I'd Spend a Lifetime Waiting for You
The two walked down to the police station, hands intertwined as they walked. After their own individual sessions with Li Meiza, the two began working through their trauma. Reluctantly, Lin drew her hand away from Kya as the station came into view.
“Hey, let me know how your lunch with Korra goes,” she said with a soft smile. Kya gave her a soft nod and the two walked to their respective offices.
Lin sighed at the mountain of papers on her desk. She sat down and began quickly scanning the documents, signing off on orders and formal police work. Time passed in a blur as she worked on making a dent in the paperwork.
She got up with a sigh and rolled her shoulders, relishing in the knots disappearing with a soft crack. For once, she actually took a break for lunch. Lin spent the rest of the day talking with Saikhan and other officers about assigning the rookie cops to patrols. Song was dutifully taking notes and offering suggestions, just desperately trying to contribute. Lin knew how hard it was to stay in the office, even with an injury, so she understood his frustration.
The police chief stayed behind late in order to finish up some paperwork. She had told Kya that today would be a late day, so her girlfriend wasn’t expecting her home until much later. She began to walk out of the building but stopped as the sound of punching filled the air. She walked over to the gym, confused as there wasn’t a scheduled session for the night shift today.
She opened the door to see Mako pounding away at a punching bag. The firebender’s face was screwed in concentration, and to her concern, he didn’t seem to notice his splitting muscles. Lin walked up to the other side of the bag, holding it still. She knew from experience that if you tried to place a hand on a focused officer, you would most likely get a broken nose.
Mako looked up with surprise as the bag began resisting against him. “Chief,” he said, quickly drawing into a salute. “Did you need something?”
“Well, I was wondering why you were beating the spirits out of this bag,” she said, handing him a water bottle. “It’s late, your shift ended two hours ago.”
“Shit,” he put his head in his hands, sitting on a bench.
Seeing the firebender so broken made Lin feel a surge of protectiveness. Okay, definitely talking with Li Meiza about that, but that’s for another time. She sat down and looked at him quizzically. “Are you okay?”
He let out a long sigh. “Not really, but I’ll be fine. It’s nothing you need to worry about,” he said, waving a hand dismissively and forcing a smile on his face.
“Kid, you’re a shit liar. Come on, go freshen up. We both need to eat and I’m taking you to dinner to talk about what’s wrong, no arguments,” she said, holding a hand up to cut off any potential protests.
He nodded, quickly leaving the gym. While he showered and changed, Lin slipped back into her office. She phoned the apartment, hoping Kya would pick up.
“Hello?” she asked with a yawn.
“Hey, it’s Lin,” she said with a small smile. “I’m taking Mako to dinner. Poor kid looks broken, he needs to talk even if his stubborn ass won’t admit it.”
“Ah, Korra was the same way today. When will you get back?”
“I’m not sure yet. If it gets late, don’t wait for me,” she said, knowing Kya would sacrifice sleep to see her.
“Alright babe, love you.”
“Love you too,” she said softly, hanging up the phone. She walked out of the office and saw Mako waiting for her in the hall.
The two walked to Ujo’s and grabbed a table. “So, tell me what’s going on kid. Is it work or personal?” she asked, taking a sip of the plum wine she ordered.
“Personal,” he replied, quickly downing some cucumber aloe water. “It’s about Korra,” he admitted hesitantly.
“What’s up?” she asked, noticing the immediate tension that appeared in his posture at her name. “Did you two have a fight?”
“Well we’ve had several,” he said with a sad laugh. Lin just looked at him, steely eyes softening to offer silent support. “Things have been tense lately between us. We both get busy with our work. She got mad at me once for not coming home while I was binge working.”
“She said I’ve been putting my job in front of her then I told her she’s been doing the same. Last week, I finally got a night off and we were going to go on a date. Then, she suddenly had to go do some Avatar stuff that could have waited.” Lin noticed how his hands began to slightly smoke, indicating things were more serious than she thought.
She reached across the table, grabbing his hand. He took a deep breath and gave her an appreciative nod. “It feels like we just keep prioritizing things over each other. I mean, I like her. Lately, I’ve been wondering if I even like her romantically.”
Lin gave a small laugh. “I know that feeling,” she said at his confused look. “I couldn’t figure out the difference between romantic and platonic feelings for the longest time. It’s what led me to getting with Tenzin, I couldn’t differentiate the two.”
She took a sip of wine, carefully considering her next words. “Right now, I’m seeing someone who makes me happy. It’s been hard, but we’ve made communication a priority. We...we had a huge fight a while ago because of that. Since then, I’ve really begun to understand the importance of honesty with your partner.”
Mako let out a sigh as the waiter set their food down. “I don’t feel that way with Korra. I want to be honest with her, but I won’t tell her about my problems. She has enough to deal with, I can’t add my problems to her plate.”
“Well, your relationship sounds like it’s gone south,” she noted, cutting into her duck.
“You said your relationship went bad too. How did you two fix it?” he asked, tearing into the tofu.
“We went to therapy together. Our therapist suggested individual sessions so we can work on communication, but without that initial session we probably would have fallen apart.”
The firebender shot her a sad smile. “I’m scared, but I think we need to break up. I love Korra, I really do, but I can’t do this.”
“You two will always be close,” she said simply. “Even if you two can’t romantically work out, that’s no reason to limit your friendship. Korra is pretty damn amazing and so are you. You both need loyal friends and you both need each other. You just have to remember why a romantic relationship didn’t work, but that doesn’t mean you two can’t be friends.”
“Thanks Chief,” he said. “Now, tell me about this person that you’re seeing.”
“Well, she’s amazing. She’s beautiful, kind, and loyal. She’ll always be there for me, no matter what. We’ve both been dancing around our feelings for a while, but we finally stopped being dense,” she said with a laugh.
He smiled. “I’m happy that you found her. You two need each other, like Korra and I do,” he noted.
Lin smiled. “Yeah. We do,” she admitted softly.
The two finished eating and Lin paid for the meal. “Remember to ask Korra to heal your knuckles,” she said. “You didn’t wrap before your punching session.”
He looked down at his hands in surprise. “Spirits, I didn’t even notice. Thanks Chief.”
“Of course kiddo. If you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask,” she said, giving him a reassuring nod. The two split and went their separate ways.
Lin opened the apartment and smiled. Kya was reading on the couch, wearing one of her hoodies. She was so focused on her book she didn’t even notice Lin come in. Lin bent her armor off and walked over to her.
“Hey,” she said, pressing a gentle kiss on her head.
Kya looked up at her with a smile. “Hey. How tired are you?”
“I’m not too tired,” she said, sitting next to her on the couch. “Just emotionally done from dealing with Mako repressing his emotions.”
Kya laughed. “Well he’s not the only one who’s done that. Korra told me she wanted to end things between them. She said it felt like they weren’t each other’s priority anymore, but she doesn’t want to lose him as a friend.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. At Kya’s confused look, she shook her head. “He told me the same thing. He wants to break up with her, but he can’t lose her and doesn’t want to hurt her.”
Kya laughed, pressing her head into the crook of her neck. “Idiot kids,” she said softly. “At least we figured it out, even if a bit late.”
“I’d rather spend a lifetime alone waiting for you then live a life without you,” she admitted. Kya gave her a soft kiss, pouring all of her love into the kiss. The two cuddled on the couch, murmuring gentle compliments and sharing soft kisses.
Kya placed her hand on Lin’s face, the shorter woman leaning into her hand. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, pressing a gentle kiss to the middle of her forehead. The two just spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch, enjoying the peaceful quiet together.