Hi guys! I'm sorry I have been away for such a long time. There are couple of things going on that kept me away. Plus, my original beta, Sock, will not be able to help me anymore. I got sad because she is such a great person, but I do understand that she had to stop. Anyway, thanks for all the good work, Sock 3. My new Beta is a nice guy from my country. English is not his mother tongue but he speaks it amazingly! Let me know if he is doing a good job!

Have a good reading!

Toph was at the school more than 30 minutes earlier to pick the girls up. She could get Suyin, whose classes would finish around 10 minutes earlier than Lin's, and them move to the other building, where she would get the older sister.

She was sitting on the outside area waiting for the teacher, who would go down a few minutes earlier than usual to give her feedback about her daughter's first day.

Toph could not help wondering how the girls' day was. Were they having fun? Were they dealing well with their new classmates? Have they eaten properly? She had never felt this sort of things, not so heavily. The girls were always in a controlled environment at the Air Temple Island, and she was not sure if that school would be good enough for them. Her disturbing thoughts were interrupted by two people walking to the building. They were two student's mothers, chatting about their kids.

"… this worked fantastically for the twins. And they can't even read yet! I think it will help your kids a lot," said what sounded like a young lady, Toph imagined that she should be 25 or something.

"I will try that. I can't handle Shan sometimes. As the oldest he should set an example for his simblings, but ever since he lost the championship he has been struggling for attention. I guess this is normal." Said the other woman's voice, who sounded like on her late 30, maybe almost forty. Toph captured something familiar about it - "My brother used to drive me mad just so – Wait, Chief Bei Fong, is that you?"

"Ahm… yeah. Hi there" - she stood up and bowed. She knew there was something familiar about the voice. She had met that woman before, on an office party, not so long ago - "You're Officer Hao's wife right?"

"Oh! You remember me? I'm Yanyu. And this is my friend, Quiyue." - said the women on a stubborn tone, she was showing off for her friend, happy to be recognized by someone as important as her husband's boss. - "What are you doing around here?"

"It's my kids' first day at school" - she confessed, and there was some sort of pride on her words.

"Spirits! My kids study here too." - The older woman said in excitement - "Republic City is not that big, is it?".

"It's a small world after all" - added Quiyue - "How old are your kids?"

"Lin is eight; she is in the elementary building." - Toph tried the small talk - "Suyin has just turned three, she is in Miss Hui Fang class"

"Oh! So she is in the same class as my kids" - she said politely - "I have got a couple of twins: Wahid and Shu."

"So, tell me, Chief Bei Fong. Is there… anyone around to help you?" - Added the other woman.

"Suyin's teacher will be down in a moment so we can talk" - the chief of police answered without really understanding what the other woman meant.

"I mean…." - She was now a little uncomfortable - "isn't the father around? Do you need help with your kids or maybe…?"

"I'm perfectly fine by myself, Mrs." - Toph answered sharply. She knew that kind of talk. The woman in front of her did not believe that a single mother was able to raise a child by herself, not to mention a blind one. As her fame rose, she did not need to worry a lot with people thinking that she could not take care of herself, she was a war hero, and chief of police after all. However, she was constantly questioned about her motherly skills, and that could make her really angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" - the woman looked at Toph and back to her friend without really knowing what to say. Luckily, for Yanyu, Miss Hui had just got down, holding the little Bei Fong on her arms.

"Oh, Mrs. Quiyue, you are here early, I will ask my assistant to take the twins down soon" -she said with her gentle voice and keep always smiling - "I see you already met Ms. Bei Fong, our newest student's mother"

"Oh… Yes! I'm happy to hear her daughter will be classmates with Shu and Wahid." - The mother tried to avoid the awkward moment by adding some nice complements to the conversation.

"Well I have got to talk to her for a few moments, so if you excuse us…" - Toph and Miss Hui entered the building, and the chief of police thanked the spirits for moving away from those strange people. She was not the type of mother that would like chitchatting in front of school.

Miss Hui made a general synopsis of Suyin's first day. She did not give many details, promising the mother that she would give her a full report by the end of the week. Never the less, things were quite smooth for the first day. She did have some trouble to make the little girl keep her shoes on, though.

