A womans gratitude
She grit her teeth as she tried to push herself up from the ground again, but her arms were burning and felt rather noodle like. Also her sides hurt like hell. Lin Bei Fong was sweaty and looked rather strange, since she was wearing a yellow flowered sleeping gown while trying to do push-ups. Tao was working at Sato constructions somewhere in the outskirts of the republic to get his family fed. The wiry man was far from happy about an additional, quite expensive, mouth on his table. Most likely it only was Dandan who insisted on Lin staying in the tiny flat. Lin felt guilty as hell, she was endangering these good people, who couldn´t even defend themselves from a single thug! She let out a frustrated growl, since her body felt so pathetic and weak it almost made her cry in fury. Why didn´t she die? Why was it Bumi who wasn´t able to return home! She never would be able to look into Tenzins warm eyes anymore. He would HATE her! She had messed up everything, which was one of her biggest fears come true! A Bei Fong didn´t mess up, a Bei Fong toughed shit out... That was what her mother would´ve told her! „Stop being a gods damned sissy." she hissed furious at herself. It wasn´t over – the men who were responsible for her friends death, and so many other innocent sacrifices were still scheming their secret plans in the plains of Chu what COULD she do?
Her own men had killed her off – she had lost her seat and could blame nobody besides herself for it. It hurt like hell, wehenever she thought about only thing she had achieved in her life had been torn away and nothing but a deep black hole of self pity and rage remained. But she wasn´t ready to die – not by her own hands. That was a sin against the mother of faces! Even if Lin hadn´t grown up in a very religious household there were certain things she would never do because it was sinful! Luckily her secret stashes should be intact. Of course she had been prepared for something like this – the day she was relieved of her duty just because she lost her bending had opened her eyes! She shook her head and clenched her eyes shut. Dandan could return from the market every minute and she wouldn´t be weak in front of the old woman again. It was awkward enough that she had cried in front of her once, even if Lin couldn´t remember anything besides a rough hand holding hers. She got up from the floor feeling even dirtier than before. Living in a house without a water tap was uncomfortable. Also Lin couldn´t stand matcha-rice any more. The poor people ate it thrice a day, seldomly accompanied by something that didn´t look as if it had been short of being thrown into a dumpster. So that was the reason why Lee was so furious when somebody left food on the plate!
If she imagined that her friend had grown up somewhere even shabbier and poorer she wondered how he turned out such a nice and content man. That she had looked down on the earth nations, where people still lived in servitude while even in front of her doorstep was so much poverty! All these bloody charity balls suddenly seemed quite hypocritic! Yes, she had known that there were street orphans, she had seen a lot of the abyss that lead to crime and murder, but she never had lacked a safe and proper home to return to. Even if that home had been a lonely, dusty apartment for the last decades it still had been HER room. Here she was perched up in an even smaller apartment with five people! She couldn´t stay here forever and she couldn´t simply go to Tenzin, Asami or somebody else who was on the squirreltoads radar. She had to remain dead, because otherwise the last pillar of the police force, Hungshu Ping, would be shattered and then there would not be much that could stop the Lings from taking over the Republic - if their plans in the earth nations succeded. That risk was far too great! Lin couldn´t imagine a life in the feudal system of the earth nation, where even a high born and skilled woman like herself was nothing more than a decorative vase for birthing sons! She would refuse to live in such a society until her last breath, even if it mean that she had to be a fugitive or a criminal.
She had to change her appearance until people didn´t recognise her anymore. She sat up and wiped over her sweaty face. Changing her haircut and hair color would be a first step. Uncle Sokka had loved masquerading and Lin had been a very eager to accompany him on his quirky hobby. Because masquerading was one of the rare moments where she could display a more feminine side her mother would not have accepted. She was sure of that since her sister had argued with her mother about this topic so many times she couldn´t come close to remembering an accurate number. Maybe she also should´ve argued with her more often! Still, the new Lin could not be some girly gal – the scars in her face and her whole bearing made that impossible. So she had to play the sort of uncivilized, slutty woman she never wanted to become. She had to act a lot like her mother. That still was an unsolved problem too. Luckily she always had stayed in touch with the various trends in fashion, so she knew perfectly well how a modern Toph Bei Fong would look like! Nobody would expect her to wear revealing clothes and colorful hair. She sighed as she thought about getting herself inked and pierced like some self proclaimed party whore. That would be so humiliating and expensive! But it was the safest option she had for leading some kind of life in a place where not everyone was blood related with each other! There was just one thing that wasn´t outright shitty and that was the fact that the mountain called „Chief of Police" had been taken from her shoulders. But with the weight also a lot of her strength seemed to have left her.
