Allow me to take a guess, many of you may know this fic, many of you may not, the reason many do is because I originally wrote this fic… I don't remember… 3 months ago? Whatever, the truth is, I am planning a second part, but after re-reading it I figured out I sucked a lot at grammar, and I still do but well, I already fixed those details… I hope… another thing I noticed is many things about this fic where… not actually clear and with little description about the events, and so I'm giving you: "Cactus Juice Disaster 2.0" If you haven't read it yet then read it, if you have then read it again, lol, and remember, this was and is a Tribute fic to Miyiku, my editor and friend.
I don't own avatar the last airbender.
Cactus Juice Disaster
"…Snoozles… you are snoring too loud… I'm still sleepy… shut up…" Toph searched for her knees inside of the deep darkness that was her forever blind state, hugging them carefully and trying to win some sleep and ignore the strong snoring of her best friend by her side. "…My head feels like burning… and you are not helping it feel any better…" She continued, her back was hitting Sokka's, and his snoring was really annoying.
"…I'm not snoring…" He began. "Ok, maybe I was… but if you don't like it, then why are you sleeping so close to me…?" Sokka then rubbed his eyes, he was dizzy. And apparently it was still night time since he couldn't see a damn thing.
"…You are such a moron. I'm not sleeping close to you… you are sleeping close to me…" Toph's voice sounded dizzy as well, but Sokka ignored her, he could feel the blood running through his head, giving him a strong headache, and wasn't at all in the mood for their usual arguing. "…Uhgh, I feel sick… why is the ground so soft…?" Toph mentioned while opening and closing the fingers of her feet. Sensing the abnormal sensation.
"…Sleep now… wondering why the ground is soft later…" Was Sokka's reply, and Toph kicked him hard out of annoyance. Only, while doing it so, she felt something like silk hitting her skin. It was weird since she hadn't felt something like that ever since she used to live with her parents. "…No energy to fight… must make it to the other side of camp… must… woah!" Sokka fell down and found himself hitting a wooden made floor. After the impact, he began rubbing his wounded skin. "What just happened?" He wondered, and began touching the floor trying to find his way inside the deep darkness of wherever they were.
"How should I know? I feel dizzy… wait… why am I… what happened yesterday?!" she yelled hard after making an odd discovery. Sokka in the other hand just moved across the darkness, not knowing where he was going or if he was feeling dizzy because of the darkness or because of his floor hitting earlier. "Sokka… I think something really bad happened." She continued, her voice really freaked out.
"Whatever you say Toph." He added with little concern. "I think I found a window or something." He mentioned upon running his fingers across a wall, and then a window from which light was coming in. Sokka then opened the wooden made window, and released the strong light which came in and illuminated the whole room, blinding him momentarily. Apparently they were at the second floor of some kind of building, but the city they were at was unknown for him, regardless of it being familiar somehow. "Weren't we camping at the open air?"
"Sokka… I surely think something bad happened yesterday." Toph declared, and Sokka turned around weakly to face Toph. The little girl just hid her body inside of some silk made blankets. Just then Sokka found out he just fell from some kind of bed, and that they were in some kind of fancy looking room. At first he didn't seem to be surprised, but then it hit him, and he yelled hard in fear. "Don't yell! You are making things even harder to understand!"
"You are…? Did we…? Where are my…? What the…? How…? I…?" Sokka panicked. Toph just buried herself inside of the silk made blankets, not wanting Sokka to see her. Sokka then tried to calm down, he was almost naked, but there was still a thin piece of fabric covering his body. He was still wearing his blue underwear. "Ok… calm down Sokka… you are still wearing your underwear, nothing happened…" But then he doubted. "Are you wearing yours?!" He panicked. He then saw the mount of blankets moving, as if it was rubbing something. Sokka of course blushed when imagining what was going on below the blankets, but still waited for an answer.
"…No…" Toph admitted, and Sokka flinched and then slammed his forehead extremely hard a good number of times with the nearest wall. He wanted to say more, but was silenced by the sound of Toph sobbing inside of the silk made blankets. "…Its worse than you think…" She mentioned.
"How can it be worse?!" He yelled while concluding what had happened between them both. Toph just moved her head in negation from inside of the silk made blankets. Sokka then walked toward her, he was shaking hard, but he carefully searched for Toph's head, trying not to touch 'something' else which would just complicate everything. "Toph, I really doubt it can be worse… what's wrong?" He asked, and Toph slowly faced out of the blankets. Her eyes were slightly watered. Never before did Sokka see her been this weak and fragile.
"You really don't wanna know." But Sokka carefully moved the blanked away from Toph's face. She couldn't see him of course, but he knew she knew he could, so she hugged the blankets close to her body. It wasn't needed a genius to know she was completely… not wearing any clothes. "…I think we are… married…" She admitted, and then allowed the silk made blanked to fall down until revealing her neck, there was an engagement necklace around her and Sokka flinched even more, and couldn't help but let himself fall and slam the floor hard.
"No way!" He began, and Toph filled her cheeks with air out of annoyance when hearing Sokka's reaction being so unpleasant. "I actually asked you for marriage? What the hell happened yesterday?" He wondered once again.
