Just a random story I came up with and had to write. It's set between "The Puppetmaster" and "Nightmares and Daydreams"
All characters are copywrited to Nickelodeon.
EDIT: No longer a oneshot!!!
Enjoy!
The golden sun was making it steady rise into the morning sky, drowning out the darkness of night. The earth below was covered mostly by forests and mountainous regions, upon which the sun poured its morning light. The peaceful scenery was disturbed only by the gentle whooshing sound of a sky bison, gliding peacefully through the strewn clouds.
Upon its back sat four figures, all dressed in the reds, blacks and occasional golds of Fire Nation clothing…although none of them were actually Fire Nation citizens.
Aang, sitting on his pet bison's head, was staring out towards the sunrise. He still felt a little shaken from the events of the previous night, but on the whole he was fine.
He looked back at the others. Toph was dozing quietly in the corner of Appa's platform-like saddle. Sokka was casually polishing the blade of his sword…the very sword that had almost killed Aang the night before. He knew Sokka was being controlled at the time, but the thought still unnerved him.
And then there was Katara, sitting with her knees tucked up to her chest and her back turned. She was clearly the worst affected by what had happened.
Aang sighed. He jumped nimbly off Appa's head and slowly floated down onto his saddle, beside Katara.
"You okay?" he asked sympathetically.
Katara looked at him, with worry etched across her face. "I just…can't believe she made me do that," she said quietly. "I mean, using waterbending to control plants is one thing, but…to use it on a person…to reach inside them and take away their free will..." She shivered. "I just don't see how anyone could do that."
"You had no choice," Aang said. "Hama was insane. She would have killed me and Sokka if you had done nothing…"
"No, it's not that," Katara said quickly. "I know I did it to save you and I'm glad I did. It's just the way she looked at me when the villagers took her away…it's like she knew…she knew I would be tempted to use bloodbending again." She sighed. "I would have never thought waterbending could be used so darkly. When I was doing it, it felt wrong. I felt tainted…evil."
"You're not evil, Katara," Aang said comfortingly. "Come on, we know you better than Hama does. You're kind, understanding, protective…you're anything but evil."
Katara smiled weakly. "Thanks, Aang," she said, leaning across to plant a kiss on Aang's cheek, making him turn pink. "You're a good friend."
Later that morning, the group had landed in a quiet forest clearing to rest for a few hours.
"Okay guys," Sokka said, consulting a scroll of parchment. "It looks like we're still a good way ahead of schedule. We can probably stay here until tomorrow and still make it to the rendezvous point a few days early for the invasion."
"Good plan," said Katara as she clambered down from Appa's back. "I think we could all do with a day to loosen up after…well…yesterday…"
Aang sat down on a rock, not really listening. Katara's earlier words were still echoing in his ears.
'Thanks, Aang. You're a good friend.'
Is that all he would ever be to her? A friend? He sighed. He knew he needed to tell her how he felt soon…but how? He'd lost count of the number of times he had tried to confess his feelings, but something had always come up and gotten in the way. Besides, he had never been one for keeping his nerve around Katara.
He looked over at Sokka, who was leaning against a tree, making adjustments to his schedule to accommodate their earliness. Aang pondered for a moment. If anyone could give him advice about girls, it would be Sokka. Perhaps he could help him out. But Aang's flair of hope suddenly diminished as he remembered how protective Sokka was of his little sister. He had once brutally tackled Aang to the ground in anger after he accidentally burnt Katara's hands with firebending. He dreaded to think how he would react if he told him he had feelings for her.
Running his hands through his short, black hair, Aang slumped back on the rock he was sitting on, letting out a groan of despair.
But he suddenly yelped in surprise as the rock bucked him in the spine, throwing him to his feet.
"Oh no you don't, Twinkletoes," said Toph from behind him, making him whirl round to look at her. She was standing with her arms crossed, and her misty green eyes looking straight at him from behind her black bangs. Aang always found this especially creepy, as he kept remembering that Toph couldn't actually see him due to her blindness. "We may be ahead of schedule for the invasion, but you're seriously behind on your earthbending training. Come on, get moving."
Two hours later, Aang was struggling to keep up with another one of Toph's demanding training sessions. Pillars of rock were jutting up left and right, constantly keeping him on his toes as he bounded this way and that to avoid them, occasionally having to shatter one with earthbending to clear his path. Small boulders rained down upon him, and Aang was quick to pummel them out of his way, trying to direct them towards his blind teacher.
It was just the two of them, battling one another using the very earth beneath them as a weapon. Sokka and Katara generally stayed clear of these training battles. Sokka, possessing no bending abilities of his own, kept away in fear of his life, and the last time Katara and Toph had attempted a joint water-and-earth training session with Aang, things hadn't gone very smoothly.
