dear_mun | Mun is a bit behind but catching up. And... just saw Book 3, episode 5

Hey, anyone who thinks they don't make mistakes as a parent is probably the worst parent in the world, you know?

Yeah. My parents thought that just because I was blind, I was some fragile thing to be locked away. I hated it, so I kinda went overboard the other way with my girls.

Still, all this talk about "didn't make Mom happy" is kinda bugging me. Those two girls are everything I could've hoped for in daughters. Lin might be a tad.... stiff, and Su might be a bit... free spirited... but I am so proud of both of them.

I just feel the need to knock some sense into 'em.

Mm. I know where you're coming from, honey. I don't think kids every really know exactly how much you love 'em, no matter how hard you try to express it. It's the hardest job in the world and it ain't like there's any hard and fast rules about it either.

I say knock away. Sometimes they need it as much as anything else. I know I did.

[She just stomps and jerks her arms up a bit, flopping back into the stone chair that rises up out of the ground.]

Sometimes I kinda wish there were a book on it. But even then, it's not like I could read it.

[She's just gonna grumble a bit.]

Woah, hey. [He's surprised, but not too much. His life has been nothing not weird experiences and people who can control the elements are not uncommon.]

You know, there are thousands of books on it. I doubt any of them got it right right, if you know what I mean. I still think it's one of those things you have to just... do.

[A brief pause-]

Can I get one of those seats, darling? Talking about being a parent makes me feel old, and feeling old makes me want to sit down.

[She makes a motion like grabbing the air and ripping it upward, forming a another rock chair for whoever she's talking to.]

Yeah, it's like everyone and their sky bison is willing to tell you how to do it, but nobody really knows. [She sighs.] When my parents found out I was blind, they treated me like I was some fragile doll. They dressed me up in the nicest clothes, had a guard accompany me everywhere, never let me do anything that might possibly result in a scraped knee. I hated it. They wouldn't even let me learn Earthbending.

Luckily when I ran away once, I learned from the original Earthbending masters. Hell, I even made a new form of bending - Metalbending, helped bring down a fleet of Fire Nation zeppelins, helped the Avatar establish the first neutral nation in Republic City, ran the police force for several years... you'd think after accomplishing everything I did in my life, raising a couple girls would be easy for me.

I love 'em both dearly, but... I don't think anything could've prepared me for being a mom.

Thanks. I appreciate it. [He flops into the seat with the ease of a man who has obvious sat in a lot of uncomfortable places. Crossing his legs, he props his chin up on a fist with his arm on the knee. Usually he'd take the chance to try and show off, but not a lot of point for a blind woman.

Still he listens intently. What a cool chick.]

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I lost my parents real early, got raised by my Grandfather- but I was the sort of kid who got into trouble a lot. Think of the worst possible and I was worse, I promise. We were both stubborn guys and you know, we had a fight and didn't speak for years. The closest thing I had to a parental figure that stuck with me was a vengeful ghost and... not exactly the best at it. So I got to be pretty independant. But in the twenty years since I lost Dad and Mother, I was the holder of the world's largest solo territory, spent ten years undefeated in battle, assisted in saving the world from total domination and helped return magic.

[Okay, so you can show off to a blind woman. Not that it's a contest.]

So you can take anyone in a fight, but are you supposed to hug a kid with the same hands you used to smash someone's face in? It's completely different worlds. I mean, I pretty much think my kids should have the chance to grow into their own person, but there has to be times you step in, right? But when? And how? What's their battle and what isn't?

[He 'hmmms' loudly before adding-]

Feda Gandamak, by the way. And I ain't said this about myself in years but... just so you know, I'm totally tall, dark and handsome.

[Because he wants to keep the tone a little lighter than it could be.]

[She nods thoughtfuly, listening.]

I know! I mean... I was Chief of Police for Republic City for a while, and one day I get a thing saying Lin - my oldest - arrested two known Triad members and their getaway driver. Of course, the driver was Suyin - my youngest. Oh, and in the confrontation, Suyin cut Lin's cable which snapped back and left a nasty couple scars on Lin's face.

[She holds a couple fingers to her right cheek to illustrate.]

How was I supposed to deal with that!? I couldn't just let Suyin go to prison like that, but I couldn't just let her go either.

[She throws up her hands in frustration before holding up a foot, revealing the metal boot she wore had no bottom.]

Toph Beifong. And by the way, I can see using my feet to read vibrations in the earth. I can also tell when someone's lying just by monitoring the vibrations their heart rates give off.

[But that's all she's saying on the matter.]

[His heart rate had been nicely even (though probably pretty weird considering he, like all Mages, has a four chambered heart) until mentions of being with the police. He may not be a much of a crook these days, but hey. He wasn't kidding when he said he was worse than the worst as a kid.]

Ah. Hah. Well, I'm an honest gu-[Nope, that's a lie, so he quits half way through.] Well. I'll try not to lie from now on then, babe. [Trying not to, close as he can get.

Though he totally believes he's tall, dark and handsome. The first two are objective, at least.]

Aaaaanyway. That's pretty out there. I try to be a guy who sees the silver lining, but sometimes... there ain't a right answer. There's just the least wrong one. Can I ask what you did do?

