Lin found Tenzin exactly where she was expecting to: face-down on the couch in his tower on Air Temple Island. It was his thinking/moping/daydreaming/etc. place, a shabby room built by the two of them high up in a tree. It was accessible only by airbending or earthbending oneself twenty feet in the air, and it was the perfect place for everything from plotting elaborate schemes against Kya and Bumi to, as in this case, feeling absolutely miserable for oneself.

"Hey," Lin said, stepping off the rock she'd risen herself up with and into the fort.

Tenzin gave no verbal acknowledgement but raised his hand to show he heard her.

Lin stepped gingerly forward. Emotional distress had never been her forte, comforting-wise. "I, uh, heard about what happened with Mina. I'm sorry."

Tenzin groaned into the fabric. "I'm an idiot," he said, barely audibly.

"No you're not," Lin snapped. "She's an idiot. And really rude, I can't believe she actually said that to you."

"This keeps happening to me though." Tenzin finally rolled over and sat up. He slouched forward and rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. "Before Mina there was Juni, and Hong… I think it has to be me."

"Fine, maybe it's you, but maybe the only problem is that you keep falling for the exact girls that aren't interested in you." Lin plopped herself down next to her best friend. "Here, tell me exactly what happened with Mina. Everything I've heard is through the rumor mill, so I want to hear it straight from you."

Tenzin sighed. "Well, you know I've liked Mina for a while, and I thought she was kinda making it clear she liked me too, so a few days ago I asked if she'd be up for going to see a play with me. And she said yes, which I was super excited about, so we made plans to go out this morning. And I get to her house to pick her up, and I've got flowers, and she was super surprised by that but was all 'Oh, thank you Tenzin, they're so pretty,' blah blah blah."

He scoffed at the memory. "Anyway, we get to the theater, and I insist on paying for her ticket, and she's all 'You don't have to do that, I brought money, this is too much,' blah blah blah, and I'm just thinking 'Wow she's polite.' But then we're about to go into the theater and she asks 'Don't we have to wait for the others?' And I asked 'What others?' And she was like 'We're not the only ones going to this, right? I thought this was a group thing.' So I told her no, it was just the two of us, and she goes 'Oh,' and I could totally tell that her whole demeanor had changed. She got super quiet and way less cheerful and all that. I guess I should've taken that as a warning sign, but I just said to myself 'No, it's all okay, she's just now realizing it's a date-date and is getting, I don't know, all bashful.' Because I thought if she realized it was a date, and she didn't want to be on a date, she'd have said something, you know?

"So we went inside and sit down and the play started. And I'm only half paying attention, because I'm also half figuring out whether I should hold her hand or put my arm around her, and when I should do either. And maybe a half-hour in I decide that, since her hands are pretty solidly folded in her lap, I'll go the around-her route. And… I do just that." At that point he groaned and buried his face in his hands, causing Lin to lean in more to hear the rest of the story. "And she flipped out and punched me out of my seat, into the aisle. And then firebended at me a little, yelling something like 'How dare you try and touch me, I didn't even know this was a date and now you're trying to take advantage of me and I don't like you like that' and blah blah blah. And like five seconds in I started crying, which just made me look even better I'm sure, and by then the entire theater's looking at us, so I just kind of stammer out an 'I'm sorry,' and high-tail it out of here. That was about three hours ago, and you already know, so it looks like it didn't take long for that to spread around town." He groaned again. "Bumi is never going to let me live this down."

Lin slapped him on the back. "Quit acting sorry for yourself!" she said. Motivational speeches were much more her thing, and it looked like she could give one now. "You didn't do squat wrong. Sure, maybe you could've clarified that it was a date more, but I think that whole misunderstanding was more her fault than yours. And since you did intend for it to be a date, you had every right to put your arm around her, and her freaking out like that, and firebending at you, was ridiculous. Plus, now it'll be really easy to get over her, now that you know she's a psycho bitch who you shouldn't waste another second thinking about."

Tenzin managed a small smile. "Thanks, Lin. But… still, why am I so terrible when it comes to girls?"

"Honestly, it sounds like it's more of the girls' problems than yours." Lin started counting off girls on her fingers. "That Juni chick totally led you on, and when you asked her out she sent her previously-unknown, super-muscular and scary boyfriend to beat you up. Hong went on a full date with you just to tell you at the end that she didn't have any feelings like that for you and she just wanted a free dinner." Lin frowned. "Actually, scratch what I said. You do have a problem. You like sucky girls."

