Lin, there are three words I've been wanting to say to you for so long. I am sorry. I'm sorry because I wasn't brave enough. Im sorry because i left you. I'm sorry that i hurt you. Im sorry for giving up on us.
One day i'll be back in your life and I will do everything it takes just to have you back. I will never lose hope that eventually we'll have our second chance. No matter how long, no matter what it takes I will never lose hope.
Do we still have a second chance? Do you believe our love story deserves a better ending?
T.
"Su... I... Why didn't you give this to me right away?" She asked, clearly annoyed.
Suyin looked at her, mortified. "I was panicked, okay? I intended to give it to you that day, but all of us got so busy and I totally forgot. I'm sorry."
Lin folded it up and put it on her nightstand. She knew she had to reply to it soon, but at the moment she had no desire to do so. "Come now, darling, let's go out. Mommy's gonna do some bending," she whispered, scooping Lei into her arms once more.
"Aren't you gonna punch me or send a rock flying to my face?"
"No - why should I?" She replied, smiling at Su.
Suyin just shrugged and followed her sister out. "You've gone soft, Captain."
"Ooooh! Look at Lei - or is this Lian?" Katara asked, pointing at the baby that Lin was carrying in the picture. "It's so nice to see Lin doing well, isn't it, sweetie?"
"Yes, of course! Have they sent us other messages, son?" Aang asked, turning to Tenzin.
"That's the only one," he replied.
Katara finally put the photo down. "Kya's been calling every other day, sweetie - she says Lin is doing fine, can you believe she's doing earthbending again? Spirits, that girl is as tough as her mother!"
Tenzin cleared his throat. "Did Kya mention anything about Lian being frail?"
"Well she said Lian was a bit... quiet," Aang replied. "But that's okay, right? Some babies are quiet by nature - right Katara?"
"Aunt Toph... She - er - she called me when Lin gave birth," Tenzin began, feeling wary as his parents both eyed him with concern. "And she told me that Lin had a hard time giving birth to Lian. She said the baby looked blue - and Kya told her Lian had weak lungs."
Katara clapped her hands over her mouth. "The poor dear! Oh Tenzin, why didn't you tell us right away? We could have flown there and done something to make Lian better!"
"I'm sorry, Mom - I got caught up with Pema and I -"
"Don't worry, son. I'm sure your sister's doing all she can to help Lin," Aang assured. "Sweetie, how about we fly out to Gaoling tomorrow morning and see how everyone's faring?"
Katara smiled. "Yes - that would be nice. I'm sure Toph won't mind us coming over ahead of schedule, right?"
"Then I better head to town and send them a line," Aang told her.
Bumi popped his head in the doorway. "Hey Mom, someone's on the phone. It's Chief Beifong."
"Or maybe not," Aang quipped.
"Hello? Toph?"
"Sugar Queen!" Toph yelled. "How are you?"
Katara smiled. She was overjoyed to hear her friend's voice after such a long time. "We're fine! And you?"
"DREADFUL," she deadpanned. "These preparations are killing me."
"Well it would've been easier if you had gone through the usual route," Katara said. "The invite came in the mail yesterday."
"Did it look nice?"
"Nice? Are you kidding me? It looked gorgeous! Suyin did a good job designing it."
She could hear Toph make a clicking sound over the line. "Are you coming?"
"Yes, of course!"
"So the rumors are true?" Toph asked.
Katara paused, suddenly confused. "Erm - rumors?"
"You know - the split?" Toph clarified, emphasizing on split.
"Oh!" Katara exclaimed, finally realizing what Toph was talking about. "Where did you get wind of it?"
"Su saw it in a tabloid yesterday. The wedding's off, then?"
"Yes," Katara replied sadly.
"Your son sure took his time deciding," Toph chided. "How is he?"
"He's a bit mopey and brooding - but I'm sure he'll bounce back soon enough. Speaking of bouncing back, how's Lin?"
"Kid wants to go back to work, can you believe that?!" Toph exclaimed. "The twins are barely two weeks old and -"
Katara laughed. "She's your daughter Toph - don't you remember? You were the same way when you gave birth to Lin."
Toph went silent.
"Hello?"
"Oh so you're sassing me now, huh? Very funny, Katara," she said bitterly. "But Lin's doing fine. A bit confused sometimes, but she's fine. Twins are doing great as well."
"About the twins," Katara began, "Tenzin told us that Lian is sick."
"Well, yeah. Kya's been trying to heal her - Su says she's doing all this awesome glowing water stuff on my grandkid."
"How is the baby?"
"She's slowly improving," Toph replied. "You should be proud of Kya."
Katara smiled. Kya, out of all of her children, was the drifter. After mastering combative waterbending and healing in her teens, Kya left home to "discover herself" - she has honed her techniques in the North Pole; she enriched her spirituality in the Southern Air Temple; she went thrill-seeking in the Fire Nation; and, for a time, found love in Omashu. And somehow, after all her restlessness, Kya found home with the Beifongs. Nothing could've made Katara and Aang more proud. "Listen, Toph - er - Aang and I had a talk a while ago."
"What about?"
"Well, he thought he could help with Lian's healing - so we decided to fly out to Gaoling tomorrow morning. I hope you don't -"
"WHAT?!"
Katara held the receiver at arm's length, startled by Toph's sudden outrage. "If you don't want us to come, of course -"
"Of course I want you to come! That's awesome - wow - I'll have your rooms readied. Oh shit this is great," Toph rambled. "So you'll be here by the afternoon, then?"
"Yes, yes."
"This is great - I won't tell the girls."
"Well - bye Toph. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Sugar Queen."
A/N: Okay, so this chapter's really short - I'm sorry. It's because I'm busy writing another fic, this time a one-shot, set in the same universe as Two Lines. If you could recall the one-shot I wrote, called "Day Off", well, it's basically a follow-up. I'll be posting it later, so I hope you guys read it too. :D
My next update is gonna be on Thursday evening! :) Hopefully we'll get to see more of the Gaang in here!