A/N: Wow guys, that was awesome! If you're wondering why I put this up so quickly, it's because of your reviews. Keep them up, I love it!
Kyoshi was not as patient as Kuruk, but neither did she have to be. The first place she searched was her home island, and she was pleased to discover not only the memorials they had erected, but that there was a strong, beautiful bender expecting - and in only a few days. Kyoshi quickly decided that this was her best option. After all, a few days wait with the child would be far more bearable than a few weeks - or months - with another.
When the infant was born, Kyoshi was reminded once again why she hated children. They didn't have an ounce of sense, and all they knew how to do was scream and wail. Kyoshi especially disliked this girl - she was thin-boned, thin-haired and generally fragile looking. The mother named her Lin, for her astoundingly green eyes. Kyoshi called her Bèn.
Lin was never away from her mother. Kyoshi despised this attachment, especially because the baby wouldn't even let the father hold her. The only one she allowed without crying was her mother, and her mother bent to this wish constantly.
So the first time that Lin was left with her father for the day, Kyoshi was utterly relieved - until the two-year-old sat down and cried.
Oh, come now, Bèn. she said exasperatedly. It's not the end of the world.
The baby sniffled, decided that her mind was mean to her, and went back to crying. She did nothing else for the remainder of the day. Eventually, the father came over and looked down over her. He didn't try to pick her up.
"Lin, you're so tiresome. Why do you have to be so weak?"
Kyoshi inwardly agreed, but was unsettled that Lin's own father would tell his child that. Lin looked up, wiping her wet eyes with tiny fingers.
"Daddy," she said, "you're mean. I don't like you. I like Mommy more."
The father glared down. "Yes, I know." Then her turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Lin alone in the small hut. Lin stared at the wooden floor for a few seconds, then started crying again.
Finally, her mother came back and picked her up, asking what was wrong. Lin said that she just missed her, and that Daddy was mean and had left her alone. Lin was glad that when her father came home, mother yelled at him.
When Lin was old enough to walk instead of being carried, she followed her mother everywhere. People jokingly started calling her Yīnyǐng, to which she would turn up her small nose and keep walking.
One day, she was obediently trailing her mother when another earthbender Mother knew ran up. He didn't seem to notice Lin, and instead spoke quickly to the adult.
"Xui, its the Unagi. We need you down at the beach, fast." Then he ran off again. Xui turned around and lifted her small daughter into her arms.
"Lin, baby, you need to run home. Daddy should be there. Okay? Hurry." Her voice had a sharp edge.
Lin nodded furiously, eager to please her mom. Xui set her down and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the small hut, and Lin took off on her stubby young legs. When she turned around, her mom was already sprinting the other way. Lin hesitated, then kept running.
Her father was in the hut when she reached it. He took one look at the panting child, snorted, and walked out, muttering "Weak..." under his breath. Lin drew up short, her heart constricting and tears threatening fall down her chubby cheeks.
Don't cry, Lin. Kyoshi pleaded. Come on. Wouldn't that just be telling him he's right?
Lin straightened her head at that thought. Mommy's down the beach, she thought. If I can get there soon, she'll see how fast I can run, and she'll tell Daddy that I'm not weak. Then he'll stop being mean to me and love me.
When Lin walked out, she heard lots of noise down at the beach. She smiled - mother must be having a party. She wouldn't mind if Lin stayed with her. She started running with excitement, ready to prove herself.
However, when she rounded the trees and saw the scene before her, Lin skidded to a stop in horror. Mother was on the beach, surrounded by others, all of them trying to contain the Unagi. Simultaneously, they pushed out peninsulas of earth and ran along them, lengthening as they went. When they were a substantial distance from the shore - and increasingly close to the thrashing sea monster - they stopped and pulled up a sphere of earth from the bay floor to surround it.
"Hold it!" Lin heard her mother yell to the others. "If it gets out, we're sitting ducks here!" There were shouted replies from the other Earthbenders. Lin couldn't stand it any longer.
"Mommy!" She shreiked.
Xui turned, and for one moment Lin swore she could see her face as if it was only feet from her, her hazel eyes wide in shock in and her painted face slack with panic. One long moment, and then the Unagi took the opportunity provided by the distraction and broke free of its earthen prison.
The beast turned its huge head to the high-pitched screaming from the shore. Lin realized that the sound was coming from her, and fell silent. But it was too late - the Unagi submerged, except for its enormous spikes, which Lin could see heading toward her. She wanted to scream again, but her voice was gone. She stood, locked in place by sheer terror.
Ha! Kyoshi laughed. I've dealt with the Unagi before. Let it come.
Lin stood a little straighter, her frozen muscles relaxing, then took up a stance that came naturally. She waited for the Unagi, whose pointed snout emerged from the water only meters from her. The little four-year-old felt a smirk beyond her years sneak onto her face.
That's right. Kyoshi thought as the Unagi descended. Let's show this town who you are, my Bèn.
"NO!"
