The only people I own are the triplets, Zahira, and her children! Thank you so much for your reviews, please R&R!


Suyin stilled herself and took count of how long the group had been sequestered at her mother's house. Let's see, the day before yesterday was when Air Temple Island got attacked and Hiroshi told us about the busmen's imminent arrival, yesterday Lin brought the triplets into the world, and now technically we're in a new day—that's three days.

They're coming NOW.

Hurriedly Suyin tapped out her findings in Morse code on the stone walls; the earthbender was too far to read their vibrations, and only Toph would respond which for now was for the best. Sure enough, not five minutes later Toph was quickly striding down the halls towards were Suyin and Korra were standing. "Are you sure?" Toph said, her voice becoming increasingly worried. "It's not some teenage miscreants?"

Suyin rapidly shook her head. "The bodies are too large to be teenagers. It has to be them mom, there's no other option."

Toph nodded and used her seismic sense herself. Sure enough, Su was right; there were four adults stationed behind the gardens of her house, one of them without arms. She cursed under her breath. "They weren't waiting to take Korra until after the bugmen came, they're going to do so before, so that by the time we realized we'd be overwhelmed! Stay here, I'm getting Zuko so he can wake up his fire-breathing lizard. With any luck, they'll be distracted enough that we can get Lin and the kids to Zaofu."

Suyin nodded and furiously stroked the back of her niece's head. Not five minutes later all the adults save for Lin and Tenzin came streaming out of the bedroom. As the adults dispersed, Suyin ducked into Lin's room, where she found Tenzin haphazardly shoving clothes into bags as an exhausted Lin held onto the triplets. Upon seeing her sister, she cracked an uneasy grin. "They have some excellent timing." Though her voice was even, it was easy to see the fear in her eyes. Lin had never been comfortable with being vulnerable, so to be recovering from childbirth when her family was in danger was incredibly disconcerting. Without another word Suyin kissed Lin on the forehead and stroked her cheek, trying desperately to comfort her older sister.

"Where did everyone go?" Suyin asked. "Are they all trying to go after the group at once?"

"Not all of them, no," Tenzin replied absentmindedly as he finished packing. "Zahira went to wake up the children and corral them together for when we exit on the air bison. Told them some sort of tale about Air Nomad culture to get them up."

Sure enough, the rest of the children entered the bedroom, yawning and rubbing their eyes. "Uncle Tenzin, I'm all for reviving ancient traditions but do we have to watch the stars on the back on an air bison the night after a new Airbender is born?" Bumi's daughter Melati asked. Tenzin loved spending time with his nieces and nephews, but Melati especially was the apple of his eye. She was calm, quiet, studious, and an avid chronicler of the history of the Air Nomads. He imagined it wouldn't be long before his beloved niece would join his family on Air Temple Island as an Air Acolyte.

"I know it's early, but there is a responsibility to uphold these traditions," he said with a strained smile as he looked to his sister-in-law. "Where are the others?"


The others, as it turned out, were in the kitchen preparing to hurtle themselves at the group of benders assembled just outside Toph's gates. Bumi and Mai had armed themselves to the teeth with shuriken knives, Sokka grabbed his meteorite sword and his trusty boomerang, and Suki had even donned her old Kyoshi Warrior armor. "I'll be damned if those benders get anywhere near the children," Katara said as she filled up water skeins for herself and for Kya.

"Language Sugar Queen, our children are listening," Toph said, sarcastically aghast.

"Have those benders moved any, Beifongs?" Zuko asked, sheathing his dueling swords. "We can't risk them getting any closer before I get to Druk."

Suyin used her seismic sense to find their location. The group was ensconced in a large willow tree near the back of the grounds. Since Naga, Druk, and Oogi were off the patio, it would only be a quick walk before Zuko could get to his dragon. "Bumi, Kya, use your air bison whistles to call your air bison. Lin, Tenzin, and the kids are going to need to get out as soon as possible."

Toph raised her eyebrow. "What makes you think that you're not joining them?"

