Shopping - Barenaked Ladies

"I don't think Mai likes me," Toph said, as she and Sokka walked down the three hundred steps into town.

"You're not really a likeable person you know," Sokka said flatly.

"What are you talking about? I'm absolutely charming!" Toph replied. She coughed and hocked up a big loogie, shooting it over the steps.

"…Right." Sokka shook his head and decided it was best not to argue with Toph on that point. It was hopeless. "So what do you want to do today?" he asked.

Toph shrugged. "I don't know. I'm going to check out the zoo I think, but you don't have to come with me. Why don't you go out into town and meet some nice girls, and I'll meet you back at the palace tonight?"

Sokka frowned. Was Toph trying to be considerate, or was this another trick of hers? It was suspicious. "Uh… okay sure. See you later then."

Toph smiled and jogged away. Sokka stood for a minute at the bottom of the steps, watching her go. Strange.

He wandered into town without any destination in mind. He thought he might go to the market and do some shopping; the shopping would have to be good in the Fire Nation Capital after all!

He asked for directions to the market, but he never made it there, as he encountered a big crowd of people blocking the street on his way there. "What's the big deal?" he asked. He jumped up and down to see what everyone was staring at, but he couldn't see. Since his question went ignored by the people around him he looked around for something to stand on.

He scrambled up a drainpipe onto the roof of a building to peer over the heads of the crowd, and who should he find in the centre but his sister and his lovable air bending buddy.

"Katara!" he yelled, but she didn't hear him. "Katara! Aang!" When they still didn't hear he jumped to a rooftop closer to them and tried again. This time Katara looked up, but she didn't look happy to see him.

"Sokka! What do you think you're doing on the roof!" she yelled, shaking a finger at him. She started to push her way through the crowd, leaving Aang alone with his fans. She wasn't the one they had all come to see, and she got through without too much difficulty.

Sokka jumped to the ground as Katara approached, and the siblings gave each other a hug after a long absence. Katara had been travelling the world with Aang while Sokka rebuilt the South Pole, and they hadn't seen each other for many months.

"When did you get here?" Katara asked.

"Just yesterday," Sokka told her. "I picked up Toph on the way. Well, she ended up picking me up…"

Katara peered over Sokka's shoulder, looking for their diminutive friend. "Where is she then?"

"The zoo," Sokka said, and he tried to explain Toph's considerate actions this morning, but he couldn't really. Katara wasn't much help; she just kept smiling and shaking her head.