Legend of Korra 1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, so this is my first time publishing any of my works so reviews would be great. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Korra or any of its characters. I can only wish.**

Mako and Korra already knew they were going to adopt. Every time Mako worked a case that involved an orphan, or worse, a child being made an orphan, he came home distressed.

"I just feel so bad for them Korra, I mean that was me and Bo. If it weren't for the fact that I could firebend, we both would have died during the cold Republic City winters. I know its silly to think but I just can't help but want to save them all..."

Korra had been listening intently, she had sat next to him on the couch after he had walked into the door without and sat on the couch, his head in his hands.

"I know Mako, I know, I've learned plenty of times that we can't save everyone, we can only work to make the world a better place."

"I know, it just hits really close to home. I know how difficult it is to live out in the streets and not know when you're next meal is going to be..."

They were silent for a couple moments when Korra had a thought. "Mako...let's have a child"

Mako turned to her, his face confused. They had just been speaking about orphans and now Korra wanted a baby?

"What? I mean don't get me wrong I'd love to have a baby with you, but where did this come from?"

Korra chuckled. "No silly, not have a baby, let's adopt"

Mako still sat there speechless. He didn't know what to say, he looked at the floor in front of him, he made the face he always made when he was in deep thought.

"I mean, we've been married two years, Republic City seems to be doing pretty well, the other nations have been pretty good with dealing with internal problems. We've both babysat the air babies and we know how to handle kids. And I've been thinking about it a lot lately, I want to have a child, I think we're ready."

Korra waited for Mako to respond but he still sat quietly staring at the floor of their apartment. Korra didn't take that as a good sign.

"...or not." she finally said.

Mako sat up suddenly "No!" he said

"No?" Korra's face fell.

"No! I mean yes! Let's adopt!" Mako smiled widely and threw his arms around her, she returned his smile.

That's how they found themselves on the very same couch seven months later speaking to an adoption agency representative

"Alright," said Dira, the representative, handing Mako a small stack of papers, "these are the finalization forms you and Korra need to fill out and Rhan will officially be your new daughter! Of course we request that you guys check in every couple months for the first year just to make sure everything is going well."

A pregnant Korra walked into the living room with four year old Rhan in tow. Rhan had been curious and wanted a tour of her new home. "So when Roku is born he's going to be my brother?! I've always wanted a brother and now I'm getting a whole big family and a house!"

Mako looked over at them and smiled. When they first saw Rhan they had completely fallen in love with her. She was a little shy at first but the more time she spent with Mako and Korra, the more outgoing she became. Rhan had very light skin, dark brown, curly hair and bright amber eyes; Korra couldn't help but think how much her eyes resembled Mako's. Rhan couldn't bend, or at least she hadn't unlocked it yet, but bender or no bender, they already loved her so much.

Mako got up to help Korra to the couch. Shortly after they decided to adopt, Korra and Mako made a trip to the South Pole to share the news with Korra's parents and Katara. When Katara hugged Korra, she instantly sensed that Korra was pregnant, which a later exam from a healer easily confirmed.

Korra insisted they still adopt even throughout her pregnancy, not that Mako argued against it.

Rhan quickly asked if she could sit on Mako's lap. It was a cold day and Rhan had quickly learned that firebenders are super warm, it wasn't long before she was softly snoring in Mako's lap.

"Thank you so much Dira," Korra started, "you've been a big help."

"Anything for my favorite couple! I see you both have your hands full," Korra was already chomping down on her sandwich that she had set on the coffee table earlier and Mako had a sleeping Rhan in his arms. "So, Mako if you can just drop off that paperwork tomorrow morning, that would be great. And I'll see myself out. Have a lovely day and enjoy your new family."

Once Dira had left, Korra put down her sandwich and placed a hand over her stomach. Her face grimacing.

"Is it the baby?" Mako asked.

"Yeah, this one is definitely a bender"

"Or has your temper."

"You're one to talk." Korra retorted.

