Nicknames
Yay! Another random fic… have you noticed I always start a fic with a yay? Whatever, anyway, I noticed people (Me included) always use Sokka's nickname (Snoozles) a lot in the fics, and Toph only called him that once… perhaps twice, but not as often as we make her call him that, so that's the reason behind this fic, so please read and enjoy, and review please, lol, no it wasn't a joke, you must review.
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Nicknames
"Move those damn legs Twinkle Toes!" Twinkle Toes, that's Toph's nickname toward Aang, she uses that nickname a lot, mostly when they were training, she rarely used his real name, but that didn't seem to bother the young aribender who was currently dodging earthbended boulders that were thrown against him with fury. "Dodging won't help you beat the Fire Lord Twinkle Toes! You have to attack!"
The group had been staying at the Air Temple for a while, Aang was supposed to be training firebending since he was already able to dominate earthbending, but since it was Zuko's turn to do the shopping, Aang had to train with Toph instead.
Katara was already fixing a nice dinner for the group, Suki was helping her with the preparations, Haru and the others were exploring the temple as always, and Sokka was left with nothing better to do than watch the bender's training. "Twinkle Toes?"
Something had been bothering him, he was able to notice how much Toph called Aang Twinkle Toes, it was one of Toph's favorite timer killers, to think about a proper nickname for each person she meet.
Just the night before she questioned Sokka about a proper nickname for Zuko, first it was Prince Feet Burner, then something simpler like Torch, or perhaps Flame
Fart which managed to steal a laugh from Sokka and then he began offering more nicknames like Sparky or Sunshine which she automatically rejected since it sounded like a way a girl should nickname her boyfriend, he would later notice it was pissing her of the fact of not finding a proper nickname and wondered why was it so important.
"Why is it so important? I don't know, I guess I like calling others nicknames… why do you care anyway Sokka?" That was the night before, only then he noticed Toph never called him by his nickname, actually, he wasn't even sure if he had one, he remembered her once calling him Snoozles, but that only happened once, perhaps twice, but definitively not as often as she called Aang Twinkle Toes.
"Aang! Toph! Dinner is ready!" Both walked back to the small fire and took a sit, Suki went looking for the others inside of the temple while everyone else began having dinner. It was a nice meat made dinner, which was weird since Katara always ended up fixing a vegetable soup since Aang is vegetarian, everyone was expecting Sokka to devour the meal, but instead, he barely touched his food.
"Hey Sokka! Are you going just going to keep staring at your lovely meat or are you going to eat it? Sugar Queen doesn't usually cook meat you know." Sugar Queen was Katara's nickname, what was his? Perhaps Toph thought Sokka was Sokka's nickname, but that was pretty much stupid. "Sokka?"
"I'm not hungry." Everyone's jaws dropped, Toph's included, Sokka just stood up and walked away, there was no way he could be serious, first of all, Sokka is always hungry, second and perhaps more important, it was a meat made dinner, how was it even possible?
"Am I that bad at cooking meat? Perhaps I prepared so much vegetable soup that I'm no longer good with meat." Katara began eating her meal fast trying to search for any bad flavor in her cooking, Aang sweat dropped as answer. "Aang, is there something wrong with the meat?"
Katara waved a piece of meat in front of Aang's face, expecting him to eat it; he just refused and backed off in fear. "Katara, I'm a vegetarian!" Katara never minded that and tried making Aang eat the meat, he just pushed her away from him with fear.
"But Sokka refused to eat it! It means something must be wrong, is it the salt? Perhaps I used a lot of pepper; you have to tell me what's wrong!" Katara began pulling her hair hard, surely she wasn't used to this, Sokka could eat rocks and say they were delicious, but right now he refused to eat a meat made dinner.
"Don't you think perhaps something else is bothering Sokka other than a meat made dinner Sugar Queen?" Katara blinked twice, the expression of her face returning to normal. "I will go look for him, don't you two noodle brains dare eating my meal!"
Sokka took a sit at the fountain of the temple, staring at the floor for no reason, he was unsure of why was it so important for him to be called by a nickname, it wasn't that big of a deal, but he couldn't help to feel depressed whenever Toph called Aang Twinkle Toes, or Katara Sugar Queen. "Why can't she call me Snoozles more often?"
"What's wrong with calling you Sokka?" Sokka flinched, he fall down to the other side of the fountain, a betraying blush of embarrassment already coloring his darkened skin. "What's wrong with you? I thought meat was your one and true love? It made me sick whenever you began complaining about not having enough meat in your system."
"Yeah I know that." He stood up and once again took a sit at the fountain, this time glaring at the night sky without moon. "I have nothing against meat, I sort of don't feel like eating any, that's all."
"Were you attacked by a saber-teeth-moose-lion once again?" Toph gave Sokka one of her usual smiles, expecting for him to laugh a little at her teasing comment, he didn't even tried to fake a laugh. "Ok, when teasing you doesn't work it means it is my fault, what did I do this time?"
