Tales of Gaoling part 1
A sequel to The Prodigal Daughter...wherein I dive off the cliff of actual storyline-safe fiction into the sea of alternate plot lines.
Disclaimer: For this and all following chapters; I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender nor its' characters. This is fan fiction.
The livery coaches took the four friends back to the Bei Fong estate. Citing exhaustion, everyone said 'good night' and left for their beds. Of, course, Toph snuck into Katara's room, where the girls talked until two bells after midnight. (the boys only lasted until one bell)
The
next morning was bright and cheerful. No one, not even
Toph, wanted to sleep late. All four, it seemed, were
eager to get ready and start the day. Aang noticed a
difference at breakfast, however. Usually, at meals, the
girls sat on one side of the table, the boys on the other. Today,
Katara glided to the seat next to Aang, leaving the other side to
Toph and Sokka. These last two arrived at the dining room
door at the same time. Sokka stepped back to make way for
Toph, who had a hand up to "feel" her way through the
doorway. It brushed across Sokka's chest as the blind
earthbender slowly turned toward the table. A soft smile
came to Sokka's face at the contact. 'VERY well done,
Toph,' noted Katara to herself.
It
wasn't until the meal was over that anyone noticed that their hosts
had not joined them. Toph suggested that, being older, perhaps they
were sleeping in today. The others had their
doubts. Regardless of the reason, it was decided to spend
the day in the market place for some casual shopping. Sokka
said he wanted to introduce all the people who had helped him, and to
return the borrowed items. It may have been simply that
they wanted to be out as couples. A new dynamic had
formed, a new way of relating to the world around them. and neither
pair could wait to try it out.
They
were in no hurry, and stopped for any reason at all. Even
Toph, devoid of her usual surliness, was having fun. Their
first destination was Kai's shop. Here, Sokka returned the
boots and armbands he had worn. The others assured Kai
that the effect was most impressive. The older man made
sure to introduce his son, Cho, a middle-aged version of Kai, it
seemed. Toph wanted to somehow repay Kai's generosity, so
she purchased four pairs of very expensive ladies' gloves.
After
waving good-bye, they next found a book shop. Toph could
not even pretend to be interested, 'Sorry, guys, just not my
thing," she shrugged and decided to wait
outside. Toph wasn't sitting long when her friends exited
the shop. Standing, Toph sensed something odd. A
pair of raised heartbeats had emerged from the alley next to the
bookstore, and was headed straight for Sokka. She could
feel the heart rates quicken as they drew closer. With a
fast heel-plant and arm thrust, Toph sent a small tremor at the two
strangers, which knocked them back a few steps. The others
wheeled around at the commotion, and Sokka recognized the two thugs
from the other day. He subconsciously reached for his
sword, only to realize he hadn't brought it! Before he
could dwell on it further, Toph was by his side. She had
sunk the two men's feet into the ground, immobilizing them. Katara
had opened her waterskin, and had two lethal-looking icicle-daggers
held to both noses. The taller, thinner man looked at Aang
and sneered, "What trick do YOU do?"
"Hey
genius," Katara snapped, "Check the
tattoos? Airbender? He's the Avatar!"
"I
COULD force enough air into you until your lungs explode." Aang
stated, as matter-of-factly as reading a laundry list. He
would never DO this, of course. But why tell
them?
"Have fun digging yourselves
out." Toph threw back at the men as they turned to
walk away. Her last footstep was more deliberate, and both
men sank further to their knees. "Check the
tattoos...good one, Katara! I thought Snoozles would be
the sarcastic one. Guess it's a Water tribe thing."
she said
Silence followed. Aang,
Katara, and Toph had expected some kind of remark from Sokka, but his
head was down and he looked sheepish.
"Hey,
buddy, what's wrong?" asked Aang.
"Sorry
I forgot my sword. I bet I would of scared'em off like
before if I had it!"
"'S'okay,
Meat-head. It's the thought that counts." Toph
said as she stood on her toes and pulled down on Sokka's arm enough
to give him a peck on the cheek.
