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

"Augh," Sokka groaned. "I'm gonna die." Toph raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Why are you going to die?" she asked, although she already had an inkling of what he was getting at.

"Your parents are going to kill me. I'm just a Water peasant! They're Earth Kingdom nobility! They'll say I'm not good enough for their little pookie darling!" Toph snorted.

"One, my parents have never called my their 'little pookie darling'. Two, okay, yeah, they'll probably hate you, but I was blind for three weeks while we stayed in the Water Tribe to tell your friends. Think of it as payback. And three, don't worry about it, Sokka. I'll protect you from the mean 'ol soon-to-be-in-laws."

"Great, that'll make them think I'm really tough." he groaned. Toph punched his arm cheerily. Sokka doubled over from the pain.

They continued on through town, until Toph suddenly stopped. "We're here." Sokka peered over her head. The sprawling estate looked exactly the same as it had when he'd first been there. Toph walked determinedly towards the door, with the hunch in her shoulders that Sokka knew meant she really, really didn't want to be here.

Two guards with spears blocked her path. "No entry," the one on the right growled. Toph sighed noisily and rooted around in her tunic. She pulled out her Bei Fong family crest and held it up. The guards glared suspiciously at her. "Who are you, little girl?"

"My name is Toph Bei Fong and I used to live here. Now get out of my way before I bend your sorry asses into the ground." The guards snapped to attention and immediately moved to the sides.

"We should not have arrested your progress, Lady Bei Fong. We are deeply sorry," the one on the left gulped, obviously afraid.

"You should be," sneered Toph. Sokka rolled his eyes.

The two of them stomped inside - well, Toph stomped. Sokka crawled meekly, wondering if he would ever learn his way around the labyrinthine estate. He immediately retracted his wish - he didn't want to be around long enough to learn.

"Aah!" Sokka clamped his hands over his ears at the high-pitched screech, and glanced warily down the hall it came from. It sounded like a hamsterbat. It appeared, however, to be a vaguely familiar woman in earthy robes that didn't really facilitate ease of movement.

He dodged out of the way just in time to let Toph's mom past without collision. She eagerly flung her arms around her daughter, smearing urgent kisses into her hair. "Oh, honey, Toph, darling, you've come back to us!" she sang. Toph attempted to wriggle free, but to no avail.

Suddenly, a noisy clacking of shoes came from down the same hallway Lady Bei Fong had just exited, and a similarly garbed man rushed by, throwing himself wholeheartedly into the embrace.

Toph finally managed to throw the two of them. "Mom! Dad! Calm down, dammit!" Her parents didn't seem inclined to do so, but at least they didn't rush back in for more hugs. With a reluctant sigh, Toph pulled first her teary-eyed mom, then her beaming dad, into quick hugs.

Toph's mom grabbed her arm suddenly, staring wide-eyed at Toph's throat. Sokka and Toph's dad followed her gaze, and Sokka winced as his soon-to-be-in-laws noticed the blue Water Tribe engagement necklace hanging around her neck.

"What's this...?" Lady Bei Fong breathed, lifting the pendant.

"Er, that's an engagement necklace... from the Water Tribe..." Sokka mumbled, testing the metaphorical waters, pun not intended. Toph's dad glanced at him sharply.

"You...?" Sokka nodded meekly, and Lord Bei Fong puffed up indignantly. "Absolutely not! There is no way you'll marry my daughter, you - you fiend! I won't let you kidnap her!"

Toph snorted. "Kidnap? Are you kidding me? Sokka's too much of a coward to do that. He dithered so much, eventually I had to ask him."

Sokka blushed brilliantly but didn't deny it. It was true - Sokka had danced around the subject for months, until Toph had finally gotten sick of it, kicked him in the shin and demanded that he marry her.

Toph's mother shook her head stubbornly. "Oh, no! Our Toph is a sweet, helpless little girl. She just has illusions of grandeur. I'm sure all those Earthbenders she beat up were just going easy on my little pookie darling." Sokka tried futilely to conceal a snicker. "So, you - you Water tribe peasant, you can leave right now, because there will be no wedding."

Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but Toph just grabbed him by the arm and grinned insanely. "Well, we'll just be leaving then."

"Wait just a minute! He'll be leaving - you're staying with us, where you belong, surely - "

"No, mom. I'm getting married, and I'm going to live with him. If you can't deal with that, then I guess you shouldn't come to our wedding." Sokka blinked. Toph was handling this remarkably well - it was a rather scary contrast to her usual spitfire personality.

"But surely, honey, you'd rather live here, where you'll be safe, rather than in some impoverished village in the Water tribe..."

Toph sighed. "You just don't get it, do you mom? While I was away, I met the Avatar, fought in a war, nearly died a few times, got captured - so yeah, it was dangerous. But I also met a ton of great people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Sokka, Aang, Katara, Zuko - and loads more. And sorry mom, I'm not a little girl anymore. I know what I'm doing - getting married to the man I love. What's wrong with that?"

Lady and Lord Bei Fong stared at their daughter, stunned into silence, as she grabbed Sokka's hand and lead him at a run out of the estate. The moment they'd cleared the gates, Sokka stopped, wrapping Toph into a fearsome hug. She wriggled her head about until she could hug him back and still look up into his face. "Wha...?"

"Thanks for... for doing that. For picking me over them. I guess it was hard - they're family, right? And even if you don't like them that much, they're still... well, you know. And thanks for bringing us here, even if things didn't turn out the way we wanted, and thanks - " his speech was cut off by Toph's mouth, soft on his own. She pulled away and gave him a fond grin.

"You were babbling, Snoozles." He laughed.

"Well, good thing I've got you to shut me up, huh?" The only answer he got was a happy kiss.