The Kids In The Old Mansion

Chapter One

PART ONE - LINZIN

By the time Lin woke up, it was already six AM. She'd somehow lost her internal clock, which was always set to wake her up around half an hour earlier. She was glad, though, because she was happy. She had no idea why - it was probably some leftovers from a dream. Her dreams were always happier than her life, though she had to admit, she'd gotten very lucky with the way things had turned out for her and her sister.

She rolled out of bed, already dressed for the day in her grey leggings and white tank-top, and went to the bathroom. Once done in there, she walked downstairs to find her boyfriend, Tenzin, leaning on the kitchen table, eating a chocolate chip muffin that Jinora, Opal, and Su had made the night before. He looks cute today, Lin thought, running a hand through her hair. I wish I had brushed this rat's nest. They'd only started dating a month ago, and Lin was still very jittery with it all.

Tenzin, on the other hand, wanted to appear as calm, cool, and collected as possible, while on the inside his stomach did backflips every time she held his hand. And when she smiled - well, that's when he lost his cool and grinned like an electrocuted baboon. Even more so when he was the reason she smiled... Lin never found a reason to smile, but when she gave him that beautiful look he died a bit.

"Hey," he said. "Muffin?"

"Yes, please," she sighed as she took her seat. He walked into the pantry room and tossed her a blueberry muffin. He missed, by about three feet lo her left. Lin rolled her eyes, not unkindly, and leaned down to pick it up. "Thanks, Tez," she said, eating the muffin.

"Hey, uh, you know, n-no problem," he said, silently cursing himself for being so unathletic.

Lin raised an eyebrow. "Why do you look like I'm about to murder you?"

"I - I dunno," he said, blushing as he slid into the seat next to her. Slowly, he put his hand on the table. "How'd you sleep?"

"I dunno," said Lin, puzzled. "I .. It was a good dream, I woke up smiling." His hand moved closer to hers. Only about three inches away now. "I just wish I could remember what it was." While she spoke, his hand moved in closer to hers, slowly and steadily, until he slipped his hand under hers and laced his suntanned tan fingers through her pale ones.

Lin nearly chocked on her muffin, heart beating so loud she was sure he could hear it. Tenzin smiled and said, "It sounds lovely."

"It was... I think," Lin said, and lowered her head onto his shoulder. Boy, at least she wasn't the one who had a rapidly beating heart... Pretty soon, they'd both have cardiac arrests.

Just then, the front door opened to reveal Sokka. He had clearly been beat up - two black eyes, a bloody nose, and a knife cut on his forehead. His  body was covered in bruises, and something had clearly happened to his left foot. Lin and Tenzin stood, running over to him. She caught him as she fell, resting him on a couch nearby, while Tenzin closed the door. "Get Katara," Lin ordered before turning to Sokka. "Did they get it?"

"No," he said, and patted the inside pocket of his coat. As Lin pulled it open, she saw another cut on his chest. His green-and-white store uniform was stained... Oh, well, they'd take care of that later. As she gingerly pulled out the sack with the ten silver pieces, this month's wages, Katara ran in.

"Did you recognize them?" She asked before leaning out some water from a well.

"No," he repeated as she began to heal the cut over his eye. "Never seen them."

"How long ago was this?"

"I dunno, an hour?"

"An hour? Where did they get you?"