"Passage of Time"
By: ThumperMiggles
A/N: Happy birthday Twilight Rose2! Here you are - an AU. Sorry I haven't been writing lately, I'm being lazy, and pretending I'm dead. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday to Twilight Rose2
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2008
Reviewers:
air maiden
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Twilight Rose2
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WildRose Thorn
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The little boy panted as he whipped his head to each side, trying desperately to find a place to hide. Spotting a crack in a wall, he instinctively dove under it, and wriggled to the side inside the bush.
"Do you see him?"
Sokka held his breath, praying that he wasn't seen or heard.
"No. Little baby, probably ran away again."
"All we did was push him once or twice!"
Sokka refrained from snorting loudly. Once or twice? Push? More like punched in the gut repeatedly.
"He'll be at school tomorrow."
"Yeah, we'll get him then."
Sokka heard footsteps, and finally, the voices faded away.
"Wat'cha doin' in the bushes?"
Sokka jumped, and let out a small yelp, scrambling out of the shrubs to find a young girl at the age of five approximately a half his height, looking up at him giggling. Clad in a rosy pink dress, hair up in sweet looking pigtails, she put her hands on her hips and asked,
"Ya gonna answer?"
Sokka quickly opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again, instead saying,
"Sorry. I'll just leave now."
The girl laughed, and said,
"You found my wally-crack?"
"Excuse me?"
She gestured with her childish hands to the hole Sokka had used to get into the large yard. He nodded, and said,
"Do you live here?"
She nodded. Holding out her hand, she said cutely,
"Toph Bei Fong. Nice 'ta meet'cha!"
She smiled, and he sighed, looking down to his wrist at his watch.
"I have to go now, sorry."
"Visit soon?"
"Alright."
She squinted, and said,
"You PROMISE?"
He nodded mutely, rubbing her head with his hand to reassure her. He was late, and Katara would be worrying right about now. Although he was already eight, his father tended to get slightly irritable when he came home from school after four. Waving to the pleased-looking girl (Toph, was it?) he crawled back through the opening to the world outside, rushing as fast as he could to his house.
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"HEY SOKKA!"
A boy with short, brown hair turned his had behind him to the source of the noise. He spotted his best friend, Toph Bei Fong. At the age of 9 and height of 3' 11", she had to be the shortest girl Sokka had ever known. She caught up to him, panting, and said,
"You busy after school today?"
"No, why?"
"I got that new video game yesterday, you wanna play?"
"Sure, thanks!"
Sokka rubbed Toph on the head, and she grumbled a little. The habit seemed to have caught on.
He heard someone whistle behind him, and say loud enough for the entire playground to hear,
"Sokka's got a date!"
The ears of the students perked up, and suddenly there was a singsong and annoyingly familiar chant chorusing throughout the schoolyard.
Sokka and Toph
Sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
Sokka growled, and raised his hand to slap some sense into his classmates (or as many as he could reach), but Toph beat him to it.
By the end of the day, four students were sent to the nurses office for bloody noses, and various other bodily injuries.
When questioned about it later, all Toph said was,
"They had it coming."
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Sokka felt a small pang of emotion as he stepped up to the platform to receive his middle school diploma. He would miss the school he had made so many memories in, and felt that it wasn't quite time to go to highschool just yet. Sighing, he held out his hand as to shake the hand of the principal.
He felt a sharp jolt at the side of his head, and let out a little yelp, falling over. Reaching his arms to steady himself, he picked up the hurtful little projectile.
A rubber band?
He looked down to the front row, and almost laughed. Sitting in the front with that trademark devilish grin plastered on her face was Toph Bei Fong, with her fingers still in the shooting position.
Sokka would never understand how a blind girl could aim so well.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When Sokka was eighteen, he found himself once again on a stage, but this time at the podium as the leadership and astrology committee representative. When he had finished his speech, he searched the crowd with his eyes, finally resting his gaze on a girl (who was still short) with long black hair and cloudy green eyes.
She smiled, and waved, and he couldn't help but smile back.
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When Sokka was twenty-two, he returned home for his birthday to find a still extremely small, angry girl.
"You didn't even write!"
"Sorry!"
She sighed, and said,
"S'okay."
He laughed, and the two talked for what seemed to be hours. He couldn't help but notice that as an young woman, Toph was rather attractive. She had her hair pulled up into a bun that laid loose down her back, and a reasonable amount of (ahem) cleavage. Her skin was the same, pale cream, and her eyes were wider, and just a hint (or was it just him?) greener.
He tried to put his hand on her head, just like when they were still young.
He almost got bitten.
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At the age of thirty-five, Sokka was sitting on the couch as usual, drinking his coffee, and flipping through channels.
"Hey Daddy, what'cha doin?"
During his period of reminiscence, his daughter had plopped down beside him, reminding him of Toph when they were so much younger.
"Not much, Liu."
He picked her up and she squealed. Plopping her down on his lap, he rubbed her head.
Spitting image of her mother.
He heard a noise from the kitchen.
"Toph?"
"Help, will you?"
He rushed into the kitchen to find his wife, short as ever, standing on the very tips of her toes trying to reach the shelves.
"Did you get shorter, Bandit?"
She growled, and although he knew he would feel the after-affects of the punch later, Sokka rubbed his hand on her head.
Just like old times.
A/N: Did you hate that? First AU, so it probably doesn't meet up to those "AU standards". At least you can't say I didn't try.