7. The Happy Ending

Exactly what it says on the tin, folks.

Disclaimer: Don't own A:tLA.

"Sokka, people are looking at us. What's going on?"

"I don't know," he hissed frantically. "This isn't part of the… the plan."

"Oh," she gaped, fingers tightening on his. "You don't think—but Ty Lee didn't tell them—"

"I think she…"

Well, thought Iroh blithely, it's just as well, and called out, "Presenting the Lady Toph Bei Fong and Sokka Hakoda of the Water Tribe."

For a sharp, vivid moment, Sokka wanted to hate Iroh. The notion flashed through his mind, and then he looked back and realized that, no, in fact, he didn't. Toph looked petrified, face bone-white despite the flicker of gold from the torches that licked her cheeks. He was quite used to her being the brave one, her being the one to throw herself out with no concern for the world's opinion, but she had faltered. He had to do something. His lips tinged with the ghost memory of the kiss. Iroh… damn, he realized abruptly, Iroh was a smart old man. Zuko's uncle was offering him an opportunity, and Sokka had no intention of wasting it.

With a gentle but firm tug, he pulled Toph forward, and she stumbled alongside him. The people parted like grasses bending aside in front of him, clearing a route to the center of the ballroom. Iroh calmly raising the lights again, sending a few soft jets of flame leaping especially high in the beautiful chandelier, right above Toph and Sokka's heads. With all the eyes of the world watching, Sokka folded an arm around his best friend's waist, taking her hand in his; she placed her hand on his shoulder, and the band—beyond confusion and now simply resigned to the turn of events—struck up a waltz.

"You know how to dance, right?"

"Who the hell d'you think you're talking to, Snoozles?"

"Right. Sorry. So... um, what should I do?"

"Stand straight," she instructed, her voice slightly stronger. "And hold me closer."

His hands tightened, pulling her in from the arm's length she'd been held at. "Like this?"

"Yeah." She lifted her chin, ignoring the flitter of heat across her cheeks. "I guess you can lead."

"Very generous."

They began to dance.

Her small, damp hand fit perfectly in his—Sokka wondered vaguely why he'd never noticed. "So…" he said slowly, "um, about the, uh, kiss."

She flushed slightly, angling her head away. "No worries," she replied quickly. "It never happened."

"Oh," he murmured. When she frowned slightly at his tone, he continued, "You didn't... I mean, you didn't not... like it, right?"

She flushed a dark red, prominent even in the low firelight. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Sokka paused. "Okay," he agreed, after a moment. "It never happened. Guess it's just as well."

He watched her face carefully, knowing he'd read her right when the barest hint of hurt glossed across her eyes. "What do you mean?" she inquired, voice a forcible monotone.

He grinned lightly, and as he spun her slowly they came to a stop in the middle of the floor, a blotch of dripping wet red and green in the middle of the whirling couples. "Because it was just part of a plan," he murmured. His hand was still resting on her waist, hers on his shoulder. "It wasn't supposed to mean anything. And that's not right."

Something was different about him, about the way he spoke. She sensed it, hesitated, frowned. "Sokka…?"

He lifted the hand from her waist to her face, running a thumb softly across her cheek. "This should have been our first kiss," he whispered, and leaned in.

Her lips were still as soft as he'd remembered, and she tasted like surprise and freshwater. When she went rigid, he pulled back an inch or two. "What's wrong?"

She pressed her lips together, eyes wide. "I… that really just happened?"

He laughed and this time when he bent down towards her, she was kissing him back, and he didn't know what he had never seen before, or how or why. It was like the ground had flipped beneath his feet in a way that wasn't entirely bad, as if he was standing right-side-up for the first time in his life—earlier he couldn't fathom his own reasons for kissing her, but now he couldn't understand what had taken him him so long. Toph kissed him back, uncertain at first but increasingly sure, and they were both soaked and muddy and embarrassingly obvious but she couldn't imagine a better moment in her life. Lost to the rest of the waltzers, they stood there with their hands still clasped as if frozen mid-dance, and from across the room Ty Lee gave a loud squeal and Iroh grinned a Cheshire cat smile.

When the pair of them separated a moment later, her makeup was still smudged; he still had the remains of a painted scar on his face. Their hair was equally drenched and braided through with pondweed, and they left a silver slick of water behind them as they began again to stumble through the motions of a dance. But of all the couples spread throughout the ballroom, even as other pairs tore their gazes away and resumed their own routines, never had the waltz been danced with the dignity that Toph and Sokka had that night.

He found Katara crying in her room; he listened to her explanation—not that it wasn't anything he didn't already know; he gave her a hug—flinching at "You're such a good friend, Aang"—and led her back out to the ballroom.

And saw the two of them.

Katara chased him out as he spun and ran, ricocheting down the corridors like a pinball let loose, eventually collapsing onto a bench in a courtyard that had seen too much that night. It would have been startlingly ironic if he'd stopped to care. She rounded the corner to see him staring down at his feet, thoughts in his head crying louder than her footsteps. Their plan… their stupid plan to help me, and they end up together… and 'you're such a good friend, Aang' stuck playing over and over.

She sat down beside him.

Quietly, he explained. She listened carefully, before speaking at last.

"You did all that for me?"

He looked up, nodded with tremulous eyes.

"Aang," she said softly, "I think… people make mistakes sometimes." When he didn't respond, she forged on despite him. "We can't… hold it against them. People can be stupid, Aang; they can not know what's really best for them."

His face fell. "You mean, trying to get you back."

"No." She smiled, the slightest curve of her lips and tilt of her eyebrows, somehow infinitely bittersweet. "Letting you go."

The Avatar blinked, childish and wide-eyed. "But… but you said—"

"I thought…" She glanced away, fumbling. "That what we had reminded me too much of the war. Of things I didn't want to think about. I wanted to move on, you know?" Her fingers danced against the ground, drumming an awkward, clumsy rhythm. "But that's not the way to do it, is it? You don't move on alone." She pressed her lips together, and squeezed his hand. "You do it together."

The kiss a moment later was soft and hopeful, and from their vantage point just inside one of the doorways, Toph and Sokka clearly deserved the quiet fist-bump they exchanged. "Well?" he whispered, nudging her. "I'm good, right? Toph—hey, Toph, am I good, or am I good?"

She snorted. "Sokka, your plan was Spirits-awful."

She bit down a yelp as his arms snaked around her waist, and he tugged her backwards towards him, his lips suddenly against her cheek. "I said," he murmured, voice low in her ear, "am I good, Toph, or am I good?"

Grudgingly, she conceded, "This plan was okay."

"I'll take it," he shrugged, giving her a squeeze, and she couldn't help the smile that broke across her face. A pause hung in the air for a moment, and then he ventured, "But... never again, right?"

"Oh, Spirits, no," she agreed fervently, and he laughed, slinging an arm around her as they started down the walkway.

I'm a little bit at a loss for what to say upon finishing a story (especially since this is only the second time I've actually done so...) but thank you so much for all the reviews and support. And yeah, I'm aware it's all a little goofy—it's 100% meant to be. Potshots at pairings should never be taken to heart; that territory is far too scary for me. But anyway, to those of you who don't mind a little crack or a little fluff, hope you enjoyed it. As always, thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated!

—skrybble