Archive of Our Own ^beta

The heavy door to the apartment unlocked and flung open. A very tired and exhausted looking chief stepped through the doorway and let a sigh escape her lips. It has been a long week, a very long week, and the new junior officers with their goody-two-shoes attitude didn’t help. Lin loves her job, she really does but a nearly 65 hour week with mostly paperwork and three excited officers that bothered her every 5 minutes nearly drove her crazy.

With one smooth motion of her arms, the metalbender got rid of her heavy police uniform and stretched her back. A soft smile formed on Lin’s lips after her nose picked up the delicious smell of her girlfriend’s cooking. The Earthbender put her keys to their rightful place and ignored the stack of letters. They can wait until tomorrow .

She slipped off her shoes and placed them into their little spot on the shelf. Lin didn’t really have many pairs of shoes or clothes in general. Of course, she had a few nice outfits for date night but during most of the week she had to wear her uniform so why bother buying other clothes? Most of the time, Kya is the one that buys new shirts for Lin.

“I saw them and thought of you, try them on and no don’t gimme that look!”, was the last thing Lin heard before her love pushed a stack of clothes into her face.

The chief chuckled softly at the memory. Eyes half-closed and feet heavy, she slipped into more comfortable clothes. Her favorite white tank top, loose jogging pants, and the new pair of bunny slippers that Kya got her. She got a light blue pair for herself and a dark green one for Lin… wait. That’s not dark green. She glanced down at the pair of shoes.

“For spirit’s sake Kya did you change all of my shoes again for no reason other than to drive me mad?!”, Lin let out a growl. She heard a laugh coming from the kitchen.

Ever since she told the waterbender that she liked the bunny slippers, Kya started to buy a few more pairs for both of them. Usually in the same color pattern, light blue, and some green. She was amazed about how Kya managed to find so many different animals and at first, she loved the idea of having more pairs but then the healer got an idea. The worst idea.

Lin stood up with an annoyed sigh. She loves it when everything has its place and order and her girlfriend loved to mess with those things to get into Lin’s head.
And it works. Most of the time. Always.

The chief made her way into the kitchen, following the mouth-watering smell of Kya’s cooking. Lin was glad to have her. Without the waterbender, she would keep forgetting about meals as she had during her time in the police academy.

Lin wrapped her arms around Kya’s waist from behind and gave her a tight hug, resting her chin on the water bender’s left shoulder. Kya gave Lin a soft smile, placing on hand over the ones of her lover.

“Lin? Sweetheart?”, the older woman looked down at the cutting-board and kept talking after her chief answered with a soft groan, “You smell, take a shower.”

Kya tried to hide the smirk that was forming on her lips and chuckled when Lin gave her an annoyed side glance before leaving towards the bathroom.

She waited until she could hear the water running. Ok now or never, Kya thought.
She turned the stove down, not to burn the food while she was on her mission of love. Slipper love that is. The door of the bathroom screeched open, blue eyes peeking in.
Alright, the coast is clear. And with that final thought, Kya snuck into the bathroom and replaced one of Lin’s green slippers with her other blue one.

Unnoticed and without any sound, Kya left the bathroom again and went back to the kitchen as if nothing had happened. No matter how often Lin switches their shoes back to the “rightful” pairs, Kya will always be one step ahead of her love. Already having changed another two pairs before the earthbender will even notice the first one.

Kya laid the table and laughed after hearing the frustrating scream of her partner. Another few minutes passed before the beautiful metalbender entered the kitchen. Lin gave Kya an angry look that would have made many, probably everyone on the planet shake in fear but not her, not Kya.

“One month. It has been one month since one of my slippers suddenly started to keep changing colors… How long are you gonna keep that up?”, Lin put the food on the table while Kya sat down with a smirk on her lips.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”, she shrugged, “And I won’t say anything more without my lawyer. I know my rights, Miss Beifong.”, Kya crossed her arms.

“You are gonna be the death of me…”, Lin plopped on her chair and let out one last sigh.

Without another word, both of them started to eat the delicious meal that Kya had prepared for them. Lin talked a lot about what happened at the office, about Mako solving probably the biggest case of his career and the chief told her about the new junior officers, how enthusiastic they were about their job, and that it drove her crazy. Kya listened to her partner vent about her colleagues and what they did to annoy her, not only because it interested her but also to maybe get ideas for the future.

Once Lin told everything she was allowed to tell outside of the office, the food on their plates nearly gone, Kya started to narrate what happened in the last few days at the hospital. She told her about the kid that threw up all over the floor because of them having to remove her brother’s tooth and the little girl didn’t want to leave his side.

“I managed to get out of there quickly so Ayo had to clean up the mess”, Kya laughed with an evil look on her face. “You should have seen her face, pure look of betrayal”

The waterbender stroke a dramatic pose to underline her story and held a proud smile on her lips when Lin started to laugh too.

