Kya did not move from the table until gone midnight. She didn't even know why. It was like they were waiting each other out, both trying to see how long it would take for the other to apologise. Except, of course, Kya knew Lin wouldn't apologise. Why should she? What had she actually done aside from be her stupid sensitive self? It had been Kya's own bloody meddling that had led to this. Spirits, why the fuck had she said that? It was no lie that Lin's work was her life, and she'd just undermined the one thing on this planet that Lin seemed remotely happy with. She could've kicked herself. And all this bloody time she was under impression she was able to help Lin, bring her back to life. It foolish of her to even try. Lin had all the support she needed in that fucking police station.

The realities of the situation, however, slowly dawned on Kya as she recomposed herself. All her belongings were in Lin's bedroom; the bathroom was in Lin's bedroom. Like it or not, if Lin was serious about her leaving, she would have to come face to face with Kya before they could part. In that knowledge, Kya set about approaching in what she believed would be the most sensitive way.

She rummaged about in Lin's living room, finding scrap paper to write on and a pencil in the bureau. Her apology hastily scrawled and apology note now in hand, she stood outside Lin's door, almost shaking. She let out a breath, this time a result of nervousness more than hurt, and slid the paper halfway under the crack on the door before withdrawing. Kya turned to return to the kitchen, but at the opening of the door she glanced back.

"Lin, I-"

"I'm sorry," Lin blurted out, and as Kya returned she realised that the only light on Lin's face was that from the hallway- she'd been awake sitting in the dark.

"Lin, what? No, I need to- Have you been crying?"

Lin swallowed, folding her bare arms against her chest, hugging them close against the white of her tank top. She looked at her feet and shuffled against the door frame.

"I couldn't sleep."

That was as much as she was willing to admit. But Kya had seen her cry once before, and the puffy eyes and that small red blotch over her nose gave her away far more than her voice ever could.

"Oh, Lin..."

Kya reached out, putting one hand on Lin's shoulder, stooping to try and make eye contact. Lin shrugged her off unceremoniously.

"I don't need your pity," she said bluntly.

"I'm not offering my pity," responded Kya, affronted.

"Hmph."

"...Lin, look. I'm sorry for what I said. It was cruel of me, and I'm sorry I hurt you."

"Why are you apologising for that!?" Lin snapped angrily.

"How are you angry at me for apologising!?"

"I...Oh, never mind."

"No, tell me," said Kya, voice softening. "I've upset you, I keepupsetting you..."

Lin turned her face away, staring intently at the wooden door frame.

"I should be the one apologising," she said, picking at a chip. "I keep snapping at you for no reason."

"Well, how about we both apologise then, hm?"

"No, because you don't need to!" Lin looked up, trying to level her voice again. "You've been wonderful to me this whole time and I don't know what to do and I just keep saying stupid things and throwing tantrums and- And you think I don't know I'm acting ridiculous? Because I do! I know when I'm acting like a prissy little child, I do, but... Look, no one's ever... No one's ever been this kind to me before. Tenzin always used to run off when I got angry, and Mum ignored me, and Aang stopped caring once that drama with the bloodbenders kicked off and..." She exhaled steadily. "And I don't know how to react to it, alright? There, are you happy?"

Kya stared through her. She should've expected Lin's defensive mechanism to the unknown to be anger. Hell, Lin's defence mechanism to everything was anger. But this was still... unexpected. She hadn't anticipated Lin to be so frustrated. She had always assumed people had... had failed Lin, not lived to her expectations and that her temperament was her way of punishing them all for it. Thatwould've been believable. But she had never expected this; she had never expected Lin to be so angry with herself.

"Lin..."

"And it's even worse because I actually want you to like me!" continued Lin frantically. "Because Iliketalking to you and I wantyou to stay, but I just don't know what to do when you do things like this for me and have nothing to give to you and I just..." She felt herself well up again, and sucked in a sharp breath before continuing."I don't deserve this sort of thing, okay?" she said, making an expressive gesture towards the kitchen. "I don't deserve that."

