Disclaimer: Still don't own LoK.

AN: Inspired by Minuiko's .:feels just like I'm falling for the first time:. (minuiko dot tumblr dot com/post/23515382552/feels-just-like-im-falling-fo r-the-first-time). It's so beautiful!

The door closes and Tenzin looks up. Surprise dances across his features when he sees Lin leaning against the door. He wasn't expecting her. The last time they saw each other, things did not go well.

He shuts the book he had been reading and places it on the small table near the window. Faintly he realizes the day is nearly over. Since his room faces west, the last rays of light file in, giving it an ethereal glow for the next few minutes until the sun disappears over the horizon. He sits up in bed, his lower back against the pillows, his shoulders against the wall.

"How are you?" he asks after clearing his throat a second time. He's not sure what it is about her that makes him forget how to do something as simple as form sentences. She doesn't reply. Her eyes are ablaze with something he's not sure he's reading right. "I didn't think you would join us this evening," he says, his gaze never leaving her.

Lin just might be the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, but that is not the only thing that draws him to her. She's wearing a long green dress the color of her eyes. Her hair cascades in soft waves over her shoulder and down her back. He smiles when he sees the flower in her hair and knows his sister is responsible for it. The girl standing before him gives little importance to those types of things. "I see you ran into Kya."

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asks, cutting to the chase as usual.

Tenzin shakes his head. Even after knowing her all of his life, since they could barely walk or talk to when she used him for bending practice to that first kiss that happened almost by accident, he still does not know why she does half of the things she does.

"Your father insisted," she admits. Tenzin knows there's not much Lin wouldn't do for his father. Sometimes he finds himself wishing she were as acquiescing to all airbenders.

The small smile that plays on her lips gives him hope that whatever happened a week ago has been forgiven, if not forgotten. He did not mean to say such things or put that kind of pressure on her. They have more than enough time. They're still very young. She didn't deserve his anger and though he apologized, she ordered him to leave her alone and had refused to see him since.

As she begins to walk closer to where he sits, hope begins to turn up the corners of his lips. She stops just short of him and chooses to look out the window. If he reached out, he could touch her hand.

"Lin-"

"Save it, Tenzin. I don't want to hear whatever other excuse you've come up with."

He wasn't going to apologize, there's nothing he can say to erase the words he threw in her face. So he says the only thing he knows for certain.

"I love you," he whispers, desperate that she remember she loves him, too. It stopped mattering long ago that she never said it back (not in the two years they have been together) because he can feel it in her kiss and in the way her body responds to his. He can see it in her lovely eyes and in that sly smirk that's only for him. He watches her, a knot twisting in his stomach as she visibly flinches, recoiling almost as if he'd struck her and not simply uttered the three words that are meant to bring two individuals together, not drive them apart.

"Nothing's changed," she replies, still not looking at him. But something has, she sought him out this time and he holds on to that. "I won't change my mind, Tenzin. I'm joining my mother's metalbenders," she elaborates and he doesn't care. He doesn't care about his responsibilities as the Avatar's son. He doesn't care about his duties as the second to last airbender. He doesn't care. All he wants in that moment is her, Lin.

What was to become of his life was decided the moment he sneezed and flew 10 feet in the air out of his father's grasp. The whooping and hollering and sheer elation his father must have felt as he saw his toddler son floating down in the breeze could only be matched by the dread and despair Tenzin feels every time he remembers the choices he makes are forever limited to those that will ensure the resurrection and repopulation of his father's race. Sometimes he is overwhelmed by so many things out of his control.

Glancing up to find her looking at him over her shoulder, he's done for. He loves her. He thinks he always has and he knows then, he always will.

"Got nothing to say?" she smirks. It's his smirk, the one she reserves only for him, and he finds the weight of his world is suddenly off his shoulders and he can breathe again. Like the earthbender she is, she steadies him, grounds him, reminds him there are many things he can control. His actions, for one.

Unable to stop himself, he reaches for her hand and pulls her to him.

The smirk disappears and anger flashes in her eyes. "What are you-" she accuses, but he silences her with his lips.

That she doesn't struggle surprises them both. That they're both soon breathless doesn't. His heart swells when she sits at his side to return his kiss once more.

