"Good morning, Chief," Rinna said as Toph trudged into her office.

"Ughhh."

"Not a good morning?"

Toph hung her jacket up and fell heavily into her chair. "Lin decided to be particularly difficult this morning. I am so sick of this clinginess. When will it end? I cannot fucking wait to get her into school so she can learn how to be a normal kid."

Through her frustration, she couldn't help but feel guilty. It had been months since the narrowly-avoided kidnapping and Toph herself was still struggling with being separated from Lin, despite all of the safety precautions put into place. But they had to get on with their lives, and it at least seemed as if Yakone had backed down. For now. At any rate, his usual shenanigans had died down to almost nothing.

"Ah…speaking of school…" Rinna trailed off uncomfortably.

"What?"

"The mail came in right before you got here. There's a letter from the school. I'm afraid it's not good news. Apparently, your application was rejected because she's not old enough."

"Those motherfuckers," Toph spat. She stood up suddenly. "You know what? I'm going to go down there and talk to them right now."

"Er, you have a meeting with Captain Luon and Councilman Amaruq in fifteen minutes."

"Gah!" she sat back down. "Fine. I'll go after the meeting. Send them a telegram so they'll be expecting me."

Two hours later, she was stomping through the city to one of Republic City's most prestigious primary schools. The grounds were fully gated with guards patrolling the perimeter, nestled in the heart of one of the safest districts. It was the perfect place to send Lin, and Toph was not willing to wait another year.

"Ah…Chief Beifong," the Head Teacher, Shiro, said when she strode into his office. "I received your telegram. Fortunately, I am not too busy this morning. Please, have a seat." When she had done so he cleared his throat. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like you to reconsider my application."

"In anticipation of your arrival, I had another look at it. It appears that your daughter will not yet be four years old by the start of the term. Unfortunately, per our policy–"

"Two days!" Toph interrupted fiercely. "Her birthday is two days before the start of the term."

"Yes, I realize that, but–"

"If she has to wait until next year, she'll be older than all the other kids."

"And if she starts now, she'll be younger than all of them. We have this rule for a reason. Those whose birthdays are just after the cut-off very frequently run into problems and have to be pulled out. Many of them simply cannot communicate effectively enough to get the most out of their education."

"So give her a chance! Let her try and if it doesn't work out, then fine! I'll back off."

"Chief Beifong, it may benefit you to keep in mind that we reserve the right to deny any application for any reason. Enrolling at Westwind Primary School is a privilege, not a right. Not even the Avatar is entitled to send his children here, though I must say he and his wife have never been anything but exceptionally polite in their dealings with us."

Toph ground her teeth, furiously holding back an indignant tirade. Slowly, she unclenched her fists and flattened her hands on her thighs.

"Please," she forced out. "Lin is very smart. She'll have no trouble keeping up. More importantly, she only has one friend her age – Aang's youngest – and he'll be starting school this upcoming term. It's in her best interest for them to be in the same class."

"She'll make other friends when she starts, and she'll do it more easily when she's older. These rules are not arbitrary, Chief Beifong. I would expect you of all people to understand that. We, too, must do what is in the best interest of the children, and our system has proven effective over the years. You are welcome to apply again next year, when your daughter is the right age."

While Toph managed to see herself out in a somewhat dignified manner, she was silently seething. You couldn't have waited two more fucking days to be born, kid? Ugh, I should never have taken that walk down to the beach. She wasn't going to give up so easily, though, and summoned Aang as soon as she returned to the station.

"Is everything alright?" he asked when he showed up that afternoon. "Your message was very vague."

"I…have a favor to ask."

"Toph Beifong asking for help? Well, this is a special day, indeed. What is it?"

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment. "The school rejected my application because Lin is two days short of the age requirement."

"Oh, bummer."

"I'm not going to roll over on this. Can you please talk to the Head Teacher? Use that Avatar influence?"

He sighed softly. "Well…I guess can give it a shot, but that man is pretty tough."

