ooooooh boy. first off, thank you to my loyal reviewers, you give me strength to have such a short upload time, and to be honest, i enjoy hearing what you guys want to happen, there has been a few suggestions where i'm like 'you should write the story instead of me' honestly thank you.
I'm generally not a fan of stories that use lyrics, but there are 2 songs i used to inspire a certain scene, they are
taking you there - broods
say something - a great big world, christina aguilera
they're good songs and i would recommend the life is strange before the storm sound track to everyone.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Kya, having lost her key in a poker game to a man who fancied himself a collector of people's keys, dug in the garden patch she had hidden one in years ago, after she had locked herself out when they first bought the place.
After digging around in the dark, she found it in short order, wiped off the dirt, and inserted it into the platinum deadbolt. A wave of warmth rushed over her. The home had changed slightly but the furniture was still the same, the smells were still the same and astonishingly, the plants were still alive.
Flicking on the nearest light, the loungeroom was quickly illuminated. She frowned at seeing their photos on the wall had been removed and nothing had replaced them.
Wondering slowly up the stairs, she permitted her hand to linger on the wood of the balustrade, and laughed when she felt the small dent Lin had made when she was trying to bring their bed frame up the stairs.
"Are you sure you don't need any help Love?"
"I've got it Kya, just bring the instructions." Missing a step, Lin's reflexes kicked in and they chose the option of dropping the bed slats so they could grasp the railing.
"No Kya, I don't need any help. I can't see over the furniture, but I'm fine. I'm half blind on my mother's side anyway." Kya mocked as she grabbed the few pieces that slid down the stairs.
"Funny as always." Lin frowned, fingering the small indent in the wooden rail. "I made a dent."
"Don't worry about it, someone had to make the first scratch." Kya pecked her on the cheek as she passed her. "I'm just glad it was you instead of me, now bring the rest up so we can get this bitch together and break it in."
Coming to the top of the landing, all the doors were closed but familiarity was coming back as she opened the door to her old bedroom. It still had the same odour. A perfect combination of masculine and feminine scents.
"What about this?"
Lin walked over to Kya who was waving a small piece of paper that had been sprayed with a fragrance. "I can't stand lavender." Lin pinched her nose shut. "Smell this."
"Lime? No, every time I smell it, I want to do a body shot off you."
"And that's a bad thing?"
Picking up another, she gave it to Lin. "This is vanilla milk and papaya."
"Kya, that's our shampoo, and even then, I think it's too feminine. I mean, I love it on you but I'm indifferent to it."
Kya threw her hands up into the air out of frustration, accidentally knocking a diffuser to the floor, spilling half the contents.
"You have to pay for that." A clerk called out.
Sighing, Kya bended as much of the contents back into the bottle. "Great, mandarin and musk."
Lin took the bottle and gave it a sniff. "That's not bad actually. Masculine but somehow feminine. I like it."
Kya gave it a whiff. "I can get onboard with this."
Flicking the switch, the room hadn't changed much. Lin still had her radio from when she was a teen sitting proudly on the nightstand, along with the damn bedside clock that was way too loud but Lin had insisted it kept fantastic time.
Lin woke to the sound of chirping birds and her new girlfriend softly breathing into the nape of her neck. Then it started to all click together, the sun was out, the animals were reminding her of their existence. Looking over to her nightstand, she found her clock missing. "Kya?"
"Mm?"
"Where is my clock?"
"What?" Kya was rudely jostled awake by Lin escaping her embrace and accidentally elbowing her in the chest.
"Kya, where is my clock?" Lin began rifling through her drawer in the hopes she had accidentally knocked it over and it fell in.
"I put it in your hamper, it was driving me nuts. Tic tic tic, no one can sleep with that ruckus."
Lin ran to her hamper and grabbed the timepiece. "Fuck, I'm late for school. I've already missed first period."
"So?" Kya would soon regret that question. As soon as Lin had gotten home, she launched into a lecture about the importance of keeping a proper structure and that clocks she had in the past broke and that this clock had lasted her ten years at this point.
Kya looked at the object she despised. "Five years away, and I still hate you." Kya walked into her wardrobe to find it completely devoid, save for a few coat hangers. "Oh joy, I get to go shopping. I have not missed consumerism." She then went into Lin's wardrobe and pulled out Lin's old RCPD grey cadet pants and black tank top. She wouldn't care. We used to wear each other's clothes all the time.
