A/N: This was the original prompt for babybending on be the peaf. It was fun to write!
Disclaimer: I don't own.
"I need to see Lin!" Lin looked up at the sound of her name. She had no idea why her friend sounded so frantic but she tended to sound that way when she wanted something. "Lin!" Honora shouted as she walked briskly to her friend's desk. "Lin I need a favor," she said as she adjusted her grip on Iroh, who was currently squirming in her arms.
"How did you get in here?" Lin asked.
"Oh, well, when you're a princess you can get into almost anywhere. No Iroh, Mommy needs those glasses to see." She batted away Iroh's hand.
Lin leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Really Honora? The first time you use your royal status to do anything and its to see me?" Honora scowled. "You look just like your father when you do that."
"Will you help me or not?"
"What am I doing?"
Honora smiled. "Watching Iroh while I meet with the Council about the new import regulations into the Fire Nation."
"What about Auntie Katara? She'd be happy to watch him."
"I...look you're here and I need this now, just please watch him."
"Doesn't he have a nanny?"
"She's sick."
"So? Get a new one, I have a job to do."
Honora laughed. "Get a new one? A new one that is also approved and personally selected by my dad? You remember him, right? The one who had all his honor guard assembled when we came back five minutes after curfew? The one who is so protective that the nannies I have for my son have to be approved by him because he made it a stupid law for members of the royal family to have all their nannies approved by the reigning Fire Lord? Oh yes, I'll leave his first grandchild with someone he doesn't know and then wait for the lecture that will last the rest of his life," she took a breathe, "he trusts you so JUST WATCH IROH FOR A FEW HOURS."
"Mommy I want to play with Auntie Lin," Iroh said.
"Well if Auntie Lin says yes," Honora said in a sickenly sweet voice to her son. "What do you say, Auntie Lin?" Honora smiled as she looked back at Lin.
"You can't use your kid against me. Besides where's your husband doing?"
"Coming with me as he was the author of the regulations."
"Daddy wrote things," Iroh said.
Lin looked between Honora and Iroh. The boy put his thumb in his mouth as he stared her down. "Fine but Tenzin is going to help me."
"Why?"
"My shift ends in a few hours and I can't have Iroh just stay so Tenzin can watch him while I finish," Lin said as she hunched over her desk again.
"Chief!" Honora called.
Chief Ling stuck his head out of his office. "Yes, Princess?"
Honora smirked. "I need Deputy Chief Beifong for a special assignment. She needs to spend the rest of the day watching Prince Iroh."
"Done," he called.
"That's not fair!" Lin yelled.
"Tough, have fun with Iroh and I owe you!" She put Iroh down and kissed his forehead. "Be good for Auntie Lin and Uncle Tenzin. I'll pick you up on Air Temple Island later." She turned and run out of the office.
Iroh looked at Lin. "I wanna color," he said.
"We'll do that later, right now I need to call Uncle Tenzin and make him get his airbending…" she looked down at the four year old, "stupid head over here." She tapped her fingers on her desk as she waited to be connected to the Air Temple.
"Hello?" Katara answered.
"Auntie please put Tenzin on the phone," Lin said. She faintly heard Katara call out for Tenzin.
Moments later he said "yes Lin?"
"What are you doing right now?"
"I'm about to go work on a move that Dad has been showing me, why?"
"Wrong answer. You're going to fly Oogi to the station to come get me and Iroh and help me entertain the kid."
There was a moment of static before "why?"
"Because Honora trusted us with her sp-" Iroh looked up at Lin and she quickly changed her word "-son. Now get a move on!"
"Fine. Love you."
"Love you too," she muttered.
Twenty minutes later Lin smiled at Tenzin as he walked in. Iroh looked up from where he was drawing on the floor. "I made a picture!" He told Tenzin in greeting. The picture looked maybe like a dragon but it was mostly just squiggles. And a sun that smiled.
"Ready to go?" Tenzin asked.
Lin nodded and stood. "The sooner we leave the sooner I can try to leave him with your mom and get back to work."
"Mom got called away after you called."
"What?"
Tenzin nodded. "There was a fire in the Dragon Flats Borough and the hospital needs all the healers it can get."
"Can we foist him off on Uncle Twinkletoes?"
"Dad took Mom to the hospital and stop trying to get someone else to watch him. Honora asked you and you volunteered me to help. For once, Lin, you can be away from your desk."
Lin scowled because this was an argument they had been having with much more frequency. It's not that she wanted to be here, but she knew she had to and have to prove she deserved to be there in her own right and not because her name is Beifong. "Fine, let's get out of here. Come on Iroh, we're going to the roof and then we're going to take a ride on Oogi."
"Like in Grandpa's stories when he rode Appa?" He asked. Lin and Tenzin nodded. "Neat!"
The entire ride to the Air Temple consisted of Iroh asking questions like "is this how fast Oogi can go?" and "how high up are we?" plus the occasional "can I touch that cloud?" while Lin used her metal cables to pull him back when he got too close to the edge. By the time they landed Lin could feel a headache coming on.