"I guess you're right," Mako chuckled, and leaned over to kiss his wife on her forehead. "I'm going to put Rhan into bed." he struggled to get up, not wanting to move Rhan too much, he knew she had woken up early from the excitement that today was the day she was finally going to go live with her new parents.

While Mako was taking Rhan, Korra began to go over the papers and sign them. She had already signed them all and read them over twice when she realized Mako hadn't come back yet.

It took her a few tries, but she finally managed to get up off the couch, her swollen belly sometimes agitated her because it took her longer to do things. She waddled over to Rhan's room and peered inside.

Korea couldn't help but smile when she saw that Mako had fallen asleep next to Rhan. I guess Rhan wasn't the only one that hadn't slept last night. Korra felt the baby kick and started to rub her belly, leaning against the door frame, in a few months they were going to have new member to their growing family. The thought made Korra's smile grow even larger.


	2. Chapter 2

Korra was preparing a snack for Rhan when she heard keys in the door, almost instantly she heard Rhan bare feet running towards the door.

"Daddy!" she eagerly jumped up with her hands in the air.

"Hey Princess! How are you?" he asked as he placed a kiss on her forehead and picked her up.

"Daddy! Daddy! I went with mommy to work today and Uncle Tenzin was there and he said he would let me play with Oogi when we go visit. Can we go? Can we go? Please!"

It had been a year and a half since Rhan had become part of their family and she was absolutely adored by everyone. At first Mako was afraid that Rhan would become spoiled, but she liked to be around people and animals more than she wanted stuff.

"We can go tomorrow"

"Promise?" Rhan was almost jumping out of Mako's arms from excitement.

"Promise. Now where's mommy?"

"I'm right here, Korra walked over with Rhan's snack and placed it on the coffee table before walking over to them and giving Mako a quick peck on the lips.

"Eww!" Rhan said, covering her eyes. Mako and Korra exchanged a look before they each kissed Rhan's cheeks.

Rhan jumped out of Mako's arms laughing and ran to her snack.

"Where's Roku?" Mako asked.

"He's still over at Bolin and Opal's. I called before I came home and Roku had just gone to sleep so Opal suggested she'd watch him a little longer so we could relax a little. But that was an hour ago and I've missed him all day." Korra pouted.

"What if I go change and then we walk over to their apartment and pick him up. It's been a while since we've gone out, all together"

"Sounds perfect" Korra smiled and kissed him again.

"Mommy! Daddy! Eww!" Roku said again, she had her face covered in ketchup.

"Oh sweetie let me go get you a napkin."

"I'll go get dressed," Mako had barely taken off his jacket and scarf when he heard Rhan scream and Korra yell out his name.

"What is it?! What's wr-" Mako was caught off when he ran into the living room and saw Korra kneeling in front of Rhan who had a small flame coming out of her palm.

"Daddy! I did what you amd mommy do!"

"Princess that's great! I'm so proud of you!" Mako had moved over next to Korra and they were both looking at Rhan with so much pride in their eyes.

"Mommy, how do I stop?"


	3. Chapter 3

Mako loved how much Rhan and Roku loved each other. Roku was three and Rhan was seven and they were always playing. Roku was only ever still when he was sleeping or when he was watching his older sister bend.

And Rhan loved to entertain her brother. It had been almost two years since she had unlocked her bending but with both her parents knowing how to firebend, and one being the Avatar, she already had more control than most firebenders do at her age.

Rhan and Roku loved to play outside, they rarely liked to stay inside. Especially since Naga knew to be gently with them and treated them as if they were her own pups. Even when she was sleeping, she didn't fret when they climbing onto her back, she would get up slowly, make a couple rounds around the yard and go back to sleeping.


	4. Chapter 4

Korra and Mako had decided it would be a good idea to take the kids to the park. They hadn't been there for a while and they figured the kids would have more room to run around and chase each other.

When Roku spotted Korra's statue, he pointed at it and tugged on Korra pants "Momma," he stated. Roku proved to be a very calm and quiet baby, which had come to a surprise to the couple considering he had been very rowdy when Korra was pregnant with him.

