#linkou

Zekou had never been to the spirit world, and whatever he had imagined of it didn’t hold a candle to the real thing. His jaw was on the ground as he looked through the colorful spectrum of skies above him.

“Zek, you can gawk later. We need to find Jinora right now!”

Still looking up, Zekou gave out an affirmative grunt and followed Lin.

“Tenz, this isn’t where we met Zook or the fat flower.”

“You mean the soul bud—”

“I don’t care if he’s soulmate or your soul buddy! This isn’t the right—”

“Zook is not my—”

“Semantics? Really?”

Tenzin growled. “The fat flower is called the soul bud not Zook!”

Lin rolled her eyes. “Congratulations you made your point and you won this argument. Now just to bring you up to speed: your daughter is missing!”

Zek breathed softly. Both their tempers were palpable- it was clear they drove each other up the walls. For a moment he feared his jealousy would irritate Lin, but thankfully there was nothing to be jealous about. Him and Lin never argued this way- sure they had their friendly banter but it was never fueled with this amount of ire.

Or was it passion?

Were they missing passion? No, Zekou shook his head to himself. Their life had passion in abundance.

“If she came in through the portals, she couldn’t have gone too far,” Tenzin surmised.

“Unless you think she meditated to exactly where she wanted to be.”

“Why would she come in here without her bending?” The airbender asked.

“Why is she doing any of this? She’s your daughter after all- stubborn as—”

“Ha! You must really know stubborn since it flows through your veins. Jinora is no worse than you—”

“We need to focus!” The metalbender cried.

Coming to her aid, Zekou placed his hands on her shoulders. He realized just how unhelpful his presence was- he knew nothing. His net output in this mission would be zero if managed to stay out of trouble and not become a liability.

“Lin’s right. Fight it out once you find Jinora,” Zekou said, imagining himself winning a participating trophy for his great contribution.

“We should find the purple grass and green skies. There’s a spectrum- if it’s an indigo-blue up here, green can’t be too far away.”

“Right,” Tenzin sighed, realizing Lin only thought of this because Zekou was mesmerized by the sky. At least when Lin was him and Pema, they didn’t behave so unbearably in love.

Maybe because there wasn’t all that much love.

“Tenzin, let’s walk in opposite directions, if yours starts to turn green and mine purple, yell out and I’ll come to you. Sounds good?”

“Yeah—” he said, walking away.

“Zekou, come with me,” she snarled, walking away too.

Tenzin was so infuriating, she almost considered violently making out with Zek to really stick to the airbender.

A smile graced Lin’s face.

“You’re okay, love?” Zek asked.

Lin threw a couple of ice cubes on, and wrangled the piece cloth together before rushing out of the kitchen.

This was the last time, she swore- just as she had sworn the previous countless times.

She entered the living room to see those two hooligans laughing their stupid United Forces coats away. She rolled her eyes and walked up to them.

"Here," she whispered, handing the makeshift ice pack to the touch more sensible of the two clowns.

"Thanks, Lin," he replied, taking it from her.

Despite being in her own house, Lin felt ill at ease. The two of them, on the other hand, were right at home. At least her and Bumi had known each other their whole life. Zekou, injured and vulnerable feeling comfortable, in her- a stranger's home was wild. But to think, this was Bumi's first time in Lin's home. And, thankfully, he wasn't making a fuss about it. They had known each other their whole lives after all, and Bumi being Bumi would be comfortable in a dragon's nostril on the south pole. Zekou was probably just trying to fit in- that Bumi being comfortable meant that he too could be comfortable too. Zekou wasn't cocky- she knew him enough to draw that conclusion.

"Lin, have a seat. Consider it your own home."

But Bumi sure was cocky.

Lin scoffed and took a seat on the chaise beside Bumi.

"Ow!" Zek winced.

Instantaneously, Bumi placed his palms on her knees. "Should we call a healer?" he asked, those bloodshot eyes piercing into hers.

"I'm fine, Bumi. I just bumped it. It's just a swelling," Zekou interjected.

She looked over Bumi at her injured guest and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry. It doesn't hurt all that much."

"That's because you're drunk. It's going to hurt a lot more tomorrow," Lin offered.

"Then I'll see a healer tomorrow," he replied with a smile.

She had done her part, but she still worried. Head injuries had a way of appearing benign only to turn out serious. She decided she would follow up with him the next day. The swelling on his temple seemed to be easing up with the ice.

Nevertheless, this was the last time she went out drinking with the two of them. Their shenanigans were but a foot step away from landing them in jail- and to think she would probably arrested as an accessory by one of her rookies.

At that point, she'd rather listen to Pema talk about her kids.

"Anyway, I got to take a fat piss now. Lin, bathroom?"

Lin shook herself back to the present and replied, "Yeah, down the hall."

Within seconds Bumi had vanished, leaving an empty seat between Lin and Zek; alone for the second time in all their friendship. Bumi had this way of being omnipresent so when he wasn't physically around, there was a lull- although, in their case, it was still comfortable.

"Is the pain any better?" she asked, moving to the cushion next to his.

