Chapter 3:

A small, almost unnoticeable smile played on Lin's lips as she snuggled closer to Tenzin. He flinched at the sudden closeness before relenting and wrapping his skinny arms around her. The usually grounded and unmovable earthbender began to feel all tingly and airy inside, something that made her shiver somewhat excitedly, and yet, somewhat nervously. Tenzin immediately noticed her movement.

"Are you cold?" he asked, his gray eyes shining down at her concernedly. Lin nodded before leaning her head even more further into his soft, warm chest. The airbender responded with an awkward smile, the one she found rather irresistible…

Her mother had been wrong; flying on a sky bison wasn't all that bad.

Toph, after quite an argument with Aang and Katara, had finally agreed to let them fly the two Beifongs back to their house from the hospital… But things were not as they seemed.

The Beifong house was located to the left of Appa, and yet, they were going to the right. The Yue Bay and Air Temple Island were quickly coming into Lin's line of vision.

"Aunt Katara, why are we heading back to your place?" Lin asked, her vivid green eyes turning to look at the avatar's wife. In the dim light of the stars, the ten-year old could make out a rather guilty expression on Katara's face as she stroked the heads of her two eldest children. They were resting in her lap, or well, had been resting in her lap. Kya and Bumi shot up at the sound of Toph's voice.

"Yeah Sugar Queen! Why exactly are we heading back to your place?" she inquired, her face twisting into the beginnings of anger… Lin scooted closer to Tenzin as if doing so would help her to avoid her mother's wrath.

"Well, uh, Aang and I-"

"Sweetie, I'd prefer if you'd not bring me into this! It was your idea!" called Aang from the front, never looking around… He could tell that his wife was glaring daggers at him.

"Thanks for the support, sweetie."

"No problem."

"Why are we heading to your place?" Toph asked again, this time more insistently. The listening kids shrunk at the forceful tone.

"Okay, okay. So I thought it'd be best if you and Lin stayed at Air Temple Island for the night." The glare Katara got from the Chief of Police's unseeing milky green eyes made the waterbending master shrink in her seat as well.

"What do you mean you thought it would be better if we stayed at the island?"

Lin cringed as her mother's shrill voice drilled into her head, invoking another headache. And if the earthbender wasn't mistaken, she could feel a bit of nausea coming on too…

"Well, I wanted to be able to check up on Lin if she needed it!" Katara replied, her voice acquiring a defensive edge to it.

Aang was distinctly reminded of the arguments the two women had participated in, back when they were kids… Good times, good times.

"So are you implying that I can't take care of my own daughter?" Toph shot, now standing up. Lin watched, horrified, but fascinated as her mother advanced towards Katara, her black hair blowing crazily in the rough wind... The little earthbender quickly had to look downwards though. The sight of open air was making her stomach even more sick than it already was. She felt like she was ready to throw-up.

"No, that's not what I meant Toph!" Katara replied, standing up herself. She didn't cut as much as a tall and imposing figure as she had back as teenager. Toph was taller than her this time. "It's just…"

"Just what Sugar Queen?" The metalbender challenged, her hands beginning to assume a fighting stance. Three of the four kids watched in awe at the two women, Lin being occupied with something else. The Avatar though, decided that this argument had been going on long enough.

"Ladies, sit down! You're gonna get blown off of Appa if you don't!" Aang yelled, looking behind at the two bickering women. "Now both of you, stop behaving like kids! I know that you're tired and worried and irritated, but that's no excuse to be snapping at one another's throats. Besides,"

Aang stopped, his eyes suddenly drawn to his kids. They weren't staring at their mother anymore… They were hovering over Lin, a ghostly pale Lin who was clutching her stomach and vomiting, directly on Tenzin's tunic.

The Avatar suddenly regretted signing up for Tenzin's Laundry duty.

~ ~ O ~ ~

Toph and Katara stood shock still for a moment before springing into action, their petty argument long forgotten. Their only focus right now was Lin.

"Aang get us to the island as fast as you can! Kya, Bumi, find me some blankets! There may be some in one of those bags over there. Tenzin, try to airbend as much vomit off of you as you can! NOW!" Katara directed, springing into healer mode. She kneeled down beside the still-vomiting Lin, who was now on her hands and knees, unable to control herself, and Toph, who was rubbing her daughter's back comfortingly. Pain flitted on both of the Beifongs' faces.

"Lin, listen to me. I can't do much right now because we're in the air, but I need you to try to stop vomiting. Okay?"

The sickly child nodded before closing her mouth and clutching her stomach once more. She felt weak. Really weak.

"Mom, we could only find one blanket." Kya said, coming up to the trio. She held out a thin, blue blanket which the waterbending master accepted before shooing her daughter off. The last thing they needed was for one of her children to slip in a pile of puke… It would take forever to get to smell out.

