Vibration after vibration after vibration. Toph strolled through the marketplace holding a bag of jingling coins. She could roughly tell what each vendor was selling based on how heavy the stand weighed upon the ground. A heavier stand was likely selling cookware. A lighter stand was likely selling little odds and ends. Finally, Toph found the stand she was looking for: the dress stand.
Why was Toph looking for a dress, you may ask? Well, though she would never admit it, she had a little bit of a crush on Sokka. And she thought that maybe, if she wore a dress, he might see her in a different light. Just a simple dress, nothing slutty or complicated. It was actually Aang's idea. The two often talked about this sort of thing, what with his major feelings for Katara. And after she beat him up for suggesting such a ridiculous idea, she decided to pursue it.
Obviously, she couldn't see what any of the dresses looked like, but she could feel them. She ran her hands across them and found the one that felt the best. She asked the man at the table if it looked good. She heard some giggles, but was assured that it would look fantastic on her. She paid for the dress and went on her way. She wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she vaguely heard the sound of a high-five and the words "Yes, we finally sold that failure of a dress!" But she decided to ignore it.
She arrived back with rest of the group wearing her new dress. It felt a little weird since she wasn't used to wearing things like that. She felt the figures of her friends through the ground, and knew they would turn to see her soon.
Suddenly, she heard the loudest, sharpest, most obnoxious laughter she had ever heard. It was shrill, and it was Sugar Queen.
"What's so funny?" Toph asked, a note of confusion in her voice.
"Sokka, you have got to see this!" Katara squeaked between laughs.
"SHWAAA?!" was Sokka's reaction. After that, he was completely speechless. He must've been twitching, Toph felt his unstable vibration through the ground.
"Seriously, you guys, what's going on?!" Toph asked, getting angry.
Katara's boisterous laughter was far from ceasing. "Who's the Sugar Queen now, Toph?! Bwahahahahaha!"
"Sugar Queen...? Toph mumbled back. "That's it! I need to know what the heck is going on here!" She stomped her foot on the ground in rage, which caused Sokka to be launched up into the air via earthbending. He landed back down with a thud. Toph then used her bending to bring Aang forward to her. "Explain this to me, Twinkle Toes," she commanded.
"What's to explain? You look ridiculous!" Katara squealed. Her laughing continued. "Ha ha ha ha ha-"
Boing!
"Ugh, Katara, put those away!" Sokka said with disgust.
"What? They're just boobs, Sokka, grow up," Katara replied.
"Start talking, Twinkle Toes!" ordered Toph. She could feel the racing of his heart.
"Katara was wearing the little white outfit she wears when go swimming. She was laughing so hard... Big, round, beautiful, they almost glow..." Aang was almost too mesmerized to speak properly.
"Aang, stop gawking, that's my little sister you're talking about! Ugh!" said Sokka.
"I don't care about the boobs!" Toph shouted. "Tell me why she was laughing in the first place!"
"You're so clueless, Toph," Katara's laughing fit resumed now that she was fully clothed again.
Aang told Toph everything. How she looked ridiculous in yet dress she bought, how Katara was laughing so hard she was on the ground crying (among other things that had happened during the fit), how shocked Sokka was initially at the sight, everything.
Toph felt very embarrassed. And she was going to deal with it the only way she knew how. Her fists clenched, her face grew red, and her body was twitching with outrage.
Aang, seeing what was about to happen, did his best to prevent it. This was, after all, all his fault, since the dress thing was his idea. "Hey, Katara, you must be tear bending," he said, hoping that a reference to that horrible play by the Ember Island Players would shut Katara up.
"You're right, Aang, I am," she replied. "It's not everyday you get to see something as good as this!"
At this, Toph just lost it. All her anger bubbled over, and she through the largest earthbending tantrum in history. Aang used his airbending to take himself and the others to safety. Their whole camp was destroyed, all the while Katara was still laughing it fist pounded on the ground, while her other arm was clutched around her aching sides.
"Katara, don't you think you should stop now?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, just look what you caused here!" Sokka exclaimed.
But Katara didn't care. This was the best thing she'd seen in a long while. She couldn't stop laughing if she tried. So what if they would have to rebuild everything later? This was totally worth Toph's extreme embarrassment.
