A/N: Make sure to leave a review! The next chapter of "The Air Nomads" should be up soon! God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

Sokka fell to the couch with a groan, rubbing his eyes furiously in frustration. He could feel himself sinking lower and lower into the cushions, only further causing him to moan in childish discontent.

He was staying in the Fire Nation palace for a set of peace meetings being held by the Fire Lord and the Avatar themselves, he didn't have time to be worrying about this. He was a councilman of Republic City, he had other things that needed his focus. But this absolutely floored him.

Aang and Zuko, both sitting on the other couches in the room, shared a look of confusion. Sokka had been fine just moments before when they had been sipping their tea and reminiscing on the good old days. In the middle of doing so, Katara had walked in to tell Sokka some "exciting news" to which he returned to the room in near tears.

"Uh, Sokka?" Aang questioned his brother-in-law cautiously as he placed his steaming cup of tea back on the table, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, "Is something wrong?"

The Southern Water Tribe's councilman didn't answer, only throwing an auburn pillow over his face in response.

Zuko's brow rose, "Maybe the heat has gotten to him." Aang shrugged, not really sure if that was what was causing the man's peculiar behavior. They had all been to the Fire Nation before, and it hadn't seemed to bother him then. Sokka, face still covered by a pillow, shook his head when he heard Zuko's suggestion.

The twenty-nine year old Avatar rose from his seat, autumn colored robes swishing behind him as he walked directly over to the couch that Sokka was lounging across. Reaching a pale, tattooed hand out, Aang removed the pillow from the man's face. He was surprised to see fear in his wide, cerulean eyes.

"Sokka," The man threw the pillow over his shoulder, nearly hitting Zuko in the head, "What in the world is going on?"

The tanned, war hero heaved a heavy sigh, hands coming up to cover his eyes as if doing so would hide him away from the world, "My life is over."

Zuko stood, fixing his auburn robes and walking over to where Aang was standing, rolling his golden eyes at Sokka's dramatics, "Did they run out of meat in the kitchens?"

Sokka removed his hands from his face, a grimace forming upon his matured features, "It's not that bad."

"Well than your life isn't over, you still have meat. You will continue to live."

"It's not that simple."

Aang chuckled at the man's reply, "Actually, yes it is. You always tell us that you are a simple guy who just needs meat to survive."

"That was before this happened."

Zuko sighed, crossing his arms in exasperation at the councilman's immature complaints, "What exactly happened?"

Sokka rolled his lips in, refusing to say it out loud. If he said it himself, he feared it would become more true than it already was.

"Is it the baby?" Aang asked, suddenly worried that the cause for Sokka's behavior had something to do with Suki's pregnancy. They had tried for so long to have a child, and now that they finally were, the Avatar couldn't help but fear that something bad had happened to it.

Sokka only nodded.

Aang's mouth popped open and questions began to flood out, "What's wrong with it? Did Suki miscarry? Are there some complications? Is there anything we can do? We love to help, don't we, Zuko? And we would do anything - "

"Aang," Sokka held up a hand to quiet the airbender, "Stop."

The young man shut his mouth as Sokka sat up from the couch, pushing past both men and walking towards the window. Zuko's personal quarters looked out at the turtle duck pond, the sunlight casting shadows across the waters of the small sanctuary. Sokka's eyes weren't trained on the pond though, they were trained on the little someones playing near the shore.

A four-year old Kya sat on a little stool positioned beside a wooden table, a tiny, two-year old Ursa sitting across from her with wide, amber eyes. In front of them lay a tea set, a gift from Iroh himself for the little girls to play with. Kya, with her expressive cerulean eyes and dark braids, was trying desperately to teach Ursa how to drink tea properly while the baby seemed more interested with the turtle ducks that swam around the pond. Katara and Mai sat on the side, watching their children carefully as the Avatar's wife held a rambunctious two-year old Bumi in her arms, trying to keep him from escaping. Suki sat beside them,
a calm smile on her face as she gently rubbed her rounding stomach.

The scene made Sokka's stomach drop.

He was aware that the two other men in the room had come to stand behind him, their eyes following his and softening at the sight in front of them.

"Sokka, please tell us what is wrong."

The man heaved a sigh, knowing that sooner or later, they would know. He also knew exactly what they were going to say. That he shouldn't worry and that everything would be fine. But he wasn't so sure of that.

"Katara was able to determine the gender of the baby during Suki's check up today."

The Avatar's frown turned into a grin in an instant, "Well, what are you two having?!"

Sokka paused a moment, looking back out the window at the scene taking place in the dwindling sunlight, before turning around to face the two men whom he considered to be like his brothers.

"It's a girl."

Aang could barely hold his excitement in at that, slapping his brother-in-law on the shoulder in congratulations, "That's great, Sokka! A healthy, baby girl."

