Lin Beifong now had two more kids apart from her own daughter.

Chen's parents had been informed of what had happened but they weren't going to take back their 'degenerate daughter who paraded around as a male'. It took every ounce of discipline in Lin to not smash their haughty faces against the ground. After they had left her office, the woman sunk her face in her hands. She had not signed up for this. That evening when she got home, she sat down Zhu and Chen at the table and talked to them about it.

"Your parents disowned you." Lin had cut straight to the chase.

Zhu choked on her spit, "Mother, can you please be a little sympathetic about it?"

"It's okay, Zhu." Chen patted her arm, "I knew this would happen."

"In any case," Lin continued, "since you don't have a legal guardian, you'll be contacted by Child Services and be taken away to one of the orpha-"

"No!" Zhu slammed her fist on the tabletop, "No, he can't go. You can't let him!"

Her mother scowled at her, waiting for her to shut up. When she did, Lin continued to address Chen, "I brought some documents - Quiet, Zhu. I'll sign them if you agree." She slid them towards the kid, who gingerly picked them up.

Chen's eyes widened when he read what was on it. He looked at Lin with tears in his eyes, "Are-are you sure?"

Lin's eyes softened as she nodded. Zhu peered into the documents and gasped.

"Yes! Yes - say yes, Chen. You can stay with us." She shook her friend vigorously, "Sign the adoption papers, Chief! This is great."

Kazuki stumbled out of the guest room, scratching his stomach while yawning. He and Chen were sharing the room since 'it's fine as we're both guys'. Kazuki's hair had been twisted into a loose bun with his hair sticking out.

Lin groaned when she saw him. The boy had decided that he'd stay here for some time, shadowing the Fire Nation representative at the City Hall. Of course, she knew the real reason was to keep an eye on Zhu but Kazuki would die rather than admit it. (Lin pushed all memories of Suyin away, reminding herself to burn the letter that was in her drawer.) Kasai had forced a smile to hide his terrified face while convincing her to let his son stay.

"Good morning," Kazuki made a beeline to the kitchen.

"It's past 6 in the evening." Lin signed the adoption papers as her daughter consoled the newest addition to their family.

Rummaging noises came from the kitchen. The older boy walked out, eating sweet buns. "Specificities." He brushed off her comment.

The woman glared at him as he sat next to her and looked into the forms she had in front of her. Kazuki took no notice of Lin's comically narrowed eyes which were aimed at his snacks. He had raided her secret stash.

"Oh, you're adopting Chen?"

"Yeah, Kazu, isn't th-"

"That's good news. Now we can throw Zhu out."

"SHUT UP."

As Lin watched her daughter argue with her half-brother, she couldn't help but realize how much had changed for her over the past decade, besides the obvious. She would never say it out loud but Zhu had made her warmer. Her daughter had turned her into a better human being. Never in her wildest dreams could she have predicted that she'd be surrounded by her little family. Zhu Beifong was a blessing and it had taken Lin years to come to terms with it.

The phone rang and Zhu got up from her seat, saying that she'd get it. She shuffled to the living room and picked up the receiver.

"- YOU LITTLE WHORE -" Zhu pulled her face away at the volume, grimacing at Lady Chiaki's voice which continued to assault her. She held it at a distance, halfheartedly listening to the woman. "-HUSBAND AND NOW MY SON? THE SHEER AUDACITY OF SOMEONE LIKE YOU - I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET YOU WERE EVER BORN. YOU HEAR ME, YOU RODENT, I'LL-"

Zhu hung up and stared at the telephone, imagining a black slime like Lady Chiaki oozing out of it. Her mother entered the living room with a curious look on her face.

"Who was it?"

Zhu shrugged, "No one."

The telephone rang again but Zhu made no attempt to pick it up. Sending her a weird look, Lin went to pick up the receiver. The twelve-year old made no move to stop her. Placing the device near her ear, Lin jerked suddenly at the volume. She stared at it wordlessly and then at Zhu, then at the device.

"- YOU PEASANTS! YOU DESTROYED MY FAMILY, YOU WH-"

Lin hung up.

Chen had settled well in his new home. It seemed livelier. Zhu was either arguing or exchanging punches with Kazuki, or Lin and Kazuki were pillaging each other's secret food stash. It was mandatory that they practise self defense every day at dawn in the backyard. While Zhu and Kazuki practised firebending, Lin taught Chen how to metalbend. The boy had caught on quickly and progressed rather fast.

