Who Are You?
Chapter 3
Toph walks into her office and smells the, still hot, fire cakes and doughnuts on her desk. She also smells the faint mountain evergreen forest meets the sea smell- a smell her brain immediately associates with Sokka, the Warrior who- no, he was an Ambassador. Am-bass-a-dor Sokka, the guy who apparently finds delight in annoying her with his presence for reasons she will never say out loud.
She stomps and finds she is alone, she steps out of her office and stomps again, she can't feel Sokka anywhere near her.
"Deputy Ling!" She calls.
"Yes Chief?" He answers.
"Why is there a box of fried pastries on my desk? And more importantly, why was Ambassador Sokka in my office?!" She demands, making a few officers around her stop and stare but as soon as she turns her head in their direction, they move on because they recognize a woman on the war path when they see one and they were not ready to be collateral damage.
"I-I- he dropped them off just a couple of minutes ago Chief, he said he wanted to apologize for upsetting you yesterday." He answers nervously.
"Oh really? Then I have something I need to do alone." Toph growls as she storms out and marches the the Ambassador's home.
When she gets there she pounds on the door. She senses him coming and steels her nerve.
"Good morning Chief Beifong..." Sokka starts to say before she cuts him off.
"I should arrest you for bribery!" She shouts at him, poking him in the chest. Granted a very hard, well muscled chest meets the tip of her finger and almost makes her shiver because she realizes she's poking skin not cloth but then again, she's heard about the clothing Samurai wear and it's probably just a deep V opening on his robes. Because he wouldn't come to the door shirtless...would he?
"Excuse me?" Sokka asks, flabbergasted at her response.
"You came into my office with a box of fried pastries, that can be seen as a bribe. That's an arrestable offense. And just because I am a law enforcement officer, does that automatically mean I like sweet fried pastries? What is wrong with you? Do you not have a brain in that head of yours? Or is it all meat in there? Oh, that would be a good nickname for you, Ambassador Meat Head." She seethed. Sokka just stared at her with his jaw hanging open in complete shock.
"You need to step inside before more people start staring." He said as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her inside and shut the door.
"What have I done to make you so angry with me?!" He asked, ready to pull his hair out.
"You've tried to bribe me and you've pestered me." She answered, her fists clenched at her side, ready to start swinging.
"I have done no such thing! I just don't want to be on your bad side which I apparently got on yesterday, I don't know how but I did, so I tried to make amends by getting you your favorite breakfast, or so Deputy Ling said. It was definitely not a bribe." Sokka argues.
"Why do you want to be on my good side anyway?" Toph asks.
"I don't want to be on anyone's bad side, plus it wouldn't hurt to have a friend in this city..." Sokka trails off slightly.
"You? You want to be my friend?" She asks, not believing her ears.
"Why not? I don't think it would hurt anything." Sokka replies.
"I do not make friends with Ambassadors or politicians." She replies with a huff.
"Like I said, I'm not a politician. I was chosen to come here by my Chief, an honor I couldn't turn down. I'm a Samurai Warrior for Agni's sake! I live by a code of honor and ethics. I'm honest, disciplined and dependable. I have no other agenda besides representing my people to the best of my abilities so why are you so determined to hate me?!" Sokka demands ready to actually pull his hair out.
"Because...you...ugh, never mind." Toph replies, unable to think of a response other then- 'Because you're a man from my dreams who chases, catches, holds then kisses me in that order every night and I love it.' and not sound crazy.
"Well I'm sorry if I've rubbed you the wrong way or am catching you on all your bad days." He replies.
"Why won't you look me in the eye?" Sokka asks after a moment of silence. Toph laughs mirthlessly and moves her bangs from in front of her eyes.
"Because I'm blind, dumb ass, I am told it 'unnerves' people to see my eyes so I've grown my bangs out." She answers.
"It doesn't unnerve me. I think they're pretty actually." Sokka compliments despite the insult. He was going to kill her with kindness because he didn't know how else to deal with someone like her. Toph raises an eyebrow in lieu of his compliment.
"Uh huh, yeah, meat head for sure." She teases.
"So if you're blind, how do you move around as well as you do?" Sokka asks, choosing to ignore the jab.
"I'm an earth and metal bender. I can sense things through the ground, in effect 'see' what's around me." She explained.
"Oh, that's pretty remarkable actually. So you must have sensed my katana, that's how you knew it was there." Sokka comments.
"Yeah." Toph replies, starting to relax a bit although slightly frustrated because he wasn't fighting back or giving in.
"Can I ask you something?" Sokka asks, trying not to sound nervous. Toph can feel his elevated heart rate and smirks. She makes him nervous. Again, she can work with this.
"Shoot."
"Why do you smell like wildflowers?" Sokka asks bravely. Toph's eyebrows shoot to her hairline, well she certainly wasn't expecting that.
"Why do you smell like evergreen forests and the ocean?" She fires back, trying not to reveal how much his question has thrown her off balance.
"Because that's where I lived before I came here, that's home for me, so inevitably my clothes will still smell like that, does that bother you?" Sokka replies.
"No, just...curious. My shampoo smells like wildflowers because my mother insists that I'm too much like a man, so I use the girly shampoo while continuing to act, dress, drink and cuss like a man, you got a problem with that?" Toph challenges, but her words are loosing their bite. Damn, how is he undermining her defenses and disarming her so easily?
"Nope, not at all, it's a nice change to see a woman hold her own." He compliments again, letting his charm work it's magic.
