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"Sokka." Katara glared at her old brother. "I just said it wasn't his fault. If anything, Aang was the one looking out for me. It was my fault the fight-"
"I don't care whose fault it is." Sokka interrupted his sister's defense. "That kid's friend busted my baby sister's lip. Someone's getting their teeth punched in. And since I can't hit the girl that did it, Aang's gettin' his ass beat."
Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's stubbornness and immaturity. Sure did remind her of certain girl she knew. The only difference being she actually had to live with this idiot. "You haven't heard a single word I've said this entire conversation. He had nothing to do with it, Sokka."
"He was there. He should have protected you-"
"I can protect myself, Sokka."
"Yeah, you sure proved that well."
Katara punched her brother square in the shoulder, causing him to steer off the lane a bit, almost hitting the car next to him.
"The fuck- Katara! You almost-!"
The girl ignored her brother's panic, glaring at him before turning to look out the window, going on with her point. "It's not fair to expect Aang to throw himself in a fight that I started... partially, anyway. He tried his best to break it up." Katara pushed her loose her back over her shoulders, looking back at her angry brother. Nether of them seemed in the mood for this argument, but it still squirmed it's way into their once enjoyable ride.
It seemed like ever since the day of the fight, Sokka had been going on and on about making Aang pay for something she considered to have nothing to do with him. To make it even weirder, Katara was under the impression that her brother and Aang were friends, which made her even more angry that Sokka would turn on Aang like that. She didn't like hearing her brother blatantly accuse him for something that she felt was her responsibility.
Katara continued her rant after a long pause of awkward tension between the two. "I'm not a baby, ether. I'm 17-years-old now. Let me fight my own battles. Alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sokka kept his eyes on the road as he turned into the drive-thru of the local Mickey D's. "You still didn't have to almost kill us." he muttered under his breath.
"Maybe if you weren't always such an ass."
"Maybe if you had better taste in guys." Sokka came back.
"Maybe if you... weren't such a jerk!" she grumbled back.
"Ha! I won that one." Sokka grinned, amused by his sister's grumpiness.
He pulled the car up to the order box.. thingy. The box greeted him with the standard drive-thru 'Hello, may I take your order? blah, blah, blah?' gimmick.
"Let me have two Big Macs with everything on it, one solo, one combo, large fry and a Coke. Then a...-" Sokka turned to Katara. "What did you want?"
"Chicken nuggets. 6 piece, sweet n' sour sauce, and a small fry... please." she added. "And Dad wanted a seizer salad. Grilled."
Sokka repeated the order to the lady through the speaker. "Is that all for you today? Would you like to try our-" she asked in her extra-perky tone.
"Nope. We're all good." Sokka quickly responded before the girl could try selling them on getting a special. Katara shook her head at her brother's rudeness.
"Alright. That'll be $16.35 at the next window. Thank you." The girl said.
Sokka pulled the car up to the next window and handed his twenty to the angry-emo-looking-dude at the window. "$16.35." He repeated the price, placing the twenty in the cash register and handing Sokka back his change. "Have a nice day." The guy grumbled through his teeth, forcing a fake smile.
"Yeah, ha. You two." Sokka grinned at the guy before driving to the follow up window. "Poor guy," he spoke to his sister with an amused tone, "He's probably still figuring out life, you know?"
Katara ignored her brother's attempt at humor, unconsciously running her fingers through the loose ends of her hair. Sokka glanced over at her and saw that she was lost in thought. "Hey, um, Kat?" He tapped her shoulder, stirring her from her thoughts. She looked up, and turned her attention to him, a little bit of annoyance seeping through her gaze. "You... You're right, you know. I should let you deal with you're own problems. I guess I'm still playing big brother, ya' know? I just don't want anything happening to you."
Katara's annoyance was quickly washed away from the solemnly in her brother's voice. He meant it. She could tell.
"Gotta let you figure life out for yourself, right?" Sokka shrugged and Katara smiled, appreciating her brother's efforts.
She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the perky cashier - no doubt the one they had hear on the speaker box - as she read their order back to them in a rushed pace, a smile on her face all the while. Sokka nodded to confirm that that was their order. "Can I get you guys some extra ketchup or napkins?" she asked.
"Nah, we're good. Thanks." Sokka smirked slyly at the girl, accepting the paper bags and drinks.
