Author's note: Sorry it took so long this time. I actually had my mom beta this for me and let's just say it took a lot longer than I expected. This is my 4th copy so enjoy!
Chapter 9: Tantrums
Sokka smiled as the memory of the previous evening paraded through his mind. The memory of each incident, her confession, their kiss, her sight; each made his heart glow as if it were a white hot ember. They had revealed their love to each other and Sokka felt complete. Yes, that was the right word. Complete. He had finally found love again. He had finally found the strength to let go of Suki. She was in his heart as a memory, and remained there to remind him of how wonderful love was.
Sokka stretched his arms and yawned loudly. He turned to look at the spot Toph, the night before, had curled up to sleep. The blankets next to him were empty. He sat up abruptly, but all he could see was the tent wall fluttering gently in the breeze. Panic flooded his body. Snatching up his sword and boomerang, he raced out of the tent and ripped clumsily through the canvas doors.
Toph sat on a rock and rotated three pebbles in her hand lazily. She chuckled softly. His breath of relief was followed by the feeling of immense stupidity. What on earth could have happened to her? Sokka cleared his throat and casually slipped his sword and boomerang into their proper places on his belt and back.
"Worried, were we?" Toph asked in a tone of mock concern.
Sokka felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment.
"Well we are trying to capture a sadistic fire nation princess. Why shouldn't I be worried?"
Toph's fist connected with the boulder underneath her with a loud crunch. Sokka felt the ground beneath his feet rip upward, sending him catapulting forward.
Toph laughed. "Because I'm the greatest earth bender in the world, that's why." Toph said. She smirked as she heard Sokka's grunt as he crashed to the earth.
Although he was in pain, Sokka couldn't help but smile. He picked himself up and dusted off his clothes. He found himself standing right in front of Toph. She looked so beautiful! Wisps of her black hair floated lightly in her pale, round face. Her opaque eyes gazed at the ground. Her green kimono rippled slightly as a small breeze danced by. Her hazy eyes suddenly reminded him of the snowstorms back home.
It had been so long since he had been home and he wanted to see it again. Memories crowded into his head. Gran-gran, Hakoda, the ice, his watch tower (and now that he thought about it, he remembered it still needed to be repaired), the young "warriors" he was training; the memories made him smile. He wanted to go back, but he couldn't just leave Toph. Then a brilliant, wonderful idea sprang into his mind; he could take her with him. He could introduce her to his tribe and they could visit Katara and Aang on the way there and, best of all, he would have an eternity of time with Toph.
Sokka sat down next to her. "Hey, Toph?"
She swung her head around to face him. "What is it Snoozles?"
He took her hand which, Sokka noticed, made her blush and said, "I was wondering. Do you want to go with me back to my home to see my family and maybe even Aang and Katara?"
His smile vanished as Toph wrenched her hand out of his warm grip and shot up as though the rock she was sitting on had suddenly became covered by a layer of sharp needles.
"You want to forget about Azula?!" she lashed out.
Her words were filled with accusation and she backed away from him. Sokka gaped at her, his brain trying desperately to make his mouth respond, but he only managed to splutter a few indistinct words.
"But, Toph," he spluttered, "now that I've found you, there's no point in going after Azula anymore!"
Toph slammed her heel down in frustration forcing a large pillar of rock to crunch upward behind her. "What do you mean there isn't any point?!" she raged.
Sokka yelped. "Toph all I want is to be with you! I thought you'd be happy that I've gotten over Suki's death and moved on!"
Toph's accusing glare diminished. "Sokka I have no idea what kind of pain you have been through, and I'm glad you're not hurting anymore but you have to understand that this revenge is not all up to you." She said, a crafty smile gracing her lips.
Sokka gave her a quizzical look. "What do you mean it's not all up to you? I'm the one who's been at this for five years!"
"Ah, yes, but I'm in this now too, which means I should have a say in this."
"You don't know what you're talking about." Sokka folded his arms and turned his head away from her. "You have no idea what you think you want to get into."
"What do you mean I have no idea?" Toph said arching both eyebrows. "Were you the one who was thrown into water in which you couldn't bend or swim in?"
"No, but I am the one who has spent the past five years risking my life and going all over the world trying to catch Azula!" Sokka found himself on his feet, not remembering how he even got there.
"So you don't think I can handle it? You forget I've fought Azula before. I didn't die did I? Well I'm willing to take the risk again and I don't think the outcome will be any different. We will, get Azula!"
"Okay, so maybe we could do it, but what's the point anymore?" Sokka said, exasperated. "I've lost my motivation."
"Sokka I find that very hard to believe." Toph said folding her arms. "Why should we stop chasing Azula just because you love me! Suki still disserves to be avenged. You forget I knew her too. She was a great warrior and a kind, loving person."
"I know but…." Sokka began.
"But nothing!" Toph yelled. "Think about it Sokka. Who was Suki? Why did you choose to avenge her? Why did you love her?"
Sokka said nothing, so Toph continued.
"Suki was strong and proud. She believed in love and peace and for that she was murdered."
Toph's final word echoed in Sokka's mind. Suki's dead, cold face obscured his vision. It was all he could see now, her closed eyes, her lifeless expression, the dried blood frozen on her pale face. Sokka blinked back tears.
"Azula needs to die." Toph said in a steady voice. "Her life needs to end. We need to do it, not only for Suki, but for all of those that she made to suffer and die."
Sokka felt his anger flare up inside of him as Toph reminded him of the pain and hate Azula had caused in him. The wounds he had closed for Toph had reopened with renewed pain and fury. He wanted to kill. Sokka's need to see Azula dead came roaring back and he was ready to go finish it. Finish her. Her evil needed to end, her laughter silenced, and her fire extinguished. Sokka wanted to be the one to do it.
