I'll Walk You Home pt 35
Chapter 11
pt. 4
Healing
Sokka sat leaning back on the toppled bench, his left arm around Toph's shoulder, looking at Zoltan and Mirela a short distance away.
Toph sat leaning on Sokka, looking at nothing. She had her knees bent and her feet on the ground so she could feel the two Travelers sitting a short distance away.
The blind girl felt the weight and warmth of the young man's arm across her shoulders. She snuggled deeper in under his arm, resting her head against his shoulder. Yes, Meathead was an idiot, but he was her idiot, and besides he was pleasantly warm and comfortable. She reached over and pulled the arm that was around her down across her chest. With her right hand she interlaced her fingers with his, while with her left hand she hugged his bicep between her breasts. Very pleasantly warm… and the night is getting cold. She told herself. Toph felt like she could stay this way forever.
Ice! Freezing! Starving! Dying! The water tribesman chanted to himself.
It was just the two couples by the fire now. Everyone else had retreated to their caravans. The first to leave had been Gia, still only wearing one boot. She had dragged Bela off soon after the dancing had ended. Laura was off with her three young men looking for fun. The rest of the Household had faded off into the night.
Zoltan sat with his back against his toppled bench, his feet flat on the ground with his knees raised. Mirela sat between her boyfriend's legs resting her arms on his knees as though they were the arms of a chair and reclining back against his chest, her head nestled beside his, his arms around her waist.
Both couples had turned their makeshift recliners so that they now faced each other by the dying fire.
"So Misty Green..." The dark eyed man asked. "... Are you going to join M'ela as a dancer, or will you continue to gamble your way through the world?"
"Oh, be a dancer Little One." The young woman advised. "You get more boys that way."
"Did Meathead's heart just speed up?" The bender asked herself.
"Oh! So that's why you became a dancer?" The Leader of the Traveler Household asked the woman in his lap.
"Of course!" The dancer replied. "What girl could be satisfied with only one man?"
"Not you to be sure." The handsome man told her, as he shook her playfully in his arms.
Using his left arm, Zoltan pulled the dancers glistening black hair off of her right shoulder and draped it onto the other side of her neck, then he dropped his face down and kissed the beautiful young woman soundly, where her bare neck met her shoulder. She let out a surprised, but happy little squeak at the kiss.
"Well… lots of boys sounds pretty good." The blind girl said thoughtfully.
"His heart is definitely pounding." Toph told herself with a smile.
The small bender could feel it through her back as she lay against the handsome tribesman.
"But gambling is more fun." The young girl decided.
In answer she felt her young man's heart slow down and his body relax.
"Though lots of boys..." Misty Green pondered.
In answer to her musing she felt the boy's body tense and his heart begin to pound again.
"This is fun!" The bender told herself. "You did say lots of boys?"
"Oh yes, lots and lots." The older dancer replied.
Toph felt her young man's heart jump at the suggestion and flashed the older dancer a toothy Blind Bandit grin. Through her bending, the young girl perceived an answering small smile from the woman. The blind girl was glad that Sokka could not see her face.
"Just wait till we get you some new clothes tomorrow." The older girl said. "When you dance for them they will worship you with flowers, and sweets, and they will make up songs about you."
"That doesn't sound toooo bad." The small girl mused, snuggling into the young man a little farther.
"His heart is really banging!" The girl told herself with glee.
"Tomorrow?" The dark eyed man asked.
"Yes Laura and I are taking Misty Green shopping tomorrow." The woman explained. "We're going to turn her into a heartbreaking dancer of the Travelers."
"Too Late!" Sokka said, squeezing the young girl against his chest.
That got a bark of laughter from Zoltan and a confused look from Mirela.
"He means she already is a heartbreaker." The dark eyed man explained to the beautiful woman in his arms. "Just like you."
With that the black haired man kissed the dark eyed woman on her cheek.
"Well if you..." The water tribesman said, rubbing his chin gently on the top of the be-scarved head of the young girl under his arm. "...are going to be shopping tomorrow, maybe Zoltan will be generous enough to teach me how to fight like a Traveler. It sounds like I am going to need to know how."
"Excellent!" The dark eyed man said. "First thing in the morning is the best time. There will be fewer people on the common."
"That's good for me." The watertribe fighter replied.
"You can stay with us tonight." The dancer said. "You will have to share my bed in the caravan, I won't be needing it tonight. It's small but you two probably won't mind that."
Toph dropped her head at this last remark and she felt the young man's heart begin to race at the suggestion. The young man cleared his throat and suggested,
"Well we don't want to put you out."
"Don't worry about me." The young woman told him, wriggling her hips and leaning back on the young man behind her. "I'll be fine. You'll just have to put up with my sister, when she comes stumbling in just before dawn, and steps on you as she climbs up into her bunk."
"We don't..." The young bender began. "... we mostly sleep on the ground."
"Then you can sleep under the caravan." Zoltan suggested. "It will give you more room and will keep the dew off in the morning. I'll get you some blankets."
"That's fine with me." The blue eyed boy said. "If it's ok with you?"
"Yeah," The blind girl agreed. "That'd be good."
"Excellent!" The dark eyed man said.
"While you're shopping…" The boy said archly. "I'll go and get our stuff from the soldiers and, if it's ok with you, take care of the money and such, so we can leave the day after tomorrow in the morning."
"And do some more shopping yourself." The young girl said elbowing her companion.
"Just a little." The boy said defensively.
That got a laugh from the other three by the fire.
"That is if it's ok with you…" The boy nodded to the leader of the Traveler House Hold. "… I mean for us to stay a second night in your camp. We don't want to impose, or overstay our welcome."
"It would be our pleasure to have you stay with us." The dark eyed man replied.
