Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra

"Mom, the boat just docked." Kya informed her mother.

Katara nodded at her daughter and turned back to the two seated in front of her. Lin and Suyin were both playing with their hands nervously. The waterbender could only sigh. She was aware that Toph was much more liberal with her daughters. But when it came to discipline Toph knew exactly what she was doing. Katara only hoped she would go a bit easy on them.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The two girls' breath hitched.

Katara made her way to the door and opened it. She found the chief of police with a hand on her hip, her face stoic. "Hi, Toph."

The earthbender grunted as a response and tried to get past her friend. Katara, however, stopped her.

"Listen, the girls are feeling bad enough for making you leave work early. I've already scolded them."

Toph's face contorted in irritation. "Whatever you did wasn't scolding. The girls know what scolding is and I'm the only one that can do it."

"Just," Katara started. "Don't bury them in the backyard."

"No promises." Toph began walking down the hallway towards the kitchen.

The Bei Fong sisters flinched at each step of their mother's metal uniform that they heard coming towards the kitchen. Their heads got lower and lower as she approached. Once she finally appeared in the room, the girls were practically under the counter.

Toph's face remained neutral, saving her scowling for later. "Lin. Suyin."

The girls scrambled to appear in front of their mother. Once there, Toph once more began walking down the hallway.

"We're going home."

The two girls followed obediently. Lin frowned at Tenzin who was waving goodbye from the door to his room. She needed all the luck she can get. Katara walked them out. Toph thanked her for watching the girls and apologized for the trouble the girls had caused. Before the waterbender could respond, Toph was already making her way to the docks. She watched the Bei Fong's from the doorway, surprised that Suyin took Lin's hand as they boarded the boat. Katara couldn't help but smile. No matter how much the two sisters fought, deep down, they still cared for each other.

The boat ride across Yue Bay was tense. Lin and Suyin sat together on a bench while their mother stood and leaned on the railing. The rocking of the boat was the least important of her thoughts.

"Do you think Mom is going to ground us?"

Lin rolled her eyes. "She is going to ground us alright. Until our heads are the only thing sticking out of the ground."

The two didn't talk the rest of the way.

They approached the Bei Fong estate in silence. Toph was too caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone leaning against the door to her home.

"Skipping out on duties, Chief? What would the force say?"

Toph growled at the councilman. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't a person check up on his best friend?"

"I'm fine. You can leave now."

"Aren't going to offer me tea?"

The earthbender shifted him over to unlock the door. "The only thing I'm going to offer you is my fist if you don't leave soon. I have certain things to take care of, Sokka."

Sokka noticed that Toph was glaring in the general direction of her daughters. He definitely wasn't going to leave now. He smirked. "If you could add my tea to your list that would be lovely."

Lin and Suyin giggled.

Toph yelled at an instant. "Get inside. Now!"

The girls scurried towards their rooms.

"I'm guessing you found out that Suyin was roaming around downtown by herself."

Sokka smirked at the surprise on Toph's face. "How did you know?"

The councilman followed Toph into the kitchen. "The fire nation representative informed me before one of my meetings that a six-year-old girl had asked him for directions. I inquired about what she had looked like, call it instinct."

"And?"

"She wasn't wearing shoes."

Toph slapped her forehead. She docked some points off her reputation. Hopefully no one else had recognized that the chief of police's daughter was roaming the city alone. She sighed. "Stay here."

"Now you want me?" Sokka chuckled.

"I need you for something." Toph explained. "But first I have to take care of the girls."

"Both of them?"

"Yes, both of them."

The chief of police left the kitchen before Sokka could ask. She carefully made her way towards the girls' rooms. She passed by Suyin's door and knocked on it, telling her that she was going to talk to them in Lin's room. Toph opened Lin's door and didn't sense her heartbeat, which meant she was on her bed. The earthbender felt her youngest pass by her. Suyin sat herself on the bed next to her sister awaiting their mother's sentence.

Toph stood over the two. Lin and Suyin were two very brave little girls, stubborn even. The only being that could break their attitudes was their mother. And it was with the best intentions, of course.

