Ten Years Ago
Lin woke the next day, rubbing her blurry eyes. She had insisted on keeping first watch last night, with Kya relieving her early in the morning. Lin had remembered Kya gently and briefly touching her waist to announce her presence, her silver locks tied in a messy ponytail and her eyes groggy. Lin couldn't suppress the warmth that rose into her chest as she remembered her haggard yet beautiful appearance.
Lin shook her head, as if to rid her head of such intoxicating thoughts, and pulled on the unusual weight of the coat Katara had lent to her as she made her way out of the igloo, forgoing her armor for the time-being. What she saw next made the corners of her mouth twitch upwards, despite her internal command to be professional and to remain aloof.
Perched on Kya's shoulder was a white hamster. The tiny creature chattered pleasantly as Kya rubbed the confident mammal's forehead with her index finger. Kya released a gentle peal of laughter as the hamster scurried to her other shoulder, preening its whiskers with its forepaws.
The sight of this made Lin's mind swim with memories of conversations they'd had before. She remembered how much Kya had loved animals, her compassion for them a feature that had made Lin fall more and more in love with her. That was a simpler time, back when the world was not as complicated, when they weren't complicated. Now animals just made Lin slightly impatient. She didn't have the ability to wear her heart on her sleeve anymore. After years of being left behind by multiple different people – Kya, Suyin, Tenzin, her mother – she simply couldn't allow herself to be hurt again.
A shard of ice missed Lin by inches as she just leapt to avoid it, releasing a shout. Kya jumped to her feet, instantly bending a ring of water around her.
"I won't miss next time!" Fung taunted from his position at the top of the ridge, sweeping away the bangs of his greasy hair from harsh yellow eyes. Lin raised her eyebrow challengingly.
"Give up Fung! And you might just be able to keep that other arm." Lin snarled. Fung narrowed his eyes.
"I promise you're going to pay for that. I escaped just so I could lure you out here, so I could exact revenge!" He shouted before he somersaulted in the air, sending several ice bullets at Lin and Kya.
Lin instantly thrust several boulders in his direction, jumping and dodging away from the shards of ice. She heard a familiar shout of alarm, and she spun around, searching for Kya. Her heart was clenching painfully, but Lin visibly relaxed when she saw Kya avoid a wave of water at the last minute, performing a quick yet well-practiced back flip. Lin had fought against countless criminals and psychopaths alongside many close companions and allies. But this fear, this sudden outburst of anxiety for Kya astonished her.
The older woman twisted away from Fung's attack at the last minute before freezing the water that had pooled around the man's feet. He broke away just as Lin leapt up, sending her metal cable out towards him. At exactly the same moment, Fung shot a chunk of ice in her direction.
Lin staggered back, but continued bending the cable at him. It wrapped around his waist, pulling him down. Fung let out an animalistic snarl as he resisted, but before he could do more damage, a fist-sized piece of ice hit him square on the back of the head.
Lin retrieved her metal cable from around the unconscious convict, tossing a pair of handcuffs at Kya. She caught them and immediately set about restraining Fung, while Lin examined the damage done to their makeshift camp.
Lin was turning to check on the camels when she felt – what she at first expected to be a dull ache – a sharp, grinding pain in her chest. She let out a low groan as she staggered towards the supporting walls of the igloo, trembling in pain.
"Lin!" Kya rushed to her side, her arms suddenly engulfing the metalbender. Lin collapsed into Kya's hold, her eyes fluttering as she tried to stay awake. She met Kya's gaze weakly, finding panic and fear there. Then she was falling into a deep dark abyss, her vision failing her.
Lin woke suddenly, gasping for air as she jolted up into a sitting position. Sweat dripped off her forehead in copious amounts, her whole body trembling.
Gentle hands at her shoulders softly pushed her back to rest on an uncomfortably soft bed. Lin didn't need to look to know who it was. She could recognize that touch anywhere.
"Where am I?" Lin asked. Kya shuffled closer from the chair positioned at her side, her hands hanging loosely next to her body, as if she didn't know whether to touch Lin or not. No, it was a matter of whether she was allowed to touch her.
"You're in my hut. You've been unconscious for two days." She said softly. Lin could feel Kya's eyes running over her, the waterbender's concern apparent by the way her gaze lingered at her chest. Lin subconsciously ran a hand over her injury, finding a thick layer of bandages.
She looked around, and recognized the bedroom that she had slept in the day before they had left to hunt down Fung. As it turned out, he had been hunting them, Lin thought. Then, the mission and all that occurred in the span of the past few days rushed back to her.
"Are you alright? Where's Fung? I need to question him." Lin attempted to sit up, but Kya was quick to keep her from agitating her wound.
"I'm fine. Fung is being interrogated by the Council of the White Lotus." The waterbender placed a sturdy grip on Lin's shoulders, keeping her down. She scrutinized Lin's face closely, looking at her with such concern that it made the younger woman avoid her gaze.
"Just rest please y-" She inhaled shakily before continuing, "You almost died." Kya whispered so quietly and with such insecurity, Lin thought she had imagined it. But it was no illusion, and neither was it a surprise.
Despite having slept for two days, Lin felt tired. She felt weariness deep within her soul, dragging her down. She sighed, closing her aching eyes as she tried to adjust to the dimly lit lamp illuminating the sleeping quarters.
She felt Kya's hands gently adjust the sheets that had fallen around Lin's waist, bringing them up to cover her chest. Then all at once, the fear and anxiety she'd felt when they had been fighting Fung rushed back like a giant wave. Lin couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, crushed. It was at this moment, caught up in the whirlwind of confusing emotions, when Lin's heart won out against her head. She impulsively reached out, catching Kya's hand as it was retreating.
Kya looked rather taken aback, but after a few seconds, when Lin didn't let go, her mouth turned upwards in a tentative smile. She didn't have to ask – she knew that the injury had almost killed her. Looking into Kya's eyes now, holding her hand in a weak grasp, as much as Lin was unsure if she should welcome the waterbender back into her heart, she couldn't escape that sense of loss and of failure.
Against her better judgement, she was pining. She was pining after the woman who had left her and broken her – although, to be truly honest, that whole argument had been a debacle. She was still haunted by that day during moments of insecurity and self-doubt. She remembered the inner conflict; Lin couldn't imagine running away from her responsibilities – her life – even when she was heavily intoxicated. Running away with Kya, and at such a young age, she couldn't even begin to comprehend it. Although, days after the waterbender had left, she sorely missed her – her gentle smile, her eyes lighting up with laughter, and her hands, wrapped around her in a steadfast, comforting embrace.
Kya's hand was not as soft as it was then. There were calluses, left behind by a long life of tying, reining, and climbing for survival in the wildest regions of the world. But it was still the same hand. The hand that had rested at her hip, her waist, and connected with her in ways that not even Tenzin could. It was a hand that in countless times, had healed an overly proud young girl with an air for vigilante justice before she had come of age. Resting within the grasp of Lin's equally weather-beaten fingers, it created a perfect symmetry. Their hands that had fit perfectly together when young, who had faced much in a long life, now seemed to fit even better than before, molding into one. If only their relationship was that easy, she lamented.