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Chapter Text

Toph

It'd been three seasons since he'd seen her. She knew it so precisely because it had been the last day of summer, and now it was the last day of spring.

For some unknown reason – no, not unknown, ridiculous. There was no other way to describe it – Toph felt nervous, which was stupid, because she was, well, Toph Bei Fong, certified badass. But she had just turned seventeen and one of her students kept talking about how beautiful she looked, so maybe, just maybe, he would look at her and find beauty too.

Oh, who was she kidding? First of all, Sokka never saw her as more than a little sister, and even the word 'sister' wasn't a guarantee that he saw her as female. Part of her thought that they'd won too many spit competitions for him to see her soft side.

Toph scoffed to herself. Soft side. As if.

Besides, who the hell cared about what Sokka would think of her?

As stated before, ridiculous.

Then why did she even bother to let her mother find her a pretty dress? This shade of green looks so nice on you, sweetheart. And those curves! Every man will look twice at you.

Yeah, she felt stupider by the minute. And when Ty Lee said that the dress was exactly something she would wear, Toph decided: she was getting off of it.

So immersed in her own mental battle, she didn't even process his approach, which was so not normal, because she knew Sokka's stepping by heart. And only after she collided on his chest as she turned around to head back home and he held her shoulders in order to keep her balance she registered the familiarity.

"Easy there," he said with his natural charm, and for a moment it seemed he didn't recognize her. "Toph."

The way Sokka breathed out her name with a mix of surprise and longing, oh God. Why couldn't this childish crush just end? What gave him the power to make her heart skip a beat every time he was around?

More importantly, when did he become so solid under her touch and why his smell of sea and sweat made her so weak on the knees?

Shit.

Sokka's light laugh made her realize that she was still feeling him out, her hands went up his shoulders and down his arms, and then they made their way back to now touch his chest and stomach, the fabric of his vests light due to the nice temperatures. That was when he laughed and when she blushed. Her right hand went up again so she could touch his face, her thumb traced the line of his chin and the roughness of his beard tickled her palm.

He did the same. His right hand let go of her shoulder and his fingers touched her forehead, pushed back her hair, put it behind her ear. Toph's heart fluttered and she smiled, finally turning her head up at him.

"Hey Snoozles," she greeted and felt his smile under her touch.

"You look beautiful," he said. Toph barely registered it (or maybe she processed it too fast). "What's the special occasion?"

For a small, out of control moment, she almost said 'you', but luckily she was skilled at being herself around him.

"Shut up," Toph replied and Sokka laughed again, one of his full you're-hilarious laughs that enchanted her early on and still did.

And then, he hugged her tight and friendly, and he was so tall that she had to stand on her toes in order not to lose her sight. He kissed her cheek and Toph made a mental note that Sokka with a beard was a Yes, and then her heartbeat faltered again when he said "Happy belated birthday, Blind Bandit".

"Where's my present?" she demanded and he stepped back.

"Whaaaaat, since when you demand presents now?"

Toph crossed her arms, head tilted in his general direction in defiance.

"I'm kidding, of course I brought you a present," he said, smile in his voice. She sensed him getting closer to whisper – "But we gotta wait until later, because it might or might not be a tad illegal."

Toph chuckled when she heard the sound of glass bottles clinking as he fixed the strap of his bag on his shoulder. She knew he wouldn't disappoint her.

"My lady?" he offered taking her hand, even though he knew that she was damn well capable of finding her way alone. Sokka was good at being charming that way. She nodded and slide her hand to his upper arm to let him lead the way. It didn't harm every now and then to have it his way.

"My lord," she replied, and they both laughed and started walking.

"Now tell me," he said as they headed to the heart of the city where her house was. "Does Iroh's franchise have chai as good as the original?"

"As long as they're spiked, you betcha," Toph told him and they both laughed.

"We gotta go there."

"Heck yeah, we do."

Chapter Text

Suki

They all knew that after Zuko's coronation, each one of them would have to part ways. There still was a lot of work to be done in each village, each city, each temple, and as a Kyoshi warrior, the eldest alongside Ty Lee now, it was Suki's duty to help restore the earth kingdom.

That didn't mean, however, that she should get going right about now, not without a proper goodbye from her boyfriend. Only the Spirits knew how long it'd be until they saw each other again, and Suki wanted to make the best of her time with Sokka.

Though it'd be correct to go back home with her whole warrior apparel, she'd still have a few days on the ship to get ready. Besides, she still had a few things to put together in her room in the Fire Lord's palace, so she had the perfect excuse to spend some extra moments alone.

That is, as alone as one can be with one's boyfriend.

Suki heard the doorknob turn and she couldn't help but smile at her armor. Under all the layers of the Kyoshi uniform, she always chose to wear light clothes, and the cotton top and shorts felt fresh and familiar after so many weeks wearing the Fire Nation's clothes.

"Suki?" Sokka called as he stepped inside and he stopped short when he saw her, as if they hadn't seen each other in much fewer clothes before.

Between blushing and giggling, Suki put down the piece of the armor she'd been folding and then walked in his direction. He hadn't changed his clothes yet, probably had been overstaying at the cocktail that Zuko decided to throw for a number of people. She'd been invited, but didn't stay for long.

Sensing her mood, Sokka closed the door behind him, and smiled.

"Hey there," he said blushing too, and that was one of the things Suki liked about him the most – how he could be such a tease, but also quite the dork.

"Hey," she replied reaching out to his shirt and pulling him closer.

"You shipping off soon?" he asked, though it didn't sound much like a question. They'd been talking about departure for days and that was the only thing she didn't want to talk about at the moment.

Suki simply nodded and leaned closer, so close their noses touched.

"Let's not think about it now, huh?" she said smiling, trying to sound seductive.

It must've worked, because half a second later Sokka was kissing her and she was desperately tugging at his dress shirt, taking it off of him with incredible efficiency for someone who was walking backwards being led to the bed. He held her waist with one arm, his other hand slid down her thigh lifting her off her feet, and they dropped on the bed barely breaking the kiss, Sokka on top and Suki incapable of not smiling.

As he kissed down her neck, his hands making their way under her clothes, Suki could only feel… happiness. The war was over, she was going home, and the boy – the man – who driven her crazy in more than one way was hers.

Inebriated by the way he adored her as he kissed her skin, Suki smiled at the ceiling of her room. Yeah, he was hers.

Chapter Text

Yue

She saw him for the first time as she crossed down on her boat and as soon as they passed by, she lowered her head to hide her giggle, feeling his stare on her back. Yue was used to boys' attention, so she wasn't surprised, but there was something different about him and she told herself that her curiosity was only because she didn't know him – that strange boy from the Southern tribe.

She couldn't deny that he was genuinely cute, though.

Yue had to give it to him – he was brave. Clumsy, but courageous to approach her and introduce himself, all heart eyes, silver tongue and maybe a tad too loud.

They barely knew each other, but for a moment he made her forget who she was and what her duties were as a princess of the Northern Water Tribe. It was easy to say yes to him.

It was only after accepting his invite (to an activity, for the Moon Spirit's sake!) that she realized what she'd done – and immediately regretted it. What was she thinking, being betrothed to Hahn and everything, all her loyal duties! She couldn't afford to do what her heart told her to, she couldn't do what Kana did because her tribe's necessities came first!

But Sokka was lovely and pure and he had such a brave heart and to be honest her head was a bit of a mess when he found her, walking the line between reason and desire.

She wanted him. He wanted her. Neither could have the other, both were aware of that fact. But the Spirits would have to forgive her, because Yue wouldn't leave without a kiss. Heartbroken, but with a kiss nonetheless.

Chapter Text

Ty Lee

If one asked, Ty Lee wouldn't say that she had particularly planned to be in the right place at the right time, and it wasn't as if she was admitting it to herself, but she did plan to be in the right place at the right time.

See, it wasn't her fault that her room at the Fire Lord's palace, the same room she had used since she was a little girl, happened to be right next to Sokka's room. They would cross each other's path sooner or later. Maybe in the corridors, maybe on the way to breakfast, or maybe, just maybe on his way in the sauna room exactly when she was about to get out of it.

So if Ty Lee just happened to be covered in sweat and naked in the middle of the fog when the door opened, well, it was fate. And if she wasn't even bothered that there was a man walking in on her, well.

What could she do? She was a confident woman.

She looked over and for a couple of seconds he didn't even notice she was there, not until she turned around and sat up, her hair falling down her shoulders in a way she knew was rather sexy.

Sokka froze in place almost comically and Ty Lee smiled. She knew that she wasn't supposed to hit on him, the guy being Suki's boyfriend and all, and Suki being one of her best friends, but one's got to understand that his time in the South taking care of his tribe gave him the strength and muscles of the warrior he'd been all along and the view was quite nice from here, the red towel on his waist being enough of a tease.

"Oh, hello cutie," Ty Lee greeted. Her towel was on the rack by the door. She got up and walked in his direction. "I'm afraid I forgot to put a warning on the door."

Seeming to finally get out of his trance, Sokka's cheeks turned an adorable red and he turned his back to her, trying to give her some privacy.

"Ty Lee!" he exclaimed, some desperation in his voice. To be honest, she almost liked to watch his back as much as his front. "I'm sorry, I-uh, I should've knocked, I swear I didn't see anything."

Ty Lee chuckled.

"Would that be so bad," she commented, pushing the hair out of her face and neck, letting it fall on her back. Her comment seemed to make Sokka even more nervous.

"No! Of course not, I mean, yes, I mean," he struggled to articulate, making hand gestures nervously and his towel slid just an inch down his hip, so he had to hold on to it then, his breath shallow. That was so amusing.

Sokka sighed and Ty Lee got her towel, wrapped it around her body as she stepped around to face him. She couldn't help but notice him watching her from the corner of his eyes.

"Still not seeing anything?" she asked and he turned his head to the other side dramatically. Ty Lee touched his shoulder as she passed by him to get to the door. "Room is all yours."

She left the sauna, keeping the door ajar and even when she was almost in the corridor she could hear his heavy sigh. Ty Lee chuckled to herself. Not that she wanted to embarrass him, but damn, wasn't it worth it!

Chapter Text

Kaya

It would still take some time (almost a couple of years until the first updated storybooks arrived telling the story of the end of the 100 years war) to convince her that okay, Sokka really wasn't the Avatar, he was just a regular guy with the resources to make it look like he was the Avatar, but one's got to understand that it was hard to believe that he wasn't anything like a god.

She could only assume, considering that face of his and the way he stood and talked that he could only be the savior of them all. And fine, it was her fault to not believe him when he told her the truth – when she saw the truth with her own two eyes – but he was so charming and so attractive and -

Kaya looked at the parchment again, the neat drawing of the Water Tribe warrior with his boomerang right next to the section talking about his strategies expertise, and she sighed. Her beautiful Sokka.

Even with him not being the Avatar, she had to admit that her time with him was treasured, and she wished that it had lasted longer.

At the bottom of the page, it said that he was helping re-build the Southern tribe in the South Pole, that along with his father Hakoda he was negotiating with Zuko, Avatar Aang and the Earth King Kuei to find a way to establish peace once and for all in the colonies, to make Republic City a place of fellowship and togetherness.

South Pole, huh? Well, what was stopping her from paying a visit? Maybe she could have an extra date with him anyway, make the best of their time.

"Day dreaming again, Kaya?" her mother asked from the door of her room, and Kaya blushed, trying to hide the parchment with one of her school books. Her mother smiled, knowing her daughter so well, and left the room.

That crazy kid, always with her head in the clouds.

As soon as her mother left, Kaya sighed and pushed the book aside again. She touched the picture of her warrior ex tenderly, then rolled the parchment closed and put it on her nightstand. Those school books wouldn't study themselves and she had a lot to learn.

Chapter Text

Katara

She had just sat down with her cup of chai, a jasmine breed from Iroh's special garden that he'd been nice enough to let her plant in her Air Temple island backyard, when her big brother came through the door oozing nervousness and relief. Katara couldn't help but chuckle as he sat down by her side.

"So," she said after Sokka let out a heavy sigh. He just side-eyed her and she took another sip of her chai before talking again. "Suki met Suyin, huh?"

Sokka nodded and gulped. If she was a good enough waterbender, she'd be able to say he was sweating, and Katara was an excellent waterbender.

"She looked… angry," she continued clearly downplaying it, trying to poke him into speaking. When her brother and Suki arrived only twenty minutes ago, her sister-in-law was livid. "How did she take it?"

"Take what?" Sokka replied sounding annoyed, which just amused Katara more.

"Do you want me to make a list?"

He just rolled his eyes. On an normal day, Katara would be annoyed with him, but Bumi had gotten high praise in school today, Kya successfully helped heal one of the baby lemurs that'd fallen from the tree, and Tenzin had helped at home after a couple of hours meditating with his father and she was at peace for once.

"How did you talk your way out of it this time?" she continued. In part because she really wanted to know how he managed – if he managed – to get back on his girlfriend's good side. "Or do you mean to tell me that she didn't notice anything?"

"Seriously, Katara, what is there to notice?" Sokka complained, crossing his arms.

"Oh, you know you don't need to talk about it around me, big brother. Did you forget I was there when she was born? That I saw you crying all over your baby?"

Dramatically, Sokka sat straighter, leaned closer to her and shushed her. Katara just raised an eyebrow.

"You know Toph's rules, Katara, would you just can it already?" he requested, granting a smirk from her.