"Well, what do you know," Lin had commented, attracting Zhu and Kazuki's attention, "One of you isn't useless."

She sent waves of rocks towards the two, who had raised their voices, immediately protesting.

When he realized that neither Zhu nor Lin could cook proper food in the two months he'd been there, Chen took the duty upon himself. He gave Zhu a list of groceries that were to be brought when Lin and Kazuki were at work. Well, Lin was at work. Kazuki just followed the councilman around like a puppy.

Zhu happily hopped down the streets. Things had been going really well since the kidnapping incident. Her mother was in good spirits too. Lady Chiaki had sent heaps of letters that had turned into fuel for a bonfire. Zhu's mouth watered as she remembered the skewers they had that day.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice someone bump into her intentionally, making her drop her groceries. Zhu groaned. How many times had she collided with people like this? When will it end? She bent down to pick up the tomatoes and cabbages that had rolled out of the bag and hauled them up. The person she had collided with handed her the rest.

He was younger than her, with bright green eyes and an adorable face. That did not change the fact that he had shoved a few apples up his noticed that the shirt was ripped here and there. Zhu narrowed her eyes at him and he gulped at her expression. She raised her hand at him, gesturing to hand over the fruit.

The boy gripped the bottom of his Earth Kingdom style tunic to keep the apples from falling out, stared defiantly at her and spun around. He ran so fast through the crowd that Zhu thought she'd lose him. She raced after him, dodging the passersby, into an alley. It was a dead end and the boy turned away, only to be cornered by Zhu, who had a firm grip on the rest of her groceries.

"Give them back," She hissed, "And buy your own."

The boy looked at her with hopelessness in his eyes. They started to water and he pouted. "Fine," He yelled in a thin, melodramatic voice, "I stole them because I had nothing to eat. But sure, I'll just go and buy some expensive darn fruit for myself. Let me just ask my parents for some money. But wait!" He lifted a finger, "My parents are dead! Maybe that's why I stole from you."

Zhu felt a headache coming at the kid's acting. She rolled her eyes and started to walk away. "Fine." She looked over her shoulder, "Keep them."

He blinked at her, astonished, "Really?"

"Yes."

"Then, can I have oranges too?"

"No."

"What about carrots?"

"No."

"Do you got some instant ramen on you?"

Zhu whirled around, golden eyes gleaming. "You got some nerve."

The boy fidgeted with his collar, laughing nervously, "Well...I just...y'know...thought…"

"If I see you again, I'll call the cops on you."

"Okay." His face dropped and he pouted. A very teeny, tiny part of Zhu wanted to pinch his chubby cheeks.

"You stay alone?"

"Are you asking me o - Okay, I'm sorry!" The kid's initial goofy grin morphed into panic as he winced at her irritated look, "I have a brother but he's working right now. And I was hungry."

WIthout another word, Zhu tossed him a bag of bread which he caught effortlessly. She then turned around and left, ignoring the unsure 'Thank you' the kid had yelled. Back home, Chen wondered out loud if she had forgotten the bread and apples but she simply lied and said that she couldn't find any.

Zhu couldn't help but feel that she would be seeing the kid again.

(She did. Every once in a while, he'd "accidentally" run into her while she bought food and greeted her as if they were old friends. Zhu would end up giving away some of her purchases to him.)

Shin had summoned Mako for a job, saying that he had to run some numbers for the Triad. But really, they needed a bait to trap someone.

The Triads had been hired by some unnamed nobility to kidnap and scare a girl, maybe accidentally kill her but that was up to them. Mako had straight-up refused, the trafficking case still fresh in mind. He'd have been dead by now if someone had ratted him out to Shin. Mako had passed off information to one of the detectives because he kept waking up every five minute with guilt.

He would rather starve than hurt someone to this extent. Or be a part of it even.

Shin had offered him a small amount of money in exchange of Mako keeping an eye on the girl.

"I'm not stalking a girl." He spat. "I may be an orphan, Shin, but my parents raised me with some basic morals when they were alive."

The mobster had laughed it off at his face, "Oh, Mako. That didn't stop ya from helping that kingpin who sold kids, did it? Having morals will not help ya survive on the streets. Besides, ya have your cute lil brother to think of, no?"

