"I hereby swear it," Kanut solemnly promised, one hand over his heart. The swearing in of Tarrlok's replacement was held on a Monday at City Hall. The ceremony was held inside, kept small due to the state of the building itself. The large expansive space was cramped with scaffolding and construction workers, attempting to fix the damage caused by the fight between the former Water Tribe Representative and Avatar Korra. The building had been caught in the middle of it all, baring the scars of conflict- a microcosm of the larger city.
Kanut was a political rival of Tarrlok's, finally getting the push he needed to win in the absence of a worthy opponent. He was fairly older and far less enigmatic, but none could argue in light of recent revelations that he was a better choice for councilman.
All the usual suspects were in attendance. The other council members, the civic paper pushers, several members of Kanut's family, and the Chief of Police.
Lin stood to the side, beneath the scaffolding observing the swearing in beside Tenzin. Between them existed a tension that seemed to lessen each day. It had been a long road to this point, but both could finally see some kind of reconciliation on the horizon. When the Justice stumbled over his words and said "civic doocy" instead of "civic duty" her eyes drifted sideways to find Tenzin looking back at her in shared humor. Like old times indeed.
As the Justice continued to read, yawns spread through the watching crowd. One person even leaned against the wooden pole which turned out to be the weak point in the scaffolding. In the blink of an eye the structure came clattering to the ground, bumping and scraping quite a few spectators on the way.
Tenzin's protective bubble only managed to encompass himself in time, missing Lin by an instant. A falling bit of debris made contact with her forehead, leaving behind a red gash. Her hand flew up to press against it.
"Is everyone okay?" Kanut asked, coming to aid any that might need it.
The dust settled and it became clear that most people were only minimally injured. The crowd milled about clutching heads and shoulders in moderate pain.
"Let's get a healer in to look everyone over, just incase," Kanut announced to the Justice and he made a swift departure for the telephone.
"I have something in my office for that," Tenzin told Lin in a low voice and she nodded and turned to make her way up the stairs.
He walked behind her gingerly, stepping past when they reached his door to hold it open and allow her entry. Lin walked forward, hand on her forehead applying pressure and looking stoic.
He closed to door behind him, drowning out the sound of the others entirely.
"Go ahead and have a seat, I will get the balm," he told her, moving toward the large cabinet at the far end of his office. He rifled around inside for only a moment before finding the small bag he kept containing gauze and various healing balms made from comfrey root and yarrow blossom. He retrieved the jar and made his way back to Lin, who opted to lean against his desk rather than actually sit.
He recognized this as a distancing move and he couldn't really blame her. They were working on their friendship, but nothing happens overnight.
One hand remained pressed firmly against her cut and the other reached out, snapping her fingers to demand the jar from him.
"I'll put it on," he insisted, holding the jar out of her reach as his other hand pulled reached up to remove hers from her forehead, revealing the red gash.
He stepped forward for a closer look and bumped her knees, tossing the gauze onto his desk behind her.
"I'm perfectly capable of smearing that on my own face, thank you," she argued, though her hand had been easily dominated and now rested in her lap.
"You can't see what you're doing," Tenzin explained without much thought, entirely focused on the cut, "it's actually not too bad..." he observed. He unscrewed the lid and gathered a dollop of the balm on his fingertips, finally meeting her eyes for a moment to give her a reassuring smile, "I don't have to tell you the next part," he joked.
"Let me guess, 'this is going to sting a little'?" she ventured knowingly.
"Ah, you've done this before," Tenzin mused sarcastically as his finger reached up to touch her forehead. This was nearly routine for them in the old days. In fact, the only reason Tenzin began storing various healing balms and powders was for when Lin would inevitably show up to their lunch dates with a newly acquired cut or bruise.
Her flinch was barely perceptible when the medicine made contact with her wound. Her eyes closed and she let out a measured breath, fluttering her lids open again after only a moment.
"That was the worst of it," he assured, only inches away.
He leaned over her slightly to reach the gauze he'd thrown on the desk behind her and she attempted to lean back with him as well, careful to keep from touching. But, she came up just a second sooner than he did and her shoulder ran right into his chest. Her hair tickled his cheek and when he took a breath he realized she was still using that shampoo he loved.
