"Hey! Wake up!"

"Nope," Toph said, eyes still closed, though she'd been awake the whole time that Lin had been fidgeting around next to her. "We're supposed to sleep in today, remember?"

"I hungry."

"Ugh. Ok, I'll get you some milk. Do you have to pee?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really sure?"

"Yeah."

"...You used your diaper, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Of course you did." It had been almost six months of that bullshit, with no end in sight. With a sigh, she got up to get a bottle. Half an hour later, they were both back in bed. "Remember what I said last night?" she said when Lin asked her why.

"What?"

"How we're gonna spend all morning in bed because it's a special day? You're two years old."

"I two years old."

"Uh-huh. It's your birthday."

"What that?"

"The day you were born."

"What that?"

"Never mind. Drink your milk."

Toph had just about dozed off again when Lin put the empty bottle on her stomach.

"Finish."

"Mmk. Sleepy time now."

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired. Haven't had a decent night's sleep in two years. Longer, actually."

It didn't feel like two years. More like ten. She looked forward to every new day that Lin became more independent and less of a hassle to take care of and entertain. And yet, there was this bittersweet…regret. Or something like it. There was no way to get that time back. All the things she had missed because of her job. A tiny baby who slept most of the day and never said no or threw her food across the kitchen.

Fucking Spirits, I'm turning into Sugar Queen. I don't want Lin to be a baby anymore. Fuck that shit. Just gotta survive this toddler stage and then things will get easier.

She became aware that Lin was lying there quietly, tracing a finger up and down Toph's arm like she was drawing on it. Not wanting to jinx it, Toph stayed very still, wondering how long the peaceful moment would last.

Not five minutes later, someone buzzed the front door.

"No. No no no no. Fuck, no!"

Lin rolled toward her and started crying.

"I wasn't talking to you, Buttercup. C'mon, let's go see who's at the door. And tell them to fuck off, right?"

It was clear as soon as she got up that it was one of her officers. A rookie, probably; they were the ones who always got sent as messengers to interrupt her weekends. No one else would do it anymore.

She stuck her head out the kitchen window with a fierce scowl. "What?"

"Sorry, Chief… Luon's got kind of a situation down at Headquarters."

"Does he know what today is?" Toph demanded.

"Um…?"

"It's my kid's birthday!"

"I– I'm sorry, Chief. He said he needed you ASAP. I don't know what's going on but it's kinda crazy over there."

"Fine," she snapped, slamming the window shut. Lin was still sniffling a little. "Whaddya say, kid? Wanna come to work with me?"

"Yeah."

Almost an hour later, fully armored with Lin trotting along at her side, Toph arrived to find a swarm of people milling about the entrance to Headquarters. They immediately shifted their attention to her and began rattling off questions. Press. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Outta the way!" she growled, using earthbending to clear a path. "I'm not taking questions right now!"

Once she was inside, Luon found her and hurried over." Finally. Er, what's Lin doing here?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes, I know it's her birthday, and I'm sorry. Took you so long to get here, I figured you'd taken her to the Island." He bent down a little. "Hi, Lin. Happy birthday." But she just silently cowered behind Toph's leg.

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to– Ugh, never mind. Just tell me what's going on."

"Right. So, short version: The radios are fucked."

Toph let out a growl. "Did I not say–"

"Yes, yes, I know. I know. Technicians from Cabbage Corp are in the control room and at all the broadcast stations around the city. And the tower, of course. It's not just ours, but every business in the city that started using them."

"I'm going to fucking kill Ludo. Three times! Three times I told him this was a mistake! Satoru, the CEO of a major tech manufacturer, told him the technology wasn't ready. But would he listen–"

"Yes, I know, you were right. The problem is that a bunch of police transmissions were broadcast where they shouldn't have been and it's causing some panic in the city."

"Fuck."

"Good call on switching over to code names."

"A tiny glimmer of positivity." She sighed and pressed her palm to her forehead, trying to think. "Ok. We need to recall every undercover officer ASAP, and get transcripts from every broadcast point sent over here."

"Already on it. Yachi and Nato are already going through the ones we have on file here. I've also got every available officer hitting the streets in hot areas to try and keep things under control."

