Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the musical The Music Man by Meredith Willson.

Author's Note: Well, Zuko had his turn, so here's a sort of chronology of Sokka's love life.

Marian Librarian

Marian, Madam Librarian
What can I do, my dear, to catch your ear?
I love you madly, madly, madam librarian, Marian.

Sokka thought he knew all about women. Why shouldn't he? His village was full of them, and after all of the other men had gone, they looked to him as their sole warrior, a role he took very seriously indeed.

Yes, life at the South Pole had been very simple and well defined: the men fought and hunted, while the women took care of domestic tasks such as sewing and cooking. It worked, and Sokka wasn't one to fix something that wasn't broken.

Certainly, Katara sometimes seemed to take a dim view of Sokka's opinions, but he had always assumed that perhaps she felt her waterbending entitled her to a different, arguably more masculine, position in their society. Everyone else at home seemed to agree with him, so he had no reason to think that this wasn't the natural order of things.

At least, he didn't have any such reasons until visiting Kyoshi Island. The Kyoshi warriors took Sokka completely by surprise, in more ways than one. He couldn't believe that the community supported a group of women who couldn't bend but were nonetheless trained to fight. Perhaps the greatest surprise had come in the form of Suki's willingness to forgive him after he had behaved so, well, boorishly toward her and the other warriors.

Heaven help us, if the library caught on fire
And the volunteer hose brigade men
Had to whisper the news to Marian
Madam Librarian

Suki even agreed to train him, but just as Sokka was really getting the hang of the Kyoshi fighting style, Zuko showed up and started setting fire to things, looking for Aang. Sokka joined the warriors of Kyoshi as they tried to defend the island, even managing to protect Suki from Zuko at one point.

It soon became clear, however, that the only true solution was to leave and let the Fire Nation follow them. Sokka and Suki stole a moment behind a building, where Sokka apologized and Suki kissed him, reminding him that she was both a warrior and a girl. Shortly thereafter, Sokka rejoined Katara and Aang on Appa's back and left Kyoshi Island behind.

What can I do, my dear, to make it clear?
I need you badly, badly, madam librarian, Marian.
If I stumbled and I busted my whatchamacallit,
I could lie on your floor unnoticed
Till my body had turned to carrion
Madam Librarian.

Further challenges to Sokka's understanding of women came in the form of Princess Yue at the North Pole. She appeared to be a bundle of contradictions, and Sokka did everything he could think of to get her attention. He actually thought he had it, too, until she inexplicably ran away from him.

Sokka thought that Yue's conflict over him stemmed from the difference in their stations, but he eventually found out the truth that she was engaged. Although he would never say it aloud, Sokka had to admit, in the privacy of his own mind, that the three words Aang had told him ("Go get her") were far better than all of the combined girl advice he'd previously tried to give the kid. Maybe he didn't really know much about women after all. Maybe he didn't know anything. That thought was as disturbing as it was painful to entertain. Sokka hated to acknowledge ignorance on any subject.

Now in the moonlight, a man could sing it
In the moonlight...
And a fella would know that his darling
Had heard every word of his song
With the moonlight helping along

As he left the North Pole after the battle, Sokka knew that he would never see the moon the same way again. It was no longer just a celestial object, obeying logical and incontrovertible rules of nature. Instead, every night it was visible, he looked up and saw her. In a way, it was comforting to think that Yue was watching over him from up there, but on the other hand, the moon's presence was also a recurring reminder of his loss.

This was brought home when he finally saw Suki again, on their journey through Serpent's Pass. With Yue's crescent shining above them, he was unable to continue what had begun months before on Kyoshi Island. The moon was supposed to be so romantic, but he couldn't view it that way anymore.

In the bold light of day, and facing Suki's imminent departure, Sokka could finally kiss her. If they had a chance to spend more time together, maybe he could even begin to enjoy seeing her in the moonlight.

But when I try in here to tell you, dear
I love you madly, madly, madam librarian, Marian,
It's a long lost cause, I can never win
For the civilized world accepts as unforgivable sin
Any talking out loud with any librarian
Such as Marian, Madam librarian.

Now, fleeing Ba Sing Se, Sokka wasn't sure where he stood on anything. Katara had just managed to pull Aang back from death, and he didn't have any idea whether Suki was still alive. Azula and her friends had only used three uniforms, but it seemed too much to hope that Suki hadn't been one of the warriors fighting them.

To complicate matters, Ty Lee had simultaneously flirted and fought with Sokka, and there were all these mystifyingly mixed signals from Toph. Sokka looked to the moon, the one thing that remained constant in his life, even as she changed daily. He wished she could tell him what to do.

It was probably best for him to forget about girls for a while. They only brought pain, and he had more important things to think about. He climbed up toward Appa's head to help Katara find them a safe place to land, rest, and plan their next move.

Life went on.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Avatarwolf, Strix Moonwing, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16.

Author's Note: Wow, that ended more sadly than I intended, but when it comes to his romances, Sokka does have a certain air of the tragic hero.

Review responses:

SnakeEyes16: That must have been kind of weird for you reading it then. I guess this sort of the beginning of my new burst of fics. I'll be starting a new songfic collection pretty soon, but I may want to finish this up soon. I'm not sure yet.

heartsyhawk: I'm glad it worked out. I wasn't really sure how well I could get it to fit. Doing this can be quite a challenge in some cases.

Justcallmewolfy: I'm not giving up on Soko until Song has been gone at least as long as Suki was – 27 episodes! That gives her until Episode 10 of the new season to show up again. While I'm looking forward to seeing Zuko interact with Mai, now that he's joined Azula, I think Song is the best match for him so far.

MormonMaiden: Long time, no see! It's always good to hear from you, even if you can't stick around long. I've been missing your responses to Destiny's Call.

Kimbalynn616: I think you've mentioned it, though not with regards to this story. See my response to Justcallmewolfy.