IV. Tête-à-tête
Toph and Katara snuck out of Zuko's room after making sure there was no one to see them. They had to wait a couple of minutes, because Zuko's guards were at the door. "How did you get in without those guys noticing?" they sort of asked each other, but dropped the subject when the guards left almost immediately to warm themselves with a cup of tea. By all accounts, life under the rule of Fire Lord Pops was very different than under Ozai. People were allowed to break for tea. Katara and Toph ran with their bounty to Katara's room. Just when they managed to open the door, a voice from the end of the corridor made them jump.
"Katara! I have been looking for you all over!" It was Suki. Katara left out a sigh of relief.
"It's OK." She said calmly. "I was with Toph". Suki reached them while they entered the room. Suki closed the door behind her.
"What happened to you?" She asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?"
"Your hair, your face, you are all flushed and sweaty. Are you feeling well? It is kind of cold here to be sweating."
Katara answered with composure.
"There is nothing wrong with me. I feel fine."
Toph shot an arm towards Suki.
"You, fan-girl!" She said. "I can't see in this terrible place. Help me find some cups to drink a very fine bottle of fire whiskey."
"Fire whiskey?" Exclaimed Suki, and then, "May I join?"
"If you find the cups," Toph shrugged, "be my guest!"
Suki started going over stuff and then came over, probably with the cups in her hands. Toph, meanwhile, accommodated pillows and furs on the wood floor, around a fire stove that irradiated heat in the middle of the room.
"What are we celebrating?" Suki asked innocently.
"That Katara is going to tell the truth, for once." Toph answered. Katara gasped.
"I don't lie!" She said defensively. Toph could feel her unspoken words: We are not having this conversation in front of Suki! but she was too piss off to care. Too angry with the ice, with the cold, with Katara, and even with Sparky, to care.
"You are lying, right now. To our faces. You always lie. You are a born liar. Actually, you are the worse kind of liar, worse than Azula." She concluded self-righteously.
"Ooohh!" Suki said "Brutal!"
Katara was fuming. Toph could feel it.
"Azula? You are comparing me to Azula? How can you say that??"
"Because at least she always knew she was lying, while you, you don't even notice anymore. Are those the cups for the whiskey, fan-girl?"
"Yep. Tea cups. There are not clean, though. There are some leftover tea leaves on them."
"That is how they do it in the fire nation. The put leaves and spices on it and heat it up. We need a firebender to heat this up."
"There were some of the royals guards walking outside. Do you want me to get one?"
"I'll do it." Toph walked to the door and yelled with her very good earthbending lungs "HEY!! FIREGUYS!! WHO IS OUT THERE?"
"Master Toph!" Answered a voice that sounded happy to hear her, "Corporal Chin at your orders!"
"That's the spirit Chin! And it is Great Master Toph to you, by the way, I kicked your butt last time we gambled. I need you to heat this for us." She shot her arm with Sparky's best whiskey on it. Chin blew a whistle of appreciation.
"Are the other ladies going to drink this, Great Master?" He asked doubtfully.
"These are not ladies, Chin, but warriors. Like us. Do not get confused by the boobs and the make up… wait, are you guys wearing makeup?"
"No."
"Nope."
"Just the boobs, then. Come Chin, is for today. Heat it like you are doing it for those sissies in your squadron. I mean, for you comrades."
"Humph. You cannot bend ice, can you great master?"
"What are you implying?"
"I'll heat for you. Should I let His Highness know what happened to his whiskey next time he decides to treat the men?"
"Should I let His Highness know how was it that you became dead meat?"
"Understood, Sir. But eh ... those three copper pieces you won from me last time will really help me forget."
"You are all cheaters and blackmailers in that nation of yours. Take your money and not a word to Spar… I meant, His Highness. He is not my guardian, you know?"
She went back in the room.
"Ladies!" She said happily, "Let's have a chat!"
The chat was a bad idea, from the beginning. First, Toph knew how to do girly, she had the right upbringing after all, but right now she lacked the patience to go through the motions. Too many secrets and shared history, and Katara kept side-stepping the questions. Four years had done a lot to the girl in terms of facing to her actions. Secondly, Toph knew that part of the problem was Suki in the room. She had nothing against the girl, really. As a matter of fact, she grudgingly accepted that Suki was cool. Maybe it was the fellow warrior thing, or the earth kingdom substance thing, but the girl was just cool, about everything. Toph liked that. Katara, on the other hand, was getting on her nerves. So just right now, she rather had Suki in the room than be alone with Katara.
