Well, KF had a Tokka Week at the beginning of 2012, and although it took me a while to do it (obviously), I thought I'd get around to putting things up here. Prompt 1 for 2012 was Spar, so I thought I'd put these two through their paces again.

Hope you like it. Thanks again for reading, and especially for commenting. It's always appreciated.

Dances with Badgermoles

"No." Toph was adamant. "You do not do it that way. All that fancy hopping around is going to get you killed!"

Aang held his hands out to the sides. "But I was just getting out of the way!"

Toph pointed at him. "Listen, Twinkletoes. You keep hopping around like that, you're gonna get careless and you're gonna get clobbered."

Sokka snorted from his spot by the trees. "Hey, he blew you out of the ring in Earth Rumble Six!"

Toph frowned at him. "Which I was just about to address." She turned her attention back to Aang. "You blew me out of the ring once. But if we had kept fighting, I would have figured out your pattern. You would have gotten predictable, I would have laid a trap, and I would have caught you. And then where would your fancy dancing get you?"

Aang tried to interject. "But I—"

"You would have gotten smashed between two boulders, that's what!" She let up a little. "Listen, Aang. You gonna fight with an Earthbender, you better fight like an Earthbender. Fancy dance all you want, but if you can't block and you can't deflect, then you're history. It's that simple. Now do it again!"

Sokka moved forward and slid down the short slope into the arena. "You know what—I want a turn."

That took both Toph and Aang by surprise. "What?"

"I want a go at you. You're teaching Aang to fight like an Earthbender—I want a chance to fight with one."

Aang tilted his head. "Why?"

"Hey, we're going up against other Benders all the time." Sokka shrugged. "I want a chance to learn how to fight one on my own."

Aang looked uncertain. "You want to fight against me?"

"No..." Sokka pointed at Toph. "I want to fight against her."

Toph snorted. "Are you serious? You wanna fight against me?"

Sokka nodded. "That's what I said."

"I don't know, Sokka," said Aang, still not convinced. "She's been pretty tough on me. And I'm the Avatar."

"I know. I still want a shot."

"All right..." Aang made his way out of the arena. "I still don't think this is a good idea."

"Hey." Toph made a no-look point at Aang. "You stick around—your lessons aren't over. You might as well learn from this too."

Sokka cut off a thin branch a little longer than his arm from a nearby tree with his knife, then trimmed away the leaves. Aang tilted his head. "What are you doing?"

"Making a weapon." Sokka sheathed his knife. "If I can touch Toph with this, I figure I'm doing something right. I can't use a sword."

"That makes sense," Aang said, still dubious. He took a seat on the embankment.

Sokka turned to Toph. "I'm ready if you are."

In answer, Toph sent a quick current of Earth his way and popped a column of rock up under him. Sokka went flying.

"Yaaaaaaaaaah!"

Mercifully into the bushes. Aang winced on impact.

Toph looked apologetic... sort of. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sokka—I thought you were ready." She snickered.

Sokka pulled leaves out of his shirt and his ears. He collected his stick. "All right. That was a freebie." He charged.

Toph laughed. "I'm sorry... there are no freebies in my game."

It was the beginning of a long afternoon.

Toph turned the ground to quicksand, and Sokka ran right into it—right up to his waist. Toph gleefully jumped up and landed on his head, shoving him under, then hopped in herself. A moment later the quicksand spat Sokka out, then solidified into a hard surface. Sokka stomped off to cut himself another stick, but then his stick suddenly spat out of the ground too, hitting him in the back of the head.

Then Toph herself popped up out of the ground. "Hey, Sokka! Betcha can't catch me!"

Sokka lunged—but Toph went back below ground. Again she popped up nearby. "Hey, over here!"

Sokka lunged again. Miss. Again Toph popped up. "Boy, are you slow."

Lunge. Miss. And a column of rock in the butt sent Sokka flying. And his stick.

Toph came back above ground again. "Are you sure you want to keep doing this?"

Sokka glowered. "Yes."

Again Sokka charged, this time in a random zigzag. His pattern foiled several boulders and Earth currents, but didn't foil the sudden sinkhole that swallowed him up.

Toph looked at her fingernails. "Just let me know when, okay, hotshot?"

Sokka's head and shoulders burst above ground, and he gasped air for several breaths. "Let you know when what?"

"When you want to stop this. I can do this all day."

Sokka levered himself up out of the hole, then reached in and pulled the stick out too. He walked over. "Are you trying to tell me I can't beat a bender?"

"No..." She leaned toward him. "I'm trying to tell you you can't beat me. I'm too much for you."

He leaned toward her. "I already know that."

She threw her arms out to the sides. "Then why are you doing this?"

"Hey." He smiled. "I figured that if I can lose even halfway badly to you, I might beat another bender."

She leaned in closer and smiled. "Flattery will get you somewhere, Snoozles."

He grinned goofily, spread his arms... and tapped her once on the butt with his stick.

That drew an immediate thundercloud of brows and a column of earth underneath that sent him flying into the bushes. Again.

A few moments later, the bushes spoke.

"Heh. Totally worth it."