#linoshi

There was something about last days. The whiff of anticipated nostalgia was all over, filling everyone with a riveting bittersweet taste. The first day always came ensconced, like a budding rose, within the soft petals of promise. The first step towards hopefulness. But the last day, however, was for bidding goodbyes to unachieved dreams, broken promises, and all those glimmering moments that turned into memories.

Sure, school had its tribulations, but Lin knew, deep in her heart, that the last day of school was only the first day of her life. Her life was all but a legacy of another. She tried not to ruminate about those things, else who only knew how much grumpier she'd come across. Not that she cared-

"Lin, sign my yearbook!"

The call broke her out of her thoughts, and she spun around to find a taller, broader, handsome being in front of her.

Hiroshi.

Hiroshi Sato.

She couldn't remember what his family's deal was or why he was one of the few people other than herself to have a last name- heck even the Avatar didn't have one- either way, Hiroshi was an oddball. He was friends with all the right people and carried himself the way he 'should', and yet his personality was something so unique that it often hurdled what he was trying to present himself as. Lin admired his commitment to being his own person in a place where everyone wanted to fit in and appear alike. And so she admired his likeness to her.

"Sure." She shrugged.

Hiroshi timidly moved closer as he handed her his yearbook and a black fountain pen. He gave her a shy smile as she tried putting pen to paper with some combination of words of the sweeping notes all these pretentious teens had written in each others' books.

But the problem was: she actually liked Hiroshi. Well, not in the way of course. He was kind, sweet, attractive, ambitious, genuine, and this was well before she set the bar for her classmates that low. He was always around to help her when she needed a hand, and that one time when she needed a shoulder.

"Beifong?" He prompted softly with a smile.

Lin shook herself out of her thoughts to meet his eyes. She shut the notebook carefully and gave him an awkward smile back.

"Do you mind if I keep this for a while? It would seem like I'm blanking on what to put in here."

She hugged the book unconsciously as Hiroshi let out a little chuckle, "Sure?" He sounded unsure of her strange request, "May I keep yours hostage until then?"

"Sure!" Lin shrugged as she turned to her satchel to remove her own yearbook.

Hiroshi grabbed it with a smirk and skedaddled off in the direction they heard his name being called out.

Now, came the hard part. Lin had no idea what she wanted to jot down for him. She didn't have very many people in school she could call friends. Outside, she had Tenzin, Bumi, and Kya, the royals in the fire nation, and- well, that was already more than sufficient. Tenzin was her best friend, and thankfully he didn't go to school or else she'd be sitting here, struggling with his yearbook.

She could have completely declined Hiroshi, however.

"Lin, sign my yearbook!" "No."

And that wouldn't even be totally out of character for her.

As she made her way over to the cafeteria for lunch, she studied their school's wild jungle-like habitat. Everyone within their packs at the giant waterhole, coexisting in a precarious balance of this socio-academic ecosystem. There were the chattering hippopotahyenas, the sneaky little minksnakes, the sweet turtleducks, and the terrible viper bats, benders and non-benders alike. As much as Lin felt like she didn't belong here, she had come to accept that she was diffferent; that not everyone was meant to fit in. Especially not someone with a legacy like hers. Tenzin would never fit in here either. Together, they'd both be the only two oddballs in school and she wouldn't feel as alone.

But Hiroshi was an oddball too. And that was why she had always been drawn to him. She knew he was above all the high school drama and was only doing what he had to do to survive. There wasn't one person who didn't like Hiroshi. People rarely troubled him. And there it was- something to sign his yearbook with. Except, "You're an oddball.. like me.. You belong everywhere and I, nowhere." didn't have the best ring to it.

She unscrupulously made the decision to turn over a few pages to see what others had written in search of some inspiration. But to her dismay, his entire yearbook was full of inside jokes she was an outsider to.

An inside joke then? She thought to herself.

"Dear Hiroshi," She penned down on the blank page. Then thought to herself, "Do you remember that one time I entered class with a bloodied nose and everyone thought it would be funny to pass comments? Everyone except you. You who decided to ask me what happened and while you bandaged my- you were gentle- no- you were kind to leave a kiss on my cheek and- no- not like that, but, Hiroshi, you're great. You're a good friend. You've always got my back." no no no no no no, spirits no!

At least she had "Dear Hiroshi" down before she could start doubting that too. Was he really dear-

Suddenly, the PA system crackled and a voice tore out of the speakers, "Last year students, please gather in the training field for your class photograph."

All the students were quick to stand up and head towards the exit. Lin was grateful for the announcement to break her train of thought there.

"Beifong," A fellow student said jauntily, oblivious to the guilty look on her face, "You coming?"

Lin nodded meekly. Fine. Not all of them were terrible. School wasn't all that bad. She chose to be miserable for a variety of reasons, most stemming from Toph Beifong. If it were up to her, she wouldn't be heading to the South Pole the very next day after her schooling ended. She would've wanted to learn from Uncle Aang, to find herself, have her own shadow chase after her instead of filling the mould of her mother's.

She sighed softly and glanced over at Hiroshi's journal. All she had in hers was the generic medly of, "You rock, Beifong! Don't ever change." with their signature. A silly play on the word rock, a kind yet, commonplace gesture. She wondered if Hiroshi was going over her yearbook. Now she was afraid what a loser he might think her to be.

