"Push!"

Katara's strained cry filled Toph's ears, but she didn't dare leave the room. This was important.

Toph hadn't been there during the actual births of Katara and Aang's other two children. She preferred to wait outside with the faint-hearted Snoozles, who wasn't interested in seeing quite that much of his own sister. Toph could see as much of what was going on no matter what side of the door she was standing on, but Katara insisted that it would be good for her to be a part of it this time. This way, Toph would have a better idea of what to expect during her own birthing process.

Toph didn't like what she was feeling.

It was loud, smelly, gooey, and she was pretty sure Katara had pooped on the bed a few minutes ago, though nobody was talking about it. All in all, Toph wanted wholeheartedly to not ever have to go through any of this herself.

It was strange. Toph didn't remember being this appalled the last time she had witnessed a birth. But now...

"You're doing great sweetie," Aang said. He was clutching his wife's sweaty hand as though both their lives depended on it. Toph could feel his panicked heartbeat and chuckled at his nervousness. She'd heard stories of women breaking their husbands hands during childbirth, but Toph was pretty sure that with Aang's grip, he was hurting Katara more than she was hurting him.

"Do you think something about this is funny, Toph?!" Katara's words came out through tightly clenched teeth and Toph recoiled slightly. She raised her hands in defence, preferring not to antagonize her friend at the moment. The two of them had enough trouble avoiding arguments when one of them wasn't in the process of pushing a small human out of her vagina.

"No, no. Twinkletoes has it right. You're doing a fantastic job." Her words sounded hollow to her, but Katara didn't seem to notice. Instead, she cried out in pain and Aang scooted in closer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Keep it up," Toph added lamely.

She could feel it. That baby was just about free.

It wasn't much longer before Katara's strained cries were joined by a set of tiny wails. The doctor was clutching the slippery infant in his comparatively massive hands as a healer and a nurse rushed over to get the newborn cleaned up and settled in his parents arms. "He's amazing," Aang said, once Katara was holding the baby. His wife sniffed wetly, but Toph could feel the massive grin on her face.

"Toph, come over here," Katara said. She was still catching her breath, but the waterbender sounded so... happy.

Toph took a few shaky steps over to her friends. Katara was handing the baby to Aang so that the nurse could get her properly cleaned up. Aang stood up, rocking the crying baby gently.

"He's great," Toph said when she was only a step or two away. This close, her feet were able to get a better feel for the baby's features. He... felt just like any other baby. "What're you gonna call him?"

"Katara allowed me pick this time," Aang said. Toph raised her eyebrows, but Katara smiled as the nurse bustled around her.

"I'll name the next one, I'm sure," the waterbender said.

"So, you two are just going to keep going at it until one of them's an airbender, huh?"

"If I wasn't so exhausted, I would smack you," Katara said. But Toph could hear the happiness in her voice. "Aang, tell her the name."

"His name's Tenzin." Aang took a step closer to Toph and the earthbender gasped as she felt the baby being placed into her unsuspecting hands. "Here."

"Woah, hey!" Toph tried to back away but Aang persisted. Not wanting to let the newly born infant fall to the floor, Toph found herself clutching the bundle tentatively. She realised she had stopped breathing and inhaled shakily.

Aang helped her reposition her arms so that Tenzin's head was resting in the crook of her elbow. Toph's other hand was now free enough for her to reach over and brush a thumb over the little boy's face. He had calmed down since the initial trauma of being pushed out into the world. Toph was able to feel his little round nose, soft, squishy lips, his eyes that blinked irritably as her thumb brushed past a surprisingly plentiful amount of lashes. Toph felt the top of his head.

"Wow, he's got a lot of hair."

Katara chuckled. "He does, doesn't he."

"Your other kids didn't have this much hair when they were born, did they?"

Aang shrugged. "Most baby's don't," he said.

Toph felt weird. Here she was, holding a baby birthed by one of her best friends, and it felt... right. Toph clenched her teeth. No, it felt wrong. She was Toph Beifong, she wasn't mother material. She couldn't feel this comfortable holding a child.

