"Mom, Opal, Bolin, and I left to go to Zaofu, we were going to save Aunt Su and her family, no matter what. All we know is that they're in Zofu, we don't know where or if they were moved, but it doesn't mean we don't look. Our first stop is Zaofu, and if they aren't there, we'll keep looking."
Opals sky bison, Juicy landed in the forested area's outside Zaofu and everyone got off. Bolin made this grate pledge to repair their love, they're meaning his and Opal's, and Lin had enough. She got between the lovebirds and pushed Bolin back.
"Stick a sock in it," she snarled. "Now. The ride in was bad enough, and I don't want any more of it." At the edge of the forest, there was an opening that led into a steep drop down the mountainside, everyone knelt there to look. Lin looked though a spyglass, telling everyone what she saw. There was a whole bunch of troops pretty much everywhere, and they wouldn't be able to get in unnoticed.
"The only way to find them is if we go in," Ally turned to stand up and felt footsteps behind her, familiar footsteps.
"I wouldn't bother if I were you," Toph came out from the forest with her hands behind her back. Lin stood up and a half-smile came to her lips.
"Umm, hi there, chief," she stammered.
"Hello, chief," Toph replied.
"Oh my gosh, Grandma Toph!" Opal exclaimed. She ran up to her grandmother and gave her a hug.
"You've grown quite a bit," Toph chuckled.
"Oh my goodness, is this real?" Bolin exclaimed, jumping up and down. Lin facepalmed and Ally had to stifle a laugh.
"What?" Toph asked. "Have an elbow leech attached to you?"
"No, you've been my hero for so long!" Bolin burst out. "I'm Bolin, and I'm sorta, kinda, maybe dating Opal!"
"Okay, is there something wrong with him?" Toph said snarkily. "Whatever, I checked the city for Su a couple of times and there's a rumor going around that they got moved to a camp nearby."
"Bolin," Opal put her hands on her hips. "Any idea where that would be?'
"There's a reeducation camp a few miles from here," Bolin said sheepishly.
"Of all people," Toph grumbled. "Might I ask how you know?"
"Well, Bolin used to, USED TO, grandma," Ally stammered. "He used to work for Kuvira's army."
"Opal, why are you dating this dipstick?" Toph asked.
"Let's just say it isn't his words," Lin and Toph walked back towards Juicy, and Toph almost had a heart attack.
"This thing stinks," she told Opal. She got onto the saddle and they flew to the prison camp near the city, flying over an abandoned village on the way.
"So when did you two last talk?" Bolin inquired, direcintg the question at Lin and Toph.
"A few years," Toph chuckled. Lin was sitting next to her mother, with her arms crossed, her walls were up and she was on the defensive.
"Mom," Ally unpried her moms arms and held her hand, trying to relieve some of the built up tension.
"It's been 20 years," Lin snapped.
"Oh, relax," Toph sighed. "When you're as old as I am, time flies for you. But I'm surprised you're here, and here to save Su none the less. I thought you two were basically rivals."
"We worked things out," Lin told her mother, her tone cold.
"Oh, good, glad we've all worked things out," Toph leaned back in juicy's saddle and closed her eyes.
"We, yeah," Lin scoffed. They landed in the camp which doubled as a factory, and Toph got them inside without being noticed. They darted around and saw a huge ray along the tracks that connected the factory to Zaofu. Toph slammed her foot down, trying to see around using vibrations.
"There's an empty cavern a little way down," Toph brought her foot up. "I think that might be where they're keeping everyone." Lin followed suit, feeling the vibrations around her.
"Why would you need that many guards to guard an empty cavern?" she asked. Ally was the last to feel the vibrations and gritted her teeth as she felt something odd.
"I think I know," she exclaimed. "The prison is suspended so they can't bend." All of the sudden, the doors to the factory open, and Bolin told everyone to hide. Kuvira stood in the entryway, two meca-tanks at her side. Baatar and his scientists came in after and Zhu Li explained she was doing whatever it took to fix the weapon.
"She's lying to Kuvira," Toph whispered, and they snuck out of the camp and back into the mountainside.
"We need to destroy the canon," Ally murmured. "But I could feel it, it's platinum."
"This is going to take everything," Toph explained. "Everything just to make it out alive, but I am not here to fight. I'm here to rescue Su and to get out."
"So, if Kuvira wants all of her followers to see the test in action," Bolin formed a plan in his mind."So if they're all there, the factory will be empty and we can go in and rescue Su and the others." They made camp behind the mountains and had instant noddles. Toph made a table and chairs out of the earth and everyone sat and ate in the light of a lantern.
"So I wanted to ask you about metalbending," Bolin talked to Toph. "I tried to learn it back in Zaofu with Su, but she couldn't teach me."
"A while back, I taught a school where even dunderheads like yourself could learn the skill," Toph smirked.
"Oh, yeah, she's THE person you'd want to go to for teaching, she's the most sensitive person around," Lin mumbled, but everyone heard. She stirred her noodles with chopsticks, not even looking at her mother.
"Mom," Ally looked at Lin with slight fear in her eyes.
"But I did lavabend, well I learned how to escaping from an evil lavabender," Bolin tried to get the ball rolling again.
"That's impressive," Toph praised. "Lavabending is a rare skill, you have some talent, kid."