"Thank you." The boy answered. "That is most generous of you, and we…?"
With this last he squeezed the young girl's hand. She answered with a corresponding squeeze in return.
"… are most grateful for your kind hospitality." The dark skinned teen finished.
"Good!" The dancer said with a smile.
Zoltan was impressed with the dignity of the young man across from him. The boy had asked, not expected, had treated the dark eyed man with respect. In the Traveler's world respect given was respect earned. Zoltan liked these mismatched strangers. The boy was clever, he had shown that with how he had handled Gia. From Laura's description they were fighters who were not only skilled but more importantly protected one another. The young girl had taken the clothes and the dancing of his people, and had made it her own. And even in that they had protected and worked with each other. The girl with her dancing, the boy supporting her with his drum. To the Travelers that was the most important thing. Loyalty to each other. In their own way they were travelers like himself and his people.
The two couples sat and enjoyed the quiet of the dying camp fire.
"Well." Zoltan eventually sighed, squeezing the woman in his arms.
"Well!" The dancer mimicked the dark eyed man, turning her face towards his.
"It appears as if all your worshipers have abandoned you." The young man with the gold earrings told her. "And you are stuck with only me."
"Stuck?" The dark eyed dancer asked. "I'll have you know that you had no choice. I used my witchcraft to capture your heart. I use my spells to keep only the best for myself. Isn't that right Misty Green? Our spells are better than any love potion. And we always keep the best for ourselves."
This received a blush and an embarrassed little giggle from the bender, and a raised eyebrow from the water tribesman directed at said blind girl.
"Witchcraft?" The boy asked.
"Yes." The dancer answered for the younger girl. "The most powerful kind."
With that Mirela raised her face and captured the lips of the man she was leaning against. The kiss was long and warm. Toph could feel it using her bending, she could hear it as well, and a deeper blush came to her cheeks as she leaned against Sokka, hugging his arm to her, and thought of wet kisses.
After an embarrassed silence the water tribesman finally said,
"Well if you have to be up early shopping." The boy squeezed the girl in his arms. "And I have to be up early to get beaten up, we should probably get some sleep while we have the chance."
The two Travelers broke their kiss.
"Yes we should all find our beds." The man agreed.
The four rose up onto their feet. Zoltan handed the blanket he had been sitting on to Sokka, then pointing to the one the younger couple had been sharing said,
"Take Gia's blanket. I'm sure she won't mind."
"Thank you." The boy replied, grabbing the second blanket.
The two couples walked away from the fire, the two Travelers towards Zoltan's caravan, and the bender and the warrior towards the dancer's.
Sokka crawled under the cart and laid out one blanket on the ground and the other on top of it. The two undressed in the open area, beside the cart since it was easier that way. The swordsman untied his hair, and stripped off his weapons and clothes, but he left his pants on, since he was among strangers. He still carefully placed his weapons within easy reach around the makeshift bed. Toph needed help getting out of all the necklaces, bells and bangles the two girls had put on her. The young man noticed his friend's hair smelled of lavender and shined in the dim light of the few lanterns and glow crystals in the camp.
Toph also untied the scarves around her head and chest, and took off the surcoat she was wearing, not wanting to get tangled up in it during the night, which left her in the light pants and the light very high waist sleeveless blouse. Once everything was put away the two crawled under the cart and into the blankets.
The two young people lay on their backs in their makeshift bed, neither one ready to go to sleep.
The boy was thinking about the girl and how much she had changed since he had first met her. Many of those changes now reveled by the dancer's outfit she was wearing.
The girl thinking about the bare-chested boy, and how much he had changed, and not just physically, since she had met him.
"Snoozles?" The girl finally asked the boy, thinking about something Laura had said earlier in the evening. "Do you like… killing?"
"No." The boy said automatically, but then after thinking for a moment he pushed himself up onto his side, and propping himself up on his elbow looked seriously at his friend. "It's not the killing but… well hunting is kind of like solving a puzzle. You try to think faster and better than the game you are hunting. And there is also the physical part of it. You have to be able to track the animal, chase it or sneak up on it. Then you have to use the spear or boomerang or whatever weapon is right. And if you do it all just right, then you have a good kill. You've solved the puzzle, sort of. And that feels good. To know that you did it right. That you got the right answer. I guess it's like trying an earthbending move and having it work. You feel good about solving the puzzle not about killing the animal."
"What about… people?" The girl then asked, turning her face towards the boy's
Sokka rolled onto his back and thought for a time staring up into the shadows under the cart.
"I don't know." He finally answered. "I really hated those sand benders, but I wasn't trying to kill them, well except for that first one. But after that I was just trying to win, you know. I have to say I felt great when I had won. But that was about winning not about killing."
"You had solved the puzzle." The girl offered.
"Yeah I guess." The boy replied, then he rolled up on his side again, and raised himself up to look at his friend. "No, it was more than that. I was glad I had killed those two I knew about. They had hurt you and I hated them for it. The first one, she deserved to die, and I didn't hold back and was glad she was dead. When I found out about the others, well I didn't feel glad, but I didn't feel bad either. They made their choices and I made mine."
Toph found her fingers tracing the line of the young man's jaw. She had not thought about it, she was just doing it. Feeling the hard stubble scattered across his skin. Then she felt the boy's fingers trace a short line across her bare stomach. Her skin jumped involuntarily at the contact, and the boy pulled his hand away with such speed that the blanket fluttered around her. She dropped her hand from his face.
"Sorry." The boy said embarrassed.
"No." The girl said earnestly. "It's ok."
"No." The boy told her apologetically, as he rolled away from her onto his back. "I wasn't thinking."
The two were quiet for a time.
"How're all your bumps and bruises?" The boy eventually asked.
