A/N - Hello All! I'm back with the next chapter. I hope you have all been enjoying the story so far. I really appreciate the comments I've been getting, and I'd love to hear from you that haven't spoken up yet! I'm getting a lot of hits and such so I know you're out there! Alright, time for lucky #7...

Chapter 7: Dangerous Wagers

"Alright Katara, that should be enough for now"

At Ichika's words Katara let the water of the Spirit Oasis drain from Toph's injured ears.

The injured girl looked shocked, then opened her jaw in an attempt to pop her ears.

"Toph…how do you feel?"

Toph looked at Katara, "You're going to heal me, aren't you Katara?"

Katara was taken aback, "Well, I'm certainly going to do my best, but.."

"No. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. It isn't much but you helped. I know you're going to fix me…I just know it."

Toph wrapped her arms around Katara. With her impaired hearing it was comforting to feel Katara pressed against her. The young girl placed an ear just below her collar bone and heard the thumping beneath. It was definitely Katara, she could feel what her ears could not.

Katara looked at Ichika for assistance, wanting her to tell Toph that perhaps she wasn't the miracle cure she claimed her to be. The last thing she wanted was to dash the young girl's hopes, but better now than in a few months or years.

But Ichika just smiled sympathetically and shrugged her shoulders. If Toph was comforted in thinking Katara would fix everything it was better than being in despair, for now anyway.

Two young men burst into a medical tent, flushed and sweating – more from fear than exhaustion.

"Excuse me maam, have you seen two girls come through here tonight? One looks just like me and the other is really short and likes to hit things!"

Nurse Humi looked at the young Water Tribe warrior with surprise, "More of you are here? Goodness me…well you just missed the taller girl. She went to Healer Ichika's facility looking for her friend. It's about a quarter mile north of.."

Sokka and Aang burst out of the tent, heading due north.

Toph had fallen back asleep in Katara's arms, still recovering from her injuries and being emotionally exhausted from discovering her altered hearing had knocked her out.

Healer Ichika moved quietly about the tent with Fin by her side as assistance, mixing and grinding healing herbs together that might aid Toph in her journey to recovery.

Katara gently stroked Toph's loose black hair, tucking it behind her ear and out of her face. It was an honor to have the Greatest Earth Bender Alive have such faith in her healing abilities. She only prayed her patient wouldn't be let down in the end.

Suddenly a commotion was heard in the other room.

"Katara! Toph!"

"Sokka?"

Katara begin to react by standing before realizing that Toph had decided to become glued to her, "Can you please let him in?"

Fin went to retrieve the boys from the entry of the medical tent, looking confused, "Are you Southern Tribers on some sort of pilgrimage to your sister tribe?"

"No you see, we're traveling with.."

Before Katara could finish, the boys became impatient and a gust of wind filled the room as they made their presence known. Fin's eyes became wide,

"The Avatar!"

Lady Ichika nearly dropped the mixture she was concocting, "By the Spirits, it is!"

Fin and his master both bowed deeply in Aang's presence.

Before Aang could speak he saw the answer to his question, "Katara! Toph!"

Katara put a finger to her lips signaling her "saviors" to keep their voices down but it was too late. Toph lifted her head and yawned.

Her make shift pillow smiled as the young girl rubbed the sleep out of a blind eye, "Toph, guess who's here."

Knowing she probably wouldn't be able to recognize their voices, Toph placed her bare feet upon the smooth floor of the medical tent. She immediately was met with response,

"Twinkle Toes! And…a big blob?"

Sokka looked offended, "Excuse me! I have been training very hard lately and these shoes are only gonna' increase my strength! Meat isn't fattening, Toph!"

Toph looked puzzled, "Well all I hear is 'wha wa wha whah' so I'm guessing that's Sokka. But why can't I get a read on him?"

Katara was also confused, she looked at lady Ichika, who looked just as perplexed. She sized her brother up and down, then noticed his new footwear.