Toph held Tenzin back towards his father. With a shaky breath she cracked a smile. "Well then it's settled. Sugar Queen obviously had an affair, because this baby has way too much hair to be related to you."

"Toph!" Katara said indignantly as Aang let out a barking laugh. "Aang, that's not funny!"

"Congratulations," Toph said as Aang took the baby from her. "You good for Sokka to come in now?" She felt Katara nod.

"Hey, Snoozles!" Toph called towards the door. Tenzin stirred at the sound of her loud voice and Aang cooed at him. "Your sister is nice and covered! You can come in now."

"Oh thank the spirits!" Sokka said as he flung the door open. "I want to see my new nephew!"

Sokka was pushed aside by Bumi who came running into the room, followed by his little sister. Bumi was trying to get a good look at the baby while Kya crawled onto the bed with her mother, far less interested in the bundle her father was holding.

"Calm down, Bumi," Katara was saying. "Uncle Sokka gets to hold him first..."

"Mommy, you're all sticky..."

Toph backed up to the wall and let the family reorient themselves around their newest addition.

Toph sipped at the cup of tea her mother's servant had prepared for her. She had to admit that the warm liquid was calming her nerves, but she really wished her nerves didn't need calming in the first place. Poppy Beifong was regarding her daughter with a very stern expression.

"Just say it," Toph finally said as she lowered her cup. Her mother tilted her head as she straightened her back some.

"Your father and I are very disappointed, Toph."

"Ya, well that's not new."

Poppy sucked in a breath. "Toph, you know that's not true! Your father and I are very proud of your accomplishments. But sometimes..."

"Sometimes I don't act in a way befitting a lady raised for proper society, I know." Toph sighed. "I wasn't trying to get pregnant."

"You held a press conference! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking 'Hey, everyone already knows I'm pregnant. At least they'll have the true story instead of whatever rumours they were concocting on their own!'"

"You held a second press conference to explain what happened at the first!"

"Well, the first didn't exactly go as planned now, did it?" Toph let out a hot breath. She'd thought she was miscarrying. Heck, she'd kind of hoped she was. She felt her mother's concerned gaze on her face.

"Toph," Poppy said. "Are you okay?"

"I..." Her emotions were starting to get the better of her again and Toph felt tears forming in her eyes. Stupid hormones. She rubbed them away swiftly with the back of her hand. "I'm not," she admitted. "I'm single and stuck with this... unstable pregnancy. I don't even know if I want to have this baby-"

"So don't."

Toph froze. Had her mother said what she thought she'd said? Poppy was still as a statue, her cup of tea held delicately in her lap.

"Toph, if you don't want to be a mother, don't have the baby. There are ways to get rid of it."

"You want me to get rid of the baby..."

Her mother sighed. "It might be what's best."

"What's best for me, or what's best for the Beifong family reputation?" Toph asked icily. Poppy opened her mouth to respond, but Toph continued before she could. "Because the world already knows I'm pregnant and getting rid of the baby isn't going to change that."

"You admitted the pregnancy is unstable. Your doctors can't even guaranty the baby is going to survive until birth." She shrugged. "Just think about it."

Toph did. It was tempting for sure. If she got rid of the baby sooner rather than waiting for it to happen on its own, she wouldn't have to endure many more horrible contractions like the one she'd had at the press conference. And what kind of a mother could she be? She'd never look her child in the eye, or be able to read it a bedtime story...

"If you and dad had known..." Toph asked, carefully. "If you'd known that I was going to be born blind. Would you have... gotten rid of me?"

"Toph..."

But Toph pulled back, placing her cup sharply on the table as she straightened up. "Forget it. That was a stupid question."

"Toph-"

"I have to get to work," Toph said hoarsely. She stood up and walked briskly towards the door. She felt her mother get up as well, but Toph had no intention of turning back.

Not this time.

"Here, Toph. Change his diaper for me."

Toph recoiled as she was handed a smelly, wailing infant. Tenzin was only a few weeks old and he already smelled like a sewer dwelling hobo. "Ya... I'll get right on that."

"I want to do it!" shouted Bumi, who was bouncing up and down next to her, but Katara placed a hand on his shoulder to settle the excited boy.

