Would You Rather...

The Clean-Up

"Oh, uh Lin? Zumi knows about us..."

"What??"
———
Kya was already down the stairs when Lin caught up to her.

"What do you mean Izumi knows? I thought we weren't telling anyone yet." Lin asked. She wasn't upset that their friend knew, they had planned on telling her soon anyway because it was likely she already had suspicions.

"Good morning, sleepyheads!" Bumi's voice boomed from across the room, interrupting Kya's chance to reply. Lin gave him an acknowledging nod and turned back to the waterbender waiting for some kind of response to her question. Kya only said a happy 'good morning' back to her brother.

Bumi strode over and recognized the look of irritation on Lin's face at the fact that he was interrupting their conversation again.

"What's already got your cables in a twist this morning, Lin?" He asked, snickering at his own joke and Lin rolled her eyes.

"Nothing." She said as she glanced at Kya.

"Ohhhh, are you two fighting? Did I interrupt? What're you arguing about?" Bumi asked in a quick series.

"We're not-" Kya and Lin said at the same time.

"Lover's quarrel?"

The women stopped short. They looked at Bumi critically, trying to determine whether he was kidding or not. Only half a beat passed and he was talking again.

"You two are together, right? Sorry if I assumed wrong... Will one of you answer me? I don't know what those looks mean." Bumi said, the longer the women were silent the more confused he became.

"What? I'm not oblivious like Tenzin. I've seen how you look at each other, even when the other one's not looking. If there's not something going on between you two, maybe there should be." He stated matter of factly.

"No, you're right." Kya said with a glance at Lin. She spoke quietly, unsure of whether or not she was crossing a boundary. "We're together."

Lin nodded and Bumi's grin returned.

"Knew it!" He said proudly. Lin again rolled her eyes. She didn't mind that Bumi now also knew, and apparently he knew before so not much would change.

If Lin was honest with herself, she loved Kya. But she wanted to move slowly when it came to having a public relationship, and though she felt Kya felt the same about her, she wanted to be sure.

Bumi was talking about nothing as the three of them headed outside to where Tenzin was already hard at work cleaning up. Izumi was quite a ways away with a trash bag and was slowly working her way back to the group where they were working on picking up the center of the mess.

With the five of them it only took a couple hours to pick up and put everything away. Katara and Aang wouldn't have any reason to suspect their kids threw the massive party. Hopefully.

Shortly after, Tenzin went to his father's study, Bumi wandered off, and the three women sat in the living room. Lin sat close to Kya, showing she knew that Izumi knew, and that she was comfortable with it.

"So..." Izumi started, her eyes drawn to Kya's lap where the waterbender held her girlfriend's hand. She smiled looking back up at them. "Tell me everything."

The three of them talked for hours, catching up on every little detail of their lives. After a while, Bumi walked in complaining that he was hungry and Tenzin returned to the living room. Izumi had politely asked what the air ended had been studying and now Tenzin was droning on about something that Lin had no particular interest in. When the earthbender grew tired of their noise she got up and went to the kitchen.

When Kya heard the shuffling of pans and utensils stop she went to check on her girlfriend. She had given Lin time to herself in the kitchen. The younger woman needed a little space and time to process the conversations they had had with Bumi and Izumi, otherwise she would have asked Kya to come with her.

Lin enjoyed cooking, it was a good creative outlet for her while also performing a basic necessity. Kya had always thought that part of the reason the earthbender liked it was that there were no particular rules to follow. Lin could try things and experiment with relatively few risks. If something was awful, she could always grab takeout.

When the waterbender entered the kitchen she recognized a wonderful smell of vegetable stir fry. Lin knew it was one of her girlfriend's favorites, probably because of its simplicity more than anything and pretty much anything could go into it.

Lin was leaning into her palms on the edge of the kitchen sink, looking out at the bay. Kya stepped up behind her and the earthbender shifted back to lean into her, knowing she was there before Kya had wrapped her arms around Lin's waist. They stood admiring the water together for a minute until Lin turned to go check the meal. She gave Kya a quick peck on the cheek before moving away to the stove.

When it was finished the older woman called everyone in to eat. They sat and ate their dinner together, everyone appreciating Lin's work in the kitchen. They continued to talk after they had finished their meal. Even though they had grown up together there never seemed to be a shortage of conversation with the group.

After realizing how late it had gotten they cleaned up and washed their dishes. Lin had to work tomorrow and Izumi was leaving really early in the morning to return to the Fire Nation so they all reluctantly said their goodbyes, promising to write to one another. When Lin was ready, Kya walked her down to the docks.

"Call tomorrow night? I don't care how late it gets." Kya asked.

"I will, Kya. I promise." Lin replied and she leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Linny." The waterbender said with a smile. Lin was turning to leave when Kya suddenly reached up, grabbed the younger woman's face in her hands and kissed her deeply. Then just as quickly she let go and Lin blushed a bright pink. "Get home safe."

The earthbender nodded and boarded the boat that would take her back to the city. She was still blushing as they waved goodbye to each other.