Love is Brightest in the Dark

Chapter 11

"Kya, where are we going?" Lin half giggled as Kya pulled her from her seat and down a long hallway. Kya looked back at Lin, giving her a devilish grin. "I don't want to ruin the surprise." Lin's heart thudded louder and louder in her chest as she soon realized they were heading in the direction of Kya's room. "Kya-" "Shh!" Kya said with a smile as she ushered Lin inside. The room itself looked virtually the same as Lin's except for Kya's clothes that were strewn all over. "Stay here," Kya said as she gave Lin a small push towards the bed.Lin fell backwards, catching herself with her hands. Kya leaned over Lin, getting close to her ear. "Close your eyes," she whispered. Lin did as she was told, feeling her anxiety begin to rise in her chest. "Kya-" she tried again. "And no peeking!" Kya said as Lin heard her voice come from a new part of the room. Lin felt her nose get that familiar tickle and a lump begin to form in her throat. "Kya, I've.... I've never done this before," she choked out, feeling her eyes begin to water. "This is all new to me." Lin felt tears slide down her cheeks as she tried to fight back her emotions. "Oh, Lin," Kya said in a surprised but gentle voice. "Lin, I didn't mean... I'm sorry if I gave you that impression but I was talking about this." Lin opened her eyes to see Kya kneeling down so that they were at eye level. She was holding a small picture frame. Lin wiped the tears from her eyes and took it in her hands, turning it over to reveal a framed photo of Lin and Kya- they must have been about fourteen at the time. Kya was grinning widely with her arm around Lin who looked as if she was mid laugh. "Where did you get this?" Lin asked, sniffling. Kya sat down next to Lin staring at the picture with her. "My father gave it to me. He always had a soft spot for you." "Really?" "He said you reminded him of your mom when they were younger." Kya gingerly placed a hand on Lin's shoulder and pulled her towards her. "I wanted to surprise you with it," she said in a voice just above a whisper. "I love it, Kya. Thank you, this is very sweet, really." The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, both hesitant to address the elephant in the room. "What did you think I had in store instead?" Kya finally said as her face turned pink. Lin wiped her eyes again, trying to buy herself some time to think of how she should respond. "I think you know what I thought you were implying," said Lin, keeping her gaze on the floor. "Well, let's talk about it." "What's there to talk about? You now know my... situation," Lin said, getting flustered. "Lin, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I have to ask, if you're okay with it, have you ever.... ever? " Lin said nothing but instead shook her head. "Not even with Tenzin?" Lin got to her feet, unable to keep her composure any longer. "No, Kya I've never! Okay?! I can honestly say I didn't expect to be dragged here and expected to tell you my entire sexual history!" "So I guess asking why is off the table?" Kya said, in a measured tone. "Why didn't I sleep with your brother?!" "Ew, no. Why have you never been with anyone?" Lin sighed, running her fingers through her hair in annoyance. "I don't know, I guess I just was busy. I was focused on my career and didn't really have time for romantic relationships." She felt her anger begin to subside and lowered her voice to her usual tone. She walked back over towards Kya and joined her on the bed again. "I also was trying to figure this whole thing out too," she said as she pointed between herself and Kya. "I didn't know that was even an option." Kya nodded, placing her arm around Lin once more. "I forget you grew up with the Earth Kingdom ideologies. They are the least open to change. At least in the water tribe they didn't really mind, they just preferred us to keep quiet about our personal business. Do you think your mom would be okay with this?" Kya mimicked Lin's pointing between them. "I think she would be okay, but I don't know for sure. Mom rebelled against all of that kind of Earth Kingdom propriety- I think if anyone would have had a hard time with it, it would have been my grandparents." "I'm sorry the world isn't a more understanding place," Kya said after sometime. "So how about you?" She asked hesitantly. "What about me?" "When was your first time? Did you always know?" Kya took a deep breath and smiled to herself. "I don't think anyone truly 'always knows', but I did figure it out pretty early in life. I was pretty lucky too, since my father was an air bender and the air nomads were the most open minded. Mom was pretty open to it too, although she worried a lot for me- that my life would be harder." She took another deep breath. "And my first time? I was probably seventeen when I had my first kiss with a girl and I think I was twenty when I had my real first time." Kya let out a small chuckle as she reflected on her memory. "And? How was it?" "Now who's asking about sexual history?" Kya laughed. "I'm sorry. You don't have to," Lin said quickly, hoping she hadn't offended Kya. "I don't mind, Lin. I think everyone's first time is a bit embarrassing because you have no idea what you're doing, but it was... not too bad as far as first times go. It was with my first girlfriend. It just made me feel more connected in a way- to her, but also to myself." She took Lin's hand in hers, looking deep into her eyes. "We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with," Kya said as she ran a thumb over the top of Lin's hand. Lin nodded, praying for this to be the end of the conversation. "So- what did you have in mind for our 'fun activity'?" Lin asked, trying to change the subject. "I thought we could maybe take advantage of having a sky bison and fly around for a bit?" "I'd love to," Lin said with a smile.

