing his gaze, Lin turned her head to glare at him. He donned his most innocent expression.

"Don't even think about it," she warned.

"Please?"

"Get your own."

"Just a taste?"

"No." Lin popped one of the pair, a pale blue one, into her mouth. It was too much for Tenzin.

He lunged, attempting to swipe the last one from her palm.

Lin dodged.

Tenzin's knees hit the ground, an arrow protruding from his back.

Dark droplets of blood splattered the flagstones.

For the briefest instant, Lin's world froze. The only sound she heard was her own heartbeat. The only thing she saw was the expanding red patch on Tenzin's back where the shaft of the arrow jutted out.

Then he screamed.

Dropping to her knees, Lin slapped one hand to the ground, reaching for him with the other. A ring of earth erupted around them, rising six feet high. People shouted; Lin barely registered their cries.

"Tenzin, Oma and Shu, Tenzin, what – tell me – "

"Lin…" he gasped, "need to…need to get pressure on the wound. Don't…don't move the arrow." Lin nodded mutely, hands shaking as she ripped her skirt and used it to press against the entrance wound on his back, just under his left shoulder blade, trying not to jar the arrow. Blood soaked it in seconds.

Thud! Something struck the barrier. Lin's head jerked up. More thuds followed. Shrieks filled the air, shoppers and shopkeepers alike finally realizing what was happening. Arrows continued to fly around and hit Lin's barrier. People stampeded to evacuate the area.

Gritting her teeth, Lin made a decision.

"I need you to hang on, alright, just try not to bleed more than you have to, okay?" she ordered Tenzin.

"What?" he managed, confused even more when she removed her hands from his back to strip off her shoes. They came off emblazoned with bloody handprints. "What are you doing?"

"Be quiet." She stood and stomped the ground twice.

And cursed.

"They're coming towards us."

"What?"

"Whoever attacked us – they're coming." Crouching down, she said, "I'm...I'm going to...to deal with them. Your job is not to die." Her voice shook.

"Lin!" He struggled to rise, but Lin gripped his shoulders and kept him from collapsing instead. As gently as she could, she maneuvered him into lying on his right side. She pressed his hands against the front wound, the arrowhead half-in half-out of his body.

She prayed it had missed his heart. She prayed he wouldn't bleed out.

"Keep the pressure, remember," she pleaded. "I'll...Just trust me."

Thinking quickly, she shoved a slab of their shelter wall out towards their opponents, following it out and simultaneously calling up a dust storm to blind their assailants. She sealed the shelter behind her before sending out seismic pulses in search of their attackers.

They had fanned out and were approaching down the aisles between the stalls. There were five of them. At least the dust storm had stymied them for the moment, each one ducked down by a stall for cover. They could wait her out.

She couldn't afford to wait. She struck.

Five yells filled the air. Two of them sank neck-deep into the earth; the other three managed to save themselves by jumping onto stall counters or swinging themselves onto stall roofs.

Lin belted boulders at those.

An arrow whistled by her and buried itself in the shelter's wall. Lin rolled to a new position. Through the dust, the stalls were becoming more and more distinct. As the dust swirled, she gasped – ironwork filled a close booth. She called to several pieces – pokers and pots flew to her. They melted into long coils, snaking about her arms and waist.

The last plume of dust settled. Lin exploded, the earth exploding with her in a wave that toppled stalls. Her enemies flung themselves to the ground, rolling and springing to their feet.

Lin flung rocks in their directions. Fireballs and arrows answered her, forcing her to use slabs to block them. They took advantage of her momentary blindness and rushed into the cleared space surrounding her. Lin tried to sink them into the earth again but they jumped, one of them getting off another fireball to distract her.

Punching out, Lin let her cables fly, whistling through the air. One wrapped around the firebender on her left from ankles to neck. The other cable slashed diagonally across the second firebender's chest and belly. It tore through his leather jerkin and into the skin to leave a line of blood. He staggered, dropping to one knee.

