I stayed up late last night writing these and now i'm putting them up. Toph's birthday!! Read and Review

Special shout outs to all my reviewers. I normally dont get reviews on my stories, so this makes me really happy :)

Disclaimer: If i owned avatar the last airbender, i would do things for Toph which would make her happy. But alas, i own nothing.

Thirteen years. Sokka ran back to the village after telling Toph that he was "going to go check on Aang." She did not say anything in response, of course, but he could tell that she was not very pleased about it.

Thirteen years. Sokka had to do something for her, something that would surprise her and make her feel special. In the water tribe, thirteen years marked womanhood. The pounding of his running feet pounded into his ears as he remembered Katara's thirteenth birthday festivities; it had been the biggest celebration the small tribe had had in many years.

He wanted to do something extraordinary for Toph: after all, she was his closest friend…just friend, right?

Sokka shook the thought from his head, not wanting to deal with the implications. The main road of the village loomed ahead and the water warrior took the rest of his energy to sprint the last couple of yards.

I did not care that Sokka left. Really, I didn't. Today was a day about me, not about anyone else, so I should be worrying about him or anyone else. Right?

Then why did I feel so lonely and abandoned? Its not as if Sokka knew it was my birthday or that I enjoyed his company. I guess he was just bored with me; I wasn't talking after all. I felt myself grow bitter at the thought; my scowl deepened.

Thirteen years, Toph old girl. How do you feel?

Lonely

Katara and the nurse helped Aang into his new clothes; earth nation clothes. It was depressing seeing maybe the last item Aang had from the Air Nation to have to be discarded. The boy leaned back in bed, propped up on his pillow.

Aang sighed, still worn out by his injuries. Katara could see it in his eyes which seemed to hold more turmoil and stress than normal. It was times like when she looked in his eyes and saw all the problems of the world reflecting in it that she wanted to hold the boy and keep him safe from everything. Of course, that was idealistic and stupid.

The world would always be after the Avatar.

"So what happened? Tell me everything that happened after I went into the Avatar state," Aang asked, breaking the silence. Katara ran her hand through her long hair, absentmindedly braiding a small strand.

She was about to explain all when Sokka burst through the door thoroughly out of breath.

"SOKKA!" both youths exclaimed, surprised by his appearance.

The warrior strode over to Katara, "Guess what I learned today? It's Toph's birthday! Her thirteenth birthday. And I know you are here watching over Aang – oh hi Aang – to make sure he wakes up, but I was hoping you could come and we could have a party for her."

Katara and Aang looked at each other, smiling at Sokka's enthusiasm and foolishness.

"What's so funny? I don't see why you two are snickerin – Aang you're up!" Sokka said, clueing into the world. He had been so wrapped up about his newfound knowledge of Toph's birthday that he had lost connection to the world.

Sokka caught up with the pair – asking about Aang, the past couple of days, and their plans for tonight. It was almost lunchtime by the time the eldest boy stood up to go get the necessary supplies. "Oh, Toph's not talking. I forgot to mention that," he added on the way out.

"She what???" the two younger kids asked in unison, but their questions remained unanswered as Sokka was already out on the main road.

I'm not going to deny it. I was quite pleased when I found Snoozles returning after a couple hours. Those hours sitting in my own silence were knawing at my consciousness like a platypus-bear. But as he neared I realized that Sokka was quite excited about something by his excelled heartbeat – that was odd. Normally the boy didn't get riled unless something really bad or really good had happened.

I was leaning against Appa when he reached me, I had been there stroking the animal for the past half hour – truth be told, I was quite fond of Appa (but don't tell anyone).

"Aang's up!" he said, in a chipper mood. Odd. Something was up. His heartbeat was still excited, so I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Damn.

So does that mean we can get out of this hellhole? I thought to myself. Sometimes it was hard not being able to nag or submit my sarcasm in the most opportune or annoying times.

"I was wondering if you wanted to meet me at the bottom of the hill at sunset tonight. We can have another little talk like we did last night," the boy seemed nervous about asking me, but it peaked my attention. Sokka wanted to talk to me again? That was different. I raised an eyebrow, questioning his motives.

If I did not know Snoozles any better, I would start think there was something behind this.

"Alright, alright. If you don't want to talk, that's fine with me," the boy said, backing up and sitting on a log. I thought about it. I did actually look forward to another thought. I earth bended a pebble into my hand and threw it at him to get his attention.

"Ow you didn't need to do that, I was looking at you," he said. Now that got a blush out of me. I nodded my head, letting him know I agreed to this evening.

"Great. I'll meet you at the bottom of the hill at the big rock in a couple hours," he said, climbing onto Appa to take a nap. But I could have sworn that I felt his heart beat faster right before he lifted himself on top of the fluffy beast…