Aang had been kissed before, usually by Katara and always in a very chaste manner. The one time he wasn't kissed by his girlfriend had been at the third End of the War Anniversary, which took place in Ba Sing Se. He and Katara had just broken up and everyone seemed to know it by the time he arrived in the city. There, he ran into Meng, whose hair was still slightly uncontrollable, but she had grown into a very cute girl, which might have been the reason Sokka insisted Aang dance with her. By the end of the night, Meng had him cornered with nowhere to go and there, she kissed him.

The kiss had taken the monk completely by surprise, even though the girl had hinted at it all night. Aang simply stood there while Meng tried to slip her tongue into his mouth. He panicked when her hands roamed from his chest, southbound. He squeaked in a very unmanly manner and chose to run and hide instead of telling her he wasn't ready for another girlfriend just yet. It wasn't his proudest moment.

Despite the lack of kissing experience, Aang knew the kiss he was in the middle of was a good kiss because half of his brain shut down and the other half was lost in the sensations. Soft lips were on his, a tongue was in his mouth, and he was pretty sure that was his tongue pushing into that other mouth. Slim, but strong arms were wrapped around his neck, a supple body pressed up against his, while he was held pinned against the wall. Somehow his hands were at a slender waist, but he stopped them from travelling to places they probably wouldn't be welcome, like smooth, long hair, a delicate neck, a deceptively voluptuous chest, a firm behind...

Just thinking about letting his hands wander freely made Aang moan, which started a chain reaction in the young, inexperienced monk. He blushed because he moaned, then he grew embarrassed because he blushed because who blushed and had improper thoughts while they were kissing their best friend? And why was his best friend kissing him?

"Wait!" he cried, pushing her back.

A faint blush rose to Toph's cheeks, but mostly she looked startled. Her lips were parted and swollen from their kiss and Aang was tempted to get back to kissing her again, but he didn't get a chance.

"Man, I knew it!" she snapped, turning from him. Then, in a faint voice he almost missed, she added, "Knew I wasn't good at this."

Aang blinked. The kiss had been very good, actually. So good, he nearly forgot he was kissing his best friend even at the same time that he was fully aware that it was Toph, which only served to turn him on more. It was all very confusing.

"What just happened?" he asked, unable to stop himself as he licked his bottom lip tasting her again.

"Apparently, nothing," she sighed in frustration, plopping down on the edge of his bed.

He wasn't used to seeing his one-time earthbending teacher without her usual abundance of confidence and he started to worry something was really wrong.

"Toph?"

She raised her head and followed his movements as he sat down next to her. They needed to talk and he needed to stay calm, so he inhaled deeply before speaking.

"You just kissed me!" he yelled. So much for being calm.

"Yeah," she sighed again. "Don't worry, won't do it again."

What? Why not? he thought. And even in his head it sounded like whining. He shook the thoughts away to focus.

Aang watched her and waited for her to say something to explain what had just occurred, but they sat there in silence. Suddenly, she got up and reached for the door, but Aang airbended it shut.

"Hold on. What just happened?" he asked again.

"Look, it was a bad idea, okay."

"What was?" he didn't understand. "First you barge in here while I'm trying to meditate, then you say you need a favor - which you never do, by the way - but you don't tell me what it is, and then you kiss me!"

Toph shrugged, not being helpful at all, and went for the door again.

He stepped between her and the metal exit she was reaching for. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." She seemed unmoved by his words, but dropped her unseeing gaze to the floor between them. "Friends help each other out," he added, using her words from earlier. "Come on, Toph, talk to me."

"What for?" she argued, crossing her arms in irritation. "I don't like talking, Twinkletoes. Thought you'd know that by now."

An angry Toph he knew how to deal with, so Aang braced himself for the hit that would undoubtedly come when he said, "If you liked me, you could of just said so."

His whole room shook. He probably should have known better than to tease her in a room made entirely of metal.

"That's not it, you dunderhead!" she yelled.

"Then tell me what is it!" he yelled back.

She growled, then sat on the bed again and sighed. "Do I have to?"

Aang smiled at her, knowing she was on the brink of sharing something personal with him. He loved when the tough earthbender let him in, even a little. "Of course, you don't, but I would like to help out if I can."

