Author's Note: Of course the whole chapter has the vibes of the song "Somebody Else" by the 1975.

"Isn't it weird Suki already went to sleep this early?" Toph asked Katara, as the older girl sighed. The moment she saw Sokka enter her room knew they had talked, and judging by Sokka's expressions, one could tell it didn't end well.

"The elephant in the room is clear" Zuko spoke sipping some tea, watching Aang and Sokka throw boomerangs outside.

Katara frowned at him, on how careless he was acting towards the couple.

"It doesn't mean we have to sit here and do nothing" She replied, looking at her cup for some inspiration on how to mend things between them.

Suki and her got a complicated relationship after the whole Zuko incident, it did made her act irrational and overprotective of her brother, specially after getting the new knowledge that he had tried before to end his life.

Now, the Kyoshi warrior functioned like an older sister, someone who she could talk freely and frequently about everything and anyone. As much as she loved her brother, their strained friendship would suffer because of it.

"We can't do something, they are both adults." Zuko said motionless, pouring more tea.

"I mean, is not like both hate their guts, they have recently become the Mai and Zuko of the team" Toph joked, eating some cookies Katara put on the table. The firelord shot her a dirty look before rolling his eyes.

"Ha ha. Your jokes have fallen flat lately" He answered reaching for a cookie.

"But she didn't lie about that" Katara replied "They have probably ended the relationship for good"

"But why?" Toph asked more puzzled, knowing about the engagement necklace and Suki's brainstorming. "Suki was really happy for both of you to come here, specially after the new city announcement"

"Was she?" She asked looking at the door, waiting for some movement.

"Mhm" Zuko chimmed in "We were actually waiting for both of you so we could plan a name and start the whole construction"

"I am sure Sokka will choose a name, a stupid one" Katara rolled her eyes smiling.

"Let's not get away from the point…"

"There is no point to be made, Toph" Zuko answered, annoyed "Let them fix or end their own relationship"

"You're just jealous"

"Still?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and stood up, planning to boil some mint tea so the older girl would relax. "They have no idea about all the screw ups Sokka has done" he thought mixing the infusion on the teapot, a flame in his palm as the water warmed.

Toph punched his leg, causing it to flex and briefly loose his balance.

"Are you planning on picking up Suki?" She asked, placing her arms on the counter.

"Yes"

"Because you want to be in a relationship with her?" the girl questioned

"Not really"

Toph blinked a bit amused at him telling the truth.

"You have stopped looking at her…"

"I didn't say that. It's her will whom she might choose as a partner. For the moment, I will nurse her and help her, hopefully, with Ty Lee, to get over Sokka" He explained as he reached for new cups to pour the liquid.

"But why? You know they both…"

"You mean Sokka didn't tell you? He almost got engaged and he willingly did more stuff with this lady" Zuko said a bit bitter, clenching his teeth.

Toph was now upset, looking at the direction where both friends kept laughing and playing with the older boy boomerang. She walked with decision, her fist clenched as she opened the door.

"Toph?" Zuko asked as he carried the container with the tea, unsure of intervening with whatever Toph was planning to do with Sokka.

Toph clenched her teeth, annoyed and angry at his indecision.

"Hey Toph! Do you want to…"

A block of earth rose under the Avatar as he flew to the sky, controlling his landing with more earthbending.

"I need to talk to this jerk, alone" The earthbender said cracking her knuckles, as Sokka looked at her confused.

"Jerk? I'll show you" He said charging straight to her, being no contest to Toph, she simply built a big earthbox around them, stopping Sokka on his steps.

"I'll beat the crap out of you. What happened with Suki?" She asked putting in position as Sokka guard lowered.

"What..? Why.."

"Because you wanted to be betrothed to her didn't you? What changed? What made you mess up again?" Toph clenched her fists tighter, as Sokka's face dropped.

"I…I discovered something about myself when talking to Yue"

"The moon spirit"

"Yue. Princess Yue. Anyway, why am I explaining this to you?" Sokka shot back angered. "Thanks for checking up if I was fine! I am okay, thanks.."

"Sokka!"

