171 AG

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you for another hour, Captain."

Kuvira barely heard his voice as she pushed the logistics room's door aside. She realized after a moment that Hong Li was assigned to the graveyard shift. She smiled wearily. New recruits always got the graveyard shift. She remembered her own long, quiet nights. Back then, she had thought about what to say the next time she saw Su, and then, years later, she'd thought about how she wanted to fuck her. What a luxury it was, that idle time.

"Wanted to get my day started early. Anything to report?"

"Just the usual. We didn't see anything on patrol. and we went out further than ever before."

Kuvira strode over to her desk and picked up the patrol logbook, paging through it idly.

"Hope you're not planning on taking that, too," Hong Li said playfully, but the smile of his face faded away quickly when he noticed that Kuvira was looking at him strangely.

"What are you talking about?"

"The schedule and movements logbook? Aiwei came by last night to pick it up for you."

Kuvira had been torn, at first. Should she confront Aiwei, or go straight to Su? In the end, she decided that approaching Aiwei directly would mean tipping him off to her suspicions. There was definitely something to be suspicious about. Whatever reason Aiwei had to snatch the logbook last night had nothing to do with her. She circled back to the Beifong Estate. Su would just be finishing breakfast. No rehearsal. Su had enacted an indefinite hold on all dance practices that required her presence until after the Avatar's departure.

"What're you doing, just standing around?"

By this time, Kuvira could recognize Lin's voice. Su's older sister was approaching two soldiers on watch outside the gates. She looked a strange combination of frantic and fatigued.

"Make yourselves useful!" Lin roared. The soldiers, startled, looked around for help. They certainly hadn't been trained to deal with their current situation. Kuvira felt suddenly protective, but just as she was about to step forward, she saw Aiwei appear from the shadows of a hallway.

Aiwei took all of Lin's attention as the soldiers crept away. Lin said something to Aiwei, but Kuvira was too far away to hear. Aiwei looked… concerned. Lin shook her head, and seemed about to leave, but Aiwei said something that held her back. He took something out of his pocket and held it out to her. A card of some sort. She took it, looked at it sceptically, and then put it into the pocket of her uniform.

She left. Kuvira followed.

174 AG

When I met your mother for the first time, I was beyond scared. You told me she was harsh, and I didn't listen. I was so confident. What did I have to be afraid of?

Sure, I'd passed her statue twice a day for the past 22 years. And who could grow up in Zaofu without learning about the Matriarch's mother? She had so many stories, but you were never the one to tell them, and for a very long time I thought that maybe you didn't have a very good relationship.

You wanted me to meet her, but you never told me why.

"If you want me to meet her, let's meet her," I'd said, as I trailed kisses down your neck.

"It's not really that easy," your breathless response came back.

But eventually, she did show up at Zaofu's gates. Not by airship. Not by carriage. By foot. People didn't know what to think, but everyone was excited. Toph was already a legend; had been for some time.

I didn't expect to spend much time with her. She wanted to be with you, of course. She wanted to meet your family. I had prepared myself for that eventuality. So imagine my surprise, when you told me you wanted me to give her a tour of the city.

164 AG

"You can spare me. I've seen enough. If you ask me, I think she just wants me out of her house for five seconds. She's not used to being around family for so long. None of us are."

Kuvira froze up. It was so unlike her, but Toph had that effect on people. She stared at the recital hall in the distance feeling uncharacteristically speechless as the railcar travelled along the outer tracks.

"Su's around her family all day," Kuvira replied as evenly as possible.

Toph turned her head, and a smile crept onto her lips.

"So you're the Guard Captain?"

"I am," Kuvura glanced over at her. Toph's smile was unnerving.

"You remind me of my other daughter," Toph mused.

"The one that hasn't visited Su in over 20 years?" Kuvira said aggressively, immediately regretting it.

"It's family stuff. No use in explaining," Toph muttered, but Kuvira was just thankful that she didn't react more strongly. Kuvira sighed inaudibly and looked across the city. The metal floor panels at the Beifong Estate were reflecting the sunlight.

They didn't speak for a long time. Kuvira thought that perhaps the conversation was over, but it wasn't.