"All I'm asking is that you try. You know how important this is to me. Lin hasn't been the same since the attack. She needs this, and the transition will be infinitely smoother if she's got Tenzin to keep her company."

"I'll talk to him. No promises, though. I'm not going to jeopardize Tenzin and Kya's placement there."

That evening followed the usual pattern. Toph walked through the door and Lin abandoned her dinner to cling.

"Hi, Mommy."

"Why are you whispering?"

"So bad guys don't hear."

Toph blinked, taken aback. In the first few weeks after the incident, Lin had been very reserved but eventually resumed her normal chattiness. And while the separation anxiety and nightmares continued to be a problem, she had yet to make any direct reference to what had happened.

"There aren't any bad guys here. And why are you eating so late?"

Sora emerged from the hall at this point. "She's been a little stubborn today."

"Stubborn? I'm shocked," Toph deadpanned. "Go eat, Lin. I want to do some training before bed."

"I'm full."

"Oh, yeah? So if I throw your dinner away, you're not going to whine about being hungry later?"

"No."

"Alright. I'm gonna go throw it away."

Sora gathered her things and started putting her jacket on. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lin."

And just like that, Lin was across the room and clinging to her nanny, crying and mumbling incoherently. Toph sighed and went into the kitchen to put the rest of Lin's dinner in the icebox while Sora tried to console her. It was nothing new, but it still stung.

Once Sora left, there was a good fifteen minutes of Toph sitting on the couch with Lin while she slowly calmed down. "I don't know why you get so upset, Buttercup. You know you'll see her tomorrow."

Lin sat up. "Bad guys might get her," she said around her thumb.

Toph reached up to pull it out of her mouth. "They won't."

"It makes me sad to say bye," she whined, sniffling.

"You're just a delicate little flower– even more than you used to be. Hopefully, you'll grow out of that. You're a Beifong, after all. Now c'mon, let's go downstairs and work on your stances."

"No, I'm hungry."

Toph rolled her eyes, wholly unsurprised. "Sorry, you told me to throw your food away."

By the time Lin recovered from her second meltdown of the evening and finished her now-cold dinner, it was almost eight o'clock and she was nodding off.

"Guess we're not training tonight," Toph muttered, carrying her to bed, though she ended up spending a couple of hours downstairs by herself, which was refreshing.

The next morning, they repeated the routine in reverse. Toph left for work with Lin's cries echoing in her mind, feeling both relief and guilt, wondering if it would be like this if she actually did manage to get Lin into school. That would be embarrassing.

Three days later, Aang swung by Headquarters with an update.

"Good news, I hope?" Toph asked the second he breezed into her office.

"He said he'd think about it."

She let out a relieved breath. "I'll take it. Thanks. Just out of curiosity, what did you say to make him change his mind?"

"I wouldn't say he changed his mind, but he did let on that one of his concerns was safety-related. I assured him that, between the two of us, we could provide a suitable security contingent. Also, being friendly and polite goes a long way, so if he decides to give you an interview, maybe keep a tight reign on that Beifong temper."

Toph pressed her lips into a thin line. "You don't have to be an ass about it," she said, though mildly. "But I'll keep that in mind."

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

"We going to the Island?" Lin asked while they were on the streetcar.

"No. We're going to talk to a man to see if you can start school."

"School?"

"Mhmm. Where you go to learn."

"Why?"

"That's just the way–" Toph cut off, realizing what she was about to say. Well, fuck. "You have to learn things because if you don't, then your life will be much harder than it needs to be."

"I…learn earthbending at school?"

"No, you'll learn other things. Like reading and writing, and math. I'll teach you earthbending at home."

"You come with me?"

"Only today. But after today, I'll be at work while you're at school. It'll be like being with Sora, except you'll have lots of new friends to play with instead."

"Tenzin?"

"Maybe."

"And Sora?"

"No, you'll see her after school."

Lin leaned into her and whimpered a little.

