Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "They Say It's Wonderful" from Annie, Get Your Gun, lyrics by Irving Berlin.

Author's Note: I know this is probably about the thousandth time a story like this has been done, but here's mine, anyway. In fact, I already did one sort of similar to this in Boys & Girls. It takes place shortly after the Season 2 finale. It's a pretty long one, actually.

They Say It's Wonderful

They say that falling in love is wonderful.
It's wonderful, so they say.
And with the moon up above, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful, so they tell me.

"Love is supposed to be great, isn't it?" Toph's voice broke into Sokka's thoughts, and he turned toward her in surprise, wondering where that question had come from. He'd been standing and gazing at the horizon, trying to come up with a plan to pursue next. Toph was sitting nearby, idly tracing designs on the ground.

"That's what they say," he replied cautiously.

"Don't you know?"

Sokka rather resented the hint of accusation in her tone, but the thought of baring his soul to her was even more unappealing. He might change his mind on that, depending on how this conversation unfolded, but for the moment, he was determined to keep things general.

"Just because I'm older than you, I'm supposed to have all the answers?" he shot back.

"It was a thought." Toph paused. "At least, you can tell me about the moon, right?"

"The moon?" Even after everything that had passed, Sokka felt a twinge whenever he saw the moon, and it was even stronger to hear it mentioned.

"Well, the moon's supposed to be important to the Water Tribe and to people in love," Toph explained patiently. "I don't even really know what it is. Katara said you were the one to ask."

"Did she?" muttered Sokka, making a mental note to "thank" his sister later for that little recommendation. He shrugged, deciding he might as well answer. "The moon is a ball that hangs in the sky at night, but it changes shape as the days go by. It's also a source of power for waterbenders." He hesitated before concluding, "There is also a moon spirit. She was once a beautiful, brave young woman."

"You knew her?"

"Yes."

"Did you love her?"

I can't recall who said it.
I know I never read it.
I only know that falling in love is grand, and
The thing that's known as romance is wonderful, wonderful,
In every way, so they say.

Sokka caught his breath sharply at her seemingly innocent query. He'd never even put that question to himself quite so bluntly.

"Look, why are you asking me all this, anyway?" he deflected.

"It's just that everyone's supposed to want to fall in love, right?"

"I guess so."

"I don't know where I got the idea, actually. I mean, I obviously never read about it or anything. It's just something you pick up, maybe through bedtime stories when you're little."

"Okay, so?"

"So, what about them?" Toph gestured in a manner clearly meant to indicate Aang and Katara. Aang was resting again while Katara stayed protectively nearby. The Earth King was probably off somewhere, reading to his bear. "They love each other, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do." Sokka was not actually sure that this simple phrase really covered it, but it seemed to be enough for the present topic.

"Then what's the problem?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that something's changed between them since before we all split up. Something is wrong. Can't you feel it?"

A part of Sokka wanted to scream at her that everything was wrong. Aang had almost died, Suki had been at least attacked and was missing, Ba Sing Se had fallen, there were few places left for them to escape to, and the eclipse was rapidly approaching, with the fateful comet close on its heels. It would be a shorter list to enumerate the things that weren't wrong. In fact, the only positive thing he could really think of was that the four of them were all alive and together.

Rumors fly, and they often leave a doubt,
But you've come to the right place to find out.
Everything that you've heard is really so.
I've been there once or twice, and I should know.

Sokka found, however, that he was too tired for this kind of outburst. Instead, he sighed and dropped down to sit beside Toph on the ground. Maybe discussing his past would actually be less painful than dwelling on the present, as depressing a thought as that was.

"It's…complicated," he said. "I'm not sure I understand it all, either. Look, maybe I have been in love once or twice."

"And?"

"And it hasn't worked out so well for me."

"Why not?"

"I don't know why, exactly. It's just that the people I love…I seem to lose." It was probably a measure of his melancholy that Sokka was actually beginning to wonder if Aunt Wu had been right about him, after all. She had predicted that his life would be full of misery and anguish, and that certainly seemed to be true. On the other hand, she'd said most of it would be self-inflicted, and what could he possibly have done to bring the present circumstances down upon him and the others?

"Oh, I'm sorry." Toph actually sounded more sincere than he'd ever heard her before. "Is that why you're so protective of Katara?"