It took a moment before he remembered what his friend called her breasts, that's when all the blood left his brain and rushed to his face, and he was sure he was glowing from the heat. Luckily the young girl was blind and couldn't see it.
"Fine." She answered stroking her own face, apparently unaware of the significance of the nomenclature used by her friend. "The one on my stomach still gives me trouble when I use my bending though. Why, do you want to kiss them and make them all better?"
"If you want." The boy said with a smile.
"You could offer to bite her ass." He told himself. "Shut up!"
"Well I was thinking about that." The warrior said aloud.
"Kissing would be good!" The girl thought.
"I may be able to do something that could help the bending thing." The boy told her.
"What?" The girl asked.
"Kissing? I bet kissing would do wonders!" The girl suggested in her mind.
"Well I was thinking." The handsome young man answered. "If you can block chi, you should be able to unblock it. Right?"
"I guess." The girl answered. "By kissing!"
"So if it's ok I'd like to try something." The boy said rolling up onto his side toward the girl.
"You want to solve the puzzle." The girl said with a smile.
"Yeah I guess." The boy responded shyly.
"Everything is a puzzle to you isn't it?" The girl asked.
"Well everything is a puzzle, that's how the world is made." The boy answered defensively.
"Even people?" The girl asked.
"Especially people, but the solution is really difficult to find, since people change all the time." The boy replied.
"So what's the solution, Puzzle Guy?" The girl wanted to know.
"Well Like I say I don't know if it will work but it's worth a try." The boy offered. "I figure maybe I could release the bound up chi by massaging your second chakra and the bruise which is the binding point."
"Ok." The girl acquiesced quietly.
"Ok." The boy said, still on his side scooting up closer to the beautiful young girl. "Here lift your head a second and let me put my arm under it."
Toph did so and rested her head on the warm strong bicep of the young man. Their height difference was such that his lips were near her temple, she could feel his breath as it brushed her face, and her bare arm rested against his strong hard chest and stomach, her knuckles just grazing along the waist band of his pants.
"I have to find your belly button." The boy said apologetically.
The young girl felt the boy's large warm, calloused, hand glide gently onto her stomach. The skin under it jumped at the contact, as the butterflies in her stomach gave up their little dance and started wrestling with one another in wild abandon.
"Sorry." They both said at the flinch.
The boy's hand moved in a slow circle over the girl's stomach. The butterflies turned into flying saber tooth moose lions playing a very violent game of kick ball. The girl's heart, being an avid fan of flying saber tooth moose lion kick ball, began jumping up and down enthusiastically.
The hand stopped over the girl's naval. Then she felt the boy's thumb take up residence in the small depression on her tight stomach. While his thumb stayed fixed in her belly button the warrior's fingers began to slide down her fine skin towards the rolled up waist band of her pants.
"Do you need me to push my pants down?" The girl asked breathlessly, which surprised the blind bender since she was sure she hadn't breathed for at least a minute.
"YES!" The young man's brain shouted.
"No!" The young man's lips said. "This will be fine."
The fingers moved over the waist band and began to search her abdomen. Sokka found the spot he was looking for half way between Toph's naval and her first chakra in her groin. He moved his hand and covered it with his palm removing his thumb from the girl's naval. His fingers then began to search for the bruise a little lower down and to the side. The small girl took a sudden breath at the touch.
"You ok?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, fine." The beautiful girl told him sharply, trying desperately not to let him know the actual effect he was having on her.
The young man curled his fingers into a loose fist, the knuckles resting on the bruise, the palm covering the chakra. The swordsman's wonderfully warm, half naked, body resting against the side of the young bender. His dark hand separated from her white skin by only the light material of her thin pants.
"Isn't she wearing a loin cloth?" The boy wondered. Aloud he told her,
"If this hurts, or bothers you just let me know and I'll stop. You don't have to be a hero. I don't even know if it will work. Ok?"
"Ok, ok" the girl told him, trying to ignore the fire breathing platypus bears that had driven out the flying saber toothed moose lions in her stomach.
Sokka began to gently and slowly move his hand in small circles on the young girl's abdomen, applying light pressure to the two spots. The heat from his hand easily moved through the shear material between her bare skin and his.
Toph felt an answering pleasant tingling warmth begin to grow within her under her friend's hand. As he increased the pressure and the slow massage the warmth and pleasurable sensation inside her grew and spread. Soon the tingle became a slow pulse, in time with the wonderful movement of the boy's hand; the warmth became a small hot coal that burned within her.
As the handsome young man increased the pressure and speed of the massage, Toph could feel her body respond without her bidding. Before long the pulse grew in strength into a fabulous throbbing that moved up and down her body; the coal fanned by the young man's strong hand threw off a small flame that then began to race through her with each throb coming from under the boy's wonderful hand. The heat moved through her legs down into her toes, which curled into the earth beneath the blanket. And up through her stomach to her chest, which caused her heart to leap and fly against her ribs. The wonderful throbbing heat continued on into her throat, causing it to close and pulse in response, completely out of the young girl's control. And finally from her throat up into and out her mouth as a quiet moan.
The blind girl raised her right hand, her fingers touching her lips, which had captured some of the heat that had flown out through them, to prevent any further escapes of sound.
"Ok?" The boy asked, concerned.
"GoodDDD!" The girl answered as a second throb of pleasure escaped and ran through her.
Misty Green closed her eyes and bit down on the finger across her lips as she felt the fire within her grow. The throbbing was stronger now, stronger than her racing heart. The coal was a fire growing under the boy's hand.
The blind girl lay floating in a warm wet sea of pleasure as the young man continued his massage. Her body was beyond her control now. She could only sense the expanding waves of heat and ecstasy throbbing outward from the strong hot hand on her abdomen, as the boy went faster and faster, stronger and stronger.
