Please excuse the fluff in this. Just... please. I had to. I apologize.

In writing this, I was making an attempt to explore a different side of Toph that we haven't really seen much. It ended up, in my opinion, seeming very OOC. I apologize for that as well. In conclusion, I'm not very happy with it, but I felt the need to post it somehow. Let me know what you think!

-Jooh

Metamorphosis

As Sokka's lips pressed gently against hers for the first time, something changed in her. Sokka couldn't place exactly what it was, but he definitely felt it. She seemed softer somehow, as if her hard edge had been melted away by his kiss. Startled, he pulled back and looked at her with concern. The face he was staring into certainly did not belong to the Toph he knew. Something about her sightless eyes now seemed confused and vulnerable, which were two things Toph Bei Fong most certainly was not.

In that moment, Sokka was ready for rejection, ready for her to punch him, to cry or run away. But Toph did none of those things. She just stood there; looking so un-Toph like that it frightened him.

"Toph?" He whispered. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Shouldn't have what?" She interrupted, and Sokka was relieved to find that her voice had the same cutting sarcasm as always. "I was perfectly fine until you stopped kissing me." This took Sokka by surprise.

"Well then, I apologize," He chuckled. "Is there any way I could possibly make it up to you?" Toph bit her lip in mock thoughtfulness.

"Well, there is one way…" She smiled, rising up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. This time, Sokka decided, it was definitely Toph. The kiss had the same hard edge as she did. Sokka smiled against her lips.

Still, she felt different somehow, as if the kiss had matured her considerably.

Or maybe it was just her lips. Maybe her lips, for some reason, had matured faster than the girl they belonged to. Sokka certainly didn't feel like he was kissing someone three years younger than him.

But whatever the reason for the change, Sokka wanted it to last forever. Maybe Toph was even thinking the same thing. Maybe that was why she deepened this kiss.

Sokka sighed softly.

Maybe Toph hadn't changed at all. Maybe this was just a new, unexplored side of Toph that even she knew little about.

If that was the case, Sokka was more than ready to help her find out more.