Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I wish I did, but I don't. It belongs to Mike, Brian, and Nick.
As of this chapter I am going to cut down on Toph's swearing a little bit.
Chapter 3: Katara
Toph grinned smugly as she strode into Katara's room. The waterbender followed her in and quickly shut the door. What am I doing? This is a horrible idea! How am I going to get romantic advice from Toph!?
"Okay Sugar Queen, what's the problem?" Asked the Earthbender. She knows what the problem is! Wait… is she trying to mess with my head?
"Toph, you know what the problem is! What should I do about Aang?" It was an exclamation, but she lowered her voice to make sure no one could hear. Ms. Beifong put on an expression of mock innocence.
"About Twinkle Toes? What ever do you mean?" She cocked her head to one side. "Why would you want to do something about Aang?" Katara blushed. She opened and closed her mouth several times, looking for the right words. Great…just great. She looked at her feet.
"Well, um…you see…Ah! I'm sorry! I forgot your bli-" She stuttered. Agh! Since when am I such a pansy?
"Get on with it!" Toph said, bending some dirt off her face. Katara started fiddling with her Fire Nation hairstyle. How can she not know? Do I have to spell this out? Damn Aang for being so suave and charismatic and bubbly and cute and sexy and-
NO!! BAD KATARA!! Focus! You need advice! She glanced nervously up at Toph. She was standing with her arms crossed, tapping her foot against the ground impatiently. There was a devious twinkle in the Earthbender's useless eye.
"I'm waiting…" She said in a singsong voice, enjoying making the older girl so uncomfortable. Katara closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"The thing is, I've recently been feeling more and more a-attracted to him, A-Aang I mean, and…well, he kissed me on the Day Of Black Sun." Phew, she thought, that wasn't so awkward, was it? This girl talk thing really works.
"Well I knew that already!" The blind girl exclaimed. Katara's jaw dropped.
"You…wait, WHAT!?"
Sokka emerged from the tunnel that Toph used to get back to the temple when she was burned. I wonder if the angry jerk has noticed this yet. He looked at the hole for a few moments.
"Naw, he probably climbed all the way up. Idiot! Hehehe…"
"Sokka? You talking to somebody?" The non-bender jumped. Zuko had emerged from the trees, eating something. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"Hey Zuko! Is that a plum? Where did you get it?" He finished nibbling on the bone of his mystery meat and threw it over the cliff edge. The Prince gestured vaguely over into the woods.
"There's a bunch of plum trees over there. Want some?" The Water Tribe Boy nodded and they began to walk. Taking another bite of his plum, he glanced over at Sokka.
"Hey, do you have any idea what Aang is doing?" He said, wiping the dribbling juice off his chin. Both young men smiled knowingly.
"Last I checked, the Avatar seemed rather interested in the location of a certain Waterbender." He chuckled to himself and reached for a fruit.
"H-How do you already know!?" Ugh! She WAS messing with me!
"Hah! I'd have to be halfway to the Northern Water Tribe to not notice a heartbeat like that! For a second I thought we were under attack!" Toph said. She could feel Katara's embarrassment.
"Toph! How can you be so-" She stopped herself in mid-sentence. Hmph! I will not give her the satisfaction. She calmed herself once again.
"Okay, this may be pointless, but I need some advice. What should I do?" She asked, praying that the infuriating Earthbender would be serious. The prayers paid off.To a certain extent.
"Well how do you feel about him?" Katara was almost surprised by the response. Once again, her hands went to her hair.
"I-I've always thought he was cute, and funnier than Sokka…" She muttered. Toph had to suppress a chuckle. "But it wasn't until about two weeks before we met you that I started thinking about him…you know, that way…" She twirled a wisp of hair around her finger.
"I mean, I thought Jet was handsome and brave and all, but…"
"But then he had to go and be an ass." Toph finished the sentence for her.
"Um, yeah. And there was this tunnel through a mountain to get to Omashu, and we had to kiss each other to escape, and there were these stoner hippies that kept playing this obnoxious love song…" And it makes me think of Aang…"And since that dance party, well, Aang seems so mature, but still playful and happy. And then he kissed me, and it felt like I was-"
"Ew! You don't have to describe every detail!" Toph interrupted. Katara was shocked out of her happy daze. The waterbender blushed deeply.
"Oh! Sorry, Toph! S-so what should I do?" She gazed at the younger girl hopefully. The response, however, was completely unexpected.
"Sounds like love to me." She muttered, plucking an apple out of a bowl on the table.
What!?
"L-love? But I'm only f-fourteen!! And Aang is thirteen! We're not old enough to fall in-" Once again, she was interrupted.
"So what if you're fourteen? I had a friend back in the Earth Kingdom whose parents got married when they were twelve!" Toph exclaimed. Katara's eyes widened in shock and a teeny bit of hopefulness.
"Twelve? Really?"
"Nope!"
"Ugh! Toph!!"
"Look, Katara, the point is: You kissed him in that cave thing, he kissed you on that submarine, you were jealous when he was dancing with that Fire Nation girl, and your heartbeat is HELLA fast when you watch him Earth or Water bend! And from what I've heard of your journey before I joined, you've either hugged him or kissed his cheek at least twenty times!" Her voice rapidly rose in volume over the length of the speech.
"Hey, that was a subconscious-"
"Exactly!! You're totally frickin crazy about him, even if you don't realize it!!" She was yelling now. She tossed the apple across the room. Since when does Toph care so much?
"O-okay, I love him, you win! Please quiet down now!" She whispered. An awkward pause ensued. Toph leaned against the wall, frowning.
"So, what should I do?" Katara asked.
"Just be blunt. I dunno. Walk up and French him or something." Katara turned red.
"Toph!"
"Speaking of 'him', here he comes!" She chuckled, and then she darted past the waterbender and out the door, leaving Katara alone in the room with a half-eaten apple, completely confuzzled. Until Aang peeked in, timidly, his cheeks lightly flushed.
"K-Katara, can I talk to you?"
There you go! All set up for a nice, fluffy, Kataang confession! And as you probably noticed, a lot less swearing. Tell me what you think.