Prompt: Bonnie & Clyde
Word Count: 4,736
we're fated partners in crime.
The ninth time Sokka fell flat on his butt, Katara was fed up.
She knew that an Earth chair sliding a few inches back was not just coincidence. Just as she knew that the recently restocked plates of egg custard tarts disappearing wasn't because of the guests chowing them down like animals—even if Sokka was here. It was also like how she knew the uncanniness of small stubs of rock that weren't there before, but now suddenly tripping up nobles was not just an oversight.
No, she knew who was behind this.
"Zuko!" she barked, yanking him away from his circle of advisors.
Their pompous laughter faded away as she pulled him near the restroom halls. "Ouch, careful!" He hissed as he yanked his arm away from her. "This is a—"
"Royal robe yeah, yeah, yeah," she waved off. "Where's Aang?"
He raised a brow. "He said he was going to find you?"
She facepalmed. "He told me the same thing."
Zuko massaged his temple as he sighed. "How long has he been missing? I've been telling all these people he's been catching up with old friends," he exasperatedly gestured toward the grand hall.
Katara frowned. "Over an hour now I think. I've been hearing complaints about missing egg custard tarts and guests tripping over cracks in the floor all of a sudden."
The Fire Lord narrowed his eyes. "Toph's missing too?" At her nod, Zuko groaned. "Get Sokka and Suki. I'll inform my Uncle—hopefully someone will find those two," he said before disappearing into the crowd.
She sighed as she looked over at the crowd. "I can't even imagine what those two are doing…"
::::
The night hadn't begun like this of course. No, this party was a celebration of the fifth year anniversary of The Hundred Year War coming to end. It was the kind of event that gathered all sorts of world figures, nobles, and high class society and took place as a small gala in Omashu. King Bumi hadn't bothered to show, as he had pressing matters with riding Elephant Koi in Kyoshi Island but more than approved the notion of hosting the five year momentous occasion in his city. Just, without the host…
However, the night itself lent a long and tiresome affair of exchanging small talk with people of status. And unfortunately, two attendees weren't all that thrilled at such prospects.
One of which was the world renowned Avatar, the last Airbender. Hero of the war, protector of the world, and… not a fan of stuck ups. Aang had played civilities for about twenty-seven minutes, before realizing this was not the type of party he thought it'd be. If it wasn't some rich snob trying to get on good terms with him for his status with bribery and praise, it was the daughters (and a couple of sons) of the nobles trying to get him to dance or share a drink or meal. With high society folk simply just proposing the notion of sponsorship to the sleazy old farts talking up their daughter's like their objects to be pawn off, Aang needed a break.
The most sensible thing he could do, was lie to Zuko and Katara or anyone else he bumped into that he was just looking to catch up with other people. It had worked in his favour for a time, until he was cornered near the food tables. With Zuko near the base of the steps, surrounded by his Fire nation advisors who were no doubt itching to see Aang, Katara, who was near the entrance talking with Northern Water Tribe representatives who had longed to talk with Aang again, and the dance floor to his back, filled with dance hungry teens who were definitely waiting to catch him off guard—he had no escape. He was a prisoner of societal convention.
As if one last act of free will, he turned to the food table and reached for the stack of egg custard tarts to munch on before succumbing to the terrors of high class socialization. But then… it was gone.
He blinked and looked up and down the table.
It was just there. An entire plate, probably dozens of pastries just atop each other, but now it was gone. Not like someone scarfed down the platter. No, the silver platter was gone too. It was as if someone just swiped the whole thing. He dropped his head in disappointment.
But then he noticed it.
A streak of custard leading underneath the tablecloth.
Rationally, he knew the five second rule—which wasn't a real rule—had well passed at this point. But at the same time, he was curious if the entire platter slipped under. So after taking a quick scan of his surroundings, he crouched down and lifted the cloth. His jaw dropped as he was met with Toph's face full of egg custards, staining her emerald robes all over.
"Toph?"
"Dammit Twinkles!" she shot her hand forward and yanked him in, staining his sleeve in the process while also letting the cloth cover her presence once more. "You almost blew my hiding spot!"
