Post by Sokkaroksya on Feb 4, 2007 17:42:12 GMT -5
The warm shone down on the house in Ba Sing Se's Upper Ring. Inside the house, a certain Water Tribe warrior and a certain blind Earthbender were relaxing in the living room. Sokka sat on the couch, flipping absently through the Dai Li propaganda that passed for a newspaper in the walled city, while Toph lay on the floor, using her Earthbending to bounce a large pebble against the wall and back to her hand. After a few minutes of this, Toph spoke.
"So, where's Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen?"
Sokka turned a page in the paper. "Aang took Momo and went to drop the latest batch of Appa flyers, and Katara went down to the market to buy our food for the week."
"Ahh."
Toph went back to throwing her pebble for a few minutes, then said, "I'm bored."
Sokka didn't respond. Toph's forehead wrinkled, and she cleared her throat loudly. Aside from feeling him shift in his seat a little, Sokka seemed not to notice. Toph tried again.
"I said, I'm bored."
Sokka said, "And? What do I look like, your personal clown? Find something to entertain yourself."
Toph smiled a little. Entertain herself? Sure, Ponytail, I can do that...
She Bent the rock she'd been playing with, and it zoomed across the room to hit the wall a few inches to the right of Sokka's head. She heard him flinch and cry out. "Hey! You almost hit me!"
Toph just giggled and sent the pebble his way again, this time to hit him squarely in the middle of the forehead. "OWWW! What was that for?!"
"Sorry, Snoozles...I missed the first time."
Toph felt Sokka get up and stomp over to where she was laying. "That's it," he said, "We're going for a walk."
Toph smiled. "Why? I'm having fun now." She bounced the pebble off Sokka's head again.
"Because," Sokka snapped, making a futile grab for the floating rock, "I'd like to get through this afternoon without getting any new bruises, if you don't mind!"
"Aww..." Toph groaned. But she stoodup, and followed Sokka out the door, into the warm spring sun.
"See? Isn't a beautiful day? Just perfect for a...oh. Nevermind," Sokka said, as Toph opened her mouth to retort that she couldn't really appreciate how beautiful the day was.
They started off in the direction of the market, Sokka muttering something about seeing Katara, and Toph followed a few steps behind. She had to admit, it wasn't bad just being out here, walking, not having to worry about being ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers, or Dai Li agents.
And best of all, she was walking with him...
Stop it, Toph scolded herself. You're twelve years old, and he's fifteen. He's never going to like you that way...besides, he's already got that Suki girl, Toph thought, remembering how much he'd wanted to spend time with her back at the Serpent's Pass. She'd been trying to ignore her feelings for Sokka, but it was so hard...so she just had to keep telling herself that he wasn't, and wouldn't be interested in her. It wasn't hard; after all, how many guys like Sokka went out with blind girls three years younger than them?
They got to the market as Toph felt the heat from the sun diminish a little, and she figured the sun was starting to go down behind the buildings.
"Uh-oh," Sokka said.
"What? Are there more of those Dai Li guys here?" Toph began feeling intently for signs of someone moving towards them aggressively, or worse, an Earthbending attack.
"No, no...just, don't worry about it. It's nothing." Sokka said dismissively.
"I can tell you're lying." Toph started, but Sokka quickly changed the subject, trying to draw her attention to a stand selling handcrafted statuettes, and Toph was forced to remind him that she wasn't so good with visuals. They wandered around the market, Sokka describing various wares to her, Toph forgetting about his odd behavior in her desire to just listen to him talk. It got colder and colder as they walked, and suddenly, Toph felt something cold and wet hit her on the back of the neck. She yelled in surprise.
"What is it?" Sokka asked.
"I just felt something wet hit me!" Toph said. "Ahhh! There it is again!" The little wet things hit her more and more often, and Toph realized what was going on. "It's raining! That's what you were talking about before! You saw rainclouds!" The rain was falling harder now, and Toph was starting to get disoriented. "You know how much I hate rain! I get all dizzy and nauseous! I'm going to hurt you so bad, Sokka..." Toph started to bend a large rock out of the ground, but faltered and almost fell over. She felt Sokka moving towards her, and shouted, "Stop! I don't need your help!" She took a few angry steps away from him, but tripped and fell. Or, she would have, if Sokka hadn't run up behind her and caught her.
"I said I don't need your help! Let go of me!" Toph shouted, before she felt her stomach heave, and retched all over the ground in front of her. She moaned. All those little vibrations...it was so hard to stand...Sokka refused to let go. Instead, he put his arm under her knees, and his other behind her head, and lifted her so he was carrying her against his chest.