"Yes sweetie that's me"

"Dad," Rhan asked, "why does mommy have a statue and you don't?"

Mako laughed, "that's because your mom is special. She's the Avatar."

"But mommy always says you're special"

Mako could feel his face turning slightly red, no matter how long they had been together, Mako couldn't help but blush. "Well Princess, the Avatar is a very important person to a lot of different people. That's why she has to go to meetings with the President and the Nation Leaders and why so many people come to visit her. They want to meet her because she helps everyone."

Rhan nodded her head and then took Roku's hand, "Come on let's go see the fishies,"

"Make sure you stay where we can see you!" Korra called out after them.

"So, I'm special, huh?" Mako grinned and nudged his shoulder against Korra's once they had found a tree to sit under that provided a view of their kids.

"You knew that already City Boy" Korra smiled at him and nudged him back.

After a couple minutes of comfortable silence between the two, Korra spoke up "Hey Mako?"

"Mhmm?" Mako had been watching the kids sitting next to the small brook, their feet in the water.

"Do you recognize this tree?" Korra asked.

Mako looked at her, at the trunk of the tree, then up at the leaves then back at her and smiled "It's the tree we fell asleep under. And when we woke up you were all curled up against me. You made the funniest face when you realized what you were doing" Mako started laughing and Korra felt her face heating up

"Me?! What about you? I always knew you liked me, even though you wouldn't say you did" she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, I was pretty stupid." he leaned over and kissed her, "but I realized how much I loved you now I get to have you forever and we have two beautiful kids."

Korra smiled and then looked over towards the brook, hee expression immediately changing as she jumped up. Mako looked in the direction she was looking, the kids were no longer there. They immediately started running towards the river, afraid that the kids had fallen in, but as they neared closer to the river, they heard whispering being the bush closest to them, and realized it was Rhan and Roku.

Both parents let out a sign of relief as they looked behind the bush and saw both kids talking to another child.

"Roku, Rhan, we told you to stay where we could see you!" Mako said.

"But daddy, this boy says he needs help and since mommy helps people we wanted to help." Rhan said, her voice low, she knew she was in trouble.

Mako's face softened. He was never able to be scold Rhan for very long. Not even when she almost set his scarf on fire.

"Well now that we're here, we can help too," said Korra, "what's your name?" she asked the little boy.

"Varner," the boy said sheeply, "is it true you're the Avatar?"

"Yes! Momma's special," said Roku.

Korra smiled and nodded her head, "What do you need help with Varner?"

"Yeah, where are your parents?" asked Mako.

"My mom died a long time ago and my dad brought me to the park the other day and he gave me a backpack full of snack and then told me he loved me and I had to be brave and to go play and when I came back, he was gone and I don't know how to get home" Varner's voice cracked at the last word and he started crying.

Korra and Mako exchanged a sad look.

"Mommy, what are we going to do?" Rhan asked, "he can't stay here."

"I know sweetie, I know"

"Hey Varner," Mako said, approaching the boy, "I'm Mako. And I'm a police officer. How about you and me go down to the station and try to find your dad?"

Varner was rubbing his eyes, but he nodded his head. _Poor_ _kid_, Mako thought, _he couldn't be more that six years old._

"Korra, what about you take the kids to the house and Varner and I go to the station?" he said as he picked up Varner.

"Ok kids, you heard Daddy," Korra looked at Mako with a sad look on her face, but immediately put on a smile when she was turned to her kids, "let's go home"

"But mommy we want to help Varner!" said Rhan.

"I'm sorry baby, but this isn't anything you can do, daddy will take care of it." Korra said, trying to keep her smile on her face. From what Varner had told them, her father had abandoned him and her heart was breaking.

Mako had already started to walk towards the station with Varner still in his arms.

Korra took each child by their hand and they started towards their house, but halfway there, Korra turned around and started walking a different direction.

"Mommy, our house is that way" Rhan said, pointing in the direction they were previously on.

"I know sweetie, but we're going to go see Aunt Asami"

"Yay!" Roku cheered.

