A/N: Hello, I rise from the dead! This was a painstakingly long overdue request from my friend on tumblr (she requested it at, like, the end of November (I know I'm a terrible friend)). Anyway, she requested bro!Tokka while maintaining Sukka, so sorry Tokka shippers, this contains no romantic Tokka whatsoever, just lots of bromance. Obviously, this is set in, well, post-ATLA, pre-LOK times, after the development of Republic City. Obviously. But I'm putting this under ATLA just cause. And, uh, well, I hope you enjoy. Yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or TLOK.

Like Old Times

OoOoOoO

"Councilman Sokka, you have a visitor."

Sokka looked up from the old boomerang in his hands. He had taken it out of its case after it caught his eye as he was walking into his office. He was reminiscing about the time, ages and ages ago, right after the end of the 100-Year War, when Toph had offered her services to locate his lost boomerang in the destroyed Wulong Forest. The amount of groveling he did after she found it was, while unsurprising, quite troubling, and even Toph got tired of it.

"What's up, Snoozles?"

Speak of the devil. Sokka stood up to embrace his old friend only to receive a sharp whack to the shoulder.

"Ah! Heh, hey Toph. Good to see you." He smiled warmly while rubbing his now surely bruised shoulder.

Toph smirked. "I see you brought out the old boomerang," she drawled, indicating towards it, now sitting on Sokka's desk.

"No you don't, Toph."

She let out a bark of a laugh. "'Kay, you're right. I felt it in your hands."

Sokka gaped at her in mock surprise. "Who are you? The Toph I know wouldn't let a blind joke like that slip right through her fingers."

"She would if she were using her fingers to crush your skull." She was grinning in earnest now.

"…Yeah, that sounds like the old Toph, actually."

They shared a much needed laugh, their stresses of the day finally releasing. Sokka smiled at her.

"Toph, it's been too long since we've just, you know, hung out."

Toph shrugged. "Well, what do you expect? Being Chief of Police is pretty time consuming. Not to mention Lin, who's still a hell of a handful."

"How is that little tyke, by the way?" Sokka shifted to sit on the edge of his desk, and Toph moved over to stand by him, hands resting on her hips.

"She's growing up to be such a little smart ass – just like her mom." She grinned in pride.

Sokka itched the back of his head uncomfortably. "I'm not really sure you, or anyone, can call a four-year-old a smart ass."

"I'm pretty sure I can call my daughter whatever the hell I want."

"Okay, okay," Sokka said rushed, hands up in defense. "Point taken."

"Good."

There was a short, comforting silence following before Toph leaned over to pick up the forgotten boomerang.

"Ahh…good old boomerang. Been awhile, hasn't it?"

Sokka smiled wistfully. "Yeah, he saw a lot of action in his day. But he's enjoying a nice retirement now. Living the good life, met a few ladies, it's all fancy living for him."

Toph snorted. "You're crazy, Sokka."

"Heh, yeah…" he said, then his eyes brightened in realization. "Hey! You called me Sokka!"

She grinned without shame. "Yeah, I thought I'd try to again before I forget it forever. But you'll always be Councilman Snoozles to me."

"Aww, Toph, that's sweet…Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He placed his hands on her forehead and cheeks, half-jokingly trying to detect a fever…half -jokingly.

"Hey!" she cried, slapping his hands away. "Hands off! I'm a taken woman, you know. I could have you arrested for this."

"I'm just checking, Toph. We can't have the Chief of Police ill and acting all weird and nice."

She just scoffed, turning away to hide her smile. "C'mon, let's go. I need a drink."

Sokka hurriedly stowed the boomerang back in its glass case and chased after Toph who was already exiting his office. Before grabbing his cloak, he told his attendant that he was done for the night and to have a safe trip home.

By the time he got outside the city hall building, Toph had already hailed a carriage and was waiting impatiently outside of it.

"It's about time, Snoozles! I'm not getting any younger here, you know!"

"Toph, I left like ten seconds after you."

"Ten seconds too slow."

Sokka just laughed at her, ever the impatient, and gave her a light punch on the shoulder. In return, Toph gave him another blow to the shoulder, one so forceful he was knocked right through the open door of the carriage and on to the floor.

"Punching is my thing."

"Heh, heh…right."

Without further preamble, Toph climbed into the carriage and Sokka righted himself.

"Where to, Chief Bei Fong?" the driver of the carriage asked.

"Nearest bar, my good man."

"Right away, Chief."

The carriage lurched forward as the ostrich-horse started moving at a trotting pace. On the way, Sokka and Toph discussed many things, ranging from the new triad that was starting to cause a ruckus to the current condition of Sokka's pregnant wife.

