Chapter Two

Lin adjusted the sky bison's path until they were on the right track. "Take me to Kiyoshi," she said, patting the animal's head. It released a low rumble. Lin liked to imagine it was acknowledging her. Aang always talked about how smart sky bison were. She hoped this one knew where Kiyoshi Island was.

She settled back into the saddle and crossed her arms behind her head. She looked up at the sky. The color had faded to a faint purple since she had left. It would be night soon, which was probably for the better. Kya would not travel at night. She preferred to stay over with people and experience the small part of their lives that they opened to her. She was very much a nomad like her father.

Lin blinked, her eyelids feeling heavy now that the weight of the day could catch up with her. Her body also finally felt relaxed. As soon as she had taken off, she had felt an immense sense of relief. The inability to act had upset her, not because it went against her nature, but because it went against her mother's expectations. She had always been a gifted earth bender. When it came to expressing the attitude of an earth bender, however, she fell miserably short of expectations.

Perhaps that was why Pro Bending worked so well for her. The fighting style was so different from what her mother had taught her. Be firm, yet quick. Be tough, yet flexible. Lin sighed as she remembered the previous season. That was over a year ago, and they had failed to participate in any of the qualifiers this year because of... recent events. Lin closed her eyes and thought back. She missed those days. She missed training with Kya after matches.


She threw her fist forward once more, sending a disc flying into the sandbag. Sweat gathered on her forehead and her arms ached, but she did not want to go home. Not yet. Not after what had happened in the arena.

She closed her eyes for a second and breathed in. The memory flashed in her mind again, a spark over dry timber. She breathed out quickly and brought her foot down in an arc. It made contact with the floor and sent a chunk of rock flying toward the sandbag. It punctured the fabric and she listened to the granules hit the floor.

Lin breathed in again and opened her eyes. She did not want to remember that. She did not want to recall how her eyes had widened, how her heart had sped up a little when Kya hugged her after their first victory. It was wrong to feel that. Dead wrong. Three years she had been with Tenzin and no one else should make her feel like that, let alone her boyfriend's sister.

"You planning on giving up any time soon?" The voice caused Lin to jump a little. Kya laughed and walked into the training room, her gear slung over her shoulder in a sack. "Don't tell me I snuck up on you," she teased, dropping the sack by the doorway.

Kya had changed into training slacks and a sleeveless top that showed off the muscles in her arms. It caught Lin's eye, and she had to stop herself from staring when her gaze roamed down the expanse of Kya's flat stomach. "I want to train just a bit longer. Clear my head." Purge it, more likely.

"Would you mind if I stayed and helped?" Kya asked.

Yes. She minded a lot. In fact, she'd never set out what she wanted to accomplish if Kya was there providing a distraction. But she found herself saying, "Go ahead," before she could think better of it. Kya smiled and went to fetch a pitcher of water. Lin tried not to watch as she walked away. The sheer power in Kya's body attracted her; she was sure of that. Tenzin was soft and tightly wound at the same time, the exact opposite of Kya. Something about Kya reminded her of a fast-moving river, and she found quickly getting swept up in the current.

Kya returned with the pitcher and set it down. "Do you have a set you want to drill?" she asked.

Lin shrugged. "I suppose a quick sparring match might do some good."

The water bender smiled. "I think it would."

Damn it. Why did that smile make her stomach clench? "I'll let you lead," she said.

Kya nodded and stepped back a good distance. Lin followed her movement. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she had feelings for Kya for quite some time, perhaps ever since they were teenagers, but Kya was older and wanted to hang out with the kids her age, leaving Lin to play with Tenzin. Ever since they had become adults, however, things had been different. Kya started inviting her along to parties. They formed this team with Zuko's daughter. Their time together had been... nice.

Lin blinked and saw water rush at her face. She reacted quickly and ducked out of the way, spinning to avoid the second lash of water she knew was coming for her. She reached down and flung her hand forward, sending a disc at Kya. When her teammate jumped out of the way, she took advantage of the time and flung a second disc her way. Kya dodged it, but barely. Lin smiled and pressed her advantage, sending more discs flying at her. Kya diverted some with water, but had to keep moving to avoid the rest. Lin was sure she had her until she heard the familiar rushing sound of water.

Before she could act, she felt the cold spray on her back as the jet flung her forward. Stumbling, she lost her balance and careened right toward Kya. The water bender raised both her hands and attacked. She knocked Lin's left leg out and froze the right one to the floor. Lin's arms wind-milled as she lost all her remaining balance. She was going to fall. Kya unfroze her and grabbed her by the arm before that could happen, though.

Kya pulled her upright, holding her by the forearm as their heavy breathing slowed. Lin's gaze met Kya's and her breath caught. She shouldn't have put herself in this situation. Slowly, Kya released her arm, but she could still feel the warmth of the water bender's touch. When was the last time her heart had raced like this? Certainly not with Tenzin.

"Good job," Kya said. A smile tugged at her lips, though Lin saw a trace of sadness in her friend's eyes. Kya looked down before she could determine why.

