Toph and Sokka both munched on the jerky in relative silence. Sokka offered some to Aang as well, forgetting that the young monk didn't eat meat. When he refused, Sokka apologized and then happily helped himself to Aang's piece. It was lucky that Sokka had thought to pack some in the first place. With food always on his mind, he hardly went anywhere without some food stashed somewhere. Especially out into the wilderness. After traveling so much before the war, he knew better than to be unprepared. He would never be caught without food again if he could help it.
With stomachs mostly satisfied, Sokka began to think. He could tell that he and Aang were more or less thinking the same thing but were just waiting for the right moment to bring it up. Sokka wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to contain himself; he wanted to know. He wanted to know now. He was practically squirming trying to keep the thoughts from just spilling out of his head, but he was trying to be polite and respectful. Katara always said that he was lacking in those areas.
Apparently their silent thoughts were still loud enough to be heard because after swallowing her last bite of jerky, Toph sighed loudly. "Go ahead and ask, I know you're dying to," she said, waving her hand vaguely in front of her.
Sokka needed no further persuasion. "What were you and Katara fighting about?" he asked. He unfairly received a look from Aang; the airbender had been wondering the same thing and he knew it. He gave a small shrug. "She said to ask!" he said defensively. "Inquiring minds want to know."
"You need to work on your tact," muttered Aang, running his gloved hand over his bald head, eyes glancing over at Toph. He was curious about what they had been fighting about, but there were better ways to ask a question than in the blunt approach Sokka had taken.
"Sokka doesn't know how to be tactful," commented Toph with a small grin. Sokka started to protest that he could be tactful when the situation required it, but she mostly ignored him. The boys didn't need to know the whole story, especially because the conversation between her and Katara had started going downhill when the topic of Aang came up. He didn't need to know that he had, however indirectly, been the start of their argument. He'd just feel guilty, even though he had no reason to, and she didn't quite feel like dealing with it at the moment.
She took a breath before beginning her edited explanation. "I don't remember what we were talking about originally, but Katara started whining and complaining about something. I told her she was being self-centered, because she was, and she retaliated by bringing up how useless and dependent I am up here and that I was just baggage that everyone else had to take care of and that I shouldn't have even come. Or something like that," she concluded calmly, shrugging in a nonchalant manner.
There was a pause as the two boys listened. It was obvious that they were expecting something a little more thrilling and offensive, but oh well. That's what happened, more or less. There had been no blood or hair-pulling, not even any bending (mostly because that would have been extremely unfair… even as upset as she had been, Katara wouldn't have resorted to a bending battle when her opponent was completely helpless).
"Ouch." Sokka knew Katara could be harsh with her words sometimes, but that was just downright uncalled for.
"I can't believe that Katara would say something like that," said Aang quietly. "I'm sure she didn't really mean it," he said in an apologetic tone.
"No, she probably did," replied Toph. "You know how she is. When she gets angry, she speaks her mind whether it is hurtful or not. Sure, she might have exaggerated her feelings a bit, but still." She shrugged. "I was tired of listening to her and decided to leave since she obviously didn't want me there."
"So…" Sokka paused, thinking about his words before he spoke. "To prove your independence and ability to look after yourself, you wandered off onto the vast ice-shelf and got lost?" he questioned cautiously.
Toph felt her cheeks redden at Sokka's question. "Yeah, not one of my better plans," she mumbled, embarrassed by the whole situation. She had been ashamed thinking of it earlier, but now that someone else had said it aloud it just made the whole situation seem more ridiculous. She was never going to live this one down.
Aang could see the embarrassment on Toph's face and decided that a change of topic was in order. "Well, at least we are together now, that's the important part," he said, looking at his two companions.
"More importantly," cut in Sokka, "we may be together for awhile if this storm doesn't clear up anytime soon."