"Okay! What else you need to know? I fucked up, that northern tribe girl? I fell for her briefly, she was…so easy to hang out with. I could forget about problems, the darkening..she even tried to help me win Suki back"

Toph kept staring at his direction with a strong frown on her face. The features of the earthbender had grown to be fearsome the more angered she was, something that was not that common since she always had the upper hand fighting.

Sokka gulped, knowing he was about to be scolded.

"She was just…real. I get to know her, see her vulnerabilities and aptitudes…Suki…I only see this face of Suki" He tried explaining with his body, thinking fast in a way to rephrase it.

"What face?" Toph asked annoyed and confused, tapping impatiently the floor with her feet.

"This good face. Or really bad face. There is no middle ground. And even if I get to see her vulnerable or more…confident…it doesn't seem to be reciprocated. Is like she is only taking care of me, nursing me and not letting me in"

"Well, if you expected that to change after this…"

"I did not expect anything. We were doomed from the beginning. I want her to grow and be this amazing person…and fall in love again with her."

A rock hit Sokka's cheek, as Toph trembled in anger.

"I can't believe you rather have something easy than fighting for something…"

"I have already fought a lot! I can't make her trust me! What else am I suppose to do?" Sokka pleaded dropping to his knees, the sadness he had tried to bury doing anything was being exposed.

"You are supposed to keep holding on! Talk, and talk and.."

"We don't have time for that. Not anymore" Sokka said standing up and putting himself in front of Toph.

"You do have time, you always made it. You are telling Mr. planning guy can't think of anything…anything to fix this?" Toph reprimanded hitting his stomach, making him bend over in pain.

As he coughed, his memories and stadistics on how the relationship would go played. The chat with Toph made him reconsider the reason he wanted to be far away from her.

"I want to fix her. I want her to be happy, even if it's not by my side"

Toph kept quiet, as she remembered the incident with the Jenamite. Her knuckles cracked as she moved her hand freely, trying to not show any expression.

"Aang wrote to me about the attack….I felt…useless. Because I know she was probably out of her mind because of me" Sokka reflected, unaware that Toph's soft expression was not by that particular incident.

"So you still love her…."

"Enough to let her go" Sokka concluded, his voice deep and hurt. "In the road I will try to fix myself, without any girl in Republic City"

"Where?"

"Right, I named the new city Republic City" Sokka mumbled blushing "Suki told me she voted for me to pick a name"

Oh. Toph was now silenced, still angered at the lack of maturity he showed on his trip to the Northern Tribe. Even if his intentions were now pure and correct, the way he got to that conclusion still bothered her.

"I will go on and check Suki" Toph said shifting the area again, letting Sokka look at the sunset in their yard.

"Please…" Sokka whispered, as Aang and Katara looked scared at their friends who just had fought.

Zuko sat on the floor looking at her friend sleep, he couldn't remember how many hours have gone by, sitting there, not wanting to disturb how peaceful she looked. The chaotic days before the siblings came to their place reminded him why he wanted to be more of a good friend then an opportunist: He promised to himself Suki wouldn't feel alone anymore.

She had their group, where she might feel all would pick a side. Not him. He was as loyal to her, knowing well the feeling of loneliness. The tea by his side was starting to get cold, he noticed by how little smoke was coming out of it.

He placed the small teacup in his hand, warming it. He had started to like the taste of mint tea, sharing it with Suki and Ty Lee in his barely free time back in the fire nation. The door creaked open, Toph stepping inside the room.

Zuko tapped softly his side, where she sat comfortably. Both sat there in silence, the younger girl playing with her fingers as the firelord inhaled the essence of mint. Suki moved a bit at the sound of Toph sitting on the floor, hugging more the silk pillow between her arms and legs.

"You think if we start talking she will wake up?" Toph asked him, a bit of sarcasm in her tone.

"Of course, I would rather have her sleeping" He replied whispering, annoyed at the imprudence.

"I am not one to put my nose in someone's business, but right now I need to talk to her" She said reaching for the bed before Zuko jerked her back to the floor.

"Let her sleep, there is time still for all of us to hang out"

"I am not sure if the time will be as longs as we thought" Toph said gesturing the door and the bed. "She has slept an entire afternoon and night, the suns up again"

"I can hear you" Suki mumbled, sitting up in the bed, looking tired. "Can I help you?"

"We wanted to know how were you" Zuko said, giving the cup of tea. Suki took it, but didn't drink it, staring blankly at it.

