Sokka stood in the back of the room and watched her yell at her students. A tall, thin man with long, dark hair reached out his hand and strained. Sweat popped from his brow. Sokka chuckled a bit, the thought of metal bending was ridiculous, but she had convinced him that she was this poor, blind, dutiful wife named Toph, so she could convince anyone of anything. Then the large block of steel lifted from the floor.

Sokka's mouth dropped.

Toffy stood beside the man "You better not drop it 'till I tell you to, you fuckin' lillyliver! I'm going to put some muscles on those noodle arms if it kills you! You better hold that shit 'till I count to 10!" she took her time and walked back to the front of the room "1…2…3…4" she smiled an evil smile "2….3…." she heard him groan in pain "10."

He exhaled heavily as he dropped the block. She fanned a dismissive hand "Get the fuck outta here."

Her students gathered their things and shuffled out the door, except for one.

"Toffy, hun, I think you have a new student." Penga said as she walked towards her sifu.

"Naw," she answered quietly "I know who he is."

"Oh," the woman said, stepping into her shoes "so he's a personal visitor? Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

Toffy gave a weak wave "Yeah, later."

Penga waved at Sokka as she waked toward the door.

Toffy gave a heavy sigh "So, Asshole, are you going to lurk back there all day, or are you going to come and yell at me?"

He started walking toward her, calm, his face straight "I wore a different cologne, how'd you know it was me?"

She shrugged "I have my ways, it's a long story."

He stopped in front of her "I'm guessing it's the same way you were able to leave the courthouse without your cane. Probably something to do with bending?"

"Well, you are the detective."

"Yeah," he said sadly, looking down "some detective I am, right Toffy?"

She chuckled "Never did like that name."

"So Toph was better?"

"It served its purpose." An awkward silence spread between them for a moment "I didn't take you for the type to watch reality shows."

"I'm not." He admitted "My sister and our friend, on the other hand…I just happened to be there."

She nodded her head "I'm guessing you took the first flight out."

"The second. The first one was sold out."

"I told my mom not to let those people film me or the girls." Toffy snickered "But The Queen does as The Queen pleases." She sat down on the floor "I told her you'd come."

"And what did she say?" he asked.

"If you made trouble to take you out."

Sokka kneeled beside her. They sat there quietly for a few moments. There were so many things he wanted to ask her, finally his mind settled on what to ask first "Why'd you do all of this?'

She held her head up "I had to wrap everything up. I didn't want Lin to grow up in the life like I did. I wanted a clean slate, and I knew the only way to have it was to tie everything in Republic City up."

"And that included getting rid of Kanto?"

It was obvious that Toffy took offence at that insinuation "That wasn't me. I knew he wouldn't say anything." She turned her head away from Sokka "Other people weren't so sure." Toffy turned her head back toward him "You're calm. I thought you'd be more…I don't know, pissed."

"I was." Sokka said as he nodded "But between the time it took for me to wait for my flight, then get here and find you, I was able to get myself together." He looked at her "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I wanted to. I wanted to tell you everything and bring you with me, but I knew you were too goody goody and-"

"No," he interrupted. He didn't know why she was dancing around the subject. He hadn't traveled all that way for her to jerk him around "I'm not asking about that. I'm asking about her."

"Her?"

Sokka felt his frustration building again "Yes her, Toph. Our daughter."

Toffy turned her head toward him "Our?" she pouted "Who said we had a daughter?"

He rubbed his forehead, trying to stay calm "Toph, don't do this. I saw the baby."

Toffy crossed her arms "Okay, who said you had a daughter?"

Sokka balled his fist and growled "Don't start that bullshit!" he plopped down on his behind and propped his head on his fingers and thumb. He had told himself that he wouldn't let her goad him "Toph-"

"That's not my name."

He exhaled to calm himself "Toffy. I have seen her. Kanto was in jail. She's too small to be his."

"So she must be yours, right? Sokka, let me ask you something. What do you think Up All Night was?"

"Come on Toph,"

"No, really, what do you think it was?"

He sighed "A front for drug running, what else could it be?"

"An escort service." She said matter-of-factly. She felt him swing around to look at her "Everyone that worked at Up All Night was a prostitute. The drugs were just extra income."

He was stunned "Wha- no."

"Yes. Hide, Jin, Jet, Ty Lee, all of them, they worked for me." She stood up "And like any good business owner, I had to test the merchandise." Toffy turned her back to Sokka "You really think it was just you?"

He held his head down. What she'd said was a punch in the heart, but it didn't detour him "Yeah." Sokka looked back up "I'm willing to say I know it was just me." He stood up and walked up behind her "I don't know why you're fighting so hard to push me away. You wanted me here. You said so yourself. Let me be here for you. For Lin. For our little girl." He placed his hands gently on her upper arm, wrapping his fingers around her biceps "We can be a family."

Toffy held her head down. Her guard had dropped "You don't understand, I can't jus-"

"Why can't you?" he stepped closer and whispered in her ear "You want to live a normal life, what's more normal than a couple with their two kids? I'm retired, I can sell my apartment. We can go find a house in some little town somewhere and start over with the girls."

"Sokka. You don't even know me."

