Mischievous


Toph was mischievous. Everyone in the group knew that. It was always wise to stay away during her moments of exhibiting a devilish state of mind, even if she was, at times, impossible to avoid. These were rare, but when they occur, usually it was when Aang was at his most vulnerable. No, not the one when he is in the Avatar State. It's when he's in the Spirit World. And Toph would usually, most likely, exert her excess mischievousness on the poor boy.

During one visit to the Spirit World, Toph had glued Aang's arms and legs together in their meditative position. He spent a whole week not being able to stand up and having to move around by wriggling his body like a worm. To everyone else, it was amusing, but to the Avatar, it was humiliating, and he would never forget of Toph's cruelty. Everyone, besides Katara, who tried to stifle it, laughed at him. Going to the bathroom was a tough obstacle to face that week, and let's just say things didn't turn out very well every time he went. But the airbender reasoned that there was always a bright side to everything, so he decided to look upon optimism's point of view: Aside from all the aching, he did work up some pretty good butt muscles.

There were many other incidents as well. Like when she used his precious little stick for her earthbending purposes. Now, there is a fairly large crack on on his antique staff. He almost cried when he found out.

Or when she moved his body. His spirit came back to the Mortal World, and he had to look everywhere to find it, worrying him to no end.

Then one day, Toph did something that was so unlike herself. She had never kissed, nor been kissed, before, and as a growing preteen girl, she was, to say at the least, a little bit curious. But these things are natural; they happen. And who else is better for her to experiment on than Aang?

Toph tried out her little plan on his next visit to the Spirit World.

She found him meditating on a large boulder as usual. Slowly, she crept towards him, carefully, with barely a sound, like a lone tiger stalking its prey.

The Avatar's hands were together, both curled into fists, their arrows pointing to each other. His legs were crossed, feet, this time, barefoot. His eyes were closed, all his arrows bright and glowing, his body tranquil and unmoving.

She easily crawled onto the rock and sat besides the boy, hesitating as she got closer.

Should she do this? What if someone sees her? What if he woke up?

Toph shrugged the thoughts off. No one else besides her and Aang were anywhere near the where they were, and if anyone came, she would sense it a mile away. Everyone else was off somewhere doing their own thing: gathering firewood, cooking dinner, practicing their skill, or making out. And besides, she would just steal one quick kiss and be gone long before Aang's spirit came back.

She drew her face inches away from his, stopping again. He didn't move. Toph counted to five in her head, summoning her courage. One...Two...Three...Four...Five... She came a small centimeter closer, but not close enough to make contact.

Again she counted. One...Two...Three...Four...Five... But she didn't budge.

And she counted again. One...Two...Three...Four...Five... Not a muscle in her body moved.

This is stupid, she thought. I am not scared of kissing this wimpy little sorry excuse for an Avatar!

With fingers crossed behind her back, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind and finally leaned in. She closed her eyes as she drew near, not that it mattered much, but it's what she had always been told—all kisses were made with eyes shut. It only lasted for a good two seconds, on his cheek, but it was good enough for her to feel something. She quickly pulled away and paused.

His spirit didn't come back. He didn't stop glowing. He didn't wake up. All was well. Nothing seemed to have changed. Everything looked normal to the blind girl's eyes. She found the small encounter quite enjoyable. The warmth. The softness. The close proximity of another human being. Even if he didn't really return the feelings back, but of course, his body was close to lifeless right now. But it was no wonder the other children of their group anticipate it every morning, noon, and night. Katara and Zuko out somewhere behind a thick array of trees and bushes. Or Sokka and Suki, believe it or not, up atop of Appa's saddle, although surprising, no one besides the blind girl knew or found out. But the older children's kind of lip meetings were a little more....sophisticated, that's the word.

Of course, this encounter would not be Toph's last. She did it again and again every chance she got. He went to the other world pretty often. First she'd only do it with his cheek, then to lips. She'd only stay for a couple of minutes each time, and always made sure she did something to Aang or to Aang's belongings, just so there would be no suspicions. A little face paint on the boy, or a bag of stolen nuts.

One day, Aang was called upon by Roku to join him for a little "Avatar Chat". Toph earthbent herself next to him, doing the usual thing she does while he was away.

