Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Moonlit Ponderings
By The ORIGINAL Meathead

Sokka is looking at the moon again, thought Toph with a slight scowl on her face as she stared blindly up at the top of her Earth tent. She could feel him lying on the ground at the outskirts of their campsite but his breathing was not so steady enough to convince Toph that he was actually asleep. I wonder what makes a big rock in the sky so special.

Toph had longed to know why Sokka was still attached to the moon for months now. The war had been won 2 years ago, and it seemed like a lifetime had passed. There had been many casualties but the Gaang had managed to survive, perhaps a bit battered and bruised, but still all alive.

The Gaang realised that even though the war was won, there was still much work to be done. It was the Avatar's duty to restore peace and prosperity to the four nations. Peace had come, but prosperity had not. The Gaang now travelled where ever it pleased them helping others where they could. Every day they were doing things like building walls or houses, settling disputes, teaching young (and sometimes old) kids to manage their bending until they could find proper teachers.

Toph had this unexplainable warmth inside her whenever she was able to successfully help someone else. She wasn't some helpless blind girl anymore and although her travelling companions knew that she still felt the need to prove it and helping others seemed to quench that need.

Aang and Katara had finally given in and proclaimed their love for each other. Sokka had even been happy for the pair at the time, although he more often than not found excuses to not leave them alone for extended periods of time. Thus, it had become Toph's duty to reign in Sokka's brotherly issues and allow their relationship to blossom. This was fine by her as she couldn't stand the lovey-doveyness that she now dealt with on a daily basis.

What intrigued and vexed Toph most though was that even through all this, Sokka still couldn't manage to forget the moon, he couldn't manage to forget her, he couldn't manage to let go of his first love.

Toph frequently wondered if the connection between Sokka and Yue would ever cease. If any other girl ever would have the chance to be his one and only. Toph had never met Yue but she couldn't help but feel intimidated by her. Even Suki didn't control his thoughts as much, and Toph knew that he had liked her; she had felt them kiss after all.

Toph turned aggressively onto her side. She seemed to do this every night; let her thoughts wander their way to Sokka. This train of thought then of course led straight to her straight to her insecurities.

What do I look like? Am I pretty? What do I miss out on not being able to see? What does Sokka look like? What do any of my friends look like? What's it like to kiss? What's it like to be kissed? Could Sokka ever love anyone as much as he loves Yue? These are the thoughts that tumbled around Toph's head every night as she tried to make peace and fall asleep.

Usually she would start to count, silently in her head and eventually she was bored enough that she dropped straight off to sleep. But tonight it wasn't working. She had to talk to Sokka.

Toph groaned quietly and lowered the walls of her Earth tent as silently as she could. As it were Aang still woke up from his position near Appa but Toph waved him back to sleep which he happily succumbed to. No doubt dreaming of Katara Toph thought amusedly with a slight sigh.

Toph stood and shuffled her way over to Sokka's sleeping bag, plonking herself down beside him.

"You're really bad at acting Snoozles. I know you're awake," Toph whispered as she nudged him with her foot.

Sokka cracked open an eyelid and sighed.

"I can't get anything past you anymore." grumbled Sokka, glaring at her.

Toph smirked. "Since when could you ever get anything past me?"

"Touché." said Sokka, struggling to get free of his sleeping bag while still glaring at Toph.

"Aren't you going to help a friend?"

"Nope!" Toph answered cheerfully a smirk on her face.

Toph 'watched' amusedly. The vibrations were doing funny things to her nerves. Sokka, finally free stood and offered her his hand which she pointedly ignored. He shrugged and started striding out of the clearing, Toph following.

There had been many excursions like this in the past few months. While Aang and Katara were sleeping better, Sokka and Toph were getting more and more restless. Sleep was becoming a long-lost friend to the both of them. But Toph didn't mind, if she got to spend a few uninterrupted hours each night with the guy of her dreams instead of dreaming about him then all was fine with her.

They stopped next to the creek where Aang and Katara had been 'practicing' their water bending a few hours previous. They still used that same excuse even though they were both Masters. Toph politely ignored the fact that Aang didn't feel the need to practice Earthbending with her anymore.

They settled down at the edge of the creek, their feet soaking in the water as they lied back. Toph immediately felt Sokka seek out the moon and a little bit of her courage disappeared with the mournful sigh that escaped from his lips. Silence enveloped them.

"What was she like?"

Sokka turned to look at Toph.

"Princess Yue."

Sokka turned back to look at the sky.

"I've told you before. She was beautiful."

Toph prompted, "Is that all?"

Sokka squirmed a bit, sending vibrations up and down Toph's spine. Other vibrations were a tad uncomfortable to experience but Sokka's were perfect. Katara's were too heavy and Aang's were unnervingly light.

He sighed.

"It's all I can remember," he said but before Toph could say anything he continued on. "I feel like I've forgotten her, I'm in love with someone else and all I can feel is guilt!"

"You're in love with someone else?" asked Toph is a very quiet, un-Toph-like voice even though she already knew the answer, his heart was beating even faster than it did when he was thinking about Yue. This girl must be special, she thought.

"Yes. She makes me forget. Forget about Yue. Forget about Suki. Forget about Mum. Forget about the war. Forget about everything, except for her!"

"Sounds…enlightening…" said Toph with a small smirk. "Is she one of the people at the village? You've never talked about her before, and you tell me everything." I think. "I think you should go for it Sokka, after all," she smirked, "who can resist a sarcastic, meat-loving, idea guy?"

Toph didn't think it was possible but his heart began beating even faster. She felt him sit up and move closer to her.

"Well you for one."

Toph paused slightly before answering, "I wouldn't be so certain," a light blush dusting her cheeks.

Toph felt Sokka freeze. She sat up quickly, feeling tears start to prick the corner of her eyes.

"You know what, forget I said anything Snoozles. I'm going back to the camp."

She darted towards the trees but before she had made it to shelter a hand darted out and grabbed her wrist, twirling her around to face him. He pulled her flush against him and before Toph could even open her mouth and demand that he let her go, his lips were on hers.

Toph resisted momentarily before melting into his sweet embrace, hardly believing that she was receiving her first kiss. Her arms sneaked up to loop around his neck trying to tug herself closer to him. The kiss was short but when they both pulled away they were significantly out of breath.

Toph felt Sokka brush her hair out of her face. She didn't need to feel the vibrations beneath her feet to feel how fast his heart was going, hers was mimicking it.

"You're the girl I was talking about Toph," he said sweetly, placing another light kiss on her eager lips.

Toph smiled brilliantly in his direction and she could feel him return it. They turned to walk back to camp and Sokka attempted to calmly link fingers with her.

"I can feel your pulse, Snoozles."

She felt him blush and couldn't help but let her grin widen. Suddenly the tables were turned on her as his quickly trapped her against a tree and attacked her mouth with a passionate fervour that she was eager to return.

Who would have thought this could all have happened from a bit of moonlit ponderings? I should have done this months ago.

The End.


Please R&R! Any comments are welcome…it would really make my day... :-)

Sam