"Well Sugar-cakes," she said after each had had at least 2 shots, "tell us about the river."
"There is nothing to tell." Katara said defensively, and tried to kick Toph, who moved before the foot made contact.
"That is so low, trying to kick a blind girl." Toph said. Katara fumed.
"What river?" Suki asked, while Toph poured more whiskey in her cup.
"The river where this one was practicing some waterbending luv." Toph answered maliciously.
"Stop it." Katara said in a bad mood. "I don't know why you keep insisting."
"Because whatever happened in the Western Air Temple was not what you two were talking about."
"That was almost four years ago. You keep bringing it up like it was the end of the world or something."
"Well, you certainly acted like it was. You went a bit leechy nut on us. Seriously." Toph added thoughtfully, sipping her drink. "It actually helped with fighting Azula that someone was acting crazier than her." Katara did not answer.
"Was that when Zuko dumped you?" Suki asked suddenly. The silence was deafening.
"How did you know?" Toph asked in total shock. Until then, she had assumed that she was the only one that did.
"It was kind of hard to miss they way these two were looking at each other, and bumping accidentally in the dark corners and stuff like that. That is, unless you are a guy. Which now that I think about it, everyone in that temple was except us." Katara still didn't answer. Toph imagined a face of complete panic.
"Why didn't you say anything then?" Katara finally said. Suki must have shrugged by the sound of her upper clothes.
"You obviously didn't want to talk about it. I actually tried to talk to you, but you were reacting so fiercely about everything. We were about to face the fight of our lives and you just seemed angry and I did not know what happened. You went from this, I don't know how to described it, elation? to this very furious take on things, so I just assumed that he had ended it and you did not want to talk about it."
"He dumped you?" Toph intervened. "I thought that you dumped him!".
She imagined that Katara had her face in her hands because her voice came back mumbled.
"By the Moon, you two knew about this?"
"Well, I have feet, remember? Very good feet."
"And I have eyes. And common sense. Unless, you count Sokka, of course, but I have an excuse for that" Toph raised an eyebrow. Suki lowered her voice. "The war" she confided, "not many guys my age in my village."
"We dumped each other" Katara's voice finally came through very clear. "It was because of Aang. We did not know about the extent of his feelings and when we found out, it just made it impossible for us to continue. Zuko would never hurt Aang on purpose, and neither would I. And the fate of the world was at stake, and Zuko said it was a matter of honor." Toph and Suki both made little tst-tst noises.
"What?" Katara asked.
"Bad, bad," said Toph, who knew Sparky well. "I don't know how to break it to you ... but he used the word 'honor', so he is going to hang unto that honor like a bad smell and you won't be getting any from Mr. Hotpants"
"Aaaggh!!" She heard Katara opening the fire whiskey and probably bending some on her cup. "I need a drink."
"What was that about a river?" Suki asked. Katara gulped down the whiskey and bended more in everyone's cups. It was not boiling hot anymore, but at least was lukewarm. Toph could feel Katara's defenses crumbling down. The thought occurred to Toph that it must be such a relief, for someone as transparent and loving as Katara, to finally open up after four years of silences and secrets.
"I traveled with Zuko and waterbenders from the Foggy swamp to help him with a crisis in the Fire Nation. A tsunami hit one of the fire islands and we went to help."
"I remember," Suki said "that was almost a year ago, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"Where were we?" Toph asked.
"You were in Gaoling. That was just after we came back from finding the Earth King and restored him to his throne. Remember? You decided to take a vacation and visit your parents. And you and Sokka had traveled to Kyoshi Island to visit your family weeks before. We were in Ba Sing Se when a message came from Iroh about the tsunami. You know how the Earth King is, Aang couldn't in good conscience leave the guy, and the city, alone. And Zuko was really concerned trying to organize all these logistics long distance, and then I proposed to go to the Foggy Swamp in Appa, which was closer than the North Pole anyway, and recruit waterbenders and healers. So we did just that. We traveled with him to take care of the crisis."
"And then, what happened?" Suki asked.
