Toph hated these galas. Well any formal event at City Hall, to be specific. She always signed up for duty, because as a city official, her presence there would be required, but if she was on duty she got to wear her police chief uniform and didn't have to wear shoes (or at least pretend to). At least the annual gala was her preferred event every year, because Zuko and Mai would usually come down from the Fire Nation for the event, and it was one of the rare times when they would all be together again. Between family obligations, all of their official duties, and life in general, it was very uncommon for everyone in the old gang to be together. No one besides Sokka had even heard from Suki in over ten years, which was sad, but after their breakup, she had pretty much stayed on Kyoshi Island. Katara had once (only half-jokingly) mused that perhaps she had made a life with Ty Lee, but that was a speculation that had been immediately shot down by a red-faced Sokka.

The original gang was only ever really together midsummer, at the Republic Gala, and in spite of her lingering concern and disappointment regarding the Quon Li case, Toph was glad that it was that time of year again.

"Why can't I go with you, Mom?" asked Lin, as Toph pinned down some of the last rebellious strands of hair that, if not restrained properly, would tickle her neck relentlessly the entire evening.

"You know why, sweetie. I'd have you there with me if the stupid council would get over their rules." replied Toph. "Once you hit sixteen you're more than welcome to join me."

Joining Lin on the bed where she had been sitting watching her mother get ready for the gala, Toph put a hand on her daughter's bony shoulder.

"It's not that bad," she said, "you'll get to play pai sho with Kya, Bumi and Tenzin all night, and you can stay up as late as you want!"

At the sound of Tenzin's name, Lin's countenance improved, and Toph was able to feel a subtle jolt of excitement pass through her. She smiled inwardly – she was well aware of her daughter's little crush on Tenzin, and didn't mind one bit.

"Speaking of which," Toph continued, "are you dressed? Aunt Katara and Uncle Aang will be here soon."

Lin fidgeted under her mother's hand, knowing that she couldn't hide her laziness from her mother.

"No." she said grudgingly. "It's my house, why can't I just stay in my training clothes?"

Toph stood up, chuckling, "Because I'm familiar with how dirty those clothes get! Just go put on something comfortable, Lin. You know I think you look pretty in anything."

Lin rolled her eyes at the age-old 'blind' joke that her mother made whenever she was trying to convince her to do something girly, like dressing up.

A gong sounded five times from the kitchen, courtesy of one of Sokka's 'inventions' – a modified ticking clock attached to some contraption that weighted the gong whenever the hour turned. She had absolutely no idea how it worked, but Sokka had fiddled with it for weeks and had ceremoniously installed it, demanding only a tumbler of sake as payment.

"It's five o'clock, Lin. They'll be here any minute."

Lin heaved a giant sigh that was mostly for show. "Okay, Mom." She hopped off the bed and stomped down the hall to her own bedroom. Toph heard the door close, and had a bit a quiet chuckle. The closed door was a new thing, probably related to puberty, and a habit that Toph found amusing simply because she was more aware of her daughter's activities than most parents were, in spite of her blindness. She could have sensed exactly where Lin was in her bedroom if she focused, but there was an unspoken understanding between them that when the door was shut, Lin wanted privacy, which Toph was (at least for the time being) happy to give her.

Toph went to the kitchen to put on a pot of tea and hide her small collection of knives (Bumi was very enthusiastic about knives, and Katara often had her hands full healing the ambitious teenager's wounds after imaginary spars), although with Lin and Toph both being talented earthbenders, there weren't many to begin with. Toph had worked out a system for her gas stove to avoid burns, but Sokka had also put himself to work rigging the kitchen so she had the least amount of opportunities to hurt herself. Her house was full of Sokka's inventions, as was Aang and Katara's. It was just a Sokka thing; he was always taking care of people.

Thinking about Sokka reminded Toph that they had barely spoken since Quon Li's trial; in fact, she didn't think she'd said anything to him besides the odd perfunctory greeting for over a week. She sighed, feeling guilty and selfish. She hadn't intended to give him the cold shoulder, but on some level she had realised that any conversation they had would inevitably turn to a discussion about the trial, and she didn't want to talk about it at all. It wasn't his fault that Quon Li had gotten off – if anything, she was the one who had failed by being unable to gather enough evidence and testimony to put the scumbag away, and more than anything, she hated not talking to Sokka. They had been constant companions for decades, and in the years they had both been city officials, he had helped her through a lot of professional and personal hard times, not the least being the death of Lin's father just four months into her pregnancy. She would have to make a point of apologising to him tonight at the gala.

The kettle started its high pitched whistle just as the bell Sokka had installed at the front door gave an energetic rattle, which led Toph to bemusedly assume that Tenzin was the one doing the ringing.

Toph padded across the earthen floor of her single story apartment, and sensed the large group of her loved ones behind the door before she opened it, feeling very lucky to still have these special people in her life.

It had taken some time, but eventually Toph, Katara, Aang, Zuko and Mai had been able to leave for the gala. Zuko had explained (apparently for the fifth time, after explaining to Aang and Katara's kids, and Bumi twice) that his daughter was acting as his regent while he was in Republic City, which was why she couldn't join them on the visit. Lin was always excited about seeing the Fire Princess, and they had a lot of fun training and sparring with one another, so she had been disappointed when she found out that there would be no visit this year.

Bumi had been warned about the knives, Kya had been given some emergency spirit water, and Tenzin had been reminded to only airbend outside, where Toph's carefully laid out but messy house would not be rearranged.

As they left Toph's apartment (on foot, five middle-aged adults was a lot of weight for the aging Appa, and City Hall was only a few blocks away), Zuko mused that it was taking less and less time to get the kids settled each year.

"I can't believe they're almost all teenagers now," said Katara, looking a little sad. "You know Bumi's already talking about joining the military?"

Aang put his arm around his wife, grinning. "He's got every bit of determination you do, so I'm not even going to argue with him."

Katara gave a slight sniff, but smiled, hugging Aang back.

Toph, who had been walking on Aang's other side, punched him hard on the arm not holding Katara.

"Enough with the soppy stuff, tonight we're having fun!" she said.

"But you're on duty," said Mai. "As usual."

Toph shrugged. "My team know that I only do it so that I don't have to get all dressed up for society. They'll have my back."