Sokka was the first to see her.
Their new house was less than two blocks from the earthbending school on Tenth Street, and Sokka liked it that way. Toph teased him constantly about how much of a worrier he was, but she knew why he was. He had lost his mother as a young boy, and he wasn't about to let his daughter suffer the same fate. Lin was only eight, after all, and Sokka was very overprotective. Which is why that entire day would seem like a bad dream to him, even twenty years later.
"Daddy! Daddy!" A voice cried from the front yard. A burst of panic shot through Sokka's heart. Sitting in the living room, he dropped the book he was reading. In a single bound, he had traversed the sparsely furnished house and burst out the door. What he saw nearly stopped his heart.
Lin Beifong was standing on the pathway in front of the house, carrying a pink backpack in her hand. She was wearing a green and brown earthbending uniform, and her hair was put up in a bun. And the entire right side of her face was covered in dark red blood.
"Oh my god." Sokka whispered. He ran across the yard and dropped to his knees in front of his daughter, tears running out of her eyes. She was crying, sobbing hysterically. "Toph!" he shouted, his voice panicked.
"Daddy…" Lin said weakly. Blood stained Sokka's blue water tribe shirt as he brushed her hair with his fingers.
"Shh," he said calmly, doing his best to comfort his daughter. "It's okay. It's okay, Lin. Daddy's here."
"Sokka?" Toph's voice echoed from the doorway. Sokka turned his head, not moving away from Lin. Thank god, he thought. If anyone would know what to do, it would be Toph. Because he didn't have a clue. He pulled Lin closer, brushing her black hair with his left hand and hugging her tight.
Toph was still in her gray metalbender police uniform, her dark hair covering her eyes. The second she stepped into the doorway, she knew something was off. There were two figures out in the lawn about fifteen feet away. One of them on their knees. That would be Sokka; he had to kneel to be at eye height with Lin. The other was standing. There was something wrong, but she couldn't quite place it.
A drop of blood ran down Lin's face and hit the ground silently. It registered immediately on Toph's radar.
"Lin!" She cried, running towards the two. She had never been so scared before in her life. Her hands shook as she dropped to her knees, right next to Sokka. "Oh my god, Lin, what happened?" She raised her hand to Lin's face and felt hot blood run across her fingers. She turned to Sokka. "Call Katara. Now." Sokka nodded, his eyes deadly serious, before running into the house to get the phone. Toph hugged Lin close, her jaw tight. She wiped a splotch of blood away from her daughter's eye, keeping her close while Lin sobbed into Toph's uniform. Sokka came out of the house a minute later, his sword strapped to his back. He looked ready to use it.
"Aang and Katara are on their way. They'll be here in five minutes."