A/N: Completely A:TLA compliant, and from what I know should allow for LOK compliance as well. Chapter content warning for minor period-typical racism and sexism
It was a disgustingly hot day, so hot you could imagine molten rock flowing down the hillside, when Sokka remembered what Aunt Wu told him almost ten years ago. That his future would be "full of struggle and anguish, most of it self inflicted." Sure, it was funny back then, when all it meant was when he threw rocks they'd come right back and hit him in the face, but it was hard to find the humor in it now. Now that he was sitting in the blistering heat surrounded by a few bags containing all of his worldly possessions, waiting for a boat to take him off Kyoshi Island for what was probably the last time.
Aang and Katara had asked Aunt Wu about their love lives, he remembered. Giant saps. During his wedding toast, Aang even recounted how he'd eavesdropped on Katara's palm reading. It was downright nauseating. But while Sokka still maintained that Aunt Wu was the biggest con artist north of Omashu, he couldn't help but think it must have been nice, to be told by a fortune teller that you would find the one you love– and marry them, too. It almost made him wish he'd pushed harder back then, gotten her to do an actual palm reading. Of course, rationally he knew it was all a load of ostrich-horse shit, but then at least he'd have something to go on.
He slapped a wayward fly on his sweaty arm and looked out at the water for the thousandth time. Where in the world was that ferry? He sighed, felt his clothes move uncomfortably across his sticky skin. Against his better judgment, he looked back up the hill.
The academy was in plain view. The new, re-built, expanded edition. He imagined Suki inside, training new recruits. Probably sweating like nobody's business through their thousand layers of clothing if they'd been training since dawn like usual. There'd been a lot of new recruits since the end of the war, and Suki used to talk about how she was whipping them into shape. He could imagine sweat beading at her temples, running down the side of her face and creating lines of skin through white paint. He would laugh at them when she came home in the evening, then he would wash the rest of it off, even though she insisted she could do it herself, but he'd always been eager to expose all of that skin, so he could kiss it, stroke it, admire it. He thought she looked incredible in her full Kyoshi Warrior getup, fierce and powerful. But she was most beautiful when she was just Suki, when her hair was down and uncovered, and you could see the lines of her face when she laughed.
Spirits. Sokka ran a hand over his face, glad for once for the heat, because at this temperature any passerby could mistake tears for sweat. Not that he was actually crying or anything. Nope, he'd already done that. Post-breakup sobbing already accomplished the night before in Kyoshi's only tavern, to a bartender he wished was a stranger but who he saw nearly every day on the island, who he could see now having a smoke behind the bar, out by the empty barrels of imported fire whiskey. He looked content. Relaxed. No bleak predictions hanging over his head.
"This the ferry to Chin City?"
Sokka jumped, startled out of his reverie by the soft thump of someone sitting down next to him. A middle-aged man in sweat-stained clothes and carrying an equally grimy pack. A cigarette dangled from his lips in a way that reminded Sokka unpleasantly of Jet, but at this point it was difficult to care too much about who he talked to.
"Yeah. But it's running late."
The man gave a gravelly laugh. "Just as well. One more hour of dry land under my feet."
"You get seasick?" Sokka said casually, not quite hiding the smirk in his voice.
He snorted. "I don't suppose you'd know, Water Tribe."
Sokka supposed he deserved that, although his jaw still clenched as he felt the man's gaze on his skin. It wasn't something he'd counted on when he left the Southern Water Tribe, where Aang's coloring was in the minority. But in the near decade since he still hadn't quite gotten used to the way some people looked at him, especially in the Fire Nation, where almost everyone was as pale as Zuko.
Strung-out as he was, he had the vague impression that he'd lash out physically if this man tried to make an excuse to touch him in any way, like people sometimes did, as if they thought his skin might feel different. If Sokka was smart, he'd get up and sit somewhere else, maybe find some shade, and remove himself from this horrible man. But the numb hopelessness that had weighed on him since last night kept him rooted to the spot.
What was the point, anyway? What did it matter what this man or anyone else said or did? What did anything matter?
"Tell me something, Kid," the man said. "Are the tides going to be in our favor today?"
Sokka glanced at the water lapping at the docks. "When we're pulling out, they will be."