Going to the bathroom, Kya was relieved that Lin only had the one toothbrush and toothpaste. She wondered for a brief moment why Lin hadn't taken them with her to the South, but was reminded of an argument they had concerning the topic.
"It's nuts. You have two separate lots for literally no reason." Kya folded her arms across her chest, becoming annoyed at how unrealistic Lin truly was.
"These are compact. I can have more room for other stuff."
"Like another tank top?"
"If I want to pack another tank top, I can, because my toiletries are compact."
"Lin, they're literally ten percent less than the originals. It can't provide you that much space."
As if to prove a point, Lin placed her toiletries in her ruck sack, then a tank on top and barely managed to close the luggage. "I wouldn't have gotten it all in there if my products were full sized. It's genius."
"Hey genius, your luggage is leaking."
Lin picked up her bag to find it covered in shampoo.
"You forgot the bag the toiletries go in."
Slipping into the shower, Kya made quick work to wash off the grime from her week of train rides and hiking. She did manage to get a donkey-alpaca ride, but every half hour, the creature would spit in her face and there was only so much waterbending could remove when it came to bodily fluids.
In short order, she shaved, washed, applied deodorant, and had dressed in borrowed clothing, the only things she was missing were her bits of jewellery.
Jogging down the stairs, Kya entered Lin's home office to find it like all the other rooms, completely lacking anything that had to do with their past. There weren't even any photos of Kuvira. Locating the floor safe under Lin's chair, she removed the loose tile and entered the combination, their wedding anniversary date.
A solid click signalled it was unlocked. A blue, relatively large, velvet box sat on top. It wasn't something Kya had seen before, so removing it, she opened the lid to find her betrothal necklace, neatly preserved, along with her wedding bands. Lin must have bought the box. She placed the box and its contents on the desk and continued to riffle through the safe's contents.
Finding what she had been looking for, she closed the safe and placed the tile back in its spot and sat in Lin's chair. The first thing she put on was an armband that Lin had given to her. She made it with Sokka's help and it was one of Kya's favourite pieces. It was a traditional leather armband, containing three tiers. The first and third were white leather that had been entwined to resemble rope, and the middle tier was made of meteorite in the form of a feather. Sliding it over her bicep to sit just under her deltoid, she was relieved that it still fit snuggly, cushioned by the two muscles.
The next pieces were a pair of pearl earrings Poppy had originally bought for Lin. Lin had told her grandmother she had loved them, but as soon as she got home from her visit, she had given them straight to Kya, claiming that her grandmother hadn't even noticed her ears weren't pierced in the first place. Kya had fallen in love with them as soon as she opened the box and never took them off until she had to go down South where she was frightened, she may lose them. She was relieved, as she placed them in her ears, that her holes hadn't closed.
Next, was her betrothal necklace.
"Kya, will you marry me? Kya WILL you marry me? You marry me! Come on Beifong, if Uncle Aang could do it, you sure as heck can do it. You don't cut and run, you face things head on."
"Go for the first line!"
Lin jumped at her mother's voice coming from the small apartment's loungeroom. "Chief?! What are you doing here?" Lin walked out of the bedroom so she could talk to her mother face to face.
"I wanted to know if you wanted to grab a beer, but it's obvious you have other plans."
Lin tugged at the collar of her green tang shirt. "Yeah, I kinda do."
"When were you going to tell me?"
"When, or if, she said yes?"
Toph stepped forward to help her daughter with the stiff collar that clearly didn't want to stay in place, allowing her to get a good feel of the high quality fabric.. "Is this my mother's?"
"Yeah, she gave it to me a couple years back. Kya really likes it but I rarely get to wear it."
Toph cupped Lin's scarred cheek gently. "I'm proud of you badgermole."
"Thanks Chief, mum."
Toph pulled away and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze. "I don't think you have to worry about her saying no, however, don't you think you're a bit young?"
"No. Katara and Aang got married young, same with grandma and grandpa. They were only eighteen. I'm twenty-two."
"Just checking. Show me the necklace."
Lin deposited the item she had stuffed into her pocket into her mother's waiting hand. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"I could do better, but this is a close second."
"Thanks. I have to go."
Toph quickly embraced her daughter, gave her an awkward pat on the back, then helped herself to their ice box which contained beer. "Promise I'll be long gone before you get back. I wouldn't want to be within five blocks of this place when you get home."