The archer used her preoccupation to cast aside his bow and arrow, drawing a sword and rushing her. Lin cut loose her cables and crouched. With her left hand she sent a hail of stones the archer's way while her right darted to her belt. The archer twisted aside to evade the stones, barely slowing down.

Lin whipped her right hand out, wrist flicking. Her opponent bent his legs, prepared to leap to evade the earth's attack, and scarlet spurted from his neck. He collapsed.

She registered his fall, but it was a distant second thought to the wave of flames roaring at her from the remaining firebender. Lin whirled to face this renewed threat. Dripping blood, the firebender pumped his fists furiously. She started raising a shield.

Lin screamed. A fireball had struck home – her left arm blistered from elbow to shoulder, pain lancing through her body. Through a haze of tears, she dropped to the ground. Fireballs blasted at her shield; she could hear the firebender taunting her although the words were utterly incomprehensible as she strained to stay conscious. She needed a way out.

Lin closed her eyes and breathed in. On the exhale, she sank, ground covering her head. She waited, entombed alive in the earth. Tracking the firebender by his vibrations, Lin kept her right hand on the ceiling of her air pocket. He walked slowly towards the shield, laying down continuous fire. Then, only a couple of steps in front of it, he sent a massive burst at her shield. It cracked, fractured, and crumbled. Another burst flared; if Lin had still been there, she would have been severely burned, perhaps fatally.

But she wasn't.

Believing his enemy incapacitated, either by his fire or by her own wall, the firebender halted as he surveyed the wreckage. His eyes rose from the small pile of rubble to the blank walls of the Avatar's son's shelter. Despite the pain from his lacerations, he felt satisfaction and considered how best to get through to his target. He never thought to look behind him. If he had, he would have seen a young woman emerging from the earth.

A block of stone slamming into his spine interrupted his musings. It threw him onto the rubble pile, his head striking rock.

Lin swayed. Her lower lip bled as she bit into it to keep the pain at bay. She rotated in place to check for any more enemies capable of fighting. There were none.

"Tenzin!" she called out. She staggered to his shelter and used it for support. "Tenzin!"

With a slam of her palm against it, the shelter retracted into the ground. Tenzin still lay on his side, blood soaking his shirt and ground underneath. His eyes were closed. Lin couldn't breathe.

Stumbling to his side and dropping to her knees, Lin pleaded, "Tenzin, open your eyes. It's alright now. We're safe. Help is coming. Someone had to have gone for help. Wake up!"

She touched his cheek with her good arm. His eyes fluttered open.

"Lin," he whispered.

"It's me. You're going to be alright. I promise. I'll get help and you're going to be fine," she babbled. She fumbled around his neck and swallowed a sob when her fingers closed around the bison whistle. Drawing out the cord on which it hung out, Lin retrieved a throwing knife from her belt and cut the cord.

Lin raised the whistle to her lips and gagged. It was covered in blood. Wiping it hurriedly on her torn skirt, she blew it three short times.

At the jangling of metal and pounding feet, she twisted about to see a company of armed men and women approaching at a fast clip.

"Over here!" she shouted. "I need a healer!"

Four headed towards her, the rest splitting into pairs and starting to check the other bodies scattered about.

"Captain Tulza of the City Guard. What happened here?" demanded a man wearing a gold fire insignia. He glowered down at Lin. The sole woman of the group knelt to examine Tenzin.

"I have medical training," she told Lin before reaching out for Tenzin.

"We were attacked. These assassins were trying to kill us."

"Assassins, why would assassins be after you?" he asked, expression clearly saying that he didn't understand why anyone would bother.

Lin clenched her jaw. Her legs trembled as she forced herself to stand. Pulling supplies out of her bag, the medic directed one of the guards to help her with Tenzin.

"My name is Master Lin Beifong, daughter of Chief Toph Beifong. My companion is Master Tenzin of Republic City, son of Avatar Aang of the Air Nomads and Master Katana of the Southern Water Tribe," she declared. "Is that good enough reason?"

The captain paled as did the officer not working to staunch Tenzin's wounds. Lin's heart clenched at his every moan and whimper.

"The Avatar's son?"

