ATLA – New Beginnings
Ch. 1: Toph's Confession
A/N: So, since a few people seemed to like the little snip-it that I originally wrote, I decided to go on ahead and write more. To be honest, I'm not sure what direction this will go into. I have a general idea for the next couple of chapters, but I'm really not sure where it'll lead.
So, here is the edited and extended version of Toph's Confession, which has become the first chapter of yet another series fic. I have so many started already... ^^;
I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can manage. Please review after you read. I'd really like to hear your opinion, but no flaming, please, it will be ignored.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, the Last Airbender or any of the characters in this fic. Only the idea for this fanfic are my own.
Toph searched through the palace for a certain warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. The place was too large and there were so many people around that it was giving her a headache. How hard could it be to find the only person in the whole palace that was walking with a crutch.
After turning down another hall she finally felt the limp and tap of what had become of Sokka's walk, thanks to his broken leg. She pushed the door open into the room. "Sokka," she called his name. "I've been…" she trailed off as she realized that the person in the room had a shorter stature then Sokka did. "Okay, so he's not the only person in the whole palace who has a crutch," Toph thought with a sigh of frustration. She muttered an apology and quickly left the room.
She had searched through the living quarters and the guest rooms, but only found servants or various guests who had been invited to stay after Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord. They greeted her with enthusiasm and treated her like a war hero. She liked to stop and bask in the glory and tell about how she discovered metalbending, as many requested her to do, but she was in a hurry.
She stopped for a moment in an enormous hall to try to catch her bearings. She could feel a servant come out from a room behind her. There were four people walking in her general direction, but she did not recognize them. Someone came through a large entry up ahead and to the left. Toph immediately recognized the voice as he spoke to a small group that followed him.
"So you see, ladies, the secret to making the finest tea in all of the…"
"General Iroh," Toph addressed him urgently.
The old tea master looked away from his guests, towards her voice. "Toph, is everything alright?" he noted her haste as she approached. "And please, call me uncle," he told her for the tenth time.
Toph stopped in front of Zuko's uncle and bowed her apology. "Forgive me," she said, playing out her nobel upbringing. "But have you seen Sokka around anywhere?"
"Ahh, the young hero from the Water Tribe," he spoke for the benefit of the guests who followed behind him. Now that she paid attention to them, Toph could tell that it was a group of four young women. They all giggled at the mention of Sokka. "We were just having tea in the garden and these fine young ladies asked for some tips on tea making," he mused. Toph shifted impatiently on her feet. "I do not recall seeing any fine young men. Did you, ladies?" he asked the giggling, blushing girls behind him. They all replied that they hadn't.
"Okay, thank you," Toph gave a short nod and turned to rush down a hall that crossed the one that she was currently in.
"You may want to try the banquet hall," Iroh called after her. "Take the third hall to your right."
"Thank you," Toph called back to him as she continued on her way. "I'm sorry," she spoke more quietly. She would have liked to stay and chat with the old man, but she was on a mission. She felt that it was now or never. When she reached the third hall, she took a hard right, narrowly missing a servant who pressed against the wall and held an empty tray against her chest in order to avoid the collision.
Toph followed the hall, without a word of apology, and was led into the banquet hall. Toph had been in the hall the night before. Tables were lined out in rows and a buffet style lunch was being served for the new Fire Lord's guests. She ignored her growling stomach and set to the task of searching through the crowd. Finally she found him, down at the other end of the room. Toph ducked and slid past everyone in his direction.
"Sokka, are you going to eat more?" Suki's voice reached Toph's ears. "This will be your fourth plate." The Kyoshi warrior was following behind him as he hobbled beside the buffet table, occasionally stopping to pile more food onto the plate that she held.
"What can I say," Sokka responded. "I'm a growing boy."
"Great," Toph thought to herself, "Suki is here too." She came up behind an unsuspecting Sokka and grabbed his hand. Sokka jumped at the sudden contact and attempted to pull his hand away, but she held it tightly and refused to let him go. "I'm borrowing your boyfriend," Toph told Suki, and pulled Sokka with her back into the direction that she had come, not giving the other girl a chance to protest.
"Whoa, hey, Toph, stop pulling, I can't go that fast!" he exclaimed in a panic as he tried not to fall. Toph slowed down reluctantly. "I was still eating," Sokka complained as he looked back over his shoulder at the plate that was slowly disappearing from his sight.