"We sort of rekindled our relationship." Katara said in a very low voice. "I don't know how it happened. It was after the worse of the crisis had passed. We have managed to evacuate the survivors to a new island, get provisions and heal the injured. We were tired but relieved. And then ... you know how those Foggy Swamp people are. They really don't have prejudices. They don't judge anything. So the atmosphere was very relaxed. And hot, it was a very hot week. And one night there was a full moon and I wanted to swim in a river, but Zuko said that it may be dangerous because of some animals in the water, I don't know, so ... I asked Zuko to come with me."
Suki poured more whiskey. Toph was starting to feel the effects.
"And I was in the water, under the full moon, and he was standing at the edge of the river, reclining on a tree, just looking at me. And I have never felt so beautiful or so alive. So I bended a mist of water above us, like a drizzle rain, and I extended my hand and asked him to come into the water. And he removed his shirt," Suki let go a 'by Kyoshi!' very softly, "and walked into the water..." Katara paused. They fact that the other two women kept silent spoke volumes of how mesmerized they were by the story. "And he walked in circles around me under the drizzle, until he was standing behind me and put his cheek against my hair and his arm around my waist. I kept bending water over us that was cold and fine, and then he grabbed my chin and turned my head towards him and kissed me. And I let all the water drop at the same time, but neither of us noticed." Katara felt silent and there was something in the voice that told them that she did not want to share more than that. That did not stop the other two, however, whom by now were slightly too drunk to be considerate.
"So, you kissed him back?" Suki asked.
"Uh, uh … more than that I am afraid" Toph interjected.
"You weren't there!" Suki accused.
"Don't need to be. Just pay attention to what is in front of you: this is what we call Water Tribe goo."
"Wow. I don't know if should say this aloud, but Sokka is getting lucky tonight."
"Well, I am not kissing the pebble, you can be sure of that."
"Katara, are you crying?" Suki got closer to her friend. Toph did the same. Katara started crying freely probably for the first time in a long time.
"Don't cry" Suki said "here, have another drink. It will help you with the rain memory."
"Hey" Toph said grabbing her hand "If you want to call the entire thing off, we will back you up whatever you choose to do."
Katara drank the whiskey. Suki and Toph did the same, out of solidarity of course.
"I am not calling anything off." Katara said after. "I can't do this to Aang."
Toph felt like shaking her.
"Go ahead." She said moving to the side. "Do it to yourself then."
"No." Katara was firm. "I love Aang. It is love. Zuko is something else. Is not love. You know, grow-old-together love. It is craziness."
"What do you know about grow-old-together love?" Toph asked suspiciously.
"I know that passion fades, and all you are left with is friendship." Katara insisted firmly.
"I thought you told Zuko today that you were friends." Katara stopped for a second.
"It's different." She insisted
"But what happened the second time?" Suki asked, she sounded desolate. "After the rain, and the moon, and everything!"
"I don't know." Katara sounded a bit lost. "I really don't know. We spent these crazy, magical weeks, acting like we were not us. We took the Foggy Swamp benders back to the swamp and stayed some days with them. He said that it was to let Appa rest, and I said yes, of course. But it was because neither of us wanted to go back to the real world. We were so free in the swamp. "
"Were you running around dressed in banana leaves and making out against that scary tree Aang told me about?" Toph asked.
"How did you know?" Katara was surprised.
"I knew it! Pops says that for a year now Sparky have been acting weird every time he offers him a banana. You naughty girl, what did you do to Sparky with those bananas?"
"I did nothing to him that he did not do to me." She answered primly. Suki grabbed the bottle.
"Uh-uh" she said. "Running out of whiskey"
Toph heard Katara opening a new bottle and bending all the cups full again.
"So, the swamp, nekkid, bananas, and then?" Suki said encouragingly.
"Then, I don't know. We had to go back to Ba Sing Se. I don't even know for sure how long we were in the swamp. We were consumed by it. Between the heat, the humidity and the passion, I don't think we were able to breathe properly all the time we were there. And we kept having these long, very intimate conversations that would start in the morning and just never end. Not even when we were asleep. It was like we were telling each other things even when we were silent. And the kisses. By Yue, the kisses. And him. Just him. I would turn into water just by looking at him. And when he touched me, it was like having our skins removed by the swamp, until we could see every bit of inner flesh and bone. No secrets, no boundaries between us. At the same time, we kept having all these weird dreams and premonitions. I saw him in an Agni Kai in the middle of a green and gold room. And he saw me, dressed in blue, in a wedding ceremony, but did not see himself in it. It was wonderful, and scary and heartbreaking all at the same time. Like the swamp was telling us to be together right there, because we would end up apart. And the last day, when we were dressing back in our clothes, we had a joint vision. It was Aang, and he was fading and with him all the airbenders. The entire world seemed to fade under an illusion, and there was this volcano from which the smoke that took the airbenders away was coming. Zuko and I tried to hold onto Aang, but he was falling and fading and we couldn't hold him. And suddenly the death of an entire race hit us both in the face. And Zuko fell to his knees and covered his face and said something like "I understand" and I knew then that the vision was about us. It was about helping the Avatar restore his race. It was about Zuko atoning for his ancestors crime. About me and Aang. And about Zuko and I having to let go of each other."