"How is Suki anyway?" Toph asked.

"Still pregnant. Which is a good thing, I might add. But while her food cravings are nothing new to me, she's always getting up in the middle of the night to pee, and she's always waking me up in the process. I'm losing sleep here!"

"Gee, what a nightmare that must before you," she deadpanned.

"It is! I mean I – oh."

She punched him – again – in the shoulder. "Stop being such a meathead, Meathead. You can't even begin to imagine what being pregnant is like, so cut the woman some slack. It's not about you, it's about her and the baby, so quite being so selfish and do everything in your ability to make this pregnancy as comfortable for her as possible."

"Yeah…you're right Toph. Sorry about that." He paused, rubbing his surely broken shoulder. "When did you get so insightful? Your husband must have treated you like a queen when you were pregnant with Lin."

"Nah, he treats me like a queen every day." She grinned in Sokka's direction. "It was almost to the point where he became my slave when I was pregnant though – not that I wanted him to be. It was pretty annoying; he even tried to carry me around everywhere. Toph Bei Fong was having none of that."

They laughed. "Ah, same old Toph. How is the husband anyway?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Still there, same as always. I think he's starting to get afraid of Lin. You know, she earthbended for the first time yesterday?"

Sokka cried out in surprise. "Really? That's great Toph!" He shared a proud hug with her.

"Yep, I'm proud of her already. She's going to grow up to be a fine chief."

"No doubt about it, Toph."

They rode in comfortable silence from then on, Sokka watching the scenery of the city they helped create pass outside of the windows. They both silently contemplated their lives up until that moment, how much they accomplished at such a young age, and how much more they accomplished as they grew.

Finally they stopped outside of a popular bar. Sokka paid the carriage driver as Toph exited and started heading towards the bar without him. Knowing he didn't have much time before Toph would get annoyed with him, he threw a wad of yuans at the driver with a hasty "Thank you, keep the change!" before stumbling after her.

"Toph wait up!" She smirked, unbeknownst to him, but kept on walking.

Finally, he caught up with her as they walked in. The bar was crowded, humid, and smelled of alcohol breath. Sokka nearly barfed, never having ever gotten used to the bar scene, despite how many times he had frequented them. Toph just grinned like it was her home.

They sat at the bar, ignoring the sarcastic comments directed at them, along the lines of how such noble higher-ups were gracing the humble bar with their presence. Sokka was surprised at how unfazed Toph was; he would have expected her to be knocking heads by now because there was no way she couldn't hear them.

"Hey Toph," Sokka started apprehensively. "Don't you wanna, you know, take care of these knuckle heads for what they're saying?" He punched his fist into his hand for emphasis.

Toph waved her hand in dismissal. "Nah, they're not worth it. They're just jealous anyway." She gave him a wolf-like grin.

"Toph, I gotta say, I'm surprised at how you've matured over the years, you know that?" He looked at her admiringly and placed a hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly, she didn't shake it off; he continued. "And it's not a bad thing either. I've just been remembering the old days during the war, and even after that, when you were so wild and rebellious. And now, we're adults, and you're so responsible and mature. I'm just…well I'm proud to have known you all these years, Toph. I'm proud to call you my best friend. I really am."

Toph didn't know what to say or how to respond. She let his words sink in before smiling appreciatively at him and patting the hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Sokka. I really, honestly appreciate that. I'm…well, I'm really glad you said that. I'm really happy to have you as a best friend too, even after all these years." She didn't know how to go on without sounding a little too sappy for her tastes so she left it at that. "Now let's order some alcohol and get completely shit-faced, just like the good old days."

Sokka barked in laughter, appreciating her rapid yet smooth transition from sentimental to crude in three seconds flat. They ordered their drinks, and then when they arrived, clinked their cups in mock celebration.

"Like old times, Meathead?"

"Like old times, Blind Bandit."

They tipped their heads back and downed their drinks. They were ready for a night just like the old times.

END

A/N: Review please! If you're reviewing to hate on me for this not being Tokka, or to hate on Sukka, I'll cry, then laugh at you, then get really angry and throw something. So don't waste your time, you're not gonna get me to like Tokka. In fact, you're making me hate it more. So yeah, if you do that, you're only making your ship and your shippers look bad.

Review if you liked it, or to give constructive criticism (no, "DIS SHUD HV BEN TOKKA!11!2" is not constructive criticism). Also please note that liking Tokka is totally fine, hating others because they don't is not. Thanks for reading!