[She smirks a bit at how that seemed to fluster him.]

I'm no paragon of righteousness, don't worry. When I was younger, I was called the Blind Bandit, after all.

[She shrugs, running a hand through her bangs.]

The only thing I thought I could do at the time. I sent Suyin out of Republic City to live with her grandparents for a while, and destroyed the arrest record. Suyin was... a little too much like me when I was younger, and I knew locking her up wouldn't solve anything, just... drive her farther away from me. Still, getting her away from the Triads in Republic City did seem to help. Now she runs a city where people are encouraged to find their full potential, regardless of their backgrounds. Where a hardened pirate can become a master chef and turn over a new leaf.

...Didn't do me any favors with Lin though. Couldn't really keep up as Chief of Police after that either, so I retired the next year.

[After a moment of considering it all, Feda laughs. His voice is a bit deeper than average normally, but his laugh is much, much lower.]

See what I mean? Not a right answer, but I think that was pretty good, really. I mean, it's not exactly like you planned it out that way but... I think things work out okay, if you mean well. Most of the time.

[He shifts position a bit, drawing his legs up so he can rest his head on a knee. For a guy who usually tries to act as much like a kid as possible, it's kind of nice to talk about grown up stuff now and then.]

This is just the uneducated opinion of someone who met you five minutes ago, but I think you did alright. I just think parents will never stop feeling responsible for their children, even when they make their own choices.

[Though...]

But you know, my oldest is ten so. What do I know, huh?

Edited (HTMLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL) 2014-09-27 20:33 (UTC)

[She chuckles a bit.]

Still... Lin is the new Chief of Police in Republic City, Suyin has her own family, and gives people second chances... they're not perfect... but I wouldn't change a thing about them.

[She smirks.]

Savor it. I mean, when puberty sits in... heh...

Oh all the gods, puberty... You know what's the scariest thing about having children?

[He grabs his bangs, making a terrified whining noise. It's exaggerated of course, for comedic effect.]

Finding out the ways they're just like you! Teenage me was... Eeeeeyeeeck!

Yeah, see, for me? That was pretty awesome because, let's face it, I'm pretty rockin' myself.

[Get it? It's an earth pun!]

[Oh, puns?

He can do puns.]

You can't tell, but my expression right now? Stone faced.

[His dedication to being the light hearted fellow is so deep he actually does put on a flat expression.]

[Have the smirk to end all smirks.]

Not yet.

[She jerks her fingers upward, causing a couple handfuls of pebbles to dislodge from the floor and hover over his face before dropping.]

Now you are.

[He catches the pebbles on their way down, holding them between his fingers.]

Hah! It's official, I dig you.

[This is a pun and also flirting, because somehow he went this far without flirting.]

Well, he did seem happy about it in the game I'm in.

[Yeah, Toph's just gonna mess up your hair a bit, Opal.]

How long did it take him to come up with a coherent sentence?

[She ducks a bit with the ruffling but certainly doesn't run from it, laughter in her tone of voice.]

He was more excited than speechless. He said he was really happy to meet me though and talked about you.

Yup. Sounds about right.

[She grins, resting her hand on Opal's shoulder.]

Taught ol' Twinkletoes all he knows about Earthbending. You should've seen him when he first started. Couldn't even bend a pebble. Still, you can do something no other Beifong has ever done before. Be proud of that, Opal. I know I am.

[She makes an awkward face for half a second.] And despite what your mom and aunt say, I'm proud of them too.

Ah... thanks. It really means a lot to hear that.

I think Mom and Aunt Lin know deep down. I mean I know Aunt Lin cares even if she has a hard time saying so. And back when you still visited I knew you cared too.

I think... sometimes we just love people so much we're not very good at saying what we really feel. Maybe it's too big to put into words or we get scared of what they may think.

We still know though, even without all the words.

I'll admit, I've never been too good with that sort of thing. I mean, yeah, I can give speeches about how awesome I am, or teach people to metalbend... but... emotions are... kind of hard.

I can see emotions on their rawest forms, how they effect the body... in a sense, I can feel what other people feel, without ever knowing what any of it... looks like.

I'm sure your mom and aunt thought I was scowling at them or something when I didn't realize it.

Being a mother can be difficult, I guess?

Well it sure isn't easy. Then again, nothing worth doing ever is easy.

[She grins, leaning in and putting her arm around Opal.]

By the way, I taught your mom the whole seismic sense thing, but, if you ever want to sneak out or something, learn that air-scooter thing Twinkletoes was so fond of. Suyin will never know.

THE BOULDER'S MUN NEEDS TO CATCH UP AS WELL BUT SEES NO HARM IN LETTING YOUR KIDS PLAY HARD. IF YOU NEED FAMILY OUTING IDEAS THE BOULDER CAN GET YOU SOME FRONT ROW SEATS AT THE ARENA NEXT TIME EARTH RUMBLE IS IN TOWN.

Oh please, we both know how that'd go. We'd end up having a rematch, and I'd wipe the floor with you, again.

[She is smirking though.]

