#momchief

[not-all-dead]

angstpril day twenty-two: “I had no choice!”

CW: trauma, sad sad

fic under the cut

Lin hadn’t left her room since they’d boarded the airship. Several people had tried to talk to her, but she refused to say anything. Nobody had asked what had happened to her, but they knew without her having to explain.

Three days into the journey to the South, Mako decided to try his hand at talking to her.

“Chief?” he asked, knocking on her door.

When he got no response, he decided to peek in. She was seated on her cot, elbows on her knees, staring blankly at the floor. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him before saying anything.

“You need to talk to someone,” he started, getting to the point immediately.

“You can’t just lock yourself in here and expect us not to worry. What- what happened back there, with Amon, it was traumatic. You need to let us help you,” he took a step towards her, starting to get frustrated at her lack of reaction.

“You can’t just- you can’t just do everything on your own all the time, of all people I should know. You think we haven’t noticed how every time someone comes up on your right, you nearly jump out of your skin? You think we haven’t noticed how you look at everything sideways now? You need help, and we all want to help, if you would just let us, it-,” he stopped abruptly when Lin suddenly spoke.

“Get out,” she said in a low voice, still not turning to him.

“Lin, no, you need-,” Mako tried to push on, but she cut him off again.

“Get out,” she snarled, finally looking up at him, though only briefly.

Mako huffed and turned towards the door, his hand hesitating on the doorknob. He stood like that for a moment before spinning around again to face Lin. He looked at her with an angry yet confused face, opening and closing his mouth a few times before the words came.

“Why,” he said quietly.

“Why would you do this?” he asked, his voice raising in volume.

He watched Lin carefully for a long minute, his frustration growing again. When she still refused to answer, he shook his head.

“How could you do this,” he all but yelled, moving slightly towards her.

He hadn’t expected her to react now, especially not the way she did. He was already on the verge of tears, her obvious pain hurting him even just to watch. He couldn’t help taking a step back and letting a few tears out when she looked up at him, her face twisted with grief.

“I had no choice!” she shouted back at him, her voice breaking on the last word.

She let out a loud sob, hiding her face in her hands. She could feel Mako staring at her, but couldn’t be bothered to try getting him to leave again. His hand was gripping the doorknob again, so tightly his knuckles were turning white. He’d never seen her like this, never seen her so raw and vulnerable. He almost felt like he was trespassing as he stared, watching as she cried into her hands.

“I-,” he took a deep breath, trying to find the right words.

When he finally did, they barely came out more than a whisper.

“I was so worried about you,” he closed his eyes and began to properly cry, gritting his teeth to keep silent.

Neither of them moved or acknowledged what he’d said for a few minutes. Eventually, Lin peeked up at him through her fingers, her breath still coming in broken sobs that shook her shoulders just slightly. She closed her eyes and moved onto the cot so her legs were propped up and there was room beside her. She then opened her eyes again, looking at Mako and trying hard to take a deep breath before patting the cot next to her.

Mako hesitated before closing the short distance to the cot and sitting. He looked at his feet for a moment, before he felt a hand on his back.

“I’m sorry, son,” Lin whispered through shaky breaths. “I’m so, so, sorry.”

He turned quickly around to face her, his tears quickly renewing themselves. He leaned forwards and crushed her in a hug, holding on like his life depended on it. Lin couldn’t help but start to sob again, hugging him back tightly and leaning into his shoulder.

“You’ll be alright,” Mako muttered, more to himself than to Lin.

Lin opened her mouth with the intent of responding, but the cry that left her throat was as close to any word as she could muster. Mako buried his head in her shoulder, trying to hide the fact that he was practically crying his eyes out.

They held each other like that for a long time, crying for Lin’s pain and for fear of what would happen next. Eventually they both fell asleep, exhausted by the outpouring of emotions and by the week’s events. It was the first time Lin had rested peacefully since Amon had ripped away her bending.

[not-all-dead]

piandao and sokka’s relationship dynamic is exactly the same as lin and mako’s, there is nothing that will change my mind

[not-all-dead]

#60: MomChief to DetectiveSon

prompt #60 - “You look like you could use a hug.”

okay I have no idea how but for some reason it ended up turning into a kyalin like,,, pre-smut (?) by the last little bit so uhhh sorry if that’s weird I honestly don’t know what happened but it exists now so,,, yes

Lin had been in her office doing paperwork all day. She heard a commotion outside but ignored it, expecting it to be an annoying complaint or officer’s prank. She was surprised when there was a knock at the door, and Saikhan poked his head in.

“Chief, can we bring Mako in?” Lin raised an eyebrow at him but nodded.

He opened the door fully and motioned at someone behind him. Two other officers helped a severely injured Mako walk in, seating him in the cushioned chair Lin kept in the corner of her office. Lin looked at the young detective in shock, before instinctively reaching for her phone.

