Chapter Text
Toph sat in her home after the day with her family had come to an end. She knew she went too far with Lin, but she had done everything she could to get Lin to realize her full potential. And that included lying to get her into the academy. Lin had wanted nothing more than to become a cop like her. She found herself looking back on her firstborn’s childhood.
Lin had many troubles as a child, starting with her birth. Lin had come too early, so small and frail that no one thought she would live. Kanto had left while she was still struggling to breathe on her own. Toph did everything she could think of to keep her child alive. She was alone with a premature, sickly pup and she didn’t know what to do. Her housekeeper had not long ago given birth to a pup and Toph worked up the courage to ask her to nurse her baby. A weight lifted off of her chest when Ming had agreed. It was that day that her hope had been restored and she vowed to give her child her best chance, no matter what.
Toph knew Lin was an alpha by the time she was four, despite being years away from presenting as such. She was more aggressive with her toys than other children her age and was frequently bossing Aang’s children around, even though she was the youngest of them all. Lin had a commanding presence, despite only being just old enough to comprehend full sentences. She had found the best teachers to help her control her anger and aggressiveness.
By the time she was five, she had started many fights with Bumi, a child four years older than her. Lin had broken another one of Bumi’s toys and hit him in the face when he got upset about it. That's when Toph had gone to find yet another teacher to help her control her violent urges.
About a year later, Toph brought Su home and introduced her to a seven year old Lin, hoping that seeing the new baby would teach Lin how to be gentle. She was working much more after that, having to support two children now. She didn’t want to have to ask her parents for support. She’d gone out and sired yet another child, knowing she had her hands full with Lin. Already relying too much on her name, she didn’t want their money. As a result, most of the responsibility of taking care of Suyin fell on Lin.
Looking back, that may not have been the right call. Lin spent more time with her teachers and the baby than she did with her sire, and that may have contributed to her constant need for approval. When Lin had arrested Suyin, Toph had to contain her anger at her younger daughter. She hadn’t been around to teach her right from wrong, but Lin had. But Lin was just a child herself, she should not have had that responsibility thrust upon her. Thinking back on what Lin had said about her confidence, she was right. She hadn’t been allowed to go out and be a teenager, due to having to look after her sister. She didn’t have the experiences that she should have had. When she had come home that one night when she was sixteen smelling heavily of pot, Toph had torn into her for leaving Suyin home alone. It wasn’t Lin’s fault, Toph was meant to be home by the time Suyin would’ve gotten home from school, but she got held up at the station. Lin never went home because she thought her sire would’ve been there to look after her sister. The year after that, Lin had applied to the police academy. She would stay up all night studying and Toph would find her sleeping at her desk. She still failed the entrance exam. But Toph had made it happen, to help boost her confidence.
She thought back again, “Amongst other things.” What had Lin meant by that? Her confidence further plummeted after Su had accidentally scarred her face, but why? It couldn’t be because of the scar, Lin had always thought scars were cool. She did notice that her bending wasn’t as strong on her left than on her right after the incident. Maybe it was more than her face that was scarred that day. She didn’t know and she couldn’t push her pride down enough to ask, so she wouldn’t. She made a decision then and there. Lin was raising great children, no thanks to her. If Lin could continue being the parent that she never was without her there, then so be it. Even her actions had consequences, and she was big enough to accept them. It was her best chance.
All Toph wanted to do as a child was to get away from her parents. She didn’t want Lin to ever feel that way but she went and fucked that up. Now Kya was pregnant once again and she may not be allowed to witness her grandchild’s birth as she had with all of the others. She hadn’t meant to lie to Lin for the last sixteen years, but she knew that telling her would break her heart. And in a fit of anger, that’s exactly what she did. She needed to find a way to apologize, but her pride wouldn’t let her. So she left. She didn’t pack any bags or tell anyone that she was leaving.
She went to the station and handed in her resignation.
Lin would make a better chief than she ever did.