A/N- Ok to clarify some stuff right now so no one is confused or anything I'm going to explain the line of events. When Sokka got left behind he was rescued by Suki and passed out he woke up the very next day and had a talk with her and during this time Katara, Aang, and Toph are in a forest about a day away from the island where they are to meet the invasion force and Toph is still passed out. So basically in chapters 5 and 6 Sokka is on day one and the other are on day two. I hope I didn't confuse anyone if you have any questions just ask.

Thanks to my beta Twilight Rose2

Disclaimer- If I owned avatar I wouldn't live in a hick town that has more cows than people in it

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"I was going to signal you over to me but you stopped and turned around so I had to drag you forcefully into the tunnel. I think you know the rest."

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Sokka stared at her, his head still spinning from the kiss they had just shared and he had barely heard a word of the last part of her story. He immediately began debating with himself, one side the logical Suki loving side, the other the Toph adoring instincts side.

Why in the world did I think of Toph at a time like that?

You know why don't play dumb.


Yeah well, I know I like her but she's way to young it wouldn't be right

"Sokka"

Three years isn't that big a deal.

15 and 12 is too a big deal.

"Sokka!"

Yeah but when she's 16 you'll only be 19.

Well when you put it like that…

"SOKKA!!!"

Sokka was instantly pulled out of his thoughts and was slightly confused, but made a quick recovery. "Sorry I was just thinking I guess I zoned out for a bit."

"It's ok, what were you thinking about?"

Prepared for this Sokka quickly said "Just what I'm going to do next. Do you have a map I can borrow?"

"There should be one in the hall closet, hold on I'll be right back"

As soon as she left Sokka's mind went into overdrive, Ok no more think about Toph until I have some proper alone time. Not one more single thought. No thinking about her long silky hair and the way it just seems to sparkle and shine in the moonlight.

Almost like Yue is telling you something...

Exactly! But no thinking about it right now. No thinking about when she smiles the world around her just seems to brighten up. No thinking about her wonderfully kissable looking lips.

You want to see if they really are as kissable as they look, don't you?

Yes, He sat there and imagined what it would be like to kiss Toph, his mind wandering farther into the subject he was planning on staying out of for at least another year. Until, Darn I can't believe I let my mind wonder like that ok never again, must think about getting back to Aang so I can help with the invasion.

Just then Suki walked into the room "Here's the map, sorry it took so long it wasn't in the closet so I had to search for it."

"Huh, ooh it's ok, here spread it out on the bed."

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The first thought to enter Toph's head when she woke the next morning was 'This is the last day if Sokka doesn't show we have to leave without him'

She was really tired, all night her dreams were haunted by the fact that she might not ever see him again. She had dreams of his death, dreams of him never being able to find them and then getting captured by the fire nation. She even had one really strange dream that involved him coming back but he was accompanied by Suki. She didn't enjoy this one very much because in it Sokka declared his undying love for Suki and they arranged to be married right after the Fire Lord was defeated.

As she stood up she got a better 'look' at her companions Aang was still asleep by Appa and Katara seemed to be standing at the far edge of camp facing away from everyone. Toph walked over to her.

"Watcha looking at sweetness?"

"Ooh nothing, I'm just waiting for Sokka, when he gets here he should be coming from this way."

In her mind Toph instantly thought, You mean if he gets here, but on the outside she just nodded and stood with her. After awhile though she spoke up "Katara listen I can feel vibrations coming from a mile away and I don't feel him coming."

"What do you mean he's not coming, of course he's coming you'll see he'll be here."

"I never said he wasn't coming I just said he wasn't coming yet. Why don't you come over and start a fire and we can wait over there and get something to eat."

Katara was starting to get frazzled and snapped " No! I'm going to stay right here and wait for him no matter how long it takes!"

"Katara listen you've getting all worked up and stressed isn't going to make him get here any faster. And you need to eat something, if I remember correctly you didn't eat anything for supper last night."

