The soft knock on the door surprised her. Standing barefoot on the stone flooring of her kitchen over a kettle full of tepid water, she heard it before she felt it. There had only ever been two people able to take Lin Beifong by surprise in this way. Her throat tightened and she broke out into a clammy, feverish sweat instantly. It had been eight months since they'd split up, eight months since they'd last had a real conversation. Eight months was like a drop in the sea of their relationship of over twenty years, but somehow those months seemed to last longer. She'd had to talk to him once in that time, forced to face him along with the rest of the council because of her position as Chief of Police. They met to discuss an action plan for quelling the riots that threatened the stability of the Dragon Flats borough. It was all business. They exchanged pleasantries as if they were business cards, distant and formal. An uninformed observer would have no idea that just weeks before, they'd been tangled together in a bed they had shared for years. She recalled coming home that evening to her mother's empty house and repeating her words to him in whisper. She called him Councilmen Tenzin. The formality felt awkward and bitter on her tongue. It was as if she had been addressing a stranger- and in a way, she had been. Finally alone in her home, she allowed herself to mourn what they had been. Mourn the loss of her closest relationship. Mourn the trivial things like nicknames and inside jokes. She didn't remember falling asleep, but it happened at some point among a fit of sobs that night.

The soft knock came a second time and Lin considered pretending as if she weren't home. She wasn't sure that she could contain herself if he were at such close range again. She hated herself for thinking that maybe she could sweep this whole awful situation under the carpet and take him back. There was an overwhelming urge to open the door and fly at him with her entire being, clinging and begging for things to be the way they were before. She didn't trust that she could maintain her composure when she would have to look into those blue eyes she'd known so well, the ones that knew her so well. Her heart was pounding. What if he had come over here with the same desire? He had gone to the other side and discovered the grass is not really greener, just younger and more naive. Perhaps he wanted to forget his mistake and cling and beg for things to be as they once were as well. Lin ticked her head once as if shaking apart a daydream. Even if he made his way to her home with the intention of rekindling the happiness that they used to know, she knew it could never be the same. He hurt her too badly. It had been a betrayal on a scale Lin had never experienced, from the last person she would have expected. Nothing could change what had happened, no matter how badly they might both want it. Bracing herself, she opened the door to face him. Annoyingly, the urge to lunge at him did not abate.

He stood before her, tall and serious. His eyes vaguely wet and his expression worried. Through the floor, she could feel his heart drumming at a rapid pace reminiscent of the baby they almost shared. The one who might have changed everything.

He greeted her gravely, "Lin."

At least he hadn't called her Chief Beifong. His demeanor worried her, he was certainly not here to beg her forgiveness as she'd fantasized, but to deliver news of a nature that required a personal touch. Her first thought was for Katara. The matriarch wasn't frail by any means, but she was not exempt from the effects of aging- perhaps the climate of the southern water tribe proved to be too much for her at this age. Lin wondered how she could survive another loss. Swallowing hard, she opened the door further and gestured for him to come inside. He stepped in far enough for her to close the door, but no further. He drew his cloak in so it would not be trapped in the door and Lin caught his familiar scent drifting alongside. She didn't realize she'd been missing it until just now. They met eyes and stared for a moment, their close proximity felt strange for both after such a long separation.

"You look nice," he offered. This kind of flippant greeting ruled out death as the reason for his journey here tonight. Lin's right arm went rigid and she reminded herself not to slap him across the face.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded with a sigh. She felt angry with him for being here, standing in front of her, for not begging. She felt angry with herself for hoping that he would. When a breeze from nowhere ruffled her hair lightly, she didn't flinch. It was something that always happened when Tenzin was nervous. He cleared his throat.

"I wanted to tell you something. I don't want you finding out by reading it or some other way, I wanted to be the one to tell you. I don't think it would be right for you to-"

"Spit it out, will you?" Lin snapped, annoyed. He looked away when he spoke.

"Pema and I are getting married."