"…I think I smell alcohol…" Toph admitted while sensing with her nose. Sokka just looked all around the room and found some empty wine bottles… many empty wine bottles. "…Am I even allowed to drink…?" She added remembering her age. It was a bad try to change the subject, she knew it, but anything was better than talking about what they were doing last night.
"Then we did… you know… that…?" Sokka added, and Toph blushe. Sokka blushed even more. "I'm sick!" He yelled hard, and Toph gave him an annoyed mockery as reply, but said nothing. She just searched for her clothes around the messy room with totally bad aiming. She wasn't just dizzy. They were inside a wooden made room so she was totally blind. "Oh no… I think I found something that belongs to you Toph." Sokka suddenly mentioned.
"Well then give it to me! I can't see that well on top of wood. Even if I didn't have a hangover I'm just a normal blind girl while walking on wood!" Sokka then walked toward Toph with a hand covering his own eyes and blushing madly. Toph then rudely snatched the cloth Sokka was offering to her and then blushed once again. "Oh… you were right… this is mine…" She mentioned before hiding herself inside of the covers once again and placing her underwear on.
"…Oh man… please tell me this isn't happening… where in the world are we anyway?" Sokka complained and then looked out of the window once again, they were at the Earth Kingdom, but exactly where he had no idea, but it looked like Ba Sing Se. "Do you remember a thing?"
"Yeah, I remember how you romantically asked me to marry you and then we began making out and began being all lovely dovely and then began doing inappropriate stuff not suitable for someone my age by the way." She was being sarcastic of course. Sokka just gave her a killer glare which as usual she couldn't see. "I don't remember a thing! Get that?"
The door of their room was then knocked softly, both Sokka's and Toph's jaws dropped, they had no idea of what had happened the night before, perhaps the gang rented a room and if that was the case, one of them was in the wrong room.
"What do we do now? Someone is knocking the door!" Sokka yelled, and grabbed Toph by the shoulders and began shaking her hard, dangerously forcing Toph to lose her blanket, and when he noticed he was slowly revealing more skin, he blushed, and Toph punched his face hard.
"What are we supposed to do you idiot! I'm just wearing my underwear!" Sokka then searched around the room for their clothes, but they were nowhere to be found. "Where are my clothes?!" Toph panicked, she didn't even notice she was already yelling.
"Umm… excuse me, Lady Bei Fong…" They heard someone say at the other side of the door and both flinched. "I took your clothes as well as your husband's ones earlier this morning… they were all messy and smelled a lot to alcohol…" And both froze in the middle of the room. Whoever was at the other side of the door, knew about their not so innocent adventure. "May I come in?" The woman asked.
"Hell no!" Toph yelled, and Sokka covered her mouth after the girl's reply. Whatever was going on couldn't get any worse. And so, Sokka carefully opened the door, hiding himself all the time behind it. And what he saw surprised him, he knew the one behind of the door, he could never forget that creepy fake smile directed at him once again. And so, after the surprise he closed the door slowly after him, and faced Toph with concern and fear invading him. "Who was it?" Toph wondered, and then gulped hard.
"Whenever you think things can't get any worst… they just do…" And Toph then lowered her face, still hiding herself inside of the silk made blankets. "…We are in Ba Sing Se…" And Toph raised an eyebrow. Sokka just opened the door once again in defeat, allowing the woman to come inside.
"Joo Dee at your services, your clothes where very… dirty, Lady Bei Fong, but I went to buy new ones for you to wear today." And Toph moved her head in negation several times once remembering the voice and the name. "Master Sokka, I hope Earth kingdom clothes are not of your dislikes." Joo Dee mentioned, and then handled his clothes to Sokka. She offered Toph some to wear as well, but Toph just curled herself inside of the silk made blankets once again and sat down at the cold floor.
"I hate Ba Sing Se! I hate Joo Dee! I hate alcohol! And I hate my stupid life!" And Sokka just smiled at Joo Dee nervously out of embarrassment toward Toph's words. The creepy housekeeper didn't seem to care that much about Toph's comment though. Sokka then took Toph's clothes from Joo Dee's hands, and the woman made a reverence and was about to leave, but unfortunately for her, Sokka still had questions which needed answers.
"Wait! Joo Dee, right? Do you have any idea of what happened yesterday? And where in the world are we?" Joo Dee then smiled, and that fake smile freaked Sokka out. Toph in the other hand just searched for her clothes from inside of the blankets, not wanting to come out until she was dressed once again.
"With all respect, Master Sokka, yesterday's events aren't a pleasant memory for me. May I suggest you to find it out yourself." Joo Dee then left. Sokka then scratched the back of his head confused and began getting dressed in the typical Earth Kingdom clothing.
"Listen, Toph. I'm not sure of what happened… all I know is we woke up in an… embarrassing situation… and that we are married…" And Toph continued moving inside of her blankets, and Sokka faced her with annoyance. "Mind coming out of there, I really need you to help me solve this mystery." And Toph finally came out from inside of the blankets. She was now wearing a jade-green one pieced dress with beautiful yellow carvings of flowers. It looked beautiful in her despite her messed up hair, and Sokka couldn't help but blush at the view. Toph was blushing as well, and it took her a few seconds to notice Sokka was staring at her, and when she noticed, she felt her privacy being invaded.
