Part 3

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When (y/n) opened his eyes in the morning there was nothing there. He smiled, the quiet of the bedroom was peaceful although a bit lonely and sad. It had been a couple years since he and Toph had separated yet it still felt like it had just happened.

"Daddy!" Suyin yelled and knocked on the door, killing the peace in the room. "I missed the bus!"

He sighed and slowly got out of bed. "Get ready, when I'm out there we need to leave immediately" he called back to her as he walked to his bathroom to brush his teeth and take a quick shower.

Once he was finally ready for the day (y/n) quickly left his room and went to the living room where he found his daughter listening to the radio. "Come on!" He called to her as he grabbed his coat and slipped it on. "School time"

It didn't take too long for the pair to walk to the school, however they did have to walk through some pretty nasty neighborhoods, hence why (y/n) walked his daughter.

"Alright" (y/n) smiled as they arrived. "Have a good day" he smiled as he motioned for Su to go hang out with her friends, who were all outside the entrance waiting for a teacher to open the door and let the students in to start their day.

"Bye Dad" Su smiled before quickly running off towards the school.

(Y/n) watched as a teacher, one of the ones he recognized as one of Su's teachers, walked out and let the students in. She noticed (y/n) watching so she offered him a small smile and wave. (Y/n) waved back and turned to walk back home.

He didn't end up back where he had began, instead (y/n) soon found himself downtown, sitting at a cafe and sipping on a cup of tea. A soft tune played from a nearby radio, making sure the atmosphere stayed peaceful.

Another couple minutes later and a woman sat across from (y/n). "Hi" she spoke simply before she drank a bit of her coffee.

"Good morning Toph" (y/n) didn't look up from his drink, his mood now soured. "To what do I owe the visit?"

"You need to talk to Lin" Toph answered simply, this brought (y/n) to finally look up at her. "She wants to join the police force"

(Y/n) frowned. "That's not safe"

"No, no it's not" Toph agreed with a nod, especially not right now.

"So why don't you talk to her about it?" (Y/n) asked the question although he already knew the answer.

"You're the strict parent, I'm the one who gives her kids freedom. I can't tell her what to do" Toph fiddled with her hands nervously. "Then I'd be just like my parents"

(Y/n) sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I'm not strict Toph, I'm just a good parent" he could see that the words hit Toph like a slap to the face by the way her face morphed into one of anger. "You don't have to tell her what to do, just talk to her. Recommend that she rethink this, show her you care"

Toph was silent for a minute despite her anger. Finally she whispered a response. "You know she won't listen to me. Your the one she likes"

(Y/n) laughed at that. "Toph... show her that you care. You never have before, so if you do it in this moment then maybe it'll have more of an impact on her decision"

Toph's blind eyes stared into (y/n)'s own eyes, an intimidation technique rather than actual looking at him. "...alright" she stood up. "I'm trusting you here... you know her better than I do, so I'm trusting you on this"

It was rare to see Toph this nervous. (Y/n) smiled, glad to be reminded that the mother of their children really did care for them. "I'm not saying this'll stop her, it's just our best bet at that"

And just like that Toph turned and walked off, no goodbye offered. (Y/n) watched her until she was out of sight. Slowly his mood returned to being good and he took a sip of his tea. He didn't like being around Toph, but when it was concerning the kids he tolerated her presence.

Every moment he looked at Toph he was always reminded of how long he had spent with the wrong woman. It wasn't time wasted, not entirely, but it still hurt. Fourteen years of his life, gone just like that. He was forty three years old now, no longer a young man. He didn't expect to remarry, that part of his life was over and done with now.

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Dinner was quiet that night. Lin hadn't stopped by so Su and (y/n) ate together without her. "I saw Mom today" Su spoke to break the quiet. "She arrested someone up the block from school"

(Y/n) frowned. "What did he do?" He didn't like hearing that a crime had been committed so close to the school.

"I dunno" Su shrugged as she ate her spaghetti. "I think Mom is dating someone"

"Sudden shift of conversation but alright" (y/n) frowned and ate half a meatball. "Good for her"

Su was now the one who frowned. "She's replacing you"

"Okay" (y/n) shrugged. "She deserves to be happy"

"No she doesn't" Su huffed. "She made you unhappy for years"

"That doesn't mean she doesn't deserve happiness" (y/n) ate the other half of the meatball. "Everyone deserves to be happy so long as their happiness doesn't come at the sake of the happiness of others"

Su was silent for a moment before she blurted out her real worry. "I don't want another dad!"

(Y/n) smiled and put his fork down. "Sweetie, you don't have to think of him as your dad. You don't even have to call him Dad. You just have to be happy that your mother found someone, be happy that she's happy"

Again Su went silent as she went back to eating her spaghetti. Once (y/n) knew she wasn't about to speak again he also resumed eating.

