Chapter 9: The Reason Why

Sokka sulks as he enters Toph's apartment - just in time before she slams the door closed. He's not really sure why he followed her back here, but she's too busy giving him the silent treatment to put up much of a protest. He guesses he came here out of habit more than anything. They always hang out at hers, especially after nights out. They'd come back after a night of drinking, eat stupid greasy food, and talk about everything stupid they did that night until they both pass out in her living room and wake up the next morning with unforgiving hangovers. It's his favorite part of their little ritual. Still, they hadn't been drinking tonight at their double-date-gone-wrong, and she still seems pretty pissed off at him. It probably would have been smarter to have just gone home and let her cool off for a bit.

While she hasn't said a word to him since the restaurant, he can sense the explosion waiting to happen. Toph paces around her kitchen like a ticking time bomb, her posture stiff. Sokka stands frivolously a few yards away in her sitting area, as he waits for her to say something. He flinches when she finally stops her pacing and slams her hands on the counter, earth rumbling a bit as she does so.

"Well, I hope you're happy."

Even having expected her outburst, he's still startled by it. "Me!? What about you!? You were just as rude to Rini as I was to your date!"

"Whatever, Sokka! Unlike you, I actually liked my date. Tonight was supposed to mean something, but then your little bunny roped us into this stupid date. I had a good thing going with Zukoru, and you ruined it!"

Sokka, without thinking, "Ugh, you would like a guy named 'Zukoru'."

Toph pauses, narrowing her eyes, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Her voice drips with ice, and Sokka's heart quickens at her acute anger. She's always been someone who gets irritated easily and she certainly never holds back her opinions, but it's rare for her to actually get so genuinely angry, like she is now.

He gulps, but presses on, "Come on, Toph, he literally has Zuko in his name. You're telling me it's a coincidence that you were attracted to him?"

"Are you serious, Sokka? That was years ago, and it didn't even go anywhere. I thought you were over that!"

"Whatever, Toph. And by the way, this date meant something to me too!" Sokka defends, though unconvincingly, "I liked Rini, she was…nice!"

"Pfft. Please, Sokka. You're not even trying to lie! We all know that she's just another float on your never-ending parade."

Furrowing a brow, "What parade?"

"You know, your 'I'm pretending to be over Suki, but I'm really not, so I'll fuck every woman in Republic City' parade. That one," Toph shakes her head, her words effectively prickling at his skin, "It's pathetic, really."

Defensively, "You don't know what you're talking about! There's no 'parade'. And I am over Suki!"

Toph stomps around the counter and towards Sokka, pointing a finger at his chest. It reminds him of their argument in his office all those years ago. He fights the urge to move back an inch, not wanting to give her the upper hand.

She punctuates her words with a jab, "Liar! No parade my ass. Listen, I don't care how many women you fuck. It's your dick on the line - if you want to contact genital herpes, be my guest! See if I care! But now, your dick is messing with my relationships, and that's a problem!"

There's a pause in the conversation as she drops her finger, placing a defiant hand on her hip. Her unseeing eyes are level with his chest, and her face remains carefully guarded. Sokka narrows his eyes, "Bullshit. Now look who's lying."

If they weren't in the middle of a fight, he might have found the incredulous, scandalized look on Toph's face to be comical. "What!? You're crazy. Lying about what!?"

Keeping his voice carefully low, "You do care how many women I fuck."

In contrast to his low tone, Toph's voice comes out pinched, her cheeks flushed, "What!? That's insane! Why would I give a shit?"

"Same reason I give a shit about how many men you fuck."

Her head jerks back, like she's been stung. Sokka feels the same sting on the tip of his tongue, eyes widening at his own confession. Did I just say that out loud? The confession hangs in the air for a moment, silently, before Toph continues the argument.

"That's insane, Sokka. We're just friends. I don't care how many women you fuck, or who you fuck, or if you just go fuck yourself at night! It's none of my damn business! And you shouldn't give a shit about me fucking people either. That. Is. Insane."

Her words seem harsh, but he knows she's offering him an out. She's offering a way to pretend this argument never existed. A way to pretend that their jealousy and this stupid, good-for-nothing sense of longing between them wasn't real. She's offering him a way to keep things between them the way they should be. He should take her up on her offer….

But he doesn't.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, "It may be insane, but you know it's true."

Once again, his words hang in the air. But whatever he's giving her with this surprise confession, she doesn't seem to be meeting him halfway, "Ugh! You're infuriating, you know that!? I don't know why I'm friends with you!"