"…I need my blanket…" She concluded and then curled inside her blankets once again. It didn't matter for her if she was dressed or not, she didn't want Sokka to see her anymore. Sokka just tried to pull her out of the blankets once again. "Don't look at me!" She yelled.
"Come on! It isn't that big of a deal! I don't think there is a part of you I don't already know!" And Sokka sadly then noticed the big mistake he committed when saying that last, since an annoyed Toph suddenly made it out of the blankets and punched him hard in the face, and so, Sokka found himself once again at the floor.
"What did you say?" She yelled hard, and Sokka began backing off while still in the floor and faced the annoyed young lady in front of him and with killer intentions burning her temper "Don't ever say something like that ever again!" she yelled while Toph approached him while cracking her knuckles wanting to hurt him even more. Sokka just continued backing off until his hand hit one of the wine bottles. He then looked at the bottle, the name carved on it sounded somehow familiar to him. "I don't care if we are married! I don't care if we did indecent adult's stuff! I don't care if I have a crush on you either! You are forbidden to speak to me like that!"
"Cactus Juice?!" Sokka interrupted, and Toph's anger was replaced by surprise. Sokka just read the carving once again. "It's Cactus Juice! I think I remember what happened yesterday! And I think it was my fault!" And Toph crossed her arms and sat at their bed, 'staring' at Sokka with anger and awaiting for his explanation.
Flashback.
"Happy birthday Toph!" The girl was blushing madly. She was finally an adult, a beautiful 16 years old adult. The celebration of her birthday was supposed to be already over, but Sokka insisted to keep on celebrating, just the two of them. "You are finally old enough to enter the taverns! Katara may have forbidden it, but who cares about her motherly side anyway?"
"Sheesh Sokka. When I said I couldn't wait to know what being an adult was like, I didn't mean this." She added, and Sokka lowered his face. But Toph then gave him a teasing smile. She was only messing with him as was usual. "But you always know how to steal a smile from me." She admitted, and Sokka smiled. "I bet I can defeat you in drinking contests in my first try!"
"Come on! I'm a god of wine, you can't beat me." And Toph smiled to herself and entered the tavern. The aroma of alcohol was hurting her nose, but she never cared that much about it. She sat at the front near the bartender. Sokka sat next to her. "Something sweet to start with, nothing dangerous, just to warm up."
"Warming up is for little girls!" Toph yelled out proudly and while slamming her hand at the counter, freaking everyone there. "I'm a grown up now, give me your best shot!" She pointed at the bartender, who looked at Sokka for authorization. "Hey! Don't ask him for permission, he is not my babysitter. Besides, I'm officially an adult. I want the best wine Gaoling has!" The bartender then flinched, and everyone in the tavern went into silence. Sokka's jaw just dropped.
"Toph, you have never had a drink before." But Toph just ignored Sokka and took the glass the bartender offered to her. "I think I should stop you before you do something crazy." Sokka added, and Toph leaned closer to Sokka, whispering to his ear. "I'm not a coward!"
"Then don't be a little girl! The same for my best friend! A couple of girls are having a nice drinking night!" She yelled, and Sokka wanted to complain, but the bartender already gave a glass full of wine to him. Sokka then flinched once reading the name at the bottle: 'Cactus Juice' "Come on! Drink with me!" Sokka wanted to stop her, but he didn't, instead, he took his glass up and both hit their glasses and drank in unison.
End of Flashback.
"That's all I remember." And Toph kept her silence. Sokka just scratched the back of his head. "Actually… it was your fault… you were the one asking for the strongest drink! Never drink something that says 'Cactus Juice' in its etiquette!" He scolded, and Toph showed herself angered at his accusations. Sokka could even swear he heard the roar of a Lion-Turtle.
"You mean I couldn't stand a single glass of wine?!" Was her reply, and she stood up and began kicking the bottles around the floor. "Besides! It was your fault! You took me to that damn tavern!" She complained and began shaking Sokka by the collar with anger.
"You could have refused!" Sokka yelled back, and Toph violently struggled against him even harder than before. She was horribly mad at him and at herself. "Quit doing that!" But Toph ignored him. But she couldn't ignore the fact of the door being knocked once again.
"Excuse me… Lady Bei Fong, you are going to be late for your first day at work." And Toph then 'stared' at Sokka, who just moved his shoulders up and down as his reply. She felt the shoulder raising and was about to ask what it meant, when Joo Dee entered the room. "The tea shop, don't you remember?"
"Do I look like I have a clue of what is going on?!" Joo Dee said nothing, she just began doing the cleaning. Toph then had enough, she walked away from Sokka, from Joo Dee, and from wherever they were. "How can this day get worse?!"
"Toph, I will recommend you not to say that. Karma-guy enjoys making fun of anyone saying that." Sokka stood up and followed Toph out of the building. Just then he figured out they weren't at an inn as he first thought they were. "Hey, this isn't an inn, it looks like a mansion, what were we doing in a mansion?"
"Master Sokka, you bought this mansion yesterday." Sokka and Toph both flinched, not because Sokka bought a mansion but because Joo Dee suddenly appeared from nowhere. "But you better find that out yourself." Joo Dee then pushed Sokka and Toph out of the mansion and resumed doing the cleaning. "Good luck at job Lady Bei Fong." The housekeeper closed the doors, leaving the confused couple outside and confused.
