sorry about the really long time since i updated. i got hit by the dreaded writer's block, but yesterday, i started writing at 2am, and the idea started flowing again! hope you guys haven't totally ditched me yet! btw, if you don't know, since the last chapter, i DID do some work before my writer's block, i did a one shot, and 3 short stories, check em out if you want, if you already did, thank you! esp if u review/faved, it means a lot to me, and makes the effort i put in it worthwhile :D

p.s im gna change the last chpt a bit to fit this one, cuz its inconsistent now, lol.

Disclaimer: avatar: the last airbender is not mine

Chapter 8: Bass Playing


Toph was confused.

The last week had been such a messy blur. There was the whole drama with Twinkle Toes…and between his punishment and what happened with Sokka just now…it frustrated Toph.

"Gah! What the hell was I thinking! And did you see how he left? Now he's probably telling Suki! Dammit, I'm dead…Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

So Toph decided that she was no longer confused, but just really pissed off at herself.

"I'm screwed, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"

She kept on mubling obscenities as she opened the door to her own private music room,

So she did what she would normally do to vent.

She was shredding through Metallica's Master of Puppets, which by now, she could probably play in her sleep.

She was pushing her amp to the limit, and she was probably going to go deaf, but that was the way Toph liked it.

As her fingers worked her way through the song, she let her mind wander to the events that transpired just an hour ago.


"Die, die, die!" Toph yelled, while Sokka went, "No, no, no!"

"I can't believe I lost to a girl," Sokka grumbled as Toph smirked next to him."This is so not fair!" Sokka pouted as he set the controller down.

"I win….again! I'm awesomeee!" Toph punched her fist in the air as the screen flashed, "Game Over."

Sokka picked up the controlled again and nudged Toph, "Best out of 5?"

3 mins later:

"Best out of 7?"

5mins later:

"Best out of 9?"

30mins later:

"Best-" "NO! I'm actually getting bored of owning you. I'll spare you the humility of losing 21 times in a row to a girl who is 2 years younger than you. " Toph sighed exasperatedly.

"Awww. Fine. But I was so close to beating you the last time!" Sokka pouted.

Toph hated having weakness, but seeing Sokka like that, just made her heart flutter. "No, no, no. He's with Suki, remember?" Toph shook her head as she tried to shake the blush that was creeping to her face, "Think disturbing things! Fat lady in a two piece, fat lady in a two piece, ok…obsesse, ugly lady with fat rolls in a two piece."

That seem to do the trick as Toph found her heart slow down, and so, she didn't notice as Sokka got up and tried to open the door of her music room.

"HEY! Meathead! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Toph yelled as Sokka just turned the doorknob.

As Toph quickly got to her feet, Sokka's jaw slackened as the door swung open and he took in the room. Hell, he knew Toph was rich, and her room was enormous, but her music room was on a whole new freaking level.

There was at least 40 guitars hanging on racks, there was a wide variety of amps, a huge box filled with pedals at one side, a beautiful red Pearl drum kit, with black flames, microphones, sound boards, and much more. The whole thing was a huge, private recording studio!

Sokka turned a deaf ear to Toph's shouts of warning as he headed towards the closest rack of guitars, with star studded eyes, he tried to reach out for one, but Toph finally reached him and she slapped his hand away before it made contact with the guitar.

"HEY! Don't touch that! That's one of my favorites!" Toph growled as she punched Sokka's arm, hard.

"Ouch!" Sokka rubbed his shoulder, "I only wanted to see!"

"Keep your grubby hands off then," Toph bit back, but her voice changed to a softer tone as she continued, "That's a Jackson 30th Aniversary Randy Rhoads guitar." But her voice changed back to a low growl as she warned, "Don't you dare touch it."

Sokka held his hands in front of him as he quickly said, "Ok, ok, got the message. No touching."

Sokka put down his hands as he slowly walked around, admiring all the guitars, some hangin on the wall, some in guitar stands, "Wow….Toph, you play all this?"

Toph snorted in response and replied thick in sarcasm, "No, I just collect all this stuff cuz I want to."

Sokka looked at Toph dumbstruck, and Toph added, "I was kidding. Geez, of course I play. Otherwise, why the hell would I have so much guitars?"

Sokka's face returned to its "normal" expression as they reached Toph's collection of basses. "Hey! I can play bass!"

Now it was Toph's turn to look dumbstruck, "You? Meathead playing an instrument? Now this I've gotta see!"

