Katara

"We're going to be on our way now, sweetie," Aang said to his wife as he stood by his trusted, flying bison, Appa.

"Okay, Aang, I'm more than capable of handling myself," Katara replied to her husband.

"I know you are, but I just hope you'll be okay with all of these kids on your hands," Aang said with a frown.

"Please, Aang, I'm not Sokka," Katara said with a chuckle.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Sokka shouted down from Appa's saddle.

"Oh no, just you let them light the house on fire, flood it, and bleed," Katara said to her brother with a smirk.

"I said I was sorry…" Sokka grumbled.

"Don't worry, Sokka, you're always a last resort for everything," Toph commented as she gave him a punch on the arm.

"Gee, thanks, Toph," Sokka grumbled back.

"It's okay, Sokka, we know you tried your best," Suki said as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek.

"See, Suki appreciates me!" Sokka said as he put his arm around her.

"Well, I can be at a much better peace of mind knowing Katara is in charge as opposed to Sokka," Zuko said.

"Thanks, Zuko, you're a real pal boosting up my confidence," Sokka stated.

"Well, my daughter did have blood on her head, Sokka!" Zuko argued.

"Okay, okay, guys, that's enough. Honestly, I swear you all haven't aged a day in the last 30 years," Aang stated rolling her eyes.

"Oh yes, and you're just so mature, sweetie," Katara said with a grin, "You all better get going if you want to set up the thing that isn't my secret, surprise, anniversary present," Katara teased.

"We have meetings to tend to," Aang fibbed as he climbed up to Appa's reigns.

"Okay," Katara went along, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"Yip-yip!" Aang said as Appa ascended into the sky with the whole gang on board as they all waved goodbye.

"I'll see you guys later, not at my anniversary party!" Katara called out, waving with a knowing grin. "Now that they're out of the way, time to check up on the kids," Katara mused to herself as she walked back into the house, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Mom!" Kya exclaimed in surprise, as her eyes bugged wide open, ceasing dead in her tracks, and falling backwards off her feet.

"What is it, dear?" Katara asked.

"…Lin did it!" Kya shouted as she got up and ran away and Katara sighed then stormed to the garden where the kids had been playing around.

"Kids!" Katara snapped and they all froze and looked up to Katara.

"Aunt Katara! You look radiant today!" Lin said with a shaky giggle.

"That's nice, Lin, but it doesn't get you off the hook. Look at my flowers; they're ruined! I leave you all alone for all but five minutes and this is what you do!" Katara reprimanded. They all were holding their breath, they knew Katara was no softie like Aang, no push-over like Zuko, no all-fun-and-games like Sokka, and certainly no, let's-go-break-some-rules-and-have-fun like Toph. Katara was serious business, when Katara was in charge; you got in line and did what you were told with no sassing.

"Well why are you blaming me, Aunt Katara?" Lin said innocently.

"Mm-hm, I may not be able to detect lies like your mother, but I can tell when I'm blatantly being lied to. Lin, you're the only earthbender, no one else can manipulate rocks into that position," Katara explained and Lin just beamed a guilty-as-charged smile.

"We were just trying to decorate them, honest, Mom!" Bumi yelled in defense.

"Oh, were you now?" Katara said, "Come on, in the house, all of you, no more outside!"

"But, Aunt Katara!" Ursa moaned.

"No buts! House! Now!" Katara ordered as they all slumped their shoulders and obediently marched inside.

"What do we do now?" Tenzin whined.

"Sit on the couch, think about what you've done and await further instruction," Katara replied strictly and they all sighed and complied as Katara went back to the kitchen.

"You're mom is such a bore, Kya," Lin said, as she put her elbow on the arm of the chair and used her hand as a headrest, pouting.

"It's not my fault…" Kya grumbled.

"At least you don't have to live with her rules! I'm afraid to breathe without permission!" Bumi exclaimed.

"You think this is bad! Have you guys met my father?" Ursa stated.

"At least your dad doesn't really punish you hardly," Bumi said, "He lets you get away with everything and your mom barely notices!"

"I don't know how you guys deal with this many rules all the time!" Lin groaned, "I'd go insane!"

"Your mom is a police officer and we're still more restricted than you!" Kya said irritably and Lin beamed one of her signature smiles. Meanwhile, Katara was in the kitchen, contemplating to herself.

"I wonder if I was a bit too hard on them…" Katara thought to herself as she then walked back into the living room where the kids were all sitting and complaining, even Tenzin.

"She's coming!" Ursa whispered to them all as they all sat up and silenced themselves. Katara laughed a little at their paranoia of her wrath.

"I was just wondering if you guys would like to help me cook up a little treat? We can even make some for your parents when they come back. How does that sound?" Katara suggested and they all eyed each other cautiously, looking to Lin, who was their subconsciously elected leader, for approval.