"Yeah, and she knows what I think of her rules," she replied. Sokka leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms again, sighing heavily. He too knew what Katara thought of those stupid rules. "Besides, girl looks just like you."

"She does not!" he cut her, making her stop midway to sipping her chai again and she looked at him.

"Come again?"

For a second there, it looked like he would reply and Katara was ready to counter-argue anything he said. At five years old, Suyin Beifong was a green eyed copy of how she remembered her brother to be when they were kids. To be honest, she was surprised that Suki didn't find out about the kid sooner. Every time she came close to the truth, Sokka found a way to lead her the other way. It made Katara feel like a terrible friend to Suki, always having to stay on the family side of fidelity.

(In all honesty, Katara was really shocked with how Aang had been keeping the secret for over a decade now; he was quite a terrible liar.)

She waited for details. Katara could really make that list in case Sokka tried to keep avoiding the subject. Finally, he sighed one more time, giving up.

"The secret is to ask the right questions and keep it vague as she vents," he said at last. "She ends up confusing herself and I leave almost unscathed."

Katara frowned.

"You're telling me Suki really doesn't think you have a five year old by now even if she arrived convinced of the contrary?" Sokka nodded and she couldn't help but notice how smug he looked about it. She grabbed the nearest cushion and threw it at his face. "Explain to me again how you plan on keeping it up."

"As long as you don't say anything, it's not gonna be hard!" he said holding the cushion she had thrown with both hands. "You know Toph won't bend. The girls don't know anything, I keep being uncle Sokka, all good."

"And you'll stop fooling around?" Katara asked, knowing that maybe she was asking for too much. Sokka narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't fool around, it was a slip."

"A slip that happens at least once every week?" she pointed out. Her delicious chai had gone cold and she set the cup down. Sokka scoffed.

"That's so not true," he mumbled. Katara shook her head.

"I don't know how long I can keep this up, big brother. You'll have to come clean eventually. Preferably sooner rather than later."

Sokka seemed to shrink in his chair and pressed the sides of his head with his fingers, most certainly feeling a headache build up. She'd offer a section of painkillers, but she wasn't feeling very generous towards him tonight.

"One day at a time, Katara," he told her sounding exhausted. If the schedule Suki had delivered in an angry speech was true – Lunch! Theater! Zoo! Dinner! Fair rides! – she could only guess that he was really tired. "One day at a time."

And even if he didn't deserve it (because he didn't), she got up and went to prepare them more chai. Like it or not, Katara would always choose the family side.

Chapter Text

Suki

Ty Lee had declared Suki and Sokka the longest on-again-off-again relationship in the world, offering them that title more or less six years after the end of the war. When she first declared that, Suki laughed and dismissed it as she held on to her boyfriend's arm.

They had just gotten back together for the fourth time after a fire encounter in Ba Sing Se and after a bunch of bumps in the road, so nothing could worsen her mood.

First time they broke up, it was because of conflict of agendas. That would turn out to be their more recurring trouble. Her Kyoshi duties were requested by Mai while Sokka busied himself with Katara, Aang and Toph. When they met again, it was like they had never been apart.

Second time, it was because she found out he had slept with Toph at the girl's 17th birthday celebration. Toph! Out of everyone, he chose one of her friends! It was just too much. He apologized, promised it would never happen again, begged for forgiveness, gave her time and space and after a while they drifted back together. Between trips to the Southern Tribe and to the Kyoshi island, they lasted almost two years in a row.

Third time was when he was offered a chair on Republic City's council. Despite living closer to Suki than he'd ever been, they were both helping build a new era and life just seemed too busy for relationships at that moment.

Suki didn't stop loving him for a day, even though her routine kept her mind and body busy for most of the time. There were other men in her life, and she didn't ask, but could only imagine that there were women in his life too. For some reason, she always thought that there would come a day when she'd make him want to stay.

That's why she dismissed Ty Lee's title for them so easily. Because there was a new building in Republic City that would soon be a Southern Water Tribe cultural center that Sokka was proud of, and Air Temple Island was almost ready, and Toph's first police recruits were graduating, and there was a training center for the Kyoshi warriors on the other side of town that would allow her to stay for at least a year. Because the sex was amazing and she would be waking up by his side every morning and because maybe, just maybe, she would finally get that betrothal necklace she'd been dreaming about since she was sixteen.

Chapter Text

Lin

"Did you really never consider making peace with me and mom?" Su asked, her voice low in order to not wake Junior up.

Between Su's kids, the little airbenders and Team Avatar, the sisters hardly ever had a moment of quiet like right now, and it was welcoming to Lin. Suyin's question was random, but not unexpected, and Lin's first reaction was to shake her head no, but that wouldn't be true.

Her mind reversed back to sixteen years ago, when her world tipped a little out of axis. Instead of keeping it down, she sighed.

"Just once," she confessed and then looked at her sister. "When uncle Sokka died. You know he was always bugging me to come talk to you and mom. He insisted on bringing me reports on you and the kids. Su's first born is a non-bender, it kind of reminds me of Katara. I think you'd love the twins, they are just like you and Ten when you were kids, just louder. Blah blah blah."

Suyin smiled.

"Uncle would come over every now and then with or without mom," she said, though it sounded more like she was thinking out loud. "He was always looking out for me."

Lin chuckled.

"I kept hoping he and mom would get together for real, but of course that wouldn't happen," Su continued.

"Yeah, no way mom would want a man officially in her life, even if uncle was practically a father to us."

"He was, wasn't he?" Su agreed and rested her chin on her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. "So what did you tell him when he'd suggested you should come over?"

"I told him to get lost," Lin answered right away. "That it was annoying how he so blatantly had favorites, just like mom."

"That's not true!"

It was, in certain ways.

"I know," she said, quieting down. "For a moment there, when he died, I thought that I owed him that – to come over and have this conversation, this fight with you and mom. But I couldn't, Su. I physically couldn't."

Suyin reached out and took Lin's hand in hers.

"You think uncle's spirit is watching us now? I bet he's damn proud of how far we've come."

"Oh, I'm sure, Su." Lin nodded. "I'm sure."

Chapter Text

Ty Lee

"Okay, gorgeous, take them off," Ty Lee said, a hand on her hip. Sokka frowned.

"What?"

"You heard me," she said and started taking off her own clothes. "Take your clothes off."

"What?" he asked again, watching her take off her top and then her pants. "Why?"

They were in the sparring room at Kyoshi Island and okay, it was a rather hot afternoon on a summer day, but being naked wasn't an option. Ty Lee stood there in her underclothes, the constantly upbeat girl looking somehow impatient with his incapacity of following instructions.

"You want to learn about chi blockers or not?" she asked frowning at him. "Because in order to do so, you have to learn about the meridians in the body, and about the pressure and the chakras, and that won't happen the right way with so many layers of fabric in the way." She talked like a real teacher, which was an interesting change from Sokka's normal interactions with her.

They were in silence for a while. Her explanation did make some sense, so after little consideration he shrugged and dropped his sword and boomerang at the edge of the tatami, and then started stripping down to his underclothes as well.

"Okay," Ty Lee said clapping her hands after they were in similar levels of nudity and walking closer to him. "First, you need to know where the meridians run and what you'd be blocking by pressuring the chi spots. When we fight benders, the idea is to neutralize their hand and arms movements. Of course, each type of bending comes from a different part of their bodies, so if you're fighting a firebender, you might want to block their lungs' meridian as well, because their bending comes from breathing."

As she spoke, Ty Lee also showed Sokka where those pressure points and meridian lines were, pointing and tracing each one of them on his skin and adding some pressure to demonstrate how it should be done, but not enough to knock him out. After each explanation, she also let him practice on her, guiding his hands on her own skin and instructing him with the right amount of pressure he should be putting in the spots in order to truly block the chi.

Sokka was a fast learner. Though he struggled to get the pressure right, he quickly picked up on where the spots were and now it was a matter of sharpening his technique. By the end of the afternoon, Ty Lee considered that they were good for some real sparring and so she suggested it.

"Don't worry, cutie, I'll go easy on you," she guaranteed with a smirk and Sokka scoffed. He was taller and larger than her, but Ty Lee was fast, agile and she'd been doing this for longer, so he didn't have a real chance against her.

"Give all you've got, T, I can take it!" he replied, quickly dropping his fighting posture to hit on his chest, but going back to his fighting position, legs spread, high arms covering his pretty face, which wasn't very clever considering that she was shorter than him and that left his torso exposed. Ty Lee smiled. "But seriously, go easy on me. I want to be functional tonight."

That got a laugh out of her, and then she adopted her fighting posture as well, staying way lighter and quicker on her feet than Sokka would ever be.

"Bring it on, handsome," she said. "Let's see what you're made off."

Not that she didn't already know. Ty Lee fought and sparred with Sokka many times before during the years they knew each other, but trash talk was a real thing she wouldn't keep aside. She saw his smile and already knew what he was going to do before he stepped forward. When he launched in her direction, all she had to do was duck under his right arm, spin around and pressure the point between his shoulder blades, making him gasp.

It still took him a couple of tries to finally hit her correctly, and when he did land a blow on her lower rib, she didn't know if she was proud or mad at him; after that first blow, their spar became a real match. They dodged and hit in a synchronized manner that resembled a dance, striking the less "lethal" chi points in order to make the fight last longer.

They were having fun. By the time Suki found them the sun was already down, and they were lying on the tatami waiting to restore their breathing and movement, both inebriated with how much they enjoyed that training.

"He's a quick student, Suki," Ty Lee said from the floor when the Kyoshi leader stood between the two of them. "You got yourself a good one."

Suki looked from one to another smiling.

"I'm aware," she said and kneeled down. Ty Lee nodded.

"Little help?" she asked, and knowing what she meant, Suki applied some quick hits in the right spots, which made Ty Lee gasp and sit up right away. "Thanks, boss."

"Hey, you didn't teach me that!" Sokka protested, his eyes following Ty Lee's movements as she got up and started putting her clothes on again.

"That's a lesson for me to teach you, sweetie," Suki said sugary, bringing his attention back to her and Sokka smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine with th-" he started, but before he could finish the phrase, Suki executed the same movements she had done with Ty Lee, bringing the control of his body back to him in a sharp and painful, yet effective way. "Ouch!"

Sokka pressed on his ribs and pouted, and Suki cupped his cheek before kissing his little pout. At the door, Ty Lee rolled her eyes. Couples.

"I'll see you guys at dinner," she said, more to let them know she was leaving them alone, and she didn't wait for an answer.

Chapter Text

Toph

First time, it was a slip.

They had sneaked out of a bar brawl they had started and ran almost all the way to Toph's home, her taking his hand and guiding him through the streets of Gaoling. After much negotiation, her parents had agreed to buy her a little cottage near her metalbending school, and apart from the mandatory guards and cleaning servers twice a week, Toph lived alone.

They hit the first steps laughing their asses off and they were still laughing after getting inside and after Sokka searched her cabinets for some beverages. They weren't drunk, for they both had a big day the next morning; they were just in ecstasy after pulling off another of their scams. It was nice to know that after so long apart they could easily do things like old times.

Until the laughing stopped, replaced by sexual tension and an almost unbearable desire that fucked with her notion of right and wrong. Until their drinks fell on the stone floor and Sokka was kissing her – Sokka was kissing her! – and her hands were on the back of his neck and pulling at his shirt. Toph heard the sound of ripping fabric and she knew that the beautiful dress her mother had picked was forever ruined. Well, who the fuck cared?

Their clothes were discarded along the way to her bedroom, Toph letting Sokka guide her. She thought she knew everything about him, but only then she learned about each aspect of his body, the way his chest hair felt under her touch, or how his breathing moved the muscles of his back, and the way his calloused hands traced her inner thighs and tickled the muscles of her stomach.

Was that what sex was supposed to feel like? Because it certainly had never felt like that before for her – this melting, out of this world, intense fire that weakened her knees and yet sharpened her senses.

He fell asleep first, and Toph tried to memorize each spot he had kissed – her lips, her neck, her breasts, her stomach and further down – the way his goatee brushed on her skin. She hadn't slept so heavily her whole life.

When Toph woke up, her bed was empty, but not the house. She heard him in the kitchen and for a moment she didn't process that Sokka was still there. She got up, put on a loose shirt and headed to the kitchen, because she was starving.

"Good morning," Sokka greeted and Toph smiled.

"Are you making one of Sokka's specials?" she asked sniffing as she came closer.

"Gonna have to wait and see," he replied and Toph let out a staged disappointed sound.

"Damn," she said. Sokka laughed.

"Go sit, I'll show you what I mean," he instructed, and since she was hungry, she simply obliged.

Sokka had made chai with cream, and he chose ceramic cups to serve them in order to enhance her senses. It was a mint and chamomile chai, with a little bit of apple at the end to add sweetness. He bought bread and butter, made eggs and jerky with herbs and bacon crisps. All of Sokka's specials for her, prepared as a sensorial experience.

"It's delicious," she said with her mouth full, fingers sticking with egg yolk.

"Thanks," he replied, mouth full as well. "I spent the last couple of weeks with Aang and Katara and that vegetarian bullshit was killing me."

Toph chuckled. She'd say something sarcastic about Tinkle Toes' diet, but she was too busy stuffing her face more. Something stopped her, though, making her pay attention. She tapped her feet casually, trying to figure out what had picked at her senses, and then she found it. By the door, it was Sokka's bag.

"You're leaving," she said out of the blue, interrupting his story about how they found a bunch of baby bison near the western air temple.

