Tenzin was absently going over papers, thinking of better ways to spend his Thursday afternoon when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and smiled down at his phone.

you still up for buying me a drink? - Lin.

of course, congrats! Joe's, downtown? - Tenzin

sure. 7? - Lin

Okay see you then. - Tenzin

Tenzin stepped into the familiar bar although it had been sometime since he had been there. He had no idea if Lin had ever been here. It was one of the more popular bars in the city, popular with business people after work. They had never been of legal drinking age when they had lived in the city but Lin's mother still lived here and he knew she had visited once or twice over the years from Bumi and Kya.

Tenzin ordered a bourbon and some pretzels at the bar before taking a small table against the wall. Lin arrived five minutes after him. "Hey," she said sliding on to the stool across from him.

"Hey," Tenzin returned. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Martini on the rocks." Lin said, popping one of the pretzels from the table into her mouth.

"Congratulations," Tenzin told her smiling when he returned with her drink. "To the new police chief."

"Deputy chief." Lin correct smiling and clinking her drink against his. They chatted lightly over drinks. It was easy to talk to Lin just like it had always been. They could talk about anything for hours and they did.

"Did you drive?" Tenzin asked her leaning down towards her as they walked over to pay.

Lin shook her head. "I can get an uber, don't worry." she said, putting her hand on his arm.

"No I'll drive you home, it's no problem." Tenzin told her.

"Okay." Lin nodded giving in. Truth be told neither of them were all that affected by the alcohol Tenzin had only had one drink and a shot but Lin had one more than him. It was however it was enough for his eyes to linger on her every time he looked at her. He pays and they walk out onto the street. Lin steps into to avoid a couple coming towards. His hand lands on the small of her back and he decides to take the risk and keep it there as they walk up the street to the parking lot. Lin doesn't move away and his heart beat speeds up. He doesn't know why he's suddenly so drawn to her again for now he has just summed it up to old memories and pushes it aside for the time being. Yet, he's doing that to be able to focus on her and not overthink his way out of that.

"For some reason I'd thought you'd had minivan or a mom car." Lin teased him bumming him with her shoulder.

"A 'mom car'?" Tenzin scoffed. "I'm not that lame." He was already super lame if you asked his kids but driving a BMW definitely gave him some points. "You're one to talk, you had a Camry for how long?" he teased her back, his head dipped until it was entirely too close to her. She stopped abruptly and turned to face him. The hand he had on her lower now rested on her waist and their chests were inches apart.

"I liked that car, it had a lot of memories." Lin retorted.

"Yeah, a lot of good memories." Tenzin muttered, staring at her, not realizing what he was saying until after the words came out.

"Yeah," Lin muttered just before kissing him. He's surprised and so glad she did it as he kisses her back. His hands grab her waist pulling her towards him. Finally they break the kiss when they both need air. Before they kiss again.

"You know your's is closer." Lin muttered to him leaning into him.

"Mine it is." Tenzin confirmed before kissing her again and again because now he can't get enough of her.

Lin woke up and was disoriented for a minute before she remembered why she had just woken up in a strange room. She turned her head to the side to see Tenzin asleep next to her. She didn't regret last night but she also knew damn well what this meant and wasn't looking forward to dealing with that yet. She guessed that it was a good thing she didn't have a headache from last night's celebration.

"You leaving?" Tenzin asked, his voice was still full of sleep but the implication was clear: do you regret this, as he blinked over at her.

Lin took a breath and thought for a moment. "Not unless you want me to." Lin finally said.

Tenzin rolled towards her wrapping his arms around her waist. "Good." he said kissing her cheek. "Do you have to be anywhere?"

"Nope." Lin said turning towards him and snuggling closer.

"Good cause I don't have to be anywhere until ten." He said letting his hand ghost over her back and side.

"So you can make me breakfast." Lin said grinning up at him.

"Mmh yeah." Tenzin muttered, nodding along with her. "But something else first..."

They chatted lightly over breakfast not talking about anything important. Tenzin had made them both pancakes. It was so weirdly normal like they had just slipped twenty years in the past when this was normal for them. That of course had to break at some point and it did they had both pushed it off until the last minute. The awkward feeling began to set in when Tenzin was getting ready for work and Lin to leave. Tenzin stopped her at the front door and adjusted her jacket's collar.

"Can you come over for dinner?" He asked almost nervously. "I um think we should talk."

Lin bit the side of her cheek. "Yeah sure, text me when you want me to come over." She said rising up on her toes to kiss him. He kissed her back and then she slipped out the door not looking back.

She was supposed to go house hunting today and should be focusing on that and the call she had with one of the family's advisors. Instead Tenzin was the only thing on her mind. She hadn't so much as even thought about him in a good few years. Yet she saw him for all of two minutes at a coffee shop and agreed to go on a date with him and then to a second which ended with her doing more than sleeping over his house. She had no idea why she had kissed him back at the bar. She was glad she did but there was absolutely no rationale to what she did. She hadn't thought she even still liked him before kissing him and now she knew she still did. It had been an impulse that had brought with a lot of long dead thoughts and feelings or so she thought.

- Roughly 20 years ago

"Whatcha think?" Lin asked as Tenzin looked around the living room and kitchen area.

"It's pretty nice." He admitted. It's a small simple furnished one bedroom apartment not too far from campus is a nicer neighborhood. The kinda place most people would have to wait for their first promotion before thinking about getting.

"You could sound a little bit more excited about our first apartment, you know." Lin said teasingly.

