Lin is reunited with someone else from the family, and it doesn't go as well.
A/N: Forewarning I did not do a thorough read through, so if you see anything questionable, just let me know :)
Same day; Winter 147 AG
Lin
Lin sat quietly, eating a little of the heaping plate that Katara had placed before her. She watched as her children seemed to charm the adults in their family. Their family. If Lin felt that if she were to have woken up in that moment and found herself back in the house with him beside her, she would have finally, truly, broken.
But alas, she gripped onto the hope that this was real and tangible with both hands. This was all she wanted for her children. Seeing them happy and safe, surrounded by family.
"Lin, you need to eat a little more." Kya said softly, from her spot beside Lin.
Lin looked up and blushed a little at having got lost in her thoughts, before focusing on her plate. She took a few bites of everything, all of her favourites from childhood. She had missed her Aunt Katara's cooking, and for the first time in a long time, she actually wanted to eat. Even so, she was full after a short period of time, barely making a small dent in the massive plate.
She looked up to find Kya's eyes still on her.
"I'm okay, just full. I do better with smaller meals throughout the day." Lin answered the unspoken question. Her hand rested on her belly to show that it was the growing baby that was truly preventing her from eating more at the moment.
Kya smiled, and patted Lin's knee under the table. "I'll make sure to reheat some later tonight for you."
"Oh, you don't have to, I can do it." Lin replied.
"Nonsense Lin, I am happy to do it." Kya continued to smile at her, and Lin flushed again.
Lin just nodded, before averting her eyes once more. She saw her sister speaking with a young man with black hair and wearing glasses. She didn't recognize him, so she assumed he must be a friend, or if the way he blushed when Su would lean in to speak - her boyfriend. Lin was both happy for her sister, but also couldn't shake the pang she felt in her heart knowing that she never got to experience love. She doubted she ever would now.
After that realization, it felt like the chatter around the room was starting to become loud and a little overwhelming, despite Lin wanting to be surrounded by her family.
A hand covered hers where she had begun to grip the table and she peered over to see her mother with an understanding look on her face. "Let's go badgermole. Kya and Sokka will bring the kiddos when they are done."
Lin turned her hand over to squeeze her mother's hand in agreement, as words had escaped her now. Toph stood and helped Lin up from the dining cushions. Lin gave a tentative smile to everyone before quietly thanking Katara for dinner. She allowed her mother to pull her towards the hallway, a path that Toph had memorized long ago and no longer needed someone to guide her on the wooden floor.
Once in the hallway, with the door slid closed behind them, Lin was able to breathe a little easier.
"Wanna go outside for some fresh air? May be a little chilly." Toph asked.
A bitter grin twisted on Lin's face. "I'm sure it will not be as cold as the North Pole." Then she felt guilty for having said that when she saw her mother's shoulders tense. "I-I have a w-warm coat. I will b-be fine." She added, quieter, her own body tense with worry for upsetting her mother.
"It's okay, badgermole." Toph responded, patting her hand which she still held. "Let's get our coats, and then we can sit on one of the benches on the engawa."
They made it almost to the end of the hall when the doorway slid open again behind them. Both Beifong women turned to find Tenzin standing in the hallway.
Lin swallowed back her uncomfortable feeling at him being a similar height and build to her husband, and instead offered an awkward and tentative smile.
"Lin… I have missed you so much!" He said.
Before Lin could respond or even react to him even having a similar timbre of voice to him, she suddenly found herself in Tenzin's arms.
She froze, suddenly being flung into the past.
His arms all around her. Him on top of her as he forced her -
Suddenly she is yanked from the arms and upon looking up, she finds her mother. The person she always wished to pull her from the nightmare, and here she was. A sob tore from her throat as she flung herself into her mother's arms.
Toph could hear a choked sound coming from Tenzin, before he took off down the hallway. But she turned her focus back onto Lin. "Shhh… badgermole, you are safe. Mama's got you."
"Toph? Lin? Is everything alright?" Suki asked, stepping into the hallway. She had been the next closest to the door so she had heard the small commotion.
Toph felt Lin burrow further into her arms.
"Can you help me get her back to the living room?"
"Of course." Toph felt the older woman touch her elbow shortly after.