What should she do now? Who should she be – all these choices were driving her close to hysteria. There wasn´t any order in her life, there wasn´t anything that couldn´t happen. That along with the guilt she felt for Bumis death was what, sometimes, made her feel like slumbering in the afterlive wasn´t a bad alternative. But in her heart of hearts she knew that her time hadn´t come yet, furthermore she had left many things unsaid. For example she had not dared to press her mother to tell more about her father even though she had the right to! She also hadn´t thanked Lee for everything he had been doing for her, she hadn´t even told him that she had been lighting inceses sticks for Yumi every morning – like she did for uncle Sokka. Also there was this bastard Tang – the man who had taken her name from her! She wanted to gauge both his eyes out and cripple him so that he never again would be able to hurt a fly. And then, then she would leave him in the streets just like he had left her. The hate was burning in her vains and lins face distorted into a mask of icy fury. „I´ll make you regret you´re born you bloody whoreson." she hissed, suddenly able to add further ten push-ups to her workout routine. When Dandan returned with her bags she found a breathless woman lying on the floor with a steaming, red face. „You really should give your body the time it needs to recover child. If the wounds in your eye socket are torn open again I can´t fix them anymore. I´m just a retired nurse, not a full fledged healer." the woman chided her, she placed the bags on the shabby looking table that was the only furniture in the apartment. Lin let out a noise of surprise. She had never thought that nurses were earning such a low wage that they weren´t able to live out their days in a mediocre luxury.
„You – were a nurse Dandan? So – why´re you so poor then?" Lin asked disturbed and saddened. The woman signed and smiled. „I´m not poor child. I´ve got a caring son in law and beautiful grandchildren. Also We´re somehow getting by and Shi Shen even manages going to school. I´ve more than my parents ever had... that my hubby was a gambler was my fault. But I still chose him, and I loved him – even if he was quite the jerk somethimes." she responded proudly. „As a noble lady you might think we´re living in hell – but we´re free people Miss Bei Fong. We have peace and enough food, that´s what really is important, and it makes this old woman happy to live like that." she responded content. Lin had to turn away because tears were flowing out of her whole eye. This woman was content with her live, she even saw the good sides in her poverty. She was plainly envious. „Free..." she croaked in thought. „I...I´d love to be like you Dandan." she admitted while staring at the paintless wall in front of her. „I know you´re having a very hard time Lin. I´m allowed to call you that, right?" she reassured herself. Dandan still held an extraordinary respect for the noble class in general. „Yes – please." Lin mumbled in a low voice. „And I also know that you can´t stay here forever, you know that right?" she responded sounding almost guilty. „Yes – you´ve done more than I ever can pay you back for Dandan. But I know I can´t stay in this room forever. Also I´ve to fetch some of the money I´ve saved for such an occasion." she responded in a surprisingly formal tone. „You have?" the old woman seemed startled. „Of course. I – was sure that something like that could happen. I´ve never been half the Chief my mother was, no matter what the newspapers said. I – couldn´t step in her boots. No matter how hard I tried." she admitted ashamed. It was the first time she had admitted that to anyone. The old woman wasn´t responding anything. Suddenly a cool hand was patting her shoulder, Lin shrugged it off as she again felt the knot in her chest constrict painfully. „Do you know any tattoo artist who doesn´t ask questions Dandan?" Lin asked the old woman.
Dandan still was earning her share by treating the people, and of course a lot of her customers were thugs who got cut up in their quarrels. The old woman never asked questions, which was the reason why she and her family were left alone. Most likely that was the only reason why the terras hadn´t searched her flat and found Lin up till now. If she was correct she had been here for more than a month! Still Lin couldn´t bear the thought of pushing their luck for much longer, she wouldn´t be able to forgive herself if something happend to Dandan, or Shi Shen and his siblings, because of their selfless help. The old woman blinked. „Well – I wouldn´t call my friend Zhu Li an artist." the woman grinned. „Even if she is very um... proud... of her skills with the needle her eyes have become quite short sighted and her hands aren´t as steady as they were." she responded. „So you´ll become you own woman?" she asked Lin, while the atmosphere suddenly turned grave. Lin gulped. „Your own woman" her throath constricted, hadn´t she given up on that as she left elementary school? She was a Bei Fong, and a Bei Fong couldn´t be an – artist. She buried her face in her hands until the wound hurt and she had to remove the right hand. „You´re not your mothers property! Or this states slave! You´re LIN Bei Fong child! It seems nobody told you that before but you can´t live FOR people – you only can live YOUR life." the old woman responded in a soft tone. „You´re still in front of your golden years so this might be the last chance you have for changing who and what you are! So I beg of you, don´t let it go to waste because you think you´ve got a duty to do something. Because the world doesn´t have a duty towards you Lin... For the world it doesn´t matter what you do or if you die – it moves on." she trailed of and started unpacking her bags, which mostly contained small sacks of rice.
