She barges into the house, slamming the door so hard she can feel the Earth beneath her shake.
"Lin, honey?" Toph calls from where she is folding laundry in the living room,"Are you alright?"
"Peachy," she mumbles, "And how are you, mother? Visited the Metalbending Academy lately?" One could be deaf and not miss the bitterness dripping from the young girl's words.
Toph straightens up, "You don't sound happy. What happened?"
"How could you keep lying to me, Mom? After what we talked about?" her voice is shrill and pinched with anger,"You promised me that he left! How could you lie to me and say he's gone, when he's right here in the City, working at the Academy?!"
Lin can see the color visibly leave Toph's face. Toph mutters something under her breath that sounds like a curse, and exclaims, "Lin, I swear to you that I had no idea! I have kept absolutely no contact with him, and have not talked with him since that day he came to our house. You have to believe me when I say this, please."
Lin sputters, throwing up her hands, "So I guess it's just a damn coincidence that he works at the same place you do?"
"Don't use that tone of voice with me, young lady," Toph comes over, "If he is working there, then it must have been recently, because I have not been aware of it. An unfortunate coincidence, yes, but a true one, Lin.
"Yeah," Lin scoffs, "because coincidences happen all the time-just like accidents, and mistakes. One little second you slip up, and the next thing you know,-'Bam'!-you're pregnant!"
If Toph's eyes could see, they would have blazed fire.
"Alright, Lin, that is enough! You are everything to me," she exclaims, throwing down the towel, "and I have told you over and over, how much I love you. There is not one second I regret having you, and you need to realize how lucky you are."
"Lucky?" she snaps, "How am I lucky? My own father didn't want me, my mother is blind, and I was conceived by an unwanted, drunken one night stand! Don't tell me you never wanted to give me away to an orphanage or something! Don't tell me that every time you felt me inside you, that it made you think of him, and that I was a part of him!"
"Lin..." and she can tell by the way Toph's voice cracks, and how she swallows that it's the first signs of crying, "No, baby, listen to me. I love you. I never, ever wanted to give you away. You never made me think of him." Toph reaches her hand out to her, but Lin shrugs it off.
Lin tries to scrub the salt tracks racing down her cheeks, but it's no use. "Really? I never made you think of him? Well then, tell me why I look like him! I look like him way more than I do you, but you can't even tell anyway! Maybe it's better that you can't see my face, because then you'd really be reminded of him!"
"Lin..."
"No! Just forget it! Just leave me alone!" she cries, and races up the stares to her bedroom, locking the door.
It's the first night in many that Lin wishes that she herself was blind as well.
One month later, she gets her scars.
Her mother tells her that it's whats on the inside that counts, and if they don't respect that, they are the biggest lily-lived dunder-heads in all the Four Nations put together.
It was supposed to be an easy fix, nothing she hadn't been trained to deal with before. And being the Legendary Cheif Bei Fong's daughter didn't hurt her reputation either, with being the second youngest person ever to master Metalbending, and being an officer.
Simply put, as a seventeen year-old officer, she was very well respected and admired. Always getting the job done and putting crooks where they needed to be.
So it surprised everyone when the accident happened. Things got way out of hand, far too quickly.
It was the Spring Solstice, the time when everyone with a speck of dirt in their blood comes to gather and celebrate the Earth Kingdom traditions.
The Spring Solstice bringing back memories of shimmering greens and yellows; children's laughter and eagerness for their parents to let them stay up extra late to listen to stories about their childhood back home, whispering in souls and up through the pulsing ground like heartbeats. The streets littered with ribbons that waved like grass in the wind; bean curd puffs sold on every corner, children's mouths sticky with pau buns, their laughter echoing for all to hear. Rocks bent into dazzling sculptures, Kyoshi warriors coming to put on parades with twisting fans and glowing paint, marching down the blocks that could be seen for miles.
It was a day not to be missed.
Especially by the Traids.
Her mother gets a call about chaos involving Red Monsoons and Agni Kais intervening on the day's activities on the corner of Bagermole Ave. and Flying Boar St.
Toph tells her it's too chaotic down there;Too many people, who know's what could happen. You're only seventeen, Lin.
I've learnt from the best.
She's bent her full armor on her before Toph is even out the door, and she's in the back of Toph's car before her mother can protest again.
How did you get so stubborn?
I've learnt from the best.
A little laugh and a smug smile, Just be careful, Rocky. These guys are more slippery than sand between your fingers.
I'll be fine, Mom.
They get down to the scene to see a mob a green eyes fleeing in all directions. Some rocks from civilians are being bent and used in defense, but the officers send the people back with barks of orders to please stay back, please evacuate the scene, and before one patch of street can be seen through the packed, panicking crowd, a stand erupts in flames.
Then another.
And another.
A whole row of lighter fluid gone ablaze from a trio of Agni Kias. One saying, Hey, my Gran Gran was a mud-slinger. Seems rude that I ain't invited, huh, fellas? He turns to the other two, who show razer-sharp smiles and lightning-fueled eyes.
Let's get this celebration started!
Fiery eruptions send people to the ground, and shatter the street like Earthquakes as they go off.
The police move in, only to be bombarded by an onslaught of razer-tipped icicles flying through the air.
The ground gets coated in a think sheet of black ice, and metelbenders go sliding, unable to see where the street starts and the ice ends.
Why don't you Po Po's leave this to use, huh? These Fire Crackers are on our Turf. A moca colored, snowy-eyed gangster drawls, water whip at the ready.
"Why put these innocent people in danger?" Her mother demands, "Today was a holiday, and these Earth Kingdom civilians were just trying to enjoy their day!"
The waterbender laughs, flashing a gummy grin, "See Snake Eyes, we got nothing on you mud-slingers. It's just that when war is declared, we gotta defend our turf. It's just how we work."
"Yeah, well, you can either leave now," her mother flicks her metal cables, "or claim a new turf behind bars!"
The humidity starts to drop from all the water freezing in the air, and Lin shivers.
The gangster says nothing, but motions by dipping his head down, and seems to nod something.
A second later Lin hears something whizzing right behind them, towered she and her mother.
"Mom, look out!" Lin has only a second to push Toph out of the way before two saber-tooth tipped icicles meet the delicate skin of her cheekbone and she goes down.
She feels something sticky on her face through her hazy vision, and something cold and hard as glass stuck in her skin. The last thing she hears before she blanks out is her mother's voice yelling her name, and the next time she opens her eyes, she's in a white-roomed hospital with a gauze tapped to the right side of her face.
It's the second time she wishes she could trade eyes with her mother.