The next day, Shinji had baggy dark-red pants, black boots, and a sleeveless black shirt. After having some jasmine tea, he gathered others outside.
"Right. I thought of something, and I want you guys to do it with me." Shinji said.
"What is it?" Katara asked.
"Since Katara can see vibrations in dirt, I wondered if we put dirt on our faces if she could see a rough outline of our faces. I want you guys to try it with me." Shinji said.
"That's a stupid idea," Sokka said, but Shinji ignored him.
"Will it work?" Aang asked.
"I don't know." Shinji said. "If it doesn't work, the most that'll happen is we have mud on our faces. If not, Toph gets to see Sokka's ugly face."
"Hey!" Sokka said, glaring at his laughing friends.
"Alright." Katara said, immediately opening her flask and pulling water out. Immediately, Shinji tensed up, causing Katara to lose focus and drop the water.
"Sorry." Shinji said. "Could you do that again? I'm trying to get over my phobia."
Katara smiled, then got the water out of the soil and into a bucket of dirt.
"Who's first?" Shinji asked.
They all looked at him.
"It's your idea." Aang said.
Shinji shrugged and coated his face with mud, holding up his hair. Toph, who was sitting, 'watching' the whole affair through the vibrations through the floor laughed.
"I bet you guys look stupid." Toph said.
"Yep." Shinji agreed, lifting his head up. He forgot, however, that only Zuko and Iroh had seen his eye, and Sokka blurted out "What's up with your eye?"
"Crap." Shinji muttered.
"Are you blind in your eye?" Aang asked.
"Yes. I lost sight in my eye when Kairi infected me." Shinji admitted. "Put the mud on your face, already."
The others did as he said, laughing at each other as they coated their faces in mud.
"I'll go first." Sokka said, and walked over to Toph. She was worried, wondering if she could actually see people's faces through this, but acted nonchalant. Toph put her hand to Sokka's face, and Shinji tapped his face.
Toph gasped. "Whoa! It works!"
Shinji smiled brightly, surprising the others.
"You can smile?" Aang asked.
"I didn't know he could." Sokka said.
"Hurry up." Shinji said. Toph 'saw' everyone's face, ending with Shinji.
Shinji hesitantly kneeled, then gently took Toph's hand and put it to his face. Then, he tapped the mud on his face, and Toph smiled.
"You look better than Sokka." Toph said, then hugged Shinji, hot tears streaming down her face. "Thanks for everything."
Shinji hugged back, smiling. Though he would later deny it, tears worked their way down his face, leaving two twin lines in the mud on his face. "Anytime."
"Why didn't you tell me you were blind in one eye, though?" Toph asked.
Shinji gazed into Toph's sightless eyes, and she appeared to look back into his amber eye.
"I don't know. I was too busy thinking about how to help you than remember that I couldn't see out of one eye." Shinji said.
"That's sweet." Sokka said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Shinjiro was held back by the others, attempting to strangle Sokka moments later.
The next day.
"Um...Katara?" Toph asked, knocking on her door. Katara answered, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She had wanted to sleep in, but, apparently, Toph wanted her to be up. "Can you, err, take me shopping?" Toph asked, nervous.
"You can't find your own way around?" Katara asked.
Toph resisted insulting her. "I can't see what I'm buying, though."
Katara woke up more, and asked "What do you want to buy?"
"I don't know." Toph admitted. "Something for Shinji."
Katara smiled knowingly. "Your 'friend?'"Katara asked, using air-quotes.
"Yeah." Toph said.
"Okay." Katara said. "I'll be out in a second. Tell me, have you ever been kissed?"
"By a boy?"
"Yeah."
"N-No," Toph asked, then, quickly "Where are you going with this?"
"Just wondering if Shinji would be your first. Are you sure you won't get sick from him?" Katara asked.
At that exact moment, Shinji walked through the hallway, drinking a cup of tea. Katara jumped at the sight of him.
"And I thought I was afraid of the opposite bending." Shinji said dryly. "What about getting sick from me?"
"How long have you heard us talking?" Toph blushed.
"I heard 'sick from him,' and, since people only talk about my sickness, I knew it was about me." Shinji said, emptying his cup. "And no, you can't get sick from me."
As soon as Shinji left, Toph released a lungful of air she had. "Thank goodness he wasn't lying."