Authors note: Hey guys! This is a oneshot, about my favorite LoK OTP: Linzin. I also love Bumi x Lin, but this is a Linzin-fic. Rated T for safety. I've never written a fanfiction before, and I'm from Sweden so I'm sorry if my english is bad in anyway. R&R AND I WILL LOVE YOU. I do not own AtLA or LoK!

Whenever Tenzin and Pema had been fighting and didn't agree before nightfall, Tenzin would grab his glider, fly over to Lin's small apartment and sleep on her couch for the night.

He was dreaming. A very non-subtle, hazy dream. He couldn't grasp at all what it was about. His father appeared, so did his mother, Aunt Toph, his skybison, or maybe it was Appa, cactus juice seemed to be involved, Uncle Sokka was there and some kind of giant mushroom made out of sand? It was a really weird dream. He woke up eventually, letting out a deep sigh of relief, not liking to be so confused and tense while sleeping. He was going to shift side of the pillow when he noticed the living room partly was lit. He looked up, brows furrowed; eyes tired and saw Lin sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming cup of tea in her hands. She obviously had been staring at him because he caught her off guard and just had the time to see her recollect her face into that famous icy scowl of hers. I wonder what she was thinking about… He inhaled and sat up, rising from the couch with stiff limbs, walking up to the counter behind Lin, and poured some tea for himself, before finally settling at the table, in front of Lin. She was wearing sweats and a white tank top, revealing her rock hard muscles on her arms, her strong shoulders and her delicate neck. He saved her face for last, just like he always had. Her sharp jawline among with her distinct cheekbones, dark circles under her cold, hard eyes and lips tilting downwards, made her look like the 50 years she really was. In daylight, perhaps on a mission on behalf of the police force she looked a bit younger, more determined, with a dangerous, intelligent glint in her eyes. Now she looked like a defeated, heartbroken, old and alone woman, even though she hid it extremely well behind her attempt to the expressionless mask she was wearing. This made him confused and a sharp pain settled in his gut. This had him even more confused. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"What are you doing up so late Lin? It's 2 am."

She looked away and a nerve in her temple twitched in annoyance of his question. She rolled her shoulders back, trying to relax a little bit and took a long sip of her tea before answering.

"I couldn't sleep." She said.

"Oh…"

She rolled her eyes and let out a dry laugh.

"On a good night I'll sleep perhaps four or in very rare cases five hours a night." She glanced at him with a hard look before turning her head away again.

"On a bad night I don't sleep at all."

She stared off into the distance. Tenzin was both surprised and not surprised by this fact. He was surprised because she had, since her twenties, been working her ass off, literally, on the police force. Even before she was Chief. Such tiresome, intense work had him believing that she fell asleep at night before she even hit the bed. She had always been a sleeper when they still were together, as far as he could remember. But then again, they hadn't been a couple for almost 20 years. It didn't surprise him because he knew her all too well, and she was a workaholic. Right after their breakup she threw herself into work, drowning in it, more than she had ever done before. He was afraid for her health the first couple of months, there was an article every day in the paper about her latest heroic, stupid and dangerous actions, but after time he stopped thinking about it, until now. She had been working more than her body could possibly handle for 20 years. She could probably work for 30 straight hours without needing, or getting, any sleep even if she wanted to. To work like that, day and night, not having any routines for 20 years probably messed up anybody's sleeping schedule pretty bad. Her body didn't know when, or how, to relax after such a long time.

"What do you do when you can't sleep?"

She didn't expect another curious question from him. She wasn't used to have people in her apartment, especially not men. Especially not him. She was so taken aback by his question that she answered before she even registered what he was asking.

"I drink tea." She stated. As if it was obvious. "And then I work out, or clean. If I can relax I read a book. If I can't, I go to work."

She shrugged and got lost in thoughts as she finished the sentence, leaving Tenzin to naturally ponder over how to solve the problem. As an idea hit him, the guilt started burning in his chest. His heart ached of it, his arms and fingers tingling in discomfort. He started to move around uncomfortably on his chair. Of course, the Chief of Police Lin Beifong, that was barefoot, noticed, both with her seismic sense and eyes, and ears too. She shot an annoyed look at him, snarling:

"Stop fidgeting! You act as if you stood in front of Miss Lao in class, waiting to get a spanking for not behaving properly!"

This made him chuckle nervously of the memory, still uncomfortable; which in return outraged her even more. She grunted hard, trying to bite her harsh words down, but instead starting to mutter phrases to herself that was too quiet for him to hear. He swallowed, clenching his hands around the now cold tea cup harder, unsure of how she would react to his next words.