Gritting his teeth, Mako pocketed the money and snatched the picture that Shin had been waving in his face. The photograph had been messily ripped off from the original one. Mako's face dropped when he realized that it was the same girl he had encountered a few months ago.

'- can kill you. Maybe I will-'

"What do your employees need with her?" He asked.

Shady Shin raised his brow at the boy's boldness, "Ya know her?"

"We've met."

"Nonya business, anyway. Just do whatcha supposed to."

Mako scaled the rooftops of the lowrise neighbourhood where the girl's school was located. He noted with envy that she went to a prestigious school. All he had to do was tail her for a few days, figure out her schedule and report back.

He hid as the school gates opened and students came pouring out. Yeah, he missed school. He was the smartest in his class and the teachers always praised him saying that Mako would have a bright future. The thirteen year old scoffed to himself. 'Bright future'. Yeah, right. It'd be a miracle if him and his brother ate something once a day. He hadn't even had the time to teach his brother how to read the more complicated letters.

Deep in thought, he almost missed the girl who passed him by. Mako saw that she was accompanied by...was that a girl dressed like a boy? Shaking his head, Mako trailed after them. He was getting annoyed by how leisurely the two were walking. They talked about some guy with 'single child syndrome' or whatever, then about food and interestingly about probending. As they reached one of the residential areas (so she's super rich, Mako noted), the girl told her friend to go home and that she'll be right back.

Her friend had sent her a weird look but didn't oppose.

The girl waited for her friend to disappear around the corner. And then the bright smile on her face got replaced with a scowl.

"I'd like to know why you've been following us." She hissed.

Well, that flopped pretty badly, Mako thought as he came out of hiding from behind one of the dumpsters.

The girl's temper flared at the sight of him. She would recognise that red scarf anywhere. "You," She pointed at him, venomously, "What the heck do you want from me now?"

"Nothing." He shrugged.

She took two steps towards him, "I should've finished you when I had the ch-"

"Uhh, Zhu?"

Her friend was back. The girl - Zhu - whirled around, masking the angry look. The friend looked between her and Mako, misunderstanding the tension.

"Oh, are you the boy from the Water class?" He said, excitedly, "Is he confessing to you, Zhu? Ooh, has he already? What did y-"

Mako scoffed in disbelief. This was getting messier than he had expected.

"Chen," Zhu smiled at her friend but spoke through her teeth, "Go back home."

"But-"

"Go. Home."

"Okay," The kid looked crestfallen but he started scurrying away, "youshouldsayyes. He'sverycute."

In any other case, Mako would have blushed from embarrassment but right now, he just wanted to run away. But knowing that Shady would beat the living daylights out of him if he came back empty handed, he worked his brain, devising a plan. From what he understood, this girl came from an influential background. Maybe she had contacts in the police force. He could mold the situation to his favor. But would she believe him? He had baited her once before.

The girl crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, "I could scream right now and the police officers in the vicinity would arrest you on the spot."

"I need you he-" Mako began but she interrupted him.

"Don't give me that crap." She scowled again, "Last time you needed 'help', I was imprisoned in a freezer by child traffickers and almost died."

"You would've if I hadn't ratted out the kingpin." the boy snapped back, "And right now, we can both help each other."

She pushed aside the braids that framed her face, "You better not waste my time."

Mako spilled everything to her. He told her about Shady Shin being paid by some higher up to kidnap and scare her, and him trailing her to find out when she'd be alone. Zhu inhaled and spat curses at some "stupid old hag Chiaki".

"Fine," She met his gaze with her own fierce one, "I'll help you. But after this is over, you need to stop with the kidnapping business, kidnapper."

"That's rich, coming from you," He seethed, "You never had to earn your own food. You never had to go to sleep on piles of trash with an empty stomach. And you sure as hell never had to be scared of dying in a corner of an alley. I do whatever it takes to keep me and my brother alive."

Zhu was taken aback by the boy's anger. She felt pity even though a significant part of her did not want to hear why he did what he did. Recognizing what he saw in her eyes, Mako growled again with clenched fists, "Stop with your pity. I don't need it."

"What's your name?"

"None of your business."

"What's your name?"

The boy clicked his tongue and looked away, "Mako."

"Alright, Mako," Zhu said, "We're going to spproach this in the simplest way possible…"

A few days later, Shady Shin had sent his goonies who waited around the corner of the neighbourhood's park at around sunset. Mako had told him that "the girl" had a habit of being in the park when there wasn't anybody there, and read under the streetlights. Shin hadn't even questioned Mako and sent out his gang of hooligans the very next day.

