Disclaimer: The following is a resemblence to real persons, living and dead, and is intentionally coincidental. The imaginary characters representing the real persons are not mine. They belong to Mike and Bryan, the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Because I am neither Mike nor Bryan, I do not own them.

I smiled as Takeo rushed into my arms. Before we left the day care he was already babbling to me in his baby-slurred voice about his day. I waved goodbye to a tired-looking Maia, the matron of the day care facility. Up to her elbows in young children, all under five years old, who were trying to climb the walls and using their premature bending powers to singe, drown, and throw rocks at each other.

I sighed and carried Takeo out of the day care as he kept baby-babbling.

Keeping Takeo balanced on my hip, I walked down the sidewalk of the city. I shifted Takeo higher on my hip—he was getting too heavy and too old to be carried around like a little toddler. He was already four years old. I looked into his beautiful baby face and studied his blue eyes, so much like my own.

"Look Auntie," Takeo said, pointing to a window in the building across the street. "That man is waving at us."

I squinted into the setting sun that glared off the window my nephew pointed at. Takeo waved to the man that I could not see. I stopped walking and studied the building. "Look into the window Auntie. Wave with me," Takeo said, poking at my arm, his eyes never leaving the man I could not see.

As the sun dipped lower and stopped sending a glare at the glass windows, I saw a man sitting in the window of the second floor. He was waving. I lifted a hand in greeting and waved back although I had no idea who he was.

"That man is always sitting there, Auntie. He always waves at me. We're friends," Takeo said.

I pursed my lips. I didn't like the idea of a man 'befriending' my nephew. Men who did that…they scared me. "I never noticed him before, Takeo."

"He's there every day, Auntie. He works in the building."

"Then we should let him get back to his work. Shouldn't we?"

"I guess so," Takeo sighed.

He turned one last time to wave goodbye to his friend.

The man didn't wave back this time. He stared down at me, intensely, as if trying to hold me where I stood on the pavement. I shivered. "We should go Takeo, your mother and father are probably wondering where we are," I said, and began walking with Takeo bouncing against my hip.

He turned around to watch as the man disappeared from the window, returning to his work after a short break.

I always took Takeo home that way.

"Are you waiting for her again?"my boss asked.

I was sitting on the window ledge in my office, one foot propped on the sill, the other resting on the floor. "Maybe."

"If you spent half as much time at your desk doing paperwork as you do sitting and staring out this window, you would've had that promotion weeks ago." Mr. Pakku sat down in one of the two overstuffed chairs in my office.

"I like seeing her," I said simply, looking up the sidewalk.

"You should like doing your job, too."

I didn't answer him then. There she was, toting the child up the sidewalk. Black knee-length skirt, blue shirt underneath an unbuttoned white blouse. Black flats. I sighed.

"She here?" Pakku asked unnecessarily. I felt him come up behind me. "She's beautiful."

I lifted my hand to wave to her little boy. He always waved back at me. Today the woman stopped walking and looked up to my window, shielding her eyes from the setting sun, looking in the direction her son was pointing. Then she too waved.

I smiled at seeing her smile. Her son said something to her and almost as suddenly as it had come, her beautiful smile vanished. In that one moment I could see every thought that ran across her face. She thought I was a danger to her son. She thought I was a bad man. She wasn't going to stand for any more interactions between myself and her son. She was going to leave.

I folded my hand in my lap, my smile fading as her expression grew harsh.

I stared intently into her face. From my second story window I could see how anger only enhanced her already beautiful features.

She said something to her son and his face fell as well. Waving goodbye to me one more time, they began to walk down the street again. The boy turned and watched me over his mother's shoulder.

I imagined them going home to a beautiful little house with a garden. He would squirm out of his mother's arms and run to his father who would be sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

Pakku clapped me on the shoulder, bringing me back from the quaint little house with the garden to the four drab walls of my office. "She's out of your league, Zuko. She's probably married, that would explain the kid. Now get back to that paperwork. Wang Fire wants his contract drawn up by Thursday."

"Sure thing," I said, pressing my head against the cool glass.

I assumed the child was hers. They had the same dark hair; same skin tone, his just a bit lighter. But I couldn't remember seeing the glint of a wedding band coming from her finger.

A/N: Here's a longer one. It's actually based on the story my Grandma told me of how she and my Grandpa met. My Grandma's brother had a young son and because she was a teacher at the school he went to day-care at she would always walk him home. She'd walk by a law office where my Grandpa worked and everyday he'd sit in the window and watch her. He thought the boy (actually her brother's son) was hers. I really liked that story and so that's my inspiration for this.

I PUT WANG FIRE IN MY DRABBLE!! Don't look at me like that.

Takeo...where in the world did that come from?? I have no idea, I needed a name for Sokka's son and I couldn't think of one, so I kinda made one up using the much needed assistance of the SpellCheck in Word. Please someone have a better name!

Review! Did ya like it?