Chapter 2: the love of the father and the pride of the mother
Lin found herself sitting alone at the stairs Air temple Island meditation quiosk, ready to read the letters in the box. She looked up to the statue of Avatar Aang. This was a place that was always quiet, a place that reminded her of her childhood and how Avatar Aang would bring her here to calm down when she was sad or angry. If she was going to open the letters it was going to be here.
She opened the box and took out the three envelopes. She knew witch one she wanted to open first, so without further to do she broke the seal on the one addressed to her mother.
Upon opening the envelope the first thing she saw was money, a handful of ten yuan bills. Lin took the money out, and placed it back on the box then she took out the letter. And started reading
"To: Toph Beifong, Chief of Republic City Police.
From: Satoru Sato
Hello Toph, its me Kanto. I know you are blind and this letter is probably pointless to you, but I'm hoping you would find someone to help you read it. This is my last desperate attempt to reach you. Since you moved homes I don't know where to find you anymore, I tried looking for you several times at the station but you're never there when I ask. I'm not here to bother you Toph I'm just trying to see my daughter Lin again, it's been three years since I last saw her, and I miss her. She is my little girl and I really want to see her again, I don't understand why you try keeping her from me, I want you to know that I really care for her and that I would never stop trying until I see her again.
As you may have notice, this envelope contains money, is a total of 720 yuan. I been collecting this over the years from my monthly feed for Lin, it contains all the money that I been leaving at your mailbox all this time, the yuans that you have been monthly returning to me. This money is rightfully Lin's and I want you to know that I would not use it on anything else, this is my daughter's money, so please accept it, It would be helpful for Lin's education, as I know she would be turning 4 soon so she would have to go to preschool.
Please Toph, let me see Lin once again, If you don't want to give me your address that's fine, but please at least bring her over to my home every once in awhile, I miss her.
I'll be waiting for your answer. Please get back to me"
By the end of the letter Lin was biting down on her tongue, part from anger and part from trying to keep her tears from falling. Her father had tried to reach her, but her mother had ignored him.
She could have had a childhood with a loving father, but her mother's pride ruined it all. This letter only made it clear for her that her mother had been screwing up her life since the very beginning.
She saw the money inside the box and as she reached for it, she couldn't help but let the tears fall. It was indeed 720 yuan. She realized that her father had kept his word, he never touched the money. It broke her heart because she knew that this man was poor, he was part of the hardworking lown class of Republic City. Satoru Sato didn't have much money, it was his son who grew up to become rich, not him, so this earned with hard work and saved for her with love.
She reached for the other envelope, this being one that was addressed to her. She opened it carefully, revealing the letter, without wanting to wait she started reading.
"To: My lovely daughter Lin
From: Daddy
My sweet little Lin, happy 8 birthday…"
The first sentence of the letter made her tears turn into sobs, she covered her eyes with her hand to try to stop her tears from staining the paper.
"Lin" she heard from behind, she turned around, wiping her eyes with her hand.
"Tenzin" she breathed out, trying to recover her composure
"What happened? why are you crying?" she could hear the worry on his voice, but Lin didn't blame him, the last time he saw her cry like this they were both 10 years old. He sat by her, and his eyes scanned the letters.
"Pema told me you came here looking distressed, why are you crying lin? Are you okay?" She let out a laugh in between her sobs, she couldn't believe that her best friend, ex boyfriend and now ex enemy was going to console her about her long lost father.
"Im fine" she blurted out, calming down her sobs and letting smile form in her face as she said
"You wouldn't believe what happened today, I finally know who was my father" his expression softened, his worry shifting to sympathy. He knew that Lin had been trying to find her father since forever, he even remembered spending long hours with her, wen they were children, trying to figure out who was the mysterious man.
"Really, how?" he asked curiously
"Asami came to me with this, it's a long story but, this are the letter's he wrote to me, I was im the middle of reading this one" Tenzin saw the letter that was already opened, his eyes widened as he read the name on the paper
"Satoru Sato as in…" Lin smiled and said
"Hiroshi Sato's father yeah. I had a rich brother I guess" her eyes turned back to the letter on her hands. Tenzin saw the action and said
"That's… very unexpected Lin, I can leave you alone if you want" Lin grabbed his wrist to prevent him from standing and said
"no, stay, I need some support right now". She looked up at him, his expression was full of sympathy. He gave her a little smile, and expression that reminded her so much of Avatar Aang.
"Well, you have to keep reading" he said, Lin laughed softly, knowing he was as curious as her. She turned back to the letter and started reading aloud
"My sweet little Lin, happy 8 birthday, I want you to know that daddy loves you very much and with all my heart I wish you have a great birthday. I really miss you.."
The sobs started to come back making Lin unable to continue her reading, Tenzin placed a hand on her shoulder and toke the letter from her hands
"You want me to continue?" he asked, Lin nodded and he picked up from were she had left off
"I really miss you, and I hope I can see you again one day soon. Maybe you can ask your mom if you can spend a weekend with me, I can take you to the park, I'm sure you and your brother Hiro would have a great time playing around the pond. And speaking of siblings, I saw your mother one day at the market and she told me you had a baby sister that just turned three years old, how is she doing? I'm sure you are taking good care of her. Your mom also told me you are learning metal bending, I'm so proud of you sweetheart, I'm sure you will be as mighty as your mom.
