Living in a Legacy [ON INDEFINITE HIATUS]

Chapter One: Pieces of Pai Sho

Suyin Beifong could tell you from experience what it was like being the child of someone who saved the world. 

Maybe you would think that it was a glamorous life, filled with presents and fame and recognition for every little last thing. Maybe you would think that it was the best thing in the world, to be related, to be the daughter, of someone who invented Metalbending, was best friends with the Avatar, was the most powerful Earthbender in the entire world--and she was blind. 

Well, news flash: it wasn't. 

Toph was the Chief of Police. When she wasn't working at the station, she was... Su couldn't even remember what her mother did when she wasn't working, it was so rare. But Su knew what she did when her mother was working--argue with her older sister Lin. Go to school. Get into the expected trouble. Dance in the front yard but stop when people came by and whispered about her behind cupped hands. 

You would think that being related to the Toph Beifong would be all that, but it was barely even this. 

Su twirled in a circle, smiling as her green Earth Kingdom robes fluttered out around her as she did so. For once, Lin was away, away at Air Temple Island. To be fair, Su was also there, but it was different than when the two of them were home together--which was the case most days. Because the kids enjoyed hanging out with each other, at least once a week Lin and Su would be dropped off at the island and under the watchful eyes of Katara and Aang--sometimes their mom came, too, but not much, only for special occasions. 

On Air Temple Island, Lin tended to hang out with Tenzin, and occasionally Izumi; sometimes Kya and Bumi. Su, on the other hand, spent most of her time there by herself, because as the sole seven-year-old there and the youngest, no one really wanted to hang out with her. Well, sometimes Kya did, but she was seventeen and only dropped by to do the obligatory "check on the littlest kid" and the occasional game of Pai Sho... which she beat Su at nearly every single time. 

Normally Su didn't mind being alone, on Air Temple Island, at least because it gave her space to dance in private, and it gave her somewhere that was free of the constantly judging eyes of her sister. But today she felt inexplicably lonely, for some strange reason, and she wasn't sure why she suddenly had the urge to talk to someone. 

Perhaps it was because she'd just perfected a triple-pirouette for the first time ever, and no one was there to see it. Or, maybe, it was because she had earned an A plus on her math quiz the other day, and no one had asked about her day, so she never had an excuse to show it to anyone. Suppose it was because she was tired of being left out by everyone around her just because she was the youngest and had a tendency to get into scrapes. It wasn't her fault that the people stealing candy from her teacher always made it sound so effortless and easy, but then, when the time came, they got caught and they blamed it all on her. 

Su sighed and plopped onto the ground. It was a nice day, with blue skies and clouds that looked like spun-sugar and a lovely breeze that fluttered her short hair whenever she sat with her back to the wind. Yet she just couldn't shake the feeling of missing people. She didn't miss Lin, she could tell that much. Her mother never cared what she did, either, so Su also didn't miss her. In fact, she didn't have many people to miss, but the two that she did she didn't, and it left her feeling lonelier than ever. 

"Hey, Su." 

She turned her head to see Bumi sitting next to her on the dirt. His brown hair was as wild and long as ever, about as long as hers, except whereas hers spiraled and clung to her cheek, his stuck up in odd directions, like he had been electrocuted. Or that he hadn't bothered to run a brush through his hair... ever. She supposed it could be either.