"Suyin."

The six-year-old looked into her mother's blank eyes.

"Where did you go."

"Into the city." She answered obediently.

Toph spoke again. "Where in the city."

"Just in the city."

"Su, stand on the floor and tell me where you went."

The small girl jumped off the bed and stood with her hands behind her back. "Mom, I just walked around the city."

Toph frowned at her. "Su, you're lying to me."

She said nothing.

"Tell me where you went. I know you asked for directions. You asked the Fire Nation representative."

"I asked how to get back to Air Temple Island."

Toph struck with a dumbfounded face. "Why are you lying?"

Su didn't answer.

"Where were you."

The child only fumbled with her hands behind her back.

The chief of police began pacing. Her hand was rubbing her temple, something she had gotten used to when she got headaches. She tried her best not to explode at her youngest. "Okay, well if you won't tell me where you went, tell me why you didn't have Lin with you."

"I can walk by myself." Su told her mother.

"Suyin, you are only six years old. The least you could do is take your older sister with you. You could have kidnapped for all I know. Then it would be me looking for you. Do you want to put me in that kind of situation?"

Su looked towards the ground. "No."

Toph sighed deeply. "I let you guys do whatever you want. The only thing I ask is that you guys watch each others' back. That's all the security I need. Is it so hard to follow this one rule I have?"

Lin was surprised to find her mother staring in her general direction. "Are you talking to me?"

"Technically, I'm talking to both of you. But mostly you, Lin." Toph approached her this time. "How did you lose track of your sister so easily?"

"Mom?" Lin questioned.

"Lin, you know how to use seismic sense better than Su. You should have easily notice her leave the island. Unless you weren't paying attention."

Lin crossed her arms. "There are like 80 other heartbeats on the island."

"Still," Toph scolded. "You should have been paying attention."

The eldest of the Bei Fong sisters found it unnecessary to fight her mother anymore. She answered back defeated. "Yes, Mom."

"Now, for the rest of the week, to avoid leaving work again, you two are staying home. And if you guys destroy the house? Make sure it's fixed before I come home or so help me I'm sending you guys to live with your grandparents." Toph threatened.

"Yes, Mom." The two answered.

"Suyin, come to your room. I'm talking to you especially." Toph exited the room.

Su looked back at her sister. The two gave each other neutral faces.

"Are you mad at me?"

Lin crossed her legs and faced the wall, her back towards Suyin. "Don't keep Mom waiting."

The sound of her door closing made Lin punch her wall. The sound of her mother and sister talking only angered her more.

She runs away, but gets all of Mom's attention.

Lin sipped her tea at the kitchen table. It was around eleven at night and the house was fairly quiet. Suyin had stayed in her room the rest of the night while her mother and Sokka had gone out to wind down. Lin had trouble sleeping from the day's events. The fact that they were trapped in the house for the rest of the week irritated her to no end. Now, all Lin had for company was Suyin and that wasn't going to end well. On top of that, Suyin was getting Toph's attention for all the wrong reasons and Lin good not stand it.

She put her cup away and began walking back to her room with the intention of trying to sleep once more. As she passed Su's door, she couldn't help but stop. Disregarding her anger with Suyin, Lin was interested to why she was lying to her mother about her whereabouts. Both sisters knew that lying to their mother would only get them into more trouble due to Toph's ability to detect heartbeats. Like her mother said earlier, Lin was getting pretty good at it as well.

Lin couldn't help herself and opened her sister's door. She was going to find out even if she had to wake Suyin at almost midnight. The room was dark as there was only an eighth of the moon out tonight. Lin could see the small figure of her sister sleeping in her bed. Her blanket was pulled all the way up covering her head as well.

"Su?"

There was no response.

Lin approached the bed and shook her sister's form. "Su, wake up."

Still nothing. And to Lin's knowledge, Suyin's body didn't feel correct under the blanket. The eldest Bei Fong sister grabbed the blanket and pulled it off. She gasped in genuine surprise.

There were only pillows lying in Suyin's place.

Lin was out the door immediately.

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