He was silent for a while and Toph wondered if he had nodded. Sokka was good at forgetting that she couldn't see like that. It was his best quality and flaw.

"I'm taking the next ship to Kyoshi in a couple of hours," Sokka told her. He sounded… apologetic.

That was when the guilt hit her and she closed her eyes. Suki. Oh, Spirits, Suki! Her friend!

Fuck.

"Of course, yes," Toph said opening her eyes. Her fingers scrapped her plate looking for more yolk and it occurred to her that it was something Suki would never do. Not that she cared for etiquette, it was just an observation. "Right."

She mumbled that last word and sucked the yolk from her fingers feeling full and broken at the same time. Empty, even. She was a horrible, horrible person.

"Toph," Sokka started, but she didn't let him talk.

"We had fun, right? But that won't ever happen again. It was just wrong, like kissing my cousin."

Except that they did so much more than kissing, and nothing felt wrong. But she couldn't keep this up, she didn't want to. She wanted for things to be normal and it was easy to tell that Sokka wanted the same. Defeated, he sighed and got up, taking out the dishes.

"Leave them in the sink, I'll clean up later," Toph said getting up too. She had to get ready to see her parents, and then she had a class to teach.

Toph knew all along that she wasn't a nice person, but she liked to praise herself as a good friend. Apparently, not even that was true. She took it out on her students, hoping that the extra exercise would ease the guilt that came back up whenever she heard Suki's name, but not even that made her not feel terrible. Eventually, she had to confess.

It was only a matter of time until Toph decided to talk to her friend and apologize. She invited Suki for a drink with her when she was out and about in Gaoling and arrived half an hour earlier to drink on some courage. That was the right thing to do and she would do it. Or else, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

"Hey, Toph," Suki greeted, sitting in front of her. "I hope I'm not too late."

"Nah, I'm early," she replied and smiled. She waited for Suki to get comfortable and get her own drink, silently sipping on her beer.

"I like how you totally ignore legal age to drink like that," the Kyoshi warrior joked. It was true that Toph was a good four months away from being legally able to buy alcohol in Earth Kingdom territory, as if it really mattered. "I guess Fire Nation gave us some bad habits, huh?"

Toph chuckled. In Fire Nation territory, legal age was 16 and Zuko already had gotten in a lot of trouble because of his drunk friends during their celebrations.

"Ask anyone if they'd dare stop me," Toph said and Suki laughed. No one would be that crazy.

The waiter put another beer bottle on the table in front of Suki, breaking their little nice, harmless moment.

"You said you wanted to talk," Suki said. Toph sighed and lowered her eyes, not that it'd make much difference.

"I'm guessing Sokka never told you anything," she said. Considering how nice and bubbly Suki still was towards her and all, it was easy to assume that she was oblivious as to what happened almost a year ago. "And I'm so, so sorry, Suki, I really am."

"Sorry about what?" Suki asked. Toph would take another guess and say she was frowning. "It's not like you to be cryptic, this is a little weird."

Toph sighed again. That was so much harder than she expected. She held her bottle of beer with both hands, mentally cussing at the alcohol for not doing what it was supposed to do and giving her the balls to do what she went there to do.

"We didn't plan on it, it just happened," she spilled. "And I swear on the Spirits it won't happen again, I swear. You're my friend and I don't want to ruin it."

"What the hell are you talking about, Toph?" Suki asked, this time much colder. She probably already had an idea by now, considering the tone of her voice. Toph gulped.

"Last year, when Sokka came for my birthday. We slept together."

First there was silence. Toph didn't know what was going on with Suki, but it probably wasn't good. Sokka and Suki had been strong since before the end of the war, and the fact that he cheated on her could only be disturbing. When Suki spoke, it was in a louder, piercing tone.

"You fucked my boyfriend?" she said and Toph cringed. "How dare you? How fucking dare you!"

"Suki, I'm really sorry! I swear I am!"

"The fuck you are, you've had a crush on him for ages!"

"No!" Toph squealed. "No, he's my friend. Su, please, I feel awful-"

Suki scoffed.

"I see," she replied coldly getting up, her chair tipped over and fell noisily. "Only took you eight months to feel sorry. And that son of a bitch! I can't believe he didn't tell me anything!"

"Suki, I know that's not what you wanted to hear," Toph said, reaching out and catching Suki's arm. "But I promise that won't happen again. I'm sorry."

Suki snatched her arm from Toph's touch.

"Go fuck yourself, Toph."

The words cut deep and Suki stormed off without paying her bill. Toph didn't blame her for that, she'd gladly pay for it. Half of the beer was still in the bottle and hell, if Toph didn't need an extra drink. She finished her own bottle in two long gulps and reached for Suki's discarded drink, finishing it quickly too.

"What?" Toph asked out loud, knowing that all eyes were on her. How long until word got to her parents that their strange daughter was also a homewrecker?

Toph sighed. At least the secret was out now, and that should work for something, right? And she didn't lie, that promise was real, it was something she was willing to keep. They all had too much history to fuck it up by now. She could not be a nice person, but she would be a good friend.

The promise was kept for almost two decades.

Chapter Text

Kya

When Yakone's trial happened, Kya was twelve. At twelve years old, her father, the Avatar, already had saved the world. At the same age, her mother was the only waterbender of the Southern tribe. And at age twelve, her uncle was the oldest male in their tribe, providing food for the families and starting the training of the little ones.

At age twelve, Kya had done nothing major yet and the fact that her big brother had just joined the army made things even more frustrating for her.

So there was Yakone's trial and suddenly the school was on lock down. No one was allowed to leave the building unless their respective adults would come to get them, and for the street kids the state would take care of them. Kya sat down in the school's cafeteria where all the children had been taken, and she took upon herself the responsibility to keep an eye on Tenzin, Lin and baby Su until someone would come to get them.

It felt like forever, the half hour that Smellerbee and Longshot took to come and show their pass to take them home along with their kid.

"Are we going to your place?" asked Tenzin looking through the window and seeing that their mobile wasn't taking the course to the docks, where they'd take a boat to the island.

"No," Longshot answered. "We're going to the hospital."

"Who got hurt?" Lin asked. Lin never liked small talk, always going right to the matter.

"No one got hurt, sweetie," Bee told them after exchanging a look with Shot. "It's just to make sure."

"Make sure of what?" Kya pressed.

For a moment, no one answered her, and after torturous seconds Longshot tapped his fingers on the steering wheel casually, looked at then through the rear view mirror.

"Some people took the bloodbending harder than others, that's all," he told them. "Everyone will be fine."

Kya's mind went to the night before when she overheard the adults talking, and a shiver went through her spine.

"You have to start taking it easy on your responsibilities, Sokka," Mom had said, taking the plate of dried beef from uncle's hands. "Remember what I said about your heart."

"What about it, Katara, come on!" he had protested.

"You know what about it!" Mom had practically shouted. "After tomorrow's trial you will have to choose between the council or the tribe. You're not 20 anymore to keep accumulating titles."

"Hey, I'm totally fine!" Uncle had protested. "I've never been better. Tell her, Aang."

"I do think you should choose," Father interfered. "Between Republic City, the South Pole and the White Lotus, you might have too much on your plate."

"Especially now with the girls," mother had argued and Kya frowned. What girls?

"What are you doing?" Tenzin had hushed, startling her and ruining all her chances to finding the answer for her question. Those damn light feet. "It's a school night."

Back in the car, the older of the girls blinked.

"Is it Uncle Sokka?" Kya asked and she got no answer, which could only mean one thing: yes.

"Uncle Sokka is hurt?" Tenzin said a little too loud and with a worry that would be too much for someone so young. Suyin started to fuss, which was a first. So far, she'd been really quiet.

"No one is hurt, kid, relax," Longshot said, but the damage had been done already and no one believed him.

It had been Uncle Sokka after all, they discovered when they got to the hospital, and it didn't matter how much Kya protested and pleaded, Father didn't let her go in to help out.

"Your mother is already there," he kept saying, as if it should be enough.

"Uncle needs all the help he can get," she argued to which Father chuckled.

"For the Spirits, Kya, he's not dying. It's just his heart that needs some reinforcements, that's all."

"I know everything about hearts!" she said, her last resort. The whole Yakone thing got her studying anatomy books for the last year.

"Kya, sweetheart," Father said putting a hand on her shoulder. "Can you wait?"

She could. Thing was, she didn't want to. But Father was asking nicely, so she decided to obey – just this time. At the first opportunity, she'd get in that room.

Suyin beat her to it. As soon as things quieted down and people started to be discharged, Kya looked around to see if she was clear to get into that room. Aunt Toph, who had kept guard in front of Uncle's door the whole time, had left to get some coffee and with the other kids at the hospital's library, Kya found her cue. She tiptoed and slid inside the room, but she was surprised to hear a kid's voice.

"Then, the fluffy friend was very, very sad," the toddler was saying and Kya looked up.

"Why was he sad?" Uncle Sokka asked and looked at Kya, offering her a little wink.

He was sitting on the bed, baby Su by his side flipping a colorful book that Kya had read when she was little. Uncle was braiding her hair and he looked fine. A little tired, but fine. It made her sigh with relief.

"Because the trees are gone," Suyin answered frowning at the book.

"All the trees?" uncle Sokka asked and Suyin turned the page.

"I think so," she said.

"How are you feeling, Uncle?" Kya asked while Su searched for her answer in the book.

"I told your mother that I'm fine," he said bothered. "It was just my arm that was a little numb."

Kya frowned. She might not always agree with her mother, but from all the reading she'd been doing, she could tell for sure that the numbness couldn't be a good sign.

"It's nothing, kid. It just feels like I slept wrong, you know?" he assured and Kya stepped closer.

"But what about your heart?" she wondered. "There must be something blocking your chi. Maybe I can locate where the disturbance is and help."

"It's here," Suyin said pointing at uncle's left arm. "The hurt."

Kya frowned and Uncle nodded.

"I know about chis, Kya," he said. "I'm taking care of it."

"Well, you're not doing a very good job!" Kya protested and felt her eyes sting. When did she get on the verge of tears?

"Kya," Uncle said ever so sweet, reaching for her and she closed the space, hid her face on his chest. "There, there. I'm fine, kiddo, see?"

"Mom keeps saying you're overworking," she said, her voice muffled. "And we know you won't quit the White Lotus, so you'll have to choose and the tribe is more important. You'll leave and you're sick and I won't be able to take care of you."

"Wow, I must be really old," he joked and Kya pouted.

"Aren't you like, 44?"

"Uh, excuse me? 43 and still oozing youth."

Kya leaned back and starred at him. 43 was 31 years more than her and that felt so old. Uncle Sokka touched the bridge between Kya's eyebrows to make her stop frowning.

"I've been studying, Uncle, I wanna help," she said and he nodded.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay?" Kya echoed wide eyed. Before she could say anything else, the door opened loudly and Toph got in.

"They are here!" she shouted, even thought it was a hospital. Kya noticed that there was a bit of a commotion going on in the hallway.

"Momma," Suyin called and aunt Toph caught the little girl in her arms.

"What are you doing here, badgermole?"

"Reading a story," Su answered.

"She was reading a story," Uncle said too, and in return aunt punched his arm. And then she kissed him. Kya was so confused.

"Don't you dare do that again!" Aunt said firmly as uncle rubbed the spot she had hit him. "And you, little brat, can't read yet."

Suyin opened her mouth to protest, but Kya's mom chose that exact moment to get in the room.

"Kya! Didn't your father tell you to wait outside?"

"Yeah," the girl mumbled avoiding eye contact. "But it was quiet now and I want to help."

"You can help by staying out of the way. You're not ready yet."

"You were not that much older than me when you brought Dad back from the dead!" Kya protested and mom crossed her arms.

"Aang needs to stop telling you all these stories," she said annoyed.

"Father didn't tell me anything. He told Tenzin, who told us," Kya replied bitterly. "Besides, I've got to start sometime!"

"Kya!"

"Katara," Uncle Sokka interrupted. "It's okay. Kya, come here, show her what you were telling me. About the chis?"

Kya stuttered for just a second before she caught up with what uncle was doing – letting her have a voice and a chance - and then she went back to business.

"Modern studies show different ways to unlock the chi in order to increase the strength of involuntary organs, like the heart, lungs, and so," she said bending her spirit water and applying some pressure on uncle's left arm looking for the place of distress. She found it near his shoulder. "Oh, she was right."

"Who?" her mother asked. Kya looked at the women and then at the toddler in Aunt's arms.

"Suyin," she said. "She pointed where the distress was. Is there a chance she's a waterbender, Aunt Toph? She didn't show any sign of bending yet."

There was a moment of silence where Aunt just stood frozen there with her mouth ajar, and Mom and Uncle exchanged a look Kya didn't understand. And then -

"It must have been the metal in the blood," Aunt answered. Kya had read that there was, indeed, metal in the blood; that was why it was red. She wondered if metalbenders would be able to bloodbend too.

"Makes sense," the girl said, and then turned to Uncle again. He smiled, encouraging her. "Okay, from what I've learned," Kya proceeded grateful that Uncle trusted her enough for it. She wasn't sure she would do it right, but at least mom was there and at least she was being useful. If she wanted her uncle to stick around, and she did, he would need all the help he could get. And Kya was first in line.

Chapter Text

Suki

I'd been a while since Suki stopped being the leader of the Kyoshi warriors, what with the tradition of having younger girls in the front. She still trained the girls, and even being over forty she still could kick some ass.