"I am fine, a little bit tired" She replied, sipping it.

"Fine? You zooted yourself because of him" Toph replied upset "That's why we are checking on you"

Suki moved to where Toph sat, patting her head. Toph scoffed as her pale cheeks turned crimson. Zuko smiled at the closeness of them.

"I will be fine, no one died because of a broken heart" she smiled as Toph smacked her hand.

"And I want to spend time with you"

"More time?" Suki asked giggling

"We will be leaving soon, I don't think we will see each other that frequent" Toph said, standing up. "Let's get up and fight, I am ready!"

Suki sighed, chugging the hot tea to wake up. "Will you come spare with us?" she asked Zuko

"I will be the referee" He joked, standing up and helping her get up. The trio left the room and immediately went outside were the ground wouldn't penalize them again. Suki drew her fans and Toph put on some gauntlets. Zuko sat on the nearby tree, looking at the girls going through the motions.

Seeing Toph loose on close combat was something amusing to watch, as the hours flew by. The earthbender wanted to get better since almost losing to her heart throbe, making Suki her teacher was the best move on her behalf, even if her patience was as short as the warriors hair.

"Darnit! Can you just stay put to touch you?!" Toph screamed, already tired and fed up. Suki got close trying to bait her, successfully doing it as she caught her arm and slammed her to the ground.

"It's part of the training! Don't think you are going to make it in one day!" Suki replied, preparing herself to fight as Toph got on her feet.

"Actually you can" An annoying voice said, disrupting his good mood.

Zuko saw from behind his crush, the ambassador Sokka with both hands on his hips, watching the fight.

"You got lucky I was bad at being bad" Zuko replied staring at him "Otherwise your way to prove your honor would have been demolished"

"Yeah yeah, I only heard that I gave you a run for your money" Sokka said dismissing him, walking to sit next to him. Toph caught up how Suki's heart rate went faster and knew she would probably not be focused enough.

And that was a problem. She ran to punch her directly with her hand, missing by an inch as Suki made her spin around. "I guess she is not that distracted by him" Toph thought standing up again, annoyed.

The tension between the older boys was still moderate, as they sat side by side in silence. The kyoshi islander tried to ignore the presence of both dear friends sitting there, eyeing from time to time those blue eyes who made her heart jump and drop at the same time.

Toph could tell this by her heart rate, the energy she was putting to stare (Something Toph considered creepy) at him would be taken to her advantage, after all, she had to win at least one match against her today.

As they circled each other, the blue eyes who followed her everywhere made her lower her guard again, licking her lips as the nervousness rose in her. "Why is he staring at us like that? Or at me? I haven't seen him stare at Toph at all" Suki thought as a pink tone coloured her cheeks at the same time as Sokka's.

"Oof!" Suki flew to the wall as the knuckle impacted her stomache, briefly loosing consciousness until she heard that scream. "She has a lot of force in her" She thought as she helped herself up.

"What? That's the point of training, don't try to lecture me" Toph said towards Sokka, already putting a fist up to fight.

"She has a point, and it was a valid reason to attack, Suki had her guard completely down" Zuko added as Sokka raged.

"You didn't need to send her flying!"

"I'm fine" Suki said getting closer to the trio, who forgot to actually help her up after Toph's punch. "Let's keep training"

"I don't want to anymore" Toph said smiling as Suki huffed, knowing she only wanted to made a point. "I will go and put my feet to rest, I have seen enough"

"Tomorrow morning we will train again" Suki said bowing, Toph didn't bow but tilted her head. "Close enough" Zuko thought with a small smile, that faded after seeing Sokka still with them.

"Can I help you with something?" Suki asked Sokka in her most I am -fine after a breakup- not a tear was shed. Zuko waited for an answer until he noticed Sokka was eyeing between both of them, trying to make her get rid of him.

"I think I would like to talk alone" Sokka finally said, Suki blinked, walking to Zuko's side, to his surprise.

"Well, I would love to talk alone, but I am in duty right now so, that is not possible" She answered, making him smirk a bit too much. Sokka frowned at the firelord, but said nothing and opted to focus on Suki.

