When Suki first saw it, it did not bother her in the slightest. In fact, it reassured her more than anything. Her relationship with Sokka was fairly new, since it was only three years after the war. They had plenty of time.
Until they didn't.
Suki wanted children, she wanted them badly, which Sokka knew. He knew and he ignored it as long as he could. It was one of the reasons they fell apart, for she was ignoring the fact that he was ignoring it. What they both learned about themselves cost them their relationship, and Suki was upset, but she moved on. The question was whether or not he did.
So when Suki noticed it, truly took it in, for the first time since they had broken up, she shrugged it off as she had long ago, but for different reasons. It was only seven years after the war, after all; there was no reason to worry, no reason at all.
The second time she saw it, she was quite distracted - Bumi was just beginning to crawl and Katara and Aang were conveniently late coming home from their date, leaving her and Sokka in charge - but she noticed it just the same. Unfortunately her attention was grabbed by Bumi smashing a large vase and several picture frames and the sight of it was driven from her mind for a few years.
The third time was no better. It had now been eleven years since the end of the war, and Suki was a regular babysitter for all the Gaang's children - Bumi, Kya, Izumi, and the newest addition, Lin Bei Fong. Occasionally Sokka joined her when she watched them, and they had a few good laughs at themselves when they got caught in messes. It was during one of these times that she saw it yet again, along with something else she hadn't seen before; Sokka's affection towards Lin.
When Suki saw it for a fourth time, Sokka seemed to know that she had noticed. He tried to hide it, concealed it whenever he could to avoid questions, which was difficult seeing as they continued to watch his nieces and nephews. Katara was quite pregnant with her third child and could no longer leave the house, so she stayed to help babysit while Aang did his duties. Suki saw that Katara avoided looking at it much like Sokka did, and it made her feel slightly put out. What did she know that Suki didn't?
When Suki noticed it for a fifth time, she could no longer hold her tongue, much like she could no longer find excuses for why his finger remained bare. Even her own was occupied by a shiny gold ring, and had been for years now. It was not unlike the one that entwined Katara's finger, nor the one that Toph wore. After all, one would think that fifteen years was plenty of time to find someone and settle down.
And yet Sokka's finger bore no ring.
It wasn't concerning more as interesting. Why did he remain bare? Perhaps he had simply decided that married life wasn't for him, or maybe he had put his heart out there and had been rejected. She decided she had to know.
But before she saw Sokka, before she knocked on his door, before she had even raised her hand. She heard. His laugh echoed through the door, chorusing through the window. She fixed her gaze through the gauzy glass and saw Sokka serving someone at his table, and she knew. She knew as soon as she saw the way he looked at her. The way his hand trembled next to hers, yet pulled away just so. The way her laugh made him light up. The way his eyes followed her everywhere.
The way hers seemed to as well, even though they were useless.
Suki knew without being told, without asking questions, why Sokka wore no wedding ring and why Toph did. She prided herself in being a good observationalist, and it didn't take much to see that it pained Sokka greatly whenever Toph was with her husband. She also knew through such methods that it pained Toph to be with her husband, especially when both he and Sokka were in the same room.
This did not stop Toph from showing most un-Toph-like symptoms at his funeral a year later and sobbing uncontrollably, only able to be consoled by Sokka, whose finger was still bare as he smoothed her hair and whispered in her ear.
Suki felt bad for Toph, especially because she arrived at the funeral with a swollen belly and a very much living husband. Evidently Toph did not take much offense to this, for not even a month after her daughter was born she announced that she was pregnant again.
Katara was thrilled. She rarely left Toph's side for her first trimester, and eventually she gave up and moved in with her and Aang until her due date. It did not escape Suki's notice, however, that Sokka copied his sister and stayed by Toph throughout her entire pregnancy. It also did not escape her notice how his fingers lingered on her bulging stomach, nor how she placed his whole hand on it and matched her sightless eyes with his. Indeed, hardly anything escaped Suki's notice.
When Suyin Bei Fong was born, however, it was extremely difficult for anyone to avoid staring at her tanned skin, the perfect mix of Toph's pale complexion and Sokka's mocha one. It was extremely difficult to ignore her crystal blue eyes, so unlike her mother's emerald ones. It was extremely difficult to not put two and two together and confront Toph about it, as Suki discovered when Suyin was two weeks old. Only three things made her hold her tongue.
The wedding invitation that arrived that month, the simple gold rings that bound Toph and Sokka for life, and the smiles that curved both of their faces as they faced the crowd and held up their hands.
