It was almost another hour before the emergency room doors clanged open. Toph was fast asleep, her head leaning against Sokka's shoulder as she slept. Sokka was sitting in the chair, his head bent at an awkward angle as he snored. Toph jerked her head up, awake instantly as she heard the sound. Sokka woke up slowly, removing his head from the awkward position and cracking it loudly. Toph winced at the sound before looking up.
Standing in the door was a woman in her thirties, with long, dark hair and impossibly blue eyes. She was wearing a traditional water tribe dress, a simple blue necklace adorning her neck. Two strands of hair were tied up in loops. Toph would have recognized her anywhere.
"Katara!" She said, standing up. It was definitely Katara, Toph thought. Each of her friends had a special kind of signature when they stood, one that Toph had memorized very early on in their lives. It made for less awkward moments.
"Toph." Katara said, sadness in her eyes. Not for the first time, Katara was glad Toph couldn't actually see her. Her eyes betrayed her right away. She took a few steps forward and hugged Toph as tight as she could. "Oh, Toph, I'm so sorry."
Toph's breath caught in her throat. Oh God, she thought. "Is Lin okay?" pleasepleasepleaseplease… Sokka stepped forward, his eyes pleading.
"Sis?" He said quietly. Katara looked away.
"Mommy! Daddy!" A tinny voice shouted from behind Katara. Katara stepped to the side, and Lin Beifong came bounding down the hallway towards them. Sokka felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. He dropped to his knees and embraced his daughter, hugging her like he would never let go. Toph was next to him in a second, brushing Lin's hair away from her face.
"Oh, thank God." Toph said. She kissed Lin on the forehead. "How you doing, kiddo? You okay?" Lin laughed.
"I'm fine, mom!" She said, smiling. "Aunt Katara fixed me." Sokka looked up at Katara, mouthing thank you. Katara smiled.
"Uh, Sokka?" Toph said uncertainly. Sokka turned to face Toph. One of her hands brushed against Lin's right cheek. "Is this what it feels like?" Sokka looked closer.
Right on Lin's cheek, bright as day and still very fresh, were two angry red scars, crossing from her hairline to her cheekbones. Sokka frowned.
"She'll have those for the rest of her life, I'm afraid." A booming voice said from the corner of the room. Aang walked across the room to stand next to Toph. "Katara and I did our best, but there are some things even we can't heal. I'm sorry, Toph." Toph looked at Aang with contempt.
"You can't heal two little scars?" She asked, crossing her arms. "I thought you were the Avatar. You know, master of all four elements, best bender in the world?" Aang looked away.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I tried everything."
"Well, you should have tried harder!" Toph shouted, the ground underneath her feet shaking. "Lin's going to be scarred forever, and all you can say is sorry!" She stormed out of the building, Sokka close on her heels.
"Toph-" Katara stepped in front of him. She held her hand out, stopping him. Aang walked past, giving Katara a knowing glance before walking out the door after Toph.
"Let her go." She said. "She needs to talk to Aang about this. There's something we haven't told you." She looked down at Lin. "Hey, Lin." She said. "Tenzin's playing in the lobby, why don't you go join him?" Lin grinned.
"Yay!" She ran off down the hall and into the next room, giggling like nothing had happened. Sokka smiled; kids were like that. He turned to Katara.
"You're sure you can't help the scarring?" He asked. Katara frowned, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry." She said. "Aang and I are the best healers in the world, you know that. But even we can't heal scars that deep. No, the scars are staying. For life, I'm afraid." Sokka looked crestfallen.
"Sokka, there's something you should know." Katara said. Sokka looked up. "The cuts…" She stopped, wondering if she should say anything at all. Maybe it was better for him not to know.
"What about them?" Sokka asked. His hand went to his sword. Katara winced; she knew that if Sokka found who did this to Lin, their life would be over very shortly. She had to tell him.
"They weren't made by a knife." She said, regretting it instantly. Sokka's eyes went hard, and he looked Katara in the eyes.
"What caused them?" He asked, very calmly. Katara almost felt bad for whoever had done this. When Sokka found them…she hesitated for a second. No, she thought. It was better if he knew. She took a deep breath.
"Waterbending."
"Toph," Aang said, standing next to her in front of the hospital. "Please, think rationally."
"I-will-not-think-rationally!" Toph shouted. Her foot slammed into the ground, and a chunk of rock the size of Aang's head rocketed towards him. He dodged it easily. "This is not a time to think rationally, Twinkle Toes!"
"Toph, please." He said pleadingly. "I know you're going through a lot, but you need to calm down." Toph turned at him, tears streaming down her face as she stared him down.
"I won't calm down!" she cried. "You have no idea what I'm going through! You're the Avatar! No one would dare touch Kya, or Bumi, or Tenzin. But Lin…" A sob escaped the façade. She leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down until she was sitting on the ground, her head in her hands.
"What if I could give you a name." Aang said quietly. Toph looked up, wiping tears from her eyes.
"What?"
"The man who attacked Lin." He didn't use a knife. The cut was too clean. It had to have been waterbending. And there's only one waterbender in the city that could do something like that." Toph stood up.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Because if you're wrong-"
"I know." Toph turned around for a second. She clenched her fists. The ground underneath her shook.
"What's the name?" Aang sighed. He knew what he was doing. If Toph got the name of Lin's assailant, she'd hunt the man down and kill him. And looking back, years later, Aang still wondered if, in the back of his mind, that was what he wanted.
"Yakone."