"Keep alive, Twinkletoes!" Toph shouted as she continued to shatter every rock directed her way with ease. "You'll have to do better than that!"
Aang stopped running, slammed his foot to the ground and thrust his fist solidly in Toph's direction. A wave of earth thundered towards her, only to be torn apart by her own earthbending prowess. She then retaliated with a swift flick of her palm, making a shaft of stone erupt from the earth…and strike Aang square in the chest before he could react. Winded, the young Avatar was sent flying across the rocky terrain where they had decided to practice, and crashed painfully into the ground.
Coughing and spluttering, he climbed carefully into a sitting position, and looked up to see Toph standing before him with her hands on her hips.
Sighing in exasperation, she offered a hand out to him. "You're losing it, Aang," she said.
Aang took Toph's hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet with surprising strength. But he couldn't hide the puzzled expression on his face. "Uh…you called me Aang," he said.
"Well, that is your name, isn't it?" Toph said. "Unless there's someone else in our group with such ridiculously light footsteps."
"No, I mean…you normally call me 'Twinkletoes'," Aang said. "And normally you would have just thrown me to my feet with earthbending. What gives?"
Toph shrugged. "I guess it's cos I know something's on your mind."
"Uh…thanks," he said. "How…how did you know?"
"Please," Toph laughed. "You're talking to a girl who can identify someone by their footsteps. Yours seem to have changed rhythm lately, as if you're worried about something."
Aang heaved a sigh. "I guess I am."
"Okay, so spill," Toph said. "What is it? The invasion?"
"No."
"Training sessions?"
"No."
"That freaky puppet lady?"
"No."
"A girl?"
"…"
"Ha!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Come on, I can practically hear you blushing," Toph said, smirking in triumph. "So then, who is it?"
Aang hesitated. Should he really tell Toph about his feelings for Katara? Would she say anything to her? Then again, Toph was a girl, even if she didn't act like it half the time. Maybe she could help him out…
Looking at the ground nervously, he mumbled 'Katara.'
His voice was barely audible, but Toph's sensitive ears clearly picked it up, as she suddenly burst out laughing. "Seriously?!" she said. "You like Katara? Miss Sugar Queen?!"
"Shh!" Aang said quickly, looking around to make sure Katara wasn't anywhere nearby.
"Don't worry, my lips are sealed." She snorted. "But it is pretty funny!"
"Why?" Aang said. "Who did you think it was going to be?"
"I dunno," Toph said with a shrug. "Some random Fire Nation girl, or maybe that Onji girl you were telling us about. But Katara?"
"Why's it so surprising?" Aang asked. "You saw us dancing at that party, didn't you?"
Toph gave him a look.
"Felt!" Aang said quickly, trying to cover up his mistake. "You felt us dancing at that party. I mean, obviously you couldn't have seen us, because…"
"Oh, save it," Toph said, holding out a hand to silence him. "Yeah, I know you were dancing with her, but everybody was dancing with everybody at that party. I didn't think it meant anything."
"Well…it did," Aang said. "I like her, Toph. I mean really like her. I want to tell her how I feel but I just don't know how."
Toph sat down on a nearby boulder. "So…what's that got to do with me?"
Aang gulped. "Because I was hoping…you could help me. Give me advice or something."
An awkward silence fell between them for a few moments.
"Uh, well that's great Aang, but shouldn't you be talking to Sokka about this?" Toph said finally. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly little-miss matchmaker."
"Come on, how would Sokka react if I told him I liked his sister?" Aang said. "Almost being impaled by his sword once was bad enough, I'd rather not go through it a second time."
"Fair enough," said Toph. "Look, I can't pretend I know everything about this whole relationship business…but I think I can help you keep your nerves under control." She sat down cross-legged in front of Aang, and motioned for him to do the same.
"Erm…what are we doing?" Aang asked, sitting opposite his earthbending teacher.
"Just relax," said Toph. "Okay, we're going to try a little role-playing here. For a moment, just imagine that I'm Katara."
"But…I can still see it's you," said Aang.
Toph reached out and yanked his red headband down over his eyes, plunging him into darkness. "Not anymore," she said simply. "So, imagine I'm Katara. Imagine this is your big moment, and you're going to tell her how you feel."
Aang gulped and felt his face turning red. "You mean…tell you…what I'd tell her?"
"Don't be such a baby, Twinkletoes," Toph said, sensing the uncertainty in his voice. "It's only a little role-playing, it doesn't mean anything. I'll keep quiet, and only speak if I think you're getting too panicky."
"Umm…okay," Aang said. He took a deep breath, and tried to place himself in the right state of mind. He imagined the scene: He was about to go off to face Firelord Ozai. This could potentially be his last moment with Katara. He pictured her sitting in front of him, instead of Toph, her long brown hair cascading down her shoulders, with a concerned expression on her face.
