A/N: OMG an update! Now with characters other than Tokka XD I hope y'all enjoy some side Maiko :P

Content warning for minor violence

The next morning, Sokka woke up to clear skies and sweet-smelling air. He turned over, expecting to see Toph still lying next to him, but instead he found the patch of dirt empty, and the earth tent gone.

"Morning, Snoozles." She smirked at him, lounging at the base of the nearest tree, a piece of grass between her teeth.

"Morning," he groaned, rolling onto his back and stretching his sore muscles. He reached for his pack and began digging round.

"What're you looking for?" Toph said.

"A map," he said. "We're getting close to Republic City, so we should probably find the main road."

"Don't bother." She spit out the piece of grass and stood up. "It's just northwest of here, but even if I didn't know that you wouldn't need a map. You'll be able to hear it."

Less than an hour later, Sokka understood what she meant. He could hear the rumble before they crested the low peak, but he was still unprepared for the sight below them.

"Holy Spirits."

The road was paved, and wider than any he'd seen before, even in Ba Sing Se, and it was packed with people, animals, and carts. They were moving in both directions, but there were definitely more going towards the city than away, and the stream was constant as far as he could see in either direction.

"Told you Omashu was small potatoes," Toph said, making her way down the slope.

"No kidding." Sokka followed her, and they found themselves melting into the crowd– surrounded by merchants driving carts filled with food, tradesmen hawking their wares to anyone who would listen, and travelers who looked just them, walking with all their possessions tied up on their backs. Most of them looked tired, wearing threadbare clothes and circles under their eyes. Sokka wondered what they were hoping for– and if they'd find it in the brand-new capital of the brand-new nation.

Republic City didn't have guards like Omashu, but traffic still slowed as they neared the edge of the city.

"So," Sokka said as their pace decreased. "Any ideas on what to do while we're here?"

Toph shrugged. "You're the idea guy."

"Yeah, well you live here." Something else occurred to him. "Hey, are you going to want to stop by your academy while we're in the area?"

"No."

He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. "Can we at least stay at your place tonight?"

"My place is in Yu Dao, which is all the way on the other side of the city and halfway up a hill," she said.

Sokka didn't see how that was much of an obstacle after all the walking they'd already done, but decided to let it go for now. "What about your dad's place– that's in the city, right?"

Her lip curled. "What makes you think I'd want to stay with him?"

He held up his hands. "Just tossing around some ideas. Where do you think we should stay?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

The road veered closer to the water and a strong wind blew in from the north. Sokka smelled salt in the air, and when he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of Yue Bay. "What about Air Temple Island? Aang and Katara are probably away for their anniversary so we'd have the place to ourselves."

"Except for those Air Acolytes." Toph said. "Do you really want to hang out with them?"

"Look, I don't understand why we can't just go to your place. I mean, it can't be that far away, right?"

She sighed. "It's not, it's just that this is supposed to be a vacation for me, you know? And if we go to my place it's not going to feel like that. I'd rather just re-stock our supplies and keep going like before."

"…Okay." He felt like there was more to it than that, and maybe if he waited, she'd tell him.

"You wouldn't understand," she finally said, "after living in a tiny village on an island for so long, but there are always responsibilities when you live in the city, whether you want them or not. And I just want to avoid those while we're here."

"Alright," he agreed, although he still didn't understand how these 'responsibilities' would find them. "We'll just be in and out. What could go wrong?"

/

In hindsight, Sokka probably shouldn't have promised to be 'in and out' of the Republic City market. Forget Omashu or even Ba Sing Se, this place was incredible. He'd never seen such a diverse array of stalls– merchants from every nation could be seen on the same block, and every other tent was selling something cool he'd never seen before.

"Toph, check out this fishing rod! It's made of some sort of really light metal– and feel it! More flexible than bone."

"Woah, when you look in these glasses you can see a picture of Ba Sing Se, except it looks three dimensional!"

"Okay, Toph, you're actually going to love this one– you can speak into it, and then it'll play it back!" He pulled her into the tent indicated by the flashy-looking sign stamped with a Fire Nation emblem.

"Ten copper pieces per demonstration," the merchant said, stepping firmly in front of them.

