Toph came through to the kitchen, toward the delicious smell of meaty goodness, he bet. She waddled toward her husband, wrapped in her silk green robe which now rose above her knees after her stomach grew three times it's size, and grinned at him.

"Awh, raccoon-wolf! You listened!"

Sokka smiled and kissed her forehead, "I couldn't really avoid it, now could I?" Ever since the first few weeks of her pregnancy, Toph had been craving every random type of meat she thought of, and would not so subtly hint at it. He had his suspicions that she was just using her pregnancy to get more meat, but it didn't bother him, he loved cooking for her.

As she began devouring her breakfast, he laughed, "It's not going to run off your plate!"

"Hey, I'm eating for two, aren't I?" She grinned cheekily at him. It always baffled him how familiar looks like that were to him, they'd smile the same when they were kids, but back then he'd never thought of how her entire face lit up when she smiled, how heart-stopping it was when she held his arm, how entirely perfect she was.

"So you say." She could hear the wink that accompanied it, but punched him in the arm anyway.

In the last year, a lot had changed, Sokka had moved out of the marital home he'd had with Suki, and Toph had left her parent's house. They'd bought a small stone cottage in the middle of a woods, it was covered in vines and rosedrop flowers, which filled the air with the calming smell, it wasn't too sweet, but it had a very peaceful affect on the people around it. When Sokka had been told the news, he'd pretty much insisted on investing in them; Toph had her fair share of mood swings normally, but her with added hormones? He shuddered to think...

Their home had a dirt floor that was so compactly patted down and smoothed over that you'd hardly notice, but Toph appreciated it so much that she'd almost cried when he arranged it, before she settled for a punch in the arm and a kiss on his forehead. The stone in her old home was useful for seeing, but it wasn't quite the same as direct contact with the earth beneath her feet, and for the first few days of living there, she'd walk around tapping her toes in contentment while lounging in front of their large fireplace. "You don't know how amazing this is. I can see perfectly, and I'm inside! In my own house!" She'd looked at him, her eyes shining, "In my favourite spot with my favourite person."

After breakfast, Sokka suggested they could go on a walk, Toph wasn't really fit for travelling in her condition, so it was good for her to have an excuse to get out of the house once in a while, and she was relieved to accept. As they strolled through the beautiful trees, the wind bristled through the newly jade green trees and the morning sun shone through the branches and hit her in a way that lit up her eyes and made her hair shine. Her skin was glowing and she looked totally different from that twelve year old kid that was his best friend so many years ago, but somehow exactly the same.

He supposed he must have made a noise of appreciation, because she turned to look at him, silent for a few moments before speaking, "Sokka..."

"Yeah?"

"Can you describe the forest for me? Is it beautiful?" This wasn't the first time she'd asked him, nobody had ever really tried to tell her what the world looked like before, though she loved hearing it.

"Sure," he took her hand and led her to a patch of grass that didn't have any nettles or ferns growing on it. The floor was damp with dew, so he drew his over-shirt and placed it on the ground for them, despite the brisk early morning chill that had him shivering violently for a few moments. His wife eased herself down and he supported her before she waved off his hand, still so determined to be independent.

She leant on him however, nuzzling into his shoulder as he began. "The trees stretch into the sky, like massive arms racing for the most sun, their bark is earthy coloured, and looks like a crocodile-lizard's skin... their leaves are this shape," he drew on her palm with his finger, "and they are all thousands of shades of green, everywhere in the forest, bright and shiny with drops of dew. The sun is a warm colour, shafts of light shining through all of them. The way they look dancing on your skin, by the way," he cupped her chin and kissed her softly, "is breathtaking." She took his hand, "The clouds look like floating sheets of sheep-pig wool, and they just march along across the sky, never minding anything or anyone, not a care in the world."

She looked up and him and gave him one of her rare, genuine smiles, no sarcasm or underlying meaning, just... happiness. He placed his hand on her beautifully round stomach and leant in to kiss her. She gasped, and he knew why, there were several knocks from tiny feet.

"It kicked!" She breathed.

"If it's anything like you, there'll be plenty where they came from!"

She snorted and pretended to go in for another kiss before landing a lick straight across his nose.

"Eww, if you weren't pregnant, I'd kick your butt for that!" he chuckled.

"You could try, Snoozles, but we both know who'd win that fight, even with my hands tied behind my back and shoes on!" She threw back her head and laughed diabolically.

Katara and Aang were due to arrive any day, and the baby was due to arrive any week, so Sokka was running around making sure the house was clean and there was enough meat to go around. Since Aang was a vegetarian and Katara hardly ate meat any more due to her husband's diet, Toph hardly thought it was necessary, he just loved an excuse to have excess meat kicking about.

