Wow, I really haven't uploaded in months. I'm truly sorry about that, to all of you who like my story. I'm gonna work on picking it up again, I promise. Thank you for being so wonderful!
The prospect of knowing that her father actually slept with her mother the night before has Lin blushing furiously at the breakfast table. This is especially heightened when the man, overcome by his own euphoria, swoops his wife up and plants one on her right there in front of their scowling daughter. Lin retches dramatically.
"Uugh..."
Toph smirks, pushing Lin's chair over. The girl hits the ground backwards but expertly tumbles into a standing position, totally accustomed to this rough one-on-one with her mom.
"Don't act so grossed out, kid. I know you do the same thing with Twinkletoes Jr just about every second you can get... teenagers."
Lin flushes a deeper red and throws down her napkin.
"Well, we don't... we don't..." She gags on her own words in an effort to avoid enunciating the words sex and bedroom out loud in front of her parents.
There is an awkward pause before Toph bursts out laughing. She clutches her stomach and throws back her head, but in a way that Lin feels she may have never seen on her mother before. Lin's father takes one look at his wife and begins laughing also.
Lin just stands there, stunned.
"I- sorry, kid." Toph says, finally pulling herself together. "Relax a little, will ya? Me and Rockhead over here are still married, you know."
There it is, and she denies nothing... Lin claps a hand over her mouth.
"I think I'm going to puke."
Toph laughs again and grabs a fresh roll off the breakfast table.
"Try the bathroom."
Lin shakes her head and shoots a fleeting glare towards her father and he tries to hold back his grin in an effort to avoid pissing off the girl some more.
"I'm just... I'm going to school," Lin gasps.
She bolts from the room, as if chased by her mother's evident mirth, and soon they hear the front door slam as she exits the Beifong mansion. Lin's Father wipes the tears from his eyes.
"That was cruel," he says with a chuckle.
"That was parenting." Toph says she gets up and stalks from the room. He follows her fading voice. "...something that you've never had the pleasure of experiencing."
The man knows that it's a jab at his absence in their lives, but he also notices the rough sort of teasing in her voice, something totally unique to his wife. Nothing is forgiven, yet. But for now, things are all right.
Similarly to the day before, he watches her bend the metal armor around her body. The man takes it in with admiration as each glinting piece attaches itself around her.
"You know," he says. "You still haven't taught me how to metalbend."
She smirks, turning to face him.
"And I never will, Rockhead."
"You taught Lin..." he begins.
"Yes, because Lin is my daughter," She replies. "Not some raggedy, unstructured nomad to whom I somehow ended up married."
The man subtly rolls his eyes. Toph reaches for her belt then, fastening it around her waist without bending, a small accomplishment that reminds her that she could never be helpless, even without her bending.
"Besides," she continues. "Lin likes it too much."
"Metalbending?"
Toph nods.
"I don't know if you've noticed anything about her within the past forty-eight hours, but Lin's a bit of a perfectionist. She tries too hard and she likes it that way."
"I take it she was a good student," the man observes quietly.
"The best student I've ever had," Toph replies, her chest swelling with pride. "But she burns herself out, tries to make better what she's already perfected, and is constantly battling others for leadership in the field. I don't even know what the kid does for fun anymore. It's like being the best one out there every day is her fun."
"Maybe she's just trying to follow in your footsteps as best as she can," the man says. "It's a lot of pressure, being your daughter."
Toph sighs a little, unnoticeable to Lin's father. She checks the cables at her sides and when she finds that all is satisfactory, she pauses before brushing past him on her way to the front hall.
"She's—the closest family member I have... and I might put pressure on her, but she knows why. And I know... she would never love me more if I let up. She'd be insulted." Toph admits quietly.
Overcome by a wave of emotion, regret at never being there for his wife or for his daughter, at not being able to watch Lin grow, to carry her in his arms when she'd been too tired to walk herself to bed, or share with her the sort of unconditional love that she and Toph seem to share despite the roles thrown on them by the society of Republic City; the man takes Toph's hand in his, enveloping her powerful fingers in his warm ones and letting their arms dangle loosely.
"It's not your fault," he finds himself saying.
Toph just shakes her head, and slides her hand out of his grip. She continues wordlessly down the hallway, metal armor clunking gently.
"You don't know," Toph whispers. "You haven't been around long enough."
This one does feel like a stab in his chest but he remains silent.
