Chapter Twenty Nine
Sokka knew he was in deep trouble. It had been three hours since he awoke from his avatar state and he hadn't heard a single word from Toph the entire time as she sealed herself inside a bubble of stone keeping herself insulated. He couldn't help but feel the pangs of guilt over everything that had happened, for it was really his fault, but he couldn't let her keep thinking he was just her possession.
Though he wishes that he could have told her in a slightly less violent way…
A touch on his shoulder told him that he wasn't alone in his thoughts. Katara's hand on his shoulder prompted him to return to reality.
"Sokka, I…I really don't know what to say about this. What you did…well, it was wrong of you to put Toph through this. Even you should have known how she felt for you, and you should have been more empathic to how she felt" she spoke to him like he were a child who she was trying to scold yet remain sympathetic.
"No Katara, I didn't do anything wrong. She knew the entire time me and Ty Lee were together. It was her own fault for ignoring it till it was forced down her throat" he defended himself, but even as he argued, parts of what she said still sunk through into the back of his mind. He should have told her sooner, he should have made it clearer, he should have done so many things that would have spared her feelings, but he didn't.
Katara struggled to find the right words, he could tell, but she settled for merely staying quiet and present, her hand a constant reminder on his shoulder. Almost a minute passed before Ty Lee found the courage to speak up, probably waiting for a good moment to interject.
"Please don't blame Sokka for this. I…kinda mighta forced him to do it" she said, wriggling uncomfortably like a child confessing to some minor crime. Katara merely looked at her with a sort of understanding and benevolent gaze.
"Ty Lee, it's ok, I accept what has happened and I know it's not really your fault. I just…worry now how Toph will react" she spoke, looking to the spherical stone that served as Toph's makeshift sanctuary.
"Hey, you mind if I spend some time alone with Toph?" he asked. The other two seemed a little surprised but made no motion to leave just yet, expecting some sort of explanation.
"I want to straighten things out with her, ok?" he explained. Katara nodded and gently ushered Ty Lee to follow after. With a final gaze, Ty Lee followed after Katara into the woods that surrounded them. It was about ten more minutes before Sokka felt confident they were completely out of earshot. Walking up to the dome, he tapped on stone lightly.
"Toph, can I come in?" he asked, not sure what he was expecting. The stone refused to move. He expected that, so it wasn't a surprise.
"I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry Toph. It started out as an obligation to stay with her, but it just sort of snowballed from there. I…care about her…a lot. She's kind and gentle, a little flaky but still a good person, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear about how she's so good, do you?" he spoke and waited. Nothing happened again.
"Well Toph, I understand if you don't want to be around me anymore, so I just wanted to tell you I'm-" he was about to finish when the stone nearest to him retracted into the ground leaving him an opening to enter. Taking it as a slightly better sign, he cautiously entered, only to have the stone slide up behind him, leaving him in total darkness. A hand on his back who could only belong to Toph wrapped around his throat, gently and lovingly.
"This is what I see everyday Sokka, darkness. I may be able to feel through my feet but I have never actually seen anything a day in my life" she spoke softly in his ear. Sokka felt like he was a mouse being toyed with by a cat so he stood perfectly still.
"Being with you makes me feel like I can see everything. I feel alive, like you're my eyes, and I don't want to ever let that feeling go" she said, dragging him closer to her, his back still turned to her.
"Toph, I-" he tried to speak when he felt a stone feeling wrap around his neck, much like a collar.
"Today onward, you and I will be fiancee's as well. That way, me and her are on equal footing. When this is over, all over, you can pick which one of us you really want, and if you still want her over me…I will let you go. Can you do that for me?" she asked, wrapping both her arms around him. This was a side of her he never thought he would see. It was as if she were almost…feminine. It was a bit much for him to take in at the moment but he could feel this was going to be the best he can manage for a conclusion to the whole argument.
"Fine Toph, but you have to remember that I'm-" he tried to speak again when she wrapped her hand around his mouth to silence him.
"I know Sokka, I know. You're the avatar, you have a responsibility to the world, but I want you to remember I'm still here, that I will always be by your side" she said, and with a sudden jerking motion, light flooded around him as the sphere fell apart. Wrapped around Sokka's neck was the chunk of metal he had so long ago gifted to her, formed into a perfect ring around his neck.