"H-Hiding spot?" he blinked, looking around them. This wasn't exactly spacious, but it wasn't also cramped. Maybe it was because he was used to confining himself to a small stance thanks to all his training, but he and Toph were practically kneeling and still had head room. "Are… Are you hiding from Katara?"
She scoffed. "I'm hiding, period."
He chuckled as he rubbed his bald head. "Right, should have figured."
She chewed on her half eaten pastry. "But that doesn't mean Katara's not the part reason I'm doing this." She swallowed her mouthful. "She ran to the restroom earlier but told me that when she gets back we're gonna go dancing with some 'cute boys'."
The two seventeen year olds shuddered simultaneously.
"Ugh," Aang scrunched up his face, "please don't talk about dancing. I ran into On Ji earlier."
Toph's eyes widened in amusement. "The little Fire Nation girl from that school you went to?"
He sighed. "That's the one…"
She grinned. "How is she? Is she a looker?" she teased.
He cringed. "Oh Spirits, stop!" he laughed, feigning a swipe at the blind girl. She stuck her tongue out in retaliation as he snatched a tart from her stack. "I mean, sure, she's pretty. N-Not to say she never was but," he chewed with a shrug, "I'm not interested. I just want to have fun. I thought this was supposed to be a celebration not… not some business meeting hodgepodge with speed dating."
Toph snorted. "Hate to break it to ya, Twinkle Toes, but that's how, like, all of these events are supposed to go." With a mouthful she continued, "Bunch of stuck ups… just trying… to look good." She swallowed with a deadpan stare. "Spirits, my parents begged me to go to this thing with the underhanded intentions of hoping some bachelor would dare approach me."
He blew a sigh of pity at that. "Yikes." He took a small nibble of his tart. "I think Zuko's hoping that I just agree to a meeting with one of his advisors. Apparently there's been some talk about, 'reimagining' the Ember Island Players' plays and they want my input."
"See? What did I tell ya! Just business."
He tilted his head. "When did you duck under here?"
"I dunno," she shrugged. "Maybe a couple minutes ago? I overheard someone talking about trying to score a dance with 'that blind girl over there' and bolted." She grabbed another egg custard tart and slammed the whole thing into her mouth. "Figwed, dis bwas da best option!" she smiled.
Aang giggled at the crumbs falling all over the floor and her dress. It wasn't anything too fancy, more of a modest noblewoman garb no doubt. It had no sleeves, exposing her sleek and toned muscles. And its ends were already stained with dirt, which he thought suited Toph, but this was just the icing on the tart.
"How 'bout you?" she asked after finishing her meal. "How did you avoid On Ji and the rest of your coveted fanclub?" she smirked.
He awkwardly laughed. "Ahh, I-I just played off a bathroom excuse." He lamely shrugged. "But I already used it twice in the past half hour and I didn't want people thinking the Avatar has bladder issues so I've just been dodging people."
Toph snorted. "Water Tribe would probably give you flak for not getting your, 'Waterbending' under control."
He cringed as he groaned. "Ewww, Toph, c'mon!"
The laughter that filled underneath the table was joyful, but not loud enough for them to get caught as the surrounding crowd chatter and music blasting muffled their enjoyment.
They were in it for a long haul…
::::
"I'm telling you," Aang advised, "the second you reach for it Katara's gonna see you."
His Earthbending teacher scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "Please, Twinkles, all that's needed is a good distraction." She shot a smug smirk Aang's way. "You see where Sokka is?"
He scanned the whole room through a crack between the tablecloth, but barely saw anything. "No?"
She scowled at him. "Have you learned nothing from me?"
Aang sighed as he released the cloth. He grabbed at his Air Nomad sandals and slipped them off as he sat on his bum, allowing the soles of his feet to plant against the Earth. He closed his eyes and calmed his senses, feeling out for familiar footsteps and heartbeats. And sure enough, after a couple of seconds, he found Sokka. He was standing next to Suki, seemingly exhausted, but was definitely making way for the chairs near the wall on the other side of the hall.
"Okay, so I see him… and?"
