Who Are You?
Chapter 8
Hotaru
The Chief and his eldest son are walking home by way of the village's main street from a night out of drinking when a figure steps out from the shadows. His glowing, violet eyes strike fear into both of the seasoned warriors as an unnatural terror freezes their movements. The assailant with otherworldly-looking eyes cuts them both down with one slice of his sword. The wet-sounding thud of bodies hitting the ground alerts the Chief's second and third in command, but just as they reach the bloodbath, they are cut down as well, leaving a heap of bloody and dismembered bodies in the street. The scene of carnage is branded with dark irony, as this is the street that had always been considered to be the embodiment of Hotaru's strong, moral government.
The assailant flees to the nearest cliff, the violet coloring of his irises fading to reveal terrified, brown ones only moments before his body shatters against the jagged rocks below.
Republic City
To say that Sokka was nervous would be an understatement. He knocks on the door to Toph's house and is surprised to see a strange, young woman answer instead.
"Ambassador Sokka, you're early. Toph isn't quite ready yet, but she said you could wait in the kitchen. I believe there are some snacks on the counter," she informs him as she lets him inside and disappears into Toph's bedroom where Sokka can hear Toph grumble and complain about her 'mortal enemy'.
'The dress', Sokka surmises to himself, allowing a smirk to grace his otherwise uneasy features as he nibbles on the snacks provided.
"Perfect!" the young woman suddenly proclaims.
Sokka steps out of the kitchen to see Toph walk out of the bedroom and make her way down the hallway. His jaw drops and his eyes bulge as all the air escapes his lungs while his goddess seems to float toward him. A smirk forms on Toph's lips as she moves closer, feeling his intense, physical reaction to her appearance.
"Thank you, Mei. You've completed your task in rendering my boyfriend speechless," Toph praises the young woman as she passes them in the hallway.
"You're welcome, Toph, have fun tonight," Mei calls back with a knowing giggle as she lets herself out.
Sokka could barely register the door opening and closing, let alone that the world contained more than just the two of them at that moment. Toph was a sight to behold; the dress was crème and green colored with gold accents. Her makeup was soft yet striking, with gold and green eye shadow and a light dusting of pink on the apples of her cheeks. She resembles a perfect, porcelain doll, a sharp contrast to the sinful thoughts her exquisiteness inspires in him.
"Ok, it's either really bad or really good, because you're not saying anything..." Toph says as she furrows her eyebrows.
"Really, really, really, really good," Sokka confirms as he nods his head vigorously.
"Well, then let's get this over with," she replies with a chuckle.
Sokka reaches out to grasp her shoulders and pulls her closer to himself, kissing her softly so as not to destroy her lipstick.
"Don't start anything you can't finish," she lightly chastises.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he croons, his voice already dark with lust.
"Later," Toph proposes as she pushes him out the door.
"Fine," he relents with an ungratified sigh.
Sokka couldn't help but feel prideful satisfaction in having the most beautiful woman in the world on his arm that night. At first, Toph was uncomfortable with all the stares she felt being directed at her. But once Sokka assured her that they were staring because of how beautiful she looked, and not at her blindness, she seemed to be much more at ease. He even managed to get her to dance with him.
"So are you having fun despite being so close with your mortal enemy?" Sokka inquires as they move gracefully across the dance floor.
"Mortal enemy?" Toph reiterates in confusion.
"The dress," Sokka clarifies.
"Oh right. The stupid, ridiculous dress. Yeah, I guess you could say I'm having fun, especially since I spiked the punch..." Toph responds with a mischievous grin.
"I wondered if that was you."
"This shindig was getting way too boring, so it was either that, or ask you and a few others to play strip Pai Sho to spice things up a little bit," she teases, instigating Sokka to trip over himself and struggle to regain his composure.
"Again, Snoozles, way too easy to tease," she says with a giggle.
"Well if you really wanted out of that dress you could have asked me take it off with my teeth like last time," Sokka counters, causing Toph to blush and trip herself.
"Speaking of which, that was really fun. Maybe we should go for another round tonight, because as I recall, the last one was a tie, and I know how much you hate not being undefeated," Sokka rasps near her ear, triggering a visible shiver to snake down her body.
He leans in just enough to trail the tip of his nose across her cheek to her ear. "And if I remember correctly, I believe my name is your new favorite word for when you lose all of your precious control," he whispers so that only she can hear.
Dear, sweet Agni, she loved that. It was his deepest, sexiest voice and it never failed to get her going. She could be in the worst of moods, in the hottest of furies, and one sentence from him in that voice could reduce her to a pile of lustful, quivering flesh at his feet. It wasn't fair, the power he had over her. But then again, she had a few moves that did the same thing to him, so maybe she wasn't at such a disadvantage after all.
