Uncharted Waters

Chapter 1

Lin looked down at the ticket in her hand, then back up at the huge cruise ship in front of her. She hesitated for a moment. Was she really going to do this? Go on a vacation? This wasn't her. This wasn't Lin. She sighed. Su had given her the ticket to the singles cruise as a birthday present.

"Go and relax for a few weeks, have some fun! Find someone!" Su smiled. "You deserve it."

Lin took another big breath and walked up the gangplank. She handed her ticket to a young looking man and headed to her cabin. She was surprised at the relatively large bed in the cabin. Searching the room she found other complementary 'goodies' including a rather graphic book, fit for someone of any persuasion.

"Well it is a singles cruise." She muttered unpacking her bag and lying down on the bed. She glanced at the clock. "Looks like I've got time to take a nap before the mixer tonight."

.o.

Lin walked into the ballroom, where the mixer was already in full swing. People were talking, laughing and dancing on the dance floor. For a moment Lin felt something was off but she couldn't quite place what, until she really looked at one of the couples dancing together. She blinked. They were both women. Lin's jaw dropped. Had her sister really just done this to her? Lin felt the blood rise to her cheeks before turning on her heal and walking to one of the balconies to get some fresh air. "I told you that in confidence!" She yelled to the night sky. "Not so you could out me on a cruise ship! I can't believe you would do this to me!" Lin took a deep breath trying to control her feelings of anger and mortification.

"You can't believe, who would do what to you?" A soft voice asked.

Lin looked over to see Kya standing there. She tried to hold in her surprised, after all she was probably the ship's on board healer or something. Lin gave a sigh.

"I told my little sister that I kind of like both girls and boys. I told her that in confidence because well, I'm still questioning that and I don't want other people to know." She leaned against the railing. "Silly right? I'm the big bad police chief and here I am, too afraid to venture out of the closet even on a ship were that's expected."

Kya gave her a small smile. "Well, I guess if you didn't know this was a gay cruise it would be a shock…do you want to go back in there and try again?"

Lin shook her head. "No, I really don't want people to see me and recognize me."

Kya put a hand on Lin's shoulder. "Then why don't we go back to one of our rooms, order some tea and just talk? Trust me, it feels better just to talk about this kind of stuff and I promise not to buy you a ticket to a surprise gay cruise."

Lin chuckled. "Well as long as you promise to never do that….or tell Tenzin or Bumi!"

"My lips are sealed."

.o.

Lin leaned back against the headboard of her bed a cup of tea in her hands. She had changed out of her dress and Kya had changed into something more comfortable too. They had been talking for a while about Lin and her insecurities.

"It's just that sometimes I don't know weather I'm really attracted to both or neither or one and not the other. It's just so confusing and the argument you have to be one or the other, doesn't help. You know?"

Kya shrugged. "I won't lie to you Lin, you kind of won the lottery of the most outside outsider…. well there are others but you get what I'm saying."

Lin chuckled. "Yeah, I think I do." She took another sip of her tea. "So, I meant to ask this earlier but what are you doing here? Are you the ship doctor or something?"

Kya laughed. "No, I'm a passenger! Bumi gave me the ticket for my birthday."

"Did Bumi give it to you as a gag gift?" Lin gave Kya a once over look. She was reminded that while they had known each other for a long time she really didn't know Kya. Not really.

"No, hope this doesn't freak you out but I'm a lesbian." She laughed. "You should see your face Lin! You look like a spirit just landed on your nose!"

Lin shook her head. "Uh, sorry I just didn't know. Tenzin never told me."

Kya shrugged. "I didn't come out to him for a long time. Things between him and me were never as good as between Bumi and me. I actually came out to Bumi thirty years ago and ever since, he's been buying me tickets to this so I could 'find a nice girl'. This is the first year I've actually gone, before that I just didn't have the heart or was too busy to."

"Well I guess we're both in uncharted waters then." Lin joked.

"Yeah but I think we'll do fine navigating them." Kya took a sip of her tea. "So how are you feeling now?"

"Kind of like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders actually." Lin blinked. "It feels nice, like I can relax a little now."

"Speaking of relaxing." Kya grabbed a pamphlet off the bedside table. "Says here they've got a great masseuse on board. What to try and take advantage of that tomorrow? After that we could explore the ship, find out what else this place has to offer."

Lin nodded and yawned. "Sounds like a plan."

A/N: Hey everyone! This is your captain speaking…. Sorry I've just always wanted to do that joke :). So this is my first real attempt at a true Kyalin story as requested by quite a few people including close friends. So quite literally this is uncharted waters for me. Well, ok, this isn't the first time I've written Lin as having a female partner (most of the time Kya) but it's been a side note or a detail of the story and not the focus. Please feel free to comment and give your opinion or point out where my spell check has failed me yet again. Thanks! ~C.C