"Thanks." She took a hesitant step back. "Um..." She wanted to say something but that was a terrible idea.

Kya glanced up at her again. "What is it?" she asked.

Lin shook her head. "Nothing."

Kya laughed and shook her head. "No, it's not nothing. I'm your friend. Talk to me."

"You don't know that," Lin said. Her heart pounded. "You're just being paranoid." She turned away and stepped toward the exit. She had to leave. Had to find Tenzin and force herself to forget these stupid feelings.

"No. You're nervous. I can tell. Your blood is moving faster than it should. We didn't work out that hard, and it only sped up like that when I caught you." Lin stopped but did not turn around. Like Kya said, her pulse pounded in her ears, and it wasn't because they had worked hard. Her face felt hot. Anyone else would run, but she was an earth bender. She turned. The knowing look in Kya's eyes brought a sinking feeling to Lin's gut. "I want you to be able to talk to me about anything, Lin. This kind of nervous energy is not good for your body."

"No, it's not."

Kya stepped toward her. She raised a hand to Lin's cheek. "You've got to tell me what's going on. I'm a healer, remember? Maybe I can make it better." Her eyes held a dare. She knew what was wrong with Lin. She was giving her a chance to confess it all, to purge her emotions like a toxin, but fear mobilized her. She could not fathom that Kya cared for her that much, so much that she would risk hurting her brother, or perhaps she did care about her brother more and this was just an attempt to redirect Lin's feelings.

Kya's hand left her cheek. Lin always thought too much. She never did anything, never made a move. She just stood still and let the world move past her. Kya stepped back. She was about to leave. Lin was a stone, silent and unwavering. Worse than a stone, she was the ground that everyone else walked on. Well, forget that.

Lin grabbed Kya's hand and pulled her back. "You can't help me with this, Kya."

Kya's eyes widened and she stumbled forward. "Lin, what does that even-"

The words were cut off as Lin's lips found hers in a hard kiss. By the spirits, she had wanted to do this too long. Kya's lips slid past hers like water over stone, but she did not pull away. Instead, her hands slid over Lin's back and pulled them closer. She moaned softly and Lin deepened the kiss, pulling them closer with a harsh grip. Kissing Kya was exhilarating. Every caress, every motion stirred something inside her. Her veins were like lava and her heart a molten core.

Just as she began to lose herself, Lin sensed another person walking down the hall, toward the training room. Quickly, they broke apart. "Someone's coming," she whispered, avoiding Kya's somewhat hurt gaze.

The both of them blushed deeply and looked around. How could they appear normal to whoever was approaching after doing that? Lin cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair, placing the black strands in place.

"I suppose we should clean up if we're done practicing," she said, her voice cool.

Kya nodded and tucked a loose lock of her own hair back in place. She bended the water back into the pitcher while Lin cleaned up the spilled sand from earlier. The intruder turned out to be the security guard. He nodded at them and continued onward, not even stopping for a second glance. Once he had moved on, Kya set down the training equipment she fussed with.

"So is that what was bothering you?" she asked.

Lin nodded. "That would be one way to put it." Her blood still pounded, but a different ache filled her. "Kya I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that."

The water bender laughed. "You should make a habit of it, if that's what losing control is to you." Her smile receded, though, and she crossed her arms. "What should we do now?"

Lin groaned and placed her hands on her hips. She hung her head back. "We should probably leave for the night... Separately," she added when she saw Kya's eyebrow quirk. "I'm sorry. I need to – I need to think. This is very... new to me."

Kya nodded. "Am I allowed to tell Tenzin?"

Lin shook her head. "If he ever does hear about this, it should be me, and I don't know if I ever do want him to hear about this." As soon as she said it, she regretted it. The look of hurt in Kya's eyes felt like a punch to the gut. She turned away from Lin and stormed out of the training room. Lin ran forward and caught her arm. Kya tugged against her grip.

"Let go. You obviously have some things to sort out."

"Kya, please. I didn't mean it like that." She still tried to leave. Another firm tug and she pulled out of Lin's grasp and walked away. Desperate, she called after Kya, "Who am I going to talk to about this if you leave?"

Slowly, Kya came to a stop and turned around. She stared at Lin for what felt like several long moments before walking back to her. "You can walk me home, Lin, and on the way we'll talk about what to do next."

Lin nodded, though she blushed deeply when Kya looped an arm through hers. "I suppose that's all I can do," she said, though inside she knew she should do more.


Lin snapped out of the memory and looked around herself. The sun had set during her daydream, and the sky bison flew over the ocean now. She glanced down for any land markers, then at the sky in search of a navigation star. She found her position and sighed in relief. They weren't off course at all. Good. Lin settled into the driver's seat behind the sky bison's head and watched the horizon. They would be at Kiyoshi Island soon. Once she got there, she would have a lot to apologize to Kya for. It was the least she could do after the way she had treated their relationship, all the way back to that first kiss.


A/N: Another chapter. I can't help it, I love these guys. Remember to leave a review, please. I wanna hear what you guys think, especially about how Lin and Kya's relationship might have progressed from its starting point. I haven't filled in all the holes, yet.