The Coming of the (Land) Lord- Loopy777

"Wait, you own a house in Ba Sing Se? How did you get it? Which ring is it in? Does it have a pool? Did you name it?"

Gran-Gran shrugged at her grandson. "I won it in a card game when I was passing through on my way South. I spent a few nights there, sold all the furniture for traveling money, and left."

Sokka considered that for a moment. "You play cards?"

Grand-Pakku rolled his eyes. "Don't play with her for money, kid, you'll lose your shirt."

Gran-Gran turned to her husband and gave him a death glare that somehow failed to actually kill him. Sighing, she turned back to Sokka. "If Ba Sing Se wants to seize it and fix it up, that's fine with me. I don't have a use for a house in the Earth Kingdom, never mind the capital."

Sokka sat back and didn't say anything. He was thinking in that patented style of his- the particulars of his current situation were thrown on a table with all his long and short term goals, and then he began painting lines between them, letting the contours of the chipped and warped tabletop determine the methodology. To his delight, a few connections were made. "You can't let them take your house! It's a house! In a city!"

Gran-Gran gave him a skeptical stare. "So? What am I going to do with it?"

"Give it to me! I'll repair it and paint it, and live there whenever I'm in the Earth Kingdom. I can use it as a base, and Aang and Katara can stay there when they're around, and I can use it to do stuff in!"

Grand-Pakku adjusted his mittens and frowned even deeper than usual. "What kind of stuff? Why do you need a house in Ba Sing Se for it?"

Sokka shrugged. "You don't like explosions."

"Oh. That stuff. Yes, by all means, do it in another country."

Gran-Gran considered her grandson's words with all the wisdom of her age and experience. "It's only fair that you and Katara share the ownership. But if you think you can use it, then yes, I'll give you the house to care for."

"Sweet!" Sokka gave his Gran-Gran a hug that would have been crushing, if Gran-Gran weren't a lot tougher than most old ladies. "I'll start packing right away."

As soon as Sokka was out of earshot, Grand-Pakku smirked at his wife. "Now if we can just find a way to get your son-in-law out of the house, we can finally have that Honeymoon."

Gran-Gran smiled.

*

"You're going to Ba Sing Se?"

"Yeah, but, it's not for always. I can get away regularly, come and visit."

"Still, it's a long way, unless you use Appa. And I doubt Aang will be ferrying you over all the time for visits."

"Well, maybe I can appeal to our bond of manliness. He has a girlfriend now, he knows how it is."

"His girlfriend is your sister."

"Then it's a good thing she approves of you."

"She does?"

"Well, she hasn't expressed disapproval, which is kind of the same thing for her. Trust me, if there were trouble there, it would be the loud kind of trouble. And unpleasantly wet."

"I'll remember that."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You better come visit."

"You better believe it."

*

A short time later, Sokka, his sister Katara, and their friend/adopted-brother/lover/actually-those-last-two-are-kinda-creepy-to-have-together/tagalong/Avatar Aang were standing in Ba Sing Se's upper ring, just a two-minute walk from the Royal Earth Palace's outer gates, looking at Gran-Gran's abandoned house.

At one time, maybe fifty years ago, it had probably been nice. The sprawling, one-story complex looked large enough to house a large, well-to-do family, and the faded ornamentation on the facade probably once shone in a corrupt display of wealth. The property also included a large, walled garden in the back, easily big enough to accommodate a sparring ground and place for Appa.

To put it simply, it was a lot more than any of the three expected.

"Your Gran-Gran won this place in a card game?" Aang managed to pronounce even with his hanging jaw.

Sokka nodded. "I have it on good authority that one should not bet against Gran-Gran."

Katara tore her eyes away from her inheritance to look up and down the street. "The president of the neighborhood housing association was supposed to meet us here. Do you think we should wait?"

"There's no need for that," a grave voiced intoned from somewhere, obviously trying to cultivate a villainous air. The trio of teenagers jumped and spun to face the speaker.

Aang's jaw dropped again. "Long Feng?!"

The former Grand Secretariat, Head of the Dai Lee, and All-Around Corrupt Politician glowered at them.

Sokka blinked. "Why aren't you in jail?"

Long Feng didn't respond.

Another familiar voice, this one as artificially sweet as a cheap diet cola, rang out. "My husband received a mitigated sentence and is performing regular community service here in the city. We are honored to be allowed to pursue peaceful lives while we pay our debt to society." Joo Dee, the (relative) original, stepped out from behind Long Feng.