It wasn't really surprising to get the letter from the White Lotus with the invite. Surprising was the fact that the invitation took so long to arrive.

"Would you really drop everything in Kyoshi to come, say, fifteen years ago?" Sokka asked after she was introduced at the base in Ba Sing Se. He had a point.

"You didn't have to drop anything, if I remember correctly," Suki observed. "Last time I checked you still had a seat as councilman."

"My duties are different than yours here," he said. "And they require my presence in Republic City."

"Right, but what about the water tribe?"

Sokka shrugged.

"Father can stay for a few more years, I won't be needed soon. Here's your quarters, madam."

He gestured to the door they had stopped in front of a door at the White Lotus' headquarters. He offered her a key and Suki opened the door, saw her luggage waiting for her.

The room was like a little apartment; it had a large bed by the balcony door, a closet, it's own suit, a table with two chairs and a Pai Cho board on top of it. There was also a sink and stove on the corner. The headquarters had its own cafeteria, but its residents could make their own food if they wanted.

"Lovely," Suki said touching the cotton of the bed's sheets. She looked up at Sokka. "Wanna come over for dinner tonight?" she invited. He smirked. Damn, that smirk never got old.

"I bring the wine," Sokka said. Oma, how she missed him.

"Seven okay?" She asked thinking quickly of the time she'd need to get her things in order and prepare something, and he nodded.

"Seven is perfect," he answered and left the room to let her get comfortable in her new home.

Only when the door closed that it occurred to Suki that seven would be the number of times they had gotten back together if they would be willing to make it work now.

Chapter Text

Suyin

Su never, ever had trouble crashing a council meeting in her life, as long as Uncle Sokka was there. Mother told her that the first time she ever did that was when she was three years old.

"Instead of dragging you back to your sister, he decided to let you stay," Mother told Su one day. "I told him that you were Lin's responsibility, but he insisted that it was fine, you'd behave, and you know what? You really did. He sat with you on his lap, gave you a pencil and a piece of paper and you had never been such an angel in your life."

She remembered some of it. Remembered lying against Uncle's chest feeling it vibrate against her back as he spoke and chewing on whatever southern treat he had brought to her from his last trip home. Sometimes she even slept, lulled by the sound of his voice. Mother wasn't much of a fan of it, and she only managed to keep Suyin from joining the meetings after the girl was seven years old and willing to spill her opinion. She remembered the betrayal she felt when she realized that the doors were bended shut, keeping her out of the room.

Well, Mother wasn't here today, and nothing could stop her from storming in.

"Uncle, you need to help me!" Suyin announced kicking the door open in the middle of a council meeting and the five councilmen looked at her. Uncle Sokka, in the middle, frowned. "Mother has gone crazy!"

"Who let you in?" Uncle asked. For a second, Su was surprised to catch the hardness of his words.

"I did," she answered.

"Huh," he said. He didn't seem very pleased. "Then you're gonna get your ass back outside and wait for the meeting to end."

"But Uncle!" Suyin protested. "This is urgent!"

"More urgent than the future of Republic City?" he inquired, an elbow on the table, and Su shrunk a little. "Wait outside, Suyin," he added when she opened her mouth to protest and she pouted, finally giving up and going back outside.

That was so unfair! She felt bad about hurting Lin, but did she deserve to be shipped to Gaoling? Definitely not! Grandpa Lao was nice and liked to have her and Lin over for the holidays, but to live with him would be completely different, she was sure.

It felt like forever for the meeting to end and for Uncle to finally go talk to her in the hall. He still didn't look very happy, and Suyin wondered if word already had gotten to him before she could tell him her side of the story. She decided to lay her case right away.

"Mother is sending me to Gaoling because of this one little dumb thing I did and you have to talk her out of it," Su said a little desperately and Uncle tilted his head, crossed his arms.

"Oh, do I?" he said sarcastically. "Because from what I heard, there was nothing little about your public stunt."

Suyin groaned. Fuck, someone beat her to it.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"Your mother called," Uncle Sokka answered and Su raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so you have time to answer a call from the Chief of Police, but not to come to my rescue?"

"I'm gonna give you five seconds to rephrase that."

Damn, that was cold. Suyin lowered her head.

"I'm sorry," she said. She wasn't used to him being so hard on her, though she had to admit that wasn't the first time it was happening. Suyin wasn't an easy kid and she knew that. Hell, she liked to brag about it all the time. But now she took it too far.

She took a deep breath to try and organize her thoughts in order to argue her case, but the familiar sound of the police metal uniform interrupted her. It was Lin storming in. The Beifong women were good at storming into places.

"Uncle, you can't side with h-"

"Lin!" Uncle exclaimed heading to Lin worriedly and hugging her. "Oh, Tui, Linny."

Suyin watched the scene in front of her wishing she had bangs like Mother so she could hide her eyes. She saw the way Lin hugged Uncle and rested her head on his shoulder and the way he rubbed her back, comforting her. Suyin felt awkward and left out.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Lin.

"I'm fine, Katara looked it up," she said. Her voice was low because she was facing the other way. Suyin knew that her sister didn't want to look at her. It hurt to know that.

"Snowflake," Uncle said pushing back and keeping a hand on Lin's shoulder. Su could see in her sister's eyes how amazed she was, as if she couldn't believe that Uncle was being so nice and worried about her, which was insane. Uncle always favored the older sister. "It's so good to see that you're fine," he sighed and then kissed her forehead.

"Kya thinks it's going to scar, though," Lin said lowering her eyes and Uncle sighed.

"You're going home to rest, right?" he said. It didn't sound much like a question. Lin opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "Linny, I know you think you can go back to work right away, but we think you should go rest. Have a long bath, drink some chai, sleep. It won't solve all your problems, but it will make life easier, I promise."

We. He and Mother. Uncle and Mother were constantly deciding the best strategy for the Beifong sisters together, and Su had only noticed that when Lin pointed it out a couple of years ago. She didn't know why he cared so much, but she was glad he did. That was why she had come right to him after Mother decided she should go to Gaoling.

"Okay," Lin said. She didn't sound very convincing.

"Okay?" Uncle echoed. "Kiddo, I'm coming over to make sure you're resting."

Lin rolled her eyes.

"Okay."

This time, she said it with more conviction. If Uncle said he would pass to check on something, you bet he would be true to his word. The sisters learned it the hard way.

"Don't worry, Snowflake, I've got this," he said. Su knew that he was talking about her and she retreated one step. "Go."

As soon as Lin was out the door, Uncle turned to Suyin again. He gestured towards a bench at the far end of the hall and they both walked there. He pointed for her to sit and then sat by her side.

"I can't move somewhere else, Uncle, Republic City is my home," Suyin said knowing that the battle was already over.

"Baby girl, look at me," he said and Su looked up at him. "I'll not talk your mom out of it, I think she's right. You need to be somewhere else and find new paths. It's not going to be easy, but it's just something you have to do. When we found the Avatar-"

Suyin laughed, because here came another of Uncle's stories about their adventures. He didn't even stutter.

"It was a hell of a big deal, Katara and I leaving our tribe to help him. I was only fifteen. How old are you again?"

"Fifteen," Su answered.

"What a coincidence!" he exclaimed making her laugh again. "Now, I'm not saying you're going to help save the world like I did, but I do think – know, actually – that leaving your comfort zone will change your life for the better. Understand?"

"I'm not happy about it," she said and Uncle shook his head.

"That's not what I asked."

Su swallowed.

"I understand."

"You don't need to like it; you just have to have an open mind. You like your grandparents, don't you?" she nodded. "Then take it from there. Think that you're helping your mom and sister, think that you're making me proud instead of worried or mad because of your bad decisions."

She lowered her head again. Suyin had so many mixed feelings about her friends and the things they did together. She loved the thrill of their scams, the rush of adrenalin, but at the same time, it wasn't getting the results she expected. In fact, it was going on the opposite direction.

She hurt Lin. Physically hurt her, which was against the number one rule of sisterhood. Uncle was disappointed at her; it was terrible to see how sad it made him. And Mother was sending her away. Su failed in so many ways.

A tear fell down her chin and on her lap and Suyin took a deep breath. Uncle reached out and pulled her into a hug.

"You think Lin's ever gonna forgive me?" she asked with a little sob. "I didn't want to hurt her, Uncle, I swear."

"I know Weddell Seal, I know," he said gently patting her hair. "Just give her a little time, will you? She needs it."

"I'm so sorry," Su sobbed a little more. She could never do it in front of Mother, it'd be too embarrassing, but Uncle made her comfortable enough.

"It's okay," he said kissing the top of her head. Suyin sighed and tried to control her breathing. "But that doesn't mean you won't have to go to Gaoling," he added and she pouted.

"Shit," she mumbled. Well, at least it was worth the try.

Chapter Text

Yue

Time wasn't really a thing in the spirit world, so the only way Yue could tell that it was passing was through them: the people she loved in that lifetime of hers. She watched her parents and cousins up north, watched the distant southern tribe strive, watched the war end. She liked to think that she did her part to help end that war.

And she watched him. Her Sokka. Watched him live and achieve and be happy and sad and it made her happy and sad too. He had been the first and only to make her feel more, and she loved him so much for it.

Numerous times he called up to her and she was glad to help at the best of her ability. She watched him earn the most different names, but her favorite had to do with her – The man blessed by Tui.

Twice was the number of times Yue was unable to help him, and those times hurt her as badly as they hurt him.

Second was when he went to the Avatar's aid, protecting that precious little girl with his life, much like he protected his little girls. Laying on the snow, he looked up at her.

"You look beautiful tonight," he managed to say. "It's okay, Yue. Don't weep, it's okay."

She wept anyway.

First it had been at her home, by the hut of the Northern Water Tribe. He sat on the snow with the small bundle that contained his little boy in his hands; much too young to survive the birth, not even Tui and La together could do something. She invited the clouds to cover her moon form just so she could use her Yue form for a few moments and get close to him.

He could not see her, but he looked up at where she was anyway and he was crying. She looked down at the baby, his brown skin with a light shade of blue. This spiritual body couldn't cry, but it could feel.

Yue felt helpless. Useless.

She reached out and touched his cheek. Sokka gasped under her touch, letting out a sob. It was their third try and how far two people could go with so much loss?

"I'm sorry, my love," she said to him. "I'm so, so sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

The clouds kept going their way and Yue had to leave.

Chapter Text

Toph

Sokka was back. He had a permanent seat on the council since he was twenty-one, and with constantly having to go to the South Pole or to cover some of the White Lotus' jobs, he was constantly coming and going. Until a couple of years ago, when the Northern thing happened.

To be honest, Toph thought he wouldn't come back from it. But it'd been two years now and she had just had a baby when he showed at her door.

"Iroh assigned me to Republic City for however the hell long he wants me here," he said first thing. "I think he just wants me out of his tea shop for a while."

"That's what you'd been doing?" Toph asked. She still didn't invite him in and she could sense that he had all his bags with him. Or at least most of his bags. "Fighting rebels and drinking chai?"

To her surprise, he laughed. She didn't think she'd hear his laugh ever again.

Lin gave out a little cry and she knew that Sokka was trying to take a peek inside, so she stepped to the side, her hand still on the handle of the door.

"Oh, no. Toph, sorry. I forgot you have a newborn now. I don't want to be in your way."

Part of her didn't know why she said what she said next. The other part knew exactly why.

"It's okay, really. It's about time you meet her."

Hope. That was why.

"Are you sure?"

"Meathead."

"Okay, excuse me," he said with a little giggle and put his bags by the door after getting in.

Toph closed the door and lead Sokka inside. Her house in Republic City was large and open, she had bended it herself. Her privileged status allowed her to buy the best lot near the police station. Lin's room was right in front of hers, even though the baby slept more with her than anywhere else. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but part of her was terrified Lin would stop breathing in the middle of the night, even though Katara told her again and again that her baby was strong.

Lin cried out again, reminding Toph that, in fact, she was completely aware that her little brat had quite the strong set of lungs. By her side, Sokka gasped.

"Toph," he breathed out. She sensed him getting close to Lin's crib and reach out for the baby. "Look at those Beifong eyes!"

Years later, that was how he would describe Opal to her. She's got those Beifong green eyes.

Without asking, he took Lin in his arms and she immediately stopped fussing. In the back of her mind, Toph remembered Twinkle Toes calling Sokka the "baby whisperer", because he could always make Bumi calm down, and Bumi was the fussiest baby Toph had ever met. At first, she thought it was some sort of non-bender connection, but now she didn't know… maybe Sokka really was a little magical.

He didn't leave that day. Since Toph still was on maternity leave, he stayed over helping her with the house and dinner and they managed to catch up on those almost three years of only talking through letters. At night, Sokka sang a southern lullaby in a language Toph didn't understand for Lin, who slept soundly.

"She's such a nice baby," he said, almost whispering, after he put her in her crib and rejoined Toph in the kitchen. She was just about done with the dishes.

"Compared to who? Because Bumi is the only baby that cried more than her," she replied and heard him chuckle. Sokka was standing so close, she could barely concentrate on scrubbing the sink correctly.

"You know, that kid is a hurricane," he agreed. "It actually surprises me that he's a non-bender, because he reminds me so much of Aang. You weren't with us at the beginning, so you missed out on a lot of his innocence. When we broke Aang out of that ice, he was just so full of energy, but then he started seeing what the world had become."

"Sokka," Toph said and something about the way she let out his name made his heart skip a beat. She knew, because she could feel it. She looked up at him. "You can't fix yourself by fixing this, you know that, right?"