"Does this mean we're not in trouble anymore?" Lin asked.

"I think you've served your time," Katara said with a warm smile and the others smiled back at her.

"What kind of dessert would we be making?" Ursa asked excitedly.

"Hm, that depends, what do you guys want to make? We can make cookies, a cake, cupcakes, a pie, brownies, biscuits, whatever you like!" Katara replied.

"Cookies!" Bumi exclaimed.

"Chocolate chip!" Kya insisted.

"Chocolate chip cookies? How's that sound to everyone?" Katara verified and they all nodded along vehemently. "Perfect! Now, all need all of your help with this!" Katara said as she led them into the kitchen.

"My dad loves chocolate chip cookies. They're his favorite, he wouldn't tell anyone, but I see him eat ten whenever they're served at the palace," Ursa said and Katara couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Zuko stuffing his face with cookies while checking for anyone's watch.

"Good, then we'll make plenty for him," Katara replied, still finishing off her laughter.

"Can we make some special ones with sprinkles on them for Dad?" Tenzin asked.

"Sure we can, Tenzin. We'll put on your dad's favorite jimmies," Katara said.

"My mom loves raisins, can we put raisins in a few?" Lin asked.

"I know your mom loves raisins, Lin. We'll definitely put a few in for her," Katara agreed with a smile.

"Don't forget, Aunt Suki's forcing Uncle Sokka to be on a diet, so we have to use dark chocolate for him!" Kya reminded and Katara laughed.

"This is becoming the most intricate cookie making session ever, alright, I'll make some dark chocolate chipped ones for Uncle Sokka," Katara said. "So we've got, extra for Zuko, jimmies for Aang, raisins for Toph, and dark chocolate for Sokka?" Katara affirmed and the kids nodded excitedly. "Alright, so here's what I need you to do, Bumi, can you grab me some flour?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Bumi said as he saluted his mother and staggered over with the heavy bag of flour, plopping it down on the counter.

"Thanks, honey," Katara said with a smile.

"Okay, now, Ursa, can you go get me some white sugar in the cupboard there?" Katara asked.

"Sure thing!" Ursa replied as she pulled a chair over to be able to reach the cupboard that dangled well over her reach. She stretched out and grabbed the little, container full of white sugar and placed it beside the flour on the counter.

"Thanks, sweetheart," Katara said with a smile of approval. "Now, Lin, can you fetch me the brown sugar in the same spot?"

"Aye-aye, captain!" Lin said with the same salute, but she flung out a cable like her mother's that went with her police uniform and threw the little bag of brown sugar on the counter alongside the other ingredients.

"Lin!" Katara exclaimed, "You could've ripped the bag! And worse yet, does your mom know you have that?" Katara asked, almost wincing at thr thought of the penalties for disobeying Toph.

"What she doesn't know won't kill her," Lin said, waving Katara off.

"But It might kill you," Katara thought to herself, "Okay, Tenzin, can you go get me four eggs, please?" Katara said as Tenzin went down to the basement where Katara froze her own ice to keep things like dairy products refrigerated. He came upstairs carefully handling the eggs in his hand.

"Thank you, dear," Katara said as she took the eggs and gently placed them down on a kitchen rag she'd spread out on the counter near the other materials.

"Now, Kya, I'm going to give you more than one job, think you can take on the challenge?" Katara asked.

"You bet I can!" Kya accepted.

"Okay, great, I need you to get a stick of butter, the shaker of salt, and some chocolate," Katara explained and Kya grinned and ran off to the cellar to acquire her list of ingredients. Katara then threw a bowl on the table and a pan on top of the stove. Kya then arrived back upstairs with the correct resources. "Thank you, Kya. Now, Ursa, can you heat up the oven, it'll go much faster if we can have you heat it up for us?"

"Sure!" Ursa agreed as she flung a flame into the oven's station and it began heating up.

"Thank you," Katara said with a smile as she ruffled her hair. Katara then went to pull the oven's lever to set the correct temperature, but found that the lever was jammed. She toyed with it for a minute before succumbing to it being stuck.

"Aunt Katara, I might be able to fix it," Lin suggested and Katara smiled, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"That's right, I'd almost forgotten your mother showed you how to metalbend!" Katara exclaimed as Lin nudged everyone aside and bent the metal lever into the appropriate temperature set place. She then clapped her hands together in arrogant success.

"Piece of cake!" Lin said, placing her hands on her hips boastfully, "Or should I say, piece of cookie!"

"Thank you, Lin," Katara said as she ruffled at her hair next, to which Lin pouted. "Now, Kya, could you bend some water into this bowl, and control it to warm?"

"Of course I can, Mom!" Kya said as she drew some water from a nearby pond and carefully adjusted its temperature before sliding it slowly into the bowl that would be used to mix up their delectable cookie concoction.

