Sorry for the delay. Life had me crazy busy for a while.

Lin belongs to someone named Kanto, technically. Kanto was one of Toph's metalbending students. A cop. He got himself fried by a firebender who couldn't control his lightning. Toph had cried with Katara late, late into the night and said, "I didn't love him, but I liked him. I really liked him."

But she has Lin and she's fine. She fawns over her daughter, holding her close whenever she can, taking her maternity leave as long as she can. She trusts few people to care for Lin, but Katara is her favorite babysitter.

They spend far too much time around Katara's house. They are desperate. It gives them chances to sneak away, to be together, to kiss and grab in the shadows, the councilman and police officer, with some half-hearted attempt to keep it a secret. It would be a bit of a scandal, though not much of one. Neither is married, and Toph obviously isn't one to care about any of that womanly virtue nonsense.

Katara is a little more concerned, glaring at him while a young Bumi, settles on her hip. "I'm not okay with this, you know. Yeah, she's tough and all that, but she really cares for you, Sokka, and the least you can do is have the decency to announce you're dating instead of hiding it like you're ashamed of her."

"I've asked, Katara," he says, chuckling. "I asked her if she wanted to tell everyone we're dating, I even asked if she wants to get married."

She frowns. "You should get married."

He shrugs. "Toph's not going to get tied down with me. I'm just going to enjoy this for what it is."

She's quiet for a while. She tends to Bumi letting him suck on a bottle. He rolls around in her arms, so that holding him up takes so much work she can almost never attend to any other task. She squeezes him tight to her and looks at her brother. "But doesn't that hurt?"

"It'd hurt more if she married me and wasn't happy." He looks at her and sighs. "I just want her to be happy, even if that means that it's not a family like you and Aang have."

She clicks her tongue. "Do you really think she wouldn't be happy with you? She's clearly in love with you."

"Of course she's happy with me Katara." He takes Bumi from her with a smile. "So why change anything?"