I have some very intense Tokka feels lately.
Also note: My large story Trials of Past & Present is purely a multichaptered tokka story with some plot twists! Please check it out :)
Disclaimer: Bryke owns ATLA.
The first thing he could hear as he stirred out of deep slumber was the heavy pounding of rain outside. Sokka groaned as he rubbed his head and tried to focus back on the warm, welcoming confines of his soft pillow and linen comforter. He looked around his simple yet comfortable bedroom and noticed it was still plunged in darkness.
As he concluded that the reason for his sudden awakening was the noise of the rain, the tired warrior fluffed his pillow and attempted to return to the shore of his dreams.
A moment later, however, a heavier pounding came at his front door. Sokka groaned and realized it was not the rain.
"Go away," he silently called out, hoping that whoever was intruding on his slumber would get the message and leave.
He closed his eyes and strained his ears to listen to anything other than the heavy downpour on the roof. A few moments passed and contently he snugged down further into his pillow, yawning. Probably a drunk hobo or something.
He began to drift off once more.
Not even a minute later, the loud pounding increased in velocity and tempo. The tribesman shot up in his bed, eyes red and blurry from sleep, a frown marrowing his features.
He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, which indicated it was past three in the morning.
"Ugh, who the hell is coming to annoy me this late? I gotta be at City Hall in four hours, for Agni's sake."
As the pounding continued, Sokka realized he would not get back to sleep, and perhaps it was important. He pulled on his discarded sleeping shirt and called out to the person that he'd be right down.
As he rubbed his eyes, trying to chase away any lingering thoughts of sleep, the insistant knocking became a bit more desperate. Now the warrior was concerned. Had something happened? To the council? To one of his friends?
His heart jumped at the thought of someone harming Aang, his sister, or his nephews and niece. Everyone in the group has been receiving threats from the Triple Triad gang as of late.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sokka said as he headed for the door, yawning slightly. He ran a hand through his loose, disshieveled brown hair.
He unlocked the door and pulled it open. His mouth dropped slightly, his expression uneasy and worried.
The councilman had expected quite a few possibilities; a drunk hobo looking for a place to crash, one of his fangirls, a council member with urgent news about some ocurrence, or worst case scenario, Aang or Katara here to tell him about an attack. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect the sight before him.
Toph was standing before him, soaked in nothing but a sleep tunic and stretch pants, her feet bare on the cold street. She had her raven hair drenched from the rain, loose and sticking to her face. She was trembling slightly, a hand on her seven month pregnant stomach. But what truly frightened Sokka was her face; his best friend's normally strong features were soft and vulnerable, her lip trembling slightly, her sightless eyes crestfallen, and from her puffy expression, he knew she'd been crying.
Toph lifted her head in Sokka's direction from what her seismic sense told her, her face hardening. "About fucking time you opened up," she barked.
A moment later, however, her expression fell and she quietly added, "Sokka."
She drove her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around him with slight trepidation. Once he recovered from his initial shock, he looked forlornly at his friend in such a defeated state. Her tears stained his blue night shirt, but he didn't care. He wrapped his arms around her in comfort.
Sokka lowered his head down and closed his eyes. "It's alright, I'm here."
After a few moments of silence, Sokka gently ushered Toph inside, shutting the door once more, to keep out the unforgiving weather.
He turned on the lamp in his living room and gingerly sat down. He looked at Toph who sat still on her chair, dripping wet.
"Toph, why are you walking around this late in the rain? It's pouring out, and you're pregnant for Tui's sake! Stay here, I'll get you a towel, and you need to put on something warm."
After he convinced her to dry off and had her change into one of his tunics, which was too large for her and reached passed her calves, he boiled some water up to make some tea, saying it would help warm her up.
He sat down in the chair beside her with them now in his kitchen, placing a hot cup of tea beside her. He placed one arm down on the wooden table next to his own cup while he had his chair face his friend, cocnern in his cerulean eyes.
"Toph, you're worrying me. You wouldn't come pound on my door at three in the morning for no reason. What happened?" He gently placed a hand over hers.
The earthbender remained silent, her fingers skimming the rim of the hot tea. She exhaled, feeling ashamed for showing weakness.
But she felt the heartbeat of the man in front of her; the man who'd always been there for her. The boy who believed in her and saved her from being crushed by falling debris on an airship. The boy who held onto her for dear life even as he too was about to perish from the blasts of fire. The man who'd been her most faithful supporter in her campaign to become the first chief of police, and her comforter when she and Saturo had broken up some years back. Sokka knew the real her, he'd always been her source of comfort and encouragement. That was why she'd come her tonight. She trusted him.
