Hey guys!

So...zombies.

I love them. Me and my friends in real life totally love zombie movies and shows (the Walking Dead!) ad I was going through my 100 stories. I remember trying to write a zombie-centric Tokka story (aangst! woot!) but Fanfiction deleted it. So, I think I'll give it another go!

Enjoy!

99. Seizure

Sokka couldn't stop shaking.

Every movement he made sent a tremor through the ground, even when he was huddled on the mattress in their home. Every bump and shudder he made always found its way to Toph's feet, where every ache he had radiated through her own body.

There had been a virus that spread. Most professionals think it originated from Whale Tale Island. As soon as the infection made its way to Republic City, Aang took Katara and their children far away, back to the White Lotus Compound in the South Pole. It was a supposed safe haven.

Sokka insisted on waiting it out in the city, while he waited for word from Suki. Toph, who's crush blossomed into full-blown unrequited love, told him she wasn't leaving him alone. So, Toph held Lin close as they rode the abandoned train to his apartment, where they waited.

And waited and waited.

After three months of struggle, Sokka broke down and gave up. The reanimated dead roamed the streets freely now. Toph and the few other metalbenders who had stayed behind to give it one last go at keeping order finally said their goodbyes and good lucks, and she watched the last of her team flee to wherever safety was.

That night, Toph, Sokka, and Lin escaped the city underground.

But not without dire consequences.

Of course, they had survived too long without anything bad happening. The gaang never had it easy, not now, not ever. While escaping, Sokka got scratched by one of the reanimated. It only drew a few drops of blood, but that was really all it took. She gave him a kiss and, as per his own request, locked him in a train car separate from her's and Lin's. The sassy Earthbender sat in the conductor's seat, silently crying as Lin slept soundly in her lap.

In the morning, they reached one of the little train stations that dotted the countryside of the Earth Kingdom. She told Lin to wait outside as she ripped the door open with her metalbending. She didn't pray often, but this time she did, to both Oma and Shu and the Moon Spirit, to make sure he would be okay. Toph found him sitting, healthy, lounging in one of the stone seats. He expected a wail to the arm, a few sarcastic words. Instead, he found her wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him close, tears of relief streaming from her face.

The three of them traveled a bit, away from the train station and the tiny town surrounding it, and found solace in an Earth home Toph built with her own hands.

Sokka was nursing his woes with one of the last bottles of booze they had taken with them. Lin was asleep. Toph had some to drink as well. They confided their deep worries about the friends that had called family. Katara and Aang and their kids, Zuko and Mai's children (the last they heard, the royal family was hiding in the very underground bunker they had invaded ages ago). The night began with words about the others, but after a few drinks, they morphed into words of love. Toph would never forget the phantom touch his lips left across her body.

A few blissful weeks later, things took a turn for the worst.

He developed a fever and patches of skin would go numb. Narcolepsy was always a symptom and the second he fell unconscious during dinner, Toph knew. She loved Sokka, but insisted that Lin be forbidden to see him. Staying quarantined in their old bedroom was entirely his idea. The only contact he had was with Toph when she came to check on him, bring him meals, or just keep him company in the wee hours of the night.

Once the shaking began, she knew they were close.

She couldn't do it.

She couldn't.

She had to.

"Sokka," she breathed, dropping to her knees beside him. His quivering body turned towards her as he reached to grasp her hand. She ran her spare fingers across his sweat-ladden forehead. "Are you sure about this?"

He grunted and groaned, his muscles aching in pain as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Y-yes," he told her.

"So you're just going to leave us then," Toph muttered, a bit of angry fire igniting inside of her.

"I'm doing it to protect you," he replied. "Besides...I'd do the same for you."

"You'd kill me?" she deadpanned.

"If it was between death and living half a life as one of those flesh-eaters, than yes."

She remained silent for a moment. She was pissed off, without a doubt, but she pushed it away. For his sake. "How's your scratch?"

"It's getting worse," Sokka sighed. "Which is why you have to do this for me." Toph didn't answer, nor did she move. In the dim light of his latern, he noticed her bangs had once again fallen into her face. Even though it pained him to do so, and it took quite some time to gain control, he brushed her hair out of her face as best as he could. His hand lingered on her cheek and she pressed his clammy palm harder against her skin.

"We'll be fine," she mumbles. "But...I'm gonna miss you."

"You're the bravest person I've ever known. I love you, Toph," he chokes out between sounds of anguish. She could feel that it was true, but whether or not it was romantically or platonically, she didn't know. "What'll you guys do afterwards?"

Toph shrugged, taking in a deep and ragged breath. "Maybe go search for Sparky and Doom-Gloom's family. I'm hesitant about going to the South Pole. If we can find a boat there, then I'll go, but...there's no promise anyone is still alive out there."

