Love is Brightest in the Dark

Chapter 17

By the time she realized what she'd said the words were already out. Kya could practically see the wave of fear wash over Lin as her eyes widened in shock at what she had said. "What did you say?" Kya asked in disbelief. "Nothing. Just forget it." As Lin began to turn over and hide her embarrassment Kya grabbed her arm, pulling her face to face. "I love you too." Before Lin had time to process her words, Kya gave her a gentle kiss before resting her head on Lin's chest. Lin starred in bewilderment at the waterbender who had already closed her eyes as she began to drift off into sleep. In a matter of minutes, Kya's breathing had slowed to a steady rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. Lin wrapped an arm around Kya, careful as to not wake her and cast her eyes to the ceiling. She almost pinched herself to ensure she was't dreaming- this was real! This was her life! She had just finally gotten brave enough to take it. She couldn't help but smile as she replayed the evening's events over and over in her head, already eagerly anticipating her and Kya's next sexual encounter. Lin began to feel the adrenaline wear off as her eyelids got heavy again with sleep. She had entirely forgotten how tired she was from her long journey home and felt herself begin to doze off into a blissful sleep.

The next morning Lin awoke to find Kya nestled in her arms still fast asleep. She looks so beautiful when she's dreaming, Lin thought to herself. She gently moved a piece of Kya's silver hair out of her face which caused Kya to begin to stir. "Good morning," Lin said softly as Kya slowly opened her eyes. "So it wasn't a dream," Kya said with a yawn as she snuggled closer to Lin. "What wasn't?" "Last night." "Are you happy it wasn't a dream?" Lin asked nervously. "Of course I'm happy it wasn't a dream! I had a lot of fun," said Kya with a smile. "Do you still mean it?" "Mean what?" asked LIn. "That you love me." "From the bottom of my heart," Lin said, giving Kya a small kiss on her temple. "I love you too. Give me a kiss." As LIn leaned in to kiss Kya, she giggled. "What's so funny?" asked Lin. "Someone has a bad case of morning breath," Kya laughed. "Don't worry- I'll always kiss you with your morning breath." She pulled Lin's neck towards her, bringing her into a passionate kiss. "Should we have a repeat of last night?" Kya suggested, running her hands down Lin's body. Lin was about to say yes when something caught her eye. "Shit!" She yelled, jumping out of bed. "What?" "I'm late- fuck I am so late!" Lin rummaged through her dresser, scrambling to get dressed. "For what?" Kya asked, sitting up in bed. "Work! I told Mako I would be back today but I completely forgot to set my alarm. I have never been late in my thirty years on the force and my first day back from my first vacation I'm late. This is great, just great." She hastily pulled on a pair of boots and examined herself in the mirror. "How do I look?" she asked. "Like a cop." 'Very funny." 'So what am I going to do?" Kya asked. "Just give me a few hours and I'll be back. Help yourself to whatever you want in the fridge. There isn't much in there so maybe check out this cafe down the street. Here's my key, I'll be back." She tossed a small brass key onto the night table before racing out the door. "Bye?" Kya said as the door slammed shut behind Lin.

Lin arrived at the station just in time to see Bolin pull up in a brand new Sotomobile. "Bolin, why are you ten minutes late?" Lin asked, happy to restore her sense of authority. Bolin's eyes grew wide in panic at the sight of the chief and his face went bright pink. "Chief! You're back! Welcome back! Well that is a great question and actually it's because this morning Pabu.... Well he wasn't feeling too great and I was worried maybe he ate too much last night- you know how fire ferrets can be and-" "That's enough. Just get inside and get to work," Lin interrupted. Bolin nodded and practically ran inside. Lin smirked- she missed being intimidating. She took a deep breath before entering the precinct- preparing herself for what she was sure would be utter chaos. What she found, much to her surprise, was that everything seemed to be in order. In fact, the place looked even better than when she had left (although she would never admit that to Mako). The stacks of files that littered the desks were gone, the bulletin board had been decluttered, even the coffee mugs seemed to sparkle. Lin raised an eyebrow, looking for some imperfection as she walked through the bullpen towards her office. She opened the door to find Mako hunched over a file, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He glanced up from his reading and immediately stood at attention. "Chief Beifong, welcome back." "At ease, soldier. How have things been for the past few days? Hectic I'm sure." "Actually, Chief, it's been pretty good. We developed a new filing system that makes the paperwork easier to track down, we busted a new faction of Triple Threats, and we even found a hidden stash of Equalist weapons," he said proudly. "Oh. Well, job well done. I'm impressed, Mako." "Thank you, Chief." Lin thought to herself for a minute. "Mako, would you be okay being in charge for one more day? There's some business I must attend to that I'm afraid I completely forgot about." "Of course, Chief. Is everything okay?" "Yes, everything is fine. I'll see you tomorrow." She was about to leave before she turned one last time. "Oh, and Mako? Keep your brother on his toes. I think he's gotten a little too used to me being gone." Mako smiled and nodded as Lin closed the door behind her.

Lin carefully balanced the coffees and muffins in her hands as she attempted to unlock her front door, cursing herself for not being able to metal bend with her mind. When she finally got it unlocked, she strode casually into her bedroom to find Kya still in bed fast asleep. "Someone is tired," Lin said, sitting down on the bed next to Kya. "What?" Kya said sleepily. "I thought you left for work?" "I did. But I figured bringing you breakfast in bed was slightly more important than the safety of Republic City." Lin handed Kya a small cup of coffee. "Is it-" "Yes, I made sure the cup was made out of recycled materials." Kya smiled and took a sip. "You seriously left work just to bring my muffins and coffee?" "More or less. I went in today pretty much expecting the place to be burned to the ground or at the very least to find Mako having a mental breakdown, but he actually did a good job. He did a great job in fact. I've never seen the place so clean and organized. And he even managed to close a few major cases." "That's great, Lin!" "It got me thinking-we're both getting older and we both know I can't work this job forever. I'm not saying I'm retiring tomorrow, but when the day comes I think I know who I want to pass down my badge to." "Mako? Even though he's not a metal bender? He's not even an earth bender." "He's earned it. Besides, you don't need to be a metal bender to be a part of the police force. I think he's going to make a fine chief of police one day." "He has very big shoes to fill," said Kya. "He's no Beifong, but he'll do." "So are you telling me that you are looking forward to more mornings like this? Waking up together?" Lin smiled. "I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my mornings with you- however many mornings I have left. I want to spend them all with you."

The End