Author's Notes: Surprise! I bet you all thought Big Brother was over, didn't you? Well, it's not! After prodding at some other ideas for a while (aka on the 13 hour drive to Alabama for my cousin's wedding), I decided on writing five other stories including Mamoru. They can be read separately, but they do support each other quite a bit. I have a lot of love for Mamoru, so these are always fun. Hopefully it won't take me too long to crank them out! (Such weird phrasing...)
Ahh, just a quick warning. This isn't betaed, and I'm not much of an editor myself, so... if it isn't that great... sorry. (I did my best!) Toph being the way she is in this story is kind of unsettling for me, but I'd love to know what you think! (That was a prod for reviews, just so you know.)
What You Need to Know: This isn't the tea that Mamoru asks Toph out to in Big Brother. They've become--for lack of better word--friends now, and Mamoru likes to take her out often. (Cute, isn't he?) This is one of their regular outings sometime in the future. He's like... a girl friend for Toph, except that he's a boy. He makes her talk about girly things.
Alisa
Big Brother
the series
Tea I
"Toph, can I ask you a… personal question?"
Toph sipped at her cup of hot tea as she regarded the question that had been posed to her. After of a few moments of silence (in which she enjoyed the quiet rather than contemplating her answer), she put her cup down and said, "I guess."
"Ah!" her companion gasped, as if startled by her reply. "Okay! Toph, do you—" He paused to giggle. "Toph, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Nope." She ran a finger along the rim of her cup unconsciously. "Why d'you ask, Mamoru?"
A secretive smile graced Mamoru's lips as he observed the girl in front of him. "No reason! I'm just a curious person."
"Yep," was all Toph could think of in reply, and she quickly followed it by a gulp of tea that nearly burned her throat on the way down.
"Toph?" asked Mamoru, leaning against the table separating them on his forearms. "Can I ask you another question?"
"You don't need to ask me if you can ask a question, you know," Toph informed him, amusement leaking into her voice.
"M'kay," he said cheerfully. "Toph, do you want a boyfriend?"
She raised a delicate eyebrow at him and answered thinly, "Not really."
"Aww, why not?" whined Mamoru, nearly upsetting his tea as he leaned back in his seat to pout.
Toph shrugged. "Why? It's not like I need one to live. Besides, my parents have been trying to get me engaged since day one and I don't wanna do anything to encourage them."
"But Toph, don't you think you'd like a boyfriend?" asked Mamoru, leaning forward suddenly and nearly tipping his chair. "Holding hands and taking walks together and little kisses on your cheek—don't you want something like that?"
Toph frowned at his accuracy and how much he was making her think. She gave a small shrug in reply and said, "I guess. Maybe someday." Then her eyes narrowed and she said suspiciously, "Why? You thinkin' of asking me something?"
Mamoru gave a tinkling little laugh. "No, silly! I was just thinking, you're too pretty a girl to be alone! You deserve a nice boy to be with."
"Maybe."
"Definitely!" Mamoru insisted. "A nice boy who will watch out for you and who cares about you and who will always love you! Someone like—like… someone like Sokka!"
There was a beat of silence in which Mamoru anxiously awaited Toph's reply, his knuckles nearly going white against the tabletop. Then she opened her mouth and laughed.
"You know," she said, giggling, "for a second there I almost thought you were serious!"
Mamoru looked slightly offended at this. "But—but I was being serious! I am being serious!"
Toph abruptly quit her tight laughter and fixed her sightless eyes on the boy across from her. "You think… you think I should go out with Sokka?" she asked incredulously.
"But Toph, I thought—I thought you… I thought you liked him, Toph!" Mamoru proclaimed. "I thought you liked Sokka!"
"You think I like Sokka," she said faintly—not a question, but a statement. Then sharply: "Why would you think that?"
Mamoru gave a helpless shrug. "You act funny around Sokka. I don't know how, but you do. You act kinda—kinda guarded. Like you're scared."
"I'm not scared of anything!" Toph announced boldly. "I learned how to Earthbend from giant badgermoles, for spirits' sake! Why would one little skinny-armed Water Tribe meathead scare me?"
"Maybe…" Mamoru watched her pout and fold her arms across her chest defensively. "Maybe…. Toph, are you—are you afraid he'll break your heart?"
She breathed in sharply, then leaned forward. "Mamoru, bad things happen to girls who date him. Yue, she's the moon spirit now, and Suki nearly died. He's been with so many girls I can't even count. But me—I'm his best friend." She paused. "He's my best friend." Toph leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Mamoru, I'm not afraid of him breaking my heart. I'm af-afraid that it won't work out and he'll hate me. That would hurt more… more than anything."
He didn't say anything for a long time; he didn't know what to say. Then Mamoru reached across the table and touched her hand.
"Toph," he said, slowly and thoughtfully, "Sokka wouldn't want to hurt you. He cares about you—he loves you."
She scoffed loudly and Mamoru squeezed her hand.
"He may not be in love with you, but he does love you," Mamoru said. "I can tell. I don't think… Toph, I don't think he would ever hurt you!"
"Just because he doesn't want to doesn't mean he can't," Toph spat back.
"Toph, I promise that he won't hurt you, I promise!" he said passionately. "I'll—I'll beat him up if I have to! He won't hurt you while I'm around!"
Toph gave a dry laugh and Mamoru gripped her hand.
"Toph, promise me you won't be afraid, okay?" said Mamoru. "Promise me you won't be afraid he'll break your heart or your friendship or you anything, okay?"
She squeezed his hand back. "I promise."
"Good."
They sat in companionable silence for a minute, each lost in their own thoughts. Then Mamoru grinned and leaned toward her.
"You like him, don't you?" he murmured teasingly. "You want Sokka to be your boyfriend, don't you?"
Toph reached out and slugged him. "Shut up."
The front door slid open with a clatter and Sokka nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Toph?" he called. "Is that you? 'Cause if it's not, I'm gonna have to beat up whoever came in my house without knocking! Hello—?"
He grinned at the sight of the tiny Earthbender as she entered the kitchen. "You could've at least said hi, you know," Sokka informed her. "I was about ready to beat—Toph, what're you doing…?"
Toph pushed her face farther into his shoulder and held him close. "Promise me you'll never break my heart or my friendship or my anything."
"Your anyth—Toph, what're you talking about?"
His arms were around her shoulders and she breathed him in. "Just… promise that you'll never hurt me, okay?"
"Why?" His arms tightened around her. "Did that kid do something to you? Do I need to beat him up?"
"No. Just promise me."
Sokka stared down at the head of dark rumpled hair and allowed himself a small smile. "I promise I won't hurt you," he muttered. "I promise."
"Good." She pulled back abruptly and announced, "I'm going to bed."
"Wha—? But it's the middle of the afternoon!" Sokka cried.
"And I wanna take a nap. You got a problem with that, Snoozles?" she cracked, smirking at him.
Sokka scowled and admitted grudgingly, "No."
Toph grinned. "That's what I thought."
She walked away, attitude even in the way she moved, and Sokka couldn't help but wonder, How could I ever hurt her?
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed. Now, before you click the pretty X in the corner, I have a challenge for you. Yes, that's right, a challenge. If you read this story, you must have some kind of appreciation for Tokka, so here's what you can do for the ship: write a story. Doesn't have to be long or good, just write something and promote the Tokka love!
...Please? (I'm dying of AWS, here! And Tokka Withdrawl!) Do it for Toph!
And, if you want, you can challenge me! I want to write an AU, for some reason, and I need an idea! Give me suggestions and I'll see what I can do!