Toph made a face. Man, she hated talking about feelings. Hated it. It made her eye twitch and her palms sweaty. She would rather fly on Appa bareback than talk about her feelings, but she could practically feel Aang's sympathetic smile and she caved.

"There's...this guy," she began.

Aang's eyes went wide. "There's a guy?" he asked, surprised.

"That's it, I'm leaving."

"No, no, wait," he grabbed her hand, "I'll be quiet and I'll listen, I promise."

Toph just wanted to leave, but it wasn't because she didn't trust him. She did, she just...didn't want to talk about this! But she remembered he had told her everything that happened with Katara (which Toph saw coming) and that girl Meng (which Toph still teased him about), so she figured she could open up this once. Still, knowing she was going to be talking about personal things made her feel on edge and she yanked off the space earth bracelet she always wore and started bending it into random shapes while they both sat on the floor with their backs against the side of the bed.

"He's one of the Royal Guards," she explained and felt so weird saying it out loud. Suki knew about Gan, who was a great earthbender, tall, supposedly handsome, and two years older. The Kyoshi Warrior only knew because she had seen the two Royal Guards together once during her rare visits to Ba Sing Se. Suki had later questioned Toph endlessly until the earthbender revealed what little there was to tell. And if Suki knew, it meant Katara probably knew as well. "Anyway, we've gone out a few times." Drinking, gambling, and kissing counted as going out, right? Because they didn't do the mushy, lovey-dovey stuff like holding hands or taking long walks or gazing up at the stars, which Toph couldn't do anyway. "But the day before we left on this trip - which sucks so far - well," she swallowed and ceased bending her bracelet. Aang squeezed her hand, lending support and she continued, "He ended it."

"Toph, I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, don't be. I was... okay with that," she said and sensed his vibrations. "Hey, would you want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you?" Aang shook his head. "Me either," she shrugged, "That wasn't the problem." Not all of it, anyway.

He waited for her to continue, when she didn't, he spoke. "What was the problem then?"

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Her bangs hung like a curtain, hiding most of her face away.

"Gan said...he told me I still had a lot to learn."

Aang wanted to hug her, to say something comforting, but it was Toph and she probably wouldn't take it too well. She rarely did. Not in the five years he'd known her. If he tried, she would probably shoot him out of the ship into the freezing ocean water or something equally as painful. So after a moment, he punched her arm instead.

"What does he know?" Aang said, nudging her shoulder, his voice light and playful, but he was angry with that guard, who obviously didn't know how lucky he was to have someone like Toph.

Reluctantly, Toph grinned at him.

"Wait," it took him that whole time, but everything finally fell into place. "So, the favor was the kissing?"

For the second time that evening, Toph's cheeks burned. "I figured I'd get a second opinion, but it sounds so stupid when you say it like that!" She was waiting for him to laugh at her and had a beating involving the metal door already formed in her mind, but what he said next caught her completely by surprise.

"I don't think it is," he admitted and her head snapped up.

"You...don't?"

"No," he shrugged. "Lots of people want second opinions." Then he thought about Gan's words, that Toph still had a lot to learn... "Maybe all you need is more practice."

She snorted, "You offering, Twinkletoes?"

"Um..." He supposed everyone could stand to learn a thing or two. You could never be too good at kissing, right? "Sure, I guess. It makes sense if you think about it." Toph raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. Aang continued, "How did we become such good benders? We practiced. So this would be just like that. The more we practice, the better we get."

Toph was listening to him talk and he sounded crazy, but at the same time, he was making total sense.

"Yeah," he said, sounding more certain. After all, he thought, practice makes perfect, right? "If you still want, I'm in."

Did she really want to kiss Aang again? Not especially, but since it was just Twinkles, what could be the harm in that? Besides, despite what she told Aang, she had felt awful when Gan broke up with her. He had seemed to enjoy her kisses, but maybe he'd only been pretending. Toph crossed her arms. If she could metalbend, she could do anything damn it! With some practice, of course. "Fine," she nodded.

"Alright," Aang laughed. "With just a little practice, we'll be awesome kissers in no time!"

"Don't ever say that again, Twinkletoes, and it's a deal."