Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar
Heh heh heh... soooooo... um... sorry for the wait... well, um--please don't kill me!
This is the final chapter of this story. I might do a continuation if you guys want. I'll update the other stories soon!
Suki yawned to herself as she ascended the stairs to the porch; carrying all of the bags she had collected from her shopping was quite a work-out. She and the other warriors had managed to find plenty of items to fill their need of weapons. Of course, Ty Lee had also convinced Suki into purchasing many "cute" clothes, as well. Setting them down neatly to the side, she began to slide open the door. However, the door was flung open without her exerting barely any force. Sokka, now fully dressed in his standard water tribe garments, rushed through the opening and collided with the stunned Kyoshi warrior. Sokka was laughing resoundingly, which was beginning to attract the attention of neighbors.
"Sokka, what has gotten' into you?!" Suki hissed, embarrassed by the unwanted attention.
Sokka hovered over her face, his eyes dancing in excitement. "They're coming home. Katara and Aang are coming home!"
Suki smiled at the news, but was unable to vocally react because of a kiss planted on her lips by Sokka. He pulled her to her feet and embraced her in excitement.
"I haven't seen my sister or Aang in four years and they are finally coming home! I can't wait any longer!" Sokka exclaimed brightly, tears forming in his eyes.
"Ugh, are you crying again, Meatbrain?" Toph moaned antagonizingly as she strolled over to the door, still unclean and in her bed clothes.
Suki beamed at them both, her own excitement was building up within her, as well. She hadn't seen the Avatar or the master water bender in four years, either. She had missed Aang's carefree spirit and loving personality and Katara's mother-like role in the family was severely needed to restore orderly structure. How much had they changed? She smiled as Toph irritably swatted Sokka in the back of the head to silence him. She knew that, although Toph didn't appear to be joyful as she and Sokka were, she was internally just as excited. She had lived alone for a long time and after to being accustomed to living with others, she did not take their departure very well. Aang had been Toph's best friend and Katara was her support system for whenever she was down. Suki suddenly realized then that maybe Toph was angry with them for not staying in contact for over two years.
Sokka noticed that Suki was no longer grinning; she seemed lost in deep thought as her gaze seemed unfocused and distant. "Hey Suki, aren't you happy? Did you hear me? The note said that they are coming home with the letter. That means that they will be back any time now!"
Suki snapped out of her trance and winked at Sokka. "That's great, Sokka! I'm really excited and can't wait either!"
"Well, this is touching and all, but the house-" Toph piped up, motioning behind them to the cluttered common room, "-in this state, will cause Katara to have a fit unless she's become a lazy mess in her travels. If we wanted to avoid a Katara-forced labor camp when they get here, then we better start cleaning!"
Light from the full moon in the night sky shone down onto the street, illuminating the details of the manor homes. The homes were all dark; shadows cloaking the rooms from view. All were dark, except the Gaang's villa. Sokka, Suki, and Toph were stretched out on the sofa, collectively staring at the sliding doors that led to the front porch. Sokka had impatiently waited for the return of his sister and Aang for the entire day and was forcing his housemates to stay up late in order to catch the couple if they arrived during the night. Much to Sokka's annoyance, Toph wasn't into the idea of sleep deprivation. She had renounced the idea from the start and continued to grumble as the hours passed. Suki yawned and stretched her legs, snuggling close to her love. She didn't mind the idea; Suki enjoyed time with Sokka at any hour. She had drowsed off several times in his lap and seemed to be near doing so again.
"Sokka, I want to go to bed. The moon has passed its peak and I'm tired. The note didn't say that they'd be here today," Toph complained.
"We have to be awake when they get here Toph!" snapped Sokka irritably, the lack of sleep and the persistence of her complaining beginning to eat at him. "I've told you now a thousand times: I haven't seen my sister in over four years."
"Well-" Toph began.
Sokka, though excited and motivated by the prospect of seeing Aang and Katara, was not dealing well with the lack of sleep and was growing ever more irritated by the squabble happening above her.
"They could be here any minute; We have to greet them home!" shouted Sokka.
"We have to have sleep, Sokka! It won't make any difference whether we see them now or in the morning!" Toph's voice rose, the atmosphere in the room becoming tenser by the minute.
"Do you know what, Toph?! It sounds like to me that you don't care whether or not you see Aang and Katara again! What's your problem?!" Sokka shouted.
"Sokka!" scolded Suki, her eyes flashing open in anger. "Don't say horrible things like-"
"Wait Suki!" shouted Toph, holding up her hand to silence the warrior as she turned her attention back to Sokka. "Maybe you're right, maybe I don't care."
A look of disgust formed on Sokka's features. His brows lowered as he clamped his jaw tightly closed in attempts to hold back angry vulgarities. How dare she say such a thing.
"Aang and Katara left us for four years! They didn't even bother writing us until today. For all we knew, they could have been dead! When I was all alone here, looking after the place myself, the never once came back to give me company. They didn't even care!" Toph was shouting at the top of her lungs now.
