Zari woke with a start. He realized that for the first time in months he was breathing without pain. He looked around the room and saw that he was in a hospital. Suddenly, the events of the last few hours flashed through his mind and he almost jumped out of the bed when he felt Kya gently push him back down.
"Calm down, Zari. Everything's alright," she said calmly.
"Lin...the babies...a-a-are they okay?" he stuttered.
"For now. A surgical team and I managed to stop the bleeding and the labor. Lin will need to be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy, and is resting comfortably."
Zari nodded mutely as he digested what Kya had just said.
Kya continued, "You, on the other hand, have been unconscious for the last 72 hours. You broke 6 of you twelve ribs, a punctured lung, and bleeding in your brain. I managed to heal your injuries, and I advise you take it easy. You have several stitches that can be easily popped, and I cannot promise it will hurt less the second time. Any questions?"
"Can I see Lin?"
Kya smiled, "I think she would like that, since she's been trying to sneak out her room all day. I'll go get her, don't move."
Zari nodded as he watched Kya's retreating form.
A few moments later Kya wheeled Lin into the room, and parked her by his bed. Kya left the room, and Lin looked over at him.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," he responded drinking in her appearance. She was awake, which was about a thousand times better than when he last saw her. She seemed fine.
She gestured towards his injuries, "How are you feeling?"
He glanced down, "Sore but better than I have been in the last few months."
"Good," she said as she socked him in the arm.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed as his hand immediately flew to his arm, "What was that for?!"
She glared, "I don't know, lying about your family, destroying an arena, dying! Pick one!"
He winced, "I'm sorry!"
"Sorry does change the past few months of me worrying about you!" she exclaims.
They're both silent for a while as he waits for Lin to calm down a little.
He breathes out, "I am sorry. I...I'm sorry I died on you. I didn't mean too. I should've told you about Lea. I thought she was gone but I guess she wasn't."
Lin nods, "I know that those aren't completely your fault. Everything about Lea was redacted and you can't control when you get kidnapped. It's just...hormones."
He shrugs, "Still made you feel better."
She gives him a small smile, "Yeah."
They're silent again before he clears his throat, "I um… also should have told you about Sokka. It's just…complicated. I didn't lie when I told you about my dad. Some of the stuff I just let you assume it was my adoptive dad who I did it with. It was just easier."
She nods, "I get that. So...you had a relationship with Sokka?'
"For a bit. He's the one who took me to the abandoned building. We kept in touch through the occasional letter but communication faded off. I was sorry to hear he died."
Lin swallows, "Me too."
"So…" she continues, "I'm guessing he picked the name Piandao?"
Zari chuckles, "Yep. He wanted some input. My adoptive parents picked Zarif. Although Sokka's the one who gave me the nickname Zari. My parents preferred full names."
They drift into silence again, this time a comfortable one. That is until Lin began to shift around a bit.
"You alright?"
Lin nods, "Yep. The twins are just kicking."
He nods quietly and it occurs to Lin that he's never felt the twins move before.
"Do you want to feel?"
His eyebrows raise, "Um...can I?"
She nods as she gestures for him to scoot over on the bed.
He looks at her, "Your not suppose to be moving."
"Do you want to feel or not?"
He slides over and Lin gently lifts herself onto the bed with a little help from Zari.
"Comfortable?" he asks.
She nods, although she doesn't want to admit that the hospital bed was about a thousand times more comfortable than wheel chair. She leans back against the pillows and grabs Zari's hand. She gently guides it to where she feels the twins. As they kick, she watches a smile grow slowly across his face.
He looks up at her, "You know you still owe me a hundred yuans, right?"
She playfully glares but leans into his embrace, content to feel her children move around inside her and to be with him, "Shut up."
It had been about a month since Lin and Zari were released from the hospital, and she was seven months pregnant. Ever since the attack, she had been on bed rest per Katara's orders. The transition period was rough, since Lin was stubbornly refusing any help offered. She originally insisted that she was fine and could handle it, but that ended when Katara walked in on a surprise visit, and found her out of bed.
It was mid-morning when Lin had finally had enough of sitting around. It had been two weeks since she and Zari had been released, and things between them had been good. Lin still hadn't asked him to move in to help her, because she felt like she would be a burden to him. Although he hadn't left her side since they were released and she enjoyed his company. This morning, she convinced him to go home and check up on things. He had only agreed after she promised to stay put until he got back. At the time, she didn't think it would be hard, but she got really bored after Zari left. Anyways, the babies were moving around and she was hungry. The maid had gone out, and Zari was at his apartment. It couldn't hurt to go make a sandwich, right?
Lin managed to waddle her way into the kitchen without any problems. She found the seal jerky, and began to make a seal jerky sandwich; Sokka's specialty. As she was about to bite into her sandwich, Kya burst through the door with a hulk like look on her face.
Lin grinned sheepishly, "Hey, Kya…"
"Lin Beifong! What are you doing out of bed?! I came to surprise you with a nice visit and this is what I find!"
Lin shrugged, "The babies were hungry."
"The babies were hungry?"
Lin took the glare from her cousin as a sign to leave, "Yeah, and we were just going back to bed so their great-aunt can check them out."
"Uh-huh, that's what I thought," Kya said as she lead Lin back to the bedroom.
After checking Lin and the babies out, Kya gave Lin permission to finally eat her sandwich.
