Comfy
A/N: Avatar the Last Airbender is wholly owned by Nick.
A misspoken word may be as binding as any chain!
(This was meant to be a one shot but it's evolved.)
Say Goodbye, Say Hello!
As Toph walked out the restroom and started down the long hall back to the main banquet room, she was acutely aware that Katara was also about to exit.
The waterbender's rapid movements told Toph that Katara was moving with purpose. "She's pissed alright," the earthbender thought as she took off running.
"Stop right there Toph, bride or whatever you are; I'm not finished with your ass!" Katara yelled at her.
The new bride hiked her dress above her knees and kicked it into high gear.
"No way you're gonna get away from me, you thieving alley panther!" Katara exclaimed as she did the same in hot pursuit.
Toph felt a sudden sense of relief as she detected her groom, entering the hall, evidently looking for his wayward bride.
Before the door closed behind him, it suddenly stopped as Toph manipulated the metal latches and hinges to hold it open. "I love you, and Katara is looking for you! I promise I'll make it up to you!" she shouted passed him as Toph ducked through the large door. It slammed closed behind the speedy metal cop with a resounding thud.
The Avatar stared for a moment at the closed door with a furrowed brow. "Katara's looking for me, make it up... why?" he asked to no one as he turned in the direction of the rapidly approaching footfalls.
"Stay, ugh, right... there!" Katara said in short gasps. "Damn, oh seas, I forgot how fast... that girl is fast!"
Aang pursed his lips as he gazed at the breathless woman who was standing half bent over, resting her fists on her tanned thighs. Katara still had a hold on her dress' skirt, raised so high that another couple of centimeters more and the mystery whether the carpet matched the drapes would end.
Aang pointed to her exposed legs. "Uh Katara, I think you need to... uh, well just look."
The waterbender looked down and for a moment blushed, but only for a slight moment. A sly smile now curled the blue-eyed woman's crimson lips. "Why, what's wrong with the way I look? Don't you like what you see, Aang? I don't think I've changed all that much, well maybe a step or two slower," she admitted with a wheeze, inching up her skirt somewhat higher.
A robust directed blast of air knocked Katara's hem from her hands, allowing her gown to fall back to her feet.
The waterbender shook her hands to relieve the stinging sensation that ran through them. "Ow, so you like to play rough now... do you, Twinkle Toes?" she asked licking her lips. "I'm not the chaste maiden I once was either. Why don't we find a quiet place, maybe a closet somewhere, and get reacquainted?" she suggested with a wink. "Isn't it tradition in the Earth Kingdom to kiss or was it fuck the groom?"
The Avatar glared at his former girlfriend. "You're drunk Katara, why don't you go to your room and sleep it off? I would hate for Teo to see you like this!"
The panged look in Katara's eyes surprised Aang. It looked like a cross between anger and grief. She crossed her arms over her chest, still flexing her hands. "I don't give a monkey's fuck what Teo thinks," she groaned, swallowing hard.
Aang shook his head. "You don't mean that Katara! You're just confused and upset. I know you love..."
"Stop telling me how I feel!" Katara yelled back him. "You and my brother, always telling me what I need and how I feel! Damn, both of you are so annoying! You don't know how I feel or who I love!" she exclaimed as she glowered at him. "I-I was supposed to marry a powerful bender, and have three kids, and even see my great-grandchildren! Now I know, that was all stolen from me by that fucking little mudslinging troll," Katara swore, giving the finger to the door behind him.
Aang deeply sighed as he studied his irate ex-fiance. "I'm sorry for assuming, Katara. That was wrong of me. I thought since you've been staying with him, that the two of you had a... well have a more personal relationship," he calmly explained.
Katara reached up and scratched the back of her head. "Relationship, hmm, could you really call what Teo and I have a relationship? Maybe a symbiotic one I guess," she exclaimed with a crooked smile. "When I left you, I wandered north, thinking I could go live with the Northern Water Tribe. That's when I ran into Teo and his people again. They were in the process of moving out of the Air Temple and onto a mesa just east. They invited me to stay with them and rest before heading to the pole. Long story short, a few days became a few weeks and then months and yadda, yadda, yadda. In a glider community, there are a lot of injuries, so that's how I ended up as their healer. Plus, they pay me extremely well. I have my own house and office where I see patients. I even have a few Northern Water Tribe healers working for me," she explained, a glint of pride flashing across her expression. "So you see, I haven't been staying with anyone. In fact, Teo started out just as a patient of mine."
The Avatar was genuinely impressed how the waterbender had grown. As Katara spoke to him about her experiences, Aang saw that same confidence and determination that had rescued them all from the desert. "It seems you've made quite a life for yourself, Katara. Having a home and a business is pretty amazing!" he exclaimed with a soft smile. "I mean, if we got married and had kids, there's no guarantee that we would have been happy. Even with Toph, being the Avatar alone puts a strain on even the best relationships. Roku chose his family and his friendship with Sozin over his duty, and it plunged the world into a 100-year war."
"I know that!" she snapped at him. "Remember, I was there when you went on that Spirit journey."
Aang looked on her with concern. "If you realize that, then why are you so angry, Katara?" he asked as he rubbed his small goatee. "I think you've proved that you can set your own path in this world. You don't need any fortune-teller or prophecy or even me to tell you how to live your life. I think you leaving me was the best thing for the both of us, actually."
Katara's tears began to fall. "That's not true Aang! I love you, and you loved me before Toph flung herself in front of you," she cried as she put her hands over her face. "She told me about how she seduced you on that beach! Ever since Roku's Island, she's had her eyes on you, well not literally."
"You knew that she liked me way back then?" he asked in surprise.
