Like many career women who got married in their prime, Lin Beifong found it hard to adjust to life as a wife and mother. By nature, she loved her personal space – lots of it, for that matter – but ever since marrying Tenzin and settling down at Air Temple Island with him, Lin found out that the only place she could actually have some time alone was, ironically, at work.

It isn't to say she abhorred the responsibilities attached to being a wife – in fact, she fit the role surprisingly well. Katara was dumbfounded when Lin came to the kitchen one morning still in her pajamas.

"What on earth are you doing up so early, Lin?" she asked.

"I have to prepare breakfast – er – Mother," she replied sleepily. "Also some lunch, for Tenzin to take to work."

Katara smiled. "Aren't you supposed to be preparing for work, dear? Run along now – I don't want you to be late for duty."

"We're the ladies of the house now," Lin mused, filling a kettle with water. "I want to learnhow to run this household and be as good a wife to Tenzin as you are to Aang. Let me help. Please."

From that day on, Katara let Lin assist her with the morning routine, which mainly involved preparing meals for the family and the acolytes. Katara found Lin to be quick and efficient – particularly admiring her skills in knife work (which Katara thought was due to Lin's prodigious skill in metalbending); the vegetables always came out evenly sliced, or finely chopped – even paper-thin. Being some sort of a neat-freak, Lin made sure her workplace was always spotless, earning Katara's admiration even more. She was even great at brewing tea – before longs, the kitchen cupboards were stocked with various teas and herbal infusions personally prepared by Lin.

Lin was quite proud of herself, of course – her husband never went hungry, as did her children; and she was determined that Tenzin would never come home to an empty dinner table, and that he wouldn't go to work without his clothes impeccably starched and ironed out – nor would he know the loss of a button. She made sure everything, most especially her children, were properly fed and groomed before she left for work, and when she came home at sunset they were her first priority.

Everything was going smoothly until Lin's career gradually began to eat at her time. Soon enough, Katara had to cook all alone once more and it was evident that Tenzin was the one who had to rise before dawn to make breakfast for his wife who was still tuckered out in bed. Tenzin's shirts and robes lay on a small pile on their bedroom couch, waiting to be folded and pressed, and with the little time she had left, Lin devoted to her children.

Tenzin understood, of course. He knew that Lin loved her job, and unlike Katara, she would never fully commit to Tenzin's vision of a prim and proper wife. After all, Lin was a free spirit, and routine bored her – and so Tenzin looked past late dinners and missed breakfasts and instead appreciated the efforts his wife made.

The last straw, however, was when Lin failed to come home on time. Work at the council wasn't all about signing papers or passing laws, Tenzin found out – and after a long day at the City Hall, he was quite dismayed to come home to two crying babies and an absent wife.

"Mother, where's Lin?" he asked as he tried to soothe Lei, who was bawling his lungs out. It was past seven in the evening – Lin should've been home hours ago.

Katara, who was carrying Lian, just shrugged. "Your father phoned the headquarters moments ago and they told us she left work at five – oh, there, there sweetheart, Gran-gran's got you, you'll be fine – why don't you call over at Toph's place? Maybe Lin went there."

"She should've at least told me," Tenzin huffed. The twins, at seven months old, have begun teething – making them fussy and unusually restless for quite some time. Tenzin was annoyed that Lin would just up and disappear without telling him, and he had a feeling it was because she had some overdue work to do. Maybe the boys at HQ are covering her up, he thought.

He placed a hand on Lei's forehead. "He's feverish."

Katara got a clean cloth and soaked it in chilled water. "That's perfectly normal," she assured, handing the cloth to Lian, who gratefully sucked on it. "Your children are teething – their gums are quite inflamed so you should expect a slight raise in temperature."

"Have they been fed?"

"Of course – Lin left jars and jars of fruit purees and milk for the kids," she said rather cheerfully. When her son didn't react, Katara just sighed. "Son, I understand you are upset – but try to put yourself in Lin's shoes. Perhaps something came up that she cannot avoid entirely. When your father and I –"

"I know, I know – Dad's the Avatar and he has even greater responsibilities, but at least he keeps you in the loop all the time. Lin is different – when she's at work it's like she has a world of her own. Sometimes I feel like I don't even know her," he complained.

