NOTES: This is the sequel to "One Night in Ba Sing Se".


PROLOGUE:


"Feels good to relax," Aang said as he perched beside Sokka on a bar stool. "I don't really do anything but work these days. Seems I spend all of my time in council meetings, or training, or running after the kids. And with the third one on the way I don't like leaving Katara for long."

"My sister can take care of herself for one evening," Sokka said, staring into his drink. He was feeling moody, sullen, overworked. And he was thinking about things he shouldn't.

Aang laughed. "Believe me, I know it. Between her work with the healers, the kids, and the White Lotus, she's a one-woman army. She doesn't know how to slow down." The love in his voice was unmistakable and unshakeable. "Kinda makes me feel guilty for taking a night off. I should be there with her. She's due in a week."

"She does look she's ready to pop any day now," Sokka said as he gestured to the bartender, who promptly gave him another drink. Sokka glanced over Aang's shoulder at the rough little tavern. It was his favorite place in Republic City. It had just the right touch of sleaze about it, while still being reputable enough that a City Councilman and the Avatar paying a visit wasn't a complete scandal. The patrons all knew him well; it was his favorite hangout when he needed a break from the pressures of running a quickly-growing city. Though Aang's visits were rarer, the regulars were polite enough not to stare. Much.

"Yeah, that's why we've invited everyone to Air Temple Island. Zuko, Iroh, Toph….uh…even Suki…" Aang said gingerly. Sokka started, eyes flicking to Aang and back to his drink as he swallowed hard. A little pop of panic went off in his chest as Aang's eyebrow lifted. "Might be nice to get the gang back together. What do you think?"

"Sure. Sounds good," he said, noncommittally.

"Maybe you and Suki can patch things up?" Aang offered, digging an elbow into his ribs.

Sokka shifted uncomfortably in place, staring into his ale with a scowl. "I doubt it. We broke up, Aang."

"Yeah, but you guys break up all of the time.

"It's been a year since I last saw her," he said with a harsh edge to his voice. "Suki's got her life. I've got mine. We didn't work out and that's that."

Aang tilted his head, staring thoughtfully at him. He could feel the Avatar's hazel eyes as they studied his face. He couldn't help the scowl that took hold of his mouth, or the general air of misery that had been plaguing him for months now. Words tripped to the end of his tongue, desperate for escape. He choked them back, glancing at his best friend and then back to his ale.

"Is that what's been bothering you lately?"

"I'm not bothered…" he started, but Aang cleared his throat pointedly, and he switched tactics. "Okay, maybe I have been. But it's not about Suki. At least not mostly about Suki. I don't want to talk about it."

"Maybe you don't want to, but I think you might need to, Sokka," Aang said, leaning in to him, one elbow on the bartop. "You know I'll listen. And I won't tell Katara."

"Aang, drop it."

"Come on, you've been acting weird for months. Ever since you came back from Ba Sing Se," Aang said, a worried expression on his face, which changed to a narrow-eyed stare that was far too knowing. "And every time anyone says Toph's name you flinch. Don't think I haven't noticed. Did you guys get into a fight? Is that why she hasn't been around?"

Dammit, Aang. Always so observant. "It's…complicated. A lot happened in Ba Sing Se, Aang."

"You know what happened to Smellerbee wasn't your fault—"

"It's not about that." Sokka stared into his drink for a moment and then blurted, "I slept with Toph."

He wasn't sure what he expected Aang's reaction to be, but he knew for a fact that he didn't see the flash of a tattooed fist, or the brilliant burst of pain that followed coming. Stars flared and flamed out in his vision as he teetered on the bar stool for one punch-drunk moment.

"Whaaa?" he slurred and then slumped sideways off of the stool. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

Sokka woke up with a start, dripping wet, cold, lying flat on his back in the cobbled street. A figure stood over him, the cold winter wind blowing his orange cape around his legs. He blinked groggily, lifting a hand to touch his wet face, and wincing when he came into contact with his bleeding nose.

"What happened?" he asked, sniffing back blood as he sat up and put his back against the alley wall. "When did the inside become outside?"

"When I dragged you out here," Aang said and knelt in front of him. "You passed out. Thought the cold air might do you some good."

Memory flooded him and he sat up a little more, glaring at Aang. "You punched me!"

Guilt suffused Aang's face as his mouth twisted up a little. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Sorry."

"Non-violent monk, my ass!" Sokka said, pinching his nose to stop the bleeding. "Why did you punch me?!"

"I don't know! I just… You said you slept with Toph and then everything turned red and then you were on the floor. I'm sorry!" Aang said, putting a cup of water down on the cobblestones beside him. He waved his hand and the water in the cup spiraled into the air and formed itself into a ball between his fingers. "Hold still so I can heal your nose."

Sokka stared at him distrustfully. "How do I know you won't try and drown me?"

"Because I could have done that while you were passed out. And my wife would never forgive me if I did," Aang said as Sokka dropped his hand to his side. Aang moved the water over Sokka's nose and it glowed slightly, underlighting Aang's face an eerie blue. He looked slightly sinister and entirely untrustworthy. Or maybe that was just the pain in Sokka's face talking

Sokka opened his mouth and breathed shallowly as the pain in his swollen, bloody nose lessened under Aang's healing abilities. Katara had taught him well. "So I take it you disapprove?"

"I never said that…exactly."

"Pretty sure your fist said that for you," Sokka said ruefully, feeling the steady throb in his nose receding as the healing water soothed the inflamed tissue.

"I was just surprised is all."