"Don't worry, Snoozles, I only need you for a minute and then you can go back to your roast duck and sizzle crisps."
"My food," Sokka called out mournfully as his stomach let out a growl of protest.
"Can it, Snoozles! They aren't going to run out of food."
Sokka allowed himself to be pulled towards the main hall. Toph took a quick left and he stumbled over his feet. "Hey, Toph? Where's the fire?" He asked and then laughed at his own joke. "Get it, where's the fire… Why, we're in the fire nation of course," Sokka continued to laugh obliviously. When Toph came to a dead stop in front of him, he bumped into her and just barely caught himself from falling. "Hey, that wasn't nice," he complained, all humor put aside.
"Sokka, there you are, I've been looking all over for you," Katara said. "Dad wants to speak with us."
"It's going to have to wait, Sweetness." Toph said as she brushed passed the waterbender and continued to pull Sokka down the hall. "I need him for a moment."
"O….kay, sure, Toph," came Katara's baffled reply after taking a quick step out of the way to avoid being trampled.
Sokka looked back at his sister and they both exchanged a look of confusion. "I'll catch up," he called back to her. It occurred to him that Toph meant business, and he instantly changed modes from comedian to caring older brother. They continued down the hall in silence until Toph led him out into the garden.
Slowing her pace, Toph enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her skin. She was wearing traditional fire nation apparel, which left her shoulders bare. A warm breeze blew past them, blowing her bangs into her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and smelled the sweet fragrance of the flowers around her.
Sokka walked quietly beside her, aware that something wasn't right. "So…." He started to say, raising his free hand to the back of his neck.
"Oh, Sokka! I'm glad I found you!" Aang called as he came to a stop in front of them and leapt off of his air scooter, allowing the spear of wind to dissipate. "Zuko wants you to…"
"What is this?" Toph's cry of frustration startled the Avatar into silence. "Suddenly everybody needs Sokka! Wait your turn!" Toph's raised her hands out to her sides and stone walls rose up from the ground. She then turned to raise two more walls on the other sides. To ensure that the no one invaded their privacy from above Toph slid one wall up to form a roof and replaced the missing wall.
Sokka stared through the darkness of the stone hide-a-way that surrounded them. "Um, Toph, what's going on? Don't you think this is a bit extreme?" His question was met with silence. "Toph?" he spoke her name after a moment, wondering if she was still there.
"I'm here," she said quietly. Sokka blinked and couldn't believe his ears. There was something different about the way that she spoke. It was softer and almost meek.
Toph was relieved by the obscurity that the hide-a-way provided because he wouldn't be able to see her. She found that she could muster up her courage better this way.
Sokka heard her take a deep breath. "What's up, Toph?" he asked in a genuinely concerned voice. He took a step forward and reached for her, but she stepped to the side and he dropped his arm in silent understanding.
"I…" she began to say before swallowing a knot that had formed in her throat. "I… like you," she finally confessed.
Sokka nodded his head, despite the darkness and her blindness. "I like you too Toph," he replied. Toph could tell, though, that it wasn't the same. His heart still beat calmly while her heart was now racing.
"It's not like that," Toph quietly explained. "It's more than friendship," she said and felt the blood rush into her cheeks.
Sokka nodded again and smiled. "I know, Toph. We have all become like a big family. Isn't it great?" he said, stretching his arms out wide for added effect and then hugging himself as he grinned happily. The sound of his crutch falling to the ground indicated his actions, but she could feel them perfectly.
Toph felt like her heart might jump out of her chest. "How clueless is he"? She wondered to herself. She couldn't believe how difficult this was becoming, and she was getting frustrated. "It's not like that!" She exclaimed, slamming her fists downwards at her sides. She wondered what she would have to do in order to make him understand her feelings.
Sokka felt the earth rumble and wobbled slightly before he pressed back against the wall for stability. "Whoa! Hey, Toph, stop that," he said, hoping that his voice didn't give away his nervousness to being swallowed into the earth as a result of her temper. After a brief moment of silence, he calmly asked, "Okay, then what's it like?"
Toph's stomach twisted, and for a moment she nearly lost her nerve. She didn't expect that explaining how she felt about him would make much of a difference. After all, he had Suki. She paused briefly before making up her mind and braved the step towards him. "I just wanted you to know," she said in a small voice that nearly cracked. She then earthbended herself up to his height and kissed him on the lips. He stood stiffly, and she could feel his heart racing, but discerned that it was caused by her previous earthbending.