He heard the tremble in her voice "I know enough." He turned her around and saw the tears brimming in her eyes "We can make this work."

'I-" Toffy started. She turned her head toward the door, then back to Sokka "she's coming." She stepped back and wiped her eyes.

"Who?" the door chimed

"Just be polite."

Sokka looked up and saw the shadowed forms of a woman carrying a bundle and a child walking through the lobby. His heart raced, before he could form a thought the little girl started running toward him.

"Sokka!" Lin wrapped herself around Sokka's waist hugging him tight "I missed you." I'm glad you came to see us."

He patted her on the back, but he couldn't take his eyes off the blanket wrapped baby in the woman's arms "Yeah kid. I am too."

Lin pulled back and grabbed Sokka's right hand "Guess what."

He finally looked down at her "What?"

"Mom had a baby."

He smiled at her, trying to conceal the emotion he was feeling "Yeah, I heard." He leaned over and whispered "But how did your little mom have such a tall baby?"

Lin laughed "No silly, that's Granny." She turned to the woman who glided to a stop "Granny, Sokka thought you were a baby."

The woman eyed Sokka "So, you are the famous Sokka." Her thin fingers stroked the baby's back "My granddaughter is quite fond of you."

He rubbed his hand on the top of Lin's head "Yes, well we've rubbed off on each other."

Poppy was barely taller than Toph, but she still cut a menacing figure. She stood impossibly straight. Every hair was in place and shone like a spotlight was on her and there was a regality about her face and her voice. It was no wonder people called her The Queen.

A hint of a smile pulled at Poppy's tinted lips "Well, that's lovely." She glanced at her daughter "Toffy, you haven't formally introduced me to your gentleman caller."

Toph held her head up and spoke demurely "Mother, this is Sokka Sitka. Sokka, this is my mother, Poppy Beifong."

Sokka could see that this was not a woman to be trifled with. He bowed at the waist to her "Very nice to meet you, Madam Beifong."

She nodded her head at him "A young man with manners, how refreshing." The baby squirmed in her arms. Poppy turned her head to face the baby "I'm sorry little one, be patient." She pulled the blanket from the baby's head, revealing a mass of deep brown curls "There now, is that better." She kissed the child on the side of her head, then looked back at Sokka.

He could tell that she was studying his face, looking for something. He wanted to think it was a resemblance to the baby, but the way she was looking at him made him feel like she was looking for weakness "Do you have any children, Mr. Sitka?"

Yes, you're holding her. Is what he wanted to say, but judging by the way Toffy's demeanor had changed, he decided against it. "I can't say that I do."

She smiled a bit more "Have you ever held a baby?"

He nodded "Yes, Madam. I have a niece and two nephews."

She stepped toward him "Would you mind holding my granddaughter. I'm afraid she's heavier than she looks." She looked at Toph "Besides, I'd like to speak to my daughter for a moment."

"It would be my pleasure." He reached his arms out and Poppy carefully placed the baby there.

"Mr. Sitka, this is Miss Suyin Beifong. Suyin, Mr. Sitka." She stepped back and placed her pointer finger against her cheek "What a lovely picture you two make."

He kept his eyes on Poppy, noticing the black widow tattooed on the side of her finger. As if she didn't already make my skin crawl. He thought, but he said "My father always said I looked good with a baby in my arms."

"Your father is a wise man." She turned to her daughter "A word Toffy."

Sokka watched the women walk away, but all he could think about was the baby in his arms. He took a deep breath and looked down to find big, green eyes looking back at him. His heart raced and Suyin whined, squirming a bit. "I'm sorry." He said quietly "I've just never seen such a beautiful person in my life." The baby calmed blinking at him as if she understood.

"Sokka, you wanna sit down." Lin asked. Before he could respond she pulled a chunk of steel from the block and formed a crude arm chair. She laughed at Sokka's dropped jaw and ran to grab two pillows from the corner before throwing them into the seat "There ya' go. Now you can be all comfy with Su."

He thanked the girl, settling into the seat. Lin ran off to play and Sokka looked back down at Suyin "I bet you don't know who I am. I'm sorry I wasn't here. I didn't know about you until last night, but as soon as I found out, I came to find you.

"I don't know what's going to happen next. I get the feeling your grandma is not very fond of having men hanging around for too long." He looked up and saw the two women walking back "No matter what happenes next, I want you to know that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

He stood as Poppy and Toffy approached. Sokka smiled as they got closer to him. He had no idea what Poppy had in mind for him. He wondered if he'd gone too far. If only he had listened to Kanto.

Sokka was in a place he had never been with a very dangerous woman and no one knew exactly where he was. All he could do now was tow the line.

Toffy walked up to him and took Suyin from his arms "Come here Badgermole. Did you miss me today?" The baby smiled and cooed at her mother. Sokka smiled.

Poppy noticed "You know Toffy, your friend here is a nice young man. I like him much more than that last one you brought home." she looked back at Sokka "Mr. Sitka, I came here to take my daughter out for dinner. It's been quite a while since we had a handsome man in our company." her expression became stern "I insist you join us."

Sokka offered her his arm "It would be an honor."

She settled by his side and wrapped her arm around his "What a smart young man."