He leans closer to her, his anger reigniting, "Well, right back at you!"

"You're so annoying!"

"You're so annoying!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you, too!"

"You know what I wish? I wish you'd just get out of my sight…and I can't even see!"

"Well, you're so irritating, sometimes it makes me want to…ugh!"

"Makes you want to what!?"

A beat passes, their chests heaving as the absolute infuriation radiates in the short distance between them. Toph bites her lips between her teeth, and out of habit, Sokka's eyes flicker down at the gesture. Toph's question hangs in the air between them, but Sokka doesn't answer her, not with words. Instead, their argument ends - quite abruptly - with Sokka's lips on hers.

Her response is immediate, and neither has time to think. Everything seems to happen at once, and even though she hasn't had anything to drink, Toph feels intoxicated as their lips move together, frantically. They grab at each other, hands desperately searching for each other's skin. The kiss is somewhat sloppy, their skills overridden by the need to kindle the flame between their lips, chasing friction like spark rocks to hot embers. Even so, it sends shockwaves down Toph's spine as Sokka's tongue darts across her lips, their breaths heavy between kisses.

He pushes her back against the wall of her sitting room, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he feels a sense of victory that Toph is letting him take the lead for the moment. Her hands are surprisingly delicate at his shoulders, her fingers nimble as they tickle their way to the back of his neck. He cups her jaw with one hand as the other moves to her waist, his palm spreading smoothly across the fabric of her tube top. He can feel her slender curves beneath the layer of clothing, but it's not enough.

Toph shivers between kisses as Sokka slips both of his hands underneath her shirt, his calloused palms leaving behind a trail of goosebumps as he smooths them up her back, drawing her closer to his chest. It's an all-consuming gesture, and she can feel the details of his body against hers, solid and strong behind their layers of clothes, his arousal growing against her. The sensation sends bolts of electricity down to her lower belly, her own desire pooling between her thighs.

Empowered by the closeness, Toph breaks away from his mouth and moves her kisses to his neck. She peppers her lips upwards, the texture of his stubble tickling her cheek. Sokka's hands tighten around her waist as she nips at his ear, and she can feel the tremor in the earth as the man under her will shivers.

And it's enough to bring her crashing back down to reality.

Sokka nearly stumbles to the ground as Toph roughly pushes him away from her, the shock of the sudden movement making his head spin. He rights himself up, sending an incredulous look at his partner. He notes the swollenness of her lips, along with the redness of her cheek from where it scratched against his stubble, and it does nothing to quell his arousal.

His chest heaving, "What was that for!?"

"Sokka, what are we doing!?" Toph's own chest heaves, and now it's Sokka's turn to be grounded back down to reality as he reads the expression on his friend's face. It's a rare expression on her, one he's only seen her wear a handful of times in their lives - even through times of war. She looks frightened. Suddenly, he feels his own heart sinking...an inkling of that drowning feeling on the horizon.

His shock deflates, replaced by shame, "You're right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…" his voice trails off for a moment, "I just got caught up in the moment. I'm sorry."

He turns away from her and walks towards her couch, plopping himself down in defeat. He rests his elbows against his knees and holds his head in his hands, trying to make sense of the moment. For so many years, he's wanted her. He's wanted to kiss her. He's wanted to take those lips - the ones that she so often puts between her teeth - and taste them for himself. He's wanted to feel her skin against his in the most sinful of ways.

But, they're just friends. And there's a reason why he never let himself go there…

But now, as his lips tingle from the ghost of her kiss, he's struggling to remember what that reason is.

The room holds its charge for a moment, nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing filling the air. Toph eventually moves away from the wall and approaches Sokka, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. Sokka notes the deliberate space she's put between them, yet the distance only heightens his awareness of her.

"Don't be sorry," she breaks the silence, her voice tight, "I got caught up in the moment too. It's just, we're friends, Sokka. We can't…"

"But…" His gravelled voice trails off again, and the unspoken possibilities hang in the air between them. But what if I don't want to be 'just friends'? What's stopping us? Why can't we go there? The thoughts remain unspoken, yet Toph can sense the sentiment. Something like hope tickles her chest, but she quickly flushes the feeling down. There's a reason why.

Toph lets a long, frustrated sigh cross her lips, "I'm sorry for what I said before. I didn't mean it. I mean, you are kind of annoying sometimes, but I obviously could never hate you."