"Hey, no tears. You need to make a good impression on the Head Teacher. You show him how smart you are, ok?" And please don't fuck this up for me by being a crybaby.

Toph heard her inhale sharply a few times but fortunately, there was no outburst. Still, Lin clung to her side as they walked through the halls on the way to the Head Teacher's office, one hand being held while the other was up by her face.

"Ah, Chief Beifong, welcome," Shiro said in greeting. "And this must be Lin."

Toph sat down and pulled Lin onto her lap, surreptitiously taking her thumb out of her mouth for the thousandth time. "Lin, say hi to Mr. Shiro."

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hello, Lin. Is it alright if I ask you some questions?"

"Ok."

"Can you tell me your whole name? First name and last name?"

"Lin Beifong."

"And how old are you?"

"Three."

"And do you know your mother's name?"

"Mommy."

Toph held back a snort. Does she know my name? That thought hadn't ever crossed her mind.

"Mm, well, that's what you call her," Shiro said. "But what do other people call her?"

"Um…Chief!"

Shiro chuckled softly. "Quite right. Anything else?"

"Tee."

"Tea?"

"She's right. It's a nickname," Toph said. "C'mon, Lin. Surely you know my actual name. What does Sora call me?"

"Uh…Toph."

"Very good," Shiro said. Next, he spent a good deal of time showing Lin a series of cards to see if she could identify them, and she got to show off her counting skills. "Very good, Lin. Thank you. I'm going to talk to your mom about some things now, ok?"

"Ok."

"Part of what goes along with Lin being enrolled here are some responsibilities on your part, the most obvious of which is being punctual for drop-offs and pick-ups."

"That won't be a problem. I'll be dropping her off before work, and her nanny will pick her up."

"Very well. There are also events throughout the year that parents are expected to participate in. I realize that your job is very demanding, but it would be detrimental to her for you to be absent when the other students' parents are in attendance."

"I understand. My position affords me a fair amount of flexibility. Obviously, emergencies do happen, but that would just be a matter of bad luck. If necessary, Councilman Sokka would be–"

"Uncle Sokka coming?" Lin asked excitedly.

"Not right now."

She whined a little but didn't say anything more. Toph searched for her train of thought.

"As I was saying, he would be more than willing to step in, if necessary. She spends time with him on the Island whenever I have to work during the weekend, and is very comfortable with him."

"Well…I must say, that would be a little unconventional."

"I'm a single parent. Is it expected for both parents of other students to attend every function? Or is one or the other sufficient? I think I should be afforded the same allowance."

There was a brief pause. "It would cause talk among the other parents, all things considered."

"If I was put off by gossip," Toph said with a hollow laugh, understanding the subtle point he was trying to make, "my life would have gone much differently. The Councilman and I maintain a very professional relationship, but it's simply a fact that he's been present for the vast majority of my life. People who fight in wars together tend to have strong bonds."

"Mm, indeed, as was evidenced by the Avatar paying me a visit," Shiro said dryly.

At this point, Lin seemed to get bored with the conversation and wriggled off of Toph's lap to wander around the room.

"My point is that both of them, and Katara as well, are parental figures for Lin," Toph said. "They've been around her whole life. I know it's not the most traditional family, but we do what we can."

"I think we've gotten a little off-topic here. I will take your unique situation into consideration, should I choose to enroll Lin for the upcoming term. I know your time is precious, so I'll move on. Besides events throughout the year, another responsibility parents have is to assist with any assigned homework. Is this something you'll be able to manage?"

Toph couldn't help but sigh. Parenting blind had presented a number of unique challenges over the years and she was constantly striving to find ways to overcome obstacles without relying on other people. In this case, though, there only seemed to be one option.

"My nanny will handle all of that."

"Very well. My final question deals with security. I'm well aware that, because of your job, you have many enemies. Would you be willing to provide officers to help secure the grounds whenever Lin is here?"

"That's not a problem. In fact, I insist on it."