Katara then wrapped Lin up in the blanket before scooting her over to Toph who grabbed her up in her arms with an intensity that could be related to, only by another parent. The waterbender watched as tears slid down her old friend's cheeks as she cradled her daughter in her arms, not caring that she was getting vomit all over herself.

It was a beautiful sight…

Katara could only hope there would be many more sights like such to come… For Lin and her mother's sake.

~ ~ O ~ ~

They arrived on the island five minutes later. Toph and Katara whisked Lin off to a private room whilst everyone else except for Aang had to rinse off and change clothes. The Avatar would have to clean Appa's saddle later on so the kids weren't too angry about that.

They regrouped once more in the small living room outside of the place Katara was working in. Everyone was worried, no doubt about that… Tenzin topped the cake though with his frantic pacing and mumbling. Kya had finally had enough of it.

"Look Tenzin, I'm worried about Lin too! We're all worried about Lin. Pacing the floors, beating yourself up, it's not going to do anything at all except for add to the worry. So just chill, okay?" she said, giving her brother a look of concern. He still kept pacing.

"Your sister is right, Tenzin. Just try to be calm." Aang said, leaning back into his comfortable armchair. Bumi and Kya gave one another a look. They could tell that their dad was just as worried as Tenzin was… Possibly even more.

"You guys just don't get it. There's something seriously wrong with Lin and I can't do ANYTHING about it! She's my best friend! I can't lose her! I just can't. I wouldn't be the same without her… I'd lose it!" The eleven-year old said, plopping to the carpeted floor. Tenzin then put his head in his hands before beginning to rock back and forth, contemplating whether to say the thing he really wanted to say.

"I-I'd do more than lose it if I lost Lin… I'd die… I love her."

~ ~ O ~ ~

Kya was the first to speak.

"Do you really mean that brother?" she asked, her eyes examining her youngest sibling skeptically. Honestly, she thought that he was too youthful to actually be 'in love', but then again, her father had fallen in love with her mother at only the mere age of twelve, only a year old than Tenzin was now.

"Yes, I mean it!" he replied, looking up from his somewhat fetal position. His gray eyes were shining with an intensity only to be matched by Aang, who was staring at his only airbending son, a glint of pride in his eyes.

"Look, I may be still a child, but I know what love is… Love is the way my heart beats every time I see her. Love is the rage, the fury, whenever she gets hurt. Love is looking out of the window each night, wondering if she's looking at the same view. Love is even playing tag, smiling because you know that you'll be chasing her and she'll be chasing you, on and on, never wearying. Love is what I feel for Lin, and no one should challenge that, my family especially." he said, his eyes staring each in turn, at his two siblings and father. "I don't know if she feels the same way, but I'm going to keep feeling the way I feel. And I'm not going to stop, even until my dying breath."

There was no sound to be heard, even after Tenzin had stopped. His family was too busy staring at him with a mixture between awe and surprise. They had never heard the eleven-year old speak so passionately about something, and they were surprised that such words could come out of his mouth so truthfully. It was Aang who spoke up next.

"Tenzin, I'm proud of you son. You just did something that took me forever and a day to do myself." he said, thinking back to his hidden crush on Katara as a child. "But here's a bit of advice that a wise, and really old man once told me. In order to open yourself up, you have to let go of all earthly attachments."

Tenzin began to protest.

"No, I don't mean you have to lose your feelings about Lin. I mean that in order to think rationally and do what's best for her, you have to separate your feelings from her. It's a hard thing to do, I know. It took me a lightning bolt to the back to learn this lesson! But when it finally begins to sink in, you'll realize that you're doing more for Lin than you could have ever done had you been an emotion filled, angsty person… Just ask Uncle Zuko and he'll tell you the same! Do you get me now?"

There was no response for a moment, but finally Tenzin gave a slow nod.

"So you're saying that in order to love Lin, I have to let her go?" he asked, trying to confirm what he thought he just heard.

Aang smiled, his mind flooding with the memories of when he tried to understand this concept himself. "Yes, that's it in a nutshell." he paused and looked around at all of his children. "This not only applies to Tenzin; it applies to all of you. Remember this."

Bumi, Tenzin, and Kya nodded before becoming exceedingly quiet, absorbed in their own thoughts. The door leading into the room Lin was in opened soon afterwards.

Katara walked out.

And you could tell by looking at her face, things were not well.

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! I've been procrastinating, plus, the characters haven't been making it any easier for me... I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but whenever I write, I feel like it's the characters who write the story, not me!

Lin wanted one thing, Toph another, and Tenzin, Tenzin just wanted a beard. xD

Anyway, enjoy and let me know how I did!

Oh yes, and if anyone noticed that self-review in 'Prologue', just ignore it. I had a stupid moment.