Aang swallowed, and spoke. "Uh…Katara…l-look, there's…there's something I need to say and…I-I've been wanting to say it for a long time. You see…the truth is I…ever since I met you…"
"You're rambling," Toph said, making Aang flinch. "Keep calm, plan your words, try again."
Aang nodded nervously, and tried to reassert himself back into his imaginary scene. "Okay…um…Katara…If I don't return from this fight, I want you to…to know something…"
"Stop twitching," Toph said. "You're trembling like a scared mouse, calm down."
"Toph, I'm not sure this is such a…"
"Aang, what was the first thing I taught you about earthbending?" Toph said. "That you need to face it head-on, and stop trying to find away around it. If you're really planning on doing this, then you need to have that same attitude. Remember, when you actually go for it, every word you say to Katara will be set in stone, and there's no way you can go back on them. Make sure you say the right things, and make sure you really mean them."
Aang was surprised at how helpful Toph was being. It was an unusual practice, but a direct one, as he should have expected from her. But she was right. If he was going to do this, he would just have to grab the bison by the horns and go for it. He would only get one chance in the long run, and he had to ensure it went perfectly.
Taking another deep, cleansing breath, he planned his words carefully, and then opened his mouth to speak.
"Katara…we've known each other for a long time now. I know it's only been a few months, but to me it feels like years have passed since you found me in that iceberg. And all this time, there's been something that I've been meaning to tell you, and I may not get another chance to say it…"
He could picture Katara's face so clearly in his mind, he felt as if she was right there in front of him. He could hear her imaginary response. "What is it Aang? I don't understand."
Aang could feel his throat tighten up, denying further speech. He could only do what instinct was telling him to do. He started moving his head forwards, and he could see Katara's moving towards him. After what seemed like an eternity, he felt his lips lightly come into contact with hers.
Aang's heart leapt with triumph only to plummet once again as he remembered it was all just an imaginary daydream. And at that moment, he felt his blood turn cold.
Because he realized the lips he was lightly kissing were definitely real…but were not Katara's.
Toph wasn't quite sure what had just happened. She had just been sitting there, listening to Aang's little monologue, listening intently to his breathing and heartbeat, making sure his nerves were in check. He was still pretty nervous, but she was already expecting that.
What she hadn't expected was for Aang's lips to suddenly touch hers. And when they did, she immediately froze. The legendary Blind Bandit had been caught off guard, and her normally focused, solid thoughts scattered. She didn't know what to do, and felt panic rising. But she could feel Aang suddenly tense as he too must've realized what was going on.
They just sat paralyzed, unable to move from shock…until they heard Sokka speak.
"Hey guys, Katara says we need to…oh…"
Aang and Toph immediately broke apart when they realized Sokka had seen them. Toph could feel Aang hurriedly removing his blindfold, and his heart was racing with panic.
"Um…sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Sokka said. "I should just…probably…go back to camp…"
With that, Toph could feel Sokka's footsteps slowly moving away.
After a moment's hesitation, Aang started speaking very fast.
"Toph, I-I'm so sorry! I just got carried away a-a-and I didn't even realize what was happening…"
Toph was struck dumb. Never had she experienced something so surreal. Aang…kissed her. She didn't know what to do…hit him, apologize…kiss him back. Shaking her head clean of these unusual thoughts, she did what her brain was screaming for her to do…slap a hand over Aang's mouth to shut him up.
"Calm down, Twinkletoes," she said once he was silenced. "I-it was an accident, just forget about it…but I think we should agree never to speak of this again." She removed her hand.
"Agreed," Aang replied. "Although…I don't think I can say the same for Sokka. What if he tells Katara!"
"Don't worry," Toph said, cracking her knuckles with a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. "He won't be telling anyone about what he just saw."
Aang laughed in relief. "Thanks Toph," he said. "You're a good friend."
Toph smiled. "Look Aang…" she said. "All I can really say is…if you do exactly what you just did then, but with Katara…I have no doubt that you'll knock her clean off her feet."
Aang laughed again. "You've been a great help Toph…thanks."
"No problem," Toph said, climbing to her feet. She still couldn't shake the kiss from her mind…but she knew one thing that would take her mind off it… "Now, if you'll excuse me, pupil Aang, I have an idiot to pummel." She started stomping back off into the forest through which Sokka had departed, making small rocks whirl threateningly around her fingers. "Ohhh Sokka!"
There we go! I tried to avoid the cliched "Toph didn't know what to do...so she kissed him back" routine and just stuck with the panicky accident kiss. Hope it turned out okay!
I might add further chapters if I recieve enough requests to do so.
