I would like to give a big thanks to Socket Puppet (thesocketpuppet) for help me with my work. I believe the reading of this chapter will get much smoother thanks to its help! Make sure to check ateliersockpuppet at tumblr, and Sock's fanfics: Nowhere Fast and The Oathbreaker. They are great!

I hope you enjoy the chap 2! I would love to read my reader's toughts about it. Fell free to PM me or review.

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The chief of police got the first two days of the week off. Of course, this put the whole police department in commotion. However, Toph knew her priorities; one of the most important things in life is one's family. The second most important things was: make people believe you don't know what your priorities are.

It took her a few days to arrange everything. She would take the first two or three days off as the girls start school. After those first few days, Katara would be responsible to pick the girls up after school, and take them to the Air Temple Island until their mother left work. It was the only way the water bender would not be mad about the whole issue anymore. Katara got really surprised that Toph was realy going to send the girls to regular school. The water bender was not sure how to fell about it. It sounded so out of Toph's character. She didn't say anything about it, though.

There were a bunch of things she should be doing on the girls' first day. Nevertheless, she did not need an alarm clock, as Lin jumped into her bad as soon as the first sunrays appeared on the sky.

The earth bender master groaned. For a moment she thought she was back in Gaoling where she needed to wake up early and get dressed by the maids. It was really a relief to hear the voice of her oldest daughter by her side.

"C'mon, mom. It's the first day of school!"

Toph laughed, grabbing her daughter by her neck and forcing Lin to lie down on the bed with her. "Oh, no. Five more minutes" she joked, but Lin just pushed her. She was so excited about the day that she did not want to spend even one second joking around.

"I'm serious mom! You have to look good for our first day!" She said jumping out of bed and going to the wardrobe. She opened it scrolling around her mother's uniforms "Do you only have those to wear?!"

"Since when did you started to worry about appearances?" Toph said still lying down. "I surely didn't teach you that."

"I just want..." she stopped talking for a moment. She could not find the right words. She finally found a light green tunic among her mother's clothes and pulled it out "I don't want people thinking bad things about our family." Toph knew that those were not the eight years old's words. Especially coming from her eight year old girl. Someone must have said something like this to her. It's not that Toph got offended by her words or anything, she just imagined her kid saying something like 'I don't want you to make me look like a weirdo', not those fancy words.

"Fair enough," she said bitterly, rising from her bad, and as soon as Lin put her eyes on her, she noticed that the clothes were not her such a big problem, compared to her hair. Messy. Tangled. Horrible.

"We should have called Aunt Katara" she said with a long breath.

"No way!" screamed Toph. "Let me do my magic."

In no time, the earth bender got a few elastics and hairpins and set her hair on a bun, as she does every day before going to work. It was practical, fast and painless. The agility of her mother made Lin feel safer. To the point that she even asked herself why she was worried at first place. Bumi did not know what he was talking about. He had never gone to school, and he did not know how awesome her mother really was. She just gave the clothes she picked up and went to Suyin's room to help her little sister get dressed.

"Hey! Slothy! Wake up, is the first day of school" Su acted like a zombie when she was woken up. It was almost unbelievable that this was the same girl that had energy to run around the house all day long. Su turned herself around in the bed, trying to avoid her sister. That was when Lin noticed a darker stain on her sister bed. She slowly touched it with the tip of her index finger and then smelled it. "Argh! Gross! Do you still pee on bed?! Haha, you are such a baby! I don't think you will be able to go to school that way, pee bender!"

Suyin opened her eyes and sat on her bed, looking around and seeing that what her sister was saying was true. Normally she would have punched her Lin's face, or pulled her hair, or even bit her hand. However, something about this situation made her very sensitive, and she burst into tears.

The next thing the girls heard was the door slamming against the wall and Toph getting inside angrily. There were very few things that Lin could do that would make her mad, and the worst of them was to make her little sister cry.

"Lin, go brush your teeth, now." she said close to the door.

"But I have already brus-"

"Go dress yourself or do whatever you need to do. I will dress Suyin up."

Lin stamped her feet as she walked away from the room. It was her first day as a normal girl and her sister was already ruining it. She had the feeling that Suyin was her mother's favorite daughter. She saw herself in much more trouble than Su did. She tried to forget about that as she went to her room check her backpack.

Toph slowly walked to Suyin's bed, and she rubbed the girls back to try to calm her down. "It's ok, badgermole. There is nothing wrong about wetting your bed once in a while."

"Stupid Lin!" the girl screamed making sure Lin could hear it from the next room. Few people know it, but for three years old girls, stupid is the worst word possible to call someone.

"Hey, stop that. You do not talk like this about your sister." Toph's voice sounded really angry this time. Even though Lin felt the opposite, Toph did not take sides. She would not tolerate anyone saying or doing anything bad to her girls. Even if this person was one of her own daughters. It is true that at that age, Lin would get much more trouble than Su would, since the little sister was much more powerless. But, this would change within time. Toph breathed deeply and tried to use a nicer tone. "Now let's change those sheets?"