He was silent for a while, but not long enough for her to believe that that was why he had come to her first – for fixing. She was Toph Beifong, she kept reminding herself, and she was no one's tool.

Not even his.

"I don't want to fix anything, Toph," he said with conviction. "There's nothing needing fixing."

Her mouth opened in a small 'oh', more out of satisfaction than anything. He had given her the right answer. Before something stupid could happen, like her cheeks blushing, Toph smirked.

"Tell me again about how you and Suki are separated," she said, leaning against the sink and looking up at him, her bangs falling in her eyes. Sokka reached out and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"We're not separated," he answered. "We're over."

There it was again, fluttering in her chest. Hope. Fifteen years ago she made a promise that she managed to keep. The means hadn't been optimal, Toph had to admit that, but the ends led to this. She didn't need to keep that promise anymore. They were over. And her story was just beginning.

Chapter Text

Katara

A snort escaped from Katara's throat again. She was so enjoying it, no one could take that joy from her.

"No, but wouldn't it be the funniest shit?" she said again, incapable of keeping it down.

To be fair, she was aware that the joke was losing humor to a lot of her friends, but she hated those rules so much, the possibility was too hilarious to let pass.

"Hey, Toph, nice new baby!" she mocked. "Interesting skin tone, though. Very water tribe-ish. Oh, she's a waterbender, how sweet!"

"Can it, Sugar Queen," Toph warned and Katara laughed.

Toph turned in Sokka's direction. He had just left the hospital and Suyin had been sleeping in his arms since before he was discharged. Now everyone was at the main living room of the Avatar's Air Temple Island home. Well, everyone but the rest of the kids.

"That's odd," Katara continued, leaning towards Toph. "Oh, didn't councilman Sokka live with you for a while a few years ago? Wait a minu-"

Toph stomped her foot on the floor once, and in a blink Katara found herself in the other room. There was barely any sign of bending around her, Toph really was an incredible bender.

"Mom?" Tenzin asked. Oh, she was sent to the kids' room. Okay, she saw what Toph did there.

"Hey, baby, it's okay," she ruffled his hair. Sitting on the floor, Lin was trying to bend something but she couldn't make out what was. "Aunt Toph is just pulling some pranks."

She got up and went to the door. The kids' playroom was just a couple of rooms from the living room.

"Joke's still funny!" she shouted from the corridor, and was pulled back in the kids' room.

Totally worth it, though. Katara would keep bugging Toph about Su's bending until what she already knew since the girl was in her mother's womb was confirmed: that as a legit Beifong, she was an earthbender. A strong one, even.

But that didn't mean Katara would give Toph this certainty before it was necessary, though. Oh, no, she would savor that information. Stupid rules.

Chapter Text

Suki

Three different decades, and three tries.

Suki was nineteen and spending some time at the Southern Water Tribe when she started getting sick every morning. Sometimes every afternoon and night too. Kana side-eyed her constantly, giving her that knowing look older people like to wear. She looked back and counted the moons.

The next day, she got up sick again, and when she went back to bed, she shook Sokka awake.

"Babe?" Suki called and he slowly opened his eyes before he reached out to touch her, his arm going around her still flat stomach. "I'm late."

"Late for what?" Sokka asked, still sounding sleepy and Suki chuckled.

"I'm not bleeding," she explained. "I think it's been around two months."

She let the information sink in for a moment and saw in his eyes the exact instant he got it. Sokka sat up right away, eyes wide in amazement.

"You're pregnant," he said, any sign of sleep gone. Suki nodded. "We're gonna have a baby, our own very baby!"

"Yeah," Suki said, starting to tear up a little.

She loved him so much, it was only fair to carry his child. Sokka was so happy that he kissed her all over her face and then her stomach and by the end of the day, the whole tribe knew that chief Hakoda would have his first grandchild.

Suki was well into her third month when she fell very ill. It was more than the nausea, she felt weak. Katara and Aang came from the Southern Air Temple to assist them, the healers put her in bed rest. On the third day, Suki was going to get up to pee when she saw the blood all over her pants and sheets.

"Sokka?" she called, and she wasn't even sure if she said it out loud, but in a second he was there, standing by the door. Suki looked from him to the blood, unable to speak.

"I'll get Katara," he said right away, and hurried outside.

Nothing could be done.

But okay, they were young still, with their lives ahead of them. There was plenty of time.

They separated and got together again a few times, the hardest being the one when he cheated on her. Turned out he didn't tell Toph about Suki's miscarriage and the earthbender felt cheated on too, used. After a while, Suki and Toph put the differences aside and moved on.

Sokka, Suki knew, would always be hers.

Second try, like the first, wasn't a try at all, it was a coincidence. They still weren't married, and even though Suki really wanted to – she practiced in her mind sometimes, this is councilman Sokka, my husband -, it didn't feel that important.

She was twenty-five and keeping Sokka company in Republic City, knowing all the time of her condition. She was waiting to tell him, this time, afraid of what happened like last time. Worse than picking up the pieces of her own grief was to see a whole tribe grieving with her.

Suki figured she'd have to visit Katara anyway at their brand new Air Temple Island. Her friend was pregnant with her first child, almost due, and the expectations were high on the possibility of a restart for the airbenders.

It took Katara less than five minutes to figure Suki out.

"How far along are you this time?" she asked, both hands on her round belly. She looked so beautiful. Suki couldn't wait to be able to feel her baby too.

"Four months or so," she answered.

"What? Why didn't Sokka mention anything?"

Suki shook her head.

"He doesn't know, I don't want to spoil it."

She spoiled it. It was the only explanation Suki had for the sharp contractions she started to feel later that day, when neither Sokka nor Aang had come back yet. The women had to solve it alone, much like it happened the first time around, only the stress almost had Katara going into labor as well.

It was a blood mismatch thing, Katara explained to everyone later. If they ever tried to have kids again, they should head North as soon as they'd find out and have Suki being taken care 24/7 by their healers. They would know exactly what to do.

And they did, it was true.

Thirty-four years of age. Unmarried, but living with the love of her life nonetheless. Suki was sure she'd get an invitation for the White Lotus any moment, and she wondered if she'd be able to leave her Kyoshi girls. But then she was late for one moon and she told him.

"I'm gonna have Katara organizing our stay at the Northern Tribe right now," Sokka said right away and Suki breathed.

Third time was a charm and it was about time they had a kid. Katara already had two! Suki wanted their kid to grow up with the cousins.

She made it to five months with restrictions and special diet and bed rest, with daily healing sessions and constant supervision. But the moment Suki felt the first contraction, she knew it was over.

"Sweetheart, don't give up," her healer kept telling her. "We'll all do our best for you and your baby to survive."

But they waited too long trying to stop the bleeding before they decided to induce the labor, or maybe he was already dead and that was why the contractions started in the first place. There wasn't a single cry in the delivery hut that day.

Suki was numb. When asked, she couldn't even describe the stillborn that was put in her arms. Roman, Sokka named him. That was all she knew about him, his name.

She fell into depression for days, maybe weeks, and the same happened to Sokka. Aang came over, without Katara. Only later they would find out that it was because she was with child again and didn't want then to know so soon.

And then came Iroh, the only one able to pull Sokka from his misery, even if just a little. He offered him a job with the Lotus in Ba Sing Se and Sokka accepted it. Before they left, Suki figured she should get back to work too, only not with them.

Alone, she moved back to Kyoshi Island, started training her girls again, regained her balance. After a while, she realized that she didn't need to give Sokka a son. Their love, it should be enough. It would be enough.

It was enough.

But when she met that kid, Suyin, it all came back. Sitting with the Beifong for lunch and watching Sokka care for Toph's girls, it was just so crazy. And baby Su. Was Suki insane, or did baby Su look just like him?

"Sokka, let her eat by herself, she knows how," Toph complained when he put the girl on his lap.

"I know she knows," he replied taking Suyin's plate and transferring her food to his. "But she's stealing my food anyway, so I'm just making things practical."

Suki watched Sokka give a rice ball to Suyin, who dumped her chopsticks to eat with her hands. He had no hard time eating with a kid on his lap, not dropping a grain on her at all. She felt so left out.

"Please tell me the truth, Sokka," she gathered the courage to say a few months later. "I need the truth. Please. Is she yours?"

For a second, it seemed like he would distract her with something else like he always did when she confronted him about answers he didn't want to give, but then he nodded.

"But it's complicated. And it doesn't change anything."

Suki couldn't help but feel a little dead inside anyway.

Chapter Text

Kana

The ship came to a stop at the South Pole's port. Luckily, the main port was close to their tribe, and they'd get home fast, especially now with those motored sleds. Kana looked at her son Hakoda when the bridge started to be lowered, and he tapped her hand warmly, offering her an anxious smile.

They would finally meet her.

The bridge hardly touched the ice and the kids already were running down with loud laughs and shouts, Katara rushing behind them to make sure no one would fall in the freezing water.

"Gran-Gran!" Kya exclaimed hugging the elder woman. "Grandpa Chief!"

Hakoda laughed and hugged the teenager. Tenzin came right after her. He had grown quite a bit since Kana had last seen him, and when he greeted them, his voice cracked a bit.

"This is my friend Lin Beifong," he introduced the girl to Kana. Lin was a pretty little girl with white skin and pitch black hair much like her mother.

"Now, aren't you the copy of your mother," Kana said touching Lin's long curls. The girl smiled and blushed.

"Thank you, ma'am," she said politely. "I'm so glad to meet you."

Her eyes kept wandering around, so Kana nodded at Tenzin, giving him the chance to take Lin's hand and guide her to the sleds.

The youngest of the kids ran past them when Katara and Aang approached to greet them, and Kana chuckled at her granddaughter's tense sigh.

"Rough trip?" Hakoda asked and Katara nodded.

"Remind me not to travel with tiny metalbenders again," she told him. "Especially not in a metal ship."

"SUYIN!" Sokka called from behind his sister and both Kana and Hakoda turned around in time to see the little girl stop right away, look back at him and drop on the snow with her arms open.

"What is she doing?" Toph asked, hooked on his arm and wrapped in heavy, warm clothes.

"A snow angel, I think," Sokka said and Katara and Aang made space for him to greet Kana and Hakoda.

"I hate this fucking place," Toph complained and then smiled at the chief of the tribe. "Not the people, of course. It's just that I can't see shit."

"We know, Toph," Hakoda assured and the woman's smile relaxed a little. She never let go of Sokka's arm, though. "Is that her?"

Sokka smiled and nodded.

"That's her," he said.

"Go get the brat before she gets all wet and sick," Toph ordered and that was exactly what Sokka did, though Kana suspected that was what her grandson would do even if the kid's mother hadn't said anything.

He ran to the kid who was still laying on the fluffy ground. It had snowed recently and they had been walking on clouds all morning. Sokka took the girl in his arms and her hood fell back, revealing black curls much like her sister. Her skin was darker than Toph's, but lighter than Sokka's and her eyes were green, but other than that…

Kana held her son's hand, biting back a gasp and she looked at Katara, who just raised an eyebrow. They all were aware of the rules and willing to respect them, but that didn't stop their hearts from fluttering.

"…I want you to meet some important people," Sokka was saying to the girl as he approached.

"Define important," she replied narrowing her eyes and he looked at her so very serious.

"Very important."

She smiled convinced and nodded.

"Su, this is my father Hakoda. He's the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe," Sokka introduced and Suyin offered him her hand ever so professional, making him laugh.

"I'm Suyin Beifong," she said. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, well, hi there, Suyin Beifong," Hakoda replied. "Nice to meet you too."

"And this is my Gran-Gran Kana, the previous chief of the Tribe."

"Hi, little one," Kana greeted reaching to touch the girl's hair, the way she did with Lin. "Look at you… aren't you as cute as a baby Weddell Seal."

"Weddell what?" Su asked turning to Sokka.

"Seal," he said. "It's mid-spring, so you'll probably be able to see them; are there new calves around, Dad?"

"Oh yeah, plenty," Hakoda nodded. "And they are very cute."

Suyin smiled.

"Cool! So you're the chief, and you were the chief before him, and also you are all related. Does that mean that Uncle Sokka is like, a prince?"

They laughed and Sokka fixed his grip on the little girl.

"I guess you could put it that way," he said. Katara laughed.

"But it doesn't work like that in the South, Baby Su," Kana told her softly. Hakoda led the way and they started to walk towards the sleds, Aang leading Toph. "You will find princes and kings in the North Tribe, the way it is in Ba Sing Se, you know? But here, a group of elders elect our leaders with the consult of the citizens. We just happened to have people from the same family three times in a row."

"Three?" Su asked frowning.

"Technically," Hakoda said helping Kana to the sled. "Your Uncle Sokka here is the Chief, but he put me in charge to take care of things in Republic City."

Suyin let out an impressed "oooh" and when Sokka put her down, she decided to sit by Kana's side on the sled, showering the woman with questions on their way to the tribe. That kid, the elder woman found out, was intense, which meant that she was one of theirs, legitimately. Energetic and talkative, at only six years old she was smart; maybe too smart for her own good, exactly like Kana's grandson.

When Suyin was caught mirroring Katara and Kya's waterbending forms, she explained that she liked them because it was like dancing. She also said that it was easier to metalbend using those forms and showed the piece of meteorite that Sokka had given her the previous year, creating nice forms for the former chief of the tribe.