She was dimly aware that the warrior's forehead was touching her head. She could feel his breath on her cheek. The sound of his breathing was in her ear.
A new, stronger wave of sensation broke from under the massage and sent the flames racing through her, lifting her hips off the ground, pushing the source of the hot center up against the young man's hand. Her toes dug in, her back arched, her ragged breathing became gasps as her mouth opened releasing her teeth marked finger. The blind girl moved both hands to cling to the strong arm above her as a cry escaped her burning lips.
The small bender dropped back onto the blanket but she still clung to her friend's arm as she felt another wave begin to form in the energy center beneath his moving hand. The wave built and built, reinforced by each movement of the young man's hand. It built higher and higher inside her, stronger and stronger until it could no longer be held back. The wave broke, her body arched, only her toes and head still in contact with the ground as she gasped out uncontrollably. She was suspended in the air as the feeling washed through her, muscles beyond her control.
Then she dropped down onto her back, panting desperately now, trying to force air into her lungs, her breasts tight and hot against the thin wrapper, the muscles of her legs shaking. Then she felt a new more powerful wave begin to grow inside her under the increasing pressure of the young man's hand.
The wave built stronger and stronger, the sensation completely over whelming the small girl until she didn't think it possible for her to feel anymore, yet she could because the wave continued to climb up until it finally crested, hot, wet, and unstoppable. The wave crashed through her, liquid fire coursing through every fiber of her body. Her eyes clamped shut. Her heart stopped. Her lungs convulsed as her entire body arched, pushing itself up against the young man beside her, her hands pulling him down on top of her, his strong hot hand trapped between them, unable to move, his name escaping her lips in a cry of amazed wonder and ecstasy.
The fire roiled through her, finally settling and calming, her heart beating again as the fire died, her lungs desperately pulled air in and pushed it out, and her body, completely beyond the young girl's control, settled and fell back to the earth which was her element.
Toph lay quietly, except for a few shuddering spasms that would unexpectedly pass through her. Eventually she was able to regain awareness of the world around her. Her eyes slowly opened. She could feel Sokka's arms around her now, his face tight against her own. There were sounds, creaking and groans of carts and caravans settling and shaking around them.
"You ok?" The boy asked, concern, and something more, evident in his voice.
"… yeah." The girl sighed distractedly, her mind a jumble of feelings and thoughts.
"A little less earthbending please!" A strange male voice called from one of the carts.
"I don't know." A woman's voice called out from a different caravan. "I kind of liked it."
The bender heard the warrior chuckle quietly at this last remark. The camp seemed to settle down again.
"How do you feel? I didn't hurt you did I?" The young man asked the girl in a whisper.
Toph wasn't sure how she felt. She had never felt anything like that in her life. At times it was like really powerful bending, the energy surging through her. At times she thought she was going to die, her body unable to stand any more sensation. And at other times she had been euphoric, floating in a warm sea of pleasure. Right now she felt drained, and relaxed, and free, and like she could sleep forever.
"Fine." The blind girl finally answered sleepily.
"Well let's hope it worked." The warrior remarked.
The young man released his hold on the young girl, pulled the blanket, which had been kicked off of the two of them at some point, back over his friend and himself. Once everything was settled again, he leaned over and rubbing his nose on the nose of the beautiful Misty Green, heartbreaking dancer of the Travelers, said,
"Good night."
Toph languidly rubbed back, she then felt the swordsman roll onto his back beside her, her head still pillowed on his arm. The small bender was asleep before her eyes closed.
Sokka was fairly certain he was awake. He couldn't be absolutely sure, but he was pretty sure that it was really early, and that he had just woken up from a really nice dream. He felt something tickling his face and smelt lavender. Right… that was probably Toph's hair. He remembered it had smelled of lavender last night. Something Mirela or Laura had brushed into it.
Mirela and Laura? That was it; they were in the Travelers' camp sleeping under a caravan. He did a quick check of his senses. The young bender was sleeping on her side with her back to him. He was snuggled up against her. His left arm, which was completely dead, was under her head. His right arm was wrapped around her, holding her close. Her arm was on top of his, her hand held his wrist.
The blued eyed warrior's right hand was on something soft and warm. Well mostly soft. Whatever was under his hand was covered in cloth and was soft and firm except for this one little bit that was sort of hard. He rubbed his thumb over the hard-ish bit and to his surprise it got harder and pointy-er. His movement also elicited a soft,
"Mmmmmm…"
From his friend. He felt Toph's hand tighten on his wrist and she pulled his hand tighter against the soft thing with the hard center. Then the small bender wriggled her hips and moved back against the young man. Sokka stopped all movement. He suddenly realized why he had woken up and it had nothing to do with his arms or hands.
This is bad! The boy told himself. This is really really bad, and really, really wrong. She's my friend for Tui's sake! And she's just a kid. This is so wrong!
Ice! Snow! Starving! Everybody dying! The boy screamed to himself, trying to distract himself from where he was and his current condition. It didn't help. Crap!
The fifteen year old boy slowly tried to move his hand away from the so wonderful, so soft, so firm, so delicious. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! soft/hard thing and down the girl's body. This elicited another,
"Mmmmm…."
From the young girl and a further tightening of her grip on his hand as well as a sleepy, and throaty,
"Snooozles."
From the bender.
Crap! Crap! Crap!
Moving even slower he was just able to extract his hand and eventually his arm from the beautiful young girl. The blind girl responded with a discontented,
"Mmmmmmphf…"
But luckily she did not wake up.
The next step was to extricate his dead left arm from under his young friend's head. This took some planning. He lifted her head gently with his now free right hand, while using his elbow he was able to shove the unfeeling arm out of the way, then with extreme care he lowered her head onto the ground.
