Disclaimer: Really. I don't.
A/N: A one-shot to satisfy my cravings for Taang. Here you go! ENJOY AND REVIEW!
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Rejection. The flesh-eating feeling was gnawing at the Avatar's heart. One second, his heart is soaring higher than any airbender has gone. The feeling of her cool lips on his gentle ones was better than he ever imagined. The sun shining from the skies above bathed the two with warmth as the aroma of tea from the teashop flooded their noses.
That sudden love quickly vanished a moment later. The goddess of a waterbender turned into a devil and stabbed his gentle and still young heart. She said that she didn't love him. That was enough to turn the usually bubbly Avatar into a cynical and anger-filled teenager.
Days later, he came to a decision. Seeing Katara every day hurt him too much. He would take a journey, with help from Toph, to balance out the emotions in his body. They were going to King Kuei, in Ba Sing Se, to help him with getting the Fire Nation soldiers out his city. With the help of the White Lotus, Ba Sing Se was freed, but remnants of the battle still remained and had to be cleaned up. They were now travelling, back to the Fire Nation, but had to camp along the way.
"That King is a walking bag of nuts." Toph argued as she pet Momo softly.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Aang answered as he stirred the pot of stew.
"What's wrong?" Toph looked up with her sightless eyes.
"Nothing." He answered with no emotion. "Nothing at all." Images of Katara flooded his mind and he winced inwards.
"I'm not an idiot. I know your lying."
"Well, have you ever thought that maybe I don't want to talk?" He lashed out. "You don't need to know everything."
Toph cringed, but quickly waved it off. "Well, sorry for poking in your personal bubble cause I care. Not my fault that Sugar Queen dumped you." She knew she hit a nerve in the boy, but chose to not care.
"She didn't dump me!" Aang tried to lie, but failed miserably.
"You can call it whatever you want." Toph answered coolly, "But in my world, telling a guy that you don't love him after kissing him making his heart shatter in a BILLION pieces is called dumping."
Aang became a tomato-apple red. Waves of anger and hurt surged through his heart. "I hate you." He hissed and turned back to his stew, trying his best to cool himself down.
"WAIT! I'm sorry." Toph whispered. "I didn't mean to make you that mad."
Aang stopped what he was doing and turned back to the girl, jaw dropped. "You just…" He faltered a bit. "You…..apologized!"
"Yeah. I guess I did." Toph didn't know what she was doing anymore. She was just following her instincts, ignoring the fact that she'll regret it later. "I…..care about you, Aang. And I don't want you to hate me." She explained solemnly.
"Wow." Aang was still shocked. "I'm glad you actually have feelings, Toph. You always seemed, unmoving."
"Now you're calling me an unemotional monster?" Toph asked, hurt. "Well, sorry! We were too busy saving the world to actually be friends! I thought I could change that, but whatever."
"No." Aang quickly took it back. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry. I'm just hurting and I don't know what I'm saying."
"Whatever. That doesn't excuse the way you've been treating me. The entire trip, you've been sulking about Katara. You never thought that I could help."
"You want to help?" Aang asked in awe. "No, wait. Sorry. I guess I could use some help. Do you really mean that? You want to be friends?"
"Of course, Aang." Toph replied. "I luh-," She faltered.
"What?" Aang asked innocently.
"I luh. Luh. Loove." She strained.
"Love?"
"I love you!" Toph screamed. "I love you, Aang. And I want the old Aang back. The jumpy, crazy Air Nomad Avatar."
"Aw, Toph. I love you too." He hugged her tightly. She seemed shocked. Hugging was a foreign thing in her world. Her muscles tightened and she became stiff under his touch, but he just kept her in his embrace.
"Well that was weird." Toph muttered after the embrace.
"I mean it, though." Aang answered.
"Me too."
"Thanks. I think I feel better now." He couldn't feel the throbbing pain anymore. All he felt was the closeness between him and Toph now.
"Your welcome. That's what friends are for." Toph started walking to her earth tent, but Aang grabbed her wrist.
"Stay out with me?" He asked innocently.
Toph smirked, "You scared of the dark?"
"No." Aang answered smoothly. "It's cold out and I could use another person. Besides, it's dinner time." Toph nodded and sat by him. The two cuddled each other as they sipped the warm stew down their throats. The moon shone on the 'friends' sweetly, highlighting the beauties of both of them.
To Aang, he was seeing Toph in a completely different light. Was her eyes always this pretty? The green, cloudy pupils stared into the flaming fire under the pot of stew. Her black long hair, still wrapped in its bun, never looked more beautiful. Even the smallest crinkle of her cute little button nose entertained the Avatar. Katara always had that 'untouchable' aura around her. In his eyes, Katara was a god, too holy to be with. But Toph was completely different. She may seem walled up emotion-wise, but she was actually just a girl with emotions and all that crap.
Even Toph was feeling numb in her heart. She's never been this close to anyone, let alone a boy! In her earthbending sight allowed her to see; she always knew what was happening. She was in control of her life, but now she felt the opposite. Her heart was beating so fast. She could feel herself both relaxing and tensing from Aang's touch. His arm slithered behind her back and grabbed at her waist. Her petite body slid down closer to his. She could feel his bare chest on her arm. Every time he moved, his chest moved in a different way. The entire time, she memorized every move, ever twinge, every curve in his body.
"Guess I'm going to hit the hay." Toph yawned and stood up slowly, hoping that Aang would hold her wrist again. And he did. She jumped from the touch. He could feel her heartbeat from his gentle fingers. Instinctively, the two closed the space between each other till Toph could feel Aang's cool breath on her face. She looked up, tentatively. Every nerve in her body was screaming with delight just from the feeling of his manhood on her womanhood.
"I really like you." Aang whispered huskily in her ear. She swallowed it in, addicted. "Really, really." He went on.
"Me too." Toph answered, her voice thick with desire and love. After a few moments of gasping and pecks on the neck, the two finally crashed their lips onto each other. A shock of lightning surged through Toph's body.
"Mmm." She moaned softly in his mouth giving Aang a newfound confidence. His tongue spurted out and licked her lips. She quickly reeled back at the foreign touch.
"I'm sorry." Aang quickly apologized. "I didn't mean for it to get that far."
"No." Toph countered. "It felt….good." She fell back onto him and gave him her tongue. In her mind, though, she knew that she was only the second choice.
"Well you had your fun." Toph gasped after they finally let go of each other. "Let's forget this ever happened and sleep."
"What?" Aang asked confused. "We just kissed! How can I forget that?"
"I'm just your second choice." Toph answered with a tinge of hurt. "If Katara didn't dump you, then we wouldn't be doing this. You're just using me."
"That's not true." Aang answered softly, trying to phrase his words right. "She was always there, but it was a stupid crush. I overreacted."
"Still, you don't love me." Toph seemed so vulnerable at the time, something he wasn't used to.
"What if I said I do?" Aang smiled. "You bring out a side of me I can never show Katara. Katara's like my mother. Zuko's my father. Sokka's my older brother. You. You're the other half of me." Aang explained beautifully. "I can't live without you and I definitely can't forget tonight."
"You can quit it with the sap." Toph smirked.
"But I love you." He pulled her closer and whispered huskily. Has his voice always been this low? Toph wondered.
"Fine." Toph surrendered. "You can have me."
"But you never said it." Aang pleaded with puppy eyes.
"Ugh!" Toph grunted. "I love you too, you block of cheese." Aang tightly embraced her and twirled the girl around. Screams of laughter filled the air as the couple enjoyed themselves.
I love you too…..