Toph had the strongest urge to get everything ready for the pitter patter of little feet, and she went around baby-proofing the house, bending a crib and sending out hawky to request some blankets and toys from Sana, a merchant from a nearby village.

When at last the Avatar and their much appreciated healer arrived, they came with arm fulls of gifts and provisions from themselves and Zuko, who's palace they stopped by en-route from the northern Air Temple. Appa roared happily when Sokka ran out to greet them, though he was probably more interested in making sure Appa hadn't eaten Momo yet than anything else, Toph suspected that he was secretly paranoid about that...

He went for a hug off of his sister, but as soon as she glimpsed Toph, she choked in delighted and dashed over to her, embracing her as best she could around her ever growing belly.

Toph laughed, "Hey there, Sweetness! It's good to see you." there was a beat, "You know what I mean." They both chuckled at that, and went into the house gossiping like school girls while the men unloaded Appa and gave him and Momo their lunch.

When inside, Toph and Katara sat and the mood sobered somewhat. "It still hasn't really sunk in all the way, you know. You and Sokka. I know that's silly, seen as how far you've gone, but sometimes I wake up and feel like it must have been a dream."

Toph smiled, she remembered the day that should have been her wedding to Roal...

After he'd kissed her, her father demanded that everybody leave. When the room was almost empty, there was one woman who hadn't made any move to go. Her father approached her.

"Who do you think you are? I said everyone is to leave."

"I believe I'm an exception, sir."

"And what gives you that impression, young lady?"

"Well, since you don't seem to remember me, I believe that being the wife of the Avatar and the sister of your son-in-law to be is excuse enough to stay." Katara sounded shocked, but resolved in getting past him, and he quickly conceded.

She then ran over to them, then, tears streaking her laughing cheeks.

"Well, this was eventful." Aang choked, raising his eyebrow but struggling to retain his Avatarly composure in the light of the grin playing at his lips.

"Katara!" Toph was so shocked by her presence that she used her real name, she'd almost forgotten that Aang was there. It would make sense that he'd bring the love of his life.

Katara couldn't speak, her jaw was almost touching the floor, and compromised for just hugging her.

After a few minutes of speechlessness, she finally got out something; "You know, I didn't really like Suki or Roal anyway."

Katara smiled down at Toph's stomach, then back up to her. "Sokka was so sad for so long. When I see him now, it's like he just dove into the Spirit Oasis, he just looks so... Content. I hardly know how to describe it."

The thought of him in pain made Toph's stomach clench, not only for his sadness, but the fact another woman caused it. "...Did he love her? You know, more than me?"

The question took Katara off guard, and she sat for a moment in silence. This was something that Toph had agonised over occasionally. What if she was just his second, or third, prize? She knew Sokka loved her, and she would settle for having him and coming in third place rather that not have him at all, but she needed to know.

"Sokka loved Suki. He loved Yue even more, I think, and both heartbreaks have been something horrible to witness." Toph sighed, she'd expected this, but didn't want to hear it. "But, after Yue, you were one of the first people I saw him warm to. I don't think he knew it at the time, but you helped him more than anyone realised, not as a lover, obviously, but a friend. A best friend." Toph closed her eyes- an instinct, she supposed, since it didn't make a difference- and inhaled. Friendship. The limitations of that word were so pronounced for so long that it gave her a headache just thinking about it. "You were so young then, I think we all thought of you as a little sister, Sokka especially, as the eldest. When Suki came along, I think he found something that he couldn't have, and I doubt he'd even considered with you at the time."

She knew he hadn't realised how head-over-bare-heels she'd been with him, and she felt like kicking herself for how she'd craved his attentions for so long.

"But after Suki left him, I would come to his house sometimes with Aang, just so he'd have some company. It was worse than Yue, and do you know why?" Toph shook her head, "Because he wasn't just heartbreak, he felt so much guilt. He felt stupid that he didn't listen to your advice, guilty that let you go. He never said much about it to me, but one night when I was visiting, he fell asleep on the rug, I covered him with a blanket to warm him, but he kicked and struggled in his sleep, and he started to mumble." Katara's voice shook, "He just kept asking someone to come back. He was scratching at the walls desperating. He got louder, and he just began to cry a name."

Suki. Toph thought sadly. She'd not deserved Sokka, he might act like a warrior all the time, but he was very sweet at heart. When she left him, he wouldn't have known what to do with himself. It infuriated her, she infuriated her. "Suki." Toph shook her head.