"Yeah, I guess it is." He'd never really thought of it that way, and he had other reasons, but maybe there was something to the theory. Katara and he had lost their mother when they were just kids, and Yue had sacrificed herself for her people and, if Iroh and Aang had been telling the truth, possibly even the world. Finally, there were his father and Suki, creating a sort of symmetry: each had left him once, and he'd left them once. There had been some talk of going back to Hakoda and the other Water Tribe warriors, but they had escaped to the relative isolation and security of the Eastern Air Temple instead.

In the end, then, Katara was all Sokka had left. Although he cared about Aang and Toph, that didn't compare with the depth of his attachment to his sister. He had trusted Aang to keep her safe in the caves under the big city, and, somewhat ironically, she had come out of it all right, while the Avatar had nearly given his life. Sokka still hadn't managed to get the full story out of them, and he had pretty much concluded that he didn't want to know.

You'll find that falling in love is wonderful,
It's wonderful as they say.
And with the moon up above, it's wonderful.
It's wonderful as they tell you.

"So everyone's wrong?" Toph persisted. Wrapped up in his reverie, Sokka had almost forgotten she was there. "It's not great to be in love?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying?"

Sokka thought about this carefully. Toph appeared to be genuinely seeking answers here, and though he didn't know exactly where she was coming from, he supposed that she would naturally have questions like this, having spent such a sheltered childhood. He thought back to Yue first, since she was the one he was most sure he'd been in love with. He remembered flirting with her, both at the welcome feast and the next day. He recalled the elation he'd felt when she'd agreed to meet him and the euphoria caused by their first kiss.

Even after finding out that there was a barrier to their relationship, they had spent a lot of time together, perhaps the most memorable being that ride on Appa's back. Finally, there had been the moment of sacrifice and her ethereal form kissing him goodbye.

Next, he thought about Suki. They had only spent a few days together in total, but there had been a definite connection between them, maybe because they were both trained as warriors. The awkwardness of that moonlit night in Serpent's Pass had eventually given way to the confidence and passion that marked her departure. What Sokka had to ask himself was whether he would have given up these moments and feelings to preserve himself from the subsequent loss and separation.

"It actually is wonderful," he decided at last, allowing a faint smile for the first time in days.

You leave your house some morning,
And without any warning,
You're stopping people, shouting that love is grand, and
To hold a girl in your arms is wonderful, wonderful
In every way.
--I should say.

"It is?" Toph prompted quietly. She had apparently been shifting closer to Sokka while his focus had been turned inward.

"Yeah, it is. You feel more alive than you ever have. While it lasts, you're so full of feeling that you don't know how you keep it inside. You want to shout to everyone what you've discovered. It's amazing."

"What about when it doesn't last?" Her voice had become low, and she was leaning toward him, as though in anticipation.

"It can lead to a lot of pain," Sokka admitted. "But I think it's worth it. Being close to someone, sharing part of who you are with them, and holding them, that's the best feeling there is." Oddly, by expressing all of this, he began to have hope that life could go on, that they would find a way to continue their quest.

"I bet," whispered Toph, edging closer yet and leaning her head against his shoulder. Sokka was taken by surprise; it was so unlike Toph to betray this kind of vulnerability. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her, and she seemed to sink into him. For a short time, they sought refuge in physical contact, drawing strength from one another.

After all, as much as Sokka hated to admit it, sometimes he needed comfort, too.

--

Author's Note: I think this is the most Tokka-ish story I've written so far, though I suppose the real Tokka fans will say they didn't like him dwelling on Yue and Suki so much. However, that was kind of the point, going through his past relationships to bring him up to date.

Review responses:

Justcallmewolfy: I know what you mean, except in The Earth King, I wanted to smack Sokka for interrupting!

Billeh: Heh, thanks.

Kumori Doragon: I've been too lazy to watch The King of Omashu to find out if Bumi was still missing the same teeth when he was old. Anyway, I've long tried to figure out why Aang didn't react with jealousy regarding other boys until Lake Laogai, so that was one possible interpretation.

libowiekitty: You couldn't find the song? Well, I don't know what to tell you. It's a classic, being the closest thing to a love duet in that show.

Aangs fangirl1214: Actually, I hadn't completely thought through what his original question would be, but your guess sounds pretty good.

Snows Of Yester-Year: Thanks!