Lin rolled her eyes but hurried down the street to the park where Kya had said she was organising a picnic.
"Hey Love." Kya greeted as Lin neared their blanket. "You dressed up."
"Of course, it's a special night."
"Why?"
Lin rubbed her neck nervously. "A meteor shower is happening tonight." She said, remembering a news article from that morning.
"Earthbenders and their rocks. I think your family has enough."
"One more could never hurt" She sat on the blanket and glanced around to make sure no one was watching before leaning in to give Kya a quick kiss.
"Someone looks like they're in a good mood."
"It was an easy day at work."
They sat for a couple hours talking about their day, and sharing gossip the other may find interesting. They shared a meal that Kya had made and a small bottle of wine to top off their night. Lin knew they didn't have much time left before they headed home, meteorite shower or no meteorite shower.
"Umm, Kya."
"Hold on, I wanted to say something." Taking a deep breath, Kya sat on her calves and took Lin's hands into her own. "Lin, for the longest amount of time, I have loved you. I loved you when we were kids, and thought making armpit farts was funny, I loved you when we thought running around naked was a brilliant idea and I loved you when I realised that I wasn't like the other girls. You accepted me without question and I don't think I would have the same love for anyone like the love I have for you." She pulled out a small velvet box from the bottom of the picnic basket. "Will you marry me?"
Lin wanted to play this cool. It was rare for her to have knowledge unavailable to someone else and she was going to be smooth. "Sprits, I don't know Kya, I might consider it if you do me a favour first."
"Umm, what?" Kya was genuinely concerned. She thought for sure Lin would say yes, but now something unexpected was coming her way. She watched as Lin reached into her pocket and pulled out a betrothal necklace.
"Say yes?"
"Yes!" Kya launched her arms around Lin's necks, making them rise on their knees and kiss passionately. They pulled apart as clapping around them erupted.
Looking around, people were clapping at the sight of the shower, not their engagement. "Umm, this is yours by the way. I can put it on you, if you'd like."
Kya turned and raised her mass of hair so Lin could fix the necklace into place. "I love it Lin."
"Thanks, Sokka helped me."
Kya gave her a soft laugh. "He helped me with mine too." Opening the small box that was still in her hand, Kya revealed a platinum band with two veins of blue and green opal crisscrossing around the whole circumference, giving a three-dimensional look, when in reality it was two dimensional.
"We'll have to thank him later."
"I bet he's having a good laugh."
The last item to reclaim its spot was her simple gold wedding band. It didn't have much more than a simple story unlike all the others, but the meaning behind it meant the world to her. Kya placed it back in the box, not ready to put it back on yet.
Standing up from the desk, she entered the kitchen to find that Lin had bought the latest invention, a fridge and freezer, it had the Beifong family crest stamped into the steel, and underneath a Future Industries logo.
Pulling out frozen veggies from the freezer and rice from the cupboard, Kya started to make herself a meal before going to bed.
"Kya?"
The woman, startled at her name, turned. "Hi Love, I-"
Nothing Kya said registered with Lin as she took two long strides into the kitchen, her hands gravitated towards the waterbender, wrapping themselves around her to pull her into a kiss.
Lin didn't want this to end. Her eyes squeezed shut and her hands grasped onto the woman's back so tightly, as though to prove to herself that this wasn't a dream, she was real.
Kya had to break away for a quick breath but their lips were quickly sealed again and she found herself being lifted just enough, that she had to wrap her legs around the younger woman's waist. Her own hands ran up the length of Lin's jaw and entangled themselves into hair that was once black, now a gunmetal grey.
They finally parted, both with glistening eyes. "Hey Chief."
"Hi doctor."
"Are you going to put me down?"
"I don't want to ever let you go again."
"I promise you, I'm not going anywhere, but I'd like to say hi to Kuvira."
Lin reluctantly put Kya back down on the ground but didn't remove her hands from her waist as she stood behind her.
Kuvira stared at the woman she hadn't seen in nearly five years. She didn't look the way she remembered. Her hair was white instead of brown, her skin was a bit darker, she had crows' feet in the corner of her eyes. Kuvira didn't know what to do. She was an earthbender which made her want to stay and face this, but she also knew when she was in over her head. She ran away to her bedroom.
"Kuvira!" Lin called after her.