"You don't say?" Sokka snorted, then wished he hadn't when water shot up his nose and down his throat. He coughed, choking, eyes watering, until Aang withdrew the healing water and slapped him on the back. After a moment he was able to catch his breath. He spat blood and water onto the ground between his knees. "Dammit."

"Guess that explains why she hasn't been around for a few months. And why it took Katara three letters to convince her to come for a visit. What did you do to her?" Aang asked harshly, accusations rampant in his voice.

Sokka looked up at him with a shocked expression on his face. "Nothing! I mean…we slept together, but I didn't… What are you saying?"

Aang crouched down in front of him, brows knitted together so deeply the crease enveloped the point of his arrow tattoo. "Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't know how Toph felt about you."

Sokka met his gaze and then looked away. "I knew. But it's not like I was playing with her. I didn't sleep with her just because I could! Aang, I wanted her! I wanted her for months and after the attack…it just seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Being with her, touching her, kissing her… It was like a dream. Aang, I'm…I'm in love with her."

Aang stared at him for a long moment, and then sank down against the wall beside him, his elbows on his knees. He sighed and asked softly, "So. How did it happen?"

Sokka swiped at the last of the blood on his upper lip and rubbed it off onto his blue pants. He took a deep breath and shrugged. "It was the night our cover was blown. Smellerbee came to warn us that the rebels were coming and they caught us in the middle of the street. There was a huge fight. They killed Smellerbee and Toph got thrown through that window. We were outnumbered. Had to run. I had a safe house in the Lower Ring, just in case."

"I remember. Guess you left out some parts of the story."

He nodded and went on. "We were both hurt and…" he said, pinching the edge of his shirt between his fingers and avoiding his brother-in-law's eyes.

"And what?"

"I don't know, Aang. What do you want me to say? It just happened. We didn't plan it," he said roughly, gazing at the darkened street, the flickering shadows from an oil lantern tossing monstrous shapes against the narrow stone walls. It reminded him too much of that fight in the street. He looked at his hands. "Afterwards, Toph told me to forget everything we said and just leave what happened between us in Ba Sing Se. And then she wouldn't talk about it anymore. She acted like it never happened, and after we rounded up all the rebels, she just disappeared on me, even though she promised she wouldn't. Didn't even leave a note. Haven't seen her since."

"Sounds like Toph. She's not very good at confronting her feelings, you know."

"Tell me about it." They grew silent for a moment and he felt Aang's eyes on him again. "So…you knew how she felt?"

"Of course. She's always been in love with you. She hides it pretty well, but she lets things slip. Not often, but enough," Aang said. "I tried to talk to her about it once. She said I was being ridiculous and that you were in love with Suki and what was it any of my business anyway? Then she earthbent a wall between us and I took the hint and never brought it up again."

"She thinks I'm still in love with Suki."

"Are you?" Aang challenged him.

"I wish I knew. That's why I didn't follow Toph. I thought she was right, what she said about Suki and me. How I was a boomerang and eventually I'd come back to Suki, like I always do. Toph said she didn't want to come in second, and that she wouldn't stand in the way of what I had with Suki. I was confused, guilty, but that's no excuse. I should have stopped her from leaving or followed her and now it's been six months and she must think I don't care, that I went back to Suki like she asked me to, and that maybe we're even engaged…"

"Engaged?"

Sokka sighed. "Toph told me to marry Suki, that it would fix things. I didn't know what to think, to be honest. I couldn't figure out who I really wanted. Or what I wanted. After Toph disappeared and after I came back here, do you remember I left for a week?"

"Yeah. Said you needed a vacation after what happened in Ba Sing Se."

"Well, I went to Kyoshi Island. I had every intention of doing what I thought was right. Of asking Suki to marry me. I thought it would solve all of my problems and that I would stop thinking about Toph if I did. That what I felt for her was just lust and once I was around Suki, things would make sense again."

"And what happened?"

"I watched Suki training some girls. She didn't know I was there. She looked gorgeous. Capable. Deadly. Happy. I watched her for a long time, Aang. I can still imagine her now, how she looked in her uniform. Her hair was longer than when I'd last seen it and it was turning red in the sunlight. The way she moved… I remember thinking of how stupid someone would have to be to let that woman go."

"So what did you do?

Sokka licked his lips and glanced at Aang, then at the flickering shadows. "I left. I just walked away. I don't know why I didn't walk over there and kiss her and hold her and tell her I loved her. I just couldn't do it. I didn't think I deserved to. And all I could think about was Toph and how I told her that I was in love with her. All I could see was the hurt look on her face when she told me we could pretend it never happened. I didn't want to pretend anymore. I felt as guilty for being there with Suki as I did for being with Toph."

Aang's head dropped and he stared at the ground between his knees. "So which of them do you love?"

"I don't know. Both? Maybe I don't deserve either of them," he mumbled, the months of misery pressing down on him. It wasn't just what had happened with Toph. It was everything that had happened in Ba Sing Se. He still had nightmares about Smellerbee burning to death with a sword in stomach, of Toph's cut flesh, of their desperate flight through the streets of the city.

"And they're both coming here in a few days," Aang said in a commiserating voice.

"Yeah," he whispered, and touched his nose. "I don't want to hurt anyone, and I feel like I'm going to, no matter what I do. What should I do, Aang?"

"I wish I knew."

Sokka touched his nose again and then leaned his head back against the brick wall. "Spirits, this is going to be messy. Are you going to punch me again?"

"No, but I can't guarantee Toph or Suki won't."

Sokka groaned and squeezed his eyes shut tightly against the flickering shadows and the nightmares they conjured. "I can't wait."