Disclaimer: I don't own atla or lok

Bumi let his head rest against Lin's back. The young earthbender just shook him off violently. "Get up, idiot."

"Lin, I shouldn't be up right now."

The older Bei Fong ignored the twenty year old's complaining and continued to peer around the corner. The police station was bustling with activity at the moment, the perfect cover from their familiar heart beats. Being extra careful, Lin had ordered both herself and Bumi to wear wooden shoes. Of course, the nonbender complained even more.

The groan from behind her caused the vein in her head to start becoming visible. "Will you shut up? You promised me you would come with me."

"But Liiiiiin. It's just so early."

Her hand came to slap him on the back of his head. "Bumi. It's eight o'clock at night."

"Exactly. I'm nocturnal. I don't get up until at least nine."

Lin breathed in and out. She counted to ten hoping that her intentions to bury him deep into the earth would compress. When she finally got to one, she turned to look again and got both excited and nervous at the sight of her mother. Bumi followed and the two were peering over the corner. Toph stood with her arms crossed, the look that she usually gave Lin and Su when they were fighting on her face. It was evening with only a matter of time until the mysterious Satoru would show up.

Lin still remembered her mother's clear warning a couple nights ago at the noodle house perfectly. At the time, it had shook her, but Lin, being the determined person that she was, decided to go through with her plan anyways. If it pissed her mother off more, the more satisfied the young earthbender felt (at least that's what she told herself).

When she finally looked back, she found the avatar's oldest son giving her a quizzical expression. "What?"

"Well," He avoided eye contact. "what are you exactly trying to accomplish here, Lin."

"I'm trying to see what my Dad looks like. Simple enough for you?"

"Okay, and then what happens next? Things can't exactly go back to normal."

As much as she hated to admit it, the idiot was right. Lin was studying to be a cop. There was no way she would let the mystery of her father, one that intrigued her for years, stay partially unsolved. Before coming here, Toph's oldest daughter had tried her best to convince her self that all she wanted was a glimpse. That was it. Standing against the police station building while counting down the minutes didn't make her so sure she could just let it go. Nonetheless, Lin Bei Fong stayed in denial. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Bumi decided that there was no use in arguing now. He opted to just readdress the topic later. The future recruit tried to lighten the mood. "Knowing your Mom, this guy must be big and bulky. No way would she go for someone so pathetically wimpy."

"Shut up, Bumi."

"No really!" He was getting too excited for her liking. "I'm trying to imagine it now. The guy is from the earth kingdom, obviously, wearing a green tunic, pants, and boots. His arms are huge, needing his sleeves to be torn. He is bald because all tough guys sport the bald look. He has a scar running down his chest probably when he pumbled a guy."

"Are you done?"

"Almost. Lastly, he doesn't wear shoes. Just because. I'm sure it's what won your Mom's heart."

Lin's eyes widened. "Since I love to burst your bubble: wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong."

Bumi scowled at the older Bei Fong. He hated it when she would put him down like this. "And how would you know?"

She didn't speak. Her finger just pointed out towards the scene.

After sixteen years apart, Satoru would never not admire his former wife. Toph Bei Fong amazed him the first time they met and at this very moment. She hadn't changed much. The master earthbender had the same tiny figure and Satoru knew that underneath the fabric and metal were toned muscle. He was sad to see her hair up in its usual bun being one of the privileged to see her long locks flowing all over the pillows. What brought back most of the nostalgia was the scowl the chief of police wore on her face. The engineer couldn't help but smile.

He approached her and the two stood five feet away for the first time in years.

"Hello, Toph. Thank you for awaiting my arrival."

"It was no trouble at all, Sat."

He raised an eyebrow seeing that he was anticipating a punch in the stomach. "Really?"

Her expression didn't change. "Literally. My office was only a couple strides away."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Nonetheless, if you had really been acting like the woman I married, you wouldn't have moved an inch."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Well the woman that you more or less divorced is much more considerate. Id rather not hide like a coward and pretend like I wasn't here at all. I mean, that would be just cruel."

And there it was. The hit had landed right into his ribs. "Ouch. You know we are still technically married."

"Hmph. Not in my book." The familiar smirk tugged on her lips.

"Shall we talk over tea?"

"Yup. In my office."

He frowned slightly. "I was hoping we could do so in a tea house."

Toph had already turned around, hands held behind her back in a dignified matter. "Technically I'm still on duty. And no one will question me if our conversation gets...a little out of hand."

Satoru swallowed and followed obediently.

Back behind their corner, Bumi was shaking Lin from her sense of shock. The young woman had her eyes glued on the tall man with glasses and wavy black hair that matched her own. He wore a collared gray shirt and gray pants along with long brown boots. His sleeves were rolled up showing the man's toned muscles. She wondered if he was a bender, and if he was, what kind of bender. His hands were bare, but Lin could spot the brown gloves stuffed in his pockets. She almost fell the floor before she can ponder on the man any longer. Her eyes darted towards the avatar's oldest son.

"What?!"

He had his arms crossed with a scowl she didn't know he was capable of. "Alright. You saw him. He is a very handsome man. Let's go."

Lin frowned in return. "Come on, Bumi. You know we can't leave now."

Then all of a sudden, she was off the ground.

"Hey! Put me down!"

"Watch it. Someone might call the police on us. We wouldn't want Mommy finding out you were spying now, would we?"

Her hand pinched his ear and Bumi fought the urge to drop the fifteen year old hanging over his left shoulder. "Damn, Lin!"

Her voice had pure venom. "Put. Me. Down."

