Her green eyes soften, that ever-present scowl marring her beautiful face disappears, and Tenzin is taken back to another time.
"Hurry up!" Lin barked, her hair loose, falling over her shoulder and he watched her for a moment, dumbfounded with how incredibly pretty she looked.
"I... This isn't how I thought we would...you know," he replied, carefully removing his robes with unsteady hands.
"If it were up to you this would never happen!" she accused with a smirk, but her good mood was contagious.
"It would," he promised, surprised that her eagerness wasn't making him more nervous, but rather the opposite. He'd wanted it for quite some time now, but they were still young. She was seventeen and he was only a year older. "But, it would be different."
Definitely not in an earthtent located not far from his parent's home. He wasn't overly romantic, but the way he felt about her...he thought that for Lin, he could be.
"Different how?" she asked, helping him with his clothes, making his blush. His blush spread when he realized neither was wearing anything anymore. "Never mind," she said, "Where and when wouldn't matter." She paused to look up at him and he could see his affection reflected in her eyes before she leaned in to kiss him.
"Okay. I'll try to be less abrasive than usual."
Her voice brings him back to the present.
"I would appreciate that," he replies and he means it wholeheartedly. He would appreciate any mending, however small, of their strained relationship. As things stand, he and she have not seen much of each other despite living in the same city. Her focus is the Police Force, while he is busy with the Council. And, his growing family. But ever since Korra's arrival, things have somehow begun to change between them and Tenzin can't help wonder...
Given that his father was the only airbender before him, Tenzin was always going to be the one to teach Korra airbending. But now with Amon, and the threat the Equalists pose, Lin has gotten involved. And it seems that Korra, like the Avatar before her was numerous times, has become the catalyst that brings them together again and finds a way to get them talking once more.
Aang had insisted Lin be present when he took Tenzin to meet the flying bison that would be his. The problem with that was Lin wasn't speaking to Tenzin and Tenzin wasn't speaking to her, either. Aang had taken it upon himself to remedy the situation.
The adorable tiny bison soon made both children forget all about whatever it was they had been fighting about. Lin even helped Tenzin pick a name for his new friend. She flew with him the first time Oogi took flight as his bison. Aang suggested that for her own safety she might want to wait until they got a saddle, but Lin accompanied Tenzin anyway because he had been quite anxious not to go alone. She had always been fearless like that, had always looked out for him without leading on that she was.
Now, Tenzin sees her watching the match for a second before her eyes scan the arena for potential dangers and he can't help the quiet sigh that escapes him. He cared for her so deeply once, more than he knew a person could care for another. And he knows a love that great doesn't simply cease to exist. Sometimes...sometimes he dreams of how it could've been. The way they and their parents envisioned it since that one day when he was finally able to get it together and tell her how he felt about her.
It was good in the beginning. So good. Even at their lowest, even when they fought. Even when it got really tough for them...he thought they would find a way.
"I can't believe your sweet-tempered father was reincarnated into that girl," Lin says suddenly. "She's tough as nails."
And she's right, Korra is. But so is she and he tries to tell her so. She huffs and Tenzin smiles wistfully because he can't ever remember Lin not being a part of his life. They have always been linked and it seems they are destined to always be.