Chapter 1 – Something Momentous

A/N: So I got this idea when writing chapter 3 of my fic It's About Time, when Lin recalls how Kya asked her to run away together, and I thought, "what if Lin said yes?" and here we are! Fair warning, it'll be a very similar situation that drives Kya to leave as presented in It's About Time, but with the key difference being Lin's choice. Enjoy!

A young waterbender sat on her bed, tears streaming from icy blue eyes. She made no attempt to stop them or dry them, but merely let them run, flowing down hazel skin to drip onto her clothes. Next to her was her younger friend, the police officer. The officer's hand lay upon the waterbender's shoulder, providing some small semblance of comfort.

Voice trembling, the waterbender began to explain the reason for her anguish. "It's about Mei."

Shock crossed the officer's face as she replied. "What happened? What did she do?"

"She – she left me," croaked the waterbender. "She pushed too far. Things I wasn't… ready for."

The officer tightened her grip on the waterbender's shoulder slightly. "That's horrible. I'm… I'm sorry." She hesitated before continuing. "I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say. I'm sure you'd know exactly what to say if it were me, but I'm not, well, not very good at these kind of things."

The waterbender chuckled through her sobs. "It's okay, you don't have to say anything. Just listen. And a hug would be nice."

Awkwardly, the officer opened her arms for the waterbender, who quickly moved into the embrace, wrapping her arms around the younger woman's waist. "Thanks, Lin," the waterbender whispered from below.

It didn't take long for the weeping to continue, in full force. Eventually, between sobs, the waterbender resumed her tale. "We'd been out on a dinner date, and they usually ended with us going back to her place. But this time, it was different. She always was… eager… but she didn't make a big deal out of things when I said no. This time, she got mad. Told me I was being unfair to her, that I owed it to her for everything she'd done for me. She didn't want to wait anymore. She told me…" Before the waterbender could finish her sentence, however, her voice broke completely, and she returned to simply weeping once more.

Lin squeezed the older woman tightly. "Listen, Kya. Whatever horrible things she said to you, she was wrong. Dead wrong," she insisted.

Kya returned the squeeze gratefully. "She told me that if I didn't 'put out', as she put it, that I wasn't worth her time," she sobbed.

The officer, keeping her left arm around Kya, lifted the waterbender's face, until they were level, and the older woman was forced to meet her gaze. "Listen," she began forcefully, "you're worth far more than your body. You're kind, and funny, and… and so caring. Anyone who can't see that isn't worth your time," the younger woman concluded, cheeks tinged slightly red.

Despite her state, Kya managed a small smile at that. "Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that," she said. "You're probably the best damn friend I have, you know? Having you around… you've been a real comfort. So thank you for that," she finished, sad little smile widening just a hint.

Lin blushed more intensely at that. "Glad I could help. Same goes for you," she replied, a touch abashed. "The best friend thing, I mean," she added hastily.

"I know. But thanks for saying it anyway."

They sat together, once more, in each other's arms. Kya's crying gradually slowed over what felt like hours, but was in reality not much more than a few minutes. Eventually, the waterbender had no more tears to cry, and did feel somewhat lighter for having released her sadness. However, the events of the past twenty four hours had taken their toll on her, and she said as much to Lin.

"I'm exhausted. This last day has been… draining, to say the least. I hope you don't mind, but I think I need a bit of alone time. Time to sort things out in my head. You understand, right?" She asked, hoping that Lin wouldn't take offence at being dismissed.

"I get it, don't worry about it," Lin assured her. After one last hug, Lin stood and made to leave. Before walking out, however, she turned to face Kya once more. "If you change your mind… I mean, if you need someone, well, you know where to find me," she spluttered, then bolted before she could (in her own opinion) further embarrass herself.

=x=

The two women next saw each other a few days later in one of the many parks that dotted young Republic City. This would be a meeting that would irrevocably change their lives. A moment in which Kya would ask the impossible.

They greeted each other under the noon sunlight, smiling shyly at each other.

Lin's expression quickly changed to one of confusion, as she noticed a large backpack on Kya's back. "Going somewhere?" She inquired, slightly concerned.

"Damn, what are they teaching you in the Academy?" Kya joked. "You saw right through me."

Lin looked worried. "Where are you planning on going?"

Kya shrugged. "Not sure yet. I just need to get away. From, well, everything. Mom, Dad, Mei, this damn city… There's a whole world out there, and I actually want to see some of it, you know?"