Sokka was stunned speechless about this new discovery, but before he could regain his composure the wall behind him suddenly dropped back into the earth and he fell backwards, landing on his butt. The brightness of the sun blocked Toph out of his vision with a large orange circle.
Toph was now satisfied, she had done what she wanted to do; now she believed that she wouldn't have any regrets and that she could move on with her life. "Goodbye, Sokka," she said before earthbending herself into the ground and disappearing.
Sokka blinked against the brightness of the sun. He raised a hand to block the blinding light but found that Toph was gone, as was the little hide-a-way that she had built around them. He sat where he had landed with his legs stretched out before him and leaned back on his hands.
"Hey, Sokka, are you alright?" Aang asked. He had airbended himself up and over from where he had been on the other side of where the hide-a-way used to be and was now coming down to a landing behind his friend.
The last few moments replayed through Sokka's mind. He could still feel the softness of her lips against his. Toph liked him… in a romantic way? This new discovery left him somewhat confused; he could hardly believe that Toph was even capable of those kinds of emotions.
"What did Toph want?" Aang asked while bending over his friend.
Sokka shook his head and shrugged. He definitely couldn't tell anyone about this - what would Suki do if she found out?
"Sokka!" Katara and Suki called simultaneously as they ran out into the garden towards him.
Sokka tilted his head back to see the girls after the avatar stepped to the side. From this angle, they looked upside down. "Wow, you both look strange like this!" he laughed.
"So what was that all about?" Katara asked after both girls came to a stop behind him. "What was so important that Toph had to speak to you about it alone?" She asked with her hands on her hips.
"Was it truly necessary that she drag you all the way out here?" Suki wondered curiously, feeling that the earthbender had dragged her injured boyfriend out too far.
Sokka let himself lay back in the grass when his neck started to ache from its awkward angle. From this position he stared blankly up at something red. "Funny, shouldn't the sky be blue?" The thought just barely crossed his mind.
"Hey! Sokka! What are you doing?" Suki's tone of annoyance reached his ears and he tried to look up at her.
After focusing his vision he bolted up with sudden awareness. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, and cringed, waiting to get hit; but the hit never came. Instead Suki bent over him, tilted his head back so that he had to look up at her, and planted her lips to his. Sokka's eyes went wide when, for a split second, he saw Toph's face leaning over him instead of Suki's.
"I was only teasing you," Suki told him with a playful smile. "It's not like I'm wearing a skirt or anything." She was wearing her traditional fire nation apparel; red pantaloons with a red short cropped halter top.
"Wow, how lucky to be kissed by two separate girls in less than five minutes. Who knew that I was so popular?" Sokka thought to himself.
"What's with that smug look you're giving me?" Suki asked with a grin. "You're not thinking naughty thoughts again, are you?" she giggled as his cheeks turned red.
"I can't believe I just heard that!" Katara gawked and closed her eyes, but the image had already formed in her mind. "Ah, Suki!" she exclaimed. "I don't want to know what you and my brother do in your spare time!"
They all laughed, but as Sokka watched the laughing faces of his friends he sobered quickly and returned to his previous thoughts. Somehow, he didn't feel so lucky. The realization came to him that things were going to get complicated. Sure, he could laugh everything off as a joke now, but he worried about what would happen the next time that he saw Toph; would things be awkward between them?
"So, where did Toph go?" Katara asked after their laughter died down. She searched around the garden for the girl in question.
"She just disappeared," Sokka replied to his sister as he accepted Suki's offered hand to stand.
"Actually," Aang said matter-of-factly, "She earthbended herself into the ground.
"What?" Suki asked out of curiosity. "Why would she do that?" She looked towards Sokka for the answer.
"Who knows why Toph does what she does?" Sokka said as a joke and laughed nervously. When his eyes met with Suki's, something that he saw there made him look away from her. "I promised her that I wouldn't say anything," he lied. To his relief, no one questioned it.
"Come on, big boy," Suki began to say, offering the crutch for Sokka to take. "You've got a plate full of food to finish. No sense in wasting it," she continued to say with a smile and looped her arm into his to pull him back towards the banquet hall.