Just some more cute Lin and Toph stuff. Bryke and Nick are the lucky owners of Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Enjoy!
"…It looks like this is the end." She was completely blind save for being able to make out flashes of Sokka's figure as he clung to her hand. Her feet met only air as she dangled from the Fire Nation airship. Fire and smoke filled her nostrils. The wind buffeted her, whipping her clothing and hair around her. She had been afraid before, but she could handle fear. Fear was nothing. This was different; this was pure terror.
Sokka's fingers were slipping from her own. Tears ran unabated as she waited for her death. Dying wasn't the worst part. She wasn't going to see it coming and that's what terrified Toph. With a sudden shift, Toph found herself where Sokka had been, but he wasn't the one she was struggling to hold on to. It was a much smaller hand.
"Momma!" Toph had thought meeting her own death blind would be the scariest moment of her life, but that horror could not hold a candle to the utter panic that had settled in her chest. Her daughter was hanging from her hand and she couldn't hold on. Her fingers were slipping, just as Sokka's were just moments before.
"Momma!" She tried with all her might to get a better hold, but the fire benders were closing in and she couldn't turn fully towards Lin without risking her feeble grasp on the girl.
"Momma!" Little fingers slipped fully from her own, but somehow she could feel the same hands shaking her. With a surprisingly powerful shove, Toph jerked awake. There was no airship, no fire benders, just an empty room. She was laying in bed, her hand still firmly pressed to the stone floor. Her daughter had both hands on her shoulder, kneeling beside her.
"Momma, are you alright? You were crying." Toph reached up and found that there were indeed tears on her cheeks. She pulled Lin to her chest, resting her chin on the little one's head.
"I'm fine. It was just a dream."
"Nightmare." Lin lifted herself up, bracing her hands on her mother's shoulders, who had one eyebrow masterfully raised. "Dreams are happy. Nightmares are scary. Those are scary tears, right?" Lin reached up, clumsily wiping away her mother's tears. Despite her fright only minutes before, Toph smiled at her seven year old daughter.
"You're right. It was a nightmare." Lin smiled, proud that she had been right. She settled back down, her head on her mother's chest as she looked up at the elder earth bender.
"What was it about?" Toph sighed, absently stroking her questioning daughter's hair.
"The war." Lin nodded against Toph's chest. She knew all about the war that had lasted a hundred years, how her Momma, Aunt Katara, Uncle Aang, Uncle Sokka, Uncle Zuko, Aunt Suki, and Aunt Mai had fought the evil Fire Lord and defeated him while being only a few years older than she was now. She was proud of all of her aunts and uncles but most proud of all of her mother. She had been laying in thought for several moments when she jumped up with a sudden idea, eliciting a grunt from her mother.
"I'm going to read you a story." Lin was in the corner, digging through her travel bag.
"I don't need a story. Come back to bed, squirt." Lin did as her mother said, but brought a book with her, clutching it to her chest as she fell on to the mattress.
"You tell me stories when I have nightmares. It's only fair." Lin never ceased to amaze Toph.
"Alright, kiddo. One story. What do you got for me?" Lin snuggled in close to her mother, opening the book.
"The first earth benders were the blind badger-moles…" Toph stifled a chuckle. It wasn't much of a bedtime story, but she knew that Lin was aware of her connection to the creature and it warmed her heart. Lin, of course, fell asleep before she was done with the book, but Toph fell asleep not too long after her and slept peacefully, not a single fire bender or airship making an appearance.