The girl smiled, whipping her long braid off her shoulder so that it fell down her back. "Have a nice day." She winked and waved before closing the window behind her. Sokka wanted to make a 'Can I get some fries with that shake?' joke, but decided to spare his sister the oggies.
[Moving behind the rocks!] The pink starfish obeyed.
[Keep goin'. You're good. You're good. You're good.]
The teens lazily giggled as they watched the yellow sponge help steer the glowing pirate ship. The living room was trashed with popcorn, Dorito bags, and candy wrappers. Two half-filled root beer bottles stood next to the 5 empty platters of homemade fruit pies on the coffee table. Toph had snuggled herself up on the sofa, wrapped in the warm blanket she stole off Aang's bed, her head laying against the armrest of the sofa. "Fuckin' classic." She mutter to Aang and he smiled back at her from the other end of the couch. Aang's eyes were tired, his stomach aching from the junk food. Both their faces and hair were covered with flour from their cooking session earlier - which may or may not have turned into a food fight at one point. "Hey, TT...?" Toph mumbled sleepily. Aang responded with a small 'Hm?', obviously just as sleepy as the raven-haired girl next to him. "What time is it, anyway?"
Aang started searching his pockets for his phone. He'd been neglecting it all day seeing as the only person that texted him was here with him anyway. When he didn't feel it in ether of his pockets he grabbed the remote and checked the time on the TV. [1:57 am] "... Time for you to get yelled at by your parents," The boy yawned before resting back against the couch. "... again." he added.
Toph snorted out a laugh, stretching her arms and legs across the couch as she replicated Aang's yawn. "Getting yelled out is just a part of life."
"Your life maybe." Aang corrected her, getting up from his spot on the sofa and stacking the empty plates from the coffee table.
"Yup. My awesome, incredible life." Toph rolled over so that her head was facing the backside of the couch. "... My awesome, restricted, tamed life."
"I'm surprised they haven't called you yet." Aang switch off the TV before carrying the dishes into the kitchen.
Toph signed irritably. "Hmpf. ... You and me both."
Aang placed the dishes in the sink and ran some hot water over them. He grabbed the sponge and started wiping down the filthy counters. The kitchen looked even worse than the living room, with flour, sugar, icing, and dough split all over the place. Aang had told Gyatso they'd clean the mess up after they finished eating, but both of them seemed to forget, their minds getting buried in tasty sweets and cartoons. Aang still spoke to her from the kitchen, the kitchen and living room being open concept. "Maybe they figured since it's a four-day weekend, you-"
"I left my phone at the house. That's why." Toph confessed, cutting off his reasoning. "... You know my parents would never let me stay this late at you're house... I'm not allowed to do shit."
"But... I thought you said they were doing better lately? You know, letting you have friends and dress how you want. I mean... there's been some progress, right?"
"I guess... but not enough to actually make any difference in my life." she yawned. "I still feel... trapped, you know?"
Aang couldn't tell if the girl was trying to have a sincere moment or if she was just drowsy from exhaustion. He grabbed the bowl filled with the leftover dough and place it in the back of the fridge. "Maybe you could try... talking to them, again? Voicing how you feel. That's how change happens."
The boy signed and shook his head as he received a loud snore as her response.
"Then again," he whispered under his breath, grabbing the mop from the side of the fridge. "some people never change."
After hours of sweeping, moping, scrubbing, and spraying, the kitchen was finally... decent.
Aang sighed thankfully, putting away the cleaning supplies before walking back over into the living room. He observed the sleeping girl on the sofa, her dark hair tangled and dirtied with flour. He glanced at the rest of the living room, still just as filthy as he left it.
Groaning exhaustively, he started picking up the junk of the floor, placing them into the trash bag he carried. "That's for the help, Toph." he rolled his eyes at the sleeping girl. Aang could hear something vibrating on the couch and immediately guessed at what it might be. He started searching the cushions for it, not caring whether or not he woke the small girl on the other end.
After searching the cushion he was surprised to have found nothing and decided to instead look underneath. After moving wrappers and bottles from his view, there it was. Aang swiped his phone from underneath the couch and unlocked the screen code. It read [4 new messages] on the front screen and he tapped the notification to view them.
Aang got up and started walking back to his room, leaving the girl on the couch. He was wondering whether he should wake her up and offer to take her home, but he knew Toph would be against it. Probably say something like 'I'd get in trouble ether way, might as well just stay'. Aang shrugged off the thought. It wasn't his problem if the girl got in trouble. Toph knew she had a curfew and decided to stay regardless, so, yeah...
