A.N. - Welcome to my collection of Avatar: the Last Airbender drabbles. None of these should be over 500 words. Nothing is off limits, so request whatever you want to see. After this opening set of five, I'll pop a drabble up every time I write one, rather than posting in batches. Lastly, I don't own A:tLA, nor do I profit from this work in any way.

Character: Toph

Prompt: Lullaby

Words: 150

Rating: K

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The Earth sings me better lullabies than my mother ever could.

The squiggle of worms in loose-packed dirt is like music to my senses. The badger-moles making the very mountains tremble is a concert only I can hear. The soil is my stage, and I feel like a conductor of it all sometimes.

My mother tries, in her own way, but she's unaware of the benchmark for comparison. Her melodies cannot live up to what's come before. She sings to me each night, refined little songs delivered with a genteel voice. She never puts her full force behind any of them – so un-Earthbender of her.

I sense the smiles she gives me as she bids me good night are genuine, but subdued. So like her, and so unlike me. And as I pretend to drift off to sleep, my love for her reminds me of her lullabies – sweet, yet lacking.