Lin felt as if her head was split with a pickaxe. „I´ll lie down." she responded weakly and cautiously lowered herself on her futon. She wasn´t able to sleep at all. Dandans words were pulling strings in her chest she didn´t want to be pulled. She had never seen her current situation as a CHANCE. Also she had no idea what she wanted to do now. She wanted to contact her friends and family. She couldn´t stand the thought that they thought she was dead – but could she really stay in Republic City? Should she go to Miyako? And what then? Should she try to engage into the art trade with her last savings? Wasn´t she too old for something like that? What would happen if she failed again? And what would her mother say to her descision – would she disown her? Lin did yearn for her mothers recognition, she yearned for it as much as she yearned for a lover. But could she really have these things? Wasn´t it better to be realistic and admit she had fucked everything up? Wasn´t it better to drown herself in sake and wait for the shinigami to come? „Could you make an appointment with your friend Dandan? Don´t worry I´ll easily be able to pay her if I can asess my stashes. Still I´d need to change my style drastically to do so. Starting with this haircut!" Lin sighed. She loved her hair like it was – it had a timeless elegance and femininity that most haircuts lacked.
Still she should wear a wolftail, short cropped hair, a ponytail or something even stranger. Furthermore she had to dye her hair green or red - like it was popular among hard tribal gals and other fashion freaks. Tattooing Back and arms was something she also disliked. But even her sister Su, who in her criminal days had been an uppity bitch, had a tattoo on her lower back. And since Su´s bad-girl days the trend towards tattoos had been enhanced drastically. Bloody wettism! Tatoos were something manly and Lin really didn´t want to be even more tomboyish than she had been her whole life. Lastly she had to change her face because she would wear long sleeves in winters, which would make her look a lot more like her old self - especially when her hair was hidden under some kind of shawl or cap. Wearing a ton of makeup only was a temporary solution, since Lin had no idea how long she would be able to afford the expensive pastes. There was not much that changed a face more than piercings, especially if one considered the fact that she already was scarred. She would look like some aged triad bitch – which was something not even Tenzin would expect of her. And if not even Tenzin expected something like that the Ling clan´s agents and corrupt cops for sure wouldn´t!
Still the lone thought made Lin scowl in disgust. She would look really ugly, and that hurt! The only good thing she could think of was the fact that she wouldn´t stick out at a hard tribal concert anymore – which meant she would be able to visit one if she had the money – but that wasn´t consoling at all. She continued staring into nothingness and didn´t even notice that the children returned home for luch. Dandan, silenced them with a risen indexfinger and the little ones obeyed as they noticed Lin´s curled up form. They had taken a liking to the strange woman who easily solved Shi Shens math homework and told the best horror stories they had heard in their lives. But they also knew that she was dangerous and that nobody was allowed to know her name. „Lin, are you hungry?" BaoBao asked with a squeaky voice. Lin flinched as she suddenly was torn out of her scheming. She was thinking about motives for her tattoos, motives that at least helt SOME meaning, even if they were ugly! Doing something like that wasn´t easy, especially if you hadn´t a notebook and a coal pen. „Err...No Baobao, thank you. I´m not hungry today. You should eat my portion too." Lin smiled at the little girl. Baobao was a round faced, wiry girl with curly brown hair. Lin would´ve loved to have a daughter like her. „Do you know the story of the white princess and the beggar prince?" she asked the little girl who of course was into fairytales. BaoBao shook her head and eagerly jumped up and down. „No...please tell it...tell it...tell it." the girl chirped. For a split second Lin enjoyed herself. „No stories before dinnertime!" Dandan replied while stoking the small iron oven. Lin smiled as she remembered a time in which Aunt Katara also had forbidden fairytales before dinner. „Yes, your grandmother is right BaoBao." she responded with a twinkle. „But if you eat your fill and then sell a lot of matches I could tell it, since it´s a really long story." she responded. The girl groaned and pouted. „That´s not fair." BaoBao grumbled as she returned to her siblings, who were helping their grandmother to shred some already brownish looking cabbage. Since Lin wans´t outright hungry she most likely would have to force the badly spiced meal down her throat. She rose carefully, since her ribs still weren´t fully healed and lowered herself in front of the table, where the old woman was working. „Umm...Dandan – could you buy some plumapple resin?" lin asked blushing furiously. Plumapple resin wasn´t really cheap but it was the best green colorant you could buy. The old woman looked at lins partly gaze wrapped face and chuckled. „Of course I can." her face turned stern.