"Alright. How are you feeling?" He asked with sincerity, grabbing his arm in shame. Suki was taken a back at his easiness in discussing their break up alone. She looked away in shame, the rush of adrenaline dying down and making her remember that they were -friends-

"I… why do you care?" She said a bit harsh, judging by the look on his face. "I am okay, I am not the sun with the turtleducks and airbisons but I'm fine"

"I just wanted to check on you…." He said looking down "I wanted to give you some privacy after all that happened"

"You know, you can go" Suki said walking away from him, Zuko turned around and walked until he heard the steps halt.

"Wait, I…I am sorry, again" Sokka said "I've been thinking and…maybe you were right"

Zuko face palmed himself, not bothering to be discrete about it. Suki turned around, her eyes wide and surprised. The couple stood staring at each other until Sokka let go of her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sokka asked embarrassed "You are always right anyway, in this case more than all of those other fights we had"

"Why are you telling me this?" She replied with a lack of breath, the exhaustion of the training making her supply of oxygen even shorter.

Zuko finally got the courage to look at the couple, not caring at all to look like a third wheel. He would take Suki's word, she as on duty, so he had to be close to her. Even if he was now bodyguarding her.

"I…feel the necessity to…be good with you. As I told you yesterday, you deserve better than me." Sokka said, repressing his urge to grab her hand. He was not sure if it was to spare themselves more pain or because Zuko's eagle-panther eyes were burning him to the deepest pits. "Man, I should…just go for it"

He did try to reach for her, but she rejected him.

"I already knew that, thank you" She said backing away "Let's just keep being civil alright? I don't want more problems"

"You are not a problem at all" Sokka said trying to explain, instead, digging himself deeper and deeper. Maybe it was his self preservation. "I just can't resist the beauty and curiosity of meeting new people"

Suki's face of shock was enough to be served a good punch. Something he wasn't sure why she didn't do as he bablered trying to fix his words.

"I mean…as an instinct to not get close and learn from them, I meant! Of course, nothing physical. The first time I met you I wasn't even attracted by your beauty….Not because you were ugly! Your persona…"

"Just.." Suki said clamping his mouth shut, as Sokka breathed heavily, feeling dumber than he has in his entire eighteen years. "Shut up. We are through, our love went…cold, you could say that. Let's not keep going in circles on why we couldn't be together"

"She looks hurt…" Sokka thought as he grabbed her wrist carefully, Suki's grips softening as she caressed his lips. "The makeup looks badass on her, but her natural beauty is just…" his train of thought was lost as he looked at her lips.

"You don't love me anymore?" Zuko rolled his eyes, if Azula saw his attitude, she would be very proud of how annoyed he was. "Of COURSE he is going to ask that" He thought

"I…I didn't said that" Suki replied stepping away

"You said our love…"

"I know, let me convince myself" Suki said hugging herself, looking small, something so uncharacteristic of her.

Sokka closed his eyes, "These thoughts, I need to get rid of them. That's why we broke up, because I can't see her as a whole character" he thought opening them again as Suki stood tall again, Zuko behind looking bored and annoyed.

He was not made of metal, he felt jealous of Zuko at this moment. But he was in no place to judge.

"Of course, whatever you need" Sokka said with a small smile, receiving one from Suki too.

"I'll see you around then" She said walking towards Zuko, stumbling as she grabbed his arm to not fall. Zuko only rose his hand to excuse himself, but was not happy at all the worlds exchanged between them.

" I don't want you with me…but I hate to think about you with somebody else…" Sokka whispered as he saw them enter the house. He grabbed his boomerang and decided to sit under the tree to sharpen it.

"We can all see that" Toph said startling him

"What the…Can you not do that?" Sokka said clutching his chest

"Or what? You don't stand a chance buddy" Toph said sitting next to him "I didn't heard anything you said to them, but I felt it"

"Yeah…I just…I felt bad after all the things you told me"

"As you should, I always mind my business but Bombshell is my business" Toph said in a defensive tone, as Sokka sighed, sharpening the boomerang.

"Alright" He just replied, ignoring her presence.

"Alright what? Can't you see the more time you spend apart the more this infection grows?" Toph said, trying to get his attention. Sokka continued going through the motions, of course what she said was true, but being together was not an option. At least not a healthy one.

"I just, want her to be happy. But seeing that…vulture over there.."

