You are the Family I Will Choose, Over and Over Again
The next morning, Kya woke up to a kiss on the lips. “Morning,” Lin said, voice still raspy from her sleep. Kya looked up at her girlfriend and gave her a gentle kiss and tap on the nose while she ran her hands down her muscular body. Lin scrunched her face and blushed a deep shade of red. Kya looked at her amused, loving how reactive her girlfriend was to touch.
“Morning baby. You look cute when you get flustered,” she said sitting up, causing her lover to blush even more. She laughed, feeling no sympathy for the earthbender. “I love you,” she said, putting her head on top of Lin’s.
“I love you too.” The two quietly sat together, just soaking in each other’s presence. Their lives were hectic and chaotic, being with each other was like a breath of fresh air. “When we get back to the city, you are moving your stuff into my room. I am not sleeping without you again,” she said.
Kya smiled. “Good because I would crawl into your bed anyways. You’re too sweet to kick me out, even if you didn’t want me there,” she said, stretching her arms above her head. She turned around, noting with amusement that Lin made no attempt to hide that she was checking her out. “Like the view?”
“Very much,” she said, getting out of bed to change. “I’d like it better without that shirt on though.”
Kya gasped and put her hand on her chest. “You only wanted me for my amazing body, how dare you?” she said, voice laced with mock hurt.
“Oh no, you’re onto me,” she said with a chuckle. Lin pulled on a simple green shirt with some black pants. Kya walked up behind her, sliding on her dress. She pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder. Now that she had permission to give Lin affection, she would never stop finding some excuse to kiss or hold her lover.
The two walked out of the bedroom to help with breakfast. To their surprise, everyone else was awake. “Morning sleepyheads,” Korra said with a smirk.
Lin looked outside, noticing how high the sun was. “Spirits, we did not mean to sleep in that long. Guess that’s what you get when your bending comes back,” she said with a smile.
“Here, we saved you two some jook and crab stew,” Pema said, handing them a bowl.
“Thank you,” Kya said with a smile. The two dished out their meal and sat down to talk with their friends and family. “So I heard that Bumi is retiring,” she said, eating her stew.
Tenzin sighed. “Unfortunately. He’s also made the decision to live with us on the island. Lin, do you have an extra room? I might need to move in with you.”
“Unfortunately no, Kya took up the only extra one,” she said, taking a bite of seal jerky.
Tenzin looked at the two with surprise. “When did that happen?”
“I told you I was going to room with her, Tenny. I’ve been living with her ever since I moved to the city,” she said.
He frowned. “Huh, don’t know how I missed that.” He noticed the lingering touches his sister was giving Lin, but decided it wasn’t worth his time to analyze. The conversation quickly turned to what the plans were for when they got back to the city.
“Thank you so much for having us Mom, but we need to get back. Spirits only know how chaotic everything is. There’s been talk of dismantling the Council and I’m not opposed to it,” Tenzin said, giving his mom a hug.
“It’s nice to have you down here. I’m just happy I got to see you all again, even if it was under some unpleasant circumstances,” Katara said.
Everyone left the living room reluctantly, knowing they had to pack. Lin walked up behind Kya and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Well, we have these eel hounds to take back. Do you want to travel back? We can make a trip out of it,” she asked.
“Yeah, that would be nice,” she said. “I don’t want to take too long though, you have to get back to work. I’ve been thinking about getting a job with the police.”
Lin raised an eyebrow. “What? I can’t babe. If I lost you…”
She pressed a kiss to the police chief’s lips. “Look, I know that you’re scared for me. I want to get a job as a healer. I know that you and your officers need one. I probably won’t be going into a direct conflict with you and your officers unless it’s a big threat.”
“I know that you want to protect me. You’ve been protecting me and the people in Republic City for so long, let me return the favor,” she said gently, pressing a hand to her face.