"Husband!" Katara squeaked.

"Mitigated sentence!" Aang squawked.

"Community service!" Sokka screeched. "Is it cleaning up poop at the zoo? Please tell me it's poop-related."

"The terms of my sentence are none of your concern," Long Feng growled. "It was decided that in this new era of peace, I should be allowed the opportunity to work back towards becoming the loyal minister I once was, a man who guided this city in a harsh time while our King potty-trained. That, along with the fact that I have recently been elected President of this Housing Association and intend to clean the neighborhood up, is all you three troublemakers need to know."

A glaring contest played out for several seconds. It was Aang who broke it up. "Fine. If the Earth King wants this, I'm not going to fight it. I hope you make this most of this opportunity. Now, let's get down to the business of Kanna's house."

Joo Dee smiled broadly. Of course. "As you can see, your delightful Grandmother's house has fallen into a state of disrepair, lowering the overall quality of the neighborhood. All we wish is to add a bit of respectability to things by having someone clean the structure, and occupy it regularly. That prevents thieves and other undesirables from possibly abusing the property, and raises the property values for the entire area. Isn't that lovely?"

Long Feng put a hand on his wife's (all three teenagers shuddered with discomfort) shoulder and smirked at them. "If you fail to act on this mandate, the city of Ba Sing Se will seize the property and sell it at auction. Moreover, this is a wealthy, quiet neighborhood, and if you three cause your normal amount of trouble, the Housing Association will see to it that you lose the property anyway. You'll have to demonstrate responsible ownership for a full year before the Association will lift the mandate against this house." His gaze bore into his opponents'. "The Neighborhood Watch will be keeping an eye on you..." He spun on his heel and walked away. Joo Dee waved happily and glided after him.

"Okay," Aang muttered, "that was creepy."

Katara had her fists on her hips. "Anyone else want to beat up that man? I want to beat him up."

Sokka stood tall. "No, as much as he needs a club to the head, I'm not going to let him ruin this for us. Guys, we have a house!"

Aang turned back to regard the building. "It's going to take a lot of work to fix that up."

Sokka waved away the concern. "Come on. We have the Avatar, a Master Waterbender, and a Water Tribe genius. This will take no time at all if we work together."

*

"Sorry, Sokka, I need to zip across the continent to stop a tidal wave," Aang cheerily reported the next day.

Katara nodded with a smile. "I'll be going with him, of course."

"You're trying to get out of doing any work around here," Sokka hissed.

"I am not! Aang may be a fully realized Avatar now, but a Waterbending Master could come in handy with a tidal wave. Besides, this will take at least a few days, and I'd miss the cuddles."

Aang blushed.

Sokka grumbled.

*

Sokka was still grumbling a day later. He was on the roof on his new house, trying to figure out how to reattach some of those fancy green shingle-things. Nails were the obvious solution, but it didn't look like there were any used in the neighbors' roofs, and that killer turned Neighborhood Watch freak Long Feng (how did he beat a murder wrap again?) was definitely the type to make a big deal out of that. Sokka was just considering working up some kind of glue when Suki called out.

"I'm here!"

"You're whAAAHFALLINGOHNOGROUNDAAARGH OOF."

Suki rushed over to where he lay crumpled on the ground. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah," Sokka squeaked. "I landed on my boomerang. Somehow, I manage to do that a lot." He let Suki help him to his feet, while he gazed at the unexpected vision of the beautiful painted warrior. "So, don't take this the wrong way, but are you a hallucination? 'Cause I'm feeling kind of hungry and-"

Suki stopped him with a gloved finger placed on his lips. Sokka noticed she was wearing an overstuffed backpack. "I remembered, after your last visit, that the Kyoshi Warriors had a standing invitation from the Earth King. He never got to actually meet any of us, since... you know, Azula... and he still liked the idea of having a Kyoshi Warrior honor guard. So," she smiled, "I figured that as long as you're staying here, we could maybe spare our leader and a few others for Ba Sing Se, for a year or so. I left a good second in charge, and she can get a message to me if I'm really needed. And-"

She was cut off as Sokka's lips found a way around her hand and landed on her own. When they eased apart, he spoke quietly. "Where are you staying?"

"Hm, I haven't found a place yet. The other girls were going to stay at the palace, but I wanted to see the city, you know?"

"Stay here."

"Okay."

"I'll cut you a deal on the rent."

"...what?"

"Well, I can't let you stay for free. I have to put a lot of money and effort into fixing this place up."

"I can help."

"Not if you're working."

"Sokka, don't joke. I may have to get drastic."

"I'm not joking."

Suki was no longer smiling. "Fine. If that's how you're going to be, I'll make you see reason."

Sokka winced.

It turned out to be a much less painful process than he expected. "Okay," he said some time later. "You don't have to give me money."

"For the record, that's not just another form of payment. I'm officially staying free."

"...okay."

*

The next, day Sokka was woken up by a kiss. He immediately turned over and went back to sleep. A kick to the ribs brought him fully to consciousness. "Hey no what why?" he yawned. He opened his eyes to see Suki leaning over him in a dressing robe.

She smiled. "Time to get up."

"Why are we getting up? Wait, why are you in my room? I would have remembered a night like that. Why are we getting up again?"

"I need to be at the palace by sunrise, so I have to get up to get dressed. And if I'm getting up, I thought it would be nice for you to get up and see me off."

Sokka thought about that and scratched the stubble on his chin. "The sun's not up yet?" Suki shook her head. Sokka groaned.

He shambled to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. The idea was to help himself to get going, but somehow he wound up dozing off and planting his nose in the steaming cup. That certainly woke him up. Giving up on the idea of breakfast for now, he headed towards the nearest bathroom. He tried the doorknob six times before he realized it was locked. He had forgotten that doors could lock.

Suki's voice sounded from within. "I'm doing my facepaint. You can get in after my clothes are on."

"Mkaysoundsgood," Sokka answered, sitting down where he was to wait. It was several minutes before he realized the implications of Suki's statement.

That was an aspect of sharing a house that he hadn't fully considered.

*

The sun was almost up when he kissed Suki goodbye and she trotted up the street towards the palace. Sokka watched her, with the words regarding her earlier lack of clothing bouncing through his head. Half an hour later, he was in Iroh's teashop, working on his fourth cup of Jasmine. "I mean, I never even thought about it. I'm living with my girlfriend in a house, and she was naked on the other side of that door!"

Iroh nodded slowly. "Those things tend to happen. In the Fire Nation, a popular form of story features a young man finding an excuse to live with a group of beautiful women, all of whom fall in love with him in short order. They write them out on scrolls with lurid illustrations. I could lend you some if you like? You're a legal adult, right?"

"And my sister!" Sokka slammed his teacup down. "She's going to be living their with her boyfriend. And he might get naked, too!"

Iroh nodded again, trying hard not to picture anything Sokka was talking about. "You are worried for her honor?"

Sokka blinked. "No, I don't think so. It's just, I mean, weird. It's not like when you're camping, and bathing a short distance away. You have the whole world around you, then. This is naked people, who are dating each other, confined in a small space by walls."

"You're not used to walls, then?" Iroh ventured.

"I have nothing against them." Sokka finished another cup of tea. "I just don't necessarily trust them."

"Ah." Iroh nodded wisely and sipped at his own tea. If the action gave the impression of understanding Sokka, it was a fine performance indeed.

"Don't trust who?"

"Hi, Toph."

"Good morning, Young Toph."

"Someone answer me before I break a kneecap."

Sokka shrugged. "Oh, we were talking about my new house." His eyes narrowed. "Wait, what you doing here?"

Toph's jaw dropped. "You have a house?"

"Toph has been living here in Ba Sing Se," Iroh explained with a grin. "She wanted to take a break from her parents again, so she came here to teach Earthbending, compete in the local fighting rings, and keep an old man company."

Sokka wasn't listening. "Gran-Gran won a house or something when she was young and gave it to me and Katara. We're both going to live there for a while, with Aang and Suki."

Iroh nodded. "We were just discussing some matters of the heart-"

"I wanna live in your house, too!" Toph blurted as she grabbed the table. "No fair leaving me out!"

"Okay," Sokka shrugged.

Iroh sipped his tea again. "I'm feeling ignored."

"Sweetness!" Toph victoriously pumped a fist into the air.

"I'll even give you a break on the rent."

"You're charging her rent?"