Zuko also gave his congratulations, shaking the man's hand, "That is wonderful news."

Sokka shook his head, ignoring both of their congratulations, "No. You guys don't understand how bad this is."

Zuko and Aang looked at each other curiously before turning back to the man, "What are you talking about?" The Fire Lord asked incredulously, "Aren't you happy?"

The Water Tribe man leaned his back against the window, crossing his arms over his chest, "I don't know."

Aang's stormy eyes became concerned at how serious Sokka's tone had become, "Did you not want a girl?"

The man shrugged, but the two others could see this is exactly what he was so upset about.

"Are you -," Zuko didn't quite know how to word his question, "Scared?"

"Me?" Sokka asked in disbelief, laughing slightly at the idea before his chuckles died down and his shoulders slumped forward, "Yes, I am."

"But why?" Having a daughter himself, Aang couldn't imagine why Sokka was so against the idea. He had a little sister that he had looked after for most his life, wasn't this experience just like that one, except a little more special?

"I don't know how to do it," Sokka replied simply, pointing at the two guys in front of him, "I'm not like you two. I can't play tea parties and wear silly dress up costumes."

Zuko glared at him, "What, like you're above us?"

"No," Sokka shook his head at the idea, although he couldn't really put his finger on what it was that he was feeling, "I'm just saying, I don't know how to be around a little girl. Their all gentle and soft and I'm rough and hard. I'm a warrior, meant to raise a warrior. I don't know the first thing about raising a daughter."

"You do realize you have a wife, right?" Aang asked, also feeling a bit offended by Sokka's comments, "This isn't something you do alone. Trust me, you aren't the first guy who's had to learn how to raise a daughter."

"But you two are good at it!" The man argued, pointing at the little girls playing in the gardens, "I'm not!"

"And how do you know that?"

"Because," Sokka crossed his arms over his chest and sighed deeply, allowing some of his frustration to escape with his breath, "When my mom died, I couldn't even take care of my sister. How does anyone expect me to take care of a daughter?"

Zuko's expression grew from frustrated to confused, "What are you talking about? Katara seems fine to me."

"But she wasn't," The man replied simply, sad eyes watching his sister from the window, "She was hurt and there was nothing I could do to fix that. Instead, she had to step up and take care of me."

"Sokka," Aang spoke the words softly, "That has nothing to do with what kind of father you are going to make. There was nothing you could do when you two were younger."

"I just thought that if I had a boy, I would be able to relate to him," The warrior admitted, turning away from the window with his eyes trained on the auburn carpet, "A girl is completely unknown waters."

"But just because it's unknown doesn't mean it has to be scary," Aang reminded him gently, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "You are talking to two men who already have daughters and know what you are going through. Don't think you have to learn all this on your own."

Zuko nodded, "Aang's right. I remember how scared I was when Ursa was born. At least your little sister ended up sane, mine ended up in an asylum. To say I was scared of raising a daughter is an understatement, I was terrified."

Sokka looked up at the two men in front of him, smiling softly as he took all that into consideration, "I guess I was being a bit overdramatic."

"Just a bit," Aang chuckled, hand still holding firmly to the man's shoulder, "But I understand where you are coming from. But trust me when I say, having a little girl, will completely change your world."

Zuko's mouth turned up into a rare grin, "It really does."

The men sat back down on the couches once again, the setting sun casting shadows across the room as the day came to a close. They were talking about the state of Toph's metalbending force in Republic City and joking about the woman herself who wasn't around to earthbend them into oblivion, when the door swung open and the pitter patter of little feet came following after.

"Daddy!"

Aang barely had time to register anything before his small daughter was launching herself into his arms. The man chuckled despite being caught off guard and lifted her on to his lap. The little girl continued to hug him around the neck.

"Hi, sweetie," Aang murmured before placing a delicate kiss on her tanned forehead, "Did you have fun today?"

While Kya told her father about her day, Mai walked over to Zuko and placed Ursa into his waiting arms.

"She's been asking for you all day."

Zuko couldn't hide the smile that crept on to his features as he held the girl up on his knees and she reached out to pat the scarred side of his face, "Dada."

Katara finally entered with a sleeping Bumi in her arms and tired smile on her face. She gave her brother a questioning look to which he answered with a gentle smile. Sitting next to her husband, she curled into Aang's side and listened as their daughter prattled on about her day.

Warm arms wrapped around Sokka's neck, causing him to jump in slight shock before he relaxed once again. Suki walked to the front of the couch and took her seat next to him, holding his hand tightly in one of her's.

"You okay?"

Sokka chuckled at her hesitant question, before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close, "I don't think so."

Suki frowned at his answer, but soon smiled when she saw the way he was tenderly looking at her stomach and at the small families around him.

"But I think I'm going to be fine."