Hey there! Sokka's Fan-Lawyer here!

That's right, I'm back for an update! For those that noticed that I shortened the chapters, I wanted to try and make them more reader friendly, so expect chapters to only be 3000-4000 words at the most, but that hopefully means quicker updates! I know I have no excuse to justify how long it's been, but it's been a semester of growth that will hopefully influence my writing. I'm trying to incorporate as much canon material as I can!

Also, reviewer and friend feliipsun (check out her awesome Tokka fics sometime) pointed that I was putting too much emotion in Toph's eyes and I tried countering her with some weak reasoning—now that I'm rewatching the series, I can see that her ocular emotion expressions weren't as vivid as I thought. Therefore, I can only apologize to you all and swear that I'll try to take that more into account as I go! Thank you all for your continued support (and if you have a request, feel free to mention it and I'll try to incorporate it into the story) and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or its characters, but I do call dibs on the copyright once it goes public.

…

Sokka groaned as he carried up another sack full of food, all the while knowing that, despite his growling stomach, he wasn't allowed to eat, no matter how tempting the smell of the recently boiled sea prunes were giving off. After going through the list of tenants Mr. Fuin had provided, Sokka and Toph had contacted him the next day and mentioned their idea. The plan, of course, was for them to get to know the other tenants without the "influential" (or, as Toph referred to it, "buzzkill") presence of Fuin. Now that they had narrowed the suspects to one of the building's tenants, it was crucial that everyone was as relaxed as possible. Fuin thought that this was agreeable and thought tomorrow night seemed like a fine time to take the missus to a night at the theatre anyway (on Sokka's dime, of course—just because Fuin was generous, he insisted, didn't mean that he wasn't opportunistic); fortunately, after looking at the nearly empty pouch that was their money supply—the part that Sokka had on him; most of it was entrusted to Toph by Aang, for reasons that continued to elude the Water Tribe warrior—, Sokka had managed to talk the landlord into chipping in some food. So, while Toph was busy moving their furniture and talking to Mrs. Fink, who had quickly become the source of almost all the gossip in the building and needed constant care and watering, just like another informant or household plant, Sokka had been delegated to shop for food, on top of what Fuin had provided, and then he would be in charge of letting everyone else know, so he could get a peek into their rooms.

"This sucks," He muttered as he nearly tripped on another stair. "It seems like I'm doing all the work! Why can't Toph do this? Oh. Right. Blindness." She wouldn't have been able to see the interior of the rooms, how they were set up, or any of the details that Sokka would recognize as important, and she probably wouldn't have been able to get them the right food—well, he amended, she probably could, it just would take time and there would probably be a few poisoned casualties in the process. Why do I always forget about her sight, he pondered for the umpteenth time, mostly because Toph always mocked him every time he forgot and it made him feel like an ass. It's just that she always seemed so knowing and observant about other people that it made it easy to forget that she couldn't actually see.

The more Sokka thought about it, the more he realized just how limited Toph was, despite her strength and bending. Naturally, she'd kill him for even thinking that—he was slightly suspicious that she could read minds—, but he couldn't help but think back to the Serpent's Pass, when she had been trapped in the water.

She couldn't do anything…. It was not a thought anyone normally applied to Toph; she was, after all, the greatest earthbender in the world, but for the brief time she had been in that water, Toph had been helpless. Sokka shuddered a bit at the memory. Had Suki not been so quick, Toph—HIS best friend—could have died, all because he had been too worried about his boots. To this day, he found himself wondering why he had hesitated; after all, he had just been freshly wounded by his inability to protect Yue, and even though he had been hung up on protecting Suki, he knew that Toph was close enough to him and the rest that he would have never forgiven himself if she had died.

He was not afraid to admit that it was not one of his proudest moments.

However, if his own reaction to Toph's "accident" had been odd, then Toph's reaction had been even weirder: once Suki had grabbed her, Toph—in front of everybody—had kissed Suki; granted, they hadn't heard what the two had said to each other while they were out there in the water, and Suki had never told him what she had said whenever he asked her after they broke her out of the Boiling Rock—she'd only shrug and just say "It was nothing Sokka; she had been a bit worried that she, oh, I don't know, almost drowned because a certain someone couldn't get their boots wet." That normally shut him up. But for some reason, he found himself unable to let it go. What had those words been? Why had she kissed Suki? Had his hands not been full, he would've yanked on his shoulder-length hair in irritation; he liked figuring things out, but he didn't have nearly enough pieces of the puzzle to guess; his only chance was to just ask Toph, but he was hesitant to bring it up; after everything that happened with Suki—the fight, the exile—, it just seemed like an awkward subject to ask about.

