"Lin, it's you."
The words came out as a breath, a triumphant breath from a tern that has been looking for its mate for a very long time. He got up slowly, maintaining eye contact with the very Lin Beifong. She on the other hand has her eyes wide in shock. This man knows her…knew her?
"I-I…" she trailed off and then squinted. This man was the man from the station. Yes! It was him, she recognized. She felt his face with her now-smooth hands and felt the sensation all too familiar. She knew deep in her that she knew this man but she can't seem to put a finger to it.
He felt something was wrong from the moment she squinted. He knows her all too well and that squint meant something. Confusion? Worry? He laid a hand on her shoulder as if to comfort but the moment she felt it, she shrugged it off. He was confused. Why would she feel his face then shrug his hand off her shoulder?
"Lin…"
"I-Do I know you?" the words came out like a venom spit on an open wound, creating a whole new feeling of hurt and insult.
"What?" he asked in utter confusion and blur.
"I'm asking you if I know you," she replied. She smiled to try to mend the damage she might have made. "I-I lost my memory."
Tenzin was taken aback. The admission was heartbreaking. Where was she all this time? How did she lose her memory? Was it because of him?
"Lin, I-I'm sorry," he apologized, for what they both don't know.
"Oh, it's nothing," she dismissed. "It has been three years."
Three years. So it was because of him.
'For everything Lin, I'm sorry,' he thought. "I-We should…You should come with me to the island," he said.
She smiled sweetly, so unlike her, and then frowned, "I can't…my fiancée might be looking for me," she informed him. His heart stopped. Her fiancée?
"You're getting married?" he queried. She could sense the shock in his voice.
"Yes," she smiled again.
He nodded as his heart sank. "Oh…" was all he managed to say before opening his glider. "I-I guess I'll see you around, Lin."
"Sure," she answered. "I didn't get your name."
"Oh, uh, Ten-
"Lin!" Her head snapped at the sound of Kier's voice.
"I need to go," Tenzin said in defeat and then took off.
Lin rushed to Kier and met him with a tight hug. His eyes were filled with worry. "Were you talking to someone?" he asked. He didn't see Tenzin since he was focused on her.
"Oh, yeah…he knew me," she said.
"What's his name?" he asked.
Lin's mouth opened and then closed again. "I didn't get his name."
Kier put an arm around her shoulder and led her back to the apartment, relieved, unknowing that his fiancée's heart was disappointed because she didn't get the name of the man who might be the only one who can give her answers.
"You let her go?!"
Korra's voice was loud, sharp even, but it seemed distant to him. He's back on the island but his mind is still with Lin.
"Tenzin, I have known you to be a wise man but that a while ago was completely stupid," she ranted.
She's getting married, he thought. Now he knows what she might have felt when he married Pema and it hurts so badly. He ignored the Avatar's lecture on what he should've done.
"I-I can't even imagine what I would have done. She was already with you and…did you say she lost her memory?" Korra asked him.
"Yes," he answered.
"Then why didn't you remind her who she was?"
She was getting in his nerves. "I-I…I forgot."
"Was that a pun?" Korra snapped. "Look, Tenzin, that right there is the reason why you lost her again."
"Stop it!" he snapped back at her. He sighed deeply, "I know I made an entirely huge mistake but you need to forgive me. I messed it up and I'll make it right. I know where she lives now."
"Where?"
"I'm guessing the apartment near Jing's," he answered not knowing Jinora was intensely listening behind the wall.
"Who lives near Jing's?" Bumi asked as he stepped in the living room and joined their conversation. He arrived just a few hours after Kya.
"Tenzin saw Lin," Korra said.
Bumi took a bite at the apple he's been holding and asked incredulously, "Lin who?"
"Lin Beifong," Tenzin answered. Bumi nearly choked on his food in disbelief.
"Lin stone-faced-rough-hands Beifong?"
"The very one," Korra answered.
"No wonder Tenny here looks boggled," Bumi chided.
"Yep," Korra agreed. "And he let her go to who-knows-where."
Tenzin got up fuming with frustration with himself and exited the living room. Talk about irritating family members. Bumi just made him feel worse and Korra won't stop ranting on his stupid mistake. He headed to the meditation pavilion in hopes to alleviate the deep feeling he's been feeling. He can't seem to distinguish exactly what he's been feeling. Regret? Disappointment…jealousy? The feelings were dynamic. Just like Lin and him.
He huffed and sat in a lotus position, shaking his head. Damn it Lin!
Jinora headed out of the temple with her glider in her hand. 'Dad made a stupid mistake today,' she thought. 'I'm going to do it right.'
With full determination she snapped her glider opened and with a solid cause she took off into the late afternoon sky. Amidst the wind gushing in her ear, she could still hear Lin's voice in her ear before her sacrifice that tried to save her family, including her mother; the sacrifice that wiped away her memory, the ex-Chief of Police's only remembrance of Toph Beifong.
Jinora bent the air around her prompting her to go faster and headed to the location she heard her father say, Jing Hotels. It's four miles away from her and already, she could see herself talking to Lin Beifong, trying to bring her to the island. It might cost her more than persuading talent to get the older woman to her father, but it must happen. They're soul mates and nothing less than that.
Lin and Kier were enjoying the late afternoon tea time when Kier brought asked her, "So, love, are you enjoying the city?"
Lin put her cup down and smiled. "Yes, of course."
"That's good," Kier answered. Who knew that he almost lost Lin a while back? He sipped his tea and held Lin's hand possessively. "I can't wait until we get married."
"The wedding will come, Kier," she said which disappointed the across her. She never called him with pet names or terms of endearment. Kier knows she's holding back. Lin can't feel herself doing so, but Kier knows.
"Lin, what do you say we move the wedding date earlier?"
Lin nearly spluttered her tea at his suggestion and frowned. "Kier, you know how important my past is to me, right?"
"I know," Kier said. "But, if you come to think of it, you're still going to marry me even after you learn of it. What's the difference?"
Lin shook her head, a feeling creeping in her that she wants to punch him squarely. "Kier, you know…I just want to…I need this."
Kier held her other hand and caressed it. "Lin, honey, I just want to make sure you're mine even after you learn of your past."
"Why?" she asked in an unsettling curiosity. "Are you afraid I might despise you after I get to know—
"No!" Kier snapped. "I…fine. Just…let's just go with the initial plan." He gave up before he gets out of control. He leaned across the small table to give her a small kiss. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Lin assured. She reciprocated and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
"Ahem." Lin and Kier broke apart and a young teenager, not less than thirteen was standing in front of them.
Kier's heart skipped a beat in a short burst of dread. "Do you need something?"
The girl ignored Kier's question and said, "Aunt Lin, I'm Jinora. You might not recognize me but I know you."
"Aunt?" Lin repeated.
"Yes," Jinora affirmed. "Can we talk…alone?"
A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. I had an intense lawn tennis training and then Holy Week came so I wasn't able to update...and then the Search came out which awoke my Urzai feels and...yeah.. I hope you enjoyed :D