"Guys, quit this now! Both of you are acting like rotten kids!" shouted Suki, sitting up to create a visual wall between them.
"So you're angry at them because you feel sorry for yourself, huh? Well if you want to leave, that's fine. Aang and Katara were out restoring balance to the world. They did not have time to worry about such childish and irrelevant things as babysitting you. If you really just don't care about seeing them again, then you can leave!" Sokka ranted at her, flames of anger burning in his eyes.
At that, Toph rose to her feet indignantly and stormed out of the house, slamming the sliding door like an angry child as she went.
Sokka and Suki listened to the feet stomping down the stairs and on to the street as Toph left the home. Suki rose to a sitting position and irritably smacked Sokka on the side of the head.
"Well you've done it now, Sokka. Look what has resulted from this!"
Sokka violently whirled to face her, still fuming from his recent fight.
"She deserved every bit of it! She didn't even care that they were coming home! Why are you siding with her?!"
Suki smacked her forehead, obviously loosing the last bits of patience and reserve that she had left.
"Of course she cares Sokka! She's just a sixteen-year-old girl; she's emotional about their return because she was hurt. You didn't have to blow up on her like that!"
"Me? She's the one that reacted like a baby!" Sokka crossed his arms and glared towards the front door.
"You are acting like a baby right now," Suki snapped back.
Sokka's glare shifted to his girlfriend, "Maybe I'm tired, ever considered that?"
Suki's gaze softened at that. She realized that they were on edge from the lack of sleep. Perhaps a nap would do them good.
"Sokka, I think we should try and get some sleep."
"No, I want to be awake for when Aang and Katara arrive. You can though," Sokka said stubbornly, motioning for her to lay in his lap.
Suki obliged and laid her head to rest on his thigh. She closed her eyes and immediately felt the veil of sleep coming over her, but remembered something she had forgotten to ask Sokka.
"Will you wake me when they arrive?"
"Of course I will," Sokka responded as if it were a preposterous question.
"Goodnight" Suki said with finality as she closed her eyes.
Sokka stroked her hair, his eyes fixed on the front door. He felt himself begin to doze off and shook himself awake. He mustn't succumb to sleep. He had stayed up all night before and could do it again! He just needed someone to talk to… Suki was asleep and Toph was off sulking and pouting somewhere… he was so screwed.
A sound at the door stirred Sokka but after a few minutes of silence, he resumed his pondering. Just a little while longer and he—they'ed—he'd all—he wasn't making much sense any longer—tired?
Sokka collapsed onto the couch, the movement of his hip shifting Suki but miraculously not awakening. His snores soon rose to be overheard outside the villa.
Toph strode alone along the street, tears flowing from her eyes. Her shoulder-length hair was jumbled into a mess so that if anyone from the neighborhood were to have seen her, they would've mistaken her for a beggar.
Why had she said those horrible things to Sokka? He will never forgive her. She didn't even really mean them. She was not really that angry with Aang and Katara. She was angry with life and how unfair it seemed sometimes. She was angry with the Earth King for requesting her services so long ago and denying her the ability to travel with her friends and most of all, she was angry with herself for being alone for so long. She could have returned to her family during that time. Her parents hadn't seen her in years, but she never returned to them out of fear of missing her friends. Maybe that's what she needed now. As she turned the corner onto the main corridor leading to the different sections of the city, she sighed and hung her head in remorse and regret. She ascended some stairs to a shop entrance and hopped onto the wooden railing, dangling her feet into the air. She was now completely blind however she did not care the slightest. The feeling actually comforted her. She felt that when she escaped sight, her mind could relax and she could hide from her problems. It was rather liberating, hanging blindly from the railing of that shop. As Toph sat with tears still flowing from her cheeks, she was unaware of the sky bison that landed a few yards away from her.
Light poured into Sokka's face as the morning sun rose above the trees outside. He yawned and stretched his arms, looking down at his hip to see his beloved Suki still sleeping in the shadows. He became entranced by her serenity; he loved watching her sleep.
Suddenly he was woken up out of his daydream by the realization that he'd fallen asleep during the night.
"Crap, they could already be here!" he hissed to himself.
He slowly rose, carefully resting Suki's head onto the couch. The room appeared the same as it did last night. Sokka tip-toed to the front door, cracked it open and peered out onto the street. The usual morning traffic was up and about but there were no signs of the bald monk or the Watertribe master anywhere. Sokka crossed the common room and leaned through the opened window in the back to check the stables. There wasn't a giant sky bison grazing in his pen either.
Sokka sighed and pursed his lips together in thought. Well, at least he had not missed their return. Even so, that did not seem as important to Sokka now. He didn't care how they returned; he simply longed to see both of them back in his life again.
A crash from the kitchen snapped Sokka out of his thoughts. It sounded as though someone had dropped a large metal item to the floor.
