I'll Walk You Home pt 12
Chapter 5
pt. 3
A Walk in the Woods
Sokka woke up. He did a quick inventory. Yes everything was still there, and it all hurt. It had all hurt when he went to sleep last night, and it still hurt this morning. It is morning, isn't it? He opened one eye a little, and saw that the sky was grey. Yup, morning!
Sokka hated getting up early. It was just unnatural to be up in the morning. Getting up sometime around noon was far more natural. Staying up all night, then going to bed around morning was much the wiser course of action, but ever since his father had left, and Sokka had to supply the entire village with food, he had been forced to rise early, and hunt and fish all day, just to keep everyone from starving.
On top of that, when the young warrior had finally received some training, Nowhere near enough! The young man thought bitterly, I don't get to wonder around the world with my teachers, like some people I know. He realized that he was going to have to do a lot of the training on his own, so…, if he was ever going to get anything done, he would have to train before the day began. This meant that he had to get up early every day to get any practice in at all. Besides, Toph would be getting him up soon anyway, so what was the point.
He pulled the blanket up over his face to get another five minutes of sleep. This unfortunately pulled the blanket off of his feet. His feet were very sore from all the walking he had done in the last two days, and the cold air hitting them intensified the pain.
On top of everything, he really had to pee.
The young man sat up on his ground cloth. It was a heavy wool cloak, dark green in color, that he had bought for this trip. It had been rubbed with oil so it would repel water. The plan was to use it as both a ground cloth, and if the need arose, he could use it as a rain cloak.
He looked around for his pants. He was just in his loin cloth, a simple affair of a cloth belt wrapped around his lower waist, and a cotton cloth pulled through front and back. The original had been made from skins, but in his travels, the warrior had discovered cotton cloth, and preferred it to the traditional materials now.
The teen thought a moment then decided to forget about getting dressed up to go pee. What was the point? If he put his pants on, he would just have to drop them to take care of business. There should be a better way of designing trousers so you didn't have to take them off all the time. Besides, there was no one around to see him in his underwear. Well there was Toph, but she was family. He had been brought up to not be shy about his body around family. Any time you were indoors, you would take off all your clothes to share your heat with the family. He and his sister had spent most of their indoor life naked.
Toph was not family He reminded himself, but she was a friend, and it's not like she is a girl or anything. Well yes of course she is a girl. He knew that. As a matter of fact she was becoming more of a girl, or woman really, every day. He had definitely noticed the changes. But the point was that she was a friend, and she did not act like a girl. Not that she acted like a boy, but she didn't act like the other girls he knew. She was different. She was special. That was why he liked being around her. He could have fun with her.
You had fun with Yue. He thought, Yes but Yue is gone now, besides that was different. What about Suki? He asked, Do Suki and I have fun? The more he thought about it, he had to admit, that the answer was No, not really They had trained together but that was more painful than fun. They had gone out a couple of times, and they had had sex, and while The sex was great! it wasn't really fun. It had been passionate, and loving, but not Fun.
He suddenly realized, that the girl, the person really, he had had the most just downright enjoyable, silly, childish, good time, Fun! with was the blind twelve year old earthbender. That's a little disturbing. He thought. Well she doesn't act like a twelve year old. He told himself, Though maybe she does and I do too.
Well none of this was emptying his bladder. Wait a minute He thought. Toph can't see. I could run around naked, and she wouldn't even notice, so it doesn't matter anyway. He looked over to where his friend had gone to sleep and saw that an earthtent had been erected where her sleeping pad had been last night. The young earthbender must have put that up last night some time. He was sure she had just been sleeping on the ground, as he worked on the letters he needed to send out.
Well that's even better. He told himself. He stood up and headed into the woods to discharge his responsibilities.
Toph lay inside her earthtent very much awake. She was a volcano ready to erupt. Her hands were clenched in fury. Her teeth bared.
How could he do that? She asked herself. How could he stand there well alright, walk there and tell her that. They were supposed to be friends, and he had still spoken the worst, most hateful, and foulest thing he possibly could. To alright walk there and say,
"I just love you."
The words were still echoing in her brain, and they would for the rest of her life.
She'd kill him. That's what she would do. Just kill him.
At first she didn't believe that he had actually said what she thought she had heard. Then she did believe it, and she had been floating along for a while, not even feeling the earth below her. Blushing furiously and trying to hide it.