"Yes, you do need help," he said. "C'mon, you can't even see in this, let alone walk home."
Toph just shivered, and put her head against him. As sick as she felt, she couldn't help a thrill from growing in her chest at being so close to him. He was so warm...so strong...
Toph was totally blind as Sokka carried her, blind except for the vibrations she felt through his body, and the constant beating of the rain on her skin. Still, she didn't feel nearly as bad as she would have if she had actually been standing on the ground.
After a while, Sokka stopped walking, and said, "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"
Toph lifted her head from where she had been snuggling against Sokka's neck. Now that she thought about it, she was kind of hungry.
"A little..." She murmured.
"Okay then," Sokka said. He started walking again, and Toph felt the rain suddenly stop. It was much warmer inside wherever Sokka had gone into, and Toph immediately felt better now that the rain wasn't hitting her anymore.
"How many?" came a voice, probably the hostess. "Two," Sokka answered.
"Would your sister like a children's menu?"
"I'm not his sister, and I don't need a children's menu!" Toph said indignantly.
"Toph..." Sokka said warningly.
The hostess led them across the restaurant, and suddenly Toph felt herself being lowered, not into a chair, but onto a soft surface that felt strangely like...
"A bed?" she asked.
"Yeah," Sokka said, crawling in beside her. "This place is cool...they don't have tables, they have beds you can lay on...it's nice."
"Yeah," Toph said softly. She scooted across the bed so she was laying right next to Sokka. "It is..."
"So, what do you want to eat?" Sokka asked.
A few minutes later, the server came by to take their orders, and they lay in companionable silence. As Toph lay there, she couldn't help but feel her feelings for Sokka come rushing back. It was so nice, just laying there, with her head on his chest, and his arm around her...he seemed to just think she was cold, but that was okay...
The server came back with their food, a large cowpig steak for Sokka, and a plate of fish fillets for Toph. They ate for a while, until Sokka commented that it had stopped raining. "You ready to go?" he asked.
"I guess," Toph said, a little sad that he didn't seem to realize how she felt about him. "Sokka, wait," she said, deciding she had to say something now, before she lost her nerve. Jeez, she thought, fighting guys three times my size in the Earth Rumble was never this hard...
"What is it, Toph?"
"I just wanted to say...I mean, I have to...I...um...dang it," Toph murmured. Why couldn't she just say it?
"Toph, what's wrong?" Sokka said, and she could hear him laughing a little at her attempts to speak. "You're never this uncomfortable."
"You're right..." Toph said, resolute now, standing up and walking over to him. "Because I've never had to do this." And she Earthbent herself up to his height, a little shorter, for his benefit, and put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Toph pulled away a few moments later, dissappointed that he hadn't returned the kiss, and dropped back to her own height. She felt Sokka staring at her. "What?" she snapped, starting to feel really upset now.
"Did you just...kiss me?" Sokka asked, sounding kind of dumbfounded.
"Gee, I don't know, Meathead...you're the one that can see, maybe you could tell me?" Toph snarled. She stormed past him, her Earthbending leaving cracks in the stone floor. As she got outside, she fought the tears that threatened to flow from her eyes. I will not cry, she thought. I'm the Blind Bandit...I don't need some stupid meathead Water Tribe boy to be happy...I WON'T CRY...
She felt Sokka running to catch up to her. "Go away," she snapped at him.
"Toph, wait...I'm sorry, Toph, I didn't realize--"
"What?! That I liked you?!" Toph shouted. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She had to keep herself from hurting him, she was so mad.
"Yes, Toph...see, the truth is, I like you too, but I never knew what to say...you're not the easiest person to talk to."
Toph was in shock, her tears gone, her mouth hanging slightly open. Sokka liked her? He did?
"That was kind of the reason I didn't mention those rainclouds to you...I was sort of hoping it would start raining, and then we'd end up stranded somewhere, and then I could talk to you...it's really stupid, huh?
Toph grinned. "Yeah, it is, Snoozles."
Then Sokka was running towards her, lifting her up and pressing his lips against hers, kissing her so that her heart leapt to her throat and the space left behind was filled with a swarm of butterflies. She kissed him back, Earthbending a column up so she could stand, just high enough that she could reach him on tiptoes, because she liked it better if he was taller than her. They stayed like that for long moments, until they pulled apart, lips swollen and hearts pounding. Toph dropped back to the ground, and they turned and started to walk back to their house. They didn't talk, as words would only have ruined the moment.
