I do not own The Legend of Korra or anything Avatar related. Also, I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. The response was overwhelming and so encouraging. I appreciated it so much.

It has been almost three weeks since the attack on Republic City and Lin's life. The city was almost back to normal, the streets repaved, shop fronts restored; Narook's reopening was the next day. Funerals for those lost in the attacks occurred the week before. The city was almost back to normal, mourning, but back to normal. Everything was back in place, except for the young Earthbender still lying unconscious in her hospital bed from the day she was brought in three weeks ago.

Sighing, Bumi ran a hand down his face as he sat next to Lin's bed. Tired, he had barely left her side in the past three weeks. Her first week there, the entire family crowded around Lin's bedside, desperately hoping for her to awaken. After the second week, Katara, Lin's healer, demanded that the crowd clear out. Toph, Sokka, Tenzin and Aang returned to work, determined to help get the city back on track. Out of work, and still on leave, Bumi was left.

"Hey Bumi, anything new?"

Turning his head at the new arrival, Bumi shook his head. Moving to retrieve the chair on the other side of the room, he let Sokka occupy the chair closest to the bed.

Taking Lin's hand in his, Sokka pressed a kiss to the back of it. "Hey baby girl. We all miss you so much. I need you to wake up, please, your mother is driving me crazy. I love you Linny."

Clearing his throat, Sokka sat back in his seat. Turning to his nephew, he regarded him for a few seconds. "How are you holding up?"

Shrugging, Bumi picked at one of the scabs forming on his knuckles. "I'm doing alright."

"Bumi, you know you can talk to me, right? We're all hurting."

Frustrated, Bumi ran his hands through his already wild hair. "I just, I feel like I failed her. I wasn't there to save her."

"What are you talking about Bumi? This wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"I should have gotten there sooner! I don't know, I should have done more to save her. If I had been there sooner, she wouldn't be here right now, and the baby—"

"Bumi, stop. Look at me." Getting up from his seat and rounding the bed, Sokka knelt down next his grieving nephew. "This was not your fault. You had no control over what happened. You can't go around blaming yourself, because we were all right there with you. We were all too late, this isn't on you."

Nodding his head, Bumi clung to his uncle as they embraced.

"Councilman Tenzin? Councilman, are you still with us?

Breaking out of his stupor, Tenzin shook his head to clear his mind. "I'm sorry, I was a bit distracted, I missed the last bit."

"We were just discussing the best route to take right now to bring the city back together. We need to figure out how to keep a travesty like this from happening again. I had asked if you had any suggestions."

His mind blank, Tenzin slowly shook his head. "Sorry, no."

Pursing his lips, the Councilman for the Fire Nation nodded his head. "Ok, maybe next time. I guess that's all for today then."

Dismissed, the various board members went on their way. Quickly gathering his things, Tenzin stopped when he heard his name.

"Tenzin, can we talk a minute?"

Sighing, he turned around. "Sure Father. Let's go to my office."

Unlocking the door, Tenzin gestured towards one of the seats before his desk. Sinking into his chair, he let out a ragged breath.

"How are you doing Tenzin?"

Running a large hand down his face, he shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. I just, I don't know what to do."

Pinching his lips together, Aang steepled his fingers. Letting out a loud breath, he leaned forward in his chair. "Tenzin, there isn't much you can do right now. Lin needs time to heal, she will awaken when she is ready."

"And when she does wake up? What do I say to her then? How do I tell her that our baby died? That our baby is dead because of me? She'll never be ready for that." Anger coursing through his body, Tenzin bounded to his feet. Sweeping his arm across the desk, he was grimly satisfied when every item on the surface collided with the wall before crashing to the ground.

Getting to his feet as well, Aang pulled Tenzin's arm back as it prepared to punch the wall ahead of him. "What are you talking about? This was not your fault, son. That man is sick and deranged and he will pay for what he did to your family. You had no control over it."