"Well, he is the distraction!" she nearly shouted. "I make him fall, you swipe the new batch of tarts!"
"Alright alright! On your go then—"
"Go!"
He sighed and threw his head back, bumping it against the table. Nonetheless, he gracefully emerged out from behind the table as a commotion began. Majority of the crowd—Katara included—flew their focus toward the loud shouts of Sokka complaining about slippery Earthbender chairs, granting the Avatar just enough time to swipe the platter of egg custards without anyone realizing.
Now, back under the tarp, the two toasted their pastries to their celebratory victory.
::::
"Are you not dancing with On Ji because you're not over Katara?"
Aang choked on his last tart. He thumped his chest as he coughed. "Yeesh," he winced, "you certainly wanted to go straight for the gut."
She smirked as she nonchalantly shrugged. "It's part of my charm."
He cleared his throat and mirrored her smugness. "How 'bout you? You not up for ballroom bacheloring because of how things didn't work out with Satoru?" His smile fell the second hers was replaced with a scowl. Her cheeks were slightly red but her annoyance was fuming enough he figured it was less embarrassment, more anger. He gulped. "I-I was kidding!" he hastily amended. The best way to save himself was to focus on himself. "I um…" he tugged at his collar. "I am over Katara… we, er, hashed it out a long while ago." He awkwardly dusted off the crumbs from his hands. "Us just not being… you know, what either really expected." He shrugged, unsure where to go from there.
Toph sullenly nodded as she hugged her knees close to her chest. "I do know…" she softly agreed.
"Toph, you don't have to—"
"I am over Satoru," she affirmed.
"Okay then."
"I am!"
"I believe you!" Aang exclaimed, holding his hands up innocently.
Toph frowned as she crossed her arms. "Good."
"Okay… good?"
"Good," she asserted with a nod.
::::
"He said that to your face?" Aang gasped.
Toph shrugged. "Eh, it's not a big deal."
He frowned. "What kind of nobleman just talks to a girl like she's an object to accessorise his son!" He was fuming. A supposed popular Earth Kingdom goods trader had brought his son up to Toph and talked down to her as though she couldn't understand the concept of having a husband. Aang's annoyance grew as she regaled the backhanded compliments in which the son made of her great Earthbending abilities covering up for her supposed "great flaw."
She chuckled. "Relax Twinkles, I already gave those two a mouthful before cutting it over here to seek refuge." She picked at the ground, carving a smiley face as she hugged her knees close. "And it's not like they were wrong…"
"They were," he corrected. "You being blind is not a flaw Toph, it's just a part of you. And if some stuck up moustache twirling jerk can't see that, no doubt his son is just pulling the same yarn because he's just as dumb."
Toph giggled. "Wow, never knew you knew how to talk bad about people, Aang."
He laughed, rubbing his bald head sheepishly. "Guess you're rubbing off on me in more ways than one." His eyes lit up, recalling an earlier event. "I actually almost chewed out some fashion designers who wanted to use me as a model to advertise their products."
She gagged. "Ew. Like, treating you like a mannequin?"
Aang shrugged. "If a mannequin also flew around the world preaching about the latest Earth Kingdom fashion trends."
Toph frowned. "They want the Avatar… to be a spokesperson instead of… the world's saviour?" Even phrasing it aloud for herself sounded absurd.
He snorted. "What else is new?"
She dug her fingers into her smiley face drawing and pulled her palm out, taking a chunk of the floor out. "Why do they treat us like we're not human?" she spat out irritatedly.
He shrugged again, picking at the new dug pit between the two. A smirk grew on his lips as he turned to the crack between the tablecloths. "Do you remember anything about that snob? Like his hair or—"
Toph blankly stared. "Uh, no. Blind, remember?"
He sighed. "I-I meant like details that stand out or something. Like, could I recognize him in a crowd?"
She tilted her head, furrowing her brow. "Uhh, sure? He's the one short stack with the gold sandals that click and clack. Also the one with that shorter stack that tails him like a second butt."
Aang laughed as he motioned his hands, Earthbending somewhere but not near them. "Not anymore!" he grinned.
