It was finally the day of Jinora's ceremony.

Lin had arrived on the Island the day before to help finalize the arrangements for the after party. Tenzin and Jinora left the house the evening before right after dinner to begin the long process of her tattoos.

Everyone else on the Island was up early this morning, Ikki and Meelo were in charge of morning meditation, with Kya supervising. After breakfast it was all hands on deck helping the acolytes set up tables in the garden and prepping food in the kitchens. Lin made sure the officers who arrived for security coverage knew the best points to make sure the Island was secure.

Lin had just changed into her ao dai, the long, slitted dress being a forest green with gold details and the flowy pants a complimentary creamy-yellow. She pulled her hair into a twisted bun at the nape of her neck held together with a golden pin with the Beifong crest. She then applied a light layer of makeup, adding a pair of gold wrist cuffs to both arms and simple, tiny gold earrings. The look was finished with a pair of matching forest green and gold flats.

She took one last moment of peace and quiet in Bumi's room, before entering back into the chaos.

She came across Katara first. "Ah Lin, you look beautiful. Now I believe Zuko is arriving, shall we go meet him?"

"Thank you Auntie, you are looking beautiful yourself." Katara was dressed in traditional Water Tribe dress, similar to her youth, except it had full sleeves and a long skirt. "I suppose we shouldn't keep Uncle Zuko waiting."

The two women made their way out of the house and approached the courtyard that Zuko had always preferred to land Druk, his dragon, in.

He was just landing when they arrived at the courtyard.

"Ah there are two of my favourite ladies. You both look wonderful." Zuko said as he dismounted and approached them. He and Katara shared a tight hug, before he turned to Lin.

"Hello Uncle" she managed to get out before being brought into his warm hug. They had been unable to do this a few months ago due to Korra being missing at the time. While Lin had adored both her Uncle Aang and Uncle Sokka, it was Zuko that she had the most in common with.

He pulled back and moved his hands to her cheeks, pulling her head close to place a kiss on her forehead. "How are you doing my little jasmine petal?"

Lin felt tears spring to her eyes at the pet name, it had been so long since she had heard it.

"Oh dear, did I upset you?"

"No, no, sorry" she sniffled, she willed her emotions to calm down. 'The one time I put makeup on…'

Zuko looked at her confused, and sent a glance to his old friend beside them, before looking back at Lin.

Lin decided to just grab his hand from her cheek and place it on her small belly. He looked down and it took him a few moments to connect the dots as to what he was seeing and feeling.

"Oh Lin," He smiled up at her with tears in his own eyes. Lin returned the smile and allowed herself to be pulled into another hug. "Are you happy?" was all he asked.

"Yes... However unexpected, I am happy." She said sincerely.

"You will make a wonderful mother" he said with so much conviction that in that moment Lin believed him.


Lin and Zuko made their way to the bottom of the stairs of the temple. They were soon joined by Korra's parents, Suyin, Bumi, Kya, Pema and the children.

Katara had left them to sit with Jinora while Tenzin went to greet President Raiko, before meeting the rest at the bottom of the stairs.

"Uncle Zuko!" Su called out happily, making her way to hug the previous Fire Lord.

"Ah my little lotus flower, it is so nice to see you again so soon."

"I agree! The children are looking forward to meeting you again. The last time you saw them the twins were 5…"

Lin tuned out their talk of Su's children, absentmindedly caressing her little bump. Bumi came up beside her and placed his good hand on the small of her back. He leant into her ear. "I was right, you look stunning. Do you think we could-"

"Bumi, if you finish that sentence in front of Uncle Zuko and the kids, I will castrate you." Lin hissed at him, a warm flush covering her face at the insinuation.

Apparently she wasn't as quiet as she thought as Kya started laughing, while Ikki turned to Pema.

"What does castrate mean? Will it hurt Uncle Bumi?" Lin and Bumi had the decency to look sheepish when Pema sent a glare at them. Luckily Tenzin and Raiko appeared then, distracting the kids from the conversation.

Soon after, Lin and the others noticed Korra being wheeled over by Asami.

This was the first glimpse Lin had had of Korra since Laghima's Peak. To be frank, Lin thought the girl looked like shit. Her heart broke a little at the despondent look in her eyes, and the unusual paleness in the normally expressive face.

Lin rolled her eyes at Raiko's thank you speech to Korra. 'Can't he tell it is not the right time. Politicians, I swear to Raava…'

Asami soon was steering Korra closer to the base of the stairs. Meelo hopped on her lap and Ikki clung to Asami's right hand holding the handle.