The man grunted. "Is that what's making it late?"
He shrugged. "Could be." It could be a lot of other things, too. The ferry system here was relatively new, instated to accommodate renewed interest in previous incarnations of the Avatar, and interest in the Kyoshi Warriors themselves. Needless to say, it was still unreliable.
The man took a long drag from his cigarette. "I'll be happy to get away from here, when it finally comes. Won't you?"
"Yeah." Might as well tell the truth.
"I bet." The man laughed and gave Sokka an exaggerated wink. "Young, handsome fellow like you can't be trapped in a place like this."
That's it. Sokka stood up and picked up his bags. "Look, Guy, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly trapped here. I'm actually about to get on a ferry to leave, so as much as I appreciate the advice, you don't know anything about me or my life."
He stood there for a second, panting, ready for the man to attack him or something, but instead he just took another drag from his cigarette and said, "Girl problems?"
Sokka snorted. "How would you know?"
After another puff and a wave of his hand. "I wouldn't worry about it. You'll find another one. Nothing like the arms of another girl to make you forget whoever's got your chi in such a knot."
Before Sokka could wrap his mind around how this guy would know anything about chi, the horn of the ferry sounded behind him and the man stood and headed for the docks, clapping him on the back as he left.
/
The ferry ride was short, and Sokka spent the whole time on deck near the bow, where the wind and spray meant it was too cold for anyone else to stay and make conversation with him. He disembarked as quickly as possible when the ship docked, weaving his way through the crowd and barely sparing a glance at the statue of Kyoshi that had replaced Chin the Conquerer. As far as likenesses of Kyoshi went, it was almost painfully average.
Instead of heading deeper into the city, he went directly to the public stables, pulling out the money to hire an ostrich-horse. He retained less-than-pleasant memories from when Chin City was still Chin Village, and had no intention of spending the night. The next closest city wasn't far, but it was already late in the day and he'd prefer to have a bed by sundown.
As he rode, he tried not to think of Suki, and what she would be doing right now. Probably wrapping up afternoon training, about to head back to their house. Her house.
He adjusted the strap on his pack. Perhaps it had never really been their house. Everything in there that belonged to him fit into a shoulder bag and a bedroll, and he wondered now if either of them had ever really considered his stay on Kyoshi Island to be long term.
The thought made his throat feel tight and he shook his head. If he ever wanted to get over this, he had to nip these unhelpful thoughts in the bud. Unbidden, the words of that jerk from the ferry rose in his head. Nothing like the arms of another girl to make you forget.
Grimacing, he tried to push that crude thought away as well. He imagined Katara would have a few choice words to say about such a sentiment, and he couldn't say it really appealed to his own romantic sensibilities.
Although, where have those gotten you anyway? Single again after almost a decade in a relationship. Maybe a rebound fling wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, although he seriously doubted he'd happen upon any such opportunity in Gaoling.
After returning the ostrich-horse, Sokka began the walk through the main thoroughfare to the only inn-and-tavern he knew of in town. There were probably others by now, the way everything seemed to be growing exponentially these days, but he wasn't interested in getting lost down side streets trying to find a closer one.
His route took him through the market, although the sun was close to setting and most of the merchants were in the process of taking down their tents. But towards the end, one of them was still completely constructed, where a group of men were haggling loudly over the last few items. The merchant, a woman in a dusty green dress with black hair down to her waist, leaned casually against the wall in front of them, appearing unaffected to the point of boredom by their screaming.
But there were three of them, all taller and at least twice her weight, so Sokka paused, one hand drifting towards the club on his belt, and watched the scene from a couple stalls down.
The woman was facing away from him, so it was hard to hear what she was saying over the voices of the men, but eventually she spoke up, drowning out the shouts of her customers.
"Look, I don't give a spider-rat's ass who buys the damn vase, so you have the next ten seconds to decide who's going to offer me the best price before I smash it over your heads."
There was something familiar about her voice Sokka couldn't quite place, but the thought was interrupted when he saw the men's stunned faces. He snorted a laugh, and allowed himself a brief moment to appreciate the woman's figure as she pushed off the wall and crossed her arms. Upon closer examination, the dress was tailored and looked expensive, falling in flattering waves over her curves, and sleeveless to show off the woman's well-muscled arms and shoulders. Small though she was, Sokka would think twice about messing with her.
