Here's some more, just a tiny bit up drama, more to come. The next chapter is a little fluffy, then we get to the serious stuff. I'll post the next one in the next day or two.

I haven't said it enough lately, but thanks for all feedback...it makes me happy.

most characters by Bryke

Kyu By Mary Kate

Kimi and story by me

Gaoling part 2

Toph and her friends watched their children dance around the ballroom. A wide smile graced her face as her eyes followed Lin and Tenzin on the dance floor. She watched Ursa and Kyu wrapped in each other's arms looking totally in love. He was just as handsome as Katara said, even more so in his cream dress uniform. Sokka twirled around the floor with his daughter and Bumi was pulled around by his big sister.

Sokka looked so happy to be with Kimi, but then Toph noticed him glance at the staircase and he stopped in his tracks. Toph followed his eyes up the staircase to the tall thin man at the top of the stairs. Katara must of notice Sokka stop too because she quietly said "No…it can't be."

Toph looked at Katara, "Who is that?"

Before Katara could answer his name was announced. "Why is he here?!" she demanded.

"I don't know." Madam Beifong answered.

"I invited him." Lao said bluntly, "His family has standing and he is the child's father."

"No he's not!" Toph said, "He gave us up a long time ago."

~.~.~.~.

Kimi was gliding across the dance floor with her father when he stopped all of a sudden he stopped and glared at the man at the top of the stairs, "Sokka?" she asked just in time to hear the man's name announced. She gasped and shot a worried look over at Bumi. Without saying a word they both headed for Lin.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Lin froze. All she could do was stare at him. That nice man who had spoken to her and Tenzin minutes before was her father. The same father who didn't want her. The same father who'd abandoned her before she'd even had a chance to take her first breath in this world. There he was, marching down the stairs toward her. Her knees may have buckled if Tenzin and Kimi weren't holding on to her.

"What is he doing here?" Kimi demanded, glaring at the man.

"I don't know, but he needs to leave." Bumi bit out.

Kya, Ursa and Kyu walked up, "Who's that?" Kyu asked "And why are your folks acting like somebody sucked all the air out of the room?"

Kya and Ursa squinted "He looks familiar." Ursa said.

"Yeah." Kya chimed in, "Wait…is that?"

"That's her father." Tenzin said bitterly glaring at the man who was approaching them. He stepped in front of Lin just as Toph walked up.

She jammed her finger in Moo-Chee's chest "What are you doing here?!"

"It's nice to see you too Toph." he said smiling as if this was a happy reunion, "My parents and I were invited. They send their apologies that they could not attend."

"That is not what I asked you." she growled through her teeth.

"I came to see my-"

"Don't you dare!" Toph snapped "Don't you dare finish that sentence." Toph noticed Lin step up beside her. "Lin, this is-"

"I know who he is." the girl said woodenly staring up at the man who fathered her. Now she saw where her height and lean body came from.

"Hello again Lin. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. You've grown into such a beautiful young woman."

"Earlier? You were around my child earlier?"

"Yes." he said, still very calm "I saw my daughter and Tenzin and I spoke to them."

The way he said my daughter made Lin's blood boil. She opened her mouth to rant at him, but just then Sokka stepped up "Linny, didn't you want to show me the pond?" he said calmly, knowing the girl was about to explode.

"Sokka." she said, her voice shaking and breathless. She was on the verge of tears. Lin turned and stepped into his arms.

"Hello Sokka. Long time no see." Moo-Chee chirped.

"Yeah." the warrior said, cutting his eyes at the earth bender before he turned and walked Lin outside.

.~.~.~.~.~.

"So Toph," her ex-husband said "You look good."

"Same to you girly face." she bit back. She finally knew what he looked like. She had always imagined him being ugly because he had done such an ugly thing, but the fact was he was slightly nice to look at.

"Oh yes. Your father told me about your little miracle. Congratulations."

Toph crossed her arms, "My father talks too much." she shot Lao a nasty look, "What else has he told you?"

"He talks to me about Lin." the man cast his eyes to the floor in shame, "All about what a great kid she is and how your friends stepped in and took care of her in my place. Mostly he tells me what a fool I was to leave her…to leave both of you."

"He said that?" Toph asked.

"Yes. I know it's way too late, but I wanted to make amends to you two."

"The best way for you to do that is to leave and stay gone. We've done fine without you."

"I'm sorry Toph, but I can't do that. You always think it's about what you want. What if my daughter wants me around?"

Toph started to lunge at Moo-Chee, but Zuko grabbed her arm and Katara stepped in front of her. "You heard her. She asked you to leave."

"Ever the bodyguard, aren't you Katara." he smirked.

