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Chapter 3

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Love Is…

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…Sitting on the Side of the Road

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Dinner that night was, to say the least, an awkward affair. Sokka's distress was practically palpable (in Zuko's case, it had even dampened his napkin), and the poor boy was so woebegone he could barely touch his food. He could barely look at it even, he said again and again; though when Zuko grumpily suggested they simply send it back and put it out of its misery already, Sokka vehemently cried, "What about my misery?!" and immediately scarfed the entire plate's contents. This left him literally sick to his stomach, however, instead of just figuratively, and from that point on he had to lay his head on the table and focus on breathing without puking.

"This is just sad," Zuko said eventually, putting down his fork and knife and averting his eyes. "Seriously, this is the first nice dinner out Mai and I have had in several weeks, and what do we get? We get—"

"Zuko, how would you feel if you and Mai split up?" Katara interjected before Zuko said something even less helpful. "You two have been together just as long."

"Longer, actually," Mai corrected. "But you're right, Katara. It would be devastating to loose my Zuklypoops."

Aang choked on his pasta. Toph's eyes lit up gleefully.

"Mai, darling," Zuko sighed, grimacing, a vein in his forehead jumping up violently. "You made a vow to me—one more important than our vow of marriage even—to never. Ever. Refer to me by that name in public."

"But Zuko, dear," Mai countered with a sly, sensual grin, "these are our dear friends. Surely you trust them not to—"

"Make fun of you forever until the end of time? You bet, buddy!" Aang promised, chortling in anticipation of mocking his Firebending friend thoroughly—and frequently—in future.

"This is exactly what I mean! The only thing I can trust these people to do is to act like utter children." Zuko shoved back his chair back and stood up. "I'll be in the men's room," he snarled, then elucidated with equal disdain for his listeners, "Because I'm a grown man." He threw down his yet damp napkin for emphasis. "Excuse me."

"What's got his panties in a bunch?" Toph muttered, knowing full well Zuko was still within earshot.

"I do not wear panties!" he shouted back to them all and immediately regretted it because it is often the case that when one utters something so extremely awkward that he/she would prefer others not to hear it, generally that is precisely when the room falls dead silent just in time to hear each humiliating word rush from the offending orifice. Such a fate befell Fire Lord Zuko, and amidst a mass of snickering coughs and glinting eyes, he stomped off to the bathroom, shoulders hunched and a storm cloud practically materializing above his head, though Waterbender he was not.

"That," Toph said, grinning so wide she couldn't even laugh, "has got to be the funniest thing that has happened to me all year. No lie. It's going to take something Appa-sized to top that."

"You did that on purpose," Katara said, not fooled for a second where her dear, impish friend's antics were concerned.

"Yeah, but do you have a problem with that?" Following their earlier conversation, this may have been a challenge to Katara on Toph's part, but in the mirth of the moment, it was merely a question.

"Well," Katara murmured, unable to suppress her smile. "I mean, I guess I don't. But maybe Mai does…"

"Oh no," Mai said, resting her chin on her hand and gazing half-lidded off in the direction of the men's room. "I find Zuko quite attractive when he has his, as you put it, 'panties in a twist.'" She cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "I find it riotously sexy."

"And that," Aang cut in, signaling for the waiter, "just killed the mood for me. Check please!"

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It took some pushing and pulling to detach Sokka from his sulky seat and out of the restaurant. Mai and Zuko, though friends of Sokka, figured (and figured rightly) that it was best to leave him in the care of Aang, Katara, and Toph. Using their daughter as an alibi, they departed swiftly, Mai winking over her shoulder to Katara and Aang before giving a loving (and lovingly inappropriate) squeeze to her husband's unfailingly pert tush. He jumped and swatted her hand away, but after checking to make sure no one was watching, he returned her lovetap in kind.

Through the subtle vibrations transmitted from their bodies, down to the ground and across to the bottoms of her feet, Toph felt the exchange, and with a swallowed sigh, envied them deeply for both their shared affection and sizzling mutual attraction.

She was not the only one to notice the Fire Lord and Lady's flirtations, however, for Aang had subtly watched the pair out the corner of his eye. He now turned and grinned largely at Katara, leaning close to murmur intimately in her ear, "Seems I can learn a thing or two else from Zuko besides Firebending." And as he had earlier that evening, he wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

"Aang…" Katara began, giggling and blushing despite herself before snapping back into caring sister mode. "Aang, Sokka needs us right now."

"If you two don't want to be here, then go," Sokka glowered, plopping down on the curb and digging in his heels. He'd finally become fed up that everyone close to him was so easily ignoring the catastrophic turn his life had taken, and damned if he'd continue bending to their insensitive wills.

"Sorry, Sokka, I was just teasing. You know, lightening the mood and stuff," Aang explained, stepping away from Katara abruptly, hand on the back of his head, giving a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, Aang, I get that," Sokka sighed wearily, refusing to meet their pitying gaze. "But it's okay. You guys can go."

"No, Sokka, really, we're here for you. We—" Katara began, but Sokka interrupted.

"Yeah, you guys are a 'we.' And I'm not anymore. I'm just…an 'I'," he finished lamely. "So if you guys could just leave me alone? That'd be great." And when Katara objected on the point of him making it back to the inn safely, Sokka would have snarled something quite unkind had Toph not interrupted him.