"Sokka, what in the world are those?"

"Those are his new Fire Bender beating shoes", Aang quickly responded with a grin.

"Hey everybody cool it, okay! This is serious! Tell me what's going on, are you two okay?"

Katara snapped back, "This is serious, Sokka!" Toph has lost part of hear hearing, but why can't she see you with her feet?"

Sokka let the information of Toph's injury sink in, then realizing the question, looked down at his feet,

"Uhh..OH!"

He tapped the toe of his shoe against the ground, making a metallic clinking sound.

"Sokka! Take those ridiculous things off so Toph can see you!"

"No way! These babies are gonna' give me the advantage in a fight against a Fire Bender! I can't just take them off because there isn't one around this exact second!"

Being close together, Toph was able to hear Katara say that the blob was Sokka in the Fire Nation armor flavor of the week, "It's okay, I don't mind go without seeing Snoozles for a bit anyway."

Katara couldn't help feel a bit of joy leap into her chest at this answer. Shame on you, Katara! This is no time to be competing over Toph!

Suddenly realization struck her, "HEY! Wait a second, what exactly are you doing here, Sokka?"

Aang knew the fighting was about to flare up and decided to quickly step in. Besides, some things were more important than sibling squabbles.

"Katara are you okay? We heard you were in an explosion tonight and now Toph can't hear? What exactly happened!"

Katara mentally sighed, the events of the evening suddenly catching up with her. It was going to be a long night of explaining and planning and possibly arguing with Sokka. But at least Toph was alive and for the most part, well. And that would be enough to pull her through the night.

Toph sat atop Appa's saddle, her arms crossed in a pout and a blanket tucked around the rest of her.

"This is stupid!", she yelled at no one in particular, knowing full well that even if they answered, she wouldn't be able to hear it unless they crawled up right next to her ear. But she just wanted them to know.

"Is she gonna' be like this the whole way?"

"Leave her alone, Sokka! She has a right to be angry today."

The gang (minus a sleeping Toph) had decided that walking was still the best option for getting to Ba Sing Se (despite a number of quips about how Sokka's Fire Nation defending shoes should make it safe to fly).

However, Toph needed her rest. So with a sack full of painkillers, ointments and tonics, she was wrapped up in a blanket and placed on Appa's back. A couple days ago the earth bender had been complaining that they should all ride on the flying bison's back rather than walk themselves. But now that she had to, it was a different story.

Hours passed and Toph continued making highly audible groaning and sighing sounds, while occasionally reminding them how inconceivable it was that she wasn't being allowed to walk to Ba Sing Se.

Everyone was beginning to become a little thin on nerves. Even Aang, who had floated onto Appa's back to have a calming conversation with his Sifu about how this was the best option and how they were all just concerned for her well being, returned to the Water Tribe siblings with an angry scowl on his face and quickly began taking deep cleansing breaths before he did something un-monklike.

Toph let out a groan and flipped over onto her stomach for the 25th time, (Sokka had been counting), "Gahhhhahhhhhhh!"

"Katara! I don't care if she's had a rough night, that girl is working my last nerve!"

"Alright alright, Sokka I get it. I'll try to calm her down…"

Katara fell back and walked alongside Aapa, before grabbing the side of the saddle and pulling herself up and onto the seat.

"Well you don't feel like a fairy or a shapeless blob so you must be Katara."

Katara smiled and scooted closer to her ear, "Correct."

"If you're here to tell me that this is for my own good, sorry, but not interested."

"Oh I think you know by now that it's for your own good, so that's not why I'm here."

Toph looked a bit more interested, "Then why are you here?"

"I thought you might want to play a game."

Toph looked suspicious, this had better not be some sort of trick to get her to stop complaining.

"What kind of game?"

"The kind of game with…a wager."

Katara had definitely caught Toph's attention.

"Now you're talking sister! What did you have in mind?"