"Snnooozles?" The small bender asked, moving onto her stomach.
"Gotta go pee." The boy whispered to the back of her head.
"Ok…" The girl said, then dropped off and began to snore quietly.
Thank Tui! The boy thought, slowly crawling out from under the blanket. When he was finally out from under the cart he could feel the cold air on his bare chest and back. He thought about going back for his robe but figured he had to take care of his real problem first. Looking around he saw the cart wheel near at hand. Bending his knees he squatted in front of the wheel, grabbed a spoke in each hand and using his legs, lifted. The cart came off the ground and there was a muffled,
"Whaaaa?" That sounded like a sleepy Laura from inside the caravan.
The strain on his legs had fixed the young man's problem and he gently lowered the wheel back onto the ground. Crawling back under the cart the teen saw the outline of his friend under the blanket and decided against trying to go back to sleep, so he grabbed his top and his weapons belt, crawled out from under the wagon, and decided to find the potty. He really did have to pee.
You really are disgusting! The boy told himself as he returned from the latrine.
Yeah I get it! He answered himself.
The teen was tired of this conversation, it had been going on since he had woken up, less than an hour ago.
She's just a kid!
Right, I know.
And did you see how you had to pee?
Yeah! I was there!
Having to lean against the wall just to get an angle steep enough so you didn't piss all over the walls. That was ridiculous.
It wasn't any fun for me! He told himself. I nearly had to break it off to get it to point down that far.
Disgusting!
Yeah! I get it.
She's your friend!
I know! I know!
She trusts you!
Yes! I know!
And all you can think about is… Just DisgusTING!
Hey! It's not like I had a choice or anything. I can't control my dreams!
That's no excuse! You're supposed to be better than that!
"Yeah, I am." The boy said aloud with a sigh.
Zoltan woke up early. He had the ability to set a mental alarm when he went to bed to get himself up at any desired time the next day, and he had set it last night for predawn for the training session with the young water tribesman today. He carefully got out of bed not wanting to disturb Mirela. It was not difficult since he was used to it and his bed was larger than most of the Travelers since he had one of the larger wagons, and he just had the one bed, which could be pushed up out of the way when it wasn't being used. He washed up and dressed in the dim light coming through the curtains of the small windows of his caravan.
As he was about to leave he took a moment to look down on the beautiful young woman as she lay under the covers. With a sigh he turned and quietly left the caravan and walked out into the camp. He was surprised to see the young stranger already up sitting all alone by the fire.
"Up early." The Traveler said quietly while taking his spot from last night across from the boy.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep." The teen said, waving a stick he had been using to stir the fire.
"Funny I thought you two had a good night." The dark eyed man observed.
"Us?" The boy asked surprised. "Naaa, we're just friends, besides she's just a kid. She doesn't even like me."
"Oh…" The man replied. "Still after the way she danced for you… Well I thought…"
"No. No. She doesn't…" The fifteen year old tried to explain. "She's real young, you know, she doesn't realize what she's doing. I'm just her friend, you know."
"Sorry, I didn't mean anything." The dark eyed man apologized.
"No. No. It's fine." The younger man waved the sentiment off.
The two sat staring at the fire for a time. The younger got up and put a fresh log on the coals and nursed it until it caught fire. The older got the large iron teapot and filled it with water and hung it from the tripod to heat the water.
After regaining their respective seats the blue eyed man told the dark eyed one,
"She doesn't understand the effect she has on me."
"I think most girls don't realize what they do to us." The older man agreed.
"Some do though." The boy observed.
"Oh yes, some definitely know what they're doing." The Traveler asserted.
"They shake their ass in your face all day." The teen said, then switching to a high pitched prissy voice said, "Is that all you ever think about. You're just disgusting, like some awful animal."
That got a laugh from the black haired man.
"Yeah and you're sitting there…" Zoltan added, lifting his fist and forearm into the air. "… with a dick so hard you're ready to shoot your major internal organs out the end of it, and they're all pissed off because they got just what they wanted."
"No fuckin' lie." The water tribesman agreed.
"Tits." The Traveler said dreamily. "I love tits."
"Tits are nice." The younger man agreed.
"There's nothing like tits." The older said in an excited voice, holding his hands open in front of him. Obviously this was a subject he enjoyed. "Nothing feels, or looks, or tastes, as good as tits. Oma! Tits just drive me crazy."
"Don't get me wrong, I love boobs." The boy said.
The two young men sat quietly for a few moments, until the dark skinned teen said,
"But it's more than that, you know. It's stupid little stuff that kills me. Not like it turns me on, well not in that way. But it's dumb stuff that just tears me up, you know. Like when they are just being a girl. I don't mean when they are acting all girly, all giggly and coy but when they are just being themselves. The way they brush their hair, or the look on their faces when they like you, or the way they laugh at your dumb jokes because they really think they are funny, or the way they smile when you do something for them. The way they stand there kind of off center with one hip sticking out with their arms crossed. The way she walks when she's happy, or when she's sad for that matter. You just want to fix it for her, make it all better."
"Or the way she punches you on the arm." The man said looking intently at the blue eyed teen.
"Yeah. Things like that." The teen said with a smile. "It just melts my heart, you know."
"Yeah. I think I understand." The dark eyed man nodded. "But I could do without all the talking, sometimes."
"Yeah! That can get old really fast." The boy agreed with a laugh.
"Misty Green doesn't seem that way." The older of the two observed.
"She's not. She's more like a boy that way." The younger explained.
"You're pretty lucky there." The Traveler told him with a laugh. "She's beautiful, strong, and quiet."
"You got that right!" The swordsman replied. "She's all that and more."
After a moment the boy added,
"But she's not my girlfriend."
