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Bumi lay sprawled across the floor like butter melting on a skillet. His breathing was hitched, his muscles were tender, and his body was drenched in sweat.
"Linny, you're insane," he said, panting.
"Stand and fight, Commander. I'll show you insane."
Bumi rolled over on his back.
"Ex-commander," he corrected, raising one frail finger in the air to make his point.
Lin walked over the mat and crouched down beside his limp body. Bumi watched her carefully. Lin was a sturdy woman- age marred no bars on her skill. But she was sweating too. Her porcelain skin shone with an iridescent glow, like she was sweating diamonds, and Bumi wondered if it were worth risking his life by caressing her soft cheek.
"Either I'm going to finish you, or you get up and defend your honor," she said.
There was something delicate about the way she said those very harsh words. Or maybe Bumi was just imagining it. All those years spent wondering why Tenzin had always been so hung up on this woman, beaten to floor, Bumi could see the answer clear as day. Spending all those weeks sparring and training with Lin Beifong, he journeyed from a simple infatuation to an admiration bridled with an attraction so strong that now he was done for.
"You can finish me," he replied, exhaling loudly.
"Come on, Bumi," she said, nudging his side.
"Please finish me, Linny. I'm done."
Lin straddled him, knee on either side of his hips and pressed his forearms into the floor. "You're a proud loser, you know that? You shouldn’t give up so easily."
Bumi's eyes widened. He was definitely hallucinating. Because he knew he was being baited into getting up and fighting, but instead he was registering something delicate- something full of flirty concern in her tone.
Knowing Lin though, he knew he was way off.
But when she was on top of him like that, all bets were off. She looked beautiful in a way he had never experienced before. Her eyes sparkled, her hair was a sweaty mess clinging on to her face for dear life.
He was spending all his energy in restraining himself from tipping her over and kissing her with the fervor a woman like her deserved.
“Bumi?”
Shit. He probably had a stupid smile on his face.
Had she been speaking this whole time?
“Yeah?”
“You need to speak up.”
"I did! I'm beat, Lin."
The Chief rolled her eyes. "Clearly, there's a problem. Have I not been training you properly? Or are you not responding to my methods? It's been weeks! You're extremely distracted- you haven't won a single spar- I'm not even sure you're improving since your training with Tenzin." Her voice was really laced with worry this time. Her words spilled like honey and Bumi wanted to taste them. "So, what is it? What's the problem?"
“You, Lin! You’re the problem,” he exclaimed. The desperation in his voice sounded foreign to his own ears.
But she scoffed. “I have done nothing but help—“
“Oh, no. You’re perfect!”
“So then—“
“That’s the problem!”
“Are you having a stroke?”
“No, I’m thinking clear as day. For the first time in weeks. Lin, I think I might be harboring something terrible.”
“Like a parasite?” she asked, unamused.
“Feelings. I’ve been harboring feelings. Romantic, gooey, disgusting feelings for you. Feelings that make me want to forget the whole world just so every crevice of mind and heart can be dedicated to you.”
He felt Lin stiffen ever so slightly. So he swallowed his nerves and continued, "I can't keep training with you- not when I have to restrain myself- I'm an airbender. I need to be free. I can't help myself around you. I can't think. I can't stand. How do you expect me to fight?"
Lin stared at him in shock. She regarded his confession with thought, but words failed her.
"I didn't know you felt that way..."
She shifted off his body and sat by his side, still spellbound.
"I do," he replied, sitting up to meet her gaze. "I haven't felt like this in a long, long time. I didn't even know I was capable of it after all these years."
Lin huffed. "I won't deny it. I felt something too, but your reputation precedes you. I'd be the stupidest woman to get my heart broken by yet another son of the Avatar's."
"I would never-" he said, shaking his head.
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I can't see you anymore. I can't train with you. I can't contain my feelings. I need to- I need some space to think and—"
"You're ridiculous. Are you just saying all this to get out of training? Because—"
"Fuck no, Lin!"
"—it sure sounds like it. You're telling me you have feelings for me and your big solution to that is to get away from me?"
"Yes?" he replied meekly.
"Just- just, ugh," she grunted. "Kiss me or leave me," she said, standing up. "Get out of my sight."
Bumi followed suit and stood taller in front of her. Suddenly, he had regained all his strength. He had a big weight lifted off of him, after all. Just as she turned away, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her towards him. Before she knew it, her lips were greeted by his and she found herself melting into his embrace. His hands held her in place by the waist while her arms ran over shoulders as if that was where they belonged. Her lips were soft, he could taste the coffee, sweat and apprehension in her mouth before he deepened the kiss with his tongue.
A fiery few minutes later, they separated. Their heated passion had dissolved into something more tender. They took their first breaths apart and gathered each others' disheveled appearances. It was Lin who chuckled first, followed by Bumi- giggling as if they shared an inside joke from years ago.
"So, I'll wager," Bumi ventured, "since I kissed you, I can't leave you?"
Lin only smirked before walking away.