The sun shone brightly in the windows of the two bedroom flat above Toph Bei Fong's Earthbending Academy. It was still early in the morning, but Meiling rose from her bed. She padded her way down the hall to the kitchen. Standing on a stool, she reached for the leftover rice her mother had left out the day before and set it on the table. She grabbed the teapot and the cups near the rice and set them on the table. She scooped the appropriate amount of spoonfuls of her mother's favorite tea from the canister on the counter into the teapot. When she was finished, she set everything back in the spots they had been in and padded back down the hall.
Her mother's bedroom door was usually closed, but every morning, she'd crawl in next to her until her mother would wake up. Since there were no classes downstairs today, she'd sleep in for a while longer. It had always been like this, as long as Meiling could remember. The small earthbender and her mother, in the flat above her school. Meiling knew her father, Sokka of the Water Tribe, of whom she was told she resembled. Her mother talked of him often. He was with the red-haired warrior now, and they had a daughter who was close to Meiling's age. Her mother seemed to have no hard feelings about her father and his choice in wives. All she wished was his happiness.
Meiling was snuggled in close to her mother. Spring mornings in the Earth Kingdom were chilly. Her mother smelled of dirt and sweat, two things Meiling hated the most, but it was her mother and she breathed in deeply.
Toph awoke to a burrowing in her shoulder. She knew it was cold, but Meiling was too old to be crawling into bed with her.
"Meiling, sweetie, wake up. You're hurting me."
Meiling rolled over and opened her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I set everything out for breakfast."
Toph kicked the blankets off of both of them and stretched.
"Great, now go get dressed. I still need time to wake up."
As Meiling padded back down the hall, Toph laid on her back, arms outstretched. She stayed there for a few minutes, fighting off sleep, before finally rising and getting dressed.
Toph was twenty-three years old. It had been six years since that night in the inn. As Toph made her way to the kitchen, she heard noises coming from her daughter's bedroom. She stopped in the hallway, and listened. Sokka had bought Meiling a dollhouse for her last birthday and she gotten much use out of it over that last year. Toph just smiled and went to boil water.
When Meiling was called for breakfast a short while later, she was surprised to see so much food at the table. Money was never an issue for Meiling and her mother, but they lived modestly. Most of the time, Meiling went to the market with her mother, and she didn't recognize anything on the table. In addition to the red jasmine tea and rice, there was lychee fruit, steamed sweet buns, and mangoes. Toph had developed a taste for mangoes during her pregnancy, but most of the time saved them for special occasions.
"So much food!" Meiling said, blue eyes widening. "Is daddy coming over today?"
She reached out for a steamed bun as Toph sat down and poured tea for both of them. Toph smiled.
"No, Meiling. Today you start earthbending."
"You're really going to teach me?" she asked, her mouth full, as her mother slid the cup towards her.
"I was always going to teach you, you just weren't ready."
Meiling stood, facing her mother on the other side of the courtyard. Her hands were balled and at her hips, and her legs were shoulder-length apart. Despite her mother's protests, she kept her shoes on.
"You won't be able to earthbend with your shoes on," Toph said as they walked down to the courtyard.
"I like shoes," Meiling said, smiling.
Toph just shook her head.
"OK." she called from across the courtyard. "We are going to start with 'move a rock'."
She stomped her foot and produced a small rock, not much larger than Meiling.
"Alright Meiling, now come and move this towards me."
Toph backed up and motioned for her to come for it. Apprehensively, she walked up to it and poked it with her pinky.
"Do I have to touch it?" she asked, cringing a little.
"Yes, you have to touch it," Toph said.
Suddenly, somewhere behind her, the door crashed open. Toph smiled, she'd recognize those footsteps anywhere. As the door to the courtyard opened, Meiling turned. Her eyes widened and she ran towards the man, arms outstretched.
"Daddy!" she called as Sokka dropped to one knee. "Mom told me I could learn how to earthbend today!"
"Did she?" he asked, enclosing his oldest daughter in his arms. "I bet you'll be really good at it, you have a really great teacher."
"What are you doing here?" Toph asked, walking towards the three.
"Well, Suki and I were visiting Katara and Aang. They live around here, you know. Katara's just had baby number four, and Suki had volunteered to help. Not with the baby so much, but with the watching of the other ones."
Meiling ran back towards Toph. She held on to her tunic tightly as Suki spoke up from the shadows.
"We don't have to stand out here. Why don't we go inside and have some tea?"
Meiling and Toki were in her room, playing with the dollhouse Sokka had given her for her birthday.
"That's a pretty neat house, but my daddy bought me a bigger one for my birthday."
She smiled widely, showinrg off the teeth that had fallen out.
"And I get money for my teeth that fall out. Daddy said it's because I'm growing up to be a big girl. My mom even said I can start training with her soon."
Meiling looked down at the floor, embarrassed. She never got any money for any lost teeth, but she hadn't lost many yet.