Bumi had watched his Uncle Sokka deal with the original of the Bei Fong women for years and if there was anything that he had learn from the man, it was not to let up. He knew Lin was not ready to hear the conversation going on in her mother's office and if he had to lose an arm to keep her ears away, so be it. "We are going back the island, Lin. You've seen enough of that man for your lifetime."

"Are you kidding me?" Lin's natural instincts must have left her as she had not sent him flying by now. "I haven't seen him at all."

"Can you please trust me for once?"

"I don't have any reason to!"

"Well-"

Bumi's eyes widened as the earth beneath his feet suddenly disappeared. Their bodies fell into the hole, just big enough to fit them. Lin was too surprised to do anything at first, but when she finally shook her shock away, she bent a platform outward from the side of the hole. The avatar's eldest son hit the platform hard causing him to yell out. Before he could take a breath, Lin fell on top of him knocking more wind out. The earthbender's head lay face down next to his. His hands came up to shake her. With his left, he lifted her head and practically shrieked at the sight of blood running down the side of her face, indicating she had hit the platform head first. Lin's consciousness was already gone. Bumi felt the ground leave him again. This time he clutched Lin's body as they fell into darkness.

"So, what brings you to my city?"

"I told you why I was here."

"I don't believe you."

Satoru quirked an eyebrow and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "I thought it was Avatar Aang's and Fire Lord Zuko's city?"

The chief of police scoffed. One of her feet was put up on the table while the other was set carefully on the ground. Toph held a steaming cup of tea in her hands. Satoru knew her though and she would not hesitate to throw the hot liquid on him in a heart beat. Even after almost twenty years, Satoru was unsure of Toph's level of rage. He was one brave man to face Republic City's chief of police.

"This city would be crawling with criminal activity without me and my police force."

He tried flattery. "Well, I heard the force is very impressive. I'm sure you deserve the reputation you guys have built for yourself. You've always held up quite the reputation."

A hand came to her chest. "Why thank you. That makes everything so much better."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if I were a good for nothing sissy. Oh wait, that's you."

Round two had just begun.

He set his tea down on her desk and crossed his arms as he sat in the seat opposite her. "After so many years, you are still mad."

Toph followed and put her cup down as well. Inside, Satoru sighed with relief. "You bet your ass I'm still pissed."

"I'm sorry, Toph. How many times do I have to say it?"

"You don't have to say it at all." Her feet were both planted on the ground now. "Because there is just no way that I'm forgiving you, idiot. Especially when you send your apology through the mail, not visiting once to tell me in person. Of all the things. You had to apologize through letters?"

"What's wrong with that?" He fought back.

"I can't read, dipshit!" Satoru could have sworn he felt the earth rumble. "I had to get Sokka to read them to me."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and adjusted his glasses. "Please, can we not bring him into this?"

"Oh, not this again."

"We were married, Toph. But somehow and some way, you were always spending more time with him. Out drinking, talking, sleeping over-"

The chief of police's hands came down hard on the metal desk. "How many times do I have to tell you that nothing happened?!"

He stared at her. "Just like how you won't believe my apologies, I'm not convinced. You really want to ask why I lied about the explosion? Well, maybe I couldn't stand the neglect any longer."

"Neglect? Satoru, we were married for a reason. I don't make decisions like that just because I felt like it at the time. You and I both know that I am way smarter than that. I knew what I was doing. I knew what I was getting myself into. And I knew that I loved you."

"You know, in the year and a half that we were together, I have only heard you say that a total of three times." The engineer was standing now, ready to battle his wife. "Look, maybe I made things too dramatic by not showing up after the explosion at the refinery, but I had a purpose. Living my life with you was the best thing in the world. But living in Republic City where he was constantly there, where you were always busy, it was obvious you had no time and mentality for a husband. I didn't deserve that. I cut and ran when I had the opportunity."

"By pretending you were dead?" The response was a half a whisper and half a yell, Satoru wasn't all too sure. "You made me think you were gone. I thought I was walking all over your ashes when I finally investigated the explosion. How could you make me think that?"

"Toph-"

Her voice was booming once more. "How could you make me think that!?"

He stayed silent after the question. Now that Satoru thought about it, maybe he took his leave a little too far. "Toph, I'm sorry. But I was suffering."

"Do not talk to me about suffering. You left. You gave up."

Satoru was about to walk straight up to her, however, the man that burst into her office stopped his feet.

"Chief. We have a situation."

Toph's fury did not lighten at all. "What is it?!"

Satoru could see the officer flinch back at his chief's screaming. "Uh, there is a man at the front saying something crazy."

"Like?"

"He said he just saw two teenagers get swallowed by the ground."

There was a slap to his face.

"Ah!"

"Bumi."

The future recruit of the United Forces opened his eyes and found himself staring at darkness. He blinked several times while shifting his body. Under him, he could feel the familiar texture of wood. His arms stayed wrapped tightly around the body on top of him.

"Bumi, are you alright?"

That voice sounded too familiar, like one he had been living with for the past sixteen years.

"What happened to Lin, Bumi?"

Now, that voice sounded like a twelve year old girl that had been annoying Lin since she had been born.

Digging into his pants, the nonbender brought out a box of matches he kept on him for emergencies. Skillfully, he used one hand to strike a single match against the box and brought the lit match into the air.

Suyin and Tenzin stared back at him, their faces and bodies covered in red.

And there we go. What is going to happen to the kids? Toph and Satoru? Find out next time! I hope you enjoyed reading. Tell me what you thought with a review!