Katara put her hand over her clenched fist. "The name he said was Toph. I remember him yelling for you to come back. Begging you to stay." Toph's eyes widened, and her heart broke for the man she loved. "I tried everything to calm him down, hugging him and speaking to him, eventually, I don't know why I did it, to wake him up? Out of frustration? Because he kept mentioning you? But I punched him in the arm. Hard. Do you know what he did then? He rubbed his arm, smiled, and said 'you came back'. He may have loved Suki, Toph, but he loved you more before he even knew it himself."

Sokka came bounding in then, with yet more items, and yelled in glee when he spotted something, "Toph, Toph, look! A frog-slug whistle!" he proceeded to go around blowing into it as hard as he could, dropping everything else.

Her sadness melted away with the smile in his voice, still the gawky teenager he was all those years ago. He may have matured in his head, but sometimes his child like heart won out. "I think that's for the baby, Snoozles."

He stopped playing and came skipping toward her, "I know dear," he put a joking snobbery on the last word, "I was just giving it a test run!" and he planted a kiss on her lips before leaving to get more things outside, where they heard the faint whistle start up again.

While Sokka was unpacking all of the goodies that they'd received, he spotted a small, wrapped package. It was different from the rest, which came in paper bags and tied in blankets; it had green paper enveloping it, and a red ribbon that tied it together. He carefully opened it, and found a miniature warrior's fan, blunt, but replica nonetheless. It came with a note

I hope it's a girl.

S

Suki. His chest tightened, but in a different way that he was used to. It used to feel like Sparky Sparky Boom man was aiming right at his heart. But now it was more like nostalgia. He found himself thinking something that he'd not really meant before, although he'd repeated it again and again to people when they brought her up. I hope she's happy, because he was.

Katara, Toph and Sokka were in the living room one evening, under blankets discussing baby names with Jasmine tea that Iroh had sent them warm in their hands. It had been several weeks since they'd arrived, and their healer was determined to make it as stress free as possible for Toph. The fire crackled and the room was filled with incense, Toph was lying on her husband, and would nod off occasionally, and they allowed her those minutes of bliss; she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep lately, with her morning sickness and the active feet in her womb.

Aang entered the room nervously, he'd been keeping to himself a lot lately, sending hawks to mysterious receivers and murmuring to himself when he didn't think anyone was listening. The scrolls he'd been trying so hard to keep discreet were in his hands when he approached them.

"What's up, Twinkle Toes?" Toph mumbled, aroused from her latest nap.

Sokka and Katara looked around questioningly, and he gave a weary smile.

"Um... I've been working on something for a while now. I mentioned it to you in passing once Katara, but I don't think you realised how serious I was about it. As you guys know, Zuko's been having problems with the fire nation colonies, some people don't want to leave their homes, others feel that since it was their ancestors that owned the land, think it should be theirs. I was racking my brain trying to think of a solution, I'm the peace keeper of the world, after all, and I kinda had an idea to try and persuade people to live together, you know, make an example." He stood there awkwardly, half holding out the scrolls.

"Well go on then!" Toph had awoken more, and her hormones made her pretty irritable, not that anyone blamed her, she was massive.

Aang came forward and spread out the scrolls in front of them, it was filled with sketches and numbers, and Katara gave the question everyone was hesitant to ask; "What is it?"

He looked into their eyes, each in turn, though Toph felt the stare rather than saw it, before he prodded the paper, "Republic City."

Their Avatar chatted animately about his ideas, they involved everything from councils representing every nation to an island for air benders of the future, it turned out that he'd been in contact with Zuko, and the Earth King and the Tribe chiefs and they'd been debating and altering the plans for some months now. It had been decided that it would be situated in the Earth Kingdom, where it would be habitable for everyone- unlike the water tribes- and where the problems were arising with the colonies. Everybody had plenty of questions, and when they were all answered, there was silence as they sat and contemplated the ideas swimming around.

Sokka was the first to speak, he stood up, stretching, and took Toph's hand, "I think it's time for my little lady to get some proper rest, guys!"

Toph scoffed, "It's not that late!"

"Okay, okaay, maybe it's not sleep I want." He laughed.

There was a chorus of eews from Aang and Katara. It seemed that even with pretty damning evidence in front of them, they still weren't willing to think that their darling friends had went very far in their relationship.

She stood up, laughing, and bid the others goodnight. When they reached their room, Sokka laid her on the bed and kissed her gently, working his way down her neck. She giggled at the tickling sensation, he finally reached her stomach and he lay his ear to her, waiting to see if the baby was awake and kicking, it was. After a few minutes lying like that, he returned to lie next to her, holding her close until they both fell asleep.

