This was inspired by a picture I saw on a friend's blog. I'm not sure who drew it, but it was so cute, I had to do something about it. Here's a link to it; remove the spaces-

www. funnyjunk channel /bendingtime /Katara+Toph+and+Lin /jqGRGwd/

Beautiful

Normally, Toph didn't mind being blind. She'd never really known anything else. She could see all she needed to through her earthbending. She knew where things were, so she didn't bump into them. She could tell her friends apart by the sound of their voice and the gate of their steps. She knew the smell of Katara's hair when she hugged her, the taste of her husband's lips and the feel of her colleagues' hands on her shoulders. That's how she saw the world. She never needed anything else.

Until her daughter was born.

Just like with everyone else in her life, Toph identified her daughter by the smell of her skin, she silken feel of her soft hair and the sound of her tiny feet on the ground as she ran. But, for some reason, it bothered her that she'd never know what her daughter looked like. She could memorize the contours of her face, like she had with her husband's, but she'd never truly know. And it broke her heart.

One day, when Lin was almost three, Toph sat pondering this on the stairs of her home in Republic City. The stone steps lead from the back of the house into a wide expanse of open ground, the middle of which was bare, where she practiced earthbending. Toph could hear the sound of the trees on the edges of the back garden as they ruffled in the cool breeze that touched her cheek. It smelled like jasmine.

Toph sensed someone enter the house, a grown adult and a small child. Toph smiled. She heard the sound of Katara's voice as she called out to find her friend.

"I'm out back," Toph hollered. The sound of tiny bare feet echoed in the house behind her. Toph tilted her head to hear it better.

"Mommy!" A small body collided with hers, almost overbalancing her, which was a great feat, considering she was still seated. Toph laughed, still grinning, and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

"Hey, Lin." She pressed her cheek against the little girl's hair. It smelled like jasmine, just like the wind. "What have you been up to today?" Toph heard the rustle of paper and her heart dropped just a little bit.

Behind them, Katara laughed. "We've been drawing pictures, haven't we, Lin?" The little girl said something in response, but it wasn't quite clear enough to understand. At almost three years of age, Lin could talk and be understood, but you had to listen very carefully. She hadn't fully grasped the concept of intelligible speech yet.

"Oh, really?" Toph asked, trying to sound optimistic. It was convincing enough for Lin.

"I drawed me and you…and Daddy… Aunt 'Tara… Unca Aang."

"She's very good," Katara interjected, taking a seat beside the mother and her child.

"Better 'an Unca Sokka," Lin said excitedly.

Toph laughed. "What?"

It was Katara that replied. "Aang told her she was a better drawer than Sokka."

Toph snorted. "Everybody's better than Sokka."

"I drawed him, too," Lin said, moving papers around. "Look, Mommy."

Toph's heart sank into her stomach, but just as she was about to tell her daughter she couldn't, Lin grabbed her hand. She toddler pulled her mother's fingers to the paper and guided them over the dried ink. Toph could feel the lines as she lightly ran her fingertips over them, trying not to smudge her daughter's masterpiece. She felt a few lines and decided that that must have been Sokka, Lin's favorite uncle.

"Is that Uncle Sokka?" she asked the child quietly.

"Yeah," Lin answered.

Toph smiled. "Show me another one."

Lin did. She showed her mother all of her pictures, guiding Toph's hand over the rough lines on the paper, describing them all as the older woman felt them. There was one of Aang riding on Appa, one of Lin and Tenzin, her best friend, and many others. The last one Lin showed her was one of her and her parents.

"This one's my favorite," she whispered to the little girl. "I'm going to ask Daddy to hang it up with he gets home."

"Yay!" Lin exclaimed. There was a rustle of paper again and Toph felt Katara reach out to take the papers from Lin. Then she hugged her mother and buried her face in her mother's neck. Toph laughed and pulled the child into her lap. She rubbed the little girl's back and rocked back and forth. After a few minutes, Lin's soft breathing slowed and she began snoring softly.

Katara, still sitting next to her old friend, chuckled quietly. "Like mother, like daughter."

"Yeah, well…" was Toph's only reply. She stood up carefully, juggling Lin in her arms to get her in a more comfortable position for both of them. The toddler continued to sleep soundly.

Katara stood up with her and the two of them walked inside. Toph heard her lay the drawing on a nearby table. "I should probably get going." Toph nodded. They stood in a comfortable silence for a while. "She's a wonderful little girl, Toph."

Toph just smiled. Katara walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's beautiful."

Toph pressed the side of her cheek into her daughter's hair again. All of the worries she had earlier went away, completely dissipating. In a way, she felt stupid for worrying about it, for feeling like she'd never be able to understand.

"I know."

But she did