Punishment

Lin shut her eyes. 'Please don't be mom. Please don't be mom,' she repeated in her head. Kya wasn't at all as nervous as Lin. She was sure that if it was Toph, she'd go easy on them. Besides, Lin was her own daughter for Spirits' sake.

"Well, well, well." Lin knew that voice and she sank even further down in her chair. "Well, if it isn't my lovely daughter and her best friend, Sugar Queen Jr."

"Good evening, Chief Beifong," said Kya.

"Good evening, Kya." She pulled a chair out and sat down. Lin didn't even have to look up to know that her mother was beaming with joy. "Well aren't you going to say hi to your mother?" Lin exhaled softly looking up from the floor. She was right, her mother was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello mother," she said through gritted teeth.

"So, let's just go through this long list of offenses. The two of were charged with breaking and entering, vandalism, trespassing on private property, releasing a flock of cat owls and you broke curfew. Anything I'm missing?"

"We were naked," Kya said with a smirk.

"Oh yes, indecent exposure." She leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on the table. "You know I'm not surprised at all that the two of you gotten your selves in trouble, but hearing that my daughter, MY daughter, was out after curfew, I was at disbelief." Lin bit her lip. "I don't think I'm a strict parent. I have only two rules. Don't sneak out after curfew and if you happen to pass a food cart on your way home, get me something." Lin rolled her eyes. This was all Bumi's fault. It was entirely his fault. "Care to tell me what happened, my sweet darling daughter?" Lin huffed as she crossed her arms.

"No," she growled.

"Fine. Kya would you like to tell me what exactly happened?"

"Well, I guess…" She looked over to Lin whose head was turned the opposite way. She tried her best not to smile. Even though they were trouble it was still pretty funny. "Well Tenzin, Bumi, Lin, and I were playing truth or dare. It was Bumi who asked Lin, truth or dare, and of course being her she picked dare. He dared Lin to take off her clothes and run around the Air temple but…" Kya pressed her lips together to prevent her from laughing.

"But what?"

"I asked him if that was the best he could come up with," Lin sneered.

"So then Tenzin and Bumi whispered to one another and they said that if she wanted a challenge that she should go to old man Yao's house and let loose his twenty seven cat owls… Without clothes," said Kya

"Well if that's the case, why were you there with her?"

"I just wanted to go with her…"

"Well isn't that just adorable," she laughed. "Come on Lin. Isn't that adorable?"

"She only did it so she could see me naked."

"I don't have to dare you to see you nak- OUCH!" Kya rubbed her shin as Lin glared at her.

"So what did the four of you do next?"

"We took a boat and I used my bending to get to the city faster. When we got a Yao's Lin started to undress and I did too so she wouldn't have to go alone. We had to get into the house to get the keys to the cages. So I broke the lock and we snuck in, grabbed the keys from the kitchen and used the back door to get into his yard. We found the cat owl in a large shed. By the time we released them all, Yao caught us and well… You know the rest."

"Well that's quite the story," said Toph. She looked absolutely giddy. "Well you two are free to go."

"What?!" Lin sat up. There was no way her mom was just going to let her off the hook like that.

"I already talked to Yao and he said that the two of you embarrassed yourselves enough and that's all the punishment he cares for. His cat owls stayed close to home so he didn't have any problem with them. He found the whole ordeal rather hilarious. You're lucky he's not pressing charges."

"So… That's it?" Lin asked.

"Yep,"

"Really?" Kya looked to Toph and back to Lin.

"Yeah, I'll take you home. Your parents must be worrying about you." Lin didn't say anything. She was suspicious of mother. Something wasn't right… She followed her mother and Kya wondering what her mother had planned.

"Thanks again for bringing her back home," said Katara. She looked at her daughter and Kya smiled in the hopes that she'd go easy on her.

"Don't mention it." Lin looked at Katara and then to her mother. Toph only told Katara that they had been picked up for breaking curfew. She said nothing about Yao or his cat owls. She looked inside the house to see Bumi and Tenzin peaking from another room. She narrowed her eyes at them.

"Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Actually no, I'm taking tomorrow off." Lin looked up at her mother. She didn't know that.

"Would you like to come over for dinner?"

"Sound's good. We'll come a bit early. You know… Catch up a bit." Katara smiled.

"Great, see you tomorrow!"

"Let me guess," Lin sighed. "You're going to make me tell them about the dare?"

"Yep… Think of it as your punishment for sneaking out of the house! You had me worried sick! You're lucky I taught you how to kick ass, otherwise I would've had the whole city on lock down just to find you!"

"You're mad at me just for that?! Of all the things I did, you're mad because I snuck out of the house!"

"Yes! I'm not strict with you, Lin. I let you do what you want. But I worry when you're out at night and I don't know about it. Things can get pretty dangerous in the city and people don't play fair. If you're outnumbered…" The young earthbender stared down at her feet. "But you made me proud tonight."

"I did?"

"You completed the dare."

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Nope. That took guts." she punched her daughter lightly on the shoulder. Lin smiled at her mother. "Just make sure you give those boys the beating of a lifetime." Lin raised a brow."I talked to Yao and it turns out that he woke up hearing rocks hit the side of his house. Neither you or Kya said anything about throwing rocks."

"Those knuckle heads… Just wait till I get my hands on them." Toph wrapped an arm around Lin's shoulder.

"That's my girl."

Lin was actually looking forward to visiting tomorrow. After dinner she would make sure that those two boneheads suffer a horrible demise. She wasn't even going to use her bending. She felt that it would be more enjoyable if she beat them to a pulp nice and slow.

"One more thing," her mother said, "If you ever sneak out of the house again, I'll stomp you into the ground… Literally."

A/N: I may have hinted Kya/Lin… Haha! Hope you liked it! Reviews are always appreciated. (: