Written for Tokka Week 2021
Day 1: Sharing
It had been a few hours since Aang had finally managed to move a rock for the first time, but the way he was excitedly bouncing around the camp, one would think that he had just become Earth Rumble champion.
"It's like I can feel the Earth all around me!" he said, zooming around and touching his feet to as many different rocks as he could. Katara sat by their campfire and smiled at his antics, sewing a damaged piece of clothing back together.
Toph, however, who didn't find the mighty Avatar's childish glee as endearing, just crossed her arms and scowled.
Her new student stopped in front of her, still with that goofy smile. "I'll probably be able to 'see' just by earthbending soon, just like you, Toph!"
"If you don't stop annoying me, the only thing I'll teach you is how to pulverize an annoying bald boy!" Toph snapped at him.
Aang and Katara froze, and Toph could feel Aang's posture deflate, and Katara's muscles tense in a flash of protectiveness. Toph inwardly groaned, knowing she would likely get a lecture.
"Sorry Sifu…" said Aang in a hurt voice.
"Toph!" Katara scolded.
"Sorry! Sorry! Just ignore me," Toph groaned, "I'm just really hungry, when is Sokka going to be back with that fish he promised?"
"Oh, he's probably caught it already and ate it all himself," laughed Katara.
"If you're hungry, there's plenty of stuff to eat around here!" said Aang cheerfully. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out to hold towards Toph. "I foraged for some great lemurberries earlier!"
Toph sniffed the contents of Aang's hand and gagged. "Ugh! What the heck, Twinkle Toes? Those smell like sweaty feet!"
"Hey, my people ate these for centuries!" Aang protested. "They're really good for your heart!"
"My heart's fine, I'm not an old lady," grumbled Toph. "I want some juicy, fatty meat, not some foraged berries like a baby bird."
She sighed and flopped onto her back. "Oh, what I would give for some of Chef Xu's roasted hogchicken…"
Katara looked up from her sewing. "Chef Xu?"
"My family's live-in chef."
"Ha!" said Katara gleefully, "I knew you're not as rough-and-tumble as you make out, you are a rich girl after all!"
"Yeah, the food was pretty much the only thing about life with my parents I liked," Toph admitted. "But they even managed to ruin that, only giving me tiny portions to eat agonizingly slowly, because apparently overeating isn't 'ladylike,'" she added bitterly, "I never got to really pig out the way I wanted to."
She pounded her fist on the ground in frustration, but when she felt the vibrations travel through the interior of one of their packs, she saw something that made her sit up straight and her stomach growl.
"Hey!" she barked at Aang and Katara. "There's meat in that pack, why didn't you two dunderheads tell me!"
Both of their heartbeats suddenly spiked.
"Oh, you don't want to touch that meat, Toph, trust me," said Aang, his voice full of fear. "That's Sokka's stash of seal jerky."
"Ugh, yes, rule number one of traveling with us," Katara groaned sarcastically, "do not touch Sokka's seal jerky, or suffer the consequences."
Toph snorted a laugh. "Consequences? He can't even bend, what's he going to do, whine me to death?"
"I honestly wouldn't put it past him," said Katara.
"He's the one taking so long, he won't miss a few pieces," said Toph. She pulled the pack toward her and started digging for the buried treasure.
Katara stepped forward and put a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Toph, please, don't," she said, her voice more gentle and serious this time. "I give him a hard time for being so uptight about it, but I also get it, you know? For Sokka, that snack is a little piece of home."
Toph froze, sighed, and ignored her loudly protesting stomach when she closed the bag back up and resigned herself to her hunger.
Just a moment later, however, she sat bolt upright. "Finally! Sokka's back!"
Katara jumped up and her hand went to her bending pouch. "Are you sure it's him?"
"Of course I am!"
Toph hadn't known Sokka for long, but there was already no mistaking those footsteps. Sokka walked with a confidence that couldn't be faked to Toph's feet. Despite his outwardly goofy, spastic demeanor, Sokka walked with the grace of someone in complete control of their body, through training that he clearly took far more seriously than he let on. Not even the cocky Earth Rumblers Toph used to fight would walk like that. Toph found it oddly fascinating, and found herself getting excited whenever she felt him walking towards her.
She was even more excited this time, because she felt that his gait had shifted, to accommodate a heavy weight he was carrying.
"Oh, please tell me that fish is as big as it feels!" said Toph, her mouth watering.
"I'm pretty sure I just snagged the Unagi's brother," boasted Sokka. "Sorry if you've been going crazy. Did Aang try to feed you some of his rabbiroo food?"
"Hey!" said Aang.
"Yes, he shoved his hand in my face with a handful of those stinky berries," said Toph, as if Aang wasn't there. "But you were taking so long I actually did consider eating it. Not the berries, mind you, his hand. That at least would be meat."
Sokka erupted into laughter as he started cleaning the fish, making Toph smile to herself proudly. Then, he suddenly looked up and snapped his fingers.
"Oh, monkey feathers! I forgot, we already have meat!" Sokka apologized to Toph. "You've never had seal jerky, have you? I got some in my pack, you've got to try some, it will change your life."
"What!?" said Katara sharply. "You bite my head off if I even sniff that jerky, but have no problem sharing with Toph?"
"You have had more than your share of my jerky from stealing it your entire life," said Sokka, glaring at his sister. "Go on, Toph, have a bite while I get the fire going. It's in a sealskin pouch in my pack."
"You think I know what sealskin feels like?" asked Toph.
"Right. Sorry," said Sokka awkwardly. He sat down next to her and dug out the snack and handed it to her. As he moved to get back up, Toph grabbed at his sleeve to stop him.
"You sure this is okay?" she asked. She dropped her voice, not sure if she was supposed to know what Katara had told her. "Katara said this was really important to you. Like it's your little piece of home."
Sokka tensed, apparently surprised by her sincerity, but then hummed thoughtfully.
"Well….yeah, I guess it is," he said. "But that's part of why I want you to try some. It's like showing you a bit of my home. We can't exactly fly back to the South Pole and let me show you how amazing it is, so we'll have to make do."
The idea of Sokka being excited to share his home and culture with her — possibly introducing her to his family — caused a strange feeling in Toph's stomach, and she didn't know what to say.
"So Katara's hit her jerky limit," said Toph, "Did you ever offer any to Aang?"
Sokka thought for a moment. "No, I don't think so. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, since he's a vegetarian, but I don't think it ever occurred to me, even before I knew that."
He elbowed her in the arm playfully. "I guess he's just not as cool as you."
With that, he got up and resumed his task of preparing the fish. Toph suddenly felt her face growing hot, and hoped she wasn't catching a fever.
Deciding she just needed sustenance, she took out a piece of jerky from Sokka's pouch and bit into it.
It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.