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"I'm sorry. There's nothing else I can do." Katara's words had echoed through the hut like a death knell. Unable to bear the news, Korra had fled into the deepening gloom, slamming the door behind her. In the shocked silence that followed, no one noticed the former Chief of Police slip quietly out the back door.
She didn't know how long she stood there on the porch, staring numbly at the rocky, snow-covered mountains whose reassuring presence she would never again feel resonating through her body. Now they were nothing more than a pretty picture, no longer a source of power and direction for her.
All of the righteous fury that Lin had felt towards Amon after he stole her bending had bled away at Katara's words. If the renowned healer couldn't restore the Avatar's bending, she surely couldn't help Lin. At least Korra can still airbend, she thought resentfully, before immediately regretting her bitterness. The teenager had power beyond anything Lin had ever known; to lose her Avatar abilities, not to mention control of her native element, would have been crushing. They were in the same boat, adrift.
What now? she wondered, shivering in the icy Southern Water Tribe air. She had been able to earthbend before she could walk, and mastered metalbending not long after. Without exaggeration, she had been the most powerful metalbender in Republic City. How could she return to the police force now? There were a handful of non-benders on the force, true, but they were mostly detectives and profilers, working to catch criminals from the safety of their desks - not on the front lines. In her experience, the bending officers inevitably felt overprotective of their non-bending partners, which was a dangerous impulse during a skirmish. Lin scowled; she would never allow her officers to put themselves in harm's way protecting her.
Lost in thought, Lin suddenly heard tentative footsteps approaching from behind. Anger swelled in her again; the last thing she wanted right now was Katara's platitudes or Tenzin's useless sympathy.
"I don't want to talk," she growled warningly, eyes fixed on the distant peaks.
"It's not that bad, you know," came a quiet voice after a moment. "Being a non-bender."
Lin started and looked sharply at the newcomer leaning on the rail next to her. To her credit, Asami did not flinch, though the Chief of Police must have had daggers in her eyes as she turned.
And what would you know about it? Lin thought harshly, before the realization hit her: Everything.
She regarded the younger woman curiously. Asami was the lone non-bender on Team Avatar, but in every fight, she more than held her own with her fighting abilities, quick thinking, and technological expertise. As fas as Lin could tell, her bending friends considered her an equal and never felt the need to defend her just because she couldn't conjure a flame or fling rocks across the room.
"You're still a skilled fighter," Asami continued hurriedly, as if she might lose her nerve if she stopped talking. "Amon didn't take that away from you. If you want…" She paused, wondering if what she was going to say would come across as impertinent. "I can show you how to use the electro-gloves. And the Sato mecha suits. I built the latest generation myself; there's none better on the market."
It seemed to Lin that there was a defiant pride in the other woman's eyes, as if she suspected the Chief thought that non-benders were useless and was determined to prove her wrong. Lin frowned, wondering if she did, indeed, think that. Suddenly, she was ashamed of her hopeless musings from a few minutes before.
"Anyway," finished Asami, cheeks tinged pink with cold, or perhaps embarrassment, "You don't have to answer right now. I'll let you think about it."
Lin met Asami's eyes and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The teenager gave her the faintest hint of a smile in return and retreated to the warmth of Katara's hut, leaving Lin alone with her thoughts.
***
Avatar Korra restored Lin's bending at sunrise the next morning. Warmth and power streamed through her from the Avatar's touch, surging exuberantly through her veins until Lin felt that she could lift an entire mountain range into the air, though she settled for the boulders ringing the small temple.
"Thank you." The words were insufficient to express her gratitude, but she knew Korra, of all people, understood. Then, glancing at the small crowd, she caught Asami's eye.
Like everyone else, Asami wore an expression of awe and relief, but it seemed to Lin that there was a tinge of wistfulness in her face as well. For a short while, the young woman must have felt that she was not alone as a non-bender; now, once again, she was.
As the others crowded around Korra, Lin strode down the temple's stairs, feeling the earth singing under her feet with every step.
"Asami." She placed a hand on the younger woman's shoulder and gave her a warm smile as the morning sun bathed the world in golden light. "Are you still up for teaching an old polar bear dog some new tricks?"
Asami stared at her for a moment, then grinned in return. "I'd be honored."