You can't be a Linzin shipper and not do this (: Comforty-Lin. Sappy and fluffy. Cavity insinuating.
I own nothing.
"Just be safe. If it hurts too much or something happens, let your father know please." Katara told her youngest child by the door of the house.
"Mother, everything will be fine. Dad knows what he's doing, don't worry." Tenzin tried to reassure his mother.
"I know, I worry about you. This is a big step for you and it's highly dangerous. I just want to make sure you'll be okay. Stupid custom that only one person can be with you." Katara explained, muttering the last line under her breath.
"You sure you don't want any of us to stay?" Katara continued, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
"No mother, I'll be fine. Lin will be there and so will Dad. Don't worry, I'm in good company." Tenzin told her with a smile.
"Well everything's ready to go. Come on Mom, you know we can't be here when he's getting the tattoos. You'll see him tomorrow morning with some new arrows and clothes. Come on, we need to go or we will miss the ferry." Bumi said as he and Kya entered the room.
"Alright, be safe sweetheart." Katara said while giving her youngest a bone crushing hug.
"I will." He returned with a small smile.
"Just make sure you get out of it okay, alright little brother?" Kya said sadly as she put a hand on his shoulder.
"Of course. Don't worry." Tenzin told her with a hug.
"Be careful. Those tattoos are going to look badass on you. Just make sure it goes smoothly." Bumi said with hidden concern as he pulled Tenzin into a hug.
"Don't worry you guys. Everything will be fine. Now go, you'll miss the boat. Have fun on your little vacation, I'll see you all tomorrow." Tenzin said as they walked out the door.
The newly appointed airbending master walked over to the couch in the living room and took a seat. He couldn't believe it, he had always known one day he would get the tattoos but he couldn't believe that the day had finally come. His father had given him a combat test as his final test in airbending, that he passed flawlessly, and he was named a master that day, not even four days ago. His father explained the tattoo ceremony to him and told him he could have one person sitting in there with him.
He had asked her of course. She was his personal rock, his best friend and girlfriend, the love of his life, the only person he would ever want to experience this with. After all, if it wasn't for her constant advice and belief in him, he might not have even gotten this opportunity so soon in the first place. She was with him when he got his new title and was told about the tattoos. He knew right away he wanted to ask her, but he didn't want to ask her right in front of his father so he waited until later that night. After he announced it to the rest of the family and had his 'planned' congratulatory dinner, he took her outside under their favorite tree.
"Lin, I want to ask you something." He started and immediately looked down, nervous.
"What is it?" She asked, lifting his head with a few fingers under his chin, her eyes meeting his.
"Well, my father told me that I could have one person in the room with me while I get the tattoos and well..." He started before trailing off.
"Yeah, I know. What about it?" She asked.
"I was wondering, would you be in the room...with me, while I get them?" He asked and saw her eyes go wide.
"You're seriously asking me to be in there with you?" Lin said breathlessly.
"Of course. I wouldn't want to have anyone else in there. Lin, I need you there. Please?" Tenzin said, taking her hand.
"Of course. I would be honored." Lin said, releasing his hand and hugging him hard.
Now here he sat four days later, she was with his father while he got everything ready, he was waiting for her to come in and lead him to the room. He sat back in the couch and looked at his hand. He had thought about what this day would mean, everything would change in such a short time and his future would be cemented, finally becoming what he had been working for his whole life. As he looked down at his hand, he found himself in disbelief that in just a few short hours, there would be a tattoo there as well, there would be tattoos all over his body in such a short time and he couldn't believe it. He thought about it until her sweet voice brought him out of his bubble.
"Tenzin? It's time." Lin said in the doorway. Tenzin got up and walked towards her. Grabbing her hand, they walked down the hallway together. When they were one door away, Lin stopped and pulled at his hand. He looked at her worriedly.
"Tenzin, before we go in there I just want to get some things out. I am so unbelievably honored that you want me to be with you in there, you don't know how much. You deserve this. I don't know anyone who has worked as hard as you have to get recognized for their abilities and you definitely deserve this." He placed a hand on her cheek and she continued. "I am so proud of you right now. You have absolutely no idea how much. You're a master in your bending! It doesn't matter what kind, all that matters it's that you accomplished it. You worked for it. And I know you would say that you couldn't have done it without me but I disagree, you did it, you perfected those techniques. So I might have helped but it was mostly you." She cupped his face in her hands. "I love you so much. I'm so happy you want me in there with you to support you through this. I promise that as long as you need me in there I won't let you down. Let this serve as a precedent to the rest of our lives, always being there for each other okay? You're going to be great in there and remember, I'll be there if you need an arm to lay on or a hand to hold or just something to lean on. Okay, are you ready?" Lin finished, looking him in the eyes while hers were sparkling with a few tears. He wiped them away with his thumbs and took the hands she had on his face in his own. Placing them I between their bodies, he lent forward and kissed her hard on the mouth, she released his hands and threw her arms around his neck. Needing to breathe, they pulled apart.
"Let's go." He answered as they walked hand in hand to where his father was.
They reached the room and saw Aang standing there. Tenzin walked up to his father and was enveloped in a hug before being shown where to sit down on the floor in front of some candles and a box with supplies in it. He took off his shirt before he heard Lin speak.