"Glad to hear it. I suppose that's all I have. Do you have any questions for– Lin, please don't touch that!"

Toph's senses picked up a porcelain vase falling off a nearby table. She quickly reached out with one arm and caught it with earthbending. "Come here."

"Sorry…" Lin said, sniffling a little.

"Do, you have any questions for Mr. Shiro?" It was a sure-fire way to distract her from getting upset.

"Um…" She paused and Toph smiled, waiting; Lin rarely disappointed when prompted this way. "Why we have two eyes, but only look at one thing?"

"Well, that's a very good question, Lin." He actually sounded a little impressed, Toph noted with satisfaction. "Having two eyes tells us how far away things are."

"Why?"

"Why? Well, that's just how eyes work."

"Why?"

"Alright, Lin," Toph interrupted. To Shiro, she added, "She could do this all day and I, unfortunately, don't have that much time."

"Of course. I won't keep you any longer. Thank you for coming in. I'll let you know what my decision is within a week."

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

The streets were still and silent in every direction. Toph was well beyond the point of panic, running frantically, searching with every step. There was no one. The city was completely empty. Devoid of life.

"LIN! LIN WHERE ARE YOU?! LIN!"

But something was behind her, grabbing her shoulders, pulling her backward.

"LIN!"

"Wake up! Mommy, wake up!"

Toph woke to someone shaking her shoulder vigorously. She gasped a couple of times, trying to escape from the nightmare, then wrapped her arms around Lin and squeezed tightly.

"Stop! I can't breathe!"

"Heh. Sorry," Toph said, relaxing.

"You had a bad dream?"

"Yeah. Really bad dream."

"Bad guys?"

She knew her daughter could relate; they both still suffered from frequent nightmares. That's what Lin's were always about: 'bad guys'. She was rarely more specific than that.

"Yeah," Toph lied. "It's ok, though. It's not real. Just a dream." Just a dream. Just a dream. She checked her watch, finding that it was almost time to get up anyway. "So. You ready for today? You excited?"

"No! I wanna stay here! I want Sora to come here and stay!"

"But you'll get to see Tenzin. And Kya and Riju will be there, too."

"No!" Lin complained.

Needless to say, it was a rough morning. She cried, dumped half her breakfast on the floor, got told off, cried some more, then took her shoes off and threw them at the wall. Twice.

"Lin, I swear to fuck if you do that again, I will make sure you fucking regret it! Now put your GODDAMN shoes back on!"

It was the first time Toph had ever spoken to her that way, and the consequence was Lin slowly sinking to the floor and letting out an anguished, almost inhuman whine.

Toph clutched her chest, a sharp pain blooming from the center, then walked over and knelt down next to Lin, putting on one hand on the heaving back. Lin was hunched, folded over her knees, unresponsive.

"Hey, c'mere." When she didn't move, Toph gave her ribs a little tickle, making her squirm sideways and let out a vague noise of complaint. "C'mon, up." She hooked her hands under Lin's armpits and made her sit up. "Listen. You gotta go to school. I know you don't want to, but life is full of doing things we don't want to do." Lin stayed silent and Toph put her hands on either side of the small face, using her thumbs to wipe away the tears. "You'll be fine. You're a Beifong, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"That means you're tough."

"I'm not," Lin said mournfully, sniffling.

No, you're not. But you don't need to know that. "Sure you are. You've managed to survive four years of being my kid, haven't you? That's gotta count for something. Now put your shoes on, please. I don't want to be late."

The whole way there, Toph battled the crushing guilt. Leaving Lin at school after what had happened at home seemed needlessly cruel, but what could she do? She'd gone to so much trouble to get her enrolled. Skipping the first day wasn't an option.

And through it all she questioned herself. She had become the parent imposing rules on her kid, making her do things she didn't want to do. Did Lin really need to go to school? She did, right? The alternative was being an anti-social shut-in. Just like how Toph had grown up. What she would've given to have been allowed to go out and meet other kids her age! And Lin would most likely enjoy school, once she got over the separation anxiety. She needed this.

