Disclaimer: I don't own atla or lok

Toph squirmed at the sound of him throwing up. She almost gagged herself.

"Are you...all good?"

The sound of liquid swishing around in the trash can was the only thing that answered her. She just grabbed her own bucket Katara left her.

Now they were both throwing up.

After five minutes of moaning and groaning, the avatar and the former chief of police returned to laying down on the bed. They faced away from each other, Toph facing the right wall and Aang facing the other.

"Sorry."

She breathed deeply. "For what?"

Aang swallowed his tainted saliva. "For making you throw up."

"I was going to eventually." She spit into the bucket. "I can do without this acidity in my mouth though."

"Ditto."

Aang and Toph groaned. Today was not a good day. The duo had been in the same positions for three hours now.

Toph shut her eyes and pushed herself to make conversation. "I don't think we have ever drank that much in one night."

"We haven't." He swallowed his spit. "If I wasn't so numb from the amount of alcohol we consumed, I'm pretty sure Katara would have drowned me in the bay."

"I can't remember exactly, but I think she tried. This was your fault."

Aang exhaled deeply. "You could have stopped me."

She chuckled. "That's no fun."

"No. This is no fun."

Toph just waited while he deposited more of his stomach into the waste bin. It took all her strength to resist following his actions. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't think I want to drink in awhile."

"Or ever." Aang held a hand to his stomach.

"I'm not that crazy."

The two were hungover for what seemed like the very first time. It had surprised both Sokka and Katara as they weren't strangers to the younger two's alcohol tolerance. When they were in complete agony the next morning, it took Sokka to hold back his sister from killing the former chief of police and avatar.

Toph grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to her chin. On the other side, Aang did the same and the pull on the blanket would have upset the master earthbender normally, but she was in no shape to back sass at this point.

"Spirits, why did I let you talk me into drinking that much?"

She snorted. "Me? No, no, no. This was your fault."

"There is no way I let us drink this much." Aang persevered through the naseua.

"You were the one that called me at one in the morning to come to the island. You were the one that broke the liquor cabinet. And you were the one that decided to challenge me in shots."

The avatar became annoyed. "That was not me, Toph."

"Do not argue with me, Twinkle Toes." She scowled at the wall. "I may have been drunk, but I remember things before that first sip."

"In the name of Roku, why would I ask you to drink this much?"

"I don't know. You wouldn't tell me. You just shoved a glass into my hand."

Aang shook his head. "No. That doesn't seem right. I had to have had a valid reason for acting like a fool."

Toph chuckled. "You never needed one before."

The avatar shushed his former master immediately.

He closed his eyes and tried to dig into his memories. Gotta think. What happened? Did something happen? Were Katara and I fighting? No. Maybe? Was I resolving something? No. Am I going insane? Spirits, my heart is beating so fast. Why-

Then he remembered. His face paled.

"Hello? You still conscious?"

Aang was nervous. There was a reason he didn't say anything last night. Out of everyone, he had thought Toph wouldn't question his motivation to get drunk last night. He should have asked Sokka instead.

Toph hummed in disapproval. "Arrow boy, I swear to Oma if you are ignoring me-"

"I'm not, Toph."

"Then what is it?"

His voice came out angry. "Why do you have to ask? Maybe I just wanted to drink last night."

It was obvious that the master earthbender was going to give it right back to him. "Oh, someone is a bit snappy? I was just asking a question damnit."

"Well quit it."

"What the hell? What's biting your ass?"

Aang closed his eyes. He didn't want to be so harsh. But he didn't know what else to do. "It's nothing. I'm going to sleep."

Toph fisted his robes angrily. "If I wasn't hungover right now I'd totally beat your ass into rubble."

He didn't answer. He hoped that she'd let it go.

"Don't act like you're ignoring me, Twinkle Toes."

Come on. The avatar closed his eyes tighter.

"Aang, don't make me get Katara in here."

Silence.

The blanket was thrown over to his side angrily. Aang felt the bed shift as Toph made her way to stand up. Each step became louder and louder as she focused on getting to the door. The effects of her hangover caused her to crash into the door. He remained still and was confirmed that Toph was alright when the door was thrown open. The ex chief mumbled all the way down the hallway.

Aang breathed a sigh of relief. The silence in the room allowed him to relax. Eventually, he really did fall asleep.

What awoke him was a sharp and short pain in his cheek. He jumped up at once.

"What? What? Ugh..." The avatar doubled over at the naseua that commenced. When he composed himself, Aang looked up to the frightening sight of his earthbending master with the face.

Eyes dead, more than usual, she had somehow figured out how to make eye contact with you. It was a off setting ability and if you were caught by her gaze, you knew you were in trouble. Unfortunately, it was Aang's time.

Toph's hand came up and inbetween her index and middle finger was an envelope, one he could have sworn he had seen before.

"Katara and you fought last night."

The avatar rubbed his hands anxiously. She hadn't bluffed. She really did go talk to his wife. "Yeah. We did."

"Over this." The envelope was moved through the air like a blade. He figured out what had caused him the pain in his cheek and his hand went to his face to comfort the paper cut.

