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It was an Accident, Honest

Chapter One

Hallowe'en

"Boo!" Aang shouted, jumping out from behind the door in an attempt to scare the next visitor. Toph did not look amused. She crossed two bandaged-covered arms and stared blankly at him. What she hoped was him, anyway.

"I knew you were there, Twinkle Toes."

Aang's shoulders slouched slightly and he lowered his hands. Maybe being a pumpkin for Halloween wasn't scary enough? Should he have been a ghost instead?

Toph slammed the door shut as she entered the hallway. "Where's Snoozles and the Sugar Queen?" she asked, glancing around at the decorations through pale green, sightless eyes. Mere moments after Toph had posed the question Sokka stepped into the hallway carrying a large sweet-filled bowl. He wore shaggy-looking brown clothing, with claw-like gloves and what appeared to be a hat with a wolf's head. Not that Toph could tell, though.

"Hey, Toph," he greeted, placing the bowl down on a nearby table. "How can you see? I mean, those bandages are covering most of your eyes…"

He received a cold glare from her. "I'm blind, remember?"

"Oh, right…" Sokka's face turned slightly red with embarrassment. He came over to her and plucked at some of the material that was wrapped around her left shoulder. "So… are you a zombie?"

"No, I'm a princess. What do you think?"

Before any sarcastic remarks could escape Sokka's lips the doorbell rang again. Aang literally jumped for joy. He ushered the other two into the neighbouring room before creaking the door open slowly. After a quick pause, he once again jumped out into the doorway, shouting "Boo!" as he raised his arms. No one screamed, no one jumped, and no one even flinched. In fact, no one was there. Aang frowned slightly. Just as he was about to take a look out onto the empty porch, a dark figure pounced out in front of him laughing manically. He let out a gasp of surprise and tripped over the front step in a desperate attempt to scramble back inside.

The dark figure stepping into the light; Ty Lee was laughing once again, this time in what seemed like glee. Her cat ears bobbed above her head as she tried to silence her amusement and her tail swished from side to side behind her. Aang hastily stood up, trying not to look too stupid or embarrassed at his own actions. Another figure stepped into the light, thankfully not as unexpectedly as before. Zuko nudged Ty Lee and she stepped into the house with him following behind her. Aang closed the door gently and took note of their costumes. Ty Lee was, obviously, dressed as a black cat. Zuko was a vampire, also dressed in all black, with a dark cape and pearly-white fangs.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes," Toph pushed open the door to their right, "the movie is about to start. Sugar Queen's complaining 'cause you're not all through the house."

"Coming!" he called happily and rushed past Toph into the room. Ty Lee ran after him excitedly and Toph motioned for Zuko to go next. "What are you?" she inquired lazily as he walked past. He stared at her for a moment and then remembered that she was blind.

"A vampire," he replied, then added sarcastically, "I want to suck your blood." She smirked slightly at his answer.

"Guys, hurry up! It's starting!" Sokka called, patting the seat of the sofa next to him, a successful effort to make them speed up. He was sitting next to Suki and Ty Lee on the larger of the two sofas; Katara and Aang sat on the other. Toph took the seat next to Sokka, while Zuko sat on the other side of Aang.

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She wondered down an empty hall, her delicate footsteps echoing loudly throughout the abandoned house. Her breathing was fast and strangled; a frantic endeavour to minimize her chances of getting caught. The girl glanced wearily at her surroundings, searching for a clue or a means of escape.

Drip, drip, drip; the leaking tap caught her attention and she turned recklessly in its direction, knocking over a table and precious vase as she did so. She let out a gasp and jumped quickly away from the broken object. Her heart was racing and her blood was pumping with adrenalin. The girl sped down the hall, running as fast as her legs would carry her. A door slammed shut and she froze. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. She dared not look, but it remained her only chance of survival. She spun round, ready to face her doom. Her eyes grew wide.

She screamed.

Almost everyone occupying the room at that particular moment jumped at the sight of the monster behind the girl. Ty Lee dropped the popcorn causing it to scatter all over the floor. She clung to Suki's left arm, while Sokka clung to her right, acting as if it was some sort of safe haven. Suki merely rolled her eyes and attempted to comfort the two in her currently armless state.

Katara flinched, which lead to her adorable purple witch hat to bounce off her head. She made a move toward Aang only to find that he had already sought comfort in Zuko. He buried his face into Zuko's chest, seemingly unaware of the pair either side of him staring in perplexity. After a moments silence he lifted his head and found himself face to face with a rather nervous looking Zuko. Oh…

Toph, on the other hand, stared blankly at the screen. "I don't get it…"

Suddenly realising how feminine his actions were, Sokka tore away from Suki and filled the awkward silence by commenting on Toph's lack of understanding. "At least you're lack of sight saved you a fright!" He was possibly trying to be funny; it's hard to tell. She ignored him, however, and continued talking.

"There really was no point in me "watching" this, was there?" she asked rhetorically, pausing to make 'bunny ears' with her fingers while she spoke the word 'watching'.

Neither Aang nor Zuko seemed to have heard any of this, nor did they hear the quarrel between Toph and Sokka that followed. They were too busy staring at each other in a mixture of confusion and terror, and possibly something else. Katara coughed loudly and the two of them slid away from each other rather quickly. Then silence arrived, as the short-lived dispute died down. Toph was, of course, the victor. Sokka raised his head to give Toph a rather slow comeback when he noticed Zuko's rather troubled expression, as well as Aang's scared stiff one, and decided that they were more important.

"What's up with you two?" he questioned, unaware that his one query would cause a whole bunch more to arise.

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