A little addition since I felt like it.

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Chapter 3

"What are you two still doing? We got to go!" Toph bended her armor off and was searching for a shirt to put over her tank top.

"Tell mommy, Su. What are you doing?" Sokka turned to their three-year-old.

"Finger painting." she said almost clearly.

"Yes, finger painting. Good girl!"

"Would you stop training her like she's a lemur?" Toph found a shirt on the sofa and put it on.

"I can't help it, she just sucks everything up like a coral-sponge." he smiled at the little girl, sitting on the floor, painting flowers with her fingers.

"It's time to go, Su." he took all of their artwork from before and put it away, same with the watercolors, "Go wash up."

"You wash up!" Suyin chuckled like she said something funny and sprinted to the bathroom.

"Please go help her in there." Toph was retying her bun.

"Um, Toph... That shirt has a stain."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" she took it off and started walking towards her room, but she stopped in front of Lin's door.

"Didn't you get the hawk? We're going to Air Temple Island right now!" she said, sensing her daughter was still writing something at her desk.

"I have to finish this homework. It's due tomorrow."

"You'll do it later, come on!"

"No, I can't get it!" Lin had been frustrated all morning trying to conquer those few tasks. Math just wasn't her thing, she knew it. But she still wanted a high grade in it and that was never going to happen if she kept going like this.

"Then bring it with you and Tenzin can explain it. He's good with that boring stuff."

"No! I don't want him explaining it to me again. I can do it by myself!"

"If you could, you would have already done it!"

Lin didn't respond, but started crying into her hands.

"Here we go again…" Toph disappeared into the hallway to look for a new shirt, completely ignoring Lin.

"What's going on here?" Sokka followed the screams to Lin's room, "Linny, what's wrong?"

Lin hid her face from him, even though he already saw she was crying.

"Is it the Math again? Can I help?" he tried again.

"No, you can't, cause I'm stupid!" Lin stood up suddenly and knocked everything off her desk. Sokka could swear he felt the ground shake when her books hit the floor.

"You can quake all you want, you're still going." Toph emerged from her room, finally dressed for the occasion, "Where's Su?"

"She wanted to change first." Sokka said.

"She can do that herself? Maybe you should be training her." Toph turned to Lin, "Calm down already and let's go. It's a birthday and we'll be staying late. I can't leave you here alone."

"How about I stay here with Lin? And we do the homework together?" Sokka asked.

"I thought you wanted to spend time with us and your sister."

"Yeah, well, I'm kind of in the mood for Math right now." he said. He was really looking forward to the chance to spend some time with his daughter. He didn't get as much of those as he used to. But Lin needed his help.

Toph nodded in understanding and went to pick Su up in her room.

"Well, have fun you two. The cool kids are leaving!" Toph yelled from the front door and left, carrying Suyin.

When Sokka turned back towards Lin she was picking up her books and pens from the floor in silence.

"So what are we working on today?" he decided to help her gather up her things.

"Fractions." she sat back at her desk and opened her notebook. Sokka leaned in to take a look at what exactly she was expected to have an understanding of. He didn't go to school at her age, or know any of that stuff, but he got an education later. And it turned out he had a knack for things like this.

"Do you have to stay at the South Pole?" Lin interrupted his concentration.

"Yeah, Linny. I'm their Chief now." It was a relatively new thing, since his dad died no more than a year ago, forcing Sokka to relocate his whole life. And leave Toph and Su behind.

"But your sister's here. And… It sucks here without you!" Lin confessed.

Sokka was already feeling all kinds of guilty for not living in the same city as his daughter, but he didn't expect this. While he was the Councilman he could visit them almost every day, so Lin kind of got used to him being around. She didn't know about his relationship with Toph or why he started coming more often after Su was born, but on some level she considered him a part of the family.

"Mom's being terrible to me." the little girl continued, "I'm probably the only kid in the world that gets in trouble for not wanting to copy my homework."

They both chuckled at that.

"You have to understand, Lin, your mother gets upset when there's something she can't help you with."

"Like school?"

"Yeah, like school. You know she loves helping you with your bending, because that's something she's very good at. Your mom wants to prove she can take care of you and your sister all by herself. And when there's something she just can't do for you, she lashes out."

"But you help her all the time and she doesn't mind."

"Well, I guess when I'm helping her she knows it's not because she's blind, or because I think she's a bad mom, but because she's my friend and I don't like seeing her over-stressed."

Lin nodded and then thought about what she just heard for a while, "But you're my friend too, right? I still don't want you to leave again."

"I'll still come around often. And Tenzin can tag in for me with this stuff."

"I always ask Tenzin to explain everything. He'll think I'm stupid."

"Believe me, I think Tenzin likes you just fine. And he'll never bring it up because he knows you'll kick his little butt."

"Thank you for staying with me, Sokka."

"It's really no problem. And what do you say, when we finish this little piece-of-cake homework we have some fun? Whatever you wanna do, I'm in."

Sokka immediately knew he said something right because he was rewarded with the biggest smile he ever saw Lin make.

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"The little lemur is all tucked in, Chief." Sokka emerged from Su's room, "And I'll get right on the kitchen, don't worry."

"What's wrong with the kitchen?" Toph frowned.

"No-nothing." he stuttered.

"Seriously, even if I couldn't sense lying." she matched into the kitchen and only stopped when she stepped on something mushy and wet.

"It's seaweed. I said I'd clean it up." he followed after her.

"What did you two do today?"

"Well, Lin was pretty hungry after we played fort. So we tried to make seaweed wraps because she said they were her favorite, but we kind of failed and decided to make seaweed noodles instead." he started picking up ingredients from all over the floor and putting them in the trash.

"Did you take care of her stupid thing in the end?"

"You mean the homework? Yeah, we did. She got everything... Smart kid." he smiled to himself.

"Annoying kid. I have no idea how you got her to bed before we came home. Not to mention how you got Su to surrender so quickly."

"What can I say? I've always been good with the ladies." he smirked.

"You told that joke when Kya was a baby, when Izumi was a baby, when Lin was a baby…" she used her fingers to count.

"Still pretty funny."

Toph pulled him in for a deep kiss, seemingly just to make him stop talking.

"How about we forget about the kitchen for tonight since you have to leave in the morning?" she said between kisses.

"Yeah, about that… I was thinking about sticking around for like two more days." he cupped her cheek, "Lin reminded me of how much I miss playing with the two of them or just cleaning out the kitchen with you at midnight."

"I get what you mean. This city blows without you…"

Sokka smiled hearing her say almost the exact thing Lin said to him earlier. Those two were too similar for their own good.

"But I have to know how you managed to make such a mess? I'm genuinely curious since I'm blind and I've never even gotten close." Toph asked after a while, when she realized the drain was clogged.

"Food fight. Or rather, food battle."

"Do I wanna know?"

"I was the Fire Lord and she vanquished me."

"She was Twinkle Toes?"

"Actually, she was you. She's always you when we play."

"Good choice." Toph realized his back was turned so she flung one of the pieces of seaweed at his neck.

"Why?"

"That's how I show affection. I missed you, Blockhead." she embraced him, "Plus, I would rather move than have to clean this right now."

"I missed you too." he sprinkled some flower onto her face just so she'd know he was serious.

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Hope you enjoyed that, reviews are always welcome. I think I'd done with these for now.