"Oh… we don't wear shoes at home." - Toph giggled, - "Actually, I don't wear shoes at all. It's part of the 'seeing through earth bending thing', you know…." - she pointed out showing her barefoot.

"Well… I do understand, but those are school rules. You will have to talk to her about it," - the teacher added in a more severe tone. She did not look like the kind of person who would make a big deal out of it, but she did make sure to point it out.

"Ok, I will try." - Toph sighted, she hated rules, especially stupid ones like this - "Let's go, baby girl?"

"Mama, I draw a badgermole for you!" - she said going to her mother's lap and handing her the sheet of paper.

Hui gasped. She did not have time to point out Su' interest for the crayons, and she was somewhat uncertain about how to point it out for Toph, who was blind. The teacher had never been on a situation like this, she could notice that Su did not know that her mother was visually impaired, or maybe she could not fully understand what that meant. Luckily, Toph did not hesitate to get the girl's drawing within a smile.

"Wow! You are an artist! It looks perfect to me!" - the chief of police laughed at her own joke and kissed her daughter's cheeks - "Uncle Sokka will be proud of you! Say thank you to Miss Hui."

"Thank you to Miss Hui." - she repeated literally and they both left the building.

xxxXXXxxx

It took Pong almost twenty minutes to calm himself down and find the Chief's daughter. Toph did not seem alarmed by the fact that she was missing and even offered him help to find her, but Pong insisted this problem would be solved soon, so she should just wait at the outside area. He found Lin training with the pro-bending teamat the gym area, and he was really upset about it. Kids younger than 10 were not allowed to participate in this sort of activities. The gym teacher tried to defend himself, claiming he was just curious to see a Bei Fong bending, and he did not apply a regular routine for this matter, just an easy going exercise, and a lot of free play. However, it was no good, and according to Pong, the director would know about it.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, Miss Bei Fong," - Pong said rushing while holding Lin's hand - "you have a very energetic young lady over here. She was not supposed to be at the gym area. She received specific instructions to come outside as soon as the classes where over."

"Mom! They got a pro-bending team!" - the girl run in front of Pong and started jumping in front of her mother and sister - "You should have seen them! They are awesome!"

"Wow. Pro-bending? Like the one we listen on the radio?" - Toph ignored Pong and his talking, she did not mind having to wait for Lin - "Well, thank you for taking good care of my girl, Mr. Pong, I will be in charge from here."

The school employee almost did not believe the mother's reaction, and just watched astonished the three Bei Fongs leaving the school area.

xxxXXXxxx

Lin was walking beside her mother on the way home, as Toph was holding Suyin within one hand and the drawing the youngest gave her earlier that day. Lin was not seen that excited very often, and even Su understood that she should not be stopped from talking at that point. She said very little about the school itself, instead, she was all over the top about pro-bending.

"The Xiǎo team is great! Long Wei is such a good leader! And Fayim… she must be a better bender than Kya!" - she sounded so excited that she was probably exaggerating a little, but Toph did not mind it.

"What about the earth bender?" - questioned the mother a little sassy - "Is he good?"

"Well… yes, I guess." - Lin said reluctant - "But he has much to improve."

"Let me ask in different words," - Toph giggled, - "Is he better than you?"

"No way!" - interrupted Suyin - "Lin is the second best!"

Lin's smile covered her face and she giggled holding her sister's hand - "And who is the first, then?!"

"Mama!" - screamed the little one snuggling at her mother's neck. They had this little inside joke, assuring their mother was always the best, and that Lin was 'just' the second place. The older sister knew that soon Su would not play like this anymore, once she started earth bending, she would probably become as stubborn as her mother and sister, and they would be fighting over the 'second place'.

Just then, Lin noticed that her mother was carrying a sheet of paper. She pulled it from the oldest Bei Fong's hands looking a it curiously.

"What is this?" - She thought it was some sort of document. It was not rare the occasions when her mother would come home holding a piece of paper to ask Lin to read it. They were usually newspapers or police reports (witch Sokka was extremely contrary to letting Lin read them, but Toph kept on doing it). However, this one had nothing written on, just lines all over it.