Well, regardless of what happened at the Pass, he had been able to save her during the Sozin's Comet battle. The Water Tribe warrior smirked a little at his victory, but then frowned as the implications set in. To be dangling all those miles in the air, blind, the only lifeline the hand of an idiot who thought himself a warrior? He frowned and looked down at the stone stairs; by his count, he was almost to the third floor. Still, the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how frightening that must have been for Toph—at least he had been lying on one of the air ship's bridges and could see—the only thing she could have "seen" then was his arm. She hadn't panicked—no, she had seemed resigned to death.

Sokka paused in his tracks as a chill crept up his spine.

Toph had been resigned to die. He began to move up those final few steps. He was ashamed. Granted, there had not been much he could have done in that situation—he had already used up his weapons—but that didn't stop his guilt—after Yue, he had promised himself that when he was around, no one would be allowed to feel like that. Whether it be through humor or his fighting skills, Sokka would do anything in his power to protect the people he loved from ever feeling like that again.

He set the bag in his right hand onto the floor and unlocked the door. As it swung open, he saw Toph looking in the general direction of the stove, a hungry look on her face. He glanced at the food he was carrying and smiled a bit. Whenever she falls, I'll be there to pick her up…hopefully in a way she doesn't notice, otherwise she'll beat the crap outta me. Toph, without even looking away from the kitchen from her seat on the couch that was now pressed against the wall next to the door, spoke, "What's wrong, Snoozles? You're menopause kick in early or something? I could feel you stop starting all the way up the stairs." She paused, as she focused her earthbending mojo. "And you may want to work out or something—your heartbeat's a mess."

"Nice to see you too." Sokka flushed and rolled his eyes while he walked over to the kitchen and turned the stove on; all the while, he prayed to Yue that Toph hadn't discovered how to read minds yet and prove him right. Toph just shrugged and slumped even further down on the couch; she was practically falling off of it.

"What the hell took you so long? I'm starving!" She groaned.

"I was buying the food for that party thing tomorrow, remember? The plan? I had to carry six bags full of crap up here—it's not like you volunteered to help or anything."

"Well sorry, Katara—I thought a strong, manly man like you could handle it on your own." Sokka paused at that. He really was acting like his sister, wasn't he? He shivered. No, it can't be true! It sucked being the delegated chef; as he set the last of the bags on the counter, he vowed to himself that he would never complain about his sister's cooking again. "Well? Get anything good?" While he talked, he got out the pan that Toph had repaired after she bent it and set about making lunch.

"C'mon, think about who you're talking to," he scoffed. "I got it all—moose-lion meat, sea prunes, dough, the works!"

"Good work, Captain Boomerang," Toph saluted as she began to pick her nose.

"At ease, Colonel Melon Lord," Sokka saluted back, only to pause. Dammit—forgot again. "Anyway, how did your end of the deal work out? Was Mrs. Fink annoying?"

Toph grinned. "What do you think?"

"Okay, dumb question, I'll give you that one. But did you get anything out of her?"

"Besides twice our weight in cookies and her gushing over her grandkids?" Toph grimaced a little. "Seriously, I'm never having kids, if it just makes you so gushy all the time—the oogies were strong with her; you probably wouldn't have been able to handle it."

"Yeah, yeah; did you get anything besides the oogies? Like any suspects we can hopefully rule out?"

Toph rested her chin on her hand and looked in Sokka's direction. "Actually, yes I did; we don't have to worry about those three Fire Nation colonials on our floor; they were the ones who found Mrs. Fink after the Dragon attacked her. They apparently heard the commotion she made and thundered down the stairs from the third floor and helped her back to her room."

"What makes you so sure they aren't involved? Even if none of them were the Dragon, they could still be helping the plot—set up the lore, spread the fear, reap the benefits once everything has blown over."

"I thought of that too, Snoozles; you think I'm stupid? Just think about it, though. What do Ow, Chi, and Sakura have to gain by scaring everyone out of the building? They already have steady income. Frankly, being Fire Nation would make it difficult to find a room anywhere else."

Sokka stroked his chin thoughtfully while keeping an eye on the pan he had set on the burning stove. "Actually, being Fire Nation at all is already putting them in a bad position—why would they want to add more crap onto their plate by faking a Fire Nation Dragon Spirit? That would only make people hate them more. The fact that they're still honest about their ethnicity, despite the prejudice, makes them less likely. . ." He paused. "I still wouldn't rule them out—"

"Aw, what happened to the new, improved, positive Sokka?" Toph chuckled.

