Part 1:
"Come on Lin!" Tenzin yelled down at the small girl "Oogi's really easy to get on, you just climb up his tail! What are you waiting for?"
Lin stood tensely on the ground and stared up at him. The 8 year olds hands clutched her skirt hard to hide their trembling as she stalled for time.
"I don't know, Tenzin" she said as she eyed the flying bison with distrust "Are you sure he can lift both of us? Appa's much bigger…"
Tenzin rolled his eyes "Of course he can! Dad said that Oogi was big enough now for two people and besides, your tiny anyway."
Lin bristled at the comment and yelled up at him "Well, this 'tiny' girl can still kick your butt!"
"I know, I know Lin, but look, since the ferry's already gone and Dad's busy, this is the only way to get back to the mainland."
"I don't know," said Lin avoiding Tenzin's eyes, "Maybe I'll just wait for the next one."
"Lin! That will be hours from now! Come on! Just climb up! It's easy!"
"It's not the climbing I'm worried about!" She shouted before she could stop herself.
"Lin, are you scared of flying?" Tenzin asked
Lin felt her face flush and angrily retorted "Of course not! I've just never done it and I don't like to be off the ground!"
"So you are afraid" Tenzin said with a slight smile "Wow Lin, I never took you for that type of girl."
"What type of girl!" She yelled at him "I'm not scared!"
With that, she quickly made her way up Oogi's tail and sat down next to Tenzin on the bison's head.
"There," she huffed, "Told you I wasn't afraid."
Tenzin sighed "Yip yip, Oogi."
Oogi grunted and lifted up his tail to take off. Lin's hands were clutching her skirt so tight her hands were bone white as they lifted off the ground. Her eyes squeezed shut and she tried to ignore the uneasy sloshing of her stomach.
"Lin, what do you have your eyes closed for? Come on, look! The sunset is so pretty!"
Lin tentatively opened one eye and saw that he was right. The sun was slowly sinking below the waters of Yue Bay and its dying rays had sat the water glowing with orange and red light. She opened her other eye and sat forward to stare at it but made the mistake of looking over the side. Down below, the water looked nothing like the calm water of the sunset and it was so far away!
She let out a small noise and grabbed the closest thing to her, which just happened to be Tenzin.
He flinched as she grabbed his shirt and buried her face in it.
"Li-"
"Shut up!" She mumbled into his shirt "Just get me home."
Tenzin looked away, a blush creeping up his face, and focused on flying.
"You know Lin," he said after a moment "Dad told me that the first time Toph flew on Appa, she was afraid."
Lin's eyes peeped up at him from under his arm "What? No way! My Mom's not afraid of anything!"
Tenzin just nodded "Sure now, but then your mom had never been flying before and she couldn't see a thing on Appa's back so she was scared."
Lins green eyes blinked up at him "Really? I can't see mom like that at all."
"It's true!" Tenzin said "He also told him about this one time when he, Mom, uncle Sokka, and Toph went into the desert and…"
Tenzin continued to tell Lin amusing stories about Toph until he landed in the park that was right by Lin's house.
By then, Lin wasn't clutching his shirt in a death grip anymore and had leaned back so he could see her whole face.
When they landed, she was busy refuting his statement that Katara and her mom had always gotten along well.
"No, no! Mom told me about how when they first met and she called Katara a-"
She was cut off as Oogi touched down.
"Oh, are we here already?" She asked and looked up at him.
"Yup," he said, "It worked!"
"What did?" She asked
"Dad said when someone is scared that you should distract them with happy thoughts so it takes their mind off the fear."He said with a smile "So, that's just what I did."
At that moment the sun peeked out from behind two buildings and backlit Tenzin's smiling face. Lin felt a blush creep up her face as her stared into his blue eyes.
"Lin?" Tenzin asked, his smile fading a bit.
"Oh u- um" To cover her embarrassment, she pushed Tenzin off of Oogi.
"Ugf!" He gasped as he hit the ground.
"Lin! What was that for?" He said as he rubbed the back of his head. "No reason" she said, the blush still lingering in her cheeks as she jumped off of Oogi. "You were just in my way."
Tenzin rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Lin."
She walked up her front steps but stopped as she opened the door. "Hey, Tenzin?" She asked with her back turned to him.
"Yeah Lin?"
"Th-thanks for taking me home an everything." She said
"No problem, Lin."
"Well, bye." She said and quickly rushed into her house.
Tenzin scratched his head and stared at the door until Oogi nudged him.
"Girls are weird Oogi," he said as he hugged her head and, with a final glance at her door, climbed onto her and took off.
Lin sat in her front hall, and felt the blush that still lingered in her face.
"Tenzin," she muttered and buried her face in her arms. "Idiot." She whispered.
For the Avatar Secret Santa on Tumblr! I got f-yeahlegendofkorra as my giftie. Hope you enjoyed part 1 :) I must admit that this is my first time writing about Linzin so sorry if its not that great!