His chest heaving, Tenzin collapsed back into his seat. "I should have insisted that she stayed home that day. She said that she was tired, and I mentioned it, but she said that she would be safe. I let her go to work that day despite what I thought, and now look at what has happened. Our little girl is gone. Lin is never going to forgive me." Sobs tearing from his throat, Tenzin rocked back and forth on his chair, one hand clenched to his chest.

Rounding the desk, Aang wrapped his arms around his son's frail body. "Tenzin, please, listen to me. You did not cause this. You could not have known that a tragedy like this would happen."

"But I let you down too, Dad. I let you down too."

"Now what in the world are you talking about?" Rubbing Tenzin's back, Aang scrunched his face up in genuine confusion.

"I'm supposed to carry on the Airbending race. My baby is dead because of me, and she could have been a little Airbender." Distressed, Tenzin's words were frazzled and slurred.

"Tenzin, stop that, right now. That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my entire life. How could I possibly be disappointed or upset with you in any way? What kind of father do you think I am Tenzin? What kind of man do you think I am?"

Tenzin could hear the hurt in his father's voice, adding on to the guilt he already felt. "I'm sorry Father, I'm just-"

"It's fine." Waving off the apology, Aang patted Tenzin on the back before returning to his seat. "Tenzin you're hurting, I understand."

"I just don't know what to do."

"Well why don't you just go down to the hospital and sit with her for a while? There isn't much for you to do, just be there with her."

Nodding his head, Tenzin slowly began to gather his things. "You're right. I'll see you later. And Dad?" Pausing in the door way, he gave his father a small smile. "Thanks."

"Bumi, hey." Entering Lin's hospital room, Tenzin was not surprised to find Bumi lounging in the chair next to her bed.

"Hey Tenzin." Getting up from the seat, Bumi once again gave up his place in favor of the one across the room.

Though still strained, the brother's relationship had improved somewhat after the accident. United by their mutual love and concern for Lin, the brother's often both sat by her bedside, reminiscing about memories from their childhood.

"So, anything new today?" Quickly kissing Lin on the forehead, Tenzin lightly sat in his seat.

"Nope. Nothing. Mom said that we just have to be patient. Lin will wake up when she's ready."

"Yeah, that's what Father said too. We just have to wait." Sinking further into his seat, Tenzin sighed as he leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I hate waiting."

Chuckling, Bumi nodded in agreement. "Isn't patience and waiting a part of your Monk training? With all that mediating you do, you'd think you'd be a master at waiting."

"Oh, it's the absolute worst. Meditation is the longest hour of my day." Smiling, Tenzin at up straight. "Remember when Dad decided he wanted to teach you to meditate?"

Groaning, Bumi closed his eyes. "Yes! Worst two weeks of my life. I kept falling asleep. And when I couldn't fall asleep, I would just pretend until he got too frustrated to continue."

Laughing lightly, Tenzin nodded his head in understanding. "Honestly, I fall asleep from time to time too."

Gasping in mock horror, Bumi rested a hand on his chest. "The scandal! What would the Air Acolytes think?"

"You're right, I better shape up before they kick me out and revoke my Master status."

Their laughter dying down, the brothers sat in relative silence across from one another. Tenzin watched as Bumi absentmindedly picked at the scabs forming on his knuckles, a habit he recently developed. Clearing his throat, Tenzin gestured towards Bumi's hands. "I um, I don't think I ever thanked for what you did back there."

"What are you talking about Tenzin?"

"At that house, when we found Lin. I didn't know what to do with myself when I saw her, but you, you jumped right into action and pummeled that guy."

Waving a hand, Bumi tried to dismiss Tenzin's comment. "It was nothing Tenzin, it was just my first instinct."

"Exactly. Your first instinct was to get the guy that hurt Lin. My first instinct was to get sick."

"It's all the training from the United Forces. Attack first, ask questions later. Tenzin, seriously, it was nothing."

"No. Your first instinct has always been to protect Lin." Pausing, Tenzin prepared himself for what he was going to say next. "I know that you're in love with her."

A silence overtook the room after Tenzin's statement. Slowly and hesitantly raising his head, Bumi was surprised by the calm look on his brother's face.

"Tenzin, look, I-"

"Bumi, listen." Raising a hand, Tenzin cut Bumi off. "Listen. I'm not mad, I'm not jealous. I understand."