"Good. I need to get a telegram to Sokka. Hopefully, he can come get Lin."

"I'll let Lanfen know."

The next few hours were a frenzied nightmare of Toph sitting through meetings with her extremely bored toddler, who was constantly complaining about one thing or the other and just being generally obnoxious. Toph had tried having anyone who was available look after Lin in her office; that hadn't gone well at all. Finally, when she was about to reach the point of pulling her hair out, Sokka finally showed up.

"Where have you been?" she demanded, Lin screaming in her arms. "It's been hours!"

"Wh– I wasn't home! Why are you yelling at me like I'm some kind of deadbeat dad?"

Toph closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. "Sorry," she muttered half-heartedly. "I've just had an absolute shit day and Lin is miserable and driving me nuts."

"Well, don't take it out on me! I rushed over here as soon as I got your message. What's going on?"

"A problem with the radios, but I don't have time to explain. Can you please just take her?"

Rather unexpectedly, Lin resisted going to him. "No!" she bawled, clawing at Toph's neck.

"Lin, c'mon. It's Uncle Sokka. You guys can go have some fun together."

"No! Wanna stay!"

"I can stay here with her, if you want," Sokka offered.

"Fine. I don't care."

"Take a breath, T. It's gonna be fine."

"Here's her bag. There's milk and food for her in the staff room. I need to get back to my meeting. Um, thanks for coming."

Luon, Nato, and Yachi were all in there, along with the detectives assigned to various high-level cases. At the moment, they were reading through the hundreds of transmission transcripts.

"Oh, no," Yachi said some time later.

"What?" Toph replied, full of dread.

"This one's about a suspected Jade Reaver hideout. It was broadcast on the production floor of a factory."

"Motherfucker. Please tell me the code name was used."

"Yes, but the location is pretty clear."

"Goddamnit. The press are going to be all over that. Worse – it's going to make Yakone nervous."

"Well, the good news is that he wasn't mentioned. We've done a good job of keeping quiet since discovering his name, I think, so there's no reason to believe he knows that we know his level of involvement with the non-bending gangs, or his suspected association with the bloodbender."

An hour or so later, unable to keep working on an empty stomach, Toph headed to the staff room for a quick snack break. It quickly became apparent that there were several people in there, including Sokka with Lin in his arms.

"Oh, hey, Chief!" Michi said in a quiet but cheerful voice. "Have some cake!"

"Cake?"

"We decided to throw together a little party for Lin. She's all tuckered out now. Sound asleep."

Toph sighed as she took the offered plate. "Thanks," she muttered, not entirely sure why she was suddenly feeling so deflated.

"She loved it," Sokka said softly.

"Glad to hear it."

"Are you? Your face says otherwise."

"I'm just tired."

"Did you get everything settled?"

"No. Just taking a break."

"Are you still planning on bringing her to the Island tonight for dinner and presents?"

"I don't know." She tried to work out in her head how much they could get done in the next three hours. "You might have to go without me."

"What? C'mon, T. You can't not be there."

"I don't know what to tell you. I can't leave until we sort this out."

"Then we'll do it tomorrow. Or the next day. It's not that big a deal. She's only two. She doesn't know the difference."

And what about next year, or the year after, or five years from now? Toph wondered silently. She'll sure as fuck know the difference then.

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

"Mommy, look! Pretty lights!" Lin exclaimed, jumping up and down while Toph held her hand firmly to keep her from running off.

"Uh-huh," Toph said absently, focusing on the structure itself. She hadn't been here since the early stages of construction. "I gotta say, Riju. I'm impressed."

"Bumi, stay with us!" Katara said sternly when he tried to explore.

"Ugh, Mom, c'mon. I'm not a little kid."

"I don't care. Don't wander off."

"Alright, everyone," Riju called. "Follow me. I've got us in one of the executive suites. Best seats in the house!" He led them past the milling crowd, through the front entrance, down a few hallways, and up several flights of stairs. Finally, they arrived in a large, furnished room that overlooked the fighting stage.

"Nice!" Sokka said, pacing around.

"There's even a private bathroom," Riju said. "Very convenient for our tiny-bladdered guests."

