Chapter Text
The years had treated them well. Lin had been promoted to Captain and Toph retired. Lin and Kya had four children. Suyin had finally settled down and started a family of her own with Bataar, a beta man she had met. Kiyi had decided that she didn’t want children, the family she had around her was enough. Azula had sired a set of twins with Ty Lee, Sun and Rao. And Lin had finally earned the much-deserved respect of the police department.
Spending the day in the park was a wonderful idea on Kya’s part. She sat on a blanket watching as her pups chased one another around. She heard the distinct sound of crying and turned to see that Zian, her youngest, fell and scraped his knee. She was about to go to him when she saw June, one of her twins, water bend some water from the fountain to heal her brother’s knee.
“She takes after you,” a familiar voice said from behind her.
“She does, doesn’t she.” Kya smiled as a pregnant Suyin sat next to her.
“With June around, you’re not going to have a problem between any of them when the new one comes.” Su chuckled. “Except from maybe Jade; she’s as stubborn as her Sire.”
“You are not wrong there.” Kya laughed. She wasn’t surprised that Suyin knew of her pregnancy. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if all of the omegas in her family knew, despite having only told Lin and their parents. She knew she smelled heavily of Lin. Not only because she had been aggressively scent-marked before they left home; but due to the fact that she is carrying yet another of her pups. Lin was always handsy and protective when she was pregnant.
“We all thought you two were done having pups.” Suyin said.
“Honestly, so did we. This one was a surprise, but we are happy all the same.”
There were cheers and the two omegas turned to see that the Royal Family had arrived. Izumi looked down at the young boy who was tugging on her hand. She nodded before he let go and joined the other children. Their younger son was being carried by Zuko.
Kya stood to greet them, “Glad you could make it!”
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Izumi said as she moved in to hug Kya, but a small hand held her firmly in place. “What?”
Omeko tilted her head in the direction of Lin, who was no so subtly watching her. Understanding flashed on Izumi’s face as she glanced to Kya’s barely protruding belly, “Again?”
Kya laughed and nodded. Izumi bent into a bow, “To number five. I wish you health, Kya.”
“Thank you,” Kya said with a bow of her own. “And you’re one to talk. I’m assuming the pup Zuko is carrying isn’t his?”
“You would assume correctly, that’s little Iroh.” Omeko said with an adoring smile.
“Cairo and Iroh, names are awfully similar.” Mai said in a monotone voice, but they could tell she was joking. Zuko just laughed and handed the toddler to Izumi.
“Come on, there are snacks and games.” Kya said leading them over to the table where the food was.
After getting food, all of the adults were sitting together having their own conversations while simultaneously watching the children play. Iroh, Junior and Huan played with wooden blocks on a blanket next to their mothers.
June, Jade and Zian were playing with Sun and Rao, and Cairo, Azula and Izumi’s pups respectively. Lin had brought a ball and they had split them up in teams. Shang, as the oldest, served as the referee.
The various conversations were interrupted by little voices arguing.
“I’ll take care of it.” Lin stood from her spot and walked over to the children, trying to keep her amused smile at bay.
Shang held the deflated ball in his hands while trying not to look guilty as Cairo and Zian were both covered in mud. “What happened?” when all of the children began talking at once, she held up her hand to stop them. “Jade, tell me what happened.”
Jade was the least likely to try to cover her own ass, she got that from Lin. “Cairo and Zian were fighting over who’s team got the first kick. Nobody scored the last round so we don’t know who gets the ball. Shang tried to break them up with dirt and June tried to clean them off. That's why their dirty.”
“Why is the ball... no longer a ball?” she said looking at the 9-year-old.
Jade looked at her feet, “I told them if they were gonna fight then nobody would get the first kick. So I broke it.”
“Do you realize that because you broke the ball, you can never play with it again? And that now we have to get a new ball?”
“You can’t fix it?” Jade said sadly.
“No, I can’t. You are going to have to earn a new ball.” Lin said softly, firmness in her voice. “There are consequences to your actions Jade. Now go sit with Mommy in time out and tell her what I told you.” Lin watched as her eldest daughter walked away with her head hung.
She turned to Shang, “Hey buddy, remember how I told you no earth bending unless a grownup is watching you?” Shang nodded; the guilty look returned to his face.