"It isn't what you did, but perhaps what you didn't do." Toph was unable to understand but stayed in silence, awaiting Sokka's explanation, the water tribe one never replied to her, instead, he ended up whispering to himself. "Why do I care anyway, it's just a stupid nickname."
"Nickname?" Sokka flinched once again, but this time Toph grabbed him by the collar so he wouldn't fall, he was amazed of how good Toph's ears were. "Don't tell me you are still thinking about a nickname for Matches, stop worrying, I think Matches is a good one."
"It isn't about Zuko." Toph noticed a low tone of annoyance in Sokka's voice, she crossed her arms annoyed as well, she was trying hard to help Sokka, but he always ended up angering her. "I mean well maybe it is, I'm not sure, I think perhaps it is Aang's fault, or maybe Katara's, I don't know what is bothering me."
"…Am I bothering you…?" Sokka flinched for the third time that night and then moved his head in negation. "Well, what else can it be, if I'm bothering you just tell me, what did I do Sokka?"
"That's exactly what is bothering me, why do you call me Sokka all the time?" Toph raised an eyebrow at him, he just faced away. "You are always calling me by my name… it is turning out to be annoying."
"…I call you Sokka because it is your name you idiot, I don't get it at all, why are you so mad at me because of calling you Sokka?" Sokka thought about it for a second, there was no real reason to be mad at her, just an empty feeling hitting his chest, like if something was missing.
"I don't know… I mean you are always calling Aang Twinkle Toes, and Katara Sugar Queen, you even spend a whole night trying to figure out a nickname for Zuko, please Toph, you even called the Boulder the Pebble!" Toph began losing her patience and tapping her foot at the cold floor, Sokka noticed it and decided to go straight to the point. "Why don't I have a nickname? I thought I was your best friend."
"You are my best friend! For the love of earthbending, I can't believe you are mad at me because I don't call you a nickname, you should be glad!" This time it was Sokka's turn to raise an eyebrow, Toph just slammed her foot at the floor hard, already losing her temper. "You know what, if you want me to call you a nickname then you got it, I will just call you ungrateful-meat-headed-moron from now on!"
"Are you mad at me? I am supposed to be the one mad at you! You are always so friendly toward everyone but me, all I'm asking you is why I don't have a damn nickname!?" Toph 'Faced' Sokka and then pulled him by the collar so he would face her back.
"I called you Snoozles once! And you didn't seem to like it, so I stopped calling you that, get it!?" Toph pushed Sokka who fall down after tripping with the corner of the fountain and slamming the floor hard.
"But I like it now, I mean, it just feels bad not hearing you calling me Snoozles, whenever you call Aang or Katara by their nicknames, it seems like you care a lot for them… and what about me? You call me Sokka all the time, what's so especial about that? It just doesn't feel right." Toph gave him an annoyed look but then helped him up, she then took a sit at the fountain, Sokka did the same, looking at her all the time.
"Why do you want me to call you Snoozles anyway? It makes no sense at all, that time you were snoring and Snoozles was the first nickname that came to my mind, is not like you are snoring right now." It was true and Sokka knew it, his nickname wasn't at all that descriptive about who he was. "Want me to call you ponytail?"
"I don't think that helps either, listen, I don't want a nickname, I just want to know, why don't I have one already?" Toph could feel his vibrations perfectly, they were weak, she knew he was jealous, and at the same time she knew he had no reason to be jealous.
"I call you by your name… because I don't want to call you by a nickname… you are my best friend Sokka, giving you a nickname would be like an insult toward what our friendship is." Toph blushed a little, Sokka was surprised, he never expected Toph to say something this open toward him. "I do care for you, more than you will ever know, that's why I don't call you by a nickname."
"So… the reason you don't have a nickname for me is because you care about me?" Toph nodded in agreement, but that only puzzled Sokka even more. "But what about Aang and Katara, don't you care about them?"
"I do… I just don't care about them the same way I care about you… if someone should be jealous it is them, not you." Sokka smiled, Toph just fought hard the blood coloring her cheeks. "I care about you more than anyone does."
"Thank you Toph, that really means a lot to me." He rubbed her head and then gave her a quick kiss at the forehead, she was no longer able to hide her blush, and right now she wanted to kill him. "I do care about you more than anyone else as well." She fought the urge to earthbend a boulder at his face, Sokka just stood up and faced the small fire at the distance. "I think I will have some meat now, wanna come?"
"Go ahead Sokka, I will just stay here for a while longer, I haven't figured out a good nickname for Zuko yet." Sokka smiled and then left, it was the first time she called him by his name and he actually liked it, it made him feel especial.
"Ok, I will save some meat for you then and Toph… thank you." Sokka left Toph there who began 'staring' at her feet, a soft smile appearing on her lips.
"I have a nickname for you Sokka, one I won't ever tell you." She smiled to herself while rubbing her meteor made bracelet and blushing beautifully. "I call you Oblivious, because you may never know, how much I truly care about you."
Well, actually this was shorter than what I expected, but I hope it was good enough, feel free to review, oh and I guess I will post another fic tomorrow since I didn't post one last week, I just have to figure out what to write about… Tokka… yeah that's a nice start… what else…