"He had a fight with his girlfriend and got drunk in Ba Sing Se—he'll come back as soon as the search warrant and charges are dropped." He glared at her while she just shrugged. "Anyway, we should never rule anyone out until the end, but yeah, we don't have to worry about them. No, what I'm worried about is the fact that this is trying to hurt the Fire Nation colonials' reputation. As it is, they don't show their faces much—if firebenders weren't needed to keep the electricity running, chances are people would be much more hostile."

Toph nodded. "Yeah, even while I was travelling around trying to recruit metalbending students and the falling through of the Harmony Restoration Movement—great name, by the way. . ."

"It's a gift."

". . .right. Anyway, Fire Nation people still are being avoided now—that hatred'll probably take decades to go away."

"Right, and anything like this Dragon thing could set that back even more, which leads me to the next thing: could this Dragon person be connected to the bender disappearances? Remember, they're kidnapping waterbenders and earthbenders, but not the firebenders—they're trying to single them out, the same as this guy is doing here."

Now it was Toph's turn to stroke her chin in thought. "You have a point, Snoozles."

"Which just makes this case all the more important, if that's what's at stake. We can't let these guys have their way, and we definitely don't want to pass up a potential lead." Toph nodded. "Good work, Toph. Now then," He turned back to the pan and shifted it slightly to move the contents around. "I've been thinking about Fuin's story and I think we're looking for a duo."

"What makes you so sure?" Toph asked, though Sokka could tell from the tone of her voice that she already had an idea of where he was going.

"Simple: the steam that appeared around the Dragon was more than likely a waterbender, but there also has to be an earthbender involved, to make the mask and get at the stuff, you know? The one who's probably good enough to metalbend?"

"Or," Toph said. "The steam could've been a firebender heating up the water in the pipes." Sokka shook his head, then paused. She probably couldn't see that. . .I really need to get better at that. "I can tell you're shaking your head, dumbass, so stop getting your panties in a bunch and just tell me why you disagree with my brilliant idea?"

There's the Toph I know. "From the way Fuin described it, the steam was very steady and consistent, which suggests control; a firebender, as our good frienemy Zuko has been nice enough to demonstrate in the past, typically doesn't have that when countering water, especially if they broke through the pipes, with the water pressure and all. No, the 'spirit' can control the amount of steam he spread and where it went."

"What makes you so sure it's a guy? We don't know that Tiguh girl's abilities, or Hina for that matter." Toph crossed her arms and all but dared him to say something sexist. She's been influenced too much by Katara, he mentally sighed. Then again, he knew that it was less likely she was standing up for feminism than it as she was just trying to piss him off.

"Trust me, after dealing with you, Suki, Azula and her crazy trio, I don't underestimate anyone."

"Damn right." Toph smirked "So, we're looking for a duo, likely benders; or we could just say the entire building's in on it and call it a day—after all, a nonbender could've made that mask, which means that we could have at least three people in on it."

"Make a mask that well without tools? I doubt it." Toph gestured pointedly to her betrothal necklace and cocked an eyebrow. "Or they could just store their tools under their bed. Fine. Or their wooden trunk or their underwear drawer or somewhere else you can't see them." He added quickly before she could point out that she'd probably feel the tools' presence if they were lying under a bed through the earth in the metal. "So where does that leave us?"

"Well, we can count out Fuin, his wife—probably; we really shouldn't assume, should we?—, Gin, Mrs. Fink, those Fire Nation colonials whose names I never remember, and the two missing benders. That leaves us with Ti the waterbender, Tiguh—hey, you're the one who said she was Water Tribe; who knows, she may be a waterbender, Gin, Kahn, and. . .Hina, who we know nothing about."

"Perfect. . ."Sokka sighed. "Hopefully we can root 'em out at the party. Speaking of that, did you tell Mrs. Fink about it?"

Toph snorted. "Of course I did. I figure by nightfall, everyone in the entire building will hear about the party—well, that and the story of when you wore your sister's clothes."

Sokka dropped the hot pan he had been holding and gawked, "You told her WHAT?"

"Come on Sokka, think—I know it's difficult, but try for the rest of us, okay? Fink is a gossip. Therefore, I had to give her something juicy—I'm not an idiot."

"Well no, but that never happened! EVER!" Sokka flushed.

"That's not what Katara told me…." Toph replied in that sing-song tone of voice that made Sokka want to face-palm himself.

"It was one time! Besides, that wasn't with Katara, it was with Suki—!" He cut himself off. A silence fell.

