Author's note: this is a test-run for a story-bunny I came up with after seeing the first episode, "Welcome to Republic City." I found Lin Beifong to be a fascinating character. But we don't know much about her. I'd like to learn more, but then the bunnies started whining. Then their Monty Python teeth came out. I couldn't refuse. The idea for this story, this series (I should say...), is focused around Sun Beifong, the character I've created as Lin's daughter and, thus, Toph's granddaughter. The series would be about her 'new' life in Republic City... but, like I said, this is a test-run. Let me know how you like it and if I should continue. The bunnies are hungry.


Stories may start with 'once upon a time,' but often there is no happily ever after. Life is more complicated than a series of paragraphs constructed to fit perfectly between a non-descriptive beginning and a glib conclusion.

Sun met him just before she turned eighteen. Smart and strong, he won her affections quickly. Beautiful, bright, and exuberant, she was an easy girl for which to fall head over heels. Her mother forbade the match: he was a waterbender for the Triple Threats - he was dangerous, too old for her, and he brought a whole can of troublesome worms along with him. Baggage - her daughter was too young and too beloved to be weighed down. Lin demanded Sun listen; she begged her daughter to open her eyes and see him for what he was.

A bright future eclipsed - she refused to listen to her mother. Instead, the lovers eloped. At first, their life together was nothing but blissful - but happiness is ephemeral - short and sweet like the bloom of a late-summer flower. Soon a darker thing took hold - something cloaked in illusion but falling to pieces behind a heavy curtain. The barrier shattered - memories grew stale and turned to regrets.

Late nights became common occurrences. Sun lost sleep over him, waiting for him to come through the door. Inevitably, he would show up inebriated, stumbling across the threshold in a rage. When he drank he knew not his own strength - he knew not his own power over her. His true nature revealed itself - aggressive and devoid of mercy. His frustrations and self-doubts manifested themselves upon his wife's pale skin. Bruises of varying sizes and shapes swelled and multiplied along her tender limbs. But she could not bring herself to fight back. Still a child at heart, Sun still held out for her fairy-tale ending. She thought she could change him. Truly, she loved him - truly, she wanted them to lead the life she had envisioned for them: away from the city in a quiet, secluded, verdant and cool place. Even more, Sun wished to achieve this life for the child, unknown to her husband, growing inside her. The dream seemed to die again and again each night.

Change. What a stupid dream. Silly girl - people don't change. So Sun let herself be his toy - to caress, to hold, to hurt, to toss aside when he was finished. One final argument brought Sun to the breaking point. Three months along, she planned to tell him. He would soon notice - Sun was beginning to show. Yet the whip made of water came from out of nowhere. Lodged against her face, the stinging, bleeding pain would subside eventually, but the scar would remain forever to torture her. He turned from her - his wife on the floor. But she was done with him - done with dreaming. Blood dripping and tears falling - Sun struck back. Violently. Utilizing the earth at her feet, Sun let loose her anger and long-hidden hatred. He left, but she could not stay. She owned nothing - not even the clothes on her back.

Humiliation prevented her from returning to her childhood home. Lin Beifong had never been a tender woman. As a mother, she was hardly more comforting than a drill sergeant. Besides, thought Sun, she had been ungrateful to her mother - a life of privilege wasted and given up without appreciation. Now, Sun had nothing. Nothing except for her unborn child. She knew he would be vindictive. In a rush, she fled. That night - that moment - rushing forward - clothes thrown into a rucksack - heart racing - a stale loaf of bread shoved in after the garments - gasping for breath - the large overcoat hugging a frail figure, abused and terrified. And then, as if she never existed, Sun vanished.

Then, as suddenly as she had gone, she reappeared - a child clinging to her hip. Six years later, mother and daughter came 'home' to Republic City. Time had not stopped. Life had gone on. But this time, Sun would be recalcitrant. She was stronger and more stubborn than before - a born fighter coming into full realization of herself. She would fight for herself - but more for her daughter, the tiny life she had brought into the harsh world. Lira's life rested in Sun's capable, calloused hands. Now a mother herself, Sun's life would be devoted to her daughter. Despair had no place in her daily thoughts. Regrets took up too much time, too much energy. People do not change - they grow. They develop. They become fighters. Delusions of happily ever after blasted apart - the mirror would remain forever shattered. A reminder of a girl who became a woman too quickly. And of a woman who became a force of nature.