Love is on the Run
Story Summary: He was used to only seeing "Sokka and Suki"…then, one day, a little tiny thought bubble popped into his mind. After that, thoughts like "Sokka and Toph," and "Sokka and Ty Lee" weren't so foreign anymore… Sukka/Tokka/Tykka
Notes: Eh, depending on the responses, I have no idea if this story will even continue or what relationship will win in the end. So…Meh! You decide this story's fate!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or its characters, nor do I own this story title. It belongs to Krystal Meyers. I just thought it sounded cool… /
(Oh, sorry...Yes, vote!)
CHAPTER 1
The Way We Were
Ty Lee swept the floor underneath her with her leg. Suki fell backwards straight to the ground.
She smiled widely. "To Sokka I go!" Ty Lee felt a harsh tug on her braid as soon as she tried running away to find Sokka.
"I don't think so!" yelled Suki who was doing the grabbing still on the ground. Ty Lee was slightly pulled back as a result. Toph decided to take the moment to run past them to head for Sokka herself. Ty Lee noticed this and decided to take action. She lunged forward a bit even though her head was hurting from Suki's pulling on the ground and grabbed Toph's left arm. Toph felt pulled back. "Where they heck do you think you're going?!" she asked threateningly. Ty Lee poked two fingers out and aimed for specific chi places on her arm to black her bending.
"Let go! He's mine!" She tried pulling back to free her arm. It was useless however after Ty Lee had numbed its use. She still held a firm grip on her.
"No way, little girl! It's a grown-up thing that you wouldn't understand!" stated Ty Lee matter-of-factly.
"Oh yeah…" Toph said while she continued struggling. "Because, you're so mature enough to be an adult…"
Suki jerked back Ty Lee's braid hard enough to cause her to fall. This in turn created a chain reaction that caused Toph to fall back as well. Suki decided to take the opportunity to get up quickly and beat them to it. She ran past them but immediately felt a hand grab her left ankle. Ty Lee gripped onto her as if her life was on the line. All three didn't want each other to reach Sokka because each of them had wanted to spend some more one-on-one time with him. They were pretty sure that he had liked each of them personally.
Suki fell flat on her face. Toph laughed. "Ha! Owned…Now, if you'll excuse me…" She raised a hand in the air and slowly closed it into a fist. A stalactite from the ceiling began shaking as did the entire cave.
Ty Lee, who still had a firm grip on Toph's arm, went wide-eyed. "Are you crazy! This whole cave will collapse!"
Toph smirked. She knew what she was doing. She just hoped that she hadn't miscalculated. "Better duck and cover then, huh?"
The icicle-looking rock formation jutting from the ceiling above Ty Lee detached itself and came falling down straight to Ty Lee. She had no other choice. She let go and rolled to her right barely missing its deadly sharp edge. The stalactite dug itself deep into the patch of ground that Ty Lee was just lying on. Ty Lee panted heavily. She looked back to inspect the damage and sighed in relief. She was still alive. That thing could've impaled her to death. She turned her head to look at her attacker who was already up and running. Toph headed for the path that Sokka had taken to find some sort of exit that they would be able to use. Just ahead ran Suki who was closing in on the opening of where he went.
Although Toph was unable to use her left arm, she still had one other arm to rely on. It would just be a tad more difficult. She used the vibrations that Suki was making with her running to find out her exact location. Then she used her earthbending to raise a wall in front of her blocking her path. "Oh no you don't!"
Suki stopped immediately before she almost crashed into the newly added wall in front of her. She turned left and tried going around, but that way, too, was blocked by another wall. So far, Toph had raised two walls, and she was just going to keep on raising more. She shifted her feet one more time and waved her hand in a down to up motion. Two more walls rose shakily on her right and back sides. Now she was truly boxed in. She looked around but found no opening to squeeze through, not even a small one. She was trapped.
Toph laughed and grinned in triumph. "Ha! Gotcha'!" She continued on her merry way. Suki was not just about to let her get away. She needed to come up with a plan. She looked up. That was the only exit she had.
Toph was too busy focusing on getting rid of Suki and escaping as soon as possible that she hadn't noticed Ty Lee creep up behind her. The vibrations from the walls and Suki plus the cave's rumbling had intertwined themselves with Ty Lee's light steps that it actually blocked it out. Ty Lee took her by surprise before Toph even had the chance to take a step forward. Ty Lee used her special abilities and aimed for her legs. It was a smart move considering that this would first blind her, then, second, disable her bending enormously. She was only able to go for one, however: her right one. Her fingers made contact, and Toph went tumbling down like a ton of bricks on top of her face. Now Toph's left arm and right leg were disabled.