"I'm leading my Metal Clan into battle come morning, so leaving would put a wrench in those plans. Anyways, that's not important right now, what's important is that we get Zuko to his dragon and the kids out of the line of fire!"

Before Toph could respond, Azula tensed. "Everyone, behind me," Azula said, deathly serious. "On the count of three, we flank Zuko as he gets to his lizard—"

"For the last time, it's a DRAGON—"

"One, two, three, GO!"

The group barged out of the room ready to take on the benders, only to find—nothing. Azula knew they were being lured into a false calm—she had used the same technique before, after all—but what was unsettling was her adversaries. Where were they?

Her answer came in the form of a combustion near the feet of Druk. The dragon hissed and backpedaled, and would have flown off like Oogi had Zuko not calmed him down. "Sounds like old times, right Zuko? Azula?" Sokka said, trying to break the tension. "If it were old times I would have hired the creeps," Zuko cracked. Ty Lee ran forward to grab Naga but jumped back. Surrounding the terrified animal was a moat of lava.

"Look at you bastards, ruining my garden," Toph scoffed. "Why don't you come down here and fix it?"

Out of the air appeared the group. There was a muscular man in a horse stance; a tall woman with a braid down her back and an eye tattooed on her forehead; a woman with long hair and two water whips for arms; and a man in a top knot gracefully balancing on one foot.

Kya and Katara dropped into defensive forms. Suki drew her fans, and Sokka his meteorite broadsword; Mai and Bumi readied their throwing knives, Ty Lee got into position to chi-block, and Toph, Suyin, Azula, and Zuko formed an offensive.

Without another word, the man in the top knot leapt towards Azula and chi blocked her. Mai and Bumi threw their knives towards the edges of his clothing, but he effortlessly dodged them and stunned Bumi with a single punch before jumping on Mai's shoulder and launching himself at Suki. Suki threw one of her fans at him and was able to disorient him, but he recovered quickly and used her as a jumping point to launch himself at Ty Lee who barely avoided being taken down by his fast strikes. All the while the combustion bender was firing at the feet of the Gang so that they would have to split up instead of staying close together. The earthbender easily melted through any defenses Toph and Suyin created, and the waterbender quickly co-opted the water Katara and Kya were using as her own.

"What are you going to do now, water benders? Bloodbend me? Go ahead, there's a full moon!" the woman taunted. Kya snarled and Katara threateningly raised her arm. The woman paused in fear, which gave Zuko enough time to generate lightning and Ty Lee enough time to immobilize her. Katara and Kya bent her water back into their skeins before Toph earthbent her into the same underground cell that Hiroshi was inhabiting.

"Alright, we have one dumbass down, three to go! Let's go!" Toph said with a whoop.

Azula stretched, feeling finally returning to her limbs. Looking behind her she saw the drawn faces of Lin, her daughter, and Tenzin waiting in the kitchen. They were standing in such a way that none of the children could see the true cause of their nighttime stargazing trip. While she was reorienting herself the combustion bender was readying herself to strike, and would have taken Azula out permanently had Oogi and the two other bison Kya and Bumi called not arrived. Forming a protective line against the intruders, they sent the three assailants flying with a single swish of their tails. With a flick of her fingers Toph opened the porch door, allowing the group inside to rush outside. Zuko jumped onto Druk and formed a protective circle around the bison.

"They'll be out but only for a short time!" Zuko said urgently. "We need to hurry!"

Quickly Kya and Zahira helped everyone onto an air bison. Lin, Tenzin, and their children led on Oogi, Kya's bison held Suyin's children and Naga, and Bumi's bison with Zahira and all of their children brought up the rear. "Stay by me!" Tenzin barked. Suyin kissed her children goodbye, as did Bumi; both promised their children that they would catch up to them at another time, which was not met with complaints due to the late hour of travel. The airbender quickly created a large sphere of air to obscure himself as Zuko and his dragon watched the rear for any disturbances. His guard was short-lived, however, as the combustionbender created an explosion right by Druk's feet. Hissing in irritation, the dragon dove away from the slowly airborne group and towards where the combustion bender had been hiding.