"I'll make sure he gets back safe, Katara," she said. Sokka said nothing for or against this, so Toph nodded as if he had vocally agreed and waved Katara and Aang off along their way.

"We—I…really am sorry about…things, Sokka. Really," Aang stammered. "Give us—me—or Katara—just…give a call when you want to talk about…you know, whatever."

The four friends shared a pause. Why is this so uncomfortable? they all wondered.

"So…" Aang continued, more to fill the awkward silence than anything, "get well soon, buddy."

And with that and a hug from Katara, the two of them turned and left. Toph had thought this was what she wanted, to be alone with Sokka, but suddenly she felt extremely anxious, tongue-tied. Her plan to win her best friend over had seemed so simple before, but now it seemed damn near impossible. What was she supposed to say? What could she say?

Luckily, Sokka spoke first.

"'Get well soon?'" he said, repeating Aang's final sentiments with an incredulous, biting laugh. "Is that the only advice my best friend—the god damn Avatar—can give? 'Get well soon?'"

He ran his hand through his hair, from forehead straight back and down to the nape of his neck. He turned his face away from her.

"Just…fuck that."

Toph bit her lip, willing her eyebrows not to knot in the pity she knew he would read in them, the pity she knew, felt, herself to be there. She sat down beside him and let her bangs fall into and mask her face.

"He means the best, Sokka," she comforted in a quiet, steady voice. "They all do. It's just…this is kind of a shock for all of us. I mean, I know that I…I thought I would die before you and Suki ended things."

"Yeah, well, you're still breathing, right?" he rejoined. The bitterness in his voice pierced her chest, and for a second she thought she really might stop breathing.

"Sorry," he said, more as an apology for his tone than for any full awareness of the impact his words had on her. "If anything, I wish I were the one who'd died before me and Suki 'ended things', as you put it."

"Don't say that," Toph murmured. With a shaky hand, she sought to grasp his, but accidentally gripped his knee instead. Awkwardly, hating herself for the blunder, she patted his kneecap. All she wanted to do was reach out and make contact with him, but even something as simple as taking his hand she managed to botch and turn into a clumsy mess.

"Don't worry," he said, misinterpreting the nature of her mixed anxieties. "I don't mean it. Not really."

She couldn't reply, her mind filled as it was with numerous trivial and yet all-important concerns. What was she going to do with her hand? Keep patting his knee? Could she make a move for one of his hands? But where were his hands? What if she accidentally went for his hand and ended up grabbing his groin instead? That would certainly be worse than missing and getting his knee. But maybe it would be better? It would get her point across at least. No, probably not because she'd probably botch that up, too, somehow, and ruin everything. So should she just stay still?

"Oh, Toph," Sokka sighed, her name on his lips and his breath brushing warmly down to her cheek, extracting her from her compulsive thoughts. In a graceless movement, and yet with a grace-touched tenderness that made her heart jump to her throat, Sokka turned toward her, their knees bumping, and laid his head atop her own. He was so close she could smell him. Warm, almost earthy. To her he didn't smell like anyone else. Just Sokka.

This is a perfect moment, she felt.

And it was for that moment, but after a pause, Sokka broke the silence.

"You're lucky, you know," he said. This time his breath missed her cheek and hit her bangs and the tip of her nose instead. "You don't know what it's like to have your heart broken."

He didn't know it, lost as he was in his own wrecked world and only able to look out at her and everything else through the glassy, warped shards of a ruined lens, but this was the least perfect thing he could have said to her in that moment. Because not only were his words untrue, but they—rather, he—swiftly undid all her hopes for them, for what seemed the millionth time.

And while Sokka's broken heart temporarily distorted reality, Toph's own showed her the very real truth she could not escape: she might be with Sokka right now in this time and place, and side-by-side, head-to-head, he might be physically closer to her than he'd been in years—but there was still a huge gulf between them.

And that gulf's name was still, and would probably always be, Suki.

"Sokka?" she uttered when her ability to breathe returned.

"Yeah?"

"Your definition of luck sucks."

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To Be Continued…

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A/N:

Aw, this started out as such a fun chapter, and then it turned quite sad. I think I even bummed myself out.

But no matter. Things will just have to perk up for next chapter. That's what I'll aim for, anyway. No telling what I'll end up writing, though. Seriously, oftentimes, I don't even know what I mean to write until I end up writing it. So…I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned! If you guys are sticking around, that is, and I certainly hope you are!

Smiles and best wishes,

~Niach

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Review Responses:

aspideringossamerwebs: After five years, Toph would certainly be a go-getter for Sokka's attentions, I think! Haha But I think that's more her attitude, and then once she's in the actual situation, her nerve falters a bit. Or completely. We shall continue to see… : )

Sifu Toph: I'm glad you've enjoyed the play between lightheartedness and the dramatics so far, and I hope you liked it in this chapter as well. It's hard not to go too much toward either extreme (or to make either tone an extreme, for that matter), so I hope I've pulled it off okay here. I really, really appreciate your awesome feedback because it's super insightful and always helpful. : )