"I want tea," Iroh said the second his feet hit the ground.
Tenzin smiled. "That sounds amazing, let's go get some."
"I want to make you tea," Iroh corrected.
"I don't think your mother would like it if you-" Lin began.
"Mommy says I can make tea if there's an adult with me, like when I have tea with Grandpa."
"Fine," Lin said as she followed Tenzin and Iroh to the kitchen.
"What kind of tea do you want? We have lychee, jasmine, a white tea with moon peach flavor, black with some spices" Iroh interrupted saying "that one!"
"Excellent choice! Lin can you get a teapot and some cups?" Lin refrained from rolling her eyes at Tenzin's sweet tone. She picked out her favorite tea set (the one she got Aang for his birthday one year with badgermoles on it). She filled the pot with water and set it to boil.
"Smells good," Iroh said as he sniffed the tea.
"The first Iroh taught Lin and I how to drink tea."
"You knew Great-Grandpa too?"
"We worked in his tea shop for a few weeks once," Lin said.
"Wow. Could he really shoot fire from his mouth? Could he warm a teapot with his hands?" Iroh said rapidly.
"Yes to the second and I don't know about the first," Lin said. "Tenzin did you ever see him bend like that?" Tenzin shook his head. "He wasn't doing a lot of firebending when we knew him. But maybe your grandfather knows."
Iroh smiled. "I can ask him during our next tea time. Wait, no, he said he was going to tell me about how he got Druk then. Auntie Lin I think the water is ready!" The water was boiling and Lin quickly took the pot off the stove.
"Alright, time for tea," She said. Tenzin nodded and picked up the cups while Iroh carried the tea.
"Can we go outside?" Iroh asked.
"We can go to the meditation pavillion," Tenzin suggested. Lin lead the way, carefully holding the tea pot with a towel. Lin set the teapot down in the middle of the pavillion and Iroh sat right next to it.
"There's an order to this and I'll show you what it is," Iroh said very seriously. He held out his hand and said "cup please." Tenzin sat down, Lin next to him, and handed Iroh a cup. Iroh opened the jar of tea and took out a rather large pinch with his fingers. He placed it in the cup in front of him then repeated the task for the other two. Holding the pot with the towel Iroh pour water over the leaves. "Now we wait three minutes before drinking."
"That was very good Iroh," Tenzin said. Lin nodded as well. She was kind of intrigued by how Tenzin was acting with Iroh. He seemed to like the kid and wasn't getting bored. That made Lin antsy. They'd talked about children, in the past, but she's always dropped the subject soon afterward. It's not that she thought she didn't want them, it's just that she wasn't entirely sure she did want them. She had to admit so far Iroh wasn't so bad.
"You can drink now," Iroh said. Lin picked up her cup and saluted him. The tea was spicy and Lin decided she liked it.
"It might be a little too strong for you," she warned Iroh.
He boldly took a huge gulp. And promptly coughed flames. Lin threw her tea on the now smoking towel as Iroh looked at it with wide eyes. "I can firebend," he said awed.
"Oh good, glad your mother didn't accidently forget to tell us."
"We're going to tell her when she comes to pick you up," Tenzin added.
"I wanna practice bending," Iroh said.
Lin looked at Tenzin. She silently implored him to say something. When he didn't she finally said "Iroh neither of us knows firebending."
"Well I still wanna practice. I'm going to go do that." With that he stood and took off, racing towards the other side of the island.
"Can he do that?" Tenzin asked.
"Obviously now stop staring! Let's go after him!" Lin turned and saw a burst of flame ahead of them. "Just wonderful, he's trying to burn down the Island."
"Why do I think a few of his ancestors currently approve of his actions?" Tenzin said.
"You better not say that when Honora's around," Lin warned.
"Fine." They took off after the kid. Lin bent earth on all the fires Iroh created in his wake. What was a few structures buried in rubble compared to everything burning? Tenzin bent his air scoter to coral Iroh before he reached the main building. Iroh laughed as Tenzin scooped him up. "Got you! Now, no more bending until your mother comes back."
"But-" Iroh began.
"No buts. Now promise."
Iroh pouted. Lin thought he looked like his mother then. "Fine, I promise."
"Tenzin do you have anything to color with?" Lin asked.
"Yeah I want to color!" Iroh added.
Three hours later when Honora finally showed up to pick up her son Iroh had made a picture of himself firebending for his mother, father, grandfather, and the dragon. All the coloring evidently tired him out as he was napping. Lin and Tenzin had paint all over their hands and a few streaks on their clothes.
"He can firebend," Lin said in greeting.
"Really? That's great!"
"He almost burned down the Temple," Tenzin said.
Honora bit her lip. "It...happens and I'm sorry." She bent to pick up Iroh. "I'll take him back the Embassy now and thank you again for watching him."
Lin and Tenzin watched them leave. "So, are we going to talk about kids?" Tenzin asked.
"You have paint on your face and I have to get back to work."
Later Lin would admit Iroh wasn't that bad but she really didn't want to talk about the prospect of kids.
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