One year after Kuvira's invasion

It was one year after Kuvira's failed invasion of Republic City, and another joyous day for the residents of Air Temple Island. The Air Nation had welcomed 2 new master airbenders: Ikki, who had finally earned her long-awaited tattoos, and Daw, who had worked long and hard since gaining his abilities and started his training. He had been one of Jinora's students, and she could not have been any prouder.

Both were know fulfilling their duties as full airbending masters now: Daw was headed to a village in the Earth Kingdom with Otaku and Ryu to sort out some skirmishes, while Ikki went someplace in the Fire Nation as a temporary ambassador between the two nations. Although Jinora missed her sister already, it was quite peaceful not hearing her chatter every second. Meanwhile, her mother, Pema, was cooking for dinner, and Tenzin and Meelo were probably meditating or teaching Rohan and the other airbenders. This left Jinora to some free time – something she had lacked since she was a young child. She decided to meet Kai, her boyfriend who became an airbending master 6 months ago and lived in Republic Ciy. She had not seen Kai as often, due to the mess that had appeared as a result of Kuvira's actions and her duties as a Master Airbender and an Airbending teacher. It would be a nice surprise. She brought a small lunch for just the two of them to share.

Jinora wandered through the streets of the infamous city, past the park where the statue of Korra stood, and where kids and adults alike were enjoying their lives. Finally, she reached Kai's cozy apartment. It was not a mansion, or traditionally setup like Jinora's own house on Air Temple Island, but homey nonetheless. She knocked, but unlike usual, Kai did not answer.

This was strange. Kai was almost always there for her, and she knew he was available on hazy weekend afternoons such as this one. She knocked again, and repeated the process for or 5 times. No one answered.

Maybe he's busy, thought Jinora. I'll just leave a note or something for him, if he isn't home. Jinora cautiously opened the door (this wasn't trespassing; Kai and Jinora, though she did much less often, would often barge into each other's rooms without knocking) and quietly went inside.

"Kai?" she called. "Kai?"

All of a sudden, she heard a shuffle come from the bedroom of her boyfriend's apartment. She quickly, but quietly, as an Airbender walks, walked to Kai's bedroom, and then she saw something she wished she'd never see…

Kai kissing another girl, on his bed, the same way he and Jinora would kiss.

Jinora didn't know whether to cry or storm away. She wasn't one to resort to anger – that was not the way Airbenders responded to things.

"Kai," she whispered, uncontrollable tear forming at her eyes, already threatening to pool out. She say Kai's eyes widen.

"Jinora? I'm sorry….but …"

"I'm sorry, too, Kai, but we're over. Go back to kissing…whoever that girl is."

With that, she ran away out of the apartment, back to the park she had passed earlier. No one paid her any attention; she was like that tiny, dark, annoying spot in a patch of bright, colorful space.

She seemed to be there for eternity, but the sun did not seem to move, and the people who were still there were still enjoying there time. She could not go back to Air Temple Island; she did not want to make Pema and Tenzin feel bad, as they did not know what it was like to see someone you love betray you…no one understood her, and right now she really needed someone to talk to…

But wait a moment…thinking of Tenzin, she realized that there was someone to talk to.

Lin Beifong.

She must've have felt a similar kind of pain; Jinora didn't know the whole story, but she knew that Tenzin and Lin used to be very much in love. Jinora stopped crying, but she didn't bother to wipe her tears. She walked, in a tense sort of calmness, to the Police Building. People and suspects alike were surprised to see an Airbender there, but no one bothered to disturb a seemingly tear-stained girl.

Jinora walked up to the front desk where a clerk was working.

"May I see Chief Lin Beifong please?" she asked timidly. The clerk glanced at Jinora's tear-stained face, and automatically assumed she was some ashamed relative of a suspect.

"Is there any reason why?" the clerk asked, bored.

"Umm…personal reasons." The clerk raised an eyebrow.

"May I know your name, sweetheart?" he asked in a falsely sweet voice.

"You can call me Jinora." She said, wiping away only some of her tears.

The clerk immediately straightened – everyone in the city knew of Jinora, the youngest ever airbending master and the daughter of Tenzin, the son of Avatar Aang.

"I'm sorry for not recognizing you earlier, Master Jinora. Please allow me to make a call." He blurted.

Jinora nodded as the clerk raised a phone to his ear.

"Chief? Master Jinora of the airbenders wishes to see you…Why? Oh, she said something about personal reasons…..umm…ok….okay, thanks, Chief!"

He put down the phone and looked at Jinora. "You can go up!" he said. "Take the elevator the second floor and it'll be the large door in the middle of the room."

"Thank you," Jinora said, and quietly made the walk to Lin's room.

She hestiatedly opened the door, wondering if it was a good idea to open up to such a blunt and uptight person. But she was here, and she desperately needed someone to talk to. This might have been her only chance. She entered the room, and saw Lin Beifong sitting at her desk. She slightly regretted her choice as an awkward silence filed between them.

Beifong broke it first. "Sit, please," she said, gesturing to a large chair across the table. "Gensho said you came here for personal reasons. Is there any way I can help?"

Gensho must have been the clerk. "Er…I thought you might be the only one, actually." Lin raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"You see, I broke up with Kai today after I caught him cheating on me with another girl. I know I should've talked to my parents first, but…er…knowing your history, I thought you might know something." Jinora's words came out ever so slightly in a rush.

Lin smiled pityingly. "Look, I know I'm not the one for these inspirational talks, but I really do want to help you, kid. You want to know how to deal with this, right?"

Jinora nodded. "Yeah…it's so painful.."

Lin closed her eyes and leaned back, stretching her arms.