It takes a second for him to remember the fight they were having before the kissing started, but he nods, "I'm sorry too. And, I hate to say it, but I think you might be right about some things. I mean, I am over Suki. It's been two years. We ended things on good terms, and I don't have feelings like that for her anymore. But, it's still been so…"

"Lonely?" Toph finishes for him, and that unwelcome feeling of vulnerability tightens in her chest. She tries to remind herself, It's Sokka. One of the very few people she feels she can be vulnerable with.

Sokka nods again, "Yeah. Lonely."

"I know what you mean. Aang said I needed to put myself out there, have some fun. And I have been. But…" She takes a second to wipe at the unexpected moisture at her eyes, surprised at the sudden wave of emotion crashing against her.

"Hey..." Sokka's voice is soft, his own chest growing tight at the sight of his friend crying, something so rare for the typically stoic, brash earthbender.

He scoots across the couch, overwhelmed by the need to comfort her. He embraces her in a side-hug, Toph's head reflexively leaning against his shoulder as his arm snakes around her back, pulling her against his chest. One of her arms is busy wiping at her eyes, but the other rests against her side, and Sokka uses the opportunity to take her hand in his, interlocking their fingers. Only moments ago, they had been kissing and touching each other in such new, personal ways. Yet, something about this feels much more intimate.

Toph continues, her voice shaky, "It's been years since I broke up with Satoru, and I don't regret it, but…the whole reason I was with him for so long was because I was afraid of being alone. And look where I am now.

"I'm always going out with people, just like Twinkletoes told me to do. And I shouldn't need a man to make me happy, I don't need someone else's approval or support. I know who I am. So, I don't understand. Why do I still feel so damn lonely?"

At this point, the tears are streaming freely down her face, and Toph does her best to sniff them away as she turns her face into Sokka's chest, the vulnerability of the moment threatening to crush her. Sokka's heart aches for her.

He untangles his hand from hers and instead moves it to grip her chin, gently. He pulls it up so that he's looking directly at her face, and even though she can't see, Toph can feel the heat of his skin only inches away from hers. With his thumb, he wipes at a stray tear as it rolls down her cheek.

Toph can feel his breath close to her as Sokka speaks, his voice gravelled, but gentle, "Hey. I know you don't need anyone else's approval. But for what it's worth, you should know that you're not only the greatest earthbender of all time or the badass Chief of Police that everyone else sees.

"You're Toph Beifong. You're smart, you're funny. You're talented. You're strong and beautiful. You're kind and caring…well, you are when you want to be." He takes a second to chuckle, relishing the smile that threatens to tug at his friend's lips.

He continues, steadfast, "You're brave and powerful. You're special. More special than anyone I've ever known, and that's including the Avatar. You're my best friend, Toph. But you're also a woman," gulping down a lump in his throat, "Everyone gets lonely sometimes, even you. And maybe you don't need anyone to make you happy, but you do deserve someone."

"Sokka." Her voice sounds small, and the more Sokka holds her, the more 'small' all of her feels in his arms. Not weak. Toph is never weak. But vulnerable, yes, and Sokka feels a sense of awe that he's one of the few people who gets to see this side of her.

A final tear drop escapes her eye, again rolling down her cheek. But, instead of wiping it away with his thumb, without thinking, Sokka leans forward. His lips land against the tear, a butterfly of a kiss on her cheek. He pulls his head away slowly, surprised by his own actions. He blinks, searching her expression. But, the look of vulnerability on her face is glazed over by something else, and even though her eyes are blind, Sokka senses the unfiltered desire behind her gaze.

Tentatively, he kisses her cheek again, testing the waters. He pulls a few inches away again, just enough to search her face for any signs of resistance, but he is met with none.

He leans forward again, but this time his lips press against hers. Unlike their first kiss moments ago, this one is not explosive or frantic. It's gentle and exploratory, no longer a race for friction, but a steady build-up of momentum as his tongue slides against hers.

Toph's hands reach up to grip Sokka's cheeks as she twists in her seat to better face him. Her lips move slowly, but firmly against his. The position is slightly cumbersome, her back angling uncomfortably, but Sokka quickly rectifies this by gripping her hips and pulling her up to straddle his lap. The motion elicits a short yelp of surprise from Toph, but Sokka suppresses the sound with a sly smile and his lips on hers once more. He leans himself against the back of the couch for support, and Toph's body follows, her chest brushing against his as she angles her head to deepen the kiss. She takes hold of his wolf's tail, taking control.