"Mom, look!" Kya rushed forward to the front, where there was a balcony overlooking the fighting stage. "It's like a little island!"

"I see, honey. This is really incredible, Riju."

"Thanks. Make yourselves comfortable. I'll see about having some drinks and snacks sent up."

"Look at you, living the high life," Toph teased. "Why'd you even become a cop when you've got all this going for you?"

"Same reason you did– because police work is meaningful."

"So is this."

"It's just business. Once it really started getting complicated, I was happy for Zihao to take over most of it. There's an elegant simplicity to being a cop."

"Hah. Not for me. Being Chief is a whole lot like running a business, except I make shit money and have to worry about my employees dying."

"Spirits, you two are depressing," Sokka complained. "Stop talking about work! Sit down and relax."

"Right. Food," Riju said. "I'll be back."

They had just gotten settled when the door opened abruptly. "...of our most comfortable– What the blazes are you all doing in here?!" a man asked.

Toph had to consider the voice for a moment. It was Zihao with a group of six in tow.

There was a moment of confused silence, then Aang stood up. "Apologies, Mr. Zihao. Riju brought us here."

"Avatar Aang," Zihao said in a stiff but respectful tone. "Unfortunately, this suite was already reserved."

"Now hold on," Toph said, getting up and stalking over to him. "I know for a fact Riju mentioned reserving this for us, weeks ago. I think I have a right to be here, considering I started competitive bending with my own money. Not to mention the Avatar is here."

"Your respective positions aren't in question. These people were promised–"

"So were we!"

"Toph," Aang said diplomatically. "Maybe we don't need–"

"Yes, we do!"

After that, the whole thing devolved into Toph, Zihao, and a few of his clearly very wealthy guests arguing while Aang tried in vain to calm everyone down. Lin, meanwhile, was having a meltdown, Sokka holding her but unable to quiet her.

"What in the world is going on?!" Riju asked, appearing from the hall.

"He's trying to kick us out!" Toph said.

"Huh? Zihao, I'm sure we talked about this."

"We did not!"

Toph tried hard to determine if either of them was lying, but the room was so full of chaotic agitation she couldn't make up her mind.

"Uh…why don't we go out in the hall and discuss this privately?" Riju suggested.

"Fine."

With the two of them gone, everyone else was left in awkward limbo, the only sound Lin crying. Toph stalked over to take her from Sokka.

"Maybe we can all share this space," Aang suggested. "There's plenty of room."

"Hmph," one of the women grunted. "There are entirely too many noisy children in here."

"She's only crying because of the arguing," Toph shot back.

"Mom, are we getting kicked out?" Kya asked.

"Shush. You just let the grownups handle it."

"But–"

"I said be quiet."

Aang walked over to Katara and pulled her aside. "Maybe we should just find other seats," he said softly, though Toph was able to make out his words.

"No," Katara replied in a fierce whisper. "Not with all the kids. If we're going to have to keep getting up every five minutes to take one of them to the bathroom or get them a snack, or worry about one of them wandering off, we might as well just go home."

"Spirits," Toph muttered to Sokka. "What a nightmare. I finally get to do something fun for once, and everyone's miserable."

A few minutes later, Riju and Zihao returned. "My friends, if you'll please be so kind as to come with me," Zihao said in an obsequious voice, "we have sorted out a comparable arrangement for you. Please, this way."

Toph let out a relieved sigh as the interlopers left and Riju chuckled.

"Heh. Sorry about all that."

"How'd you get him to cave?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it."

She just cocked a curious eyebrow at him but didn't press the issue. Soon they were all seated and enjoying the snacks brought up, Lin happily chowing down on some fire flakes.

"Hey, save some for me," Toph protested, grabbing a handful. "You know, you ate these at your first match, too, though you were probably too young for it."

"How old was she?" Katara asked.

"I dunno. Like three, four months or something. And before you get all up in arms about it, I only gave her a couple tiny pieces."

"Hey, I remember that," Riju said. "She really liked them."

"That reminds me," Toph said in a quieter voice. "I've been meaning to ask. Sora's been acting weird lately. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Can we not do this?" he muttered, suddenly sounding like a grumpy teenager.

"Oook…? Sorry I asked." Not entirely sure I want to know, anyway.

