Author's Notes: This originally started out as a chapter of a collab story between Invaderk and I, but after that kind of fell through, I decided to finish it for TOKKA WEEK!
Prompt: it takes two to tango
A Little Backstory: Toph and Sokka are partners in a dance contest thrown by Fire Lord Zuko in celebration of the anniversary of the war's end. They've danced together before at some random party the Fire Nation always seems to be having. Toph is 17-18, Sokka is around 20-21.
As We Dance to the Beat of Your Heart
Sokka opened the back door of the seediest tavern in Gaoling as quietly as he could. Dressed all in black, a hood pulled over his head, he kept one hand on the meteorite sword on his waist as he slipped into the shadows.
There were few people in the tavern, most of who were workers; two were cleaning the wooden tables while another was sweeping up what looked like broken glass from an out-of-hand brawl. The tavern owner, a pudgy man with no hair on his head but plenty on his scruffy face, was leaning over the counter in light conversation with the only patron in the entire tavern.
She was a pretty little thing, from what he could see in the dimly lit bar. Her petite body was swathed in Fire Nation-red silk, an oddity in the Earth Kingdom. Her hair was black and flowed down her back in waves. Her chin was nestled in her palms as she conversed with the tavern owner and her feet swung, unseen, under her too-long dress.
Suddenly, almost as if she'd sensed his scrutiny, she lifted her head from its resting place. She murmured something to the tavern owner (who shook his head and chuckled) before sliding off her seat.
Striking a pose he was all too familiar with, she tilted her head in his direction and called, "Sokka, why are you hiding in the corner?"
He gave a choked sound in the back of his throat and stumbled forward. "Toph?" he sputtered.
She gave him a tiny wave.
He stopped before her and stared down at his best friend. Gone were the infamous bun, the dusty Earthbending clothes, and the healthy coating of Earth. This Toph — a dainty feminine reincarnation of his tomboyish friend — was disconcerting.
Her lips pulled down as he silently gawked. "What?" she barked. "What're you staring at?"
"Toph, what happened to you?"
"Nothing happened to me. Can't a girl dress up every once in a while?" She folded her arms and muttered under her breath, "Acts as if he's never seen me in a dress before."
"But you told me we were gonna take over this tavern!"
"We are." Gesturing behind her to the tavern owner, Toph explained, "Ping owes me a favor and what better place to practice than here?"
"So I got dressed up in my ninja gear for nothing? Ugh!"
Toph chuckled as Sokka made a fuss over removing his assortment of weapons, grumbling as he piled them inside the dark cloak he had worn over it all.
"Chill out, Drama King," Toph chided, taking up her seat and propping her feet on the counter. "It's not like you were the only one who had to play dress-up."
He paused from removing a knife from his shoe and gave Toph another look-over. Her dress had ridden up past her knees and he could see a peek of her shorts underneath; it was hardly worth being embarrassed over, however. He'd seen far more of Toph than her dress revealed. But there was something else that Sokka also noticed, and it caused a pink blush to warm his cheeks.
He'd seen Toph in green, and it suited her. From the rough green of her Earthbending clothes to the fragile green of her silk dresses, it reminded Sokka of how powerful and influential Toph was, no matter the circumstance.
He'd seen her in blue, from her "only trip to the South Pole, I can promise you. Why you would want to be there longer than you have to be is beyond me!" She had looked positively cute all wrapped up in furs, which he had reminded her of constantly, just to see the pretty blush that would flood her face.
But Toph in red was a different person altogether. She was wearing makeup, he was startled to realize: Her lips had been painted and her eyes delicately lined. The dark red of the dress contrasted starkly with the night-black of her hair and the pale white of her skin; the colors seemed to glow next to each other. His eyes grew wide and his cheeks darkened as, for just a fleeting moment, he thought of Toph as sensuous.
He shook his head and placed the knife next to his boomerang. "Why are you even wearing a dress, Toph?"
She paused from picking her teeth to say, "According to the rules, one of us has to be wearing a dress, but since mine aren't big enough to fit you, I figured I'd be nice and wear it instead."
"Then why're you wearing it now?"
"I need to practice dancing in it, doofus." She grabbed two fistfuls of material and said, "It's not as easy as it looks to dance in one of these!"
He shook his head and decided not to mention that he'd fought in a dress before.
Placing a length of rope in his cloak, Sokka glanced again at the feminine Toph in front of him. He cleared his throat. "You know, Toph," he said, gathering the bundle of weaponry, "you clean up pretty well."
Her eyebrow raised and a small smirk graced her dark lips.
The bundle slipped from his fingers and he scrambled to grab it before the contents spilled all over the floor. His sword prodded sharply into his side and he quickly coughed out, "I mean — you look… nice."
Toph shrugged and Ping, who had been wiping down glasses behind the counter, shook his head surreptitiously and gestured at Toph with his cloth.
"What I'm saying is…" He set his bundle down and approached her. "You look really pretty, Toph. But…"
Her eyebrows shot into her hair and he watched, confused and horrified, as his hand moved toward her face. His thumb slid slowly over her bottom lip, the paint staining his finger red.