"Just tell me where you want me." She said quietly. Tenzin pointed to the spot directly in front of him with a smile and Lin sat down. Taking one of her hands in his, he laced their fingers together and kept a right grip. He looked her in the eyes and saw the worry in them, brushing his fingers of his free hand along her jaw he leaned in to kiss her again before pulling back and smiling.
"Don't worry love. Everything is going to be fine." Tenzin assured her and he saw her eyes soften a bit.
"Are we ready to begin?" Aang asked his son as he sat down.
"Yes father, it's time." Tenzin said as he heard Aang fiddle around with the instruments. About two minutes later, he felt the needle prick his skin for the first time. He breathed a little heavier at the sensation and closed his eyes.
Time went on, and as his father worked on the tattoo on his back, Tenzin could feel his self composure waning. He was whimpering and panting, squeezing Lin's hand almost painfully before leaning forward in hopes of finding her smooth skin to lean on. She moved forward and offered him some relief, pressing his heated forehead to her cold shoulder, whispering comforting words in his ear in an attempt to numb the pain. He gasped and withered against her shoulder while his father finished up his back after nearly two hours.
"Okay, now it's time to do your legs son, I'm going to need you to take off your pants and whatever you have underneath." Aang said a little sheepishly. Tenzin looked at Lin with a slight flush in his cheeks and she laughed.
"It's not like I've never seen it before, Airhead." She laughed, kissing his forehead as she sat back and let him get undressed. She saw him wince slightly due to the fresh tattoo on his back but he managed to complete the task by himself. She lied down on her stomach, facing him, lacing their fingers once again as his father continued his work.
After another hour, Aang proclaimed that his bottom half was finished and that they needed to get finished with his arms and head. With Lin's help, Tenzin got on his underwear and pants before settling back in a sitting position, waiting for his father to start again.
"You're doing great Ten. Just a little while longer." Aang encouraged and Tenzin offered a weak smile before lacing his fingers with Lin's again.
Aang did the arm that had Tenzin's free hand first, not wanting to break up the moment between the two teenagers. As Lin saw his arm shake slightly, she held Tenzin to her, tenderly kissing his face while whispering loving words in his ear. Aang had to move on to the other arm after a while and Lin moved to let go of his hand.
"I'm not going to let go until you have to do the hand." Tenzin proclaimed and Aang agreed to his condition. Keeping his fingers laced with Lin's, Aang tattooed his arm. When he finally reached down to his hand, Tenzin let Lin go as his father finished the arrow and he laced his fingers with hers again, only wincing slightly at the freshness of the tattoo.
"Okay son, last part, the head. Now just relax, it's going to be alright." Aang told him and Tenzin nodded, looking at Lin and smiling.
"Almost done." She whispered as Aang began.
This part seemed to hurt a little more than the others. Lin could see him wincing more and more and frowned at the sight. She moved closer and grabbed his other hand in hers, mimicking the state of the other hand. He smiled at her action before releasing a breathy gasp that had her frowning again. Aang was finally finishing up the arrow on his forehead before Tenzin let out a loud sigh and shook a little, Lin released one of his hands and put hers on his shoulder to calm him.
"Alright, all done. Looks good, don't you think Lin?" Aang said with a smile.
"Definitely." Lin answered surely before handing Tenzin a mirror.
"Wow, I look different. It's a good different but still different." Tenzin said.
"You'll get used to it. You did great son. Congratulations. It also helped that you had the best support team around." Aang said with a smile in Lin's direction. Lin smiled before crawling over to Tenzin and giving him a hug.
"You were really great T. You did well." Lin said into his neck before pulling back.
"I'm glad it went well, now can we get some food? I'm starving." Tenzin asked and the three disappeared into the kitchen for a long awaited meal.
The next morning, Tenzin and Lim found themselves awoken by the sound of feet in the house. They both got out of bed and saw Aang walking down the hallway. They followed him and saw the rest of the family in the living room.
"Tenzin! Are you alright? Wow, that's cool." Kya observed his new tattoos, spinning him around and Tenzin realized he didn't have a shirt on, exposing his back tattoo.
"Wicked cool." Bumi said as he looked at the ones on his arms.
"Do they hurt?" Honora asked with a light touch to the line of blue on his back. Tenzin visibly winced at the touch and Lin was quick to grab his hand in hers.
"How was the whole process?" Katara wondered.
"He did really well. He had the most amazing support team and some of the best pain tolerance I have ever seen." Aang said and Tenzin smiled, looking at Lin.
"Breakfast time?" Sokka asked and everyone nodded, voicing their congratulations to Tenzin before venturing into the kitchen. Tenzin pulled on Lin's wrist to stop her from moving.
"You got to say all those things to me last night and I never got to respond. Lin, I love you with everything I have. I am so glad that I had you with me, to be honest I don't think I would have made it if you weren't. You made it easier last night, just being there and letting me lean on you and hold on to you was more than enough. I can never thank you enough for being so much of a positive and motivational influence on me, making me work harder and making me better than I ever hoped I could be. Thank you for being you." He said before kissing her.
Lin looked up at the arrow now perched at the top of his forehead and leaned up to kiss the center of it.
"Anytime Airhead, anytime." Lin said, kissing him senseless. She had hoped for a lot of things for him in the past few days but she found herself now wishing for them, hoping that their love will be as permanent as his tattoos.