Linorra Week Prompt, 8/16: Frozen

Summary: Assumes that after Korra and Lin had a relationship for a while, Lin broke up with Korra citing the age gap as a reason and Korra went back to the Southern Water Tribe.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Pairings: Korra/Lin ("Linorra", "Korralin")

Author's Notes: I'm moved in! Yaaaaaay!

There had been daily letters from Korra. Lin burned all of them still sealed in the envelopes; not just thrown them away, burned them, so she could never break down and read them in a moment of weakness. She knew they were pleas to be taken back, insistences that the age difference didn't matter, declarations of love. Lin knew perfectly well that Korra loved her; her seismic sense had told her as much when Korra said it in person. Lin returned the girl's feelings more wholeheartedly than Korra would ever know, and ending their relationship had been one of the hardest things Lin had ever done, worse than any interrogation or case closure. But Korra had been pushing her to reveal their relationship to the public before anyone found out by accident. Lin knew that Korra was being overconfident and couldn't handle the scrutiny. Her reputation as the Avatar was also at stake. Also, Lin wasn't getting any younger. Korra loved her, yes, but Lin knew she had few years left before time began really taking its toll. She would start being ashamed of undressing in front of Korra, she wouldn't have enough stamina to keep up with Korra in bed, Korra would stop thinking of her as attractive...Korra was in love with Lin now, yes, but how long would those feelings last once their sex life died?

It was when a letter arrived from Asami Sato that Lin finally opened it. It was short, but heartbreaking.

To Police Chief Lin Bei Fong:

As you know, Tenzin, Mako, Bolin and I returned to the Southern Water Tribe with Korra. I personally have been spending much time with her, trying to distract her from how badly she misses you. I won't waste your time; Korra needs you. I've been trying to help take care of her, but she loves you and is pining for you. She cries for you both when awake and in her sleep. She has taken to her bed and won't move. Now she has stopped eating. Both of us know how strong Korra is, but I'm still very concerned for her. I won't plead for you to get back together with her, but I do think she needs to see you. Please come visit us at the south pole. At least get Korra to eat.

Sincerely,

Asami

Lin crumpled the paper in her hand and sank to the floor. Her lips formed words without her consent. "Korra...oh, Korra..."

Korra had lived in the Southern Water Tribe for the first seventeen years of her life. It was cold. It was freezing. But Korra had grown used to it at a young age, as did many Water Tribe people. On days when it was not windy, Korra had worn sleeveless shirts. Despite her upbringing in such an icy place, Korra had never known what it was to be frozen.

Now she did.

Curled up in bed, wearing two layers, lying under a pile of blankets, Korra still felt cold. It was a deeper cold than any she'd felt from the weather, a cold that invaded her bones, her insides, her very self. If she tried to contact the spirit world, her spirit might feel so chilled it was useless and immobile.

She associated being loved with feeling warm. Nights spent by the fireplace in Lin's apartment during the winter. Lying naked in bed without covers and only holding hands instead of cuddling during the summer because even with the windows open, August in Republic City was boiling hot. Lin bringing her new delicious blends of hot tea every fall evening. Spring afternoons filled with rigorous metalbending lessons that went for hours until sweat poured from Korra's face and her skin radiated heat. Four seasons. A whole year, warm through every season. It was a week after Lin's fifty-first birthday that she had told Korra that they couldn't see each other anymore. Korra had felt cold ever since, and neither blankets nor hot tea could warm her up.

Korra heard the door to her parents' house open, followed by a small commotion. Korra sighed. Her parents had tried to bring in some of her old friends, but none of them had been able to bring her out of her funk. It sounded like she had another visitor. She turned over, facing the wall, prepared to pretend to sleep.

The door to her room opened. Korra closed her eyes. "Please leave me alone," she whispered.

"That isn't what your letters said."

Korra would have known that voice anywhere. "Lin!" she gasped, kicking off her blankets and sitting up. Lin sat on the bed next to her; Korra climbed into her lap and flung her arms around Lin, burying her face in her former lover's neck. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but she covered the hot skin with kisses, as if trying to drink in Lin's warmth.

Lin embraced Korra gently and stroked her loose hair, which was tangled thanks to the girl's neglect of personal hygiene. "I missed you," Lin whispered.

"Oh, Lin, I missed you too!" Korra nuzzled the collar of Lin's heavy jacket aside. "I love you. I love you so much. I feel so...so cold without you."

Lin kissed Korra's hair. "I'm here now." She hadn't planned to get back together with Korra. But the girl's lips on her neck were beginning to convince her otherwise. And now Korra had let go of Lin and was undoing the buttons on her jacket, stroking her hungrily, not out of lust, but an impulse that was both more desperate and more innocent than that.

"I need you, Lin," Korra whispered against the other woman's shoulder.

"No, you don't," said Lin tenderly. "But you clearly want me in your life."

"Don't ever leave me again. Please don't ever leave me again."

So it was that obvious, even without words. Somehow Lin had tacitly told Korra that they were a couple again. "I promise I won't."

Korra wrapped her arms around Lin's waist, rested her head against her shoulder, and stayed there, slowly growing warm again.

A/N: Just a few more to go.