"You bought a mansion?" Toph wondered, Sokka just said nothing. The situation was already too weird to start to understand. "Karma-Guy?" Sokka nodded in agreement with waterfall like tears falling from his face. "Ok, you actually converted me into a karma believer, curse you Karma-guy!" She yelled hard, and Sokka laughed a little, but then faced the mansion.
"Where did I get the money to buy this thing?!" He wondered, and Toph then began forcing herself to remember. The mind of a blind girl is not full of weird images or colors as many used to believe. Hers was full of vibrations, vibrations she could remember perfectly.
"I don't know… but I know someone who may have an idea." And Sokka blinked twice. That comment was really random for their current situation. But Toph just took Sokka by the hand and began walking him to a nearby store. A man was placing a sign that read, 'Cabbage-Bender' on it. "That man may know, I remember his vibrations." She pointed, and Sokka doubted. The cabbage merchant then turned around after hearing the girl, a huge smile appeared on his face.
"Ah! You are the lovely couple from yesterday!" The cabbage man approached to the blushing pair and took both of their hands, waving them up and down. "I may never be able to thank you enough for everything you both have done for me. No one has ever been so kind to me ever, thanks the spirits for your good heart!" The cabbage man cried and then hugged them both, the situation was really uncomfortable.
"Don't hug me! I'm in a terrible mood today!" Toph yelled. And the cabbage man broke the hug but kept his smile. "I know I felt your vibrations somewhere yesterday, I want an explanation!" Toph couldn't keep her temper in check, she was scared, about the marriage, about their adventure, about not knowing how all this happened.
"You mean you don't remember the thieves, the fight, me yelling for help, the ride to Ba Sing Se, the money you lend me to open my shop and paying an old couple to sell their home to you?" That was more information than what Toph was expecting, but for some reason it didn't seem to be the complete version.
"Do you mind refreshing our memory?" Sokka helped Toph to relax by placing both of his hands on top of her shoulders. The cabbage man pulled a wooden made chair and sat down, he then pointed at a box of cabbages for the just married couple to sit as well. Sokka helped Toph to rest herself at the wooden box and then looked around the city. Apparently they were at the top ring of the city. "How exactly did we end up here?"
"You saved my life of course." The cabbage merchant began. "It was yesterday at night, you and your wife were walking by when I was being attacked by some thieves." And Toph 'faced' Sokka, he had no idea why she was staring at him for though.
"We were married before we met him?" And the cabbage man smiled and began explaining the couple all the details of what happened yesterday. They listened to the story, but while doing it, they filled some spaces they remembered took place even before the events the cabbage man was talking about.
Flashback.
"Call me Sokka Bei Fong from now on!" Sokka yelled out with enthusiasm, and Toph laughed out loud. Her face was red, and so was Sokka's one, each was carrying a wine bottle and smiling happily. "I love you so much!" Sokka drank his bottle empty and then tried to steal Toph's one, who refused to share her drink. "Give me!"
"No! It's mine!" The drunk girl complained. "Besides, you said, 'I will buy a bottle of wine just for you if you get me to ask you something important' so this one is all mine!" And Toph drank it empty and burped hard. "Why did it take you so long to ask me to marry you anyway you fool?" She wondered, and Sokka just faced her dizzily.
"I don't know. I was kind of shy I guess. It took me a whole year to carve the necklace, I wasn't going to give it to you though, that's why I told you to convince me to ask you something important." And Toph laughed out loud, hugging Sokka hard and kissing him with incredible aiming despite being drunk.
"So you had to be drunk to ask me out?" And Sokka nodded. "I would have said yes dummy! Didn't I say yes?" And Sokka thought about it for a second, not really remembering it at all, he was that drunk.
"I don't know. You say yes by tackling a guy into the ground and making out?" He wondered, and Toph clutched but nodded with her usual teasing, but half drunken smile, drawn on her face. "Then you said yes! I'm so glad!"
"Sokka, that happened a few hours ago, you don't have to be that fluffy around me anymore!" But Sokka kissed her once again, half wanting to kiss her for real, half wanting to steal the drops of cactus juice from her lips. "You taste like cactus juice."
"Cactus Juice? What's that?" Sokka wondered, and Toph giggled but kissed him once again. They then began making out in the middle of nowhere, but then both were alerted by the sound of someone yelling.
"My cabbages!" There he was, an old cabbage merchant being assaulted by some thieves. "Please don't hurt my cabbages! They can still make a stomach happy!" The cabbage man cried, the 3 thieves just kept destroying his cabbages and scaring his ostrich-horse while making fun of the little money the cabbage merchant had.
"Shouldn't we help him?" Sokka wondered, but Toph moved her head in negation and hugged Sokka hard, wanting to continue with their not so innocent game. "Toph, we are heroes. Besides, I need some exercise."
"Just hug me and shut up Snoozles!" She demanded, and Sokka kissed her once again and then gave her a bunny-puppy like stare. "I know you are doing funny faces but you know I'm blind, that won't help you." She informed.
"I will buy a mansion for you." He offered because of his drunken state, and Toph actually thought about it for a second but then nodded in agreement. "Thank you! I love you!"
