Chapter 2 – Hangovers and Healing

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, some people said they wanted more, so here you are :) at the moment I've only got a couple more chapters planned for after this, but after that, who knows? With regards to avatarfanlin's suggestion – I'm gonna try breaking paragraphs up a bit to make dialogue easier to read, so now I'll use a =x= to denote the end of a scene. Hope that clears things up :P if people like it I'll use it in further chapters, might even go back and fix the first :P Thanks for the constructive criticism, which, btw, is always welcome :) Enjoy :)

A/N: Also, this bit contains an intimate scene between two women. If it's not your thing, then avoid. UPDATE: on advice I have taken the rating down again. Minor paranoia on the part of a new writer :P

A/N: UPDATE: many thanks to avatarfanlin for betaing and advising, chapter has been re-uploaded and tweaked a bit!

Anguish held Lin in its terrible grip, as she lay, curled like a cat, on her lonely apartment bed. Betrayal, of the worst kind was the source of her agony. A betrayal she could never have expected, even from him. He'd sworn that he was fine with her decision, that he would respect her. And, for a while, Lin had believed him. Until now. Now she was alone, hurting more than she'd ever believed possible. A knock on the door sounded from afar, along with a familiar voice. "Lin! It's me," called the voice of his sister, the waterbender. When no reply came Kya continued. "Please, I'm not here for Tenzin. I know what he did to you, and it's unforgivable. I just want you to know…" Pausing, Kya took a breath to focus her mind so that she could express exactly what she meant without the chance of her friend misunderstanding. After a moment, she finished. "I want you to know that I'm here, if you need me. And that you don't need to worry about our… our friendship. You know I wouldn't take sides in these kinds of things normally, but I'm with you on this one. All the way."

Feeling slightly self-conscious, Kya waited, and then, when Lin seemed determined to be as unreachable as ever, she turned to leave. Thus, she almost jumped when she heard a voice, trembling where once it was strong, answering her. "Please… I… probably shouldn't be alone right now," it stumbled out. As Kya rushed in, Lin tried desperately to dry her eyes and nose, to act as though she hadn't been weeping bitter tears ever since she found out what he did. It was no use – as soon as Kya saw her face, the observant Chief could tell that she knew. Of course, the other giveaway was the fact that Lin found herself wrapped in a vice-like hug. Unbidden, the tears burst forth once more, this time into Kya's shoulder.

As the waterbender gently guided her friend back onto the bed, in an attempt to make her comfortable, Lin let it all out. She mourned the loss of a lover, she cursed him for his treachery, and as Kya softly ran her hand back and forth across her head, she wept for the life that she had known but had now lost. But most importantly, she revealed the true reason that his act had cut her so deeply. "H-h-he… he was the only one who ever accepted me… The only one who ever loved me, the way I loved him… I never thought anyone would, or even could feel that way about me. He gave me all that, and now I know none of it was real. I w-w-was right. There's no one. I've got no one." At that, grief robbed her of her voice, and she simply sat there, enveloped in her friend's embrace, crying her eyes out.

After what felt like an eternity, the flow of tears stemmed enough for her to look up. What she took her breath away. A woman, not that much older than herself, infinite kindness and compassion shining in her bright blue eyes. A sad smile graced that wondrous face as she lay a hand upon the Chief's scarred face. "You're wrong," she breathed, leaning closer, "you do have someone… who loves you…" Lin's breath caught. Heat shot through her, but not the searing burn of grief. No, this was something else, something caused by the closeness the women now shared. It reached its peak as the older woman's breath brushed along Lin's lips, as she spoke the last thing, that one last thing. Always the same, simple word. The word she so badly wanted to hear. "Me." Kya whispered, before closing what little distance that remained between their lips…

=x=

A bladed whirlwind shot through Lin's head as she awoke. So that's why I stopped drinking, she groaned internally. The dream, always the same, had come to her again. A dream that spoke of desires buried deep beneath layers of grief, self-doubt, and duty. Not to mention fear. A fear that those dreams would never be anything more. This dream in particular she knew was her own, highly unhealthy way of dealing with a mistake she made. The first part she remembered like it was yesterday – the pain of loss, the fury at Tenzin's duplicity, and even Kya's attempt to comfort her. But Lin made a different choice that day, a choice she, over the long years, had come to regret. She did not call out. Although she had felt the slightest twinge of warmth that Kya had actually cared enough to visit, ultimately all she had given Kya for her concern was silence. After all, she was still his sister. No-one with the blood of the adulterer was welcome in her life at that point.