"Fine." Sokka took out the money and turned back to Toph. "What should I say?"

"Hmm…" She grinned. "Do your best Zuko impression."

"You got it." He bent over the cone and cleared his throat. "How could you say that!"

Toph nodded. "Not bad, not bad."

"Aw, come on."

She shrugged. "Mai's is better."

"That's not fair, she's his wife." Sokka leaned back on the table, prepared to keep arguing if it would keep that smirk on her face, but the merchant interrupted.

"Ready to hear your own voice played back to you?"

"Sorry– yes." Sokka turned back to the machine.

The merchant turned a crank and Sokka couldn't keep his jaw from dropping open when they heard it– "How could you say that!" Scratchy and a little muffled, but undeniably his voice. Recorded, and coming out of a machine.

Even Toph looked mildly impressed. "It's as if the Firelord himself were with us."

"Ha, so my impression was good."

"That thing makes your voice sound deeper."

"Hey, my voice is plenty deep."

"Keep telling yourself that."

He thanked the merchant and they pushed their way out of the heavy cloth tent, continuing through the market. The street had only gotten more crowded, and they were forced to walk closer together to avoid losing each other. It seemed like their shoulders would bump every other second, and Sokka wondered if that was new or if he was just noticing it now.

It certainly wasn't a bad feeling– in fact, he thought he could rather get used to it. Once in a while, their fingers would brush and he had to suppress the urge to wrap his hand around hers. Not because he had to lead her anywhere, just because it might feel… nice.

The thought made his chest feel funny, and he wondered if she could feel his heartbeat change with all the footsteps pounding around them. But before he could find the will to act on any silly ideas, a messenger hawk swooped out of the sky and landed with a screech on Toph's shoulder.

Her lighthearted expression immediately fell, and Sokka knew why before he opened the tube and removed the roll of parchment.

"Speaking of the Firelord," he said. "It looks like he and Mai are in town and are inviting us to stay at the embassy for dinner."

"See, I told you," Toph sulked. "Responsibilities."

"Relax." Sokka scribbled a response on the back of the letter and put it back in the tube. "It's just dinner with some old friends. Plus, real beds tonight for a change."

But Toph's frown didn't lift as he pulled out another map for directions to the Fire Nation embassy.

/

"What I can't figure out," Sokka said as they wound their way towards the city center, "is how that hawk found you. And how did they even know we were here?"

Toph snorted. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not exactly anonymous around here. Something about being a blind earthbender who never wears shoes and traveled with the Avatar and runs the world's only metalbending academy right outside of town."

"…Oh. Right." He frowned, beginning to realize what she meant by responsibilities always finding her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure at least half the people who've seen us recognized you, too," she said, elbowing him in the ribs. "There are only so many Water Tribe warriors I could be traveling with."

He gasped and staggered away in a show of mock offense. "What other Water Tribe warriors are you hanging out with? Are they taller than me? Better-looking?"

"Definitely." She laughed. "On both counts. Incredibly handsome giants, all of them. Jaws so chiseled I could almost bend them."

He chuckled and fell back in step with her, subconsciously rubbing his chin. "Who says my jaw's not chiseled?"

She shrugged primly. "I'm sure I have no idea."

"Yeah, right." He reached out to pinch her side, but she darted ahead of him and came to a stop in front of a stately-looking building next to town hall.

"We're here."

He glanced at his map. "Yeah, this is it– wait, did you know where we were going this whole time?"

She threw him a smug smile. "As you said before, I live here."

He jogged the last few steps to catch up with her and waved his map in her face. "Then why'd you spend the last hour letting me fuck around with this?"

She laughed again. "I guess I just couldn't deny you the satisfaction of being the Map Guy."

He groaned and shoved the map into his pocket. "Spirits, I hate you."

"I know." She grinned over her shoulder, hopping up the marble steps, and Sokka couldn't help but return it.

Mai and Zuko greeted them in the front hall. To Sokka's surprise, Zuko pulled him into a hug.

"It's good to see you, Sokka."

"Good to see you, too." Sokka clapped him on the back. "Aang's rubbing off on you."

"Uhh, maybe." Zuko stepped back awkwardly and gestured behind them. "Dinner's almost ready, if you guys are hungry."

