Hey, hey, Fanfictionites.
So, I'm sorry to anyone who's decided to wait on my other stories (not many of you, but you get what I'm saying hurr). I'm going to finish them...eventually. As soon as I finish the 100. ^_^
And how 'bout that Korra finale?
Now, then.
Enjoy, por favor!
43. Outside
"I hate the ocean."
Penga glanced at The Dark One out of the corner of her eye. "You hate everything," the now-eleven-year-old countered.
The Dark One sighed, opening his umbrella as he lounged across the sand. It was an unusually scalding day in Yu Dao, so hot that even Sifu Toph had opted to skip out on classes and take a field trip to the bay. Penga, Ho-Tun, and The Dark One were still her pupils, though closer to becoming masters. Toph had other students now, just a few, but enough to really give credit to her academy.
Penga tucked a stray strand of hair out of her face, leaning her head against Ho-Tun's broad shoulder. The summer sun beat down on the three lounging pupils, enjoying the little down time they got in Yu Dao. They were always doing something, it seemed: training, running errands with Sifu, traveling to the Academy, traveling home, training, training, training.
"SOKKA!"
The voice of their sifu split the din on the beach. While the students decided to relax, their Sifu decided otherwise. The three watched curiously as Toph bent a clump of wet sand at her Watertribe friend, who took it to the gut, knocking the wind out of him as he lay sprawled on the ground. She tossed her head back in laughter as the sea rushed up, lapping over her body.
"You think Sifu likes him?" Penga asked the other two quietly.
"Hard to tell," The Dark One replied, shutting his eyes.
After a moment filled only by the shouting and obscenities of the older ones, Penga spoke up again. "I think she does."
"How can you tell?" Ho-Tun asked.
Penga shrugged. "It's a girl thing." The other two let out soft sighs. "But the way she gets nicer when he's around...I think that's a pretty good sign."
"But they've been friends a long time," Ho-Tun says, watching his Sifu closely. "You sure it isn't just friendship?"
Penga studied her Sifu hard. She was only ankle deep into the cold, stinging water, while that handsome Watertribe boy stood waist-deep, splashing water at the pale girl, shouting, "WATERBENDING ATTACK!" repeatedly.
"She likes him," Penga and The Dark One muttered in unison. The two pupils exchanged an uneasy glance, startled by their similar thought pattern.
"Had that been anybody else tossing water at her," The Dark One reasoned, "they wouldn't be standing."
"Or talking," Penga dead-panned.
"Or breathing," Ho-Tun added. The others nodded in agreement.
Penga bit her salt-flecked lip. She had noticed Sifu Toph and Sokka, the "motivational-bender", growing closer, if such a thing was possible. They sat closer at meal times- sometimes, they sat by themselves on the front stoop- and she even giggled at a few of his better lines. They took trips in to town together alone, and he often volunteered to help demonstrate hands-on techniques, which usually involved him being pinned to the floor by Sifu Toph.
"But come on," Ho-Tun began, waving his hand in dismissal. "There's no way. I mean, Sifu liking somebody?"
"Everyone's capable of love, Ho-Tun," Penga replied, poking his large gut.
"I hate love," The Dark One sighed. "...But, if Sifu was to ever feel that way about anyone...it'd be Master Sokka."
The students took one last look out at their Sifu, who had miraculously been coaxed into the water, up to her stomach, where she gripped onto Master Sokka's arm like it was her life-line. The others closed their eyes, dropping the conversation, lying back to soak up some rays.
As the two teens waded through the water, Toph hugged his arm a little closer. "You think the lilly livers know?"
"What? About us?" Sokka asked.
"Nah," they both muttered in unison.
Meh. Not my favorito but you know. ^_^ I like Penga, Ho-Tun, and the Dark One when they say things other than "shoes" "hate" and "doom".
Also, I feel like I haven't done younger Tokka in a while, so!
PEace, L.