Rejected
The kiss was firm at first, then gradually becoming more gentle. Toph closed her eyes, immersed in the moment. Then a thought occurred to her. He was using her. Using her. A substitute for her. The prim little Kyoshi warrior.
Toph drops her rock, breaking the kiss, and stares up at Sokka; speechless. A fierce blush creeps up on her, and she turns her head to hide it.
"Toph?" Sokka asked, concerned. He reached out for her, but she backed away. Confused, Toph scrambles to her feet and runs the other direction. Sokka gets up and chases after her. "Toph! Toph!" he shouts. He reaches out again, to grab her wrist, but a rock wall suddenly separates them.
Sokka stops, but not before impacting with the wall. Rubbing his head, he gathers himself from the ground. He hurried around the wall and watches as Toph races around the corner of a building and far out of sight.
He sighs heavily. "Toph..." he whispers. Thinking he had been rejected, Sokka turns around and heads home.
In her room, Toph cries heavily into her pillow. What was that about? He knew better than to mess with her like that. Especially with her emotions. Toph rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. She buried her face into her knees; trying hard to forget the whole thing.
... Walking into his room in the inn, it hardly registered with Sokka the greeting he received from Aang. In fact, he hardly noticed him at all. Usually, it would surprise the warrior to see Aang in the room, because most of the time, he slept in Katara's. Usually, it would upset him. But now wasn't one of those "usualties".
Sokka flopped onto the bed across from the young Avatar, back facing him. Aang sat on the other bed, legs crossed, staring curiously at Sokka.
"Katara tells me you went to Gaoling today. Did you see Toph? How is she?" he asks. At the mention of the Earthbender's name, Sokka curls up tighter. The last thing he wanted was to hear her name. Or anything in relation to her. The wound on his heart was still raw. He just needed some time to get over it. If he even could.
The only thing he didn't understand was why it hurt more to be turned away from by Toph, then it did by Suki. It just didn't add up.
"Sokka?" Aang asks, breaking into the warrior's thoughts. Before Aang had a chance to ask again, a knock was heard at the door. Aang answered it and Katara walked into the room.
Sokka locked eyes with his sister briefly, then quickly averted them. Katara sighed, then motioned for Aang to follow her. The young Avatar obeyed without question, though extremely confused. After Sokka was sure they were gone, he closed his eyes. He let his mind wander, and it drifted back to the war. One scene in particular came to mind.
He saw Toph dangling helplessly over the side of the Fire Nation airship they ransacked. She looked up, and her sightless eyes locked momentarily with his blue ones. His grip on her hand was slipping, and they both knew it.
He watched her fall, everything around him revolving in slow motion. He saw her fall onto another airship, breaking her fall, but just barely. Sokka remembered how terrified he had been. Wondering if he would ever see her again. Which he did, because he lept onto the ship right after her. Still, he remembered thinking it was his fault that she had fallen in the first place.
Sokka's eyes snapped open, and he sat up. Could that be it? Was Toph still angry at him for letting her go? No, that couldn't be it. She forgave him. Eventually. Or had she? Now Sokka was confused as well. He shook his head, rubbing his temples. Everything was just so complicated now.
Sokka raised his head and sighed heavily. He didn't know what to do. What would Katara do? She would probably do what was best. Sokka thought about this for a while. Should he go and make amends with Toph? No. That was the last thing on his to-do list. She'd probably refuse to see him anyway.
Then, a thought occurred to Sokka. It wrenched his heart just thinking about it. He would go back to Kyoshi Island. See if Suki would take him back. He didn't like the idea in the least, but he needed a distraction. Sokka felt bad to be using the Kyoshi warrior, but if it got his mind off the hot-tempered Earthbender, anything was worth a try.
His mind finally decided, so Sokka got ready for his trip to Kyoshi Island. He got prepared physically, but nothing could have prepared him emotionally.
...
"Okay, Katara. You told me where we were going, but you never said why." Aang questions Katara as he steers Appa towards Gaoling. The blue-eyed Waterbender looks over affectionately at her lover.
"Oh, Aang. Can't we just take a trip to Gaoling? Must you be suspicious?" Katara asks innocently.
"Well, normally, yes. But when you announce we're going to Gaoling right out of the blue, then I get suspicious," the Avatar states.
"Oh, alright," says Katara. She straightens up and scoots closer to him.
"I suppose you've noticed Sokka's mood lately?" she asks.
"Yes. He didn't even respond when I told him 'hi' today. Usually, he'd be all wary of me because I was in the same room as him," Aang responds.
"Exactly. So, I think something happened earlier between him and Toph. So, we're going to find out what." Katara explains. Aang nods his head in agreement, understanding Katara's point of view.
"Wait. There's something going on between them? Since when?" Aang asks suddenly.
Katara rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on Aang. How could you not have noticed? We don't need two blind people now," she says, annoyed at how inept Aang could be.
Aang sighs, and asks, "So we're going to see Toph I take it?" Katara nods her head in response.
"I hope you know what you're doing. Because, with Toph, this just screams death." The Master Waterbender looks over at her love, and smiles. The sight of it still made Aang's heart skip a beat.
"Don't worry, I can handle Toph. But, just in case I can't..." Katara says and snuggles in closer towards Aang. "I have you," she finishes in a whisper. The young Avatar smiles and wraps an arm around her. In his heart, he wished Toph and Sokka could find this kind of happiness.