Finally when they had both finished and (y/n) had taken both of their bowls, Su spoke again. "Am I going to get another mommy too?"

(Y/n) smiled and shook his head as he walked off towards the kitchen. "Probably not"

Su stood and followed him. "But don't you want to be happy too?" She asked, trying to figure out what exactly her father's definition of happiness included. Was it different depending on who he was talking about?

(Y/n) frowned, he was glad Su couldn't see his face as he put the dishes in the sink and began to work on cleaning them. "I have you, what more could I ask for?"

Su considered that for a moment before quickly hugging her Dad's side. "Yeah. I'm great" she smiled widely before breaking the hug. "Thanks Dad!" She quickly ran off into the other room to go find her notebook so she could draw.

(Y/n) let a small laugh escape his lips as he did the dishes. "She certainly has her mother's self confidence"

"No I don't!" Su quickly stuck her head back into the room.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. "That's a good thing"

"Oh" Su frowned. "Alright!" She smiled again as she walked in and sat at the kitchen table with her notebook. "Come sit with me"

(Y/n) finished up his cleaning before doing as he was told and sitting at the table beside Suyin. "Alright, what are we drawing?"

"I dunno" Suyin clicked her tongue and started drawing the shape of a person. "Linnie thinks you want to get married again"

"Does she?" (Y/n) asked with a laugh. "Is that why you asked about that earlier?"

"Yeah" Su nodded as she continued her sketching. "She's not gonna like it when I tell her she's wrong"

(Y/n) shook his head. "I'm not opposed to the idea"

"But you said-"

"I said i probably wouldn't get married, not that I don't want to" (y/n) was quick to clarify his earlier statement.

"So you do want to?" Suyin frowned.

(Y/n) shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Su"

Suyin Beifong was now confused. "If you want to get married... why don't you?"

(Y/n) laughed and shook his head. "It's not that simple"

"I know that" Su huffed as she started drawing the long hair for her drawing. "But you could try to make it happen"

(Y/n) shook his head. "You don't know yet how hard it is to meet someone outside of school. If I were young I could go to a matchmaker, but that won't work for me at my age, not unless I want to get matched with girls Lin's age"

Su gagged at the idea of that. "Gross!"

"Exactly" (y/n) laughed again. "I'm not going to find anyone at my age, not unless murder numbers go up"

It took a couple of moments before Su got that joke. "You'd date a widow?"

"Why wouldn't I?" (Y/n) frowned at the question.

"They were married before"

"So was I"

"Oh. Right" Su looked back down at her paper and continued drawing, adding a face to the woman she'd drawn.

(Y/n) smiled and rolled his eyes at his girl. "Don't worry about it sweetheart. How about we talk about school?"

Su's eyes quickly lit up. "Oh! Did I tell you what Stacy did today?"

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Lin Beifong lay in her bed, tired from spending way too much time in the gym. She ached all over but it would all be worth it once  she had joined the police force. Her mother had attempted to discourage her, and she appreciated that her mother was showing that she cared, but that wouldn't stop her.

Now twenty years old, Lin Beifong lived in a one bedroom apartment that she could barely afford on her current salary. It was a crappy place but it was hers.

She looked out the window at the next building over. It wasn't much of a view. She wondered what the rest of her family was up to right now, then she realized they were probably asleep like she should have been.

She missed having her sister in the next bed over, talking late at night when they should have been sleeping. But times changed and so must she.

She was dating someone, Tenzin was an old friend and she really hoped it worked out so that she hadn't accidentally ruined a friendship. It was odd to her that she was seeing someone at the same time as her mother was.

Lin closed her eyes and let out a deep rooted sigh. She tried to shut her brain off, wanting to just fall asleep so she could move onto the next day and get on with her life.

Life would go on, and she should go along with it.

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The night was quiet and (y/n)'s bed was lonely. He lay with his eyes closed and his head to the pillow. There had always been something comforting about not being alone in his bed, even after their marriage had turned to the more hostile side.

It wasn't just the bed. The whole house felt empty when it was only him and Su. He was down a wife and a stepdaughter now that Lin was living on her own.

He loved his daughter, she should have been enough for him to finally be happy. He was happier than he had been in years, but was he really happy?

He was, he refused to let himself think that he wasn't.

Suyin was all that he needed to be happy. She had to be.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He sighed before closing his eyes again and grabbing his second pillow so he could hug it. It helped to have something to hug.

Suyin was happy, he knew that for sure. That made him happy. He smiled and finally began to drift off to sleep.

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Word count: 2059

(This may very well be the end to this Beifong Storyline. Thoughts? Compliments? Requests? Criticisms? Angry rants?)