Well, apparently this stinks.. so I posted the next one to see if it got any better reception… Enjoy.
Don't own Avatar!
Bones and Caring
She was going to get a drink of water when she heard a loud curse come from the couch in the living room.
"Oh, that's painful."
Toph smiled as she leaned against the doorframe.
"You are such a wimp, Snoozles."
Sokka growled at her.
"I can't help it! I was standing on it all day!"
"Oh, you poor baby," she replied sarcastically.
"This is what I get for saving your life? Remind me not to do it again."
She laughed and sat down next to him on the couch.
"I'm only kidding."
"Sure, that's what they all say," he clenched his teeth together in pain.
"Isn't the pain any better?"
"No," he mumbled.
"Here let me try something."
"NO!" He yelled unexpectedly. He cleared his throat and spoke again, his voice quavering nervously. "I mean, no thanks, Toph."
She laughed.
"I know some tricks that are good for broken bones."
"You aren't a healer," he hissed.
"But I am blind, which means I've broken a few bones in my life."
"Promise it won't hurt?"
"No, it will hurt."
He scoffed.
"Then no thanks, I've got enough issues as it is."
She smiled smartly as she walked over to the boy, who was groaning in protest.
"I'm not going to argue with that."
He growled again, and Toph placed her hands on Sokka's leg, holding it against her body as she removed the pillows.
"You have to work with me here; this'll work better if you are on the ground."
"Seriously, I think Katara should be doing this."
"Just trust me," she hissed as they lowered themselves onto the ground. She concentrated on the earth beneath his leg; she could see where the break was and mentally reminded herself not to touch it. With a few pushes and pulls of the ground, his leg was gently vibrating.
"This way your muscles are still getting movement, but it doesn't actually hurt the break."
He sighed as though finally experiencing relief.
"Where did you learn that?"
"Like I told you, before I learned earthbending from the badger moles, I broke a lot of bones. This is what the earthbenders would do to heal me since we were so far away from any healers."
"Your family was rich! They couldn't just hire a healer?"
She smiled.
"That would require work."
"Ah, I see."
She nodded and touched the skin where the injury was.
"That's a pretty bad break, Sokka."
"Yeah, Katara says that it'll take weeks to heal, even WITH her help."
"Yeah, it will."
"So, you've broken a bone before?"
"Yup," she said, popping the p confidently. "I think I broke my arm about twenty times one summer," she laughed. "It's partially why I'm so tough, after a few breaks, I learned to deal with the pain that followed."
She laughed as Sokka winced.
"You're making me hurt even thinking about it."
"Here," she commanded the ground to stop vibrating and it did for a few moments, then it started again a little higher up his leg.
"Ah, that feels so good," he muttered as he lay back on the floor.
She laughed and slowly commanded the earth beneath his other leg to move as well.
"Toph, I LOVE you right now."
She laughed again as the earth slowly stopped moving as she sat next to him.
"I want to help," she whispered, the heat rising in her cheeks.
"You DO care," he teased. "Should I tell Katara?"
"You do, and you die."
He laughed.
"Toph cares," he sang in a sing song voice. "Toph c-a-r-e-s."
"Shut up, Sokka. Or that earth will start vibrating where it WILL hurt."
He squeaked nervously and lay back on the ground. Toph couldn't help but smile as the clueless Warrior began moaning to himself about how he should've gone to her ages ago.
Could he be any more annoying? Stupid? Whiney? Adorable?
She huffed angrily as the last word crossed her mind. Toph Bei Fong did NOT use the word adorable! She did NOT swoon when a boy laughed at a joke she made. Or when he commented on her hair...
She, Toph Bei Fong had crossed over to the dark side. She had started to CARE deeply for the boy. There was no turning back now.
-x-