Lin felt something knock into her as she heard the shout, and she was thrown to the side. She heard the sickening crunch of bone, and a blood-freezing scream. Lin practically flew to her feet, her heart sinking, hoping against hope that what she was thinking was wrong. When she looked, a shriek rose from her unbidden. It was wordless, pitch-less, but utterly and sickeningly raw.
She ran to her mother's broken body, falling on it. "Mother?" she sobbed. "Mother!" There was no reply. As Lin looked at her hands, coated in dark blood, she felt herself shaking with rage.
"GET AWAY!" she screeched to the monster that had killed her mother. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Kyoshi took over then. What happened next was a blur, a flurry of bending that beat back the Unagi to the ocean where it belonged. Lin finally realized she was on her knees on the beach, a silent crowd gathered around her - but keeping their distance. She looked around the circle of faces, and saw only wide and fearful eyes.
"What happened...?" she croaked. Her only response was silence. "What happened?" she repeated, louder this time.
"You subdued it."
Lin knew that chill voice. She turned towards it. "Daddy?" she searched the crowd, but didn't see him.
"You sent it back to the ocean." Finally, the thin man stepped out, carefully picking his way across the ruined beach. Lin, crying tears she had held back, reached out her small arms towards him, begging to be comforted. He walked up to her, kneeled next to her. As she went to hug him, his hard voice continued, lowered so that only she could hear.
"You didn't kill it, even though it killed Xui. Why would you let it kill her?"
What? Lin knew her thoughts were jumbled. She couldn't be hearing this. But he continued.
"She was so much more than you. You should have killed it. Better yet, you should have let it kill you, and not her. Why are you so weak?"
"Weak?" Lin asked, the hated word tasting as bad as the blood in her mouth. "Weak?"
"Yes!" he spat at her. "You're weak, and useless, and I hate you."
"I hate you!" she yelled. "How can you call me weak, after what I've done? Why are you so cruel?"
"Because you're not my child," he almost whispered.
"What?" Lin whispered back. "You're my Daddy, of course I'm your child."
"No," he said. "You can't be. It's impossible. No child of mine - me, an earthbender, a modest scholar - would ever be a firebender." He spat the last word with such hatred that Lin reflexively took a step back.
"Fire...?" Lin asked. "What do you mean?"
Her father stood and walked away without replying, putting his hand on the shoulder of another surprisingly young teen. She had a swollen belly, and she stared at Lin with a mixture of fear and pity.
"This," he said quietly over his shoulder, "is my daughter. And her unborn daughter, Suki. Neither of them would ever touch the traitorous element that destroys everything in its path. Unlike you, Lin. You are not one of us. Come on, Min." He put a hand on her shoulder and tried to steer her away.
The teen broke from her father's grip for a moment to stare at her sister. "I never knew," she said to her. "I didn't know, I swear." She lifted her hand, as if with desire to reach out and touch her newly discovered sister, but she lowered it slowly again after only a moment.
"Neither did I," Lin sniffled, then stood, turned, and ran, tears making her vision blurry. She felt cool water on her ankles, and slowly all up her short legs as she hurried into the bay, not caring where she was going as long as it was away from the horrible crowd with their fear and admiration and cruelty. Kyoshi felt panic growing.
No, Lin, don't go out there, not now!
The tiny child kept sloshing through the water. Soon it was too deep for her and she was forced to swim, though it was all she could do to stay afloat in her hysteric state. She felt something moving in the water around her, and before she had time to realize what it was she was enveloped in the darkness of a vengeful monster's mouth.
Kyoshi could only be thankful that Lin's death was as quick and painless as her mother's, though she would never remember her home island - and the beast that guarded it - in the same gilded light again.
When Kyoshi returned to the iceberg in the far south, too disgusted to stay for long, the other spirits tried to comfort her. She pushed them away, insisting that she needed no comforting. She dwelled on her own dark thoughts for a while, and finally snapped.
Get out of here, Roku. Maybe you will succeed where I failed.
Roku hesitated, about to say something to his past life and many-time friend, then thought better of it and disappeared. Kyoshi shuddered with the others as he left, feeling the quickly-becoming-familiar pain of separation, but after a moment she went back to skulking in the shadows of Aang's spirit. She spent only a moment to hope that this time, they would succeed. Another loss, another death, and her heart might break in two.
Why had she ever been mean to Lin?
A/N: I realized that I haven't done a disclaimer yet. Oh well, here it is. Unfortunately, all of these great characters, settings, and world don't belong to me. The only things that do are my OCs, my plot, and fortunately, your reviews. Keep them coming!
I hope you enjoyed it... in a dark kind of way. The next one should be the last pre-chapter, before we get into the real meat of the story. Yes - this is still only a prologue (cue crazed-author cackle.)
And, just in case this one seemed a little odd, a wrote it while on a long drive out to California, with six other people in the car and the faint sounds of audio-books penetrating my headphones. You could say I was a bit distracted. So if you catch anything, please let me know. :) Thanks for your help.