She took a deep, shakey breath before directing to her friend. There was no need to sugar coat anything; she was blunt and to the point, and Sokka knew that.
"He left us."
The tribesman spit out some of his tea. His eyes widened and he questioned with surprise. "What?"
Toph took a deep breath before repeating, "He left. Moo Chee left us, me and the baby," she put a hand on her unborn child for emphasis.
The councilman was stunned. He couldn't seem to wrap his mind around what she told him.
"But, how? Why? When? Are you sure it wasn't just a bad fight? Maybe he just wanted to stay somewhere else for the night until things calmed down-"
The bender shot her hand up as a sign for him to stop.
"Things were bad for us lately," she confessed as she took a sip of her tea. "We've been fighting nonstop for almost two months. Over everything. He told me he wasn't ready to be a father. Well do I seem any more ready to be a mom? No. But my mom called saying she wanted to keep the baby for a few years after its born, for its own good, to educate her properly. I told her hell no, it's my child. But Moo Chee agreed with her. He said we couldn't handle a kid, and that I work too much as it is with my task force, so I'd never be around for the kid. My mother also asked why weren't we married yet? We're having a child together. He blew up when she suggested it, and we aruged about it tonight too."
"But you guys have been living together for like three years! And he seemed fine when you said you were pregnant? Where the hell did this all come from?" Sokka asked with confusion and spite evident in his voice.
The chief held back furious tears as she gripped the handle of her tea cup so hard her knuckles turned white.
"He was. He told me he did love me and when I first told him, and he tried to be ready. He tried to accept the idea of us being a family. But apparently I've been "ignoring him" all these months, and care only about my kid and my job," she spat. "As if the kid were only mine! Yesterday we had this huge fight. He told me he had enough of my bullshit and didn't want any part of this. He has bigger dreams for his art career in Ba Sing Sei, and that nothing was holding him here in Repubic City anymore. When I asked him if his child wasn't enough, he stayed quiet and walked out." A few tears cascaded down her cheeks and the earthbender cursed herself for being so vulnerable, blaming it on the pregnancy hormones.
Sokka remained silent and squeezed her hand as a sign of comfort and understanding. He felt a whirlwind of emotions course through him; blind rage and hatred for Moo Chee, sympathy for Toph and her situation, and a small amounf of relief.
He'd never liked Moo Chee for her; The Dark One had moved to Republic City about four years ago to promote some new art designs and paintings he was selling. He'd caught up with his old metalbending teacher and they'd instantly hit it off, dating only ten months before Toph invited him to move into her place. At the time, Toph had just begun to move on from a clean yet painful break up with her first boyfriend Saturo, and Moo Chee had been there to pick up the pieces. Sokka never trusted him with his best friend's heart. He didn't trust any man with it.
"I pulled a double shift, to avoid him so I could clear my head. Being this huge I can't do field work, but I did go over a lot of cases and follow up on leads with my squad. When I got home about three hours ago, he was packing. He told me he didn't love me anymore, wasn't sure if he ever had? He wasn't ready to be a father, and I was inconsiderate towards his feelings." A few more tears slipped down her porcelain cheeks. "He said he was sorry when I called him out on his shit. He tried to kiss me goodbye, but I bended his ass to the ceiling and threw his bags out the window of the apartment. He called me a bitch and said leaving me and this city is the best decision he's made in years. He grabbed his crap and left, saying he was catching the first train back to the Earth Kingdom in the morning. I stayed there by myself. I was so angry, I started bending and wrecking anything that was his I could find. Then I just cried. I couldn't take it anymore, so I came here."
Toph rose her head in Sokka's direction as she concluded her story, waiting for a reaction. Through her bending and their linked hands, she could feel the politician trembling with rage.
"That fucking piece of shit! Is he really that much of a coward? How can he just blame you for everything and leave you! And leave his own kid? I want to kill that son of a bitch."
Toph calmed him down. "I was mad and bended shit around my place for two hours. It's not worth it. I can't be angry now. I'm hurt, and I feel betrayed. I'm not any more ready than he was. We didn't plan for a kid, it just happened. I'm," she whispered. "I'm afraid. I don't know how I can raise a kid on my own. What if I mess everything up?"