His words slammed against her chest like great weights at high speed. Her eyes stung and if she'd ever had the wherewithal to contain herself, it was lost to her now. Tears pooled on her lower eyelids, threatening to fall. She bit her lip to stop herself, copper flavored blood spreading across her tongue. She had to blink, but knew that it would set her tears free so she resisted another few seconds as the world around her blurred like rain against a window. Finally, she relented and the waves of sorrow rushed over her cheeks as she drew a breath, stopping it short of a whimper. All pride had gone the way of their relationship and she wept freely before him.

Tenzin stood beside her awkwardly. He'd come as the betrayer but wanted to offer his comfort in the wake of his own making. Knowing anything he had to say would be pointless, he quietly waited for her to say something- even if it was a dismissal- but she appeared to be investing all her energy in remaining upright at the moment.

"Lin..." he lead sympathetically.

"I haven't even finished unpacking," Lin observed weakly, watery eyes drifting down the hallway at half-full boxes still bearing both their names. If it had been a lighter moment, this observation might have made Tenzin smile. Eight months on and boxes were still being unpacked only as needed- it was just so classically Lin.

"I understand if you don't want to go, but the invitation is open," he continued causing Lin to let out a grunt somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"Are you kidding me?" Lin scoffed angrily. "Do you actually hear what is coming out of your mouth, Tenzin? No. No, I would not like to go to your wedding to someone else." The reiteration of 'someone else' was like a punch she had been expecting- she knew it was coming, but it still hurt. She leaned against the wall and pressed a hand to her wet eyes, face screwing up in anguish. Tenzin reached out to her as if it were the most natural thing in the world and she batted his hand away. She wanted to rage at him, to scream and shove and bend the the earth around him until it pulled him under never to be heard from again. It was the worst pain she'd ever felt. Worse even than the death of her mother. In death there is closure and finality, in her break up with Tenzin there would be no release. Tenzin and his future wife would continue to exist in her life happy and content, while Lin would be dragging around the corpse of their relationship for years to come. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for her to question every moment they shared. Did she really mean so little to him? Had he ever meant the loving things he once whispered across her pillow, across her skin? Had even thought about her in these past months or had he been too busy falling in love, for keeps this time? All these doubts swarmed her like insects and looking through the haze she could make him out again, hovering awkwardly- out of place in this house that was only hers.

"I'm sorry, Lin. I didn't mean for things to happen this way."

"Just go. Please."

He paused and looked into her eyes, guilt painted across his features. The kettle whistled from the kitchen and both their heads snapped up at the sudden noise.

"Your tea is ready," Tenzin stated lamely. Lin nodded with a sniffle.

"I'm trying to be nice, Tenzin. Please. Go."

He nodded once and turned to leave with a moment of hesitation. It felt strange even now that he had come to love another, to part without giving her a kiss. He leaned in, lightly brushing his lips against her damp cheek like a Judas. Gathering his robes and opening the door he took one last longing look at her, his best friend since childhood, and knew this could very well be goodbye.

"Goodbye, Lin," he said sadly.

Lin's eyes glistened as she gave him a curt shake of her head and closed the door swiftly. She leaned against it a moment listening to the kettle wail.

Making her way to the kitchen, she removed the kettle from the fire and poured the boiling water down the drain, having lost her desire for tea. In a daze, she made her way to the master bedroom, curling herself up on the bed that once belonged to her mother. She wondered what her mother would say if she were here. Surely, the legendary Toph Beifong would be of the mind that Lin shouldn't waste her time worrying about someone so stupid that they would give her up. Lin knew that mentality was inside her as well- she was the daughter of Toph Beifong, she was the Chief of Police, she was brave, she was skilled, she was Lin. But tonight at the root of her, the only appropriate description was that of a girl with a broken heart. She recalled reading somewhere that the final stage of mourning was acceptance. Closing her eyes, she wondered how far down the path that stage would be for her as she cried herself to sleep.