Together

Toph looked the small child in the face. Her new found sight had brought a lot of pain and sorrow into her life, but this, this was different. This was beautiful like nothing she had ever seen. This was pure innocence. The baby in her arms wriggled around, but Toph just smiled. She was beautiful and healthy. Perfect was the word Toph used to describe her.

Lin had brought worlds of happiness and stability to Toph's life. Toph loved her more than anything. "Lin, we're Earthbenders, we can make it through anything. Even without a man in our lives. Besides, we're stronger without men, they make things super complicated. We'll get through this together." Toph whispered into her child's hair.

"Is that really how you feel?" A man said from the doorway.

Toph rolled her eyes. "Hey Sokka; what're you doing here?" She said, slowly standing.

"Isn't obvious? I came to see you and this little tyke." Sokka said, crossing the room to where Toph stood. He let Lin grab his finger. "How are you doing?"

Toph fell silent. "I'm surviving." She said after a short period of silence.

Sokka pulled the Earthbender and her baby into his arms. "There's room for improvement there." He said jokingly. "I'm here to help."

Toph hesitated a moment. "I'll go put Lin down. Can you start on the dishes?" She asked him.

"Yes ma'am." Sokka said, already crossing over into the kitchen. He was elbow deep into the soupy suds by the time Toph emerged fifteen minutes later. She silently got to work by his side.

Pretty soon, she was elbow deep beside him. Then, a devious thought appeared in her prefrontal cortex. She flipped a wad of suds into his wolf-tail. He didn't notice at first but after he had a growing pile of suds in his hair, he caught on. "So this is how you wanna play, huh? Force me into slave labor, then punish me by flicking soap into my hair? Oh, it's on."

He wiped a handful of suds onto her arm. She returned the favor. When he spread a handful of soap onto her cheek, fingers lingering just a little too long, she piled soap on top of his head and squished it so his eyes were covered. This won the fight.

A smug smile crossed Toph's face as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Bubbles dropped to the point where they almost covered her eyes. Sokka stepped closer to her and wiped them a way, his fingers lingering in her hair. Their faces drew closer and closer. Lips almost brushed when Lin started screaming. "I'll get her." Sokka said, sidestepping past her.

Toph was so stunned; she didn't even mutter a reply. Suddenly, she heard something from the bedroom—or more of, a lack of something. "Sokka?" She called slowly.

"Yes?" He said, holding a sleeping Lin in his arms and emerging from the darkness of the hallway.

A smile spread across Toph's face. He was going above even her expectations. "Wow." She gasped, taking in the scene of Sokka holding a sleeping child—a scene she had never seen before.

"What, you've never seen a Sokka put a child to sleep?" Sokka asked.

Toph shook her head, mouth still gaping open. Sokka looked hurt. "I'm kidding Meathead." She said, lightly punching him in the shoulder. Sokka chuckled, pulling her into a loose hug.

"Toph?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

"We can do this." He held his hand for her to grab. "Together?"

"Together." Toph said grabbing his hand.