"We take care of each other." Aang chimed in, "Too bad you couldn't do the same."

"Look. I know I screwed up. I'm trying to do better. Let Lin decide if she wants me in her life or not."

Aang thought for a second, "Okay, but is she tells you to leave then you will do so."

"Aang!" Toph snapped.

"Listen Toph, Lin is old enough to make this decision for herself. Let him talk to her and let her decide if she wants him in her life." the chief looked at her old friend with sad eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder, "She's a smart girl and Sokka's with her. It'll be okay." Toph made a face.

"Go before I change my mind." she said.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

When they reached the pond, Lin balled herself in Sokka's arms and began to weep. "Why is he even here? He never wanted me." she cried into his robes.

He held her so he could see her face, "Lin, who told you that?"

"We snuck into the Hall of Records and found Mom's files."

"Linny, why did you do that? When did you do that?"

The girl sniffed, "When Kimi was in Republic City. I just wanted to know. I thought, I thought maybe he wanted me like you wanted her. But he didn't. He never wanted me."

He brought the girl in closer. "He didn't have to because I did. I see no difference between you and Kimi. I raised you, not Moo-Chee. You are my daughter."

"Ah Sokka, if that were only true."

"Did you follow us Dark One?" Sokka said with a knotted face.

"You can say that. I wanted to talk to her." he turned his attention to his daughter. "Lin. I don't know what they've told you about me, but I'm sorry I ever left you. It's taken me way too long to figure that out. I'd like a chance to be in your life."

In almost a whisper Lin said "No."

For the first time that day The Dark One frowned, "What was that?"

Lin tore away from Sokka and clinched her fist, "I said NO."

"But I'm your father."

"You are not my father. Fathers love you and take care of you. They raise you and teach you things. You did none of that! Zuko, Aang and Sokka raised me. They loved me and took care of me even though they didn't have to. That was your job!" she went back to Sokka. "He's right. He is my father. You just donated the genes."

Moo-Chee looked at Sokka "You poisoned my child against me."

"No he didn't! Nobody ever said anything against you to me. I went in search of answers. I saw what you wrote." she dropped her head, "You didn't want me. You didn't even want to give me a chance."

"Lin, I'm sorry. I should've done better, but I want to try."

"Why now?!" she snapped, "I'm almost fourteen years old!"

Moo-Chee lidded his eyes "Ha-has it been that long already?"

"Yes." she looked to Sokka's robes, "My birthday is next week."

He looked back at his daughter. Her face was washed in tears and she clung to the shirt of the man she regarded as her father. In that moment he felt so ashamed. "I'm sorry Lin. I shouldn't have interrupted your day."

Moo-Chee-Goo-Chee-La-Poo-Chee the Third turned to leave. He'd only taken five steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder, then he heard Lin's voice, "Look. You came all this way. You might as well stay for the party."

He turned and smiled softly at her, "Thank you Lin."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Once Sokka and Lin came back and reported to the group what happened, everyone went back to enjoying the party. Kyu had stood silently by and waited for Ursa to get word from her little friend, but as soon as that word came he pulled her back on the dance floor. It was a great way to get away with holding her so close with her father in the room.

"I'm so happy you're here." the princess said as she rested her head on his chest, "I thought you couldn't get leave."

"We were near here. I had to drop a couple of names to get here, but when the commander found out that I was going to a party at the Beifong estate where the Avatar and the Fire Lord were in attendance he gladly gave me twenty four hours."

Ursa sighed, "I suppose a little while is better than nothing."

"It is." he said "So…um…is this a new hairstyle?"

Ursa looked up at Kyu with an angry face and stormed off the dance floor. "Ursa! I meant it's nice." Kyu called behind her. He started to follow but Bumi stepped in front of him.

"Ah. She'll be back. She's just a little touchy about being a melon head."

"I should've known better."

"Yeah," the younger man said, "You should've…Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Could you tell me about the United Forces. I mean what it's really like to be in it."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

As night started to fall, the guest began leaving. The only ones who lingered were the social climbers who wanted to kiss up to Lao, Aang or Zuko.

Lin disappeared shortly after Moo-Chee left. She'd actually taken a few minutes to talk to him and told him that it was okay if he wrote to her from time to time. She would have been lying if she said that when he smiled at her it didn't make her feel a bit happier inside. The day hadn't been the total disaster she'd thought it would be.

When Tenzin found Lin, she was sitting on a bench in the garden. She had pulled her shoes off and was stretching her toes in the soft grass. "Took you long enough to find me," she said as he walked up behind her. "If you passed that door one more time I was going to come and tell you where I was."

He smiled, "You've gotten good at that. You're probably as good as Toph by now."