Once all the stories have been told, Lin got up to clean the dishes. They made a deal that if one of them cooks, the other one has to clean the kitchen and today it was Lins’s turn. While Kya took her shower, Lin put all the plates away and went to lay down on the couch. She switched her slippers back to the rightful pairs, shaking her head softly.


The metalbender took one of the large water tribe blankets Kya has brought with her from the South Pole and made herself comfortable on their new couch. When Kya moved in with Lin, they went shopping for new furniture, the Chief never saw the need to buy any expensive ones while she was living alone. Most of her time she either spent at the office or at the gym of the police station.

Her apartment was one of the bigger ones, sure, but it was nearly empty. Lin spent some good money on the kitchen, she was always a fan of homecooked meals, and even when working overtime she still made sure to have at least one warm meal a day. Other than that, the only room that was important to her before Kya moved in was her small office next to their bedroom. She spent many nights there working on the more important cases and paperwork.

The waterbender set up many decorations and dragged Lin to buy a bigger couch because the old green one Lin bought some years ago wasn’t a sofa in Kya’s opinion.

“First of all, you can’t even lay down on it nor cuddle, and second of all, it makes my back hurt. How did you manage to sleep on there?”, Kya complained while holding Lin’s hand.

The metalbender smiled and snuggled further into the blanket, she was glad that Kya pushed her to buy a new, bigger, and more comfortable one.

It didn’t take longer than 10 minutes for Lin to fall asleep, curled up in the thick water tribe fabric like a burrito.

Kya came into the living room looking for her partner and stopped in her tracks when she noticed the earthbender softly snoring on the couch. She deserves a nap with all the hard work that she does. Seeing her love like this made her heart melt: Lin laying on their couch, stuffed in the healer’s favorite blanket with her feet resting on the armrest still wearing her pair of bunny slippers. She changed them again...

“If any of her officers would see her like this, they would no longer be scared of her”, Kya chuckled to herself.

She went back into their bedroom to steal yet another one of Lin’s RCPD hoodies. They were slightly too big for her and just so comfortable. How could she blame me for always wearing them! In the corner of her eyes, Kya noticed her own blue bunnies and went to pick them up.

After spending a few minutes making some Jasmine tea for herself and the snoozer, she quietly placed both cups on the coffee table. Kya watched Lin’s face all the time while removing one of her shoes, carefully putting her blue one on Lin’s foot. She made herself comfortable next to her girlfriend, wrapping the blanket around herself while resting her head on Lin’s strong shoulder.

With a huge grin on her face, Kya tried to wake her lover. Placing small kisses on the other woman’s shoulder, then neck, her eyes never leaving the chief’s beautiful face.

“Wake up sleepy head, I made us tea”, Kya whispered before booping the earth bender’s nose.

Lin opened her eyes with a soft groan. “Five more minutes….”, she buried her face in the water bender’s hair.

“If you sleep now, you won’t be able to sleep during the night and we all know how moody you get when you aren’t well-rested”, Kya chuckled, playing with Lin’s hair.

Lin pulled her girlfriend closer, placing a soft kiss on Kya’s head. She enjoyed moments like this when there are just the two of them together, holding each other close and simply enjoying the other person’s presence.
The last few years have been a lot and didn’t go by unnoticed to both of them. They barely had any alone time together without someone threatening either Korra or the whole nation, which makes moments like this even more special.

Kya relaxed into Lin and took the small clay teacup in her hand holding it to Lin, silently asking if she would like some tea too. The earth bender reached for the other cup and gave Kya a loving smile. Neither Lin nor Kya said a word, simply enjoying the quiet moment between the two of them, drinking their favorite tea.

Lin pulled her feet under the blanket and noticed that her shoe changed color again. Her gaze landed on Kya’s feet, where she spotted the other uneven pair of slippers.

“Did you seriously change my shoes while I was sleeping?”, Lin gave the water bender an amused glance.

“Maybe. Maybe not. We will never know”, the healer took a small sip from her cup, looking Lin in the eyes. She tried not to laugh.

“Kya, this has been going on for a little more than a month and I never wanted to ask but I feel like I should… Why?”, The metal bender put her teacup down and tried to get her shoe back from her lover.

“For the record, I am not admitting anything here but what do you have against two different colors? Maybe our slippers just like each other as much as we do?”, Kya shrugged, an innocent look on her face.

“What…?”

“They are in love, Lin. Let them be happy together!”

This made the chief smile, this was exactly one of the reasons why she fell in love with the water bender. No matter what Kya did, even if it annoyed the spirits out of Lin, she couldn’t be mad at her.

“I love you, dumbass”, chuckled Lin before leaning in and kissing Kya softly on the lips.

She grinned during the kiss, moving closer to the younger woman beside her: “I love you too…”