Chapter Text
Why are these damn beds so damn hard?
That was the only thought going through Lin’s mind as she spent hours tossing and turning. When she’d agreed to spend the night at Air Temple Island, she’d forgotten why she rarely ever did so. The few times she’d stayed over in the past couple of years, nights had been particularly uncomfortable. She was convinced these beds were made by evil itself. She felt as though she was sleeping on the floor. There was no comfortable position to lie in, because no matter how she positioned herself, the part of her body touching the bed would go completely numb. Not to mention the pain in her back was killing her. She wasn’t twenty anymore, she needed back support.
She groaned as she rolled—or rather thunked onto her back once again, her left side tingling. She glanced at her watch. It was already three in the morning and she hadn’t slept for a single second.
Instead of tossing and turning for another three hours, she decided to get up. Maybe taking a break from this evil piece of furniture that was set on ruining her body and mind would help.
She got up and put on the pair of grey sweats Pema had been nice enough to give to her. Lin still couldn’t quite find the right mind to like her, but at least she was always trying to make her feel welcome.
“Damn air people,” she muttered to herself while she walked into the hallway and down towards the kitchen. She yawned as she rubbed at her neck, trying to get rid of some of the tension. It didn’t quite work. She sighed, poured herself a glass of water and moved into the dining hall.
Just as she was about to take a seat at one of the tables, she noticed someone was outside on the patio, leaning against the wooden railing. For a moment she wondered who it was, but as they turned their head just slightly to reveal the side of their face, Lin already knew. It was Kya. Lin would recognize her face just about anywhere.
Just last week, Kya had returned from the South Pole to spend some time in Republic City training healers at the hospital on Si Wong Avenue. It had been almost four years since she’d last visited the city. And almost four years since Lin had last seen her.
Finding out Kya would be returning to the city, and knowing that Lin would most likely be running into her at some point, had sent her down into a two-day spiral. Her feelings for Kya were nothing new. They were strong and she’d had them for a long time, even if she hadn’t always been aware of them. But when Kya was on the literal other side of the world, it was pretty easy to push her feelings down and pretend they weren’t there. Now that Kya was here, however, ignoring how she felt was proving to be a tad more difficult.
Lin took a moment to consider her next step. She could either pretend she hadn’t seen her, finish her glass of water and go back to bed, or she could say hello. They hadn’t really gotten a chance to catch up yet since Kya had arrived. And however much she loathed herself over it, she very much felt the need to spend time with her.
Before she gave herself the chance to change her mind, she slid open the door and stepped outside.
“Hey,” she called quietly, not wanting to wake anyone.
Kya’s head whipped around at the sudden noise, clearly not expecting anyone at this hour. Her questioning expression was soon replaced by a smile, however.
“Hey,” she returned softly.
Lin slid the door closed and went to stand next to her, making sure to put just the right amount of distance between them. She leaned over the railing and looked out over the training area. Fireflies were dancing in the soft glow of the moon. It was quite a captivating sight.
“Why are you up?” Lin asked, looking back at Kya.
Kya grinned, poking her in the arm.
“I could ask you the same thing,” she said.
Lin chuckled and played around with the hair tie around her wrist for a moment. She sighed.
“Couldn’t sleep,” she said with a shrug.
“Mhm,” Kya returned knowingly. After a few beats of silence, she spoke again. “It’s the beds, isn’t it?”
Lin looked back up at her. She was flashing her a knowing grin, a single eyebrow raised. Lin laughed.
“Yeah,” she admitted while shaking her head. “I can’t stand them.”
Kya nodded.
“I know, I remember,” she said with a small smile.
She probably hadn’t intended for that statement to be meaningful at all, but to Lin it somehow sounded so… soft. It was so simple, yet not simple at all. Kya had remembered something about her, something so specific, even though they hadn’t spoken or seen each other in almost four years. Lin tried hard not to look at her too long.
“Right,” was all she managed.
Silence slowly settled over them, the only sound left being crickets chirping in the far distance and waves crashing against the shore of the island. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Even though they had never been all that close, moments spent with Kya never felt awkward. Lin never felt forced to say anything and fill the silence. She had really missed this.
“It’s good to have you back in the city,” she said, not even thinking twice about it. It was true. Kya was a good spirit to have around. She was kind and open and always down to turn any moment fun, but she could also be serious when the situation called for it. More often than not, she was the one to light up the room. It was a good thing that she was back.
But perhaps Lin should have thought twice about her comment, because the shit-eating grin Kya was now giving her made her feel a tad nervous.
“What?” she asked hesitantly.
“You missed me,” Kya stated, teasing.
Lin rolled her eyes at her and tried to hide the smile that was creeping onto her face. She wanted to hit herself. This was her own damn fault. She shouldn’t have said anything.
“No,” she said matter-of-factly, trying to fix the situation while looking at anything but her. “I meant… for the hospital. They can really use the help over there.”
She internally cursed at herself. She was a high grade detective, she should be able to lie better than this.
“Right,” Kya mused sarcastically, obviously not buying it. “Because of my job at Si Wong. Mhm.”
Just as Lin was about to say something else, Kya slid her arm around hers and leaned into her side.
“I missed you too, Lin.”
Lin felt her entire body tense up at the gesture. She carefully glanced to the side. Kya was staring ahead, looking at the scenery before them, while resting her head on Lin’s shoulder. Lin wasn’t quite sure what to do. Receiving affection from Kya always managed to catch her off guard. For some reason, Kya rarely seemed affected by the threatening glares Lin gave people whenever they came too close. She just went ahead and touched her anyway. It didn’t bother Lin, though. Having her close was nice.
