Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.

A/N: As promised, Tokka fluff, just for you. There is also a nod to a sweet country song in there. Can you catch it?

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004: It Takes Two to Tango

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Toph took another gulp from her mug. The tangy drink made her smack her lips appreciatively. It was not half-bad, for some wild concoction created only seconds before the party had started.

Tilting her head to the side, she listened, with a small smile, to the music jump and dance in the air around her. Toph had always enjoyed listening to music and songs. She may not have been able to read, but she could appreciate and love this sort of art.

The joyful melody, created by the ragtag band, echoed wonderfully in the cave. They were not nearly as talented as the orchestras that had entertained Earth Kingdom nobles, come to call at her estates, but the nameless tune was a definite toe-tapper. It not only raised her spirits, but returned what had been lost to the children that capered and made general idiots out of themselves on the dance floor.

Freedom.

She could definitely relate to that. It had not been that long ago when she, too, had been trapped. Her world had changed, too, when the Avatar came to call.

Toph chuckled, her feet grinding into the dirt floor of the cave, as she sensed Aang pulling off acrobatic feats in front of a gaggle of admirers. She was still surprised the airbending pansy knew how to dance, much less dance well. And, from what she could tell, he had caught the attention of some young ladies.

I bet Katara isn't too happy about that. She listened to the older girl for a moment, and snorted into her cup. Oh, someone's jealous!

That could be used for some nice ribbing later on.

Appa and Momo were hidden somewhere in the back of the cavern. She could feel them moving around. The only member of their little gang that she could not find, right off anyway, was Sokka. He had slipped away unnoticed during the festivities.

She wondered where he was, and what he could be doing.

And, true to form, Toph decided to find out and not waste time by thinking about it.

She scooted away from her seat and, her drink in hand, dodged and weaved through the mass of Fire Nation kids. Those who did not get out of her way in time were shoved to the side.

She was glad to get away from all of them. All the dancing and moving people seriously messed with her senses. All the vibrations, undulating wildly and crashing together, made her head hurt, and she had never been able to "see" as well in a crowd as she could when she was with just a few people. It was one of the reasons she hated large cities.

Toph found Sokka near the cave entrance, mumbling underneath his breath and pacing back and forth. She stood back for a moment, just "watching" him. She knew he had not liked the idea of a party, and had only reluctantly gone through with it, but surely that didn't mean he couldn't have any fun at all.

"Hey, Sokka," she said, stepping up to join him. A fresh breeze flitted in from the outside and brushed her face. It felt nice. Even if this place was the Fire Nation, it was way too hot for her liking.

"Toph!" he shouted. Sokka acted as if he had not known she was there until she said something. His voice was a little muffled, too. Had he not gotten rid of that stupid, fake beard yet? "Hi…"

"Something wrong?" she asked. "Your heart's a little crazy right now."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just keeping guard."

"Keeping guard?" Toph lifted a brow, a smile tugging at her lips. "Um, why? No one's out there and nothing's going on."

"There might be. Something could happen, you know."

"Like what?"

Sokka sighed heavily. She got the distinct impression he was annoyed with her for asking such a question.

"Isn't it obvious? All these kids had to have snuck away from that school, and it's the middle of the night! They'll be missed! I mean, you'll kind of notice if an entire student body goes missing. Aang said they would have to break curfew, or whatever, and that they hated music over there and stuff. And you didn't meet the guy in charge. He's a stickler for the rules, and wants everything just so. What if he comes looking for all the students? What would we do then?"

He took a deep breath after the long, rambling statement.

Toph shook her head. "Gosh, Sokka," she said, sipping at her drink. "Lighten up. You worry too much."

"Well, someone has to," said Sokka. "Not one of you, not a single one of you, seems to realize that this is very dangerous! We're trying to keep under cover, and here we are throwing secret dance parties in the middle of a nation who wants to kill us! What if-"

"If anyone comes near here, I'll feel them long before you even hear or see them." Toph nudged him in the side with a wiry elbow, and graced him with a toothy grin. "Like I said, lighten up. Everything is going to be okay, trust me. Let's go have some fun while we can."