"Good job, honey," Katara said, giving her daughter a squeeze. Then, with the help of the kids at her guidance, Katara threw together the ingredients and began to bake the cookies, with all of the special requests on different pans as not to be mixed. For the first time in their lives all the kids were friendlily sitting at the kitchen table, behaving, and all getting along. Even Lin and Tenzin. Katara couldn't help but smile at her success with keeping the children in line. Sokka would be jealous of her parenting skills, even if he wasn't a parent himself. They were all patiently awaiting their cookies, and talking. Suddenly, the oven made a ding sound and Katara put on her oven mitt and reached into the over to take them out.

"Aw, man! Now we have to wait for them to cool!" Bumi moaned.

"No, we don't," Tenzin said with a smile as he whipped up a tiny whirlwind and bent it towards the hot trays of cookies, cooling them all off instantly with his airbending. The kids' faces lit up at Tenzin's little feat.

"Wow, way to go, bro!" Bumi said.

"The less waiting for anything the better, especially cookies," Ursa added with a grin and nod towards Tenzin.

"I gotta hand it to you, Twinkletoes Junior, that was pretty impressive stuff," Lin confessed with her eyes closed and arms crossed. Tenzin smiled at the rare compliment that left Lin's lips.

"Well, tastes like you all did a fantastic job," Katara said as she snacked on one of the cookies. They all looked over to the tray wide eyed and Katara stifled a smile. "You'll get yours, don't worry," Katara said, "Do you want some milk with your cookies?"

"Yes please!" They all chanted as Katara quickly went to the basement and retrieved the jug of milk she'd purchased from the market in Republic City yesterday while shopping off their home on Air Temple Island. Katara then pulled five glasses, one for each of them and prepared a plate of two cookies per child.

"There you go, kids," Katara said as she served them all and they all returned her a thank you with the dish. Then as all of the kids were munching on their freshly baked snack, Appa's roar was heard as a landing outside. Katara smiled and peered out the window to confirm her suspicions. "I'll be right back, guys, I'm going to get your parents and bring them in for the surprise treat okay? I'll show them how a real surprise is done, since they couldn't pull off mine," Katara said as she stepped outdoors to greet her brother, husband, sister-in-law, and friends.

"Hey, Katara, how'd everything go?" Zuko said, a lot more calmly than he did asking Sokka, as he hopped off Appa's back.

"Oh you know, fine as usual," Katara replied and Zuko smiled.

"That's good, but I'm not surprised," Zuko replied, as he eyed Sokka.

"How many times do I have to apologize for lying to your daughter and letting her head bleed, Zuko? I am sorry, you know I love the kid like one of my own!" Sokka raved as he assisted Suki off Appa.

"Until Zuko's convinced," Suki said with a giggle to which Zuko pouted.

"If we made you apologize this many times for chasing us around the world, you'd be sick of the sound of your own voice, Sparky," Toph teased.

"Ha-ha, Toph," Zuko grumbled and they all shared a chuckle.

"You sure everything went okay, sweetie?" Aang said as he planted a kiss on Katara's cheek.

"As always. I'm not my brother, I know how to keep kids controlled and behaved," Katara said.

"Hardy-har-har," Sokka mumbled.

"I'm glad," Aang said with a smile.

"Things went okay with not setting up my anniversary surprise I presume?" Katara said and Aang scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, perfect!" Aang laughed, "And, I told you-business!"

"Riight," Katara said rolling her eyes. "Well, here, why don't you all come inside," Katara said, inviting them in. "Volia, surprise!" Katara said as she shut her eyes, and extended her arms to what she thought would be a table of peaceful kids and trays full of delicious cookies waiting to be devoured.

"That is a surprise!" Toph exclaimed at the sense of the kids chucking cookies at one another and using the metal trays as shields.

"Controlled and behaved, huh?" Sokka said with a deadpanned expression.

"Take that, cookiebender!" Ursa shouted as she burnt a handful of cookies and chucked the burnt rock of them across the room.

"Ursa!" Zuko scolded, but he was ignored.

"But! Just a minute ago- I swear they were all talking and we baked cookies to surprise you all and-!" Katara began babbling out excuses.

"Wow, Sugar Queen couldn't even handle some cookies," Toph joked as she picked one up off the floor and took a bite, "Raisin, my favorite."

"Katara, this house will take days to clean!" Aang said with a repress of a sob in his voice.

"At least she isn't bleeding," Zuko said with a sigh as a cookie pegged his daughter in the eye, which would surely leave a black-and-blue bruise.

"Ouch!" Ursa exclaimed.

"Now she really looks just like you, eh, Zuko?" Sokka said with a grin, elbowing him, but Zuko just glared at him. "Well, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson here," Sokka said, putting an arm around his sister as Katara still grimaced at her failure, "Katara is just as bad at surprises as we are and keeping these guys under control."