But eventually she had realized that he did not mean it the way she had at first thought. He meant that he loved her the way he loved his boomerang, or the way he loved stewed sea prunes, or worst of all, the way he loved his little sister.
She was going to kill him.
Last night, after she had finally gotten to sleep, the horrible dreams had come. First it was the little girl running and dancing through her brain singing,
"Sokka and Toph are married"
"Sokka and Toph are married"
Then she felt his hands on her face, warm and gentle, and his lips hovering over her own, his warm breath mingling with hers, which seemed to go on for hours. Then the last dream, where she was back in the "Rain Bath" in Ba Sing Se, and the hot water was running down her bare skin, and his large, strong hands were rubbing her shoulders and back, and his deep voice was saying over and over,
"I just love you. I just love you. I just love you."
The sound of someone moaning had woken her from the dream. She had lain there frightened, and listening, but all she heard was the sound of Sokka's loud snores from a few paces away. That was when she realized that she had been the one moaning. She found herself lying face down on her blanket, sweaty and panting, with her hands somehow trapped underneath her. She was afraid she had wet her bed, something she had not done since she was a very little girl. She pulled her arms out from under her and that was when she had bent the earthtent around her. She was frightened and ashamed and she did not know why.
What frightened her the most, was that her body was changing, becoming something new, and she had no control over it. Her body was betraying her the way it had when she was born, with useless eyes, but now she was old enough to be aware of the treason. She was losing all control over herself. Blushing, and crying, and having bumps growing on her chest, that would get hot and pointy at the worst possible times, and lower down, she would get hot and wet for no reason. Well that wasn't quite true. There was a reason, and he was laying on the earth just a few steps away.
Toph had done her best to escape from him, but the stupid young man had refused to let her go. He had insisted on staying with her. She could not get away from him. She could not get away from all the things he was doing to her, in his typical, blind, unthinking way.
She threw herself face down on her blanket and buried her face into her make shift pillow. Her eyes were starting to burn again, and tears would not be far behind.
She hated him so much.
The young earthbender dug her hands and feet into the earth and felt for the young tribesman. He was sitting on that stinking wool thing he used as a ground cloth. She felt him stand up and step onto the earth, scratching his head. Now that he was on the ground, Toph sent a fine wave of bending through the earth. Normally she only felt the outlines of people, but for an earthbender who could feel ants digging in the earth ten paces away, it was easy for her to focus and get a much more detailed feel for someone close by.
He's naked! she told herself. Then she realized he did have something on. He was wearing his water tribe version of a fundoshi. Of course that was all he was wearing. Unlike civilized people who wore underwear over their underwear, he was just in his underwear. (Toph wore an under tunic over her breast wrap and under shorts over her own loin cloth.) But in essence he was naked. She felt his long lean body, the body of a swordsman and a swimmer, not the bulging body of an earthbender, as he walked towards the woods. He was scratching his head, and his stomach, and his butt. She stopped feeling him after that. She was starting to get pointy and wet at that point.
She was going to kill him.
"I just love you." Echoed through her mind.
Toph lay on her stomach hating everything about Sokka. His lean body, his long, strong arms, his large, warm hands, his long gentle fingers, his deep voice, his wit, his sense of fun, his brilliance, his goofiness, his always being there for her, his covering her with his own body when he thought she was in danger, his willingness to try anything with her. She hated it all.
She pulled her hands from the earth and began pounding her fists into her small sack of clothes that was her pillow. She was pounding it with such violence that she was actually bouncing slightly on her blanket. She hated, hated, hated, hated him. She was going to kill him, kill him, kill, kill, kill, kil, ki, k, k ,k .
She stopped. She was sweating, panting, and feeling all pointy and wet again, and realizing she really had to pee.
The young man and the girl were walking down the trail towards the ancient "Roaming Road" that would take them across the desert. It had not been a good morning. Sokka had tried to start up a conversation but had received only sharp monosyllabic replies from Toph, so he had given up.
The tribesman had to admit to himself that he just did not understand girls. He had thought that yesterday had been a good day. They had talked, had fun, he had even told her how much he liked her, but today all she wanted to do was bite his head off. Girls just made no sense at all.
He adjusted the straps on the two large water skins he was carrying. At first he had planned to fill all four of the skins, but after lifting a full one out of the stream that morning, he realized just how heavy they were, and decided that two were more than enough, and would probably last them a week, let alone the two days it should take them to cross the desert. Maybe he could sell the two unused skins at the village they should come to before the start of the desert.