"Uh, Katara," Aang said. "I think Tenzin wet himself."

"Ew, gross!" Kya complained while Bumi cackled.

"Why are you telling me?" Katara snapped. "Do something about it!"

"Where's the bag? Did you bring a change of clothes?"

"Of course I brought a change of clothes."

"Fucking Spirits," Toph said while Aang got up to get Tenzin sorted out. "And that, right th–"

"Mommy, that bad word," Lin said loudly, rendering Toph speechless. Sokka and Riju both started cracking up.

"Hah!" Katara barked.

"What are you teaching my kid, Sugar Queen?"

"I did warn you. Glad it's finally sunk in."

"Hey, everyone be quiet, it's starting!" Bumi yelled before Toph could come up with a retort.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer intoned. "Welcome to the world's first-ever Pro-bending night! And boy, do we have a treat for you! Our eight teams will face off in a bracket-style mini-tournament, the winners of which will receive a cash prize and, of course, eternal bragging rights! Now put your hands together for the Westwind Rhinorillas and the Chow-Tam Armadillo Bears!"

It was very strange for Toph, who could sense the stage area out in the middle, but as an island of steel. It made it much harder to 'see' what was going on because the vibrations had a much further distance to travel. Besides that, the pool of water above the floor and the bay water below were causing some weird interference.

"Teams of four?" she asked, a little surprised. "I didn't know that was planned."

"During tryouts, we had a ton of water and firebenders show up," Riju replied, "so we decided to go with two earthbenders per team instead of three."

She tried to pay attention to what was going on but it was so fast. The only way she could keep up with it was through the announcer. Even then, it just seemed chaotic, which only served to increase her desire to participate.

"And the Rhinorillas push the Armadillo Bears back into zone two! Sharp move by Li-Shao, narrowly missing Rutan. Aaaand Sensung is in the pool! Not a great way to go down in history, folks."

The fire flakes exhausted, Lin slid off her lap to stand at the balcony with the other kids.

"Fuck, this is making me want to compete again," Toph complained quietly to Sokka. "Ugh, why did I have to go and have a kid?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"Nope."

"Do you actually want to be out there? I do realize the likelihood of you getting knocked off into the water is immeasurably slim, but it's not zero."

"I've already thought of that. I'd wear my cable harness."

"Would that even be allowed?"

"Good question," Riju said. "I don't know, maybe we could make a special allowance, given your unique circumstance."

"Gee, thanks. Glad to know our long history earns me a 'maybe'. So glad I took you off the streets as a kid and gave you a home and taught you how to bend."

"Hey, if it were just up to me, it would be a yes."

"Would you look at that fancy footwork! The Rhinorillas have really brought their A-game to this match!"

"I would seriously have to brush up on my technique," Toph muttered, trying to pay attention to the competitors' movements. "They're doing some stuff I don't recognize. Some of it doesn't seem very practical."

"Well, it's a sport," Sokka said. "I know it started off with traditional styles, but things change. They've got to make the best use of the limited space."

"Don't sell yourself short," Riju added. "A lot of the stuff they're doing these days is based on things they saw you do. That one-two punch? It's a faster, shortened form of one of your signature moves."

"Hm, I guess so. Granted, I can't see for shit thanks to that pool of water."

"It's definitely evolved in the last few years, but in a lot of ways, you paved the way for the style with all the new techniques you created just for Sport Bending."

"Yeah? So why isn't it called the Toph Beifong Pro-bending Arena?"

"Hah. Sorry, but even I couldn't swing getting my name in it."

"It's a knockout! What a combo! The Rhinorillas pull off a win in the final seconds of round two! Next up: the Daiwan Spider Snakes and the Iron Village Wolvercoons!"

"I wonder if Lin will ever do this," Toph said.

"Well, she has to start bending first."

"She will."

Sokka leaned closer to her. "Aang and Katara said the same thing about Bumi," he whispered.

"This is different."

"How?"

"It just is," she insisted stubbornly. "I just know. I can't explain it."

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

Katara was just getting up to start dinner when Aang hurried inside.

"Hey, I've got to run down to City Hall for a few hours," he said apologetically.

"Is everything ok?"