Katara opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"And don't say the travel majhong set with those raised tiles so I can read them or whatever, because I threw that overboard hours ago.

Katara closed her mouth, now what? Time to adlib.

"Well…the best kind of game there is!"

"Yeah?"

"And uh, the most dangerous kind."

"Yeah!"

"..The game is…"

"Yeah? Yeah!"

"The game of…love?"

Toph looked unamuzed, "Oh you just came up here to get cute with me, Sugars? Well just for that I'm gonna whine even more!"

"No don't do that! I'm being serious, it's a real game, with rules and a winner and everything!"

Toph looked thoughtful, "Alright then…how do you play?"

"How do you play! Well I'll tell you how you play…" Oh Spirits, how do you play?

Toph stared daggers at Katara, still not convinced this wasn't a trick to keep her quiet.

"Well uh, what you do first is, you um…" Say something Katara, anything!

"You pick a boy!"

"…a boy?"

"Yes a boy. And then you um, try to get them to, uh..kiss you."

A blush crossed Toph's surprised face, "Really?"

Oh no Katara what did you just do! Wrong direction to go, abort abort!

"Did I say kiss? I meant kick!"

"You get them to kick you!"

"NO! You kick them!"

Toph paused, thoughtful.

"Katara, you know in a game of who can kick a boy first I'm gonna' win. Now tell me how you really play, I promise I can handle it!"

Damn it…

"Alright you got me, so…you try to get a boy to kiss you. BUT there are rules!" Yes! Good thinking Katara, stop her with the rules!

"Such as?"

"Well…rule number 1, no straight out asking for a kiss."

"Makes sense."

"Rule number 2, no touching the boy."

"Alright."

"And rule number 3…uh.." Come on Katara, make up something that will keep her away from Sokka's lips!

"Rule 3?"

"It's uh, that…you can't kiss back if they kiss you! It has to be all on their end or it doesn't count."

Toph didn't seem to understand this rule, "Buy why?"

uhhh…

"It's just the rules of the game okay! I didn't make up the rules, it's just the way they are!"

"Okay okay, sorry! Well I guess since one of the options for who to kiss is related to you, that means you get Aang…and I get…"

Katara cringed, and mentally screamed at herself for having set things up so perfectly for the couple she prayed would never be.

"Sokka."

Katara stared at Toph, prepared for the worst reaction – blushing, smiling, giggling, anything! But instead, there was nothing. Wasn't this the girl who had a crush on Sokka? Katara thought back to the shed of the village, how Toph had taken her hand. The way she squeezed it and turned her head away to hide something.

Could she actually feel the same? Was it possible? She had never responded one way or another to Katara admitting her feelings by the tree, but she figured it was because of the impending danger.

Katara couldn't tell, but for the moment at least, Toph didn't seem to feel the same way towards Sokka as she had when they had first been walking to Ba Sing Se after the battle.

But unfortunately, Toph never turned down from a challenge…

"Alright, I'm in."

Double Damn it…

"But what will we wager?"

"Well I guess I hadn't thought about it. What do you suggest?"

Toph looked thoughtful.

"I think that whoever wins should get a favor from the other person."

"A favor?"

"Yes, one absolutely, positively unbreakable favor. No matter how big it is, they have to do it without question."

Katara paused. A favor for Toph could end up being pretty scary. But still, she didn't have much else to gamble with.

"Alright, deal."

"Shake on it"

The two grasped hands firmly in agreement of the terms and conditions, Katara already racking her brain for ways to sabotage Toph.

"Thank you, Katara."

"For what?"

"For making this recovery process a lot more interesting. But don't think that means I'll go easy on ya!"

Katara stared back at Toph. An idea had suddenly popped into her head. It wasn't a nice one, but it may be the only way to stop Toph without hurting Aang and her brother in the process.

"Believe me Toph, neither will I…"

A/N - Oh snap, Katara's pulling out the big guns now! Things are gonna get cra-zay, trust! Read and review please!