Notes: I decided to focus on three of my favorite aspects of the show: Sokka being right for once, Aang coming to a friend's defense, and Toph's feet.
The Pedestrian Predicament
An Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic by
Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)
It's a big, bad, ugly world out there. No one ever wants to believe that, especially when I'm the one bringing it to their attention, but it's true.
My sister says I'm too negative. And just to give you an idea of how smart she is, the last guy she liked turned out to be a murderous psychopath. Okay, so he really only wanted to kill the Fire Nation (soldiers and civilians alike), but you have to draw the line somewhere.
My best buddy (at least by default, sisters and girls in general don't really count) says I need to lighten up. Mind you, he can fly, and so can his bison, so what does he know about reality?
My... other friend (and I use the term loosely) says I'm an idiot, and more often than not, that I need to shut up. And... well, she sees with her feet. With her feet. I rest my case.
Nobody wants to agree with Sokka. Sokka's too close-minded. Sokka's paranoid. Sokka needs to take a chill pill.
What they really mean is that Sokka's too real. Sokka's too quick to point out what could (and usually does) go wrong. It's not paranoia if people really are after you, and we're traveling with the most wanted person in ANY existence (and he's had tons). It requires just a bit of forethought, people.
But no one wants to hear my ideas. Not until we're smack dab in the middle of a sticky situation. And then everyone's like, "Sokka, where's the plan? Tell us what to do!" And then I have to make up something on the spot, since no one will ever leave me alone long enough to come up with a great plan when we're not in trouble.
It's a hard life, and yet, sometimes, people still see fit to give you a nice, big, backhanded slap to the mouth. Me, I'm used to it. The others want to act all innocent and shocked. But I know better. I even tried to warn them.
But no one listens to Sokka. No, they have to get the taste smacked out of their mouths before they'll wise up. And don't tell them I said so, but I think that's exactly what they need: a healthy, heaping dose of real. I just wish I'd been the one to dish it out.
"I'm hungry."
Three sets of feet came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the busy city road, and then whirled around to face the speaker, who, shockingly, was not Sokka.
Both Sokka and Aang (who had decided to pose as a cabbage merchant and his elderly father, even though they only had one cabbage between them) gaped stupidly. Toph (who had firmly insisted on being what came easiest for her: a blind peasant with slightly dirty clothes) just sort of smirked.
"What?" Katara (who was hoping to pass as a young seamstress, despite the fact she'd only been able to find a set of long, dark blue robes) asked defensively, hands on her hips. "I'm allowed to complain once in a while!"
"Yeah, but... you never do," Sokka pointed out slowly. "And hey! That's my job!"
She scowled and flicked him between the eyes with an ease that could only have come from having grown up with these sort of outbursts. "I don't care. I'm hungry, and I want to eat."
"I'm with her," Toph said at once, moving to stand next to Katara. "And Sokka's always hungry, so that's three to one in our favor, Twinkle Toes."
"Actually, I'm hungry, too," Aang admitted with a sheepish grin. "I just didn't want to say anything, in case I was the only one..."
"Well, that's just stupid!" Sokka cried in disgust. "You're the Avatar, and you have to stay fueled! Plus we dug up these lame disguises just so we could sneak into a crazy pro-Fire Nation town! And since I'm with you, I might as well stay fueled, too!"
"Told you," Toph murmured triumphantly to Katara, who just sighed and shook her head.
"But I wouldn't want you guys to have to sit there and just watch me eat," Aang protested mildly.
"With Sokka around, you'd never eat alone," Toph assured him.
"Got that right!" Sokka chimed in, before realizing that he wasn't exactly being complimented. "Hey!"
Aang decided to interrupt before the original train of thought got lost in yet another squabble. "Since it was Katara's idea, she should get to decide where we eat," he announced.
"Sounds fair," Toph agreed with a nod.
"Hold on!" Sokka protested. "Since I'm always hungry, according to some people, I think I should always get to decide where-"
Katara was seconds away from flicking her brother again, but a pebble beat her to it, bouncing neatly off of Sokka's forehead.
"Thank you, Toph," Katara said sweetly, grabbing a startled Aang's arm and pulling him after her as she headed towards a nearby juice bar.
"No prob," Toph replied, grabbing a disgruntled Sokka's sleeve and tugging him along as well.
"I can walk!" Sokka growled, trying to pry her fingers loose.
"Yeah, and you can also get crushed by a rock three times your weight, and then dragged along behind me. What's your point?"
"I reeeally don't like you today."
Toph elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Then you know how I feel about you, oh, every day. Keep it moving."
