#93—Fish

The evening light dissolved into the mountains. He climbed the steps to the door. Pulling it open, he saw a girl of three years of age sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Hey kid." He said, reaching down to pick up the toddler.

"Sokka!" The innocent child said, not knowing he was her father.

The man rested the child on his hip. "Lin!"

"Are you gonna take me home?" She asked with a yawn.

"Of course!" The tribesman said, forgetting about the stressful day of work he had had. She always had a knack of doing that to him.

She snuggled deeper into her covers. He sat on the edge of the bed. "So kid, wanna story tonight?"

"Yes!" Lin giggled, hugging Snoogly Bear tighter.

Sokka rested his thumb and index finger on opposite sides of his chin, in thought. "Hmm, let's see. Once upon a time there was a fish. This fish loved his best friend, a mermaid named Ariel. One day, Ariel met a handsome human. From that day forth, Ariel would do anything in her power to become human, to have legs. One day, Ariel did something that allowed her to have legs. The fish's heart broke. He loved Ariel, but she pushed him to the side to live happily ever after with this man. Eventually, the man broke her heart. The fish's heart broke even further. Even though she had broken his heart once, it still broke every time hers broke. Ariel lived her life, not taking notice of the fish. The end."

"No! It can't end like that! The fish and the mermaid have to get married." Lin protested.

Sokka sighed. "Well sometimes things don't always end the way you want them to.'

Lin crossed her arms in front of her chest grumpily. "Humph!" She exclaimed, shutting her eyes sleepily.

Sokka kissed her forehead and stood. He turned on his heels. "What kinda crap story was that?" Toph asked.

"Like I said, things don't always end the way you want them to." Sokka said, shrugging.

Toph sighed. "You know she loves happy endings."

"I know, but not everyone gets one." He says, intending to walk past the Earthbender.

Toph placed a hand on Sokka's chest. Electricity shot through his entire body. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home?" Sokka questioned.

"Wrong-o. You're not going anywhere."

The expression on his face was one of confusion. "Okay…" The tribesman says, walking to the living room. He sits on the couch and Toph comes to his side a moment later.

"I get the feeling there was a deeper meaning to your story." Toph says with honesty ringing in her voice.

"Psh what? No." Sokka lied.

Toph gave him a look. "I know you're lying." She said.

"Okay fine there was deeper meaning." He admitted.

Toph paused a moment, waiting for him to continue. "And the deeper meaning would be..?"

"Toph, I've loved you since the day I met you but you fell in love with Haru and then he broke your heart. I wanted to kill him that day, but I restrained myself because you loved him." He paused. "Toph, I cried myself to sleep for a long time when you were pregnant with Lin and didn't let anyone in. I was heartbroken. Toph, I felt like you should let me help you because I am Lin's father. But you never let me in and left me broken."

Toph swallowed all the guilt that had piled inside her throat. "Well, I guess this is my apology. I'm sorry for all that but now, I realize I love you and need your help. That's why, I want to marry you."

Shock shot through Sokka's veins. She wanted to marry her. Everything he ever wanted was coming to pass. "Really?"

"Yeah, I don't want you to have to be the fish anymore."