When Toph and Sokka got home, Katara and Aang didn't have to ask why the two were holding hands, or why Sokka slept in Toph's room that night, and every night after, or why the two always sat together at meals, or why now they would share a kiss before one of them left the house without the other. They were just happy the two had come around at last.
So, what do you think? Good, bad, or eh?
"So, where's Twinkletoes and Sugar Queen?"
Sokka turned a page in the paper. "Aang took Momo and went to drop the latest batch of Appa flyers, and Katara went down to the market to buy our food for the week."
"Ahh."
Toph went back to throwing her pebble for a few minutes, then said, "I'm bored."
Sokka didn't respond. Toph's forehead wrinkled, and she cleared her throat loudly. Aside from feeling him shift in his seat a little, Sokka seemed not to notice. Toph tried again.
"I said, I'm bored."
Sokka said, "And? What do I look like, your personal clown? Find something to entertain yourself."
Toph smiled a little. Entertain herself? Sure, Ponytail, I can do that...
She Bent the rock she'd been playing with, and it zoomed across the room to hit the wall a few inches to the right of Sokka's head. She heard him flinch and cry out. "Hey! You almost hit me!"
Toph just giggled and sent the pebble his way again, this time to hit him squarely in the middle of the forehead. "OWWW! What was that for?!"
"Sorry, Snoozles...I missed the first time."
Toph felt Sokka get up and stomp over to where she was laying. "That's it," he said, "We're going for a walk."
Toph smiled. "Why? I'm having fun now." She bounced the pebble off Sokka's head again.
"Because," Sokka snapped, making a futile grab for the floating rock, "I'd like to get through this afternoon without getting any new bruises, if you don't mind!"
"Aww..." Toph groaned. But she stoodup, and followed Sokka out the door, into the warm spring sun.
"See? Isn't a beautiful day? Just perfect for a...oh. Nevermind," Sokka said, as Toph opened her mouth to retort that she couldn't really appreciate how beautiful the day was.
They started off in the direction of the market, Sokka muttering something about seeing Katara, and Toph followed a few steps behind. She had to admit, it wasn't bad just being out here, walking, not having to worry about being ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers, or Dai Li agents.
And best of all, she was walking with him...
Stop it, Toph scolded herself. You're twelve years old, and he's fifteen. He's never going to like you that way...besides, he's already got that Suki girl, Toph thought, remembering how much he'd wanted to spend time with her back at the Serpent's Pass. She'd been trying to ignore her feelings for Sokka, but it was so hard...so she just had to keep telling herself that he wasn't, and wouldn't be interested in her. It wasn't hard; after all, how many guys like Sokka went out with blind girls three years younger than them?
They got to the market as Toph felt the heat from the sun diminish a little, and she figured the sun was starting to go down behind the buildings.
"Uh-oh," Sokka said.
"What? Are there more of those Dai Li guys here?" Toph began feeling intently for signs of someone moving towards them aggressively, or worse, an Earthbending attack.
"No, no...just, don't worry about it. It's nothing." Sokka said dismissively.
"I can tell you're lying." Toph started, but Sokka quickly changed the subject, trying to draw her attention to a stand selling handcrafted statuettes, and Toph was forced to remind him that she wasn't so good with visuals. They wandered around the market, Sokka describing various wares to her, Toph forgetting about his odd behavior in her desire to just listen to him talk. It got colder and colder as they walked, and suddenly, Toph felt something cold and wet hit her on the back of the neck. She yelled in surprise.
"What is it?" Sokka asked.
"I just felt something wet hit me!" Toph said. "Ahhh! There it is again!" The little wet things hit her more and more often, and Toph realized what was going on. "It's raining! That's what you were talking about before! You saw rainclouds!" The rain was falling harder now, and Toph was starting to get disoriented. "You know how much I hate rain! I get all dizzy and nauseous! I'm going to hurt you so bad, Sokka..." Toph started to bend a large rock out of the ground, but faltered and almost fell over. She felt Sokka moving towards her, and shouted, "Stop! I don't need your help!" She took a few angry steps away from him, but tripped and fell. Or, she would have, if Sokka hadn't run up behind her and caught her.
"I said I don't need your help! Let go of me!" Toph shouted, before she felt her stomach heave, and retched all over the ground in front of her. She moaned. All those little vibrations...it was so hard to stand...Sokka refused to let go. Instead, he put his arm under her knees, and his other behind her head, and lifted her so he was carrying her against his chest.
"Yes, you do need help," he said. "C'mon, you can't even see in this, let alone walk home."
Toph just shivered, and put her head against him. As sick as she felt, she couldn't help a thrill from growing in her chest at being so close to him. He was so warm...so strong...