It was midday before Toph voluntarily said anything. She announced that there was a village up ahead, and that the desert was just beyond it.
"That's great!" Sokka said brightly, hoping to get a conversation going.
"Shut-up!" Toph replied.
"O-kayyy" Sokka answered quietly.
This is going to be a long day. He told himself.
Soon the trail they were on joined a much wider way, leading down out of the hills. This was the remnant of the ancient "Roaming Road" the young warrior was hoping to find. Running along beside the road was an aqueduct, built up from a series of arches. It looked very old. It appeared to have been built from blocks of cut stone, not from earthbending. Sokka thought it must date all the way back to the "Roaming Empire" which predated bending.
As they came out of the sparse trees Sokka could see, a couple of "milles" down on the flat, a small village, which was built on the ruins of an ancient "Roaman" fortified camp. The aqueduct ended in the settlement. Beyond the village the beginnings of the Si Wong Desert could be seen.
Taking his life in his hands Sokka suggested,
"I thought we could do a little shopping in the town, then rest up for the rest of the afternoon, and start across the desert this evening. Sleep during the day and then finish the crossing tomorrow night."
"Fine!" Was Toph reply.
"O-kayyyy."
In less than an hour they were passing through the ruins of the once great fortress, and were in amongst the small collection of buildings that comprised the village. The young man looked for a likely store where he might be able to sell the two unused water skins.
The young girl was getting a feel for the village. All the buildings were of earthbending construction, with thick walls and light roofs. It had been a day since she had felt anyone other than the tribesman and herself, and it surprised her how good it felt to feel others around her again. This was not Ba Sing Se, and she could easily follow the few inhabitants as they slowly moved around the town.
Sokka saw a likely store and asked his touchy companion,
"I want to get some supplies, do you want to come with me?"
"No!" The young girl still wanted to kill him.
"Well, can I leave these two water skins with you then?" He asked. "I'll be right back."
Toph thought about it for a moment then finally relented with an,
"Alright, but don't be long. I'm not here to watch your stuff."
"Be right back."
Sokka dropped the two skins at the earthbenders feet, in front of the shop. His shoulders burned with the sudden release from the weight.
The young man was blinded by the sudden darkness inside the shop. He had not realized how bright it had been outside until he came into the dark coolness of the store. Slowly his eyes adjusted and he noticed an older man in Earth Kingdom green sitting in a chair by the counter. No one else was in the shop.
"Planning to cross the desert?" The proprietor asked.
The teen thought at first to deny his plan, but then thought better of it. Why else would he be here if not to cross the desert, so he turned to the older man and just raised an eyebrow.
The shop owner gave a rueful laugh and said,
"Yeah… not many use the old road these days. You are going to need a lot more water than what you are carrying." He said indicating the young man's small bota bag.
Sokka was careful to keep his face toward the shop keeper. He did not want the merchant to see the two large water skins tied to his rucksack just yet.
"Yes, I thought so." The tribesman said, then asked, "Do you have any of those really big Koala-Goat skin ones?"
"Sure," the shop man told him, "just over there on the wall."
"How much?" Sokka asked.
"Two gold."
That was more than twice what Sokka had paid for his in Ba Sing Se. The young man rubbed his hands.
Toph was standing in front of the shop thinking up ways to kill her companion. She did not think that Katara would mind so much, she did not seem to like Sokka all that much, but she was a little worried about what Aang would say. Not that he actually liked the young tribesman, but he seemed to be against killing in general, and would probably not look kindly on Toph murdering anyone, even if it was the most obnoxious, the most horrible, and the most oblivious idiot in the history of the universe.
Maybe she would not kill him. Maybe she would just bury him a thousand of his "milles" under the desert. That way she could tell her friends that they had become separated in the desert and she did not know where he had gotten to. Yeah she liked that. That plan could work.
She was interrupted in her pleasant day dream by a young boy asking her,
"Miss? Miss?"
She focused her bending on the boy that was standing in front of her. He sounded much younger than he appeared. He was at least as tall as she was but sounded like he was years younger. She could feel his heart beat racing a little as he stood there.
"What?" She asked, a little sharply.
"Please Miss, would you like to buy my oranges?"
