Winter had come to Republic City in full force. The leaves had fallen and been raked leaving bare limbs standing on the trees, the grass had died and left little stiff corpses in the park, the ponds and lakes had frozen over, and the buildings had closed and shuttered doors and windows. This was Lin’s favorite season, the chill curbed most elaborate crimes, pickpockets, and muggers which meant she spent most of her time organizing indoor security for city events. The beat cops were grumpy because of the long night shifts in the cold, but they never bothered her much anyway. Lin enjoyed the bitter winds, the harsh morning chill, the habit of people to bundle themselves up in garments she’d never be able to wear but enjoyed looking out, she loved it all.
This year however, her favorite part of winter would be Kya returning. Her old friend had sent her a letter months ago declaring her intention. She’d also told her to keep it quiet from her family. Lin had complied readily. It was hard to explain to Tenzin why his sister felt the need to spend a few weeks every year crashing on her couch. Well they told him it was her couch.
The ship she was traveling on would arrive within a few hours, so Lin had taken up a beat on the dock, moving one of her cops to the nearby warehousing district. By the time Kya showed up, her shift would have ended and she would be free to take her out. She passed those hours entertaining herself with her thoughts of the evening to come. She scolded herself routinely for acting like a smitten teenager, but couldn’t keep the excitement from her step when she caught sight of that brown skin and those blue water tribe clothes.
Kya seemed just as happy to see her though; as she practically sprinted up to her once she’d caught sight of her. They embraced and Kya drew back with a hand on Lin’s face. “I missed you so much Lin.” The chief of police smiled back at her.
“Maybe you wouldn’t miss me so much if you stayed here.” She suggested. At this point it had become a joke between them, Lin would try and convince Kya to stay and Kya would attempt to make her go. It always ended in a stalemate because they had already expressed the best arguments and neither was moved. They were both content to see each other like this for a few weeks, and then Kya would spend a few days on Airbender Island before setting off to go climb a mountain or swim in a river. “I thought we could spend the rest of the evening in, go out to your favorite earth nation food place for dinner, then go for a walk. I love the park at this time of year.”
Kya took Lin’s arm as they began walking away. “That sounds lovely. I was hoping to get here in spring this year, but the black cicadas were being released in the fire nation and that only happens every ten years and I missed the last one because I was at the blooming of the jade tulips in the earth kingdom. The black cicadas only live for a few weeks and the life cycle is so unique I just had to document it.” She paused to rifle through her bag. “I brought my notes; you just have to see them.”
Lin smiled at her. “I’ll see them at the house. I can’t wait to hear about how you spent the rest of the year. You swam with the polar bear dogs right, and the lion seals?”
“Of course, though I don’t think anything is better than the Republic City Park during the first snowfall of winter.” She shot Lin a sly look.
“You’re pulling my leg, I couldn’t be that dumb. Your flattery will only get you so far.”
“You’ll never believe me unless you see the rest of the wonders of the world. You really should come with, then come back and see that the best sight is really the park in the snow.”
“If that was the case, you would stay here all year.”
“Not so, the park isn’t snowy all year, just in the winter. I get to take in lesser sights then come back and get awed every few years.”
“You’re ridiculous, you know that?”
“I try.”
They arrived at Lin’s house in short order. Lin started the fire in the hearth while Kya changed out of her traveling clothes into something more casual. She came out in a thick blue fur dress with a shimmery pattern dancing around the bodice and skirts, it had one of those water tribe sleeveless designs. “Stunning as always.” Lin looked up.
“I’ll make tea while you change out of your uniform, if you have clothes other than your uniform.” Kya offered.
“Sounds good, I haven’t changed my kitchen around since you left. I might be awhile. I don’t think I’ve worn anything but this and my dress uniform since the last time we went out.” Kya couldn’t decide if it was a joke or the truth so she made her way to the kitchen silently and grabbed the kettle.
The tea was nearly cool when Lin emerged in a maroon blazer, white button down and a brown pair of trousers. She looked almost bashful as she came around the corner. “Charming. You look like a stable boy. In a good way.” She stepped close to Lin and wrapped her arms around her. Lin tilted her head and pushed their lips together.
The kiss was soft and careful, exploring. The broke apart and kissed again, more forcefully this time. Lin led Kya to her bed, where they fell in a heap, groping and kissing. They undressed each other, spending a few hours reacquainting themselves with the other’s body until Kya spared a glance at the clock. “We might want to get dressed, Iroh’s closes soon.” She giggled as Lin released a nipple from her mouth.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” The chief of police stood and began sorting through the pile of clothing they’d shed. She tossed Kya her bra and dress, and then began rewrapping her own breasts while the Waterbender snickered.