"I'm not coming back. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever."

The suddenness of her words and the change in her tone startled Kuvira. She grabbed onto the railing with one hand and steadied herself as the railcar went into a deep turn.

"I can't tell Su. She'll throw a fit. But I want someone to know."

"Why tell me? I'm just a soldier-"

"We both know that's a lie."

Toph moved, and in that fleeting moment Kuvira noticed Toph's meteorite bracelet slip down her wrist. The metal was vibrating wildly against her skin. Kuvira's eyes widened, but it was too late. Toph moved her hand, and the railcar came to a stop in front of one of the service platforms. She stepped out into the light.

"Well, that was a great tour. Some nice fresh air, and spending time with someone who wasn't so completely in awe of me that they couldn't string more than a few words together."

She left the next morning.

Kuvira wasn't entirely sure what to expect as she followed Lin into Zaofu's main trade district. It was quite a different atmosphere than at the estate. The roads were thin and crowded, and the buildings were closer together. Most of the entranceways were open, and there were signs hanging above the frames, or on signposts out front. This part of the city, more than any other, reminded Kuvira of Ba Sing Se. She typically tried to avoid it, but she knew her way around.

Lin turned down a corner, and Kuvira rounded it just in time to see her duck into the doorway of… an acupuncturist?

Kuvira frowned slightly. Aiwei had sent Lin… here? She shook her head. It didn't make sense. She'd just have to wait it out.

It didn't take long for Lin to come back out. From across the street, Kuvira could see that Lin looked even worse than before. Her hair was damp and tangled, and there was sweat running along her face and down her neck and shoulders. Somehow, she'd lost her uniform jacket and was clad only in a sleeveless white tank top. Lin squinted her eyes and held up her hand against the sunlight as she stumbled past the door frame and into the street.

"You don't look too good," Kuvira said as she crossed the street.

"Did you follow me here? You really need to find something better to do with your time."

"Aiwei asked me to check on you," Kuvira lied.

"Oh, well a great help he was. No. I'm done with this needle-bending hack," Lin spat as she motioned back inside. Then, she tried to push past her, but she lost her balance and put her hand against the building to hold herself up instead.

"...what the hell did he do to me, anyway?"

"I'm going to bet you didn't stay for the entire session," Kuvira said flatly. In all honesty, she wasn't surprised. Patience and understanding didn't seem like one of Lin's strong suits. "You really shouldn't be trying to walk right now."

"Hah, yeah. Don't pretend you care. I know that you're just here because Su sent you. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Kuvira narrowed her eyes. She had been prepared to catch Lin if she fell, but now she took a step back and clenched her fists.

"Do you really think Su cares enough about you to bother with all that?" Kuvira snapped, anger in her voice heating up inside her like stoked coal. "She barely even mentioned you. She's made a life here. She has a family. She built an entire city. What have you done?"

Lin smirked and looked amused. "Oh, that's good. I'm sure she never mentioned what she did before her glorious new life. I'm not surprised. She was never good at being honest."

"You're just-"

"Jealous?" Lin cut her off. "Give me a break. I would never want to trade places with her. Wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"You'd do well to shut your mouth, before you say something I can't forgive." Kuvira snarled. Part of her wanted to just walk away, but something at the back of her mind was holding her back. The deepest, darkest parts of her truly wanted to hear what Lin had to say.

Lin took an unsteady few steps forward, closing in on Kuvira easily.

"See this?" Lin touched the side of her own face, where the two thin scars traveled down from cheek to neck. This close, and in the bright sunlight, Kuvira couldn't help but focus on the thin, pink-tinged scar tissue, thicker near the neck and ending in sharp points at the tips. Kuvira knew enough about battle wounds to know that these had been caused a long time ago.

"This is one of the things Su did, before our mother threw her out."

Kuvira took a step back.

"You're lying. She would never do that."

Lin laughed bitterly.

"I don't need you to believe me to know that what I said is true. But I won't bother wasting any more of my time on someone like you."

And with a sudden burst of strength, Lin managed to push past Kuvira as she traveled back towards the main road.

Kuvira didn't turn to watch her go.