Again Kya leaned forward, placing her hand on Lin's shoulder, pulling her closer when Lin made no reaction, until her arms were wrapped around her neck. They stood in the door frame, Kya silent as Lin struggled against her own conflictions, not wanting to pull away from the warmth and kindness of Kya's embrace but her hands falling limp next to her sides with uncertainty.

"It's okay," said Kya quietly into her ear, giving her a squeeze. Lin reached up a wrapped her arms under Kya's, palms flat on the waterbender's back. She felt her fingers curl in desperation, almost tugging at the fabric of Kya's dress, the compassion of human comfort coursing through her for the first time in months; Kya was soft and gentle and although Lin had no doubt she was holding her tightly her touch was as light as a feather. She buried her face in Kya's shoulder, hands almost clenched into fists as Kya's hair tickled nose. She breathed the faint scent of alyssum from her perfume with a sigh. Kya reached up one hand, placing it on the back of her head, running slender fingers gently through her hair as she lent her head against Lin's own. The cool air of her breath passed over Lin's neck and Lin swallowed dry for want of bursting into tears. "It's okay," repeated Kya softly, "I've got you."

The exposure of her vulnerability snapped in Lin suddenly and she pulled away. Kya responded, withdrawing in surprise. Lin shuffled into the door frame again as she folded her arms, face reddened from embarrassment now more than anything else, and Kya smiled gently in return, totally oblivious to Lin's uncharacteristic susceptibility.

"I think you deserve some kindness," she began resolutely. "I think you're incredible, and that you deserve every kindness everyone in this whole world gives you, okay? Now, go back to bed," she continued in softer tones, "I can stay on the sofa tonight."

"What? No, no, you sleep on the bed I can-"

"Lin. You deserve to at least sleep in your own bed tonight, okay?"

Kya smiled at her, and Lin nodded seriously in response. She leant back, hand resting on the door, ready to push it shut.

"Thank you Kya," she started, still embarrassed. "And I amsorry for shouting at you. Really."

"Apology accepted," said Kya, laughing. "And I'm glad you let me know how you feel. Sleep well."

"You- Uh, you too!"

The rest of the week passed with relative calm. Lin remained true to her word regarding her working hours, and Kya entertained herself plenty within the city, the seedy bars and bright open parks providing the perfect contrast to keep her amused- for a few days anyway. She'd contented herself with perusing the market stalls each morning, picking up bits and pieces here and there, making small additions to Lin's cupboards when she deemed necessary. She also remained the sole cook during her stay, rustling up whatever she had bought at the market that day for their dinner. They ate together all but one night, when Kya had left a small note on the table explaining her absence and giving instructions on how to re-heat whatever she'd left in the oven. It made her wonder how the policewoman had ever survived on her own.

Lin herself had been surprisingly accepting of Kya's attempts to take care of her. She'd presented none, well, not much, of her usual self-imposed martyrdom, thanking Kya and insisting on doing the washing up, but rarely denying herself the kindnesses in the manner she had before. She hadn't even pushed the issue of bed swapping too far, insisting Kya spent her final night in the double bed but permitting them to switch up to that point. Kya noticed fondly on her third night that Lin had bought a small potted cactus and put it on her bedroom windowsill. Apparently she was getting some sense through that thick skull of hers after all.

They spent their final night eating in the lounge- Lin had come home even earlier than usual and Kya had made a light soup for the two of them, bringing the bowls into the room as Lin fiddled with the radio set.

"You know," she began, as Kya wafted into the room. "I'll never understand these things."

"What's there to understand?"

"I mean, I don't get how they work, I know that, and that's fine but- they're just so fiddly. It's like they were made for a child."

Kya laughed and set the soup of the coffee table, while Lin continued wrestling with the radio dial. There were no pro-bending matches on today, and picking up any other channel was proving a difficulty. She stopped on a station glamorously titled 'Royal Radio' and withdrew to the seat next to Kya as a low alto voice crooned through the speaker.

"You moving up to Air Temple tomorrow then?" asked Lin, as they ate.