"Oh Right!" The older man said. "I forgot that."
"Yeah she doesn't even like me." The blue eyed boy told him.
"Yeah, I could see that." Zoltan said with smirk. "So who's the ass shaker?"
"Sorry?" The water tribesman asked.
"The girl who likes to talk and thinks you're disgusting." Zoltan explained.
"Oh, that's my girlfriend." The fifteen year old answered.
"Where's she?" The Traveler asked.
"She left to go back to her home." The boy replied.
"You broke up?" the dark eyed man asked.
"No." The teen thought a moment. "I don't know. I could tell that she wasn't happy, not for the last couple of months."
"Were you happy?" The older man asked.
"No, I guess not." The boy answered.
"Well sounds like it's over between the two of you." The man observed. "Don't get me wrong, loyalty is great and necessary and all, but if one of you, let alone both of you is unhappy than your not being loyal to the other person. You're just hurting them more."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." The boy said sadly. "It just seems like it's my fault. I should have done something to fix it."
"I bet you're one of those guys who sees everything as a problem that can be fixed." Zoltan said.
"Yeah, I'm the puzzle guy." The tribesman affirmed with a quiet laugh.
"Well puzzle guy, just remember that the answer to the problem may not be one you like." The Traveler told him. "Sometimes the solution is not you and her, but her and somebody else."
"Or me and someone else." The dark skinned teen agreed.
"Exactly!" The dark eyed man told him.
"Like you and Mirela?" The swordsman asked.
"Yes, Mirela is my someone else." Zoltan agreed. "I just hope I'm hers."
"Well it looks to me like you are." The tribesman told him with a smile.
"Well let's hope you're right." The dark eyed man agreed smiling. "And I hope your someone else is close for you. I'd even bet they are closer than you think."
"Let's hope." The boy said.
"Well the water's hot." The older man said, eyeing the steaming tea pot. "Let's have some breakfast then I'm going to kick your ass."
"Sounds good." The boy replied.
Toph woke up feeling wonderful. She crawled out from under the cart, then immediately crawled back to get her over dress and scarf. The morning air was cold on all that exposed skin. She tied the scarf around her waist instead of up high where it had been last night. Low seemed much more practical and kept her warmer.
She sent her bending out to see if Meathead was nearby, she sort of missed him. When it was just the two of them camping by the road she could always feel him near her and she was just realizing how much she liked having him all to herself.
The earthbending wave returned letting her know that there were only a few people up this early and Meathead wasn't one of them. It wasn't until she had taken that all in that she felt her body relax. She had tensed up automatically waiting for the sharp ache in her bruise but it wasn't there.
She sent a stronger wave out, just to see if there would be any pain, but there was none. She got a good feel for the large encampment around the smaller one she was in. Her bending was even more sensitive than it had been, everything was very clear to her. She could even sense Laura sleeping in the caravan behind her, not as clear as if she had been in a stone building or anything but still. This was great, Meathead had done it.
Then the small bender realized she really had to pee and pee badly.
"Ok the first thing to learn is how to hold the knife." Zoltan explained handing the young man one of the folding knives used by the Travelers.
"My sword teacher said foot work is always first." Sokka said taking the blade from the older man. "'You have to have a foundation before you can build a tower' he said."
"Yeah I can see that." The older man agreed. "Foot work is important, but let's start with the knife, ok?"
"Oh yeah! Whatever you want. You're the teacher, I'm the student." The boy in blue agreed.
"Excellent." The leader of the House Hold said. "Ok, the grip. Now you want hold it in an easy loose manner, you don't want to choke it to death. You want to be able to move it and change your grip anytime you need to."
The dark eyed fighter illustrated with various grips and maneuvers.
"My sword teacher once told me." The dark skinned fighter said, as he copied the Traveler's movements. "The sword is like a small bird in your hand. If you are afraid of it and you hold it timidly it will fly away, if you hold it with anger in your heart and grip it as you would a club to smash your opponent you will crush the life out of it. But if you hold it firmly and with confidence, letting your head rule your heart, it will sing in your hand."
The young swordsman finished the story by using variations on the demonstration the dark eyed man had given him, adding new grips, and both slight and drastic alterations to the movements, even tossing the knife into the air and snatching it as it fell in a new and more useful way.
Zoltan just stood and looked at the young man for a few seconds, wondering what Pandora's box he was opening.
"So what's next?" Sokka asked.
"We'll switch to the wooden practice knives and try a few simple attacks and blocks." The Traveler answered.
Toph had asked around the small camp where the potty was. One teenage girl, Nadia, had offered to show her the way. It appeared that Nadia was applying restaurant rules to girls peeing in the camp. When the two had gotten to the women's privies they found there was a line, and joined the end of it behind another girl from the camp, a woman in her twenties.
"Dika," Nadia said to the woman. "You remember Misty Green from last night, right?"
The woman turned at the sound of her name and bowed politely to the young bender, who returned the bow.
Toph stood in line, between the two women, shifting anxiously from one foot to the other. Why is there always a line? The young girl asked herself. She was starting to get desperate.
"Oh here comes Vadoma." The teen age girl said, tapping the blind girl on the shoulder. "She's from our House Hold too. It looks like she had a hell of a night."
The bender felt for the new girl, and could only agree with the teenage Traveler behind her in line. Vadoma, who from her bending Toph could tell was about the same age as Nadia, though shorter than the tall girl, looked as though she was returning from a battle, and not one she had won. The girl was barefoot and limping slightly, or possibly staggering, with her clothes worn haphazardly around her body and her hair in a complete mess. The blind girl sighed with relief, it was so nice to have her bending back without the pain.
"Hi Vad, this is Misty Green." Nadia said to the shorter girl as the new arrival joined the line.