After she left, the agony had thrown another barrage at her, and another, and another, until it had felt like it was drowning her, choking her, consuming her. Of course, time had dulled the pain. But as the pain faded, and the final part of that dream began to occur again and again, something else grew within her. Something she knew would never, could never be satisfied. A desire that she had to take to her grave.

That melancholy thought was her last before she realised exactly where she was.

As needles drove into her head once again, the reality of her current situation hit her like a tonne of bricks. The thick, padded fabric into which her head was nestled. The warm, gentle arms surrounding her. The inviting legs interwoven with her own. The scent of pine needles, sending shivers down Lin's spine as she inhaled. Memories of conversations from the previous, some shouted, some whispered, floated blearily in her mind. But thanks to the stimuli that were all pointing to one conclusion, there was one memory which came to her with surprising clarity. Clumsily prising her armour off, then accidentally collapsing on the last person she ever expected to share a bed with.

Kya.

Kya, in her thick, padded Water Tribe parka.

Kya, with her warm, gentle arms, and inviting legs.

Kya, with the scent of crushed pine needles.

Kya, the woman she dreamed of loving.

All of these pervasive thoughts of attraction and the resulting perverse desires, combined with the mother of all hangovers, made this a situation that Lin very much wanted to escape. She could only hope that Kya had been as drunk as she had, so that she, too, would be sound asleep. But Lin couldn't bring herself to leave without snuggling into her friend briefly, lightly squeezing her waist and nuzzling into her chest. Regretfully, she extricated herself from Kya's tangled embrace, softly so as to wake her. Once free, she executed a much smoother inversion of her movements then previous night, bending her armour back into place. Then, with a hand on her head in a vain attempt to numb the pain shooting through it, she stumbled towards the door.

=x=

Lin's escape attempt, however, coincided with an alarmingly similar act.

Stepping out, Lin collided with a tall, raven-haired beauty. Both of them let out strangled exclamations as they tried to avoid alerting the rest of the hallway to their respective presences. "Asami?" mumbled Lin, attempting not to wake the rest of the Temple but being unable to hide her surprise that she was not the only one doing a walk of shame.

"Oh, Chief… sorry about that, you just caught me by surprise, I was…" Asami babbled, frantically reaching for an excuse.

Sadly, her efforts were in vain. Recalling the odd behaviour of another guest at the party, as well as the fact that they were in completely the wrong part of the Temple for the guest rooms, Lin, in the few seconds it took for Asami to try to talk her way out of her present predicament, had worked out exactly why the inventor was so nervous. "You've just left Korra's room, haven't you?" Lin asked quietly.

Nervousness turned to shock, then to outright fear on Asami's face. "How… Never mind, I guess nothing gets by you, huh," Asami sighed, defeated. A tinge of desperation crept into her voice then. "Please, we're not ready for people to know about us. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure there's even an 'us' yet. Please don't tell anyone!" She begged.

"Do I look like a gossip to you?" Lin retorted, a smirk threatening to grace her lips. "Nah, your secret's safe with me. Just… Korra's sweet, and damned if I haven't come to like her. Don't hurt her. Or else," she warned Asami, her patented death glare piercing the younger woman to the core.

The inventor stiffened at this, and indignantly replied. "Of course I won't. You're not the only one who cares about her, you know." She took a steadying breath before continuing. "But thanks. It means a lot that you won't spread the word." Taking note of her surroundings, she brightened and added, "So I think it's fair enough that I don't tell anyone about you and Kya either!"

As a flush crept up Lin's cheeks she responded forcefully. "There's nothing going on between us. Where did you get that impression?"

"Oh, come on, you just came out of her room, and you spent the whole party talking to her! I may not be a cop, but I'm not stupid," Asami teased. "But go on, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why you were just leaving Kya's room at five in the morning after a party in which you were unbelievably drunk."

Lin sighed, resigning herself to explaining as much as she had to in order to throw off Asami's suspicions. "From what I remember, I think I said something embarrassing, so Kya took me away from the bar. She helped me get to her room – it's closer to the bar than the guest rooms – then we talked. Then I think I took off my armour… then I kind of… fell on her," she explained lamely.

