Chapter 1

"Will you all just hold still for a minute?" The water tribe boy shouted, followed by an exasperated sigh. Sokka sat to one side of the room, diligently working on his next "masterpiece". The war was now over, and Sokka wanted to paint a picture of all his friends, both old and new, to commemorate the occasion.

"There we are! Come take a look!" He excitedly cried. Everyone gathered around his work table and took a close look at his painting of them. Their silent, confused stares spoke volumes. One by one, they started chiming in with questions about what was happening in the picture, and why they didn't look anything like themselves. Sokka growled to himself and shoved the painting into his robe, where no one could make fun of it.

Seeing that Sokka was visibly irritated with them, his friends slowly drifted away from his work table to tend to other business. Iroh went back into the kitchen to fetch another pot of his famous tea. Zuko disappeared down a hallway with Mai, probably going to take care of some official business as the new Fire Lord. Momo scampered across the room, and then flew out the window in pursuit of some figment of his imagination. Aang turned and strolled out onto the patio, followed closely by Katara. For months now, Sokka had watched as Aang had fallen head over heels for Katara, and as Katara slowly admitted to herself that she was in love with Aang. He was proud of his sister and Aang.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He wondered why he didn't have the luck everyone else seemed to have. As this crossed his mind, his eyes and thoughts turned to the girl in question.

Suki had wandered off to take in more of the sights and sounds of Ba Sing Se. After they had reunited in the city square earlier that day, Suki wanted to come to terms with what their relationship was, and where it was heading. They had a long talk, but in the end, Suki decided she wanted to end things between them. She said she just wasn't feeling that "spark" she was looking for. She said she still wanted to be friends, and although Sokka was heartbroken, he agreed. Despite the fact that she had just shattered his heart, he still liked her as a friend, and didn't want to lose that friendship with her.

After his short but meaningful relationship with Princess Yue, Sokka had been scared to get into another relationship. Having such a great relationship end so suddenly and tragically dealt a heavy blow to his heart and ego. He decided to give upon dating for a while and just focus on the mission at hand. But then, when he least expected it, Suki came back into his life. Without even trying to, he realized that she was just right for him. He felt like she completed him. But now, it was obvious that she never felt the same way. Sokka started to think back through their relationship to see where things might have gone wrong.

However, Sokka's little trip down memory lane was cut short and he snapped back to the present when he heard a familiar voice calling.

"Hey, Snoozles!"

Sokka looked up to see his friend Toph sitting on the other side of the room, bending the meteor bracelet he had given her into various shapes. While he was lost in thought, he hadn't noticed that everyone but her had left the room.

"What's eatin' ya?" She asked him.

"Oh, um, nothing" He mumbled.

At this, Toph stamped her foot down on the floor as a harsh look swept across her face. Although she couldn't see him, she glared at him from across the room.

She growled at him "We both know something is wrong. Don't even try to lie to me, you know I can feel your pulse, and it says that something isn't right".

He blushed. "I really don't want to talk about it…" He mumbled softly.

When she heard the sincerity and hurt in Sokka's voice, Toph's body language and demeanor visibly shifted and seemed more sympathetic. She felt ashamed of herself for snapping at him when he was in such a sorry state. For one of the few times in her life, Toph had no idea what to say or do.

Sokka managed to gather up enough courage to quietly say "Suki…"

"Oh Sokka, I'm really, really sorry for you. Is there, uh, anything I can do for you?" Toph gently asked.

Sokka shifted a bit in his chair and faced away from her.

"Not that I can think of." He murmured.

Toph sat and puzzled over what to do. Then suddenly, her face lit up.

"I got it!" She exclaimed.

At this, Sokka turned his head toward her, his interest peaked.

"Huh?"

"I know what will make you feel better! Let's go to the zoo! You know, the one Aang built a while ago?" She said as she smiled from ear to ear.

"Oh… I don't know, Toph…" He sighed, got up from his seat, and started slowly walking towards the door.

"Please?" She pleaded. "I know we would both have fun!"

Sokka stopped in his tracks. He wanted to just be alone right now. But something about the tone of her voice won him over. Sokka thought that maybe what he needed was to do something fun to take his mind off of Suki. He also didn't want to disappoint Toph, who was very excited to go. He had never been to a zoo before, but had always wanted to. He turned to Toph and put on the best fake smile he could under the circumstances.

"Alright, deal."

"Yes!" Toph shouted as she ran across the room and gave Sokka a big hug. "It'll be fun, trust me!"