"Fair enough. It's probably for the best. Get away from it all. Still, I'm gonna miss you," Lin replied, sad smile back in place.

Kya's next words turned Lin's world upside down.

"You don't have to miss me, you know. If… well, if you want, you could come with me," she mumbled.

Lin gaped. "You'd really want me to come with you?" She asked.

"Who else would I want? You're the only person I don't want to get away from."

"I don't get it. Why me?"

Kya shook her head in exasperation. "I thought I made it clear, you're the best friend I have. Come on, think of all the adventures we could have together! You and me against the world! What do you say?"

The officer was reeling. New possibilities exploded in her mind. Kya was right, there was a whole world just waiting to be explored. And it would mean not having to say goodbye. And maybe, just maybe, when Kya was ready, Lin could even tell her about those strange feelings she had been having towards the waterbender…

But she couldn't possibly leave, could she? She had a job, a commitment to the City. And there was her mother to think about. Lin's mind was chaotic, and so she fell back on an automatic response – shut down and go on the defensive.

"I… I can't, Kya. You know I can't. I have responsibilities, I can't just run away from them," she cursed, instantly angry at herself.

Kya's eyes were downcast, but she had to try, one last time. "Please?" She implored. "Please, Lin, come with me. I wouldn't mind being alone, but I'd much prefer to be with you." Kya reached out and offered a hand. "We can head to your place, right now, and pack you a bag. We can be gone as soon as you're ready. Please," she begged, tears welling.

Lin turned away. "I'm sorry. I can't. I have my work, and my mom…" A change came over her then. The frustration she felt at her own cowardice galvanized into anger, and a fierce courage. These she used to defy the expectations she felt were placed upon her, so that she could do what she truly wanted. And what she wanted was to be with Kya. "You know what?" Lin began. "Fuck that. I'm not gonna sit here and let you go charging off into the horizon while I stay here tossing drunks into cells every week. You're damn right, there's too much out there to stay here all my life. So, what the hell, I'll do it. Damnit, I'll actually do it."

Lin could've sworn she heard Kya's jaw hit the floor at that.

"Wait, did… did you just say yes to me?" The waterbender asked quietly, scared that somehow she had misinterpreted Lin's words, or that she would change her mind.

"I think I did, yeah," the officer replied, somewhat in shock herself.

"Did you mean it?"

"…Yeah. Fuck it. Let's do it." After a moment, she hastily added, "run away, I mean."

Slowly, Kya allowed her mind to comprehend what she had just heard. Lin was coming with her. Lin was actually coming with her! Once her brain fully accepted this, the older woman flung herself at Lin and enveloped her in a hug. After recovering from the unexpected physical contact, Lin gingerly returned the embrace.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you so much! It's gonna be so much fun, you'll see," Kya gushed, to Lin's amusement and exasperation.

"Hey, it beats losing my best friend," Lin returned, grinning.

They chose not to break the embrace for a while, merely enjoying each other for a time. When people were starting to stare, Lin had to ask. "Are we gonna get me packed or what?"

Kya blushed and released the younger woman. "Yeah, we probably should."

=x=

At the Beifong family home, the two women had, after nearly two hours, finally found and packed everything they thought Lin could possibly need. The only thing left to do was to leave a note, so that Toph would at least be aware of what her daughter was doing. After another hour or so of agonizing over the contents of the note, the end result was this.

Dear Mom,

I'm leaving Republic City with Kya to see the world. I don't know when I'll be back, or when I'll see you again, so you can take this as a resignation from work. Don't try to come after us. We're both adults now, we can make our own choices. I'm sorry if I don't exactly meet your expectations as a daughter, but frankly I want to live my own life, not waste it trying to please you. I'll try and write at least once a month, so you know I'm okay, but other than that, don't expect anything from me.

This really is something I want. Don't try and take that from me.

Lin

PS. Tell Su to sort her life out. Or you might have to arrest her someday.

"What do you think? Will that do?" Lin asked frantically, worrying that her mother would arrive before they left at this rate.

Kya pursed her lips in concentration as she read Lin's seventh draft of a note. "Yeah, that should do it," she decided. After leaving the note on Lin's bed the waterbender asked, "You ready?"

The younger woman nodded, eager to be off.

"Lin…" the waterbender began, taking the now-former officer's hand. "It's okay if you want to change your mind. I don't want to drag you along and force you to just drop everything."

A shock ran through the earthbender at the physical contact. She shook her head vehemently. "I'm coming with you, Kya. Come on," she declared, "let's go."