"Morning." Vadoma said bowing to the bender.
The disheveled girl gave a huge yawn than wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered in the cold morning air.
"Well someone had a good time last night." Nadia said to the young girl ahead of her.
"I hope it was me." The barefoot girl said shivering. "'Cause I feel like shit this morning. How'd you do?"
"Pretty good, but not as good as someone I heard last night." The taller answered with a smirk.
"You heard that too?" The other teen asked with a certain amount of wonder, and possibly jealousy.
"Heard it?" Nadia replied with a laugh. "Oma and Shu everybody in camp heard it and felt it."
"It sounded like it was coming from Mirela's and Laura's caravan." Vadoma said, conspiratorially.
"I don't know what he was doing to that poor girl, but I want to find out." Nadia told her friend.
"Poor girl!" Vadoma scoffed. "She sounded pretty lucky last night. Who was she with?"
"I don't know but I have got to meet him." The taller teen answered.
"So do I." the barefoot one said in a throaty voice. "Preferably tonight in my caravan. Do you know anything about him?"
"Just his name." Nadia answered.
"You mean…" Vadoma said with a grin. "Sok…k…k…a…a…A,A,AAAAAA!"
She said this last starting in a low moaning voice that then ended in a gasping high pitched cry. Toph dropped her head down as her cheeks and ears began to burn. She had not realized that anyone had heard her last night.
"That's the one!" The taller teen affirmed laughing.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind running into him over and over and over." The barefoot girl agreed.
"It may not be a him." The woman in front of Toph said, joining the conversation.
"Him, her, I don't care." Barefoot told the woman. "I just want them to pay me a visit."
"If it was Laura, then he has to be a he." Nadia observed. "And if he does pay you a visit tonight be sure to remember your friends."
"Do you think it was that water tribe boy?" Dika asked.
"You mean Deep Blue?" Vadoma asked.
"That's him." The oldest of the quartet answered.
"Now that's a possibility." The tall teen said, thinking. "After all he is water tribe."
"And the way he was kissing Gia last night." The woman said with a growl. "He's definitely got some skills."
Toph's head shot up at this last statement.
"What happened?" The barefoot girl asked. "I missed it. Deep Blue kissed Gia and survived."
"Oh he not only survived." The woman told the teen, talking over the blind girl's head. "But he very cleverly won a fight by losing it."
"I don't understand." Vadoma said.
"Gia challenged Deep Blue to a fight." Nadia explained.
"But the watertriber surrendered before the fight had even started." Dika went on.
"So for a prize Gia demanded a kiss." The tall teen jumped in, a little miffed at being interrupted in her story.
"But she made him kiss her foot." The woman added, taking the story back again.
"So he kissed her foot?" The disheveled teen asked, with a sour face.
Toph's ears were now burning, and her face had a very dark look on it.
"Oh yeah!" The taller teen answered with a knowing look.
"Oh he kissed her foot alright." The woman said, giving a low suggestive laugh.
"Oma and Shu, did he. He had her half naked and just about passing out by the end of it." Nadia said joining Dika in the leering laugh.
"Well he could be the one that was with Laura last night." Vadoma mused.
"You were with him." Nadia said poking Toph in the back. "What's his name?"
Toph, pulled back from her very dark musings by the nudge, had to think a second before answering,
"Lee, his name is Lee."
"Then it can't be him." The taller teen surmised. "He must be from another House Hold. We'll have to get the story from Laura when we get back to camp, no matter how innocent she tries to play it. We have got to find him!"
"If he pays me a visit, I'll be sure to hang carpets up on the walls of my caravan to deaden the sound." Vadoma told the taller teen, then with a leering smile explained. "Don't want to disturb the neighbors."
"Not me." The woman ahead of Toph said. "If I find him, I'm going to open all the windows so everyone will know that tonight I'm having Sok…k…k…a…a…A…AAAAA!"
The two girls joined her in the last gasping cry, which devolved into raucous laughter by all three. Toph did not join in. She was seriously thinking about burying someone in the ground. She really, really had to pee, and it was almost her turn to use the potty, but after that….
Gia and Kizzy were walking from the camp to the common area used by all the Travelers for training during day and parties at night. They both had been looking for the water tribesman when they had gotten up that morning, and both had been told he was off training with Zoltan. The two women armed themselves and headed off together for the training ground.
"Looking for a rematch." The archer asked.
"Yes." The tall woman answered.
"You want to win another kiss?" the shorter woman asked in a light tone.
"That's right." The knife fighter replied. "And I'm not going to waste this one on my foot."
"I'd like to see that." The archer commented.
"I don't know." The slim woman said. "It may not be much of a fight."
"Who was talking about watching the fight." Kizzy told her friend with a laugh.
When the two fighters reached the training ground, they could see that a small crowd had gathered, this was not unusual, but the composition of the crowd was. It was mostly girls and young women.
The two women took the fighter's privilege and walked out onto the field, there they saw the reason for the all the girls interest. Sokka and Zoltan were bouting, both had stripped to the waist and were covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Gia had to admit that it was a lovely sight, as the two handsome, muscular young men charged one another, their polished wooden knives flashing in their hands.
Across from the spectators the archer and the knife woman saw a line of familiar fighters watching the two young men. The two friends joined the end of the line.
"Nicolai." The knife fighter said, nodding to the man ahead of her.
"Gia." The swordsman nodded in reply, then, pointing with his scimitar out onto the field, he told her, "Fresh meat."
"Who has the next fight?" The tall woman asked.
"Pesha." The swordsman said pointing down the long line of fighters. "But Zoltan has to quit the field first and he and Dark Skin have been at it for over an hour already, so we'll be lucky to get any chance against him."