"Says the man who comes from a culture where women have few rights and little say so when it comes to how they live their lives." She points out, again trying desperately to start a fight. Sokka lets out an exasperated sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose, so much for his 'magic charm'.
"Just because that's technically in my culture does not mean I agree with it or live that way myself." He replied, trying not to sound agitated.
"So you don't order your wife around to clean up after you and cook for you, do your laundry and the like?" Toph asked, well, taunted, as she crossed her arms over chest.
"No, I don't have a wife. And if I did, I certainly wouldn't 'order her around'. That would be demeaning to both her and to myself, anyone who does that brings shame and dishonor on his house. A wife is to be respected above all else, since it is she who determines whether the household is happy and successful or not." Sokka fires back. 'Assume much?' He wanted to add. Is that how everyone viewed his culture? If so then he had more work to do then he thought.
"Oh..." Toph replied softly, surprised at his answer while realizing she didn't really want to fight him after all if that was how he saw things, she could tell through the vibrations from his heart beat that he was telling the truth. It was such a steady, strong heartbeat too. Damn it, her mind was wandering.
"So...did you even try the fire cakes?" Sokka asked, changing the subject.
"No, I didn't want to be guilty of accepting a bribe." Toph answered with a smug smirk.
"Of course not." Sokka sarcastically quipped as he shook his head and smiled despite himself.
"Hey, a Police Chief can't be too careful." Toph replied.
"I'm sure that's true but you have this city pretty much under wraps, I would imagine that most of your force is tracking down over due library books because of a lack of crime." Sokka said as he leaned against the wall with his arms casually crossed across his chest.
"Ha! I wish. Although this city saw a 20% decrease in crime since I became Police Chief." She boasted.
"Oh I don't doubt it, you're probably the toughest cop on the force and you've probably worked your ass off to get where you are. I commend you." Sokka said.
"Damn right I have. It's been tough but well worth it." Toph replied proudly.
"You're not a bender are you." Toph added. It was a statement rather then a question.
"No I'm not." He confirmed.
"You don't seem upset about that fact." Toph noted.
"Why dwell on an ability I don't have? I would rather think about things I can do vs. things I can't." Sokka explained.
"Me too." Toph said in agreement, although she was referring to her lack of sight. But at least they both had a small understanding of what it was to not have something other people took for granted.
"I should warn you, be prepared for bodily harm and nick names if you're going to be hanging with me. It's just my way. So I will see you around meat head." Toph said as she punched his arm and left.
"Well, that was...different." Sokka said to himself as he rubbed his arm and looked at the door, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.
"That...was different." Toph said to herself as she walked back to the station feeling oddly relieved that she had been wrong about a person for once.
That night the dream came again. Toph found herself in the same swamp, in the same stupid dress. But this time, she was going to find her warrior, not the other way around. She tried to feel for him but he wasn't there, she called but he didn't answer. A new kind of panic rose in her chest, she started calling out to him and ran as fast as she could before she heard him, he was calling out for her, only this time, he used her name. She ran in the direction of his voice, she called out to him before sensing he was running toward her.
She smiled as she opened her arms and leaped for him, knowing he would catch her. He didn't disappoint as two strong arms wrapped around her and held her tight.
"I was so worried, I couldn't find you, I called and called for you..." Toph admitted with a broken sob into his chest while she inhaled his scent, letting it saturate her lungs and wash peace over her troubled soul. He just held on to her tighter.
"It's ok Toph, you're never going to loose me, never." He promised as he nuzzled into the crook of her neck and shoulder.
"I'll hold you to that." She replied, her face still buried in his chest. She felt the deep rumble in his chest as he began to laugh and couldn't help but smile a little.
"I was afraid." Toph admitted after a while, as she fingered the edges of his Samurai robes, noting how soft they were beneath her fingertips.
"Afraid of what?" Sokka asks as he pulls back just enough to look at her.
"That I couldn't find you, you finally found me and I couldn't find you." She replied, allowing a tear to run down her cheek as she fisted the front of his robes, reveling in the warmth that radiated from him. He brushed the tear away with the pad of his thumb while still keeping an arm secured tightly around her waist.
"I'll always find you Toph." Sokka assured her.
"Always." Sokka said as he sat up in bed before realizing he was all alone.
Author's Notes-
Again a really big thanks to Da'Ink, Tokka who invent Beastly Ravens, ArtIsAnExplosion27, carolin,. brenholdt, Alaburn, feliipsun, P. Rose205, MarCo03, Fruipit, emcateer90, PurpleFluffCloudOfDoom (fantastic name btw), bennica lover 45 and MrJanzz for all the faves, follows, reviews and encouragement. Again I really can't tell you all enough how much it means to me. You Tokka fans are the best.
So...you know how you try to fight with someone and they diffuse it rather then fire back? Yeah...that was where I was trying to go with this.
I know I had Sokka OOC and I'm sorry but he needed to be to break down Toph as quickly as he did. Yes I know it's fluffy but if you know me at all, I can not resist fluff so again, sorry but it will get heavier later on. I promise
In case you missed it, yes they share the same dream, for very good reasons. And by a show of hands (ridiculous I know but bear with me) who thinks that Sokka actually came to the door shirtless? Anyone?
Well I guess you're just going to have to read the next chapter to find out. (No, that wasn't me laughing evilly at all...you must be hearing things.)
So thank you so much for reading and enjoy.