"Nothing dangerous. Some nonsense involving those blasted telephones."

"Alright. I'll save you some dinner."

"Thanks." He gave her a quick kiss and then breezed out. "Bye, girls. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Bye, Daddy," Kya called, playing with Lin on the floor of the living room.

"Bye, Daddy!" Lin parroted.

Katara was halfway to the kitchen by that point but she managed to overhear the next part of their conversation.

"Lin, how many times I gotta tell you? He's not your daddy."

"My daddy?"

"No, he's my daddy. And Bumi and Tenzin's. You have a different daddy, just like you have a different mommy. My daddy is your uncle, that's why you call him Uncle Aang. Just like Uncle Sokka."

"Unco Sock daddy?"

Kya paused before answering. "No, he's just Uncle Sokka for both of us."

It made Katara's heart ache, listening to Lin struggle to understand this difficult concept. One day she would realize she was lacking something most other kids had.

Later that evening, after Lin had been picked up, Kya came to her alone. "Mom?"

"What is it? Here, help me fold these clothes."

"Who's Lin's dad?"

Katara hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Well. That's Aunt Toph's business, not ours."

"You don't know who she was married to when Lin was born?"

"She wasn't married to anyone." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her daughter frown pensively, processing the information. While Kya knew the basics of pregnancy and childbirth, Katara had glossed over the mechanics of how it actually happened.

"But Lin does have a dad, right?"

"Of course. Everyone does."

"Who? Is it someone we know?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Kya asked dubiously. "'Cause I used to think Uncle Sokka was her dad, but Aunt Toph always corrects her and says, 'No, that's Uncle Sokka'. But he still acts like he's her dad so maybe Aunt Toph is lying."

"You shouldn't say things like that," Katara said sternly. "All that does is start rumors that could upset their jobs. Don't you remember when Uncle Sokka came back from traveling? Lin was already born then, and he'd been gone for a long time. Years."

"Oh, yeah. I guess so."

"Best not to pry into their lives. You know how grumpy Aunt Toph can get. It's not something she would want you talking to Lin about."

"What if she asks me again?"

"Just tell her you don't know and let it go."

"Councilman Sokka," Toph said, unable to keep a sardonic note out of her voice. "How kind of you to come and personally oversee this obnoxious process."

"I've overseen the telephone installations at every authorized location. Just doing my job."

Of course, Lin tugging on his pant leg, begging him to come play with her, kind of ruined what felt like a heavily scripted show for the benefit of the workmen going about their business. It was actually the first time Sokka had been in her house since accepting the Council position two years ago.

"And how much longer is this going to take, exactly?" she asked.

"The goal– Just a minute, Lin. The goal was to get it done before you got home, but obviously that didn't happen. Hopefully, they should be done within the hour."

"I sure as fuck hope so. She's supposed to be going to bed soon. She's gonna get cranky."

"They're working as fast as they can."

"Unco Sock!" Lin finally yelled after being ignored.

Toph winced. Could've been worse, I guess.

"Alright, alright. What do you want to play?"

By the time the work crew left, Lin was long past ready to go to bed. And, of course, she had a complete meltdown when her favorite uncle said goodbye. Twenty minutes after that, she was still whimpering and hiccuping, trying to drink her milk, while Toph lay in bed with her.

"Unco Sock not Daddy," Lin whined suddenly.

It caught Toph off guard. Was it a question? And what had made her think of it? "No. He's not."

"Who?"

"No one."

"No daddy?"

"Sorry, Buttercup. Just me."

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

"You bored or something?" Toph asked while she ate dinner, Lin playing on the floor nearby.

"My roommate has a new boyfriend," Sora admitted, curled up on the other side of the couch. "They're not super...discreet."

"Hah." Toph was briefly tempted to ask what had happened with Riju. Then she remembered that she didn't really want to know about whatever drama had gone down or was still going down. The only thing that mattered was that Sora hadn't quit over it. "So you're avoiding going home? You know, it's a big city."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" she said with a soft laugh, but Toph sensed she was a little serious, too.

"No. I was kidding. I know you're not–"

BRRRIIIINNNNGGGG

"Fucking Spirits, I hate that thing. Why does it have to sound like that?" Toph got up to answer it, noticing that even Lin was bothered by it, pressing her hands to her ears. "Chief Beifong."