"Damnit, Toph," Sokka muttered. "She'll wake Suki if she keeps it up. I didn't know she even liked to cook."
He made his way towards the kitchen to investigate the sound. Maybe she was making him breakfast this morning as a way to apologize for the fight last night. Sokka frowned slightly at that, regretting what he said to his friend. It might have really hurt her.
He entered the kitchen prepared to apologize and opened his mouth to do so when the words caught in his throat. The girl standing at the sink with her back facing him was not Toph. She was about a foot taller than Toph. Her thick, dark brown hair hung in waves down her back, flowing below her waist. Her dark skin glowed in the morning light against her light blue silk dress as she hummed softly to herself, unaware that someone was standing behind her. Sokka stared, unable to speak with his unresponsive brain. She was standing in front of him.
"K-k," he stuttered so softly that he could barely make out his own voice. The girl did not turn or have seemed to have heard him. Suddenly, from the depths of his heart there rose an emotion, charging up through his body to his brain. His voice was no longer caught in his throat from shock.
"Katara!" he belted with joy.
The girl turned, her hair fanning out as her face came into view. Her crystal blue eyes lit up upon seeing her brother.
"Sokka!" she shouted, bounding towards him.
"Katara!"
They met in an embrace, laughing the whole time as Sokka spun her about.
"I haven't seen you in so long! Look at how you've grown; you've made a beautiful woman!" Sokka exclaimed, releasing her from his embrace.
She backed up, smirking as she did.
"You don't look so bad yourself, Sokka. You look a lot like Dad now… well, without the beard and the wrinkles and the long hair." She burst out into laughter and Sokka did the same.
"Where's Aang and Appa?" asked Sokka after he stopped laughing. "I looked out back but Appa wasn't in his stables."
"They've gone to meet with the Earth King." Katara replied, pulling her hair out of her flawless face. "I wanted to stay here and be with the two of you when you got up. Toph went with Aang. Speaking of the two of you, how have you and Suki been?"
"Great!" Sokka smiled. "I did a couple of jobs for Dad while you two were gone but other than that we've stayed right here in Ba Sing Se."
"That's great. I'll tell you more about what we did when Aang gets back from his visit. He should be back any-"
Katara needn't to finish her sentence as a loud groan from Appa signaled that the spoken boy had returned. The two jogged out of the kitchen and into the common room as the front door slid open to reveal two figures. Toph stood by a tall young man with shaggy black hair cropped short with a blue arrow pointed down his forehead. He was dressed rather humbly in an orange airbender monk tunic compared to Katara's blue silk dress. He currently wore a goofy grin and ran up to Sokka as he entered the room with Toph.
"Sokka! It's really you—I haven't seen you in forever!" Aang cried as he collided with the warrior.
"Aang! How are you and how did you grow to be as tall as me?!" Sokka exclaimed brightly.
Aang laughed with his large grin as Momo entered the villa and perched upon his shoulder.
"We've been so busy the last few years; I'm so glad that we are back home!" Aang exclaimed.
"Hey there little buddy," smiled Sokka as he scratched Momo behind the ears.
"We can catch up during lunch." Aang said as he watched Suki rise sleepily from the couch. "But for now, since everyone is up, Katara and I have an announcement to make. Zuko already knows but the rest of you have yet to be filled in."
He turned to Katara as if to silently ask if he could reveal their secret. She smiled and nodded, but before they could speak, Toph stepped forward and motioned to Sokka to draw his attention away from the others.
"Before you do, I have something to say." Toph sighed, looking up and touching Sokka on the shoulder. "I'm sorry about last night and I didn't mean what I said. Can you forgive me?"
Sokka smiled at the blind girl and nodded his head. "Of course I can. Can you forgive me for what I said to you?"
"I don't know, Meatbrain," Toph smiled factiously, sounding like her old self. "You might have to clean my room for a few weeks before that happens."
They laughed as Suki rose to join them, greeting Aang and Katara with a hug. "What was the announcement you were going to make?" she asked.
"Well," began Aang, holding Katara's hand.
"Were engaged," finished Katara, smiling at the gasps from the others.
"You're… you're what?!" Sokka asked shrilly, his voice breaking similarly like how it did four years prior.
The couple laughed as sounds of applause and congratulation rose from the group. Sokka rushed forward to hug them both.
"This calls for a celebratory feast!" he announced, pointing his index finger into the air regally. "To Iroh's tea shop!"
The group agreed vocally with cheers as they exited the house and walked down the stone street, their laughter filling the corridor as the troubles of the night before were washed away by the new feeling of completeness. They were together now, the family was reunited. Through tough struggles and even long periods of absence, they were all inseparably close and with each other; they would take on any challenge that lay ahead. But for Aang and Katara, the return to their family in Ba Sing Se was the missing piece in their life that they found to be the most treasurable of them all (besides each other, of course).
Well, what did you guys think? Sorry again for the huge gap in the update. I will continue to write this summmer, peace.