Toph was about to ask what he meant, but she felt what was going on outside in the middle of the dance floor. The snobby nobleman had tripped on a surprisingly sudden set of slabs of rock that perfectly trapped his sandals in place. He fell right out of his golden footwear onto the ground, while his son tripped long after, face planting into his father's rear. She giggled at the commotion caused but also because of the elevated heartbeats the two had from embarrassment.
But still, she could do better.
"Alright," she cracked her knuckles and scooted close to Aang, "describe the Dunderheads who wanted to play dress up with you. I'll show you how it's done, Twinkle Toes."
::::
The amount of giggling the two seventeen year olds emitted as they tunneled below was enough for someone to think they were just a bunch of school brats causing no good. Well, the last part of the statement was true. After about over an hour of hijinks, Katara started to clock in on where they were and so the two simultaneously and silently agreed on their quick exit—a small hole beneath their feet and closing it up right behind them. Together, the two slowly and quietly tunneled forward.
Neither of the two were really concerned with the "where" in all honesty.
"How did her face look?" Toph snickered. She turned to Aang. "Was she all grumpy?"
Aang giggled as he shrugged. "I was too scared to look!"
The two laughed before tunnelling another chunk out in front of them.
"But you do realize she knows it's us, right?"
Toph snorted. "Duh Twinkle Toes. But the night is still young and I'm not getting yelled at until tomorrow."
He shook his head with a smile. "Why do I always let myself get wrapped in your shenanigans?"
"Hey you're the one who started tripping up guests!" she accused.
"You started stealing food!" he shot back.
She nodded with a smirk. "And I saved us from an evening of starvation!" She feigned a gasp. "Really, Aang, have you no gratitude to your Sifu?"
He rolled his eyes. "I think that's just a case of how much you're rubbing off on me." Again, the two clasped their hands and shoved them forward, Earthbending out another portion ahead of them. "And will you really not let me light a fire down here?" he asked as they continued to crawl.
"I didn't teach you seismic sense just to trip up rich jerks at parties undetected—"
"Sorta feels like that's one of the reasons…"
"—It's also a useful skill! You should be able to see just as good as me right now." She threw a pointed finger toward his chest. "So if I even catch a whiff of a fire I'm gonna bury you down here."
He sighed. "Of course you will." He then frowned, gesturing around them as he asked, "Can we at least make the tunnel bigger?"
"If the Badgermoles can work on all fours, so can the Avatar."
Aang kept his complaints to himself after that, sending another one would send him even further below ground than they already were.
Another chunk, another section of crawling.
"Hey Toph?"
"What now, Twinkles?"
"Do you have any idea where we're going?"
"Nope."
"Figures."
::::
"Maybe Bumi had the right idea about not coming…"
Toph laughed as she kicked her foot against a pebble, sending it high into the air and into the distance, well out of the market strip the two were walking through. "He tends to have the right idea about a lot of things."
Aang smirked as he playfully nudged her arm. "You're just saying that because he's the one who gave me advice on choosing a teacher like you."
"And look how well that worked out for you!" she proclaimed as she gestured to herself. "You just tripped up a dozen nobles at a prissy party and aided in pastry theft thanks to my teachings!"
He rolled his eyes as he brought his hands behind his head, leaning against his palms while they walked. Though, that kind of hijinks sparked a superb level of enjoyment from Aang. It left his mind to wander to other activities they could get up to. As the night was still young… and they were still getting away from the scene of the crime that was the party.
As it turned out, after twelve minutes of tunneling, they turned up right under the market district in Omashu. With the convenience already laid out for them, the two carried on and accepted the new distraction. While the district was fairly packed—a result of the tourists coming to celebrate the end of the war anniversary—the two had no problem navigating the crowd and finding some space for themselves as they walked by all the stalls and stands. Even though they were immersed within the citizen lifestyle, neither of the two had any spending money on them nor did they hold much interest to really buy anything.
It wasn't to say the two were exactly bored at the moment. Or at least, Aang wasn't. Though a good portion of their night was spent laughing and terrorizing guests, the moments of silence they shared weren't so bad either.
Because they were sharing it.