"I maked for mama!" - said Suyin proudly.

"What's this?" - Lin said turning around the paper - "The walls of Ba Sing Se?"

"It's a badgermole," - Toph pointed out.

"Hah! No it's not! It looks more like a badgermole tunnel!" - laughed the older sister looking at the drawing - "But the badgermoles are not home anymore! Heh"

"Mama said it looks perfect!" - mumbled the younger sister pouting.

"Mom is blind, you silly!" - Lin added folding the drawing - "She can't tell the difference of a picture of the Earth Queen and one of a Turtle-duck!"

"Give it back! Don't fold it!" - said Suyin trying to reach for her drawing and this almost made her fall from her mother's arms.

"I find it beautiful anyway" - said Toph, getting the paper out of Lin's hand and giving it back to Su - "Hunf… kids are such a blessing."

xxXXXxx

The routine was pretty much the same next day and the day after, but this time Toph was by herself, and the girls almost did not have time for breakfast. It took them sometime to get used to the new routine. Toph learned to make a lunch box for Lin so she could eat at school, and even Suyin got used to getting up earlier than usual.

Soon, Toph days off were over, and she had to come back to the Police Department. From that point on, Aunt Katara or Bumi would come to school to pick the girls up. They would go to the Air Temple Island to spend the rest of the day there, with the Avatar family, playing and practicing their bending until their mother got there after work. Toph did not have regular working hours, sometimes she was at the Avatar's house right before the sundown, and sometimes, the girls would have dinner with the Aunt Katara and her family, as their mother would show up just after Suyin was already sleeping. It did not matter when Toph arrived, the girls were always happy to see her and they would walk home talking about their day. Lin would talk about the boring history class, or how cool the pro-bending team was, and Su about how she learned that if you mix yellow and red it would become orange, and how she would always build the biggest sand castle of the whole class.

Things were pretty easy for Lin during the girls' first week at school. She was already one of the most popular kids in school, she was intelligent, a great bender and carried the Bei Fong name. As for Suyin, on the other hand, the teacher started to get worried. In general she was getting used to the routine, circle time, bathroom and water, free play and playground. She was a natural for activities that involved running, jumping ar other gross motor skills, but while working on activities that concentration and patience was needed, she would soon lose interest. Suyin was a great kid, as far as she was interested on doing what the teachers were told, if she wasn't, she would not respect the rules. She would shout, cry, and give the teachers a lot of work.

On Friday, she could not stand still during the circle time. She would stand up, disturb songs and talk out of time. Miss Hue face was not happy, and she asked her assistant to help Su putting her shoes back. But when the Teacher Assistant (whose name was May) tried, Suyin got one of the shoes and tossed on the assistant face. The little girl could not tell for sure if Miss May's face got all red due the impact, the range, or the urge to cry. The assistant didn't say a thing. She just stood up and called Miss Hue to deal with her.

Suyin was touching the cabinets with extra clothes when Miss Hue's found her. Her eyes were often full of kindness and grace, but the three-year-old girl crouched when noticed that, this time, her teacher's eyes were angry.

"What are you doing, Suyin?" - she asked putting her hands on her waist - "Why are you not participating the circle? And why did you take your shoes off? You know it's against the rules."

"No want" - she answered looking away.

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" - the teacher asked kneeling beside the little girl, now with a softer voice - "Is there something wrong?"

"I just… don't like it…" - she pounded - "It sucks."

"You cannot use this those words, Su." - the teacher sighed - "And you cannot hurt your teachers. Ddid you even say sorry to Miss May?"

"Cannot… cannot… cannot…," - the girl complained on a very low voice, without answering the teacher's question. After that, she yawned.

Miss Hue Fang knew the girl was tough, but she was acting worse than normal, and as soon as she saw her little mouth open, she understood. She happened to be tired. The teacher dragged her to her arms, and Suyin was not against it. On the contrary, she snuggled into the teacher's lap. Everything seemed to be going fine, until Miss Hue started singing a song.

"No, stop!" - she pounded bossy - "I wanna bed time story."

"Ok, I will tell you a story." - The teacher smiled - "But you're going to say sorry to Miss May and put on your shoes first."