Toph never makes excuses where her babies are concerned. Not even for her husband.

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No Excuses

Toph made allowances for a lot of things. She let her children do pretty much whatever they wanted because she didn't want to stifle them like her parents did to her. She put up with the unwanted attention other women gave to her husband because she knew he was only interested in her. She even put up with her husband's constant preoccupation with work because she knew the world needed him.

However, there was one thing Toph would never make excuses for. You see, even though she was constantly called off to protect Republic City as the Chief of Police, Toph always made time for each of her children and gave them help or advice when they needed it. Lately, though, Toph was becoming irritated by her husband not spending enough time with the kids, and when he did it was usually with Kamala and Tenzin (the two airbenders).

"Twinkletoes," Toph said in a warning tone.

"Yes, Toph?" Aang said, looking up from his papers, ignoring the nickname Toph had given him years ago.

"You missed Lin's Earthbending competition yesterday." Her tone was cold. That contest had meant a lot to her little girl and Lin was upset that her daddy hadn't been there to see it. "And, last week, you missed Bumi's birthday."

"Toph, you know I wish I could've been there, but my Avatar duties-"

"Don't give me that crap, Mr. Avatar. You know as well as I do that you almost always make time for Kamala and Tenzin. I don't seem to recall you making the same effort for your other children."

"Now, Toph, that's not fair. Kamala and Tenzin need me more because, as the next generation of Airbenders, I'm the only one who can teach them."

"I'm not talking about Bending lessons! You take Kamala and Tenzin with you wherever you've got important business. Last month, you took them to Ember Island, but you left Lin and Bumi behind. No, you may be the Avatar, you may have a duty to the world, but you're also the husband of Toph Bei Fong and the father of her four children." Toph rested her fists on the sides of her hips and glared in the direction of her husband (no easy feat, considering she couldn't see his face).

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Aang replied, scratching his chin where a beard had started to grow.

"Tomorrow, I want you to take the kids out for family time. And I mean all the kids."

"But, tomorrow I was supposed to meet with the council for…" His words died at the darkening expression on his wife's face. Toph was one of the only people who didn't bow to Aang's wishes just because he was the Avatar, and she knew better than to mollycoddle him. If Aang did something Toph didn't like then she would make sure he knew about it, and never did it again.

"No excuses," Toph said firmly. "You're the Avatar. You don't answer to the council, the council answers to you. Just call Sokka and tell him you can't be there tomorrow. Oh, and while you're at it, tell him to spend some time with his little girls. I know Kaliska and Yue both want more time with their dad, too. Understand, Twinkletoes?"

Aang gave a deep sigh and hung his head in resignation.

"Yes, dear."

When Aang got up the next morning, he certainly wasn't expecting to be tackled by his children as soon as he left his bedroom. Kamala, at her spritely age of eight, had Airbent herself up onto her daddy's shoulders, her brown hair whipping out behind her and her green eyes sparkling. Bumi followed after her, seizing Aang in a hug that was long overdue; the boy had certainly grown a great deal in the last year, and looked a good deal like his father had at thirteen, though Bumi had more hair that he kept tied up with a green headband. Tenzin, slower than his siblings at five years old, clung on to his father's leg as a smile lit up his features.

Lin, the oldest of the four, was leaning against a nearby wall and watching her siblings greet their dad. Lin was fifteen years old now, the spitting image of her mother, but possessed of a stern and serious attitude that differed greatly from the personalities of the rest of her family members. Lin was under no illusions that her father had decided to spend time with them of his own volition; she'd become accustomed to her father's absence from their life and was unconvinced about his sudden desire to interact with his children. When Aang looked up to see his eldest girl, he was surprised by the cold stare he got in response; if Lin hadn't inherited his bright, grey eyes then he could've sworn she had her mother's blank, colorless stare.

The younger children all clambered onto Appa, Aang giving Bumi a lift up to sit next to him on the bison's head. He looked down and saw that Lin hadn't gotten on.

"Need a hand, Lin?" he asked.

Lin looked away, gave a "hmph" in response, and Metalbent two cables from the special wristbands her mother had given her to attach to the saddle and pull herself up. Aang tried to brush off his daughter's behavior, but Lin's cold glare stood out in his mind and made him wonder if Toph was right about him being too uninvolved with his children.

Aang took his children on a fly around the city before landing Appa outside the new water park that had been built last year at the city boardwalk. Naturally, the Avatar's presence drew quite a bit of attention, but Aang just tried to wave off the admirers by saying he was spending the day with his children; of course, that didn't really stop people from asking for autographs or following the family around. Aang noticed that his children seemed a bit annoyed by all the attention, especially Lin.

True to his word, though, Aang spent time with his kids. They went on all the water slides and amusement park rides, and even went for ice cream together. One thing Aang had noticed throughout the day was that nothing he did got Lin to smile. While Tenzin and Kamala were their usual, cheerful selves and Bumi was ecstatic about finally getting to spend time with him, Lin just glowered at him.