"Fun?" he asked.

"It is a party, Sokka."

"I know it's a party, thank you very much. And just what do you suggest we do to have fun?"

Toph shrugged. "I don't know. Go play some pranks on these kids?" She felt something out in the middle of the dance floor, and snickered. "Katara and Twinkle Toes don't seem to be having a problem, anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka gasped, and she knew that she had seen his baby sister and the Avatar getting their groove on. "No, just no! They can't do that!"

"Sure they can. They're doing it right now." Toph leaned against a rock, and rattled her cup. Empty. Well, darn. "I don't see what the big deal is. All they're doing is dancing."

"Yeah," he growled. "Sure. Dancing." His voice continued to grow steadily until it was nearly a high-pitched squeak. "They're dancing alright. Dancing really close! And sweating! And touching! And making bedroom eyes at each other! Ah! What are they doing now!?"

She burst out laughing. It was all too easy to tell that he was overreacting.

"It's a fighting form, you bonehead. It's supposed to be like that. I've done something like it with Aang before, during training."

"So? You're not my sister."

Toph wilted a little. She had wanted him to care, at least a little. That had been a stupid thing to hope for.

"Come on, Sokka," she said. "It's not like they're making out, piss drunk, on a table, and tearing each other's clothes off."

Sokka shuddered beside her. "Please don't make jokes like that. It's not really helping."

"Darn."

Another growl reverberated from his throat. "I think it's time I had a little chat with a certain Avatar."

Toph tossed her cup over her shoulder, and heard the tinkle of glass just outside the cave. Before he could march over and ruin the moment (they could always make Katara and Aang miserable later), or something equally dumb like that, she grabbed his arm.

What she said surprised even her. "Why don't you dance with me?"

"What?" She definitely had his attention now.

"You know, dance. It might be fun."

"Dance, with you?"

She scowled and, crossing her arms, glared in his general direction. "You make it sound like it would be the most horrible thing in the world."

"No, no, that's not what I mean," he said quickly. The small vibrations coming off of him let Toph know that he was holding up his hands and shaking. "It's just… Well, I never took you for the dancing type."

"I'm usually not. It's hard to be one when nobody asked you to dance before," she said. "And nobody's asked me tonight, either."

Take a hint, Sokka!

He didn't.

"Okay. Do you even know how to dance?"

"Of course I know how to dance!" said Toph. "My parents had a lot of balls and banquets, and stuff like that. There was always music and dancing at them, so I got to watch and learn a few things."

"I thought your parents-"

"They'd say I was some relative's poor, unfortunate daughter, come to visit." Toph frowned, and scuffed a foot in the dirt. "Spirits' forbid they actually admit I was theirs."

Sokka's heartbeat picked up. "I'm sorry," he murmured, and it was the truth.

"It's okay," she said. The small bit of compassion, unasked for yet freely given, lifted her spirits again, and she smiled. "But I do know how to dance, at least a little." The smile quickly became a mischievous smirk. "I can teach you if you don't know how, Mr. Two Left Feet."

"Ha! I'll have you know that I am a wonderful dancer!" he said, in a very smug sounding voice. "We had tribal dances back home, and everyone said I was pretty good."

"Who's everyone? You mean the twenty odd number of middle-aged women, or the ten kids that like to go potty during your training sessions?" She could not help but tease him. "Oh yeah, that sounds like some wonderful competition for y-"

The next thing she knew, he had pulled her flush against him. Her heart jumped into her throat, her eyes wide and flutterbugs in her stomach. Toph was sure she was blushing up a storm, and angled her face to the ground so that he would not be able to see. Sokka grabbed her hand with one of his, his palm swallowing hers whole, while the other settled on her waist.

"Let's dance," he said, cheerfully.

He moved, and she moved with him.

At first, they made for a clumsy pair. They stumbled, stepped on each other's feet, and were anything but graceful and lovely. It had to be the ugliest jig ever created.