Katara's voice slow down until it felt silent. Suki was the first one to talk.
"How do you know that was the right interpretation of the vision?" She asked. Katara sounded surprised.
"We just knew. We both felt it at the same time. It seemed to make sense. Even our relationship. It was like the swamp was giving us a gift before sending us to the world to face our destinies."
"So... " Toph asked slowly. "Your destiny is to repopulate an entire race?"
There was a shiver in the air.
"It sounds to me," Suki said "that you know more about 'growing-old-together' love that you let in. I think you are making a mistake."
Even Toph was surprised at the warrior's bluntness.
"Do you think that I don't notice Sokka looking at the moon on full nights?" Suki pressed on "He never kisses me under the moon, you know. Neither of us talks about it. Neither would ever know if his thing with Yue was a 'grow old together' kind of love because it didn't happen. But the idea of it remains, in his head. Do you think I like it? As we grow older, and fall into the routine of time and age, we will fight. It's bound to happen. And I know that he will wonder about his lost Moon. At least right now you have a choice. You love Aang, I am sure of it. But I have never seen you look at him the way you looked at Zuko in that temple. Do you really want to end up looking at the sun and wondering? What happened in that swamp won't be erased by ten kids that can bend air."
Toph assented. She was starting to feel the whiskey in her toes. That would have been good if it wasn't because they were over bamboo floor and ice.
"The sun comes out every day, and you will look at it and wonder." Toph said.
"I won't." Katara answered stubbornly.
"Whatever. Stupidity runs deeply in your family." Toph concluded.
"He does not love me. He never has." Katara insisted.
"How do you know? Did you ever ask?" Toph asked.
"He never said it. Not once. Even when I told him. Even now. Anyway, is not good. He just touches me and I forget to ask all the questions because I'm so afraid of what I'm going to hear. I'm afraid of making a mistake that would make him like me less. I don't like feeling like this. Passion and love are not the same thing, you know?"
"You keep telling yourself that." Toph patted her leg. "We still need to have a conversation about the facts of life."
"Eerr ... Toph, I don't need to have this conversation and even if I did, shouldn't it be with someone older than me and more experienced? Someone like Suki?"
"Hey!" the warrior exclaimed "after the swamp story, you should be giving me the facts of life." She turned to Toph. "I just realized that the facts of my life are boring."
Toph ignored Suki.
"You need to install some attitude in your future husband, sorry, committed guy? Whatever. In case you've forgotten, I trained him. I know what you are going to be facing."
"Yep!" Suki struck an arm in the air. Toph suddenly realized that the warrior was hopelessly drunk. "If you want to repopulate the earth and the air, the avatar needs to know what to do." She leaned in confidentially. "Does he know what to do?"
Katara was silent for a minute.
"I am not sure." She answered honestly.
"This is bad." Suki concluded. She turned to Toph. "For the look of the thing, this one is going to end up with a permanent crank in her neck from looking at the sun all day. Unless we do something."
"Like what?" Katara demanded. "What can you do?" She took another gulp of whiskey. "You!" Toph felt her finger poking her arm. "What can you possibly do to help me? You don't even have experience!"
"Field experience, maybe" Toph was unfazed "but I have been hanging out with soldiers for the last four years and let me tell you, there is nothing that I don't know. At least in theory." she added after a pause. "So, taking into account that there is not much that I can actually teach you, you probably knowing all that there is to know after all, you can still do some awesome bending with Twinkle Toes".
"What do you mean?"
"Well he knows how to control fire, water, earth and air. He is also very nimble. Very jumpy. I bet that you can guide him into bending some very good recipes for you."
"Is that your solution for my heartache? How is getting Aang to do some fancy bending going to distract me from my feelings for Zuko?"