"The babies are fine for now, but I still want you on bedrest. Your blood pressure is a little high. I want these babies to get to at least 36 weeks before they make their appearance."
Lin groaned, but nodded at Kya's instructions, as Kya got ready to leave.
"Lin," she began to ask, "have you and Zari discussed living together? It would be easier than him going back and forth."
"No. It didn't occur to me since, we really haven't dated," she lied.
Kya rolled her eyes, "Liar. I think all you two have been through shows that you are meant to be together. Don't tell me that you didn't look for him only because he was your children's father."
A blushed started to creep up on Lin's face as Kya sat down on the bed.
"Lin, Zari is a good man, and he cares about you and your children. I don't think he's going to run away."
"You have to say that because he's your cousin" by now the entire family knew of Zari's patronage. Bumi was thrilled.
Kya rolled her eyes, "No I don't. When have I ever done something because I had to? Give living with him a try."
Lin nodded as Kya made her way out of the room. Lin heard her open the front door, and she shouted, "And Lin, stay in bed!"
Zari came home about two hours later to a silent house. He dropped his bag in the living room, and made his way to the bedroom. He walked into his room, and saw Lin so engrossed into a book, that she hardly noticed his presence.
He knocked on the door and said, "Good book?"
"Yeah," she said without looking up.
"What's it about?"
"It's the stories of our parent's adventures. Sokka wrote a while ago, but I never bothered to read it," Lin explained.
Zari walked over and sat next to her on the bed.
"Are they any good?"
"Yeah. Although, I'm pretty sure Sokka's point of view is one sided."
"It probably is."
Lin put the book down and looked at Zari nervously deciding to rip off the band aid, "Hey, so umm...do you like staying here?"
Zari raised an eyebrow "Yeah. Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to stay here while I'm on bedrest."
"Why?" he asked as a smile tugged at his lips.
Lin mumbled something and he asked her to speak up. "I said...because you're here anyways and it makes since."
"And?"
"And, what?"
He smirked, "You know what."
She glares, "I don't need you here."
"Really because Kya said otherwise earlier," he said with a raised eyebrow.
Her glare deepens, "When did you see Kya? Never mind. If you saw her then you already know what."
"Yeah well I want you say it. Needing help isn't a weakness."
"No."
He raises an eyebrow, "Do you want be to stay here or not?"
She remains silent for a moment, "Fine. You're right."
He gives her a look and she looks back, "That's all you're going to get."
"We'll work on it," he says as he kisses her cheek.
Zari chuckled as Lin scowled.
His smile grows as he says, "You are going to be mad when I tell you this, but I've been thinking about moving in. I kind of packed up most of my apartment today."
Lin punched him in the arm.
"What was that for?!" he cried as he began rubbing his arm.
"You practically made me beg! Plus, it's how I show my affection."
"Yeah, I'm starting to get that!"
Lin and Zari have now been living together for two weeks, and so far it was going well. Zari stayed home most of the day with Lin, while only going into his shop on the occasion. He hadn't started any new projects yet; he didn't plan to start many new ones until the babies were born. While living together, the began to get to know each other more, and realized that they had a lot in common. Several of their friends came to visit, and it became apparently obvious that the two of them had fallen deeply in love. Well, it was obvious to everyone except them. They had become fast friends, even though they were polar opposites. They were the classic case of yin and yang.
Zari came home from his shop to a silent house. He walked to the bedroom he shared with Lin, and smiled when he saw she was fast asleep on the bed. She hadn't been sleeping well the last couple days because the twins had refused to stop kicking. They must have finally decided to let their mother rest. He walked quietly over to the bathroom to take a shower to get the paint off of him. He had completely finished his last couple of projects that day, and he was happy that he would be able to take more time off to spend with Lin. Well, spend time with Lin and complete the nursery. Lin said he could do whatever he wanted with the room and he was excited. He had so many ideas. He wanted to make cribs and put the babies names on them. Now that he thought about it, he and Lin hadn't even discussed names.
Zari walked out of the shower to find Lin stirring from her nap.
"Hey Lin," he said as he walked over and kissed her on the cheek, "I see that the wonder twins have finally stopped kicking."
"Yeah, they stopped a couple of hours ago. How was your day?"
"Fine, finished my paintings. Hey, speaking of the twins, don't you think it's time we name them?" he said as he rubbed her belly.
"Probably. You have any name suggestions?"
Lin and Zari went back and forth on names for over an hour with absolutely no progress.
Lin groaned, "How about this, I choose the first name for the boy and the middle name for the girl. You do vice versa."
"Okay. What's his first name going to be?"
Lin sat thoughtfully, "Ximon."
"I like it. His middle name will be Hieu."
"I love it. What's our daughter's first name?"
"Giana," Zari said quickly.
Lin raised an eyebrow, "Giana, huh? Where'd you get that name from?"
"It was my adoptive mother's name. You like it?"
"I do. I like Sen for her middle name."
"Why Sen?"
"It means lotus, which is the same meaning as my mother's."
"So our daughter is basically named after your mother?"
"Yep. Do not tell her."
"She'll figure it out. I like them. Ximon Hieu Beifong Yang and Giana Sen Beifong Yang. How do you two like your name?"
Lin and Zari smiled as they felt the twins kick in response.
"I think they like it," Lin said with a smile, "But when they refuse to go back to sleep, you're staying up with me."
He kissed her cheek, "Always."