"Well Lin… I… Ehrm… Um…" This time, the look she shot at him was furious for real. Her eyes contained that dangerous look that she got when trying to break criminals down in the interrogation room. He once saw her making a man pee himself in pure fear. And that without giving the man a single punch. He knew how she hated it when he started to stumble on his words, which he always did when he was unsure or troubled somehow so he coughed and clearly said:

"I can help you. With your sleep I mean."

She slowly leaned back in her chair, all anger gone. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked at him intently, trying to figure out what he was thinking about and form some sort of respond. Her bare feet to the floor, she could feel his heart beating at least 250 miles per hour, which made her nervous.

"How? Are you going to do my job for the next month? Are you going to take care of the Triple Threat Thriad's new members? Are you going to resurrect my mother so that I can talk to her one last time? Are you going to make me 25 again so that I don't have to deal with the chronic pain I have sustained from all the injuries I've been collecting like trophies the last 30 years? Are you…" She stopped, and then he realized why. He wasn't aiming for the cracks in her armor of stone. Yet somehow he had hit a soft spot in her. She wasn't used to get any help. She lived alone. She was so independent, strong, hard, heroic and fearless that no one even bothered to ask her if something was wrong. When her mother died a year after their break up, she didn't cry at the funeral. She wore her armor. The Lin Tenzin had known as a child, as a teenager, as a lover, was gone, but he desperately wanted her to feel loved and warm one last time. The guilt roared in his chest but he ignored it. Wanting his former lover, but still after all these years, best friend to be taken care off.

"No." He simply said. He stood up and walked over to hover above her. She leaned backwards on the chair to look at him, still her arms crossed protectively over her chest. She had a little triumph and on the same time sad look in her eyes. She was very tense; that she didn't break of the tension her body was trembling with was an amazing fact.

"But I can hold you tonight. Just for a couple of hours. So that you can sleep, I'll keep you warm." Her jaw dropped and her eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of their sockets and land on the floor any second. Tenzin wasn't nervous anymore. He felt guilty, he had a wife and four children, but he needed to do this. He needed to take care of his best friend. He needed to hold her one last time. Because he love-… I'm doing this because she is my friend, I have known her since she was born, she needs me. While looking down on Lin he saw that she was so taken by surprise, that her mouth moved around but no words came out. He could see all her feelings and thoughts running around in chaos in her eyes. There were chock, anger, sadness and a lot more he couldn't even identify storming around. He didn't know for how long he just stood there over her, her body frozen, her mouth hanging wide open, but when she finally got any words out it was just a weak:

"I… No." As she said this she shook her head, rose from the chair, looked him straight in the eye and said:

"You have a wife. And what the hell makes you think I would let you do that? Get out." The words started out in anger but ended in a heavy sigh.

"Lin…"

"NO, Tenzin. Get out. Get out of my apartment. Go home, for Spirits sake!" The anger in her words triggered something deep down inside of him. He ransacked through his brain, but only found himself throwing his arms around her, holding her tight to his chest while she swore, yelled and struggled to get free from his arms. The more she fought him, the harder he held her until he finally felt her slowly relaxing. She still didn't put her arms around him, but as he held her, her gray hair that used to be as black as coal, fell over her shoulders, making him inhale sharply. She smelled lovely, like something he once knew. He couldn't identify her scent, but if he tried it would be… No, he couldn't. Lin smelled like Lin. Like home. Like love. He slowly released his grip on her, letting one hand slide down her arm, holding her hand tight, locking their fingers together. He turned around, flicking of the lights, and moved the way into her bedroom. While there, he placed her on the bed. He looked her in the eye, feeling a deep sadness spreading through his body. She looked so fragile. Complete, done, crushed and devastated, as if she wasn't there anymore. As if she only was a shell. She looked drained of the will to live, exhausted, unloved, unwanted, wounded, empty and miserable beyond repair. He knew that what he did was right, as a friend. As a husband, perhaps not. But he angrily pushed the thoughts away. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead, stroking a thumb gently across her cheek before letting her go, walking around the bed and sitting down on the other side. He moved over to her side, maneuvering her down under the blankets, and then himself. He laid down close to her, and stretched out his arm so that she could sleep on it, her back to his chest, legs entangled with each other. He leaned over her, turning the light of, settled is chin in the crook of her neck and murmured:

"Goodnight Lin." In her ear. They both fell asleep fast after that.

A month later he saw her passing him on the other side of the street in Republic City. She didn't see him but she looked as hard and busy as usual. He remembered the night they had shared together. He had woken up at 7 am, and just stared at her relaxed features and beautiful face while sleeping next to him for a good 15 minutes before she had starting to move around slightly, about to wake up. He had risen, changed into his robes before she woke up and gone to a teashop to buy breakfast. They had run in to each other a few times after that, but never spoke of that night again. He shook his head and started walking down the street again, he had a council meeting to attend to.