"Yes. We need to get him to the palace. His mother is there," said Lin firmly. She shifted to face the west, keeping her gaze on the sky.

"There's closer healers, not water ones, but it'll take time to get a cart and we can't waste more time to transport him across town to the palace," explained the captain. To his subordinate, he ordered, "Josson, take Ricat and Lorah and commandeer something suitable."

"Yes sir." The guard hurried away.

Lin shook her head. "The palace," she insisted.

"Miss Beifong – "

"No. We have – thank the spirits – our own transportation." Lin pointed at a speck in the sky. As they watched, it grew rapidly bigger, eventually resolving into the form of a sky bison.

"Oogi can get us to the palace quickly." Lin turned to face the captain. "What I need is rope."

"Rope?"

With a mighty bay, the bison landed. Tenzin twitched, trying to see his bison. Lowing, Oogi lumbered to within a couple of feet. He bore no saddle or reins.

"You want to take him back on that?" asked the captain. "How are you going to direct him?"

Lin gave him a contemptuous glare. "Oogi is very smart. He'll know where to go if I tell him. I just need rope to make sure Tenzin doesn't slip off." Or herself, she admitted privately. Her arm screamed with pain.

The captain nodded, barked out an order, and an officer quickly ran over with a length of rope from one of the market stalls. The medic, who had been listening, finished wrapping bandages about Tenzin's shoulder and stood. She reached into her bag, drew out a jar, and unscrewed its lid.

""I've got the arrow stabilized, but he's lost a lot of blood," she stated. "He can't possibly ride by himself and you've been hurt too. This is burn ointment – it'll help."

"I'll ride behind him and we'll tie him to me and me to Oogi," Lin said as the medic slathered her arm in a white paste. "Oogi won't let us fall."

She sighed in relief. The ointment was numbing her arm enough to dull the pain.

"Alright. Let's get him up," said the captain. With the help of the two men, they managed to lift Tenzin onto the bison's neck. The medic assisted Lin up. Tenzin had to be turned as much sideways as possible to prevent Lin from bumping the arrow. His legs were barely straddling Oogi's neck. The rope was looped several times about both their waists and tied to Oogi's horns. Lin's arms tightened around Tenzin who was drifting in and out, moans escaping from his lips.

"To the palace, Oogi," called out Lin. "As fast as you can. Yip, yip!"

The bison launched himself into the air. Lin kept her thighs squeezed hard and her arms rigid. She kept up a constant stream of reassurances, not knowing if they were for her benefit or for the man in her embrace, while the bison flew onwards. Oogi exerted his best efforts; they reached the palace in a matter of minutes.

Diving, Oogi swooped and landed on the front portico of the palace. Surprised guards barely managed to scramble out of the way in time.

"Find Katara!" shouted Lin to them. "Get a palanquin or a stretcher or something. And help us down!"

The guards rushed to obey her. One hurtled off into the palace for Katara. Shock showed on their faces, but they soon had Lin and Tenzin off Oogi and a visiting noble's palanquin appropriated on which to carry Tenzin. Lin blanched when she realized he hadn't woken up since midflight.

Eight guards took positions as bearing. They began quick-marching the palanquin deeper into the palace. Lin followed more slowly, leaning on a female guard. Soon, Lin lost sight of it.

"You should stop. We'll get another palanquin," suggested her companion.

"No." Tenzin. I have to get to Tenzin. One foot in front of the other, one more step, just keep moving. The corridors looked the same, gold and red and orange, lined with drapery of the same colors. Flames emblazoned on everything. Her vision swam. Lin trudged onwards. Tenzin. Live. Live. Tenzin.

"Lin!" The pair halted.

"Firelord! My lady!"

Hands cupped her chin, raising her gaze to meet a familiar, scared profile. Gold eyes peered into hers.

"Lin?" he probed gently. "What happened? The guards said Tenzin is gravely injured and I see you're hurt as well."

"You were at the market?" prompted a second, softer voice. Lin turned her head a little to find Lady Mai at her lord's side.

"We were. They shot Tenzin."

"Who is they, Lin?" asked Zuko.