"Yeah," replied Kya sloppily, swallowing before continuing. "I'm going to bounce in and say hi, see if I can hitch a room before my train tomorrow."

"You can always come back here..."

"No, I've imposed enough as it is already. Besides, you've got to learn to cook for yourself eventually."

Lin rolled her eyes.

"Ha-ha, very funny."

Kya turned back down to her soup, fixating on the spoon and as she blew it cold. She wasn't quite sure if Lin was joking or had been genuinely hurt by that one. Lin apparently wasn't either, and the silence grew as they both stared intently at their food, the announcer on the radio brazenly demanding a round of applause for their last performer.

"Kya?" Lin began, still not looking at her.

"Mhm?"

"You know what you were saying, on the train?"

Kya cringed.

"Lin..."

"No, no, I wasn't going to comment on anything, but just... If you wanted to push things further, you know, legally, then I could help." She blew over the top of her spoon, patiently waiting for Kya's reply.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah," replied Lin, looking up at Kya again. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm no lawyer, but I know what's needed for a strong case, and I know what counts as evidence and what doesn't, and how the courts work. More or less."

Kya took another sip of soup and pursued her lips in thought.

"I don't know Lin... It's very kind of you to offer, but I don't know, it seems a little...trivial."

"Kya, discrimination is no trivial matter! And it goes against all that Aang stood for, surely you must know that."

"No, I mean... The council has enough to worry about, not to mention the tension between the water tribes at the moment, I don't think... I don't think anyone would be that compelled to listen to a middle aged woman complain about not getting married, that's all."

"So don't petition about the marriage laws, petition about the discrimination you faced when trying to adopt."

"Lin, half of that was in the Earth Kingdom..."

"So petition the Earth Queen."

"Seriously Lin?" said Kya sarcastically, eyebrow raised as she set her bowl on the table. "Can you honestly expect me to believe the Earth Queen would give a crap about this?"

"But Kya, don't you see? You're not the only one who's gone through this, you can't be. And... and I don't know! I mean I thought Republic City was liberal, but I was going through some of the Civil Rights Laws at work yesterday and you're right, there's nothing there about preventing discrimination regarding these things and...I don't know," repeated Lin, voice softening as she lifted the bowl to her lips to take the final gulp. "It doesn't seem right. Even in a city like this, it makes me uncomfortable to know that sort of discrimination is legally acceptable."

Kya had to stop herself from letting out a smug retort. Of course. It was beginning to makeLin uncomfortable.

"You expect me to believe that you didn't know your own city's Civil Rights legislation?"

"No, that's not it," began Lin, sensing the acidity in Kya's tone. "I mean, of course I learned them, I had to but... I've never considered situations like this."

Kya snorted, fully prepared to listen to the self-serving crap she'd gotten from her mother. 'I never thought about this' and 'I never realised it was a possibility'- loose translations for 'Why are you suddenly making me feel guilty?' in a form of paraphrasing usually reserved for the self-righteous.

"If I hadn't told you about me on the train you wouldn't have considered this at all, would you?"

Lin's face contorted.

"I...Well...No, no I probably wouldn't. But that's my fault. And I'm sorry."

Kya blinked.

"What?"

"It's my fault. I never considered this, and as a result people have undoubtedly been mistreated. And I'm responsible."

"Well," began Kya, heel-turning at the speed of light, "I wouldn't quite say you're responsible, at least not solely. I mean, come on, you weren't the one blocking my voice from being heard at council meetings were you? Or telling me these matters were inconsequential?"

"Regardless, I have a duty to the people of this city, all the people of this city, and I've failed them. So has the council. It needs fixing."

"So why do you need me?"

"Because... Because I don't want to get it wrong, okay? And besides, if we're going to do this properly, we need testimonies, proof, and we're certainly going to need more people. And I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly the best with people."

Kya smirked.

"Okay, I'll let you have that one."

She stood up, and collected the bowls.