=x=

Leaving Republic City was surprisingly easy. Clearly Toph had yet to read the note by the time they reached the city boundaries, for the security guards simply let them pass after checking their documentation.

Lin commented as much to Kya, once they were out of earshot. "Huh. Guess Mom doesn't know yet. You'd think she would've told them not to let me through if she had."

"Well maybe she's not quite the hardass you think she is," Kya teased.

They were setting out on foot at first, as there were a few villages to the northeast that Kya was curious about. Some former Fire Nation colonies, and some other settlements that had been occupied during the war. Places with history.

The walk was pleasant enough – the weather favoured them, the countryside wasn't too steep, Kya chattered fairly amicably, and they both set a good pace, being in good shape. However, given the time it had taken for them to prepare for the journey, they had a rather late start, and it wasn't long before the sun danced precariously on the horizon.

Both women were a tired from hours of walking, and so Kya was a touch breathless when she asked to settle down for the night.

Lin chuckled. "What, giving up already?"

A glare from Kya. "Don't tell me you want to walk through the night."

"Fair enough. Not my idea of a good time, I'll admit."

The travellers began to search for a suitable place to set up camp for the night. It took them nearly an hour of wandering around the plains before they found a small hill. The western side, from which they approached, had a gentle incline to its peak. On the other side, however, was an almost sheer shelf, which offered easy shelter from the west wind. It was on the eastern side where they settled for the night.

Lin had the foresight to bring a small amount of firewood, which she had been carrying since they left the City. She laid it down on a fairly flat stretch of outcropping rock, laying large, flat stones around it.

While she was doing this, Kya set up their hide tent. It was a simple structure, which consisted of two sets of two wooden poles, sharp at one end and lashed together with twine at the other, forming an inverted V shape, with a smaller V at the top, above where the poles met. Once Kya found a suitable space, she planted both sets of poles into the ground, then took a fifth pole, from Lin's pack, and laid it in the small V slots. Unlike the others, she had to tie this one in place herself. Once this was done, she draped a large platypus bear hide across the top, which had been cut in such a way as to cover the whole structure, but leave an opening at the front, through one of the arches. She secured it using five large pegs, which she hammered through hole in the hide, into the ground.

The whole process took Kya around half an hour, given her inexperience with such activities – there was much fumbling, and she got her fingers tied up in the twine on an embarrassing number of occasions.

Meanwhile, Lin was having demonstrating her own lack of experience in the wild by rather resoundingly failing to start a fire. She was using a piece of flint with a small lump of steel, and it was clear she didn't know how to produce a spark. She was merely knocking the two together, with no success. The little firewood they had was crudely arranged in a heap, and when Lin finally managed to create a spark, it didn't catch.

Kya noticed Lin's frustration, mainly due to her impressive displays of profanity. The waterbender took one look at the would-be fire and saw a few problems immediately. "Want a hand?" She offered.

Snarling, Lin continued to hammer the flint and steel together, as though she could create fire with nothing but pure rage. A feat that would have been easy, had she been born a firebender. But, alas, it was not enough.

Watching Lin's plight, the waterbender decided to offer some assistance despite it not having been requested. She wandered around in the grass and gathered a few handfuls of the stuff, opting for the driest stalks she could find. With her hands full of mainly brown strands of grass, she returned, and placed them underneath the firewood, to serve as kindling.

The earthbender, meanwhile, had been learning from her mistakes with the fire starting equipment. Instead of simply bashing the two together, she brought the flint into the steel at an angle and stuck it that way, creating greater friction, which resulted in a higher success rate. After a few attempts with the kindling in place, a spark caught a strand of grass, and a small fire grew.

Sighing in relief, Lin, who had been squatting in front of the fire, merely keeled backwards and allowed herself to relax.

Kya smirked at this. "Feeling better?" She inquired sarcastically, as she reached into her pack.

The younger woman sat up to scowl at her. "Next time, I'm putting up the tent," she retorted.

"Deal."

While she had been teasing the earthbender, Kya had also been retrieving some cooking equipment – a folding tripod and a long-handled saucepan. Into it she emptied a yellow-brown liquid with a few chunks of meat and vegetables from a tub in her pack. Lin cocked an eyebrow.

Kya explained. "Chicken broth. Nothing fancy, just something Mom made last night. I stole it this morning. I brought some bread, too." This she unveiled with a small flourish. "Ta-da! Now we can eat for the night!"