I know that I'm not around that much Lin and Im really sorry for ir, but please know that I love you with all my heart. I know your mother is doing this because she loves you and I know she must have a good reason for not letting me see you, she is jist trying to do what's best for you, so please Lin, don't be mad at her.
Happy birthday Little girl. Please be happy.
With all my love, Daddy"
Tenzin finished reading "that's all there is" he said, Lin was still crying, she wasn't sobbing anymore, but her tears keep falling.
"He loved me Tenzin, I don't understand why my mother would keep him from seeing me" Tenzin had a lump in his throat, It was a really unexplainable thing, why would Toph take away Lin's opportunity to have a loving father.
"You would have to talk about that with your mother" he suggested. Lin rolled her eyes muttering
"Yeah right, as if she would care to tell me anything" cleaning away her tears with her palm she took out the third letter from the box
"Please read this one" she said, Tenzin toke it on hands and opened the envelope, he unfolded the letter and started reading.
"To: My lovely daughter Lin
From: Daddy
Happy 18 birthday Lin! I hope you have a great birthday sweetheart, I love you very much and I wish I could give you your birthday hug. All this years I been writing to you on your birthday and to be honest I don't think you have been getting my letters. I don't know if this is ever going to reach to you but please understand that I love you and I would always be here if you want to see me.
I saw your photo on the paper the other day on an article that talked about how you stopped some thieves from robbing a store. I'm so proud of you, you have become an incredible cop.
You have grown to be so beautiful Lin, your hair is a lot like mine and you and your brother Hiro have my nose. But you do look at lot like your mother, you have her eyes and her lips and I can only imagine you inherited her beautiful white skin.
18 is a big number my little girl, I hope you are ready to go in to adulthood, a lot comes in with growing up, you will probably marry, and have children; and If that's the case, please let me meet them, I think I can the best grandfather ever. But I believe that you are probably a lot like your mother and maybe you don't want to settle down, if that's the case, don't worry, I'm sure you will do great.
Keep it up with the great work my girl, I know you will be chief of police one day. My advice for you on this day is to go on and chase your dreams, and never forget, happiness comes from the small moments of life, so enjoy your days, don't miss out on what's here for you.
Happy birthday Lin, with all my love, daddy"
When Tenzin finished reading he realized that Lin was not crying anymore, instead she was looking out into the lake.
"This is all my mother's fault" she muttered
"We don't know what were her reasons, she probably had a motive" Lin turned to him angrier showing on her face.
"She never said a word about our father's, never a single word, not to me or Suyin, but some nights I would overhear her conversations with uncle Sokka, her words were always the same -I'm strong enough to do this alone, I don't need what he can give and neither does Lin, she's fine with me- I never understood what she was talking about until now"
Tenzin remained silent he had hear Lin talk about those words before, and surely at the time, none of them knew what they meant.
"Your mom was most likely blinded by her own pride" he commented.
"Enough with the blind puns" Lin said sarcastically, she knew it wasn't on purpose.
"Sorry, but, think about it. My mom used to say that aunt Toph was the strongest woman she ever met, but that her biggest flaw was that she would let herself be controlled by her own pride. My mom said that people like her always have trouble accepting the help of others. But who am I to tell, we don't know what were the reasons of your mother's decision"
"Her stupid pride has been ruining everything since the very beginning, but whatever happened between him and my mother It certainly wasn't a good thing, Asami said her grandparents had a divorce due to my mother"
Tenzin thought about the ordeal, his mind wandering back to Asami, he wondered how could the girl discover such thing
"I can't believe you are Hiroshi Sato's half sister" he commented
"Yeah, me neither" Tenzin stared at her tilting his head to admire her face features
"To be honest, you do have some resemblance to Hiroshi"
"Yeah, I know, believe it or not you are not the first one to point it out. In multiple occasions, during formal events, people asked if we were related because we looked sort of alike. It all makes sense now, we were siblings, spirits, life if crazy, who would have guessed that I would put my brother in to jail" she said with a nervous laugh, thinking back on how she arrested Hiroshi after the equalist revolution happen.
"What are you gonna do now?" Tenzin asked, Lin crossed her arms
"Satoru Sato passed away when I was on my 30's, there is nothing to do now"
Tenzin looked down at the box that contained the letters and the photos
"No but, I mean, what about Asami? She is Hiroshi's daughter, Sartoru's granddaughter, so, she's your niece"
Thats wen Lin remembered Asamis words -since my father's passing I thought I had no family left, but today I learned I have an aunt-
She got up from the stairs, Tenzin followed, a little smile appeared on her lips
"I'm glad to know that I have a niece that doesn't have Suyin's blood in her veins" Tenzin chuckled saying
"cone on Lin, let's go have some tea"
Lin couldn't really sleep that night, her mind raced, her thoughts invaded by the content of the letters. But there was something else in her mind, her brother Hiroshi and his daughter Asami, Lin couldn't help but think of all the times she had been close to them, but yet so far away.
Chapter 3: The brother and the niece
Preview:
Lin could only sigh as she looked at the picture of a little girl sitting in the courtroom, she was so small, he had tears coming down her eyes. The picture brought her back to that moment and made her blood boil just as it did that day, she could almost hear the girl's uncontrollable cry on the back on her mind.
Hiroshi was so cruel to Asami. It was almost inhuman.
Autor´s note:
Please leave me a review if you liked it. Im open to ideas on how Lin would approach to Asami.