Chapter Ten

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Establishing the Blocking Forces

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Unsurprisingly, Toph proved a rather difficult patient. She resisted having a doctor come see her; but after much squabbling, Aang and Sokka hauled in a doctor anyway and forced her to let him examine her. Nothing had broken, but she was severely bruised for the time being, which would make it painful for her to move her arms for a while. He told her she should not be lifting heavy things (such as books—she glowered at him at this), should not be climbing (it would be difficult for her to carry her own weight—she roared), and should not be Earthbending (all Hell broke loose).

While Aang chased after the fleeing doctor to thank him kindly for his services, Sokka did his best to calm her down. After her breakdown in the locker room, however, she refused his consolation, her inner walls reconstructed and reinforced with a vigorous enthusiasm to regain the honor and control she perceived as shaken and uprooted.

She finally got him to leave by saying she needed to take a shower and that he'd better leave if he valued his life. Sighing, Sokka left her fuming yet bitterly satisfied in her room, and after grabbing an apple, plopped down on a floor pillow to munch away as he mulled over the situation. How could she be acting like this after the tender moment they had shared? When she had opened up like that to him and cried, he felt as if they had become closer in an entirely new way—finally she looked to him as someone who could protect her. But now she wouldn't listen to him and rebuffed his efforts to talk with her and make that connection again. He just didn't understand why she had to be so—

A heavy knock came at the door, and Sokka heaved himself to his feet (for some reason he felt exhausted) and stumped with his still broken leg to the front hallway to answer it. Opening the door, he looked half a foot below him at a youth whose muscled were startlingly evident through his shirt, for his shirt was startlingly tight. "Spandex?" Sokka thought with revulsion. "Wait, no, that's cotton. Damn, he's bulky." The young man also had a thick set of eyebrows, a curly mess of burnished brown hair, and a chiseling jaw appearing beneath his baby face.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm here to see The Blind Bandit," he said confidently. "Toph, right?"

"Yeah…I don't think she's accepting visitors right now," Sokka said sardonically.

"No, it's cool. I'm a friend," he explained, muscling his way into the apartment.

Stunned by the guy's behavior and the "friend" comment, Sokka froze for a moment, unable to do anything but twitch his eyebrow indignantly as the guy wandered into the family room and checked out the place.

"Wh-who are you?" Sokka finally managed, striding after him.

"Nice digs," the young man said, ignoring the question. "She's sure got style."

Sokka couldn't put his finger on it—though he almost felt like putting his fist on it—but he did not like the expression on the guy's face at that moment.

"Look, whether you're a friend or not, Toph doesn't want to see anyone right now. Not even me." Saying this last bit made it sound decisive and final somehow, and a great part of him wanted it to sound that way to whoever this guy was. "You should—"

"Mind if I wait here then until she's ready?" the guy asked, sitting on the same floor pillow Sokka had been using.

Why was this guy so infuriating? The littlest things he did set Sokka off and made him want to smash his face in, though he had a better sense of self-preservation than to hit a muscled guy, especially a short one. But hit! That gave him an idea! Maybe he could get the guy to leave by hitting on him and making him really uncomfortable! That would work for sure, even if he ended up getting punched.

"So, come here often," he cooed, sidling over to him, instantly in character.

"Nah, this is my first visit," he said, unperturbed by Sokka's sudden change of tone and behavior.

"That so?" Sokka dropped down to the pillow beside him, inches from the guy's face. Eyes half-closed and lashes fluttering, Sokka puffed out his lips and smiled at him.

"Yeah…" The young man blinked confusedly, but he didn't flinch.

"That's funny," Sokka continued. "Me either. Don't you think it's fate that we're both here at the same time? Out of all the people in the world, it's just the two of us right here, right now. Isn't that…—he drew out the moment to maximum discomfort—special?"

"Only as special as you want it to be."

This provocative statement made Sokka recoil in horror, breaking character as the young man burst into laughter.

"Man, I thought you were bluffing!" he said, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "Ha, heh heh, that was a good one."

Then he became serious. "So you like her, too, huh?"

Sokka was just about to say something—he didn't even know what—but then another angry voice filled the room and rang through the apartment.

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!"

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Aang had chased the doctor for some time (the old man ran like the ex-Fire Lord Ozai was on his tail), and when he (the doctor) finally ran out of steam, Aang stepped in to calm him down and then take him home before he passed out from exhaustion and over-stimulation. Taking the time to walk instead of fly home, Aang meandered through the marketplace, looking at this and that and enjoying the peaceful bustle of commerce of a people who seemed so much more relaxed than they were five years ago. He stopped to buy some fresh fruit for the next day's breakfast, when he heard a familiar voice nearby. Looking around, he spotted the source two stands down at a jewelry vendor. Forgetting the fruit for the time being, he approached.