Much to Toph's surprise, the drop-off was fairly painless. Lin didn't cause a scene or anything, just clung tightly to her neck for a minute, quietly crying, and then let the teacher lead her over to the other kids. All the way to work, Toph couldn't shake the feeling that she'd irreparably damaged her child's opinion of her, which was an odd sensation. Everyone else in the world could think what they wanted of her. Whatever. But for some reason, she cared what Lin thought.

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

One Month Later

"Where's Sora?" Lin asked.

"Nice to see you, too," Toph said with a cocked eyebrow. "She's sick, so you're stuck with me. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Do anything fun today?" Toph asked as they left the school.

Lin made that vague, universally understood sound that meant 'I dunno'. When had she picked that up? Usually, it was hard to get her to shut up when asked questions like that, but she seemed to be in a bit of a mood today.

"I still have some work to do," Toph continued, "so you'll have to stay in my office for a little while."

Lin groaned but didn't say anything. Ten minutes later, sitting in a streetcar full of other people, she let out a heavy sigh. It was almost enough to make Toph laugh; when had her four-year-old become a teenager?

"What's wrong?"

"Everybody has a dad but not me," Lin said rather loudly. "It's not fair."

The whole streetcar went dead silent and Lin leaned into her. There was no way to respond without being overheard. And what could Toph even say to that? The seconds ticked by awkwardly, then finally she leaned down to whisper in Lin's ear.

"We'll talk about it later."

She hoped it would be forgotten, but Lin brought it up again before they even made it to the station. Fortunately, there was no audience this time.

"Did something happen at school, to make you think of this?" Toph asked.

"We were drawing. I drawed me and you and Uncle Sokka and Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara. And Bumi and Kya and Tenzin, too. Meeka asked which is my dad and I said nobody. But she said everybody has a dad. And Orren said it's true."

"They don't know everything about life. They're just kids."

"But…why..."

"Why what?"

"Why I'm…" She seemed to be searching her young mind for the right word. "Different."

"Being different is a good thing. Trust me, you don't want to be like everyone else. Your life would be so boring. You think I care about being different?"

"Everybody looks at you. And looks at me, too. You don't know 'cause you can't see, but I don't like it."

"I do know, actually. And you'll get used to it. If it bothers you, just tell people to fuck off and mind their own business."

"That's a bad word."

"It's just a word, Buttercup. I'm not saying you should say it – especially at school or around Aunt Katara, because you will get told off – but if you understand nothing else, understand this: The only bad words are the words used to hurt people. You'll know them when you hear them."

As they approached their home later that evening, Toph became aware of an intruder. Someone was lying on her couch, the vibrations vague enough to obscure their identity. It wasn't a large person. Someone agile, then. Were they on the couch in an attempt to conceal their presence from her?

She took a couple of slow breaths to center herself. "Listen, when we go inside we're gonna play a game, ok?"

"What game?"

"Brand new game. I want you to be really, really quiet. No noise at all. Then you're gonna go stand in the training room and wait for me while I get something upstairs. Got it?"

"Ok…?"

"Remember, don't make any noise."

"Why?"

"That's part of the game."

As silently as she could, Toph unlocked the door and went through, carefully paying attention to any changes upstairs. She sent Lin into the training room with their takeout and closed the door, then began creeping up the stairs. Still no movement from the couch. There was a soft snick when she unlocked the door into the living room and she winced, freezing, but nothing happened.

Taking one last deep breath, she pulled a few feet of cable out of the spool, holding it ready, then quickly burst through the door and tied up the intruder. There was a soft feminine gasp, vibrations through the cable telling Toph that the person on the couch had jerked slightly.

"Identify yourself!"

"It– It's me," Sora said, her voice full of fear and confusion. She sniffled a little and let out a shaky breath.

"Oh." Toph sagged with relief and withdrew the cable.

"I– I'm sorry," Sora said, still sounding a bit shaken up. "I didn't mean to scare you. I fell asleep."