Just like Mako had said, she was sitting on one of the benches under the streetlight with her book on her lap. The group swaggered up to her, jeering at her.

Unbeknownst to any of them, or Mako for that fact, her mother strolled past this park everyday after work. Zhu had made sure the time coincided with Lin''s arrival and prayed that she wasn't staying back at her office.

"Whatchu got there, lil girlie." One of the thugs - boy, his breath was stinking - leaned uncomfortably close to Zhu. She fought a scowl and her body itched to hit him. But she faked a fearful look.

"Pl-Please leave me alone." She begged, inching away from them. Her book fell from her lap and one of the thugs kicked it further away.

One of them pushed her forward and Zhu's temper flared. She let out a scared cry.

"Now why would we want to leave a pretty lil thing like you all to your lonesome self," Another leered, "Why doncha come with us."

Zhu felt disgusted.

Right on cue, Lin Beifong walked past the park fences and Zhu screeched at the top of her lungs, "CHIEF BEIFONG!" Her mother spun her head towards the voice so fast, Zhu feared that she might've cracked it.

Before she could blink, half the thugs who surrounded her had flown a few feet back due to the columns rising out of the ground, and got knocked out. The rest had sunk chest deep into the dirt. They wriggled and yelled in panic about how this wasn't what they were getting paid for. Lin stepped in between the thugs and her daughter, facing the former. From behind her back, Zhu smirked at the unconscious pile.

All of them had been arrested immediately. Lin and Zhu were dropped back home in one of the police cars. They quietly walked through the gate. Zhu climbed the stairs to the front door and stopped when her mother called her name.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Lin asked, the heel of her foot was pressed flat against the ground. She had metalbended a little bit off her shoes to see if Zhu would lie or not.

Her daughter blinked at her, "No."

She wasn't lying,

"Nothing about why the thugs targeted you?"

"They just saw me sitting there alone. Like I said, Lady Chiaki had hired them."

Lin knew that Zhu wasn't stupid enough to get herself in such a situation. There was more to the story. But there was no way she could lie and get away with it. Lin had always caught Zhu when she lied.

"And what about that night." Lin emphasized, referring to the kidnapping. She had been told that two bodies had turned up a few days later. The blood they had found by the warehouse gates belonged to them. "Is there anything you want to tell me about that?"

Zhu paused for a second, considering telling her mother about the two guards she had killed. But Lin Beifong was incredibly uptight when it came to the law. And whether she liked it or not, Zhu had committed homicide.

"No."

Something in her daughter's eyes unsettled Lin.

SIDE STORY :

Zhu stared blankly at the baby Baki had held up in the air by the armpits. The infant in a cute onesie blinked down at the girl by the door. Guo stood next to his husband with an expressionless face.

Inhaling, the teenager turned around and ran inside her house, "MOTHEEER! BAKI STOLE A BABY!"

"I DIDN'T STEAL - THIS IS MY DAUGHTER! COME BACK HERE, BRAT!"

The Beifong family had grown closer to the tutor and his husband over time. They had visited each other a few times for dinner or lunch. After Guo had quit his job at the Republic City university, he joined the law faction of City Council. Like Baki had gushed about multiple times, the man was a genius. Baki, on the other hand, now taught at the Royal Academy, occasionally teaching firebending.

Five minutes later, Baki and Guo were sitting on a sofa, with their adopted daughter on Guo's lap. Zhu, Kazuki and Chen sat on either side of Lin, across the couple. Lin and Kazuki eyed the baby warily. Chen kept cooing and waving at her. While Baki had a look of pure joy on his face, Guo had relaxed his eyebrows. That basically meant that he was over the moon.

"We adopted this little beauty," He said, holding up the baby's fist that was wrapped around his little finger, "And we named her Suvi. It means summer and we felt it was appropriate as we adopted her in the said season." The man's tone was very difficult to understand as it was always...unchanging.

"And...you're going to raise her?" Kazuki raised his brow, fixing his gaze on his teacher.

Guo answered instead, "Yes. That was the idea."

"No, I mean…" He gestured towards Baki, "Him?"

"What are you implying?" The larger man scowled, "As far as I know, I have experience with brats like you. Raising her would be a far easier feat."

"Crotchety old man."

