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of matches, crushes and fighting parents

Summary:

when lin suggests they form a pro-bending team, izumi has no other choice but to join. the peer pressure is real. this one single decision throws them into a spiral of sneaking around, coming up with unbelievably crazy excuses and explaining weird bruises. lin and kya won't stop making heart eyes at each other, while the only thing izumi does with her eyes is close them so she doesn't have to see any of that. oh and bumi joins too, just because he can.

Notes:

toph isn’t a cop and kya has brown eyes bc i said so

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

  Izumi gave Lin and Kya a stern look. Her lips forming a thin line as one of her eyebrows raised high. It was the same look Fire Lord Zuko had given the Avatar when he suggested to go penguin sledding during his fortieth birthday party. At the moment it was only eight in the morning and the three of them were sitting around the round wooden table with carvings of elements in the backyard on the Air Temple Island, eating breakfast after early meditation and airbending practise with Aang.

„You want to do what now?“ Izumi asked again to make sure she heard them properly.

„Start our own pro-bending team!“ Kya exclaimed loudly. Lin shushed her, it was her idea to form the team. Last week their little trio snuck out to the city. They hadn’t planned on going to see a pro-bending match, but Kya had insisted. Since she was supposed to waterbend them back to the Air Temple Island and they couldn’t get there without her help. Hence, they had ended up in the noisy arena.

   The whole time Izumi had commented on how she could easily defeat various players while Kya just kept on yelling aggresively, which Lin found really cute. When she wasn't distracted by Kya, she spent most of the match wondering whether their little group really could take on the pro-bending teams and win. She couldn’t help but imagine them in the ring, with matching uniforms, people clapping and yelling excitedly every time they won.

„Our parents will never approve of this.“ Izumi said as she took a sip of her jasmine tea.

„Who said anything about approval?“ You didn’t need it to sneak out and run around the city at one in the morning, Lin wanted to add. „Iz, you said you could take half of the players. Don’t tell me you’re all bark and no bite.“ She smirked at her.

„I don’t know Lin,“ Izumi rubbed the back of her neck, she felt uneasy. „people could recognize us.“

„Come on Izumi, live a little.“ Kya punched her playfully in the shoulder.

Izumi sighed, she was going to regret this.

   Few days later they were laying next to each other, looking up at the sky. Uncle Sokka has decided they should go camping. Apparently none of them knew the real experience of surviving in the wild. He took all the kids, left Katara a note on the kitchen table and rode off on Appa. Although Sokka insisted on doing everything the non bending way, Izumi still used her firebending to roast the meat Bumi caught. Tenzin complained about the lack of vegetarian options so they hastily picked up some berries (that were supposed to be edible). They were not impressed.

   Some time past midnight Kya, Lin and Izumi were still awake. The dying embers of the fire were still crackling despite the chill of the night air. Lin was propped up on her  right elbow, gesticulating wildly with her other hand while Kya lay on her side, she couldn’t help but make heart eyes at Lin. Meanwhile, Izumi, who lay between the two shot Kya a questioning look. At that, Kya averted her gaze from Lin.

„Izumi what do you think?“ Lin asked at last, finally quiet.

„I think we should go to sleep.“ She replied with deadpan expression on her face.

„This is important decision, you have to be part of it.“ Kya scolded at her. Of course she would side with Lin.

   They had had been attempting to pick a name ever since their little conversation at the Air Temple Island. Or at least Kya and Lin had had been, Izumi was trying to avoid it altogether. At first they were trying for symbolism, something deep, possibly emotional. Now they were just spitting  out the names of fauna from individual nations. Kya at some point suggested turtle ducks, which Izumi shut down immediately. If she has to suffer in front of people, it will not be under the name of her father’s favorite animal.

   Most names were already taken and those that were free didn’t really sound as cool.