"It's fine, but what are you doing here?"

"Um. Heh. I…wanted to get out of my apartment."

The whole ordeal ended with the three of them downstairs goofing around with earth and waterbending, playing a very dumb game made up on the fly, incorporating the odd bite of dinner because Toph was hungry and didn't want to wait until her ruse was completed.

"This is a weird game," Lin said.

"I guess I'm just a weirdo, then." But, hey, at least you're not scared of being in your own house. So I guess I'm doing something right.

Sora stayed the entire evening, offering no explanation as to why she'd come over. She talked to and played with Lin normally; there wasn't the slightest indication from her that something unusual was going on– or that she was actually sick.

Once Lin was in bed, Toph was eager to dig into some paperwork waiting in her office, but Sora was still sitting curled up on the couch.

"I'm going to make some tea," Toph said. "Do you want any?"

"Sure. Thanks." After a long moment, she added, "Um. Would it– Would it be ok if I stayed here tonight?"

"Ah…yeah, sure. You can sleep in Lin's room. Not like she ever does."

"Thanks."

"Just tea? Or do you want me to give it a little something extra? You seem like you could use it."

"N– Well. Actually, that sounds pretty good."

While she waited for the kettle, Toph grumbled to herself about 'domestic drama bullshit ', worrying that she was dangerously close to losing her nanny. Again. I'm not cut out to be a therapist.

Two mugs of tea in hand, she returned to the living room and sat down, passing one over.

"Thanks." A second later Sora coughed. "Ugh. Wow. You– You weren't kidding around, were you?"

"Heh." She flashed an impish grin. "Good, huh?"

"I'm not much of a drinker, to be honest." Still, Sora didn't make any move to set her mug down.

Toph took a deep breath and braced herself. "So. What's going on? It's not job-related, is it?"

"No. I'm very happy working for you."

"Hm. Hard to believe, but I'll take it." She paused for a second, ultimately deciding to be blunt. "I guess this is probably about Riju."

"Oh…" Sora cleared her throat softly. "We actually broke up a while ago. I didn't want to make a big deal about it, and I asked him not to either. I knew you didn't want to hear about it, any more than you want to hear about my silly personal drama." She let out a strained chuckle. "It's ok. I don't really want to talk about it, to be honest."

Toph sighed with relief. "Fair enough. I'll leave you alone. I've got some work to do, anyway." She stood up, about to head into her office, but suddenly felt a tiny bit bad for leaving Sora in her distressed state. Fuck, Lin has turned me into such a bleeding heart. "You can stay here as long as you need to."

"Thanks," Sora said softly.

With that, Toph went down the hall and gratefully shut herself away in her office. Peace and quiet, at last. No Lin pestering her, no officers interrupting her. She tried to put Sora's personal problems from her mind; they didn't seem to be that serious, anyway.

But…as she pulled out the folders with her current project – compiling a list of every location Yakone had been spotted at in the last six months in the hopes of finding a pattern to his movements – her mind kept drifting back to how she'd felt when she thought there was an intruder in her home.

Yakone had been quiet. Not causing his usual trouble. Why had he backed down? Was he trying to lull her into a false sense of security? Or had her 'message' to him been received, loud and clear? I need to keep my guard up better. Maybe send a couple extra officers to accompany Sora when she picks Lin up from school.

After thirty minutes of getting nothing done, she put her work away and left her office. Between those distracting thoughts and her curiosity about what had brought Sora here tonight, she just couldn't focus.

I should just ask her again. But when she went into the living room, she found it empty; Sora had gone to bed, apparently. Toph slipped quietly into her own room and sat on the edge of her bed, reaching her hand out to place it on Lin's chest as it rose and fell.

How am I supposed to catch him when I have to put so much effort into protecting her? If she didn't exist, would I have succeeded already? Would this city be better off?

And yet, she knew she'd rip the mountains apart and bury the city under them if anything happened to Lin.