But they did not give up. They practiced, kept moving, did not stop dancing, and soon settled into something of a rhythm that complimented both of their styles.

And it was beautiful.

Around they twirled, close to one another, their breath and hearts mingling, turning and twisting in unison, as if they had been dance partners their entire lives. They both smiled, and laughed when they made the odd misstep, and let the music move them where it wished. Sometimes, they broke away, to do some crazy move on their own, just for the heck of it, but they always joined together again, hand in hand, one way or the other.

No one watched them dance. All eyes were on the disguised Avatar and Water Tribe girl. No one saw the warrior and earthbender come together as one. It did not matter to Toph and Sokka, though. They were alone, together, and happy, their dance as unique and special as the friendship they shared.

In that brief moment in time, the world revolved around one boy, and one girl.

The music stopped at one point, and the kids where cheering for the gasping pair in the middle of the floor. Toph and Sokka kept dancing, until she felt something on the edge of her bending "sight." They stopped.

"What is it?" he asked.

She gasped. "Sokka! Someone's-"

It was then that the voice of the school's dean yelled, and pointed "Kuzon" out in the midst of the crowd. She had been so caught up in the dance, dancing with Sokka of all people, that she had not been paying the lead bit of attention.

"Oh snap," said Sokka.

Chaos ensued, and she and the others were forced to flee the scene before the dean and his guards were able to catch Aang. They were helped by the students, who all pitched in and kept them busy.

As the Boomerang Squad flew away on Appa, safe and sound, Toph could not help but feel a little sorry for the kids. They were bound to return to their mundane lives, having only had a taste of freedom. Would they remember? She hoped so.

But she was even more upset that her dance with Sokka, that one special moment where she had been closer to him than ever before, had been interrupted, and broken without a thought.

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They set up camp some miles away from the city. It was late, and they were all tired after the super, secret dance party. Aang and Katara went out like lights soon after they hit the hay.

Toph had almost fallen asleep herself when she heard Sokka rap on her earth-tent.

"Toph, it's me. Sokka," he said.

"No kidding…"

"You awake?"

"I am now," she mumbled, rubbing sleepily at her eyes. Scooting out from under the protective folds of earth, she stood and wavered on the spot. "What is it?"

"Shhhh…" he whispered. She wondered if he was actually putting up a finger to his lips. It seemed a Sokka-ish thing to do. "Don't wake Aang and Katara." He took her hand and pulled her away from the camp.

"H-Hey, where are we going?" she asked, too sleepy and too surprised to put up much of a fight.

"We never got to finish dancing."

"Huh? What?"

"We were kind of interrupted before we were done," he said. "And you seemed like you were having a good time, so…" They found themselves in a small clearing, only a few yards from camp but completely hidden. "Let's dance."

Toph just "stared" at him. She hoped she was close to her mark. "Sokka, we don't have any music."

"Then we'll make our own music," he said, undaunted. She heard the smile in his voice. "Come on, Toph. Nobody's going to see us make fools of ourselves. Dance with me. Please?"

"You really want to dance with me?" she asked. Toph hated how meek and unsure of herself she sounded. "Really?"

"Really, really," he said. "I mean it. I want to dance with you, Toph."

She sighed and nodded, unable to keep down the grin that took hold of her entire face. She felt the happiest she had been in a very long time.

"Okay. Just don't step on my feet again."

They fell back into that strange grace they had experienced back in the cave. Toph could almost imagine that they were floating across the clearing. It was quiet, but the music was there, somehow, and just as real and lovely as it had been during the party.

"Thanks, Sokka," she said. "This… This is nice."

She remembered that she had mentioned no one had ever asked her to dance before.

Had he taken notice of that little, unspoken wish after all?

He chuckled. "No problem. And you were right." He twirled her, and she laughed. "You are a very good dancer."

"You're not so bad yourself, Mr. Two Left Feet."

"Hey, it's like I said. I'm the best in the South."

Bathed in moonlight and shadow, smiling and chuckling, and enjoying one another, the Water Tribe youth and the Blind Bandit danced.

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A/N: Fluffy enough for you? Xd