"Who knows," he replied with a chuckle. "My head is cold, my hands are cold- everything is numb... And cold."

"Do I have to remind you that you're a firebender?"

Zek snorted. "Won't that melt the ice and make a mess on your expensive couch?"

Lin rolled her eyes. She reached for the ice pack and Zek allowed her to relieve his chilled hands. He winced when the cloth pressed against his forehead and Lin promptly adjusted her grip to rest the ice pack lightly against him.

"No need to be gentle."

"I'm not being gentle," she retorted.

"You are gentle. You like to come across all rough and tumble but you're really just soft, gentle and caring."

Lin scoffed, pressing the ice against him with just enough pressure to make him wince again. "You clearly don't know me."

"I don't," he confessed. "We've been drinking together for weeks on end and I still only know of you what Bumi told has me."

"That's good enough."

"Oh, come on, Lin," he said, clasping her wrists and bringing the her arm down to the couch. Lin placed the ice pack on the coffee table and folded her arms in front of her chest. He continued, "Tell me something about you that I don't know."

"I don't know what you don't know."

"Okay, fair."

He stroked his beard in thought as he studied her sitting in front of him. "Have you and Bumi ever—"

"Nope. Never happened, never will."

Zekou laughed. "I was going to ask if you and Bumi ever had a heart-to-heart. But, it's funny how your mind went there."

"You obviously meant to ask me that."

"You think if you two had ever kissed- let alone had sex, Bumi wouldn't have told me? Or brought it up every time we hung out?"

Knowing Bumi, that would probably be part of the introductory package.

"Fine. Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, we've had one heart-to-heart conversation. But something tells me you already knew this."

"I did. I asked Bumi if you'd ever opened up to him and he told me you did once."

"And you wanted to waste your question on something you already knew," she deadpanned.

"You know, you tell me that Bumi and I are basically the same person. I think, you and Bumi are extremely alike- different sides to the same coin."

"You don't actually believe that!" she said rather defensively.

"He's just as avoidant as you when it comes to sharing personal things or talking about your feelings and dreams, trauma—"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you've been psychoanalyzing—"

Ignoring that, Zek continued. "So, my question to you is: what was that conversation about?"

"Mmmm," she hummed in thought. "I guess I'm just liquored up enough to answer that."

"Enlighten me." He crossed his legs and turned towards her, smile flashing across his face.

"Well, I'm sure you know I was involved with Bumi's brother."

"Yes, the last airbender."

"Right," she swallowed. "It was the night of his wedding. I had a moment of weakness, and Bumi was there. I realized I was going to be all alone- that his wedding meant there was no going back- and I began spiraling. My mother was gone, my sister was pretty much exiled and I had nobody and nothing but my badge left. That's when Bumi arrived with a bottle of champagne. He tried making me feel better by telling me how miserable Tenzin was," Lin let out a grim laugh, "but I knew he was just saying that to make me feel better. We ended up talking all night. About our lives, our jobs, parents and found that we really had a lot more in common than we thought,"

"I was right!" Zek interrupted.

She gave him a slight nod.

"And we realized we weren't actually alone. That him and I will always have our broken legacies tying us together and that's something that would never change. And then acceptance came around. Bumi is never going to be an airbender and the person I once truly loved is never going to be by my side. It was okay to be ourselves and bring enrichment to our lives the way we liked. We didn't need to fit into some mold of expectations. Whatever we're looking for will come find us when the time's right."

"Wow," Zekou said, touched. He placed one hand on hers, knowing she would likely reject the gesture. But her hand stayed under his, especially once he brought some heat to it since it was also cold from the ice pack. "That's- that is sweet. Profound."

"Didn't think I'd spill that much, did you?" she smirked.

"Well, you did outdrink me tonight," he quipped back.

"Do you know me enough now?"

His hand continued to loiter over hers. She was easing up in a way he had never seen before. So when she asked him that, he felt something warm in his chest. So much so that his thumb slowly meandered into her palm and he squeezed her hand softly.

"No," he said with a laugh. "There's still so much I want to learn about you."

Lin rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Bumi appeared in front of them. Zekou noticed how quickly she pulled her hand away from his- he was certain Bumi couldn't have seen it.

"I actually passed out in there! How long has it been?"

Lin stood up, hands on her hips. "Long enough. I think it's time to call it a night."

"Aw, really?" Bumi said. "What'd I miss here?"

"Nothing—"

"-seeing if Lin was interested in meeting a swarthy man the next time we go out drinking," Zekou spoke over Lin while giving her a mischievous look.

"No—"

"I think that's a great idea!" Bumi exclaimed. "Lin, pick out your best panties, we're going to get you laid next week!"

"Nope, not happening," the Earthbender called. She grabbed Zekou by the ear and led him over to Bumi, whom she yanked by the collar, and then dragged them both to her main door.

"I'm done with both you of now. Leave," she said.

Both the men laughed. After Bumi's failed attempt at giving her a hug of sorts, she opened the door for him, and Zek followed him out wordlessly.

"Good night, Chief!" they both said together.

"Good night, Commander and a good night to you too, Captain."

Zek decided to leave her with a little wink in return.