"We are victorious!" Sokka heard the voice of his son cry out across the courtyard. He turned his attention from the table where he sat conversing with his wife and friends, to see the eight year old boy racing around with his red-headed daughter and the rest of their troop racing after him. He smiled and turned in his seat so that he was facing the playing children. There were five of them in all, Koda and Melody (Sokka and Suki's children), Ursa, Kya, and little baby Lin who slept in a basket next to her mother. Koda was the oldest of their little gang, not to mention the only boy, so he was usually the one leading their escapades.

He stood and walked over to the children. His son was using a small branch like a sword and waved it dramatically and Sokka could tell that he was telling a story to the other children who sat on the grass and giggled at the appropriate places. Koda's back was turned to him now and he held a finger to his lips to signal the girls not to tell their ring leader about the father sneaking up on him.

Each of the girls bit their lips in an attempt to contain the fits of laughter that threatened to overtake them; but right before Sokka reached the boy, Koda spun around and leapt at him, toppling them both into a heap.

"I gotchu' Dad!" The boy laughed proudly, "You can never sneak up on me!"

"No I can't," Sokka chuckled, sitting up, "What story were you telling?" He asked his still beaming son.

"Koda was tellin' us about when you and Momma and Daddy 'vaded the Fire Nation during the ellipse," Sokka's six year-old niece chirped and Sokka smiled at the child's miss-wording.

"Eclipse not ellipse, Kya," he said pulling the girl into his lap, "Will you keep telling the story, Koda?" He asked, then turning to his son. The boy nodded proudly and picked up the stick that had been cast aside in their tumble. His four year-old daughter and Ursa climbed into his lap as well, settling in for the story.

"And then," the child began dramatically, "Daddy, Aunt Toph, and Uncle Aang chased Azula through the mountain, and they chased and chased and chased until Daddy realized that Azula wasn't even trying to win!" He cried with an incredulous expression on his face. Sokka smiled at the boy's enthusiasim, he'd defiantly taken more after him then his more sensible minded wife.

"So Daddy said that they needed to move on and ignore her, but then Azula said that she had Mommy in prison! And Daddy refused to leave until she told him where she was. But then the eclipse time ran out! So Azula got away and they had to run away so that they could escape before all the Fire Nation soldiers caught them too! But Daddy got them back in time so that some of them could escape to fight another day."

Sokka inwardly sighed as he thought again of those moments. They adrenaline had pounded through his veins as he ran, so desperate that they make it out in time. It had been his plan, his idea, and his personal failure. Afterward everyone had tried to explain to him that it wasn't his fault, but it was. He could pull out all sorts of good excuses to cover his letdown, but that wasn't who he was. He was a person to stand up and bear the responsibility for his actions, not just the ones that succeeded, but the ones that ended in defeat as well.

It had been his fault that they ran out of time, no one else's. And he alone bore the shame for it; the taint that marked his career as a warrior. His children remembered this story as a feat of honor and valor on behalf of their father, but it had been his greatest humiliation.

He had felt shameful because he had always wanted to be his father, because he had always been perfect in Sokka's eyes as he was growing up; and that was how his children saw him. He had always seen his father as a man who had never failed and never made a wrong call in his life; he was the model of what Sokka was suppose to be. But, as he grew older, Sokka realized that he could never be his father, and that he never would be. His father hadn't been perfect, he'd made mistakes. And so had Sokka. Each of their mistakes had helped shape them into the men that they had become. But maybe if Sokka had realized this when he was younger, he could have made better choices.

Koda bowed when he'd finished his tale and his audience clapped appreciatively. But then Sokka gestured for him to sit with them. It was time for these children to discover that even he was flawed. He wanted the legacy that he left behind to be one that was flawed, because he wanted them to learn that it was ok to make mistakes, because he knew that they would. But they would stand back up after they'd been torn down, and come back even stronger then before. And that was his legacy.

"Alright, kiddos. Here's the true story behind the Day of Black Sun."

I love Sokka, I truly do. I feel like we only got glimpses of his true character during the show... if that makes sense.

So ya! I wanted to do something different for Sokka and after a long 45 minutes of thought I finally got the idea to tell a story from a child's point of view, and then throw in a look at the beauty of the gaang being parents!

So let me know what you think! And REMEMBER I'm taking requests so if you want to see a moment LET ME KNOW!

The request for Zuko's POV during his encounter with the dragons: Shall I ship Zutara, or Maiko? Your request, your choice! So let me know so I can finish writing it and get it up here for you!

Leave a review if you like it!

Ya'll are awesome!

Kmsitterley