Toph was totally blind as Sokka carried her, blind except for the vibrations she felt through his body, and the constant beating of the rain on her skin. Still, she didn't feel nearly as bad as she would have if she had actually been standing on the ground.
After a while, Sokka stopped walking, and said, "I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"
Toph lifted her head from where she had been snuggling against Sokka's neck. Now that she thought about it, she was kind of hungry.
"A little..." She murmured.
"Okay then," Sokka said. He started walking again, and Toph felt the rain suddenly stop. It was much warmer inside wherever Sokka had gone into, and Toph immediately felt better now that the rain wasn't hitting her anymore.
"How many?" came a voice, probably the hostess. "Two," Sokka answered.
"Would your sister like a children's menu?"
"I'm not his sister, and I don't need a children's menu!" Toph said indignantly.
"Toph..." Sokka said warningly.
The hostess led them across the restaurant, and suddenly Toph felt herself being lowered, not into a chair, but onto a soft surface that felt strangely like...
"A bed?" she asked.
"Yeah," Sokka said, crawling in beside her. "This place is cool...they don't have tables, they have beds you can lay on...it's nice."
"Yeah," Toph said softly. She scooted across the bed so she was laying right next to Sokka. "It is..."
"So, what do you want to eat?" Sokka asked.
A few minutes later, the server came by to take their orders, and they lay in companionable silence. As Toph lay there, she couldn't help but feel her feelings for Sokka come rushing back. It was so nice, just laying there, with her head on his chest, and his arm around her...he seemed to just think she was cold, but that was okay...
The server came back with their food, a large cowpig steak for Sokka, and a plate of fish fillets for Toph. They ate for a while, until Sokka commented that it had stopped raining. "You ready to go?" he asked.
"I guess," Toph said, a little sad that he didn't seem to realize how she felt about him. "Sokka, wait," she said, deciding she had to say something now, before she lost her nerve. Jeez, she thought, fighting guys three times my size in the Earth Rumble was never this hard...
"What is it, Toph?"
"I just wanted to say...I mean, I have to...I...um...dang it," Toph murmured. Why couldn't she just say it?
"Toph, what's wrong?" Sokka said, and she could hear him laughing a little at her attempts to speak. "You're never this uncomfortable."
"You're right..." Toph said, resolute now, standing up and walking over to him. "Because I've never had to do this." And she Earthbent herself up to his height, a little shorter, for his benefit, and put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Toph pulled away a few moments later, dissappointed that he hadn't returned the kiss, and dropped back to her own height. She felt Sokka staring at her. "What?" she snapped, starting to feel really upset now.
"Did you just...kiss me?" Sokka asked, sounding kind of dumbfounded.
"Gee, I don't know, Meathead...you're the one that can see, maybe you could tell me?" Toph snarled. She stormed past him, her Earthbending leaving cracks in the stone floor. As she got outside, she fought the tears that threatened to flow from her eyes. I will not cry, she thought. I'm the Blind Bandit...I don't need some stupid meathead Water Tribe boy to be happy...I WON'T CRY...
She felt Sokka running to catch up to her. "Go away," she snapped at him.
"Toph, wait...I'm sorry, Toph, I didn't realize--"
"What?! That I liked you?!" Toph shouted. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She had to keep herself from hurting him, she was so mad.
"Yes, Toph...see, the truth is, I like you too, but I never knew what to say...you're not the easiest person to talk to."
Toph was in shock, her tears gone, her mouth hanging slightly open. Sokka liked her? He did?
"That was kind of the reason I didn't mention those rainclouds to you...I was sort of hoping it would start raining, and then we'd end up stranded somewhere, and then I could talk to you...it's really stupid, huh?
Toph grinned. "Yeah, it is, Snoozles."
Then Sokka was running towards her, lifting her up and pressing his lips against hers, kissing her so that her heart leapt to her throat and the space left behind was filled with a swarm of butterflies. She kissed him back, Earthbending a column up so she could stand, just high enough that she could reach him on tiptoes, because she liked it better if he was taller than her. They stayed like that for long moments, until they pulled apart, lips swollen and hearts pounding. Toph dropped back to the ground, and they turned and started to walk back to their house. They didn't talk, as words would only have ruined the moment.
When Toph and Sokka got home, Katara and Aang didn't have to ask why the two were holding hands, or why Sokka slept in Toph's room that night, and every night after, or why the two always sat together at meals, or why now they would share a kiss before one of them left the house without the other. They were just happy the two had come around at last.
So, what do you think? Good, bad, or eh?
