The Best Romances
Deserve Second Chances
Chapter 13
"The Pieces"
[[[[[]]]]]
Sokka continued his life-saving efforts, but doubt continued to grow in his head. He kept up with the CPR, and soon Toph started to cough, and the water in her lungs was extracted. Sokka brought her weak frame into a tight embrace.
"Toph, I thought I lost you."
"Sokka...I don't like water."
"I know, I know. It's okay, you're safe now."
Sokka then carried Toph to a nearby solid street, and they made their way to no set destination. They blended in perfectly with the crowds, which they rode until the both of them hit a marketplace. Merchants were broadcasting their goods and prices, and customers were waving money in attempts to catch the merchants' attention. The cobble street was worn down from age and use, and the stalls were arranged to make a maze in the courtyard.
"Sokka, I think I'm strong enough to walk now."
"All right."
Sokka gently placed her on the street, and her vision was flooded with the vibrations of the marketplace. She buckled, but Sokka laid a supporting hand on her body to hold her up. A man bumped into Sokka, and Sokka spun around to met the figure.
"Oh, sorry, sir. I didn't see you there." and with that he walked off.
Sokka felt lighter, and he checked his person. Where his sword should be, was nothing. Sokka bolted after the man, and the man noticed Sokka giving chase. The man showed his athletic prowess, by leaping through merchant stalls, and disturbing the chaotic order in the marketplace. Sokka followed suit, and chased the man through a dark alley, which ended in a dead end.
Everything Sokka was doing was going against his training.
'Sokka, never let your enemy gain the upper hand... Sokka never let the enemy play with you... Sokka never let your enemy come to you, not you to him... Sokka...'
"Give it up, your trapped!" Sokka yelled at the man.
"No, you are trapped." and the man snapped his fingers, signaling the shadows to come alive and reveal several more men, "You should give up, Sokka, to bad I do have to kill you this time, I really did like you."
"Bobo..." Sokka whispered under his breath as his mind finally realized who was talking to him.
"Get'em."
The horde of men, which Sokka counted off to be around five, swarmed the young man. Sokka let the men come to him, his slick defense style will be his offense. The first man that reached Sokka was from the behind, and he latched underneath Sokka's arms, putting Sokka into a full-nelson. Sokka's arms were pinned upward, exposing his rib cage, but Sokka dropped forward, making his captor fall with him. Sokka's attacker let loose his hold, and Sokka rolled to lessen the impact of the intentional fall. The attacker regained his balance and now, Sokka had to deal with six men as Bobo unsheathed Wolf's Tail.
The distance that separated the men from Sokka was five meters. The human body at a chasing speed covers that distance in one second. The average reaction time for a human hovers around two tenths of a second, which only leaves Sokka eight tenths of a second to defend himself against the men. So, it's clear to say that Sokka has the upper hand in this fight.
The first man charged at Sokka, rising a fist to strike Sokka in the head. Sokka bent his knees, caught the fist with his left hand, and at the same time brought his right handed uppercut to the man's gut. The momentum of the man and Sokka's fist produced enough force to crack several ribs. Sokka then headbutted the man, causing him to crumble to the dirty street. As the man crumbled, the rest of the men threw themselves at Sokka, excluding Bobo, who stood his ground. The man who was closest to Sokka, was caught off guard by a swift kick to the jaw, as now Sokka went on the attack. After the kick he followed up a leaping punch, which is better known as a superman punch. Sokka was blown back with a jab to the left side of his face, but he recovered and retaliated against the puncher with a piston resembling heel kick above the knee cap. Sokka drew his attention to the next man, who was dealt with a flurry crosses, hooks, and kicks. The last man Sokka fought against was more relaxed, and approached Sokka as an equal. They circled each other both waiting for the other to strike first. Sokka leaped at the man screaming a war cry was he brought down both fists at the man's head. The man caught Sokka's fists, and he responded with a thunderous punch to Sokka's abdomen. Sokka stumbled backwards, feigning pain, and lured the man to finish him. The man stepped forward and raised his fist to strike down Sokka; however, Sokka dipped down and kicked at the man's ankles, effectively tripping him. Sokka jumped from his crouched position and drove his knee into the man's chest.
"ENOUGH! I will deal with the boy by myself."
The men that remained conscious scrambled out of the alley, and Sokka stood to met Bobo.
"You got away from me once, old man. It won't happen again."
Bobo lunged at Sokka, his own sword leading Bobo's attack. Sokka side-stepped the lunge and ducked to avoid the horizontal slice that followed after the lunge. Sokka rolled to close the distance between him and Bobo, making the sword useless. Sokka pounced at Bobo from out of the roll, pinning Bobo under Sokka, and knocking the sword out of Bobo's grasp.