For a moment the world froze and Tenzin stood on the spot, suddenly closer to her than he had been in years. The sensation was intoxicating, but he pulled back slightly. Their eyes met and locked, making it clear to him that she felt the same small skip of a heartbeat when they touched. She swallowed hard and he could tell she wanted to look away, but couldn't bring herself to actually do it. They were locked in this moment, trapped in time together, reliving an extraordinarily intimate feeling on a very average day. He watched her mouth as though she might speak, but nothing came. His eyes flicked up to hers again, expecting a cool stare, but found instead her own gaze fixed on his lips.
There was some kind of magnet drawing him in, as if their reconciliation hinged on this moment in time and he leaned forward almost entirely against his will. His movement was against his better judgment, but his body insisted.
There was something melancholy in the way their lips first touched one another, as if the bodies attached were unwilling participants. His nose reached her first, grazing against her upper lip and tugging it ever so slightly as he found his place. It was a lazy kiss, their lips simply existing against each other without having sought such an arrangement. Tenzin breathed in, inhaling her familiar scent again and in that instant his self-control was completely diminished. All that mattered was here and now, the physical present, the tactile sensation of her lips against his. He pushed into her further and she pulled him in equal measure, lips parting just enough to allow his curious tongue entry.
His hands slid low to her hips to draw her in. He used one knee to move her legs apart, stepping between to press against her and her hips responded in kind. Their mouths remained together, nipping and caressing in a familiar way that had never felt quite so new before.
The small sounds they both made were needy and desperate, as if this must happen for the sake of both their souls. Their kiss deepened until they were both nearly out of breath, panting heavily against each other's mouths.
Instinctively, he pulled back, preparing to kiss his way down her neck, but the spell of desire was broken with their contact.
Their eyes met, shell-shocked by what had transpired.
Lin's hand flew to her mouth, covering it as if she were a child alarmed by saying a curse aloud for the first time. Something between guilt and unbelievable pain flashed in her eyes and she looked away quickly.
Tenzin shuddered, inhaling a breath that compressed in his lungs and sank into his stomach, coalescing into a heavy pit of culpability and nausea. He took a step back, extracting himself from between her legs and they snapped together quickly before she turned her body slightly away from him, closing off the opportunity for another misstep.
For a lingering moment they existed in silence, refusing to look at one another.
Lin brought up two fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose and groaned, "dammit, dammit, dammit."
"I'm sorry," Tenzin offered quickly and his words hitched on the dryness of his mouth.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Lin's plaintive voice demanded.
"I don't..."he began on the edge of a panic, "I don't know."
His hand rubbed the back of his head nervously, unsure of his next move. The instinct to run away was overwhelming.
Lin reached her hand up, running fingers through her hair quickly and groaning a little when she touched her cut. Tenzin saw this and nearly moved back to comfort her, but caught himself before stepping back inside her magnetic field.
"What are we doing?" he asked aloud, voice approaching hysteria, "What am I doing? What did I just do?"
Lin shook her head solemnly and caustic smile appeared on her face. She looked up at him and while she was not crying, there were tears in her eyes which she brushed away easily with the pad of her thumb.
"I need to leave," she observed. A laugh of self-loathing escaped her and she shook her head again, "we really can't be around each other...clearly."
While Tenzin's initial reaction was to counter her, it was obvious that in this case she was correct. Being friends was never in the cards for them. It stung.
Whatever had existed between them years ago remained, unable to be cured by meditation or marriage. It simply festered beneath the surface on the rare occasions of their interaction, waiting to reemerge and fell them both with the illness of their love.
It was a disease of sorts and Lin stood, backing away carefully to deter any further infection. She made her way to the door and turned back to him before pulling it open, "Councilman," she said, with a respectful bow of her head. But her voice hitched and her lip quivered when she said it, as if the formality of their situation might break her.
He bowed his head to her, eyes swimming because this was the only way. She disappeared from the room, closing the heavy door in her wake. It echoed in the cavernous office and he rounded his desk to take a seat.
The gauze for her cut remained across his desk. Beside it, a photograph of his beautiful and happy family. He stared into it until all he could see was his own reflection and a wave of sobbing overtook him.