Korra was running towards the police station as soon as she left Asami's. After quickly explaining the situation to her, Asami told Korra to take one of her Satomobiles to the police station and she would watch the kids. Korra thanked her but she was a much better runner than she was driver so she ran through the door after giving a quick kiss to Roku and Rhan.

When Korra burst through the door of the police station, the first recognizable face she was Lin's.

"Lin!" Korra yelled, she was out of breath, but not from running, she was hyperventilating.

"Hey kid. Mako's in his office with the...kid. And look, so far we've only been able to gather that after the kid's mom died, his dad got involved with the Triad. Not good at all. WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GET MS. AVATAR SOME WATER?" one of the workers rushed over and gave Korra a cup of water.

"Thanks," she said to the worker, "and thanks for filling me in Lin" Korra started for the back where Mako's office was located. When she opened the door she gasped loudly.

Mako had been leaning against the wall next to the door with a hand over his mouth and tears in his eye, Varner had been standing with his back to the door, he had risen his shirt and you could see burns on his back. When he hears Korra's gasp he immediately turned around, his shirt falling back into place.

"Varner who did that to you?" Korra asked, kneeling in front of him, her voice low, she didn't want to startle him. And she was afraid if she spoke any louder her voice would crack and the tears she was fighting so hard to keep back would begin to flow.

"M-my dad-dy.." Varner said, starting to cry again. Korra hugged him careful to not touch his back, her tears falling, too.

"Lin, can you watch Varner for a quick second?" Mako whispered. Korra turned around, she hadn't realized that Lin was at the door now, her eyes watery.

Lin cleared her throat. "Yeah, hey Varner, want to come see my office? It's cooler than Mako's," Lin had gotten a lot better at being around kids over the last decade.

Varner nodded his head and took Lin's extended hand as they walked towards her office. Thank the Spirits he was still at the age where he could be easily distracted.

Korra stood and covered her face as she started to cry. Mako walked over to her and put his arms around her pulling her close. Korra could feel his tears on his shoulders.

After a few seconds Korra spoke "Mako, we can't leave him like this."

"I know, Korra."

"We can't take him to a n orphanage either. If his dad comes back and finds him, he's going to hurt him more."

"I know."

"Mako, we have to-"

"I was thinking the same thing. We have to take him home. To our home. We'll get the paperwork started so we could adopt him."

Korra pulled back and smiled at Mako before she pulled him into another hug.


	5. Chapter 5

"I called Asami from the station and told her everything. She said the kids were all asleep, so she tucked them in and that we can go pick them up tomorrow morning." Korra said.

"We don't thank Asami enough," responded Mako.

All three of them, Korra, Mako, and Varner, were in the back seat of Lin's Satomobile.

"So I guess I'll just be taking you kids home?" asked Lin.

"We're not kids anymore, Chief. If you haven't noticed, we have kids now."

"Three," whispered Korra as she looked down and wiped Varner's hair from his sleeping face.

"Yeah, well, you're still kids to me. But you did a good thing. Can't save all of them but at least this is one less kid we have to worry about. Now I dont say this enough. But I'm proud of you two."

"Thanks, Chief" Mako beamed.

The rest of the car ride was mostly silent. No one wanted to wake up Varner since they all figured he hadn't slept in the last couple days.

When they got to their house, Korra gave Lin a quick thanks and rushed inside with Varner still in her arms.

"Thanks for everything, Chief. Remind me tomorrow that I owe you."

"Take the day off tomorrow Mako. And tell Korra she has the day off too, I'll call Tenzin as soon as I get home and explain everything to him. We'll just reschedule all her Avatar stuff for next week."

"Tha-"

"I know, I know. Now go to your wife," and with that Lin drove off. Mako stood there for a second smiling, she might not be the easiest boss to have to deal with, but she certainly was the best.

Mako ran inside the house and saw Korra sitting with a now awake Varner on the couch. In the last year they had moved out of their apartment and into a house. Mako moved to sit on the other side of Varner.

Him and Korra both took a deep breath. They knew they had to have a long and difficult talk with Varner before Rhan and Roku came home.