Katara was awoken by an earthquake. It was unheard of, she'd never known of any in the southern Earth Kingdom. Aang felt it too, and threw himself up but seconds after herself. Her first thought was of her friend and brother; a scream sounded from the other room, and her heart stopped. Who was hurt? What had happened? A million horrible scenarios ran through her mind as she and her husband sprinted toward them. They flung open their bedroom door and saw Toph sitting on the side of her bed with her feet clenched into the floor, Sokka looking shocked and worried behind her.

"Toph! What's happening?"

"Looks like they weren't false pains this time."

Over the last few months Toph would occasionally get labour cramps, but they would go away pretty quickly. She cottoned on then, the bed had a large wet patch and she breathed, "The baby's coming!"

The men left and Katara took Toph through all the steps, laying her on the bed and making sure she everything was going okay. The screaming intensified as Sokka sat and paced anxiously, and Aang sat clenching eyes shut. This was one type of suffering he could do nothing about. Sokka ran errands, getting drinks and cleaning a surface, grabbing towels and blankets, and anything else he could think of. At least his sister didn't need him to get ice, her bending sorted that out, to Toph's relief. He was guilty, but incredibly excited, he'd always wanted a child; Suki hadn't been too keen on the idea, and had deflected the topic on several occasions. He hadn't put it down to anything other than dedication to work, but in hindsight, it might have been dedication to Haru.

After countless hours of angst and pain, there was silence, the two men looked at each other, wide eyed, and it was broken by a shrill crying. Katara started yelling something to Toph, and there was fresh screaming. That moment may have been one of the worst of Sokka's life. What had happened? Was it one of his worst nightmares being realised? Unable to keep himself from the room, he tried to push open the door, but couldn't manage it, throughout the labour, Toph had used more and more earth bending on accident, and he suspected that something had fallen in front of the door. Sokka went to Aang and begged him to open the door, his friend immediately removed the rubble, and the two burst into the room. The room was filled with wailing.

Sokka looked straight to his wife, her chest was heaving, but she wasn't the one making the noise, in her arms was a beautiful baby with lightly tanned skin. It's vibrant green eyes went to his and on it's head it had an adorable tuft of black hair.

He was speechless for a second, before he could bring himself to ask, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Toph smiled down at the baby and up to him, "He is a perfect little boy." They had a son. He could hardly breath, pride ebbed from his body, and although he was ever so slightly sad that his image of a miniature Toph was swept away for the time being, he couldn't repress his yelp of excitement. It was all so real so suddenly, they were truly a family. "A boy." He breathed.

"This one, however," Katara turned around to face them, "is a perfect little girl." In her arms she held another baby, identical to the last, but with clear blue eyes.

"Wha- How- Is-?" He gave up on speech, and ran to his sister, kissing her cheek and taking the baby from her. The little girl bubbled drool, and he gave a little laugh, cooing and rocking her back and forth. He went to his wife, tears streaming down his cheeks and kissed her and their little boy. He had heard about this kind of surprise in pregnancies, but had never once suspected that they would be so damn lucky.

Toph's tears came freely, washing away those of pain, and replacing them with ones of joy. She had felt unusually big, but then, she'd never been pregnant before. They had two children; two, that word kept ringing in her ears, they were hers, hers and Sokka's. She could feel her husband shaking with happiness, and she looked up to him, without needing to verbally communicate the desire, traded, and she held her little girl in her arms for the first time.

There had been times in her life that she'd wished she could see, the way Sokka described the world made her yearn for a glimpse, but now, when she held her child in her arms... Nothing could compare to the sorrow of never seeing them. She wondered if they looked like her, if they looked like Sokka, when her husband had described the forest, she wondered what green looked like, but when Katara told her that her son had the same colour in his eyes, she would have endured ten labours to know. She held her daughter, felt her perfectly smooth skin, her tiny body, her soft patch of hair, and she made do, because there was no point in mourning something that couldn't be helped.

She felt the mattress press down, and Sokka cuddle in beside her, smothering her face with kisses. Something that she herself would be reserved to do, how covered in sweat she must be. Katara patted her down with a cold cloth and Toph thanked her for it.

"I'm an aunt..." Katara giggled, "Who knew that you'd beat me to parenthood, Ponytail."

Sokka threw her a look, but laughed anyway.

"I think we'll give you a little time alone." She sighed wistfully.

"But, but, I haven't held one yet!" Aang interrupted.