"Insufferable imp."

His husband interrupted before the name-calling escalated, "Please, dear. Not in front of our daughter."

"Yes, of course."

Zhu gagged at the change in her tutor's tone. He was so disgustingly in love still. Chen elbowed her in the ribs.

The firebender coughed, "Well, even we have a new addition to our family!" She wrapped her arm around Chen's shoulder, "Mother adopted Chen."

"Enough of that." Lin cut in, tired of the pleasantries, "I'm not baby-sitting your kid as well, Baki. It's a mad house already."

"No, no." The man shook his head, "We wanted you to be Suvi's spirit-mother."

The kids' eyes bulged out of their sockets. Zhu hesitantly sneaked a glance at her mother. She was strangely still. Kazuki cleared his throat and repeated.

"You want Lin to be the baby's spirit-mother."

"Of course," Guo nodded, "We thought about it and had numerous arguments, and finally came to a conclusion. Lin Beifong is most suitable for the post. We do have backup opt-"

"I refuse." Lin said, firmly.

" - the backup being my colleagues, all of whom are inept and inexperienced, or just bad at parenting." Guo continued as if he didn't hear the rejection, "My family is out of the question since they want nothing to do with me. Baki's family is filled with imbeciles."

"Guo, my moonlight…"

"- except for his grangran, but we don't want to trouble her." It was funny, hearing Guo say 'grangran' in such monotony.

Kazuki shrugged, "I mean...what's one more kid, right, Lin?"

"You be quiet." The woman snapped and turned to the couple, "While I am...flattered by your faith in me, I don't want to be responsible for another child."

"Don't spirit-parents usually just maintain a good relationship with the kid and turn up at important events and give gifts and affect...ion...oh yeah." Zhu trailed off, "Mother's not a good option." She grinned mischievously at her mother who had shot her a cross look.

"What about their father," Chen piped up, "Prince Kasai?"

"We can't ask the High Prince to be our daughter's guardian," Baki huffed, "It would be improper."

"I think dad would be overjoyed." Kazuki muttered.

"Chief Beifong," Baki bowed his head, "It would be our honour if you accepted Suvi as your family."

Lin refrained from answering scathingly. She felt she owed the two men in front of her. Baki had been Zhu's support when she went to the Fire Nation. He had taught her many things just so she could be on par with her siblings. Excluding the proper education, Zhu learnt how to play the pipa and the guqin from him. He had taught her how to expand her heat detection range. But most of all, she learnt the power behind her last name, besides her status as the High Prince's daughter. Zhu had broken out of her shell and had become stronger. And it was mostly because of Baki.

Her gaze fell on the child. Suvi kept wanting to crawl off of her father's lap. Her tiny hands were stretched out towards the tea cup on the table. Lin was suddenly reminded of an infant Zhu.

"Alright."

Her kids whipped their heads towards her in incredule. Guo bowed his head slightly as his husband grinned ear to ear. Suvi gurgled happily, fidgeting more and more.

"But I have conditions." Lin stated as Chen got up to hold the baby.

Guo wordlessly passed his daughter to the boy, "Of course." His eyes had brightened considerably. Suvi's brown eyes met Lin's over Chen's shoulder. The infant lifted her arm and waved, letting out a shrill noise.

Lin Beifong wouldn't ever admit it but a part of her melted.

Ohmygod? I am overwhelmed by the response I received for the last chapter. Thank you all so much for your kind words!

Well, well, look who made a tiny appearance in this chapter :3 The scene with Mako seems a little haphazard to me but the one with Bolin - booi I nailed it.

One of the readers asked if I had thought about making Zhu Korra's firebending teacher. I'll be honest, I kinda did. However, right now I feel that their personalities would clash a lot. They would not get along. This might be a tad bit of a spoiler but Zhu feels that the Avatar is supposed to be a perfect being, since Mai died because of her existence. But obviously Korra is far from being perfect in the first season. Zhu and Korra are going to have a bit of a rough start, I can tell you that.

Welp, Zhu is turning a little darker with each decision she makes. I wonder how that's going to play out in the future. And I just love how Lin is surrounded by a family. This is going to bring about change in canon events, I guess, hehe.

Are Baki and Guo modelled after Captain Raymond Holt and Kevin Cozner? We shall never know :3

Sorry if there are any typos. I wrote the entire thing from my phone as I'm travelling currently.

See you all next week!