"Well, my mom started training me today. She said I might even be as good a bender as she is."
"You want to see what I can do?" Toki asked, standing quickly. She pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her. She held her hands out in front of her and did a quick movement with them.
"My mom told me this is called the fan strike. She won't let me use the fans yet, but I've seen her practice it at the dojo."
Meiling slid into her horse stance. Her hands were balled into fists and held at her side. She punched her fist out.
"Mom said I can't practice earthbending in the house, but if we were outside, it would work."
Toki smiled. Her blue eyes twinkled like her father's.
"Let's try it!" she said, running toward the door.
"Hey, wait!" Meiling called, running after her.
Meanwhile, in the sitting room, Suki sat rigidly against a hard-backed chair. She grasped her tea cup tightly while Toph and Sokka joked and caught up on the times. She had known about Meiling ever since Sokka had shown up on her doorstep one rainy day in tears. She had invited him back in and offered him soup and tea where he told her the whole story. He told her that he didn't want to have to choose between them, but that if he had to, he'd choose her. They were married soon after, and every few months, Sokka would head north to Gaoling where the only daughter of the richest family in town raised their daughter in a modest two bedroom flat.
Sokka raised the teapot and turned to her.
"More?" he offered.
"What?" Suki asked, lost in thought. She looked at her cup. It was cool, and still full. "Oh no, I'm fine."
She smiled meekly. This was the first time she had really seen Meiling. She looked so much like Sokka, his coloring, his eyes, but her smile was definitely Toph's. As Meiling and Toki ran by laughing, she felt her breath hitch in her throat. That was Toph's too.
"I have to go" she said, standing abruptly.
Suki stood in the kitchen, gazing out the window. She still held the teacup tightly, despite not drinking anything out of it. The kids played in the courtyard and she smiled. A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped. She turned and saw Sokka standing behind her.
"It's great, isn't it," he started. "That they can play together so well?"
"Yeah..." Suki said, trailing off.
Toph had followed them into the kitchen. Suki smiled meekly at her, and although she couldn't see it, she slid in next to Suki and smiled back. Sokka placed his other hand on her shoulder.
"They should, they are siblings, after all."
That was all it took for Suki's resolve to shatter.
"She's beautiful," she said quietly. Her voice wavered and her hands shook. The cold tea in the cup spilled over as tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can't do it. She just looks too much like you. I know I said I was fine with it, but it's just so hard. She's a beautiful child, but I'm sorry, I don't think I can come here with you anymore."
"What if they came to live with us?" Sokka spoke up as Suki turned to go.
"What?" Toph and Suki asked, in unison.
"Just hear me out. We have more than enough room. Toki and Meiling can get to know each other, and this way I don't have to leave every few months."
"What about my school?" Toph piped up. "I can't just close down and move. There's not even room on Kyoshi to open a new school."
"I've got it!" Sokka spoke up again, excitedly. "Why don't we combine schools? That way Suki can keep her dojo and you can still teach. It can be 'Suki and Toph's Earthbending School for Warriors!'"
His eyes lit up and he slammed his fist into his palm. He smiled widely and pulled both of them towards them in a tight side hug.
"Just think about it!" he said, heading towards the door that lead to the courtyard. "Let me know what you think!"
Several months later, Toph and Meiling were settling happily into their new surroundings. She sold the school in Gaoling for a hefty sum, and used some of it to pay her parents back. For the first time in six years, Lao and Poppy Bei Fong finally got to see the granddaughter they swore they'd never see. Meiling began her earthbending training in the fall, the same time Toki began warrior training. They'd often be found after everyone went home playing with the fans that hung around the dojo.
"Your daddy's a dweeb!" Toki called, dancing around Meiling, trying to get a rise out of her.
"So's yours!" Meiling called, kicking off her shoes.
She stopped, and made a face.
"We have the same dad, stupid!"
She threw her shoe at her. Toki tried to block with the fan and lost her balance. Meiling jumped on top of her and grabbed her head, trying to lick her. Toki squealed, half laughing, half crying and tried to smush her face away.
"Stop it, Mei-Mei!" she cried, flailing her legs out.
She grinned a wide grin, a grin that Toki had only seen on Meiling's mother. Still straddling the younger girl, she bent down and licked her nose. Toki kicked again and sat up, leaving Meiling sprawled out on the floor. As her sister ran off towards the house laughing, Meiling rolled and followed, leaving her shoe behind for Suki and the older warriors to find in the morning. Meiling fell asleep every night the same way her sister did, in the arms of two loving parents.
Toph awoke as two figures crept into her corner room. She sat up, whispering loudly: "Who's there?"
"Shhh, Toph, it's just me," Suki whispered back, sliding in next to her.
"And me," Sokka said, sliding in on the other side.
He reached for her as Toph sat there, bewildered. Once he kissed her, she understood, and threw her arms him.