Katara just smiled. Being the Avatar's wife meant she had to compete with Aang's duties not only to the United Republic, but with the whole world. She found this out the hard way, right after having Bumi. There were nights when she would get frustrated because Aang would be too busy to come home for dinner; there were nights when she would cry herself to sleep because Aang wasn't able to come home at all. Tenzin and Lin would have to learn how to compromise so that their respective careers won't come in the way of a healthy married life.

"She's not there? Alright. Yes – I'll call you when she comes home. Yes, Mother – sorry. Bye." He almost slammed the receiver down, the frown on his face becoming even deeper.

"What did Toph say?"

"She isn't there."

Katara patted Tenzin's back. "Look – why don't you hand the kids over to me for a while? Go have a cup of tea to calm your nerves. I am sure Lin has a reason for coming home late."

Instead of doing as his mother said, Tenzin took Lian from her and walked away with both babies in his arms.

It was hard putting twins to sleep, but it was harder now that their mother wasn't there to soothe them. Lin always let them suckle on her before bedtime, singing lullabies and softly talking to them. Their father's deep voice, although not alien to them, seemed to have disoriented them, making them fuss even more and leaving poor Tenzin at his wit's end. It was half-past nine in the evening when he finally got them both to sleep, but still there was no sign of his wife.

Sighing, Tenzin flipped open a book. He was very familiar to this scenario – Lin comes home well after midnight, talks to him a bit, cleans herself, kisses him goodnight, and falls asleep. It's always been that way – but when they got married, Tenzin hoped it would change. Apparently old habits die hard.

"I have to stay up and talk to her," he mumbled to himself. Outside his bedroom window, he saw the city gradually going to sleep. He closed his eyes a breathed in.

When he opened them once more, he saw his wife bent over the cradles, humming softly. She must've taken a shower – her wet hair was plastered in her neck, and she smelled like soap. Tenzin glanced at the bedside clock. It was two in the morning. "Lin?"

She climbed into bed. "Did I wake you?"

He sat up. "Have you been working all night?"

"Yes," she replied. "There was a –"

"Haven't we promised each other that family comes first? Good grief, Lin – YOUR children are not feeling well and you decide to work overtime? Why – for another promotion?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Be quiet!" she hissed. "You'll wake the kids."

"Look at me, Lin. I have tried to understand you for the longest time. I know how much your job means to you, but you just can't keep doing this like you're still single!"

"Honey, let me explain –"

"I am your husband, Lin! YOU LISTEN TO ME!" he screamed. Lei stirred. Lian started to cry.

Lin hastily carried the child and rocked her in her arms. "Hush now, darling – Mommy's here…" she glanced at Tenzin. He was fuming, and Lin could feel his hert racing wildly. She knew there was no point explaining because he was in such a foul mood.

"Why don't you quit your job?" he told her scornfully.

"You told me you won't try to change me when we're married," she whispered. "Do you even know what you're saying?"

"They need their mother."

Lin just sighed. "My mother was a working mom when she had me – and she did a good job raising me and Su. I can do the same."

"You are not your mother! Why are you trying so hard to be like her?!" he retorted, slamming his book down on the nightstand. "Whatever you do, you will never be like her!"

"Oh, so it has come to this now? I come home late – for the first time since we got married – and now we're comparing who's trying to be who? Tenzin, if you would just listen to what I'm trying to say –"

"I AM listening!"

"Can you hear yourself over the blood boiling in your head?" She asked. Lian was fidgeting around in her arms – Lei was doing the same in his crib – and Lin rushed to put them back to sleep. She began singing, choosing to ignore her husband who was still mumbling angrily behind her.

With the babies finally asleep, Lin climbed into bed. Tenzin was facing the wall, his breathing slow and steady – Lin figure he must've fallen asleep. As she turned off the lamp, Lin thought why Tenzin failed to notice the angry purple bruise on her right arm, or the fresh cut on her leg – nothing serious, of course, but still. It pained her to hear Tenzin asking her to quit her job, but it hurt her even more to know that Tenzin thought she was choosing work over their family.

Wrapping the sheets around her, Lin Beifong allowed herself to cry.

A/N: FINALLY, I was able to post an update! I was SO swamped with work and grad studies I can't even write a drabble! Anyway, this story was written in response to a prompt over at tumblr about Lin and Tenzin's first quarrel as a married couple. I figured that if they're gonna have a squabble over something, it would probably be all about Lin's job. Anyway, this is part one of three - the next part will be uploaded on Monday evening. Have fun reading! I missed you guys!