Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar... but i'm naming my first born Toph anyway

Stubborn

"I told you to GET OUT!!!" Sokka dodged behind the door just as a fist size rock darted past where his head had been.

"Damn't Toph-" He started to come back into the room but Katara blocked his way. She put her hands to his chest. Her forehead was glistening with sweat. Her brow was creased with concern… or was it annoyance?

"Don't provoke her Sokka, " Katara said pushing him away and back outside. "You've done enough already." It was a sarcastic remark. The tightness around his chest eased a little. He relented and went around to the back of the stone hut to resume his pacing. Aang smiled at him sympathetically.

"Women, they're insane." Sokka muttered after a while.

"You shouldn't have fainted like an old lady again." Aang replied, failing to maintain a straight face. Sokka glared at him. Sure the past eight years had bulked Aang up a little, sure they were just about the same height, sure he was the Avatar and although that was a plus he was still a bit on the skinny side and that was a minus… Sokka felt confident that he could take him.

"Aang," Katara's voice broke through Sokka's tactical musings "I need you to re-bend the fire it's getting dark."

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Toph's screams seemed to last forever … well as close as Toph came to screaming. It was mostly shouting...angry shouting brimming with expletives and bursting with accusations. There was the occasional lull every once and while. Fifteen to twenty minutes would go by and then he would feel the earth shift suddenly inside the stone hut, hear Katara yelp and the two would go at it. Things were thrown, threats were hurled and Toph would start up again with the swearing… swearing at him. And he didn't know what was worse the shouting or the silence.

"She doesn't mean it you know," Aang would say when their ears had stopped ringing.

"Yeah I know," Sokka replied not even bothering to hid the twinge of guilt in his voice.

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Sokka continued to keep his vigil tirelessly. He watched the stars blossom in the night sky, flash brightly then dim and die with the promise of a new day. He was grateful that Aang was there, grateful for his silence and at times he was even grateful for his teasing. But he appreciated most was that Aang had stayed awake with him. His presence help keep the nagging persistent and maddeningly creative fears at bay.

It was nearly dawn before Katara came to the window. Her shoulders slumped and sagged, her steps heavy and exhausted. Her smile brilliant and warm. " You can come in now Sokka. I don't think she'll throw rocks at you this time."

Sokka was less than patient as he waited each and every one of the ten seconds it took Aang to undo the solid rock barrier that Toph had constructed over the entry way in a fit of frustration.

He rushed in fully prepared to deal with any obstruction that Toph would dish out. But she didn't even have to lift a finger or raise an eyebrow to stop him dead in his tracks. What he saw gave him pause. What he saw made him feel so much so quickly that for a moment his heart forgot how to beat and his lungs forgot how to breathe.

He knew that this was the most beautiful thing that he would ever see in his entire life. He wished Toph could see it too. He wished she could see how gorgeous she was just then. Her dark hair was loose and wildly matted, her skin was red and flushed with exertion, her pale green eyes shone with tears and in her arms… in her arms their child. Their perfect child.

He abruptly understood. Even though he had accepted and respected Hakoda's decision all those years ago there was still a hollow space, a hole left by his father's absence. That space was now filled with understanding, with certainty, with clarity. He knew that he would die for this woman and for this child. He knew that he would protect them, kill for them, and reshape entire the world with his bare hands if they asked it of him.

"27 hours…longest birthing I've ever done. He just didn't want to come out." Sokka heard his sister mumble sleepily as she leaned into Aang.

He smiled putting one hand upon his infant son and bringing the other to rest on Toph's cheek. He was surprised and warmed when his wife uncharacteristically melted into his touch completely. "You hear that? 27 hours. He's stubborn… just like his mother."

"No," Toph murmured "He's a snoozle just like his father"

"Stubborn,"he said smiling at his wife.

"Snoozle," Toph snorted back sleepily.

"Stubborn," he whispered as he kissed her forehead "Stubborn just like you."

Just this once she let him win.