A/N: Happy holidays to all!! :D Huzzah for the giving season! And because it is that special time of year, this oneshot is a special Christmas gift to Kasplosion, who probably doesn't know that she's gotten me through some hard times or that she's made my day with a hilarious PM or made me feel needed/wanted when I'm asked for advice or that she let me know that even though sometimes it seems like I'm alone, I'll always have a friend out there. :)
Sokka: -sniff- That was so beautiful!
Me: Er… thanks…?
Sokka: Say something like that to ME!!
Me: Umm… sure, why not… Sokka, you've been the best imaginary version of a fictional character I've ever had.
Sokka: -sniff- I feel so loved!!! -bursts into hysterics-
Me: …Riiiight…
And so… MERRY CHRISTMAS, KASPLOSION! A very special Tokka oneshot from me to you!
Disclaimer: I don't even own this computer! Technically, my family and I "share" it. So you think I own Avatar, why…?
Dedicated to Kasplosion, because she understands. :)
Flawless
FWUMP!
Katara laughed as she threw another snowball at Aang. Aang, who had previously been making snow spirits in the ground, sat up wet and soggy. Joining in on Katara's laughter, he molded a perfect ball of snow in the palm of his hand. He brought his arm back and swung it as hard as he could, aiming straight for the waterbender. His ammo met its mark and hit her in the head. In shock for but a second, Katara retaliated once more, and a war had been initiated between the two.
Sokka, building his snowman, shook his head at the antics of his sister and the avatar. They were so young and so in love. How would they know what love was, a thirteen and fifteen-year-old? It was insane, to be sure, but it seemed so… right. It was obvious they were flawless together, and Sokka was sure they would stay together for years to come.
Then again, what did he know about love? Here he was, deciding his best friend and his sister's romantic future for them when he didn't even have one himself. He had thought that he and Suki were in love. He had thought that they were flawless together. But when he told her that he was staying in Ba Sing Se with his friends, she turned on him and left for Kyoshi.
He hadn't heard from her since.
Sokka sighed. It had been about three months ago. He was at least a little over it by now, but it still stung to think about it.
And so now, he was here in Ba Sing Se, watching his best friend flirt with his sister while he himself had no one to do it with. Zuko was in the Fire Nation, working on Fire Lord-y business, so not even he was here to talk guy with him.
Yeah. Life was good.
Sokka stepped back and looked at his sculpture. It wasn't too bad. His snowman's eyes were buttons off of his heavy, fur coat. The nose was a half-eaten carrot, and his arms were twigs found from the nearly-dead tree outside. Although, it was missing something…
As he began to remove the navy blue scarf from his neck to style on his man of snow, a sudden force pushed him face-first into his frosty friend, turning it into a pile of mush.
"Toph!" Sokka yelled as he heard the mocking laughter coming from the earthebender behind him.
"Well, you were just standing there," she said, arms crossed in front of her chest. "You shouldn't leave yourself open like that."
"Thanks, Toph," said Sokka, rolling his eyes. He pushed himself off the ground and stood up, facing the blind girl. "I'll keep that in mind."
"No problem," Toph said, shrugging off the sarcastic comment. "You can consider it an early Solstice present."
"Well, I guess I should return my gift for you, then," Sokka said. "After all, yours is so much better than what I got you."
"Lighten up, Snoozles!" Toph said. "Take a joke every now and again."
Toph chuckled silently at her own joke. She stopped suddenly, though, and seemed to be listening very closely to something. Sokka didn't interrupt her.
Toph finally spoke. "What does snow look like?"
Sokka was a little confused and even shocked by her question. "Why do you want to know that all of a sudden?"
Toph shrugged, making a nonchalant sort of noise. Attempting to act casual, but not quite succeeding, she said, "They sure seem to have fun with it," as she motioned to Aang and Katara.
Sokka stared for a moment. "Well," he finally said, "how do you see snow?"
Toph thought. "It's sort of… crunchy. In the crisp kind of way, you know? It's wet and… slurpy."
"Slurpy?" Sokka laughed.
Toph's cheeks, already pink from the cold, turned a brighter shade of red. "Like you've never made up a word before."
She was silent again, wiggling her bare toes in the snow.
How she went barefoot out in the winter, Sokka would never know.
Toph knelt down in the frost, and just sat. Sokka watched on. "It smells really clean," Toph finally said. "Pure, if you know what I mean. And…"
She stood back up. She stuck her tongue out and happened to catch a falling snowflake. "It tastes like water."