"Always!" Toph dropped her pack unceremoniously in the hallway and scampered ahead of them, following her seismic sense to the dining room.

Sokka found himself staring after her, unable to control the grin spreading across his face, until he caught Zuko and Mai looking at him. The smile dropped and he cleared his throat, looking awkwardly anywhere else.

Zuko looked like he wanted to say something, but Mai took his arm and started walking after Toph. "Come on," she said. "Before it gets cold."

/

"How's the Fire Lord-ing going, Sparky?" Toph asked over bowls of Fire Nation-style noodles.

Zuko huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "Busy. Stressful. Makes winning the war seem like the easy part."

"Victory is boring," Mai drawled

Sokka chuckled. "Yeah, it would've been way more exciting to let Ozai burn it all to the ground."

"Trust me, weeks of debate over livestock tariffs will make you seriously consider it," Zuko said.

"Is that what brings you to Republic City?"

"No, we're here for commerce negotiations with Chief Arnook. We've reached a bit of a standstill and Uncle suggested things would be less tense on neutral territory."

Sokka nodded. "Probably a good idea. Especially if you couldn't arrange it so Aang could be there, too."

Zuko sighed. "That would've been ideal, but he's already so busy and I didn't want to disrupt his and Katara's anniversary plans…"

"What he means is he pig-chickened out of it." Mai smirked.

"Whatever. You try telling Katara she can't have the alone time with her husband she was promised." He glared into his soup as everyone chuckled, then tried to change the subject. "So Sokka, what's the news from Kyoshi Island?"

"Oh, you know… the usual." Sokka rubbed the back of his neck.

Mai raised a sharp eyebrow. "When will you be going back?"

Damn, she doesn't miss a trick, does she? "Uhh, I don't know… probably not for a while. Or maybe ever." He winced and ducked his head to avoid the stares of everyone around him.

Zuko's awkward sympathy was probably the worst. "That's rough, buddy."

Another wince. "Yeah, it's… well it's not great."

"So… what're you going to do now?"

It was such a simple and obvious question (and trust Zuko to ask it), but it made Sokka's insides turn to ice as he swallowed the first, most honest answer. I have no idea.

Then Toph spoke up. "We're going on a quest."

"A quest?" Mai said.

"You know, a long journey where you find something at the end."

"What exactly are you planning to find?" Zuko was still looking at Sokka.

"Captain Boomerang's Space Sword, of course," Toph said. "It's gotta be somewhere in that airship graveyard."

"…Okay," he said slowly. "But what about after that?"

Sokka squirmed and stared hard at the corner past Zuko's elbow. He opened his mouth, hoping a satisfactory answer would come to him, but his mind drew a blank and instead he just shrugged, turning back to his food in defeat.

Zuko continued, "Because I was thinking… Republic City's council needs good Water Tribe representation, from the South Pole as well as the North–"

"Of course," Sokka found his voice. "Have you asked Bato? He's been my dad's right hand since–"

"I was talking about you," Zuko said impatiently.

Sokka dropped his chopsticks.

"Don't you think it would be perfect? You're a war hero, for one, not to mention well-traveled. Plus you'd be a great voice for the non-benders–"

"Alright, alright." He put up his hands. "It's just… a lot of responsibility." Dammit, why did Toph have to be right all the time?

"Just think about it, okay?" Zuko said. "You could do a lot of good here. Plus, you'd be close to Aang and Katara and whatever niece or nephew they're currently creating on Ember Island."

"Agh." He gagged. "You're not making a great case for yourself, Jerkbender."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "What I'm trying to say is that we're all settling down, Sokka. Maybe you should think about doing the same."

Sokka felt Toph stiffen beside him and knew the instant before she did it that she was going to earthbend him in the shins.

"Ow– son of a bitch."

Mai ignored her grimacing husband and leveled her impassive stare on Toph. "You know you're just as bad as Sokka, right? Remind us how long you've been on sabbatical from your academy."

"Oh yeah, that's another thing," Zuko said. "Toph, if you're looking for a career change the city could really use a new chief of police. From what Aang tells me, the current one is okay but you know the population's exploding and the crime problem is only getting worse. They really need good leadership."