"So, the Avatar is going to be my new mommy," Varner said pointing to Korra, "and the cool policeman is going to be my daddy?" he continued looking at Mako now.

"If you want us to be," said Mako, the cool policeman.

"And dont forget," Korra added, "Rhan will be your sister and Roku w-"

"Yes! I want to be in your family. I love your family!"

Korra and Mako couldn't control their smiles. They were so happy to have Varner join their family.

"Will the police lady be my family too, she's super cool, I want to be like her."

"Yes, Varner, the Chief will be family too. Tomorrow when we pick up Rhan and Roku, you'll get to ride Naga-"

"Who's Naga?"

"My polar bear dog," said Korra.

"You have a polar bear dog?! That's so cool!" Varner had thrown himself back into the couch from excitement.

"Yes, you'll meet Naga and Aunt Asami and Uncle Iroh and your new cousins and then not long after you'll meet the rest of our family," Mako continued, but when he looked over at Varner and Korra, he noticed they had already fallen asleep.

He got up off the couch and walked to his bedroom where he grabbed their blanket and walked back to the couch. He sat back down on his spot and covered them all with the blanket, making sure Korra's feet were covered and Varner was nice and warm, he put his arm around Varner and took Korra's hand in his. He felt Korra lightly squeeze it and she gave him a soft smile before closing her eyes again and drifting back to sleep.

It wasn't long before he followed.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm the morning, Varner woke up in Roku's bed. When Mako woke up in the middle of the night, he carried Roku there and then gently led Korra back to their room, deciding this would mean for a better rest. Varner quietly got out if the bed and exited the room, he was still slightly dazed.

"Good morning Varner!" said Korra from the couch.

"Morning," whispered Varner.

"Would you like some breakfast?"

Varner nodded his head, "where's Mako."

Korra had made her way to the kitchen and was looking for the Flame-O's cereal. "He went over to Asami's to tell Rhan and Roku that you're going to be their brother now. We thought it would be easier if th-" Korra was caught off because Varner had ran to her and was hugging her around the waist.

"Thank you so much," was all Varner said.

"Of course Varner," Korra bent down as best she could to return his hug, "as soon as you finish up your breakfast we'll head over there"

"On Naga?!"

"Yes, she seems to be very excited to have someone else to play with, too."

They were halfway to Asami's when Korra began to grow a little concerned. Varner hadn't said a word since she had put him on Naga and they began their way.

"Varner, sweetie, are you okay?"

"What if they don't like me?" Varner said very quietly, if Korra hadn't been waiting for his reponse, she probably would have missed it.

"Everyone is going to love you! Mako and I already do. And Rhan and Roku will love playing with you!"

"But my daddy left me, what if you leave me?"

Korra was speechless. No child should ever have to have these thought, yet here was Varner, "Naga stop" Korra demanded and she jumped off of Naga, she walked so that she was standing in front of Varner, "Varner, we are never going to leave you. Four years ago we took in Rhan and she became our daughter. No it's your turn. You're going to have new siblings and new parents and new aunts and uncles and cousins and you won't have to worry about that. Every person you meet is going to be there to take care of you."

"Even the nice police lady?" Varner asked, his hands stroking the patches of Naga's fur he could reach.

"Yes, even her. You can even call her Auntie Lin,"

"I want to call her Chief! Like Mako does!" Korra could tell by his tone of voice that Varner was getting excited again.

"Alright then, let's keep going," Korra jumped onto Naga, "what do you say we make Naga run?"

"Yes! Yes! Run Naga, run!"

When they arrived at Asami's house, or better yet mansion, Korra hopped off and helped Varner off of Naga. As soon as Varner was off, Naga ran off to the back of the house. No doubt to take a nap under her favorite tree.

"Ready?" Korra asked, Varner nodded his head, looking down at his shoes.

When Korra knocked on the door, it wasn't even a second later that someone was opening it. Mako was there.

