this is not the end of all things
In another lifetime, atop a different airship, there had been a Bei Fong girl facing the end of the world.
Lin knows the story well, of course. It's not the one that matters now.
She was always more like her father. Restrained. Orderly. For most of her early life, it seemed the one thing she had inherited from her mother was her earthbending, but it was a glorious inheritance and her instructor had been unrivaled.
Lin remembers another story.
Seven years old she'd been, a scrap of tin in her hand. "Mama," she'd said, "is it true you're the only metalbender in the world?"
"Not anymore, my girl," had been the answer, "but don't you ever let anyone tell you I'm not the best."
In another lifetime, by luck and sheer force of will, Toph Bei Fong had done the impossible.
Bruised, weary, armor heavier than ever before, Lin smiles.
This is not the end of all things.
She is not defeated.
She is forever her mother's daughter.