Sokka took one look at Suki and kissed her deeply. "I love you," he said before pulling away. Without looking back he ran up the tail of Bumi's ascending bison and launched himself into the air, angling his boomerang towards the center of the combustionbender's forehead. "C'mon boomerang, don't fail me now," he pleaded. Sure enough, the boomerang nailed its intended target and rendered the woman immobile and incapable of bending. Sokka landed on the ground with a harsh thud and rolled a few times to cushion the force. Suki ran to help him up as Suyin and Katara bent metal and ice around her forehead to prevent her from bending. Once they were done, Toph bent her into a different underground storage cellar so that the waterbender couldn't remove the ice.

Exhausted, Mai took stock of the state of their fight. Two of the assailants were out and Tenzin had been able to safely evacuate the children, which was certainly good; yet Sokka almost certainly broke his leg in the fall, Azula was barely getting her firebending back, and Bumi's disorientation indicated the beginnings of a concussion. The lavabender was indefatigable, and the non bender in the top knot seemed like he was barely getting started. Not liking their odds, Mai sharpened her knives and eyed her next target.

Suyin and Toph were tag-teaming the lavabender. While he wasn't destroying anymore of Toph's garden, he was creating lava pools in the pumice that existed. Since the Beifong women couldn't lavabend, they relied on manipulating the earth within the lava to solidify the moats. Though the women were making excellent headway, at the rate they were going they would never be able to challenge the lavabender. Mai looked at Bumi and Azula and gestured with her head towards the intruder. Bumi deftly threw two knives at the intruder's feet. Enraged, the lavabender turned towards the crew and lifted his hands into the air to bend a stream. The change in movement gave Azula enough time to draw the fire from the lava while Toph quickly bent titanium chains around his arms and legs. With three steps Suyin buried him in another storage unit underneath a large willow tree.

Infuriated, the nonbender turned to the group assembled. Mai and Ty Lee were back to back, in position to throw knives or chi block, respectively; Suyin and Toph were in the front, ready to strike; Zuko and Azula's fists glowed orange and blue with unused fire; Sokka was supported by Suki, who stood in front of him protectively. Lips parting into a grotesque smile, the nonbender lunged towards Suki.

He never saw the tentacles coming.

Katara enveloped herself in water and commanded multiple water whips as if she were a squid-octopus and snapped them at his feet. Falling over, he righted himself only for another tentacle to come crashing into his chest. The force was so great that it sent him tumbling to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to stand up, another tentacle knocked him down and froze, ensuring that he wouldn't move. More and more tentacles crisscrossed his body, freezing him in place. One last tentacle snapped on his head, rendering him unconscious. Without another word Suyin encased him in pumice and moved him to another underground location in the garden.

"I always knew those underground cellars would come in handy," Toph noted grimly as the sun began to rise. "Thank the spirits that's over."

The group assembled let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding. Sure, they were bruised and battered, but what was important was that they were all alive.

They turned in the direction of the city and walked towards police headquarters, anxiously awaiting the rest of what was surely to come. Katara and Suki supported Sokka as they walked into Toph's house. "Hey sis, can I ask you something?" he said, clearly winded as the women sat him down in a kitchen chair. Sokka never wanted her to worry, and tried desperately (though unsuccessfully) to hide his pain from her.

The edges of Katara's mouth quirked into a small smile as she began examining his leg. It was definitely broken, but nothing a healing session couldn't fix. "Not like I could ever stop you before."

Sokka hesitated. "When that waterbender taunted you, she dared you to use bloodbending. I saw you raise your arm up..."

Katara's eyes widened and she dropped her water. "I didn't bloodbend her!"

"I know you didn't," he soothed. "But if there hadn't been others fighting, and it had been just you two, would you have done it? Even if it would have protected Tenzin and Korra?"

The master waterbender turned away from her brother and sister-in-law. "I don't know," she said quietly, tears in her eyes. "I really, really don't know."