Clearly, the men arguing with her weren't of the same opinion, and one of them took a hulking step towards her. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
The man reached out as if to shove or grab her, and Sokka's hand tightened around his club, but before the man could touch her the woman flicked her wrist and the earth shifted under his feet, sending him stumbling backwards and landing hard on his ass.
"Alright, Yan's out," the woman said. "So which one of you two dunderheads will it be?"
At that moment, she shifted slightly so Sokka caught a glimpse of her face, but even if he hadn't he suddenly knew exactly why that voice was so familiar. The realization hit him like a bolt of lightning and he suddenly felt rooted to the ground. No, he thought. It couldn't be…
Right one cue, without turning towards him completely she called, "I know you can't wait to catch up, Snoozles, but just give me five more minutes to take care of this business."
He couldn't help it, he broke into a genuine smile for the first time in days.
/
Two minutes later, all the men had departed (one very satisfied and the other two rather disgruntled) and Toph began the process of breaking down her tent. Sokka stepped forward to help her, folding all the poles into a leather bag and wrestling the heavy tarp into submission.
"What are you even doing here?" he said. "I thought you'd be in Yu Dao at your academy."
"I'm on sabbatical," she said. "Dear old Dad decided to permanently relocate to Republic City and Mom's in Ba Sing Se with her new lover, so guess who gets to oversee the estate sale?"
"Lucky you," he deadpanned, shoving the tarp into a bag and piling it onto a cart containing the few items that hadn't been sold.
She snorted. "So tell me, Snoozles. How long did it take you to recognize me?"
"It was dark!" he said, hoping she couldn't sense his embarrassment. In his defense, it had been years since they'd seen each other and she looked completely different.
She shrugged. "Never bothered me."
"Ha ha." He started pushing her cart in the direction of the old Beifong Estate. "Your voice is different. And you've had a growth spurt! Don't tell me you recognized my footsteps immediately."
"Of course I did." She smirked. "I'd know your stomping anywhere. Although you are a good half-stone heavier." Her hand darted out to pinch his waist.
He smacked it away. "Hey, this is all muscle, I'll have you know."
"Are you sure? It's okay, I know Suki's cooking is really good."
"I'm sure," he muttered, the mention of Suki sending his good mood plummeting into the earth.
If Toph noticed, she didn't acknowledge it, except to change the subject to what she'd been up to since Aang and Katara's wedding. Her original students at the Metalbending Academy were now instructors, and her father's refinery was expanding in production and scale.
"They've just opened a new operation near Omashu," she said. "And next up is Ba Sing Se."
"That's awesome," Sokka said, suddenly aware of one name she hadn't mentioned in all her talk of Earthen Fire. "I bet Satoru's excited."
He didn't miss the way her mouth flattened into a line. She didn't speak for a long time, until they stopped walking and he realized they'd reached the Beifong Estate. They stood there awkwardly for minute, Sokka half-waiting for her to tell him to buzz off.
Finally, she blew her bangs out of her face and said, "Look, I don't know if you already have a place to sleep or whatever but you're welcome to stay here. Although if you're hungry I'm pretty sure I only have hippo-beef jerky and rice wine left in the kitchen."
She crossed her arms and looked away, like she was bracing herself for rejection.
As if. He smirked. "Toph Beifong, are you asking me to come in for a drink?"
She glared and punched him in the arm. "Yes or no, Meathead? Before I change my mind."
"Ow." He rubbed his bicep and pretended to deliberate for a few seconds.
She ground her teeth and he laughed.
"Come on, Beifong. You know I can never say no to jerky."
She slugged him again as he pushed the cart through the gate.
/
"You know," Sokka said two hours later as they lounged on the back porch, passing the bottle of wine back and forth. "You could've mentioned that you sold all the beds."
Toph shrugged. "Didn't occur to me."
He looked back at the sprawling house behind them. "I can't believe you managed to empty the whole place."
She took another swig from the bottle. "Yeah, and it was fucking exhausting. Whatever's left after today I'm just going to leave for the agent to deal with. I'm done."