Toph nearly choked on her second bowl of noodles. "Me? Chief of police? You know I was once a wanted criminal, right?"

Zuko shrugged. "We've all been there."

"So you'll know exactly what to look for." Mai didn't even blink.

Toph snorted. "Well you can forget it, Sparky. This is your most ridiculous idea yet."

Zuko frowned. "So you're not even going to think about it?"

"What's to think about? Cops are liars and snitches and I'm not about to become Chief Snitch."

"Come on, Toph, be reasonable." Zuko put down his chopsticks. "This city needs good leadership and someone to keep order, or it's going to implode. You've been around since the beginning, and I know you like to pretend not to care, but you want it to succeed as much as Aang and I."

Toph slammed her hands on the table, making all the bowls rattle. "What gave you the impression I don't care?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that you seem perfectly okay to abandon it the moment you get bored."

"Who says I'm bored?"

"Oh, drop the act. We both know you haven't been invested in that academy for months, maybe even years. You were looking for an excuse to bail, but this 'quest' with Sokka is only going to last so long."

"Hey, leave Sokka out of this!" At this point, they were both standing, leaning across the table with their voices raised. Toph's tea had been upset and was dripping onto the floor, but everyone ignored it. "Where I go and what I do is none of your fucking business, so you can stick your plans for my life back up your fiery butt."

Zuko's hands curled into fists, smoke rising from his fingers. "Agni, you sound like such a child! You can't keep wandering around forever doing whatever you want. One of these days you're going to have to take some responsibility and grow up!"

"That's it!" Toph growled and drew back her fist, but before she could earthbend Zuko into next week, two shuriken buried themselves in the table between them.

"Enough!" Mai shouted. "You're both acting like children."

Zuko checked himself immediately and sat back down, smoke dissipating from his hands as he muttered, "Sorry."

Toph stayed standing, although she fell out of her earthbending stance. "Well, I'm not. Not everyone has to 'grow up' the same way you do, Sparky, so stop trying tell me how to live my life."

"That's not what I was–"

She stamped her foot.

"Okay, maybe a little bit, and I'm sorry." He winced and rubbed his leg again. "But it's because I'm trying to help you, in case you're looking for a change of pace. It's just something for you to think about."

Toph glared at him, but sat back down. "Fine."

"Thank you."

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as the tension evaporated, and Sokka took the opportunity to stand up and stretch his legs. "I don't know about anyone else, but I could use a drink. You guys got anything good lying around?"

Mai actually cracked a smile. "I think we'll be able to find something."

/

To Sokka's delight, 'something' turned out to be fire whiskey from '81, and it was damn good. Armed with four tumblers and fruit tarts for dessert, they lounged around the sitting room talking about lighter things. Toph and Sokka each had a couch to themselves to spread out, but Mai and Zuko settled together on one, and Sokka couldn't help but think they looked kind of cozy, all pressed against each other like that.

The conversation quickly devolved into reminiscing– recounting their greatest adventures in a lazy, half-drunk way and arguing over the details.

"And then Zuko captured me and Aang while the pirates had Katara, but I totally played you guys against each other and we got away!" Sokka said.

"No, that's backwards," said Zuko. "I had Katara and the pirates had Aang."

"…Oh yeah, I guess that makes more sense," Sokka admitted, pouring himself some more whiskey. "But I still totally played you guys against each other."

Toph snorted. "The real shame is that Fire Prince Hotpants actually managed to capture you guys. He never would've stood a chance if I'd been there."

Sokka laughed. "Yeah, probably not. Zuko, did we ever tell you how we found this one?"

"You haven't told me," said Mai.

That was all the excuse Sokka needed. "Oh, it's a good one." He tossed back the rest of his drink and sat up straighter. "Okay so there we were– me and Aang and Katara knocking around Gaoling looking for an earthbending teacher, where we hear about this thing called Earth Rumble VI, which is supposed to have the best earthbenders in the world."

"An illegal earthbending fighting ring," Zuko translated for Mai.

"Yeah, anyway– at first we thought for sure the best one was this guy called The Boulder, who was totally awesome and beat everyone pretty much immediately, until he was about to win the championship and then this girl," he gestured at Toph, "beat him in like, two moves! And that's how we knew she was the greatest earthbender alive!"