"Is she bothering you?" Toph asked when she sat by Kana's side in their warm igloo. "She's good at bothering people."

"I'm not bothering," Su said with a little pout. "I'm showing her what you taught me."

"Oh, then you're boring her," Toph corrected and Kana shook her head, patted the woman's knee.

"She's not," she said kindly nodding at the kid. "As a matter of fact, she's very talented. They both are."

Toph smiled.

"Yeah, I guess they are," she said, and Suyin's eyes shone. The girl looked around, and when she saw Lin, she ran in her sister's direction. Kana suspected it was to tell her about the compliment. Katara had mentioned that Toph was a really hard teacher when it came to bending, even with her kids.

Kana watched the girls for a while in contemplative silence. Sokka told her that Lin wasn't his, but she might as well be. He felt like she was. He told her that he didn't plan on loving Toph's kid the way he did now, but it was easy to fall for her, for them. Suyin was an oopsie baby, but she was his. He loved her just as much as he loved Lin.

As for the mother, it was complicated. Sokka was complicated, always the ladies' man. Kana knew it'd be a problem, she never imagined just how big. And Suki, Kana knew he loved Suki. But he also loved Toph too. Toph had been the one he offered the betrothal necklace to. She was the one who said no.

He had a woman who would say yes a million times, but couldn't bear his children, and a woman who could bear his children but didn't want to marry. Kana was afraid he would never choose.

At least they had Baby Su now. The silver lining.

Kana turned to Toph, who sensed the woman's movement and turned to her too.

"I never thanked you," Kana said taking Toph's hand. The earthbender frowned. "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked. "I didn't do anything."

"You did wonders, girl."

"What? Suyin?" Toph exclaimed and scoffed. "That wasn't even hard."

Immediately, she closed her mouth, cutting the laugh short. Oh, yeah, she wasn't as oblivious as Katara liked to make her sound.

"Sorry," Toph quickly fixed. "I know, I know. It's just… it wasn't hard for me, and I keep forgetting it was hard for you all before. I mean, okay, I didn't enjoy the morning sickness at all, and I put on about ten kilos that were a bitch to be rid of, but that doesn't compare. Sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry now, Toph," Kana said smiling. "You gave him a gift. He's happy. We're happy."

"It's not like it makes any difference for the tribe, right?" Toph asked a little nervous. "Bumi is the first born. And you said before that you guys don't do this heritage thing. Suyin won't know who her father is, she can't stay. She's an earthb-"

"Toph, child," Kana interrupted her. "We know. Breathe."

She looked over across the igloo, where Sokka and Hakoda were sitting with the kids, teaching them about the different leathers they could get from different animals, Lin sat by Sokka's right and Su on his lap. She saw her grandson starting to teach Lin how to make a wristband with sea lion leather while Su was distracted with the dyed fur Hakoda was showing her. Toph had her reasons, all right. They could live with that.

"You're wrong about something, Toph," Kana said at last. Toph looked at her. "It makes all the difference. It does."

Chapter Text

Suki

As always, he brought good wine. It was not as if Suki expected less of him, Sokka knew his liquor. The chat was light and the food was good. Meat, Fire Nation style. She spent so much time at their Capitol, she warmed up to their food.

Sokka would eat any meat.

They skipped dessert and the dishes, jumping right to the kissing and tearing each other's clothes off. Everyone knew that Suki chose that dress on purpose: the easier to take off.

Sokka kissed and kissed her, and she was suddenly sitting on her bed reaching for the belt of his pants. He took off his shirt and she pulled down his pants. Oh, yeah. That's what she was talking about.

"Missed me, huh?" he said with a smirk and Suki looked up with a smirk of her own.

He leaned over and kissed her again, this time slower, with more tease. She was already melting before he even got close to her core. He took off her panties with expertise and then he touched her, setting her body ablaze.

Suki wasn't sure what would be of her when he'd be inside her. It'd been eight years now, since the last time, and Sokka still was the best fuck she ever had.

They had a lot of experience together. Like a real fucking lot of experience. She knew exactly what turned him on, he knew exactly what turned her on. They were so good at this, it was magical, and they had sex like there would be no tomorrow.

Who knows, maybe there wouldn't. She heard rumors that he was living with Toph now, helping her raise her kid. In some ways, being here with him now could be considered her own little revenge.

They were all over each other that night. His weight on top of her, her nails digging into the back of his neck, and she was on top, pressing him to the bed, tracing down the scars on his stomach. Such a fighter, that man of hers, so many secrets under his clothes.

She loved him. She loved him. She loved him.

Panting, Suki dropped down by his side and gave in to the laughter that came with her body shaking.

"Damn," she breathed out. "I forgot how good we are at this."

"We are fucking good," Sokka agreed catching his breath as well.

Suki turned to look at him.

"Is this how you greet all your new recruits?"

Sokka looked at her.

"Just the ones I love," he said with a simplicity that blew her mind.

"How many do you love?" she asked.

He got up on his elbow and leaned down to kiss her ever so tenderly.

"Just one," he said trailing kisses down her neck.

"What about Toph?" Suki asked, even though it could be a deal breaker.

"She's not White Lotus," Sokka answered still kissing her skin.

Suki knew what he meant by that. She knew, and for a night she decided she wouldn't care. She ran her fingers through his hair and without warning he laid down on the bed again. Suki looked at him confused.

"I need a few minutes," Sokka said and she laughed.

"A few minutes?" she echoed rolling on top of him and he nodded. "You're such an old man!"

Sokka laughed and Suki kissed him, her hand trailed down under the sheets and she touched him. He was halfway there.

"Want some help?" she offered, her lips still on his.

"Oh, you're gonna help?" he asked and Suki nodded, starting to stroke him. Sokka groaned. "Yeah, I'll accept the help."

Chapter Text

Toph

The biggest fight Toph and Sokka had was when she was edging the 38th week of her pregnancy with Suyin. At the time, she didn't know for sure – even though she knew for sure – if she was really having another girl, nor she had chosen a name, but she did know one thing: she was getting tired of him. Not in a falling-out-of-love way, but in a why-won't-he-just-see-my-point way, that was probably graver.

She was in her office at the department of police when he arrived oddly bubbly and sweet. Not that Sokka wasn't sweet with her, but she had just said less than 24 hours ago that she would rather give her girls to her parents than let him be their father, so it was odd that happiness of his.

Toph moved uncomfortably on her chair, touching the side of her stomach where the baby had gone all tense. She hated those final weeks, when the little brat would start practicing for labor, because she was constantly sore and needing to pee.

"Did you even consider using the maternity leave already?" Sokka asked sitting across from her and crossing his legs, and Toph frowned at him.

"I'm fine," she said, though she was still rubbing the spot where the baby was pressing, trying to remember why she decided that she'd go along with that pregnancy.

"That's not what I said," Sokka said softly, and despite herself, Toph's heart warmed up a bit. Oh, yeah, that was why. Stupid Sokka.

"Don't you have a meeting, councilman?" she said instead, to distract her feelings.

"In an hour," he said. He was tapping a little box in his left hand, but she couldn't tell what was inside it. She wasn't sure she cared. "Look, yesterday we didn't come to the best of terms."

Toph smirked.

"Oh, really? I don't recall it," she said with an eyebrow raised.

They did have a mean, messy fight the previous day like it had been happening practically every day for the past three and a half months, but just like the other times, the arguing stopped when they went to bed. And in bed everything was fine.

"Toph," he said, almost as if scolding her. "I'm serious."

"Well, so am I," she said firmly, all the playfulness gone from her voice.

Sokka leaned closer, putting the box on top of the table between them. Toph was still rubbing her stomach without really processing the gesture.

"You don't make any sense, and you know that," Sokka said with annoyance. "Why can't I be their father for real? Why would you raise her alone when I'm right here."

"Because you're never right here, for a start," she replied. "And you know why! Lin doesn't have a dad and I don't want her to feel left out."

"She won't be left out, Toph, why would she?" he exclaimed raising his hands. "I love her as if she was my own! All that's left is to sign the papers."

"What papers, Stupid?"

"Lemme do this, Toph," Sokka practically begged. "Let me be here for you and the girls."

"No!"

"Why the fuck not?!"

The fight was escalating quickly, and Toph got up stressed.

"Because I don't want you to!" she replied in the same tone. "You're either Uncle Sokka or nothing. Or I swear to Oma and Shu I won't ever leave you near the girls again."

"That's bullshit, Toph, and you know it," Sokka protested. "I'm her father!"

"Shut your fucking trap!" Toph hissed and she put her hands on the table to stable herself, because the baby moved painfully, kicking her stomach, the little brat. "If Lin doesn't have a father, this one won't have one either."

"It doesn't make any sense," Sokka mumbled annoyed.

"It does make sense!" Toph protested. "It's fair."

"Toph," Sokka tried again, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I will take both. It's not a big deal, I can do it."

"I don't fucking want you to," she said through her teeth, trying to focus her eyes right on him. "We don't need you."

There was a moment of silence, and then Sokka got up, the chair he was on scrapped the metal floor. He slid the box in her direction until it touched her fingers.

"I should give this to Suki then," he said coldly and Toph frowned.

She took the box that was a little bigger than the palm of her hand, and opened it carefully. Inside it, she felt the metal cord of a choker with a small boomerang made of meteorite, the same type of meteorite he had given to Lin on her fifth birthday. It was a betrothal necklace.

Toph closed the little box angrily and set it on the table again, her face getting hot and her eyes stinging.

"Maybe you should!" she spat. "Only you're twenty years late!"

Sokka didn't say anything. And then-

"Fuck this," he mumbled and walked out. Toph staggered behind him until she reached the open door of her office.

"Well, fuck you!" She heard a gasp from some of the officers that could mean that Sokka had done something, a gesture maybe. Well, she couldn't see. Stupid.

She let out an angry scream and pushed her hair from her face with annoyance and only then noticing that her cheeks were wet. When did she start crying? And why couldn't that kid just relax for a second?

Completely pissed off, Toph went back to her table and felt for the box again. How dare Sokka ask her to marry him, he knew she didn't want to marry anyone. She loved him, but she didn't belong to him and that was what marriage meant: that you belonged to someone. That damn necklace was proof enough of her point.

She was Toph Beifong. She didn't need a man. And hell if she wouldn't teach her daughters to be just as independent as her.

Despite herself, Toph felt for the small boomerang again. There was a time, she knew, when Sokka was ready to propose to Suki. It was before her first miscarriage and somehow they were thrown out of balance after.

(It was her, a voice in her mind kept telling her. She was the reason they were thrown off balance; she and her Ty Lee-y dress on a warm night in Gaoling. There was no Sokka and Suki like they were at the start after Sokka and Toph.)

He used to tell her all the time about how he'd propose to Suki, but after all that happened, he didn't talk about it ever again. And Toph would tell him all the time what bullshit marriage was. It could work for other people, but not her.

Why did he offer?

Idiot.

She threw the box on the other side of the room with all the strength she could gather and felt another pointed pain on her lower stomach that made her gasp.

"Motherfucking bastard," she cussed and one of her officers came to her door.

"Chief? Everything all right?"

Toph needed to breathe a few times before she could stand straight again, even though the pain was still there.

"Peachy," she replied bitterly. "Why do you ask?"

The officer shifted a little, clearly nervous. Jack, that was her name.

"You're under a lot of stress, Chief," she said trying to sound calm. "In your condition…"

"I'm fine, Jack, don't worry."

But when Toph stepped forward, she felt the liquid down her legs, the sound of water on metal making her freeze right away. Jack gasped. No, no, no, she was too early. No, that wasn't happening now.

"Officer Jack?" Toph called and the officer breathed again.

"I-uh," she stuttered. "Holy shit. Okay," Jack turned to the other officers. "Chief is going into labor! We need a car and someone has to call the birth hut and Master Katara and," she turned to Toph, who was still frozen in place. That didn't look good. "Let's move, guys, go, go, go!"

Chapter Text

Lin

Lin could not get over how white the snow at the South Pole was. It was mesmerizing.

"Come here, you'll want to see this," Tenzin said, taking her hand and Lin blushed as he pulled her through the ice path to wherever it was he was taking her to.

She supposed it had something to do with animals, because it had been the reason for the hike in the first place: to show the Weddell seals to Su. Everything revolved around Su, and it didn't make any sense.

In the back of her head, Lin heard Uncle's voice in a half-remembered memory. Baby's giving you a hard time, already? It really is mine. If she squeezed her brain a little harder, she'd see Uncle and Mother in the kitchen, him with both hands on Mom's large belly.

In the back of her head, Lin knew that there was a connection there, but she couldn't figure it out.

Tenzin stopped suddenly, stepping in front of her. They could hear Uncle Sokka and Uncle Aang talking ahead of them, just over this ice hill, and Suyin's electric laugh echoing.

"Okay, close your eyes," Ten instructed and Lin frowned. She hated surprises, damn.

"Why?"

"Just!" he sighed frustrated. "Just do it, Linny, what would be the point if I'd told you?"

She shrugged, but did as he said, and then he took her hands in his, guiding her with no difficulty. Lin was used to the dark, it was how Mother trained to follow her legacy. It was hard, being a legacy, but it also made her stronger.

Well, at least most of the time.

They turned to the left and the voices became clearer, meaning that they were close to the adults. Lin kept her eyes closed, waiting for Tenzin to tell her when to open them again, and as he guided her, she felt something moving around her feet.

"Ten?" she called with a hint of fear in her voice, even though he was just in front of her and still touching her.