"I love you too but stay away from me! Ok, here we go, I will take those 5, you take those 2." She informed, and Sokka began counting, which wasn't something easy considering he was drunk. He wasn't that good at maths, but this time he got the numbers right. "Toph. You counted wrong, there are just 3 thieves."
"But, what about those little ones who aren't moving?" She wondered and then burped. Sokka then forced his eyes to get a better look, but he could only see cabbages. "Whatever, just take them out on your own." And she collapsed. Sokka then approached to the thieves dizzily.
"Hey you! Leave the old lady alone! Or you will… face me!" The thieves then laughed at him, Toph just moved weakly toward her husband and hugged him from behind. "What are they laughing about?" He wondered, and Toph just hugged him from behind.
"I don't know… maybe they think you are cute." That made no sense at all, but Sokka smiled while fixing his hair. "They are all boys." She mentioned, and Sokka un-fixed his hair with teary eyes. "Besides, you are with me you idiot!" She complained and punched him hard.
"Look boys. A young couple. They may have more money than this cabbage seller. Strip them of all money." The thieves then made their way toward the couple, but Sokka stood in the middle defiant and even sticking his chest out proudly.
"Hey! No one strips my wife but me!" He yelled and then punched the face of one of the thieves, who never expected to be hit by a drunken man. "You want a piece of my wife? Come and try to get it!" He continued, and another thief ran at him and pushed Sokka's face, who then began crying after the hit. "Ouch!" He complained and rubbed his nose, and the two remaining thieves burst into laughter at the view.
"Now look at what you have done! You made my husband cry! You had no right to do that!" Toph complained, and then she kicked the second thief in his 'personal-zone' knocking him down with one hit. "That will show you! There, there Sokka, don't cry, the bad guy is gone."
"You witch! You will pay for that!" The last thief took a sword out and was about to slash Toph, when the girl tripped with her own feet and fell. Fortunately, that helped her avoid the hit.
"Hey You! No one hits my wife! Now I'm really mad!" And Sokka threw himself to the last thief and gave him the beating of his life. The cabbage merchant was confused, but was glad when the 3 thieves ran away. "Are you ok?" Sokka wondered.
"He didn't hit me, I tripped with my own feet." Toph explained, and Sokka began sobbing. "Don't cry you idiot! You are still my hero!" And Toph hugged Sokka with a huge smile on her face. The alcohol did miracles whenever the subject was attitude changes.
"I am?" Sokka wondered, and Toph kissed him once again. He kissed her back, and the cabbage merchant just stared at the couple with disbelief. "Hey look!" Sokka mentioned, and Toph punched him hard for what he said. "Sorry… but those nice guys who played with us earlier forgot their treasure chest… should we give it back to them?"
"Nah!" Was Toph's reply. "If they want it back then let them come and get it. We will take care of it in the meantime." And Sokka nodded in agreement. The cabbage man was still confused, but walked toward them and then thanked them.
"I'm so glad you helped me out, you are really nice!" He began. "Wherever I go I only find disgrace and my cabbage car destroyed!" And the cabbage man cried, and Toph gave him a furious 'stare' for interrupting her making out with Sokka.
"If you want your cabbage car destroyed that badly I will do it for you." She mentioned and then Toph prepared to earthbend, but Sokka stopped her. "What?" And Sokka smiled and kissed her neck, forcing her to giggle happily. "Stop it! You are tickling me! Stop! I don't like it!" and so she continued giggling happily.
"What a nice couple you two are. Please, allow me to take you to wherever you want to go." And both exchanged looks. The cabbage merchant just sweat dropped. "You have nowhere to go? Then allow me to take you to Ba Sing Se, I plan to open a store there when I have the money.
And Sokka and Toph nodded in agreement and climbed the cabbage car and once again began making out. The cabbage merchant took them both to Ba Sing Se.
End of Flashback.
"Once we reached Ba Sing Se, both of you hit the nearest bar and then decided to open the chest. And there it was, a huge treasure, which of course you both completely spend in a night. You even shared some with me, and because of that, now I have my own store, I'm so glad!" But Toph wasn't listening, she was just blushing extremely hard. Sokka was also still trying to remember what happened later.
"Were we that idiot-like while being drunk?" Sokka wondered, and Toph just bit her lips with hatred at her own alcoholic weakness. The cabbage merchant just nodded in agreement. "But what happened later? You haven't explained were all that money went to!"
"…'I feel something fancy… you promised a nice mansion honey'…" Toph mentioned while her lips made wave-like movements out of embarrassment, and Sokka flinched. The cabbage merchant just chuckled. Toph then spoke out mimicking Sokka's voice. "…'I did? Ok then, I see a nice one there, if you want it, then I will buy it for you'…" And Sokka lowered his head now knowing what was going on. "…'I want it'…" Toph finished.
"…'Then it's yours'…" Sokka continued. "I then knocked the door violently. An old couple came out. 'I will buy your mansion' I said while showing them the gold inside of the treasure chest. They were both confused, but they picked the gold anyway." And the cabbage merchant nodded while smiling proudly.
"That old couple wanted to leave Ba Sing Se a long time ago. They were really lucky, the only thing they needed was to sell a mansion no one would buy because it was too expensive. It was like a miracle for them." The cabbage man stood up and continued building his store. "Now. If you excuse me, I need to work."
