Disclaimer: I don't own these shows.
The teapot looked tempting as it sat on the table.
Should she take some?
Just a little bit?
She had been staring at the blasted thing for the past five minutes. Because of her late start this morning, Lin had missed her morning tea. She dreadfully had a craving for something warm in her stomach. It was getting colder and colder as winter approached and Lin had vowed that her consumption of tea would start off her morning. Her first opportunity was gone. Was this a sign from the spirits?
She didn't know why she needed it so desperately. It may have been the fact that even at nine o' clock in the morning, the station was already hectic and stressful. Or her failed attempt at comforting her loved ones three days ago. Lin could still imagine Bumi's pained expression as he yelled at her and expressed himself of his guiltiness. It was painful for her. Bumi was hurting, badly and Lin had felt as she had just made things worse. On top of that disaster, her doubt in completing the rest of her task just worried her more.
No. She needed to focus. What would have Uncle Aang have said?
"Failure is just another step to success."
Lin buried her face in frustration. She leaned against the table that had the precious tea upon its surface. One of her eyes fell upon the teapot once more. In this city, when it came to tea, it was serious business. Unless offered or made by one 's self, you couldn't just drink someone else's tea. It was a crime. She would know, she was an officer for crying out loud. Lin also learned that lesson the hard way. One day, her mother and she were out to eat and Lin, being six at the time, had finished her own tea. Stealthily, little Lin, using her limited amount of eartbending, bent a stone tea cup towards her. The one who had owned the cup originally came fuming up to Toph and by the end of the interaction, the Beifongs were banned from the restaurant and Lin had one of the worst lectures in her life. Never again.
Her mother.
Toph had continued her pattern. Working till midnight, coming home to sleep for four hours and then returning back to the police station. Lin barely sees her. The times that she does see her, she was forced to call her "Chief." Toph would speak to her daughter professionally, as if she were just another officer. Lin had suffered through her share of yelling and scolding just as her co-workers around her. She didn't know when her mother would ever come back to her normal self. Rather if she will ever come back at all.
Stop it.
She shouldn't think like that.
She needed to be confident.
She needed to focus.
She needed tea.
Lin quickly made her way to the cabinet in the far back of the room. She opened it and grabbed a tea cup. The cup was tightly gripped in her hands as she made her way back to the table. She sat and set the cup down on the table making a clank sound. Her hand carefully grabbed for the tea pot, the metal within her grasp.
"Captain Beifong!"
She practically fell out of her chair, the table being the only thing to prevent her from making contact with the metal floor. Lin gave out a loud groan before standing up and making her way out of the room. An officer was waiting right outside.
"What is it?" her tone was filled with annoyance.
The officer stood up straight, obviously fazed by Lin's intimidation. "The chief would like to see you in her office."
She put a hand on her hip. "Can it wait just a few minutes? I was doing something." Lin looked halfway back into the room and found two officers making their way inside behind her.
"She said immediately."
Another groan escaped her lips. She wiped her face with her hand and looked back at the officer. "Very well. Dismissed."
The officer nodded and walked down the hallway. Lin closed her eyes and thought for a moment. What could mother possibly want now? Haven't I done enough?
Lin started on her way. Just as she was about to turn the corner to the chief's office, she heard a remark from the room she was just in.
"Hey! Someone was kind enough to get me a cup for my tea!"
Lin growled.
It was difficult to say why Toph even had a desk. Or an office for that matter. She had no use for it. And that was what she had told Sokka when they were first building the police station.
"Why would I need a desk?"
"If I'm correct, you are chief of police. You've got a lot of paper work to do chief!"
She rolled her eyes at him. 3…2…1…
"Wait a minute…"
"Once an idiot, always an idiot."
Of course, Sokka had tried to fix his mistake. The only excuse the councilman could come up with was that it made her look professional. Toph couldn't argue with that.