„Why don’t we pick leopard caribous,“ Izumi mumbled.  There was no response. Kya and lin were probably just busy ogling each other. „they’re pretty and dangerous.“

***

   „So you girls want to sign up?“ one fo the pro-bending arena staff asked them. His name was Li. He was one of the organizers. According to the rumors Kya heard, he was the person to go to. Didn’t ask too many questions or act like a creep towards female players. If what Kya heard was true, the man actually had a husband, but no one seemed to be able to confirm that suspicion? Kya frantically nodded, she looked like she was going to start jumping from excitement. Lin grabbed her hand to stop her from bouncing.The amused smile on her face gave away just hoe endearing she thought it war. Izumi rolled her eyes, just kiss already, she thought.

„And what are your names again?“ Li asked.

„Uh,“ Kya paused, panicked. She gave both of her friends an alarmed look, but they just shrugged. „Kin.“

„Lizumi“

„I- “ Izumi stopped. „Iya. My name is Iya.“ The defeated look on her face was enough of a sign to show everyone how much she regretted what she just said. Meanwhile, Lin facepalmed. How were they going to win a match if collectively they had one braincell, which has conviniently decided to take a vacation. Li didn’t seem convinced but decided to ignore whatever questions might have come to his mind. He signed their form and congratulated them, eyeing them a bit warily. They could hear him murmuring about ‚strange girls‘ and ‚weird foreigners‘ as they parted ways.

   On their way out of the arena they saw Bumi. He was deep in a conversation with another boy and Lin was sure they could just sneak past him. Bumi said goodbye to the boy, waving at him with a smile and just as he turned around, Lin bumped right into his chest.

„Hey, what are you doing here?“ he arched his eyebrows, looking them over with a question in his eyes.

„We could ask you the same thing.“ Lin crossed her arms, she had to tilt her head, trying to look intimidating. Bumi was now taller than her and she found it incredibly irritating.

„I asked first.“

„We were here to see... Boys.“ One could  quite literally see how hard it was for Kya to come up with an excuse like that. How no one had caught them yet was a mystery.

„Aren’t you all gay?“ He shook his head, looking confused.

„Labels change, don’t be homophobic Bumi.“ Izumi snapped and Bumi tried very hard to keep a straight face. However, since there was nothing straight about him, that proved to be a rather difficult task. Bumi put his arm arond Izumi’s shoulders as they all walked to the shore.

We,“ She gestured between the three of them, „are a pro-bending team.“ Izumi told him. Bumi almost tripped over his own feet.

„Izumi!“ both Lin and Kya looked at her, horrified. They were still holding hands.

„What? He could help us.“ She shrugged. They need someone on the outside to cover for them in case things went south.

„Thank you for telling me Izumi. You see this Lin?" He said, shooting her a serious look. „This is what real friendship looks like. It’s about the asexual solidarity, the trust, the-“

„Yeah yeah we get it. Will you help us?“ Lin rolled her eyes. Any longer and Bumi would start singing right there on the street.

„Consider me your manager.“ It didn’t matter that pro-bending teams did not, in fact, have managers. Bumi was about to invent management and no one could stop him.

   They started trainig in no time. Having world’s most powerful benders as their teachers growing up gave them little bit of advantage that made up for the time they lost due to constant bickering about what color their uniforms should be ( black and white, to Bumi’s dismay, rainbow wasn’t an option) and who should be the captain (Lin, this shouldn’t have been a discussion). What was more of a surprise was finding out that while individually, they were exceptional fighters, as a team, they had troube synchronizing.

   It wasn’t unusual for them to straight up cancel out each other’s attacks or bump into each other during practise. Lin hit Kya with rock discs on accident so many times Bumi stopped counting. When Kya deflected one of the discs that almost hit her in the face, Lin was tempted to ask „Do you want me to kiss it better?“ What stopped her was Kya’s shrieking. "You know I can't just heal everything, right?" She refused to talk to anyone but Izumi for the rest of that day.

