𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃. They are your flesh and blood, woven into the very fabric of your being. You grow up together, witness each other change, stumble, mature, and no matter what life throws your way, a part of you always believes you’ll be standing side by side. Siblings are more than family— they’re an anchor, a reflection, a bond that surpasses time and distance.

For Hini Beifong, that bond ran deeper than anything else. She was only three years old when Toph was born, too young to remember the exact moment her baby sister came into the world, yet she couldn’t imagine a life where Toph didn’t exist. From the moment Toph became part of her life, Hini’s world shifted, as if the earth itself had trembled beneath her feet, realigning her purpose. Toph became her most precious treasure, her fiercest love, and nothing— not even Toph’s blindness —would ever change that.

Toph’s blindness, if anything, only reinforced Hini’s fierce protectiveness. To Hini, it wasn’t a hindrance, wasn’t something that made Toph weaker or more vulnerable. It was just part of who she was, like the way she could move the very earth beneath her feet with a flick of her wrist. Toph never let her blindness define her, and Hini never treated her as anything other than the strongest, most remarkable person she knew. Even as a child, Toph’s potential as an earthbender was undeniable, a raw, untamed force. Watching her fight in secret underground matches, Hini marveled at her sister’s talent, her ferocity. It was something their parents refused to see.

Lao and Poppy Beifong were different. They loved Toph, but their love was suffocating. It was fear, thinly disguised as protectiveness, that led them to coddle Toph, to lock her away within the gilded walls of their estate, treating her blindness like a fragile weakness that needed constant guarding. To them, Toph was a delicate flower in need of protection, not the warrior Hini knew her to be. Their attempts to shelter Toph smothered her spirit, leaving her with boring teachers who taught basic, watered-down earthbending far beneath her skill level. It was a prison disguised as a palace.

And while Toph bore the weight of overprotection, Hini was left adrift, lost in the vast halls of their family’s estate, feeling invisible to the very people who were supposed to love her too. Every attempt to gain their attention, to spark a connection, seemed to fall on deaf ears. Hini would approach her parents, asking questions, trying to be seen, but their gaze always slid past her, like she was nothing more than a shadow. No matter what she did, she could never compete with their obsession over protecting Toph.

Hini's frustration boiled over, spilling into small acts of rebellion. She cut her hair short, hacking it off above her shoulders in a way that made her look less like the delicate, upper-class daughter they expected her to be and more like the warrior she felt she was becoming. She abandoned the embroidered robes that her station demanded, not because she disliked them, but because they symbolized everything she wanted to escape— everything that kept her invisible. Yet, even as she broke free from their expectations, her parents remained indifferent.

But Hini wasn’t the type to give up. If they wouldn’t see her, she’d make them. She found solace in the sharp, cold edge of a sword. Swordsmanship became more than a hobby; it was an outlet, a release, a way for her to carve out a space where she mattered. In the dead of night, she’d fight in dark alleyways, facing off against criminals and swordsmen far larger and stronger than her, her heart pounding in her chest as the adrenaline surged through her veins. Every swing, every clash of metal against metal, was a reminder that she was alive.

Her secret life left its mark, though. Scars crisscrossed her skin, some deep, some faint, but none ever truly faded. Her face, once smooth and unblemished, now bore the evidence of her battles, silent witnesses to the life she led outside the confines of her family’s estate. But no matter how many new scars appeared, her parents never noticed. They remained oblivious, their attention always focused on Toph.

The only person who saw Hini— truly saw her —was Toph. Ironically, the sister born without sight could see Hini more clearly than anyone else. Toph could sense the tension in Hini’s voice, the strength in her movements, the unspoken frustrations she carried. It was Toph who acknowledged the scars, who asked the questions their parents never did.

And that’s why, whenever Hini was tasked with watching over her little sister, it wasn’t a chore. It was a gift. Hini cherished every moment spent with Toph, every stolen afternoon where they could be themselves, free from the weight of expectations and overbearing protection. They were more than sisters— they were best friends. In those moments, it didn’t matter what the world thought of them. They had each other.

Hini would have done anything for Toph. She’d fight for her, die for her. And when the time came for Toph to leave the suffocating estate and travel the world, teaching the Avatar earthbending, Hini didn’t hesitate. She’d follow her anywhere, through the farthest reaches of the Earth Kingdom and beyond. Wherever Toph went, Hini would be there, sword in hand, ready to protect the sister who had always been the center of her world.

And perhaps, along the way, she might just find herself drawn to a certain Water Tribe warrior, someone who could see her in ways she never imagined possible.

𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐅𝐎𝐍𝐆
swordsman. warrior. tea enjoyer.

ALWAYS AN ANGEL, NEVER A GOD

𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

i the great war- taylor swift
ii two birds- regina spektor
iii call it what you want- taylor swift
iv anything- adrianne lenker
v as the world caves in- matt maltese
vi first love/late spring- mitski
vii i bet on losing dogs- mitski
viii last words of a shooting star- mitski
ix the prophecy- taylor swift
x dear reader- taylor swift

𝐀/𝐍!!!
soooo i decided to completely start rewriting this book because i'm in my atla phase again!!!!! (we'll see how long it lasts)