At the moment, she was grazing her hand over a stone slab atop her desk. Those who didn't know would think that she was crazy, but that didn't matter to Toph. This stone slab had writing on it and long behold: she was reading it. Sokka had the brilliant idea that if she could feel the earth, she must be able to feel the indentations within the dirt and stone. She had called him stupid but even Sokka could tell that she was excited. So for about two months now, Toph had been learning how each character was written and sounded. Last month, her husband had given her this stone slab of writing and demanded her to learn the words on it. This is what had occupied her in her office now, when she wasn't off arresting the gangsters of the city.
It was probably the most thoughtful gesture that he has ever given her.
She was about a sentence to the end. The writing talked about a story of Oma and Shu. How they had built secret tunnels to continue loving each other. Toph thought to herself, Sokka is such a softy. Nonetheless, she had enjoyed the story and was anticipating the ending. Toph had heard this story as a kid, but the way Sokka had wrote it was amusing and intriguing. The earthbender wondered when the councilman had the time to chisel a whole story down onto a stone slab.
Toph already knew the answer to that. Of course he had a lot of time. Especially now since the two had barely spoken two proper words to each other. The only conversations they ever had ended with one of them sleeping in the living room, mostly Sokka. They don't see each other until the late evening when their stress is over their heads. Toph had to admit, it was quite depressing. A stranger would think that they weren't married. She didn't want that. Maybe she did miss-
No. There was no time for petty little feelings. There was a city out there running wildly with gang members and criminals. She was entrusted with the task to get rid of these people, hence her title. That exact title was given to her by the one and only avatar. Well, it was. Toph shook it off. No. She had to stay focused. This city was left her responsibility, her's and Sokka's. She had realized this and urged Sokka to do the same. But of course, the warrior had tried to reason with her, saying things like, "We need to work out our emotions first." or "Just let it out, Toph." And every single time, she had yelled at him. How could he think about something so insignificant? Their feelings were nothing compared to the large number of people suffering. Republic City was lost and they were supposed to fix it with just talking about how sad they are? Impossible! She was right. He was wrong.
Toph read the last sentence of the story. Oma's love for Shu lived on, through the city. Their city: Omashu. She scoffed at the stone slab. Toph pulled her hand away and it slid across the slab. Her fingers suddenly brushed over carving on the bottom of the page. The chief of police brought her hand back to the slab.
I…love…you…Snoozles.
"You wanted to see me?" a voice from the door said.
Toph shook her head and carefully placed her arms over the stone slab. "Uh, yes I did."
"How is the reading going?" Lin asked politely.
Her mother shifted awkwardly so that her arms covered more of the slab. "Just finished this one."
Lin put her hands behind her back. "That's good." She eyed her mother carefully. There were bags under eyes, thanks to the excessive hours of work she had put herself into. However, as a whole, Toph looked relaxed. She was just at her desk, reading. "So you needed something?"
Toph cleared her voice. "Zuko needs an escort for tommorow. He is going around the city and taking care of some issues. I want your team to be on the job, understood?"
"Uncle Zuko is still in the city? I thought he went home with Ursa and Iroh." Lin informed the chief.
"Because of what has happened in the past two weeks, his leadership was needed here."
Lin nodded and answered. "My team will be at city hall tomorrow morning to meet with him."
Toph stood and walked around the desk. "Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, according to the vibrations, there is panic in the control room. Good day, Captain."
And with that, the chief disappeared into the door. Lin just stared at her mother's last position. Good day, Captain? Captain? Really?
The younger Beifong shook her head in disappointment. Already, she could tell that her mother was going to be the hardest to crack. She'll be a close second with Tenzin. Lin leaned against her mother's desk. Her rear bumped into the slab upon the desk. She turned her head and stared at the stone. Her father had carved, impressively, an entire story onto the slab. Lin stood up and walked around the desk so that she could skim the story quickly before she was caught. It was the story of Oma and Shu. There was talk of love and struggle.
At the bottom, there was an inscription but she could barely read it. Her mother must have tried to wipe it away. There was only one thing Lin could make out.
Love.
The police captain grazed her index finger over the word. Right then and there she made another promise.
She will bring her mother and father back together again.
There you guys go! Working hard on the next chapter!