She nodded and leaned into her hand. “I…” Her voice trailed off as her throat closed with emotion. “In the past, Tenzin and others would just criticize me for working. I never really had time outside of work and I was okay with that. They didn’t understand how important serving the city is to me.” She wrapped her in a hug, tears in her eyes. “You just support me. You understand me, and I can’t thank you enough. I’d be honored to have you serve with me because you’re you. You just want to be there with me and not change a thing. It’s weird to me to have this kind of support and I-”
She cut her off with a kiss. “Baby, I love you. I will be here to support you through this, no matter what,” she promised. The two just held each other and turned to continue packing.
After quickly gathering their stuff together, they got ready for dinner. They helped Katara prepare the halibut stew. Lin took special note of how Katara prepared the food her girlfriend loved. When Kya turned to talk with Pema while they waited for the stew to finish, she quickly pulled Katara aside.
“Do you have any recipe books? I want to try and surprise her with a nice meal when we get back to the city,” she said quietly.
Katara smiled, immediately knowing that Lin wanted to make her daughter as happy as she could. “I mostly memorize my recipes. Thankfully, I wrote them down at Kya’s insistence.” She handed Lin a blue book, thick with recipes. “I want you to have this. No arguments,” she said, holding up a hand to cut off Lin’s protests.
She simply nodded. “Thank you,” she said, giving her a hug. Katara smiled and embraced the earthbender, familial love flowing between the two. Lin carefully placed the book in the bottom of her bag, wanting it to remain as safe as possible. She’s done so much for me...at least I can try and repay her with some authentic Water Tribe meals. She won’t admit it, but she misses home more than she lets on.
Lin walked out of the room as the stew was finished. Katara dished out the stew and everyone dug in excitedly. Conversation quickly became heated up as they debated pro-bending.
“I don’t get why they can’t have a no rules mode! Just let the two teams go at it, see what happens!” Korra argued.
“Korra, that could kill someone,” Bolin said, shaking his head.
“Okay and? It’s not like there will be no rules, just not many. You can knock people off the sides and combine elements, like the Wolfbats did. It would be fun!” she said, eyes gleaming.
Mako shook his head. “No, it would be too expensive and dangerous. I mean, pro-bending is already a dangerous sport as it is. We’re a little bit too familiar with injuries, no rules mode would make it worse.”
Korra stuck her tongue out. “You guys are no fun,” she said with a pout.
“You know how there are duels? Like between that prissy boy Tahno and you?” Asami said, gesturing at Korra. At the Avatar’s nod, Asami continued. “What if we spiced it up by giving them an electric glove? That way, you have to not only fight your opponent with elements, but with normal fighting as well. I can turn the electric shock down so it’s not too dangerous and it could be fun,” she said.
Tenzin sighed. “Spirits only know how you have all survived this long,” he said, losing his hope in humanity. Team Avatar simply laughed at him while Pema sympathetically patted his shoulder.
“If you thought they were bad, just wait until Meelo becomes a teenager.”
“Spirits help us all when that happens.”
Conversation flowed easily as they all helped clean up after dinner. They all turned in for the night soon after, knowing they had to get up early in order to travel. Lin shrugged off her shirt, leaving her in just her wraps. She normally slept in just the wraps and some loose pants, but she wanted a shirt on with Kya.
Kya walked up behind her. “If you want, you don’t have to put a shirt on. Look, I won’t do anything you want me to unless I have clear consent.” She wrapped her arms around Lin, looking at her in the mirror. “I also won’t let the first time we have sex be at my mother’s house, afraid someone is going to catch us, if you even want that. If you normally sleep with your wraps and want to wear just that, that’s okay. If you feel more comfortable with a shirt, you can do that. I don’t care as long as you’re comfortable,” she said gently. Kya knew how horrible her lover’s insecurities were and how easily she felt pressure to do what she didn’t want to.
Lin pressed a gentle kiss to her girlfriend. “Thank you,” she said softly, voice conveying all the affection and love she felt. She decided to sleep in just her wraps and pants, Kya donning the same thing. She pulled Kya close to her. “I love you,” she said, giving her a tender kiss.
“I love you too,” she said. The two laid down and looked at each other. They pressed their heads together and fell asleep in each other’s arms, facing each other. In the morning, they would have to face travel and what would happen in their relationship going forward. For now, they just held each other tightly.