Note: I'm a huge fan of Avatar the last Airbender and Legend of Korra. And not knowing who Suyin's father is is super frustrating. I really want Sokka to be the father so we know more about what he did with his personal life. I'm going to riot if he's not the father and they don't say what he did with his life. Anyways this is just a one shot, about what I want to happen. Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors I didn't catch. Enjoy!
"I don't want to go, I want to stay in Republic City. Please, Sokka, you can't let Mom send me away!" She buried her face in her hands, hiding her tears. "I don't want to leave! I want stay here!" She cried, her voice muffled.
Sokka gave a sigh before pulling Suyin into a hug. He knew Toph's plans on sending Su away. He didn't like it, But he understood why Toph was doing this. Suyin needed to be away from the Triple Triad, and needed to be out of the city before detectives found out what Toph was covering up.
Sokka pulled Suyin back from his embrace, keeping her at arms distance. "Su, look at me."
Her green eyes met his own. "You know your mother is only doing this for you. Not for her job, for you."
"I don't care!" She sobbed, " I want to stay in the city! Can't I stay here with you, since Mom doesn't want me?"
"Your mother does want you. But what if someone was to figure out you were involved in the crime? Do you want to be put into jail?" He asked.
"No, b-but..." She stopped, taking deep breaths and choking on them. He pulled her into another hug, gently stroking her hair. "You promised, Sokka..."
He winced at the memory, he did promise.
They sat on the floor inside of air temple island. Playing with different types of meteorites, one of them being Toph's bracelet. Since the loss of his beloved space sword, whenever he was traveling and heard news of meteorites; Sokka made sure to to check it out if the sightings were nearby. So far he had only collected 3 other space rocks.
The 7 year old was playing with them with noticeable interest, all day she demanded information on what he knew about the objects and together they theorized funny back stories and made up names for each one.
She rubbed her fingers along a dark meteorite, She stared at it thoughtfully, her green eyes held a bit of sadness and face held one of longing.
"What's wrong, Su?" Sokka asked.
She was silent for a moment, then looked at him. She had a crease in her brow, both her eyes lowering, and her lips set in a tight line. The same look he has when he think of his mother, or when he was younger and thought of his father at war.
"Do you think my father ever thinks of me?" Suyin asked , Sokka froze. "Did he name me and think about me like I name and think about the meteorites? Or do you think he even knew about me?"
He felt his heart clench. "What brought this on?" He asked her quietly. Does she always think like this about him?
She shrugged, whispering softly she said, "Mom said you where around when Lin was little and when she was pregnant with me. So... I was wondering.." she shifted uncomfortably. "If...you knew what kind of man he was."
Sokka didn't know exactly what to say to the girl. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't exactly tell her the truth. Toph would kill him, They both agreed to never tell anyone, no matter how much it affected them. So he ended up saying, "I think it best if you ask your mom."
"I have, but she won't say anything other than he was water tribe, she met him on the docks, and he was gone the next morning. And Lin doesn't know who he is." She sighed, seeing that he wouldn't help her. A lone tear streaked down her face and she hurriedly wiped it away.
Before he could stop himself, words where already coming out of his mouth. She deserved to know.
"I'm moving." He announced.
Su stiffened, then pulled away. She looked at him confoundly. "W-what?"
" I'm retiring from chair councilman in a few months. By the end of summer I'm going back to my tribe."
Su eyes widened and filled with more tears. "You can't go!" Su gripped him tightly, more moisture gushed out of her eyes. "What am I supposed to do without you?"
"Go to your grandparents. " He told her carefully. Suyin's bright eyes widened in disbelief. " Go to your grandparents and when I'm retired by summer I'll send a ship out to get you. If you don't want to live with your grandparents, you'll have to wait until summer. Then you can live with me in the South Pole."
Su gave a quick nod in understanding,and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, Sokka."
"Of course. I promise, Suyin, I'll always be there if you need me." He held her tightly. He winced at the same promise he made. The insanity of this situation. Why was he always making life so miserable for himself. His breakup with Suki, his love affair with Toph, then his secret child... He closed his eyes tightly, and held on to his daughter.
"He was a warrior," he said, looking at the meteors. He couldn't bear to look in her eyes and tell her. Especially if she looked at him with the same desperate-for-information expression look he had. "He was a difficult man to understand." He paused again, " He was smart, a strategists. He wasn't a bender, but a skilled swordsman. He... He had..." Sokka paused again, mind reeling. "He had dark black wavy hair like yours, Brown eyes, he was tall and tough..."
Sokka felt guilt stab at him. How could he lie to his child like this? How could he just make up something up?
Despite this he couldn't bring himself to stop, "That's probably why we were such good friends, we both were warriors and nonbenders..."
"So," Suyin's voice was hushed. "He didn't know about me?"
" No," He murmured back, swallowing thickly, "Probably not. He never came back to Republic City. I don't know where he is but he never came back."
"What was his name?"
He thought for a second. "Tatkret. " After the moon, may she help him now, Sokka thought.
Su nodded and smiled, "Which tribe was he from?"
"I'm not sure, I never saw him in my village growing up. There are a lot of people in the Southern Water Tribe. He could have been from either."
Su grinned, looking at her rock dreamily. "Maybe I'll meet him someday!" She chirped, happily. Sokka couldn't help wince at her elated form.
"Yeah, maybe." He murmured.
Su looked up, "Do you think he'll like me?"
"He'll love you, if he doesn't then he's not the man I thought he was." Sokka said, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
"Is that why your around me and Lin so much?" She asked. "Because your friends with my father and mother?"
"No, well, not for you father, for your mother." Sokka started, "I knew it would be tough on her to raise two bad kids like you and your sister." He teased.
Su pouted. "I'm not bad."
"Really? It must have been some other little girl, who metalbended the gates of her school open so she could wander the streets."
She huffed. "But it was boring! School is stupid, I'm going to stop going and just get a job. Its So much more easier. "
"Smart move." He said sarcastically.
She snorted. "Well, I might as well learn about being on my own now. I'm going to be as soon as I turn 16. Mom doesn't care what I do and Lin wants me to go away."
Sokka sighed. Toph made it no secret she gave her daughters all the freedom in the world.
"I'll always be here Su, your never going to be on your own. You got me, my sister, Aang, and even though it doesn't seem like it your mom and Lin are here for you to."
She looked at him. "Promise?"
"Huh?"
"Promise you'll always be there for me."
He blinked and tensed. The guilt was eating him alive whenever he made promises like this to her. He was her biological father, pretending not to be her father but pretending to be her father? He wanted to yell in frustration at his stupidity and his conflicted emotions. An old fortune of Aunt Wu's rang in his head: 'Your life is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it self inflicted.'
Apparently she was somewhat right.
"I promise."