"Oh, thank you, thank you," Bolin gushed. "That means the world to me, coming from you."
"Yeah, she's the most encouraging teacher," Lin muttered, giving Toph the side-eye.
"What gives, I'm blind, not deaf, you should know this," Toph snapped.
"So, uh, who's Lin's father?" Bolin asked. That struck a nerve and Lin whirled around with a sour look on her face.
"Well, his name was Kanto, he was a... nice man, but things didn't work out," Toph explained. Lin was furious and she closed her eyes, putting her elbows on her knees. "Oh for... Lin, I can feel your angry breathing all the way over here. What do you have to say? Say it, and let's move on."
"Oh yeah, it's just as easy as moving on," Lin said sarcastically. "Let's just get over the fact that I grew up not even knowing who my father was because you never bothered to tell me. No need to get all worked up about that."
"I forgave you for all the crap you pulled a long old time ago," Toph protested. "I worked things out with Su, met Ally for the first time in 20 years, and it seems you're the only one out of all of us who wants to hold on to the past."
"You forgave ME?" Lin retorted. "And because I wanted to know who my dad was, that's nonsense and crap?! It was very important to me, and you wouldn't even tell me. Why do you think I told Ally who her father was? So she would never go through what I did, not knowing her father. You know, after these few years and Su and I worked things out, I figured, "hey maybe I can reach out to mom, see how she's doing". But now that we're talking again, I remember why we stopped. You make me furious, and for the life of you, you can't figure out why. I tell you, you don't listen, and after we save Su and the others, we're done. And that means no contact with my daughter either."
"Fine," Toph took a deep breath. "If that's what you want, and it'll make you happy." Lin turned away and caught Ally's eye. The green of Ally's eyes were darker in the night sky, but there was so much sympathy and kindness in them, that Lin had to look away. The next day, the group snuck into the factory to rescue everyone. They made their way down a makeshift tunnel and Toph opened the earth like two doors, and there was Su and her family, caught in a suspended prison.
"Bolin, you need to catch everyone once I swing them over," Lin instructed. "Alls, come with me and you can help. Mom won't be able to see anyone, so when they come, catch them and be prepared for the next one."
Toph and Bolin shot Lin and Ally up to the prison and it started to swing, everyone inside started to yell and make noise. A guard came out, but luckily didn't see Lin or Ally, and assumed it was just a draft. Lin cut the top of the prison open with a dagger and got Wei out first. Ally swung him to Bolin, who caught him and waited for the next one. Once everyone was clear, Lin threw Baatar Sr over to Bolin and he screamed the entire time, causing the guards to come and investigate. Lin cut the ropes hanging the prison and swung to the opening where Toph and the others were, barely escaping. They got out and realized Kuvira locked Zhu Li in an abandoned town that she was going to blow up.
"I can go get her," Ally said.
"No, kid, you can't it's suicide," Lin protested. "I'm not gonna lose you."
"You won't," Ally gave her a smile and Toph's face fell, she was lying. She and Bolin ran off to go save her. Just as they got to the town to save Zhu Li, the weapon fired in an explosion of pink light. A sound like a foghorn rang through the air before the blast cut clean through the mountain. Ally metalbent the chains and freed Zhu Li, then she ran off, using fire to propel her back to Su and Lin.
"Ally!" Lin exclaimed. Ally smiled before putting her fist up to destroy an incoming rock.
"Move, move, move!" she yelled. With Wing and Wei's help, they made a wall to protect them from Kuvira's forces. Su went after Kuvira and started to engage her, and she was doing great, until she got thrown around and knocked off the cannon, and landed hard. One of her sons got her back to the protection of their wall, and they turned to brace the rock when it crumbled. Lin pushed Ally behind her as everyone got into a fighting stance. Dozens of people stood all around until a wave of rock sent all the tanks and Kuvira supporters flying. Toph, Baatar Sr, and Huan stood there, looking around. Toph pointed to Kuvira with her eyes still on the ground.
"You give great metalbenders a bad name by being a crazy dictator!" She yelled. Everyone got on Juicy and left the factory, flying back to the swamp.
"Thanks for saving us," Su thanked her mom.
"Thanks a lot, chief," Lin smiled. "And I'm sorry about snapping at you last night... I was just... I don't know how to explain it."
"Listen," Toph started. "I know I wasn't the best mom, but I did end up with two pretty awesome kids, and wonderful grandchildren. Awesome enough to stick my bony old butt out for anyway. If you can... we'll find a way it to hate me for the rest of your life, that would be nice."
"Yeah," Lin murmured and she hugged her mom.
"You know, I grew up without a family, except for my brother," Bolin chimed in and joined the hug. "And it made me notice how much-"
"Alright, can it!" Toph released herself, and that day, Bolin became the first person ever to be glared at by 5 Beifong women and survived. "You can have fun going back to the city with the gum flapper here." Bolin fell into Lin and was shoved back almost immediately.
"You're not coming back?" Ally inquired.
"No way," Toph laughed. "I'm done fighting, and to be frank, my back's killing me. I'm leaving this one to the kids, just like Katara, she wasn't messing around with a civil war." She walked away with a smile.
"Hate to break up the happiness, but Kuvira is going to attack Republic City in 2 weeks," Zhu Li dropped the bomb.