Severance

Chapter 10 -Toph

The next day Aang came to pick Lin and I up. All of her things were packed neatly into a bag, and as we left you could see the look of disdain as my parents watched. They didn't approve of me taking her already.
I didn't care.
Lin was my daughter and my responsibility, and when we made the decision we did I hadn't realized it would make me so unhappy. But, I was done trying with men for now, and I wanted to focus on the little family that I did have.
As we flew, I held onto Lin tightly. I may seem to do better while riding Appa now, but that's not the case. I simply fake it, as I've learned how to pretty well within the last few years.
The ride was silent besides the occasional noise from Lin while she slept. Aang didn't want to say anything in case he woke her up, as I've yelled at him many times before for doing so.
So, we were quiet. It wasn't a bad silence though, in fact, it was nice being able to listen to the wind. I had always thought that airbenders were weird—or the one I had met for that matter—but listening to the wind now, I understood where they were coming from with the whole "nature is beautiful and amazing" thing. I had never seen nature as anything but rocks and dirt, though in reality there was a lot more to it that I was learning to appreciate.
"Hey" he started, then quickly lowered his voice upon realizing how loud he was, "hey, do you mind if we stop at my house first?"
I shook my head, "No. Where are we right now?"
"About ten minutes away from home"
I sighed, and sat up to stretch. I needed to talk to Katara anyway, as I figured she could be my babysitter whenever I needed her. She wasn't leaving the house much due to threats, and I was just assigned the case. It was risky to take it on—as Zuko said that the last person who worked on the case disappeared—but Aang needed me.
This group was targeting him and his family to be; what kind of friend would I be if I denied? I had just barely started police training, so they wouldn't let me take it on, but Aang assigned it to me separately.
When we landed I snapped out of my thoughts.
Aang took Lin and jumped off, then helped me off.
We went inside, and walked to the kitchen where Katara was. She was starting to cook dinner, and I thought for a moment.
If I was going to have my daughter with me, I should probably learn how to cook better instead of just throwing together stupid things.
I walked over to her, standing at her side. "Katara, could you maybe teach me anything about cooking?"
"Of course!" She answered.
I rolled my eyes at her cheeriness, and set Lin on the counter. "So, what are we making?"
"Spaghetti. Pretty simple stuff I guess"
I nodded, and helped her get some of the supplies out.
I felt the vibrations as she cut some garlic, and she gave me a knife so I could mimic her movements. She taught me proper cutting styles, and though it was nothing more than cutting garlic, she still taught me as if we were making something more than spaghetti. She even cut random vegetables just so I would know how to hold the knife properly.
Then, underestimating her newly gained weight, her stomach knocked over the bowl of sauce. She simply stared down at it, shocked, and probably upset that she was now "fat." I remembered putting on pregnancy weight, and I definitely wasn't happy about it.
Lin heard the crash, and started crying. She had never liked loud noises. Thinking quickly, I bent over and took some of the sauce on my finger, then spread it over her cheek. She stopped, mainly confused about what was happening. When she eventually comprehended, she started giggling. Katara smiled watching us, and I grabbed Lin to kiss her on the cheek.
I felt her staring at me, and laughed as she grabbed onto my hair, then hid her head on my neck.
Spaghetti sauce got all over me.
I chuckled, and shook my head. I used my finger to take it off and spread it on various places on her face. She pouted, and Katara laughed. Realizing what a mess I made, I quickly sat Lin back on the counter, cleaned the both of us off with a wet paper towel, then helped clean up the sauce on the floor.
"Sorry" I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.
Katara smiled and simply shook her head, then went to get more supplies to make more sauce.
I held Lin's hands onto the spoon and helped her stir it for Katara while she went to get the door, as someone had knocked.
I hadn't realized who until he was coming inside.
Sokka came in, hugging his sister and then Aang. "Hey guys, whatcha cooking? It smells delicious" he smiled, and proceeded towards the kitchen.
I didn't know what to do, so I kept my back turned to him and continued helping Lin stir. I could feel him stiffen as he saw me, and Katara immediately came in to make sure we didn't do anything irrational.
"Spaghetti. Toph and Lin have been excellent chefs" she bit her lip, looking at her brother as he sat there contemplating what to do.
He nodded, and set his bag down. "Of course they have been"
I didn't say a word, and instead finished stirring and grabbed a cloth to wipe off Lin's hands.
"Well it was really nice to be here but I think I should be going. I have a lot of unpacking to do," I started, "Aang, will you come help me?"
"Well why don't we have Sokka come too? It'd make the process a lot shorter" he stated.
I frowned, "yeah, I'd rather go alone then." I carried Lin and went outside, hoping that was the end of the subject.
Aang realized and came outside with me. We got on Appa and spent the short ride in silence.
When we got off, I brought Lin inside as he took everything off of Appa. I earthbended everything to the door, and he helped me bring it all inside.
"Thanks. You should get going now" I muttered.
He sighed, came over, kissed me on the forehead, and hugged me "If that's what you want. Thanks for helping Katara" he frowned, walking out.
I sighed, and set up Lin's high chair first. I sat her in it and grabbed some food then started feeding her. She never liked to be fed, but this time she knew I wasn't in the mood to fight her. I put a spoonful of food in her mouth, and she immediately stuck out her tongue with the food on it. It didn't fall or anything, she just sat there mocking me with her tongue out.
"Oh you little punk," I chuckled, then tried to gently close her mouth. "Come on, eat your food"
I kept trying, but to no avail.
"Fine, don't eat, it's not my fault when you're hungry"
I couldn't help but stick my tongue out at her, and I laughed as she did the same. She was like a little replica of me, and I loved her more than anything.
Having her here was something I was already loving, and something I could definitely get used to.