"Seriously?" Toph asked. "You want to do this?" She was holding the baby at arm's length about a foot above the change table. Toph had never changed a diaper in her life and she wasn't quite sure where to start.

"Bumi, this is a learning experience for Toph. If you really want to change a diaper, you can give it a try later. How does that sound?"

Bumi rolled his head around making a thoughtful humming sound. "Mmmm... no," he said eventually, shrugging away from his mother and running down the hall. Katara sighed.

"I swear, I don't know what to do with that kid sometimes. He changes his mind every five seconds, can't stay focussed on a task..."

"He's particularly good at plotting mischief with his sister," Toph added as she placed Tenzin on the table. There were a few bottles lying around, though she wasn't quite sure what they were for. Some water, blankets, cloths...

"You can start by taking off his onesie," Katara said, noticing the way Toph's hands hovered tentatively above the squirming baby. Tenzin twisted his body violently as he cried, but he wasn't making any progress in his apparent attempts to escape.

"Right." Toph took hold of the soft fabric with her calloused hands. She delicately undid a few buttons before she heard Katara giggling. "What?" Toph asked, pausing in her task.

"Believe it or not, you're not likely to break my child while changing his diaper."

"He's a baby," Toph said, gesturing at the screaming kid in front of her. "Don't they just, like, die randomly sometimes?"

"Toph, relax. You can do this."

Toph took a deep breath while she flexed her hands. She got back to exposing the child's diaper and crinkled her nose in disgust at the smell. Katara had told her it wasn't going to smell bad at his age, but Toph begged to differ. "I guess there's a good reason you've never let me babysit before, huh?"

"Well, I've got plenty of people practically tripping over themselves to help out around here, it's not like it's ever been needed. Besides, you're always so busy with work..." Katara trailed off as she watched Toph undo Tenzin's diaper. "Make sure to have a cloth on hand to cover him up. Baby boys sometimes like to pee in your face, and if he turns out to be a waterbender, you're definitely not going to want that to happen."

Toph grabbed a cloth as she pulled open the soiled fabric. Katara began to direct her through the process of cleaning him off, but Toph soon found herself with a bit of a dilemma. She thought she'd wiped Tenzin's bum quite thoroughly, but Katara kept directing her to wipe in different areas. It seemed babies were capable of getting poop in places Toph would never have thought.

"Look, I'm sorry," Toph eventually snapped as Katara told her once again that she'd missed a spot. "The only ass I have any experience wiping is my own, and I'm typically pretty damn good at not shitting half-way down my thigh!"

"He didn't poop down his thigh, he got his leg in it while you were moving the diaper-"

"I can't see the poo, Katara! I don't know where I need to wipe!" The baby's screaming was grating on her ears and Toph dropped the cloth in frustration, turning from the table. Tenzin's poop was so soft that most of it blended in with its surroundings and Toph couldn't make it out with her earthbending. How was she supposed to wipe her own kid's ass if she needed someone to stand over her for the entire process?

"You'll get the hang of it," Katara said. "Just try again."

"No," Toph said as she stalked over to the sofa. "You finish. Clearly I'm not cut out for this."

Toph had never imagined poop to be such an important part of parenting. Apparently she needed to look out for texture, consistency, colour... how was she supposed to know if her baby's poop was the wrong colour? Would she be able to recognise diaper rash? Toph felt her breath hitch as she leaned her head back against the sofa.

"Here, wipe your hands off," Katara said as she sat down next to Toph and Toph was handed a wet cloth. Katara cuddled a newly changed Tenzin against her breast as the little boy began to settle down. "Are you okay?"

Toph sniffed as she wiped at her hands. She shrugged.

"How was the visit with your mom?"

Toph glared. "I think... my mom thinks I'm not capable of taking care of a child. And, I think she might be right." She felt Katara shift on the sofa next to her.

"Did she say that?"

"Well, no..." Toph admitted.

"Then don't put words in her mouth," the waterbender said. "It's natural for you to be scared, and I'm sure your mother knows this. I'm sure she's just worried for you."