Aang could tell Toph enjoyed it too. In spite of her blank expression and constant streamline of jokes, he could see the smile on her face every now and then. It was nice. Of course, now, Toph seemed a little irritated but it was less of the fact of his company—he hoped—and more that they had nothing else to do since they had to bolt.
"Are you sure we can't just swipe something from one of these stalls?"
He blinked at her. "Uhhh, pretty sure," he answered. "Since when did you resort to petty theft?"
She frowned. "Since it's been like five minutes since I've done something fun."
"That's not a bad track record."
"Well it is when all we've been doing together all night has been nonstop fun," she lamely addressed.
His brows raised at that as he felt his heart thump a little. He wasn't sure why… but he was touched by that comment. It was nice to know his feelings about tonight's events were mutually enjoyed. She didn't want to waste a moment at all.
Of course, however, she sensed his heartbeat and shot a look his way. "What's up?"
He shook his head and smiled. "N-Nothing." Luckily, before she could press him further, the scraping sound of Earth echoing overheard was enough to drag both their attention to the source. Aang's eyes widened as he recognized the slides of Earth towering above, transferring packages all across the city. His smile grew tenfold as he looked back at Toph. "I think I just found our next activity."
She scrunched up her face. "Ugh, don't call it that. Sounds lame."
He furrowed his brow. "Oh? And what am I supposed to call it?"
She offered a pensive look for a moment, then smiled. "How 'bout 'project'? That sounds all business-like right?"
Aang nodded. "Well then! Let's get our next meeting underway!"
::::
"This. Is. Awesome!" Toph whooped as they skated down the slide.
Aang grinned back at her before turning back to the path ahead. There wasn't much steering to be done when all the movement was left the force of their descent, but he also liked seeing everything whizz past them.
Toph on the other hand, found solace in the speed and clever use of her Element, having never travelled this fast solely by Earthbending alone.
"You were right about King Bumi having a lot of right ideas!"
She laughed as she gripped onto his shoulders, shaking them with excitement. "We Earthbenders know how to have a good time!"
He laughed back. "What about me? Taking you here was my idea!"
She squeezed his shoulders. "Okay, okay, maybe you Airbenders get some credit!" As they hit the turn on a bend, she laughed harder. "But in fairness, you are one-fourth Earthbender so you probably got that from us!"
"Fair enough!" he shouted.
But she had a point. Earthbenders were notoriously known for innovating their everyday lifestyle with their abilities and techniques. It was one of the many facets of their culture he found so amazing. Aang turned back and smiled at Toph's expression. Her face was so full of joy and cheer he couldn't help but smile at her. Toph was, in a lot of ways, similar to that description—most especially in the way she used Earthbending.
But it didn't just stop there.
She was like that in many other aspects of their lives as well. Set aside the glaring fact that she found her own way of "seeing," Toph was a constant source of change and unpredictability in their lives. From the small things like being their alarm system in the face of danger or setting up rock tents for shelter to the more noticeable occurrences like being the group's edge or keeping the quiet away. She had always been impacting them with her personality one way, or another.
"—ng!"
He blinked out of his trance.
"Huh?"
"Stop the cart!" Toph shouted.
Aang whipped his head forward and gasped as he realized they were fast approaching the end of the slide. But in this scenario, it led to a dead end wall with the sign, UNDER REPAIR. Now Aang might not have as good a seismic sense as Toph, but his sight worked well enough for him to notice that behind the sign—just a small platform following after—also stood some clusters of apartments.
"Oh no!" he slammed his feet on the bottom of the cart, summoning a slab of rock up from out the slide—
Only to break the slide itself, causing them to bump right off the slab and into a gap between the slide that sent them straight into the support beams. The chain reaction spun off from there; the slide collapsing in on itself, them crashing into apartments, and a whole rumble of rock raining down above.
Needless to say, tonight's events have snowballed drastically…
::::
"Of all the irresponsible, reckless—"
"You've been invited as guests, among high class—"
"—to even think of doing this—"
"—embarrassing my name, your names, my name—"
"Honestly," Katara and Zuko crossed their arms across their chest and narrowed their eyes down at them, "do you have anything to say for yourself?" they said together.