"It won't, but it will keep you entertained and away from pining at the sun all day. Woke up, Sugar Queen. No one can serve two masters at the same time. Somehow you decided to repopulate the heavens with Twinkle Toes and ended a very good thing with an awesome guy (and for the conversations I have been hearing around all day, he is getting better with time). So, don't go ahead and screw it for the other very good guy you do have."
Katara moaned.
"But they are so different!" She said
"It is the lack of meat."
"What?"
"Aang. He is very supple. It comes with being a vegetarian airbender. Anyway, it's not fair that you keep comparing them. Not fair to Aang. I hear he is cute if you like big ears. Can he move them?"
"What?"
"The ears?"
"Don't know. Never asked him."
Suki assented.
"Probably yes, because Aang is you know, very powerful and everything. That's sexy, isn't?"
"If you like big powerful ears." Toph insisted.
"How do you know about the ears? You are blind."
"Everybody talks about his ears. They must be humongous."
"Is there a relation between ears and you know what?" Suki asked
"Maybe. I know that they say feet and you know what." Toph answered. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that this was a totally, useless, drunken conversation but she was having fun.
"That is a relief. Sokka has huge feet." Suki confided.
"Aang has tiny, tiny feet though." Toph said. "It comes with being an airbender. He is Twinkle Toes, for spirits sake. And a vegetarian."
"Would you two shut up? This is my future husband you are talking about!"
"I thought monks couldn't get married." Suki said "Isn't that the purpose of the ceremony thing?"
"So?"
"So, he cannot be your husband. He will be your committed guy."
"You" Toph poked Katara in the chest with a finger, changing subjects "should try the goods first."
"Yep. Don't go into this blind, you know. Oh, sorry Toph, no offense meant."
"None taken."
"We will help you guys." Suki offered, and Toph just knew that Suki had no idea how to help. Obviously, she decided to start with the basics. "Has he tried anything, you know?"
"No, he always treats me with so much respect." Katara answered, sadly.
"That's the problem!" Toph threw her hands in the air.
"That's it. Respect is overrated. I am expert at slapping Sokka, but always afterwards."
"Really Sweetness, don't play hard to get. If you run too hard they can't catch you."
"The idea" Suki whispered conspiratorially "is to get caught. But not too fast, then they think you are easy."
"She is easy! She was trying to catch Sparky earlier!"
"I am not easy."
"You are. And a hopeless one, the guy said no."
"It is Aang's fault." Suki said intelligently. "If he were more of the I-will-catch-you type, she wouldn't be ambushing Mr. Hot Pants. Wait." Suki took another drink. "Now that I think about it, Sokka catches me every time and I still would try to ambush Mr Hotpants."
Toph agreed. "He comes with 'perks'."
"Yeah, the palace. Have you seen the palace?"
"I grew up in one, and I can't see. I was thinking more about the feet and the uncle. I like the uncle. I can take Hottie if uncle comes along."
"Me too. Are his feet big Katara?" Suki asked in jest.
This time, she answered.
"Yes."
Silence.
"Like big, big feet or just above average?"
"How I am supposed to know? I don't know about comparisons! It just feels big."
They thought this through.
"You are talking about his feet here, aren't you?"
"Yes, his feet. They are warm too." Katara added.
"Like, they throw steam at you and everything?"
"Oh, by Kyoshi! It throws fire?" Suki and Toph started giggling so hard that Katara had to cover her head with a pillow.
"Those are perks! I want perks!" Suki yelled.
Katara removed the pillow. She was laughing now.
"Good thing that I am a waterbender, I had to literally put out the fire. It was scary, but good."
"Well, Aang is the avatar. He can do fire, and earth together. Maybe he will throw molten lava at you!"
"He needs some tips, to overcome the tiny feet!"
"Do you seriously think that…"
"Of course not. No, no, I mean, at least he is taller than you now."
"Not as tall as hot-sword." Suki interjected.
"But with big ears. Maybe he can move them!"
"And do what with them? Tickle her?"
"Well, something needs to be done. The poor guy doesn't know it yet but he will be fighting a swamp!"
Katara suddenly sobered up.
"What am I going to do?" She asked.
"You are acting like a coward. Zuko will never be happy with a coward. Aang, on the other hand, is the avatar. He understands human flaws, his nature is air so he detaches himself. He would never ask you or expect you to return the same intensity. Sparky is not the same. Either you love him absolutely and completely, take me for granted love, where he never has to worry that you are not there one hundred percent with him, or let him go. Don't step into that fire if you are not willing to be completely burned by it."
