okay, now that the probending comp is over, i can hopefully focus more of my time on this story, cause i want to bump it up to M in a couple of chapters because I think we all deserve some lovin. anyway, read, review and enjoy.

One month. That was how long Lin Beifong had been in a coma. Most people say you aren't conscious during this time, but if the Chief of police were awake, she would tell you to shut the fuck up because you know diddly squat. In that one month, Lin had listened to her girlfriend cry by her side, nearly every day, begging her to wake up. Spirits she wanted to, but she wasn't ready.

"The doctors came to see me today. They want me to take you off life support so they can slice you up and give you away bit by bit. I was so choked up, mum was the one to chase them away." Kya let out a soft chuckle as she took a seat next to her partner and rested her head on the mattress. "It's been awhile since I saw mum so angry. Though I have good news, she said the spirit water she used on you has worked a fair bit but you will still have some scarring." The waterbender raised her right hand and laid it on the unconscious woman's chest, relaxing when she felt the familiar heart beat. "I want this Lin. I want you back in our bed. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't work, not without you by my side." Kya let out a sigh and allowed her eyes to close. "I love you."

Kya was well on her way to a good sleep, when someone walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently, jolting her awake. "It's okay, it's me."

Kya smiled lightly at the sight of Su standing in front of her. "Hey Su."

"Hey. I'm sorry for waking you."

The older woman raised her head and stretched. "No no, it's fine. What can I do for you?"

"Kuvira's school called your office. They asked if it was possible for you to come in."

"Of cour-"

Kya was interrupted by her mother entering the room, with sponges and a bucket of water. "I hope I'm not intruding but it's time for her bath."

Su looked into Kya's eyes to see them filled with misery. "Don't worry Kya, I'll go to Kuvira's school to see what the problem is. I'll see you back at your place later tonight." She gave her a quick, tight hug before leaving.

"Kuvira, I hope you realise that what you've done will come with grave consequences." The five year old continued to look down at the ground, while her principle continued to lecture her on the cons of violence towards a fellow student, while her enemy and her enemy's parents watched on.

Her eyes clenched shut when she heard the door open, knowing her mother would have a few choice words to say about the incident, but was surprised when the soft voice of her aunt flowed into her ears. "Sorry I'm late."

"And you are?"

"Suyin Beifong. One of Kuvira's guardians and her aunt." Su held out her hand to shake the principal's, but regretted the idea when she felt the greasy skin touch her own. "And who are you?"

"Mister Laiyu. Please, have a seat."

Instead of taking the chair next to her niece, she picked her up and sat her on her lap so she could wrap her arms tightly around the little girl's torso, providing a great deal of comfort she had been lacking in recent events. "Now what is this about?"

"Well missus Beifong, your niece was earthbending on school grounds and used it against Kiki. According to Kiki, she was playing with her friends when Kuvira earthbent a rock at her."

"It's not true." Kuvira muttered under her breath, though it didn't escape Su's hearing.

"I think you should speak up sweetie."

Kuvira let out a sigh. "It's not true. I was eating lunch alone like I usually do, when a rock hit me in the side of the head. Then another and another… and another. I tried to be tough like grandma Toph said, but the rocks got bigger and hurt more. That's when I defended myself. I stood up and Kiki was laughing at me with her friends. I pulled the ground beneath her feet and she fell. She started crying and I got in trouble."

"That's outrageous!" Kiki's father stood up so quickly, the chair nearly fell over. "My Kiki doesn't hurt people for fun!"

Su rolled her eyes at Kiki's mother. "I could say the same thing about my niece. Though I can say she doesn't lie."

Kiki's mother placed her bony hands on her hips as she turned in her seat. "And what makes you so sure?"

The metalbender put her hand gently to Kuvira's hair, and parted the side slightly where a hue of purple and a small amount of dried up blood laid underneath. "I don't think Kuvira did this to herself."

Kiki's parents had their mouths wide open in shock, at the revelation of what their daughter had done to a fellow pupil. "I, I don't know what to say."

"Maybe Principle Laiyu has an idea."

The short chubby man closed his mouth and cleared his throat with a cough. "I think it's appropriate that Kiki is suspended for a couple of weeks so she can reflect on her actions and perhaps write an apology letter to Kuvira. "

"I think that is a wonderful idea. In the meantime, I'm going to take Kuvira home, I think she's had enough for one day."

"Of course."

The two Beifong women stood up and exited the office hand in hand. "Aunt Su."

"Yes Kuvira?"

"Thank you."

"It's fine sweetie. Now let's get you home so I can get you cleaned up and make sure your grandmother hasn't set the place on fire."

Kuvira let out a soft chuckle for the first time in weeks, more than happy to have this joyful sensation back in her life. "Thanks aunt Su."

"You're welcome sweetie."

The drive home was peacefully quiet between the two, until they arrived home. "Umm, aunt Su, can you not tell Baatar Junior about what happened. I don't want him to know."

"Of course, now let's get you taken care of." They entered the home, where Suyin hoisted Kuvira up onto the kitchen counter, before getting the medical kit to begin cleaning up the small amount of blood on the side of her head. "Tell me if I'm hurting you."

"No, it doesn't hurt."

"I thought I felt you two walk in." Toph entered the kitchen, with a baby Opal in her arms.

"Hey grandma Toph."

