5 months later.

Lin sat on the couch in her apartment, struggling to keep a blanket wrapped around her. It was December and Mother Nature wasn't sparing Republic City this year. She sipped her tea and watched Bumi struggle to put together the crib their future son/daughter will sleep in. "A-Almost there!" Bumi said. The crib fell apart once more and he flopped on his back, "Damn! This stupid crib won't stay together!" Lin smirked and raised one hand. The crib assembled itself correctly and came to rest in front of her. Bumi whined, "Aw! No fair!" Lin sighed, "If I let you figure it out, the baby would be off to college by then!" Bumi frowned, "I'm the man of this house! I'm supposed to do this stuff! Women are supposed to have it easy!" Lin flung off the blanket, exposing her belly. The baby was huge; it didn't take long for all of Republic City to find out. "Try having to squeeze a baby the size of a watermelon out of your vagina!" Bumi paled, "Uh-I-Bathroom break!"

Bumi scurried to their bedroom and Lin grimaced, "It looks like I'm going to have to be the dad of the family."

Pema sat in her kitchen, flipping through the mail, glumly. Ever since Tenzin disappeared, Pema underwent a change no one expected. She went from a happy, generous woman to a depressed, pessimistic, lifeless soul. She had given up on taking care of herself, much less anyone else. Jinora took it upon herself to raise her siblings by herself. Korra and Kya eventually got over Tenzin's disappearance, but the sting was still there. Kya helped keep things running around the island while Korra trained the children with their air bending. "Light bill, water bill, electric bill," Pema thought as she flipped through the mail. But she found a worn, parchment letter and she opened it;

Pema,

I hope you're doing well. I've been thinking of you every day since I've left, I miss everyone terribly. These past few months have been quite enlightening for me; I've been thinking about life in and of itself. Tell the children that I love them dearly and that I'm coming home. Tell Korra to not slack off of her training. Tell Kya not to start growing an herb patch in the garden. And tell Bumi that I'm sorry for hurting him when he was trying to be responsible. And tell Lin…

Pema crunched the letter up and tossed it to the side, "Tch," she snarled, "Like a letter is so much better than the real thing."

And tell Lin she means so much to me.

"Ow!" Korra exclaimed as Jinora and Ikki double teamed her. The kids didn't take Tenzin's disappearance well either. Jinora didn't bother to read anymore, Ikki was sullen and rarely found anything worth talking about, and Meelo lacked the energy and creativity he was once known for. Poor Rohan still didn't understand what was happening. He was nearly a year old; it was so heartbreaking when his first words were 'Dada' and there was no father around to see that. Meelo attempted to blast Korra from behind but she was able to fly into the air. "These kids!" Korra thought, "They're vicious!" Just then Jinora came out from behind her and blasted her to the ground. Korra staggered up, "N-Nice job today kids!" Jinora said, "Thanks Korra." Ikki whispered, "I'm going back to sleep." And Meelo left without a word. Korra watched them leave, "Great job, Tenzin. You managed to single-handedly depress the entire island."

Lin walked up the street to pick up food for tonight's dinner. Initially, Bumi offered to do it, but she said that a man's job is to build manly things in a manly manner. She left him flexing his muscles, smiling at his reflection in the mirror. She still looked the same; curled up hair and a serious expression. The only thing was that her belly was huge. She entered the market and picked up some vegetables. "Mommy," a little kid yelled behind her, "Why is that lady so big?" Lin didn't even bother turn around; she heard that question every day. "She's having a baby," his mother whispered. She tapped Lin's arm, "I'm sorry for that, my son doesn't know better." Lin turned around, "It's ok, it doesn't-" She never got to finish her sentence, the woman ran away with her son after seeing Lin's face. She whispered to her husband, "Good God, its Lin Beifong!" Lin frowned;

"Am I really that scary?"

Tenzin sat under a tree, eating some steamed vegetables. He gave some raw ones to Oogi, who growled in content. Tenzin had been gone nearly 6 months; he needed much enlightenment after he found out about the baby. He had sent letters as much as he could; he didn't expect a response, he didn't want to give away his location just yet. The Fire Nation wasn't suitable to his tastes and he had already been to the Southern Water Tribe and stayed there a week with Katara. The Earth Kingdom's wilderness was the best place to go. He was getting tired of wearing disguises all the time. He patted Oogi on the head, "We're going home soon Oogi."

Lin waddled back home and opened the door, "Bumi?" she called out. No response. She opened the door. Her mouth dropped in surprise; she found rose petals strewn about their bedroom. There were candles there too that smelled like cinnamon. Their bed had new, fluffy pillows on it. Bumi walked out of the bathroom with a rose in his mouth and wrapped in a robe, "I figured that we could," he paused, "spend some time together." Lin grimaced; she had been trying to avoid sleeping with Bumi as much as possible. "You do realize how far along I am, do you?" Bumi removed the rose from his mouth and picked up a woman's health magazine, "It says in here that it's perfectly safe, as long as we make some changes." Lin frowned, she was stuck. She couldn't come up with a good enough excuse, so she removed her coat, "Alright, but just this one time!" Bumi smiled, "One time is all I need!"

Korra and Kya sat together at the Meditation Pavilion, staring out into the ocean. "I still find it weird that Bumi and Lin aren't taking Tenzin's disappearance more to heart," Kya said quietly. Korra nodded, "I expected Lin to take it the hardest, but she's acting like nothing happened," Korra looked at Kya, "that's not good at all." Kya rubbed her forehead, "And Pema is taking it the worst; she's moping around in bed all day." Korra agreed, "You're right, and the kids are suffering because of that."

Korra looked up into the sky and watched the clouds roll by, "Tenzin," she thought, "I always thought that you were too tough on us, but without it, we're nothing." She walked back inside with Kya;

"We need you."

Ever since Tenzin left, everything is in shambles :( Thanks for reading!