"Oh, yeah," he said calmly. She could swear he was smiling. Tenzin stopped and she stopped too, almost tripping on the thing around her feet. "Okay, you can open them."

Used to the feeling of light after dark, Lin opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times to adjust. It was extra hard, because of the shining snow all around them and the sun reflecting on it, making everything extra bright. It took her a moment to see again without the black spots in her eyes, and she frowned at Tenzin's large smile. What was she supposed to be seeing?

Something touched her leg and Lin jumped startled, letting out a little yelp, and when she looked down she saw a white polar beardog wagging its tail at her.

Lin felt her chest melt all over. That was the cutest thing she had ever seen!

"Oma and Shu," she gasped kneeling down and offering her hand for the animal to get familiarized with her before she could pet it. "This is so cute!"

"There are more, look," Ten said, pointing at the ice hill they had just circled. There was a whole litter of polar beardogs coming out of a large hole, but none of them was as outgoing as the one that came to greet her.

"Wow, the fur is so soft!" Lin exclaimed, petting the animal that practically purred.

"You know what the best part is?" Uncle Sokka asked, suddenly towering over them. He had a fluffy baby seal in his hands that he put down on the snow as he kneeled. "When they're this age, there's nothing stopping them from being friends."

Lin watched as the beardog sniffed at the seal suspiciously, the other animal barely worried about the contact, and in a few seconds it was decided that the two of them would be the best of friends. At least until instinct kicked them out of their utopia, it would be.

Lin watched the animals for a while, but her eyes started to drift up, to the sky. She tilted her head back, thinking that her eyes were playing tricks on her again, but no. It was snowing again. She closed her eyes as the flakes landed on her face and melted in contact with her warm skin and clung to her hair. She had never seen snow as fluffy as this and it was incredible.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Uncle said catching her attention. When she looked at him, he was still on his knees, sitting on his heels, and he had his palm up, where a few flakes were landing. "It's so different from the polluted snow of Republic City; sometimes I miss it so bad."

Lin blinked at him, trying to understand his expression. She couldn't. She realized she didn't have enough information to make sense of Uncle. She was aware of one thing, however, and it was that he was the rightful Chief of his tribe. Maybe… he was considering staying here this time.

She did not want to think of how her life would be without Uncle around.

"You know, Linny," Uncle said looking at her tenderly. "When I first saw you in that crib, so small and with such fierce lungs, I thought 'Well, look at her; her skin is as white as the first snowfall of spring'." Lin smiled. "Now, we didn't arrive in time to see the first snow, but we got here soon enough and look at you," he said putting her hair back. "As enchanting as the mid-spring snowfall, isn't she, Ten?"

Behind her, Tenzin gasped and stuttered, out of words. Lin didn't blame him, she herself was feeling a little embarrassed.

"You're being overly emotional over skin tones and snowfalls, Uncle," she said to him, and he laughed, patted her shoulder playfully.

"Kid, you are your mother's daughter," he said, which coming from him was a hell of a compliment. "Don't wander too far from the nest, you two. And Ten? Take care of Snowflake here."

"Of course, Uncle," Tenzin said right away and Lin smiled up at him. Another polar beardog puppy nuzzled her hand and placed itself under her palm shamelessly, making her giggle.

Uncle Sokka got up and went to Uncle Aang and Su again, her baby sister was happily playing with the seals.

"You want to look around?" Tenzin asked and Lin sat down on the snow, looked up at the sky again, catching glimpses of the flakes slowly coming down.

"No," she said quietly. The puppy found its way to her lap and made itself comfortable there. "Let's just stay here for a while, okay?"

Tenzin sat by her side, more of the puppies were getting closer to them.

"Sure," he said. "Whatever you want, Snowflake."

Lin smiled and elbowed him. He could call her anything, at that moment, nothing could disrupt her peace. She was happy.

Chapter Text

Katara

Katara got the unexpected call when she was about to leave, but instead she had to stay and wait for her friend to arrive. While Lin had been born at home, because of a lot of reasons Katara convinced Toph to have the new baby at the hut. Now, with her going into labor early, she had no option.

The police car skidded to a stop right in front of her and Katara ushered a nurse to bring in a wheelchair when the door opened.

"I don't need a damn wheelchair!" Toph protested getting out of the car with difficulty, two of her officers mooning around her just in case.

Katara gestured for the nurse to wait. Toph's hair was down and she was sweating, her fringe on her face. The trip from the police department to the birth hut wasn't long, just about 20 minutes, but Toph looked very drained already.

"How far apart are the contractions?"

Toph flinched and bent over, one hand on her bump, the other on her knee.

"Too close," she gasped and she turned in Katara's general direction. "Okay, I'll take the chair."

The nurse hurried to help Toph to the chair along with the three police officers who were accompanying the chief of police. From there on, they were quick to take Toph to her room, help her out of her clothes and get her on the bed so Katara could examine her.

"Toph, she's already halfway through!"

"Yeah, I can tell," her friend replied trying to take controlled breaths.

Katara thought about asking if Toph didn't sense the baby coming, but she casted the question aside. For all of her children, Katara had known exactly when they were ready to come, but maybe it had to do with her being a waterbender. Instead, she used her spirit water to make sure that the baby was okay.

"I sent word to Sokka and Aang, but apparently today's meeting is very important," Katara opted to say. "Zuko is in town, did you know?"

Toph just nodded. Katara had figured that much, her being the chief of police and all, even though his security was all made by the White Lotus. The baby was tensing for another series of contractions, making Toph gasp.

"I can push, right?" Toph asked with quick breaths. Katara positioned herself.

"Yes, just…" she rested a hand on her friend's leg tenderly. "Remember to wait for the right moment. Didn't my brother go to see you this morning?"

"I don't wanna tal-FUCK!" Toph's reply was interrupted by a long set of cussing that Katara was familiar with.

As she guided Toph through the labor process, she couldn't help but think that things didn't go so well between her friend and her brother, and to be fair, she wasn't surprised. Sokka had come to her earlier and told her he'd propose. He thought that with the baby on its way he'd have a better chance, but Katara wasn't so sure about it.

Two sets of contractions. It was all that took for Katara to finally hold her niece and put her in Toph's arms. The earthbender had been right again, so far she didn't guess any gender wrong among their kids. It had been so fast; if the trip from the police station to the hut was a little longer, the kid would've been born in the car.

"Relieved?" Katara asked watching Toph touch the baby on her chest delicately, with tears streaming down her face. Mother and daughter still were in need of a bath, but that wouldn't happen until the baby was fed for the first time. In the meantime, warm wet clothes were used to clean her up a bit.

"How long had it been with Lin?" Toph wondered. "About eight hours?"

Around that, if Katara remembered well. She took a good look at her niece once again, noticing how her skin tone was close to hers, maybe darker than Bumi's, and she had green eyes like her sister, and a bunch of thick black hair. Within an hour, she ate and was properly cleaned, and Toph tried to rest while Katara watched over the baby.

She couldn't believe that she was already here! It still was so fresh in her mind the day Katara was called to the police department to check on the sick chief just to have to grill Toph about when she had bled last. Did you bleed after Sokka left? She had asked.

Katara had been so happy. She loved Lin, her Tenzin's best friend in the entire world, and Sokka adored the kid. Even though they were quite dysfunctional, she couldn't help but want this family for him. He was an ass, but he deserved it.

There was a commotion of people running in the corridor, and then Sokka was there at the door panting. He looked at Katara and she nodded, and then he looked at Toph. She was awake and reached out for him, so he walked to her and sat on the bed by her side, taking her hand.

Katara came closer and offered him the little bundle that was his daughter, the baby awake and sleepy let out a tiny cute yawn and the moment she was put in Sokka's arms, he started to sob.

Katara stepped back, but stayed in the room watching the exchange unfold in front of her. Toph told him that she named her Suyin, which was something she hadn't revealed yet.

"Okay," Sokka said under his breath and Toph turned her head in his direction. "Okay," he repeated sniffing. "I'll do it. Uncle Sokka."

It broke her heart, but it was as far as they could go.

Chapter Text

Suki

She closed the last bag and put it with the others in the living room of her home on Kyoshi Island. It had been the first thing she did once she got home: pack the bags, put them somewhere easy for their owner to grab them and go. She did all of that in stunned silence, and her warrior friends didn't try to stop her nor questioned her.

"Remember last year when you went to Gaoling for the spring fest?" Suki asked Ty Lee, who was surprisingly quiet as she helped her fold clothes.

"Yeah," Ty answered putting her hair behind her ears. "Their performers are inspiring."

Suki nodded.

"Did you see Toph there?"

"I did!" Ty Lee said with excitement. "She looked awfully beautiful. Huh, she never told me where she got that dress…" she trailed off when she looked at Suki and saw the look on her face. "Why?"

Suki didn't answer, but she saw the pieces being put together as Ty Lee looked at the bags and the clothes she had folded, none of them belonging to Suki.

"You don't mean…" she said under her breath. Suki nodded. "But you had just –"

Despite trying to keep her front, Suki started to cry again, taking deep breaths to try and control the sobs. Ty Lee dropped the dress shirt she had been holding.

"Do you want me to hurt him?" she asked hitting a fist on her other palm.

"I could do it myself," Suki reasoned. Ty had made her smile, at least. "Right now, I just want him to leave."

So she sat there, in her living room, with his bags by the door; her friends left her alone to cry in silence until he finally arrived from the Southern Air Temple.

"You're back already?" Sokka asked surprised to see her. Initially, she would've stayed longer in Gaoling, but as soon as she talked to Toph, she asked one of the girls to replace her. "How was it?"

Suki pointed to his left and watched him find the bags, all his bags with all his things. She saw his face fall as he realized.

"She told you," he said looking at Suki and she nodded. "Suki…"

"She told me," she said bitterly. "A year later, but it's more than you ever did."

Sokka walked down towards her, but stopped when he saw the look on her face.

"It meant nothing," he said. He sounded desperate. "I promise -"

The same words. They were saying the exact same words. Suki snapped.

"I LOST A CHILD, SOKKA!" she cut him. "Our child! That very winter, and weeks later you were fucking someone else?"

"There's no excuse, I know-"

"Damn right there isn't," Suki said coldly and took a deep breath. She got up and pointed at the door. "Leave."

"Suki," Sokka pleaded, but she didn't falter. "Please. It won't happen again, I swear."

"I said, leave."

"Babe…"

"GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE AND DON'T COME BACK!" Suki took another deep breath. She didn't want to lose it, but that was exactly what was happening. Betrayal would get her out of control like that. "Leave."

Finally, he did.

Chapter Text

Toph

It had been quite the long day already, especially considering that Toph had to bear Katara's company the whole morning, even though she had said several times that she was fine.

"I just want to make sure," Katara kept saying. Because of Suki before her blah blah blah.

And then she was indulged in some shopping with her mother, who was oh, so excited to have a new grandkid! Luckily, Poppy wanted to check everything out before starting to put together the baby's bedroom, so she took all their purchases to the Beifong apartment in the suburbs, leaving Toph alone to finally go home.

So much police work to be done, and Toph was tied to pregnant woman duties. Boring.

There was someone in the house with Lin; Toph knew that when she got to the front door. Katara did say she'd get someone to take care of Lin while she was gone, but Toph knew those footsteps on an emotional level and she wasn't sure she was ready for him.

"Mom is here!" she heard Lin exclaim, and that was the only reason Toph didn't turn back right there and then.

Instead, she opened the door and was greeted by her daughter.

"Mommy, come! We made dinner," Lin said taking Toph's hand and guiding her through the living room to the kitchen. "I was setting the table. Uncle, Mom is home!"

Toph stopped where she was, partially turned to where Sokka was standing. He didn't say anything for a while and she waited for the worst.

"Toph," he finally said. "Wow. How far…"

Of course he would mention it first. In fact, she'd be surprised if he didn't. It was easy to spot it this time, because Toph started showing really fast. When she was pregnant with Lin, people could barely tell until she reached the seventh month.

"Five months," she told him and waited for him to do the math.

Sokka stepped in her direction and she stepped back once, but then Toph stopped and let him approach. He came close and kissed her forehead, caressed her hair before he rested both hands on her bump.

The baby kicked the exact place his hand was at, and so far it had been hard to feel it from the outside, but… it was like the baby decided to kick extra hard just so he could feel it. Sokka fell to his knees, rested his forehead against her baby bump and unsure of what to do, Toph rested her hands on his head.

The only sound in the house was the dishes being put on the table by Lin. Say what you want about Toph's eldest, the kid knew how to read a room, knew when to be quiet. Under Toph's touch, Sokka shivered and let out a sob. Oh, boy, he was crying. She did not predict that.

She guessed it made sense, he did lose three babies. Who gets a fourth chance, Aang had said to her not so long ago, and at the time it sounded like bullshit, but maybe she was wrong.

"I love you, Toph," Sokka said. For some reason, the declaration annoyed her.

"You picked such a wrong time to say that," she replied coldly, untangling from his arms and joining Lin to put the food on the table. Sokka stayed where he was, sitting on his heels.

"I mean it," he said with a little bit of protest in his voice.

Toph gave the salad bowl to Lin.

"I know you've been with Suki, you think I'm stupid?"

"You know I don't!" he exclaimed, getting up and joining her by the stove. "Toph, it doesn't change anything."

"You're right, it doesn't," she snapped. "You wouldn't have a say on this anyway," she pointed generally at her stomach.

"Say what?"