He is surprised by the heat of the spark that reaches his gut as she kisses him, and for one terrifying moment, he feels like he's drowning in the depth of the kiss. Her kisses are soft, then firm and heady, playful and teasing, then deep once again. She's skilful with her lips, masterful with her tongue, and erotic in all the right ways.

Yet, the sensation threatens to overwhelm him. His mind is screaming at him to stop! Not because it doesn't feel good. It feels too good. Too right.

There's a reason why they never went here before.

But he's too far gone into her expert kisses, and while part of him drowns, the other part clings to his desire for her. There's no way he can't stop now.

Sokka's hands find their way under her shirt once more, but this time, he doesn't waste a moment. He tugs her shirt upwards, eager to see all of her. Mercifully, Toph takes the hint, breaking the kiss to pull her top off over her head. She's left in her bindings, and Sokka dips his neck to press soft kisses to the top of her chest. He reaches around her back to find the edge of her bindings, pulling on the linen to loosen them. Toph lifts her arms as Sokka slowly unravels the fabric, unwrapping her with anticipation, as each inch of discarded cloth reveals another inch of skin. When she's finally bare-chested, Sokka takes a moment to take her in. Her expression betrays no signs of insecurity, but he can read her anxiety in her suddenly rigid, upright posture as her hands fall back down to her sides. She's waiting for his reaction, biting her lips again. She'll never know how beautiful she is.

Her breasts rise and fall with her nervous breath, and the motion sends a rush of arousal down to Sokka's belly. Her skin looks soft, flushed with rosy pink, and Sokka is delighted to find a cute little freckle just over her left nipple. He grazes over the sensitive bud, just slightly, as he smooths his thumb over the small sunspot. He marvels as goosebumps ghost over her skin, her chest arching towards his hand to make her desires clear. Now he's back in control.

Her wish is Sokka's command, and he finally covers her breast with his hand, nipple pinched between his fingers as he palms at the soft skin. Toph's head leans back with a soft sound of pleasure as Sokka's lips close around her other nipple, taking his time to divide his attention between her breasts. He relishes the sweet tang of her skin as he devours her, releasing her pert, pink nipple with a soft smacking sound. His tongue glides skilfully across her skin, a cooling sensation left behind as his warm, wet lips trail up her neck to suck at the flesh just below her ear. Her hands reach up to grip at the fabric of his shirt, seeking purchase as the sensations send ripples of pleasure to her core.

For someone so sturdy, so grounded in the earth, Toph is a remarkably gentle, airy lover. Her whimpers are soft, breathy, then finally deeper as Sokka's hand dips below the waistband of her pants and finds the sensitive bundle of nerves that he's looking for. His motions are slow, but firm, and he feels a surge of feral pride when Toph has to lean her head against his shoulder for support, her hips rocking in time with the steady movement of his hand. She angles her head to press kisses against his neck, and another shockwave of desire flows down Sokka's spine as Toph gently nips at his skin.

Sokka's hand against her sends mounting waves of ecstasy all the way to the tips of her toes, but Toph is left wanting more when Sokka suddenly stops his movements, taking his hand away. She's about to voice her protest, but instead, she's surprised by her own surge of arousal as Sokka releases a feral-sounding growl. The unexpected noise has her sitting upright in his lap, and she listens further to the sounds of fabric being tousled and tossed aside to a distant corner of the room. She sounds another yelp of surprise, as she's suddenly being pulled back into Sokka's now naked torso - more shots of electricity as her nipples brush against the light hair on his chest. His hands smooth over her sides, pulling her closer as Toph wraps her arms around his neck, meeting him halfway in a hungry kiss, their chests pressed firmly together.

Toph's hips start moving at their own accord, seeking friction against her partner's arousal, but their pants are in the way of what she really wants. A part of her is screaming at her not to let it go that far. They shouldn't be doing this. They're just friends. But she can't stop now. Not when he's pressed against her like this.

Sokka releases another animalistic growl as he lifts her up off the couch, her legs wrapped around his hips as he clumsily carries her to her bedroom, not breaking their kiss until he's plopping her down on the bed. They both take a moment to laugh as she lands on the mattress with a little, graceless bounce, but the laugh quickly transforms into another satisfied groan as Sokka's lips once again close around her breast. He hovers over her, propping himself up with one arm as the other tries pulling at her pants. She senses the movement, and helps him by shimmying her pants, along with her undergarments, the rest of the way down. She kicks the pants to the side, leaving her completely bare to him. Completely vulnerable.