"I was wondering what we were going to eat," Lin confessed. "Should probably have thought of that before we ran," she continued, eyeing the broth. It didn't exactly look appealing, but Lin knew better than to judge Katara's food by its looks. As a general rule, if she'd made it herself, and it didn't have any sea prunes in it, then it was delicious. "How did she even get away with making something with meat in it? I thought your dad pretty big on the whole vegetarian thing," she asked, holding out her hands to the fire. It wasn't particularly cold, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"He was working late last night – Council meeting. He didn't come in this morning, he'd been at it with those knuckleheads all night," Kya answered, as she tended the broth, using one of Katara's wooden spoons.

It took a few minutes to get the broth to a proper heat, but when it did, the travellers encountered a minor problem, noticed first by Lin. "Did you remember to steal any bowls, too?"

Kya chewed her lip for a moment, looking rather adorable as she thought about it, Lin thought. Wait, what? No. There's nothing wrong with thinking your best friend looks cute when she bites her lip. Right? Or when she giggles at your awful jokes. Or…

Lin was saved further internal reflection when Kya responded. "Crap. I knew there was something," she cursed.

The younger woman facepalmed. "Did you at least think to bring another spoon?" She demanded.

"Oh, come on, Lin! It's not gonna kill you to share," Kya retorted sharply, rather displeased by her companion's harshness.

The silence that followed was thick enough to cut.

When it finally broke, it was by both women at once. "I'm sorry," they both blurted. After a moment of unease, both women smiled.

Phew. Hope she's not too mad. I need to keep a better hold on myself.

Kya offered Lin the spoon. "Shall we?"

=x=

They ate in a slightly tense silence, alternating their use of the one spoon they had. The task was made easier by the bread, of which there were a few small rolls. When their meal was finished, Kya used a bit of their water to rinse out the used utensils, while Lin fetched a map from her pack.

Spreading the parchment out along the stone, Lin located their approximate position, based on their route. After Kya finished her task, she came to sit next to the younger woman, leaning in towards her as she inspected the map.

Lin's breath caught a little at their proximity. They had already started arguing, and yet Kya still chose to be that close? It had to be a good sign, right? Clearing her throat in the hopes that Kya wouldn't notice her momentary lapse in concentration, Lin pointed to a position on the map slightly to the northeast of Republic City. "Alright, I think this is where we are. And the nearest village, Jianding, is here," she pointed to a point slightly to the north of their current location, about half a day's walk from their campsite. "If I remember right, it's one of the villages occupied by the Fire Nation during the war, and I think they have an inn or two," she continued.

Kya's eyes lit up with excitement. "Awesome! I can't wait to see what it's like, you know I've always had a thing for history," she gushed, her anticipation somewhat noxious, as it began to infect Lin also. They chattered for some time about the village, and how the occupation would've affected it.

As they talked, however, the fire burned low, in the absence of more fuel to maintain it. Lin noticed this and immediately pointed it out. "I hate to interrupt, but the fire's going out. Think we should get into the tent while we can still see?" She offered, rising from her spot.

"Wow," Kya gasped, "how long were we talking for?"

"Ha. You mean, how long were you talking for," Lin deadpanned, as she pulled out her sleeping sack.

The older woman placed her hand on her chest in mock indignation. "Are you accusing me of being a chatterbox?"

Lin merely smirked.

=x=

Embers smouldered in front of the tent. Both women had retrieved their sleeping sacks and were settling down to sleep, side by side. The tent afforded them both a measure of personal space, yet Lin was still incredibly aware of their proximity. Before she could sleep, however, there was one thing the earthbender needed to say. She turned to face the waterbender.

"Hey, listen," she began, before Kya interrupted.

"It's okay, I know what you're gonna say, and it's okay," she reassured. "We're both quite… passionate people, in our own ways. Sparks are gonna fly now and again. I think the best way to handle it is to just not make such a big deal out of it."

Lin let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "You're probably right. Still, sorry I snapped," she replied.

Kya rested a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "Me too. And sorry I forgot so much stuff," she returned, grinning sheepishly.

Spirits, that grin.

The older woman maintained the contact for another moment, then turned away and laid down fully. "Goodnight, Lin," she mumbled.

Closing her eyes, Lin smiled.

"Goodnight, Kya," she whispered.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! Reviews, good or bad, are more than welcome :) this thing will likely end up being rather long, as I don't particularly feel like rushing the ship. So, uh, yeah. See ya next time!