"So um, you know how Lin called Tenzin last night?" Mako started, "Well he's here, and his family, and Asami told Bolin when he came by yesterday to pick up a part for his Satomobile, so he's here. and Opal, and baby Fern," he looked down at Varner, "Looks like you're meeting the whole family today" as he picked him up, Varner was still looking a little nervous.

"They're going to love you," Korra reassured him.

At the same time Korra heard two voices call out "Mommy!" and saw Rhan and Roku run to her, she bent down so she could catch them both in her arms, "Hey babies, oh I missed you so much last night. Did you have fun with Aunt Asami? Did you play nicely with Ming and Mae?"

"Of course we did mommy!" said Rhan, sounding slightly offended, "But now we all want to play with Varner!"

"Really?" Varner looked down at them, no longer nervous, a big smile on his face.

Roku nodded his head more than was necessary.

"Can I go Mako?"

"Sure buddy, as soon as you meet everyone you can go play with all the kids," he lead them all into one of the many sitting rooms in Asami's mansion, "Alright everyone, we're coming in."

Varner hadn't been too sure about what to expect when they walked through the door. He had never had so much family. For so long it was only him and his dad. But now he had both, and a brother and a sister and so many people, even the nice police lady. He started to cry.

"I knew he was going to get overwhelmed if we all surprised him like this," Pema told Tenzin.

"No, I just have so much family now," said Varner before he started crying again.

Everyone in the room chuckled and it wasn't long before Varner stopped crying and everyone introduced themselves. When Mako put him down he immediately ran to Lin and lifted up his arms, indicating he wanted to be picked up. Lin looked around the room, not liking the attention she was getting, but when Varner called her Chief, her face softened and she picked him up. "How are ya kid?"

"I have a family now!"

"Yeah well, do you wanna go play with the kids now?" Varner almost jumped out of her arms and Roku grabbed his hand pulling him out the room, all the kids followed them out.

"I think he really likes you Chief," Mako chuckled

Lin coughed, "yeah well, I told him yesterday he could ride on my motorbike,"

Korra made a face at her, "If I won't let Mako take Rhan, I'm sure as hell not going to let Varner on one of those," everyone in the room laughed.

"So you guys got another one, huh?" said Bolin, "is he a bender?"

"Umm..actually Bo, we're not sure, we haven't seen hi-" Mako was caught off by a sudden crash in another room.

All the adults ran out, with the exception of Opal who had a two month old asleep in her arms, and into the room where they heard the noise. When they all rushed in they saw toys everywhere, the children's hair looked a mess and pieces of paper had been thrown everywhere.

"Oops," said Varner from his place in the back of the room, he looked a little scared.

"He's an airbender!" Said Meelo, "Cool, hey dad since I'm old enough now can I take him under my wing and teach him my airbender master ways?"

"No you can't Meelo! I was going to teach him!" retorted Ikki.

"Umm, guys, his mom is the Avatar. I think can handle this," Korra said.

It wasn't until everyone was laughing that Varner's face finally lightened up and he smiled, only to sneeze a couple seconds later, sending him into the air. Mako ran and positioned himself so he could catch Varner. Varner squealed with joy when Mako caught him, yelling "Again!"


	7. Chapter 7

It had been three years since Mako and Korra had adopted Varner. It didn't take very long for him to fit into the family, everyone had done their best to always make him feel included. But Varner's favorite person was always Lin.

Whenever Mako had to stay in the office and go over paperwork he usually brought Varner and Rhan with him, since Roku was still too young. Rhan had become a daddy's girl since before the official paperwork had been finalized and always like to be with him. Varner sometimes alternated between calling Mako by his name and "dad."

So when they went with Mako to work, Rhan always stayed close to him, but Varner always ran to Lin's office first to check if she was there, when she wasn't he would go back and sit with Rhan and Mako until she got back.

Lin had grown accustomed to being around kids but none of the other kids found the need to stick to her like glue. Lin had ordered Mako to give her a heads up when he was bringing Varner, so she could prepare herself, but the one day Mako did, Lin went to great lengths to avoid going back to the station, so Mako didn't tell her anymore.

