Seven Years Later…

Hands on her hips stood a Kyoshi Warrior, her temper flaring and hormones raging she stood glaring at the man with his back turned against her.

"SOKKA!!" she yelled as the men in the bar stopped playing Pai Sho and stopped drinking to look at her.

She heard a groan of a man, very different than he was seven years ago, turn around to face her. He had grown his hair out a bit; it reached his shoulders the top half of it was put up in a braid. He had a clean shaven face and very tan skin. He wore typical Water Tribe clothing and bright blue eyes were locked onto her's.

"What is it, Suki?" he asked very calmly.

She huffed and stomped over to him. She grabbed on the collar of his shirt and pulled him off of the bar stool and to his feet. Even though he was fifteen when she had met him he had grown three or four more inches in the past years. He was now at least a head taller than her which seemed to make her psychotic rampage a little harder to put through.

"What are you doing here?!" she yelled poking him on the chest.

He chuckled lightly. "You should know better than anyone that I like to get a drink after a hard day of work," he explained so calmly it made Suki sick.

"Yeah right," she replied, "and you seem to do it only when it's your night to cook dinner! What kind of husband are you?! Starving your wife…"

She seemed to lose most of her steam by now. Sokka took her hand that was still planted on his chest and held it, intertwining their fingers.

"I am a bad husband, aren't I?" he asked.

She nodded, pouting slightly.

"How 'bout I make you dinner and then I'll go settle one of your cravings," he smiled as the words came out of his mouth.

Much happier now, Suki nodded and he turned around to pay for his drink and then he led Suki out of the bar.

It was a clear night. There were billions and billions of stars and in the sky, the brightest star of all, the moon was shining down on them.

They walked a bit the only connection between them was their hands were interweaving with each other's.

"The moon sure is beautiful tonight," Suki remarked coolly, briefly looking up at her husband.

"It is," he agreed.

"It's almost like she never left us," Suki said.

"It is."

They walked a little while longer. "So have you decided what your craving is?" Sokka asked smiling slightly.

He looked down at his wife who was pondering the question, just thinking of all the foods that he had to possibly go get her before he would get the comfort of bed that night.

She had changed too. She had finally grown at her hair like her mother had; tonight she had pulled it back into a ponytail, probably because she got hot. Her clothing style changed also. She didn't wear her Kyoshi uniform now unless she had too. She always complained that it made her hot and it was uncomfortable.

She was never comfortable.

She was either to hot or to cold. Hungry or so full she could puke. She ranged all the way to giddy happy to fuming mad, and it only took two minutes for her to change from one to the other.

But that was expected.

"Papaya," she finally said.

"Papaya?" Sokka questioned. "But I can't get that here. I'll have to go all the way to the Earth Kingdom. That's across the ocean!"

"Boo who," she replied. "This is your punishment for not being home on time, to go DRINKING with your friends…"

"I have a very stressful day!" he yelled. "You don't have to teach five year old boys all the way to hormone raging teenage boys!"

They had now reached their house and walked inside. Suki lit a few candles and Sokka took his money or whatever else he had in his pockets and set them down on the table by the door.

"Well," she replied. "You don't have to teach little—pink—loving girls all the way to girls, "oh, boys are so wonderful!" teenagers! And you definitely are not to hot or to cold or mad her happy while doing this."

Suki laid he hands on her budging stomach. Being seven and a half months pregnant could do this to you. She could feel tears fill her eyes and her emotions took another turn downhill.

"Oh, Suki," Sokka replied as he walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her's and rested his hands on top of her's. He buried his face into the crook of her neck and kissed her skin gently.

"Don't cry," he begged. "I don't want to see you sad."

Suki had tears running down her cheeks.

"Please," Sokka said.

"Don't you ever wish that we could still spar every night?" she asked. "Don't you wish that I didn't look like a cow and didn't have these weird cravings every five minutes? Don't wish that I was normal again?"

