Fine Lines
"I don't think Boomerang's coming back this time, Toph."
If someone had told him his voice had been laced with grief he wouldn't have believed them. Or maybe he would've, he can never tell. But Sokka's sure that what he had been feeling hadn't been grief, it had been resignation. Maybe it was both, because the more he thought about it the more alike the two words seemed. He hadn't wanted to die, and he sure as hell hadn't wanted Toph to die either. But he had been so sure, without a doubt, that nothing could have saved them.
He can still picture the look on Toph's face - the scared, lost look and the tears stinging at the corners of her eyes that she had refused to shed. It had been something he had never wanted to see on her, the strong and tough earthbender who he had grown to consider his best friend, and he had felt his heart slow down and quicken at once.
Because for the one moment her eyes met his Sokka had forgotten she was blind, felt she was staring right into his soul - taking him in for all he had been, was, and would ever be. And he had felt himself tightening his grip just before she would have slipped, a new emotion he couldn't name feeding his determination to live anew.
And even as Suki had come sailing to their rescue all he could think about was how, in the darkest hour of his life, staring into Toph's eyes had made him feel home.
Yet, whenever he looked into Suki's eyes, not finding this home in them, he felt a pang of guilt. And Sokka, for the life of him, could not figure out why.
See, I told you I'd try to make these more frequent! Thanks for all the reviews last time, and I hope this satisfies the need for some Avatar Finale Tokka stuff. :)
Comments/crits?
-WS