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Lin had stopped to get some food at a town not far from Ba Sing Se. She could have waited until she got there but she preferred the quieter scene of a local diner instead. The food was pretty good, actually. Although truth to tell, she wasn’t very picky in the first place. Not about food, anyways.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, letting her full stomach settle before heading out again. As the chatter in the room grew louder now that she wasn’t focused on eating, she reached up to run a hand across her eyes. Some guy kept yelling, “Dad!” over and over. It was grating on her already raw nerves.
Lin froze when she heard the guy call out, “KANTO!” All thoughts fled except for the name that flew across the room and grabbed her by the throat. She forgot to breathe and when she finally pulled her hand away from her eyes her vision was clouded from pressing on them for so long. A man just a couple of tables away had responded without looking at the speaker.
“What?”
“I’ve been calling your name for five minutes! Mom says she needs to get going!”
“All right, I’m coming,” and Kanto stood up. As he turned he looked curiously at Lin, who hadn’t realized she was staring at him with her mouth open. He mimicked her movement as recognition dawned on his face. He walked slowly toward her, holding up his hand to silence the impatient younger man standing by the door. She couldn’t move, and time had stopped. It was just the two of them in the whole world.
“Hi,” he said stupidly. He seemed to realize it and smiled. “You, um, look like someone I used to know. She wore a badge just like that.”
Lin couldn’t think of a single thing to say, except, “Dad?”
His expression ran the gamut from shock to acceptance to joy in moments, and he started to move closer. Lin’s eyes filled with tears. The look in his eyes spoke volumes. She could see the love he still had for her mother. But he hadn’t known about Lin. She could see that, plain as day. He was moving around the table, almost able to touch her if he reached out his hand. Without realizing it, she began to move away, until she bumped into a chair and its occupant swore at her. As though they had a mind of their own, her feet turned and carried her as quickly as possible out the door, her apparent half-brother gazing at her with wide eyes.
As she maneuvered the jeep onto the road toward Ba Sing Se, no more tears came. Just a growing sense of regret that she hadn’t waited until she got there to stop for something to eat. She didn’t see Kanto and her brother watch the jeep until they could no longer see it.
Two weeks later, Lin had succeeded in locking it away where it couldn’t hurt. She was debriefing two of her officers after an arrest when someone called up and said she had a visitor. She dismissed the officers and went downstairs. There he was, staring back at her with her own eyes. She froze and almost turned back around but he walked quickly toward her.
“Chief Beifong, I would really like to talk to you.” He stopped a few feet away and stood waiting for her decision. He was hopeful but calm, his body language was relaxed. He really did just want to talk to her, and would respect her decision if she chose not to.
She motioned for him to follow her to one of the rooms to the side. Once they were safely inside, she said, “Look, I spoke out of turn the other day. I have no idea who you are.”
“You are your mother’s daughter, that is for damn certain.” He gazed at her in wonder.
“You knew my mother.” It wasn’t a question.
“I loved your mother. I still do.”
“But you didn’t know about me?”
He shook his head. “No. But I wish I had.”
Lin was crying, the tears heavy with the pain of lies and longing. “Mom wouldn’t tell me anything about you. She only told me your name a few months ago.”
He dropped his gaze at that, his own eyes getting misty. “Don’t blame it entirely on your mom.”
“What do you mean?”
“Toph and I wanted the best for each other, but it drove us apart. I needed to go back home and take over my family’s business after my father died, and Toph was Chief. I didn’t want her to resent me for taking her away from being Chief if I asked her to come. Knowing her, she probably felt the same way about asking me to stay with her. It’s probably why she didn’t tell me about you. She knew I’d stay.”
“She thought you would resent her for taking you away from your family.”
“She was wrong, though. I wouldn’t have resented her at all. I hate that she didn’t trust me to just love her, and you. But we’re here now, and I want to know you. Please. You probably don’t need a dad, but at least let me be a part of your life.”
“I’ll always need a dad,” whispered Lin.
Kanto moved forward and scooped her up in his arms. The years melted away and time reversed itself. Lin actually reached her arms around him and squeezed him as tightly as he was holding her. He reached up and held the back of her head as dads are inclined to do. It was a long time before their tears ran dry and time started moving forward again. Of all the reunions that Lin had had recently, this one healed her more than them all combined, and as they parted and Kanto used his thumb to wipe away the last tear that lingered, Lin felt lighter and more whole than she could ever remember being.