Unfortunately for Lin, that wasn't something she could fire Mako for.

Lin had managed to sneak into her office one day that only Varner had accompanied Mako to work, Rhan was spending the day with Korra, practicing her firebending. Lin was in her office for only a few minutes before she heard a knock on her door.

"Hey Chief," it was Mako. When he opened the door Varner immediately ran over to Lin, hugging her, "Jager said you had just gotten back, and Varner wanted to say hello." Lin didn't like the smug look on Mako's face and grimaced at him. Varner was already running towards Lin.

"I'm gonna need to have a word with Jager about keeping his mouth shut."

"Chief! Can you do the shapes with the metal rocks?" Varner asked as he managed to squeeze himself onto Lin's lap

"I guess I'll leave Varner here with you for a while, I need to run down to city hall to talk to the councilman about that gang," Mako closed the door and walked back to his desk to pick up some folders before he headed out the door.

Everyone at the police station made an effort to not mention the Triads around Varner. They were all familiar with how Varner was adopted into the family, and Mako and Korra worried that mentioning the Triads would remind Varner of his father. However, it had actually been Lin who, during one of the briefing sessions, threatened to have anyone hung from the roof if they ever mentioned the Triads when Varner was in the building. From then on everyone referred to them as "that gang."

Lin looked down at the child in her lap and signed, "Alright kid, I'll make some shapes, but then you gotta sit on the bench and let me finish my work. I got a lot of stuff to do."

Varner promised and Lin took out the metal spheres from her drawer, "so what shapes do you wanna see?"

It wasn't long before Lin gave three small balls of metal to Varner and told him to sit on the bench across from her and to air bend them around, away from her.

Lin was able to read over a couple leads they had involving the Triads new hideout when she noticed that Varner was no longer playing with the metal, but that they were sitting next to him on the bench, his hands on his lap, his head down, and Lin could swear she heard sniffling.

"You alright Varner?"

Varner nodded his head, but didn't look at her. Lin let out a sigh and went to sit next to him.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong or are we gonna wait for Mako to get back?"

Varner raised his head to look at Lin and it was clear he had been crying. His eyes were red and his nose was running, "Did my dad hate me?"

Lin instantly knew he wasn't talking about Mako. She was silent for a moment, then lifted him up slightly to place him on her lap.

"Look kid, your dad didn't hate you. He works with bad people and my guess is that he didn't want you to get hurt, so he gave you a chance to find a better life. And you did."

Varner didn't say anything but Lin could tell he wasn't crying.

"And besides," she continued, "I think Mako is a better father than your real dad. I mean he does everything to make you kids happy. He even brings you to work so he can spend more time with you, even though you always spend it bothering me.

And if you're scared that your real dad going to come back and hurt you, I promise you he won't get near you. You have the Avatar as your mom, one of, if not the best detective in republic city as your dad and the city police chief as your aunt. Not to mention all the others. I know I don't say it, but I love ya, kid. So we're going to do anything in my power to make sure you're safe."

Varner turned around and hugged Lin and softly sobbed into her chest, she started patting his back and a moment later Mako walked in. When Varner heard the door he jumped out of Lin's lap and ran to Mako.

"Dad!"

Mako looked down at Varner and smiled, picking him up, "hey buddy, you have a nice time with Auntie Lin?"

"She said she was going to protect me if my real dad showed up. But I'm not scared, I'm tough, like you and Chief and mom!"

"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Mako looked at Lin with that same smug on his face from before, "so best detective in the city, huh?"

Lin's face turned red, she didn't mean for anyone else to hear anything she said other than Varner, "get out of my office."

"Alright, alright," Mako chuckled.

"Bye Auntie Lin"

"If that sticks, you're fired, Mako."

Mako laughed again but when he saw Lin's face he immediate stopped and started to walk towards the door. When he got to the door, he turned back to Lin, "Thanks Lin, for everything. I'll see you tomorrow."

Lin was still on the bench, she had picked up the metal spheres and when she heard the door close, she couldn't help but grin a little.


End file.

Legend of Korra, Family