„I hope you´re able to pay me back, because that will be a quite devastating blow to my new years eve money." She responded. The children were listening eagerly. „Thank you." Lin smiled a wry smile. Of course she could, but without changing her looks at all she wouldn´t be able to go into the city unrecognized. Finally it seemed the rice was done, since Dandan started shovelling it in the simple clay cups. They hadn´t the money for chopsticks, so everybody ate with their hands. Lin still felt a slight badassery while defiling the strict table manners her mother had drilled into her since a very young age. The cabbage tasted like old grass and the rice was as plain as ever, still she dug in. The children seemed to enjoy their meal, since they weren´t used to anything else. If it was humanly possible she would make shure that Dandan and her family were able to lead a good life, that enabled all children, and not just the only son, to go to school. Maybe Tenzin could take care of that, or her sister. Su Yin owed her more than a few hundred yuan a month and Lin was quite sure that her younger sister would give her the money she demanded without asking any questions. They were family after all, and much to Lin´s marvelling Su did a lot for her family. She had even saved her life without a moments hesitation, which meant a lot. But of course she had to make it to Sao Fu beforehand, which she didn´t deem easily possible – Sao Fu had quite the strict immigration laws, also it wasn´t easy to enter a walled city without filling out some forms or identifying oneself. „Thank you for the meal." Lin responded with a court not as her bowl was empty. BaoBao still was listlessly chewing on the rice. Like most seven year old girls she wasn´t a good eater. „Think of the white princess..." Lin hummed as the child gave her a pounting stare and shovelled rice in her old woman was smiling and wuzzled her granddaughters wild hair. Her two little sisters already had finished eating and were waiting for the allowance to leave the table. Lin thought it disgusting that BaoBao had to work for a living, she had to sell matches on the townsquares, while her little sisters were catching frog rats and other pests for the tiny tail- money that was given out from the city to keep the annoying rhodents at bay. Little children should be playing! That was how tings were supposed to be, even Lin – whose early childhood had been quite dominated by living with aunt Katara, since her mother had spent a lot of time in bars and strange men´s bedrooms, knew that. Her childhood had changed as Su already was a toddler and uncle Sokka had declared her mother his elskan. „Well, then – let´s get back to work. Mai, Li Lang." Baobao suddenly squeaked, her little sister – which were staring of dirt – jerked alert and looked at Dandan. The old woman just nodded. „I´ll wash the dishes darlings." she responded and watched at the kids hurried back into the streets. BaoBao following her sisters in a more dignified way. The old woman sighed and started collecting the bowls.
Lin rinsed her head for the third fourth time. The water that was dripping in the tile clad sink seemed clear now. She had decided herself for a ponytail and „bird cutter" rows, which were parallel running, closely woven hairlines on the side of her head. Luckily she couldn´t see the result of half an hour of cutting an dying. If she correctly read Dandans slightly sour face, she had been quite successful! „Lin – not that it´s my place to question your fashion sense..." the old woman stated dryly. Lin cringed. „I know it´s ugly!" she whined, while flushing brightly. The nurse let out a smacking sound. „ Can´t be helped now." she responded, since the green color could only be removed over a couple of months. Since Lin had a rather slow growing hair it would take quite some time if she didn´t want to run around with an army haircut. „Well Dandan, now I´ve got to fetch the money...Umm if you want you can accompany me of course." she responded while feeling slightly uneasy. After all she was indicating that she wasn´t trustworthy. The old woman smiled while Lin again felt the blood rush into her cheeks. She always had been quite prone to blushing, which still annoyed her quite a bit. Especially since her skin always looked like porcellaine, except in summers where she just looked reddish if she spent too much time outside. „I guess I can trust the woman who saved this town from going bonkers with bender lynching idiots." Dandan responded and patted her cheek. Lin had to stiffle a sob at this, ground her jaw and gathered her courage. She was quite afraid to go outside, because she didn´t think of her disguise as even remotely effective. She was wearing an old ladies sleeping gown after all! But since Dandan hadn´t any spares that would fit the taller woman she just had to stick to the night gown, which was more like a short, quite slim fitting, yellow flowered dress.
