You Do Always Come Back
Toph walked over to her earth couch and sat down, a look of discontent on her face. At least, that's what everyone had been calling it lately. Toph made what everyone called "facial expressions", based on the feelings inside of her. She knew what they were, but because she was blind, she could never truly see what they looked like. It's a shame she thought, some of them probably look pretty funny.
She had been feeling more down than usual lately. In fact, she hadn't really felt happy since when she was with the Gaang. They had all parted to do their own things now; they all went back home. But Toph didn't feel ready to return yet. She wasn't even sure if she could call the place she used to live home at all. The way she left her parents, they must still be furious she thought. She knew it would be a few years before she could find the strength in herself to return. Funny: the strongest earthbender, too weak to go home. All she had now was herself and the Gaang, who she only saw from time to time. At first she didn't think she'd miss them at all; she always thought she could carry her own weight, and over the past few months, that proved to be almost entirely true. But there was one problem.
Sokka.
Unlike Aang, Katara and Zuko, who visited fairly regularly, Sokka went back home for good. Toph remembered the conversation she had with him as he got on the ship home. Their last conversation was practically etched into her brain; she'd never forget.
"I need to go back and help my dad re-build our tribe with Master Pakku," Sokka told the earthbender before him, "I need to be the leader, like my father. I need to be a warrior; a man."
Toph rolled her eyes. "I don't think you'll ever be a man, snoozles." she said, trying not to well up, "you're too much of a softie." She wanted to punch him in the arm, but somehow, it translated into wrapping both her arms around his waist. "I'll miss you." She said, her eyes getting misty.
Sokka smiled, but couldn't help adding in a sarcastic quip. "Woah woah, who's the softie now?" he said, chuckling. Toph pulled away and this time didn't hesitate to take a swing at his shoulder. Sokka winced, "Yeah, that's the Toph I remember." He heard his dad call, and turned to board the water tribe ship. He took a few steps away, but Toph felt him stop in his tracks and turn back to her, "I'll miss you too." He said.
Toph couldn't bear to remember the moment when he walked away, and yet she played it over and over again in her mind. Why? Sure, she had feelings for the guy. Aang and Katara spent a lot of time together when they were undercover in the fire nation, so naturally she gravitated to Sokka; there was no one else to turn to. They really hit it off, more than she thought they would. He could be annoying, but he was one of the best friends she'd ever had. Now she wanted more, and now he was gone.
Get a grip girl, Toph thought to herself, Sokka's a meathead, why would you want to be with him? Toph needed to lie down; maybe she could try sleeping this off…again. She stood up and started walking towards her bedroom, but her thoughts weren't about to leave her alone. Why can't I just earthbend you away like I did all those Fire Nation soldiers? She asked herself. Looks like Sokka would take over her mind tonight, as always.
She could've stopped him from going. Why didn't she? She tried to at least. When he first told her, she didn't want him to go, but what could she say? She didn't have any reasons she could use to make him stay, and she wasn't about to admit to any feelings. Not right away, anyway.
"Sounds exciting," she said sarcastically when Sokka first told her about moving back to the North Pole, "wish I could come along snoozles, but I'm on my way to becoming a big time metalbending teacher, not the leader of some ice and snow fan club."
"Wow Toph," Sokka said, a little taken back by her words, "I thought maybe this time, you'd opt for an 'I'll miss you' or something."
"Yeah, well, I say what I feel." She said. Lies, I want him to stay so bad.
"Well, how'd you feel about spending next Saturday night together?"
Toph stood completely stiff, the words sinking in. "Is the cold getting to your brain already?" She asked.
"No, it's not." Sokka reassured her. "It's my last night here, and Suki already took off to stop by Kyoshi before she heads down. I'll see if I can borrow Appa from Aang and we'll explore more of Ba Sing Se or something, what do you say?"
"You want me to go flying on Appa, something I hate to do, and go to Ba Sing Se, somewhere I hate to go?"
"That's why it's perfect." Sokka joked. "Hatred, discontentment; it's right up your alley."
Toph had to laugh. "Alright, fine, we'll go."
Sokka never left Toph's mind after that, and it seemed like he rarely left her side. He was around a lot more than he used to be, and whenever he wasn't, Toph couldn't stop thinking about him anyways. Regardless of if he was there or not, he was in Toph's mind (granted, it was quieter when he wasn't there in person). All her sleepless nights, her unproductive days, they were all because of the anticipation building up inside her for their night together in Ba Sing Se.
Finally, the evening came, and Sokka touched down on Appa. The magnificent beast's tall swatted the air as its feet thudded onto the ground. "Get on." He said to the earthbender below him. Toph grunted and bent a pillar up to Appa to get into his saddle. "What are you doing?" Sokka asked.
"Getting on Appa so I can go flying," Toph said dully, "something I can't stand in the least. No offense, Appa. You're great at what you do; it's just not my thing." Appa let out a roar.
"I didn't mean that," Sokka said with a little chuckle, "I was referring to you sitting back there, in the saddle. Why don't you sit up here at the reigns, with me?"