Ty Lee ran ahead and turned back to wave to Toph. "See ya later!" she yelled creating several loud echoes that had resonated throughout the entire cave. She was going to get to Sokka first if Toph did nothing. Anger coursed through her veins as Toph lay on the ground helplessly while Ty Lee ran ahead of her. She needed to come up with a plan, but first, to do that, she would have to calm herself down. She closed her eyes and focused. She inhaled and exhaled. She felt Ty Lee's vibrations and saw sound waves in her mind through her feet. It was pretty amazing what she could do being blind and having the ability to earthbend at the same time.
Her hand crumpled itself into a fist and she took aim at the floor. She punched it ardently sending several ripples and waves throughout the ground. Ty Lee, who was only focusing on the road ahead of her, tripped unexpectedly and fell to the ground once again. It was getting quite tiresome always falling and tripping. Ty Lee just wanted to be declared the victor and get it over with.
Suki took her plan into action. She had used the ripple effect to her advantage. It allowed her to jump even higher. She jumped to the side and used her foot to spring up towards the other wall. She did the same thing on that side and now sprung up seeking to grab the top of the wall. She took hold of the top with her hands and held on for dear life. All she needed to do now was push herself up and get over the wall she was hanging onto. She had to be the victor. She needed to get to Sokka first. It was her main objective.
Toph bended a pair of rock-hard "cuffs" around Ty Lee's ankles. This would keep her occupied with trying to get free, and it would most likely keep her that way for the rest of the day at least. Ty Lee got on to her hands and knees and attempted to stand, but the cuffs disabled her from moving her legs. So, she ended up falling back down to her face. "Ow…" she groaned sounding muffled in the dirt.
A wide grin from ear to ear planted itself on Toph's face. "I..win...!"
Suki pulled herself on top of the wall and tried regaining her breath. It was taxing to have to heave your entire body onto something especially when it was a thin tall wall. She looked down to measure the distance between her and the floor. It was about ten to eleven feet away. This would definitely be one hard fall if she fell straight down, so she decided to take the alternative. She would tuck her knees in and try landing in a roll. That way, the fall would be less hazardous, and her legs wouldn't be paralyzed accordingly. She closed her eyes and jumped down meeting the ground with her shoulder. She went into a roll and somehow stopped on her back. She was looking up at the ceiling of the cave and the stalactites that had decorated it. Then, all of a sudden, she felt her wrists being sheathed in something hard. She looked up only to see that they were trapped by an upside down "U"-shaped layer of hardened dirt.
She looked at the only person that could have done such a thing. Toph looked absently in her direction with her dull gray eyes and smiled hugely. Suki wished she could've seen the glare that she was giving her right now. She struggled intensely. She wriggled her hands everywhere, but it was just no use. She was put into lockdown again by the same person. Saying that Suki was annoyed would have been putting it lightly.
"Now you guys can't get to him!"
Ty Lee heard her and decided to comment. "Uh, hello? You can't move anywhere either!"
"Oh really?" asked Toph snidely. Ty Lee probably should not have put that dare out there. Toph extended her only working arm forward and opened up her hand to press it flatly against the ground. Both Ty Lee and Suki watched as a piece of hardened dirt protruded from out of the ground. It pushed Toph backwards into a standing position. She leaned all of her weight onto her only good leg. She began falling because of her lack of balance, but luckily, being the sharp-minded person she was, she bended a wedge of rock from the ground up on her right side. She grabbed the top with her hand and panted slightly. How in the world she did it, she had no clue and neither did Ty Lee or Suki, but the point was that she was the only one that was able to walk, but only partially. Now she would be in the lead. "How 'bout now?"
Ty Lee looked at her strangely. "With only one leg?"
Suki yelled back, "Stop daring her!"
"Wait a minute…" she whispered quietly. The whole cave became silent. She felt it. She could feel those vibrations that she had long found comfort in whenever it came by. It was his vibrations. She stared in a shocked happiness. From fear and embarrassment of what she had done to the others, she earhbended away the cuffs that had kept Ty Lee and Suki restrained. She would not want to be blamed for doing that.