"I'm raising her alone," Toph said. "And you can go back to Suki in your White Lotus castle, no big deal."

Angrily, Toph took the rice pan to the table and told Lin to sit down to eat. Sokka took the Ramen, toppings and the chickenpork too.

"You don't have to, Toph, I'm here!" he argued, and she looked up at him with annoyance.

"Oh, yeah? For how long this time? How much time do we have until you leave to spend months fucking somebody else?"

"Is that what this is about?"

"What do you think?" she snapped.

"Mommy?" Lin cried out, catching their attention. She sounded distressed. "Uh… I helped prepare the chickenpork. We used curry, pepper, salt, and tomatoes from our garden. And Uncle brought narutomaki from Ba Sing Se. Remember, they are your favorites?"

Toph breathed in slowly and let the air out with a little tremble. She sat down by her daughter's side and Sokka sat across from her.

"This conversation is not over," she warned him before Lin put on her hand a small cube that she smelled before taking a bite of the fish treat.

From his seat, Sokka nodded. Not many good things could come out of that talk, but some things just needed to have closure.

Chapter Text

Sokka

The first thing Sokka did after the council meeting was hurry to catch up with the Chief of Police before she slipped away from him. He had been a guest there, no longer a councilman for many years already, and he'd only be there for a few hours more before moving on to the next city.

"Snowflake," he called, catching Lin's wrist lightly. She turned to him frowning. "Are you running away from an old man?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.

"That depends, what do you have to say?"

He rolled his eyes. Those stubborn Beifongs. Lin's posture softened.

"You're going on the mission, aren't you?" she asked. Sokka nodded. "Why? There are already a lot of younger people going."

"Harsh much?" he scolded. "I'm in perfect shape, kiddo, how dare you."

"I don't know, Uncle, we've been investigating the Red Lotus and they give me the heebie-jeebies."

Sokka smiled at her and rubbed her arm tenderly.

"The South Pole is not that big, Snowflake, and I know it from heart, we'll be fine. Everything is already set up."

Lin pouted, reminding him of when she was little.

"What's the schedule?" she asked. "I know you leave today, but Tenzin told me you're only getting the girl in a week, so I figured you'd go places."

"Well, I am going places," he admitted. "Kya is in Yu Dao, so I'm going there on the way to Ba Sing Se. I have to gather some things at the White Lotus base and set some things for when I'm gone. And then I'm meeting your mom. Hey, you could take some days off and come with us."

The Chief smiled.

"Nice try."

"Seriously, Linny, it's been seventeen years and you're still holding a grudge?" Sokka said frowning. "If you just take some time to relax and talk to your mother…"

"And sister?" she added sarcastically. "Not gonna happen."

Sokka sighed.

"You know, I think you'd like the twins. They remind me of you and Ten, just a little louder."

Lin humph-ed annoyed, so Sokka decided to change the subject. He didn't know when he'd see her again and he never liked to leave with loose ends. He reached out and pulled her into a hug. Hesitantly, she hugged him back.

"Think about it, okay? We'll stay in Gaoling until Friday, and then we're going to Zaofu. You don't have to go all the way to Su's town, but it won't hurt to go see your grandparents."

"Fine," Lin said half-heartedly. He knew for a fact that she wasn't going, that she'd find a perfectly reasonable excuse not to show up as she always did, but it was okay. "Be careful on your mission, old man."

Sokka smiled, finally letting go of the hug.

"Always am," he said, kissing her forehead in a goodbye.

Kya had gone to Yu Dao on a special mission at the police academy, after an earthquake hurt half of the city's population. Normally, she'd stay at the South Pole with Katara, it had been like that since Aang passed away, but it was an emergency, that earthquake.

"Mom stayed to prepare everything for Korra's arrival, she's excited to have a new pupil," Kya told him over dinner.

She looked exhausted, her hair displayed more grey than either of her brothers. Sokka wondered if whatever it was that rushed Aang's aging process had been passed down to her.

"Gives her something to do," she said poking at her food with her chopsticks.

"A distraction, I know," Sokka agreed smiling a little. He had been vehement at the White Lotus about his sister being the best person to train the new Avatar, with a long ass list of reasons backed up by Zuko.

It hadn't been that hard, actually. Katara was skilled in both combat and healing, unlike any northern bender, and she could understand the Avatar like no one else.

Kya looked up at him and smiled.

"Thanks, Uncle."

Sokka dismissed it with a hand gesture. Anything for his sister.

"At least there's something good coming from moving to the South Pole," she said with a shudder and Sokka chuckled.

"Hey, City Girl, it's not that bad!"

"It's cold, Uncle," she stated, as if he didn't know that already.

"So is Republic City in the winter."

Kya narrowed her eyes at him, making him laugh more. The Earth Kingdom had the warmest and sunniest lands of the world, and his niece had spent half of her life on a journey through those places. Despite coming and going to the north and south tribes, Sokka didn't expect her to be acclimated.

"You think you'll be done in time to be there when we get Korra?" he asked and Kya shrugged.

"I don't know, Uncle, there's a lot of damage control to be done here," she said sadly. "I'll try, though. It's been a while since I've seen Tenzin too."

Sokka smiled and held her hand from across the table.

"Tell you what, kiddo," he said softly. "You do what you have to do at the best of your ability here. Make sure that these people are taken care of. And then, when you know you're not needed anymore, you come meet us at the White Lotus headquarters at home. We'll be waiting for you."

Kya smiled and nodded. Sokka admired her passion very much, always did. She had the personality of a storm, and yet she bared the kindest heart. He was so proud of her, same way he was proud of his girls.

"You better be there, old man," Kya joked, making him laugh.

His next stop was Ba Sing Se. The White Lotus had established a compound on the outskirts of the city and Sokka still had a few of his weapons there – like his space sword, that Toph had tracked down with Zuko's help so many decades ago. He was meaning to give it to Su's eldest, Junior, even though it didn't seem that he was very interested in fighting.

"You know that thing belongs to a museum, right?" Suki said when Sokka was taking the sword from its display. He turned around to face her.

"It's a family heirloom and the perfect gift to a ten year old non bender!" he argued. Suki chuckled.

"You really think Suyin will let you give a sword to her son?" she argued. "And if you use the heirloom argument, Bumi will hunt you down, you know that."

Sighing, he slid the sword in its scabbard and admired once again the details of it. It had been the last thing Iroh had given to him.

"Well, I have to give him something that matters," he said putting the sword in his bag. Suki came closer and took Boomerang from the same shelf the sword had been in. "His birthday is after the full moon, and he'll be expecting me to come back."

"You could just set the trip to Zaofu for before the mission," she pondered passing Boomerang to him. "Isn't it closer to RC?"

"I could, it's true," he agreed. "But I just like-"

"The journey, I know," Suki said softly, reaching out and fixing his shirt collar. "Always the adventure man."

"Well," Sokka shrugged and smirked. "I trust you'll be the best leader ever while I'm gone," he said pushing her fringe back. Like his and Katara's, Suki's hair was totally white now, but she still was beautiful.

"It won't even be hard," she joked and he leaned in to give her a quick peck.

"I know," he said proudly.

He borrowed one of the White Lotus cars to travel to Gaoling, where he'd meet with Toph, Su and the kids. Then on Friday, he'd take the first ship to the South Pole to get this mission started.

"Uncle Sokka! Uncle Sokka!" a little girl greeted as soon as he hopped out of the car at the Beifong estate. Sokka kneeled down to talk to her. "Look!" she opened a wide smile, showing him the gap in the front.

"Opal! Where did your tooth go?" he asked shocked and she giggled.

"It fell, Uncle," she said and he ruffled her hair.

"But you're only… four?" Sokka commented. Little Opal nodded excitedly. "Prodigy."

"Let him breathe, sweetheart," Suyin said as she approached, each twin by her sides struggling to be set free. So much energy in those kids, like Sokka's nephews and niece. "Uncle."

"Hi, baby girl," Sokka said getting up. Suyin let the boys go to hug him and over her head he saw Toph turned in his direction with a smirk. It was so good to see her with her family again, after all the things they'd been through.

The kids ran back to the house, leaving the adults to it. He greeted Baatar with a firm handshake, just to make sure that the man remembered who was boss, and then he lost his balance because Toph shook the earth at his feet, making him fall and remember who actually was boss there.

"Meathead," Toph greeted.

Sokka looked up at her from the ground. It was the first time he noticed that her hair was completely white too. She had it in a braid now, which was something she'd hardly ever done and he suspected it was Suyin's doing.

"Little help?" he asked and Toph stomped her foot once, building him a little earth chair that lifted him up. Sokka reached out for her hand and pulled her closer in an embrace. "Hello, love."

It was hard for Toph to let him go the next day, and Sokka couldn't understand why.

"Why can't you just stay back and let the kids do the work?" she insisted sounding awfully worried.

"It's a simple mission, Toph, we'd been organizing it for weeks," Sokka argued and she scoffed.

"Exactly. The chances of it going off the rails-"

"Why do you think it would, though?" he asked frowning. Toph crossed her arms. "We have the best warriors of the world."

"I don't know, Sokka, that Red Lotus gives me the heebie-jeebies."

Sokka couldn't help but laugh and hug her.

"You know, your daughter said the exact same thing. There's no need to worry, we'll be all at the compound in no time."

"I hope you're right, Meathead," Toph said with a sigh.

"Do you know anything I don't?" Sokka asked. Maybe her concern had some merit after all. He watched as Toph opened her mouth to answer, but then she closed it again, frowning. She blushed a little too, and just shook her head.

"It's just a feeling, I guess," she said dismissing whatever it was she was about to say to him. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise," Sokka said leaning in to seal it with a kiss. Toph smirked.

"I've always hated it when you left."

Sokka gasped.

"That's the most emotional thing you've ever said to me!" he joked and she punched his arm.

"Shut up," she said. "And be back for Junior's birthday next week."

"Save me a seat at the family table," he said and Toph rolled her eyes.

He hated to leave her too, but she knew that. Sokka arrived at the White Lotus compound barely half an hour before Tenzin and found his sister putting together the last touches at the waterbending training center she had organized for Korra.

"You realize that the kid is only five, right?" he said. Katara turned around so fast it was amazing that she didn't get dizzy.

"Sokka!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd be going straight to the tribe!"

He shook his head.

"I'm meeting Tenzin first, and he wanted to leave Oogie somewhere safe."

Sokka went over the whole schedule of the day very quickly, assuring his sister that everything was under control and that everyone would be settled by the beginning of the evening. Katara told him all about how she wanted to train the new Avatar and how she'd have the chance to develop the girl's potential through the years, since she was so young and full of raw energy, and it was such a relief for him to see his sister all shiny and happy again after Aang passed away.

That was the Katara he was used to. Without even realizing it, Sokka felt it coming, this happiness as if he had accomplished something. The people he loved were taken care of, and it brought him a sense of security that he didn't think he was capable of feeling.

After Tenzin arrived, they followed for the tribe where the new Avatar had been born. A mix of north and south like himself, Sokka was excited to meet the little girl. He met with Senna and Tonraq before being introduced to the fierce Korra.

"Hello, sir," she greeted with a little pout and her back straight. Sokka kneeled down to be on her eye level. She was just a little taller than Opal; the girls were almost the same age.

"There's no need for such formalities, Korra girl," he said and she raised an eyebrow. "I've been friends with the Avatar for a very long time."

"Well, I'm the new Avatar and I just met you."

Sokka nodded seriously.

"That's true. Fair. But look, I bet we'll be good friends too. As a matter of fact, you remind me of my daughter a bit. She's a badass just like you."

"You have a daughter who's a badass?" Korra asked interested.

"Yes."

"You don't have any daughters, Uncle," Tenzin commented and Sokka narrowed his eyes at him.

"Boy, be quiet," he complained and Korra giggled. He turned to her and whispered as if it was a secret. "I actually have two daughters, and they are the bravest women you'll ever meet."

"I'm going to meet them?" she asked with her eyes shining.

"Probably. They're adults and busy, but I'd love to introduce them to you eventually. You will meet my sister, though. She's the best waterbender there is."

Korra looked past Sokka to her parents with a big smile.

"I will?" she wondered.

"You will, love," Tonraq said. "That's why we have to go."

"Oh," Korra said pouting again. Sokka put a hand on her small shoulder tenderly. "Do I really have to leave my home?"

"Tell me something, Korra girl," he said. "What do you want to be more than anything?"

The girl frowned.

"The Avatar," she answered, as if it was obvious. Sokka nodded.

"And to be the Avatar, you'll have to move from your home and be trained by the most incredible benders there are. We'll take you there safely. It's not far, your mommy and daddy will always be able to see you. And you're going to be so strong! Stronger than you could ever imagine."

Korra listened to his words with such concentration that it was inspiring.

"Starting now, okay?"

She didn't say anything, but looked up at her parents again before she nodded.

"Okay."

Sokka smiled.

"Well, Avatar Korra," he said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sokka, this is my nephew Tenzin. We'll go with you and your dad to your new home. That okay?"

"Yes," she answered more firmly this time. Sokka nodded and got up, but before he could get going, she held his hand. "I think we'll be good friends Sokka sir."

"I think so too, kiddo. Now, are you ready to go?"

Korra ran to another room and they all assembled to get started. There were White Lotus guards all over the way they'd take to the headquarters, making sure that their little two hour trip with the ferry would go as smoothly as it could be. She came back rolled in warm clothes and with a small backpack on her back ready to go.

And off they went to another adventure. All of them.