   Bumi came up with bunch of team building exercises to make girls more familiar with each other and their surroundings. He would tie their legs together, blindfold them or make them hang in the air upside down. Halfway through it seemed that the so called exercises served more to his entertainment than a solution to their problems. But once they tried fighting again, their performance improved. Kya stopped drowning Izumi’s fire blast and Lin no longer threw rock discs at Kya. The number of injuries decreased rapidly.

   „I can’t believe we’re actually going through with this.“ Izumi sighed as she put on her uniform, tying the red belt around her waist.

„We can’t back out now, we worked really hard!“ Bumi said, throwing his hands up in disbelief.

„You mean we worked really hard.“ Kya shot him a dirty look.

„How about you keep that fighting energy for the ring.“ Lin smiled at Kya, who gave her a sheepish smile in return. Both Bumi and Izumi felt sudden urge to gag. „Get a room.“ Bumi retored and gave Izumi a high five. In response, Lin earthbent to make Bumi trip. All while still smiling at Kya.

„It’s time.“ Li poked his head in. They simultaneously nodded. Bumi gave them thumbs up as they walked to the ramp and put their helmets on. They could already hear the commentator's voice echoing through the arena.

„For their first match ever, welcome, the Leopard Caribous!“

***

   This was their last match of the month. For the past three weeks they had been training during the day, sneaking out at night. Lin had been sleeping over (for reasons that weren’t related to her crush on Kya) at the Air Temple Island and Bumi had started making and selling merch. The Leopard Caribous were overnight sensation. They charmed the audience with their bending skills the moment they stepped into the ring. If they won this match, they would qualify for the championship.

   Kya winked at the boy that stood opposite her. He arched his eyebrows in confusion just as a rock disc from Lin hit him. Kya could barely register the yelling from his angry teammates. Izumi broke the rock disc flying at her with her fist. Kya thought she heard something crack but if Izumi was injured, she didn’t show it. Instead, she shot right back at the earthbender, sending him to the second zone.

   A firebender from Eel Hounds shot at Lin, just as she tried to send two discs flying his way but the flame was too strong and she was now in the second zone. Izumi chuckled when she heard Lin’s swearing. Unfortunately, she wasn’t chuckling for long as the waterbender from the other side sent her flying a zone back. They were too distracted. In a matter of weeks they got so used to winning they didn’t even try now. The time was running out and the cards were not stacked in their favor.

   Lin and Izumi stood on Kya’s left and right in the second zone. The Eel Hound’s earthbender threw two discs, one for Izumi, the other for Lin. He was probably planning on just knocking them out right now, isolating Kya and taking her out after that. Before the discs could even get anywhere near the second zone Kya made two water walls in front of her friends. She caught the discs, let them fall down and sent the waves at her opponents. The waterbender and firebender were too stunned to actually try and defend themselves. Kya ducked down as Lin sent the discs at the earthbender in the middle. They all went crumpling down to the water pit.

„And here we have it folks, the Leopard Caribous are going to the championship!“

***

   The kitchen backdoor to the Air Temple was too small. All four of them tried to squeeze in and got stuck. Bumi started giggling while Izumi wouldn’t stop shushing him between her own giggles. Kya tried to take a breath and instead burst out laughing.

„Wait let me just-“ Lin tried to get past them but ended up face to face with Kya, their faces just inches apart. If Lin dipped her head a bit lower, their noses would be touching.

„Hi.“ Kya said softly, Lin blushed in response. She was grateful for the lack of light, otherwise Izumi would be quick to point it out.

„What is this?“ A new voicesounded across the room. They froze, their eyes wide.

  The chief of the Southern Watertribe, Katara, was standing in the kitchen in her pajamas, a candle in her left hand. There were footsteps and shuffling behind her and suddenly Avatar Aang was there too. The kids piled in one by one, giggles gone, but the corners of their mouth were still twisting upward.