Asami grinned menacingly. "Right, whatever. Just be more careful next time you try to sneak out. Might not be someone quite as… accommodating next time," she said slyly, winking. "But don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she echoed Lin's earlier words teasingly. Watching as the raven-haired young lady walked off, Lin internally sighed with relief. Too close, she thought. At least I have leverage, so she's the only one who knows. Well aside from Korra. Asami will probably tell her, but I still have leverage. And, comforted by that knowledge, Lin left Air Temple Island without further incident.

=x=

Looking down as a pile of papers perched precariously upon her desk, Lin cringed. Damn, isn't there a limit on the amount of havoc that can occur in one night?! She cursed to herself. Suddenly an idea struck her. There's still a lot of debris that needs shifting over at the site of the new spirit portal. I could volunteer to help them out. Then I can just let Saikhan deal with the paperwork. She grinned ever-so-slightly at her own cunning.

Stepping out into the police station lobby, she shouted for Saikhan. Moments later he stood in front of her, straight as an arrow. "I'm heading out to help the volunteers at the spirit portal to clear the debris. You're in charge until I get back. And there's a mountain of paperwork in there," she gestured towards her office, "that needs addressing. Anything major comes up, call me. That'll be all," she concluded. As expected, Saikhan accepted his responsibility with a curt reply, face twisting slightly with displeasure at the tedious to which he had been assigned. Despite her hangover, which had persisted well into the morning and showed no signs of abating for a while, she was pleased that she had at least managed to avoid the dullest task of law enforcement. Ah, the privileges of command…

=x=

In hindsight, Lin should've known better.

Of course, hindsight is twenty twenty, and it's hardly fair to judge an action based on it.

After all, it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

So she couldn't blame herself.

Right?

Okay, maybe trying to shift several tons of rubble while hungover wasn't the smartest plan, but still.

Thoughts to this effect ran through her head as Lin came to. While moving a decent-sized chunk of rock above herself, she had managed, in her still-bleary state, to misstep halfway through her stance. This resulted in the aforementioned rock, which was almost past her, falling and fragmenting on her left side. Her shoulder was dislocated, and chunks of the rock struck at various points on her side, leaving bruises, and breaking a couple of ribs for good measure. The first thing Lin was aware of which wasn't her own internal scolding was the frantic scrabbling around of various police officers. As the field healer repaired her broken ribs, Lin realised they were panicking because of her.

Those idiots thought a lump of rock would get the best of me, she grumbled to herself.

Once the damage to her bones was fixed, and her shoulder popped back into place (terrifying the surrounding officers with her silence at the painful procedure) Lin brushed the healer off. "I'm not about to die anymore, which means there's some poor bastard out there who needs your help more than me," she snapped. It rankled her enough that she couldn't keep doing her job if it were not for the help of these specialist waterbenders, but she'd be damned if she was going to let them fuss over her when she didn't really need it. Also, while larger injuries, such as broken bones, could be healed through her armour, minor injuries could not, and Lin was loath to remove any part of her attire in front of her subordinates.

Of course, the field healer didn't see it her way. "With respect, ma'am, you still have a lot of bruising on your left side, as well as a few cuts from where the debris dented your armour, causing it to scratch you torso," he stated calmly, clinically.

Growling in frustration, Lin spat a reply. "You're done here. None of my injuries are life-threatening. I can handle them."

Fighting to keep calm, the healer responded. "Your other injuries may not be life-threatening, but if they aren't healed soon they will scar."

Lin had had just about enough of this. "I didn't get this job because of my looks! I couldn't care less if my body won't win me the Miss Republic City award, I care about making sure that people like you," she emphatically jabbed the medic's chest here, "don't waste their time on injuries that aren't serious!"

Letting out a breath of exasperation, the medic turned away and returned to his post and the small field hospital that had been set up near the new spirit portal, for cases just such as Lin's. Carefully avoiding showing any pain, Lin stood, and used her bending to straighten out her armour, repairing the damage.

Limping slightly, she made her way out of the tent, intending to head back to the office. Guess I don't get to avoid the paperwork after all, she though glumly. As her eyes drifted over the great beam of light shining in the centre of the crater, she noticed two figures approaching it, hand in hand. Squinting, she noticed raven hair on one figure, and distinctive blue clothing on the other. Why am I not surprised? I'd have been surprised if Asami actually had anything to worry about with Korra, she thought, amused, but also strangely pleased. She had, after all, meant what she said about the young Avatar – the gruff Chief had grown rather fond of her, and wanted the best for her. So it made sense that seeing her heading into the Spirit World with her new girlfriend brought a little rush of warmth into Lin. I just hope Korra never hears someone call Asami her 'pal'. We'd have to send whatever's left of the poor guy back home in a matchbox, and I don't like the thought of having to arrest the Avatar again.

