A/N- I haven't forgotten about this story, I just took an obscenely long time to write it.
Enjoy!
Toph awoke to the sound of something thumping with a rhythm.
Thump… thump… thump…
It sounded so nice, so innocent; she smiled as she continued to listen to it.
Thump… thump… thump…
Her eyes snapped open as she realized what it was. She sat up abruptly, and by doing so, woke up the one sleeping beneath her.
"Huh… what time is it?" Aang asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.
"It's morning Twinkle Toes," Toph told him as she felt the sun hit her face through the giant glass windows.
Aang sat up also. "Morning?! As in, we slept through the whole night?!" he asksed worried.
"Yup," Toph said, wondering why he was so worked up about this. They'd slept over at each other's houses before, though Toph had to admit, it was usually because there was some emergency, not because they just fell asleep.
"Oh man, Gyotso is probably so worried!" Aang said frantically as he stood up.
The smell of coffee filled the air quite suddenly as a voice behind the two spoke. "Don't worry Aang, everything is fine."
Aang's head snapped in the direction from which the voice had come from. Toph only moved her head a little, since it didn't matter to her. It was Lao; standing in the doorway with a mug of freshly brewed coffee in his hand, and Poppy was with him, glaring at the two.
"I called Gyotso last night to let him know where you were Aang. I didn't want to wake you two. You looked so worn out, I thought you deserved a good night's sleep," he chuckled lightly, as he walked away.
Poppy stayed though, and that made Aang slightly nervous. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't too happy. Poppy stayed in the doorway, glaring at him, for what seemed like hours to Aang but was really only a few seconds. Toph stood suddenly.
"Why don't we get something to eat Twinkle Toes, while Poppy here continues to stare into complete nothingness, wondering what happened to her brain," Toph suggested in an icy tone as she grabbed Aang's hand and dragged him behind her towards the kitchen. If only Toph could have seen that Poppy was staring at Aang, and not nothing, then maybe she wouldn't have dragged him right past Poppy. In return, she gave Aang a look that said, 'I'm watching you.'
&&&&&&
Azula sat in her enormous room, lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She still couldn't believe that her father had actually grounded her! It was an outrage! She picked up the phone, ready to call someone. Just because she wasn't allowed to leave the house except for school for a month, didn't mean she couldn't call anyone.
She stared at her phone for a while, debating over who she should call. Not Ty Lee. She didn't want to have to deal with her perky attitude. Not Mai either, she was too depressed all the time. She hardly even knew Katara either. Hmmm… why not Toph?
She pressed the forth speed dial which was Toph's number. It rang a few times before someone answered.
"Hello?" Toph's voice said through the phone.
"What's up bitch?" Azula asked her.
"Oh hey. Whatcha doing?" Toph asked.
"Sitting in my room, waiting for another three weeks to go by," Azula said miserably.
She could hear Toph take a bite of something over the phone. "Who are you talking to?" someone asked on the other end.
"Shut up Twinkle Toes, it's Sparky," Toph said to him. Azula could feel jealously boil in her stomach. Aang was over at Toph's house, while she was stuck at home.
"Is that Aang? How come he's over so early?" Azula asked, curiosity joining her jealously.
"He slept over last night," Toph told her.
"Oh, Toph, you two hooking up now? Well, it's not like we all didn't know it would happen eventually," Azula mocked.
"What?! That's not what happened Azula! It was an accident," Toph tried to explain to her.
"Yeah, sure. Just don't come to school pregnant or with S.T.D.ss," Azula joked. She could hear Toph growl on the other end.
"Anyway… back to what you were saying about staying in the house for three weeks," Toph said, "that just doesn't sound like you. What would be you is sneaking out when your dad isn't home to a wild party."
A wild party eh? Maybe she would do that. "But how am I supposed the hear about this stuff if I'm stuck in the house?!" she yelled to really no one in particular.