„Izumi, Lin, how about you go upstairs.“ The two nodded. Awkward silence filled the kitchen as the only thing anyone could hear was Lin and Izumi laughing, cursing and tripping on the stairs.

   „Where were you?“ Katara cut right to the chase. Bumi and Kya exchanged a look.

„Uh,“ Bumi looked at Kya one more time. „study group.“

„You don’t go to school.“ Katara said.

„It’s for firebending.“

„You want to give us a demonstration?“ It was Aang who spoke this time. Neither him nor Katara needed Toph’s lie detecting skills to know that Bumi wasn’t telling the truth.

„Kya?“ Aang turned to her.

„I,“ It was her turn to look at Bumi. „went to see a boy?“ The way she said it sounded more like a question than an honest answer. Katara pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

„Kya, you’re a lesbian. Lin literally sleeps in the same bed as you.“ Aang looked so done. He just wanted to go back to bed.

„Girls can sleep in the same bed and be friends.“ She crossed her arms over her chest.

„Girls who are friends don’t look at each other like you two do.“ Bumi pointed out.

„You think she looks at me the same way?“ Kya clasped her hands excitedly. Katara rolled her eyes.

„Please go to your room. You’re giving me a headache.“ Katara said. She would deal with them in the morning, if she had enough energy to do so.

   After that night Aang and Katara started keeping a closer eye on their kids. Their parental duties, however, were cut short when aunt Suki called them to the other side of the Earth Kingdom for some important business. Just when the Leopard Caribous and Bumi thought they could catch a break, Toph arrived at the Air Temple Island.

   It is imporatant to mention that Toph wasn’t the best replacement when it came to keeping an eye on the kids. Probably because she wasn‘t the most authoritative person out there.

   Toph’s idea of spending time with kids was either to let them do their own thing or fight them. This happened to be one of those situations where thanks to pure dumb luck Kya, Lin and Izumi could continue their pro-bending training without any suspicion. Now Bumi didn’t have to run arond as a replacement for three other benders, instead they had world’s best earthbender hurling big chunks of rocks at them. Even Tenzin came out to watch, using his airbending here and there to slow down Toph's attacks.

   When the championship started, Toph suggested they go and see a match. That seemed like a great idea at first. There would be no sneaking in and out, no worrying about getting caught. It wasn’t until ten minutes before their match against Hermit Crabs Lin realized they did have to sneak away from Toph, fight a whole match while she was present and then get back.

„Mom, me and the girls aren going get some snacks.“ Lin announced, motioning with her head for Kya and Izumi to follow her. Their confused looks almost made her groan. She grabbed their hands and dragged them to the locker room. Bumi and Tenzin stayed behind.

„Won’t Tenzin find out?“ Kya asked.

„Who cares,“ Izumi replied. „they won’t say anything. Tenzin is too scared of you to do that.“ She chuckled.

   The fight against Hermit Crabs went less than ideally. Lin was distracted the whole time. Her eyes trying to find her mother in the crows Lin wondered to what would her mom would think about her pro-bending. She might have made fun of Izumi for seeking the approval of her parents, but when you mom was a literal wrestler at just twelve years old, well, it raises the bar pretty high. They lost the game. When they got back to the stands, Toph was laughing her ass off. She thought it was hilarious how quickly Leopard Caribous lost to a team with a name as stupid as Hermit Crabs.

„I’m sure they did their best.“ Lin mumbled, angry.

„Lin, even I’m not blind enough to think that.“ Toph cackled. „I wonder who let those rookies into the championship.“

Lin bit her tongue before she could say anything she might regret later. She excused herself and left the arena. Bumi and Izumi exchanged a look, both obviously worried. Kya ran out after Lin. The last thing she heard was Toph asking if everything was okay.

   Lin was outside of the arena near the thin metal railing, her arms crossed over her chest. She was looking at the ocean, her expression full of sorrow. It was a peaceful night, the sky was clear and Lin could see the blurred reflection of the moon in the water.