=x=

Back in her office, Lin was filling out form after form, checking over arrest reports, filling out progress reports for the President, and other equally mind-numbing chores. The dull, repetitive nature of her work almost let her forget about her hangover, which was only just starting to fade.

Almost.

However, as seemed to be becoming a pattern, there was one person who had taken it upon herself to make Lin's life as hard as possible. A certain waterbender…

Breathlessly she burst into Lin's office, despite the fact that Saikhan had been warned about the dire repercussions of letting anyone disturb the all-important mission of scribbling some barely-comprehensible drivel on paper. "Are you out of your mind?!" Kya demanded, with all the subtlety of a rampaging platypus bear. "What are you doing here?!" Retorted Lin, equally furious.

"Trying to stop you from being such an idiot! I've been all over the damn city trying to find you! You weren't at your apartment, you'd gone down to the portal by the time I got to the office, and when I get there I find out you've gotten yourself injured and refused treatment! Do you really care so little for your own health?" the waterbender ranted, stopping for breath.

Seizing this opportunity, Lin countered. "It's not your job to look after me! I have the field medics for that, and besides, I had all the serious injuries treated! I'm not in any immediate danger, so I don't see the point in wasting the healer's time on a few bruises and scratches!"

Kya's eyes, normally so full of warmth, were icy. Such a glare managed to rattle even the hardened Chief. Kya snarled a response. "Allowing yourself to remain injured prevents you from operating at your best. Because this isn't just about you, and your ridiculous lack of care for your own body. This is about an entire city that depends on you, to be the best you can be. And if you can't accept that, then you shouldn't be wearing that damned uniform!"

The resulting silence was deafening.

At first, Lin's expression was livid, and it seemed she would yell an equally loud reply. But Kya's later point sobered her somewhat. Lin couldn't deny that her injuries had made it harder for her to focus. However, she could hardly concede defeat at this point, at least not in front of the entire office. So she ordered Kya to come in and close to door, making sure that everyone could see her furious expression. However, as soon as she did so, the Chief's expression softened somewhat. Kya opened her mouth to continue her tirade but Lin held up her palm, indicating for her to wait. "They'll stop trying to eavesdrop in a minute," she explained. After a slightly subdued conversational buzz slowly reasserted itself in the office, Lin then spoke. "You've got a good point, there, about doing my best. I'll deny I ever said this, but you're probably right."

Once again a stunned silence followed. But this was more due to shock than anything. Lin Beifong, admitting she was wrong? It took Kya a moment to re-learn the art of speaking, at which point she spluttered. "Well, yes, I am. Wow, that was easier than I expected." After a moment's thought Kya added hopefully. "So are you gonna take a few days off then? You know, give yourself time to recover."

Lin sighed and replied. "Guess I ought to. Happy now?"

Smiling broadly Kya nodded, then made a suggestion. "Since you don't want to 'waste the healer's time', as you put it, how about I do it instead? Nothing else I need to do today, plus I'm one of the best healers in the Southern Water Tribe!"

There's really no way I'm getting out of this. Might as well try though.

"No, Kya, it's fine, I don't mind going to the healer this time," Lin tried.

Those shining blue eyes widened as Kya wheedled, "Pleeeaaase?"

Well, it was worth a shot.

Biting back her frustration, Lin mumbled a single "fine" before getting up. "Excellent. I'll have you up to scratch in no time," Kya pronounced gleefully, linking arms with the reluctant Chief, sending a slight redness up the metalbender's cheeks. Virtually dragging Lin out of the office, Kya threw open the door and made straight for the exit, pausing only to explain to Lin's deputy Saikhan that the Chief was on medical leave for a week.

=x=

As they walked through the streets Kya nattered amicably, all animosity apparently forgotten now that she had got her way. Lin was rather taciturn, but did not, at least, dampen her friend's mood. After a few minutes of strolling they came to a fork in the road and Kya paused, uncertain. "Where would you rather do this?" she asked. "We could go back to the Air Temple… Or if you prefer we could go to your place. Whatever's more comfortable for you."

