Please R&R. i mean 600 views and only five reviews? come on. any way this is the aftermath to 'working through the pain' enjoy.
Toph downed another shot of sake, reclined back into her chair and propped her feet up onto the metal desk, when her door opened, interrupted her thoughts. "Go away Sokka."
"I'm not Sokka."
"Mu- mum?!"
"Oh Toph." Poppy Beifong walked up to her daughter, taking the bottle of alcohol from her hands.
Toph let out a sigh. "What are you doing here?"
"Sokka called. I came over as soon as I received his message. Do you want to talk?" She asked, sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the desk.
"No. I want to drink." Toph reached for another bottle in her desk, seeing how she wasn't getting the other back.
Poppy shook her head in sadness. "Toph, talk to me. It's why I'm here."
Toph conceded in her mother's words. "I never told you about the things I saw in the war, did I?"
"I never asked. What was it like?" Poppy Beifong leaned forward on the desk, ready to listen to her daughter.
"For me, it was terrible. Unlike normal people, I can feel the pain a person is going through. I can barely sleep at night since the first time I felt someone's life leave them." Toph took another drink. "His name was Jet. He helped us find Appa when we were in Ba Sing Se. My friends saw him hurt. I felt his life slipping away. When he said he'd be 'fine,' I could tell he was lying."
"Toph-"
"I'm not done. On the day we took down the Firelord, I was in the sky taking down the war balloons with Sokka and Suki. Whenever I hear fireworks, it's like I'm up in the sky again, with the war balloons exploding above me. All I could feel was fire, Sokkas leg break, and Fire Nation soldiers burning alive." She buried her face in her hands. "It was terrible." She took another drink.
"I thought when the war was over, I would never experience that kind of pain again. But of course I was wrong. I felt my daughter take another humans life at the age of seventeen. I thought I was a bad mother for letting her end someone like that. But last week, again I was proved wrong. When we entered that factory, I never told anyone this, I felt that criminals hold on Lin. I didn't know how bad her injuries were until she fell to the ground. I have never felt someone's bones twisted and broken like that. I could feel her desperately trying to fill her lungs with air. Unable to do so." Another drink. "What makes it worse, was that I couldn't help her. I didn't know what to do. I just sat beside her whilst Katara and Aang healed her. I felt helpless. Utterly helpless."
A moment passed, allowing Poppy to let everything sink in. "What happened to the criminal?"
"She was found dead in her cell two days ago."
"Who did it?" Asked Poppy, dreading the answer.
"Don't know, don't care. Cause if someone else didn't kill her, I would have."
Toph moved to take another drink when she felt a hand being placed over her own. Her mother embraced her as she felt her own body begin to shake with emotion. "I couldn't protect her." She clasped tighter onto her mother, not wanting to let go. "I couldn't protect her."
Poppy let out a shaky breath. "Have you told her this?"
"Yes, I have."
Her door swung open to reveal Sokka. "Why didn't you answer the pho-," he looked at the phone on her desk, noticing it had been left off the hook, "never mind. Katara called and said Lin has woken up. Aang is meeting us on the roof with Appa."
Toph stood up only to fall back into the chair. "I may have had too much. Little help Sokka." He pulled her to her feet, holding her waist to keep her up right.
"Mrs Beifong, would you care to join us?" Asked Sokka.
She gave him a curt nod in reply.
Toph opened the door to the room containing her daughter. Walking in on shaky feet, she plopped down in the chair next to the bed. She brushed her fingers along Lin's jaw, down her sides and arms, feeling the bandages wrapped around her torso and right arm, coming to rest over her heart, finding comfort in its rhythm. "Damn badgermole, you feel like a mummy."
"I'd laugh, but it hurts."
Toph let out a sigh "I know. How do you feel?"
"I'd feel better if I ate some meat. Tell me again how you befriended vegetarians."
Toph let out a small laugh. "It's good to know you're finally awake."
"Mm. Thanks by the way."
Toph cocked her head to the side. "For what?"
Lin lowered her voice to a whisper. "Thanks for keeping your promise." A tear began to find its way down Lin's face. "Thanks for not letting me leave."
Toph clasped her daughter's hand tightly. "I will never let you go, I don't care what I have to do I will never let you leave me."
A moment passed before Lin decided to lighten the mood. "So you get to drink and eat meat. There is no justice."
Toph let out a laugh "I guess you can smell it, huh. If it helps, your grandmother confiscated my first bottle."
"Grandma's here?"
"Yeah, Sokka called her. Is it okay if she comes in?"
"Of course."
Poppy entered the room, eyes instantly going to Lin's injured body. She sat on the edge of the bed, not knowing what to do or say.
"How are you grandmother?" said Lin, deciding to break the silence.
"I'm, uh, well. And you?"
"Sore but I'll live. It's nice waking up after four days of sleeping. I'm Sorry we couldn't see each other under better circumstances."
"It could be worse." Said Poppy, looking down at the ground.
The door opened to reveal Su with a bowl of soup in her hands. "Lin, aunt Katara said I had to feed you."
"I think you just jinxed me grandma." Said Lin, causing her mother to laugh.