"So it's back to Yu Dao after this?" he said.
"Eh." She shrugged again. "Probably. Where are you headed?"
He sighed, staring hard at the cloudless night sky. "Honestly? I have no idea."
Another hour later, they were both sprawled on their backs in the garden, the wine bottle almost empty.
"So." He took another drink to brace himself. "Are we going to talk about Satoru?"
She let out a dramatic groan and grabbed the bottle back. "If you must know, he left last year to scout locations for new refineries."
"And you didn't go with him?" he said. "Or keep in touch?"
"I had my school to worry about." She crossed her arms. "And I didn't want to do the long distance thing. I saw what it did to you and Suki."
He flinched and reached for the bottle again, but she pulled it away.
"Alright." Toph rolled onto her stomach, propped up on her elbows. "So how'd it all go down, and when?"
"She kicked me out." He huffed a bitter laugh. "Last night."
"Oof." She rolled onto her back again, hands settling on her stomach.
"Yeah."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Nope." He turned to reach for the bottle, but instead got a faceful of hair, splayed out on the grass off one of her shoulders. "Mmfth. Geez, Toph. When did this get so long?" Without thinking, he took a couple strands between his fingers, marveling at how soft it was, and trying not to dwell on the way it smelled– like earth just after it rained.
She laughed and pushed him away with a hand on his face. "It's always been like that, Meathead. I just never wear it down."
"So why is it down today?" It looks so pretty. I can't believe I didn't notice it before. He swallowed and pressed his lips together. Fuck, he must be really tipsy.
She wiggled her hips and tugged at the straps of her dress. "I get more traffic at the market when I dress like this. Higher bids, too."
He chuckled. "Using your feminine charms to take advantage of poor customers?"
She laughed and punched him again. "Who're you calling feminine? Take that back."
Never. But he knew better than to say that, so he just laughed with her and tried to remember who he was talking to. It was just Toph, who he still called his best friend after all these years. It was the easiest, least complicated relationship he had, and nothing could screw that up.
When their laughter died down and she was still silent, he turned to see what she was doing.
In the dim light of the quarter-moon, he watched her bend the space bracelet from her arm and hold it up, flexing her hands to make shape after shape. It moved almost too fast for him to see, but he thought he caught the outline of a badgermole, Aang's glider, and a tiny dagger.
He sighed and flopped onto his back. "I miss Space Sword."
The rock became a bracelet again and dropped onto her chest. "Didn't Piandao help you make a new one?"
"It's not the same." The boomerang he'd replaced– more than once, in fact. The one he had now had been a gift from his father on his twentieth birthday, longer and heavier than the one he'd used as a teenager. But his new sword, although crafted by his own hand out of the finest metal available, never felt quite right in his hands.
"We should go find it," Toph said suddenly.
He laughed, then realized she was serious. "What?"
"I mean we should at least try and look for it," she said. "With my earthbending and your… well, with my earthbending I'd say we had a decent chance if we just go back to the last place we saw it."
He ignored the dig and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, if it hasn't disintegrated into dust or washed to the bottom of the Mo Ce Sea."
"We won't know until we look," she said.
Sokka narrowed his eyes and thought about it. He'd never considered the possibility of getting Space Sword back, but now that Toph had voiced it he wasn't sure he could dismiss it.
"What about your academy?" he said.
She waved a hand. "Penga's got it handled. Besides, I've been meaning to take a break."
"Well…" He stared up at the sky again, trying to think of a reason not to go.
"Come on, Sokka," she said. "It'll be like old times– better than old times, without Sparky or his nutty sister chasing us, and without Aang and Katara being gross when they think I can't feel them."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Sokka threw an arm over his eyes, as if that could block out the mental images of his sister and the Avatar's sickening behavior after they decided they were together.
"Trust me, it'll be fun." Toph wheedled, although by the smile in her voice she knew she'd won. "Maybe we just need some direction in our lives, and this'll be like an adventure, a quest. And we'll be the heroes."
"You mean I'll be the hero, and you'll be the sidekick," he said. "It's my sword, after all."
"If I let you think that, will you go?"
How could he resist such a compelling argument? "Of course, Toph. Of course I'll go."