Lin turned and joined them, stopping beside Ikki. She moved into the horse stance. "I got this," she said as she bent a platform of stone around them to lift slightly from the ground. Standing up, she placed a hand on Korra's shoulder and said softly, "hang in there, kid," before bending the new platform up the length of the stairs.

It felt good to use her bending for more than menial tasks, as she had been doing lately. She just hoped she wouldn't receive a lecture later. This was nothing, and technically she was following the rules the two healers had set for her.

The ceremony was beautiful. Lin couldn't help but gasp slightly when Jinora was finally revealed from under the hood. She looked so much like Aang in that moment, it made her heart ache slightly. She could see Su thinking the same from beside her.

After the ceremony, everyone gathered in the gardens for light refreshments. Korra after congratulating Jinora went back to her room with her parents.

Lin found herself at a table with Su and her husband Baatar, along with their children.

"I hear congratulations are in order, Lin. I apologise we haven't spoken since our arrival; Junior and I wanted to check out the architecture of the city yesterday." Baatar Sr. spoke to his sister-in-law.

Lin nodded to him, with a tiny smile on her face. "Thank you Baatar. I hope you both enjoyed the city."

They discussed the infrastructure of the city a little, as Lin had been involved in some of the projects due to her mastery in metalbending; she was the best in the city after all. Baatar questioned her on many of the buildings in the newer part of the city, and Lin, for once, was happy to discuss what part she played.

She glanced over during a lull in the conversation to see Huan trying to ignore the exuberant jostling of his younger twin brothers beside him. It was like a flashback to a young Lin being beside an equally enthusiastic Bumi and Kya, trying to not get annoyed.

Lin caught his eye, and motioned with her head. "Hey kid, wanna take a walk? It's a little loud here."

Instantly Huan nodded, anything to get away from his brothers. They told the others they would be back, before Lin led them to a private gazebo away from the party. It overlooked Yue Bay and the twinkling lights of the city beyond.

Huan sighed in relief. "Thank you. I thought I might hurt them if I stayed any longer."

Lin laughed lightly. "Yes, younger siblings can be a nuisance a lot of the time."

He smiled crookedly at her, silently agreeing.

"You should try the art gallery while you are here. They have a whole section that is metal sculptures, you may enjoy that." Lin suggested after a moment of comfortable silence.

Huan looked at her in surprise. "You remembered?"

"Of course. I may have been distracted by other things when we met, but I did get a good look at your sculptures while there. You have an amazing talent for small details. It never hurts to see other pieces from artists who have a different style of your own, to help you grow your own skill further."

"You speak like you are an artist yourself."

Lin gave him a small nod with a hint of a smile. "It's more of a hobby, but I learned to paint with watercolours from Aang. I still try to make time for it, but it can be hard sometimes. Usually, I find I have more time to mold different small metal sculptures as I can do that in my office. I guess I will have some spare time in the upcoming few months though." She caressed her small bump. She looked back to Huan, "have you ever tried a different medium than metal?"

They continued to discuss different art styles and techniques, until they were interrupted by Bumi.

"There you are. Su was worried you had kidnapped her son." He joked on his way over.

"Hard to call it kidnapping when Huan is an adult." Lin raised an eyebrow at him, but he only laughed. "Bumi this is Huan, Huan this is Bumi. He is Tenzin's older brother."

"According to Mom, he is more than just Tenzin's brother," Huan said pointedly, with a smirk.

Lin gaped slightly, having not expected this from Huan. Though she should have, he is a Beifong after all.

Bumi just laughed and clapped his right hand on the young man's back. Huan, not expecting it, lets out an oof as he steps forward to catch himself so he doesn't fall. "I like this one Linny."

Lin just rolled her eyes amusedly, "I suppose we should head back to the party. I know for a fact that there are moon peach custard tarts and I want some before Bolin eats them all."

The three made their way back to the party, Lin going right for the desert table where she put two of the tarts on a plate. She then rejoined the table where Bumi had also taken a seat.

Lin smacked his hand away from her plate as he had immediately tried to grab for one of the tarts. "Get your own." She scowled at him.

The rest of the table laughed at his pout. "Come on Linny, you have two."

She just glared at him and moved her plate further away from him.

"A word of advice Bumi, never try to take a pregnant woman's food. Especially a Beifong's. Your Uncle Sokka learned the hard way."

They turn to see Zuko and Katara approaching the table. Wei and Wing quickly offer up their seats.

"Ah yes, my brother was not always the sharpest when it came to reading the room. I believe Toph catapulted him into Yue Bay saying she was 'reuniting him with his first love' when he tried to take a piece of meat off her plate." Katara chuckled.

"Su almost buried me completely in the ground over a piece of chocolate." Baatar smiled teasingly at his wife.