"It's over." Sokka said, his voice piercing through Bobo's heart.
"Yes, but for how long? Did you ever think that you may not win this battle? You know nothing about what we do!"
"We? I know about 'we'. Harley and Azula, they are working together. Tell me something I don't know?"
"You never think ahead, what are you going to do with me now? Let me go on my merry way? It's time to choose Sokka."
Sokka got off Bobo, and picked up his sword.
[[]]
"Well it's about time. Where have you been?"
"Sorry, Toph. Someone stole my sword, and I had to get it back."
"You can't just leave me like that!"
"Sorry."
"How stupid can you get?"
"I'm sorry, Toph."
"Get it through your head!"
"You're right, sorry."
"Spirits! Did you even think what might happen to me?"
"No, sorry."
"I could have gotten kidnapped!"
"Sorry, Toph."
"You are the dumbest person I have ever met."
"Sorry."
"It's a sword! Who cares!"
"I care. That's who." Sokka said defiantly.
"You care more about that stupid toothpick than you care about me!"
"That's not true. I saved your life a half an hour ago!"
"I wish you never did. It have gotten rid of you from my life!" and she stormed off.
Sokka's mind failed to comprehend as to what just transcribed. He went off to trail Toph, which would be a true test of his abilities.
[[]]
"Isn't the view breath taking?"
"It is."
Inu had shown Zuko her room, to make sure all of his luggage was delivered. Now, they were enjoying their company on the balcony that looked west over the city, with the setting sun as the backdrop.
"What's it like living on the ship?"
"Cramped. Very cramped."
"I bet it isn't that bad."
"It's as bad as it seems, and then worse." sarcasm lidded in his voice
"Will you stop being so pessimistic, jeez."
"Inu, I was joking."
The two of them became quiet again, and they stared at the sun, its setting giving way to the night.
"It's beautiful." Inu said, the setting taking her breath away.
"So are you." and Inu turned her gaze to met Zuko's.
"That was cheesy, but sweet, very sweet."
Zuko smiled and turned his gaze back to the city, as the darkness of night flooded the streets of Teungstu. Street lanterns were light to give orange orbs of glow to counter the night.
"Our happy couple said they were going to have a nice dinner tonight." Zuko commented.
"That sounds nice, good for them."
"May I ask you something?"
"You just did, but I assume you mean a different question?" she jokingly chided.
"What would say if you told you that I met Sozin?"
"...Did you?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes. He told me that he was going to help me." Zuko's gazed still focused on the city.
"All I know about Sozin is that he is hated in other nations, but loved in the Fire Nation."
"There is an old legend about him, after Roku died. It goes by saying that Sozin secretly hated himself for ever starting the war. He was a good man, he wanted the best for his nation. The war propaganda told that the war was the best way to 'Spread the Fire Nation Culture'. When he visited me, he said that he had a debt to pay to the world, basically one whole war was his debt.
"One war is a big debt to pay off." Inu commented.
"It is, and I think he is trying to prevent another war from ever starting by helping me, thus paying off his debt."
"That makes sense, but it doesn't explain why now? Why not stop Azulon, or even Ozai? To me, his timing is off."
"I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that he is going to help me, some way or another."
Silence entrapped the two of them in its snare.
"Wanna go get something to eat?" Zuko nonchalantly asked.
"Why not, sure."
[[]]
Sokka had been tracking Toph for the better part of the afternoon, and night only made it harder for him. So far she had gone to a dress store, and helped herself to a new dress. She then made reservations at a swanky restaurant for an evening dinner, and she spent the rest of the day walking aimlessly around the town. Sokka was sure she had never noticed him following her, until he couldn't take another step as his feet were encased in earth. Sokka looked up from his feet to see Toph standing in front of him.
"We are still going to dinner tonight. Our reservation is in an hour, so I suggest we head back to the ship and change."
"Omm, okay."
Toph bended Sokka free, and they went back to the ship, but not together. Toph used Sokka's room as her changing room, while Sokka used Zuko's room. Toph's dress was a robin egg blue, with white puffs that resembled clouds. It covered down to her knees, and she wore matching two-inch high heels. At the waist she wore a white belt, that looked like ivory, and the top of the dress was held up by spaghetti straps. Sokka wore his best, black pants, with his boots. He traded his ratty tank-top for a shirt that had sleeves. He washed his hair and put on his traditional Warrior's Tail, and he strapped on his sword around his waist, and he decided to bring his Air glider was a staff of sorts, but mainly to make him look more dignified. They met on the deck of the ship, both giving each other compliments on how they looked. They soon arrived at the restaurant, and thanks to Toph's reservation they were allowed to butt the entire line, which snaked out of the building.
"It's an honor to serve an Air Nomad." the waiter said bowing to Sokka, "My name is Minh, and I'll be your waiter tonight. Shall we start with the drinks?"