"I'm sorry, mama." Suyin gathered her blankets, sobbing as her mother helped her take the sheets out of the bed.

"Hey, I already told you it happens. You don't have to worry about it." she said that, but deep inside the got surprised. It had been a while since Suyin last wet her bed. She was always very independent but she had up and downs if she wanted to ask for attention.

Toph finished cleaning the bed, and gave the youngest Bei Fong a quick shower Lin was already impatient outside the bathroom.

"We are going to be late, we should be having breakfast by now, and you didn't even start to cook!"

Toph sighed as she tried to make her youngster cooperate on putting on her new school uniform and not run around the wet bathroom "Get some damn fire flakes or something like this, Lin. I need to domesticate your sister first."

Lin groaned angrily, going to the kitchen, but, happily, something stopped her. Even better, someone. She heard the click on the door as Sokka came in. He was wearing his works clothes already.

"Thanks the spirits you are here, Uncle Sokka."

"Yeah, I know how messy a schedule can get with your mother involved on it. We almost didn't make it to the Fire Nation before the solar eclipse," he giggled hugging the oldest Bei Fong sister. "What can I help you with?"

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Meanwhile, Toph was crouched on the bathroom as Suyin got a handful of water tossed on her mother face. She immediately noticed how bad this idea was, but she could not help it. It was done. She run on her mother's opposite direction but before she could reach the bathroom door Toph got her into her arms, holding her.

"Why do you have to make things so difficult?" her face was still wet, and now she started really losing her patience "You know what? I'm tired of this, put those clothes on yourself"

She let the school uniform reach the ground and she stands up to dry up her face. The sleeves of her robe were also wet. Toph would not be happy to see how messy things got. She did not want to admit, but she was herself anxious that day.

The adaptation process is a big deal for the kids, but is also a big thing for the mothers. Toph did not want to be like her own mother. She wanted to be someone who would let her girls do anything they wished to do. So, why was it so hard?

She was so earnest in her thoughts that the little funny scene happening close to her almost came unnoticed. Suyin was trying to put on her clothes, but was not very lucky; she ended up all tangled on the robe, as she put her head where the arm was supposed to go, while she was still holding her belt.

"Mama, help! I can't breathe!" the girl exaggerated shaking her only free arm on the air.

"Ok... ok..." she giggled kneeing down again to her the girl. It was rather interesting, how she would refuse to get dressed by her mother, but as soon as Toph gave up on doing it, she would cooperate. She was indeed her girl.

"Tie my belt, mama!" She said giving the piece of fabric to the older one.

"Why don't you tie it up yourself?" Toph teased her.

"Hm... Because mama do it best!" she teased her mother back. The truth was that, just like most three years olds, Suyin could not tie a knot, but she would not say that "Will you always tie my belt, mama?" she said lazily.

Toph felt a sort of sickness. It started right over her chest and it speeded all over her body. Her stomach felt sick, her feet week, her mouth dry. She felt it before, not once, but many times. She knew it was no disease, it was her own maternal instincts coming against her beliefs. She felt it the first when she left Lin with Katara to go to work for the first time after the girl was born, and as she felt again when her girl started walking, and doing a bunch of other things for herself. Somehow, she got used to it. In fact, things were much easier to deal with Suyin. But once in a while she got this feeling all over again.

"Pay attention so you can try it yourself next time." As she tied her girl's belt she got herself wondering when it would be the last time she would do. She could not remember when was the last time she did it to Lin. And that felt so strange. Her true wish was to promise her girl that if she did not want to, her mother could tie her belt up on and on. She would never need to tie them herself. She would always have her 'mama' to do it for her. But this was just not right. "Got it, badgermole?"

"Yes, mama!" She smiled jumping on her arms. And Toph thanked the spirits that the girl did not notice the tears on her face.

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"Who called you here, goatee man?" Toph entered the kitchen with Suyin in her arms. The girl was really cute in the kindergarten suit. She was dressed in a white and gray tunic which came up to her knees, there were golden details embroidered to the sleeves, and on her left chest the school insignia, a turtle duck.

"My instincts told me that Lin would need help today. So I decided to pop by." he said serving an omelet over some rice.

"I will only accept you here because you make a wonderful breakfast." Toph said sitting Suyin on a high chair and seating herself.

"Hmmm they taste so much better than mother's!" Lin said having a bite. She was also dressed on her uniform already. It looked pretty much like Suyin's one, but the tunic was longer, there was an obi over the top and instead of a tutle-duck on her chest, there was a lion-turtle.

"Don't tease me. I can still kick him out of here." Her mother joked. It was good that Sokka was around, that way she could put those unpleasant thoughts away.