"Not my fault you didn't listen when I said no." Su huffed before joining everyone else's laughter.


The party was now winding down for the evening. Lin managed to find Jinora before she left.

"Hey kid, wanna walk back to the house with me?"

Jinora smiled up at her, "of course Chi-"

"You can call me Lin or Aunt Lin - spirits know your siblings won't stop now, you may as well join them." Lin winked at the newest Master Airbender.

The two fell into step with each other, slowly making their way past the remaining acolytes who were tidying up the food and table clothes.

"Did you enjoy your day?"

"I did," Jinora nodded with a bright smile on her face. "But I wish Korra was better, so that she could have enjoyed it more." Her face dimmed in sadness.

"She'll get better. It's hard for family and friends to see her suffer through this, but take comfort in knowing that she has all of us helping her to get better." Lin placed a hand on Jinora's shoulder. "We have to be patient. It is not just her physical injuries that need to heal. I have seen enough of my own and my officers' trauma to know there will be mental injuries that need to heal too."

Jinora nodded again, feeling a little better at the reassurance that the avatar, who was like her older sister, would get better.

They entered the house and went up the stairs to the second floor where the family bedrooms were. Before Jinora could say goodnight and head to her bedroom, Lin stopped her.

"You go ahead to your room, I will be right back, I just want to grab something."

Lin was quick in going to Bumi's room and grabbing the small package she had ready on the desk. Bumi, it seemed, was still outside at the moment, as the room was still dark.

When she made it to Jinora's door, she knocked lightly. Upon hearing the quiet bid to enter, she opened the door.

"I know you airbenders are supposed to not put much into earthly possessions, but I thought we could make an exception in this instance." Lin said as she approached Jinora who was sitting on the edge of her bed. Lin sat next to her and handed her the wrapped package.

Jinora stared at it for a moment, before slowly and carefully taking off the wrapping. She gasped when she saw the book inside. She ran her fingers gently over the old cover.

"Your grandfather gave me this book when I was just a little older than you. I enjoyed history and reading just as you do, so every time he went away, he would bring me back a new book. This one is from the Southern Air Temple, and was written by Monk Gyatso himself. Uncle Aang trusted me with it, and now I am entrusting you with it."

Jinora looked up at Lin with tears in her eyes. "A-are you sure? It's yours… You should give it to the baby." She tried to hand the book back to her.

Lin shook her head and gently pushed the book back onto Jinora's lap. "Nonsense. This book is your heritage. I was always planning on passing it down to Aang's grandchild, and while at one point I did think I would have been the one to bear his first, I know that this belongs to you. I know you will be the best older cousin I could ask for for my child, and you will be there to teach them about this part of their heritage."

Lin only had a moment to breathe, before Jinora lunged at her, causing them to fall back on the bed. Jinora was hugging her tightly, and Lin just admitted defeat and embraced her back. Jinora kept whispering thank you over and over again.

They were interrupted by the door opening to reveal Tenzin and Pema, who had come to have a moment alone with Jinora after such an exciting day.

"I see the two of you are comfortable," Pema said with a smile, humour visible in her eyes.

Tenzin's gaze, however, fell to the book that was laid beside Jinora. "You still had this?"

Lin rolled her eyes at him as Jinora helped her sit up. "Of course I did. I wasn't about to get rid of a priceless artifact of the air nation. We may have broken up, but Aang was just as much a part of my life as yours." Lin stopped herself from talking as she was getting herself worked up, and didn't want to ruin Jinora's night.

Tenzin's face went red. "I-I didn't mean to imply that, Lin. I am just surprised you are giving this to Jinora. I apologize for-"

"Oh shut it airhead." Lin said standing up. "It was practically Jinora's once she was born anyways. I just waited till she was old enough to treat it with respect." She nudged Jinora's knee with hers. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have a bed calling my name." She gave Pema a nod, and Jinora a pat on the shoulder.

As she passed Tenzin, she punched his arm. "Don't overthink, airhead. We're good." She said before leaving, closing the door behind her. She could hear the mother and daughter laugh at him, causing her to let a grin slip onto her face as she made her way back down the hallway.

She was intercepted, though, by Zuko who was walking down the hall towards her.

"Ah Lin, just the lady I was looking for."

"How can I help?"

"You have someone waiting for you on the phone in Tenzin's office."

"Who would call at this time of night? Is it an emergency?"

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "I may have let it slip about your situation when speaking with Izumi about today's events. If you don't answer the phone, we may end up with an angry Fire Lord on our hands and that could very well be classed as an emergency."

Lin groaned before turning to head back downstairs to Tenzin's office. "See you in the morning Uncle, that is if your daughter doesn't kill me over the phone."