"Hey! Where did you learned to talk all poetic?" Suki asked.
Toph giggled.
"The guards have been reading romance scrolls to me!"
"I don't think I can do that." Katara said. "You are right. With Zuko, when we are together, I cannot breathe. With Aang is so much easier. With Zuko is like my heart is always on the brink of exploding, and his eyes ask so many things and I become this, this liquid for moon's sake... "
"Aang" Suki said conspiratorially in Toph's ear "is the safe choice"
"This is such a mess. We need to do an intervention. You! No more seeking Sparky alone! Period. You are going to re-start the war, you'll see. Captain Yin read me a story like that. The woman was a hussy, like you. They ended up launching 1,000 ships after her, or something like that. We need to get Aang to catch you soon, before you blow a fuse of repressed frustration and poor Sparky is at the end of it."
"And what make you think I will get him to react? You said it yourself, I tried and failed."
"It is water tribe thing." Suki said knowingly.
"Your idiot brother has it." Toph accepted.
"Your father has it."
"Even your Gran-Gran still has it. Master Pakku is always after her, and Uncle Iroh was sweet talking her today."
"That doesn't count; he sweet talks a dead tree if he can."
"Whatever, you know. Sex appeal."
"Is the blue eyes with the tanned skin."
"And the curves, and the fact that you are a wanton woman and probably press yourself against the guy every opportunity you get."
"That helps." Suki accepted. "A lot."
"Stay away from Sparky, Sugar Queen. Temptation is too great. He is like chocolate."
"What is chocolate?" asked Suki
"This sweet thing they make in the Fire Nation. Where is the box I stole from Sparky's room? He brought several as gifts. Is the new crop, industry, whatever, they are developing as one of the trade alternatives to the war machinery. Where is the stupid box? Here, found it! Let me give you a piece."
"By Kyoshi, this is absolutely delicious! Oh my, I am dying!"
"Is she this loud when she is with Sokka?" Toph asked critically. Katara shrugged.
"How would I know? By Yue, this chocolate is extraordinary."
"Told you. Well, guys like Sparky are like chocolate. You eat one and can't stop eating them until you are fat, ugly and throwing up."
("Is this a way to tell her she can get pregnant?"
"Shut up")
"Aang" Toph continued, "he is like broccoli."
"That green thing they eat in the earth kingdom? Ewww!" Katara said.
"Well, what do you expect? He is a monk! Broccoli is good for you. It is healthy and do not make you fat. However, with the right instructions, we can turn him into chocolate."
"Yeah, yeah, let's cover Zuko in chocolate!"
"Aang, Suki, let's cover Aang."
"Ooops, you are right. Aang, chocolate. Got it. What about Zuko?
"Drop it. No Zuko. If you insist, maybe Sokka in chocolate. But only if you help."
"But I already know what Sokka tastes like!" She whined.
"You see?" Toph pointed at the drunken warrior. "This will happen to you in time, so choose wisely!"
Some time later, the three young women were huddled against each other, watching the dying embers of the stove. Well, at least two of them were.
"Toph" Katara said, slurring the words a little "you have been very hard to me. You are never hard with Sparky."
"Shut up, you are drunk."
"You prefer him to me, you always did!"
"At least, he never lies."
"I knew it! You are not my friend, you are Sparky's!"
"If that is true then, why am I here listening to you crying instead of out there consoling him?"
"You mean it? You rather be here with me?"
"I don't rather, I am doing it. That should tell you plenty. Sweetness, you are my friend, who fights me and waits for my arrival to talk about stupid ceremony stuff. And I am the only person you cannot lie to. That's it. You don't like it, I don't like it either, but you are my friend until the day I die and I have to help you with this."
Katara fell asleep in her lap. Toph put a hand on her forehead.
"I am way to drunk to think properly." She said aloud.
Suki raised a hand and let it rest on Toph's arm.
"We need to make sure that Aang catches her." She said semi asleep. Toph turned her head towards the warrior. I was annoying that she always liked Suki, but now she really, truly liked her. She never realized how much fun Suki was. The other girl kept rambling, "these water tribes are all sexy but idiots. Remember to tell Katara not to run too fast..." She fell asleep. And Toph did too.