Toph didn't know why she was so mad at her mom. Her mother was still in the city, but Toph had yet to go back to visit the house she was renting. "She told me I should get rid of the baby," Toph said quietly. She swallowed. "And I asked her if she would've done that to me if she knew I was going to be born blind."

Katara didn't say anything for a moment. Tenzin shifted in her arms, his heartbeat slowing as he drifted off to sleep. "What did she say?" Katara finally asked.

"I don't know, I left before she could answer!" Toph snapped. She rolled her shoulders and leaned back, her blind eyes staring at the ceiling. "Sorry, I just... I shouldn't have asked. That's really a dangerous thing to be thinking about, right?"

"Well, I mean..." Katara appeared unsure of what to say. She tilted her head slightly and Toph felt the back of the sofa move as the waterbender shrugged her shoulders. "It's not surprising that you're thinking about these things. Your mother carried you inside of her womb for nine months and now you're doing the same with your own child. I think you're looking for guidance and..." Toph's irritated sigh cut Katara off. Katara turned her head towards her and Toph narrowed her eyes. She was getting that judgey look again, wasn't she.

"Toph, your mother is probably the best resource you have for knowing what you're going to experience during pregnancy. I didn't have that luxury when I had my kids, and I'm not going to let you throw it away just because you're scared of what she might say."

Toph swallowed back a sob and she heard Katara gasp at the distraught expression that had suddenly appeared on the her face.

"Toph, what is it?" Katara asked. Toph took a shuddering breath.

"They didn't want me," Toph said. "I just... when I was born, and they saw my eyes..." She clenched her useless eyes shut, feeling the pressure from her eyelids push out a few tears. She took a deep breath to control herself.

"They were stuck with this... damaged... thing," Toph finished quietly. "And I fully believe that they would've gladly not had me had they known I was going to be that way."

"Even if that's true, they aren't the same people they were then." Katara placed a gentle hand on Toph's arm, but Toph didn't move. She didn't have the energy. "You need to talk to your mother, Toph. She loves you and she just wants what's best, even if her advice seems misguided."

Toph nodded mutely. She felt Katara smile.

"How about you come back next week and we'll try this again, hm?" When Toph didn't answer, Katara tried again. "Mood swings suck, don't they."

Toph rewarded her with a vaguely amused snort.

Moods swings weren't the only things that sucked though. Toph was learning the hard way that she was an unfortunate sufferer of frequent bouts of morning sickness. It was becoming more and more regular for Toph to be late for work because she didn't trust herself to leave the bathroom, and her officers were starting to get jumpy whenever she made even the slightest inclination that she wasn't feeling well. One young man had all but run from her when she'd burped while he'd been talking to her, and avatar protect the person that thought they could get away with bringing eggs to work with them. The smell was enough to send Toph sprinting towards the nearest bathroom while she inwardly cursed whatever brave soul had betrayed the new "egg free" rule that was in effect at police headquarters.

It had been about a month since Toph had visited her mother and the Police Chief still hadn't returned for a second visit. It didn't matter though, because it seemed Toph's mother intended to stay in Republic City for some time. Despite Katara's frequent attempts to sway her, Toph continued to delay any meeting the waterbender tried to set up.

Instead, Toph focussed on her newest task. Guo had found them a Braille instructor and Toph had begun the arduous task of learning an entirely new form of alphabet. She hated it.

"You sure it's not your baby, Heng?"

"You're kidding, right? The Chief and I aren't that close."

"Come on, you can tell us!"

"Guys, I'm married. I have two kids of my own..."

"So?"

"So, the kid is Kanto's. Case closed."

Toph wondered how her officers could even pretend she couldn't hear them through her office door. She ran a finger over the line of bumps the instructor expected her to read.

"So?" the instructor asked. She leaned forwards against the desk, peering closely at Toph's bemused expression.

"The first one's a... C," Toph ventured. Guo was rustling through a bunch of papers, frantically searching for something. The instructor frowned. "No, wait. M. That's what it's called right? The one that goes mmmm."

"Very good."