Lin made it to the office and found the phone receiver off the hook and laid out on the desk. She sighed and sat in the chair behind the desk. Caressing her bump to soothe her sudden nerves, she picked up the phone.

"Hello? Zumi?"

"Is it true?" Came Izumi's voice through the receiver. "Did I really just hear from my father that you are pregnant?"

Lin cleared her throat. "Good to know your hearing is still inta-"

"Lin Beifong! Don't you dare try and pull this shit. Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"What the fuck were you thinking? A baby at your age?!"

"It's not like I planned for this to happen!" Lin grouched back.

Lin heard a sigh from the other side. "Look, I am sorry for yelling just now, but shit Lin. I thought it was bad enough having a baby at 40, I can't imagine doing it at 51."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence" She replied dryly.

"Lin, no, I'm sorry… It's just a lot to process since we haven't spoken in a bit. That is no excuse though…. How are you feeling in all of this?"

Lin sat back against the back of the chair. "Honestly, it changes all the time. Mostly I am happy. But sometimes... I can't help but think about all the things I would be doing right now if I wasn't pregnant. I had to go on maternity leave already, and now that Jinora's ceremony is over, I have no idea what I will be doing. I… I'm scared that I will resent this baby like my mother did me." She finished quietly.

Izumi was always able to get Lin to open up more than the others. Even with their almost 11 year age gap, they both were very similar in personalities and had always been close, especially as they had gotten older. It was always hard to get together due to Izumi running the Fire Nation, and Lin protecting Republic City. They tried to phone at least every few months so that they were still up to date with everything.

"I think worrying about that already is a sign that you won't be like your mother. I know you wanted children, Lin, and I am so glad you are finally getting that reality. I just wish that it wasn't so risky for you."

"Thank you Zumi. Aunt Katara seems to think I will be fine as long as I take it easy. I swear I have a list of things I cannot do that is a mile long."

They both laughed lightly at that.

"So spill, who did you sleep with? Dad didn't seem to know who the father is yet, or at least that was the one thing he didn't tell me, and you know how bad he is at keeping things from me."

"I, uh, well don't laugh…"

"Lin.."

"It's Bumi."

"Ha! Oh my spirits really?" Izumi giggled over the phone. "I mean it makes sense in some ways, but wow, I still didn't expect those words coming from your lips."

Lin decided to ignore chastising her friend for laughing, and agreed. "I can't believe it sometimes either."

"He is treating you right though? Do I need to come down and roast him?"

"He has been great. I-I think I am… that I am…" Lin couldn't get the words out, but Izumi instantly knew where she was going with this.

"I am so happy you are finding love again Lin. You deserve it, and I think Bumi deserves to be the first one to hear it when you are ready. He can be crazy, but I have known Bumi since he was born, and I know he is one of the most sensitive and caring guys out there. While others may think you are both opposites, I think your inner souls are more similar than others realize. But your all-knowing, older sister Zumi sees all."

Lin smiled, wiping the tear that fell from her eye, before caressing her belly again. She was glad no one was in the room with her as they spoke. She would surely be mortified by others seeing all the emotions that have flitted across her face during their whole conversation.

"Now, I want details! Not gritty ones, but everything else!" Izumi demanded.

Lin snorted. "Of course your Majesty…"

They continued speaking for another half hour before a second yawn from Lin had Izumi ordering her to go to bed and call back in a few days. Lin bid her dearest friend goodbye before making her way slowly back up to Bumi's room.

She yawned again as she opened the door tiredly.

"Hey Linny, what took you so long? I was beginning to worry that you had gone back to your house."

Lin closed the door behind her, locking it against nosey airbender children, and began to get ready for bed. "Uncle Zuko decided to spill the beans to Zumi, and I had to answer to her immediately." Lin rolled her eyes at him, a small smirk playing on her lips as she looked at him from the mirror. She continued taking her hair out of the bun and removing the jewelry she was wearing.

"I hope she didn't give you too hard of a time."

"No, she just demanded to know everything. She is happy for us though. However, you may need to be careful next time you speak with her. She seems like she has some words for you." Bumi gulped slightly, as he knew from experience that Izumi was not one to trifle with over serious matters.

Lin quickly changed into one of the new night dresses she had gotten as she is too hot to wear pants to bed. She headed to the bed and laid down beside Bumi, curling into his right side.

He placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Get some sleep love, it has been a long day."

"'Night," Lin mumbled, already half asleep.

"Good night." Bumi said, smiling gently towards the ceiling. He ran his right hand through her hair, causing her to sigh and snuggle in further. He closed his eyes as well and fell asleep to her soft, rhythmic breathing.