Toph felt bad for the kid. His heart rate had jumped when she had snapped at him. She was angry at Sokka, not some poor Sand Tribe kid. She could tell he was Sand Tribe from his clothes. He was holding something out in front of her. She could not tell what they were with her bending.
"Just two coppers, Miss?" He asked fearfully.
"Let me see them." She told him, in a nicer tone.
The young girl held out her hands, and felt two nubbly spheres placed in them by the boy. She felt them and smelled them. They were firm but ripe, and they smelled like oranges.
"Just one copper for both Miss. Please?"
Toph held the fruit and thought about it.
"Good for the desert." The boy said hopefully. Then added, "Both food and water all in one."
"Ok kid." She told him.
The earthbender juggled the fruit in one hand as she opened her small bundle with the other. Stuffed the oranges in and reclosed it. Then she reached into her belt feeling for the money pockets hidden on the inside. She counted down to the first copper piece pocket and pulled out two coins. She felt them to make sure they were the right size and shape, then she licked one to make sure it tasted of copper. Satisfied, she wiped it on her sleeve and then dropped both coins in the boy's outstretched hand.
"There you go." She said.
"Thank you Pretty Lady!" The boy said bowing to her. Then he added, "I'm sure you'll like them."
He was bouncing with excitement at his sale.
"S'ok kid." Toph told him.
She felt the boy turn and run off toward a small group of Sand Tribe adults in front of another shop. He held a coin in each hand, up in the air as he ran up to them, showing off his prizes.
A few minutes later Sokka emerged from the shop. He was clinking a number of coins in one hand and had a pair of odd shoe like things in the other.
"What are those?" Toph asked.
Her mood had lightened quite a bit, after her encounter with the "Orange Boy". The boy calling her pretty lady had nothing to do with it of course.
"Sand shoes." The young man explained, holding them out to her, forgetting once again that she was blind.
"Oh that tells me everything." The young girl sarcastically replied.
"They're like snow shoes but for sand."
"Ahh…, and what, pre tell are snow shoes." For such a smart guy, he really was an idiot.
"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know about those."
The tribesman said, rubbing the back of his neck, thus hitting himself on the head with the sand shoes.
"They're shoes for walking on snow."
"Really?" The bender asked too brightly.
Sokka sighed and while putting the coins away in his belt pouch, and tying the sand shoes to the outside of his shoulder bag explained,
"They are made out of bone and sinew, like a stiff net. They spread your weight out and your foot doesn't sink into the snow. It makes it a lot easier to travel quickly over deep snow. Well these are the same idea but for sand. These are a lot smaller then snow shoes but still should support me."
"Did you get a pair for me?" The girl asked.
"You are the greatest bender in the world."
"That never gets old." She interrupted.
"Only useless non benders like me need them."
"And don't you forget it." She needled, with a laugh.
Sokka laughed too. This was a lot better than this morning. This was like the real Toph. As he shouldered the two heavy water skins he suggested,
"Hey, dear Tui these things are heavy, while we're here why don't we get some lunch?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Toph had originally thought they could have the oranges for lunch, but a hot meal sounded good and that way she could save the fruit for tonight after dinner. They would be her desert dessert.
They soon found a restaurant, there was only one, and went inside. Sokka was once again stymied by the dim light inside but both of them welcomed the cooler air. Neither had noticed how hot it was getting until they felt the contrast.
"Can't see." The swordsman told his companion.
"Poor baby. That must be so terrible."
"Greatest bender" Sokka said pointing to Toph. "Useless non bender." He added pointing to himself.
"This way little boy." She said taking his hand and leading him to a table.
Oh crap. The girl thought as she took his hand and felt her heart jump. I can't even hold his hand without my body going crazy.
She dropped his hand at the table.
"Thanks." He said.
They both divested themselves of all their gear and sat down. A young woman came over and introduced herself.
"Hi, I'm Lilly. What can I get you?"
She was an attractive girl. He outfit was an odd combination of earth and fire nation. It was a two piece with a wrap over top and a pair of draw string pants, that were worn low on her hips. The top had a very wide bias which displayed quite a lot of her feminine virtues. As his eyes adjusted, Sokka had a hard time maintaining eye contact with Lilly. He spent most of his time looking at Toph.
"What have you got?" Toph asked her.
Lilly ran down a long list of fried things and then a list of noodles.
"I'll have the chicken/pig Chow Fun." The bender told her.