"Mmm," Toph swirled the whiskey around in her glass. "And then I seem to remember you guys barging into my parents' home and getting me kidnapped by that rat-snake Xin Fu."

"Details, details." Sokka waved his hand. "The point is, we busted you out and then you beat up all those earthbenders at once and then ran away with us and became the most awesome member of our group."

Toph smiled despite herself, her cheeks red from the alcohol and lower lip caught between her teeth.

Sokka found himself smiling back, vaguely aware he was grinning like an idiot but unable to stop. For a second, he had a crazy impulse to get up and join her on her couch, so he could curl up against her like Mai and Zuko, just to see if it was as cozy as it looked.

The Mai yawned, startling him back to the present. "Great story, Sokka," she said, in that tone that always made him wonder if she was being sarcastic. "Remind me to ask Katara for the real version later."

"Hey, what was wrong with that version?"

She ignored him and climbed gracefully off of Zuko and stretched her arms. "I'm going to bed. Don't get too drunk, Zuko. I doubt hungover is best way to win over the Water Tribe talking heads."

"I won't." He leaned up to give her a quick kiss.

To Sokka's mild surprise, Toph put down her drink stood up as well. "You know, I think I'll hit the hay, too. I don't suppose you could direct me towards the nicest guest room, your royal pointy-ness?"

"Of course." Mai didn't even blink at the nickname, just turned and led Toph to what Sokka was sure would be no more than the third best guest room.

Zuko watched them leave, and waited until their steps had long faded down the hallway before turning back him. "So," he said, leaning back on his sofa. "You and Toph."

"What about us?" Sokka narrowed his eyes and wondered where Zuko was planning to take this.

"Nothing." Zuko dropped his gaze and sat back. "Remind me– whose idea was this 'quest' of yours?"

"Um," Shit, he actually had to think about that for a second. "Hers, I think. Why do you ask?"

Zuko shrugged. "Just curious. So where've you been so far?"

"Well, uh," Sokka thought back. "We ran into each other in Gaoling, then sort of wandered north and blundered into the Foggy Swamp, where we got a ride to Omashu. Then after a detour through the Cave of Two Lovers–"

"The what?"

"The supposed tomb of the first two earthbenders– it's not important– we crossed the border and have just been slowly walking up the coast." It was weird to think about, since it felt like so much had happened since then, but the Cave of Two Lovers was the last real landmark they visited.

Zuko just stared at him.

"What?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "It's just that– why are you bothering to walk all this way? You know you could've gotten an airship from Omashu, right? Or you could've sent Toph's father a hawk and had one come to Gaoling."

Really? That was news to him. "Well, it's more fun this way," he said. "You know, I was once told not to focus so much on the destination."

Zuko snorted. "Since when have you believed that?"

Sokka put down his drink. "You know, if you have something to say, just say it."

"Fine." Zuko sat up straight and leaned forward. "I think taking an impulsive, extended road trip is a really terrible way to deal with a break-up."

"What?"

"You know why? Because it's just putting off the inevitable– all that traveling and flirting with Toph has to end at some point, and then you'll realize you haven't actually dealt with the break-up at all."

Sokka spluttered. "First of all, since when were you Mr. Relationship Expert? And second– flirting? I am not– there has been no flirting on this road trip, none whatsoever."

Zuko barked a laugh of disbelief, and Sokka felt his cheeks redden as he thought about their afternoon at the market, then his whole face heat up as he remembered their 'swimming lesson.'

Unfortunately, Zuko noticed and his scornful expression changed to one of mild horror. "Tell me you haven't already–"

"Of course not!" Sokka snapped. "I would never do that, I don't think about Toph like that." Again, he felt his face get hot and heart pound as if he was lying. Except he wasn't lying… right? Unbidden, his mind conjured up images of Toph that first night in Gaoling, all dressed up at the market, and then Toph floating in the lagoon, hardly dressed at all…

"Spirits, you're more blind than she is," Zuko said, taking a long sip of whiskey.

"No, I'm not," Sokka said, although it didn't even sound believable to him.