“You’re so old fashioned. Even my mom wears a bra now.”
“She misses you, so does your dad.”
“I know, but that was a bad segway. I spend time with my parents and Tenzin, and I go visit Bumi when he isn’t deployed. I come spend two weeks with you, don’t feel guilty. You miss me just as much as they do.” Kya retorted as she pulled her dress on.
“I love you.” Lin had stopped buttoning her shirt and stood with her hands by her sides. Kya stopped messing with her hair and came over to her. They joined hands and kissed again.
“I love you too. I love my family too. You’re not making me choose. Now get off that stupid guilt inducing high horse and let’s go have dinner. I’ve been craving the pan fried seafood medley for months.”
Dinner was as perfect as Lin had imagined. Kya was radiant, she told Lin of most of her interesting stories from that year. Starting with the water tribe festivals, a few earth kingdom parades, the cicadas in the fire nation, she eventually moved on to Bumi, who had a few more of his ridiculous stories to share. They were still laughing over those before the debate over the check began. They eventually decided that Lin would settle it, but Kya would get the next one as always. Kya hadn’t gotten a bill in years but the argument sustained her. Kya covered the generous tip because the service was fantastic and the food even better.
They walked out with Kya wrapped around Lin’s arm. Clouds had moved in over the starry sky and the temperature had dropped. The park was stunning, nearly empty and bitter cold. Just the way they liked it. On a normal night, Lin could patrol the entire walking path of the park in thirty minutes, on a leisurely stroll with Kya it would take an entire hour more, but she enjoyed it so much more. It happened that they were fifteen minutes into the walk when the white flakes began falling from the sky in lazy circles.
“I didn’t know waterbenders could summon snow.” Lin smiled, as her arm wound around Kya.
“The amount of effort it takes to bend weather is exhausting. I only did it once, on Airbender Island and then I was unconscious for two weeks.” Lin looked surprised. “I made mistakes too, not as legendary as accidentally creating an earthquake or trapping myself in an ice ball for a hundred years, but I had my share of mishaps.”
“Well are you actually able to sense weather then?”
“What would give you that idea?”
“While I have seismic sense and Tenzin said he could feel it when the air currents changed suddenly, so I thought maybe you had some kind of connection to the water in the air.”
“It’s like bending sand for me. I know it’s there but it’s just too small to hold onto, so no I can’t sense weather.”
“Then how did you know that it was going to be the first snowfall tonight?”
“I didn’t. It was a coincidence. Those happen.”
“I’m a detective, they don’t exist. You set this up.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
The storm layed fairly heavily in the next half hour, but that only encouraged them to stay longer and watch the snow pile up on the trees. They sat down on a large rock with Kya nearly in Lin’s lap, and continued to enjoy the cold and the white sights. The drifts over the frozen lake were Lin’s favorite part because they changed all the time. It was her version of watching the forms of clouds for shapes, but less childish. The giggled and argued over the snowy shapes until the wind blew out the park lanterns and they returned to the house.
They took the long way even then, enjoying the feel of the snow on paved streets, taking in the sites. Kya was less impressed by the simple streets than the stylized park, but Lin enjoyed it so she came along and commented on the street lamps and on the way the snow piled on the monuments. Lin was always at her most playful and spirited in the winter, even more so when it was snowing. It made her happy to see her usually stand offish-what, friend, lover, girlfriend, so enthusiastic.
It took two hours to return to the house, and though she wouldn’t admit it to Lin, Kya was freezing. The dress was thick, but was meant more for warmer climates like the earth kingdom’s summer ball than a three hour stroll through the snow. The chief of police was either entirely unaffected by the cold, or very good at hiding it. When they returned, Kya made a beeline for the smoldering hearth while Lin said she was going to change out of her clothes into something she could sleep in. The water bender thought about slipping off her dress and changing into a warm pair of leggings but decided against it. That could wait; right now she was enjoying the fire.
Lin came back and draped a blanket over her shoulders. “You’re an idiot. You could have told me you were cold, we would have come back. I can look at this place covered in snow any time in winter.”
“You like doing it with me. You like doing everything with me and you don’t get a lot of time to do it. Don’t give me that look, it’s true and it’s not some self-sacrificing bullshit, I like doing things with you too. Right now I just want to take a long hot bath with you, and then we can see how warm your bed is together, and do some physical exams together, then sleep together and have breakfast together.” Lin smirked.
“Sounds great.”