"Hey kiddo. What's wrong with you?"

"I fell over."

Suyin put Kuvira back on the ground and kissed her on the temple. "Uncle Baatar Senior, and the boys are playing a board game in the living room, why don't you go join them."

"Okay."

Toph waited for Kuvira to leave the room, before handing the baby in her arms over to Suyin. "So, she forgot I know when people are lying. What actually happened?"

"It was just a small bullying situation. It's under control."

"It's not a small bullying situation." Toph's eyes narrowed in her daughter's general direction. "Kuvira would have defended herself if it was, but with everything going on, she's lost. She's drifting through life at the moment without her parents around her. She only sees Kya when Katara forces her to come home and she rarely sees Lin, because the sight of her in that hospital bed, scares the shit out of her. There's no denying that."

"What do you want me to do? I would love for Kya to be home with her daughter, fuck, I'd love for Lin to be out of her coma but no one gets what they want in this world."

"No, we don't get what we want, but we can make things easier on ourselves and those around us. I want you to use your power as Kuvira's guardian to get her out of that school. It's a waste of time, at this rate we should try to make this easier on Kuvira, try to grant her some form of happiness."

Su shook her head in disbelief that she was even thinking about this. "Alright. Alright. Fine. Say I do take her out of school, what then?"

"She can go back next year and repeat the grade, or you can tutor her with Junior."

"I don't think Lin and Kya will be too happy."

Toph scoffed at the notion as she turned and walked away. "They'll be too busy with rehab to concern themselves with her."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm not tired mum. Lin needs me, let me go back to the hospital."

"Kya, you're leaning heavily on me and your eyes are closed. You are going to bed. You can't help anyone if you are sleep deprived." Katara adjusted the woman slung over her shoulders, before helping her up the stairs. "I'm too old to be doing this and you're a lot heavier than when you were twelve."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got fat and you got old."

Katara could glare daggers at her daughter if she didn't know the comments were made out of sleep deprivation. "It's okay." She opened the bedroom door and managed to throw her onto the bed, thankful that she didn't bounce off onto the floor. She removed Kya's boots and watched, slightly amused, as the young waterbender wiggled further up the bed. "I want you to get ten hours of sleep, no excuses." The faint sound of snoring was all the confirmation she received.

Kya was in a peaceful, deep sleep for the first time in a month, though it was to be interrupted by her daughter, who had just snuck into her bedroom, without so much as a sound.

Kuvira held her stuffed badgermole tightly as she padded up to the bed and hauled herself on top of it. She crawled over to her mother's side and poked her in the side gently. "Mum." There was no movement, so she tried again and received the same result. Giving up, the young girl got under the blankets and snuggled into her mother's side, with all intentions of getting some much needed rest, when the large body next to her rolled over and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. "Mum?"

"Mm, what are you doing in my bed badgermole?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Bad dream?"

"No. I miss dad."

Kya tightened her arms around Kuvira and brought her closer to her chest. "I miss her too but she just needs a bit more time. How was school?" When she didn't get an answer, she shook her daughter's body lightly. "Sweetie?"

"I don't go to school anymore."

"That's nice."

"What?"

It took a moment for what she had said to register with Kya, but when it did, she was no longer tired. "You're what?!" She wasted no time getting out of bed and storming to the guest bedroom that homed the one person capable of taking her daughter from school.

Both Baatar Senior and Su bolted upright in bed, to see a fuming Kya standing in their doorway. "Ky-"

"You took her out of school!?"

"Baatar, I would love a cup of tea."

"Of course dear." Baatar Senior got out of bed and squeezed through the door, careful not to touch the angry woman before him.

"Now Kya, I did take Kuvira out of school-"

"Without my permission."

Su continued on with her reasoning, ignoring the interruption. "Because Kuvira was getting bullied and not performing well in school with Lin in the hospital. With you two indisposed, it only seemed like the logical choice."

"But it wasn't your choice to make."

Su narrowed her eyes as she got off the mattress and came to stand in front of Kya, toe to toe. "You weren't the one that cleaned the blood from her head, you weren't the one listening to her cry in her bedroom at night, you weren't there for her!"

Kya raised a clenched fist, but quickly dropped it when she heard her bedroom door open.

"Kuvira, could you come here please." The five year old slowly walked to her aunt's side, cautious of what was going to happen next. Su placed her hands gently on her niece's head and turned it to the side so Kya could see for herself the bruising and the cut that marred the dark skin. "I made the right call."

Kya bent down and took Kuvira into her arms and stormed off to the master bathroom, feeling defeated. She sat her daughter on the bathroom bench, before bending water from the faucet and placing it against the small wound. "Mum, are you angry at auntie Su?"

"No sweetie, my pride is a little bruised, that's all."

"Am I in trouble?"

"Of course not. Though it would have been nice if I knew a lot sooner about this."

"I'm sorry."

Kya let the water fall into the basin before leaning down to kiss Kuvira on the forehead. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I should be the one apologising. I've been so caught up with Lin in the hospital, that I haven't given you any of my attention. I promise that when your father wakes up, we'll go on a trip and spend some time together, does that sound good?"

"Yeah." Kuvira let out a yawn when Kya picked her up and carried her to the large bed. "I love you mum."

"I love you too. I think we should get some sleep before gran gran gets angry."

"Mm, yeah."

All was peaceful in the Beifong home once again.