"You just wanted to put this around my neck so if I misbehave you can strangle me, don't you?" he asked, getting her to smirk for the first time since that morning.
"a girl needs insurance, doesn't she?" she said, getting a hearty laugh from each of them, letting them know that everything was going to be alright, at least for now.
*************
Mai was exhausted after the extent of the report she wrote out and sent out by messenger hawk to Fire lord Azula. She had to explain everything just right as to why they let the Avatar escape, and it required a great deal of effort to not say they now had Iroh with them, something she would explain in person to soften the blow. All in all, she took the entire day writing less than a pages worth of report that she could send back. As she lay on her bed, there was a soft tapping on the door to her chambers. The irritation that ate at the back of her mind was written plain for all to see, since the only one who would dare wake her when she gave explicit instructions she was not to be disturbed would be the very man she only protected due to the wishes of Yusen. Crankily getting out of bed, she proceeded to the door and opened it roughly.
"What do you want?" she spoke curtly before even registering Yusen was standing there with a surprised look on his face, obviously taken aback by the sudden display of anger that was so uncharacteristic for her.
"Is…is this a bad time?" he asked, taking a cautious step back. Mai instantly fixed her demeanor to be more of her calm and collected self, but secretly assessed the true meaning behind his visit to her. He never disturbed her unless there was a reason, so she was a little baffled.
"No, it is not. Come in" she said, ushering him inside. He seemed a little nervous, looking about the room which she decorated with many different types of daggers, several unidentified pouches, some with poison and others fireflakes, the one snack she eats.
"What is it you wanted to speak to me about?" she asked, her own sense of curiosity starting to get to her.
"Well…it's like this…remember when we were…you know, in the bath that one time…and what we were talking about?" he said, sitting down on her bed since her room lacked any sort of chair.
"Yes… I remember" she said, not telling him that she was indeed waiting for a similar opportunity to present itself. He fidgeted uncomfortably before speaking again.
"Well, I think you're right…and if I…well…you know…am with the fire lord and I don't measure up…well, I think it's better that doesn't happen…and I know that in bending the only way to get better is to practice…" he said, blushing quite fiercely. It was easy for Mai to see where he was going with this, and a little bit of shock washed over her as it started to sink in.
"Well, what I guess I'm saying is…is…is your offer still open to teach me?" he asked, looking to her with his beautiful eyes. Her heart caught in her throat when he spoke this, and almost instinctively, she locked the door directly behind her.
"Take off your clothes" she spoke, eyeing him dangerously. A little confused, Yusen didn't seem to hear her.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked, nervousness creeping into his voice.
"Take off your clothes now!" she commanded as she began to undress herself, working through her robe and letting it slip to the floor, leaving her under garments.
"Uh…maybe this was a bad idea, perhaps I should just-" he started when Mai threw one of two knives she had in her hand straight above his head, sinking into the metal of the wall firmly, causing Yusen to swallow back the rest of his sentence as he eyed the remaining one.
"Don't make me repeat myself" she commanded, using her free hand to work through the last bit of her clothing when a knock at the door threatened to interrupt once again.
"Miss, is everything-" a voice came from outside when she threw her remaining dagger into the door, half protruding.
"If you don't want to die, I would make sure no one disturbs me the rest of the night, understood?" she spoke through the door. The person must have left quickly as she stood in front of a very visibly shaken Yusen.
"Uh…maybe we can just…" he tried to say when Mai grew impatient and started to disrobe him herself.
"No. Were doing this now so you can be prepared. No more delaying, no more excuses!" she spoke, fury in her eyes, cowing Yusen into submission.
This was for his own good she thought for the rest of that night.
Author notes:
i think it came to a satisfactory conclusion with Sokka and Toph, though of course its going to just be a problem later on, huh? of course Toph will probably never let him out of her sight again, but Sokka has to take his wins where he can, right? Anyway, Yusen is more and more coming off as a total pussy to me, but i guess it's just his personality and being so young compared to everyone else. Mai is...definitely taking the offensive in that relationship and its probably going to scare the hell out of him for a while, but i think he really shouldnt be complaining, especially since some of us have been having a dry spell for the past 6 months . Anyway, i digress, and i know i said i'd post every 3 days and this has literally been next day kind of stuff, but i was confident with the result and eager to post. As always, review good or bad, and let me know what yall think.
Jalein Foxkin