"…I feel like an idiot…" Toph mentioned after thinking about her past actions. "Was I really asking you to make out with me in the middle of nowhere…?" She wondered. And Sokka nodded in agreement, Toph just blushed madly.
"Did I really cry when that thief hit me?" And this time it was Toph the one nodding in agreement, and Sokka just blushed ashamed. "Like a baby?" He wondered, and Toph nodded again while placing her hand at his shoulder as trying to give him strength.
"Like a little baby girl." And Sokka faced her in annoyance. Toph wanted to laugh at him, but she just couldn't. She was really embarrassed, and she still couldn't believe what was going on. "I feel some familiar vibrations." She mentioned once again, and Sokka looked around, searching for someone familiar with no luck. Just a girl running toward them, a forever grin drawn on her face. "…Jin… am I right?" Toph began.
"You forgot so fast about me? How cruel?" She complained, and Toph stood up and took Sokka's hand, walking him toward Jin, who Sokka had never seen in his life. "It's your first day of work, I know you are in the middle of your honey moon but you asked for a job, we are gonna be late!" Jin complained, and Sokka faced Toph with curiosity, but the girl just slapped her own face hard.
"I know you want to ask, so I will just say it before you do, we met Iroh at Ba Sing Se. We had a nice cup of tea for our drunken state to fade. We met Jin who works at the Jasmine Dragon. We said we were married with no money… and Iroh offered me a job…" Sokka wasn't surprised, nothing could surprise him anymore.
"Toph, your husband was supposed to be body guarding the Earth King to the palace. If he is late he will lose his job." Except that.
"Body guarding the Earth King?!" Sokka yelled. And Jin looked at him confused. "Wait, I don't want to know… ok I'm lying, what did I do?" Jin was confused, but she then took Toph's hand, who pulled Sokka's one and walked them both to the Jasmine Dragon.
Flashback.
"So… what you are trying to say is that you both got married while having some juice?" Iroh was confused. He was the owner of his own tea shop at Ba Sing Se now. And Jin was serving the drunken couple some hot tea while Iroh just looked at them both carefully. "And you ended up buying a mansion, with the money you stole from some thieves while helping a cabbage merchant…?" And Sokka nodded in agreement. "An interesting story… hard to believe thought… but I guess everything is possible."
"Yeah, if I married this stupid meat head then everything is possible." The drunk Toph mentioned, and then slammed her cup of tea at the table. "This thing tastes like…" And Iroh almost fainted after hearing someone insulting his most precious tea the way Toph just did. "Don't you have alcohol here?"
"This… is a tea shop… we sell tea… cakes sometimes… but tea almost all the time…" But Toph and Sokka began making out, winning the attention of some of Iroh's costumers. "Changing the subject, if you live now in Ba Sing Se, then you need a job, why don't you work for me?"
"Me? Serving tea? That's like asking Sokka to be smart." And Sokka gave Toph a hurt stare, which of course she couldn't see. "But I guess I will, if that way I can earn some money to buy more wine, not this awful tea." And Iroh regretted ever asking Toph to work for him, but he knew the girl was still a little drunk. "But I will have to ask my husband for permission… yeah right!" She laughed out loud. Sokka then spit his tea out, bathing Iroh with the liquid.
"Are we married?!" He yelled horrified. Toph just hugged Sokka and kissed his cheek. "Ok, I can live with that." He concluded. "But what about me? Don't I get a job too?" And Iroh could see the alcohol was already leaving their systems and tried to talk more seriously.
"You are a warrior. And I am friend with the new Earth King, Bumi. I'm sure he will gladly have you as his personal bodyguard." And Sokka gave Iroh a thumb up, Toph just fell asleep hugging Sokka. "I think it is already too late, you better go to sleep now before you end like your wife… I will ask King Bumi to meet you here tomorrow, you will guard him toward to the palace as your first mission. Try not to be late."
End of Flashback.
"And apparently, that's what happened… or at least what Jin told me. As you can see, I was drunk, I never thought I was going to have this conversation with the new Earth King." Sokka was having a cup of tea with the new Earth King, who just laughed at everything Sokka was saying. "But it's true!"
"Let him speak Sokka, he believes in what you are saying." Toph mentioned while she placed a new cup of tea in front of Sokka as well as a slice of cake. "It's in the house." And Sokka blushed. Toph was now working at the tea shop as was 'planned', and was doing her best to be 'nice' to everyone since it was her new job. Sokka liked this side of Toph a lot. Yet he knew she barely could tolerate it. It was evident in the way her eyebrow tickled her.
"I see it in your face hehehe (Gasp) hehehe (Gasp) hehehe (Gasp). You had fun yesterday, didn't you?" And Sokka blushed extremely hard. Toph just tripped with her feet at the distance. After all, she had very good ears. "Hehehe (Gasp) hehehe (Gasp, Gasp) I like you, I think I will give you the job."
"Really? Thank you… Wait! No, I don't want the job, I accidentally married my best friend and ended up here. I don't want to start a new life!" But Bumi just looked at Sokka carefully, who began sweating hard at the new Earth King. "Sorry but I think I should just leave."