"Come on, Linny, let's go sit for a bit." The mother told her daughter, helping her shift so that Lin was huddled to her one side and Suki was guiding on her other.
Once they made it to the living room and were situated back on the couch, Suki left them to go grab a pot of tea for them.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Toph asked once Lin's crying had slowed.
"Ten-" Lin swallowed. "Tenzin hugging me made it feel like I was back… back in his arms." Lin let out another small sob.
"Shh Linny, you aren't there anymore. I won't allow him to ever hurt you again."
"B-but Tenzin must h-hate me." Lin cried again. "H-he was my b-best fr-friend, and now I c-can't even hear his v-voice without thinking of him." She spat out the last word with disgust. Lin truly was heartbroken though at the realization that her once best friend felt more distant than when they had physically been distanced.
"It will take time, but eventually you will be able to talk with him. But give yourself some time, okay badgermole?" Toph asked, caressing Lin's damp cheek.
"I'll try." Lin whispered.
"I come bearing tea." Suki announced, coming into the room. "I made sure it was your favourite, Linny. And your Uncle Zuko made it too, so you know it is going to be good." She said with a wink when she locked her blue eyes with Lin's jade ones.
Lin smiled a shy smile. "Thank you, Auntie." She said softly. She accepted the cup when Suki handed her a freshly poured one, holding the warmth of the cup up to her face. She inhaled the floral aroma of the jasmine mixed with the sweetness of honey. She could instantly tell that this was Uncle Iroh's white tea blend. She felt a wave of calmness come over her and sank gratefully back in her seat.
"Do you want anything else Linny?" Suki asked.
Lin looked up and paused for a moment. Then in a small voice, she said, "stay?"
Suki nodded, and poured two more cups of tea. "You have some very intelligent children Lin." Suki smiled as she handed Toph a cup, before picking up her own.
Lin appreciated the change of topic and was quite proud to list her children's accomplishments.
"I would love to help you teach Nuna how to earthbend." Toph said with a small smirk on her face at the prospect of teaching her granddaughter all the ways to cause havoc and to become the next 'Greatest Earthbender' in her place.
"I, uh, I may need some refreshers too. A-and the kids… they don't know that I'm a bender too."
Lin saw her mother and Suki's reactions of surprise.
Toph shook hers off quickly. "Of course. But we'll start small, you won't be doing too much again until after your baby badgermole arrives."
Lin nodded in agreement as she took a sip of her tea.
Suki shifted, coming out of her own lapse of shock. "Speaking of the baby, when are you due?"
"I'm nearing my third trimester in a week or two. Kya knows better." Lin said, rubbing her hand over her belly. This caused the baby to kick at where her hand was. She smiled and then grabbed her mother's hand and placed it on the spot.
"Oh! She's a kicker. I'm betting she will be an earthbender too." Toph said, her face in awe at realizing this was her grandchild.
"I don't know what I am having yet. I… I wanted it to be a surprise. It's, well, it was one of the only things I could control." She replied softly.
Toph patted her bump, receiving an answering kick, making the older earthbender chuckle. "It's okay, they will definitely be a good surprise."
"And very loved as much as your other children and young Iroh. Katara is surely going to be on Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin to give her her own grandbabies soon." Suki added with a smirk on her face. "Though Kya will avoid some of that with her coming out a while ago now."
Lin looked up in surprise. She had always thought there was more to Kya's looks with other girls her age or even the conversations she watched from a distance. But having her thoughts confirmed was still a little shocking. She remembered there were a few time she herself would get flustered by the older girl, but she knew the waterbender would never have looked at her-
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to out Kya like that. I forgot she came out after you left." Suki said, horror in her eyes.
"It's okay, I'm sure Kya will forgive you." Lin offered a small smile. "I had thought there may have been something there, but well, you know, time away makes you forget some things."
Toph
Sokka led Toph from the room they had just tucked Lin and her children in for the night. Toph was hesitant to leave her, but Sokka reminded her that Lin needed so quiet time with her own children, and that it had been a tiring day for all of them.
The two found themselves soon in the living room, where the rest of the adults and the adult children were seated. A bottle of soju and a bottle of baiju were already on the table.