Lin thought for a moment and replied. "I don't think I'm ready to face Tenzin after the scene I caused last night. We'll head to my place." Nodding, Kya once again led on, resuming her meaningless chatter to Lin's mild irritation. Truth be told, however, Lin enjoyed focusing on Kya's voice It was certainly more pleasant that constantly thinking about her bruises, and privately the Chief had always liked the sound of Kya's voice.

=x=

About half an hour later they arrived at the building in which Lin lived. It was pleasant enough, with grass and shrubbery around it, though it was not as high-end as Kya know Lin could afford. She wisely chose not to make this opinion known however.

=x=

After ascending a few flights of stairs, they came to the door. Instead of a key, Lin simply metalbent the lock into the 'open' state. The door swung open into a sparsely decorated apartment, with a small kitchen/diner, a living area with a radio, a loveseat and coffee table, and another door that led to Lin's room. "Want some tea?" Lin asked, though privately she wanted merely to get on with the healing. Though she'd never admit it, the pain was really starting to annoy her.

Apparently, Kya was of the same mind, judging by her response. "No, thanks. I think it'd be best if we just get on with healing you. If we're lucky, we might be able to avoid scarring." Lin accepted this with equanimity, and asked where would be best for her to sit. "I think you'll be better off lying down… I'm gonna need… full access… to your side to see what the damage is, and to be able to heal it." Twin pink flushes shot through the faces of both women as Kya's meaning came across.

Part of Lin was hesitant to reveal herself in such a way, but her practical side argued that it was necessary to be able to fix the smaller wounds. And there was another side in favour of the healing, or, more accurately, the removal of clo-NOPE. "I-I'll head into my room, then, get myself… ready," Lin stammered, practically running into her room.

=x=

While Lin changed, Kya filled a large saucepan with water from the faucet. After a few moments, Kya heard Lin hesitantly telling her that she was ready. Kya frowned at her tone. "Are you sure you're comfortable with this?" she enquired, through the door. "You know that I'm… different to most women. If you don't want me to see you like this, I get it," she continued, anxious that Lin would back out.

Her fears were relieved when Lin answered. "it's fine. You, uh, you've probably seen me worse anyway." With that, Kya entered the room.

Lin was laid face-down upon the bed, which was in the corner, such that the head of the bed was on the left wall, meaning that as Lin lay there, her left side was visible from the entrance. Despite all her self-control Kya could not help but gasp at the sight before her. Stepping in, she closed the door, then walked slowly towards her patient, observing, analysing, her professional side hard at work, processing all the information her eyes sent her. What her eyes told her was this: the entirely of the left side of Lin's torso was mottled blue and purple with much bruising. Kya counted seven different cuts, of varying length, width and depth. Already two of them were showing signs of infection, though with haste they could still be purged. Pulling up the bedside table to rest the pan upon, Kya knelt before her patient. Drawing upon her powers, she lifted a globule of water from the pan, large enough to envelop her hands. Channelling her healing powers caused the water to glow an icy blue. Gently she held the water against her wounded friend, forcing it into the deeper wounds, watching as, slowly but surely, the flesh beneath the skin knitted itself together, the skin itself returned to a healthier hue as the bruising faded, and then finally as the wounds closed completely.

As she ran her hands around the Chief's side, she couldn't help but notice a number of scars across Lin's otherwise strong, well-toned back. The worn musculature beneath Kya's hands stood as a testament to Lin's devotion to her work, even at her own expense, as well as to the fact that she had aged very well indeed. Laying her hands on this delightful expanse, Kya gently pressed into various points, finding a dangerous amount of tension. "Lin… you really need to learn to relax. Your back muscles are really tense, and I bet you feel it, don't you?" Kya whispered tenderly.

Embarrassed, Lin mumbled into the pillow. "Yeah. Been that way for a while." Hearing this, Kya siphoned most of the water back into the pan, then sat herself onto the bed at Lin's side and, without prompting, began to apply greater pressure into the knots she found across that beautiful back. "Kya, what are you…" Lin groaned, words failing her.

"This is gonna hurt in places, the amount of tension you're carrying is gonna take a lot of pressure to get out. I'll use the water to make it easier, and hopefully it'll reduce the pain, too," Kya explained gingerly, hesitant to do anything that would hurt her friend but at the same time aware of the need for the massage.

When Lin showed no signs of stopping her, Kya continued, first pressing her thumbs in on either side of the base of Lin's spine, and slowly working her way up. Then, she set to work on her shoulders and neck. At this, Lin began to moan with enjoyment, as Kya's fingers moved their way up and down her neck. Lin's moans triggered a reaction within Kya also, as she felt a heat rush through her, the beginnings of desire. Consequently, she immediately moved to another area of Lin's back, eliciting a soft moan of disappointment. Within minutes, however, as Kya continued to work all of the tension and knotting out of Lin's muscles, the moans started again, softer this time, but no less effective in arousing her.