Sokka takes a moment to admire the woman laying underneath him. She's always been a special kind of beauty. Not just because of her silky hair or her crystal eyes. Not because of her slender, toned figure, or her delicate face. She's beautiful because, behind her surprisingly feminine appearance and secret grace, everything about her is strong. He sees her strength reflected in the battle scars and work bruises sprinkled across the length of her body. Each mark is reminder of her history. And, while painful at times, her history serves as evidence of her remarkable resilience. Proof of her ability to take pressure and pain and turn it into diamonds. Hell, the only reason she invented metalbending in the first place was because her parents tried to force her to be something she's not, indirectly locking their own daughter in a metal cage. Sokka can't help but feel a moment of sadness for her. Toph may be the blind one, but her parents were the ones that couldn't see just how strong she is, and why that makes her so beautiful.

Said beautiful, strong woman raises a brow up at him, expectantly, and Sokka realises he's been staring at Toph without actually doing anything for perhaps a moment too long. To make up for it, he skates his hand down the length of her torso, hand once again finding the nerves between her thighs and moving steadily.

"Does that feel good?" He asks, unable to recognize his own voice.

"Mmm...yes." Toph's voice is unrecognizable too, pinched by pleasure as she nods her consent.

Looking back, he's not sure what he imagined intimacy with Toph to be like, but the current moment beats anything he could have conjured up in his own head. It dawns on him that this is the first time in their lives that he has Toph completely under his will...well, maybe not the first time. His mind briefly flashes to Sozin's Comet, Toph's life literally in Sokka's hands...but he swallows the memory as that drowning feeling threatens to return.

This is a new type of surrender, one that she's willing to give. It's so rare that she gives up control, in any capacity, and Sokka takes his own enjoyment in watching her submit to his gift of pleasure, as his fingers slip into her. He speeds up his movements, watching in awe as Toph's back arches off the bed, her mouth parting open as her pleasure mounts. He leans down, attaching his lips to the pulse point of her neck, peppering kisses on any and every inch of her skin that he can find. He knows that she's near the edge, as her body starts to tremble beneath him. And when she finally crests that wave of pleasure, Sokka feels the vibrations on her neck as she releases a fervid cry. The sound is unlike any he's heard from her before, and he can't help but feel a surge of animalistic pride at being able to make this woman come so undone.

As she slowly comes down from her high, she fixes Sokka with a cunning look, though her breath is still unsteady, "Not bad, Councilman."

He pecks her on the lips, "Chief."

His eyes flick from her face to the rise and fall of her chest, but before he can resume his heated kisses there, Toph wraps her legs around his hips and flips them over in one swift motion, seeking control again. She straddles him, power in her pose, and he admires the new perspective of her strong form above his.

Just as Sokka tried to do for her, Toph makes quick work of discarding his pants. She scoots her body down as she pulls them off, tossing the pants haphazardly to another corner of the room, before hovering over him once again, propped up with her knees on either side of his hips. With bated breath, Sokka waits for the intimate parts of their skin to meet. But instead, he bites back a groan as Toph's hand takes holds of him. Her palm smooths over his arousal in a steady movement, creating the best type of friction as she works him with her hands. She bites her lips, in that way that she always does, and Sokka nearly comes undone right then and there.

Sokka begs, his voice strained from pleasure, "Toph, please."

She sends another sly look his way, and it's such a Toph expression that Sokka nearly laughs at the surrealness of the moment. Instead, both of them release a deep, appreciative groan as she positions him at her entrance and slides down slowly, finally joined skin to skin.

She stills for a moment, adjusting to his length. Sokka places his hands at her hips, rubbing them in a soothing, encouraging motion. Slowly, Toph starts moving on top of him, and his grip at her hips tightens as he tries to control his pleasure. Toph's hair falls over her shoulders, framing her face as she rests her hands on Sokka's abdomen for support, quickening the pace. They don't speak, but their gasps and sounds of lust fill the room as the intensity of their movements grows.

Sweat clings to their skin, and Sokka feels the precipice of his climax drawing closer as his length slides in and out of Toph. He sits up with urgency, pressing broken kisses against the heat of her neck as Toph rides him with quick thrusts. One of his hands land at her back for support, while the other snakes between them, returning to the sensitive bundle between her legs in an effort to help her along. Her head rolls back, and Sokka takes pleasure both from the feeling of her warmth around him and from her satisfied whimpers as the intoxicating pressure between them mounts. Never in his life would Sokka have thought he'd get to hear Toph Beifong whimper, much less because of him, but he decides it may be his new favorite sound.