"…do you want to talk about it?" Toph asked after a few seconds had passed. Sokka sighed and looked at his friend, at her blank, unseeing eyes—they were stagnant, but from the subtle crook of an eyebrow, the tiniest downward turn of her mouth, Sokka could tell that she was concerned—after being her best friend for four years, he had become well-versed in Toph's body language. He was willing to beat his missing space sword that he could read her like a book—a book that was half written in a different, feminine language, but the point still stood for itself. He felt touched by her concern, but. . . .

"Not really." He shrugged, then paused. "Though, speaking of Suki, something's been eating at me for the longest time . . .," He could tell he had her attention as her body tensed up the slightest bit. "It's nothing awkward, but . . . when Suki rescued you from the Serpent's Pass, what exactly did you say to her? I asked Suki, but she'd never tell me."

The Water Tribe warrior had meant it as a simple question, but given that Toph's face was nearly red with embarrassment, he could tell that he may have touched a nerve.

"I don't remember," Toph stated; Sokka just rolled his eyes.

"Liar."

"Look, just because I don't feel like reliving the time I almost drowned because a certain Water Tribe Warrior couldn't stand getting wet. . .," she snapped.

Sokka blinked, then lowered his head. "Sorry; you're right. Forget I asked." He went back to preparing lunch. "So, what's on the docket for today?"

He could hear the relief in the earthbender's voice that he had dropped his inquiry and perhaps there was a trace of guilt as well, for trying to make him feel bad for something that had happened so long ago and he had long since made up for. "Well, after you're done with your housewife duties, I think we should swing by Hina's room—from what I can tell, she's still home. We can invite her to the party, and then. . ."

"Trail her the minute she leaves her room? I like the sound of that—it's been a while since I got to stalk anyone." Sokka grinned, then flushed when he realized what he had said.

Toph just raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah, that's the gist of it; Hina is the one we have the least information on, so it's Hina we're starting with." Sokka dumped the contents of the pan onto two plates and carried them over to the couch. The earthbender sensed his approach and sat up; reluctantly, she scooted over enough to allow him to sit. Sokka smirked—had she not let him on, he'd have just eaten on the bed and she knew it. She cautiously sniffed the plate. "What's this?"

"Oh, nothing much—just some sea prunes; I wanted to eat some while they were fresh."

Toph frowned as Sokka helped himself to a bite. "I remember Twinkle Toes telling me to NOT eat this stuff."

"Fine, you can either listen to Aang, a man who refuses to touch meat, about your food preferences, or you can just trust the damn cook and eat the stuff before it gets cold—it tastes like shit when it gets cold. Trust me," He shivered a little at the memory. I'll never forget you, Constipation of 98 A.S.C. (A/N: A.S.C.=After Sozin's Comet) "Just ignore the spit and it'll taste fine."

"You spat in my food?" Toph looked caught between dismay and laughing.

"Only one part—just avoid the wet spot and you should be fine. Oh wait, it's all wet. Oh well, guess you'll just have to try your luck, Ms. Lie Spreader."

"Let it go—you'll have plenty of time to deny it during the party," Toph grunted she used the fork Sokka had placed on her plate—he had bought metal ones, so Toph could see the utensils—to stab a prune and put in her mouth; Sokka just shrugged and smirked as Toph twitched a little bit with each bite.

….

Whew! And there are some suspect eliminated! Who could the culprit(s?) be? Anyway, thanks for reading and good luck figuring it out! Remember, the first person to guess the villain(s?) correctly wins an ATLA or Korra oneshot from me (no Yuri/Yaoi or lemon, but otherwise it's fair game). Anyway, next time we learn interesting things about Hina and get some long overdue stalking in. I'll try to get it out by next Sunday evening! Granted, you've had reason to roll your eyes at that statement but I'm fresh off New Year's resolutions and am on a huge Tokka kick lately, so the inspiration is definitely coming…though this fic seems to pretty much be people talking, doesn't it? *sigh*. Anyway, to help, here's the Saint Bara layout again:

Saint Bara: 22 rooms

3rd floor: Sokka and Toph, Mrs. Fink, Tiguh (water tribe, massively over due on rent; dragon's appearance makes her desperate rent acceptable), and 3 fire nation colonials work at steam plant.

2nd floor: Fi (missing water bender), Kahn (police grunt), Ti (his brother, water bender), Gin (earth nation nonbender, lazy, and over due on rent), Hina (water bender, works at a dress shop)

1st floor: Gai (missing earthbender), Ed (moved out, has secret wooden trapdoor for bad guy's), Ji Fuin and his wife, Bu (guy who was checking out when Toph and Sokka arrived and handy man)

Basement: Secret wooden room, piping and stuff, and storage space.

Read and review please!