I own none of these characters, sadly. But one can dream, right?

Also, a note: in my story's world Lin and her sister have long reconciled and share a close relationship.

Thank you all for the reviews. By all means, keep them coming :)

Anyways, happy readings!

"What do you mean?" Suyin said. "She was fine an hour ago!"

"But she's not now!" Lin snapped.

"You're right," Toph said.

"Who's right?" Suyin asked.

"Both of you are. She was fine, but I'm halfway across the room and I can feel the heat radiating off her. Suyin, do me a favor. Call Katara at Air Temple Island and tell her to get an Air Bison. She needs to see Korra immediately."

Lin stiffened upon hearing the waterbender's name and chose to focus on the little girl instead. She soon noticed that her lips were moving.

"Guys, hush!" she called out. "I think she's saying something!"

Everyone soon converged upon the little one's bedside, listening in to what she was saying.

"Mommy?" she said weakly, opening her eyes, turned glassy by the fever.

The women froze.

"Mama," she said once more before turning over to sleep.

Toph immediately took charge.

"Suyin, call Katara. Then, boil some water for tea and put on a pot of jook. Lin, you need to leave."

Her daughter shot up instantly.

"What? No! I'm not going to leave her!"

The master metalbender was slightly taken aback, though she didn't show it. She hadn't really expected this response from her Lin, of all people. Suyin was definitely the more motherly of the two, and she practically ran out of the room to fetch Katara.

"Lin, listen to me. You have been through a lot between taking care of the Avatar-"

"Korra-"

"-Korra and your promotion to chief. Not to mention the fact that you broke up with your boyfriend of 25 years a few hours ago! Kiddo, you need to go and rest or else you're going to run yourself ragged! I already brought your stuff up there; all you'll need to do is unpack."

Lin stalked off towards her bedroom in a huff. Toph shook her head.

Some things never change, she thought. Then she went to the foyer to wait for her dear friend.

Lin plopped on the bed and angrily unpacked. She threw her clothes in her dresser and slammed the drawer shut. She dumped all her books on the floor and in frustration created an earth wave powerful enough to force all her books off her shelf. Lin groaned and went to fix her shelf when she noticed some pictures had fallen out from their frames.

She felt all her anger dissipate as she looked at the old pictures. They were slightly yellowed with age, which was not surprising considering they were about 20 years old. The first one depicted a teenaged Tenzin laughing after Lin's first glider ride. Though she tried to appear unfazed, it was clear that she was unsettled from her time in the sky.

I remember this. It was my thirteenth birthday, and he wanted to ask me out. At first I said no, but he took his glider out and flew me on it until I said yes.

Lin chuckled.

My god that seems so far away.

She looked at the next picture. They were older-about 20 when the photo was taken. Lin had on a stylish dress, high-necked and fitted throughout the body. Her hair was done up in a bun and accented with flowers. Tenzin wore his dress robes and was putting on a beautiful stone bracelet on her arm.

This was the Policeman's ball. He took me because it was my first time going as an actual policewoman. Bought me an emerald bracelet and everything-said he chose it because we are both strong, like the earth. Now that I think of it, I probably have it somewhere around here…

Lin rooted around her overturned jewelry box until she found the bracelet. She looked at it, sighed, and put it on her nightstand.

Tears stung her eyes as she looked at the last photo.

It was taken about five years after the last one, putting their age at about 25. Tenzin was embracing a blushing and smiling Lin as he kissed her on the cheek.

Soon, she could stand it no longer.

Lin burst into gut-wrenching sobs as she threw down the photo. Toph found her curled up into a small ball as she muffled her cries in a pillow.

"Oh, kid," Toph said soothingly as she rubbed her daughter's back. "I'm so sorry."

This only seemed to make her daughter cry harder. The floors were rumbling, and plaster was falling from the ceiling. Toph stroked her daughter's face until her weeping turned into small sniffles. As soon as she stopped crying completely, Toph straightened out the room with a few hand movements. The master metalbender stood up to leave when something made her pause.

"Lin," she said matter-of-factly. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"