Hey there, Sokka's Fan-Lawyer here!

Yes, I know it's been a while…trust me, no one is more surprised than myself to see that my writing career is still alive…perhaps it had a Phoenix Down equipped or something, I don't know. Regardless, I hope that you like what was supposed to be a one shot …but it wound up dragging on a little longer than I anticipated and so I divided it up a bit for convenience…but it would be nice if you read it in one go, if you can (actually, just reading it at all would make me ecstatic).

This was inspired once I heard the Katy Perry song "Waking up in Vegas" (I snickered to myself "I could so see Sokka and Toph doing that…hey, wait a second….") and believe it or not, the Hangover had no real influence over this (I haven't even seen most of the movie yet). But enough with the author commentary; on with the fanfic!

(Also, see if you can spot all the references I have worked in here, to other shows/movies or whatever, since I did throw a few in here.)

Rating: T for heavy language and mild suggestive themes.

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar the Last Airbender, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko would have gotten their own spin off and the movie wouldn't have been…itself. So obviously, I don't; Nickelodeon does.

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"Hit me." Sokka groaned as he rested his throbbing forehead against the bar's cool surface, his empty glass held out expectantly to the less than eager bartender.

"I don't know son, that's your fourth glass; this imported Cactus Juice is some strong stuff…" Sokka snorted as he raised his head enough to give the bartender a quizzing gaze.

"Right; my friend, I've had Cactus Juice straight from the Spirits damn cactus; do you think this watered down piss is going to have anything on that?" The bartender's empathy faded at the insult; without another word, he poured the green liquid and left. The Water Tribe warrior scoffed as he lifted the glass to his lips. The second the liquid touched his tongue, he gagged; this was truly terrible liquor. Still, he forced it down anyway; better to focus on the burning than to let his thoughts wander. Sounds of the room around him began to creep across his mind as he unconsciously stirred his drink with his finger. The singer on the large wooden stage behind him seemed to be mumbling her lines, giving the impression that she wasn't quite as confident as she should be; however, given the hoots and hollers she was getting from men twice her age, the poor woman's discomfort was going over looked. Still, what else did one expect from the Drunken Lemur, the best bar in all of Ba Sing Se's lowest ring? Even after the conclusion to the 100 year war with the Fire Nation of those three years ago and all the reformation since, Ba Sing Se, as the Earth Kingdom's capital, maintained its class segregation behind its large stone ring dividers that helped cut off each level from the rest of the city. At this point, the lowest ring housed not just the artisans and manual laborers, but the pleasure district as well.

From casinos and hotels, to quick-marriage churches to even quicker divorce agencies, the District was well known throughout the Earth Kingdom…as to why Sokka found himself drawn there of all places, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just had to go somewhere…anywhere, and his feet had led him there. Sure, he could tell himself that he was purely on Restoration Alliance business-it had been awhile since the world governments had taken a good look at Ba Sing Se's operations, given their global unity fixation and yada yada. So why not? It's not like Sokka, of the original Team Avatar, the ragtag group of teens that had found and aided the latest incarnation of the Avatar, Aang, in ending the whole damn war to begin with, had much else to do.

When it came time to take their places in guiding the new world order, Sokka had been passed over for the heavier roles. As his skills mostly ranged from war strategy and sarcasm, the Southern Water Tribe youth was not exactly suited for the heavier diplomatic stuff; nowadays, he did research for Aang and, occasionally even, Fire Lord Zuko, the heir to the throne after Aang had defeated the previous ruler and put a stop to the War once and for all. Otherwise, he was frequently twiddling his thumbs out on the isolated Kyoshi Island with….he shook his head to stop himself; he didn't feel inclined to pursue that train of the thought now.

Sokka sighed; in a way, the world seemed simpler when it had been at war; at least then, the bad guys were obvious, and everyone was united. Now…it wasn't as clear what was right anymore; should you kick the crap out of a political asshole or negotiate? Stand and talk while a problem only worsened? Sokka knew which option he would take, even if he wasn't born with the ability to bend or manipulate the elements, like half the people in the world were, which probably explained why his sister had kept him as far away from Court as possible. Why was he so feeling so gloomy lately? Not that the bar's darken, nourish atmosphere was improving it much. The temperature was cool, unusual for a city so close to the desert; perhaps the bar's stony interior added to it? Sokka didn't care enough to get bothered by it. If there was one thing he was used to, it was the cold, especially given how he and his sister had grown up in the South Pole, after all.