"Tenzin left me all those years ago." She said, reminiscing the memory. "At first, all I could do was cry and sob, like poor you over here." Jinora opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly cut of by Lin, who smirked ever so slightly at the action.

"Then I realized, although I lost him, it was also his loss, too. If he thought that he found someone else, well, as long as he's happy. I loved him enough to let go of him and I was happy knowing he had found someone who had made him happy."
Another silence stretched between them, this one much less awkward.

"Didn't you wish he was with you?"

Lin sighed. "Not anymore. That was more of a selfish thought. Seeing him happy with the life he has now – that's enough for me. I don't wish for anything more."

Jinora looked down at her hands. "I really want Kai back, but I have no idea why he ever left me in the first place! I promise, I never did anything to anger him, but I do admit we have been growing apart for the last few weeks."

Lin placed a hand on Jinora's shoulder. "Trust me, kid. As an old lady, I've seen a lot of things, and I've seen the way he looks at you – it's not just puppy love, I think he actually likes you. I know you are the one for him, so trust me – just let him go, and remind yourself that he's happy, so you are too. Not to sound like a military strategist, but he will soon realize that you, only you, truly loves him."

Jinora nodded. "But you and my father never got back together. "

Lin laughed mirthlessly. "He was 35 when we broke up. He came to me after you were born, wanting to 'talk', but by then he was a husband and a father. I couldn't allow that to you and Pema, even if I did hate her for a while."

Jinora eye's widened. "Thank you so much, Lin. This means a lot to me."

Lin nodded, satisfied that she was able to help. "Anytime, kiddo."

Jinora brought out the lunch she originally planned to share with Kai. Instead, she and Lin shared a quiet lunch.

She decided to take a risk and ask a question she had always wanted to know the answer to.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you and my dad break up in the first place?"

Lin glared at Jinora for a moment, before her eyes softened and memories filled her gaze.
"It's not something I like to talk about, but since it's no use keeping it to myself after all these years…I might as well tell you the whole story."

"Tenzin and I started dating before I was 20. It was weird, since we were opposite elements, but we were very much in love. As well as being a couple, we were also the world's best fighting team. You know I became Chief of Police at 27, not too long after my mom retired. Still, Tenzin stood by me the entire time, even if I had to cancel a few dinner dates. Nevertheless, those were some of the best years of my life – I loved my job and I loved Tenzin; it seemed that things were perfect.

But soon, I realized one of Tenzin's main goals in life were to have kids, because he needed to repopulate the Air Nation, being the last airbender and all. As much as he respected my love for my job, he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me. At first, I didn't want kids, because they interfered with my job and would probably be annoying and loud. Then, I realized that kids weren't so bad, but you know me – I like everything to be flawless. I wanted my kids to have a perfect childhood, but I was afraid I would be too neglectful, like my mom was, or give them too little freedom, like my grandparents were with my mom. Tenzin tried to coax me, promising that he would always be there for our kids even if I couldn't – and that everybody would be there to help us and love them. Finally, I consented.

However, one day, all the Triads in the city – how many were there again? – they teamed up and attacked the City Hall, bank, and military camp. My officers and the army were able to successfully defend the bank and the camp, but not everyone could get too the City Hall. Avatar Aang was at the military camp, reorganizing things with Tenzin, which left only me and a couple officers to defend the City Hall. The leaders of the Triads, who were also their best fighters, seemed to know that the place with the least defenders was the City Hall. They attacked that place – I knocked out everyone, but I barely managed to get out with my life. I woke up in the hospital bed a week later. I think I lost a lot of blood as well as some internal bleeding, but one of those monsters had stabbed me, and I couldn't have children from then on."

Lin hung her head. Jinora reached out and squieezed her shoulder. "I know how that must've felt. Knowing that your kids would never have the perfect childhood if you got into another fight like that."

"No," Lin said. "I meant I physically could not bear children."

Jinora gasped.

Lin took a deep breath. "I told Tenzin that I didn't want children – nothing more than that. I couldn't let him know the painful truth." Lin paused, then continued, though now in a much lighter voice. "We got into some arguments after that, and Tenzin called me stubborn and some other names, and then he left me and found your mom, and all of that led up to now."

"Why didn't you tell him? He would have understood."

Lin sighed for the billionth time. "I was already hurting, both physically and emotionally. He didn't need more pain, and making him angry meant that it would soon end."

"Does 'it' mean the relationship?"

"Sort of…anger makes humans do rash and sudden things."

A very pregnant pause.

"So...I'm the only other person who knows?"

Lin nodded, and then stood up.
"Thank you for dropping by. It…really feels good to let all of that out of my system for once."

Jinora stood up, meeting Lin's gaze. Her sharp green eyes were full of the past pain, from battles, from her injuries, from Tenzin, and from protecting her family.
"No," She said. "I should be the one thanking you. For listening and telling me things."

Lin nodded. "Please know that I don't hate you for being born. It is not just my duty, but it's kind of like instinct for me to protect you and your family. In a way, you and your siblings were like the kids I never had."

Without thinking, Jinora wrapped her arms around Lin, who was momentarily stunned before returning the hug.

'There, there. Now have fun with your boyfriend, and I seriously need to get back to my job. Wasted enough time as it is."

Jinora took this as the signal to leave.

She quickly walked back to the ferry which took her back to Air Temple Island, all the time wondering about what her new role model had told her. When she arrived home, it was becoming dark and Tenzin, Meelo, Rohan, and some of the trainees had just finished his meditation.

She approached her father as Meelo and Rohan were walking to the cafeteria with the rest of the trainees, talking happily about their accomplishments. Tenzin looked up at her. Jinora smiled weakly.

"Hey, umm… Dad? Can I talk to you for a moment?"