A/N- Well, this has taken me a while to update. I'm kind of stuck in a spot of writer's block for this story. I have what's coming next, but I haven't gotten there yet. So here's what I was able to come up with. And for Plaguewalker, I just need to get someone in there to be with Toph temporarily and Haru just happened to be lying around. I'm telling you, Taang will happen! I have it all worked out, I just have to put it all on paper now. Anyway…

Enjoy!

The Beginnings

Katara was a nervous wreck when she drove to school. The only thing in her head was where is Sokka?

She hoped to God that one of the others had seen him.

When she got to school, she saw Aang and Toph sitting on a bench talking to each other. She ran up to them.

"HaveeitheroneofyouseenSokka?" she asked really fast.

"Whoa there Sugar Queen, take a deep breathe and run that by me again," said Toph.

Katara did so and both looked shocked as to what she had asked. "I'm sorry Katara, I haven't seen Sokka anywhere," Aang said.

Katara looked at Toph, expecting her to answer, when Aang made a motion in front of his face, reminding Katara that Toph was blind. Katara hung her head and started to cry. Aang got up and guided her to the bench where he had been sitting so she could sit next to Toph.

"Katara, what happened?" asked Aang, who was now squatting in front of her.

Katara cried for another minute or so, and Aang and Toph waited patently for her to answer.

"Sokka never came home last night," she mumbled out.

To her surprise, the others weren't that worried.

"Don't worry Katara, stuff like this happens all the time," Aang said, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, though you should have seen Twinkle Toes reaction when I got a ride with some other guy once. He totally freaked on me!" Toph said, trying to lighten the mood.

Katara laughed a little while Aang just turned red. "Hey, I was worried about you. That guy could have raped you," Aang tried explaining.

"It was your cousin Twinkle Toes!" Toph said laughing.

Katara started laughing out loud with Toph. She liked hearing their storied from when they were younger. It reminded her of her own childhood with her friends.

"Look, if he doesn't turn up by the end of school, we'll go looking for him. Savvy?" said Toph.

Katara looked up at her two friends who were sitting there waiting for her response. She couldn't help but feel pride well up at how well she had chosen friends. She nodded and stood up, as they followed her example.

&&&&&

Sokka woke up the next morning lying in the white sand of a foreign beach. He sat up and looked around him. He saw Ty Lee lying in the sand next to him.

"YOU!" he cried.

She immediately awoke and looked at him groggily. When she saw him, she smiled brightly.

"Hey there!"

"What am I doing here with YOU?!" Sokka hollered.

"Is there a problem with being with me?" Ty Lee asked.

"YES! You're one of those freaks! I can't be here with you!" he screamed.

Ty Lee's face dropped dramatically. "But you called me pretty last night."

Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but it close again when he realized he had nothing to say. So he nodded, mostly to himself. "That is true."

"So, you only said that because you were drunk?" she asked sadly.

Sokka now realized how much he was hurting her feelings. He really did think she was pretty, but Jet and his friends had told him how people like Ty Lee were freaks. Now what was he supposed to do?

"No, no, no. I do think you're pretty, but it's just that… well… things are complicated right now." He was quiet for a minute as he looked around. "I really have to go now. My family is probably worried sick."

He got up and ran away from Ty Lee. As she watched him go, she felt like part of her heart left with him, something she had never felt before.

&&&&&

(Skip to the end of the school day)

It was the end of the school day, and there was still no sign of Sokka. The group was starting to get worried. But that was an understatement for Katara. She was a living wreck. She couldn't concentrate on anything.

Zuko offered to drive her home that day because of her loss of attention. On the way home, they didn't say anything. When they got there, he walked her to the door.

"I'm sure your brother will turn up," he said as kindly as he could.

This seemed to snap Katara out of her trance. "Thanks," she said softly.

Without thinking, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the check. This left her even more stunned than she already was. He walked back down the driveway and started to walk home. He didn't even look back at her.

She stood there for a minute until she realized she was still standing outside of her own house. She walked inside and found Sokka sleeping on the couch in the front room.

"SOKKA!" she cried.

He woke up instantly and was totally unaware of his surroundings. "Wazz goin on?" he mumbled out.