Sokka instantly went for the soju and poured a shot, downing it quickly, before pouring a second one for Toph and shoving it into her hands after she flopped on the couch. She downed it before offering the cup for a second one.
After he sat beside her, she felt herself calm a little, though she was still tense.
"How's Tenzin?" Sokka asked, making note of his missing nephew.
"I spoke with him a little, but he wants to be left alone." Aang said with a sigh. "He feels very guilty for scaring her."
Toph sighed herself. "And Lin feels guilty for making him feel guilty. They really are two sides of the same coin."
"They both need time and patience. Especially Lin." Katara added.
"Since you are speaking, Queenie, what was that at dinner?" Toph asked pointedly. She could hear Katara swallow in nervousness from across the room, so she sat up as she knew she was probably not going to like the answer she received.
"Well… Just over 6 years ago… I went to the Northern Water Tribe with Dad. He was meeting the Chief there and Malina was unwell, so I attended in her stead. While there, we were introduced by the Chief to one of his advisors and his wife… I noticed right away that she bore a striking resemblance to Lin… but I had seen her face so many times on other girls over the years. Instead I made a comment on how unusual her betrothal necklace was… it was ivory. When I saw Lin today and saw that same pendant, I-" Katara broke off as a sob tore from her throat. "I knew I had made a mistake back then."
The glass in Toph's hand shattered under the tight grip the earthbender kept on it. But she didn't even feel the sting of the glass cutting up her flesh, all she could do was cast a glare towards where Katara's voice came from. "You're telling me that you had been close enough to touch her, to speak with her, and you just let her go?"
"Toph, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't realize it was really her-"
"Oh really? Or maybe you just didn't want her to come home!" The
"Enough!" Zuko said, raising his own voice. "Toph, you know that Katara loves Lin as much as everyone else in this room. I'm not sure any of us would have responded differently in that situation."
Toph heard someone approaching her side. "Aunt Toph, it took me months to get confirmation it was her." Kya started, as she knelt beside the earthbender. Toph allowed her to start picking out the glass from her hand, only hissing slightly at a larger chunk being removed. "He made it so that she was terrified of saying anything. She… She shared the biggest reason she never fought back. They threatened to come and take Su in her place. Lin was not going to allow that to happen. So that is why she never spoke up or fought back.
"She dresses so differently, and wears her hair in a style none of us had ever seen her wear before. I wasn't even 100% sure when I had that first appointment with her. When I called Dad, it was on a hunch and that was only because I could see her chart where it listed her age and her being an earthbender." Toph could feel the coolness of water encircling her hand as Kya spoke. "So please, Mom speaks the truth in saying that she was unsure, because Lin was desperate to keep the secret to protect her sister and her babies."
Toph flexed her healed hand and then cupped the young waterbenders face. "Thank you, Kya. Without you, I wouldn't…" She stopped talking as her throat tightened with emotion.
"I know." Kya whispered back, placing her hand over her Aunt's for a moment. She then pulled Toph's hand off her face and held it with both of hers. "But there is something you need to know, that the rest of us can see."
"What?" Toph asked hesitatingly, sure that she wouldn't like this answer either.
"When Dad and I arrived to rescue them, Tulok had hurt Lin with his hands and his bloodbending. I was able to heal most of what happened with my water skein without a proper healing bath, but Lin still has some purple bruises on her cheek and… and her neck."
"That sick fuck. I am going to kill him." Toph said in a deadly voice.
"Mom!" Su said scandalized, but Toph could hear that she was just as angry and upset as she was.
"There is more… When we got there, Nuna had obviously tried to protect Lin before we got her. He had her bloodbent in the air when we arrived." Aang added, sorrow and anger mixing in his voice.
Toph abruptly stood and stalked out of the room and outside. She didn't feel the biting cold as the sun had long since set, and the air was frigid. When stalked far enough away she bent some earth columns up. She then began punching them, destroying them only to bend more up and continue to let out her pent up emotions out on the earth.
Eventually she tired herself out and collapsed to her knees, sobbing. She startled slightly as a pair of arms wrapped around her, before burrowing her head in his chest. She allowed Sokka to pull her close and felt his own tears dampened her hair.
They held each other tightly as they grieved the pain that their Lin and her babies have gone through. For the time that had been robbed from them all.