Disclaimer: Avatar is not, has not, and will never been mine. :(

AN: This is an AU one, set in modern time, but I kept Toph's blindness and bending.

9. Vision

Sokka stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it. Previously, he had been chasing Toph in the shallow waters near the shore, avoiding the small shifts in the sand under their feet which was really the work of Toph, trying to furtively Earthbend the sand without the other tourists noticing. And then, the airplane flew overhead and no one but Sokka even seemed to notice. But he did notice, and then he stopped and Toph Earthbent the ground right below him and he fell, luckily not face first, into the water, watching as a plane flew by, bearing the words "Marry Me Lia." It could have said anything for all Sokka cared, because all he knew is that it gave him the most wonderful idea in the world.

He had been trying to think of a way to propose for three months now; ever since the day he first saw the diamond ring in the antique shop and instantly thought of her. But he wasn't sure just how to propose, or when to would be the right moment until he remembered there beach trip. Because proposing on the beach would be romantic, right?"

"No. No. No." Katara nearly yelled when he told her. Around them, their friends sprawled in different positions on the extra-large, first class seats that Aang had somehow happened to score for free through his excellent connections, except for Katara and Sokka, who were awake. Sokka, because he was never able to sleep on airplanes and Katara because she just never seemed to sleep.

"You can't do the simple, down on one knee, "Will you marry me?" proposal. Who do you think you are some hobo from off the street? Toph is from the richest family in New York and she'll be expecting something better than just a run of the mill proposal. If you don't go extravagant… she might… she might say no, Sokka."

Sokka tried to say that Toph wasn't like her uptight parents, and didn't care about glamorous things, but Katara said that all girls wanted glamorous things for there wedding, and that he couldn't understand as he was a guy. Toph started murmuring something that moment, nestling her head further into his shoulder, and the two siblings stopped talking.

So that proposal was out and Sokka spent half his trip, and half his trip budget on the little computer in the deli of the hotel, looking at blogs and message boards, trying to find a creative way to propose.

And now finally, he knew what he was going to do. He probably should have known it was stupid plan, because right after he saw the plane and he was thrown to the ground, his wonderful, soon-to-be fiancée asked, "What's up Snoozles? Your hearts beating up a storm." That should have made him remember, because hello, she used her earthbending to sense vibrations since she couldn't see. But Sokka wasn't the brightest candle on the menorah, and in his excitement over finally finding the perfect way to propose, he just kinda forgot that the woman he loved was blind.

Sokka ran past the sunbathing Katara, kicking up sand and water, some of which splattered on her and she shrieked in disgust; past the volleyball playing Ty Lee and Aang, the latter who had stopped playing at the sound of his wife's distress; past the reclining Mai and Zuko, who didn't really notice, and out to the parking garage.

…

It took him about thirty minutes to get to the plane rental store, a few thousands to get the ad, and then another twenty minutes to get back to the beach. And right as he made it back to the beach, he remembered his cover story was that he was going to get food from McDonalds for the group, so he went back and stood in line for nearly twenty minutes, and then finally got to the beach with about one minute and thirty seconds until the plane would fly overhead. And it was at that moment as he got back to his friends, holding seven orders from McDonalds, when he suddenly remembered Toph was blind. He nearly dropped the food, only stopping himself from doing so because he knew Toph would kill him if he got her Big Mac full of sand.

"Food's here!" Katara yelled, and they all gathered around him.

"What took so long?" Aang asked, tearing into his salad.

"We were starting to get worried." Ty Lee said, carefully pouring nearly ten packs of ketchup onto her chicken nuggets.

"Well, Ty Lee was. The rest of us were making bets on what the holdup was. I thought you hit a kid," Zuko announced, pulling the lettuce off his spicy chicken sandwich.

"I thought you couldn't find the McDonalds-" Was all Mai added to the conversation.

"When it's right across the street!" Toph yelled, then she laughed and punched Sokka in the shoulder. "I had faith in you though. Faith that you'd eventually figure out how to start the car."

"Haha," Sokka laughed dryly. A plane flew overhead, stopping the conversation for a moment, and then laughter broke out over the group.

"Nice going Sokka," Zuko managed to gasp out between great chortling laughs.

Katara was the first one to recover and she, probably channeling the spirit of Toph, hit him on the shoulder. "Sokka you idiot!"

"What?" Toph asked, the only one who hadn't laughed. "What did Sokka do that was so idiotic? And how did I miss it?"

AN: So I asked my brothers (11 and 10) and my mom to help me think of creative ways of proposing ( I knew how Sokka was going to propose, but I wanted to mention how Aang proposed) and the first thing he said was "A banner pulled behind a plane!" And when I told my mother the story, she suggested I make Katara nicer (Her example: "Well Sokka, you know proposing isn't everything, and Toph loves you for who's inside, and not your money, but you should try to make her feel special by proposing in a creative way." Me: "... This isn't some Disney Channel show mom") and completely re-writing it because there was no way Sokka could forget Toph was blind. But none of them came up with a good idea for how Aang proposed, so, yeah... Read and review, please!