Title: How To Know
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Obvious hinting at Soko, onesided Haru-Katara (got a fancy name for the pairing? Dunno)
Summary: His mission was to give her family the news her father was coming home. He ended up doing so much more.

"Have a seat," she told him. There was sternness in her voice hidden behind the warmth and kindness, and he decided it would probably work best for him if he were just to obey. He took a moment to study her, and decided he had found the right girl. She certainly fit the description enough; petite, braided hair, warm, somewhat empty eyes, and a (platonic, he noted) beauty.

"What's your problem?" She asked, routinely lifting his arms and pressing around his chest. Got right down to work, but showed sympathy; now he was positive he had her. She was somewhat surprised when he didn't react to her poking and prodding, instead tilting his head back and studying, but she didn't stop.

"Not a problem," he said with a smile on his face. "A solution."

Her arm's dropped. "I—what?"

"He's coming; he's coming back to you." A large smile graced his already handsome face, ready to widen when she threw her arms around him and rejoiced. Instead, he found it faltering as she whispered the name "Li" immediately. This wasn't supposed to happen, he thought curiously. Li wasn't her father's name, he was sure.

His forehead lines creased as if to tell her that she had said something wrong. "I had heard his name was Tong," he said, more to himself than anyone. He had meant to say it under his breath, but obviously it wasn't soft enough. She had heard him; that much was obvious. Her back straightened, her pupils seem to shrink against the whites of her eyes, and a faint blush trailed across her apple-cheeks.

She right away kicked herself for rushing to think this boy had been talking about the same mysterious traveler who had disappeared with her pet and a part of her heart. After that, the name he had mentioned registered in her head. Tong, she thought somewhat bitterly. The name was so alien to her; but then again, it was better off than the word 'Dad'.

She choked on her words several times before being able to get out anything. "What did you say?" She was only able to whisper it, and cursed silently for not being strong enough to hold back gathering tears.

A small smile—enough for comfort—and he placed his hands on her shoulders, letting her cry into the crook of his neck. He didn't know her and he knew after today he would be off into the next village to inform the families their earthbenders had fought back; they were coming home. He wouldn't see her again, but that was why she needed this.

She felt horrible for crying, but she couldn't deny…it felt so good. She was so tired of holding in all her pain, all the tears that had built up over the years, that when it was time for it to come out, it sure as hell would come hard. She had been compelled to collapse with Li and just cry her eyes out, but he wouldn't know what to do with her.

He'd be too shocked to react and by the time he realized what was going on, he'd either push her away or awkwardly pat her back. He too was hurt, but he was not as accepting of it enough to cry with her.

And so, within the tears of happiness and sadness, she cried for Li too. Someone had taken a hammer to his heart, someone close to him, and shattered it into a hundred pieces. Slowly he was gluing them back in place and it brought even more tears to know she had put one back in herself.

Once her eyes were dry, she pulled away and slunk to the nearest chair. He hopped back on the patients' table and they locked eyes. He looked used to this, and she wished he was a little more than just the messenger.

"Have you ever," she began slowly, after about ten minutes, "met someone who made…such a difference in your life, but were gone before you could even start to explain it to them?"

"Yes." He didn't hesitate. Pale blue eyes flashed across his mind.

"Did you ever see them again?"

"No." Her heart fell, perhaps for both of them. She wondered, would she see Li again?

"Was it romantic?" That had been a little hard to get out; it was an awkward question, but once she had started, the words flowed off her lips easy. She paused to ask herself if he was really the one she was asking.

Now he wasn't so sure. "Maybe," he said after a while. "She wasn't mine to have though; she had met the person for her long before I came into her life. She just hadn't realized it then, but I doubt either of them noticed I was flirting." He paused, studying her face and taking in her reactions. "It was different for you though."

She wondered how he could know this already, but let him go on. "When I met…her, she helped me. I sat back for the ride and let her lead…the only thing I did for her was encourage her strength. You, on the other hand helped each other. Both of you were hurt; you each made an impact on the other."

She took in the information silently and began to stare down at her hands. It was time to leave, he decided. He was just out the doorway when she called out to him. "How do you know?"

That sentence could be completed in so many ways. How do you know when you see love? How do you know when a bond is forged? How do you know about anything in life?

He said something about knowing these kinds of things, but both knew it was going right past both of them. He mounted his beast and left for the next village over, but she didn't move. She lost track of how long she sat in that chair, thinking about two strangers who had been more than just patients to her. She sat there until her mother came to the healing hut looking for her, where she ran into her embrace and told her the news of her father.

She would dream of tears, travelers, and love that night.

I hope I made it obvious enough who I was talking about, not really using names. I love messing with the canon-verse. All that was said about Song's father was that he was taken away, like all the men, but for all we know he could've been one of the earthbenders taken to those barges.

...I know, I know, shut up. xP

Urgh, I've been so depressed lately.