"Don't." Kya kept a firm hand on Lin's arm. "She's just shocked. Give her a few minutes, she'll come back down."
"I-"
"I'll go check on her mum." Mako finally peered his head around the corner, having felt embarrassed at seeing the Chief of police make out with some random woman in the kitchen.
"Thanks Mako."
"Wait, who's Mak-" Kya was interrupted by something tugging on her sleeve. She looked down to find a small boy holding a bowl in his hand.
"And that's Bolin."
"Wait, so while I was gone, you adopted two boys?" Kya asked, placing a bowl down in front of Bolin.
Lin dumped luggage in the loungeroom then took a seat next to Kya. "It felt like the right thing to do and everyone supported the idea."
"I wish I got the same support." Kya muttered, eyes not leaving the boy that still had her bewildered. "So how many years have they been your sons?"
"Officially? Two years."
"And you didn't want to tell me when I called back then?"
"I didn't want you to feel obliged in coming home." Lin shrugged. "You're disappointed, aren't you?"
Kya whipped her head at Lin so fast, she felt like she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Spirits no! It's fantastic!" She took Lin's hands and held them firmly. "Lin, you did a good thing. A really, really good thing."
"I'm full mum." The seven-year-old plopped his bowl down on the table. "Can I go to bed?"
"Yes Bolin, do you need me to tuck you in?"
"No, I can do it." He wandered over to her on tired legs and gave her a hug, which she returned with a kiss to his forehead, then disappeared up the stairs.
"He's cute."
"Yeah, he's a bit of a mama's boy though. Kid is like my shadow."
"Are you okay to stay up and talk?" Kya asked, watching as Lin yawned.
"Yeah, but I'd rather move this to the couch." Lin allowed herself to be led to the furniture and be pushed into a laying position on her back as Kya settled herself between her legs and onto her chest. "Spirits, I forgot how good this felt."
"Mm, you and me both. So you never," Kya sighed, unsure if this was the first string she wanted to tug at, "slept with someone else?"
"I didn't have sex, no." Lin admitted. After what her sister had told her about what happened in the South involving her former Captain, Lin felt confident that she had been taken advantage of in both instances.
Kya, unsatisfied by the response but not wanting to ruin the reunion, remained silent.
"Your hair, it's white."
"Nice to know you're still a top-notch detective. I had it coloured in a sandbending commune and I liked it so I kept it. Do you like it?"
Lin ran fingers through the damp locks. "I love it. I've always loved you wearing white. It makes your skin look fantastic."
"Always the sweet talker. What about you Chief? Going for the steel grey look, are we?"
Lin snorted. "Oh yeah, cause a mother of three has the time to worry about looks. I'm lucky I can have it cut half the time."
"Well if you shaved it again, it should be easier to colour."
"Kya, I am not shaving my head again. Once was bad enough."
"Aw, but I loved the military cut."
"Did you finally find yourself?" Lin asked, wanting a subject change.
"I know what you're doing but fine. I did find myself and I'll be honest, it was a year or so ago, but I needed to learn."
"What happened?"
"Well, I saw this vision in the swamp, it showed me that for the longest of times, people assumed things of me or told me what I was, so I never got to learn what I could do or be. I think I was looking for a calling and that's when I ran into an old friend of yours in Gaoling, Li Qiang?"
Lin blushed, remembering the boy that had stolen her heart when she was a young woman. "Oh?"
"Yeah, I can see why you liked him, he's very attractive, not a bad kisser either."
"You didn't?!" Lin was shocked to hear that the woman that was 'all about the ladies' had kissed, none other, than her summer boyfriend.
"It was part of me trying to find myself, had to make sure I was indeed into ladies."
"And?"
Kya dragged her nails under Lin's shirt, and rest them just below her breasts. "I'll show you if you're up for it."
Lin wanted that very much, but she also wanted to make sure that her wife was back for good and she wasn't going to have her heart broken again. "I'm up for it, but finish your story."
"Li Qiang, he told me what the Beifong family use to do for people by funding a lot of non-profits but since your grandparents died, and you and your family being too busy, it all stopped because accountants wanted to retain cash. I went around to a lot of towns to heal people and see what they were lacking, basically, I want to be a philanthropist."
"A philanthropist?"
"Yeah. You help people by keeping them safe, someone needs to keep them healthy too. I was hoping that you would grant me access to the Beifong estate and we could start a non-profit or something."