However, Aang's stay in the Spirit World that day was short and quick. He returned back to his body suspecting the earthbender had messed with him again somehow. He didn't really mind it anymore. Instead, he grew use to it, and maybe a little fond of it too. What has Toph done this time?, he asked himself, but was more than surprised when he found the girl's lips on top of his. His little heart started pounding fast, wild, unsteady, nervous, yet happy beats. Spirits only know how long he had been waiting for something like this to happen. And now it was happening, but not exactly the way he had been dreaming of.

What should he do? Should he kiss back? Should he say something? Should he even do anything? It isn't everyday that he comes back from a journey to another realm to find someone kissing him, especially someone who he'd been crushing on for so long. Maybe he should be savoring this moment while it lasts, so that he can have something to remember the good things about her while she was beating him up with cold, jagged, hard rocks.

But before he was able to come up with a decision, she snapped away.

"Oh my...!," She gasped, a hand coming up over her mouth. She flushed a deep, bright red. There was no hiding hersurprise. Her sightless eyes were wide, face colored, hand shaking slightly as she sat there, mind frozen on what to do. "I-I didn't...," She finally managed to stutter. "...know you..." She trailed off.

"It was nothing!," said Aang, his voice an octave higher than normal. His cheeks were growing pink too.

"Y-Yeah!," Toph gulped. "It was nothing." She was blushing furiously. She tilted her head, trying to get her long bangs to cover her face. She wanted to threaten the monk, but her embarrassment kept her from saying anything. Her own mind told her that it would be admitting she did do the thing she just did that she wished she never did or wanted anyone to know she did do. Don't you ever tell anyone, she menaced in her thought, and she inwardly begged for him not to. She pushed herself up, and stopped, relaxing her arm. She wanted to leave, but couldn't make herself do so. It would be just as bad as staying.

Aang looked away, a small smile on his reddening face. He rolled his tongue over his teeth, and stopped at the one that was moving, and pushed it from side to side. "You know," He started to say, and stopped to think. "I...I kinda liked it." And he flushed some more, wishing he'd never said anything.

The last words came out in mumbles, and Toph had to strain to hear it, but she did. She had been keeping careful track of his heartbeats; They really do tell a lot about a person. Right now, Aang's was accelerated and intense, but had a steady, unchanging rhythm to it. He wasn't lying. She found a small pebble and played with it, turning it in between her fingers, not knowing what to say to that. She didn't say anything.

He thought once again, feeling he should break the silence. The stillness between the two was awkward. "It was...nice," he said, watching the rock in her hand, not daring to see her reaction. He imagined her expression— mouth pulled down, eyes furrowing, and still red in the face. He was right.

"Let's just please agree not to say anything about this," she said. Her voice had a hint of desperateness.

His mouth dropped open. Did she just say please? No... He shook his head to clear his mind. I-I'm just hallucinating. He nodded once. "Agreed."

"Good," Toph said, slightly relieved. "I didn't mean for this to happen I just got, I don't know..." She sighed, still embarrassed.

"So why did you...?," He asked, wanting to know.

She shrugged. "I guess I was curious."

"And you chose me to experiment on."

"Yeah," She replied and remembered they had agreed not to talk about this.

"Why?"

"I told you. I was curious."

"But why me?," He asked, desiring to really know.

"Can we please not—"

"Is it because you like me?," He questioned, smiling. This time, he was sure she said please.

"No!," She replied instantaneously.

Aang smirked. Yes you do! Yes you do!, he wanted to say, but knew from experience it would be unwise, so he sang the teasing tune in his head.

Toph could feel him looking at her. She knew he didn't believe her. "Why would I like you?," She asked, making the idea of such a thing sound repulsive. Toph Bei Fong does not like anybody!, she thought.

"Why would you not like me?," He countered, his smirk growing wider. The song danced in his head.

"Because I don't!" She reddened again.

"I can tell you're lying," He teased.

"They were just kisses!" She yelled, getting up and ready to leave.

"They?!" His eyes widen, his smirk growing too big for his face. "You mean there's more?," He asked as Toph stomped angrily away.


Wow...I can't believe how many days it took me to write this. -_-

Merry Christmas people.