He looked up at her. He untangled his arms from her and she turned into his chest and rested her head on his chest. He whispered warm praises in her ear like, "You look beautiful" or "I wouldn't want you any other way than you are now."

After a few moments of silence and wobbling back and forth she looked up at him. Her face was so delicate, so innocent, and so caring. "Are you sure?" she asked.

The only thing that separated him from her was their baby, her bulging stomach.

"Are you still hungry?" he asked.

"No," she replied weakly, "just tired. Let's go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, with exams and everything."

"True," he replied. "Alright let's go."

The walked up a narrow stair and up to a bedroom that contained a bed a dresser and a lamp. They wearily walked over to their bed and took their positions, Suki on the right and Sokka on the left.

They lay there awhile not speaking and not sleeping. Finally Suki broke the silence. "Sokka?" she asked. "What do you think the others are doing?"

He turned around and wrapped an arm around her pulling her in. "I talked to Katara not that long ago. It seems she and Zuko are doing alright. They decided to get married in fall."

"Why fall?"

"I dunno. Something about being between their elements or something like that….Who knows? They're weird."

She smiled and nodded slightly.

"Sokka?"

"Mmm?"

"Are you happy with everything? I mean…I dunno…that this baby was kinda a surprise and everything…but you're okay, right?"

He stiffened a bit. He was shocked that she would ask such a question. He just figured that she would know. "Of course," he replied kissing her arm lightly. "I love it here and I love you so much. I know we'll be great parents."

"Yeah," she replied, closing her eyes slightly. "We will."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

"If we go here first, I'm sure it will be more efficient," the Fire Lord said, bending over a huge map of the Avatar world. "If we first go to the Earth Kingdom for the banquet of peace and then the Water Tribe, we could go see Toph and give her the wedding invitation."

"I guess you're right," the waterbending master replied. "So we'll go to Ba Sing Se and then to the village just outside of it where Toph lives. I'm sure she'll be happy to see us. How long has it been, two years, now?"

"Something like that," Zuko replied.

"What do you want to do now?" Katara asked as they leaned back in their seats happy that they had finally figured out their plan for the next few weeks.

After the war, they had signed a peace treaty with the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. Ever since then Zuko had been invited to a monthly party to the Earth Kingdom and every two months a ball for peace at the North Pole. And since Katara was the Fire Lord's fiancé she was expected to go also.

"How do you think Toph's doing?" Katara asked standing. She pulled her blue robe across her cream colored shirt and tied the sash; usually at one of these planning periods it got very hot and so she would always untie her robe to cool off a bit.

"I'm sure she's doing alright," Zuko replied. "Last time I talked to her, she said that she actually enjoys settling down. It surprised me at first. She was always the one that wanted to keep moving, keep traveling, like Aang did. What did she always used to call him?"

"Twinkle Toes."

"Ah, yes, now I remember. Twinkle Toes…"

They walked down the empty corridors of the Fire Nation palace, a guard passing every now and then.

Since the war Zuko's style hadn't changed very much. His hair had grown to his mid back and he kept in a half ponytail, his crown rested on top of his head. He wore typical Fire Nation clothing, but he had long removed his robes; it was just too hot in the palace.

"When do you think the wedding will happen?" Katara asked.

Zuko shrugged.

"Should it be this year or next year?"

He shrugged.

"Ugh, will you quit shrugging!?" she asked. "We have to think about this. You did purpose to be after all. We have to get married eventually."

"How 'bout tomorrow?" Zuko asked casually, still looking ahead.

Katara stopped. Zuko walked along ahead. He looked back at the girl. Her wearing had changed too. Her hair was half put up and half down, the hair loops were back. She was wearing a long blue robe and a pair of baggy cream colored pants. The pendent that he had given her showing the only red on her, was hanging on her neck like it usually was.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

She was studying him with utmost intensity. "You…just told me that you…you want to get married tomorrow?"

He smirked.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. They went in for a tight embrace.