"Hi, Meng."

"Aang! What are you doing here?" she asked, visibly surprised to see him.

"Not much, just buying some food for me and my friends. Look, I'm sorry our conversation was cut short the other day. My friend got hurt and everything, so—" he started to explain.

"Aang, it's okay. I know how important your friends are to you." She looked away shyly. "By the way, how's Katara?"

"Oh, Katara?" It was Aang's turn to look away shyly. "Um, she's good. Yeah. Teaching Waterbending up in the Northern Water Tribe."

"Oh, really? That's so far away. Isn't that difficult?" Meng asked sympathetically.

"Um, not really. I mean, it was," he said. "When we were together. But we, uh, broke up. It was a mutual thing." He didn't know if that last part was a lie or not.

"I'm so sorry, Aang. I know how much you cared about her."

"Thanks," he said, and an awkward silence followed.

"So what are you doing in the Fire Nation?" he finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable moment.

"Aunt Wu said I would find my destiny here," she replied, picking up a necklace and examining it.

"Oh…she did, huh?" Aang said nervously.

Meng looked back at him. "Don't worry. I'm not the crazy little girl I used to be. I'm not assuming you're my destiny, and I'm not reading anything into this. Fate wanted us to meet again, but that doesn't determine anything." Her eyes spoke to the truth of her words, but also hinted at a bit of disappointment as well.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Aang backpedaled. "I-I didn't mean anything like that. I mean, it's been five years, right? Of course you're different! We're both different! I would never suspect you of-uh, any questionable motives or intentions! Really!"

Meng glanced at him as she turned back to the jewelry again. "Sure," she said. A small smile of amusement pulled ever so slightly at the side of her mouth.

"Sorry," Aang mumbled, knowing she'd caught him.

She shrugged. "I was a weird little kid. I thought every guy was my one true love back then. You were just nice enough to reject me gently."

Aang started to say something, but she interrupted.

"Actually, I'm still pretty weird, I guess," she considered with cheerful amusement. "When Aunt Wu told me I would find my destiny in the Fire Nation, I didn't really want to come here, so I went to Ba Sing Se instead. I wanted to check out the Earthbending tournaments, and once I started going, I realized my dream to become a tournament groupie! When I heard some of my favorite fighters were coming to fight in the Fire Nation, well, that just seemed to be what Aunt Wu was talking about, so here I am!" She grinned at him.

"Oh, well that explains it," Aang said, slightly overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of information. "So do you like it he—"

"Excuse me," said the jewelry vendor. "The market is closing for the day. We need to pack everything up, if you wouldn't mind moving, please."

"Not at all! Sorry!" They stepped back at the same time, accidentally bumping into each other. "Sorry!" they said to each other.

"Um, well, it was really nice talking with you, Aang," Meng said, blushing. "I always wondered how you were doing after you left."

"Yeah," Aang said, agreeing with the first part, but trying to avoid acknowledgement of the second part, since he hadn't really thought about Meng at all in the past few years. "I'm glad we could catch up."

"Well, bye, Aang." She bowed to him cordially, then turned and started to walk away.

"Um, Meng!" he suddenly called after her, surprising himself as well as her, for he wasn't really thinking at this point. "Do you want to meet up somewhere sometime? And catch up some more?"

Meng smiled broadly—he didn't think she could smile any other way—and she called back, "Okay, Aang! You know where to find me! An Earthbender groupie never abandons her fighters!" And in her happiness she excitedly ran off.

"It would be nice to catch up some more," Aang thought to himself as he walked home. "I mean, it's not like it'd be a date or anything…"

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"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Toph shouted. "What the hell are you doing here, Stonehenge?"

"Stonehenge? You're Stonehenge?" Sokka cried in disbelief. "But you're so short!"

The comment about his height didn't faze him, for he merely replied, "You saw me from the audience, right? I only looked taller because I was up against shorty here."

"So actually, I'm this tall," he said, laying his hand flat on his head and sweeping it back and forth to give Sokka a good idea.

"Yeah, I can see that," Sokka returned acerbically, again feeling the urge to punch the guy in the face, though also thinking better of it since this was the fighter who had managed to hurt Toph.

"Quit talking about how tall or short or whatever you are, and leave before I get really mad," Toph growled.

"I'm pretty sure you should be resting your sweet feet, Sweetfeet," Stonehenge countered genially. "After that little knock I got in, it should be pretty tough to move your arms or anything else too much."