"And for you sir?"
"I'll have the barbecued chicken/pig fried rice." The fifteen year old told her, desperately trying to maintain eye contact.
"And can we have an order of fried wontons as well." He added.
"Certainly." Lilly breathed.
Then placing a hand on the table, she bent over at the waist, and looking into the young man's face, asked in a low breathy voice,
"You're Water Tribe, aren't you?"
As the pretty waitress leaned over, Sokka could see that she was not wearing a breast band under her top, as well as being able to see a lot of other things as well. He completely gave up on maintaining eye contact with Lilly, and turned to look at his companion instead.
"I don't mean to be forward." Lilly said, as she leaned even farther forward. "But you're darker than the Sand Tribes, and with the blue eyes, I thought you must be Water Tribe."
"I wouldn't know." Sokka said nervously. "I mean about the Sand Tribes. I know about the Water Tribes, well at least the Southern Tribe. Well I know a little about the Northern Tribe as well, oh, and the Swamp Tribe too. I guess I know about all the Water Tribes now that you mention it."
"Yes, he's Water Tribe." Toph told the girl.
Lilly seemed to not hear the earthbender's remark, and kept staring into the young tribesman's eyes.
"I've never met a Water Tribesman before." The waitress said in her throaty whisper. "Your skin's so dark, and those eyes."
She reached out her free hand towards the boys face as if to touch it. Sokka turned his face toward the woman and leaned back in his chair to open some distance.
"We'd also like some tea. Please!" Toph asked pointedly.
Lilly stood up and gave the earthbender a little sneer as she said.
"Of course madam."
The waitress turned and walked into the kitchen.
"Why do girls always do that to me?" The handsome young man asked.
Because we all want you, you idiot. Toph thought, Because your gorgeous, and different, and kind, and thoughtful, and gentle, and you get all embarrassed and cute. I can't even see you and I want you.
"I don't know." The earthbender told him. "We must all hate you."
"I believe it." Sokka said in a depressed voice.
The young man looked at the young girl across the table from him. In the diffused light coming from the window, her pale skin glowed. She had pulled her long pony tail of black hair over her shoulder and was stroking it absently. To his eye she looked beautiful. He pulled his note book and "Charcoal Pen" out and started doing a quick sketch of her.
"What are you doing?" The girl asked.
"Oh nothing." the boy answered.
He continued with the sketch, as he told her,
"You know one of the things I really..." He paused. He was about to say love but after this morning he thought better of it and said, "like about you, is that you don't make fun of me. Well you do, but not like that." He motioned towards where the waitress had gone.
"You make fun of me, not try to embarrass me."
I would love to stick my boobs in your face. The girl thought, it's just that I don't have any, and I'd be even more embarrassed than you would. aloud she said,
"Hey, we're friends."
"I'm glad we are." The boy said still working on the sketch.
"But don't think that, that will stop me from kicking your butt anytime I want to." She told him.
"The thought never entered my mind."
Toph sat and waited for her tea. She wondered if she should trip Lilly when she came back with it. Then decided against it. Although she would enjoy taking the hussy down a peg, she would rather have the tea.
To be continued:
Disclaimer : "Avatar the Last Airbender" the characters and the world were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and owned by Nickelodeon and Viacom or Paramount or some huge corporation. This is purely a work of fan fiction because I wanted to play in their world and I love the characters that they created.
Author's Notes:
Sorry this is a day late. I am much more comfortable with people hitting each other on the head, than I am with feelings and feeling. I hope this chapter worked for everyone.
The next chapter will have more action.
Once again thank you to all those who have added this story to their alerts and especially their favorites, I hope I have not disappointed you with this chapter.
( I couldn't figure out how to reply to you guys directly so I stuck it in here.)
To Gina; thank you for both of your reviews, here is the next chapter.
To anonymous Werewolf; thank you very much.
To Anonymous; thank you very much. Yes Menamebephil is one of my favorites as well. Hopefully I did better on the commas in this chapter. I have a terrible tendency to write long, run-on sentences, and you are spot on about my dearth of commas.
A big thank you to all you others who have taken the time to review this story. You really make a big difference to me and the story.
Thanks again to Vox Populi for all his help, and his dedications on his story "The Epic of Tokka" I really appreciate the honor. Please give him a read and a review.
Thank you to all for reading
All comments and/or criticisms are more than welcome