The door along the wall to his left suddenly slammed open. Sokka jumped, shaken from his reverie, his Juice spilling to the floor. A short, cloaked person came through, muttering under their breath. Sokka just stared as the person's dark green cloak brushed against his fallen glass, not that the person noticed. "Fucking idiots." She –the voice was definitely female-cursed. She hopped up on the stool next to Sokka and shouted to the bartender. "Give me your best excuse for a drink!" Sokka pointed to the floor.

"You just walked over it."

"Oh shut up, Snoozles…" Time seemed to stand still as recognition set in. "Sokka?"

"Toph?" Sokka gaped; what were the odds of him running into someone he knew, much less his best friend? She pulled down her hood and gave him an almost happy smirk.

"I thought I recognized that heartbeat; I was just too pissed to realize…Wow. It's been awhile, huh?"

"Yeah!" Sokka began to nod, but stopped once he remembered she was blind. "Yeah…you seem to have changed a bit." This was true; it appeared the earthbender had finally hit puberty. Now she was a bit taller, but still short enough to be called petite; her dark bangs were just bit longer, reaching her neck, while the rest of her hair was still in her trademark bun, complete with headband. Her shirt left her arms bare, revealing a black bracelet that hung by her left bicep. "I see you still have the space earth thing." She smiled as she patted said space earth.

"Of course; not every day you get a piece of space rock, right? It's really come in handy….Oh that's right! Did you ever find your space sword?" Sokka groaned as he rested his chin on the counter, pouting.

"No….I still can't believe I lost it while we were stopping that stupid Air Ship fleet! I mean come on! It and boomerang; those were my trademark!" He sulked until Toph punched him in the arm.

"Oh suck it up, you baby." She paused as Sokka rubbed his now bruised arm and the bartender placed her drink before her. "So, what have you been up to?" she took a stiff drink while Sokka shrugged.

"Well, right after the War, me and Katara went back to the Southern Water Tribe with our dad, and helped rebuild the place, you know?"

"No, I don't."

"Oh right, you didn't see it…" she waved her hand in front of her face pointedly. "You know what I mean! Anyway, it only took a year to rebuild most of the place; it's not just a small cluster of tents surrounded by icebergs and snow anymore."

"It's a couple of buildings surrounded by icebergs and ice?" Toph suggested. Sokka glared.

"I'll have you know that there is a wall too."

"So it's a few buildings filled with snow, surrounded by a wall, surrounded by icebergs and more snow….sounds great. A real metropolis."

"Oh yeah? Well…well…."his retort cut off; it was hard to argue with the heiress to one of the Earth Kingdom's wealthiest families, who lived in a larger city, about location. "Well, what about you? Where you've been the past few years? Last I heard, you had Aang drop you off at some town and you went off into the wilderness or something." It was Toph's turn to sigh.

"I've been trying to teach idiots metalbending."

"You can do that?" That was a surprise; Sokka thought that Toph was the only earthbender who was capable of such bending, since her blindness sharpened her abilities enough to find the flakes of earth left in refined steel.

"It's doable, if someone's willing to focus so hard, their eyeballs blow up." She scowled while Sokka frowned.

"Charming visual." He pushed the glass the bartender had reluctantly placed before him aside. "So…how's that going?" Her scowl only deepened.

"Nowhere. You'd think most earthbenders have shit for brains or something; it's a miracle they can move a pebble, much less steel."

"Well, not everyone can be well…you." Sokka stared at his drink, thought for a few seconds, then reached for it.

"So what? That's no excuse for no talent." She took a swift chug from her mug. Finally, she turned to Sokka. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

The Water Tribe man choked on his Cactus Juice. "Um…well…" he stammered. He himself had been wondering the same thing mere minutes ago. "I just…wanted to take a trip is all; it's been awhile, you know? Years ago, we traveled everywhere, so I guess I'm just not used to sticking in one place again…." Toph gave him a knowing look. "What?"

"Snoozles, in my experience, there are only a few reasons why anyone would wanted to get wasted out of their minds: One, to have a good time, two, to hang out with friends while having a good time, and three, to drown out bad thoughts until you can't even think anymore. Judging by the fact that you're sitting here pitifully by yourself, I'm going to guess it's the last one. Don't take me for an idiot." Sokka blinked; he hadn't really thought he was being that obvious.

"Oh yeah, you're that obvious." The bartender chimed in as he refilled Sokka's glass. "Trust me; you have the Pai Sho face of a gullible monk." Sokka gawked.

"Get out of here; don't you have better things to do?" The bartender just stuck his tongue out at him and left. Before Sokka could reach his glass, Toph took it from his hands and dangled it in front of him.

"No story, no Juice." Sokka glared at her, then visibly slumped, resigned.

"It's nothing that big…."

"Oh obviously; did you seriously not hear a word I said?"