"Minh, I am not an Air Nomad." Sokka corrected.
"You aren't? Then I can't have you sit here. I'm sure you have heard of the 'Benders and Non-benders Law'?"
Toph kicked Sokka in the shin under the table, giving him the 'Do-not-screw-this-up' glare.
"I say that I'm not an Air Nomad, but I am an Air Nomad Chieftain. Where I'm from, I'm like your Fire Lord Zuko." Sokka mentally adjusted himself to look more 'Air Nomadish'.
"It's an absolute privilege to serve you...?"
"Chief Airmizer." Sokka cobbled together, completely forgetting to use his own name.
"Well, Airmizer. Welcome to the Fire Nation and enjoy your stay. Let me get your drinks on the house."
"We will have the finest, oldest wine you have." Sokka said.
"An excellent choice if I may say so."
"You may say so." Sokka joked, but seriously said as he was channeling his inner Air Nomad Chief.
"How many glasses? One?"
"Make it two. It's her birthday."
"Well, happy birthday miss. I'll go fetch the wine."
Minh left Sokka and Toph alone to contemplate on what to order.
"So, it's my birthday?" Toph asked.
"Hey, I'm the Air Chief, as far as Mihn knows, you're my wife."
Toph's thoughts accelerated into future, her and Sokka at their wedding, honeymoon, children, and she let out a sigh and a smile from the scenarios.
"Are we ready to order?" Mihn asked as he poured a thirty year old spirit into the glasses.
Toph snapped out of her happy daze, and she was so emotionally rumpled, that she straightened her dress to press out the rumples.
"I'll have the steak, and honey what would you like?" Sokka said.
"The soup and salad, please."
"Of course, I'll put these orders in right away."
"Happy birthday Toph."
"Sokka, it's not my birthday."
"Are you sure?"
"One would think that one would remember when their own birthday is."
"So, you don't want the present then?"
"What present?"
"Not telling, not until your birthday."
They were interrupted by their food coming to their table,and they didn't talk to each other through the meal, only sharing comments on their food. After their plates were taking away, Mihn came to the table holding a birthday cake for Toph, and several waiters sang her a quiet, but sweet happy birthday. It was a chocolate cake, with a single candle that adorned the top. One bite was especially hard, and Toph pulled out the mysterious object from her mouth. To her astonishment she held a ring, that clearly was put in to the cake on purpose.
"Sokka?"
"It's a promise ring."
"A promise for what?"
"To marry me." he muttered underneath his breath, but Toph heard him as clear as day, "After we finish this mission with Zuko."
Toph was at a loss of words, but she managed to slip the ring on her left hand and nodding her head letting loose the tears that clung to her cheeks.
"Are we ready for the bill?" Mihn said, literally murdering the mood between Sokka and Toph.
"Mihn, tell you what, if you leave now, you may have a chance of escaping her wrath." and Sokka pointed to Toph whose was fuming mad, and was about to earth bend the entire city below sea level.
"It's on the house." Mihn said, and he scampered away.
"That was nice of him." Sokka said, "Toph, nice acting. You really had him going that you were mad!"
"I wasn't acting, he ruined the happiest moment in my life."
[[]]
"How was your dumplings?" Inu asked.
"Sub-par. I've had better."
"Anything would be sub-par compared to the Royal Palace's food."
"Miss?"
"Yes?" Inu said to a messenger boy as she wiped the sides of her mouth.
"I have a letter for you." and he handed the letter to Inu.
Inu read the letter, and her eyes grew wide.
"Inu? What does it say?"
"It would be better for you to read it." and she handed the letter to Zuko.
"They found my mother..."
[[[[[]]]]]
Woot! Unlucky 13! I have decided on how to play out Inu, and no, I'm not telling anyone. I attempted to explain why Sozin is helping Zuko. Airmizer, *face palm* Omgosh so bad. Aww, a promise ring, do people still use those? And Bobo! What Sokka did with Bobo is up to you, but I can give you choices, 1. Sokka killed Bobo, or 2. He left Bobo alone. TOPH AND SOKKA HAVE A VERBAL DISSAGREEMENT! Oh noes! But at the end they both played the mature card and blew the fight off. Zuko and Inu...mmm...To clarify they did nothing in the hotel room. The Non-bender and Benders law will become more important as we go along. But one should ask themselves, why was Inu at Fire Atoll in the first place? A hint: Not just to meet Zuko.
Thanks for reading! Comments and reviews, and faves and story alerts are all welcome!
I stole Mihn from justthisguyyouknow, except mine is a guy, and is a waiter. Give his story a read, "I'll walk you home." I plug in his story here, because he plugs my name in his story! Thanks Big Guy, Means a Lot!