Lin sat up, causing Kya to sit back on the other side of the couch. It was a loaded subject and Lin was unsure of how to respond. Her grandparents, knowing Toph wanted nothing to do with the estate had split the fortune between Lin and Su. Su had chosen to use her half to fund the construction of Zaofu, whereas Lin used her half to buy any portion of the Beifong business sold off by Su, giving her complete control.
"I'm sorry, I know it's too much to ask."
"It's not Kya, honestly. I just need time to think about it. It's a lot of money and a lot of responsibility to give someone. I would need to talk to lawyers and accountants and anyone else that has a stake in the estate."
"I feel like I ruined the mood."
"Spirits Kya, you didn't. I'm just processing a lot right now. Sokka only died a few weeks ago, Su and Iroh had to confront one of my mistakes, you showed up out of nowhere, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did but now I have to revaluate my kid's lives and where you fit in. Will I go back to being called Chief at home? Will you go back to work? Will I work more? Who will take who to classes after school? Will you help me with bending training? Who does the cooking? Will Mako and Bolin even want you in their li-"
"Lin," Kya placed a hand on the clearly distressed woman's back, trying to ground her in reality, "relax. I only just got back a couple of hours ago myself, and I agree, a lot of this is going to take time. At the moment, school is nearly over and that gives me the chance to know the kids, we can start there. I am not going to force myself into family situations, I know I need to take a step back and let them come to me."
Lin's heart was beating in her chest, her hands were clammy and she felt herself becoming hot.
"Lin, breathe. You're having a panic attack, breathe."
Lin shoved her hands away and rushed outside into the cool spring breeze where she finally gasped for air. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck."
"Lin?"
"Sorry, I just, I couldn't be in that room."
Kya walked barefoot onto the lawn where Lin was pacing on the grass, trying to regain her composure. "How often do you have panic attacks?"
"They're rare. But what do you expect to happen? This is a lot for one person, myself included."
"We're quite the pair, aren't we?"
Lin stopped her pacing to give Kya a confused stare. "What are you on about?"
"Me and depression, you and anxiety."
"I don't have anxiety."
"I think you do. You like control, you like knowing what's going to happen next and when you don't have the answers, you have a panic attack like you're having right now."
"… I don't have anxiety."
"Alright, fine, you don't have anxiety, either way, I think I should help you relax."
"Kuvira?"
"Go away Mako." Came the ten-year old's muffled reply through the door.
"Can't, big brother duties include checking in on my little sister." Mako pushed open the door to find Kuvira staring out her open window into the backyard. "Who was that down there?"
"That's my mu-" Kuvira stopped midway through, unable to bring herself to use the word in reference to the woman who had vanished five years ago. "That's Kya."
"Kya, mum's wife Kya?"
"Who else dunderhead?"
Mako rolled his eyes and took a seat on the window bench next to her. "Wait, doesn't that make her your mum too or our mum I guess?"
"Mums don't leave for five years without explanation, then come back."
"You and mum never talk about her, what happened?"
Kuvira sighed, as she rested her head on her arms that were folded neatly on the window ledge. "I was five and was about to start school. Kya had to leave for the South because some bad guys were hunting down the Avatar. She was gone for a few months. When she came back, I was so excited. Chief had been hurt so I hadn't seen either of my parents for ages.
"I was finally back with them both and we went out to dinner, saw a play in the park, it was the most fun I had in a long time and I was so happy to have my mums back together, with me, then I woke up the next day and Kya was gone.
"Chief told me she had to find something and she would be back soon. Soon turned into weeks, months, then years. She left me Mako."
Mako thought for a moment. "There's got to be more to the story. Mum was clearly happy to see her again."
"That's what makes me so angry! Why am I feeling like crap if mum is happy to see Kya again?! She abandoned her just like she abandoned me! Spirits, I was only five, I needed my mums."
Sensing his sister's hurt, Mako did the only thing he could think of, he pulled her into a hug. They looked down when they felt an extra set of arms around them. "Come on Bo, get in properly." The older siblings opened their arms so they could better embrace each other.
"Shh," Kuvira pulled away from them and looked out to the backyard where her mother and Kya were talking, "Mum looks angry."
"She always looks angry." Mako added.
"No she doesn't." Bolin disagreed, climbing up on the bench to join them. "She always smiles around me."