"I don't know. Assassins?" Lin shook her head. She tried to push past Zuko. He held her still. "I need to find Tenzin. Let me go."

"I'll take her to the healing wing," Zuko informed the guard, moving to support Lin. "I'm ordering you to find out what has happened and report to me there. And bring the Avatar and Master Katara."

"Yes sir." The guard stepped back, saluted, and left at brisk trot.

"You shouldn't be walking," Zuko declared.

"Have to get to – ooh." The Firelord had simply swung her into his arms. With Lady Mai in tow, he started towards the healers' wing. Lin passed out before they reached it.

Two days later, a scribe transcribed Lin's account of the attack as she knelt with Zuko, Mai, Iroh, and Aang in the Firelord's private office. When she finished, Zuko pressed her gently for any other details she could remember, anything that might identify the attackers themselves.

"Why don't you ask them?" she demanded in response.

"One of them is not in any condition to talk and the other refuses to give us anything," Zuko replied. "I'm sorry to ask, Lin, but I must. Did they say something? Call each other by name? Shout a battle cry?"

"No, I don't – don't think so – it happened so fast – " She shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. That's perfectly understandable," Iroh assured her. Lin nodded and then frowned.

"Wait – you only mentioned two – there were more than two – I know that – I thought there were five of them," she said, staring at the Firelord.

Zuko paled. The room quieted.

Lin looked from face to face. She repeated, "There were five. I – I know there were – I think there were – it wasn't just two..."

Iroh spoke, his tone gentle, "There were five. Unfortunately, only two remain."

Lin started to tremble. Aang noticed.

"Maybe we should stop. Lin has told us everything she could," he said. He stood and reached for Lin to escort her out. Lin remained kneeling.

"No," she said firmly. "No – I need to know – what happened to the other three?" She clenched her fists in her lap and focused her gaze on Iroh.

"No, she doesn't – " Aang protested, but Iroh cut him off.

"Yes, Avatar Aang, she does," he declared. Aang slowly lowered himself back down.

With an awful sort of compassion in his demeanor, Iroh informed her about what had happened to the other three. One had died from a cut artery – caused by a lucky throw which had raked his throat. One had a fractured skull and bones and bleeding outside and in – dealt by a whip of iron and pile of debris. The third had swallowed poison en route to the prison.

Bile rose in Lin's throat, gagging her. She bolted.

She ran, searching for an escape, and barely made into a courtyard before losing the contents of her stomach.

Shaking, she backed up until her back hit a tree. She slid down, scraping against the bark, until she was on the ground, knees drawn up to her chest.

Zuko found her there. He knelt beside her and they sat in silence for a long time. Finally, he said, "I threw up too – the first time."

"What – what am I supposed to do?" she asked, staring at the ground as she was unable to look at him. "I killed someone – two someones and I – I didn't mean to...I wasn't trying...I just wanted them to stop...I couldn't let...there was so much blood..."

"I know." Zuko raised her head with two fingers under her chin. Lin's eyes were wide and vulnerable. "You did what was necessary. You have to remember that. I know...I know, right now, you feel sick at what you did. That's okay – that's normal, that's human. And you'll probably never feel good about it – you shouldn't – but you're not at fault here. You protected yourself, and Tenzin, from people who were trying to kill you. Please remember that."

Lin swallowed and nodded solemnly. She whispered, "Okay."

Zuko sighed heavily. "I wish you didn't have to bear this burden. And I shouldn't have let it slip like that, I'm sorry."

"I would have found out sooner or later...did – did Aang and Katara already know?"

"Yes, they did."

Lin grimaced. "They were acting odd yesterday, kept staring at me sideways, is that why?"

"Yes."

She pulled her legs in closer. "Does Tenzin know?"

"I don't believe so."

"But he'll have to?"

"I don't know."

They returned to silence.

When Lin didn't return from her discussion with the Firelord, and when she continued to be absent the following day, Tenzin demanded an explanation from his parents. They provided it, albeit reluctantly, unsure of how he would react.