Zuko shook his head. "Look, we clearly don't have time to get into all your weird, tangled-up feelings or this crazy relationship you guys seem to have, but I just want to say–" he waited until Sokka made eye contact with him, "you should really think about why you agreed to go on this trip, and about the reasons she offered in the first place."

"…What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka said weakly, slumping backwards in spite of himself under Zuko's intense stare.

"It means that if there are any ulterior motives behind this 'quest,' acknowledging them might keep someone from getting hurt."

At that prospect, Sokka felt his heart stutter and blood freeze. He hadn't even considered that. "Who says anyone's going to get hurt?"

Zuko must've seen the fear on his face, and quickly softened his tone. "I'm not saying anyone will," he said. "I just want you to be careful."

Sokka tried to flash a cocky grin, although he was sure the result was a weak approximation. "I'm always careful."

That night, Sokka hoped to fall into a blissful, dreamless sleep, but of course the relaxing night in a real bed he'd imagined that morning did not appear to be in the cards.

Stupid Zuko, he thought, rolling over for what felt like the thousandth time. Asking all sorts of awkward, personal questions.

Try as he might, he couldn't stop turning their conversation over and over again in his head. Which was especially frustrating because its contents had him so muddled and confused it was difficult to remember what was actually said.

I am over the break-up with Suki, he thought with conviction in response to one of Zuko's earlier points. I haven't thought about her in weeks. That realization surprised him a little, and he had to take a moment to stare up at the red canopy and wonder why that was.

It's probably because I realized I'm not in love with her anymore, he thought with a pang of guilt, rolling onto his side again. Was that okay? Was he a horrible person for moving on so quickly?

No, said another voice that sounded suspiciously like Toph. It's good that you're moving on, and finding happiness in other things.

Exactly. He flipped his pillow over and turned onto his stomach, trying to relax into the cool fabric. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Really, this was all Zuko's fault for questioning what was working so well before and sending him into this horrible spiral of guilt and self-doubt.

Toph was right, he realized with a flash of irritation. It was a bad idea to come here.

By the time the sun rose, it was enough to wake him from the light doze he'd managed to achieve, and he resigned himself to a mostly sleepless night. Rubbing the fatigue from his eyes, he rolled out of bed and dressed, then packed his things and slipped out of the room. He hesitated after stepping into the hallway, realizing he didn't know which room Toph was staying in, but the problem was solved when she emerged from a door two rooms over, also fully dressed with her pack slung over her shoulder.

He was about to comment on the coincidence when she grinned at him and said, "Finally, Snoozles. I've been waiting on you for hours."

Of course. "You about ready to blow this joint?"

"Ages ago." She adjusted the straps on her bag and strode past him towards the front of the building. "And we'd better get going, Firelord Hotman'll be up any minute."

"Oh yeah– the sunrise." Sokka lowered his voice to a whisper and crept behind her down the hallway. Just to be safe, they didn't speak again until they were out the front door.

"You were right," Sokka admitted as soon as he felt like they could speak at a normal volume, walking through the sleepy early-morning streets of Republic City. "Responsibility did manage to find us."

"Told you," Toph said, because she could never help it. "Can you believe him? Shoving jobs in our faces, trying to tell us what to do?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "Crazy." But he lapsed quickly into silence again, admitting to himself that as annoying as Zuko was, he had made one good point. Sokka had no idea what he was going to do once this quest was over.

/

As they walked, Toph was quieter than usual as well, although Sokka didn't find it to be an uncomfortable silence. They both had a lot on their minds, after all, and what better way to process than to walk as has hard as they could all morning.

Which is exactly what they did. With only a short break just after leaving the city to eat some dried fruit and drink some water, they walked without stopping all morning, until the sun was high above them and the forest echoed with the rattling drone of cicada-ants.

Sokka broke first, stumbling off the path and dropping his pack, collapsing on the ground next to it.

Toph wasn't far behind, pulling sticky strands of hair off the back of her neck and fanning herself with her shirt.

"Fuck, it's hot," he said when he got his breath back.

"It's so hot… it's so hot…" Toph trailed off, wiping sweat from her neck.

"I could go to sleep right here," he said, tugging off his belt and pulling at his tunic where it was stuck to his skin. Under the oppressive heat, he could feel the hours of walking and mostly-sleepless night catching up to him.