"Yeah, cause you're the baby."
"I'm not a baby!"
"Shh, I didn't call you a baby, you're the family's baby, cause you're the youngest."
"So?"
"Will you two shut up?" Kuvira growled. "I can't hear what they're saying."
"… I'm telling mum you swore."
"You tell her anything Bo and you'll have to explain to everyone why you have a limp." The three turned back to the adults out in the yard.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!"
"Pfft, and you think saying 'shut up' is swearing, that's swearing."
Mako's eyebrows shot up into his hairline at hearing the woman he thought didn't know what a swear word was, use one of the worse ones in existence. "She washed my mouth out with soap for saying stupid!"
"Shh. What's a panic attack?" Kuvira asked Mako who shrugged.
"Maybe it's when you panic and attack something?" Bolin suggested, unsure of the true answer.
Ignoring the youngest sibling, they continued to listen in on the conversation.
"What's anxiety and depression?" Kuvira asked Mako again.
"How am I meant to know?"
"You're a year older! What are they teaching you in year five?!"
"Arts and crafts!"
"How is she going to make her relax?" Bolin queried his older siblings, ignoring their latest arguments. "Guys! They're coming back inside!"
The three children scrambled off the bench to quickly get back to their own rooms, but stopped when they heard a loud bang coming up the stairs followed by laughter.
Kuvira, instructing her brothers to stay quiet with a finger to her lips, used her metalbending to silence the doorknob's mechanics to open just enough that they could see through a small slit in the door.
Kya had Lin pinned up against their bedroom door.
"Guys, that woman is hurting mum." Bolin whispered.
They watched as Lin reversed their position and her hands quickly took the hem of Kya's shirt and pulled it off, revealing bare breasts.
Kuvira's hands swiftly went to Bolin's eyes, shielding him from the view of her mother, while allowing herself to be scarred as she watched the Chief of police, for some unknown reason, take a nipple in her mouth, while Kya's own hands raked her wife's back to remove her tank top.
Mako and Kuvira didn't know what was happening. They were internally screaming at themselves to look away but the confusion at what they were seeing apparently paralysed them.
They were relieved when Lin finally picked Kya up and entered their bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them.
The three siblings pulled away from the door and shut it.
"Mako, what was that?" Kuvira asked, desperate for clarification as her face was drained of colour.
"I don't know anymore. That, that broke me."
"What? I missed it, what did you see?" Bolin pleaded with his older siblings to tell him.
"I, I can't describe it." Mako groaned and flopped down on the bed.
"Spirits Lin, I want you so much right now." Kya whispered into Lin's ear then ran a tongue over the shell.
Lin wanted to be slow, but five years without any action had taken its toll and once steady hands were now shaky with anticipation.
Kya took the hands and placed them on her bare hips, stilling them there. "Easy Chief, we have all the time in the world."
"I know, I'm just a little out of practise, I don't want to disappoint."
They stood at the bottom of their bed, both naked.
"Let me set the pace." Kya walked over to the radio and turned the tuner until she found an easy listening station.
In the dead of night I'll meet you in my sleep
And in the morning light you'll wake up next to me
Like a dream come true I'll take you where I roam
Then follow you back home
She then guided Lin onto the bed. Propping up a few pillows against the headboard, Kya made Lin lean against them then straddled her lap. Lin's eyes closed as Kya brushed soft fingers across an invisible frown line on her forehead, then through the hairline at the temple, stopping at the scar from her surgery.
The small twitch at the corner of Lin's lips didn't go unnoticed by Kya. "Does it give you nightmares?"
Tell me you care
Lin tried to blink away a stray tear caused by the tenderness at which Kya held her. "Always."
Tell me you care.
A lone thumb brushed over high cheek bones to wipe the tear away. "I can fix that."
If I lose my way and forget what I need
Just remind me now of what you give to me
If you hold my hand and take me where you go
I'll show you the side that no one knows
Lin was reminded of her metamorphosis. Kya was her guardian, her protector in every sense on the word. "I know, because," Lin opened her eyes to stare into the one thing that would never change, Kya's relaxed, calming teal eyes that had a glint of mischievous power behind them, "I trust you."
Those words made Kya feel like she was on a high. Lin always had trust issues since they were kids, so for her to still have her trust meant the world. Kya took Lin's hands into her own, she noticed the rings were gone, but that didn't faze her one bit, she knew they would be back on tomorrow.