Tenzin hugged his knees to his chest. "I know I shouldn't be worrying about this as much as I am, and I know fourteen isn't that old to not have had a girlfriend. But you look at my family: Mom and Dad got together when they were thirteen and fifteen, Bumi had his first girlfriend when he was thirteen, and even though Kya didn't start dating a guy until she was sixteen, he'd liked her since they were twelve!"

Lin snorted. "Yeah. You're a little young to be calling yourself a late bloomer. At least you've been on a date and a half, I haven't even been asked out. Ever."

Tenzin smiled. "Well, you're a little bit scary."

"And I'm okay with that." Lin swung her legs back and forth. "My mom didn't start dating until she was nineteen, and it had nothing to do with having or not having options. She just wanted to focus on her metalbending school and getting Republic City's police corps up and running. And, okay, her married life wasn't great and ended pretty quickly, but she still got me out of it, and I like to think that was worth it. She's still happy."

"But I'm one of the last airbenders, you know? It's different for me and you. You have the choice never to get married or have kids. I have to have kids, probably lots of kids, or airbenders will die out forever."

Lin blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "You worry too much, boy. Come on, let's go downtown and find something to do. Better than staying up here and throwing a pity party the rest of the afternoon."

Tenzin shrugged but stood up. "Fine. Let's go."

O.o.O.o.O

The two wandered around downtown Republic City for a good while, grabbing some dango from a stand and window shopping at a few weapons shops. Lin smiled inwardly as Tenzin seemed to be forgetting all about the events of earlier that day as he laughed and pointed at a street performer that was miming old Fire Lord Ozai being an ass.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last.

It was starting to get dark and the two had just started heading back to Air Temple Island when they found their path blocked by a pack of very large, very muscular teenage boys.

"You Tenzin?" the one in the front asked. "Who am I kiddin', of course you're him. Not too many scrawny kids with ugly blue arrows on their heads around these parts."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Tenzin said. Lin knew he was trying to play it cool, as his father had always taught him, but she could also see his hands shaking as he stood up straight.

"I'm Kin-Jong, Mina's big brother." The boy cracked his knuckles. "And I hear you've been trying some funny business with her. And nobody tries any funny business with my sister."

"Look, you've got it all wrong," Tenzin pleaded, holding up his hands and taking a half-step backwards. "I never tried anything funny, or, hey, even anything mildly amusing, with Mina. There was just some miscommunication, and some overreactions…" He trailed off as the boys grew closer.

Lin scoffed. "Why are you so freaked out, Tenzin? We can totally take these guys."

All the boys, who before hadn't even acknowledged Lin's presence, looked at her.

"You're kidding, right?" one of them asked.

"That's my friend you're threatening, and I promise you he's stronger than he looks." Lin crouched into a defensive pose, ready to strike. "So am I. And you won't be laying a finger on us."

Kin-Jong looked at his cronies and shrugged. "We weren't gonna involve you in this, girl, but looks like you're dragging yourself in anyway." With that, two of the five changed directions and stalked towards Lin.

Lin waited, holding her position. She knew that she had to wait for them to make the first strike if she wanted to be able to consider this self-defense, but she didn't have to wait long. The first boy coming at her, who proved to be an earthbender, clenched his fist and fired a chunk of rock at her from the ground. He was pitifully slow, and Lin was able to easily deflect the rock and encase his entire arms in earth. The second, a firebender, got off a blast or two, which Lin shielded herself from behind a wall of rock. She then launched herself into the air, flipped once, and still mid-air trapped the boy in a small box of earth.

Lin smirked at her handiwork: the first boy spouting obscenities as he tried to wriggle his hands loose from their earthen case, and the second trapped in his own little cell, his shouts muffled by the foot-thick wall of rock. She then turned to Tenzin to check how he was doing.

From the looks of it, he was up against two firebenders and a non-bender. He was certainly holding his own without breaking a sweat, but he was faced with the problem all airbenders encounter in combat: how to incapacitate their enemy. He could blow all their fire and blow them all backwards a good two yards, but unless he planned on knocking them so hard they hit their heads and blacked out, which she knew Tenzin could never in good consciousness do, he was sort of stuck in the same cycle until one of them gave up.

She saw him notice her and give her one hard nod. He sent the trio backwards with one final gust, Lin sank their hands and feet a good foot into the ground, and with their tormentors now trapped, Lin ran to Tenzin's back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he whipped out his staff, popped it open into glider position, and took off.

They landed on Air Temple Island a few minutes later, neither even out of breath. "Well that was exciting," Lin said, grinning.