Aang threw a somewhat concerned look over his shoulder. "Maybe we should separate those two again..."
"Later," Katara replied firmly as they reached the juice bar's door, which was being blocked by a tall, gangly man with a rather sour expression on his face, and the juice bar's logo on his shirt. "Excuse us," Katara said politely, but the only resulting movement came from the man's large eyes, which shifted to her, and then to Aang.
"You got money?" he asked bluntly, and a bit suspiciously.
Katara frowned, but dug out a few copper pieces and showed them to the man. It wasn't all of the money she had, but he certainly didn't need to know that, as far as she was concerned.
The man grunted and moved aside.
The group had just begun to move past him when his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Toph roughly by the shoulder. "Hold on. She can't go in."
"Hey!" Toph shouted angrily, struggling to get away from him.
Sokka blinked, shrugged, and started to move inside anyway, getting another flick from Katara before she shoved him aside.
"And why not?" Katara demanded. "She's with us!"
"We got rules here," the man said simply. He lifted Toph into the air by the back of her shirt, and pointed to her wildly kicking feet. "No bare feet allowed. And especially no dirty ones."
Aang glared at the man. "There's nothing wrong with Toph's feet," he snapped.
Katara shot him a strange look, but shook her head and turned back to the man. "Look, our friend is blind. The only way she can 'see' is with her feet, so they have to be bare."
"Then she can't come in," the man concluded.
"But I just told you that-"
"We got rules here," he interrupted. "You don't follow 'em, you don't come in."
Katara threw up her hands in frustration. "This is ridiculous! Plenty of people walk around without shoes! Haven't you ever met an Earthbender with bare feet?"
"Sure," the man admitted.
Beaming, Katara started to calm down. "So you see-"
"They didn't get in, either."
Katara groaned loudly. "I don't think you understand, sir. Putting shoes on my friend here would be like... well..."
"Putting a dress on you," Aang added as he scowled harder at the man.
Katara sighed and shook her head. "He didn't mean that! It's just, my friend couldn't 'see' as well with shoes on, and she-"
"Then either get her some new shoes, or some new eyes."
For a long moment, no one breathed.
And then the man screamed as he was suddenly yanked off of his feet by strong winds. He sailed in seemingly random directions for a few seconds, before finally being dropped headfirst into a cabbage cart, which promptly collapsed under his weight.
Toph, meanwhile, was set gently back on her feet by the same winds.
Katara shook her head. "Aang, I know he was being a jerk, but you probably shouldn't have done that."
"He was being rude," Aang replied stubbornly. "He insulted Toph... and her feet!"
"Actually, they are pretty dirty, but that's not her fault," Sokka pointed out, earning a dark look from Aang. "What? All our feet would look like that if we didn't wear shoes!"
Pointedly ignoring Sokka, Katara placed a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," Toph answered in a tiny voice that was completely unlike her. "Thanks, guys..."
Aang reached over and squeezed her hand briefly. "You're our friend, Toph. We'll always defend you."
"Yeah, what he said," Sokka added, not wanting to feel left out. "All I know is that this juice better be the best in the world, for all the trouble we went through to get in."
"Let's hope so," Aang agreed as he started to follow Katara inside. Noticing that Toph still looked a little shaken up, he hung back and grasped her hand again. "Are you sure you're okay, Toph?"
"Um... yeah," she answered slowly. "It's just... I'm used to people treating me different because of my eyes. I just never had anyone do it because of my feet. It's... weird, you know?"
"He was probably just jealous," Aang said without thinking.
"Of what?" Toph asked curiously.
"Your feet. Um, because they're so nice. And strong! And... uh... the right size!"
She decided to save him the embarrassment of mentioning that she could feel and hear his heart pounding rapidly, or reminding him that she was a human lie detector, or pointing out that his hand was suddenly rather sweaty. "Thanks, Aang. I guess."
Normally, any boy who tried to hold Toph's hand would've been lucky to draw back a broken arm. But she could tell that Aang was just concerned about her. Well, that, and he seemed to enjoy touching her all of a sudden. Normally, that would've made her wary of him, but she was a little tired, and if she played her cards right, she figured she could have him giving her a footrub before the day was done.
So Toph allowed Aang to lead her into the juice bar by the hand, both of them missing the sign over the door that stated: "No Kidding: No Shoes, No Service!"
The End.
Endnotes: This story is OLD, obviously. Over ten years old, I suspect. But I put it on a flash drive and forgot about it, and I just happened to dig it up now. I should really clean up more often...