Sokka stood up, fist clenched and his expression hard. "Let's go then." He whispered. "Let's go kill that demon fire princess and avenge Suki for who she was; a strong, proud Kioshi warrior."
"Alright!" Toph cheered. She stood, and marched away. Before she could get too far, Sokka caught her shoulder and twirled her around.
"We're heading that way." He said.
Toph landed a solid punch to Sokka's shoulder. "I knew that!" she barked.
Rubbing his newly bruised shoulder, Sokka followed after her. A few tears escaped his auburn eyes, but he held the rest back; he would not cry again until Azula was dead.
"We are at least half a day behind Azula." Sokka knelt on the ground and focused on the faint tracks in the dirt. She wasn't going to make this easy for them now that her opportunity of killing them at Serpent's Pass had gone. Her small, faint tracks were almost impossible to find. In some places they were even completely gone as though she had never been there. But Sokka knew that Azula had been there; after five years of hunting her down, he knew how she operated.
He recalled the instance when he first began hunting her. Azula had led him into a swamp. Almost immediately, Azula's trail completely disappeared. Panic stricken, Sokka had begun to look everywhere for her tracks, but found nothing. Sokka quickly reasoned that Azula was not stupid enough to touch the water in the swamp for fear of being heard or Sokka following a track of disturbed water. So he had followed the only path in the swamp that did not touch water, and sure enough, at the end of the swamp, he picked up Azula's tracks again.
Azula was now choosing the most difficult way through the earth kingdom in the attempt to lead them astray at every turn. But Sokka knew how to track Azula and when they reached an obstacle, Toph would expunge it easily with a flurry of earth bending moves and clear their path.
Toph rolled her misty eyes. "Only half a day? Well it's about time!" she exclaimed.
Sokka grinned and walked back over to her. Toph arms were crossed and her foot was tapping impatiently "When do you think we'll catch her?" Toph asked.
Sokka looked ahead and eyed the dense, foreboding forest before them. He scowled at the forest; it wouldn't be too hard for Azula to get them lost in a place like this.
"Um, considering we are following her through a really really big forest," Sokka said, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "I'd say about…two more weeks."
Toph hung her arms limply at her sides. "Great." she said. "Well, we better get going then."
Sokka wasn't too happy about it either, but the prospect of being with Toph for all that extra time made him smile. They plunged into the massive, thick forest in silence.
Sokka focused his attention on Toph. Her foggy eyes stared blankly forward as she walked along side him. Sokka could not deny that he was worried about her. Sure, she could handle herself, but Azula was crafty and deadly. Even though Toph could see most of Azula's moves, Sokka knew Toph still had trouble detecting some of Azula's most deadly attacks. What if Toph got captured (highly unlikely but, hey this was Azula), or burned? Sokka swallowed hard. What if Toph got killed? He had a sudden urge to grab Toph's hand. What frustrated him most was the fact that he really didn't think he had the ability to rescue Toph if she was in trouble. He didn't think he could protect her if she needed protecting. He had failed to protect Yue and Suki; he might fail to protect Toph too.
"Hey, Snoozles." Toph said unexpectedly. "Do you have any idea where we are going?" Sokka looked at her, confused.
"Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's just because I definitely remember passing that stream, about, oh, three times already."
Sokka froze and looked around. He dreaded what he might find, or not find. Where were her tracks? Where were they! Sokka dropped to the ground and began to comb the area for any sign of a footprint or a broken branch, anything.
"We're lost, aren't we?" Toph accused.
"Of course we're not!" Sokka yelled.
"I can tell you're lying." Toph replied as she pointed to the ground.
"Well, don't just stand there and do nothing! Look around and see if you can find anything!" Sokka said urgently. He waved his arms up and down hysterically, looking as though he was trying to fly.
Toph's look of annoyance was quickly washed away with an exaggerated smile and a peppy attitude. "Oh!" she cried happily, "Of course I'll help look!" Fixing the sardonic smile on her face, Toph began to scan the area. "There they are!" She shouted pointing to a tree. "See how helpful I can be?" Her smile vanished, and her annoyed scowl came back.
"Oh," Sokka said, "sorry. But…...well….. try to feel some vibrations or whatever you can do; we can't lose Azula's track!"
"Whatever." Toph said.
Toph crouched down and put her hand on the ground. She closed her eyes in concentration. Sokka turned his gaze away from her and continued his desperate search. As Sokka crawled along a steam bank, looking somewhat like a hunting dog, he realized that it would be very, very difficult to find anything in the huge forest. Thick vines crawled up and down the trees, and islands of bamboo clogged up the gaps between the trees. The ground was spongy and wet, but Azula's footprints were nowhere to be found.
For what seemed like hours, he crawled around trees, and searched through massive groups of bamboo; but he found nothing. Toph obviously hadn't picked up anything of importance either as she was silent as the bottom of the sea. They were stuck with nowhere to turn, while Azula was somewhere in the forest getting away. Hot magma rose up in his chest as defeat laughed in his face.
Letting out a cry of frustration, Sokka stomped furiously on the ground. Sokka heard a loud crack and a cry of surprise from Toph, but he did not acknowledge it. Fuming, he collapsed in a defeated heap on the nearest rock he could find.
He heard Toph walk up to him from behind. Sokka looked up and to his surprise he found an incredulous expression on her face.
"What?" he snapped.
With a steady finger she pointed behind him. "Not to alarm you or anything," she said, "but you just earth bended that rock back there."
Sokka didn't believe what he was hearing. "What are you talking about?!"
He turned his head to look at what she was pointing to. He felt his mouth grew slack as he saw the enormous pillar of rock protruding from the ground behind him.
A cunning smile stretched Toph's lips. "It's amazing what a little tantrum can reveal."