"Shut up! I'm just fine, thank you. That little pebble you hit me with wouldn't have hurt a fly."

Stonehenge strode over to her. "That 'little pebble,'" he said, pointing to her chest, mere inches away from actually touching it, "probably hit you right here, and I bet you've got a pretty nasty bruise there, too."

Toph was livid, and Sokka ready to pounce.

"It's nothing compared to the one you gave me, though. You can't see it, of course, but I've got a welt the size of the Earth Kingdom on the back of my neck, a la you, The Blind Bandit." He rubbed the place thoughtfully, considering her furious gaze, which focused a bit to his left, though he knew she intended it for him.

"I just wanted to come check on you and see if you were okay," he said, his tone still infuriatingly friendly. "I look forward to the next time we meet, be it in the ring or elsewhere on different terms."

"Oh, it'll be in the ring!" Toph challenged, clinching her fist threateningly at him. "And don't act so familiar with me, little boy. I'm too much for you to handle."

Stonehenge gazed at her for a moment, then said simply, "And that's what makes you so captivating." And with that, he left.

"Wh-!" Sokka choked out, still staring after the Earthbender's exit in disbelief. "What the hell was that? Was he just flirting with you?!"

He turned to look at Toph and faltered when he saw her reddening cheeks.

"I don't—I don't know," she said, and she put her hand to her bruise, thoroughly bewildered.

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To be continued…

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A/N:

So here's my take on what kind of guy it takes to be a Secret Admirer of Toph. Someone just as outrageously confident as she is, but with a penis, so outrageous confidence times two!

Haha Just kidding.

He is really confident, though, and he's likely to give the Gaang a run for their money.

As for Meng, well, that's to be seen. She's wacky with a heart, and of course, you can't expect her to be 100 sincere all the time. She still has her secret jabs at people and situations, and you can bet she wasn't too terribly sad to hear about the Kataang break up, but at least she has the decency not to crow atop their dead relationship. At least not in front of Aang. She might do that later. And the Kataang-ness is not dead, of course, just on extended hiatus.

…Maybe.

Haha Just trying to keep it unpredictable!

So, all in all, a fun chapter, I think, all a lead up to intense jealousies ruffling the fluffy feathers of the Tokka and Kataang good times, so please stay tuned!

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Reader Responses:

SparklePants92-- I'm glad you are starting to "luff" the story! lol And I'm glad you enjoyed chapter 9 and the silly Aang moments! He's such a sweetheart and a joy to play with as a writer, and I really appreciate the feedback!

melakem-- Wow! You reviewed each chapter! That's so awesome! I appreciate it so much, and I hope you continue to read and laugh along with me! (Oh, and "legendary" cooking should be kept legendary for a reason. lol!)

Demonking101-- Thank you so much for all your reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying all the action and fun and romantic squabbling!

Kryptocow-- Yeah, Sweetfeet-I mean, Toph! got really mad. And got a booboo. But she got a Sokka hug. I wouldn't mind getting really mad and getting a booboo if I could get a Sokka hug. But maybe that's just me...

Lord Sneeze-- Hehe Toph as "ambassador to women" will surely be a sight to see. Or read. But whatever.

PandoraNC-- Oo, bringing Onji in would be cool, but I kind of worry that her boyfriend would beat me up for trying to set her up with Aang. Maybe she will make a cameo in the fic, though...? It's an awesome idea! Oh, and don't worry about the Kataang. Heehee

kangoxrou/Kimi-- I'm glad you like my writing style! That's one of the hardest things for a writer to develop, I think.

BlackXRosesXRed-- I'm glad you love the fic! I can see what you mean about bashed Tokka pride with the ending, but in a way, I feel okay about it just because I don't see it lasting with Suki. I think they'll both move on, and by that time, Toph will have grown, too, and then they'll be ready for each other. Basically. haha And I'm so glad you like Hakoda and Mazane! I didn't intend for her to seem like an older Suki, so I'll bring her back in at some point and give her a personality. Oh! Burn, Suki, burn! Just kidding. lol But I'll give her some fire of her own because she isn't meant to be a carbon copy of any of the other characters.

avatargirl92008-- Thanks! I hope you continue to read!

Pink Pagoda-- You're asking me what's wrong with Sokka? Dude, I just write the fanfic! lol Just kidding. It's concussion crap that's making him screwy. Poor Sokka.

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P.S.

Stongehenge is mine. Yay to his curly hair! I picture him as a human-sized Hobbit, though still pretty short, of course. Heh heh

Please leave a review on your way out! Please and thank you and plenty of Avatard lovin's!