Toph and Aang exchanged a look, both holding back on their laughter. All things considered, these two were pretty authoritatively intimidating when it got down to it. Yet their hivemind speaking was saving Aang from really feeling the fear. He instead chose to bite back on his laughter and left Toph to take the lead.
"Uhh," she giggled, "since when did you two get in sync?"
The two annoyedly glanced back at each other before scowling at her. "That's not the issue here!" they shouted together. "Hey! Stop copying me!"
At that, Toph turned to Aang and jerked her thumb to her left. "Wanna bounce?"
The two turned back on them. "Don't you dare! Hey, I said stop that!" they both slapped each other's hands away.
Aang nodded with a smile. At that, the two simultaneously engulfed themselves in a cocoon of rock, pulling themselves deep into the Earth much to the spite of Katara and Zuko. Only turning up just a few yards away from the gala, the two laughed as they emerged from their Earth cocoons and ducked into an alleyway.
"Man, she was so mad!" Toph giggled, leaning up against the wall.
Aang rubbed his head as he blew a sigh. "I was sure Zuko was 'bout to burn my behind."
"That's why you need me around Twinkle Toes," she jerked her thumb toward her chest as she haughtily puffed her chest. "No one's burning anyone's behinds with me around."
He smiled. "Yeah, guess I can always count on you to be my partner, huh?"
Maybe he was seeing things.
Maybe the dark lighting of the alley was just playing tricks on him.
Or maybe he had seen what he had seen, but just gave Toph the benefit of a doubt.
But… he could've sworn he saw her blush. Just before she turned her head away. It was then that he realized that this was some of the most fun he had had in a long while. He also could've been stuck in his head about it all week. But, something inside him sparked his impulsiveness. Maybe it was his one-fourth Earthbending, or perhaps it was because he had spent an entire evening with her—Aang just knew he had to be rock-like.
"Hey, Toph," he called out.
She turned back and raised a skeptical brow.
He cleared his throat. "Uhh, assuming Zuko's not too mad about this night and he hasn't revoked our invites to his and Mai's wedding next month—" he swayed back and forth as he awkwardly smiled, "Do you uh… do you wanna do this again?"
She "stared" at him for a moment. Her eyes weren't meeting his, but he could feel her feet were. Somehow. He just knew she was giving him the glare in her own way. After what felt like another century in ice, she crossed her arms and smiled back at him. "Alright. Consider it a date, Twinkle Toes."
Aang's eyes widened in shock as Toph leaned over and pecked his cheek.
"Don't get too cocky 'bout those either," she warned, pointing a threatening finger his way.
He merely chuckled and nodded, waving goodbye as she parted ways, no doubt headed to her current temporary stay. Aang, in turn, spun around and whooped, shooting himself high into the air with his Airbending before descending gracefully with a giddy expression on his face. Because for the first time, he was finally looking forward to attending a fancy party for once.
And the feeling was more than mutual of course.
A/N: So Bonnie and Clyde, a classic crime duo. Though to be honest, their relationship was actually more messed up and toxic than most realize it was and I decided I wanted to highlight the mischief part of what "Bonnie and Clyde" duo means. These two are the absolute MONARCHS when it comes to shenanigans and hijinks.
Among the commentary of Bonnie and Clyde's relationship, the toxicity and unhealthiness of it is something I wanted to contrast in Taang's relationship in this story. They prop each other's shenanigans, sure, but evidently, they understand each other and know the other well enough. I know it's kinda weird tangent to go off of but I liked working with it!
Also, I'd like to take this time to give a shoutout to avatarfan16 on FFN. They wrote "Meet Me Under the Table", a Taang fic in which well, judging from the title you can see where I drew some of my inspiration from. ( ^‿^)
I made a promise to myself to make sure these weren't too long but obviously I got carried away and went with a scene-to-scene narrative rather than a smaller paced piece, and I'm honestly still proud of how condensed it was. But of course, feel free to discuss otherwise in the comments! Hope you enjoyed!
Until next time,
- Bleh