The Unexpected Case of Bumi, Son of Avatar

Chapter 6

"Republic City Police! Open up!"

Lin was woken by sharp knocks on the front door. She twitched up and realized she must have dozed off at the table looking at files last night. Tenzin and Kya were also slowly coming to their senses.

"Open up, or we will bring down the door!"

Lin scanned the papers on the desk. They were all about her triple murder case, she gave Bumi all the rest when he retired to his hole for the night. She took a deep breath and bended the lock open.

Chief Hong strutted inside, flanked by four officers, while the rest waited in the hall. Did he bring the entire station here?

"You're wasting your time. We were searched just yesterday!" Kya said. The cops ignored her and walked to surround Lin.

"Lin Beifong, you're under arrest for tampering and spoliation of evidence, obstruction of justice and treason," the Chief said, giving a little nod to his people to grab hold of Lin. "Please, go quietly."

"You're mistaken, she hasn't done anything!" Tenzin shoved forward so Hong would see him. Lin dodged a woman trying to take her wrist. She looked around. One man had a pair of platinum cuffs on the ready.

So this was where it ended. If she was being honest, she though she had a little more time to get it done, but it was all over now.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Lin," the Chief continued. She could sense in his voice that he was enjoying himself. But why? Did he actually dislike her that much? Or maybe her mother...

"Okay, I'll go." She put her hands out slowly and a man closed the cuffs around them. She looked to the hallway. No familiar faces. On purpose, for sure. She didn't have a lot of actually friends at the station, but they all knew she wasn't a traitor.

"Lin?" Kya asked, desperation in her voice.

"It'll be fine, Kya." Lin let them lead her into the hall, where she was handed over to two new people who would lead her to the station. Now she did recognize someone. Jun grabbed her right arm and hulled her down the stairs.

"Jun, you know what this is about?" she asked, but he didn't even spare her a glance. "Jun? Jun, I know you can hear me."

The Chief followed close after, but some of the officers stayed behind to search the apartment again.

"I'll go with Lin. You run and get Mom and Dad. They can't do this." Tenzin told Kya and then hugged her, whispering into her ear, "Don't worry. They won't find him."

She nodded and he was off, running down the stairs.

"Did that just happen?" Izumi ran out of the bedroom with Iroh. She hated herself for hiding in there, but she didn't want Iroh seeing Auntie Lin dragged away by the police. The kid deserved so much better than being in the middle of all of this.

"What do the policemen want, Mommy?" the little prince asked, clutching Izumi's nightdress.

"They're just looking for something, dear. They won't be long." she told him and stroked his hair.

"I'm going to see what the Avatar and Toph have to say about this," Kya said, and turned to leave, but Izumi caught her wrist. "Take Iroh with you, please."

One look between them was enough for Kya to remember the boy could give them away with one sentence. She took his hand and started leading him towards the door, saying how they'll go play at her house.

"Hey!" one of the policemen called out. "I need to interrogate all of you."

"Really?" Izumi feigned surprise, "Well, officer, as soon as I see one of them, I'll let them know."