"He doesn't have that intention, I already read him"

"How can you be for sure? His sister was a master liar, remind you"

Toph punched his arm, almost making him cut his leg. Sokka looked annoyed at her, wanting to stand up before being buried in the earth.

"Okay, that's enough, cut it" Sokka said angered, people being too interest in his love life were starting to make him upset.

"No, listen to me" She said standing up and pointing at him. "Replacing Suki will not only made you lose her forever, but it will ruin you in the long run"

"When did I.."

"You don't have to say it! We already know you can't keep your word" Toph said unburying him.

"Yezz Beifong, thanks for your trust" Sokka said cleaning the dirt in his clothes, upset.

"Quit the moaning, you will only be more unstable and none of us will have time to pick you up that fast…"

"I already told you I would be alone in Republic City! What else you want me to tell you? That you are right?" Sokka screamed angered, startling for a moment the younger girl

"You don't have to tell me I'm right, of course I'm right" Toph smirked as she touched her chest, mocking him.

"You are not that correct, mind you, when we made out it did help me get my mind of Suki and this darkening" He said without thinking, regretting it immediately, as her knuckle contacted his face.

"Jerk, that was a…choice, to say the least" He stared cleaning the blood out of his nose "Suki won't heal if you keep being close, only reminding her of a failed future because you are a fucking selfish dipshit and she is madly in love"

The words stinged him, even if they were harsh, they were the truth. Being reminded of it constantly however, was something he had enough of it. None of his friends seemed to care enough for him or his well being.

"See you later" He said walking away towards the house, trying to find his sister to talk. She would give her a piece of her own mind too, but at least she won't be as harsh as all of his friends. As he entered, to his right were Aang, Zuko and Suki, playing with some cards. As Aang greeted him, he only rose his hand and walked away from the view, trying to keep his word to Toph.

He knocked on the door and quickly opened, finding his sister studying some of the scrolls that were so not there the day before.

"Hey sis, what are you doing?" He asked, sitting in front of her and moving his legs anxiously. Katara raised an eyebrow but kept her sight on the paper.

"Reading these things we were supposed to be signing before leaving. Are you finally going to help me?" She asked, pledging ignorance or truly not knowing. At least it would help him get them off his mind.

"Sure, I'll read this one" He said unrolling the scroll and reading it.

Zuko didn't want to put a pressure on the topic, as much as he was ticked off by the new information he heard. Playing a card game with tea was something his uncle would have suggested him to do whenever he got too much anger boiled on him.

So he placed the cards and the tea, being thankful that the Avatar joined them. The minutes were filled with laughter and, apparently, happiness in Suki. He couldn't remember the last time she smiled and laughed as hard as she was doing with the game.

"And I won again!" Aang said putting his perfect piece on the table, pulling out a groan from Suki before they both laughed.

"I think you are cheating" Suki said bopping him in the nose, as they both laughed. Zuko rested his head on his hand, smiling.

He couldn't keep relaxing or sit back and do nothing as she suffered from someone who willingly left her every single time. He picked up all the cards and started shuffling the dock, until a delicate hand stopped him.

He looked up and saw Aang trying to grab the dock from him.

"It's time for you to cook the dinner, Suki and I always cook it" He said smiling. Suki nodded enthusiastically, swearing he saw a small spark in her eyes, he agreed and began making his way into the kitchen.

"You better tolerate spicy food, other wise you will need Katara to heal your tummys" He said lovingly, as his friends giggled a the choice of words. He opted to cook some spicy noodles with fire flakes by the side, it couldn't be that hard for him. His cookers did it all the time.

Adding some chicken would be nice too.

In the end, Suki and Aang had to intervene before the whole house caught smoke and the foul smell of burnt chicken.

The scroll were neatly on the bag Katara and Sokka split, so they would put the official papers in. The smell of spices and burnt things gave them the clue that the chef of the day was Zuko, Katara caught the clue and tried to joke with it.

"You could say he got his hand burnt at the table" She said wiggling her eyebrows as Sokka stared at her blankly

"Is the joke in the other half or am I missing something?"

"Firebender burning his hand?" She explained with big gestures as Sokka judged her. "Oh forget it"

Sokka nodded and sat there, not being ready to leave the room at all. Katara prepared most of her room and bed trying to clue him that she wanted to be left alone to prepare some of her wedding schedule, so as a sister who constantly gave him oogies, she prepared a plan.

