Chapter One - Prologue: Lin
When I was a little girl growing up in Republic City, people always told me my mom was the greatest earth bender in the world. I never doubted them. I especially never doubted her. When we went places, me clutching to her hand and looking around with wide eyes, everyone bowed and called greetings to Toph Beifong, the chief of police. I remember once asking her what her job was, and she swung me up and nestled me on her hip. Then she leaned in and whispered in my ear,
"Mama's job is to kick everybody's ass."
We laughed together and she threw me up in the air. Even though she was blind, she somehow never let me fall. I thought she would never let me fall. When I had nightmares I would crawl into her room and wake her up, all of her bushy hair messy with sleep. Then she would rock me, call me her little badgermole, and sing me lullabyes from her homeland in the Earth Kingdom. She would stroke my face a lot, running her calloused fingers over my nose, my eyes, my lips. She told me that even though she couldn't see me with her eyes, she could see me with her hands, and she told me I was the most beautiful girl in the world.
But she also taught me how to defend myself. One day, when I was five or so, I waited outside after school sobbing on the curb, waiting for Uncle Aang to come pick me up on Appa. He was shocked at my sorrow and tried to get me to tell him what happened, but I only wanted to talk to my mom. He dropped me off at our house, where my mom was just getting home from a meeting. She was pulling her hair out of its bun and letting it fall down her back, still not changed out of her metal police uniform. She turned when she heard my footsteps.
"Hey, Lin. How was your day, sweetie?"
Her face changed when she heard my sobs, and she dropped to her knees as I ran to her. "Baby, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Mama, the boys were picking on me," I cried. "They were so mean to me…and, and…they hit me! Mama, your job is to kick everybody's ass! Can you go beat them up for me?"
I had never seen her face so sad. She stroked my cheek and sighed. "No, baby, I can't. I want to. But I can't."
"What?" I said, shocked.
"I could go kick their asses, but then they wouldn't learn to fear you, only me. It's time for me to teach you how to defend yourself. You know how you can do magic with the rocks? Make them move?"
I nodded.
"That's called earthbending. Your mama is very good at it. And now I'm going to teach you how to be very good at it."
And that day, she began teaching me how to defend myself with earthbending. We moved through the positions, and she adjusted my arms and legs, teaching me to be strong and steady like a rock. I moved rock after rock, and her smile got wider and wider.
Next week, I came home on Appa again, absolutely elated. Mom was waiting for me outside the house, smiling up at me and Aang.
"Mama, Mama!" I cried, running into her arms. She picked me up. "The boys were mean to me again, and I used my bending to fight them off! I'm just like you, Mama, I kicked everybody's ass!"
She roared with laughter and swung me around. "That's my little badgermole! I'm so proud of you, baby!"
"You've got quite the daughter there, Toph," Aang said with a smile.
"Yes, I do," she said, stroking my hair, and I could feel the pride in her voice.
"But Mama," I said, looking into her unseeing eyes, "what happens if there's a bully that's too big for me to fight off?"
"I highly doubt there will ever be a bully you can't fight off, baby," she said with a chuckle. "But if that ever happens, then you just call your mama. And I will always be there to protect you. Always."
I buried my face in her shoulder and smiled. I believed her. I truly believed her.
It wasn't until years later that I did meet a bully who was too big for me to fight off. I called for my mama, but she couldn't hear me. Through the long ordeal that happened, I never doubted that my mama would come and rescue me. I never lost hope.
And I never stopped believing in my mama.
Hello, and thank you for reading! I'm so excited to write this story; this is my first Avatar fanfic, so I hope I do it right! As mentioned in the summary, this is set between ATLA and LoK, but I'm putting it in the ATLA section because it involves the original Gaang. Most of the chapters will be from Toph's point of view, but this prologue is told from ten-year-old Lin's perspective. Next chapter will come up soon! Please review and tell me what you think :) - PVB
