Rhythm

by Caiyus

When a poor, clumsy boy shows up in Toph's life, she ignores him on her parent's wishes, even though it's not what she feels is right. But his relentless devotion proves to be the perfect escape from the life she doesn't know if she wants or not. Tokka AU

1. My Heroine

RHYTHM

By: Caiyus

Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender

Raiting: T for slight language (just being safe!)

Pairing: Toph/Sokka

Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, nor am I affiliated with it in any way. All works here are pure fiction and similar occurrences are mere coincidence. Characters, if any, that you don't recognize and can't place under the Avatar fandom belong to me. All other things mentioned belong to their respected owners as well. D:

Author's Note: Don't you just /love/ starting new projects? Well, that's basically what this one is for me. It's going to be a fun side project that I'll be using as a distraction from my other fics. :D This idea has been in my brain for a really long time, and I think it's cute… Oh, and this is my first Tokka fic, so be kind? I also have an italics fetish, so that's why a lot of this is in italic. (Italics, YUM.)

This is an AU fic. Keep that in mind. And about Toph… She's like, not blind in my AU. Since this is a bendless story, she wouldn't really be able to see, aye? And that kind of sucks when you can't see where you're going… At all. So that's my pathetic reasoning. I hope you all understand. And if not, artistic license:D

December 19

I think that I made my mom cry just now. Actually, scratch that—I'm positive that I just made my mom cry. I hate it. On one hand, I'm supposed to play the role of "loving daughter" and feel bad for her, right? But on the other hand, I want to go up to her and shout "GOOD FOR YOU!" right in her face. Does that make me a horrible person?

I guess I should start from the beginning, just to clear things up a bit. It's almost Christmas time. Every Christmas, we attend a gala at my parent's company. It's the most ornate, ostentatious gathering of the entire year, and my parents take total pride in that. Pretty stupid, right?

Every year, I dread going to that Christmas party. The rooms are filled with old men and women who are chatting it up with each other. There are no children, I being the exception, allowed. This means that have to I sit at the table staring at the table cloth for eight hours, or until the party finishes.

That isn't even the worst part, though! The thing I hate most is getting dressed up. Each year, my mother buys me a horribly frilly dress, complete with lace and bows. Each year, I think the dress is as bad as can be, but the next year's one always seems to be worse. I literally spend hours getting my hair, nails, and makeup done, much to my disapproval. And that's where my story begins.

The party is actually tomorrow, but my mom was making me go through a "test run" today. I was all ready upset and I didn't want to go through the practice session. I don't see the point in it anyway! I mean, I'm going to sit for an hour, enduring all the modifications, look at myself for a few seconds, then take it all off.

Basically, I told my mom to back off. (Of course, this is the child-friendly version of what I said.) She kind of just stared at me for a while… Like I had grown another head or something. I never talk back to my mother. Never. Never ever. I was half expecting to get disowned for my explosion.

I started apologizing like crazy to her, but half way through, I just stopped. I was thinking, 'Why am I the one apologizing?'

It didn't even look like she heard what I was trying to say. Her face was blank, empty, whatever. No sign of emotion, what-so-ever. I saw her face quiver suddenly.

I ran up the stairs and into my room before I could see her face. And end of story. I'm now sitting and writing, just to get my mind of things. I hate my life.

I'm not a bad girl, really. I know that I should go down there and just go with it to make my mother happy. ARGH. I hate that I have a conscious sometimes. I'll be back later; I'm going downstairs to talk to my mom.

-Toph

End Note: I kind of like this whole "journal-style" writing thing. It helps me to feel more in character… But do you guys like reading it? I might try going from different POVs each chapter, but I don't know. Sorry that this chapter is so short, too. I promise, if you guys like it, I'll make the next one longer! I'd love some feedback from you all! C: