Okay! Here's the story! It started out as something simple and grew into a massive, many-word monster, so I split it into two parts.
I don't know if anyone will be interested in the second bit so if you are, just give me a review! Hell, one word will do. As long as I know someone wants to read it! If there is any interest, I'll put it up! Just a little warning there is some OOC-ness from Toph.
A girl in green sat by the edge of the sea. The waves lapped gently at her feet as she gingerly trailed one finger through the cool liquid. She lifted her finger out of the sea and heard a drop thud softly onto the sand. The earthbender sighed and rested her chin on her knees. She wished she knew the colour of the sea, just so she would know the colour of his eyes.
'Hey, what's up?' asked a familiar voice from somewhere behind her, breaking her train of thought.
'Oh!' She was startled. She would know that voice anywhere.
Said boy with ocean blue eyes spoke up again. 'Sorry, sorry. Did I scare you?'
'No! Of cour-' she paused, and then sighed, too tired to pretend. 'Yea, Sokka. You did.'
'What's up?' The water tribe youth repeated, plopping down to her right. 'I thought you would've heard me approaching.'
'I was just distracted. That's all.' Toph sighed again, her sightless eyes 'gazing' out into what she assumed was the sea, judging by the sound of the waves. She wondered how vast it was. And once again, she found herself wondering what his eyes looked like. Shaking her head to get that distracting thought out of her mind, she asked him, 'What are you doing out here?'
'I was gonna ask you the same thing.' said Sokka as he stretched out his legs into the sea. 'Mmm... Nice and cold.' he drawled as he laid down, placing his hands behind his head.
'I asked first.' replied the stubborn earthbender.
'Couldn't sleep.' was the simple reply. 'What about you?'
'Same thing.' she blew at her fringe to keep it out of her eyes. Not that it would matter. She couldn't see anyway. A strong but gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned to Sokka in surprise.
'Are you okay? You don't sound alright.' he was concerned. 'What's wrong?'
'Nothing...' she trailed off and returned to 'gazing' at the sea.
'I might not be able to sense things like you Toph, but I've got to be really dumb to not see that you're not okay. And, believe it or not, I'm not that dumb. Come on, you can tell me.' He squeezed her shoulder in a comforting manner.
'Like I said, it's nothing.' She tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible but a little bit of her despair slipped into her voice.
'Right... You're not sleeping which is just wrong. Once the sun sets, you get sleepy and you fall asleep the moment you touch the ground. And nothing in the world can wake you up once you sleep, not even an earthquake. So it's got to be something pretty major.' He ticked off the points one by one on his fingers. 'Should I go on?' he asked.
'Why do you care?' Toph asked after a thoughtful pause. Not accusingly, not angrily. It was a genuine question asked out of curiosity. Why did he care how she felt? The question caught Sokka unaware and he let go of her shoulder. She immediately missed the warmth and comfort it gave.
'Well?' She asked, turning to look at him. She was blind but she could still feel his gaze and she held it. 'Why won't you speak? I thought you could never stop talking.' A teasing smile settled on her lips. Sokka let out a soft chuckle. He had never seen her smile like that before. His hand reached up and brushed away her windblown bangs revealing her sea-foam green orbs. For a moment, he felt as though he was drowning in them. Then he shook his head and looked down at his hand, wondering what in the world had possessed him to do that. Must have been Katara's cooking, he told himself. Toph's cheeks started to burn when she felt him brush her hair away. She was ashamed to admit it but she liked what he did. To distract both herself and Sokka from her slowly warming cheeks, she waved her hand in front of his face. 'Hello? Earth to Sokka! This is a day worthy of history books! I managed to silence the great blabber mouth with four simple words!' she teased.
'Aw, shut it.' sulked Sokka. 'Then answer me already.' Toph shot back, folding her arms. 'Well, er...' stuttered Sokka. He couldn't tell her the truth.
He had noticed she was gone after waking up for a snack. But he couldn't say he had immediately gone off to find her. He couldn't tell her why he had done it. If it had been Aang or even Katara he would have just snacked and returned to his bed. But not if it was her. Because the way he felt for Toph... it was more than friendship. Oh man, that he definitely could not tell her! She'd probably crush him under a rock. Or at least laugh in his face.
'I'm waiting.' said Toph. She stood up and stretched lazily. 'I think I might have aged a good ten years waiting for your answer.' Sokka just said the first thing that came into his mind 'Well, it's because you're my good friend I suppose.'
'Friend?' Sometimes she ignored him, sometimes she teased him, occasionally she hit him and questioned his gender yet he still considered her his good friend? 'Yes Toph, friend. 'Sokka teased, treating her like a 4 year old. 'That's the word we use to describe people we like.' 'People we like?' she seemed to have developed a habit of echoing people's words in a questioning manner. Sokka paused and gulped. That came out wrongly. He quickly stood up, brushing the sand off his pants. 'You know what I mean Toph. I mean, come on...' He blabbered, hoping to salvage the situation. 'Yea, I know, I was just teasing Sokka.' she replied, but she wasn't. She was hoping he had meant it the way she thought. But she could never let him know that. He'd probably be all awkward and avoid her. An uncomfortable silence settled over them and for a minute, they just stared out into the ocean.