Toph understood why Braille had to be so different from the traditional written word. There were so many characters, and to transcribe each one into a language that would be recognisable by touch... well an entirely new form of writing had needed to be invented. It involved a major reworking of how she perceived writing, not that she'd ever gotten much of a grasp of it in the first place. She just wished the learning process didn't make her feel like such a child.

"You guys know she was cheating on him, right?"

"She wasn't cheating," Heng responded defensively. "She flirted around a bit, but I mean, lots of guys throw themselves at her."

"Flirting around is cheating."

Guo glanced up from his papers to glare at the door, but he quickly turned his attention to the paper in front of Toph. "That says... Metalbending Police Force..." he said slowly.

"Um, ya. Of course. I could've figured that out eventually..."

"Yes, it does," said the instructor, her voice frail and quiet. "But let the Chief read it. The whole point of this is so that she can read without your help." Toph felt her fingers get brushed aside by one wrinkly hand as the instructor replaced the sheet of paper with another. "Let's try this one."

Toph ran her fingers across the first few letters, concentrating on deciphering the series of dots in front of her.

"Wasn't right, treating him like that."

"Well, what would you expect? They had nothing in common, besides being earthbenders. And he was terrible at that."

"So why were they even together?"

Toph growled, her eyes narrowing irritably. "Guo?" she said. "Do you mind politely telling our men outside to keep it down?"

"Of course, Chief," Guo said, rising from his chair. He walked briskly towards the door and cracked it open.

"Hey!" Toph felt the men outside the door turn their heads. There was a jump in their heartbeats, likely due to them realising how loudly they'd been talking. "The Chief wants me to tell you that she may be blind, but her ears work just fine, so-"

But Guo didn't get to finish his scolding because at that moment the main doors burst open, a dishevelled officer sprinting into the room. His heart was pounding as he tried to catch his breath. "Where's the Chief?" he gasped.

Toph was out of her seat before the man had finished speaking. She shoved roughly past Guo and as the officer caught sight of her he rushed over.

"Chief, the Dong Gang's leader's been found! He was apparently trying to intimidate a shop owner on Morning Street, and a fight broke out. Some of our officers got involved..." He took a deep breath. "It's still going on!"

Toph tensed up. "Okay, I'll head over there with-" But she stopped. She couldn't head over there herself. She'd promised her officers and the public that she wouldn't endanger the baby. "I need all available officers down there now! I'll be close behind."

She hated this. She hated limiting herself.

And she hated feeling helpless.

"I'm going to interrogate him."

"Chief, are you sure that's a good idea?"

Toph snorted. "I'm interrogating the man, not challenging him to a duel." Ling pursed her lips but didn't pursue the subject.

Toph walked swiftly down the hall towards the interrogation room, Ling following closely at her heels.

"Good job on the takedown, by the way," Toph said. She felt Ling smile.

"Thanks, Chief."

Ling had indeed been the one to deliver the final blow that had allowed Toph's officers to capture the gang leader. Toph had been watching from a few streets over and couldn't help but smirk. She liked it when her female officers made her proud.

They were now heading through the holding cells, the interrogation room being just on the other side. A few of the cells were occupied by tenants supposedly guilty of various petty crimes. Some of them sneered at the Chief of Police as she strode past, while others huddled forlornly on the hard hunks of metal that served as their beds for the night. Toph and Ling stopped at the end of a row of cells where one of her officers was waiting to open the door for her.

"Chief," the man said with a curt nod of his head.

Toph nodded her own head in acknowledgement.

"Well, well, Chief..." said a gravelly voice to her left. "How about I roast up that little baby for you, hm?"

The voice belonged to a man who was locked up in the last cell of his row. He was sitting on the cell's bed, but appeared to be having trouble keeping himself upright. Toph continued to face forwards, refusing to reward the man by giving him any attention. She'd been on the receiving end of plenty of rude, lecherous, and downright inappropriate criminal behaviour while wandering past these cells and knew the best way to handle it was to pretend she hadn't heard anything.

