when sokka needs advice about how to process something internal, private, he’ll typically take it to toph. her calm manner of listening puts him at ease and he never doubts that she’ll keep his vulnerabilities to herself. her advice is frank, realistic and fair.
when he needs someone to distract him, he goes to suki. she has a way of assessing what’s on his mind and pivoting madly away from it. her charm is impossible to resist, so when she puts her mind to it, she never fails to make him smile.
when he wants someone by his side while he fixes a problem, he can’t go wrong with zuko. zuko proved that at the boiling rock. he’s ride or die, and sokka will never get over how validating it is to have an ally he can rely on no matter what. well, two allies. they also bring momo.
when he wants someone to just sit with him and understand, that’s a job for katara. she’s his shadow and his witness, just as he is hers. no one else will ever be up to that task.
but when there’s an external problem out in the world and he doesn’t know what to do about it, that kind of question can only go to aang. and nothing makes sokka happier than getting to watch the gears in aang’s brain work as he figures out a solution. this is what aang is great at, and it’s a treat to watch him excel at what he does. there’s that sense of pride, too, that sokka was part of this kid’s upbringing and now here he is, all wise and shit. (he was always wise, but let sokka have this one!!!) sokka was taught that it isn’t right to ask for help, but he knows better now, and when it comes to his amazing, brilliant, empathetic, wise friends, he never minds at all.