"Calm down spark. You're talking to a blind person here. I can hear you just fine," Toph said grumpily. "Just have Ty Lee throw one. Her parents are out of town this weekend, and she'll do anything you tell her to do."
Azula thought about this for a minute before responding. "Well, I definitely know that this is Toph I'm talking to. Only you could come up with something so brilliant. I love you bitch," Azula told her as she hung up to call Ty Lee.
&&&&&&
Ty Lee was so excited. She was going to throw a party without her parent's permission while they were out of town. She felt so rebellious.
She started calling everyone on her list. When she got to Sokka's name, she hesitated for a minute. Maybe she shouldn't call him. They didn't exactly get along to well, even though she liked him a whole lot. She skipped his name and went to the next one, which was Katara's. Hmm… she'd call her. And if Sokka just happened to come with her, so be it.
&&&&&&
Sokka sat in his room, watching television. Azula was all over the news. And Azula reminded him of Ty Lee, and how awful he had treated her.
He heard a knock on his door. "Come in!" he called out.
Katara came in the door. "Hey bro. Ty Lee just invited me to her party she's having. She said bring anyone you want. You want to come?"
Sokka scowled. How come she hadn't invited him? Hmmm… maybe it was because he had insulted her so badly.
"Sure, why not?" he replied deadpanned.
Katara left the room, to leave her brother in his misery. She went downstairs and got in her car. She was going to meet Zuko at a dessert restaurant.
The drive there was smooth. The bell above the door jingled slightly as she opened the clear glass door. The place smelled like fresh desserts, and she could hear the slight noise of a blender in the background. Smooth jazz played in the surround sound speakers. She saw Zuko waving to her shyly from across the room in the corner where he was sitting. Typical.
Katara slid into the seat next to him on the red leather booth. She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.
He stared at her wide eyed. "What was that for?" he asked surprised.
She gave and innocent shrug. "No reason." She put both elbows on the checkered tile table top and rested her chin on her finger linked hands. "So, what do you recommend to get here?"
"Anything with chocolate. They have the best anywhere," he asked almost robotically. Katara frowned. He seemed… different than usual.
A waitress with humongous bright blond hair wearing a white shirt that showed her obviously fake breasts and a red miniskirt came up to them. Katara was willing to bet big money that she was a wannabe actress.
"Would you like to order anything?" she asked in an obscenely high-pitched voice.
"Umm… a chocolate espresso for me," Katara answered, looking over at the menu on the wall.
"And for you sir?" the waitress asked, batting her eyelashes. Zuko failed to notice her flirting.
"Just a scone," he replied in a monotone. The waitress wrote down their orders and walked back to the kitchen.
Katara looked over at Zuko, determined to find out what was wrong. "Zuko, what's wrong? And don't tell me nothing, I know something's up."
Zuko took a deep breath before starting out. "Well, to start out, I was kind of drunk the other night."
Katara gave him a 'so what?' look. "And I did some things I'm not proud of," he explained.
Katara's face immediately dropped. "What kind of things?" she asked.
"See, my ex-girlfriend Jin was there. She hit on me while I was drunk… and I kind of made out with her behind the bar we were at," he said.
Katara's eyes widened in amazement. "WHAT?!" she hollered, causing the whole room to look at her. "Zuko, WE'RE going out! How could you do that to me?!"
Zuko looked around at the room filled with people, and no doubt some were tabloid writers.
"Katara, calm down. You're making a scene," he hissed at her. Katara snapped. She stood up and smacked him hard across the face.
"If I want to make a scene, I'll make a scene! All you care about is your stupid reputation! You know, you're not the only person in the world!" she said as she stormed out the door, which made a small tinkling noise as she exited.
Zuko stood, throwing two hundred dollars onto the table to cover everything, and followed her, determined to get her back.
A/N- Okay, so if you didn't notice, I wrote this chapter a little different than the rest. There's more detail, and I didn't press enter as many times. Please tell me which one you prefer. My new kind of writing, or the old way. Please review.
Thanks for reading!