Lin almost chuckled at the look on Su's face, when she saw her sister's jaw quite literally drop open. She had been apprehensive about seeing her sister again. Mainly because they hadn't spoken since that day Su had left for Gaoling.

- 30 years ago

"I hope you're happy now." Lin had told Su leaning against the door frame as she watched Su packing to go to live with their grandparents. In a only Toph move, she had put Lin in charge of making sure Su got to the train station on time because she was too busy at work to be bother at her youngest daughter leaving the city.

"Ugh, why do you care? I'm just happy to be out of here. I don't have to deal with you or mom anymore." Su sneered over her shoulder as she finished shoving her things into a bag.

Lin rolled her eyes at the 16 year old. "One day Su, you'll grow up. And when that day comes I hope you'll finally understand." She was through looking out for her, protecting her, and trying to help her. "We're leaving in 10 minutes." those had been her last words to her sister.

Lin had driven her to the train station and watched as Su got on the train. She had stayed there on the platform looking after the train until it was long since out of sight. She didn't feel the relief or the happiness she had thought she would have after finally having her bratty baby sister out of her city and out of her life. She had long since seen Su's problems with attention and rules as a direct response to their mother's absence. Su was literally the antithesis to Toph, Su broke all the rules, Toph job was to uphold the law. She was a rebel, Toph the enforcer everywhere but at home. That wasn't lost on either sister, Toph wasn't present and they both wanted and needed in their own way for her to be present. Su tried causing trouble to get their mother's attention. Lin had tried to get their mother's attention by being perfect, but that hadn't worked either. In the end, Lin wasn't sure either of them had been productive in ever getting through to their mother. Nothing but work ever seemed to capture mom's attention for more than ten minutes.

"L- Lin," Su stuttered out in disbelief, her eyes wide. "Lin?" she asked in bewilderment, reaching out to grab her husband's arm to steady herself. "Tenzin, is that Lin?" pointing at Lin.

This time Lin didn't hold back a smirk. "Yes it's me, Su" she said. Tenzin nodded next to her confirming her words.

"But- but how?" was all Su could get out still standing there shell shocked.

"Turns out, I'm not dead." Lin shrugged dismissively.

"Tenzin, please tell me I'm hallucinating or something?" Su said, stupefied.

"You aren't hallucinating, Su. Lin is really alive." Tenzin told her. Su finally let herself believe it then. She covered her mouth with her hand and ran at her older sister. Lin let her hug her, sobbing into her shoulder.

"I- I can't believe it's you." Su half sobbed into her shoulder. "I-" Another choked sob.

"It's me, Su" Lin said finally, reluctantly she wrapped her arms loosely around her little sister. "It's me."

"I'm sorry." Su cried. "I'm so Sorry."

Lin just held her and let her cry, rubbing one hand on her back and the other finally came up to cup the back of her head. Tenzin had moved around so she could catch his eye and she was grateful that he did so because it gave her a little more confidence in dealing with an emotional Su. When Su finally calmed down Lin stepped back letting her go.

"I'm sorry." Su told her for what must have been the 20th time tonight and wiped at her eyes.

"It's okay, Su" Lin said more to just pacify her and to move on. She was not in the mood to go down that road tonight. She needed one major identity crisis and relationship crisis at a time and she was about four over her limit right now. Dealing with their last fight was not on the docket for tonight.

"What happened? How? Explain this." Su said, gesturing wildly at Lin, still somewhat at a loss for words.

"I lost my memory." Lin said, shrugging.

Su did not find that answer amusing. "And? What, why, when? Like elaborate a little, Come on Lin."

"The airbenders and Avatar ran into me when they were finishing Earth empire forces in the earth kingdom. They realized something was up and called Tenzin. Who obviously recognized me. We went to a swamp and I got my memory back." Lin told her.

"That's it?" Su asked. "That's all you're going to say?" Su asked, clearly wanting more of an answer.

"Oh you have a niece." Lin added nodding towards Asha. She caught Tenzin seriously caught between wanting to smirk at her or shake his head at purposely pushing Su's buttons.

Su mouth dropped again. "Wait! That means you were pregnant during the explosion?"

"Yeah not that far along though, less than a month one doctor told me." Lin said. "Anyway, this is Asha."

Asha was surprised when Su hugged her tightly. "Oh I'm so happy to meet you."

"Uh me too?" Asha said unsure. While she was more friendly than Lin she had also inherited her mother's aversion of strangers and discomfort with hugging and the such by most people.

"I need to know everything." Su said, turning back to Lin and Tenzin. "And you aren't getting away with that explanation on the last 20 years."

"Maybe tomorrow dear," Su's husband finally broke in. "It's nearly midnight."

Lin looked around to see Opal, Jinora, and Kai all sitting on the couch very tired looking. Asha had also plopped back down after being let go of. "Yeah, I woke the kids up at 4 in the morning today. So they really should go to bed." she told them.

"I'll show them to the guest rooms if you want to catch up a little more." Su's husband offered.

Su nodded. "Thanks dear." As he led the kids out of the room. Lin sat down on the vacant couch next to Tenzin. "What really happened, Lin, I want all the details. We thought you were dead." Su said her voice serious now.

"I lost my memory." Lin started. "I was found by an old woman on the coast and she saved my life. I woke up not knowing who I was. I lived with that woman for four years until she was killed and then moved to the mountains with Asha. Where we lived until 3 three days ago when Jinora and Opal found us." Lin explained briefly but it was the most she had given Tenzin so far too.