"Naw. Mom's the pro. I'll never be as good as her."

"You never know." he said as he sat down beside her "So, your, um…Moo-Chee, he seems to be nice."

"I guess so. I told him he can write me sometimes. We'll see if he does."

"That's good." he said looking at his feet shifting in the grass, "You really look nice today."

"You told me that already." she said, "You look nice too."

He felt a blush cross his face, "Thank you." they sat for a moment before he said, "You know, I still feel bad for what happened…you know, in that cave on the island."

"Are you still going on about that? I already told you, it's no big deal." Lin said as she smiled inwardly at the impulsive kiss her friend had given her.

"I know." he said "But your first kiss should have been special and I ruined it."

She smiled, "Yeah, you kinda did. But it's okay. I get why you did it." she looked at him "So was it special when you kissed Kuji?"

Tenzin's head shot up and he looked at Lin with confusion "I never kissed Kuji. Who told you that?"

She looked away, placing her hand on either side of her body and leaning back, "Oh. Well, you want to kiss her. Don't you?"

His face softened and he looked away, "I don't know. Maybe." he looked out of the corner of his eyes at his friend who was looking at him again "I mean, she's nice and pretty and everything. And I think she likes me."

The earth bender rolled her eyes "Gee, what was your first clue?"

He cocked his head "What do you mean by that?"

Lin stood up and went into an over blown mimic of Kuji "Oh Tenzin, you're so hot. I love your arrows. Oooo can I go for a ride on Oogi?"

Tenzin almost laughed "Well, it's good to know someone likes me."

Lin's smile dropped and she looked at him "I like you."

"Yes, but not like that."

Lin twisted her toes in the grass "I don't know. Kuji might be a little right."

He rolled his eyes "Lin, I'm not falling for your prank. You don't like me."

She crossed her arms "Oh shut up Tenzin."

"I don't know why you're acting like that. It's not like you want to kiss me or anything."

"I don't know. It might be nice to do it on purpose."

Tenzin studied Lin for a minute. He saw that she was serious. The teenager stood up, walked over to his friend and gently uncrossed her arms. They stepped to each other silently and their lips met.

The two didn't know how long they stayed like that, but they snapped to attention when they heard "Whoa Tenzy! Way to go!"

"Bumi!" the boy yelled as he took off running at his older brother.

The older boy laughed as he ran back toward the house "I'm telling. Toph is gonna kick your ass."

"Get back here Bumi!" Tenzin yelled.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Finally, all the guests had gone home and everyone started heading to their rooms except for Bumi who ran to catch up with his parents before they turned in. "Mom, Dad!" he called out just as Aang was about to close the door. He wished he hadn't heard his father's frustrated sigh.

"Yes Bumi, what is it?" Aang asked hoping it was something he could handle quickly so he and his wife could get back to their plans for each other.

"I need to talk to you guys."

"Really Bumi? Now?" Aang asked.

Katara nudged her husband "Come on in Boom. What's on your mind?"

Bumi gave his father a knowing smirk as he passed by to which the Avatar responded with a whispered "I hope you have five kids just like you."

Bumi settled in the middle of the room "Okay, so I know you were expecting me to make this decision a while back," the young man started "but I had to think on it for a while. I've decided what I'm going to do when school is out."

The water bender and the Avatar had always known that it was a forgone conclusion that their son was going to travel the world like their daughter had, "We've been waiting for this." Aang said "So, which friends will be traveling with you?"

Bumi looked his father in the eyes and in a very serious voice he said "The United Forces."

"What?" both parents said in shock.

"I know, I know. It won't be easy, but it's what I want to do."

Aang said "Boom, you do understand that you have to be very disciplined."

"Yes Dad."

"And you have to do as they tell you." Katara added.

"Yes Mom. I had a long talk with Kyu. He told me all about it."

"And you're positive about this?" she asked.

"I've been thinking about this for over a year. This is my path." he said with assured determination.

Aang put a hand on his shoulder. "Then we will happily do whatever you need us to do to help you follow that path."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The crown princess had just taken the heavy headpiece from her head and has started the process of pulling the hundreds of hairpins from her hair when there was a knock on her door. "Well it's about time Kya" she said as she went to the door, "You have to help me with this shi-" she stopped in her tracks when she say Kyu standing at her door instead of her friend. She pulled him in the door and ducked her head out to see if anyone was in the hall. "What are you doing here? What if Dad had seen you?"

"How could he when Kya is talking to him downstairs?" he said with a sly smile before he closed the distance between them, "I've come to bow to the princess."

The euphemism made the young woman smile at memories of her fiancé's head nestled between her thighs. She said, "Well Sergeant, perhaps we can do a bit more."