Kya and Lin raced to the courtyard where Oogie was grazing lazily on a bundle of vegetation and climbed onto the saddle. "I think you should drive- you 're a lot more experienced with flying than I am," Lin said as she threw the reins to Kya. "I can teach you, if you want," Kya said, patting the space in front of her for Lin to sit. Lin shrugged and sat in front of the waterbender whose legs were splayed out around Lin. Lin blushed as she felt Kya's arms around her, holding the reins. "Will you say the magic words?" Kya asked. Lin huffed but begrudgingly yelled, "yip yip!" Before they knew it, they were soaring high above Zaofu among the clouds. "Do we have a destination in mind?" Lin asked. "Let's see where life takes us. Come here- let's relax," Kya said as she pulled Lin onto Oogie's back and released the reins. The two laid down next to each other, gazing up at the clouds above them. Lin noticed them begin to form various shapes at the flick of Kya's wrists. She watched as the morphed from a turtle duck to a saber moose lion, stealing glances at Kya occasionally. Summoning all of her courage, she shifted herself closer to Kya so that they were nearly touching, moving her pinkie towards Kya's hand that was resting beside her. Without taking her eyes off the clouds Kya gently took Lin's hand in her own and gave it a small squeeze, causing Lin's pulse to race. "Did your mother ever tell you the story of the first earth benders?" Kya asked, her eyes still fixed above her. "Yeah- the badger moles were the first earth benders. They taught my mom how to earth bend." "Yes, they were the first earth benders, but that's not the story I'm talking about. Do you know where Omashu got its name?" Lin shook her head. Kya turned her attention to the sky again, a small smile on her lips. "There were two lovers who were kept apart by their city's war with each other," she began, shaping the clouds above them into two silhouettes facing one another. "They loved each other so much that they couldn't be kept apart by the war. They learned earth bending from the badger moles and built a secret tunnel through the mountain so that they could be together." The two silhouettes transformed into badger moles next to a mountain. "It wasn't just a tunnel they had created- it was a labyrinth so that if anyone tried to follow them, they would be lost inside the mountain forever. One day, the woman went to meet her lover in the cave, but he never showed- he had been killed in the war that divided them. Heartbroken and stricken with grief, she decided to demonstrate how powerful her earthbending could be- nearly destroying the two cities. She decided instead to bring peace- declaring that the war was over and brought the two cities together. Her name was Oma and the man's name was Shu- giving the new unified city the name Omashu." The clouds now took their final form in the shape of the distinctive city of Omashu. Kya turned her head again to face Lin once more. "My father would tell us that story all the time when we were kids. He and my mother wandered through the actual cave from the story." "It's real?" Lin asked. "Of course it's real! It's not too far from here actually. Would you, maybe, want to go?" "Didn't you say that people got lost in the cave for all eternity?" "I think we'll be okay considering you're one of the greatest earth benders of all time," she laughed. "What the hell- sure let's go," said Lin. "That's the spirit!" Kya pulled Lin to her feet and grabbed the reins. "How do you know where this place is?" Lin asked as Kya directed Oogie downwards. "I don't know exactly where it is, but my dad used to take us to Omashu all the time when we were little. It shouldn't be too hard to find- especially with that foot thing you do." "It's called seismic-ahhhh!" Lin gripped onto Kya for dear life as Oogie suddenly took a sharp plunge towards the ground, taking Lin by surprise. "I got you," Kya said with a hearty laugh. Omashu soon came into view and Oogie landed with a soft thump. "I didn't realize Zaofu was so close," Lin said as she dismounted the sky bison. "Have you ever been to Omashu, Lin?" Kya asked. "I haven't really done too much traveling. I've pretty much stayed in Republic City my whole life." "Well I'm happy to expand your horizon," Kya said with a wink.