Also her head was halfway wrapped in gaze, which would attract quite suspicious stares even if she was walking around in the buffalo flats! Luckily she didn´t need to leave the township, which was frequented by the police quite seldomly. At least that had been the case while she had been Chief and she highly doubted that Ping had changed things. Every thriving metropolis had a pulsing underbelly and if you uprooted it, that had quite severe drawbacks. The most prominent being that scumbags randomly scattered over the districts, which meant that nobody was save anywhere – after all that was what happened as the lower ring in Ba Sing Se fell! It was close to midday and Lin walked out into the street. Luckily it was quite warm, so that she didn´t fell cold in the dress, which wasn´t comfy at all. Lin hadn´t worn dresses for quite a long time, if one skipped rare occasions like Jinoras coming of age ceremony. Also she was walking barefooted and since she didn´t have the almost hoove like callouses her mothers feet were sporting, she had to eye the streets very carefully. So Lin walked on while suspiciously eying the streets. The streets were quite busy since a lot of carpenters, weavers and washing ladies were working on the Wan Shi tong river that was flowing through the township. You couldn´t miss the river since it stunk worse than the central republic canal! Lin almost felt like barfing as she crossed the bridge that lead over the manure, acid and dye laden abnormity that was streaming into Yue Bay. How mother nature took care of THIS was something that deeply worried Lin. The spirits simply couldn´t like it and she feared the day when the river deity, or even worse, the sea gods themselves took their revenge into Republic City! A lot of, scrawny children were playing on the streets screaming and cursing like rugged sailors.
A lot of these children looked quite cheesy an ill, which saddened Lin´s heart. She never had come into these parts of the city willingly since it was just hopeless. She couldn´t help at all, and the council didn´t. Or couldn´t – she had argued about this with Tenzin numerous times as they had been a couple. She strode on, while some little punks were talking about her. „Look at that crazy bitch – don´t know where she comes from but looks quite bangable." some teenager stated without bothering about Lin hearing his words. These words made Lin´s temper simmer, mostly because her mother had been insulted like this quite frequently. Of course Toph Bei Fong, in her endless strangeness, hadn´t been offendet by the hostile comments. Instead she had taken some kind of pride in being called a slut. Lin just stopped in her tracks and turned abruptly even though a searing pain was shooting through her torso. „What did you little maggot spout?" she sneered, with a barely restrained fury washing over her face. Without herself noticing it some cobblestones beside her feet rose from the street and cracked into spiky looking shards. The boys, who weren´t even close to looking intimidating, gulped dryly and nearly pissed their pants as Lin slowly walked towards them.
„So...what did you just call me? Measly little virgins like you shouldn´t be talking about things that you don´t know shit about!" she growled while the kids pressed their backs toward an non retreating brickwall. „I – I didn´t say nuffin!" one of the mumbled while closing his eyes as if he could avoid the womans wrath this way. The other teenager just trembled in fear. „If – you – or you gods damned little punky friends even look at me – far less spout some rumors bout me sellin my private parts... I´ll find you and clobber the shit outta you! And believe me you don´t want that to happen." she threatened them. Just now she noticed the reassuring, solid feeling of the humming remains of the cobblestones. She stepped back, turned and reformed the stones with well measured movements. The two teens however darted away as if they had been chased by a deva king. „Yeah – just scram bastards!" she added while pumping a fist in the air. Some unemployed man was sipping on a cord wrapped bottle while sitting in a chair in front of his doorstep. He just scratched his head and grinned in Lins direction. Lin frowned – yelling and pumping fists in the air really wasn´t her style! She then continued her walk around three blocks, which again led to the Wan Shi Tong river again. The small river had been perched into a roughly twenty strides wide bed made from bricks and concrete. A small, quite rusty looking ladder was leading downwards besides the bridge she was standing on. Lin looked around, since it would be highly suspicious to climb down towards the river. After all the government forbade the people to use this water for washing purposes on the third day. That was so because the carpenter released their wastewater on this day, which made the whole river quite toxic.