Toph turned in Sokka's direction, a look of…surprise on her face. At least, she thought that was the word for her expression (she felt it inside; hopefully she didn't just freak Sokka out with some weird stare). She shook it off, "I was just about to come over to you, meathead. You don't have to tell me." Toph could feel her face getting red. Damn it she thought, I don't have to see to know that I'm blushing right now.
The two of them sat on top of Appa's head as they flew through the sky, over the great wall of Ba Sing Se. Sokka started pointing out various things in the city, and rather than point out that she couldn't see them, Toph just listened intently. Not only did she find it interesting (which she would never admit to Sokka), but it was always fun to listen to him talk. She loved it. She wanted to listen to him forever.
After dinner, they landed in front of Iroh's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon, and Sokka asked for a table for two, casually slipping the host a gold piece to speed up the process. "Certainly sir," the host said as soon as he felt the money pass into his palm, "I'll make some arrangements and have you seated right away." He walked them over to an earth booth, and Sokka looked at him, a little confused. "You are Sokka of the Water Tribe and Toph Bei-Fong, greatest earthbender in the world, are you not?" Toph liked the compliment, and noted it in her mind. The host continued, "My boss, General Iroh, said I should bring you to one of our earth booths if you ever came to the restaurant. He said you'd find it to your liking, Ms. Bei Fong."
Toph sat down on the earth chair and, for once, she could still see everything in the restaurant; it was just like when she was at home. "Thank you." She said to the host. Sokka nodded to him and sat down across from Toph. Her body went rigid: she immediately regretted being at this booth. She could feel Sokka. His movements, his heartbeats, his entire figure; she could "see" everything about him as he sat across from her.
"So," Sokka said, twiddling his thumbs and looking around, trying not to make eye contact (not that it would matter anyways), "what do you think, pretty nice, huh?"
Toph smiled. "Yeah," she said softly, "You're…I mean, this is great."
"I'm great, huh?" Sokka said with a cocky grin on his face. He immediately regretted it Toph earth-bent his chair a foot in the air and then back down again. Sokka screamed as the chair took off, and thudded back down on the hard earth seat. "I probably deserved that." He said, rubbing himself to try and null the pain.
The two of them spent hours talking over their bottomless cups of tea, courtesy of General Iroh. He even stopped by briefly to say hello and wish them a wonderful time at his Tea Shop. It was nice to see him and all, but that's not what Toph was focused on. She was interested in Sokka, listening intently to everything he had to say. He had plans for the future, hopes to invent various contraptions for the four nations; the list went on. Sokka stopped multiple times in the middle of his stories, claiming he was talking too much. Toph knew that he was, but tonight she was perfectly content on hearing his voice and listening to whatever he had to say, so she'd egg him on and he'd continue.
Eventually, the two of them left the Jasmine Dragon…actually, they were forced to leave; it was closing time. Toph didn't mind though; she had called on the greatest earthbender compliment from earlier and deemed the service satisfactory. Eager to continue their conversation, they hopped on Appa, who had just finished chowing down on a plentiful hay supply around the back of the shop, and flew up into the night sky. Well, conversation was a somewhat inaccurate term; Toph was still being quite mute. Sokka had noticed, and at this point he was getting a little worried. "You know, you didn't say much tonight. Are you okay?" He asked, turning to face the earthbender sitting next to him.
"Yeah," toph said, clearly lying, "I'm fine."
"What, are you actually going to miss me or something?" Sokka asked. "Is that what you've been thinking about?"
"No." Toph answered back, "I won't miss you because you won't be going. I'm going to bend your boat to bits before you can set sail."
Sokka laughed and looked out at Ba Sing Se's flickering city lights. "The city's a really beautiful sight from up here; all the lights look really cool." Sokka said, scanning the landscape. "I know, I know, you can't see it, but I'll do my best to describe it to you if you wan…" Sokka cut himself off when he looked back at Toph; a tear was running down her face. "Toph, you're crying. Okay seriously, what's with you?" He asked for a second time.
"Don't go." She whispered.
"What?"
"Don't you understand Meathead?!" Toph yelled, tears flinging from her eyes and off her cheeks as she turned to yell in his face. "You're leaving me for who knows how long, and I won't be able to see you, to FEEL you anymore. I'm just not going to be able to take it, damn it!"
Toph swore. Sure, it wasn't much, but she did. Toph never swore. Only when something really mattered to her would she let the odd profanity slip out. She said it reminded her of home; her parents always used to yell profanities at each other, and occasionally, her. She didn't want to be like them. Sokka shook these thoughts from his head; backstory wasn't important right now.
Sokka took Toph's hand and she jumped a little; she couldn't really see anything up here, so it took her by surprise. "Toph, you know I have to go." He said, "My tribe is my life; my home. I've been away for long enough as it is." Toph felt even more tears running down her face as she pulled her hand from Sokka's grasp. She turned away and heard Sokka sigh. While wiping the tears away, she felt Sokka's hand again, this time on her arm. "But at the same time," he continued, "I've been thinking about it a lot and…" Sokka paused, the air around Toph hanging heavy on her shoulders before he spoke again, "I hate the thought of leaving you, Toph. We're so close now, and I can't stand the idea of not seeing you all the time."