“You know how small your brother and Cairo are. You could’ve really hurt them. I appreciate you trying to break up the fight, but you should’ve gotten a grownup to help.”
“I’m sorry Sire.” he said, tears forming in his eyes. Lin wiped them away with her thumb. “I won’t do it again.”
“I know. Tell me what you did.” Lin looked down at the 10-year-old.
“I broke the rules by bending without a grownup.”
“That’s right. And do you know what happens now?”
“I go to time out with Jade. I have to tell Mommy what I did too.”
“Alright then, go ahead.” After watching Shang go sit next to Kya, Lin turned to the remaining children.
“Sun, Rao did you have anything to do with it?” the twins shook their heads no. Lin nodded and sent them back to their parents. “Alright go on then.”
She looked down at the messy children, who were playing in the mud they were covered in before turning her attention to June. “You know what I'm going to say don’t you?”
“I broke a rule so I go to time out too.”
“And what was the rule you broke?”
“No bending without a grownup.” June said before looking up at her sire with a defiant face. “But I bended water when Zian scraped his knee and I didn’t get in trouble.”
“Bent. You bent water.” Lin gently corrected her grammar. “And I will talk with Mommy about that later. You bent water without a grownup. That’s breaking a rule June, and no matter if you did it earlier, you still have to face the consequences. You still have to go to time out, but no pool time for you tomorrow.”
“But that’s not fair! Shang didn’t get pool time taken.” June said angrily.
“Hey look at me.” Lin said waiting for June to meet her eyes. “How many times have you broken the rules before this?”
“Two.” the 9-year-old sighed.
“That’s right. You’ve broken it two times before, and repeat offenders get bigger consequences. So no pool time tomorrow. Say it back to me.” Lin commanded.
“No pool time tomorrow.”
“There you go. Now go to Mommy.” She watched as her younger daughter sulked over to her mate before she plopped down with an exaggerated sigh. Lin just shook her head before she turned to the two mud covered children.
She pulled three rocks from the ground and told the boys to take a seat before she sat opposite them. “You two are covered in mud.”
“I know it’s so cool!” Cairo said with a large smile. Lin just raised an eyebrow at the young boy.
She addressed them both, “Boys, look at me. What did you do wrong?”
“We fighted.” Zian said.
“Fought. You fought.” once again, Lin was correcting her children’s grammar.
“We fought.” Zian nodded.
“And why did you fight?”
“I dunno.” Cairo shrugged, still playing with the mud on his clothes.
“You don’t know? Aren’t you supposed to be friends?”
“We’re the bestest friends in the world.” Zian said excitedly.
Lin leaned forward in her seat, “Best friends don’t fight each other. I want you two to apologize to each other. Apologize means to say sorry for what you’ve done wrong. Stand up.” She waited for the boys to get off of their seats. “Now turn and face each other and say ‘I’m sorry for fighting you’ and then I want you to shake hands.”
She smiled as the boys did as she said. “Okay good, Cairo I want you to go to Auntie Katara to get cleaned up.”
“But the mud is fun!” Cairo protested.
“I know the mud is fun, but soon it’s going to dry and you’re going to be itchy all over. So go get cleaned up and tell your Sire what happened.” When Cairo refused to go, Lin abandoned all softness and went straight for her command voice. “Go now Cairo.” the 6-year-old grumbled as he walked off. Lin could hear a faint you’re not my sire, you can’t tell me what to do , but decided to let Izumi deal with that.
Turning her attention back to her son she knelt in front of him. “What’s gotten into you today, kid?”
“I just wanna kick first.”
“I know, but do you want to know a secret?” Lin said in a softer tone. Zian nodded enthusiastically.
“It's okay to not be first all the time. There’s nothing wrong with coming second or third or even last. As long as everyone has fun.”
“Do I have to go to time out too?”
“Yes, you do. Do you understand what you did wrong?”
“I fighted. No, I fought.” Zian nodded after his grammar change.
“That’s correct. And fighting is against the rules. You’re still a little kid, you shouldn’t be fighting anyway.”
“I know. I'm sorry Sire.”