"Same." Toph sprawled out on the grass next to him, resting her head on her hands. "Want me to bend us an earth tent?"

"Nah," he murmured, already drifting off. "Too hot. Besides, we won't sleep that long. Just a quick nap…"

"Yeah," she agreed. "Real quick."

When Sokka jerked awake again, he wasn't sure at first what had woken him up. The air was significantly cooler than before, and as he got his bearings he realized that the sun was now so low in the sky it was almost dusk.

So much for 'real quick,' he thought, rubbing his face and slumping back down. Toph was still sound asleep next to him, and he reached over to wake her and suggest they set up camp here for the night, when he heard a twig snap behind him.

Before he was fully aware of what was happening, he rolled onto his knees and hurled his boomerang towards the sound. But he hardly had time to relish in the muffled thump and cry of surprise before five more figures dropped from the trees around them.

"Shit, Toph– it's an ambush!" he said, drawing his sword as she stumbled to her feet behind him, so they were back-to-back facing their attackers.

"And two of them are earthbenders," she said, catching a boulder from the left just before it hit him broadside.

"You take care of those guys," he said. "I've got your back."

"Same here, Meathead."

And then the fight began.

Later, Sokka would reflect that it really shouldn't have been much of a fight. Their opponents weren't much more than bandits, even if they seemed uncommonly tenacious, but they'd been caught by surprise and were disoriented after sleeping all afternoon. Sokka in particular felt at a disadvantage, as his visibility decreased with the sinking sun.

His boomerang didn't appear to be coming back, probably caught in the bushes after hitting that first attacker, so he was left with his sword as his main defense, which worked great until he had to bring up his club to fend off another wayward boulder.

"Hey Toph, what about those earthbenders!" he yelled, still parrying dual daos coming from his other side.

She grunted, barely ducking a bola and knocking the other earthbender hard into a tree. "This isn't as easy as it looks!"

Sokka cursed and finally disarmed the swordsman, giving him a resounding blow with his club before going after the man with the bolas, probably their most effective weapon against Toph.

With no time for clever attacks, he tackled the man bodily and they grappled until he could get in a hit with the hilt of his sword. Breathing hard, he turned back to rejoin Toph, who was favoring her right leg and still fending off an earthbender and a woman wielding a wicked-looking butterfly sword. Then he did a quick headcount and realized that they were missing someone.

Shit. He raised his sword again, barely time to catch the swing of a massive wooden club wielded by an even bigger thug. The club caught on the blade, and he had to drop his own club to keep the sword from being torn out of his hands. There was a brief struggle, which ended abruptly when the man swung a massive fist towards Sokka's head.

He went down hard with a cry of pain and surprise, blinking through the stars clouding his vision and feeling around on the ground for his fallen club. But before he could, the entire ground heaved under his knees, sending the remaining bandits stumbling backwards and giving Toph a chance to rapid-fire boulders into each of their chests.

"Nice work," he said, slowly climbing to his feet as the bandits limped and stumbled back into the woods.

She grunted, clearly as dissatisfied as he was with the way the fight had gone. The right leg of her pants was torn, and there was a trail of blood slowly trickling down her ankle.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She tore a strip of cloth from the hem of her ruined pants and tied it around her thigh. "Are you sure that's all of them?"

"I only saw five," he said, tugging his sword free of the club and looking around for his boomerang.

"Really?" She frowned, crouching down to put a palm flat on the ground. "I swear I felt more…"

"Yeah I got a sixth with my boomerang early on." He began walking across the clearing towards where it might've landed.

"Wait– Sokka!" She stomped her foot and he heard the distant cry from somewhere up the hill, but it was too late. He stopped just in time to see the arrow before it buried itself in his shoulder.

He dropped his sword and stumbled backwards, ears suddenly ringing and head aching from the hit he'd taken earlier. He was vaguely aware of his breath coming in gasps, and tried desperately to blink through the black spots clouding his eyes.

Toph was shouting something from above him– since when was he on the ground? And he wanted to listen to her– she looked terrified– but her voice was so far away and he was tired.

He reached out a clumsy hand for her arm, but barely managed to brush her wrist before everything went dark.