"But I think — I think you look… better when you're not all covered up like this. Then you look—" He paused as his thumb traced her bottom lip again thoughtfully. "—beautiful."
He watched her cheeks stain that rosy color he always liked on her face and felt a sudden, horrifying weight in his chest. The air felt thick around him; he could feel the tension, nearly tangible, that he had never felt between him and Toph before. His cheeks were nearly as red as her dress.
Suddenly her hand shot out and slapped his away; the tension broke like being doused in water. Sokka shook his head and avoided eye contact with Ping as Toph slid off her stool, planted her hands on her hips, and barked loudly, "Are we gonna get this over with or not?"
"Right." Sokka shook his head again, just for good measure. "Right. So, um… where d'you want to start?"
Toph was tying her mane of hair back as she replied, "With the dancing, duh."
Sokka rolled his eyes. "I know that, but I mean—" He quickly searched the room and went on, "How are we supposed to dance without any music?"
Toph shook her head solemnly. "Have you no faith?" She cleared her throat and called, "Ping! We're ready to go!"
Ping, along with the three other workers, dropped what they were doing and disappeared into a back room.
Sokka raised his eyebrow and deadpanned, "And scaring off the workers will help us how?"
"Hold your ostrich-horses, Mister Impatient."
He turned back to the room in which the four workers had gone. There was a small crashing noise, and then a large drum filled the doorway, followed by Ping. The other workers filed out after him, various instruments in their hands. They rushed to set up the small band in an empty corner.
Sokka shook his head and smiled at Toph. "You really are something, you know that?"
Toph smirked at him and replied, "How else would I have pulled this off? Now let's get started!"
Sokka followed her to the middle of the room, where a few of the tables had been hastily cleared out of the way for them. She walked briskly, and when she reached the cleared area, she spun on the spot to face him.
"So here's the deal, Meathead," Toph began, inserting her nickname for him that was rarely used any more. "You and me, we're both good dancers. And we definitely know how to dance together."
At this, her cheeks flushed just the slightest bit. Sokka remembered their first dance together sharply and shifted embarrassedly on his feet.
Toph continued after their tight silence. "We're both good at making up stuff on the fly. But I think we should plan out our dance and practice it." As some sort of motivation, she offered, "We can get really awesome and cream the competition, you know?"
"You want to make an entire routine for this thing?" Sokka asked unbelievingly. "But we're so good at improvising! Why can't we just work with that?"
She planted her hands on her hips. "Don't you want to win?"
"Well, yeah…" he consented.
"And don't you want to make Suki ridiculously jealous and wish she'd never dumped you?"
His eyes sparked. "Yeah."
"And don't you want to beat Aang and Katara?"
"Yeah!"
"And don't you want to shove this in Zuko's face?"
"Yeah!"
"Then let's do this!"
"Yeah, let's do this!" In his excitement, Sokka whisked Toph off her feet and spun her around wildly. She gave a shriek at her sudden departure from the ground and held on to his arms as he shouted, "You an' me, Toph, we're gonna rock!"
He squeezed her tight around the waist and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek before setting her on her feet. She pulled away looking ruffled.
After a moment — in which she adjusted her dress and ignored the burning spot where his lips had touched her cheek — Toph turned to the tiny band and asked, "You guys ready to go?"
"Whenever you are, little lady!" Ping replied with a wink, and he shook his tambourine.
Toph returned the wink and the band started out with a lively, face-paced tune. She turned to face Sokka and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other as the music swelled; she could sense that Sokka had been struck by the same discomfort that she had just been hit with. Dancing together had been easy on the noisy, crowded floor of a busy tavern, but now they were the only couple in a nearly empty room and their every move seemed multiplied tenfold.
Sokka coughed quietly into his hand and then said, with an attempt at brightness, "Let's get started!"
He took her right hand in his and wrapped his free arm around her waist, which was just as small as it looked. Her fingers curled against his and her hand moved up to his shoulder. They stood like that for a few lengthy moments, in each other's arms, before Toph drew back and punched Sokka firmly in the arm.
"Ow!" Sokka jumped away and rubbed at his newly-acquired injury. "What was that for, Toph?"
She was scowling. "You're making this way too awkward! It's not like you haven't danced with me before, so stop being so self-conscious and just have some fun!"
"Alright, alright!" he assented, and then quickly added, "As long as you don't hit me again."
"You be good and I won't have to hit you again," she quickly countered, but grinned as she draped her body over his. He dropped his hands to the curve of her hips and settled them there; he could feel the warmth radiating from her body, just like it had that night not so long ago. He smiled and they started to dance.
They began simply enough, a few side to side steps and a twirl that flared her dress up to her knees. Her hand was tight in his as they moved in unison: a few warm-up steps, a turn under each other's arms, a twist that pulled her tight against his chest.
Spinning her out, Sokka pulled her back in and lowered her into a dip, her bangs falling away to reveal her flushed face and a cheeky smile. He yanked her back up with a flick of his wrist and she ran her hands lightly across his chest before spinning out, her hair flying behind her like a banner. Her hand found his and they pulled their bodies together, flush against each other as they spun across the empty tavern to the beat of Ping's drum.
