Can't Sleep Tonight
Summary: Toph and Sokka are both having trouble sleeping one night. And so, they decide to chat until they fall asleep. Tokka one-shot, incase you haven't guessed.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, I'd be a rich girl. But I don't.
It was late at night, and the stars and the moon were the only sources of light at this late hour in the clearing of the woods that the group had chosen to stay the night at. Despite the fact that they had had a long day, one person in the group seemed to be having trouble sleeping.
Toph lay in her sleeping bag, her hands neatly folded on top of her stomach. She sat there still as could be and tried to get to sleep. But sleep just wouldn't come. She sighed, and began to get up as quietly as possible. Maybe if she took a short walk around the woods she could tire herself out and be able to get some sleep before she had to get up again in the morning. But as she began to get up, she noticed that she was not the only one asleep. Toph sat still for a few moments, then put a hand on the ground beside her, and felt Sokka's vibrations. Well, it seemed that she wasn't the only one having trouble falling asleep. Toph turned in Sokka's direction.
Sokka must have noticed that someone else was up as well, for a moment later he sat up and turned to see Toph there. He raised an eyebrow, and then spoke as quietly as he could without waking up anyone else, "Toph, shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Shouldn't you?" Toph whispered back defensively.
"Good point." Sokka said softly with a shrug. Not that Toph could see him shrug. Even if she could see, it was too dark to notice, even with the stars and the moon glowing.
Toph smirked. "Having trouble sleeping?"
"Yeah, you too?"
Toph nodded. "You hit the rock on the head, Sokka."
"Why don't we go sit somewhere else…so we don't wake up Aang or Katara too." Sokka suggested, once more making a gesture Toph could not see. The gesture was a quick nod over at Aang and Katara, still in the sleeping bags and fast asleep and looking peaceful.
His suggestion was met with a nod from Toph, who was, for once, agreeing with him.
Sokka got up out of his sleeping bag and then waited for Toph. Then they walked out of the woods and over to the other side of the large clearing.
Toph found a large rock sitting in front of a tree and sat on it. Sokka sat down next to her, and looked up at the sky filled with stars that looked like diamonds.
"Hey Sokka," Toph said suddenly after a couple minutes of silence.
Sokka turned to look at her. "Yeah, Toph?"
"What does the sky look like?" She asked curiously. She leaned back on the rock, her arms behind her with her palms on the rock, holding her up.
Sokka looked up at the sky, and then turned back to Toph once more. "Well, it never looks the same," He started.
"Really?" Toph asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, at least not for two nights in a row. But for the most part, yes."
Despite the fact that she was blind, when Sokka looked at her, he could tell she was quite curious and interested in the subject of the ever changing night sky. So Sokka went on.
"It depends on the weather. Sometimes its cloudy, sometimes the moon isn't showing, sometimes it's partly showing, and sometimes, like tonight, its out completely.
"Most of the time the stars are out, but sometimes you can't really see them," He went on. "But tonight, the stars are bright and glowing, and the moon is out completely. It's really clear up in the sky tonight too, there aren't any clouds at all." He finished.
"I wish I could see for myself," Toph thought aloud. It was the first time that Sokka had ever actually heard her say anything about not liking being blind. Sokka didn't think she really minded. Or at least, he'd always gotten that impression.
Hearing this from Toph caused him to frown. "I thought you didn't really mind being blind," He commented.
"Not really…but sometimes I wish I could see like everyone else." Toph said with a longing glint in her glazed over pale green eyes. It was amazing how he could see the emotion in her eyes, despite the fact that they were useless.
"But then you wouldn't be as good of an Earth bender as you are now." Sokka noted.
The young Earth bender shrugged. "Good point, Snoozles. I forgot how you could be smart like that, sometimes." She softly chuckled.
Thanks…hey!" Sokka lightly shoved her, and Toph returned the favor. The two began to play some sort of pushing game, seeing who would be the first to fall off the rock. As one pushed the other, they swayed to one side or the other, but neither fell off or shifted towards the edge of the rock.
Toph tried to win, but Sokka wouldn't budge yet. But neither did she. Both were as solid as the element they were sitting on. "So Snoozles, when are you going to give in?" She teased.
"I'm going to win this time, Toph." Sokka assured her as he pushed her once more. Toph swayed towards the side for a moment, but kept her balance.
Toph shoved him back. "Not even in your dreams, Snoozles."
But Sokka still didn't give up, and neither did Toph. But then, Sokka stopped. "You know, I don't think this is going to help us get to sleep." He told her. Toph sat still for a moment.
"True," She admitted with a shrug. Then she noticed that Sokka had let his guard down. Taking this to her advantage, Toph gave one finally nudge, and Sokka flailed his arms in the air to try to keep his balance and stay on the rock, but he ended up falling onto the ground. Toph laughed. And, had she seen the flailing motion and the comical way in which he had fallen, she probably would have laughed even harder. "Enjoying your sweet victory, Sokka?" She asked sarcastically with a laugh.
Sokka got up. "Not fair!" He insisted, "You cheated!"