Sokka rounded the table and pulled up a seat closer to hers. He placed his arms around Toph's small frame, pulling her to his well defined chest. She couldn't take it anymore. She allowed her pent up emotions to finally burst and began sobbing into Sokka's shoulder, wrapping her arms around him, looking for an anchor.
The warrior was careful to turn her abdomen so he wouldn't crush her bulging stomach and held her. He gently rubbed the small of her back, attempting to calm her down. The sight before him was pure agony.
The bender cried herself out a few minutes later until only sniffling came from Sokka's shoulder.
He kissed the top of her head and continued to soothe her as he spoke. "Toph, that piece of shit does not deserve you. If he didn't realize how lucky he was to have such an amazing woman like you carry his child, than he's a dumbass. You deserve better than him. And you will be a great mom. You already love your baby with everything you've got. You are the strongest person I've ever met. And you don't have to do this alone." He pulled back enough to wipe away a few tears with his thumb. "You're never alone. Katara and Aang will do everything they can to help. Whenever he's in the city, Zuko will help, too. Katara especially, she has three kids, she knows how hard being a mom can be."
Toph nodded against his shoulder, though he knew she was still afraid.
In those few moments of comfortable silence, Sokka made a decision that would change his life, but in a way he would never expect.
He broke the silence. "Don't be scared, Toph. Everything will be okay. You're my best friend, and I will be here with you, every step of the way. I'll," he hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "I'll help you raise the baby, Toph. I mean, we all will, but if it's alright with you, maybe I could be their father figure."
The bender froze, her shoulders tense and rigid against his body. She pushed him back slightly and turned away. "You don't have to do that, Snoozles. I know you, Katara, Aang and Zuko will help me with the kid. But I can't ask you to put your life on hold for a kid that isn't even yours just because your best friend got knocked up by some asshole."
Sokka's heart ached. Did she really not know how much she meant to him? And what life? Sokka was lonely. He didn't have a girlfriend or any kids, and all their friends were too busy with their own growing families. All he did was work.
He gently hugged her. "Toph, I'm not pitying you. I care about you so much, we're all a family. You're not forcing me, I want to do this. I want to help you with the baby. I'm not saying the kid will have to call me dad or think I'm really its father; just that maybe I can be an uncle who's a paternal figure, so they don't feel that void. I felt pretty empty when my dad left for the war, I needed him. I don't want my future niece or nephew to feel the same. I don't have a lot to give my life meaning right now, either; Suki broke up with me two years ago and went back to Kyoshi. I haven't dated or tried making a family. All I do is work at the council. At this time of my life, I want to have something more than just work. Maybe this is a chance for me to give my life a little more meaning. I want to."
Toph was silent until she lunged at Sokka and hugged him tightly, crying a little more. "Thank you," she said into the crook of his neck. "Thank you for always being here for me. You don't know how much it means."
He hugged back. "Anytime. We'll do this together."
A jolt came from Toph's stomach as the baby kicked against Sokka. "What was that?"
The metalbender wiped her eyes and grinned. "Baby's been wanting to kick Moo Chee's ass, too. She hasn't stopped kicking all night, I don't know how to calm her down."
Sokka lifted his hand. "Can I feel?"
Toph nodded her approval and felt Sokka press his large hand gently on her stomach. The infant kicked against his hand, as if recognizing who he was. Sokka marveled at this; he'd felt infants kick before, all three times his sister was pregnant, and even once when Mai was pregnant with her and Zuko's daughter. But this was different; it was as if he felt a new instict awaken deep within him while feeling the little life in there.
The kicks stopped as the warrior absentmindedly rubbed where the unborn child resided, calm for the first time in hours.
"You calmed her down." Toph said, astonished.
Sokka smirked. "So sure it's a girl?" he teased lightly.
Toph smirked as well. "Mother's intuition. And only a daughter of mine can kick that hard." She stroked her tummy proudly.
Sokka chuckled and pulled Toph back into his warm embrace, telling her it would all be alright.
For the duration of the night, Toph held onto Sokka like a life line, allowing herself only one night of weakness. Tomorrow she would go back to being the strong Beifong with a steely resolve and moving forward for her child. But for now, she wanted to soak up comfort in the failsafe of her best friend's arms.
As long as she had her friends, as long as she had him, Toph knew she was not alone.
First chapter done! Toph is a little vulnerable here, but she's going through a hard time!
Reviews please? I'll update faster if I get some :)
~Foreveralways