But Katara didn't respond. She ran over to him and wrapped in the biggest hug she could give him. What woke Sokka up though was the fact that he wasn't able to breathe very well.

"Katara…" he said.

"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly. Then she hit him on the shoulder.

"OW! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Where were you?! You had me worried sick!" she hollered at him.

"Last night I was drunk and feel asleep on a beach with Ty Lee," he explained.

Hmm… thought Katara, that's why it was so quiet today. Ty Lee wasn't there either.

"Don't ever do that again! I was so scarred something had happened to you!" she yelled at him.

But she couldn't help but smile at the fact that all her worrying was in vain because Sokka was safe.

&&&&&

(Skip to Friday after school)

After Sokka had reappeared, the rest of the week went pretty smoothly. Now it was Friday, Toph's date night.

Aang was at Toph's house too, for multiple reasons. One was because when one of them had a date, the other was always there to, in Aang's case, help Toph ease any nerves she might have, or in Toph's case, torment Aang until right before he left when she gave him good luck.

The second reason was because Toph's dad was out of town for the day, so he had asked Aang to hammer Haru out, which Aang was happy to do. At that moment, both were in Toph's room talking when Star came in.

Star's new approach to getting Aang was to cause a fight between the two, so Star could be there to comfort Aang.

"So, who has the big date tonight?" asked Star teasingly.

"Toph does," Aang answered.

"Really? The rat got a date? Is he retarded or something?" she asked.

"No. I save those guys for you Fruit-Loop," said Toph smugly.

Star had to bite down on her tongue to keep from making a remark back.

"I'll be right back. Try not to be corrupted Twinkle Toes," said Toph icily.

Aang laughed. "I won't."

Toph walked into the bathroom, and as soon as the door closed, Star walked casually over to Aang.

"Hey there Aang. Why are you here?" she asked.

"Your dad wanted me to check out Toph's date for him because he's not here," he said.

"Really? And you're okay with doing that? Aren't you worried?" she asked.

"Worried about what?" he asked skeptically.

"Aren't you worried that she'll totally fall for this guy, and never be with you again?"

"Whoa there. You're making sound like Toph and I are going out here. We're just friends."

As much as Star loved hearing that, she knew she had to keep pressuring him in order for her plan to work.

"Oh come on now. You can't be telling me that you've been friends with a girl your whole life and you've never thought about what it'd be like to be more than friends with her?" Star asked.

Aang thought about this for a minute. "Nope."

At that moment Toph came out of the bathroom, fully dressed in her new outfit. Aang turned around and smiled at her.

"You look great Toph," he said in a friendly way.

Stars shoulders sagged a little. Her plan wasn't working. Just then, the doorbell rang. Toph's face lit up as she ran downstairs to answer it. Aang looked back over his shoulder as he followed her out and waved to Star.

As Aang got to the top of the stairway, he looked down to see Toph and Haru talking.

"You look really pretty Toph," Haru complemented.

Yeah, Toph really does look great… Aang thought to himself. Then he snapped his head up at realization of what he had just thought. Whoa! Where did that come from?

He shook his head to wave it off and walked downstairs to Haru and Toph.

&&&&&

(Skip to the end of Toph's date)

"Thanks for the great night Haru," Toph said sweetly.

"It was my pleasure Toph," Haru said. "I'll call you later."

Haru left after that and Toph went inside. She found Aang sitting inside watching TV.

"You know, you don't have to follow my dad's instructions exactly," she teased.

He looked away from the screen to his friend. "True, but he paid me an extra $100 to stay until you got back," Aang said smirking.

Toph laughed and punched his playfully in the shoulder. "Are you staying the night too?" she joked, even though he had done that before.

"Nah… I think I'll go home now. It's only 11:30," he said looking at the clock on the wall. "Are we still having a movie night here tomorrow?"

"Totally! Though the others probably won't be coming. They're all busy, so I'm stuck with you," she joked.

Aang laughed. He knew she didn't really mean that. "Aw… poor you."

They both laughed at that. "Well, I should get going. See you tomorrow," Aang called as he left.

"Yeah, see ya Twinkle Toes!"

A/N- What did you think? I know it wasn't one of my best chapters, but I'm working with writer's block. If there's anything you think I should improve on, please let me know!

Thanks for reading and please review!