"No I didn't. It's not my fault that you weren't paying attention." Toph said defensively with her arms folded. "A real warrior never lets their guard down."
Sokka gave a low growl, deciding to ignore the last comment, and glared at her, even though it was rather pointless, seeing as she couldn't see the dirty look he was giving her. Then he sat back down on the rock once more.
"Don't be such a sore loser, Snoozles." Toph teased with another laugh.
Sokka stuck his tongue out at her.
They had been messing around so much, however, that they did not notice how loud they were being. Over where camp was set up, Aang began to stir. "Who's there?" He called out wryly into the night.
"Shhh!" Toph said harshly as she turned to glare at Sokka with blind accuracy. How she managed to do so was still a mystery to him.
Sokka looked confused, but a moment later Toph pointed towards the camp. "Twinkle Toes."
Sokka looked over towards the camp where she was pointing, although she was slightly off. But he still managed to spot Aang in the dark of the night, as the young Avatar looked about in the darkness of the clearing to try and find the source of the noise that had awakened him.
Sokka watched Aang, and he knew Toph was still listening to the vibrations. They both sat there quietly, not daring to make a noise and startle the young Airbender. Sokka watched as Aang laid back down, having given up and assuming there was nothing wrong.
How Aang had not managed to spot that his Earth bending teacher and his warrior friend were missing from the sleeping bags did not even seem to cross Sokka's mind at the moment. All he knew was that he and Toph had not been spotted, or found out.
Toph turned to look towards Sokka, looking him almost straight in the eye. "Nice going, Snoozles! You almost woke him up!" She said in a loud whisper.
"I did?!?" Sokka screeched rather loudly. Toph raised her finger to her lips, and shushed him once more. "Oops." Sokka said, turning slightly scarlet for his stupidity. He was grateful for the fact that Toph couldn't see the embarrassment that was etched across his face at that moment.
"Nice one." Toph stated sarcastically.
Sokka punched her in the arm, and the blind Earthbender returned the favor without hesitation. However, her punch, despite her tiny fist, was more powerful and effective than his. Sokka winced, and rubbed his arm.
Toph unexpectedly gave a small yawn.
"Tired, Toph?" Sokka asked with a smug grin on his face that she couldn't see. But somehow, he had a feeling she knew that he was.
"Not at all," Toph lied. She would never outright admit weakness.
Sokka chuckled. "Course not, that would explain why you just yawned." A moment later, Sokka yawned as well, and Toph was quick to return the question that Sokka had asked her.
"Tired, Sokka?" Her only response was Sokka giving her a small shove, but a moment later he gave another yawn, and so did Toph. Yawns were quite contagious.
One of the things that the two young travelers had in common was that they were both extremely stubborn. Neither would disregard and deny the fact that they were tired. So they both sat there on the rock in silence, seeing who would last longer. Both of their eyelids began to get heavy at the same time, making it harder for their eyes to stay open and for them to stay awake.
Toph had begun to lean to the side, towards Sokka, but she quickly woke up. Sokka also began to find it difficult to stay awake. Both of them would start to fall asleep, then catch themselves. But before either of them knew it, they were fast asleep. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but with one's weight upon the other, they managed to stay upright, and not fall off the rock.
In the morning, Katara got up out of her sleeping bag, and looked around the camp site. She spotted Sokka and Toph's sleeping bag's empty, and she began to worry. She looked over at Aang, who was still sleeping, and shook him. "Aang, wake up! Sokka and Toph are missing!" She said worriedly.
Aang quickly woke up, and rubbed his eyes. His sight was blurry for a few moments, but then he blinked, and his vision began to clear, and he saw Katara kneeling over him looking concerned. He suppressed a grin. Had she not looked as worried as she did now, he probably would have let his grin slip. But the worried look she had on her face told him that something was wrong. "What's wrong, Katara?"
"Sokka and Toph, they're missing." Katara fretted.
Aang immediately got up, and began to look around in search of the two. Katara did the same, and right as they were about to begin calling out their friends' names, they both spotted the two over on the other side of the camp site. Aang and Katara looked at each other, and then back at Toph and Sokka on the rock again. It had to be the most adorable thing ever. Toph's head was sitting on Sokka's shoulder, and his head was resting on top of hers. They were both still fast asleep.
Katara smiled, and looked at Aang once more, who was chuckling to himself. "That is so cute!" She exclaimed.
Aang stopped laughing, and then looked at Katara. "Should we wake them up? Or leave them there?"
"Nah, lets just leave 'em there and see what happens." Katara said with a mischievous grin.
Aang gave a wide grin as well, spreading from one ear to the other, and nodded. Then both he and Katara turned once more to look at the sight of Toph and Sokka on the rock. The two of them sat down and watched, wondering what would happen when Sokka and Toph woke up. Packing up and leaving the campsite could wait for now. This was going to be interesting.
I hope you all enjoyed this little Tokka one-shot! Please review on your way out! Reviews are greatly appreciated!
Thanks everyone!
Tres