Two things. First, I realized that in the previous chapter, Toph's actions were a lot like Lin's choice in Turning the Tides, when Chief Bei Fong sacrifices herself to save Tenzin. Second, to me, the story is always that Toph was forced into marriage and had Lin. It isn't always true that the man ran away with her money; in this case, it's just that he passed away or wasn't there. I just never put Sokka as Lin's biological father, because then, Linzin wouldn't be possible and my heart would be broken. Anyway, enough of me rambling. On to day three!

Day Three: Bedtime

"Goodnight!" Katara called over her shoulder, walking away with Aang.

"Thanks for having us over, Toph." Zuko and Mai turned away from Toph's door, heading in the other direction.

"Should I help clean up?" Sokka asked. Toph had invited the gang over to her house for a small reunion. Even though Team Avatar passed each other as they went about their lived, they hadn't had a chance to sit down together and catch up. Toph had come straight home from work, not even bothering to change out of her uniform, and called everyone.

Toph shook her head in response. "I'll straighten the house up in the morning. It's pretty late, and it's past Lin's bedtime."

Sokka ignored her and closed the open door. "I can at least get started."

The chief of police sighed. "If you insist on doing something, help me with Lin instead. She always asks for a bedtime story, and for the life of me, I can't come up with one. I'm exhausted."

Sokka realized that Toph hadn't gotten a chance for a break all day. Police work must be strenuous, and then she had the dinner party to host. He followed Toph into the only bedroom in the small house. There, six year old Lin stood, dressed in her pajamas. Toph scooped her daughter up and into the bed. Gently, she brought the sheet up to Lin's chin.

"Sokka's going to tell you a story tonight. I'm a bit tired." Toph sat down next to her daughter with her arms around her knees.

Lin nodded, then shifted her glance to where Sokka stood awkwardly. The Councilman crossed the room and took a seat on the bed on the other side of Lin. He looked around for inspiration. Encouragement came from the soft flickering of a lone torch mounted on the wall.

"Has your mother told you about the time we set Katara's pants on fire?"

Lin, with amazement in her eyes, shook her head. Sokka looked over at Toph, who wore a grin that lit up her entire face.

"Well," began Sokka, "I have to start with a man called the Mechanist. He was an inventor, always looking for a way to make things better. A while ago, I left home to see if he had any fresh projects. The Mechanist said he discovered a new gas. He told me that he was walking in a tunnel when he tried to light his torch. The Mechanist's hand slipped, and he feared he would be burned. But somehow, he was perfectly fine! He passed his hand over the flame again, but still, he wasn't burned. The inventor walked a long way, making sure his torch stayed lit. He tried it again, but the flames gave off no heat. He put out the fire and lit the torch again. This time, when he put his fingers in the fire, they burned."

Lin stopped Sokka there. "Was he alright?"

"Of course," Sokka replied. "The Mechanist has had a whole bunch of bumps and bruises over the years. A little heat was nothing to him."

Lin sighed with relief, and Sokka continued with his tale. "Now, when I went to talk with him, naturally, he told me of his discovery. He had run some tests and determined that a gas was in that tunnel that could burn without emitting heat. This was great news; we could light passageways without the threat of them burning down, and young children's rooms could be illuminated without them hurting themselves. There was only one bad part. Firebenders couldn't bend this type of fire."

At this point, Sokka took down the torch on the wall. "Watch," he stated. Lin's eyes were glued to him as he passed his hand through the fire. Sokka turned to the little girl. "You try."

Tentatively, she placed a finger in the flames. When it didn't hurt, she let out a cry of joy and placed both hands in the inferno. While this was happening, Sokka studied her carefully. Lin's eyes reflected the blaze in a way that made it seem as if they were on fire. Her grin stretched across her face, and Sokka could tell she was having a great time. She looked just like her mother did when a plan went right. Smoothly, Sokka placed the torch back on the wall. He had Lin's safety to worry about.

"Lin, you have to understand. Not all fire is like that. You should only touch flames if your mother, or someone she trusts, tells you it's okay."

"So she trusts you?" the young girl inquired.

Sokka looked over at Toph. She was quietly listening to the scene playing out before her. "Yes, she does," Sokka replied. "Anyway, back to the story. A few months later, the Mechanist thought he had discovered another place that held the gas. Sadly, he was bedridden because of a mishap with one of his other inventions. So, he asked me to go check out the place for him. I took your mother along with me, so I wouldn't be bored the whole way. She tends to make things…interesting." Sokka shot a glance at Toph. That was a huge understatement. "We got to the cave, and sure enough, it was the right gas. I thought we were just going to go home, and everything was going to be fine. But no. Your mother had a plan."

Here Sokka stopped again. "You know who Katara is, right, Lin?"

The girl nodded.

Sokka smiled. "She's my sister, and she's kind of strict. So, we constructed a prank to pull on her. I lit a fire with the gas while we were at the cave. This was the first step in your mother's scheme. On the way back, we looked after the little flame to make sure it wasn't going to go out. Then, as soon as we got home, I distracted Katara and your mother snuck up behind her with the torch. Katara screamed when she noticed her pants were ablaze!" Sokka made his voice sound high pitched and scrunched his face, in a horrible attempt at an impression of his sister. "'Aang! Help! I'm on fire!' For a minute, she forgot she was a waterbender. By the time Aang got outside, Katara realized she wasn't being burned and turned to us, really angry. We were laughing so hard, we couldn't stand!"

Toph interjected, "I remember rolling on the ground, snorting. Katara was trying to scold us while her pants were still on fire. It didn't quite work out."

Lin giggled at that, but though she was paying attention, her eyelids were drooping. The girl was obviously very tired.

Sokka wanted to finish his story. "When we finally stopped laughing, Katara yelled at us a bit, and Aang was pretty freaked out. But it was all worth it."

He looked down, but Lin had already fallen asleep. She had a slight smile on her face, as if she was dreaming about the yarn Sokka had just spun. He brushed her hair back from her brow, then tenderly placed a kiss on her forehead. He turned to leave, then froze.

"I'm acting like she's my own daughter," he muttered.

"For the record," mumbled Toph in a sleepy voice, "She wishes you were."

Sokka turned to look over his shoulder. Toph was sprawled out on the other half of the bed, nearly asleep. "It's kind of late," he murmured.

Toph yawned. "It's way past my bedtime."

After he slowly crossed the room, Sokka pulled the sheets up to the sleeping woman's chin. He leaned down, sweeping her bangs out of her eyes, and lovingly kissed her temple, just as he had done with Lin. Then, Sokka walked out of the room. It was way past his bedtime, too.