„Hey,“ Kya said quietly, bumping Lin’s hip with her own, Kya leaned her back against the railing, putting herself in Lin’s line of sight. They were standing very close. „are you okay?" Kya asked. „You know Toph didn’t mean it“

„She did.“ Lin replied, looking away and refusing to meet Kya’s brown eyes. „She would have said the same thing if she knew. My mom isn’t like yours, Kya. She’s not as...“ She paused, looking for the right words. Considerate? Warm? Comforting? Toph wasn’t a bad mother, not in a way some people might think. She just had a different, perhaps more free approach. „present. I guess.“ Lin finally met Kya's worried gaze. „She loves me, we just have communication problems.“ Kya leaned away from the railing, coming up close to Lin. She grabbed Lin's chin with her thumb and index finger, gently making Lin meet her eyes.

   Their faces were mere inches apart. Would this be the part where they kiss? Lin’s eyes darted towards Kya’s lips. She slowly leaned in, giving Kya enough time to move away. Kya didn’t, instead she leaned towards Lin, pressing their lips together. Kya cupped Lin's cheek with her left hand and put her other on Lin’s forearm. Lin carefully placed her hands on Kya’s waist. It was a slow kiss, a sweet one. It wasn't like fireworks or butterflies, just calm and relief. As though they had finally done something they should have done weeks ago. Instead of dancing around each other, they could now dance together. Kya smiled into the kiss, moving away before giving Lin another quick peck.

„We should go back inside.“

„Did you kiss me so I would come with you?“ Lin asked with a grin.

„What? No!“ Kya shook her head. „And you kissed me too!“ She threw her right hand up in indignation.

„I did.“ Lin said, gazing warmly at Kya as she locked their lips again

***

   „Our daughters are the Leopard Caribous.“ Toph announced nonchalantly almost as if she was saying the weather was nice or that Zuko’s tea was more drinkable than usual. Speaking of Zuko and his tea, the moment he realized what Toph said, he started choking on the said tea. His choking may have been due to shock ath the news that his daughter was secretly a pro-bender or disgust at his own undrinkable creation. It was difficult to tell. Sokka patted him on the back, in an attemp to calm him down. The gang was sitting in the circle in the backyard on the Air Temple Island. There was a wooden tray with cups and the blue teapot with painetd waves Katara got from Tenzin on her last birthday. Their kids had disappeared to their pro-bending practise. Despite their misgivings, Tenzin decided to tag along. The temptation was too strong.

„The new pro-bending team?“ Aang asked and Toph nodded in response. They knew about Leopard Caribous, Suki liked to read the sport section of the morning newspaper and tell everyone about the newest sport drama.

„How do you know?“ Sokka pointed his index finger at her, not that she could see it. Toph explained how Kya, Lin and Izumi left right before the match with Hermit Crabs began and didn’t come back until after the match. She didn’t mention the part where she trashed their team and made Lin upset.

„That could have been a coincidence.“ Katara retorted. She took a sip and scrunched her face in disgust, hoping Zuko didn’t see it. He did.

„I could feel them in the rink.“ Toph wouldn’t lie about something involving their kids.

„Well, what should we do?“ Zuko raised an important question. How does one deal with something like this? It’s not everyday your kids become one of the best pro-bending teams and manage to sneak past you for weeks. They might have ended the war but parenting was a whole other level. Even after three kids, Aang and Katara looked at each other, unsure what to do.

„We do nothing? I was twelve when I fought bunch of buff guys in an illegal wrestling competition. I don’t see why three seventeen year old gay girls can’t do the same.“

   An argument slowly ensued. Katara wanted to do something about the situation while Toph insisted on just letting it go, calling it another phase, like Lin’s car phase or Izumi’s too much black eyeliner phase. They also called it her Zuko phase. Aang tried to remain impartial in the argument, playing into the Avatar role and Zuko could not for the love of Agni pick a side. Suki and Sokka smirked at each other, sometimes not having kids felt like a blessing.