"Shit!" The slim woman said under her breath to Kizzy. "I shaved and everything and now I won't even get a chance."
"Maybe, maybe not." The archer said thoughtfully. "We can always claim House Hold Privilege."
"He's an outsider." Gia whispered to her friend. "It doesn't apply."
"He's a guest of the House Hold." The shorter woman said. "That makes him one of us, we get first crack at him."
"I like it." The knife fighter agreed.
"End of the line boys and girls." Kizzy called out. "He's one of ours, we get first dibs."
Amid a chorus of groans and curses the two women moved to the head of the line.
Toph was walking fast towards the training ground. Meathead! The small bender told herself. Her foot! He kissed her foot? She was going to kill him. She was going to beat his stupid brains out with a rock.
"Excellent!" Zoltan called out as he felt Sokka's training knife travel along his ribs.
The Traveler was amazed at how quickly the young warrior had picked up on the fighting style of the Tribe. The boy was fast and clever, a very dangerous combination in an opponent. The leader of the House Hold was also impressed by the endurance of the young man. They had been working for at least an hour and the blue eyed fighter was still full of energy. The younger man even now was hopping around, he couldn't stand still.
Sokka was bouncing from one foot to the other waiting to start another bout. He could not remember ever having this much fun training before. Zoltan was a wonderful teacher and opponent. The dark eyed man never got upset with the water tribesman, no matter how many times the younger man scored a point against him. The Traveler was also great about pointing out weaknesses in the boy's attacks, and parries. He was almost as good a teacher as Piandao, and a lot more fun to play with than Suki ever was.
Zoltan signaled he was ready and the teen charged in again. There was a flurry of attacks and counter attacks between the two fighters, punctuated by the hard clack of the wooden knives striking each other as one parried the other. Then Sokka saw his opening. The Traveler had his right hand high near his own shoulder and shook it once. Zoltan had used this attack twice before and the swordsman recognized it. From the man's stance the teen knew what would be coming next and he was ready for it.
The dark eyed man thrust with his left hand in a low line attack but Sokka parried high, sure enough Zoltan brought the wooden blade up high at the end of the thrust, and the warrior's parry was right on target, batting the older man's hand away and opening him up for the younger man's counter strike, which went unopposed and landed solidly on Zoltan's chest.
"Good!" The dark eyed fighter called, acknowledging the blow.
The two men broke away from each other to end the bout, the younger of the two still bouncing on the balls of his feet, so full of energy he couldn't contain himself.
"You need to be careful." Sokka told the Traveler. "You have a tell that gives you away on that attack."
"What?" The older man asked panting from the exertion.
"You shake your right hand just before you start that attack." The boy answered.
Zoltan shook his head chagrinned. He had realized that you only got one chance with the young swordsman. Once he saw an attack he always remembered it and came up with a counter to it, and the dark eyed man was running out of clever moves.
"You're too good!" The Traveler told the teen.
"I have a great teacher!" The young man answered laughing.
"Yeah!" The dark eyed man said with a laugh. "I taught you how to hold the knife. That was my first mistake."
"Again?" The boy asked taking his stance.
"I'm going to take a break." Zoltan answered. "You can kick someone else's ass for a while."
The Traveler pointed to the line of fighters waiting by the side line. Sokka bowed to his teacher with the utmost respect, then happily tuned to the group and asked,
"Who's next?"
"Me!" Gia said loud and clear stepping forward.
Zoltan tossed the two wooden training knives he had been using to the young woman, who easily snatched them out of the air.
"Great!" The water tribesman said spinning his own wooden knives in the air, then he began to pass them back and forth between his hands.
"So what shall we play for?" Gia asked moving in slowly, her weapons held at the ready.
"How about for fun." The boy suggested with a smile, moving fluidly into his own stance.
"No, no." The tall woman told him. "I'm playing for a kiss."
This received a chorus of "Oooohhss" from the crowd of women and laughs from the assembled fighters.
"Sounds wonderful." The boy exclaimed jumping up and down. "But what if you win?"
This received "Ooooohs" from both sides of the field, but with very different intent by the two groups.
"What do you want if you win?" The slim woman asked with a smirk.
"If I win?" The handsome young man asked with a raised eyebrow. "When I win you have to show me where you keep all those knives you carry."
That got a response of cheers from the line of fighters. Speculation was rife among her peers as to just how many, and where she carried all her blades.
Before Gia could respond, Sokka felt a very familiar trembling in the earth. He pulled his feet together and bent his knees to absorb the shock, but was surprised when it was the tall woman who was launched by the earth pillar that suddenly erupted from the ground. She was caught by the group of fighters as she landed in their midst.
The dark skinned teen turned and as expected he saw the blind earthbender standing on the field.
"MEATHEAD! YOU'RE MINE!" Toph shouted cracking her knuckles.
"Ooooo… Kayyyyy…" The young man thought. "This is probably going to hurt."
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:
Well not too late but it is very long. I had a hard time with this chapter (I know I say that a lot :-) and we still didn't get a fight. I was able to get a little Tokka time in there and at least Toph got her chi unblocked, which is all that happened, honest, and Sokka learned the importance of early morning exercise. I had to rewrite it a few times and I hope it came out ok. The next chapter will start with a fight so there is something.
Thanks to everyone for sticking with this story.
And a special thank you to everyone who has taken the time and trouble to review. I really appreciate all the encouragement and advice, you people are great!
To Mental Traveler; Glad you enjoyed it. Please let me know how Sokka Style works for you. I am very curious.
Once again thank you to all those who have added this story to their alerts and especially their favorites, and a very special thank you to all who have added me to your author alerts and favorites. That is a real honor for me. I hope I have not disappointed you with this chapter.
Thank you to all for reading
All comments and/or criticisms are more than welcome.