"Hey, it's Nato. Look, I know you just got home, but we've had a break in the Rupo Street Case!"

She froze, goosebumps breaking out across her arm. The Rupo Street Case. A mundane, meaningless name based on a random city road– the perfect code name for their biggest case.

"Chief? Did you hear me?"

"Um. Yeah. Hold on." She lowered the mouthpiece and turned to Sora. "Good news– You don't have to go home yet."

"You need to go back to work?"

"Yeah. Can you stay?"

"Sure."

Toph raised the mouthpiece again. "I'll be right there." She quietly slipped away while Lin was distracted and practically ran to Headquarters, going straight to Nato's office. "Well? What's the news?"

"Detective Chow has been undercover in Wu Lan. He just started working as a janitor at an upscale restaurant and overheard a man being referred to as Yakone. It looks like he's a regular patron. I guess it could be someone with the same name, but apparently he fits the profile."

"It's him. It's Wu Lan. It's gotta be him. Fuck, yes! This is amazing. I've been so worried he would spook after that mess with the radios last fall. And things have been pretty quiet ever since, but this… This is bold. He must think he's untouchable."

"Well, he wouldn't be wrong. If we arrested him right now, we'd have next to nothing."

"Maybe, but now we have a location and a face. We can track his movements. We have everything we need to start building a solid case against him."

"While I love your optimism, will that really help? This case isn't just about him. It's about his whole crime ring. Taking him down won't necessarily solve the problem, any more than Harin's death did. He'll just be replaced with someone worse. To say nothing about whoever's out there bloodbending. They are arguably a much bigger problem."

"You don't get it," she hissed. "This is personal. He made it personal after what he did to Penga, not to mention all the officers whose deaths he's responsible for."

"You're getting ahead of yourself. We still have no real evidence linking that event to Yakone," he reminded her, "other than the fact that Xi Kao was involved. The bloodbender could easily be one of their own."

"And he controls them. Look, I know you don't agree with me on this. How many times have we had this conversation? I'm not saying we should just throw Yakone in jail and call it a day. We're gonna go after all of them. I have no intention of rushing into this blindly."

"Pun intended?"

"Of course."

"So…what's next, Boss?"

Several weeks passed in a determined frenzy. Toph was obsessed. Most nights, she got home just as Lin was going to bed – or after – then sat in her office, poring over reports until midnight. On the few weekends that she actually took a break, her mind was elsewhere, thinking, planning, plotting.

"Mommy, look!" Lin said from the floor while Toph sat on the couch with some paperwork.

A light thump with her heel told her that Lin had taken what appeared to be every single pot from the kitchen, arranged them in two lines, and put all her toys in them. How did I not notice her doing that? "That's nice."

Lin stomped over. "You not looking!" She climbed up on the couch and knelt next to Toph, grasping her head and pointing it forward. "Look!"

"I can't see, Lin. I'm blind. My eyes don't work like yours do." Her head was pulled and turned sideways to face Lin, their noses touching.

"You can see me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"That's just the way I am." A pointy little finger suddenly stabbed into her eyeball and she recoiled. "Ow, fuck!"

"Sorry…"

"Why'd you do that?" she complained, rubbing her sore eye.

"You can't see."

"I can still feel it!"

"Oh." Lin was quiet for a moment, then grabbed Toph's hand and put it on her face. "You can see me now?"

"Yep. I can see your mouth right there, and your nose right there. Close your eyes," she said, brushing down gently over Lin's eyelids. "That's what I see with my eyes."

"Dark?"

"Yep."

"You sad?"

"No. I don't need eyes. One day I'll teach you not to need them, either."

More weeks passed. Lin wasn't handling it well, throwing tantrums almost every morning when Toph left and waking up several times during the night. But for all the stress and frustration, for all the guilt that she was neglecting her daughter, real progress was being made. While they still couldn't tie the bloodbender to Yakone, there were many other smaller crimes he had been involved in, with reliable witnesses willing to testify.

"I really think we have enough," Luon said one morning in a meeting with Toph and the other captains. "I think we should go for an arrest. Not just Yakone but several of his associates, too. The longer we wait, the more chances he has to continue to cause problems for us."