"I don't know Lin, I'll think about it," she continued honestly as she turned and walked to the door frame. "But if I do, I mean, if I do decide to stick my neck out for this, it will be here, in Republic City, and it will not be marriage laws, okay? I'm not ready to tackle that demon. Anti-discrimination laws only, got it?"

Lin nodded, brow serious. "Can I ask why?"

"Well, there's so much proof for one thing-" here Lin opened her mouth to speak but as shushed with a wave of Kya's hand. "And because equal treatment of all is something Dad was keen on. We can claim we're just carrying on his work this way. It'll look better."

Lin smirked.

"See? You're good at this already."

It was half past six in the morning when they parted ways. Kya had gotten up in order to catch the family in the midst of their celebrations, the Air Acolytes rising ceremoniously at five each morning, while Lin had gotten up that early simply because she was Lin. They ate separately, Kya not bothering to shower and eating before Lin; Lin eating while Kya packed the remainder of her things. The dock to Air Temple Island was in the opposite direction to the Police Station, and both hovered awkwardly in the hallway before they went to part ways. It was Kya who opened her mouth first.

"Thank you for having me, Lin, it was very generous of you."

"Uh, you're welcome. Have you given any thought to what I said last night?"

"What? No, it'll take me longer than an evening to make my mind up about this, you know that."

"Hmph."

"Oh, that reminds me. I know this is a bit out of the blue but, would you like to spend New Years with us?"

Lin blinked. She'd only ever spent New Year's with Tenzin's family twice, and that was when they were both dating.

"Erm," she began, swallowing. "I'm not sure."

"Oh, go on!" exclaimed Kya, before adding a reassuring. "Tenzin won't be there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's too busy faffing about with the Council or something, I don't know. The excuse he gave wasn't a very good one."

"I don't know Kya... They need someone to police the parade. If anyone was going to set off a bomb scare, that would be when they'd do it."

They'd in fact narrowly missed a terrorist attack last year, a direct result of Lin's sloppy head-in-the-clouds attitude following the Tenzin debacle. Attack may have in been a strong word in retrospect, it had just been a play to hijack the speaker system and spout crap, but, even so.

"Well, you think about it, okay? I mean, otherwise we could all come down here, I guess."

"We?"

"Yeah, Mum, Bumi and me. Mum got so cross at Tenzin when he said he wouldn't go to the South Pole for New Years, it was so funny."

"Hmm."

"Oh come on Lin! It'll be fun! No Tenzin, just us girls and Bumi, it'll be a laugh."

"Maybe, but I know what you and Bumi are like when you get together."

"Well, you can keep us in line then, can't you? And if we came here Mum could stay with Tenzin and they can be boring together. You could police the celebrations or whatever and then go out with us, oh, go on. You can stay in the city this way too."

"Well, if you're coming here, there's not very much I can do to stop you, is there?"

Kya pursed her lips.

"No, no I guess there's not."

Lin nodded.

"I'll think about it."

Kya smirked. "Meaning...?"

"Meaning, I'll think about it," repeated Lin firmly, turning to open the door. "As long as you promise to think about appealing properly regarding those anti-discrimination laws."

Kya huffed as she stepped out through the threshold, the autumnal chill and still grey sky filling her with everything but confidence.

"Fine. I'll think about it. Why you think you can suddenly change anything is beyond me though."

"Well, I know it wouldn't be sudden, de facto change never is, but..."

"What?"

"De facto change, change on a socio-economic level. Laws actually being enforced, that sort of thing."

"Oh, okay. Well, like I said, I'll keep it in mind."

"Good," said Lin, following her out the threshold and locking the door. "I'm glad."

"As long as you keep my New Year's suggestion in mind."

"Heh, you'll probably change your plans ten times between now and then."

Kya snorted.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Well," said Lin, hands in pockets, "I guess, I'll, uh- I'll see you around?"

Kya almost rolled her eyes, smiling at Lin in quasi-exasperation. "Okay Lin, I'll see you around. Oh, and Lin?"

"Mhm?"

"It really was nice staying with you, I mean it."

Lin smiled warmly.

"It was nice having you stay with me."