She sat and hugged her knees. She looked glum, but he didn't quite know why.
"What's the matter, Toph?" Sokka asked, genuinely concerned for his blind friend.
"Nothing; it's not like you would understand…" She said sadly. It was odd that she didn't turn her anguished expression away from him, but he figured that she didn't really care. She was blind, after all.
"Hey, cut that out…" he said sadly. "Wanna hit me a few times? I know that'd make you feel better," he offered glumly, in an attempt at cheering her up. He sat next to her. She shook her head.
She looked up, desperately wishing she could see him.
"Hey, Sokka?" She asked, unsurely.
"Yeah?"
She hesitated.
"What's it like, being able to see? I mean… actually see. My feet are pretty awesome, but…" she trailed off for a moment, "What's it like to see from your eyes?" She lifted her head in his direction, in an attempt at 'looking' at him. He smiled sadly.
"Well…" he began, "Firstly, there are colors…"
"Well, yeah, I got that much," she interjected.
"Hey, I'm trying to help you out here!" he defended.
"Well, do better." She stuck out her tongue. He thought for a moment, then continued.
"Red is kind of… hot. Like fire. Blue… well, blue is cold-ish, like… like water. Not ice, really. That's more like white…"
Toph sighed.
"You're pretty bad at seeing for someone who isn't blind," she said, playfully. Sokka shrugged.
"You do better."
A moment of silence.
"Well… trees and stuff are green, right?"
"The leaves are."
"Well, there you go. Green is life."
"Not bad, not bad…" Sokka complimented.
Toph thought for a second, then touched his face.
"But what I don't understand is, if green is the color of life, why aren't people green? Or if red is warmth, why isn't skin red? It's warm and alive…" She contemplated this for a moment.
"The answer to that one is simple; green people would just be flat out weird," Sokka said in an attempt at cracking a joke.
"And what about red?" Toph asked.
Sokka thought.
"Well, people can be red, I guess. When they've been out in the sun too long or they're angry or flattered…"
"Flattered?" Toph repeated, critically.
"Well, yeah. When they blush," Sokka explained.
"That's stupid," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "Who the heck 'blushes,' anyway?"
Sokka shrugged, knowing truthfully he'd done it before, a bunch of times.
"Well, if you're thinking about something that makes you nervous, or if you're with someone you like…"
"That's ridiculous. Then why haven't I blushed?" Toph asked, before she'd really thought about her words.
"Oh? You like someone, eh? You don't seem the type," Sokka beamed. "Who is it? Who is it?" he pestered. "Is it Aang? Or Zuko? It's Zuko, isn't it? He's kind of hot-headed, but he's a firebender so I guess it makes sense-"
"No, not Zuko," Toph interrupted Sokka's ramble, scrunching her nose a bit.
"Aang then?" Sokka guessed. They didn't seem like a likely couple… plus, he had a hunch Aang kind of had a thing for Katara. He made a mental note to keep an eye on them.
"No, not Aang either," she said, sounding annoyed.
"Someone back home, then?" Sokka questioned, now out of ideas.
"You know I was never allowed to go anywhere."
"Yeah, but you were also the Blind Bandit."
"I'm still the Blind Bandit!"
"Stop trying to change the subject."
"I'm really not the blind one around here, am I?" she finally sighed. Toph got up and began to walk away hastily. Sokka stood up and caught her wrist gently.
"Who is it then, Toph?" he asked, his face sincere, even though he knew she couldn't see his expression.
Toph remained silent.
"Is it… me?" he finally guessed.
Toph continued to stand silently.
"Oh… Gee, Toph, I honestly had no i-"
"Just shut up and leave me alone." Toph yanked her wrist away and went about twenty feet away and made herself an earth tent as shelter from his stare. It was odd how she could almost feel it, when, in actuality, she could only tell which direction his head was pointing in.
She felt him walk over to her tent. He stood silently, at first. Then, he knelt down so he could see inside.
"What part of leave me alone didn't you understand?" Toph asked bitterly, folding her arms across her chest.
"Hey, I just wanted to let you know that… um… it's cool," Sokka kicked a pebble that lounged previously by his foot, "and…" He'd run out of things to say. "Toph, listen, to tell you the truth I really don't know how I feel right now…" He sighed and slumped against the inclined rock that separated him from her.
"But you don't like me." Toph finished for him.
"I… I never said that…" Sokka said quietly. Blushing.
Toph slid the flat pieces of earth that concealed her back into the ground. Sokka nearly fell backwards, but caught himself on his elbows. He looked back at her.
"Then what are you saying?" Toph demanded.
Sokka scooted across the dirt back next to Toph.
"I'm saying… I mean, I guess I'm saying…" he hesitated for a moment, then chuckled once. He took Toph's hand and put it on his cheek.
"Do you feel that, Toph? … I'm blushing…"