With a chuckle, Toph went over to the rack, and brought down a black and white precisson bass. Then, she grabbed a nearby cable and she plugged it in a huge amp.

Shoving the bass to Sokka, she proceeded to seat about a meter away from him. Sokka stared at the bass for a moment and Toph chided him, "Well, come on! I don't have all day! Show me what you got."

Sokka's smile wavered. Hell! When we meant he could play, he meant a couple of notes, not actually playing.

Sokka held the bass awkwardly as he plucked one note. The amp screeched as he plucke with too much power and Toph had to cover her ears.

"Wow…I should've known that you couldn't play bass." Toph held back a roaring laugh as Sokka blushed, "Well….I play a bit! Hold on."

Sokka put on his "determined" face as he peered over the body of the instrument and with much trouble, he slowly, tediously played his way through a barely noticeable, Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Toph felt herself blushing again at Sokka's failed attempt of playing bass. She couldn't help it! He did look cute trying to play. So she stepped in just as Sokka was about to repeat the riff.

"As much as I like hearing your awesome bass skils, lemme show you how it's done. Now watch and learn." With that, Toph stood up and took the bass off a protesting Sokka. "Hey! I was getting somewhere!"

"Yeah, you're going nowhere." Toph chuckled as she slung the bass over her shoulder. With a devilish grin, Toph started playing a very funky bass rhythm, complete with slaps and pops. Overall, Sokka ended up with his jaw wide open.

Toph grinned as she finished with a flourish, "Heck, my bass is just decent. Now my guitar…." Standing up, Toph unplugged the bass and returned it back to its spot on the wall. Then, she went over to the first guitar Sokka had tried to touch.

It was a beautiful black concorde guitar, with a yellow grunge theme. Soka tought it fit Toph perfectly as she plugged it in. Toph grabbed a pick out of a huge box, and after a quick tuning session, she immediately jumped into some heavy riffs, complete with tapping, sweep picking, and on Sokka's part, more jaw dropping. Ending with a dive bomb, Toph smirked at Sokka's expression.

"Now that's music."

Sokka started opening and closing his mouth like a fish, "B-but…you're a girl…and…and…how…"

Toph punched his shoulder as she retorted, "Just cuz I'm a girl doesn't mean I have to suck at guitar."

Sokka still gaped, "H-how did you get….so…good?"

Toph smirked, "I started when I was 6, I saw this amazing video of this guy playing guitar. I honestly don't even remember who it was, but after that, I kept on bugging my parents to let me learn. It's one of the few things my parents' thought was "safe" for me to do. They don't approve of my martial arts. They got me a teacher….but he was horrible. He'd just keep me at basica levels, simple chords, whatever. So I learnt most stuff by myself, they don't know how good I am, they think I play easy, basic stuff. And definetly "softer" stuff." Toph chuckled and Sokka had to laugh as well.

Sokka started to speak, but Toph just cut him off, "This place is sound proof, so yeah. You can't hear a thinkg outside."

Sokka shook his head, "But…so you learned everything by yourself?"

Smirking Toph replied, "Pretty much. After picking up guitar at 6, I picked up drums and bass at 8, piano at 9, and that's it. I also play some violin, but that's cuz of my mom…who thinks it "suits me". Toph rolled her eyes and Sokka laughed, "Well, anything you don't play?"

Toph shrugged, "I can play little bits of other instruments, like saxophone, but I like stringed instruments more. The only thing I can't do, is sing."

Sokka laughed, "Don't worry, I can't sing either," and with that, he laughed into a terrible rendition of Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me"

Toph found herself starting to blush again, and she punched Sokka, who was getting really into it, "Wow, I can't belive you listen to Taylor Swift." Sokka stopped and this time, he blushed, "Hey! It's catchy!" And...Suki makes me listen to her."

She would later blame Sokka. Maybe it was his eyes….maybe it was the way he was blushing…hell if she knew what she was doing, but before she knew it, she found that she had inched closer to Sokak till their faces were just inches away. Toph could feel herself blushing furiously, as she stared into Sooka's deep, blue eyes. Before her mind hereslef registered what she as doing, she kissed Sokka right there, in the middle of her music room, with a guitar still slung over her shoulder.


Toph suddenly found out that as she was playing, no sound was coming out of her amp. "DAMN! I think I just blew my amp. This is so not my day."