"No Toph! You listen, you don't have any idea what I'm going through right now, every single day of my life he's been there for me. I haven't felt this worried since that time he was lost in the spirit world for three days, and even then it wasn't so bad because I knew where he was and that he was going to be ok as long as Aang was there to help him. But now, now I don't know if he's even alive I feel like I'm the only one that cares about him." By the time she was done saying all of this she was fuming, she glared at Toph angrily.

Toph was stunned "You think you're the only one that cares, well you aren't. I care more than any of you know" a small tear slid down the side of her face and Katara instantly lost all of her anger. "All my life I've been waiting for someone to come and take me away from my parents and all of their rules, and then Sokka showed up. And when we fly on Appa, at first I was scared to death but now as long as Sokka is near me I don't have any fears at all, he makes me feel safe..." There was now a stream of silent tears, and then Toph blushed furiously realizing what she had just admitted.

"Oh Toph, I'm so sorry I didn't mean that, I'm sure everyone misses him just as much as me." Katara walked closer to Toph and hugged her, her motherly senses taking control of her actions.

Toph still had tears coming from her eyes as she hugged back, no matter how hard she tried to stop them they just wouldn't. They were being fueled by the one thought that had been plaguing her ever sense she woke up from being passed out, What if Sokka doesn't come back. She gently starting to cry a little bit harder and all of her emotions and thoughts were threatening to burst forth from her mouth. Finally she could stand it no longer "Katara, what if he doesn't come back? What if I never get to see him? What if…what if I never get a chance to tell him how I feel?" she wanted to ask so much more but she couldn't, all of the crying was starting to make it difficult to talk and her throat had a huge lump in it. She couldn't ever remember crying like this in her whole entire life, and she felt weak because she had let herself start to feel this much for one person.

Katara looked down at the young girl, she was shocked she had never even thought in a million years that Toph would let herself cry like this. She was normally so tough, and strong, and independent, and here she was crying like the twelve year old she was, depending on someone else for comfort and strength. She wanted so bad to tell her that every thing was going to be all right, but she just couldn't. It would just make things harder, and she didn't think she could say something if she herself didn't believe it. So instead she just let a few tears run down her cheeks and said "I don't know Toph, I just don't know."

It was this seen that Aang awoke too. He watch his two friends crying in each other arms and made up his mind, he wasn't going think about Sokka right now, he wasn't going to think of anything except defeating the Fire Lord. He took a deep breath and forced all of his emotions behind a rock wall. Now was the time for action not emotion. He got up and started making breakfast. By the time he was done Katara and Toph had stopped crying and were sitting by the fire looking extremely glum.

"Here, eat this we're all going to need lots of strength for the invasion in two days. Also I've been thinking about that and it's going to take us at least a day to reach the island to meet up with the invasion force right. Well with all that flying it doesn't give us anytime to rest once we get there, And I was thinking we should leave right now."

Katara jumped up immediately "WHAT!!! No way!!! We have to stay here and wait for Sokka." Toph just sat there and said nothing.

"Come on Katara be reasonable we don't have time to sit here and wait we're on a schedule, the world is depending on us." he took her hands, "Sokka would want us to keep going."

"But Aang…"

"Katara, Aang is right I don't want to leave any more than you do but we have to. It is what Sokka would do." she stood up and dropped her bowl of porridge "Come on I'm not hungry let's just go now and get it over with."

They all agreed and soon had Appa all loaded up, and were flying towards their destination. Toph leaned over the side, pretending that she could see the trees speeding below them.

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After carefully looking over the map Sokka had an action plan. After explaining the whole plan to Suki they agreed to set off. Sokka gingerly stood up testing his legs.

"Wow! Whatever was in that tea really did the trick all I need now is a good stretch and I think I could walk all day!"

Suki smiled "Well that's good because you're going to have to."

Sokka just groaned.

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A/N-And that's all she wrote.
Until next time remember to review please and thank you.

-Megi