storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2015-02-16 09:16 am
storypaint) wrote2015-02-16 09:16 am
[Legend of Korra] we who are left (Toph gen)
Title: we who are left
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Length: 439 words
Prompt: fic_promptly: A:TLA, any, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
Pairing: Toph gen
Other: Themes of war.
Excerpt: "Mom?" Lin said over dinner, in that careful tone of voice that meant she was about to ask for something, "you don't ever talk about the war."
Toph shouldn't have been surprised, but she never quite got used to thinking of what they had done as history. It was just the things they had to do the year her life really began.
"Mom?" Lin said over dinner, in that careful tone of voice that meant she was about to ask for something, "you don't ever talk about the war."
Toph shoved more rice in her mouth to avoid answering the implied question. Why would she want to talk about it? Sure, she'd met Aang and the rest of her closest friends, but anyone who thought twice about it would realize that the circumstances had been pretty unpleasant, most of the time. Why would she fill her kids with stories about her wartime victories when they didn't need to think about that stuff? She'd fought that war partially so no one had to think about it again, except for stuffy diplomats and apparently Republic City history teachers.
"You don't want to hear about it," Toph answered finally. "Listen to the radio, they're about to give the pro-bending scores." She reached over and turned it up a little.
"My teacher wanted me to ask you, um, if you would come in and talk about it, actually. For history class. Because we're starting the war period and she says there's no better way to learn than from a firsthand source. Like you always say." For a moment Lin looked proud. Toph wanted to remind her that she'd actually meant witness statements, but she didn't think it would do any good.
"I'd be a terrible source," Toph said. Her memories from that year were patchwork at best; Sokka's laugh and his hand on hers while she dangled over the abyss, the warmth of Appa on a cold night, the ashy smell of dozens of campfires, the way her hands ached after she slammed her way out of her cage. That wasn't worth telling. And the rest of it, the stuff she didn't think about, she wouldn't foist that on anybody.
"Okay," Lin said, lowering her head. Toph wasn't sure where she got the mushy center from -- it definitely wasn't her. She figured the kid would probably perk up once she escaped puberty.
Toph sighed.
"Did I ever tell you how I met Twinkletoes?" she said, reaching over again to switch the radio off, and she doesn't complain when Su climbs into her lap to hear the story better.
Fandom: Legend of Korra
Length: 439 words
Prompt: fic_promptly: A:TLA, any, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
Pairing: Toph gen
Other: Themes of war.
Excerpt: "Mom?" Lin said over dinner, in that careful tone of voice that meant she was about to ask for something, "you don't ever talk about the war."
Toph shouldn't have been surprised, but she never quite got used to thinking of what they had done as history. It was just the things they had to do the year her life really began.
"Mom?" Lin said over dinner, in that careful tone of voice that meant she was about to ask for something, "you don't ever talk about the war."
Toph shoved more rice in her mouth to avoid answering the implied question. Why would she want to talk about it? Sure, she'd met Aang and the rest of her closest friends, but anyone who thought twice about it would realize that the circumstances had been pretty unpleasant, most of the time. Why would she fill her kids with stories about her wartime victories when they didn't need to think about that stuff? She'd fought that war partially so no one had to think about it again, except for stuffy diplomats and apparently Republic City history teachers.
"You don't want to hear about it," Toph answered finally. "Listen to the radio, they're about to give the pro-bending scores." She reached over and turned it up a little.
"My teacher wanted me to ask you, um, if you would come in and talk about it, actually. For history class. Because we're starting the war period and she says there's no better way to learn than from a firsthand source. Like you always say." For a moment Lin looked proud. Toph wanted to remind her that she'd actually meant witness statements, but she didn't think it would do any good.
"I'd be a terrible source," Toph said. Her memories from that year were patchwork at best; Sokka's laugh and his hand on hers while she dangled over the abyss, the warmth of Appa on a cold night, the ashy smell of dozens of campfires, the way her hands ached after she slammed her way out of her cage. That wasn't worth telling. And the rest of it, the stuff she didn't think about, she wouldn't foist that on anybody.
"Okay," Lin said, lowering her head. Toph wasn't sure where she got the mushy center from -- it definitely wasn't her. She figured the kid would probably perk up once she escaped puberty.
Toph sighed.
"Did I ever tell you how I met Twinkletoes?" she said, reaching over again to switch the radio off, and she doesn't complain when Su climbs into her lap to hear the story better.