It begins soft and slow. One hand cradles her face until it gets lost in her hair, the other is secured around her slim waist so he can draw her closer still.

Lin is right there with him, her hands buried in his robes, pouring all the things she can't bring herself to say into the kiss. She cares so much for him, more than she likes to admit even to herself.

The air between them grows heavy, charged. That is how things always are with them.

She is the one who begins tugging on his clothes, wanting them gone. Her lips leave his to kiss along his jaw. He feels her breath wisp against the part of his neck exposed above the open collar of his robes and Lin thinks she can detect a faint tremble running through those strong, broad shoulders.

She wants him. It's that simply. It's that complicated.

She tugs on his robes again, her hands finding him underneath so many layers.

"Lin..." he gasps. When he opens his eyes, the sly smirk is back on her face and he fuses his lips to hers again, while his hands run over the smooth material of her dress. The fabric is silk, but he can't help think her skin feels better against his palms.

"Know what?" she says, pulling away, ending their kiss for the moment, "You're overdressed."

Tenzin tries not to blush and complies in silence. Blue eyes never leave green ones as his robes and tunic come up and over his head. There's a hunger in her eyes that makes him swallow with nervousness, but his hands are steady as he unhooks the clasps of her dress. The silky material slips off easily and she's already removing her bindings when he snaps out of his daze to help her.

The sun has set and very little light enters through his window. There are candles on the dresser he doesn't bother with because there is still enough fading light allowing him to see her.

"You're beautiful," he murmurs, drawing her close.

"And, you're still overdressed," she points out, her fingers hooking around the waistband of his pants. She removes the belt and the yellow material quickly and once they're tossed to the side, Tenzin crushes her to him in a frantic kiss. He has never wanted her so badly, not during all of those years of watching her from afar, afraid to make a move. Not when he first made love to her days after he got his tattoos. And, not recently when both their lives began to seem destined to follow separate paths. He has never been this desperate for her.

Lin is shocked at the explosion of need and raw desire she feels in Tenzin's kiss. He has always been so reserved, so hesitant. A flush creeps over her at the feel of his bare skin against her own, while the undeniable evidence of his arousal presses into her hip.

Bringing her knees up to straddle him, he watches her, drinking her in, and his hands move to trace up her sides before coming back down, passing over her hips and settling on her thighs. She's usually the one guiding him, leading the way until he begins to explore on his own, but not this time. He cups one side of her face and gently slides his fingers to the back of her neck to bring her mouth over to his. His other hand slips down to explore her breast, his thumb dances over the sensitive skin, teasing it in a way that makes her gasp. Her hands are on the smooth skin of his scalp when his tongue trails over her collarbone and she inhales sharply.

When he looks up at her, her eyes are sparkling and he gives her a small, shy smile. They're both so ready and without warning, she takes him inside her. He can't help the whimper that escapes him or how he somehow manages to make the curtains flutter violently for a moment. She rolls her hips above him and his fingers dig into her skin as he tries to remember to breathe.

"Lin."

The way he says her name through gritted teeth, eyes shut tight, makes her shudder with pleasure every time.

Tenzin begins to kiss her neck, working his way down until his mouth caresses one pink nipple and she's panting. Lin doesn't want to rush, she wants to take her time, but he's not making it easy. Not with the way his hands travel knowingly over her body, not with the way his lips move ardently over various parts of her.

They are both so close, trying to ride the feeling and draw it out despite their urgency. His short breaths become grunts as her hips rise and fall, releasing him then drawing him in.

She calls his name and he wraps his arms around her, holds her tight as she moans her release.

"I love you," he wants to say as he follows shortly after her, but his words are strained and muffled against the nape of her neck. Lin shudders again in his arms as he bucks up into her a few more times before he slows to a stop.

They're both still breathing heavy when she climbs off him to sit at his side with her back against the cool wall. For the second time that day, he reaches for her hand, only this time to bring it to his lips. A look of complete adoration fills his blue eyes, so intense, Lin has to force herself not to turn away.

"I'm glad you came," he says, happy that they've made up.

"You helped," she replies, fighting back a smile.

Before Tenzin can explain that's not what he meant, she's already laughing at him. Though a faint blush colors his cheeks, the rare sound of her laughter manages to bring a smile to his face anyway.