"Who's that?"
"Mama!"
"What about them?"
"You papa!"
"And that?"
"That's me silly!" The girl giggled as she pointed to her own smiling face.
"That's right, that's my little Ru." The man replied as his eyes crinkled.
"I like mamas smile." Ru sighed wistfully as she traced her fingers over her mother's face.
The father and daughter were spread out on Ru's bed, leaning against one another with photos spread out over their legs. Having been very sick and unable to see much of anyone for some time, Ru's first request upon sitting up was to look through the family photos. There weren't many as her mother never saw much use for them, but there were enough to capture the good memories.
"She does have a pretty smile, doesn't she." The man replied as he flipped over the photo. On the back in his wife's neat handwriting he read: 'Lee, Lin and Ru Beifong, November 159 AG'.
Carefully Lee set the photo back on the bed and reached into the box for another. As he leafed through the small pile, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. Never had he expected that he would marry and have a child nonetheless. Neither marriage or child had even been considered when he had begun to date Lin almost 10 years ago. Lin had also never expected to have a child or get married, but when she realized she was expecting seven years ago the two arranged to get married. Growing up they both experienced the pains of an absent parent and didn't want that for their child, even if the child was unexpected. It just so happened that they ended up being a very happy family, and these photos were a visual reminder of that.
"Papa?" Ru whispered breaking him out of his memories.
"What is it little one? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to lie back down?"
"Do-do you think mama is mad at me?" She said tears welling up in her green eyes.
"Why would you worry about that, of course she isn't mad." Lee reassured his daughter as he stroked her hair.
"But my legs don't work right anymore? How am I supposed to earthbend!" She wailed.
Instantly Lee understood. A year ago they had found out Ru was an earthbender when she fell off the swing at school but turned the ground to sand to soften her fall. Lin had been so proud when the school called, that in an uncharacteristic act, she left work early and took her daughter to the park to practice earthbending together. Ever since the mother and daughter would spend their weekends bending together, and true to her Beifong name, Ru proved to be a natural. That is, until a month ago when a disease began to sweep the city and hitting the children especially hard. The healers called it polio. There wasn't much to be done aside from keeping the children apart if they became ill. By then Ru had picked up the illness already and had been confined to her bed since. It wasn't until a week ago when she was well enough to leave her bed that it was discovered she couldn't use her legs anymore. The healers had said that that could happen and with time the paralysis and muscle weakness would improve in some cases.
Lin had tried to remain hopefully, but behind closed doors she would often blame herself. Say if she had just taken more time off work to be with her daughter perhaps she might not have gotten so ill. Lee had tried to reassure his wife that it was not her fault, but she would only put on a hard face in response. She had been feeling so guilty and angry with herself that she had trouble going in to see her daughter. It made sense to Lee that Ru would worry she had angered her mother. Earthbending meant so much to the two.
"She's not mad at you little one. And, she is especially not mad about your earthbending. You'll find a new way, just like your Grandma Toph. You remember the stories about her right? How she is blind and discovered her own way to earthbend and then metalbend."
Ru sniffled softly as she looked back to their family photo where her mother smiled back at her.
"You really think so?" She asked picking the picture back up.
"I know so, and your mama will help you. She loves you very much and just wants you to get better. Just like you like to look at her smile, she wants to see your smile again too." He said planting a kiss on the young girl's head and staring back at the happy photo.
"We'll be metal ladies together!" Ru smiled.
"Metal ladies?" He asked quizzically, laughing at her sudden outburst.
"Well the healers today said I would need braces for my legs, and they will be metal. Just like mama's uniform."
"Ahh I see now. Metal ladies indeed. Now it's time for you to go to sleep, you've had a long day."
"Can mama give me a kiss goodnight?"
"I'll tell her to come in when she gets home. Now try and get some sleep."
Collecting up the pictures and turning out the light Lee shut the door on his already sleeping daughter. Walking down to the living room he heard the front door softly click open.
"Sorry I'm so late. I got called in on an emergency session with the council. It wasn't much of an emergency though if you ask me." Lin explained as she hung her coat up.
Looking back at her husband she noticed the box in his hands. "She asked for the pictures again?"
"And a kiss goodnight from you."
Nodding Lin headed toward the bedrooms. "I'll stop in after a shower."
"Lin?"
Turning she raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"She really misses you, and she doesn't blame you at all. If anything she feels closer to you now. 'Metal ladies' she says you can be together."
"Metal ladies?"
"When she is well enough to get her leg braces, they'll be metal. Just like your uniform, so you will be 'metal ladies'."
Lin smiled lightly at this, hearing such a thing from her daughter really eased her mind. She always worried she might be failing her daughter somehow, but it seemed, that like usual she was worrying for nothing.
"I'll stay with her tomorrow. I'm sure the cities engineers could use you back anyway." Lin said after a moment of thought.
"Are you sure you can take a day off?"
"I'm the chief I decide when I can take a day off. Besides there aren't many of us metal ladies, we have to stick together." Lin said, truly smiling for the first time in weeks.