“Thank you for apologizing.” Lin ran her hands through his muddy hair. “Now, let’s go to Mommy to get clean, then we can tell her why you’re in time out.” Zian nodded in agreement before taking Lin’s hand as they made their way over to Kya.
While Lin was dealing with the pups, Suyin and Omeko were watching with interest. Jade came toward them and sat next to Kya. She explained what had happened and the two women watched Kya as she nodded along in understanding.
“Okay sit here with me for ten minutes and then you can go play again.” Kya said to her daughter. Shortly after, Shang came over and Kya did the same thing, giving him ten minutes as well. While Lin was talking to June, Kya turned to the two younger women. “You two are thinking too loud.”
“What exactly is going on?” Omeko asked, Suyin nodding in similar confusion.
“The children each broke a rule, so they suffer the consequences. Lin gives the punishment and I decide how long based on their ages and offence levels.” After telling June her time out time, she continued explaining to the ladies; starting from oldest to youngest. “Shang has never broken the no bending rule until now, so he only gets ten minutes in time out. Jade broke something that wasn’t hers, so now she has time out; plus, she has to work to replace whatever it was that she broke. June has broken the no bending rule twice before this one; she gets time out and pool time taken away. And Zian is currently being made to apologize for fighting and he also gets time out. They are asked to recite the rule that they broke and then told the consequences. They are being taught to own up to their mistakes and understanding consequences. Lin is going to send Cairo to Izumi because he is not her pup to discipline. From what I've heard, Sun and Rao had nothing to do with it. So, they are sent to their parents.” By the time Lin had come towards them with Zian, the other children’s time was up. “You all can go play now.”
“That’s actually really smart. Toph didn’t discipline us much at all, part of the reason Lin and I didn’t speak to each other for a bit.” Suyin said.
“That’s crap. Lin was pissy because you had the confidence to go out and do things and she didn’t.” Toph said as she sipped on cactus juice, courtesy of Sokka.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t have the confidence. But because I didn’t have the time; I always had to clean up after Su . Something her Sire, that’s you by the way , should have been doing. She got away with literally everything she did; like driving a getaway car for a robbery. Not to mention my face, which diminished my confidence even more, amongst other things. But you got angry with me because I did pot one time with Izumi and Kya.”
“What?” Aang asked confused, shooting disapproving eyes toward his daughter.
“Bumi was there too, he brought it!” Kya said defending herself.
“Gee thanks sis.” Bumi narrowed his eyes.
“Is that why you never did it with us again?” Izumi asked Lin.
“Yes. I didn’t like disappointing my Sire. So I didn’t do a lot of things I should have done while I was a teenager. Instead of trying to impress someone who didn’t even care.”
“I cared Lin. I am sick of your passive aggressiveness. You want to know how much I care?”
“That’s enough,” Sokka’s interjection was ignored by Toph.
“Here it is: I cared so much, that when you said you wanted to go to the academy, I made sure you got in. Is that what you want to hear? That everything you’ve worked for was handed to you. Well now the truth is out.”
Lin couldn’t find any words for a retaliation. She simply looked at her sire, betrayal coating her features. Despite making nice with him, Lihan’s words echoed in her ear. You’re only here because the Chief is your sire. You don’t have what it takes to be a cop.
“Toph.” Katara said, breaking the silence.
“No, I’ve been too soft with her. She needed to hear it. The physical exam was a breeze but you didn’t pass the written exams; you weren’t even close. You should have been rejected but I could see how much you wanted it, how every night you were up studying for that test until you passed out at your desk. I didn’t throw out the police report for Su , I threw it out for you. If anyone had learned that you couldn’t even manage to detain your own sister, how hard would that have made things for you?”
“That shouldn’t have been your call!” Lin had finally found her words.
“But I made it anyway!” Toph yelled back.
“I’ve only wanted to do one thing my entire life: be just like my Sire and become a cop.” Lin let out a dry, humorless laugh before she looked at Toph, “I thought you were a lot of things, but I never thought you were a liar.” Lin walked away after that, not wanting to cause more of a scene.
Toph kept silent, having said everything there was to say.
Kya chose that moment to officially break the news, “I’m pregnant.” She turned her attention to Toph, “You should apologize to her. You just tore down everything she’s worked for: your approval.” Kya stood and followed her mate.