He whispered in her ear, "I want to get married to you right now. But we have a lot of plans to make. Can you wait just a little longer?"

She nodded, incapable of words.

They broke apart and he rested her hands on her shoulders. "You okay?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

And then she smirked. She went into a fighting stance and drew her water. "I'll show you what will happen when you mess with me."

His arms dropped to his sides and he smiled, narrowing his eyes. "You're on, waterbender. But don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl."

She glared. "And don't think I'll go easy on you because you're the Fire Lord."

He smirked.

And the fight began.

………………………………………………………………………

Back from the market, a woman with ebony hair that ran long past her shoulders, walked down a narrow dirt path to her home out into the country.

There were two baskets full of food in her hands. The wind picked up a bit and her cream colored dress blew in the breeze. There was a lining of green along the top and the straps of the dress. It came down to her knees and she had white moccasin shoes on.

Her house was just up the corner.

Her life sure had changed since the war ended. She had traveled throughout the whole Fire Nation and finally ended up here three year later when she turned fifteen, she found the small city of Airsai and decided to settle down. She had become an apprentice of a woman in town with building and such and then built her home in which she could see now.

And in any of that time did she see Twinkle Toes. Aang had never found her. Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Suki all knew where she lived and where she worked. And yet, the only person who had heard from Aang in seven years was Katara. All he had said was he was okay and he was living in the Southern Air Temple. He also said that he was fine and not to come. He would show himself in time.

It had been a long time. All Toph could remember of him was just the faint outline of his fast paced heart; his heart that never touched the ground.

She missed that heart so much.

To take her mind off of the boy that she had known so long ago she felt around for the scenery. There were mountains as high as the sun and soft grass. Though she couldn't see, there were bright red and pink flowers and the sky was always blue.

Suddenly, she felt a gush of air. And before she knew she was on the ground and her baskets of food was everywhere.

The wind stopped and she felt two heartbeats. One was one of an animal's and it seemed to be on the other whose heartbeat was one of a man's.

……………………………………………………………………………………

"Ugh, why am I ALWAYS late these days?" the Avatar mumbled to himself as he went up another dirt road. "I have to get to the Fire Nation palace as soon as possible. Are you sure we're going the right way, Momo?"

He turned toward his furry lemur friend that resting on his shoulder, gripping tightly onto Aang's shirt; they were going fast after all.

After the war and after he and his two companions signed peace treaties in the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdoms, he had went with Appa and Momo to find the airbenders. He went over to the Eastern, Western, Northern, and finally Southern where he had been living for the past five years.

Though researching for clues and hints of the airbenders' existence, Aang had always felt alone for those seven years.

And three weeks earlier he had received a letter from Katara that she was getting married to, whom but Zuko, in the fall and she really wanted him to come.

Aang thought that was the perfect opportunity to leave the Southern Air Temple. It was the perfect time to see Sokka, Suki, Katara, Zuko, and—

SMASH!!

He crashed into something or someone. He stopped abruptly from his very fast running to see that he had crashed into a woman.

Her groceries in which she must have been carrying were spewed out everywhere. He ran over to her and picked up her things; hastily he put them into two baskets and helped her to her feet.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM!!?" she yelled.

"I was just trying to get somewhere…" Aang started but stopped quickly. He looked at the woman. She had long, black hair and she wore a cream colored dress. Her eyes were green and yet, they seemed to be glassed over somehow.

He remembered from far off memory.

It was…

The woman seemed to notice first that she knew the man standing in front of her. "…Aang?" she asked.

His eyes widened. "Toph?" Aang questioned right back.

Slowly a smile spread across her face. She reached out and touched his face, despite the fact that seven years ago she would have just embarrassed herself. But she had to see if he was real…if Twinkle Toes was really with her.

He had a small nose and his eyes were shut. He was bald and his ears were odd feeling to say the least. She traveled down his face until she hit his lips. Then, she looked away and set her arms back down the side.

