Chapter Text
“Come on, Lina, don't be such a scaredy catgator!”
Anna was grinning ear to ear as she held onto Anne while they glided through the sky. Ever the adrenaline chaser, she was the first to take up the cousins on their offers to take them up on the air. She'd never experienced something as thrilling as flying, and it was everything she'd imagined and so much more.
Lina, for her part, felt absolutely faint.
It was bad enough when Cathy went up with Kat the first time. But at least Cathy had the decency to hold on tight and Kat kept their glider relatively level. Anna, however, seemed to think that it'd be a super fun and totally good idea to see how well Anne could maintain their balance by jerking around and randomly letting go of the glider. Which, of course, Anne thought was hilarious and an incredibly fun challenge.
Since then, they had started to test how many stunts the pair could pull off, despite the fact that Lina was pretty certain that not pulling off one of their stunts would result in one or more of them being carted off to the healers ward for two weeks.
So, of course, Lina felt like she was about to have heart failure when they shouted for her to join them in the sky.
“After all, isn't that what this whole trip is about? Getting to know other people and cultures?”
Lina almost felt betrayed when even Cathy had spoken up, bringing her accursed logic with her.
But it was true. The three of them had gone far out of their comfort zones over the last few weeks. They'd even found something Anna had been hesitant to do.
But that was different since neither Cathy nor Anna had to face one of their biggest fears!
“You don't have to do it, if you don't want to, Catalina. I won't let them tease you too much.” A quiet, but sweet voice pulled her out of her musings, but before she could respond, Jane continued with a small smile. “That said, I do think you'll enjoy it, if you give it a chance.”
Lina jumped in surprise, turning as the blonde moved closer, her own glider in hand. Of the three cousins, Lina had immediately found herself gravitating towards Jane. Despite the mischievous streak that she clearly shared with Kat and Anne, there was something about her that fascinated her to no end.
“I'm just-” Lina’s voice cracked as she gripped the handrail in front of her so tightly her knuckles had turned white, “I'm kind of-”
Trailing off, she squeezed her eyes closed in embarrassment. She was a grown woman, after all! And accomplished earthbender to boot! How could she be frightened so easily?
“Earth is the diametric opposite of Air, though, isn't it?”
She thought about the memory of wandering around the air temple with her cousin, Cathy's voice breaking through the pleasant quiet that had stretched between them. And as much as she hated to even consider it, the thought wouldn't leave her mind, even as they both read through scrolls detailing the significance of the Air Nomad temples through the age of the Last Avatar.
“Maybe that's why you're so scared of flying, Lina.”
Lina had been all over the world, both with her closest friends and without. She'd traveled with her parents and sisters for political reasons, by herself for professional reasons, and now with her friends for personal enjoyment. And in all of her travels over all of the years, she'd never flown before. Not on the back of a flying bison or in a war blimp or even on one of those highly tested new aeroplanes that had become increasingly popular.
No, she had been steadfast and adamant about preferring ground, and occasionally aquatic, transportation. Even when it ended up delaying her for hours or days.
But now, here she was in one of the most ancient places in the world, being offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to fly with actual airbenders using traditional gliders that had been crafted using methods from nearly a hundred years prior!
And yet, she was refusing to even try.
“It's okay that you're afraid. I was too, before Anne took me up with her.”
Lina's eyes snapped open as she turned to look at Jane. Her face heated up once more as she realized how close the other woman was.
“But honestly, it's amazing up there. It feels like- it's like-” she paused, her brows scrunching together in thought, “Like there's nothing and no one in the world that can touch you. Not in a way that makes you feel invincible- even though Anne and Anna might beg to differ,” they both chuckled lightly as Anne dived to catch Anna mid fall yet again.
As Lina’s panic settled, Jane reached a hand out. “I don't think there's any way to describe it that can do the experience justice.”
Lina felt herself freeze up as she considered taking her hand. But as soon as she met Jane’s blessedly calm and beautifully hopeful gaze, she knew she wouldn't say no. After a moment, she reached out, moving with far more ease than she expected of herself.
The airbender’s hand was small in her own, but warm and strong all the same. Despite how delicate she looked, her thin, tapered fingers held far more power in them than Lina had realized.
Jane’s smile sent a bolt of adrenaline through her, and she realized she genuinely trusted her as she wrapped her arms around her middle.
That she truly felt safe with her.
“I promise, Lina, I won't let you fall.” The blonde reassured her as she adjusted her grip on her glider. “We're going to glide on the wind, but I'll also be bending, so it won't be as out of control as Anne likes to make it seem.”
Gritting her teeth, the earthbender nodded, staying silent as she allowed the other woman to maneuver her into position.
“You can hold on as tightly as you want. But if you let go, I promise, I've got you.”
Her head was swimming as she peered over the edge of the cliff side, swallowing thickly as she realized she couldn't see the ground below.
“Three. Two. One. and we're off!”
Lina couldn't have held back the scream that tore out of her as they pitched forward. Even though she knew it was coming, fear and adrenaline pulsed through every cell in her body and she felt, more than heard, Jane’s quiet, if amused, chuckle.
But as fast as the terror had come, it was gone. They weren't pitched forwards, weren't diving directly down and parallel to the jagged cliff side. Instead, they were gliding through the sky, clouds surrounding them and wind blowing in her ears.
The air was cooler, but she wasn't cold. Jane’s arm had remained around her and felt secure, not constricting, and Lina finally exhaled the last of her nerves, letting the wind carry them away.
Time seemed to slip into nothingness as they drifted through the sky, no particular destination in mind. Occasionally she'd catch the sound of delighted laughter on the wind or the sight of pink and blue from the corner of her eyes.
But as she finally let the feeling of fear slip away, she knew that Jane was right.
There were no words to describe the experience that could ever do it justice.