Toph lost her joy and tried, unsuccessfully, to glare in Sokka's direction. "You think I can't afford full price?! What, because I'm younger than the rest of you, I can't pay my own way? Don't patronize me!" She whacked Sokka in the chest, knocking him out of his seat. "I'm going to pay you double rent! Then we'll see who's weak."

"Whatever makes you happy," Sokka said from the floor.

Iroh had already retreated to somewhere with people who would pay attention to him.

*

"Wow, your house feels great!"

Although it was, in fact, still something of a dump, and it had only been his property for a few days, Sokka was still inordinately proud. "Thanks. It's even bigger than the place they put us up in, the first time we were here."

Toph waved that away. "Eh, it's too big for a just a few people. I mean how fun it feels! Its structure is completely crumbling, and the walls are weak enough for me to move them around easily. I can make this place fun!"

Part of that scared Sokka. Toph's ideas of fun usually involved pain. (Not pain for Toph, usually. Other people's pain was more her idea of a good time. The only person Sokka knew who might enjoy self-inflicted pain was Mai, and it was debatable whether she enjoyed anything at all.) On the other hand, this talk of changing his house for the better using a little magic Earthbending superpower was an intriguing concept. "Can you fix the roof, too?"

"There's something wrong with the roof?"

"The shingle things are all loose, and some are missing."

Toph wiggled her toes and frowned. "Sorry, not getting a good sense of it."

"Oh well. I was just having a hard time with it, and thought maybe you can fix it up."

"Suck it up and get it done."

"Thanks, that never would have occurred to me."

"I know."

*

Sokka was still pondering this business about free labor when Suki returned home that evening. In his excitement, Sokka actually managed to miss the fact that she wasn't alone. "Suki check it out Toph is going to live with us and fix the walls and make a slide in the den and she thinks she can make a pool in the backyard and why is Ty Lee with you?"

Ty Lee averted her eyes.

Sokka felt fear slow him down. "She's not talking. I'm frightened. Is Azula back?"

Suki gave a look. "Is it okay if Ty Lee stays with us for a while?"

Sokka couldn't help but hear an echo, in Iroh's voice, talking about Fire Nation scrolls with scandalous pictures in them. "Sure, we have room, but I thought your other warriors were staying at the palace. Assuming she's one of the warriors you brought with you."

"She is. Ty Lee... had an incident at the palace. She's been... encouraged to find lodging elsewhere."

The girl in question stepped forward. "Um, I was really excited to be here and back in the palace with the bear, so I thought I'd try to teach him to walk on his paws again, and it worked!" She smiled. Then she frowned. "I probably should have stopped there, but I was really encouraged, and he seemed to be in a better mood than before, which I guess makes sense because the King isn't in jail now, so I, um, got carried away."

Suki nodded. "It took them hours to get the bear off the roof."

Sokka's eyes widened. "Roof?"

Ty Lee blushed through her makeup, somehow.

Sokka smiled warmly and put an arm around Ty Lee's shoulders. "Don't worry about it. You can stay here for as long as you want. And in exchange-"

"We're not charging her rent!"

"Thank you, Suki. No, we're not charging you rent. But my roof, as you can see, is not in the best of shape, and I admit to not having the expertise needed to fix it. I don't suppose you...?"

Ty Lee thought about it. "I have been on a lot of rooftops. I could probably give it a try."

*

Aang and Katara returned the next day to an odd sight. The new house was shaking gently, with clouds of dust popping out of the windows with an accompanying dull booming sound. A Kyoshi Warrior with a long, distinctive braid and even more distinctive sense of balance was placing tiles on the roof. Sokka and Suki were on ladders leaning against the building's front, freshening up the trim and replacing much of the faded green with blue. Sokka had strips of paint splattered randomly across his face.

When the Water Tribe boy saw Aang's distant glider, and the two figures hanging from it, he smiled, waved, and fell off his ladder.

Yeah, that was definitely Sokka.

Katara let go of Aang before he landed so that she could reach her brother first. "What's going on here?" she asked as she helped him up.

Aang landed behind them and shut his glider. He looked at the house in wonder, sensing Toph within. The presence of so many girls in a house with Sokka made him think of those intriguing illustrated scrolls Kuzon used to collect.

Sokka let Katara stand him up, and planted his hands on his hips with pride. "What's going on here... is that I am a Landlord."

The sun shone brightly behind him.

Spirits help them all.

END CHAPTER 01