His thoughts wandered. He imagined her walking the long, worn roads of the Earth Kingdom, creating and destroying bridges and camps built only for the purpose of protecting her and Lin. Them moving on without him... He tugged her close, holding her tightly against his chest. He was shaking, crying, but wasn't at all surprised to feel her sturdy, unmoving body in his. She never faltered. She was just like her element. He couldn't help the little laugh that escaped his mouth.

Typical Toph.

"I'm going to miss you," he sobbed into her thick hair. She didn't say anything; only clutched him tight, resting her head in his taught shoulder. Toph surprised herself. I'm not crying, she thought in shock. Giving birth had fucked up her hormones, in her opinion. So when tears refused to fall that night, she only soothed her companion, telling him that everything would be alright. That no matter what happened, whether it be tomorrow, a week from now, or ten years from now, everything would be alright.

She held him until he fell asleep.

Walking back to her newly constructed bedroom, one she shared with Lin now, she found the little girl patiently awaiting her mother's return, wrapped in the Watertribe quilt her Auntie Katara had given Toph before vanishing on Appa.

"Momma?" she questioned. Toph shut and bolted the door behind her, falling onto her knees on the mattress.

"Lin," she groaned, pulling the blanket-hood off of her daughter's head. Her hair sprung up in different directions as she did so. "You should be asleep."

"Why do you get to see Uncle Sokka?" the little girl pressed.

"Lin-," Toph warned.

"But Momma-a-a-a," she whined. "It isn't fair. You get to see him and I don't. I love Uncle Sokka, too."

"I know..." Toph bit her lip, thinking. She feigned a smile, poking the little girl in the gut. "But little badgermoles need to listen to their mama badgermoles when they tell them things. Remember the food chain, little girl." Toph dove down, pretending to munch on Lin's little neck. The youngster squealed in delight, tangling herself as she flailed in the covers.

"Come on," the mother said, straightening the blanket. "Time for bed."

Toph bent a little clot of dirt onto the lantern's fire, there more for Lin's sake. As the light vanished, Lin snuggled closer under her mother's arm. Above her head, Toph mulled the space bracelet over and over in her closed fist.

"Lin?" she whispered.

"Yeah, momma?" she asked her little fingers twitching on her mother's tummy.

"What...what would you do if Uncle Sokka had to go away?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if Uncle Sokka couldn't come with us anymore? If he had to go off on his own?"

Only little cicada-ants answered as Lin thought. "I'd be sad."

"Would you be okay with that?" Toph asked.

She felt Lin shrug. "If he had a good reason, I guess..."

They decided to do it early in the morning.

Toph slowly shimmied away from her daughter's arms; she didn't want the little girl to witness this. Sure, she wanted to cultivate Lin into a tough-as-nails badass like she had been in her youth, but she didn't want her there, in the off chance that she would break down crying. She pulled her hair into a bun, placed the space bracelet on her arm. Sokka barely stirred when she opened his bedroom door. His temperature had worn him ragged. He was dying.

Toph helped him sturggle to his feet, aiding as they shuffled out of the house, across the vast expanse of untamed grass.

After hours of walking, he stopped her. "This is it," he told her. Gently she laid him down. He sat in the tall strands of grass as she felt around. There was nothing there to make it special, nothing there to indicate it had been touched by human hands.

She bent a square hole in the Earth, one long enough for him to lay comfortably in.

Without a word, she helped him down into the plot of earth. Toph kneeled at the edge as he held himself up.

"Toph," he murmured, bringing her face close to his. Their noses and foreheads brushed, his strained breath tickling her lips. She closed the space between them, running her fingers along the sweaty nape of his neck.

His tongue dared to dip into her mouth before he forced himself away from her.

She reached up to her arm, prying the space bracelet off of her arm, dividing the lump in half. She pressed one into Sokka's hands. "You did pretty good, Snoozels...you know, for a non-bender," she told him with a smile.

Slowly, he sprawled out in the dirt, holding the space material tightly in his grasp.

"See you on the other side," he told her, before adding, "Well...not literally."

She shot him one of her legendary smirks, before straightening her spine. She took a deep breath, digging into her horse stance, fists clenched at her hips. Toph stomped her soiled foot, pushing the air with a grunt. The dirt around the hole rumbles, avalanching back into the hole it came from, covering Sokka's relaxed body.

Toph didn't dare move; her feet stayed planted in the Earth as she felt his stifled movement, those last jerks moved by the most basic part of the brain. The part that dealt with survival instincts. The dirt under her body seized and quaked before falling deathly silent, as still as the air around her.

"Goodbye," she muttered, walking back towards the temporary home. She found Lin awake, once again, waiting for her. It seemed like the kid was always waiting for her.

Before Toph could work in a 'good morning', Lin spoke with eery maturity.

"He's not coming back, is he?"

Toph drew back. She was startled, but this was her daughter. Just as bright as she was. The master Earthbender sighed.

"No."

So, what'd you think? I enjoy angst and zombies, so I hope you guys liked it! I actually really enjoyed writing this one. ^_^

No long author's note for you guys! (try not to be TOO disappointed)

Peace, L.