One year after the break up
After about a year of being single, Tenzin finally gave in. He knew that one of the acolytes liked him. She had told him while he was still with Lin, but he loved Lin, not some little girl that was half his age. But now things were different. He was lonely and he had a duty to his people.
One bright morning Tenzin was on his way to the meditation pavilion when he noticed her. It was the young acolyte that had confessed her feelings for him almost a whole year prior. She was picking up a basket of fruit to take to the lemurs. As she stood up, she looked and noticed Tenzin. She smiled at him and waved excitedly. On a whim, Tenzin decided to go and talk to her. He felt a year had been long enough and that it was time to attempt to fulfill his duties.
"Hello Pema. How are you doing on this lovely morning?" Tenzin asked politely.
"Oh I'm just wonderful!" Pema replied excitedly.
"That's good," he coughed and then tried to continue on, "Pema I-I," he coughed again, why was he so bad at talking to women? "I was wondering if… well if you aren't busy… an-and if you wanted…" Tenzin trailed off.
Pema's smile lessened and she began to look puzzled. He cursed himself out in his head for being rubbish at trying to talk to girls. She hesitated, "Master Tenzin, is everything okay?"
"Oh yes, everything is grand. And just Tenzin is fine with me," he tried to recover
Her smiled returned as she replied, "Ok, Tenzin, is there something you wanted from me? I'm on my way to go feed the lemurs then I have to be in the kitchens to help prepare lunch."
Tenzin drew in a deep breath and quickly asked, "Pema would you like to go out on a date with me, tonight?" Pema dropped the basket and squealed. She was so happy and nodded at him spastically. He smiled down at the young acolyte. He told her to be ready around 6 as he waved goodbye and continued on her way to the meditation pavilion.
"See you tonight Tenzin!" she yelled as she picked up the fruit basket. Pema turned around and began to skip merrily towards where they kept the food piles for the lemurs. Tenzin chuckled at the sight.
When he reached the pavilion he sat down, began to breathe, and tried to clear his mind, just like his father had taught him all those years ago. However after what had just took place, Tenzin felt a twinge of pain and guilt. He tried to focus on relaxing, but his mind, and heart would not let him. Tenzin reached into the secret pocket of his air bender garb. Although some people thought the robes silly, especially in the modern city, he thought that the secret pocket came in handy. He took out the old, bent picture he kept there. The picture had been taken the day Lin joined the police force. It depicted a young, unscarred Lin in a new, polished metalbender police uniform. Her dark hair was pinned back and her eyes sparkled. He rubbed his thumb along the picture. How he missed her touch. He looked closer at the picture and saw the small smile that played on her lips. Oh, how he missed her lips. They were always the softest part of her tough, calloused body. He loved to kiss them chastely. He loved to nibble and suck on them during lovemaking. He loved how they looked extra puffy after they had both climaxed and lay down wrapped in each others arms, panting. He missed rubbing his thumb along them. He actually missed all of her a whole lot. As he stared down at the picture, he felt his heart start to break again. He thought that after a whole year of no contact, of meditating and trying to forget, that he was finally okay. Now he realized he wasn't. Asking Pema out was not a good idea, but he was never one to disappoint or go back on his word. Plus, he did not for see Lin or any other woman in his life any time soon and he had to start his legacy before he was too old.
Tenzin tried to mediate on the matter. After a few hours of relaxing, he decided that he owed it to both Pema and his father to go out on the date. Yes it hurt him, but maybe Pema was just the person to help him get over these feelings.
A/N: Sorry for the little bit of Pemzin going on here! Please review!