'So, what's wrong with you? You still haven't answered me.' asked Sokka, determined to forget what had just happened. He was more focused on finding out what was wrong with the unusually silent earthbender. 'And no more, 'It's nothing's' from you.' he added quickly as Toph opened her mouth to deny again. 'I know something's up. Why don't you trust me?' Sokka was hurt. Weren't they friends?
'It's not that I don't trust you Sokka, it's just... I don't want to burden you with my negative thoughts or anything.' Toph said quietly, hugging herself. She couldn't. She couldn't let him know how weak she was inside. The thoughts were flooding her mind again. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing them to go away.
'Hey. Come on, we're friends aren't we? We got to be there for each other.' The warrior said soothingly as he rested his hand on her shoulder again, giving it a comforting squeeze. Toph felt herself slowly giving in. She wanted to tell someone so badly. But still, 'Heh, I'm not used to you being so sweet and caring. I'm more used to the whiny warrior.' Toph joked, hoping to distract him.
'Nice try Toph. I'm not gonna start arguing with you. Now, spill it.' He insisted. He had that stubborn look in his eye. She knew it. She could feel it. With a sigh, Toph began slowly. 'Alright... it's just, I'm just...' She took a deep breath, trying to calm her inner turmoil. Then, she took the plunge. 'I'm just... sick. Sick of not being able to see, alright? There, I said it.' It was easier now that she got the first sentence out. The rest of it just flowed out of her mouth. All the discontent. All the sadness, the longing. Everything that had been keeping her awake.
'I'm tired of having to ask you guys to tell me what's going on in the sky. Because the moment anything doesn't touch the ground, I'm totally vulnerable. I hate it. I hate being helpless. I hate not knowing! I hate being treated as an invalid, just because I can't see!' She was shaking. Everything burst from her, like her inner dam had broken and she just couldn't stop. Sokka had never seen her lose control like that. He stepped closer and put his arm around her. She barely registered his proximity, too lost in her emotions. 'I want to know! I want to know the colour of the sky; I want to know the colour of trees and flowers! I want to know how vast the sea can be, I want to know more than the sound of the waves!' She sounded so angry, so desperate. Sokka moved even closer and enveloped her in a hug.
Somewhere on his right shoulder, a tiny Sokka was yelling at him, asking him, what on earth are you doing and do you have a death wish? But another, bigger part of him was too worried about Toph to care if she would squash him like a bug later. So he flicked the tiny Sokka away. Toph finally realised how close he was but she didn't care anymore. She turned around and threw her arms around his neck and began to sob quietly.
'I... I wish I could see, Sokka! What's the point of being the greatest earthbender alive if I have to be blind? I would gladly give up being an earthbender, just to be able to see!' She was calming down, her whispered words filled more with grief than hate. 'I want to see Aang's face. He's my pupil and I don't even have the faintest idea what he looks like. And Katara. She cares so much for me and yet I'll never see her. And... And you. I want to know what you look like.' Sokka stiffened slightly. She wanted to see him? Why? But Toph did not explain. Somewhere in her confused mind, she still had enough sense not to give the truth away about her feelings for Sokka. She couldn't. She thought it would ruin the already fragile friendship they had. Instead she went on. 'The only two faces I've known my whole life are my parents'. And I only know what I can feel. I don't know the colour of their eyes; I'll never know their smiles. I... I... I just wish I could...' she trailed off into silent sobs that wracked her frame. Sokka didn't know what to say so he just settled for gently patting her back and making comforting sounds every so often till she calmed down.
Finally realizing she was holding Sokka, she sprang away from him as if he was on fire and rubbed vigorously at her eyes, trying to erase the evidence that she had cried. 'Look, I'm sorry you had to see that okay? Don't tell anyone or I'll squash you!' she tried to sound as threatening as possible but that was difficult as she was still hiccoughing from all that crying. Toph was furious with herself. She wasn't supposed to lose control! She was only supposed to tell Sokka a little bit, enough to keep him from asking more questions. But now she had gone and cried her eyes out in front of him! What would he think of her now?
'Sure.' Sokka said simply. Again, an awkward silence settled, punctuated only by Toph's hiccoughing. Sokka had never seen her like that. It was frightening, to see the strong earthbender reduced to a helpless girl like that. How he wished he could help her...
'You know. If you want to. You can feel my face.' Sokka offered suddenly. Argh! He mentally slapped his head. What on earth was he thinking, saying that? He really had to talk to Katara about her cooking! It had obviously screwed up his thinking process! Now Toph would think he pitied her. She's going to hate me for that!
'I... I mean if you want to! I'm not implying anything or whatever...' he stuttered.
Toph couldn't help but smirk even though she was still hiccoughing. She realised what had made him panicked. She always loved it when he got like that, it was just so entertaining. But the sentiment touched her. He had listened, he had cared. So, she silenced him with gentle shush.
'Relax, Sokka! I know you mean well.' A smile settled on her lips and Sokka couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked at that moment. 'Did you mean it? When you said I could feel your face?' He didn't say anything. He only took her hands and placed them on his face. Her smile grew wider and she thanked him silently with a slight nod of her head.
Awww... isn't Sokka sweet? And twitchy? I just love it when he gets all awkward! In the second chapter, Toph will feel his face... and a little bit more!! Sokka is not going to be used to it... So much awkwardness can occur, and who knows what it'll lead to! (Well obviously, I do! But it's a secret!) A kiss or two maybe? I can't wait to finish writing it! So drop me a review if you're even remotely interested to see how it ends up!
Until then. Have a great day!