They moved together with a grace that neither of them possessed on their own, but with a chemistry that they sparked with all the time. Their movements were smooth and hypnotizing, and Sokka could hear his thoughts slipping in and out of coherency; he focused on the feel of Toph in his hands and her earthy smell and her even breath. He focused on his feet and his hands and his hips and the way that Toph was moving, a way he had seen before.
A quick twist and her back was pressed tight against his chest, her hips moving against him in a way he was almost too familiar with. His hands ran down her arms, which were draped over his neck, and across the plane of her stomach to her waist. He rocked her hips in time with his before she flew out into a twirl. He pulled her into a dip as the song ended; her chest rose and fell in time with the echo of the drum.
A silence, heavy and even, rang out in the room as the last peals of the song faded and Sokka's and Toph's breathing filled the quiet. She looked radiant, with that smug little smile on her lips.
Sokka tugged her forward and she sprang up to his side. Ping and his band, for whatever reason, immediately began clapping. Sokka raised his eyebrows. The dance had hardly been worth applauding, in his humble opinion; they'd done better at the Fire Lord's twenty-first birthday party, and that had just been to embarrass him.
Toph waved off the enthusiastic workers and turned to her partner. "Not bad, Mr. Fancy Pants, but I've got to say, you're a little rusty at this."
Sokka bristled defensively. "Me? I'm the one that's rusty? Have you seen yourself lately?"
"As a matter of fact, no, I haven't," Toph replied coolly, to which Sokka huffed.
"You know that's not what I meant."
Toph brushed him off. "Yeah, yeah, I gotcha." She motioned to Ping and the group started up another song. "Let's just try to work out some kind of dance, okay?"
"Right." He settled his hand on her waist as she placed hers on his shoulder. Their free hands met in perfect synchronization.
"So I was thinking," Toph began, shifting in time with the beat, "that we could start with this." She twirled out sharply and then back in, falling into an elegant dip. Sokka followed her moves easily and supported her as she tipped back.
He thought for a moment, Toph still dangling in his arms, one of her legs wrapped around his. Pulling her up to his chest, he suggested, "Why not twirl under my arm the first spin?" They demonstrated the move and she nodded.
"You still got some of your moves, huh?" she quipped, pulling him effortlessly around the room as they talked.
Sokka snorted. "I'll have you know that my moves never went anywhere. They just got…" — he cleared his throat — "a little dusty, that's all."
She chuckled and pulled him smoothly back toward the band with a small tug on his arm. Sokka followed obediently for a moment, and then frowned. His hand tightened around Toph's and he steered them in a different direction.
Her brow furrowed. "What gives?"
Shrugging, Sokka reminded her, "I'm the one that's supposed to lead, remember?"
Toph clucked her tongue. "Just another thing we'll have to work on."
"Hey!" Sokka directed her back toward the band and pushed her out in an unexpected, messy twirl, as if to prove he was perfectly capable of leading. Toph swiftly corrected her turn and pulled herself back into position, eyebrows raised at him.
"A master leader, I can tell," she muttered, taking the initiative again.
Sokka pushed their bodies in a different direction (she frowned up at him and flicked his shoulder) as he retorted boldly, "I think you're just no good at following."
"Ha! Maybe if you moved with me instead of dragging me around the floor, you wouldn't be so bad at leading."
Sending her into a dip that brushed her hair on the floor, he was quick to reply, "Maybe if you would let me actually lead we wouldn't have this kind of problem!"
"Hey, don't blame me just because you don't know how to lead!"
"I do know how to lead, you just won't let me!"
"Then prove it!" she commanded.
He pulled her body close; his hands followed the curve of her waist down to her hips. She scowled underneath her blush and grudgingly draped her arms over his shoulders.
They managed to get through a few moves before Sokka growled out, "You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
Sokka dipped her down and brushed her fringe from her face — he could feel the heat from her skin on his fingertips.
"You're not letting me lead."
"You're not being forceful enough."
"Not forceful enough, huh?" His movements suddenly became heavy and over exaggerated; Toph struggled to move with him.
"Quit it!" She caught him firmly in the shin. "If you're not going to take this seriously, then I'm not dancing with you."
Hopping up and down on one foot, hands clutching his injured leg, he still managed to snort. "And then what? Who'll you dance with then?"
Her lips moved into a familiar pout and Toph crossed her arms. "I could dance with Haru." She tried to hide the twitch of her lips and failed.
"You wouldn't!" Sokka said, affronted, placing a scandalized hand to his chest.
A smirk stretched across her face as she pronounced, "I would."
"But Toph!" he cried, leg forgotten as he grasped her hands. "Then who would I get stuck with?" He spun her out and pulled her slowly back in. His arms wrapped securely around her waist as he leaned in and breathed against her neck, "You know I only like dancing with you."
She pressed her cheek into his chest for a moment before murmuring, "Then I guess our partnership lives on." She twirled out gracefully and added, grinning, "For your sake, of course. I hear Haru is a fabulous dancer."
Sokka laughed and pulled her close. "And I hear he's nothing compared to me."
His hands found her hips and they danced to the beat of their own drum.