"Yeah." Aang looked away for a minute. However, Toph kept her head in the same position so that when he did decide to look back, so was she. He gathered his courage and answered properly. "Toph, you don't understand-"

She cut him off. "What is there not understandable about this? You had a heart attack and you thought you could hide it from your wife? The best healer in the world?"

"I didn't know the hospital would send a letter."

"And I didn't know that you were such a dumbass."

He got sudden déjà vu and was back in the days when he was just learning how to earthbend. Toph was never scared to say what everyone else was thinking. Aang swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing. "I am 60, Toph."

"So am I. I'm not hearing the part where you explain why you acted stupid." Toph threw the envelope to her right, hitting the wall and leaving it to float to the ground. She crossed her arms and scowled.

"Roku was 70 when he died, but that really wasn't his choice. Kyoshi was over 200 years old. Don't know how she pulled that off yet."

"To the point."

He trembled. "Toph, am I dying?"

The ex chief could tell from his voice that he was scared. That fact alone caused her to relax and be a little bit softer. Toph would be lying if the thought of her friend dying hadn't crossed her mind a few times the last couple of years. She was sure it worried everyone else as well. Nonetheless, she knew that this was not the way to handle it. Toph sighed. "What did the hospital say?"

He grabbed his forearms and rocked gently. "They said it wasn't too strange that I got one at my age. But they don't know I was stuck in an iceberg for a hundred years. Maybe that did something to me."

"You can't know that." Toph got up and went to sit on the bed. She closed her eyes. "What happened?"

Aang sniffled. "I was walking out of city hall after a meeting with the council. My chest got tight and I felt like I couldn't breath. I walked like that for a block before I fell. I remember people rushing to me and the next thing I saw was the hospital walls. There were a bunch of doctors and nurses. Some officers were there who I assumed brought me to the hospital. I was too tired and terrified that the only thing I did was ask them not to tell Katara or any of you guys."

"Well it's a good thing one of them didn't listen. You know we were going to find out eventually, right?"

"Of course. I didn't think it would happen just two days afterwards. I'm still trying to calm myself down."

Toph put a hand on his shoulder and she finally noticed how bad he was shaking. "You're still alive. That's what matters."

"But for how long, Toph?" He was crying now. "How long do I have?"

"Katara is going to help you and do her best, Twinkle Toes. We all are. But right now, you can't drink away your problems. If anything that would make the situation worse."

Aang lashed out. "What's the point if I'm dying anyways?"

Toph stood her ground. "Don't say that! You don't know that."

"You don't either! So don't tell me what's right and what's wrong!"

She turned her body towards him. "Listen here, Twinkle Toes. No one will ever know when their last day will be. Shit, Sokka could die tommorow, Zuko, maybe even Katara. I might get hit by a car or murdered for all I know. Do you see any of us losing our minds? No. Just because you had a heart attack doesn't mean you are going to die anytime soon. So stop fretting about it. You're the one always telling us to look to a brighter future. Take your advice."

"This isn't just a sign. This isn't just a coincidence, Toph." He leaned forward and stared into the air. "You've been around Katara long enough. You know what happens. It doesn't matter if it's tommorow or ten years from now, it's coming. That fact alone is frightening."

"And what? You were too impatient that you had to speed up the process by trying to kill off your liver last night? Both you and I didn't benefit from that at all."

Aang maintained his dead stare into the open air. "I wanted to forget. If I forgot, then maybe I'd die peacefully, not paranoid."

Toph cooled her irritation with the avatar. She could understand his logic. "Do you know what can get you drunk enough to forget?"

"What." He humored her.

"Happiness."

Aang just hummed.

She continued. "Instead of letting alcohol do the job, just live life. I'm sure it will make you forget more effectively than that bottle of sake in the cabinet."

He didn't answer for a minute. Toph allowed the information to sink in and awaited his response. She was never the optimist, but she'd try for him.

"You're right." He finally replied. His voice came out tiny. "I just don't want to leave just yet."

"You're still here. That's what matters."

"I love you, Toph."

Over the years, she had grown comfortable with the phrase. Nonetheless, it brought a sense of comfort to her soul. "Love you too, Twinkle Toes."

Even though she was blind, she could tell he was anxious. There were times when she could help ease his heart, but sometimes only a certain waterbender could truly help calm the most powerful being in the world.

"I'll go get, Sugar Queen. I'm absolutely certain she wants to talk to you."

Toph kissed his cheek.

"You're not going anywhere."

The master earthbender stood up and put her hands behind her head. She walked out of the room and made her way towards the kitchen.

Aang grabbed a glass of water from the table near the bed. Taking a sip, he found his heart beginning to slow after beating hard against his chest for the last twenty minutes. He figured that a lot of his hangover had to do with his stress. A gentle smile stretched across his face.

There were a lot of people that crossed paths with him in this lifetime.

Who knew the girl dressed in white with the flying boar would become his very best friend.

So a pretty short one here. Aang and Toph finally. FINALLY getting hungover haha. If anything this is just a set up for the next chapter. hint hint. Thanks for reading!