"So you really didn't remember anything, not your name or anything?" Su said, trying to wrap her head around it. "And you never went looking?"

"I had a baby less than 8 months after I woke up. I didn't exactly have time and I was still hurt really badly. I don't think I woke up for several weeks." Lin told them. She hadn't told Tenzin the extent of her injuries yet not even Asha knew how close she had come to dying.

"When I saw her I thought I was going crazy." Tenzin admitted chuckling softly to himself and taking her hand again. He had been doing that a lot, like he needed to be reassured she was real.

"I know the feeling." Su sympathized. "I can't believe it all of this time you were what? A few hours away from us."

"Less than that you were two hours on Oogi from Republic City." Tenzin said, squeezing her hand. "And we never knew."

"Toph found me." Lin told them.

"WHAT?" both squawked, Tenzin nearly falling over twisting towards her so fast.

"I didn't know who she was but she found me twice. Once when I was pregnant and then once just before she died." Lin told them. She had finally put the pieces together when she remember at the swamp.

"But she never…" Tenzin trailed off.

"I never saw her after I don't know, a few months after your funeral." Su said.

"She saw me at 6 month pregnant and when she died. I never saw her any other time." Lin said. "She help save Asha actually."

"The kid she saved, that was Asha?" Tenzin asked the realization dawning on him.

"Yes, she was yelling at me about not knowing her and then Asha was yelling for me." Lin explained. "Mom she got trapped under the roof that caved in when we fought off the gang. She died there. I didn't know who she was." Lin said purposefully, taking a deep breath. It had been so long ago but the swamp had made everything seem so recent and the knowledge that the blind woman had been her mother was new to her. Tenzin sensed it and squeezed her hand again pulling their hands up into his lap.

"Damn" Su said, mulling it all over. "I was pissed at her because of everything." she gestured with her hand. "I guess she made up for it though, saving Asha."

"Yeah she did." Lin said. She wanted to keep Toph's last words to herself right now, she'd tell Su later when they both weren't so emotionally high strung.

Su was looking between the pair of them clearly trying to decide if she wanted to go there. Lin really hoped she didn't because she won't have an answer. "Are you guys sharing a room?" she asked awkwardly.

Lin tensed at the question as did Tenzin even though it was valid. "Uh," Tenzin said. "I would prefer not to let you out of my sight…" He left it open for her to get out of it.

Lin froze because she had no idea what she actually wanted right now. "Uhh, that's fine." She said equally as awkwardly, but part of her didn't want to be alone tonight.

"I'm going shower." Lin said when they reached their room. Tenzin nodded and lay down on the bed listening to the water run. His mind was racing from all Lin had told him and Su. She had met Toph after the explosion, that's how close they had both been to getting their normal life back. He was naturally grateful Toph had save Asha even if it had meant another 16 years of not knowing Lin was alive. He was also now sure that Lin had been really really close to dying out there. She had more or less let on that she still suffered from the effects of the explosion and she had said it was pretty bad early on after she finally woke up. He was quickly becoming completely infatuated with her again, if he had ever not been. He knew that no matter what this, whatever this is, was going to get complicated fast. He had a new life after 20 years without her and so did she, but for right now he was listening to the little voice in his head telling him to ignore that reality and enjoy the fact that Lin was alive with him right now.

Lin had shut the shower off and came back out of the bathroom in her sweatpants and a tank top. Tenzin tried very hard, and failed, not to stare at her and ducked into the bathroom to wash up himself before she said anything. He walked back out into the room to find Lin lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling,with her hands folded on her stomach. She didn't look at him while he folded his shirt and cloak and he took the opportunity to study her. There were new burns on the inside of her arm that looked old enough to be from the explosion otherwise she was exactly how he remembered her. Lin seemed out of it, not fully present ever since they had left the swamp. He wondered if getting her memory back was affecting her.

"How does it feel?" Tenzin asked, watching her.

Lin sighed, she knew what he meant. "Like everything's raw, like it just happened." she said, still staring up at the ceiling. "If I think about breaking my arm when we were little it's like it happened today or Asha's birth or mom's death or our wedding." she explained. "I don't know, what's real right now."

She sounded so tired, Tenzin thought, like she really had just relived the past 50 years. He slipped into bed next to her. "I know." He told her quietly. "I keep thinking you're some figment of my imagination. You have no idea how many times I dreamed that you were still alive. That I'd walk up to you next to me again." His voice cracked a little at the end. Lin took his hand in hers and squeezed it in silent support. They lay like that for a while so long Tenzin wondered if she was still awake.

"I love you, you know." He told her. "I still love you." Tenzin finally rolled over to look at her to find her still awake.

He could see Lin freeze and bite her lip as she heard his words, before letting go of his hand. He thought she didn't love him anymore and he could feel his heart literally sink at that possibility. Better to know now, he guessed before he let himself fall deeper in love with her. Somewhere he knew he had never fallen out of love with her and never would. Her death had crushed him and this would too but he could get through it, he supposed as long as she was happy. Then a minute later, Lin rolled into him, reaching for him and curling into his chest. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss into the top of her hair. He held her for a long while, she wasn't crying but he thought that had more to do with how tough and stubborn she was than anything else. He just held her tight and murmuring to her.

Eventually he felt her relax against his chest. "I love you too, Ten. Don't ever doubt that." She said against him.