lizbee | 21 first lines (Reply)

...only I often find my first lines don't stand all that well on their own, so I'm being self-indulgent and doing first ... bits. Lines, paragraphs, whatevs. Includes completed stories, early drafts that were sufficiently different to get a separate file, etc. Going by the date the GoogleDoc was last changed.

1. "Training", White Lotus pinch hit for silly_cleo

"Do you have classes the day after tomorrow?"

Without looking up from her book, Jinora said, "Do you ever knock?"

2. Original attempt at White Lotus pinch hit for silly_cleo

Tenzin found Lin in the garden. She was on her knees in the dirt, pulling rocks and shrapnel from the beds. Her furious activity slowed as he approached, but she didn't stop.

"Does it help?" he asked.

"No," she said.

Her fingers were bleeding.

3. "Joint Operations", White Lotus fic for attackfish

There was a body in a junkyard on the very edge of the city. Murdered elsewhere, Beifong declared, then disposed of here, near the ports. In pieces.

4. Early draft of the same fic

"The city looks like an armed camp. I feel like we've been invaded."

"We were," said Tenzin. "By our own citizens."

5. "Rebel", pre-series Lin/Tenzin

"Tenzin!"

His feet had barely touched the ground when Lin threw herself into his arms, heedless of the disapproving frowns of the onlooking Acolytes. Tenzin wavered for a second before giving into her hungry kisses.

6. "Detectives, Adventurers and Girls Who Don't Wait Around: The Paradox of Amelia J. Williams"

When she was fifteen, my friend Maria moved to the United States.

7. Unfinished fic where Lin introduces Pema to Tenzin

The first time Pema met Lin Beifong, the lieutenant had a black eye and blood streaming down her face from a cut on her cheek.

8. The post-season one Lin Doesn't Get Her Bending Back And Becomes A Private Detective AU

We started to measure time by the Avatar's absence.

9. "Sanctuary", Lin/Pema/Tenzin

"Try to keep him quiet," Lin had said as they set out, but Rohan was almost silent save for some snuffles and whimpers. It was Pema who was weeping, silent tears that spilled down her face onto the baby's head.

10. "Domestic Entanglements", Lin/Pema/Tenzin

"Jinora."

She was tied to the post, looking out over a crowd of people who hated her without even knowing her, and she couldn't breathe. <I>She couldn't breathe</I>.

"Jinora!"

Firm hands shook her awake.

11. "Black Sun", post-"Turning the Tides" Lin fic

"Chief Beifong? Lin?"

She put her hand to the wall, but the stones were silent. She didn't know where she was.

12. Untitled, unfinished, extremely uncanonical Lin/Tenzin futurefic written immediately after "Turning the Tides"

Lin woke up early to take her produce to the market, walking barefoot in the morning sun. It was a long way down the mountain to the city, and twice her little cart nearly overturned as she navigated the narrow path. Her mother had always said that getting to her school was a student's first challenge, and Lin had come to appreciate the isolation.

13. "Wind Will Wrap Around You", the one where Lin and Tenzin have an adult son

They flew through the night, but still the afternoon was almost over before they landed in the courtyard of the United Republic's embassy in Omashu. Tenzin leapt down from Oogi's back, stretching muscles that had never before complained, and was reaching up to help Pema down when a door slammed open and an armoured figure rushed into the courtyard.

14. Untitled, unfinished fic where Zuko's daughter, the Fire Lord, was actually his second child. Put on hold while I researched archery and found a better name for the character.

"You missed," said Master Zeng. "By the width of a leaf's vein."

Azumi lowered her bow.

"Then give me a finer arrow," she said. "This one's too large for the target."

"Time was, a pupil would have too much respect for her master to argue," said Zeng, but she passed Azumi another arrow.

15. Drabble; Lin and Pema discuss the new Avatar

"How can you stand her?"

Pema smiled. "I like her."

16. Drabble: Jinora and Ikki are Korra/Mako shippers

Asami was cornered by two little girls.

"Are you Mako's girlfriend?" asked the smaller one.

17. Drabble: Zuko announces his retirement

Four days after the funeral, Zuko summoned his daughter.

"I've decided to retire," he told her.

18. "Advice From Fire Lord Zuko To His Sister On The Raising Of Children (with annotations)" -- in which Zuko gives Azula tips. Lin survives anyway.

FOREWORD TO THE ANNOTATED EDITION

Very little correspondence between Fire Lord Zuko and his sister, the Lady (formerly Princess) Azula, survives. They rarely communicated by mail, and when they did, it was usually through the intermediary of Fire Lady Mai. Additionally, both were in the habit of burning their mail, either for reasons of state or the desire for privacy.

19. Unfinished AU where Azula never discovered Zuko was in Ba Sing Se; years later, the Phoenix King ascendant, Mai is appointed governor of the city

"Zuko."

"Lee," he corrected her. "Prince Zuko's dead."

"I burned incense for you. Secretly."

He looked disconcerted, like it had never occurred to him that someone might regret his passing.

20. "Makes A Battle Like A Song", the Epic Tophzula

The tunnel changes between one step and the next. Behind me is a natural badgermole warren. Ahead is a man-made labyrinth. Even the air smells different, but it's my feet that confirm it. It's all in the texture, provided you know how to pay attention.

It's a shame Sokka's not with me. I'll have to save my gloating for later.

21. "Lychee and Coconut Pie", Aang/Mai for terajk for White Lotus 2012

"Aang?" Mai paused in the doorway of the great palace kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"Mai!" He flashed her a quick grin, not pausing in -- whatever he was doing with the mortar and pestle. "I told the guard not to wake you."

"I wasn't asleep. And the guards have standing orders to let me know whenever you arrive." She wrapped her sleeping robe around herself -- more for propriety than protection against the mild summer night -- and approached the bench. "You're making pie?"