I'm taking you there
Kya placed one of Lin's hands over her heart. "Not a day went by I didn't think of you."
I'm taking you there
"You and me both." Lin leaned forward and inclined her head just enough to capture Kya's bottom lip into her mouth gently.
If scars are for the living
Then I could be forgiven
And everything you need
I could give you
Kya exhaled through her nose at the sensation. Reluctantly she pulled away and started kissing down Lin's neck. She stopped to nibble at her pulse, she swore she could hear the blood pounding from the phenomenal feeling. Kya was slow, painfully so, but she was enjoying reacquainting herself with the body she has known since she was nineteen.
She kissed a scar on Lin's hipbone, then ran a finger over it.
If scars are for the living
Then I could be forgiven
And everything you need
I could give you
Kya slid down the bed, onto her stomach.
Lin felt her body sink into the pillows so she was at a comfortable angle.
The short hairs of Lin's vulva tickled Kya's nose slightly as she opened her mouth, allowing her breath to get a desired reaction, which was the twitch of Lin's muscles on her stomach and thigh. Just as she was about to taste her, a hand was placed under her jaw, directing her gaze to the woman who now had tears streaming down her face. "Kya, I can't."
Kya quickly crawled back up the bed and turned down the radio just as another song was starting to play.
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
"Hey hey, there's no need to get upset."
"Kya, I cheated on you."
That was not what Kya was expecting to come from the woman who was quickly drawing her knees to her chest so she could bury her face into them.
"Oh Lin, please don't cry." Kya pleaded, trying desperately to get Lin to look at her. The whole scene had Kya's heart breaking as she realised the full extent of Lin's anxieties, and the inner turmoil that her leaving had caused. "Lin, I don't blame you, this is my fault, not yours. Don't ever think this could be your fault."
"I should have been stronger."
And I am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
Kya sat next to the woman and pulled her close to her chest. "Come on, we can talk through this. I promise I'll make it all okay. Talk to me."
Lin swallowed hard and willed the tears to stop, allowing her to lift her head, but not look at the woman next to her. "The first time," Kya raised an eyebrow, wondering how many 'times' there were, "Sayo was dropping me home. I had told her what happened to you in the South, and what happened to us. She thought I deserved happiness and she kissed me in the car. We groped each other but when she wanted to go further, I stopped it."
"It sounds like it was sh-"
And I will stumble and fall
I'm still learning to love
Just starting to crawl
"Then after a mission, I hadn't slept in forty hours, I drank with my officers and she invited me to her place. The kids were staying at the Island and I didn't want to be alone. I thought it was just for more drinks, then we were kissing, and, and more. I was so desperate for contact, and while it's no excuse, I was tired and inebriated and I let my feelings for human contact cloud my judgement. Just as we were about to fuck, I thought of you and I stopped it.
"That's when I learned that Sayo had planned the whole thing. She knew I was tired and she set out to convince me to drink then go back to her place. She had her resignation ready for me if I didn't go through with it."
Say something, I'm giving up on you
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you
Anywhere, I would've followed you
Say something, I'm giving up on you
A moment of silence passed as Kya weighed her words. "I never liked the bitch."
Lin couldn't help an amused grunt escaping her lips.
"If you slept with a complete random, I would completely understand, but she knew you and I were still married. Fuck, she took advantage of you. I swear, next time I see her down the street, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind."
"Firstly, she moved to the South, secondly, Iroh and Su already handled that for you."
And I will swallow my pride
You're the one that I love
And I'm saying goodbye…
Kya gave Lin a reassuring kiss. "Lin, let it go. It's obvious I'm not upset."
"There's something else."
"What?"
"A couple years before we adopted Kuvira, I received a phone call saying there was a baby needing parents." Lin took a deep breath. The secret she had kept from her wife weighed heavily on her conscious and if they were having a fresh start, now was the time to lay all her cards down on the table. "I said no."
Kya quickly removed herself from Lin like she had burned her and flicked off the radio, leaving them in a deafening silence.
Notes:
I tried to be slow with the reunion and i think i succeeded given this is only part 1 of 2. had to cut it short at 6.5k words. i am half way through the next and i am so glad the kids are a bit older now, it's fun to write.
remember, this is part 1 of 2 so some things will be addressed in the next chpt, if you think i'm missing anything, let me know in the reviews! peace Mates!