A/N: I had this story in mind for ages and ages, long before I ever actually wrote fanfic, so it was nice to set it down. I finally wrote it about a month ago, and then tried to find a beta. Unfortunately I was not able to find one, because everyone is busy this time of year, I suppose. However, I did self-edit several times, so I feel it is post-worthy. I hope. -crosses fingers-
The quote used at the beginning was not originally there, but I rewatched the episode and it stuck out at me. Obviously Lao's entire attitude was the inspiration here, but I did not realise the actual phrase "whatever it takes" was present until about two weeks after I titled the fic! It must have stuck out in my subconscious. :) So in went the quote.
Enjoy!
The Avatar has kidnapped my daughter. I want you to do whatever it takes to bring her back home.
-Lao Bei Fong, Episode 206: The Blind Bandit
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Whatever It Takes
Lao Bei Fong paced nervously outside his bedroom door. Surely it shouldn't be taking this long? Was something wrong? In the hours since his wife had gone into labor, he had been banished from her side, forced away by fretting servants, fussy handmaids, and a friendly but domineering midwife. He had been reduced to listening anxiously through the door to his wife's moans and cries, and during that time, which seemed to him to have been weeks rather than merely hours, all manner of frantic, worried thoughts had raced through his head until he had been reduced to a fidgety, pacing, nervous wreck. At that moment, none of his colleagues would have recognized the usually composed Lord Bei Fong.
Pressing his ear against the door for the twentieth time in half as many minutes, he heard his wife gasp as the midwife--her name escaped him--said, "Nearly there, Poppy dear. One last big push, come on."
Poppy gave the loudest cry yet. As it died off, replaced by gasping breaths, another wail took its place.
The next few minutes passed in such a haze of anxiety--why won't they let me in already?--that Lao barely registered the words "not quite over yet, dear" and "afterbirth." And why was the baby still crying? Why wasn't anybody trying to comfort it and calm it down? Desperate to be inside his bedroom already, he pressed his ear to the door harder, as though he could will himself through.
The door opened unexpectedly and Lao nearly fell over. Hastily composing himself, he looked down at the beaming servant girl. "My lord," she said happily, "you have a daughter!"
Giving a hasty thank you, he hurried around her to see for himself. The first thing he took in was Poppy, red-faced and sweaty, lying up against the pillows of their bed, eyes closed, exhausted. A handmaid was busy sponging her brow and whispering soothingly into her ear. The stout backside of the midwife was also visible for a moment before she turned around, holding a swaddled, squalling bundle. A tuft of dark hair was visible in the bundle, but little else.
"Certainly has a healthy set of lungs, this one, doesn't she? But maybe you'd like to hold her yourself," said the midwife cheerfully, handing the bundle over a suddenly petrified Lao. What if he dropped her?
The alarm must have shown on his face, for the midwife grinned and said, "Now, now, there's nothing to worry about, my lord! I've delivered dozens of babies and no new papa has ever dropped one yet!"
Not entirely reassured, he took the warm, wailing bundle. As he did so, the crying stopped and the tiny red features of his newborn daughter relaxed. She opened and closed her mouth silently a few times, as though tasting the air. Lao was surprised at how small she was. This little thing made that loud noise? he thought to himself, amazed.
He made his way slowly and carefully around the bed until he was at his wife's side. "Poppy," he said, "Look at our beautiful daughter. Isn't she perfect?"
Opening her eyes slowly, Poppy looked down at her daughter and gave a wan smile. "Hello there, little one. Nice to finally meet you," she said. "You sure tired me out, though." She took her daughter from her husband and asked, "You said daughter?"
"Yes, we have a daughter." The words felt strange in his mouth, but he liked the sound of them nonetheless, just as the sight of his wife and daughter together already seemed completely right.
"Toph, then. We decided on Toph for a girl," said Poppy.
"Does she look like a Toph?" Lao asked his wife.
Poppy studied the baby's face, already starting to take on a normal, pale color. Her eyes were still closed, but she had so much dark hair it was surprising and her tiny nose seemed to be the most marvelous thing Poppy had ever seen in her twenty-one years.
"I think she does," Poppy said with conviction. "She looks exactly like a Toph."
"If you think she looks like a Toph, milady, then she does!" said the midwife. "It's a fine name for a fine baby. Your little Toph has all her fingers and toes and seems to be completely healthy. It won't seem like no time before she's running around the grounds and getting into everything."
A tiny arm worked its way out of the swaddling and Lao took it in his own, dwarfing it. The little hand suddenly grasped his big finger with a strength that surprised him.
"She has a strong grip!" he said, newly amazed with every moment at his daughter.
"And what did I tell you? Starting already!" the midwife said with a chuckle.
"You take her for a bit, love," Poppy said, exhausted. She handed Toph over to Lao and lay back against the pillows, her hand over her eyes.
Lao looked down into his daughter's face again, tucking the stray arm back into the blanket. "My strong, beautiful daughter," he said, so quietly nobody else could hear.
Just then, Toph gave a tiny yawn and finally opened her eyes. For half a second, Lao smiled, but then he felt his blood run cold.
"Something's wrong," he said in tones of rising panic. "Something's wrong with her eyes."
"What's that, my lord? Calm down, or you'll upset the baby," the midwife said, turning back around from where she had been cleaning up her supplies. Poppy also sat up straight in bed and looked at him, worried. Toph, reacting to the sudden stiffening in his body and his tone of voice, started to whimper.
"I said," Lao repeated, trying to keep his voice calm, "There's something wrong with her eyes."
"Nonsense," the midwife reacted instinctively, "there's nothing wrong with that child, you're just--" She cut off abruptly as she reached Lao and looked down into Toph's eyes. For the first time, Lao saw the jovial woman frown, and he found that the sight terrified him.
"Lao? What's wrong?" Poppy cried from the bed. "What's wrong with our baby?"
"She's... blind," said the midwife, in a low voice that nevertheless carried to all corners of the room. Poppy gasped and started to cry, deep heaving sobs. Her handmaid gave a stifled wail as she tried to comfort her mistress.
The baby that had seemed so strong and amazing not a moment ago suddenly seemed fragile and tiny in Lao's arms. In that instant, looking into his daughter's glassy, sightless eyes, he swore he would do everything in his power to protect her.