"All right, kids. A few more minutes before we get started. We're waiting on a few more of you. You may disperse around the arena, but stay close, okay?" Came in the instruction.

She was staring at him in the distance. What was worse than Hiroshi thinking she was a loser, was knowing Hiroshi probably doesn't even think about her.

Why did any of this matter?

He was predisposed laughing with another two friends, clutching her yearbook on his side and it made her wonder whether he'd been giving it as much thought as she had.

Suddenly, he caught her eye. Lin panicked. He gave her a pleasant smile and Lin wanted to run and hide. It was true, after all. She liked him. She liked him because she liked him. She liked him well before his lips ever touched her cheek. It didn't take all that much, but she was in love with him for just being himself. Could a crass confession of love make the cut in his book filled with personalized anecdotes? She didn't have anything to lose. She was going to be in the South Pole for the next few months. There was nothing he could do.

"Lin!"

Spirits, it was Hiroshi walking up to her.

"Are you anywhere close to being done with my yearbook? I'm done with yours!" He chuckled.

"Uh-" Lin fumbled, eyes wide with tension, "I'm still working on it." She swallowed nervously on a dry mouth.

Sato gave her a little smile and offered her yearbook back. When Lin placed her hand on it, he placed his other hand on hers and that caught her off guard, "I know you're leaving tomorrow, but it would kill me if I didn't ask- umm- maybe we could sometime- I mean today, or once you're back or-"

"Line up, kids! We've got everyone. Let's get this over with! Come on now!" The photographer went on, rounding up teenagers like regular cattle.

Lin walked up to her designated spot by the trees, which ironically happened to be right beside Hiroshi.

As everyone gathered around, Lin took a quick look into her yearbook to see what Hiroshi had written.

"You're amazing, Lin. Don't ever change. And only, I really mean it."

"Okay, look straight into the lens-"

Lin gave a tight smile to the camera, but looked over to catch a glance of the infectious beam on Hiroshi's face.

She felt something akin to butterfly-wasps in her belly.

From then on until the moment the shutter on the camera clicked, something came over Lin. She wasn't quite sure what it was and whether it was worth giving it a name.

"Asami needs you." Her voice rang from across metal bars.

Over the years, Sato had learned that Lin always came a massive wall of metal. No matter literal or figurative, there was always a fortification.

And now, here she was in front of yet another metal divide between them. On the pretext of his daughter no less.

His life was a wad of gemsbok bull shit.

"Hiroshi." Her voice didn't echo this time.

So he turned away from the back wall to find her standing right in front of him.

"I'm of no use to her, Chief." He replied, his tone stoic and mournful, "Let her know that there's nothing I can do-"

Lin groaned, "Stop wallowing in that self-loathing. I don't have time to explain, but your daughter is working with Varrick to save the city from burning into ruins. We need your help. Asami needs your help."

A foreign sense of sincerity masked the Chief's face. But Hiroshi found himself doubling down.

"She's more than capable to do it herself!"

Lin exhaled. With a flick of her wrist, the cell door opened. She reservedly made her way inside, leaving the door open behind her. She looked patently uneasy being on this side of her metal wall, but she powered through and sat on the bench beside him.

"You have made a few mistakes." She began somberly, "Heck, we've all made a few mistakes."

"Some bigger than others."

"And she forgave you, Hiroshi." Lin placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "She wants a relationship with you."

Sato shook his head.

"But I ruined it," He exhaled petulantly, "I don't deserve it."

"You know," Lin straightened up in her seat, "If you don't forgive yourself, you're not going to be able to accept another person's forgiveness."

"Lin," He rested back, "How am I supposed to live with myself after everything I've done?" His voice was laced with painful humor.

Catching his humor, she let out a snort, "If only I knew. I could refer you to people who forgave themselves well before I could ever heal from their actions."

He turned to his side to face her, "I heard of your reconciliation with Suyin."

"Oh, there's more," She snickered awkwardly, still facing the metal bars, "I believe I'm on good terms with my mother too."

Sato chuckled, "Chief Beifong has reunited with Chief Beifong? How'd we get there?"

She shrugged, sighing softly, "I realized that there just isn't enough to time to hold on to things that stung in the past. You have to suck the poison out yourself and move on because no one's going to sit around waiting for you."

Hiroshi ran his arm around her shoulder and nudged her into his embrace gently. She didn't flinch. Instead, she leaned in and rested her head against his shoulder.

"And that was enough to forgive them?"

Lin hummed in affirmation, "And I'd suggest forgiving yourself too. I may have lost years at having a family, but you don't have to."

As he nodded in response, she moved off his shoulder and turned towards him. She gave him a tight smile before signaling towards the open door.

Sato brushed his hand along bench until it met hers. He softly ensconced her knuckles under his palm and squeezed, "You know I waited for you, right?"

"I know." She whispered, "But I made the wrong choice."

"Well, I forgive you." He quipped, "So forgive yourself too. I'll wait."

She shook her head with nonchalance, studying the candor on his face and stifling her own grin.

With his other hand, Hiroshi cupped her jaw lightly and brought her face closer to his. His eyes fell shut, but Lin stopped him, placing one slender finger on his lips.

"After we win this battle." She whispered against his mouth.

Hiroshi's face softened.