"Bolin! What are you doing? Help me!" Mako sat on the ground, frustrated as ever. Somehow, babysitting had turned into a game of Benders and Equalists, with him as the bad guy. Curtains and robes from around the house bound his arms and torso.
"Sorry, but we can't let you go! You're too dangerous!" His younger brother grinned at him. Bolin had joined the kids on the Benders team. Meelo and Rohan cheered behind him. The littlest one ran towards Mako and gave him a push. When the "mean equalist" didn't go down, Meelo joined in. The two successfully got the older man on his side. He grunted as his face hit the wall.
"Ow, guys! This isn't fun!" Mako sighed, trying to turn to the three boys. They were all in giggles and high-giving each other.
"Come on, let's find the rest!" Meelo shouted and ran towards the girl's bedroom. Mako, still on the floor, grunted. He tried to use his body to push himself up to sitting, but failed. The man grumbled to himself. His expletives were interrupted by a series of soft knocks. A few seconds later, the older two girls were running towards him.
"Please, get me out of this," Mako begged the young girls. They quickly obliged.
"Sorry we left," Jinora apologized, "You made yourself an easy target by staying. We knew we had to save ourselves to be able to save you later." Once they were done, he moved his arms around to regain feeling again.
"Don't you guys get tired of this, now that you're older?" Mako asked the two. It had been three years since Korra had taken Amon down. Jinora was a pre-teen now, and Ikki had just gotten to double digits.
"It keeps Meelo and Rohan happy," the younger of the two spoke, "So, we like to do what makes them happy. Besides, Korra said you'd like it!" Mako shook his head, but thought of Bolin when he was a kid. It brought back the memories of playing Turtleduck Tag with his brother, even if he did not want to.
"All right, well, let's strategize," Mako said, now with determination in his eyes.
Bolin and the two younger boys crept into the kitchen.
"Where did red man go?" Rohan asked, staring at his older brother. Meelo shrugged. They had searched every room on the island, and could not find Mako or their sisters. They had even looked in Naga's stable.
"Mako?!" his brother called out, "Where did you go?" They were answered with silence. It was quickly broken when they heard Ikki let out a loud cry. All three boys ran towards the sound. She was sitting on the floor of the main common room, tears going down her cheeks.
"What's wrong sister?" Rohan asked, pulling on her sleeve.
"Jinora said I wasn't good at this and told me not to play anymore! She said I'd give it away!" Ikki cried using the blanket on the floor as a tissue to wipe her tears. Bolin narrowed his eyes.
"Wait a second.." He did not even get to finish. The blanket came up and trapped the three boys together. Mako, Ikki, and Jinora made quick work of wrapping the three boys, and trapping them in the same robes and curtains that had been used earlier. All three of them began complaining at once.
"No fair!"
"You tricked us!"
"Come on!"
Mako, Jinora, and Ikki laughed as they looked at the sight. Meelo and Rohan were tied together back and back, and Bolin was on the ground next to them trying to squirm out.
"Equalists!" Mako yelled, and they all joined together in a celebratory group hug, "Never thought I would cheer that!" The three shared grins with each other. Meelo huffed.
"Okay, okay, let us go now! You won!" the boy shouted. The two girls and Mako went to work on the younger two's bindings.
"I think it's time for bed, for all of you," he told them as he picked up Rohan. Meelo found his way to the firebender's shoulders.
"Will you say story?" Rohan asked him.
"Of course!" Mako replied with a grin. He brought the two kids to their room, with Ikki and Jinora in tow.
About an hour later he finally got all of the kids to their beds. The story took a while with Ikki and Meelo asking questions. Rohan was the first to fall asleep, with Ikki and Meelo next. Jinora was the last one because she helped Mako with the others. She finally settled down, but he knew she was secretly reading a book. He walked back out to the common area, and grimaced.
"Bro, not cool," Bolin growled, still lying on the ground. The older brother quickly went to work on the ties.
"Sorry, I completely forgot," Mako grumbled, trying to figure out the complicated ties Jinora had done. Of course, this was the perfect moment for Korra and the parents to come back.
"What happened?" Pema asked with wide eyes.
"The equalists won," Bolin told them still glaring at his brother. All he could do in response was shrug his shoulders. It took him a few minutes to get him free, but he finally did it. Mako walked over to Korra quickly.
"How was it?" he asked her.
"Everything is fine!" she exclaimed, a huge grin on her face, "Katara said the babies are healthy." Mako's ears perked up.
"Babies?" he asked.
"Twins!" Korra explained. Mako shared a gentle hug with his wife.
"Can our kids play benders and equalists?" he asked her.
"Of course."