"I see you've met our resident firebending drunk," the cell's guard said. Apparently this particular man hadn't been at his job long enough to get the memo about ignoring the inmates. Toph tried to remember his name, but was drawing a blank. "This guy thought his night out drinking would be best ended by turning the fountain outside the bar into a hot tub. Sent three half-naked women to the hospital with severe burns."

"Lovely," Toph deadpanned. She felt the man in the cell lick his lips as he looked her and Ling up and down. "Door?"

"Right, Chief. Of course." The officer quickly pulled open the panel that lead into the interrogation room. Toph and Ling stepped inside.

They weren't the only cops in there, of course. The man sitting at the interrogation table was far too dangerous to be left alone, and as such was surrounded by five mentalbenders. His hands were clamped to the table in front of him with steel wires. His expression was stony, but he looked up at the new arrivals as the door slid shut behind them.

"So you're Umi," Toph said coolly.

"Chief Beifong." She felt a slight grin mark his face. He had a strong, muscular body and a voice that sounded like melting ice. Toph strode over to the table, her hands clasped behind her back.

"You've been difficult to find," Toph said. The man shrugged.

"Tell me, Umi. What possessed a man in hiding to make a such a sudden display of hostility? Seems like a sloppy move, don't you think?"

"I have a temper." He grinned wider. "I'm sure you can relate."

"I take it you have no intention of telling me where exactly you've been hiding all this time?"

Umi shrugged. "I had a house. Guess I still do, technically."

"And that house is..."

"Why would I tell you where my house is? Now that would be a sloppy move, am I right boys?" The man turned his head to grin at the officers standing guard, but they ignored him.

Toph shrugged. "Yes, I supposed that's a little personal. How about this? Does Republic City remind you at all of the Tuuq Camp where you grew up?"

She felt his heart beat pick up slightly, his muscles tensing. "I'm not sure how that's relevant..."

"Answer the question."

"Well, I mean, there are certainly a lot of differences. I'm not sure they're really comparable."

"Mmm." Toph flexed her toes a bit, feeling the smooth rock under her feet. "I think that's all for now. You can put him back in his cell."

Toph turned briskly and left the room, Ling scrambling to catch up as the two of them headed back down the row of cells.

"Chief, you barely asked him any questions!" Ling gasped, slightly out of breath.

"I didn't have to." They had made it out of the holding cells and were now in the main room of the building. "That man wasn't Umi."

She felt a hand grab her arm and she stopped in her tracks, turning to face Ling. "How do you know?" the young woman asked.

"The way he evaded questions that would identify him, for one. You'll note that in my presence he never outright claimed to be Umi." Toph took a deep breath. "He knows I can tell when someone is lying and he was sent as a stand in to make us think we've found the Dong Gang's leader. But that man knows nothing about where Umi grew up and he couldn't bluff his way through it."

"So what should we do?"

"Keep him." Toph shrugged. "Make them think it worked. Meanwhile, we keep looking. Discreetly."

She was standing outside the door again. The cold wind was stinging her face, but Toph didn't move. She could feel her mother standing inside the building, staring out the window. Watching her.

Toph clenched her fists. This is how it went last time, but Toph had turned away. She'd felt her mother shake her head as she left.

Toph couldn't bring herself to willingly put on a dress, but she had in fact put a little effort into her appearance. Her bangs were out of her face for one thing, and she was wearing her cleanest pair of pants. Not that her mother was likely to appreciate the effort.

She sighed, ready to turn around and head back to the small two bedroom she called her home. Why Toph had a second bedroom, she couldn't say, but she supposed it was a good thing in the end. A hand strayed to her belly, where just the barest evidence of her pregnancy was apparent. Katara was right. She needed to talk to her mother, even if she didn't want to.

She felt her mother stir slightly, but she didn't leave the window. Toph lifted a fist, ready to knock on the door. She would do it soon.

Any second now...

But she dropped her hand, too stubborn, or too afraid, to make a move.

The brave Toph Beifong can't even face her own parents.

Suddenly, Toph gasped. She hunched over, hands grasping at her slightly swollen abdomen. She could feel the pressure and pain of another unexpected contraction.

"Toph!"

Toph hadn't even noticed that her mother had left the window, but now the older woman had her arms wrapped around her daughter's shoulders.