"Well, it was a nice talk indeed, but you know… there is something I don't understand." Bumi began, and a grin adorned his face. "Why were you carrying a wedding necklace?" Bumi asked and then began laughing. Sokka flinched. Toph just allowed her tea to fall on top of an angry costumer at the distance after the conversation distracted her in the middle of filling a cup, which overflowed after a while.
"Ah! You brat! The tea was hot! Be careful!" Toph then woke up, and Jin was scared and hid herself behind of the counter. Iroh was about to go there an aid his new worker, who was biting her lips hard in order to prevent the earth to eat the angry costumer. "Why is a blind girl allowed to do these stuff?! You should leave this job for those with full…"
"Hey! Shut up! It is my wife who you are yelling at!" And Sokka grabbed the guy by the collar. And everyone in the room looked at him. Iroh then moved his head ashamed. This wasn't part of his kind plan to give the couple a new life. "If you ever say something like that about my wife I will kick the hell out of you!" And Sokka pushed the guy back to his chair in anger, and then he took Toph's hand and drove her out of the Jasmine Dragon. "I had enough!"
"Sokka! What the hell was that?!" Toph wasn't angry. She was surprised, very surprised. "Listen, I'm glad you faced that guy, but if you excuse me, I am at work duty." And she rudely took the hand of Sokka away from hers. She was blushing madly, but tried to hide it while cleaning the mess of the spilled tea.
"Hehehe (Gasp) Hehehe (Gasp) I didn't know you loved her that much. When were you going to ask her for marriage?" And Toph interrupted her cleaning. She just stood there waiting for Sokka's reply, which he noticed. The silence lasted for a while, and finally everyone in the room went back to their tea. "Well… I'm old… I don't have much time so hurry…"
"I… wasn't going to ask her…" He admitted, and Toph closed her hand around the rag she was using for the cleaning, somehow disappointed by that reply. "But after the celebration of her birthday… well… I decided to give it a try… but I found myself unable to ask her… so… I took her to the tavern. I thought the alcohol would help me find the courage to ask her… and apparently it did." And after hearing that last, Toph continued her cleaning and then went to attend some other costumers.
"Well that was random." Bumi admitted, and then he faced Sokka. "I like you. I will gladly have you as my bodyguard, and as my buffoon." And Sokka lowered his head at that last. "I will pay you double." Then he smiled. "We have a deal?"
"Yeah! I mean, I don't know, I really don't wish to start a new life! What about Katara and Aang? And about helping Zuko restore the Fire Nation? What about Toph's Metalbending school? And The Water Tribe?" And Bumi looked at Sokka intrigued. And then Sokka lowered his head, and faced Toph at the distance. Afterwards, he took a deep breath in defeat. "When do I start?"
"Tomorrow morning, I will be waiting at my palace." And Bumi placed a contract in front of Sokka, who signed it in defeat. "You just take care of your wife tonight, you know what I mean. Hehehe(Gasp) hehehe(Gasp) hehehe(Gasp, Gasp)" Sokka then nodded in agreement, and then faced Toph, who ignored him and continued cleaning some tables, a more than evident blush was permanently drawn on his face. Apparently, she had remembered what happened after the drinking at the first tavern where all here problems began.
Flashback.
"Toph, I have something really important to tell you." Both Sokka and Toph were kicked out of the bar after they went too drunk to be healthy. However, they still had some wine bottles in their hands. Although it was obvious they should drop them already. "I still can think a little, so I just want you to know it before I can no longer remember my name." Sokka admitted, and her placed his hand inside of his pocket. But he was still too afraid as to ask his question.
"What is it? Did I finally convince you to ask me that important question you had been talking about all night?" She wondered, and was then about to drink from her wine bottle when Sokka stopped her. A serious expression was drawn on his face, Toph couldn't see it, but she knew, by listening to his heartbeat, that he was serious. "Let's take a sit, shall we?" She then moved weakly to where she felt a bench and sat there, trying hard to keep her body from falling. Sokka sat next to her.
"I wanted to wait until you were old enough… and even then I was unsure if I should." Sokka was feeling sick, but he wasn't drunk enough to do random things, only drunk enough to find the courage he needed. "I did this a year ago… thinking about you… you may be confused but…" And Sokka then placed the object on top of Toph's hand.
"…A wedding necklace…?" She asked, and Sokka couldn't believe Toph was familiarized with the meaning of the object, but nodded in agreement. "Stupid, you really thought alcohol would change my answer?" She wondered. Although Sokka never had that intention in the first place.
"Alcohol was supposed to help me get the courage to ask you." He admitted, and then faced Toph with determination despite his half drunken state. "… Toph… I want you to marry me… will you, be my wife?" And Toph gave the necklace to Sokka. And he just looked at it disappointed.
"Ask me again." Toph added, and Sokka was confused, half because of the alcohol, half because he really was unable to understand. "I want to make sure you are asking me what I think you are asking me…" And Toph then gulped hard, And Sokka just placed the necklace at her hand once again, this time closing his own around hers, with the necklace in the middle.
"Toph Bei Fong… will you be my wife?" And Toph gulped hard and then tackled-hugged him into the ground, and Sokka hugged her back. "Is that a yes?" He wondered.
"Alcohol wouldn't have changed my answer you fool! I will be your wife!" And Sokka kissed her, and she returned the kiss.
End of Flashback.