Toph laughed at his dismal tone, and handed him their little girl. He bounced forward and lifted her as carefully as he could, she could hear his awed intake of breath, and he nuzzled his nose to hers, whispering something about him being her uncle Aang. Somewhat reluctantly, he returned her, and left the room with his wife.

The two sat in silence, Sokka planting kisses all over her, murmuring about how amazing she was. She heard a distant tapping, but she wasn't surprised, cards and packages had been arriving constantly over the last few day, and she could distinguish the sound of a hawk's tap on her window by now. She ignored it, and for a few minutes they cuddled into each other, pacifying their respective charge and keeping them from tears.

There was a knock on the door, and Toph knew, even without bending, that it was Katara, she entered slowly, with a small package that she'd already unwrapped, but had redone shoddily.

"Toph... I'm not sure what good it'd do now, but you just received a package from Paku and Gran Gran, I can only assume it was meant to get here before the labour, but... It's a vial of spirit water."

Sokka knew what that meant, an extraordinary poultice that magnifies healing powers tenfold. It would have surely stopped the pain of labour, but it well past the time of that use.

Katara looked up at Toph, seemingly having an inner debate, and asked her, "What is it that you wish for the most, right now?

Toph knew that there was no point lying, and was too drained to think of a less depressing answer for her friend. "To see my them." She sounded frail, even to herself, as she directed her sightless eyes to the small babies in their arms.

Katara took a deep breath, "Would you like me to try and make that happen?"

Toph looked up, baffled, "There's nothing you could do, Katara."

She shook her head, wordlessly, "This water is from the northern Water Tribe oasis, it has properties far beyond normal ability."

Toph felt her baby stirring in her arms, and grabbed Katara's hand, "If there's any hope..."

Katara brought out water from the vial to each hand, and brought them to her friend's eyes.

Toph sat perfectly still as Katara tried to help, she knew it was useless, but she wanted to make one hundred per cent sure, indulging a fantasy that everyone knew could never come true. After she felt the warmth of Katara's bending leave her eyes, she felt it safe to open them again. She was reluctant to let her hope die, but she had to eventually. For a moment, all she could see was a bright light of nothingness. In a few moments, however, shapes began to make sense, she could see Sokka, gaping at her. It was such a shock that she inhaled sharply, her husband had beautiful eyes, she knew immediately that they must be what 'blue' was. His skin was dark and she could see scars that she was so familiar with by touch. She was so used to a black world that she didn't know how to react, everything was so alien, yet wasn't. She could previously feel things with her bending, and she could still, but now everything had detail, everything had colour, an ebbing vibrancy.

She looked into her arms and Sokka's, their children were perfect. She could see the tone of her own skin. Theirs' seemed lighter than Sokka's, but darker than her own. In her son's eyes, she saw something that she presumed must be the colour green. The colour decorated many of her clothes strewn around the room, she saw her friends too, their traits and attributes that she could have only guessed at; there was so much to take in. The world was amazing, so bright, there were so many shades and layers that she hadn't anticipated.

Katara was overjoyed, she gaped in shock. Once she overcame it, however, she seemed to have reserved part of the happiness. She explained that she had felt a restriction of sorts whilst working on her. She could hardly explain it, it was almost another sense. She likened it to the sensation of opening a door, as soon as she let go, she knew it was only a matter of time before it closed again. It wasn't that she was healing a wound, she was altering her nature.

Toph would begin to feel it several days later, the world would become a little more blurry, a little more mono-toned. Yet before that kicked in, her gorgeous husband showed her the forest, the sun, and the twilight, she watched dusk set in, their children in their arms as she leant on her husband, she saw the deep reds and oranges that accompanied the sunset, and the bright stars in the dark universe above.

That first night, seeing everything, relishing in every detail, Toph and Sokka watched each other, wanted each other. She might have been tired from her ordeal, but she was in no means willing to give up this experience. Sweat gleamed off his chiselled body, his hair was even darker than his skin, his bright eyes watched her, his smile melted her heart. He brought his lips to hers again and again, and each time, the sight made her shiver with excitement. She wrapped her legs around him and he brought her closer. The night was long and passionate, and for that short time, she saw everything.

When the morning came that Toph awoke as blind as a bat-mole, she couldn't care less. For that time, those beautiful days, her wish had come true. She had looked in a mirror, she had seen her husband, her children, her best friends. She'd even seen paintings and pictures of their other companions, she had flown on Appa at sunrise, looked down upon the world from above, kissed the skies. It was with these images, glimmering in her mind, that she scoffed at any disappointment.

She had seen the world; and it was beautiful.