"Well, I'll sit here" She said opening up a book "With my wedding book"

Sokka stared at her in confusion as she swept to the pages.

"Preparing my wedding" He continued looking at her as if her head grew horns "and my wedding night"

That was the clue for Sokka to leave the room. He didn't. He leaned on the chair and crossed his arms, closing his eyes to sleep.

"Okay" He said getting use to the small chair in the room.

"Okay, you want to tell me something, don't you?" Katara said closing the book, looking with suspiscion. "Spit"

Sokka got her attention and looked vulnerable. His eyes were glossy, and his mouth twitched upwards, similar to those nights were both cried after their dad left the tribe.

"What happened?" She said scooting the chair closer and grabbing his hands. Sokka looked at the touch and choked a whimper, instead sobbing.

"I wanted to ask you something, of course" He said, trying his best not to shed a tear. Katara only nodded, waiting for him to continue at his pace.

"Take your time, I can tell Aang to bring us the food to my room" She said trying to relax him, causing the opposite reaction.

"No, it's okay. I don't think the talk will be that long" He said, keeping his gaze at their hands. "Have you ever, ever struggled with choosing two people you love?"

Katara gulped, remembering vividly how hard it was for her to choose between Zuko and Aang. In retrospect, Zuko didn't held a candle against Aang, but at the time it was a struggle to give all of her heart to one person.

She could have choose the one who she related the most, Zuko knew what it was to lose a mom, he is a candy eye and has the values of one in a million. But Aang? He is one in a million. Charismatic, gentle, tactful and patient, something she yearned and wanted in her life after all the madness.

"I do have." Katara replied, Sokka looked at her with tears falling down his cheeks. "But I think your case is different then mine"

"How is it different? You still struggled didn't you?" He said as Katara nodded

"Yes, I stopped my indecision the moment I realized what I wanted in my life" She answered as tactful as she could, while Sokka laid his head on the table.

"And how did you got to that point?" Sokka asked the obvious as Katara giggled.

"Well, you need to be sure of your values and what you are as a person" She answered, making him sigh. "Electra is right after all, and so is Yue. I need to find me" he thought, his face dropping.

"Yeah…just as I thought" he said closing his eyes.

"I have always wanted to be the one in the relationship that would support, make my own strong decisions with my partner being comprehensive, him being selfless, that he doesn't mind standing my ground against people who don't share my beliefs"

Sokka heard her list, nodding as Katara explained how she contrasted with Aang and how it helped the relationship grow and be stable. After some more adjectives, his eyes grew a bit at the conclusion that she had a personality real close to what his mom was.

"Tara…you do really share a lot in common with mom" He said, making Katara tear a little bit.

"You really think so?" She asked, smiling sadly

"I do"

The sibling shared a comfortable silence, thinking about their mom and the memories they could share to their own children one day. Sokka smiled at that time he said he wanted to marry his mom.

"Do you think I would have found someone to marry like mom?" He asked laughing, as Katara giggled.

"Maybe you haven't noticed" She said as he sat with a look of confusion in his face

"What?"

"Nothing"

"That was some bold statement" He said "You are saying…"

"Yes, Suki has some resemblance to mom, that's what I said" Katara said putting both hands up "She is gentle, fearsome, selfless and teamplayer. And will check anybody into place"

He stroked his chin, laughing at the absurdity of being Suki his soulmate and not being able to actually be with her.

"Do you think…what happened with mom…affected our way of showing love?" He asked, walking towards the window to stare at the moon, who was timidly showing up on the sky.

Katara thought about it for some seconds, letting him reflect on the feelings. At least he was not alone in having to choose between two people and breaking the heart of one of them.

"Yes, I do think so. But I think your losses have shaped you to a different path and wants in life" She said sitting by the window and staring at the moon, who was probably eavesdropping the conversation.

"I hope one day my path returns to Suki…" He whispered, almost as if wishing it too loudly would spike the opportunity for it to happen.

Katara leaned on him, as the siblings hugged. The serenity of the sky bringing them comfort before getting back on their tracks to adulthood.

I feel for Zuko's zero ability to cook lol