Sokka stroked his chin in a comical manner. "Hmm…" He looked down at the snow and scooped some into his hand. Peering down at it, one eye wide open and one squinted nearly shut, he decided to speak.
"Snow," he said, "is… white."
"And I'm supposed to know my colors?"
"You didn't let me finish!" Sokka said, stomping his foot and dropping his snow. "Snow is white and, like you said, it's really clean looking. You know, sort of perfect." He bent down to pick up some more snow. "Each snowflake falls and comes together and makes this huge, watery blanket. All the dirt is on the bottom of all the snow, and there aren't any leaves to gather on top of it. It's flawless."
Standing up, he said, "Sorry you can't see it."
Toph scoffed and flipped her hand. "No big deal. Jeez, it was just a question! You don't have to get all sobby about it."
Sokka smiled. That was Toph for you.
But it was kind of odd. Toph kept tilting her head in Aang and Katara's general direction. She listened carefully to them and it seemed as though she was attempting to feel their movements by digging her foot into the ground to reach the earth beneath it. She was completely focused on what they were doing, what they were saying.
…Why was that…?
"So…" Sokka said "…this wasn't about what Aang and Katara are-"
Toph exploded on the spot. "Don't be dumb, meathead, why would this be about Katara and Aang and their stupid flirt fest over there? Why would I care that they're over there throwing around perfectly good snow in each other's faces? They sound like freaks over there with all their girly giggling. Why would I care that they actually have someone to love and do that kind of stuff with in the first place? Well, I have news, Ponytail. I don't care, I don't."
Toph plopped herself on the ground, arms across her chest, her heavy breathing able to be seen in the icy air.
Sokka's eyes were wide. It had certainly been unexpected, to say the least. That wasn't the answer he thought he would receive. The shock overwhelmed him, and he too sat on the ground.
The two friends just sat in the soggy snow for a while. The laughter from Aang and Katara rang true in the background. Sokka turned around to see the couple still tossing snowballs at each other as they ran around chasing one another. As Katara stopped to make a snowball, Aang came up behind her and grabbed her around the waist. Surprised, they fell to the cold, snowy ground together, and there they kissed in the snow.
Sokka sighed. They were so happy! They had that adorable, true love relationship. There were no downsides to them. They were flawless together.
And Toph obviously noticed.
So as Toph sat there in the snow, she was astonished when a snowball smacked her in the back of the head.
She jumped. She turned her head in Sokka's direction. A smirk on her face, she became the usual Toph and said, "It's on, Snoozles."
The two had a snowball fight of their own that seemed to go on for hours. As Aang and Katara sat together on the balcony sipping their tea, the earthbender posed for the warrior as he attempted at making a snow sculpture of her to which she pushed him into once more. They made snow spirits that looked as if they were fighting each other – one was an earthbender, one seemed to wield a boomerang. They ran around, trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths while Sokka tried to convince Toph that he really had eaten one that tasted like lemonade.
When they finally tired of their games, they fell to the ground in exhaustion.
Both laughing and breathing heavily, Toph looked over at Sokka.
"Here's another question, Snoozles," she said.
Sokka looked over at her. "Wanna know what dirt looks like now?" He laughed.
"No. What do I look like?"
Sokka was dumbfounded once more. Toph was not the kind of girl to care about appearances, especially her own.
But he looked closely at her anyway. The pink in her cheeks was bright and obvious. Her oversized coat seemed to eat her. Her bare feet were slightly discolored from the snow, and her nose was runny. Her hair was protruding from her bun, a frizzy mess. She was wet and soggy and…
"Flawless. You're flawless."
A/N: Yay! I like the way this turned out for the most part. I don't know if I made it clear, but since there are spirits and not angels in Avatar, they don't make snow angels. They make snow spirits! :D And I wanted to mention Christmas in there to make it a holiday type thing, but they don't have Christmas in the Avatar world so I had them celebrate the Winter Solstice! :D …Yeeaaahh…
So I hope you liked your present, Kasplosion! I made it just for you! :D Merry Christmas!
Ow… flu shots hurt…
REVIEW!! OR ELSE SOKKA WILL PELT YOU WITH SNOWBALLS!!
Sokka: Finally!! Something you want me to do that I actually WANT to do!!
Me: Yes, this is my Christmas present to you!
Sokka: Aww! This is the best gift EVUH!! XD
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!! MAY YOU ALL STUFF YOURSELVES SILLY WITH HAM AND COOKIES!!
…but don't eat them at the same time… ew…