"Shut up." Toph punched him in the arm. Sokka hissed, then continued. "After the War and I helped rebuild my village, Katara and I went our separate ways, you know?"

"Yeah, didn't she move in with Twinkle Toes?" Sokka scowled.

"You mean Aang? Yeah, don't even get me started on that…."

"Look on the bright side; it could've been Zuko." Sokka took a swift drink from his glass.

"Anyway…she went with Aang to help rebuild the world…me? I went to Kyoshi Island. To live with Suki."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing that. She was the one that you broke out of that Fire Nation prison, right? The swimmer?"

"Yeah, yeah; you know her better than that and you know it. Anyway, that was two years ago. It was like I had imagined, you know? After Yue die died-that was before you joined up-, I didn't trust myself with a relationship…she convinced me otherwise; she kicked my ass for being a 'drama queen' and 'over protective', if you can believe it." Toph snorted.

"Oh, I can believe that; I'd do the same thing." Sokka coughed pointedly. "Oh, don't let me stop you; carry on."

"Anyway…so once the war was over, it only seemed right for me to finally go the next step; live with her without being on the run, you know? And at first it was great…even if that Ty Lee girl was kind of weird to be around."

"That Fire Nation chi blocker that used to follow Azula around?"

"Yeah, apparently she and the Kyoshi women warriors bonded in prison, so she joined up once she was released. She's just so…overly crazy! It's like there's never a quiet moment when she's around."

"Much like you?"

"Shut up. Anyway, things were great…to begin with." Toph's smirk fell as she noticed her friend's tone drop.

"The first year, we were never apart; always together, doing that usual couple crap." Sokka smiled bitterly. "Yeah, yeah, it seems a bit lame and corny, but once you get into your first relationship, you'll understand….Spirits, that makes me sound so old. But after a certain point…I noticed a difference in her. She began to go off on her own for days at a time, she threw herself into training the next generation of Kyoshi Warriors, and…almost seemed to avoid me, you know?" Toph silently nodded, sympathetic. "That went on for a few months, and truth be told, that's when I began to think about traveling again. Maybe I wasn't meant to be stuck in one place forever; I don't know. But once I began to talk to Suki about this, she exploded at me! I don't know what the hell happened, but suddenly we're arguing and yelling…." He paused and stared into his drink. "We wound up waking the other warriors up and they came barging in to see what the matter was and…I don't know, they saw us arguing and suddenly they're accusing me as if I'm the bad guy! They knew me for years and suddenly they think I turned into some womanizer jerk overnight! Well, I defended myself, but that only made things worse. By the time the sun had risen, I had put myself on the next boat off the Island."

"Wow…" Toph mumbled quietly; Sokka took a deep breath.

"After that, I just walked. Anywhere, you know?" He snorted. "I bet those hippies we met would have been proud. Anyway, by the time I noticed, it turned out my feet led me to the Serpent's Pass, the place where we ran into Suki before we went to Ba Sing Se, remember? So I kept going, followed the Pass, and wound up at Ba Sing Se. I've been here ever since." He fell silent; even the rowdy men around them didn't breach the heaviness that surrounded him.

"Did you try to talk to Katara and Aang? Hell, even Zuko? Spirits know he's seen his fair share of female shit with Mai."

"Are you kidding? They're too busy fixing the freaking world; they don't have time for one guy's love life…besides, Zuko and Mai are at least still together; you don't see him running for the hills just because she has mood issues." Sokka's stared sullenly into his glass, as if an answer would drift up from the swirling liquid. "Toph…I may have fucked up something good here…." Toph stared at her friend, conscious of his obvious pain; even when they had been cornered by Fire Nation soldiers, thousands of feet in the air, and helpless, she had never seen him look so defeated. She let him sit there for a minute, then sighed. She rested her hand on his shoulder, which had gotten higher than it had been before; he must have gotten taller.

"Hey bartender! Give me two of your best; my friend and I need a double each!" While the bartender hurried himself with the demand, Sokka looked at Toph, confused.

"Why?" She grinned.

"I told you, didn't I? There are reasons that people drink: our's is going to be that we're trying to have good time, not being whiny bitches." Sokka still looked dazed; Toph rolled her eyes as the bartender rested the new drinks before them. "I'm saying that I can out drink you, dumbass."

"I find that unlikely…you're too tiny." He mumbled as he grabbed the glass. She smiled a bit; the half assed jab meant that he was at least listening. She punched him in the arm.

"Oh yeah? You couldn't out drink a baby Moose Lion!" She raised her glass in challenge; Sokka reluctantly joined the toast. "To the best night we've had in forever!"

"To lucky reunions." He smiled a little, his bad mood easing a bit. Then he began to chug….

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