They waited while he mulled it over for several minutes. Finally, he asked them to convince Lin to come see him. They agreed and retrieved Lin who avoided their eyes and hovered in the doorway until Katara tugged her to Tenzin's bedside. Aang and Katara then left the young couple alone.

Returning an hour later, they peeked into the room to find Lin nestled alongside Tenzin. Her head lay on his uninjured right shoulder, Tenzin's cheek resting on it and his right arm draped around her. They thought they saw tear streaks on Lin's face. Neither seemed apt to move or speak in the near future.

Aang and Katara retreated as quietly as they could and gave strict instructions the two were not to be disturbed.

Tenzin had mostly recovered within a week of the attack. Assisted by Iroh and Princess Ursa, Zuko spent much of that time hunting down the organization behind the assault. An assault, they discovered, which was more properly defined as an assassination attempt. A small cadre of fanatics had believed killing the Avatar's only Airbending child would be suitable retribution for a catalogue of ills: the loss of the colonies, the so-called decline of the Fire Nation's prestige and power, their own personal misfortunes since the war's end, and so forth.

Once the guilty parties had been rounded up, Aang resumed his diplomatic sojourns. Tenzin, however, remained at the palace. Released from the healers' care, he spent his time in the palace gardens, extensive library, or with the royal family. Lin rarely strayed far from his side. And if his newly appointed guards turned a blind eye to Lin sneaking into his bedroom, no one objected as the mere fact of being within touching distance deterred or lessened the nightmares from which both suffered.

Zuko threw a party on the eve of his visitors' departure – an extravagant, formal party with Aang as the honoree of the occasion. As such, Aang and Katara, with Zuko and Mai, entered well after the rest of the company had already assembled in the ballroom, including Lin and Tenzin. Upon seeing the monarchs and the Avatar and Master Katara at the top of the staircase leading down into the room, the crowd parted, creating a direct pathway through them to the banquet hall doors.

Lin and Tenzin wound up three-quarters of the way along the lane. Lin wore a robe of hunter green with an under-robe and obi of wheat-gold embroidered in green with the Beifong crest and leaf motif. A set of gold combs held her hair back from her face to flow straight and smooth down her back. Tenzin dressed in orange robes with an Air Nomad pendant and a mantle of dark red.

As the four processed, Aang walking alongside Zuko with Katara and Mai behind, the guests bowed to them. Tenzin and Lin bowed as well when they drew near.

Aang paused and stepped towards Lin, taking her shoulders and encouraging her to straighten. When she had, quite confused, he placed his palms together and bowed to her. Lin blinked and her brow knit; she was even more befuddled now.

Before she could say or do anything, Aang rose and the four continued on. She waited until they had passed into the banquet hall before turning to Tenzin.

"What was that about?" she demanded. She heard whispers and murmurs rippling out from their position, felt numerous stares directed at them.

"I think it was my father's way of saying thank you – and making sure everyone knows why."

Lin flushed. "I – if that's what he intended...how does bowing to me accomplish that?"

"According to Fire Nation tradition, the Avatar is outside and above the normal social hierarchy. He or she is under no obligation to bow to anyone, not even the Firelord. A bow from him is a sign of great respect," Tenzin explained. He gestured to the crowd. "Everyone will want to know why and I'm sure the whole story is spreading as we speak."

"Oh." Lin pursed her lips. She muttered, "I wish he hadn't done that then. He already – I don't want – You, he doesn't owe me anything. I don't want gratitude."

Tenzin took her arm to escort her into dinner. "I know and he knows, so does my mother, but at the same time...I wouldn't be here if not for you."

He raised her hand from his arm and pressed a kiss to it. Lin colored more deeply. He replaced her hand on his forearm and said, "Shall we go in?"

Lin nodded and they swept into the banquet hall to find their seats.

In time, and with the benefit of water-healing and salves, Tenzin's scars faded, leaving only faint marks. Lin herself bore no physical reminders of that day in the marketplace; her injury had been completely healed within hours of sustaining it.

But no one forgot for not all scars are physical.

Two faces haunted Lin's nightmares for a long time afterwards.