He walked into his room and closed the door behind him. He knew he'd have to finish cleaning the living room in the morning and was thankful he didn't have to get up for school. He collapsed on his bed and began scrolling through his unread texts. He wasn't surprised by what he found.
[Bestfriend] [Sunday] [3:02 PM]
[hey, TT, wanna hng out later? not like w egot school]
[Bestfriend] [Sunday] [6:23 PM]
[don't ell me yur doin that silent treatment thing again. not cool bro. stop bein a lil bitch n grow up]
Aang eyes were boiling as he glared at the last text.
Toph was lucky he hadn't read that before she came over today, or else he would've... done... something...!
[Bestfriend] [Monday] [1:37 PM]
[look, im sorry Twinkle Toes. k? just text me when yur ready ta talk]
Aang just rolled his eyes, too annoyed by the last message to pay that apology any head. Toph was his friend and everything, but sometimes her blunt mouth would say stuff to intentionally piss him off. He hated letting her words would get to him, but they still did. And it was words like that that made him question how he ever became friends with a girl like that in first place.
Aang breathed in and out through his nose, cooling his anger down.
We just made up and had a fun night together. Just let it pass this time.
He told himself, sighing deeply before continuing to scroll through his phone, taking a look at the last message.
[ForeverGirl] [Today] [3:13 AM]
[hey aang, you up?]
Aang laid there frozen, his brain forgetting how to function. It wasn't the first time Katara had texted him, but she never had this late before. Of all the friends this girl had, why was she asking him, of all people, if he was available to talk? Was she, like, up... thinking about him?
Aang fidgeted with his phone nervously, nearly dropping it onto his face. He quickly typed in a reply and hit send.
[Sent] [3:20 PM]
[Yeah, I'm up. What's up? I haven't really heard from you since... you know.]
It wasn't long before his phone vibrated again and he tapped the screen to see her reply.
[ForeverGirl] [3:23 AM]
[yeah, I know. I would've talked to you sooner but I was too busy trying to convince my dad and brother not to kill you. lol]
Aang eyes widen in remembrance at the look Sokka gave him when her family came to pick her up from the police station. Judging just by his eyes in that moment, Sokka was probably trying to plan Aang's murder.
[Ha, right... Not really tryna die soon, so.. thanks ^^ ...]
Looked at his reply before pressing send. Hm. Wait, are smiley faces girly? he thought.
[Sent] [3:25 AM]
[Ha, right... Not really tryna die soon, so.. thanks.]
[ForeverGirl] [3:29 AM]
[lol. don't worry. I cooled him off a bit. he was just being over-protective of me, as usual. I told him it wasn't your fault. anyways... how ya holding up? hope I didn't hurt you.]
[Sent] [3:31 AM]
[A few scratches, but I'm okay. How's you lip...?]
[ForeverGirl] [3:34 AM]
[some old family remedies and I'm as good as new. I'm really sorry about what happened. I never meant for things to get so out of hand. can I make it up to you?]
Aang's heart sped up a bit as he read the last part, 'Can I make it up to you?'. He didn't understand why Katara would think she had to make anything up to him. Nothing that happened between her and Toph that evening had really affected him, so why would she feel the need to...-? Aang shook off his thought. You're thinking too much. Just say...
[Sent] [3:37 AM]
[Uh.. sure. What'd you have in mind?]
[ForeverGirl] [3:39 AM]
[I was thinking maybe we could hang out sometime. you know, ... just you and me?]
This chapter turned out waaaay long than I anticipated, but I hope you enjoyed it. I feel like this story has been leaning heavily on Toph and Aang, and we need some more Katara to even it out.
I hope I've demonstrated the relationship between Toph and Aang well enough and that their friendship is believable. I wanted to focus this story a lot more on the relationships between the characters, because that's what I usually find the most interesting (and it's why I love ATLA so much.).
I honestly think that chapter two was kind of a mistake because it brought in drama a lot earlier than I originally wanted, but I'm not going to go back and change it because that's when I begin to get stuck (as seen with Element High, which I've been trying to re-write entirely because I wasn't satisfied with it.).
Please review and give me some feedback and/or ideas for my stories! I would really appreciate it!
Seriously, thank you! :)