Toph turned back to him. She couldn't see him, sure, but she used every bit of her senses to feel him in this moment. She felt him move in, closer, until his face was almost pressing against hers. "I have to go Toph, but that doesn't mean I want to."
He kissed her mouth. Toph had never felt these sensations before. She could earth bend, she could sense things, but she had never truly felt anything until that moment. Tingling sensations ran up and down her spine. His hand was on her cheek; it felt warm, comforting. It took a while for her to realize she was kissing back.
Those 5 seconds felt like they were frozen in time for Toph, so she was a little shocked when Sokka pulled away. She felt herself almost leaning forward, wanting more, but she had to stop herself. She didn't want Sokka thinking too high and mighty of himself, just because of one (not so) lousy kiss. She gave him a good slug on the shoulder, "What were you thinking?" She asked. "You're with Suki, aren't you? That wasn't a smart move, meathead."
"Maybe not, but…did you like it?"
Toph felt another shiver run down her spine. "Well…well, yeah, I guess."
"Are you cold?" Sokka asked her. "Come here." He wrapped an arm around the earthbender and held her up against his body. Toph had felt this body before, but never so close; so intimate. She rested her head against his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she heard the warrior whisper, "I'm sorry, Toph," right before she fell asleep to the rhythmic pattern of his breathing, soaring over Ba Sing Se and though the night sky.
Toph lay on her bed, totally lost in thought, when a knock at the door caused her to snap out of her trance. She got up and sauntered down the hallway. That kiss; it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She wished Sokka could've stayed. Wait, no she didn't. Good riddance to him. He kissed her and did what? He did nothing. He got on that boat and left her completely heartbroken. I bet he didn't even feel a thing, it was just the moment she thought, he's totally forgotten about me by now. I should forget about him too. Toph decided, then and there, it was time to move on. That is, until she actually bothered to figure out just who was outside her door.
All her thoughts of forgetting about Sokka flew away when she ran to the door and opened it, revealing him standing here just a couple feet away from her body. She didn't hesitate, she didn't even speak; she simply leapt for his embrace. Sokka dropped his bags and grabbed her mid-air, holding her tight. "What are you doing here?" Toph said, between tears. "I thought you were supposed to be at the South Pole."
"I came back. What, you think I'd leave you forever?" He said sarcastically. Yep, if she had any doubt before, it was gone now. It was definitely Sokka.
"Wait," Toph said, as she made Sokka set her back down, "you're not going to get off that easy, meathead. What about Suki? You guys were together when we left. Are you still with her? I don't want to be some number two mistress who you visit when things between you guys go south."
Sokka looked at the ground. Toph noticed she hit a nerve, and immediately regretted it. "Things already went south; we broke up." He said. "After a few months, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to confess to Suki that she wasn't really the one I wanted to be with; that it was you."
"How'd she take it?" Probably not the best question, Toph thought, but I just have to know.
"I got fanned a few times, but I guess she understood." Toph chuckled in her head at the thought of Sokka constantly having to dodge fans as he gave a heartfelt breakup speech to the Kyoshi Warrior. "Anyways," Sokka continued, "she headed back to Kyoshi and I took the first boat out to the Earth Kingdom and walked halfway across the continent to see you."
"How sweet, snoozles," Toph said, rolling her eyes, "you're story's jaw dropping." Sokka grabbed her and pulled her back in close, squeezing the sarcasm out of her. "So now that you're here, are you staying?" She asked.
"Well, I didn't come all this way just to leave now." Sokka joked, earning him a sock in the arm from Toph. "Yes, I'll be in town for a while, Aang wanted me to do help with something in Ba Sing Se anyways. But it's late; I should probably go back to where I'm staying for the night. I found a nice inn just over…"
"Stay with me."
"Wha…what?" Sokka looked really confused, pulling back a little. "Toph, I can't."
"I want you to." Toph said, tugging him back in close to her.
"What if people see? What if they say things?"
"I don't care." Toph said; Sokka could tell by her tone of voice that she meant it. "Besides, you can sleep on the couch if you're that worried."
"Oh joy, an earth couch, sounds comfy." Sokka said, sarcastically.
"I said if you want to, meathead; I never said you were going to."
"Your invitation sounds intriguing." Sokka said, stroking his invisible Wang Fire beard. He smiled and moved in close to give her a little peck on the lips.
"It's not like I would've let you say no." With that, Toph stood up on her tip toes and planted a longer kiss on Sokka's mouth. Their eyes were closed, her arms wrapped tight around his neck. He pulled her in up against his body; they inhaled, the sensations of the kiss running through their veins. It was no easy task to break away from it.
"Wow." Sokka said, trying to catch his breath. "I'm glad I came back."
"After a kiss like that snoozles," Toph said, pulling him inside and kicking the door closed behind them, "I'd hope so." Regardless of what was about to happen, this was going to be a hell of a night.