Toph drummed her fingers on the table. In a case such as this, the responsibility to make such a move would fall on her. And if she did it, there was no turning back. He would know they were onto him. "Nato? Yachi? Thoughts?"

"It's up to you, Chief," Yachi said. "It's risky, but we do have quite a lot."

"I think we should wait," Nato said. "I don't think it's enough."

"C'mon," Luon said. "There's no way we won't at least get him in for five years with what we've got. That'll give us time to find a more permanent solution."

For the next two days, Toph agonized over the decision. Having Yakone put away, even if just temporarily, would be such a victory. But…if the charges didn't stick, or if they couldn't find more evidence against him before he got out, that could make him more dangerous. Then again…he already was dangerous.

She thought about Penga, how her life had been ruined, about all the undercover officers who had died horribly. It made her blood boil. He needed to be stopped.

‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›

Toph stormed out of the courtroom, spitting mad. To avoid the press, who would inevitably be waiting outside of City Hall's front entrance, she exited through a side door.

Sokka found her in her office a little while later.

"What do you want?" she fumed.

"Why are you mad at me?"

"Why?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I was just doing my job, T. And you know I don't make the final ruling."

"And what was your vote, hm?"

"You're not on the Council. I would be breaking the oath I took if I discussed that with you. I– I can't believe we're even having this discussion. It almost makes me understand why Ludo was so adamant from the beginning that we keep our relationship strictly professional."

"Oh, so that's how you want it, huh?" Toph spat, furious and more than a little hurt. "Thanks for clearing that up for me."

"Don't be so dramatic. I was just making a point. You don't get to have a say in Council matters or criticize us for the decisions we make. We have a judicial system for a reason, and since most of your witnesses pulled out, there wasn't a lot we could do. Nobody – especially the enforcer of the law – gets to decide someone is guilty simply because they hate them."

"I don't hate him, Sokka. He's scum. I don't hate him any more than I hate the crusty bits I pick out from between my toes. Every single person that's been working on this case knows that he needs to be put away. And yet, today he walked free, because you and fucking Ludo didn't have the balls to make the right decision."

"You're obviously not in the mood to have a rational discussion. Let me know when it's safe to talk to you again." With that he turned on his heels and left, making Toph feel like a petulant child. Which, of course, only pissed her off more.

She leaned on her desk and put her head in her hands. He just didn't fucking get it. Yakone was going to disappear now. He was going to crawl into a little hole and continue to manipulate the city from the shadows, except now he'd be able to see them coming because they'd shown their hand – not just to him but to everyone else in the city.

"I should've fucking listened to Nato."

Three days later, Sora called Headquarters in tears. Toph could barely make out anything she was saying, beyond 'scared', 'letter', and 'Lin'. On the verge of panicking, she took a deep breath and gave the stone floor a mighty stomp, pushing her senses wide to determine if there was a threat in her home. It was just Sora and Lin there, as far as she could tell.

"Lock the doors and stay put," Toph said briskly. "I'll be there soon." With a complement of officers in tow, she sped home using her cables. "What happened?!" she asked, blowing through the door into the living room. Sora was on the couch with Lin in her lap. "Is she ok? Is she hurt?"

Lin instantly ran over and attached herself to Toph's leg.

"Someone buzzed the door," Sora said, calm but with real fear in her voice. "When I looked out the window there was no one there, so I thought maybe it was the mail. I went down to check and found this."

She got up and handed over a piece of paper, but Toph quickly discovered she couldn't read it. Instead, she passed it to the closest officer.

"Chief Beifong— You do not know me, but I know you. I know you quite well. I know who your friends are, who you care about most. I know you have a small, defenseless child who is looked after by a young woman who would be wholly unable to protect her, should the need arise.

This is not a manipulative strategy, where I make demands and offer threats if those demands aren't met. No, this is simply a reminder that you are not untouchable, and perhaps you should keep a closer 'eye' on your loved ones. Perhaps that would be a better use of your vast resources."

By the end of it, Toph was shaking, both in fury and fear. Her knees threatened to give out and she slowly dropped to a crouch, pulling Lin tightly against her body.