He makes his own guttural sound of pleasure as he finds his release, Toph's hips moving in slower, but deeper strides around him. She isn't far behind, and she comes with a beautiful cry, Sokka tasting the sound from her lips with a hungry kiss. Her movements gradually come to a halt, and the two spend a long time just kissing as they come down from the shared high, their bodies still pressed together tightly, skin to skin.

Sokka breaks away from the kiss slowly. He opens his eyes, and Toph's face is inches away from his, her lips swollen, and her cheeks flushed. Her crystal jade eyes are open, and while they are blind, Sokka feels like she's staring deep into the window of his soul - as cliché as that sounds. Their sex had been all passion and desire, pure release. Two lonely people finding some company in each other. But he finds in her expression a seed of something else. Something he feels mirrored in his own gaze. A seed of something more. No, they weren't just any two lonely souls. They were Toph and Sokka.

This is a moment he's been wanting for so long. He's wanted her like this – her body intertwined with his, pleasure taken by his own hand – for longer than he'd care to admit. And, as with everything that Toph does, her lovemaking had been earth shattering, better than Sokka could have imagined.

So, it strikes him as odd, that instead of feeling pure satisfaction as Toph's blind eyes stare unknowingly into his, that he's struck with something else. His chest tightens, his breath heavy with a familiar, unwelcome sensation. Panic.

What did we just do?

Her eyes continue to stare blankly at him, but Sokka finds he can no longer look. He falls back on the bed, Toph's body following him before she slowly climbs off him, falling into the bed with a similar look of alarm on her face.

His body hasn't been this satiated in a long time, yet his stomach drops as his eyes wash over his friend lying next to him. The line that they so carefully drew in the sand has officially been crossed, and that feeling Sokka was so afraid of – that all-consuming, sinking, drowning feeling - threatens to swallow him whole.

But what scares him the most…it's not a bad feeling. His heart swells, and he tastes the potential of their life together from the ghost of her kisses. But still, it's a drowning feeling nonetheless, and it's overwhelming. Too overwhelming.

All this time, he thought the reason why he never acted on his attraction towards her was because he didn't want to ruin their friendship. But, as he stares at the beautiful, naked, strong figure lying next to him, he realises that it's deeper than that. That drowning feeling...it's love. A stronger kind of love than he's ever experienced.

And fuck… the thought that he could love Toph so much, scares the shit out of him. His mind flashes to Yue, then to Suki...Love equates loss.

Sokka wasn't afraid to ruin their friendship, he was afraid to strengthen it. If he loved her like this, it would only hurt that much worse when he inevitably lost her.

This was the reason why.

When Toph wakes up to the sounds of a bright morning outside her window, the previous night's events come rushing back to her – as does her own onset of panic. Fuck. What did we do?

She's not sure what she expected, but when her hand darts out to the other side of her mattress, she's somehow not surprised to find it cold and empty. She's hurt… but not surprised.

The night she shared with Sokka was physically everything she might have imagined it to be. But it was more than physical. His words were so supportive and earnest before he made love to her, and then his touches had been tender and attentive. It's the most vulnerable and intimate with someone she's been in a long time. Perhaps ever. But, she felt it. The panic. She didn't need to see the expression on Sokka's face last night to know that it was a mistake.

All this time, she thought the reason why she never acted on her affections towards Sokka was because she didn't want to ruin their friendship. What they had was already so special. How could she risk it?

But this… This quivering of her lip as she pulls the sheets over her head, urging for the world to go away and wishing that the sheets didn't smell like Sokka. This feeling of having everything she had wanted for so long, real and in the flesh, so crudely taken away from her. As if it were nothing but a silly little dream.

She wasn't afraid of ruining a friendship. No, she was afraid of this…She was afraid of crossing that line, only to have Sokka realize it wasn't what he wanted. If they never crossed that line, she could always believe in the possibility that he could want her. But now she has proof that he doesn't. He doesn't want her. Not in the ways that count.

All the times she wondered why she never let herself go there with him, now she has her answer. This pain. This ache in her chest. This rejection. This was the reason why.

AN

So, not going to lie, this was definitely a challenging chapter for me to write, for many reasons. Writing love scenes doesn't come natural to me, and I try not to be overly gratuitous with them, so hopefully this didn't come across as too smarmy lol. I debated having Sokka and Toph get together this soon, but I feel like the tension between them was growing to the point that it would be unrealistic for them to not address it. However, while they've addressed the physical attraction between them, it seems like the emotional repercussions just got a lot more complicated. I did say it wouldn't be smooth sailing for these too!