Problem here is that one of my girls is a straight-laced cop, and the other is a free spirit that used to run with the wrong crowd. They don't exactly get along.

THE BOULDER ISN'T SO SURE THAT YOU'LL WIN THIS TIME. ALL THE TIME YOU'VE SPENT METALBENDING, THE BOULDER EXPECTS YOU'VE LET YOUR EARTHBENDING ROOTS SLIP!

THE BOULDER CHALLENGES YOU TO A REMATCH FOR THE EARTH RUMBLE BELT! THIS SUNDAY! AT FRACTUREFEST!

SURELY YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL COME TOGETHER TO CHEER YOU ON.

Can I just say that the look on my face just knowing you actually have kids.......

[Oh, hey Sokka. Guess who's taller for the moment? She's just going to grin, puff her chest out, and rest an elbow on your head.]

Two metal-bending girls that are just as awesome and powerful as me. Worthy successors to the title of Melon Lord if ever there was.

[Sokka may let her put her elbow on his head, but he's going to give a rather pouty expression for that gall.]

Just what the world needs... one Melon Lord and two Jr. Melon Ladies-in-waiting. I'm not sure the world (or the fandom, for that matter) can handle that.

[Yes, pout all you want, Sokka. YOUR SUFFERING SUSTAINS THE MELON LORD!]

The world can always handle more awesome. And judging from how my girls turned out, and the fact that my granddaughter is an airbender, I'm willing to put money on the sheer force of Beifong awesome helping future Avatars keep balance in the world, just because we outweigh whatever evil that shows up.

[Self confidence never was her problem.]

[Yeah, that makes a devious grin appear on Sokka's face.]

Yeah yeah, greatest earthbender in the world and all. Just don't forget which other bender saved your tail on the airship all those years ago.

[He points a thumb towards himself.]

This boomerangbender.

[She just smirks and puts a tiny bit more weight on Sokka's head.]

Like you'd ever let me forget.

[Hey now, rude! Yeah, it's far past time that he's going to brush that off and (unfortunately) look up at her.]

Someone's gotta be in charge of making sure your Melon Head is still able to fit through doors at the end of the day.

I think if anyone is gonna have trouble fitting their heads through doors, it's Boulder.

[She's just going to jerk her thumb in the... absolute wrong direction.]

For now though, I suppose I should be thankful. After all... [She's just going to launch into full on mocking theatrics now.] ...not every girl can say she was rescued by Sokka, the great and wise~!

[Sokka is going to laugh at that because, not only is it funny, but yes... because she's pointing at Opal, which is all the funnier. Opal is Miss Positivity, not some egomaniac earthbender.

[That said, Sokka really isn't going to notice the sarcasm yet. He's going to bask in this. Bask, I say.]

Well, it's about time you acknowledged my contributions to Team Avatar, Toph. I never thought I'd see the day.

[Never mind that she can't see it, both literally and literally.]

[Okay, seriously Sokka? That's just gonna earn you a noogie. ~~And not just because she's always been too short to do it to ya before~~]

Of course I have! You're the idea guy with the boomerang! And don't forget that awesome sword you had. Heck, I've still got the space-earth bracelet.

[Well, before she was tall enough to noogie him, she just punched Sokka. Six of one, half a dozen of the other...

[That said, Sokka does look pretty proud while she's going on about him, though the mention of Space Sword is a sore point. But he's going to turn it around at least.]

Well I'm glad there's still some memory of Space Sword that's still around. That said, I'm actually still surprised you kept your space-earth bracelet all this time.

[He pauses before adding, with a laugh:]

I guess that means little Toph has a sentimental side deep down after all.

[Yes, little Toph. He's not afraid of her.]

You kidding? There's no way I was gonna lose it. I mean, until Suyin started hoarding meteorites, that was the only kind of space earth around to bend.

[Yeah, she's just gonna keep ya in a headlock, Sokka.]

Hey, don't go spreading it around. Remember, your boomerang is made of metal.

You wouldn't dare touch Boomerang! [Those are some mighty words... words he knows aren't true, but that doesn't mean that he can't still want to believe them!

[And yet despite the fact that Toph has him pretty much locked in place, he's actually kind of grateful that she still calls it "space-earth." Katara would be mortified. But still... headlock]

Hey, stop that, would you! [Does he really have to stroke her ego again?] Okay, okay, fine. Toph is the most awesome earthbender around and doesn't have any ounce of sentimentality in her entire body. Now let go!

Of course I wouldn't. I wouldn't have to. Bending.

[She laughs, giving his head a final squeeze before letting him go.]

That's more like it. I've got a reputation to uphold. I mean, how else am I supposed to strike fear into the hearts of mortals that hear the name Melon Lord!?

Hey, you know exactly what I mean, Toph! No boomerangbending. [Pause.] Except for Sokka-style boomerangbending.

[He finally pulls his head out from Toph's arm when she starts letting him go, and he shakes his head a bit to clear it out.]

Well you know, you could choose a slightly more intimidating name than Melon Lord. Maybe something like... Scary Creepy Metal Lady.

Mun is a bit behind but catching up. And... just saw Book 3, episode 5

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