Layla keeps an eye on the couple as they interact in obvious bliss over the course of the evening, and couldn't be more thrilled for them. Sokka had become like a son to her, and it pleased her to see him so happy. That was until she saw an emissary approach him with a message, the red seal on it signifying that it was urgent. Her heart sinks as she observes him retreat into a corner to read it, an expression of mortification occupying his features as his eyes scan the note. Trepidation fills her mind as she makes a beeline across the room to him.
"Sokka! What's wrong? You feel like you are literally going to have a heart attack," Toph says worriedly as she places her hand over his heart.
"Here," Layla states as she holds out her hand for the message.
Sokka just stares off into space as his hands let go of the message. It drops to the floor in seemingly slow motion before Layla picks it up and reads it.
"Sokka, I am so sorry..." Layla mutters as soon as finishes absorbing its contents.
"What the fuck is going on?!" Toph demands.
"Sokka's uncle, the Chief of Hotaru, as well as his oldest son were murdered along with two others," Layla gently explains, keeping her voice low so the rest of the room won't hear.
Toph gasps in horror at the news. "Who would do such a thing? Why?"
"I have no idea," Sokka finally manages to utter in a hollow voice, empty of its usual spirit and life.
"Sokka, I'm going to make arrangements for you to leave first thing in the morning. You will be needed by Hotaru to help sort all of this out. Why don't you go home now and pack?" Layla offers.
"Thank you," Sokka murmurs quietly before giving her a bone crushing hug.
"I'm so sorry, Son, but it will be ok," Layla reassures softly before turning her attention back to Toph.
"Toph, keep an eye on him tonight. I will see you two at the docks tomorrow morning at first tide," she notifies them before handing the message back and leaving.
A young woman stands only a few paces away with arctic blue eyes. She clenches her jaw and looks right at Princess Azula's right hand man, the one with unusual, violet-colored eyes.
"Takashi..." she growls as she marches right up to him and grabs his arm to haul him off. Azula snatches his other arm to keep him from leaving her side.
"Let go, Princess," the young woman warns viciously as her eyes give an inhuman glow.
Azula is taken aback by the spectacle and looks to her companion who smirks with a ratifying nod.
"Kaori?" Azula questions.
"The one and only," Takashi beams with glee. Getting a rise out of Kaori seemed to be one of the few joys he has been able to experience over the last century or so.
"You and I need to have a talk, Takashi." Kaori snaps as she jerks him out of Azula's grasp and into a private room.
"You sick fuck," Kaori snarls accusingly as she shuts the door and stands toe to toe with him.
"Why my sweet Kaori, I have no idea what you mean..." Takashi coos, feigning innocence.
"You killed the Chief, his son, and his co-regents. You just sent Hotaru into a world of chaos. And all for what? To take Sokka away from Toph?" she infers, getting more exasperated by the minute.
"See, that is one of your few flaws, dearest. You never could see the big picture; you were always about the small details," he mollifies.
"What do you mean...?" she asks warily.
"Do you really think I've killed all those people just to break up your little couple?" Takashi asked.
"Why...oh no, you wouldn't..." Kaori stammers as she gawks at him with wide, frightened eyes. He merely grins as if he were the devil himself.
"I'm done. I can't deal with you anymore. I used to feel guilty for what I did, but now… forget it. You are beyond even Kudokuten's help," Kaori says as she backs away and attempts to leave before he quickly seizes her by the arm.
"What do you mean, Kudokuten's help? And what do you mean 'guilty'? What have you ever done?" He asks as he forces her to look at him.
"Kaori, what did you do?"
148 Years Ago.
A woman stands on the edge of a cliff bordering the stormy sea, her eyes dull and full of pain. They had cried their last tears hours ago.
"Hana! No!" Kaori cries out as she runs as fast as she can toward her friend.
But Hana doesn't even acknowledge her. She raises her face to the sky, letting the rain wash her soul one last time. Kaori gets just out arms reach when Hana jumps.
"NO!" Kaori screams as she helplessly watches her friend plummet to the jagged rocks below, her body splattering in a burst of red against the black of the rocks and the blues and greens of the ocean. The waves come and wash away most of the destruction, but Kaori falls to her knees and begs every deity for forgiveness as her own soul shatters. Kudokuten herself appears beside to her.
"It's alright, little one, she is at peace now," the spirit says softly.
"But what about Takashi?" Kaori wails.
Republic City Ball
Kaori stands there in front of him, her eyes full of guilt and sadness. "You have the blood of thousands on your hands and yet there is no guilt in you. I have been trying for over 100 years to wash the blood of one off of my hands, yet every time I get close to fulfilling my obligation of penance, you get in the way. Every person you kill takes me that much further away from finally being free. To be able to actually sleep in death and not...be tormented by...you know what? Forget it. Agni himself can burn me alive as a sacrifice for my own sin. Yours are no longer worth the trouble," she spits as she wrenches herself from his grasp.