„Excuse me,“ Sokka put his tea down and stood up. „I'll go get my scroll.“ He was already on his way to the house.

„Get 'em plan guy!“ Suki yelled after him with an excited smile. „That’s my boyfriend.“

***

   Izumi did not regret her decision, in fact, joining Kya and Lin’s team might have been one of the best things she has ever done. Of course she would never admit it, not to her two teammates at least. Maybe to Bumi in a moment of weakness. Their final match of the championship was on in less than twenty minutes. Izumi was nervous. Lin was nervous too as was Kya, who was usually the peppiest one out of three. Even Bumi who somehow became an official part of the team was anxiously pacing around the locker room. It just now occured to Izumi that he must have made a fortune from the Leopard Caribous merch he started selling shortly after their first match.

   The Tiger Seals were the oldest team in the championship. They were also merciless. Rumour said that they fought every match as thought it were to death and that their blows had injured several players to the point that they could no longer compete. Those were, obviously, just rumours. That’s what the girls told each other whenever one of them looked too worried. „Rumours are just exaggerations," Izumi had said one night during practise. „Yeah," Lin had replied bitterly. exaggerations based on truth." 

   They were standing back to back on the moving ramp, waving at the crowd. The Tiger Seals were already in the ring, looking smug in their blue-white uniforms. Lin cracked her knuckles. Kya smirked at the guy standing opposite her, she wasn’t about to let anyone know that she was the slightest bit scared. The match began and before Kya knew what was happening, rock discs flew in her direction, knocking her all the way to the third zone. Izumi followed right after her. Lin stood alone at the front, trying to fend off attacks by crumpling discs into pieces and hurling them at the other players. Her defense wasn’t strong enough.

   Another round started. Hopefully this time they would be more prepared. The Tiger Seals’ earthebender aimed for Kya again, but she was quicker. A gushing stream of water hurled him to the edge. By the time he was falling, Kya was already focused on her next victim. Izumi was on fire, literally. She didn’t even wait for the other man to respond, her attacks were so swift she expected referee to give her penalty. One last kick and the waterbender was long gone swimming with his friend. The firebender from the other team narrowed his eyes at them. Lin chuckled before making the man fly with the force of three different discs.

   Defeating the Tiger Seals was easier than they had expected. Sure, the first round didn’t work out as they thought it would but after watching their opponents carefully, the girls realized that Tiger Seals were actually quite predictable. They repeated their movements frequently, using interchanging system of attack. The last two rounds were hard, but quick. At some point Lin had thought she'd sprained her wrist and Izumi’s leg had hurt like a bitch after she got hit by a disc and a water stream at the same time, but they had emerged victorious.

„There you have it folks! The winners of this year’s championship are Leopard Caribous!“ No matter how amplified commentator’s microphone was, the roar of the crowd was louder. The three were looking at each other in disbelief, Izumi could have sworn she saw tears in Lin’s eyes. Did they really just win? Kya hugged them both tightly, they could finally exhale.

   „Uh huh folks, now lets calm down a little. If you thought the final match was something, I have news for you.“ Everyone quieted down, turning at each other in confusion.

„Tonight and only in this single fight, I introduce you to,“ The man paused for the dramatic effect. Someone in the crowd yelled at him to move it along. „ the Flying Bisons!“ The ramp moved towards the ring. It was obvious there were three figures standing on it, however, the light wasn’t anywhere near them so it was hard to make up their faces. Izumi looked behind her at Bumi, who just shrugged. He was as clueless as they were.

   The three figures stepped into the ring, their identities finally exposed. The moment Kya’s eyes met Katara’s gaze, her breath hitched in her throat. Her mother was standing right there in front of her in a white uniform with a smug smile on her face. Fire Lord Zuko and Toph standing on her left and right side, all three of them looking overly satisfied with the reaction they got from their daughters. Izumi got even paler, which, lets be honest, nobody thought was possible. Lin looked like someone had sucked all the air out of her.