"It's fine, mom! I'm fine." The pain was starting to dissipate and Toph began to straighten up again. Her mother was glancing at her sidelong.

"You are not fine. Come inside and sit down."

Toph felt herself being guided into the building, and while she wanted to protest, she didn't. This is why she came here, so she might as well follow through for once. Poppy was gesturing to a servant to bring Toph some water and Toph found herself being pushed backwards into a soft chair.

"Now who should I call?" her mother asked, hand hovering by the telephone. "Your waterbender friend? The hospital? Is there a doctor that's handling your pregnancy?"

"No one, mom. This is..." Toph shifted in her seat, alleviating some of the residual discomfort. "I've been getting these contractions, but Katara says the baby is fine. I shouldn't worry unless I have too many of them in a row."

Her mother lowered her hand, glancing at Toph's hunched posture. "How many are too many?" she asked.

Toph frowned. "One's too many as far as I'm concerned," she said under her breath.

Her mother walked over and sat down in a chair next to her. Toph felt the woman's gaze checking her over as a servant handed the earthbender a cup of water. The ornately carved designs of the cup felt smooth under Toph's fingers and reminded her of the life she had chosen the leave behind. Her mother was also very good at reminding her of just why she chose to do such a thing.

"You shouldn't hunch your shoulder so much," she said. The obedient high society girl inside of Toph sat up a little straighter before Toph could think about what she was doing. To compensate, Toph glared. "Toph, I know it was hard for you to come here. Please talk to me."

Toph took a shaky breath. She should have just turned around and left, but it seemed her stupid baby had other plans.

Pushy little asshole.

"Do you want the servants to get you anything else?" Poppy said. "You haven't touched your water."

"No. I'm fine. I didn't even need the water." To prove her point, Toph placed the cup on the table that was sitting in between their two chairs.

"I'm sorry if I said anything that may have hurt you," Poppy continued. "The question you asked the last time you were here..."

"Don't worry about that," Toph said. "I was just being hormonal."

She felt her mother shake her head, a few strands of hair falling around her shoulders. Was Toph imagining that? Was her mother's hair down?

"You had every right to ask that question and I don't blame you for wanting to know. But please understand, your father and I were very different back then. Having you, getting to know you... it's changed us for the better. We love you very much, Toph."

"I know." Toph felt tears beginning to form in her eyes. She really hated all this emotional garbage.

The two of them didn't say anything for some time. A servant came and brought her mother a cup of tea, but Toph turned her down when she was offered one as well. Toph closed her eyes, breathing deeply and inhaling the floral aroma that wafted over from her mother's tea cup. The breath helped to quell the choking sensation that had been building in her throat and Toph began to feel less like she was suffocating.

"Should I get rid of it?" Toph asked, eyes still closed.

"I think you should do what's best for you," her mother answered.

"I could tell the public that it happened naturally. That there was too much damage from the beating the Dong Gang gave me."

"You could."

"It would make things so easy," Toph whispered.

Her mother turned her upper body towards Toph as she examined the younger woman. Poppy's heartbeat sped up slightly. Toph opened her eyes, brow furrowed.

"Toph, I want you to know that your father and I think you've grown up to be an incredible woman. You're strong, both physically and mentally, and you handle so many situations that would traumatise most people. You persevere." Her mother leaned forwards and rested a hand on Toph's leg. "But after a lot of thought, and after the way you reacted when you visited last... I honestly don't think you would be able to forgive yourself if you decided willingly to not have this baby."

And that was it. Toph knew her mother was absolutely right.

"It's a girl," Toph said quietly. "I can feel it with my earthbending."

She felt her mother inhale sharply as she sat up straight once again. "How long have you known?"

"A couple of weeks now. Sometimes, when it's quiet, I just stand there and I can feel her."

"Your daughter is going to need a father, Toph."

Her daughter. That was an idea that Toph still hadn't gotten used to, but hearing it out loud...

Now if I only knew where the father was...

"You know, I haven't had a bowel movement in days," Toph said.

"There are medications to help with that," her mother replied, pinching the bridge of her nose.