"I am. It's just I can't really afford it and I know, I know you said not to worry about it but-"

"But nothing because my grandparents are more than happy to pay for it as long as I graduate college and not drop out like my dear old mother." Lin said walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Besides it's the financially responsible thing to do right? Save money living with me, not stressing your mom or yourself worrying about paying for a dorm room on campus." Lin pointed out.

"Mmh, you're right it is the responsible thing to do isn't." Tenzin replied letting his hands drop to her hips.

"Uh huh, your first college lesson. Fiscal responsibility." Lin murmured just before kissing him.

"Yeah, you got anything else to teach me." Tenzin asked in between kisses.

"Oh yeah." She whispered, biting at his ear lobe. Tenzin half moans half growls as he backs them up until Lin hits the counter. He easily lifts her up and she wraps her legs around his waist drawing him in as he attacks her neck with kisses. "I love you." He breathed to her.

"Me too. Love you too." Lin responds before yanking his head back up to her and kissing him senseless.

Dinner was quiet to the point of being borderline awkward. Neither of them wanted to bring up the elephant in the room. Finally Tenzin said. "I think we should talk about it." In the least helpful bridge of a topic ever in Lin's opinion.

But he was right there was no use avoiding it. "I didn't mean to kiss you last night." She told him, trying to not say it completely awkwardly or ruredly.

"Neither did I." He let out a short laugh but his words were somewhat clipped and short and Lin could tell he also felt the awkwardness of the conversation.

"I don't know what you want or what I want with" she gestured between them. "This. I don't" She didn't have the words to explain any of it why it happened how it had happened or her feelings about it. It was all too complicated mainly by the fact she didn't want to face them and certainly wasn't ready to admit it to Tenzin.

Tenzin was in the same boat as her. "Neither do I Lin. You have a new job and you got to focus on that. I- we can do whatever you want." He said. He had his own concerns too, mainly about his kids and their lives to think about too.

"What about what you want, Ten?" she asked.

"I'd like to keep seeing you in some capacity as just friends or…" He trailed off leaving it up to her.

"Ok, we keep it casual." Lin offered, it was more of a question then she met. It was also purposely undefined.

Tenzin nodded and even smiled at that slightly "I'd like that." he said. This didn't happen at all, after nothing had ever been causal between them. They had either been best friends or together; the exception to this was when they had split and hadn't spoken for over a decade. That however did not stop them from acting like they never had.

They didn't go out or have sex every night but she slept over his house for the next two weeks straight. Most nights they just cooked simple meals before watching tv. By the third night she had asked him if he wanted to have a night by himself and he had said no. That had been the end of it. She had brought a duffle the next day and they had fallen into an easy routine. So easy it scared her, she liked waking up every morning to him pulling her close and kissing her cheek. But it felt like a dream, one she knew they were going to be awakened from in two days. Tenzin had the kids this week and it was the first of the month and her new job was starting. Reality was always harsher than dreams. Moreover they hadn't really talked about whatever they were doing was beyond that first conversation. Tenzin had three kids to think about and she had never wanted kids, her own, step or otherwise. She had moved here for her own reason and own goals none of which had included even the thought of a serious relationship and certainly not Tenzin. But she knew there was no causal between the two of them the last few weeks had proven it. There was two much history there for that to work, hell they had gone from first date to living together in two weeks.

-30 years ago

Tenzin had coloring in his project when he met Lin. They had been in 1st grade at the time. He had been coloring in his dinosaur when another boy had taken his green craylon he had been using when another boy had taken it right out of his hand.

"Hey!" he cried but the boy had already left. Tenzin wasn't a kid that picked fights and he wasn't going to go after the other kid now. He sighed resigned to use his remaining blue caylon.

"Hey," A girl two seats down from him said, causing him to look up. "I'll give you my green if I can use your blue." she said leaning over showing him her yellow and green caylons.

"Okay." Tenzin said happily trading caylons with her and smiling. They began talking about their dinosaur drawing. Little did they know that day they became friends they would be friends for the rest of their lives. Tenzin had babbled about his new found friend in his class to his mom when she had picked him up from school that day.

- a few weeks later

"And you're sure his mom said it was okay for you to come over?" Toph asked her for the third time.

"Yes mom. I triple checked." Lin said bouncing at her mother's side.

"Ok, I'll drop you but I'll say hi to his mom first." She said. Tenzin only lived a few blocks away from them and they walked over. Her mother was legally blind she had lost almost complete sight in one eye and was partially blind in the left. While she did and could drive even Toph wasn't stupid enough to do it if she could avoid it. They knocked on the door and Tenzin opened it.

"Hi Lin." Tenzin greeted her excitedly.

"Hi, Tenzin." She said back.

He motioned for them to step in and way ready to run off with Lin when his mother appeared over his shoulder stopping him. "Hello- Toph?" Katara said, surprised.

"Katara," Toph drawled. "This is a surprise."

"Yes it is. I didn't know you were Lin's mother. He didn't mention her last name or a phone number." the last part directed towards her son.

"Yeah, well small world eh." Toph said in response. "I hope you actually knew about this playdate. I can keep Lin if you didn't…"

"Oh no Tenzin told me, they are apparently very excited about it." Katara assured her.

"Ok great when do you want me to pick her up?" Toph asked.

"She can stay for dinner. Why don't we say seven." Katara said.

"Works for me, be good kid." Toph said leaving. If the kids had been older and more aware they would have noticed that not only did Toph and Katara know each other but there was an awkwardness in their interaction. But they weren't instead they just raced off too excited about playing together. Tenzin's mom had been surprised to lean that her son had become best friends with her brother's old drinking buddy's kid from his old military days and Toph that Sokka's sister kid was now her daughter's best friend.