Lin took a moment to decide on her response. For a few seconds, she let her free hand awkwardly hover in the air, before slowly placing it on Kya’s arm. Kya felt soft, and warm. Lin briefly wondered how she felt. Hard and cold?
Kya lifted her head up and looked at her with a smile. Lin could feel something tingling at the back of her neck at the sight of it. Kya was gorgeous—that wasn’t new. But whenever she smiled, her eyes lit up in a way that made Lin want to look at her just that much longer. It was captivating in a way that made her feel warm inside.
She expected Kya to look away after a few moments, but she didn’t. Her gaze continued to hold Lin’s, her eyes steadily darting between hers. Then, she took a slow breath in as the hand around Lin’s bicep tightened ever so slightly.
It wasn’t until then that Lin realized how close they were. Despite the darkness that surrounded them, she could see each freckle on Kya’s face. She could even smell her lavender shampoo. Lin could feel her heart increasing it pace. It was intoxicating.
Then, for a short moment, Kya’s gaze moved lower, and Lin’s breath caught in her throat.
“Lin?” Kya whispered softly as she looked her back in the eyes. She visibly swallowed, her eyes questioning, asking.
Lin tried to find her voice, but for some reason, she couldn’t produce any sound. She wanted to tell her yes, yes, absolutely, yes, but the words failed to leave her mouth. She was frozen in place. All she could do was look at Kya as the soft sound of her name on Kya’s lips continuously echoed through her mind.
But somehow, it seemed to be enough, because suddenly, Kya closed the distance between them.
The kiss was brief, and careful, but the feeling of Kya’s lips against hers was enough to set Lin’s mind on fire.
Kya pulled back just slightly, their eyes meeting again. Her face was so open, so vulnerable, so soft. She seemed uncertain, as if to say, I’m not sure if this is okay with you. Lin could feel her own insides tingling. Her thoughts ravaged through her brain as Kya looked at her, as she looked at Kya, and after a few moments, Lin made the decision to ignore the mess going on in her mind and to be bold, just this once.
She leaned forward, capturing Kya’s lips with her own. It took barely a second for Kya to respond, her hand quickly finding home on Lin’s cheek. Lin could feel her backbone turn to liquid, her brain one big fuzz, at the feeling of Kya’s lips so softly but steadily pressed against her own. When they separated for air, Kya’s lips remained like a feather against Lin’s.
“Well, that’s certainly new for us,” Kya humored, hot breath moving down Lin’s face.
“Mhm,” Lin agreed, before leaning in again.
Kya inhaled sharply against Lin’s mouth, her arms quickly wrapping around her neck. As Kya pulled her closer, Lin’s hands soon found her hips, and then her lower back. Once their bodies met, it didn’t take long for Kya to deepen the kiss.
Lin’s mind reeled. The sensation of Kya’s lips moving against hers, along with the heat of their bodies flushed together, made Lin feel like she was about to explode. She felt as though she was going to cause a landslide at any moment and accidentally sink the entirety of Air Temple Island. It was too much to contain. It was overwhelming.
One of Kya’s hands suddenly moved from Lin’s neck into her hair, her nails sharply digging into her scalp. The move caused Lin to tighten her grip on Kya’s back, which in turn led Kya to roll her hips against Lin’s. But before Lin could even begin to respond, Kya inhaled sharply against her mouth and pulled back.
She rested her forehead against Lin’s and chuckled. Her voice almost sounded hoarse.
“Maybe we should, uhm-“ she started while she tried to catch her breath. When she made no move to finish the sentence, Lin spoke instead.
“Slow down a little?” she finished for her.
Kya opened her eyes. When she found Lin looking back at her, she smiled.
“Yeah,” she said, shaking her head.
For a few moments, neither of them said anything. Lin reveled in the feeling of Kya still pressed against her, with Kya’s hands wrapped around her neck and their foreheads still touching. If she were honest with herself, she knew she would come to the conclusion that she never wanted to let go.
“I’ve been wanting to do that,” Kya suddenly said, breaking the silence. She bit her lower lip as her eyes searched for Lin’s.
When Lin opened her mouth to respond, she felt footsteps coming their way from inside the temple. She would’ve loved to ignore them and continue their moment, but she also knew that them being caught like this would raise some issues.
She gave Kya an apologetic smile.
“Someone’s coming,” she said, gesturing towards the dining hall.
Kya followed her gaze and nodded in understanding. She slowly untangled herself from Lin and straightened her dress.
A few second later, Ikki appeared in the dining hall, rubbing her eyes. When she saw her aunt outside, she walked over and slid the door open.
“Aunt Kya?” she asked, voice ridden with sleep.
Kya walked over and crouched down to ask what was wrong. Apparently the child had had a nightmare and wanted to spend the rest of the night in her aunt’s bed, as she often did. Kya agreed, although a bit reluctantly.
As Ikki grabbed onto her aunt’s hand to drag her inside, Kya stood back up and turned to face Lin.
“Sorry,” she whispered, apologetic frown on her face. “Talk tomorrow?”
Lin smiled at her and nodded in understanding. Of course she didn’t want her to leave, more so than ever, but Lin understood Kya’s role as an aunt. Her nieces and nephews meant the world to her.
“Of course,” she whispered back. “Sleep well.”
Once Kya was gone, Lin felt reality slowly settle in.
Kya had kissed her.
She let go of a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and ran a hand through her hair. She looked up at the sky as she sighed deeply, letting her arm drop back down. She felt like jumping, like flying. Kya had kissed her. And she had kissed Kya back. And it had been earth-shattering.
There was no way she was going to be able to sleep now.