Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Nickelodeon, not me.

Disclaimer PS: Also, senseless fluff. Ye be warned.

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Sokka bolted upright, gasping for breath.

Why didn't you protect me?

His chest ached. He slumped over, staring at his knees. The images of the dream were still bored into his mine.

You didn't protect me. It's your fault.

He stood up gingerly, trying not to make any sound. His sister slept soundly in her sleeping bag; Aang slept on his other side in a tight little ball. Toph's little earth tent stood apart and he couldn't see her, but he was sure she was sleeping too. Sokka crept away from them.

They all could sleep, he thought bitterly. They weren't plagued by visions of pale girls with white hair crying because she lost her life, because he was the reason she lost her life. Sokka kicked at a rock. He missed.

He felt useless. No matter what he learned or what he mastered, it couldn't change the fact that he didn't save Yue. And now Suki was missing. He failed her too.

Sokka sank to the ground and buried his face in his hand. Tears smarted behind his eyes. He bit his lip. His shoulders shook.

Warriors shouldn't cry, but he couldn't help it anymore.

He cried silently, the tears running between his fingers and down his chin. His shoulders shook. He wasn't sure how long he sat there, crying like a child, but eventually it abated. Sokka swiped at his eyes with the back of his arm. His mouth was dry. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself up and trudged down the hill to the creek.

At first he thought he was alone, but he heard a soft voice. Clear and sweet and piping, the water spirit or wind or whatever it was sang a pretty old-fashioned song. Sokka crept closer to the shore and knelt behind a thicket of reeds. He didn't want anyone to see him.

Toph stood in the creek, up to her slim white shoulders in water. She rubbed soap through her hair, singing to herself. Sokka was so surprised he nearly lost his balance. The reeds rustled. Toph halted.

"Who's there?" she barked, drawing back. "I…I can see you! I can take you down!"

"Relax, Toph, it's just me," Sokka said.

She yelped, floundering in the shallow water in an effort to cover herself. "Sokka!" she shrieked. "Stop stalking me!"

"I didn't know you were out here! I couldn't sleep and I was taking a walk!" Sokka protested. Toph lowered herself in the water, glaring in the wrong direction. "Are you…you know…"

"I'm almost naked, thanks for asking!" she snapped.

"Here, I'll close my eyes," Sokka offered. "You can tell me when it's safe. Okay?"

"Okay," Toph grumbled. "You'd better have your eyes closed tight."

"I do, I do," he sighed. He obeyed, and even turned his back for good measure. There was a soft splashing as Toph pulled herself onto the embankment. "Is it safe yet?"

"Almost." He heard the quite rustle of clothing. "All right. I'm dressed."

He turned around and started. "Where did that come from?"

Toph looked different. She wore a simple sleeveless pale green dress that he'd never seen before. "Katara bought it for me in Ba Sing Se, she just couldn't make me wear it," she sighed. "I washed all my clothes, and this was all I had left."

"Oh, yeah," Sokka said, now noticing the wet clothes draped over the tree branches.

Toph sat down next to him, tugging on the short hem the dress. "Why were you awake?" she asked.

"Hm?" he said. "Oh, nothing."

"It's not nothing," she said matter-of-factly. "I can tell."

Sokka stared at her. Toph's long hair, unbound, fell over her shoulders. It was straight and heavy with water, but the rapidly drying ends curled around her elbows. "Really, Toph, it's-"

She rolled her sightless eyes. "Come on, Sokka," she said. "You and I both know you're lying. Spit it out."

Sokka took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want to know?" he asked quietly.

A tiny cool hand crept into his. "Yes," she said.

And Sokka told her. He told her everything. He told her about Yue dying in his arms, of Suki vanishing, even of watching his mother dying in a pool of her own blood. Slowly, over the course of the conversation, Toph's hands somehow twined around his. Her head nestled against his shoulder. And somehow or other, Sokka found himself idly stroking his fingers through her long hair.

"Well," Toph said at long last. "I'd say you've got more than enough reason to cry."

"I didn't cry over any of this," he protested.

She shook her head. "Oh, I can tell you were crying," she said.

"Earthbending, vibration sensing magic?"

"No. Girl intuition."

"You have that?" he asked.

She screwed up her face and scowled. "Of course. I am a girl, after all," she said.

"Oh," said Sokka. He stroked his fingers through her hair. They were silent for a long time.

"Sokka?"

"What?" he asked.

"Are you afraid of not being able to protect us?" Toph asked.

Sokka closed his eyes. "Yes," he said.

She fidgeted. "Are you afraid…that you're going to lose me?" she ventured.

"Of course," he said. He said it without thinking, but suddenly the image of Toph lying limp and cold beside a river jumped into his mind. Her small body, tiny and unmoving, crumpled on the ground…

"Sokka, are you all right?" Toph asked.

"Uh-huh, why?"

"Your arms got really tight," she said.

Sokka touched his forehead to the side of her head. "I just…I'm not good at this whole protecting thing."

She twisted in his lap and stared up at him, her sightless eye pale and foggy but gentle. "I think," she said, "that you'll do a good job taking care of me."

Sokka suddenly tightened his grip, hugging her fast. "Thanks," he murmured into her damp hair. He pulled back. "Let's get back to camp. It's late."

He lifted her easily, cradling her like a baby. She barely weighed anything. He walked back to camp slowly. Toph's silky dark head drooped on his shoulder. Her breathing slowed, and she fell asleep.

Sokka laid Toph down on the pile of sleeping bags next to Katara. He dropped down next to her. He smiled, brushing a lock of hair away from her pale face.

And for once, the moon didn't shame him as he fell asleep.

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Author's Note:

Let's hear it for poorly written fluff with a done-to-death plot!

Oh, well. I liked writing it.

That's all, folks.

For better oneshots and drabbles full of Tokka goodness, I redirect your attention to "Mudkips." Or the search engine. Yeah.