„Are we really going to fight our parents?“ Izumi turned to her teammates. Unfortunately, whatever answer she might have gotten was interrupted by the sound of the starting bell. Toph wasted no time before attacking, throwing the discs with maybe a little bit too much joy. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, at least not seriously. Kya ducked down alowwing Izumi to kick a fire blast at her father over Kya’s head.

„Izumi!“ he yelled. „Are you trying to kill me?“

„If you’re a master, you'll survive!“ Toph yelled back at him right as she got hit by Kya’s water whip. Aren’t we on the same side? Zuko thought bitterly. Every pro-bending match they had fought was nothing compared to this. Could they really win a fight against their own parents? Both sides were already holding back, basically stalling the whole match, they didn’t want to hurt each other.

   Lin hurled two discs at Katara who froze them mid air with water, letting them fall on the ground near her. The referee stopped the game to move her to the second zone.

„No ice allowed.“ Katara looked as thought she might tell him to fuck off and Kya couldn’t help but laugh.

   They won the first round only because they somehow managed to send Zuko to the third zone and then ambushed Toph with all three elements. It was a miracle they survived. The second round was basically owned by the Flying Bisons. They weren’t holding back as much. Lin got knocked out first by Zuko’s blast that was stronger than he anticipated. He apologized as she was falling into water. Toph knocked the wind out of Kya so hard Katara got distracted but quickly regained her composure and took out Izumi. 

   At the end of the third round Lin stopped a disc flying at Kya, who was busy fending off another attack from Katara. When Kya turned her head around, the disc was inches from her face and she gasped. It seemed like the world stopped moving and everything went quiet. Lin and Kya locked eyes just as she dropped the disc. Lin saved the third round and her girlfriend’s pretty face too. It ended in tie.

„Pick an element.“ The referee announced. Both teams looked at each other, unsure.

„Earth.“ Lin said, squeezing Kya’s hand before taking one step closer to the center of the ring. Toph cracked her knuckles with joy. „Great choice.“ They stood opposite each other as the circular platform rose higher. The bell rang.

   Toph immediately struck at Lin, lifting all four discs on her side. Luckily, Lin knew her mom well and was expecting this move. Lin dodged two of the discs and destroyed the other two with her own. She threw three discs, two as a distraction, while the one came flying back like a boomerang. A little trick inspired by uncle Sokka. It tripped Toph and all it took to send her flying was one more disc. Lin felt like her victory was too easy, almost as if her mom wanted to lose.

***

   „I challenge you to an Agni Kai.“ Izumi exclaimed, waving her fingers at Zuko with a mischievous smile.

„Izumi that is not funny.“ Zuko said, even though the corners of his mouth were turning upward.

„Can I be the Fire Lord now?“

„No.“

„Can I be the chief of the Southern Watertribe?“ Kya looked at her mom with a big smile.

„Do you want to deal with old annoying politicians?“ Kya narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Katara laughed. „That’s what I thought.“

„Can I be the Avatar?“ Everyone stopped to turn and stare at Bumi.

„Dad could give me bending.“

„You didn’t even fight.“ Lin pointed out, both her and Toph had the same amused expression on their faces.

„I cheered loud enough.“ Bumi grumbled and Katara ruffled his hair.

„So,“ Lin turned to her mom. „you were pretty good tonight.“

„Pretty good? Compared to you, pretty good is all I can get.“ Toph smiled at her daugher, elbowing her playfully in the ribs.

„Maybe next time we could fight dad.“ Kya suggested cheerfuly.

„How about no.“

Notes:

can you tell i love women?
i don't actually know whether they play pro-bending all year long or only before championship, but this is my fic so.
thank you for reading, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated <3
come yell at me on tumblr, @rangisgf