After five minutes, most of the excess tension had been eased out of Lin's muscles. After ten minutes Lin was in heaven. The waterbender's smooth, talented hands always found their way to the right places, and though she wished she could help it she had to let out some sounds of pleasure. After fifteen minutes Kya was having difficulty pressing only her fingers against the Chief's back, wanting to trail kisses up and down her toned expanse. Realising the danger of this, Kya reluctantly stopped, and stood up, facing the wall to allow Lin to don her tank top once again. As she turn she shakily told Lin. "That should help… hopefully any low-level pain you've been feeling should be gone now."

Lin redressed herself, whispering huskily. "That… that was… the most amazing thing I ever…" That voice, that soft sound full of such pleasure and desire proved too much for Kya. Lin had barely replaced her top when Kya's lips met hers in a passionate hold. Lin barely had time for surprise, as all the pent-up lust she had been feeling while Kya's fingers kneaded her muscles exploded.

She energetically kissed back, earning a surprised moan from her healer, which she heard again when Lin's teeth accidentally closed around Kya's upper lip. They stood there, arms energetically running up and down each other, lips mingling in a desperate struggle for control. Lin felt the waterbender's tongue on her lower lip, sending another surge of desire coursing through her. She opened her mouth to Kya and their tongues explored one another. Spirits, she's good. I could do this all day. I'm kissing her. I'm actually kissing her. Thoughts such as these ran through Lin's mind. Soon, though, she actually comprehended the meaning of those words. Oh, spirits, I'm kissing her! Startled by her thoughts finally catching up to her actions, she broke the embrace and turned away.

Panting, Lin managed to speak. "You… you kissed me!"

Kya had been so enthralled by the feeling of Lin's lips on hers that she had been momentarily stunned when the kissing had stopped. Once she recovered from the shock, she processed what Lin had said, recalled the delightful events that had been occurring moments ago, and then realised just how badly she'd messed up. "Uh… yeah," Kya stuttered, certain that Lin was going to tell her to get out, and never return. Yet Kya could have sworn that the metalbender had been kissing her back. She'd even bit Kya's lip at one point, which had almost led to things getting even more out of hand than they had already. Fearing what was to come, the healer had to ask. "Should I be sorry for that?"

Lin's mind was reeling. How could she know the answer to that? While she couldn't deny that she had loved kissing the older woman, she was also afraid. No-one had ever incited that much passion from her. Not even Tenzin. But this could never work. No-one would approve, for a start, and anyway she'd been always hurt in some way or another by everyone she'd ever lo-Wait, what? We just made out, who said anything about love? She argued against herself. This maelstrom of thoughts was just too much for her. She needed to think, to figure out what she felt and what she wanted to do about those feelings. With this thought in mind she replied. "No… no, that was… you really have a lot of talents, you know."

Kya was ecstatic. Not only was Lin not mad at her, she had actually enjoyed it! This opened a whole new range of possibilities in Kya's mind. Possibilities that would make her and, she hopes, Lin also, very happy. Possibilities that were shattered by Lin's next words.

"But I- I'm sorry, I don't quite know how to deal with… all this," Lin gestured hopelessly at the two of them before continuing, "I think I need… time. Time to figure everything out. To figure us out. If there is an us, that is."

"There could be, if you wanted there to be," Kya replied quietly.

Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity.

Eventually Kya broke it. "It's okay. I-I understand. I'll leave, let you… figure things out." Turning, Kya made to leave, but before she could move away she felt a hand close around her wrist. Gently Lin turn her around, so that they faced each other. Then Lin did something almost as surprising as letting Kya heal her.

Lin leant in and hugged her, gripping her tightly.

Kya returned the embrace, and they stood there together for a while, enjoying the intimacy, that was, in a way, greater than that which they felt while kissing.

Then Lin loosened her hold and Kya knew the moment was over. As she left the apartment, she could only hope that it wouldn't be the last of its kind.

A/N: Well there you have it, folks! As before, please leave reviews – I want to know if you love it, you hate it, anything you think could be better done would be a great help! Plus the first 3 reviews I got totally made my day, so you'd also be making a randomer on the internet happy :P