1Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the last airbender
Toph's New Tat
Tattoos are by nature, a sign rebellion. Something Toph always stood for. A way of defying authority, or telling Mommy and Daddy you're all grown up. Something Toph had always wanted to prove.
"Why didn't I think of it before?" Toph asked aloud, smacking herself on the forehead.
When Toph made the decision to get a tattoo, she decided to go to the only person she knew, who had any experience with tattoos. And the only person who might be able to help her. Still, tattoos weren't very common in proper society, and generally frowned upon, so when Toph told Aang she wanted a tattoo, he was surprised to say the least.
"You want a what?" he asked, thinking he ad misheard.
"I want a tattoo" she repeated. "And I want you to do it" she added.
"But...why?"
Toph sighed and put her hands on her hips, "Because I'm want to show my parents I'm not a child anymore...Plus I wanna freak 'em out a little."
"But you're a great earthbender and they know it, I'm sure that's enough."
'Obviously, it wasn't' she thought bitterly. "So will you do it?" she asked.
Aang scratched the back of his head, "I don't know..." he said slowly.
Toph stamped her foot into the ground, "Listen up Twinkle-toes, you're going to be spending your afternoon one of two ways. One is spent giving me a tattoo. And the other is spent running earthbending drills until you spew up breakfast. So what will it be?"
"Fine, but first you need to need to know the risks of tattoo ownership."
The next twenty minutes were perhaps the longest and most boring twenty minutes of the earthbender's life. A dull lecture of hygiene (something she had never been a fan of), and of the risks. It didn't matter though, since Toph was only listening every other word that came from the airbender's mouth.
"Now it's very important that you blah, cause if you blah happens to blah, then you'll have to blah. The best way to avoid this is blah every now and then and make sure to blah, blah, blah."
"Any questions?" he asked, looking up from his manual. The blind girl was snoozing peacefully on the ground, her head supported by a rock.
"Okay, so where do you want it?" Aang asked her.
Toph rolled up her sleeve, "Right here" she answered pointing to her bicep.
"Alright then" he muttered. Aang took a sterilized needle and gently dipped it in a bowl of red dye. "Do you know what you want?" he asked.
"Nothing girly" she said hotly. She paused. "And no arrows either."
Aang quickly dabbed some antiseptic on her upper arm, his other hand held the needle that hovered just above. "I'm going to start now" he informed her, giving Toph time to brace for the pain.
Toph just smirked, "Ink me up, baby."
The needle, pierced her skin, making her wince sightly. Yet the next one wasn't as painful, nor the next. After the seventh or eighth there was no pain at all. Aa he worked, Aang began to explain the folklore and spiritual uses of tattoos. It was actually quite interesting and certainly held her attention longer than the boring hygiene lecture. Plus it kept her mind off the pain.
"Finished" he announced, wiping her arm with yet another antiseptic rag.
Toph rolled down her sleeve, before stretching her arm. "Thanks Twinkle-toes" she said briskly, as she grinning at the thought of what her parents would say when they saw that their pure and innocent daughter had tainted her skin. "What does it say anyway?" Toph asked, realizing she didn't even know what had been engraved into her skin.
Aang's cheeks started burning, as he once again scratched the back of his head. "Well...um...it says...um...
"WE"RE BACK!"
The young benders turned their attention to Sokka and Katara who had just returned from gathering firewood, their arms heavy with wood.
Toph immediately ran over to the two siblings. "HEY GUYS CHECK OUT MY NEW TATTOO!" she cried joyfully, pulling up her sleeve to show them. Both Katara and Sokka leaned in closer to read–
AANG
TOPH
The name was encased in a little red heart. Katara looked up, and saw Aang shaking his head side to side, mouthing the words No, No, No
"You guys like it! Aang did it, isn't it cool?"
"Uh...it's great Toph,. It's totally you." she complimented. The waterbender then left the blind girl to go stand next to Aang. "You know, if Toph finds out what you wrote, she'll kill you" she whispered, not wanting Toph to overhear.
Aang smiled, "Worth it."
Chapter two is now up, and thank you for your kind reviews last chapter. I was watching a documentary on tattoos when this story came to mind. I hope you like it.
