Drabble #7: "Moonlight"

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryke, not me.

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Drabble #7: "Moonlight"

Setting: During second season, while living in Ba Sing Se

Toph kicked drowsily at the covers. The thick down comforter fluffed up, then sank back down. She sighed. It was impossible to sleep in this cloud of a bed.

She swung her legs over the side and scooted down until her bare toes brushed the floor. It was much farther away than her tired mind thought, and she hit the floor hard.

From across the room she heard Katara grunt in her sleep and roll over. Toph pushed herself up, dusted off her knees, and crept down the hallway.

The lavish house was quiet and cold. Usually walking on such smooth, cool marble allowed her to see clearly, but everything was paneled in wood and decorated with gold and coated with enamel and…well, as nice as it was to be in a real house again, sometimes she missed walking through the mud.

The door to the boys' room was slightly ajar. Toph paused and leaned against the wall, pressing her palms against the doorframe.

There were two breathing patterns. One was light, slow, and steady, with a well-paced heartbeat. That was Aang. The other pattern was faster and deeper. The heartbeat was almost sporadic. Toph frowned. It was Sokka.

She rubbed the ball of her foot against the floor. It felt like he was sitting up in his bed, although it was difficult to tell. In any case, he wasn't sleeping.

Suddenly his feet touched the ground. Toph scrambled away from the door and ducked behind a wide pillar. Sokka loped past her, not even noticing her. His footsteps echoed in her ankles as he walked down the hall. Toph waited for him to disappear, then followed at a safe distance.

Sokka slid the back door open with a slow chinking noise. The cool night air, heady with the smells of late night rain and freshly turned mud and spring leaves, surrounded Toph and brushed against her cheeks. Sokka walked out onto the porch and sat down, dangling his long legs off the side and not even bothering to close the door. Toph knelt behind the wall.

"Hey."

Toph started, almost falling backwards. He couldn't have spotted me!

"Hey, Yue."

She relaxed for a moment before she remembered to wonder who Yue might be.

"So…we got to Ba Sing Se safely," Sokka said. "Thanks for keeping an eye on us. We're trying to get in to see the earth king, but no idea how that's going to go. We really don't have time to waste."

Toph listened to him talk. His voice was soft and light, more gentle than she had heard him speak before. And he was comfortable talking like this. At one point he changed positions, lying on his back with the soft rumbling of his chest vibrating right into the soles of her feet.

"Really, Yue…I know you're watching over us," Sokka said. "There's no way we could have gotten all the way here without you keeping us safe. And…you know I loved you first. You'll always have that. But Suki's special."

Toph scowled. She didn't see what was so special about Suki. Sure, she was a great warrior and she knew Sokka for a while and she traveled all the way through the Serpent's Pass with them, but really. Really! Suki? Come on.

"I couldn't kiss her…"

Toph relaxed.

"…until right before she left."

Toph's mouth twisted. She wasn't quite sure why the thought of Sokka kissing another girl bothered her so much. He was grown up, he could do what he wanted. If she liked him and he didn't like him, so be it. Life would go on. She huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

"And thanks for watching Toph, too."

Toph's stomach flipflopped.

"I didn't know she couldn't swim. I thought she was going to drown." She heard him sigh heavily, and the sound of his long fingers running through his hair. "If I lost her, I don't know what I would do."

She sank back against the wall. Her fingertips felt tingly.

"Goodnight, Yue. And thanks."

He stood up. Toph ran lightly down the hall. She had already turned the corner when she heard the door close behind him. She ran past the boys' room and into hers.

"Toph?"

Toph took a step back. Katara was awake. "What? I didn't do anything," she blurted out.

"Why are you up?" she asked. "Are you sick? Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, I'm fine," Toph said quickly. "I just couldn't sleep, so I walked around the house."

"Okay," Katara yawned.

Toph climbed into her bed; the soft feather mattress felt inviting rather than smothering. "Hey…Katara?"

"Hm?"

She drummed her fingers on the headboard. "Um…who's Yue?" she ventured.

"Where did you hear that?" Katara asked.

Toph frowned, unable to read her tone. "Well…Sokka said something…uh…in his sleep, when I walked past his room," she lied.

Katara sighed. "Yue is the princess of the northern water tribe," she explained.

Toph's heart sank. A warrior she could compete with, but a princess? She didn't even know Sokka liked the princess-type. A sudden stab of jealousy ran through her.

"Yue sacrificed her life during the northern siege in order to save the moon spirit," Katara said. "She died in Sokka's arms."

The jealousy turned to guilt, and made Toph's stomach sink. "Oh," she said.

Katara yawned again, shifting in her bed. "I think he still misses her," she said sleepily. "And I'm pretty sure he feels like it was his fault. It wasn't, though."

"Oh," Toph said again.

"That's why he's so protective so much. I mean, I'm his only sister, and Suki…well, there's something with her," Katara said. Toph's heart thunked on her ribcage with disappointment. "And if anything ever happened to you…I don't know what he would do. He'd be devastated."

"Oh," Toph said for the third time. Her fingertips tingled again.

"Well, good night, Toph," Katara yawned, pulling the covers up to her ears.

"Good night," Toph murmured. She turned over onto her stomach, snuggling her cheek against the soft pillow.

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Author's Notes:

This is the continuation of the previous one-shot. There isn't much interaction between Sokka and Toph, but it's still pretty sweet and precious.

I always wondered how Toph found out about Yue. I kind of like the idea of her poking around for the story on her own. And I think that she would secretly feel a little more gentle to Sokka whenever anything that might be connected to Yue pops up.

Sorry for the late update. I started back at school yesterday (senior in college! Yikes!) and jumped right in four-hour-long daily rehearsals for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It owns my face.

Coming soon: "Mothers"