"Why were you away so long?" she asked bitterly, remembering the past seven years of mystery he had put her through. "You never did come and see me."

Her answer was a tight embrace that left her breathless. Aang had wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held on tight. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I wanted to come see you…I just…I had to find out if my people really had all died. I've been researching for the past seven years, trying to find them.

"But I've come to no conclusion. A few weeks ago I got a letter and it said that Katara was getting married. I just figured it would be the perfect opportunity to come and see everyone….Especially you," he added, blushing slightly.

He broke away and Toph looked down to the ground. And all was silent. There wasn't any sound except a pair of cawing birds in the distance and the noise of the nearby town. "I've missed you Twinkle Toes," she said finally.

"I missed you too," Aang replied.

He took a step closer and so did Toph.

She reached her arms out and they made contact with his and he pulled her into another tight hug. And she wrapped her arms around his back.

They stood there, in the hot sun of summer, hugging. There were two baskets lying next to them and there were two birds flying overhead. There were mountains in the distance and Toph's house was just up the road.

But the scenery or the slowly rotting groceries didn't let the earthbender and the Avatar break away. They stood there in the hot summer sun not breaking away.

When they finally did, Toph looked up at him. "You sure have grown tall," she remarked noticing that her head fit perfectly into his muscular chest. He was very tall, six two or three while she was at least a foot shorter.

"Really?" he replied. "Maybe you just haven't grown enough."

She glared and he smirked.

They stood there awhile in silence. And then the old Toph came in, the one that Aang had met all those years ago, the one that he cared about more than anyone. "Well," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "Are you just gonna just stand there, or are you gonna help me with these groceries?"

Aang smiled slightly. He bent over and picked up the baskets. He straightened up again and noticed that Toph was already way ahead of him. She was running away. "Come on, Twinkle Toes, I wanna show you something!" she called out to him.

He smirked and started running. She hadn't seen him in seven years; she had no idea how fast he had become. He would just have to show her.

And Aang took off after her.

THE END

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AHHHH! I've been waiting for so long to say those words that they just scare me to say them: I'm done. I'm done. I have to keep telling myself that. I'm so sad because now I can't hear from you wonderful readers every time I upload a new chapter.

To start a long author's note I just want to say that I got a lot of my information from and along with some of the amazing stories on here.

When I first started writing this story, I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish it. I always start stories and lose my commitment half way through and I would just give up. I would get bored with it and then put it away in my computer to collect dust.

But, mostly from your awesome reviews, I finished with it and never once got bored. I LOVED the fact that I finished it before the third season aired (woo!! September 21st!!)…so yeah…

I have to thank my friend Konoichi2.0 for all her amazing help on the battles and such. She really gave me a lot of encouragement to finish this.

I also want to thank all of you reviewers again for helping me get through this. I know it was kinda boring at times and the twists and turns were almost too much for me to handle…but thanks so much.

Umm, what else to put here?

If you have ANY and I mean ANY suggestions on oneshots or anything of that sort of nature just PM and I'll try to get some up. If you don't, that's fine, you've put up with me long enough.

Mmm, I guess I'm done writing in this story. I can't WAIT for the premiere of the third season. I'm having a party and Avatar symbol cookies and every thing that day.

…And then I have to wake up at four the next morning to get ready to go to a marching band competition…but I still can't wait!!

Again, I don't own Avatar. Figured I should put that in here.

So, now that I'm done talking and can't think of anything else, I'm going to bed. It's pretty late and I've got a busy day ahead of me.

To end my author's note and this story I want to ask two questions:

1. What do you think Toph wanted to show him in the end? (coughit's a reference to chapter 9coughshe's not really gonna show him a treecoughwell she might but…coughcough)

2. And what did you think of the whole Book Three that I've created. I hope I didn't COMPLETELY confuse you….But if I did, just ask and I'll answer.

Signing out for the last time (for this story anyway),

Zapenbits