A/N: Happy Linzin week guys!
Their relationship changed like the seasons; from spring, to summer, to autumn, to winter.
As children the flowers sprung out from the ground with petals in red, yellow, orange and blue. The grass and the trees developed into a vibrant green. The sun started peeking out from behind the clouds; warmth came in delightful wafts, embracing and giving life to both nature and its inhabitants the closer spring slowly crept towards summer. Republic City's resurrected noise from its winter coma could be heard all the way out to Air Temple Island, the sounds of satomobiles honking and merchants' voices occasionally along with a siren disturbing the calm, though no one living at the island cared. They simply enjoyed the life which could be heard from it, as it had been quiet or overpowered by the wind for months. Now waves from the ocean softly collided with the cliffs and the edges of the beaches in between, reminding everyone that yes, spring was finally here.
The air was suddenly filled with laughter, shrieks of joy, and once every now and then, tears, when the children abandoned their indoor games to play hide and seek in the bushes, sparring to the best of their ability and exploring each and every corner of the island, searching for treasure or caves to play in.
It was a peaceful, simple time; a part of Lin's life where no guilt and pain seemed to emerge or linger. And for that she was grateful. Looking back at her life, it was a relief, small as it might be; that her childhood had been as peaceful as her legacy and upbringing with the Chief of Police as mother could be. Of course there were injuries and murder attempts and once a try to kidnap her, but it didn't disturb the bigger picture of her first years.
Her teenage years were like the summer... Everything about it seemed golden like the sun as long as it lasted. Her mother and Sokka was happy, the city was growing bigger for each day (to Aang's pride and joy), she mastered metalbending and was accepted at the Academy where she graduated top of her class, she and Tenzin discovered their feelings for one another...The only smudge of dirt on the lens was this. She could have saved herself from so much pain and heartbreak if she'd realized what the depth of feelings she held for him would entail, before agreeing to a relationship with him. But it was too late.
Golden, but not perfect... Small dots of dust; after all, life is always fighting a war about balance, up and down, left or right. She was in her younger teenage years when Yakone roamed the city and tore it up bit by bit. He almost killed Toph after bloodbending her in City Hall the day of the trial, but she made it through; Lin made it through seeing her mother more dead than alive, the only consequence being her turning a little colder and more serious than before.
The autumn came quickly after that with its harsh weather and grey sky; Lin's colorful spectrum of life faltering as the years passed by. The more hours she worked, the more cases of murder, theft and evil actions she had to witness and investigate, the more injuries and scars she suffered, the more her mother's eyes seemed to lack their dangerous glint despite her blindness, the more lines started to appear on Aang's face, the more angry words started bouncing against the walls of her small apartment between Tenzin and herself, the more the color seemed to be drained, leaving her emotions and thoughts colored like a chessboard, but black and grey, not black and white; and a heavy weight settled on her shoulders, a painful knot taking permanent residence in the pit of her stomach. At this point she thought she could endure the season her instincts warned was yet to come, as long as she knew that spring would revive her existence once again.
As it turns out, she didn't, and neither did the love of her life. Winter came out of nowhere, when they least expected it. A northern, freezing wind ate its way with razor sharp teeth, all the way into their bones where it started to gnaw contentedly. Snow whirled furiously in every direction they tried to face for some kind of shelter or safe port with room to breathe, until one day the clouds disappeared and everything the storm left behind could be seen clearly.
The vicious massacre of their relationship, their families and themselves lay with open arms before them, to examine, to investigate. But it was too overwhelming, too much, too broken; they didn't believe they could patch it up again, didn't have the strength to return to the misery their relationship had provided the last fatal years. Nothing could save the remnants of their once so beautiful life. They saw it clearly now. Everything was a mess, the pieces spread out as if a tornado had hit them, gathering their lives and the love they once shared in its hands, and shattering them in a thousand invisible splinters, tossing them away in every direction with a volcano's strength.
The storm had claimed Lin's mother, ripping her from her side without warning, leaving a bleeding gash open in Lin's heart that barely healed, and only because she shut it off; the blood gathering in other parts of her body where it was needed. It took away the Avatar, whom was too weak to resist his illness and grief of his friend's murder, leaving Tenzin desperate, alone and aching for something Lin couldn't bear to give him. And in the aftermath, Sokka passed away in his sleep with an old, worn sweater from Toph clutched tightly to his chest. Lin's father in all aspects except blood.
It took years for her to recover, but small signs of spring started to show in her life again. Her position as Chief saved her; small rays of light sunshine in the form of pride and success kept her alive in the darkest of moments. However, she doubted she would ever experience a real summer again.