"Yeah it was!" Tenzin agreed, even losing his normally-cool demeanor in the fresh revelation of their victory. "Although," he added, his smile faltering, "I do feel bad for Mina. She must have felt really violated, if she even got her brother to hunt me down."

Lin punched his shoulder. "Stop that. Some girls find the whole 'sensitive' thing to be attractive or whatever, but I think you need to man up and stop feeling guilty about everything. Mina's the stupid one, not you."

"Yeah, yeah," Tenzin muttered, wandering over to a rocky outcrop a few yards away and sitting down on the ledge. Lin joined him and dangled her feet over the water.

Lin looked over at her best friend, noting his once-again serious expression. "You're not gonna wind up some old maid," she said. "You're freaking fourteen. Stop comparing yourself to your family. You'll find a good girl, and you'll have plenty of airbending babies, and you'll look back and think 'Man, remember when I was a kid and freaking out because I couldn't get a girlfriend?' Trust me."

Tenzin smiled. "Thanks, Lin." He glanced over at her. "Say, Lin… Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

The earthbender snorted. "Tenzin, we have been friends since we were two. Do you seriously think I could've had a boyfriend you didn't know about? Heck, I even told you earlier this afternoon I've never been asked out."

"Fine. But, uh…" Tenzin's face grew redder. "Have you ever kissed someone?"

Lin felt her own face getting red at that, but she did her best to cover it up with a cough. "No. I haven't. Why?"

"Oh." Tenzin looked back over the water. "Nothing, I'm just… curious, I guess. What it's like. Kissing, that is."

Lin snorted. "Why don't you ask Bumi?"

"Ha. As if. He'd just laugh in my face and probably tell me to go kiss Oogi to find out."

"Hm." Lin frowned, lost in thought. The truth was, even though she was perfectly okay not having a boyfriend until she was much, much older, she had definitely wondered on multiple occasions what it would be like to kiss a boy. Whether it would be all passionate and her heart would be set aflutter like in the few – or, one – romance books she'd read. Whether it would make the butterflies in her stomach explode with happiness and shoot rainbows across her vision. Could something as simple as a kiss really be that wonderful?

"What if…" she started tentatively. "What if… and tell me if this is a stupid plan, because I just thought of it and as soon as I say it, it may sound very stupid… but what if we kissed? Just to see what it's like, nothing else?"

Tenzin's eyes opened wide with shock and his cheeks flushed scarlet. "Uh, well, um, I guess, uh, maybe," he stammered.

"Look, it's a simple question," Lin said harshly, turning her face to hide her own rapidly rising blush. "It wouldn't mean anything, it would just be so we, you know, know what it's all about. And it could be like practice for when we start dating someone we really do like-like."

Tenzin swallowed audibly. "Well, when you put it that way…" he said. "Yeah. Sure, why not?"

Lin nodded, hoping her heart wasn't beating as loudly as it felt like it was. What did I just sign up for? "So, we're gonna do this?"

Tenzin nodded, a little franticly. "Guess so," he said, his voice squeaking at the end.

Lin swallowed. "So, uh, should we stand up? Or keep sitting?"

"Maybe just, like, turn, but keep sitting?" Tenzin suggested, folding his legs under him and turning to face Lin. "So we don't have to crane our necks or anything, but we don't have to get up?"

"Good idea." Especially good because I'm not sure my legs wouldn't buckle under me if I tried to stand up right now. "See? It's a good thing we're practicing, so when the real thing happens we'll be prepared for stuff like this," she said as she turned to face him as well, crossing her legs instead of folding them.

Tenzin nodded. "So, since I'm the guy, does that mean I'm the one who leans in?" he asked.

Lin shrugged. "I don't see why we both shouldn't lean in. Heck, it was my idea in the first place, I shouldn't put it all on you."

"Okay then." Tenzin rubbed his hands on his knees. "Should we get to it?"

"Before someone sees us," Lin agreed. She looked into Tenzin's eyes, a point she'd been mostly avoiding since bringing up this conversation, and saw that they showed just as much fear as she felt.

But this is Tenzin, she thought. We love each other. Maybe not the same kind of love that normal people who kiss each other feel, but I know that he cares about me in his own Tenzin-y way. And there's nothing to be afraid of. And with that last thought, Lin leaned in, tilted her head a little, and closed her eyes…

And evidently Tenzin leaned the same direction she did, because the next thing she felt was her nose bumping into his. Her eyes shot open in surprise and she backed up a bit. Tenzin did the same and they both giggled nervously.