“Kya, I need you at the station as soon as possible,” Lin said into the phone immediately when Kya picked up.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Kya responded, hearing the urgency in Lin’s voice and choosing not to question her.

“Bring your waterskin and anything else you need for healing,” Lin said before hanging up and pushing out from her desk.

She squatted in front of Mako, placing a hand lightly on his knee. Her face was tight with worry as she spoke to him.

“What in spirits happened to you?” She looked him over, scanning to see just how hurt he was.

He opened his eyes tiredly to look down at her.

“There was… triad… two kids… I had to protect…” He stumbled over his words, wincing with every word.

“Shh, alright kid, you just rest. Kya will be here soon, she’ll heal you up nicely. Next time maybe don’t go up against multiple triad members on your own, but I’m glad you could help those kids,” She saw his mouth lift into a smile for a moment before he cringed in pain again and relaxed his face.

“You know, you can always call for backup. I’d have been there myself in minutes if you’d asked me to, so keep that in mind next time. You’re a really good kid, I don’t want you getting hurt like this. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you on the force, and I… I’m proud of you, son,” Lin furrowed her eyebrows when Mako suddenly shot his eyes open, looking at her in shock.

“What?” She looked around her for possible dangers. “Is something wrong?”

She looked back at Mako and noticed tears pooling in his eyes. Before she could question him any further, Kya burst through the door.

“Sweet Raava, what happened to you? No, don’t tell me, let’s get you feeling better first, then you can talk all you want,” Kya gently pushed Lin aside and opened her waterskin.

Lin paced the entire time Kya was healing Mako, glancing back at them every few seconds. Her nerves were running high, stomach sick with worry for the firebender. By the time Kya finished, she’d probably walked the equivalent of a marathon.

“I’ll leave you two to talk for a while,” Kya said, moving towards the door.

Lin gave her a grateful smile, pulling her chair to sit across from Mako. Before she sat down, though, she looked him over.

“You look like you could use a hug,” She said, trying to keep her voice gruff and failing.

Mako didn’t respond, instead simply standing and hugging Lin like his life depended on it. She hugged him back with crushing strength, keeping him there longer than she’d intended.

When they eventually released one another and sat back down, Lin remembered his shock and damp eyes from before Kya came in.

“Hey, why did you look so alarmed before Kya burst in? You looked like you might cry,” Lin looked quizzically at Mako, clearly genuinely confused.

“Oh, i-it was nothing, just…” Mako looked away in embarrassment.

“Just what? You can tell me anything, you know, just spit it out.”

“You called me son. When you said you were proud of me,” He looked back at her and she saw that tears were welling up in his eyes again.

Lin felt like she might melt on the spot. Her heart warmed at how genuine and raw Mako’s reaction was, her eyes crinkling at the edges.

“Mako, you are the best detective I’ve ever had on the force. You are one of the kindest, most caring people I know. Today was nothing if not proof of that. I’m not going to lie, I think of you as more than just another officer. I care about you, son, a lot,” Now was her turn to look away in embarrassment.

“I’m not trying to- I’m sorry if that’s weird, I just figured- ”

“Thank you,” Mako cut her off. “Since I joined the force I’ve looked up to you so much, and that… Thank you.”

He stood up, going to leave but hesitating at the door. Lin had seemingly the same idea, because as soon as he spun his body around, she crashed into him. He returned her hug, only pulling away when someone knocked on the door. He reached out to open it, walking out with a small smile on his face.

Lin fought to hide a smile of her own for the rest of the day, and when Kya pointed out her good mood at home, she recounted what had happened after her departure to the waterbender. Kya started crying just listening to the story, at which Lin rolled her eyes and laughed.

“I guess he’s my son too, then,” Kya said at one point, only half joking.

Lin shrugged, and suddenly Kya gasped.

“Wait, isn’t that Bolin kid his brother?” Lin nodded and Kya’s question, unsure of where she was going with this.

“I’ve been in a book club with him for, like, four months! Alright, I’m adopting him, and you can have Mako to yourself,” A goofy grin spread across Kya’s face.

“Sure, sure, he’s a sweet kid too. Just don’t accidentally destroy something on an ‘adventure’ with him, okay?” Lin chuckled, making air quotes around adventure.

“I can make no such promises!” Kya stuck her chin in the air defiantly.

“Mmhmm,” Lin replied, waltzing over to where Kya was seated on the couch.

“I bet I could make you promise,” Lin said, kneeling and resting her chin on Kya’s knee.

“Ooh, is that a threat, Chief?” Kya leaned back against the soft cushions.

“It is if you want it to be,” Lin replied, smirking up at her wife.

“I think I might just want it to be in that case,” Kya licked her lips and smiled.

Lin growled and her eyes grew hungry, fixed on the waterbender. I won’t write it here, but I think you all know what happened next.

list of prompts