"Of course I did! A girl knows her rivals in affection Aang. You were just too dense to know it yourself. All that friendship, take my hand yak-shit she was spewing. And the minute she grew some boobs, she found a way press them against you, didn't she? And just like most men, you went for quantity over quality!"
The nomad's face and ears burst into a swirl of red. Aang had a confused expression now. "I did not!" he fervently denied. "If you knew for a fact how she felt, then why did we all hold hands. Wasn't that your idea, Katara? Was that all just an act?"
Even though Katara was still crying, a smirk parted her lips. "Aang, what kind of fool leaves the battlefield when the war is about to start? She was making a play for you, so I just blocked that clever girl's move. How would you have felt standing there only holding her hand? Perhaps you would have had second thoughts about me, even back then. That's exactly what she wanted, believe you, me! Don't forget; she can read emotions easier than we can a scroll," the waterbender asserted, slamming her fist into her palm.
Aang carefully considered what Katara was saying. Toph had already revealed to him that her feelings awoken on Roku's Island. He also knew that she was conflicted between her feelings of love for him and her loyalty to Katara. Even when the waterbender left him, they didn't start dating for two years, not officially. Obviously, Katara didn't have the same internal conflict when it came to Toph.
"So, it all was just a ruse then?" Aang asked as he thought more about it.
Katara stopped bawling and wiped her eyes. "Not all of it. When I held your hand, that was real," she proclaimed with a small smile. "Don't you recall that mud fight I had with Toph? We were both supposed to be training you, and it got out of control," she recalled clearly. "What do you think started that fight, rather, who started it?"
Aang lightly shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, I was blindfolded most of the time. Sokka thought you must have started it though."
Katara clinched both her fists. "And I suppose you agreed with him! The two of you always to her side because she was the 'fun' one and I was the 'mean' one," she hissed making air quotes. "That cock suck'n mudder was always trying to make me look bad! Just because she grew up all rich and noble doesn't mean skunk-bear shit in this world!"
Aang bit hard into his bottom lip as blood rushed into his mouth. "Please, and I'm asking you nicely, don't call my wife out of her name again," he warned crossly. "You have certainly picked up some, colorful language, Katara."
Katara wanted to draw back in that last insult even as it slipped from her lips. She knew she had gone too far, but she didn't want to admit it. She just shrugged her compliance as she looked away.
Aang stood for a few moments trying to think about what to say. He really didn't want to leave her feeling bitter and hurt. "I think we do need to go someplace private and talk Katara, but Toph has to come too. That way all of us are hearing the same thing, right my love?"
Slowly the door behind them opened, and Toph gingerly stepped out to stand behind her husband. "Okay Aang, whatever you say," she replied shyly.
Katara sardonically snickered as she watched Toph shuffle out. "Oh, give me a break! What are we suddenly... a quiet, demure maiden now? You already told me that wave has rolled off the beach, Toph! You're anything but quiet and demure," the waterbender accused.
Toph smiled her signature Cheshire cat style grin. "Like you're one to talk Sweetness. You're just pretending to be all tough and bitchy. Okay, I'll give you bitchy," Toph conceded with a wicked lilt of her voice.
Katara moved into her waterbending stance. "Oh, I'm tough enough to kick your butt, you man-stealer!"
Toph put her hands on her hips. "You know Sugar Queen, striking an officer of the law in this city can get you a year in jail. Striking me can put you in the hospital, fuck jail," she declared, putting a thumb to the side of her nose and blowing out a booger unto the tiled floor.
"Ew, gross as ever!" Katara declared with a grimace. "Somebody has to pick that up now!"
"She's right Toph, that was pretty disgusting," Aang agreed.
It was the earthbender's time to be shocked. "What! Are you agreeing with Miss Fussy Britches now, Twinkle Toes!" Toph shrieked at her new husband. "Maybe you should have married her instead! There is still time right? Just go ahead and marry Katara if you think I'm that disgusting, Aang! You have my permission! I mean, if you're gonna turn..."
The Avatar spun around and kissed his new bride passionately, square on her open mouth. Toph could feel his hands cupping her bottom, kneading each cheek vigorously. Her anger drained away as quickly as a light spring rain.
When they finally parted for air, she leaned upon his chest. "I thought, you said, I was disgusting," she panted with a satisfied hum.
Aang smiled, loving the feeling of her next to him. "I would never tell you that you're disgusting, my love. I just agreed that what you did was kind of gross. I know you've done it plenty, but that's outside in the dirt or grass. It's okay out there."
Toph nodded. "Now that I think about, you're right Aang, and sorry for calling you Twinkle Toes again. I guess that two I owe you now."
"Uh, excuse me... future husband, but when are we going to do this?" Katara asked tapping Aang on the shoulder.
"Future husband?" Toph said as she left his embrace.
The nomad turned and faced the waterbender with a click of his teeth. "Do what Katara, are you still wasted? Currently, I have zero plans to marry you!" he informed her in no uncertain terms.
Katara smiled victoriously. "That's not what she said. Toph said she gives you her permission to marry me and according to Southern Water Tribe law, as long as I accept, you're bound to do it... future husband," she informed the both of them. "So, do we do it now, or just set the date, Aang?"
Toph stepped in front of her husband, holding out her arms. "I don't know what you're thinking Sugar Queen in that swamp you call a brain, but Aang married me and that means by default, it's a big no to you! Besides, he's air, not water! Your backward laws don't apply to him!" she fired back pointing a finger in the waterbender's general direction. "Tell her Aang, she dead wrong!"
Silence ensued as her husband dropped his head.
"So, you do remember, don't you Aang?" Katara said with a knowing look.
Toph was getting fed up with all the innuendo and questioning now. "Aang, just tell me what the earth is going on!" she yelled at the both of them.