Toph was never one to keep secrets. Actually, she was pretty much the opposite. Relationships between her and the other members of Team Avatar were often strained due to her big mouth. Not that she blabbed on purpose. How was she supposed to know that a certain waterbender didn't want Aang knowing that she thought his breath smelled like Appa's? (It was true.)
That had him giving Katara the silent treatment for a couple days. But in the end he shamefully fixed his halitosis problem, so Toph didn't feel too bad about it. She thought of it as helping out a friend.
But some things were best left unsaid. Like this.
It started on one summer night. It was hot and humid and everything seemed to be covered in a layer of sweat. Ugh. The team had stopped for the night, camping in a forest where they could lay underneath the stars and sleep without any fire nation soldiers or villagers bothering them.
Toph liked sleeping on the ground. Being close to the earth was nice, and sometimes she could feel the vibrations of little bugs and animals hopping around nearby, which was soothing in a way.
Tonight was different.
No matter what the young earthbender did, she could not get comfortable. Her shirt was sticking to her back and it felt like the air was trying to strangle her with its stifling heat.
Sighing, she sat up and reached for her water pouch, but it was gone. Oh, yeah. Zuko had "borrowed" it earlier. She groaned inwardly. "So thirsty," she whispered. Maybe I can just take some of Sokka's… he wouldn't mind, right?
With another face-pulling moan of aggravation, she found Sokka's sleeping area empty. Where are you, dummy?
Toph found him by a pond.
"What are you doing?"
Sokka jumped at her voice. "Oh. It's you."
"Don't sound so disappointed," she joked, taking a seat next to him.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"My water's gone and I think my sweat is sweating."
"Ah, so you came to steal mine."
"I thought you'd be asleep," Toph said. "But yeah, pretty much."
Sokka snorted and handed her his pouch, which she drank thirstily from until her lungs ached and it felt like her stomach was going to burst.
"You're welcome," Sokka said, retrieving the now-empty container.
She patted her belly and flopped back onto the grass. "Yep."
They sat together in silence for a while. The night air was peaceful and still except for the soft chirping of crickets and the occasional far-off chitter or lowing noise from Momo and Appa.
"Why do you act differently when you're by yourself?"
"Huh?"
Toph fanned herself with her hand. "When you're alone, you're all quiet and stuff."
Sokka lifted an eyebrow, not that she could see it.
"But if you're around people, you just have to be the clown," she continued. "Loudness suits you, Snoozles. But I gotta admit, this side of you is pretty interesting." She stuck her feet in the pond with a relieved sigh, scaring the small fish away.
"Well, there's no one to tell jokes to out here," Sokka said, chuckling. "Unless you would wanna…"
"No! That's okay. You should stick to making bad puns with Aang or your sister."
"What about Zuko?"
"Are you kidding? I don't think he even knows what a joke is."
"Whenever he hears one, he always makes that face! You know, the one where his nose scrunches up and his head tilts, and-"
Toph waved a hand in front of her face and then crossed her arms. "Seriously."
"Oh. Heh. Right."
"You never answered my question."
"I don't know, really. It's just easier to joke around all the time…" he trailed off.
"Opposed to what?"
"Facing life."
"That's kind of pessimistic."
Sokka shrugged. "To be honest, things could be better, Toph."
"Not for me," she remarked cheerfully, wiggling her toes in the cool water. "I'm living the life."
"Are you joking?"
"Nope. Exploring the world, kicking bad guy butt, spending time with my friends? Sounds like fun to me."
"Have you forgotten we're fugitives? And that there's people trying to kill us? Not to mention Aang! THE FREAKING AVATAR."
"Lighten up," Toph said. "We're safe now, and we're on our way to ending the war. Things aren't so bad."
"You just know that everything will be okay?"
She kicked her feet. "I just think it will."
"How aren't you scared? I'm what, three years older than you, and I still get nightmares about this stuff."
"I'm scared," Toph said quietly. "Acting all tough and brave all the time, it helps me forget that… I'm terrified."
"You are?" Sokka didn't even try to hide the surprise in his voice.
"Yeah. Guess that makes us kinda similar, huh? We both put up fronts to hide from our real emotions. Or whatever." She said the last part quickly. There was no need to make him think she was going soft or something.
"You are a lot tougher than me," Sokka said teasingly. "And shorter, too."
"Shut up, Snoozles." She punched him.
The next night, Toph met him again. This time Sokka had brought a small bag of candy. Apparently when he and Katara were shopping, he bought it when she wasn't looking.
"The Sugar Queen restricting our sugar intake, huh?" Toph had said.
"You know Katara. Always looking out for our teeth. If one of us got a cavity she would never forgive herself." She laughed at that.
That night was nice. There was a soft breeze, the sky was a deep purplish-blue, and the air smelled like honeysuckle. Toph and Sokka had laid on the grass, exchanging bad puns and jokes with so many hard candies stuffed in their cheeks that they looked like squirrels.
Toph turned and rested on her side, a lump of sugar dissolving in her mouth. "What do stars look like?"
"Uh, well… they look really small, but that's only 'cause we're far away. They're like little sparkles in the sky. All bright and shiny and glowing. Some of them make shapes."
"Constellations," Toph murmured, running a hand along the blades of grass on the ground.
"Yeah, exactly." Sokka looked at the girl. Her milky blue eyes were framed by long lashes (Pretty, he thought.) and strands of her black hair were slipping out of its careful bun. He had a sudden urge to tuck it behind her ear.
The expression on her way-too-young-to-be-this-beaten-down face was hard to read.
"Hey, Sokka." Toph's fingers danced along the ground, making little clumps of rock rise and fall against the dirt.
"Yeah?" He braced himself for some deep, thoughtful question, but what came out of her lips was:
"You want the last candy?"
"You can have it."
She shrugged and enthusiastically popped it in her mouth. "You're missing out! It was orange."
He smiled. "I like melon better."
"I AM MELON LORD!" Toph yelled suddenly.
"Shh!" Sokka clapped a hand over her mouth, making her giggle. "Don't wake up the others."
Her laugh sounded like tinkling bells. "Sorry. But I am melon lord."
He gave her hair an affectionate ruffle. "Of course you are."
For the rest of the summer, the two kids found each other after their friends went to sleep. Sometimes they brought food, or games, or just their thoughts. Sokka surprisingly had some interesting things to say, and Toph was quite the joke-teller. They learned tidbits and random things about one another. (The earthbender disliked a certain kind of fish and Sokka just couldn't sing very well.)
They never mentioned it to Zuko, or Katara, or even Aang, but they didn't mind. It was a kind of silent agreement between the two that their meetings became a secret. Not because they were doing anything wrong, but it seemed weird to tell them.
Toph and Sokka remembered those nights with a fond memory, even if they never told each other.