Toph was about to complain about how unnecessary the storm was, but decided against it since it was partly her fault that they were stuck in the storm to begin with. So she settled on something different instead. "Can't you use your magic Avatar powers to get rid of it? You'd think the Master of All Elements would be able to shoo away a little snowstorm."
Aang frowned. "I could, but weather manipulation for personal benefit is kind of… wrong," he ended lamely, unable to come up with a better word for it. It was one thing to move clouds into shapes or try to gather water from them. It was another thing entirely to try and move a weather system. It could cause all sorts of problems. He had no personal experience, but Aang just knew it would be a bad idea.
A thought crossed his mind and he got to his feet. Using waterbending to make a small opening, he stuck his head outside to look at the weather. It was starting to clear up, but it was still not ideal traveling weather. Also, it would be getting dark within the next hour. Mind made up, he brought his head back inside and closed up the hole.
"I can't change the weather," he said, looking from Sokka to Toph. "But I can keep the weather off of us while we walk back to the city. Now that we know where we're going, it shouldn't take that long. And we need to head back before it gets too dark; it wouldn't be good to spend the night out here if we don't have to."
Sokka listened to Aang's decision and nodded his approval. "Good plan. If you can carry the backpack, then I can carry Toph on my back."
The earthbender gave an indignant squeal. "Hey! I can walk just fine, thank you!" she said, glaring in Sokka's general direction, though missing his face by about a foot and a half.
Sokka nodded. "I know you can walk. But we need to get back to the city as fast as we can. Without any boots, especially just wearing socks, you aren't going to be getting any good traction on the ice and won't be able to walk as quickly," he told her, quickly coming up with a logical reason why he should carry her that had nothing to do with her blindness. He thought he did very well.
Aang, able to watch Sokka's facial expression while he spoke, knew the teen had come up with that excuse on the spot. It was reasonable, though, and Aang was impressed with his ability to pull his reasoning out of the air like that.
Toph grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. He made sense. She always hated it when Sokka was right. "Fine. I'll let you carry me," she said grumpily, as if she was doing him a favor. Secretly, she was glad that she wouldn't have to worry about crossing the ice blindly again. "But you have to put me down the moment we get inside!" she declared, getting to her feet carefully. She hadn't even taken a step and it was already difficult enough standing still on ice in just a pair of socks.
Sokka and Aang both shared a smile. Toph was very prideful and Sokka would do everything he could to make sure her pride stayed as in tact as possible. "Wouldn't dream of doing otherwise," he told her, closing up the backpack and handing it over to Aang. The airbender slung it over his back and then helped Toph climb onto Sokka's back. It took a couple of moments to get her in a position that she was comfortable with that still left Sokka with the ability to breathe. Once they were all settled, the two boys gave each other a nod.
"You guys ready?" asked Aang, pulling up his hood. Sokka nodded, grinning underneath his own hood. Toph stayed motionless, her head buried between Sokka's neck and shoulder as she clung to his back.
"Let's just get this over with," she mumbled, her voice muffled by Sokka's coat.
Aang took a breath and prepared himself. A moment later, their snow shelter had vanished into the ground and Aang quickly whipped up an air shield around the trio. He nodded to Sokka and they began walking back to the city.
A/N: Firstly, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, Nickelodeon has greenlit a new series! Avatar: The Legend of Korra. The series (done by Bryke) is set to debut in 2011. Will take place 70 years after the finale. Follows the adventures of Korra, the next Avatar, who is a waterbender from the Southern Tribe. Having already mastered water, earth and fire, she sets out to Republic City to learn air from Aang's son Tenzin. Within the city is an anti-bending revolution that is trying to get rid of bending. Should be interesting, no?
Had to get that out of the way... I'm really excited for this. Anyway, as usual, thanks a bunch for the reviews, especially those of you who keep coming back and reviewing each chapter. It really makes me happy and I love seeing your reactions! Keep the reviews coming!
Edit: Fixed a small error about Aang eating the jerky in the beginning. Briefly forgot that he is vegetarian. Thanks to prepare4trouble for the catch!