It wasn't until later in the day when Aang finally realized why his daughter seemed so angry at him. Aang had just lost a fruit tart-eating contest with Bumi (though he tried to convince himself he let his son win) and it was getting about time to leave when Aang noticed that Lin had walked off. He told Bumi to take Kamala and Tenzin (who were both looking very tired) back to Appa while he went to find Lin.

"Lin!" Aang called out, getting worried. "Lin, where are you?!"

He had just gotten past the concession stand when he saw Lin, and she wasn't alone. Aang felt a twinge in his jaw when he saw his little girl in a deep kiss with a boy he had never seen before. He marched straight over to the young couple, his shadow looming over them as he cleared his throat loudly. Lin and the boy looked up in surprise.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Aang said in a serious tone.

"Dad, what's the big idea?" Lin snapped.

"Your dad is the Avatar?" the boy replied in shock.

"Be quiet, Peng," Lin retorted.

"Young lady, I want a word with you, right now," Aang said.

Lin glared at her father but followed him, shooting an apologetic glance at Peng. Father and daughter walked away towards the fair games before Aang stopped and turned to look at her. Lin crossed her arms and leaned against one of the buildings. Aang gave a deep sigh.

"What was that about?" he said.

"My boyfriend," Lin replied bluntly. "Not that you care, but I've been seeing Peng for about two weeks now."

"Why didn't you tell me? Of course I care about what's going on in my daughter's life."

"Yeah, well, you sure don't act like it, Father."

"Lin, I called off an important meeting with the council today just so I could spend time with you kids."

"Only because Mom told you to!" Lin wouldn't meet his eyes. "You would have just ignored us like you always do. Well, unless it was Kamala or Tenzin."

"Lin…"

But Lin didn't stop. She was finally going to say what had been on her mind for so long.

"All you ever care about is your two precious, little Airbenders; never me and Bumi. All I wanted was for you to show us the same amount of attention you give them, but what time you're not giving to them you spend looking after the world. What about us? Can't you see that we need you, too, Dad?" Her eyes were filling with tears, but she just tried to run them out as she sniffled slightly. "You obviously don't care about me, well I don't need you!"

Lin was trying so hard not to cry, her mother always said crying was for sissies, but it was so hard now that she was getting her feelings out in the open. That's when she felt big arms wrap around her and she saw the yellow of her dad's sleeves. Blinking out a few salty drops from her eyes, she nestled her head into her dad's chest.

"Lin, I know 'sorry' can never be enough for how much I've neglected you," Aang said sincerely. "Yes, it's true that your mom ordered me to take you kids out today and that I would've gone to work if she hadn't, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I love you, your brothers, and your sister equally, even if it doesn't look like it. Lin, just know that I will always be there for you when you need me."

Lin wiped her eyes dry and, for the first time in a long time, she smiled at her dad. Aang smiled brightly back at her and steered her over to the ring-toss game. The game was a bit tricky, but Aang had the aiming skills of the master he was and won a stuffed badger-mole that he gave to his daughter. Lin's face lit up in a way Aang hadn't seen since the girl was seven. The two then made their way back over to where the other children were waiting on Appa.

Toph smirked to herself as she sensed the sky-bison land. She couldn't see, but she knew that it was late in the day, meaning that Aang had done as she said and spent the entire day with the children. Sending out a sensory wave with her Earthbending, she 'saw' Aang walk in with Kamala on his shoulders (fast asleep, if her slow and steady heartbeat was anything to go by), followed by Bumi carrying little Tenzin on his back (the youngest of the four children was also clearly about to fall asleep) and Lin, whom Toph could sense was in a much better mood than she had been earlier that day. Toph rose from her seat and picked up Tenzin from his brother's back.

"Thanks, Mom, I think Tenzin's putting on weight," Bumi said with a yawn.

"Am not," Tenzin said sleepily.

"Time for bed, is it?" Toph said.

"I'm not tired," Bumi retorted, ending with another yawn.

"Come on, kids, it's time for bed," Aang concluded.

They tucked Tenzin into bed first, followed by Kamala, and then Bumi. Finally, they saw Lin off to her room, though the young Earthbender insisted she didn't need to be tucked in like the "babies."

"Goodnight, baby girl," Toph said, ruffling Lin's hair.

"Night, Mom." Lin turned to her dad, who was watching her hopefully, and gave him a hug. "Goodnight, Dad."

Lin retreated to her room and closed the door. Toph rested an arm on her husband's shoulder and shook her head, a bemused smile on her face.

"Well done, Twinkletoes," she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. "From what I can tell, you did a very good job."

The two walked off towards their bedroom. It was a change to Airbender tradition that Toph had insisted upon as Air Nomad couples from Aang's day lived apart except for one season every year. Something to do with detachment or some other such nonsense that Toph could not for the life of her understand, just like the practice of separating parents from children that had seen Aang barred from seeing his parents since he was five. Aang had not posed much of an argument when Toph had insisted on those changes.

The couple curled up in bed together, Aang holding Toph close to him as they began to fall asleep together.

"Just remember, Twinkletoes," Toph murmured, "I want you to spend more days like today with the kids."

Aang kissed the top of her head.

"No excuses."