Sadly some old woman was shuffling along the street with a huge claypot on her head, so Lin couldn´t climb down the ladder just now. So she seated herself on the street and started whistling the well known flameo noodle song. Of course the old woman changed the roadside and tried to hurry along in front of Lin, who obviously had to be some kind of criminal scum! Still the woman was terribly slow and Lin was quite annoyed. She cocked her head around and, quite suspiciously, climbed down the rusty ladder. Rust stained her hands, but luckily she neither cut herself, nor did one of the ladders rungs break under her weight. She was standing on a small, partially muddy concrete platform, which led under the small bridge above her head. She hurried beyond the bride, while trying to avoid the mud stains, which most likely were quite bad for her bare feet. The steps on the rough concrete were uncomfortably piercing her soles. She closed her eyes and slammed her palms against the wall. The stone was feeling grizzly, like the compressed earth it was. It was quite easy to visualize the wall in front of her inner eye. She at once saw the hollow brick she had inserted a few years ago and bended it out with a descisive pulling motion.
Inside the brick a leather made neckpouch was located. The thing filled out the whole double-brick and was as big as a balled fist. It exclusively contained goldcoins, which made it worth at least a fivethousand yuan. Lin had hidden a further four of these pouches all over the city and she planned receiving them in the next few days. She hung the pouch around her head and hurried back on the street, the horrendous smell of the Wan Shi Tong river still lingering in her tortured nose. She decided that it already was too late to buy decent clothes, also it would be extremely suspicious if she went a shop like she was. She would without a doubt flush and stutter like an imbecile if somebody pointed out she was wearing a way too small night gown. The only fact she got away with it was that it revealed her legs, also she was in the buffalo flats where some people didn´t wear any clothes at all, especially when they had taken dragonbones or other heavy drugs. Luckily the drugaddicts had a lot of deserted houses to hang out an consume their stuff because otherwise the streets here might have been even more dangerous. Lin hurried back to Dandans house, which she found quite easily. She always had had an excellent sense of orientation, which wasn´t true for all Bei Fongs.
As she wanted to disappear inside the flat a fat neighbour observed her with squinting eyes. „Who´re you pretty girl?" the old man rasped sporting stubby blackish teeth along with a sour breath that stunk worse than a hippo cows backside. Lin froze. It would be disastrous if this guy told the people about Dandans secret guest. She blinked dumbfounded, too stunned to give the man a sudden answer. He was leaning on a wooden cane while wearing a colorfully stained robe, which without a doubt was home to an armada of flea and lice. Lin then pointed at her bandaged head. „Gettin that fixed." she responded. „Go stare at somebody else old pervert." she snorted as the old guy was licking his lips while staring at her naked thighs. She then simply opened the door and entered the flat. „You should nock!" the old man responded, but Lin quickly disappeared into the tiny appartment. That led to quite the loud shrieks. „WAAAHHH...Who´s this strange woman!" BaoBao screamed in terror, which most likely saved Lin´s cover. While the children still stared at Lin´s new hairstyle Dandan had already closed the door.
Tao rose from his futon. The man was roughly around Lin´s age. His hair had thinned and anly some singular blackish hairs on his upper lip were reminders of his manliness. „It seems you´re quite well Miss Bei Fong. I´m happy to see that." he responded slightly annoyed. Her sudden appearance had ended his nap quite suddenly. „Yes, thanks to you." Lin responded nodding. „I´m sorry for causing such a disturbance." she responded while BaoBao and her sisters started chanting „White Princess...White Princess...White princess!" the children wanted their story, which made a sudden warmth slither through Lins chest. „BaoBao!" Tao rose his voice and the children were silenced abruptly. They held great respect for their father. „I´ve fetched something to...crhm... honor your hospitality Tao." she responded shyly. In the earthnation it was highly improper to give random presents to your host. Presents were given on the arrival of the guest! Of course that had been impossible for Lin, but that didn´t change her rudeness. The workers face was unreadable as he rose into a sitting position and so Lin decided to go through with her plan. She pulled out the heavy pouch from under the night gown and handed it to the worker. „For your son´s education." she responded while not daring to look at the man. Tao opened the bag and stared at the glittering golden coins. This was more than her earned in three or four years, and it definitely was enough to pay the moderate fees of the Republic universities for the same amount of time. As Lin finally dared to look into Taos direction she saw silent tears streaming over his face as he cupped the leathery bag in his hands. Lin turned as red as a plumato as her host bowed low. „Thank you... thank you very much Lady Bei Fong." he croaked in a teary voice. The children of course were staring at their father openmouthed and even the old woman had to steady herself by leaning onto the table. The only one obnoxious to all of this was Shi Shen. The small, burly boy was strongly focussed on his inuktikut homework, or at least – pretended to be.
Authors note: OMMMM bocome one with the straw sandal...become Iroh...ommmm mani padme hum... Puh that was quite difficult and I hope I did a decent job. What are your opinions?