I'm the Ember Island Eel Hounds Manager and this is my submission for Round 4

An AtLA character meets a LoK character in a crowded bar.

Prompts: (word) falling (1 point), (dialogue) If I could take it all back, I would (2 points), (quote) "A real friend is one who walks in when everyone walks out" - Walter Winchell (3 points).

Round element: Metal

Word count:1,820

Korra had wanted to go to clear her head for a while now. The reconstruction and the democratization of the former Earth Kingdom had left her little time for herself, and Asami had been just as busy since they had returned from the Spirit World. Korra recalled what they did in the Spirit World with great fondness, for it had been quite the enlightening experience; getting to know that fascinating world and getting acquainted with each other…profoundly.

Korra needed a drink, or eight, but remembered she really didn't know the city after the reconstruction, so she ended up getting lost in a town she used to know like the back of her hand.

She finally stumbled into the music and sounds of a bar that was playing old music and wondered in just wanting to have a drink. She hadn't noticed the name of the bar, whether it suggested a fine establishment or a poorly lighted one where the not-so-illustrious gathered.

She walked up to the bartender and sat down next to a woman with black hair that covered her eyes. But Korra wasn't there to make friends, she was there to get wasted. She turned to the bartender, her thirst getting the better of her.

"I want s triple of the strongest thing you have."

The bartender, a gorgeous woman with red hair and porcelain skin walked up to her. "Someone's in a hurry. Trying to forget someone dear? I might be able to help you…much to my pleasure, I may add."

"Not interested, sorry," said Korra. "Been on the wagon far too long, I need the alcohol and to be able to chill for just a little while in drunken bliss."

The bartender just turned and started getting Korra's order when the woman next to Korra spoke up.

"If you came here in a Satomobile, do the world an favor and don't drive or at least have the courtesy of ramming yourself against a wall right around the corner so there is one less stupid drunk-driver in the world."

Korra felt that comment was quite rude. "Well, I'll make sure to tell the cops to keep you on their list of people to go to in case they need someone to jump from a building."

The other woman huffed and turned to the bartender. "What about that drink?"

The bartender came back with a glass of something really black and strong-smelling. "Sorry, this thing takes time to get right. Enjoy."

The woman hovered over her drink as if she wasn't sure whether to drink it. Korra wanted to piss off this person just for shits and giggles; a bar fight wouldn't be a bad way to end the night.

"Scared?" Korra taunted.

"You have no fucking clue, sister," the other woman replied in a tone that made Korra feel bad for wanting to fight her.

"Wanna share your problems?" Korra said more pleasantly. "Sorry for the bad attitude, my work has been really stressful and I really need a drink."

"Who fucking cares? I'm not crying about my problems. I'm just gonna drink myself under the floor." The woman grabbed the drink but hesitated.

"Sure you wanna do that? Maybe the answer is not at the end of that glass." Korra now felt bad for the other woman, feeling in her voice that she was scared of something.

"No. But who gives a shit? The man I was with left me, my parents and I never got along so well and my friends are busy with their lives so much that I doubt they'll care if I get a little too drunk." The woman looked down and Korra felt she needed a lot of help.

"A real friend is one who walks in when everyone walks out. I'm sure they'll be there for you in any and all moments if they are really your friends," Korra said trying to bond with the woman and get her to trust her.

"Yeah, but I've been really busy with work so I might have pushed them away, so that's that." The woman was still staring at the glass and Korra was getting more and more the impression the woman just needed a sympathetic ear.

"Well, maybe then they're not your friends. True friends stick together through anything," said Korra, forgetting all about her own drink.

"Some of the stuff I've said to them…" the woman paused and sighed. "If I could take it all back, I would. But we've been falling apart for so long ago that what I said was the last straw. I won't be hearing from them any time soon." The woman sighed again and stared at her glass, trembling.

Korra looked over the woman seeking a cheerier topic of conversation, maybe something she was wearing or jewelry. Anything.

Analyzing the woman, Korra quickly noticed her metal uniform and the Police badge on her chest. "This woman is a cop," thought Korra. "Bingo"

"I doubt the Chief would appreciate it if one of her officers showed up hung over to work," Korra said without further ado. "Or didn't show up at all."

The woman huffed as if she was holding back her laughter. "Three things. One: do I look like I give a fuck? Two: you're talking to the Chief. And three: I need to drink a lot, after all I'm drinking for two."