"Maybe that's why it seems like the guy is always cupping the girl's face or something," Tenzin said. "So that doesn't happen."

Lin nodded. "Makes sense."

Tenzin nodded back. "Practicing was definitely a good idea," he said. And then he reached out with one hand and placed it high on Lin's neck, with his thumb resting on her cheek. She stifled a laugh at how sweaty it was, but she knew her own wouldn't be any better. Tenzin applied just the tiniest amount of pressure to tilt her head the opposite direction of how she'd tilted before, and she once again leaned forward and closed her eyes.

This time, lips met lips and Lin scrunched her face at the peculiar feeling. They stayed close for only a few seconds before there was a slight suction-y pop and they broke apart. Tenzin dropped his hand from Lin's face and grinned questioningly. "Well? What did you think?" he asked.

Lin frowned contemplatively. "I don't really know… Kinda weird. I didn't see rainbows and my stomach didn't explode." Although her heart was racing a mile a minute, but she wasn't going to admit that to him.

"It was… squishier than I thought," Tenzin added. "But… I wouldn't call it unpleasant, exactly."

"No, no, not unpleasant," Lin rushed to agree. "Just different."

Tenzin nodded. "Just different," he echoed.

The two sat in silence for a few more minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Lin stood up. "Well, I should probably head home," she said. "It's pretty dark now, so my mom will get home soon."

"You can just stay here if you want," Tenzin offered, also standing up. "You know it's no trouble, and it is pretty late for you to head home by yourself."

Lin snorted. "My mom told me I stay over here too often anyway. She doesn't want me to get too 'twinkletoe soft,' whatever that means. And in case you missed the show earlier, I'm pretty good at handling myself, thank you very much."

Tenzin sighed. "Well at least let me fly you back. It'll take five minutes."

"Nah, that's okay, I like the walk," Lin said quickly. Then she thought about it. "Well, maybe across the bay. That's a little tricky for us earthbenders to maneuver."

Tenzin laughed, pulled out his staff, and in a matter of seconds he was soaring across the water, Lin on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. They parted ways at the dock and Lin was left to her own thoughts as she headed down the streets to her home.

Toph was already home when she walked in the door. "Hey, Pebble, how's it going?" she asked, using the pet name that her daughter so hated.

Lin shrugged, even though she knew the gesture had no meaning to her mother. "It's going all right," she said.

Toph frowned. "It doesn't sound all right. Here, come sit down and eat with me. I got take-out, don't worry, I didn't cook."

Lin managed a smile. "I know you didn't, because I would've smelled the smoke a block away if you did."

"Hey, I'd like to see you cook something edible when you can't see anything," Toph said, giving her daughter a shove. "Now c'mon, kid, tell me what happened."

"Well, I hung out with Tenzin today," Lin said, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Toph laughed. "Glad to know he's still conscious. I heard about the lil' guy's date today. Guess some pretty valuable curtains got ruined in that theater. That little girl needs to watch her temper or her daddy's wallet is just going to get skinnier and skinnier."

"I think that little girl needs to watch her temper or a lot of things are going to go not-so-well for her." Lin took a bite of chow mein.

"You should go hunt her down and teach her a lesson," Toph said between mouthfuls. "Tenzin's your friend, you should stick up for him!"

"He's a big boy, Mom, he can handle himself," Lin said, slurping up some more noodles. "But it probably was a good thing I was with him today, because that girl sent her big brother and his friends after Tenzin. And I mean big brother."

"You got in a fight?" Toph asked. "Yes! I take it you kicked everyone's asses?"

"Duh," Lin replied.

"That's my girl. Get into some more fights with that airbending boy, toughen him up a bit. I don't want my only daughter to wind up with a sissy of a husband."

Lin choked on her chow mein. "Huh?" she eventually managed.

Toph just gave her a knowing grin. "Oh, nothing," she said in an unusually sing-song voice. "Now just finish up your noodles. Today was an easy day for me, so I still have the energy to get you working on your metalbending. So move it!"

Lin fell asleep that night with an aching body (compliments of her mother's workout regimen) and an aching brain (compliments of her teenage hormones not being able to make up their minds about anything). By the time she got up the next morning she had convinced herself that she felt nothing but platonic friendship towards Tenzin, and that the racing feelings caused by their kiss were the product of nerves more than romantic sentiments. And she would be able to keep convincing herself of that for about five more years, at which point she would finally give in and let herself love the man she wanted to love.