"You understand?" Hesitant, Bumi spoke slowly and cautiously.

"I mean, it's not like you've been subtle about it." Chuckling lightly, Tenzin paused for a second. "At Toph and Sokka's wedding, I was so jealous when I saw the two of you together. For the longest time after we got together, I thought that she would leave me for you. We used to be so close, I'm sorry I let my jealously and worry ruin our relationship."

Shaking his head, Bumi sighed. "No, I'm sorry. Lin is madly in love with you, and I'm delusional if I think that anything could ever become of us. No matter how many times I try to get over her, I think about her smile, or the way she scrunches her nose when she's confused, and it all just rushes back. I'm pathetic, I know."

"No, you're not. You're in love. You're in love with Lin, and I can't blame you a bit. Honestly, I would think you were crazy if you weren't in love with that woman. She's truly amazing. And another thing, thanks for not trying to steal her away from me or anything."

"Tenzin, I may love Lin, but you're my brother, and I love you more. I would never do that to you." Exhaling a loud breath after a moment of silence, Bumi clapped his hands. "Well that got really intense."

Chucking, Tenzin nodded. "Yeah, I-"

Cutting his sentence short, his head whipped to the side at the sound of a faint groan. Her eyelids fluttering, Lin's head slowly rocked from side to side a few times before her eyes slowly opened. Jumping to their feet, the two men knelt by either side of her head, waiting for her to fully regain consciousness.

"Tenzin?" Her voice husky and cracked from weeks of going unused, Lin's eyes remained hooded as she slowly took in her surroundings.

"I'm here, I'm right here Lin." Squeezing her warm hand in his, Tenzin was delighted that for the first time in what felt like forever, she finally squeezed back.

Moving her other hand, Lin glanced down when her palm came in contact with her now flat stomach. "The baby?"

Exchanging a look with Bumi, Tenzin squeezed her hand tighter. "Lin, I-"

"Tenzin, where is our baby?" Her heart pounding, Lin struggled to push herself into a sitting position despite her weak state. "Where is our Jinora? Where is she?" Her voice escalating, Lin's chest began to heave as she frantically looked around the room, hoping to find a bassinet in the corner.

Ignoring the tears falling from his eyes, Tenzin pushed down on Lin's shoulders as she tried to get out of the bed. "Lin, I'm sorry. She's gone. Our baby didn't make it."

Eyes wide, Lin shook her head. "No." Waving her hand to dismiss Tenzin in disbelief, Lin began once again to remove herself from the bed.

Joining his brother, Bumi grasped her forearms, holding her in place.

Looking up into his eyes, just noticing him for the first time, Lin's lower lip began to tremble. "Bumi?"

Pursing his lips, Bumi slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry Linny."

Groaning in agony, Lin collapsed back onto the bed, hunched over as if she had been punched in the gut. "No. No, no, no, no." Holding her stomach, Lin rocked back and forth as she struggled to catch her breath through her sobs.

Reaching forward, Tenzin lightly touched her shoulder. "Lin? I-"

"No!" Knocking his hand off of her, Lin's eyes were wild. Fury replacing her anguish, the concrete wall behind her started to crack as the metal frame of the bed began to bend under the energy radiating off of Lin.

"I'm going to get Mom." Sprinting from the room, Bumi was gone for no more than 15 seconds before he returned with Katara and two other healers.

"We need to sedate her." Shouting out orders, Katara and the other healers went to work, calming Lin down.

Standing at the back of the room, Tenzin and Bumi watched as the sedative worked its way into Lin's system, eventually lulling her back to sleep.

Sighing, Katara stepped away from the bed and to her sons. "I'm guessing you told her then?"

Nodding his head, Tenzin was unable to speak as he fought to control his tears. Clicking her tongue, Katara sighed again as she took her youngest son in her arms. Though he stood a good foot taller than her, Tenzin leaned down until his head rested on her shoulder. Resting a hand on his brother's back, Bumi secured his other around his mother. Holding onto one another, the family grieved together.