As if saying that had given her confidence, she lifted her drink and hung her head back, allowing Korra to see the woman's blind eyes. "Toph!? But how?"

Korra moved to reach for the glass but then realized the woman as well as all the bar had stopped still as if time had frozen. In fact it did freeze and only the bartender seemed to be able to move.

"Quite the situation, eh gorgeous?" said the bartender, walking towards her. Korra recognized her.

"Not funny, Crenwa. Or do you prefer Spirit of Time?" Korra still resented its prank during her vacation with Asami that involved making sure Asami came into existence since her father had fallen head over heels for her and it took one hell of a journey to get him to fall for her mother.

"Its funny, you wanted a drink and now you get one along with the chance to choose the fate of the Beifongs in this city." The spirit rested its shoulders on the bar, showing cleavage that briefly distracted Korra.

"Like what you see?" the spirit teased.

"You wish," Korra retorted dryly. "What is this?"

"This is an experiment, my dear embodiment of Raava. The first time this happened I had Sokka stumble in and convince the Chief here to not drink herself out of a pregnancy." Crenwa nodded to where the Chief was frozen with the drink about to touch her lips. "They ended up having an affair that destroyed Sokka's marriage with Suki. And well, should I even state the obvious about what happens in affairs between humans? Yeah, that's why you've always thought Suyin had something of the Water Tribe that you couldn't put your finger on." Crenwa smiled. "Ever since then I've been wondering if I did the right thing stopping her from doing it. My interference destroyed someone's marriage, which was also Sokka's life. He did love Suki, but seeing Toph hurt made him cheat on her due to the torch he'd carried for her in their youth."

"So what? You're having me make the call?" Korra said, not believing what she was hearing.

"Yeah. You know Lin better than anyone, better even than Tenzin did. You know for how long Lin suffered and blamed her mother about everything in her life." Crenwa pulled up Korra's order and gave her a triple whiskey. "Your order, miss. Drink it when you want to go. And don't worry about Zaofu and Opal and all of the others from the Beifong family. Either way, Su will still exist, I've seen to that."

Before Korra could say anything else, Crenwa rewinded time a little and left. Korra was facing Toph, who was about to raise her glass.

Korra waterbent the drink out of its glass and hissed in her ear, trying not to make a scene. "Are you fucking crazy? You're pregnant! You could damage or kill the baby!"

"Hey! You're gonna pay for that! Bartender, some bitch spilled my drink! Make me another one!" said Toph, not caring about what Korra had just said.

"That kid will…" Korra stopped herself. She needed to think of a way to get Toph to have Lin without sounding crazy. "That kid could be a great person."

"Yeah, her father dumped me and all she would have is a blind woman who puts her life on the line all the time for the sake of others." Toph reached for Korra's whiskey but Korra stopped her.

"This decision, you must be sure that you're doing it for the right reasons and not just because you're scared. This kind of stuff has consequences." Korra would at least try to get Toph to think straight, even if she couldn't help Lin come into existence.

"And for one, I'm glad I ain't caring about them," Toph said with a very depressed tone.

"Are you sure you're Toph Beifong? The Toph Beifong I knew would never back down from a challenge, no matter what," Korra said earnestly, trying to connect to the part of Toph she met in the swamp.

"I'm not what the stories say, kid. Not everything about my stories is real," Toph said, annoyed.

"That may be. But if you are the Toph that vanquished Fire Lord Ozai and never cared that she was blind, then you can do it. You shouldn't be afraid of this," Korra said, hopeful of getting an angle from where she could bring Lin into existence.

"I'm not afraid! It's just that I'm sure I'll be an awful parent. Mine aren't great models and I won't have a screw up walking around this world being all angsty because it has to live in my shadow." Toph sounded determined, but Korra knew what it was to be afraid.

"Look, ultimately it's your decision but most parents screw up their kids one way or another. It's not their fault, parents do their best but each life is lived differently. Fear of becoming your parents shouldn't be guiding your decision. You're not your mother. You're not doomed to having a bad relationship with your kid." Korra placed a reassuring hand on Toph's shoulder, knowing that in reality it wasn't up to her whether Lin would exist or not.

"I really don't know. But I guess I still have a little more time to think," Toph said as she stood up and left some money on the counter. "What was your name again kid?"

"Oh, I'm just someone who knows what it's like to be afraid of not having control," Korra said, drinking her whiskey.