Sokka emerged from the opening that all three girls were near. "Hey guys! Okay, I couldn't find an exit, but I think that…" He stared at the sight in front of him in awe. Two of them were down lying on the ground while the other looked like she was having a hard time standing, although, she tried playing it off really well. He watched as Ty Lee and Suki hurriedly got back up and brushed themselves off. He gave them all a strange look. "What…happened?" he asked as he arched an eyebrow.
All three looked at each other nervously. Each was waiting to see who would pull off the next move. Silence filled the space of about a minute. Sokka scratched his head in extreme discomfort. He had a hunch that something weird went on before he entered the picture. Now that he was part of the situation, or worse was the topic of it, it just made him feel even weirder about the entire thing. He smiled intending to make things better with a joke. "Okay, okay, don't tell me...Were you guys…fighting with each other?" He laughed heartily. In reality, he had no clue how right he was. Only Sokka laughed at his own joke which was usually normal, but this time he didn't hear any groans or fake-laughter that he often received from others in response. Instead, he heard blaring silence that had multiplied the tension in the air.
Ty Lee and Suki narrowed their eyes while Toph stared off into the distance with her usual blank expression stuck on her face. All of them were monitoring one another compulsively.
Sokka's loud laugh lowered down to a small roar then a tiny whimper. He laughed nervously to relieve some of the tension they were placing on him forcefully. "Is…everything okay?" he asked with a fake smile.
Ty Lee switched from Suki to Toph and then back again. Suki did the same while Toph stood still with her foot doing the seeing for her. Out of the blue, Ty Lee started walking towards Sokka. Suki's glare intensified and she continued to walk towards him as well. Then Toph started her hopping to him. Sokka gulped noticeably. Ty Lee quickened her pace and got into a power-walk. Suki followed and Toph comically took longer hops with her stretched out arm to keep balance. Ty Lee noticed her upgraded way of travel and instead of jogging began running. Suki became furious at her action, so in reciprocation, she sprinted towards Sokka.
Sokka raised his hands in the air. "Whoa! What's going on?" he asked as he took a few steps back. He stared dumbstruck at the sight that lay before him.
All three of them in a straight horizontal line sometimes pushing each other to the side were running…to him! He looked behind just to make sure. Yup, they were definitely heading for him. They kept their sights directly locked onto him. But why? They were closing in on him. What was he going to do? He slightly panicked. "Look, whatever I did, I'm sure we can work it out…"
"Get out of my way!"
"Me first!" Cruelly, Ty Lee pushed Toph down onto the floor.
"He was looking at me! At me!" It was no use. They were too busy fighting with one another for first place.
"Eep!" He turned around with a surprised look etched on his face and started running back to where he came from.
Hi! My name's Sokka. You might remember me as being that really amazing, hunky, good-looking, extremely funny guy who helped the Avatar take on the Fire Nation! Yeah…I know…Amazing, right?!
Sokka's sweating increased. He hustled to get away from them. At that moment, he felt his right arm being grabbed by a couple of hands from Ty Lee who was smiling like crazy. He was powerfully yanked back.
Now, you might be wondering, "What in the world is going on," right? Well, actually, I'm a little confused about it myself. See those walls? Yup! We're in a cave. Heh, funny story. Somehow, we got trapped in here when a cave-in blocked our path…
Sokka nearly tripped from her pulling. Immediately after, he felt his other arm being grabbed by Suki. He looked to his left to see her. "Suki, what the heck is going on?!"
Suki gave him one of her patented "I-can't-believe-you-don't-know" looks. "Why don't you tell me!"
Sokka looked flabbergasted. "What?!"
Ummm, how did we get in a cave? Well, that would need more than ten seconds to explain, but, long story short, we went looking for a missing kid who probably loves to play hide and seek in dark scary caves, because right now, he is officially well-hidden...like a freakin' ninja! Oh, he's in here somewhere...I just haven't found him yet, but when I do...
"Let go!" yelled Suki fiercely. Suki pulled, and Sokka went stumbling in her direction.
So, that just leaves one more question: how did I get myself into...well, this? See, that's the part I'm a little unsure about, but I think I have an inkling of it…
Ty Lee heaved him back in response. "You first!"
"How 'bout you both let go…" yelled Toph who had apparently gotten up and hopped on one leg over to where they were. She took hold of his shoulder with her one good hand and leaned all of her weight back for it was the only thing she could do.
"No!" screamed Ty Lee and Suki simultaneously.
…It all ties in with this cave thing, only, I would have to explain from the very beginning…
…This whole mess started about a week ago…when they showed up in my life…