"(Sigh)" Toph breathed out in defeat, and Sokka then looked at Toph, who was cleaning a table next to the one Sokka was. The tea shop was closed. Jin was managing the money while Iroh said goodbye to Earth King Bumi. Sokka offered himself to help, but Iroh refused saying he would only distract Toph and that it was her job not his.
"Toph, you are very silent lately, are you ok?" He wondered, but Toph ignored him. It was like the eleventh time she did that. Sokka just stared at her amazed of how beautiful she had grown, and sort of glad he asked her to marry him.
"When I said… I would marry you… I meant it… I just couldn't remember until a few minutes ago…" And Sokka smiled, but refused to answer back. He thought Toph wanted his silence as an answer.
"Well, it wasn't that bad for your first day Toph." Iroh interrupted. "I'm glad you joined our small business, you may go now, but make sure to arrive earlier this time." And Toph nodded in agreement and then walked toward Sokka.
"Full time job?" Sokka asked, and Toph nodded once again. "We are married and we can't even see each other that much? Ahat a pity." And Toph wanted to hit him for saying something like that. She wasn't used to the idea yet, but instead, she nodded once again.
"Don't worry, King Bumi enjoys this tea shop a lot, he comes every day." Iroh explained. "He even stays for long periods of time. I'm sure he will invite you. And you may stay here all you want. I can even give your wife some free periods for you to spend time with her." And Toph gulped hard once again and blushed, Sokka just smiled. "Just don't do a scene like today's one."
"I will try." Sokka added nervously. "Let's go Toph." And once again Toph could do nothing but nod in agreement." Iroh gave Toph a key to open the store the next day, and then the couple left the tea shop. Both walked in silence to their home, not really wanting to say a thing. They were almost there when Toph suddenly stopped. Sokka noticed and faced her with a curious look drawn on his face.
"Do you remember what happened next?" Toph asked, and Sokka nodded in agreement, now his mind was clear and remembered everything.
"We entered our mansion, and began making out." And Toph said nothing, but Sokka continued. "Joo Dee was in the room, you rudely asked her to leave." And Toph smiled to herself, laughing at her own reactions.
"Yeah. Who may have guessed she worked for those gramps living here?" And Sokka began laughing as well. "I still remember the exact words… 'Damn it! The Zombie-girl! Shoo! Go scare some kids somewhere else'…"
"Then she hit me with a lamp thinking I was a thief, thanks the cabbages, cabbage man was outside and explained the situation to her." And Toph laughed once again.
"You carried me up the stairs. You almost made me fall from up there you idiot!" She wasn't rude, both were enjoying their situation. "By the way, you hit my head with the door!" And she hit him in the arm in her usual way.
"Ouch! It was an accident, I was drunk, and I never noticed the door was closed!" And Toph blushed, Sokka did as well. "Then we, got right into business I suppose." And Toph gulped hard while remembering what happened next.
"…Yeah… we did… were you good?" She teased, and that angered Sokka. "Because… you know, we were drunk… I don't really remember." She mentioned weirdly. "Besides! I don't think you are good at this things!"
"Well, you never complained! You seemed to be enjoying it!" And Toph blushed but faked a laugh. Sokka noticed his weird comment and faked a laugh as well. "We are idiots."
"You are the idiot, don't sink me with you." And Sokka scratched the back of his head, while Toph played with her hair like she had never done before. "…Sokka I…"
"…Toph I…" Both began, but none of them finished, and once again there was silence. Toph was then about to say something when Sokka placed his hand on her mouth. "I love you! And I'm glad I asked you to marry me! I'm so glad we shared those drinks! I'm so glad we saved the cabbage merchant! I'm so glad we bought a mansion at Ba Sing Se! I'm so glad you got a job and I did too! I'm not glad Joo Dee is our house keeper and will really think about firing her! And I'm so glad it was you the one I woke up with this morning!" And Sokka then gasped for air, and Toph just blushed madly. "…Sorry…"
"…I will wake up by your side tomorrow too… Sokka…" And Sokka smiled, and thought about kissing her, but fought the urge to do it. "…Aren't you going to kiss me…?" And Sokka gulped. "If not, then I will." And she pulled Sokka down and kissed him. He then returned the kiss. They stayed like that for a long time, until Toph broke the kiss and took his hand, driving him inside of the mansion. "I still don't remember what happened after you hit my head with the door. Mind refreshing my memory?"
"Umm… sure, I think I can." He smiled nervously. Toph just gave him a real smile. "You know, there is something I don't understand yet…" And she gave him a confused 'stare' "What happened to Aang and Katara?" And Toph thought about it for a second. "You know what? I don't care, all I care is you." And she kissed him once again. Sokka just took her up, never breaking the kiss and climbed the ladders to their room, this time making sure not to hit Toph's head with the door, and finally, he closed the door behind.
Done! It took me some time, but I'm finally done with the editing! Now that I'm finished, all I have to say is I'm going to start working in the next chapter, I don't know when it is going to be ready, all I know is I'm going to enjoy writing it a lot, and I will make sure to add some comical parts to keep the humour of this fic, perhaps some mature jokes here and there, but nothing to rate it M. For now, I hope you are looking forward to the next chap, and yeah, I'm working on 'Slavery Mark' and 'The Game' so please don't ask me to update, I'm working on it.