"Kaori!" he roars, turning her around to face him, only to find that the arctic blue was gone from her eyes.
"Excuse me? What the hell is your problem, buddy?" The young woman starts as she turns back around and storms away from him.
He stares wildly around the room, looking at all the reflective surfaces for any speck of arctic blue. He finally spots her reflection in a mirror and leaves his host to join her.
"Kaori! What did you do?!" he demands again.
"Leave me alone!" She screams back.
Takashi's host watches the manifestation before him in the mirror before sneaking out of the room to retrieve Azula.
"Princess, you have to come see this," he insists as he pulls her away from the fray.
Azula follows reluctantly, but stops as she witnesses the sight of the two spirits screaming at each other in the mirror. As Kaori attacks Takashi, the mirror shakes and shatters, and Azula continues to watch in fascination as the spirits jump from one reflective surface to the other, destroying the room in their wake.
Sokka feels nothing but numbness as he walks into his house. Toph shuts the door and steers him to his bedroom, encouraging him to try and pack as she goes into the other room to change out of her dress. She returns with her hair down and wearing only a silk tank top and shorts, and she can tell that Sokka has barely moved. He sits motionless on the bed, his head in his hands. He wasn't weeping yet, but she senses that his tears are imminent. She crosses the room and gets on her knees in front of him, taking his hands into hers and kissing the knuckles before putting them on her waist and reaching up to hold his face in her hands.
"Tell me what you need from me to help you," she implores with clear concern in her sightless eyes.
Sokka places his hands over hers and lets out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I...I need...I don't know what I need," Sokka admits, still feeling hollow and numb.
"I do," Toph whispers as she plants a kiss on his forehead and hugs him tightly, letting him know her heart was broken along with his as he finally allows himself to break down.
Sokka feels as though his entire being is on fire with pain and guilt, and that Toph is his cooling balm.
The next morning at the docks, Toph gives Sokka an oddly-shaped, wrapped gift.
"What is it?" he queries curiously.
"It's a weapon called a boomerang. I've been told that no matter how hard you throw it, it will always find its way back to you. No matter what, it will come back," Toph emphasizes, hoping that Sokka will comprehend the double meaning.
He folds her into an embrace and kisses her fiercely in response.
"I will always come back to you Toph. Always," Sokka promises resolutely as he inhales her wildflower scent one last time. His heart breaks all over again. He hates to leave her. He needs her. She is the glue that's holding him together at the moment because she is so strong, he admires her strength, wishing he could be half as steeled as she is.
"I'll miss you so much beloved." He whispers as he pulls away. He sees the tears starting to form in her eyes, the fear of separation is gripping her heart as hard as it's gripping his own.
"I'll miss you too love." She whimpers back, wishing with every ounce of her soul she could see him.
"I love you." She suddenly proclaims. He smiles despite his pain and kisses her again, committing to memory just how exquisite and amazing she is.
"I love you too Toph, I'll always love you." He declares as the boat's warning whistle sounds and he forces himself to leave her there.
"Safe travels son." Layla says from a distance, not wanting to intrude on the couples any more then she has to.
"Thank you mom." Sokka replies with a sad smile as he walks up the steps to board the ship. Layla steps closer and subtly reaches out to hold Toph's hand.
"It will be ok, it can not, not be ok. He will come back." Layla repeated as a mantra, not really knowing what else to say.
"I know." Toph said, hoping rather then believing in her own words.
Author's notes-
First of all- my biggest thanks to Alaburn who is more then just my beta, she is my soundboard and story confident and so much more. I owe you so much girl, you have no idea.
Next, I would like to thank all you Tokka fans who read this, fave it, follow it and especially review it. It's the greatest feeling in the world to see them. I honestly never would have continued to write this if it wasn't for you.
So things I should explain.
Since this is a more Japanese centered AU fic, I have included a Japanese Deity. PLEASE pay attention to who I picked, this detail will come into play in a major way later on.
If anyone misses the Azula evilness in this chapter, don't worry, you will get an over abundance of it next chapter. I really just wanted to focus on Toph and Sokka as a couple in this one because, well, shit happens. So soak it all in now because the body count is only getting bigger, the story gets darker, so on and so forth. Just warning you.
Oh and how sexy is Sokka in this chapter? Damn that was so fun to write.
Thank you for reading, as always, faves, follows and reviews, comments, suggestions, constructive criticism and death threats are welcome. Especially after the next chapter, I'm expecting the death threats to pour in.
