Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. Derr.

Toph's POV

I'm getting soft. And I don't mean like I've gained weight, I'm still pretty slim and that training that I've gotten Twinkle Toes to agree to is helping keep that a fact. Though if I have anymore of those chocolate milkshakes that won't be the case. I mean, emotionally. I told Twinkle Toes about my long time crush on Sokka like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Surprisingly, that's what telling him had been like. I don't know why I all of a sudden got so talkative, but everything that I've kept inside had just sort of flowed out. Another surprising fact in the course of ten seconds occurred as well: it didn't hurt to talk about Suki and Sokka. I didn't know when, or how, but I'd just seemed to have gotten over it some time during our stay.

Then again…maybe this had just been a realization. After crushing on Sokka for a long time and then having him taken away from me, I'd been hurt. Actually, that's an understatement, but I'd rather not reflect back on the most depressing phase of my life. When I had last seen them–they were visiting Fussy Britches and Hothead–I'd felt a bit…obligated to be sad. I mean, Sokka was my first real crush and as such it was only natural to feel sad whenever he and his loving wife walked into a room together. Maybe…I was just holding on to those feelings because…well, I wouldn't even begin to know.

My head started to hurt, so I moved on from my complicated love life and switched over to one that had annoyed the heck out of me to see if I could do anything productive in that department.

After mine and Todd's spastic dancing, we sat down at an empty table for a while, just laughing at our convulsive selves. He was watching the students dance and gave me unforgettable details about some of the 'dances' that were happening around us.

"Hey, why don't we switch with Birdie and Twinkle Toes after these couple of songs?" I had asked Toto.

His heart beat had given a little jump but quickly restored itself to its steady beat since we hadn't been dancing for a while.

"I…I don't wish to impose on their bewitching evening. Ana looks like she's having fun."

I had nodded. "Yeah, but you're not." At least not anymore.

"No," he said adamantly. "I am. Dancing with you is exciting."

"You sound miserable."

He sighed. "I don't like you."

"Stop lying to yourself. You know you were head over heels in love since you first laid eyes on me," I had joked. Depressed Toto was really no fun.

"You were pretty," he offered, not in the mood to trade witty banter. "A bit of a jerk at first, but I liked you. And I thought you could…." He sounded hesitant.

"I could…" Jerk. Blunt. Hardhead. All good adjectives to describe how I first appear to people, so I couldn't really contradict that.

"You could take my mind off of Ana. Sorry."

I had given him a light punch to the shoulder which ended up being really hard–I swear I had not intended to make him fall out of his chair. I laughed which significantly dampened his mood as he got up.

"Thanks for the bruise, Toph," he deadpanned as he plopped down.

I had smiled. "Toto, why do you keep lying to yourself?" I asked again, but I was serious this time.

"I'm not." If that wasn't denial, I didn't know what was.

I groaned in exasperation. "You obviously like Ana. Heck, I'd venture as far as to say that you love her, but that's neither here nor there. But answer me this: if you had a chance to be with her, for even just a few minutes, would you take the chance or let it pass you by and regret it for the rest of your life?"

After that I dragged him towards Birdie and Twinkle Toes against his will.

I searched the dance floor vibrations for my friends, since Twinkle Toes and I had currently fallen into a comfortable silence as we swayed. There's only so much time I could spend in silence while not doing anything productive. So I searched and concentrated hard on trying to find them. But there were so many people here that they muddled the footsteps. That, along with the music resonating off the floor and walls was really making it hard to track them down. This is why I hated crowds.

Ever since I was a child, I've had a distinct distaste for large, crowded areas. At the palace in the Fire Nation there would be all sorts of parties held for ambassadors, generals or the occasional King and Queen of other nations to basically suck up to them and show them that the Fire Nation, under Zuko's rule, had really changed from it's pompous I'm-going-to-conquer-everything-in-sight–while-setting-open-flame-to-anything-I-basically-want-to ideology to we-don't-feel-the-need-to-kill-off-entire-races-anymore-cookie?

While it was fairly certain that some of these higher officials had many reservations when it came to Hothead, they were willing to put it aside for one night of fancy dancing, expensive wine, and no political squabbles until the next day.

Being a prominent figure in the Fire Nation–considering that I was technically an Earth Kingdom citizen–my opinion about the newly reformed Fire Nation was highly sought. People basically wanted to know if I thought that there was a chance for the Fire Nation to revolt again since I was in charge of new recruits.

I could never say for certainty that there'd be no revolts so I answered that we were taking appropriate measures to prevent it. During these conversations I'd drop a couple of compliments Sparky's way to raise his credibility among these stuck up, fancy talking bunch. And if Sparky so happened to assign me something that I didn't find favorable the next day, I always reminded him of that fact and it'd get me off the hook–at least most times.

Don't get me wrong, Zuko was a good ruler. All of my compliments were the truth and because I believed in them, many officials believed in them, too. Sparky understood that not everyone in the Fire Nation was going to switch from 'kill all who aren't me' to 'hug all nationalities' in a split second. This was something that was going to take time. Before I left, he was in the process of drawing up a law banning the practice of Agni Kai which I thought was pretty gutsy of him. Agni Kai, from what I understood, was an ancient tradition among his people, and to suddenly ban it was just downright crazy. But the law dictated that Agni Kai's would not be banned for good, only that it would be used as a last resort. And it could only happen if approved by all members of the Fire Nation Council, the King, and judicial officials.

While I loved hearing him take a stand for his rights, I honestly had to wonder if the parties were a necessity. Couldn't we just all discuss this over a good earth rumble tournament or a play? Was it so necessary that I spend two hours in hell with devil maids who thought of me not as a human being but as a doll?

Sweetness loved the parties because Sparky–being completely wrapped around her finger–let her have her way in the decorations and management of the parties. And Sweetness loved nothing more than being in control of people who wouldn't talk back. She wasn't that overbearing…only when she was stressed. But she always managed to go overboard with the invitations.

Since she hadn't been born into royalty, she honestly had no idea what 'exclusive party' meant. To her, it meant that every name that happened to pop up in her head was invited. What it really meant, and what both Sparky and I had tried to teach her, was that only those of importance were invited. Even now, she still has no idea what counts as important in high society. So most parties that were under her reign were on the verge of being overcrowded until Zuko and I got the great idea of getting her an advisor for such things.

But even in her parties, the music had never had such an effect on me. The music here was intoxicating. Its beat reverberated from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. It made me want to dance. It made me want to throw away any nasty inhibitions I may have. It made me want to throw up.

"Let's sit down," I suggested.

Though I liked the music, the way it was making my bones rattle and my senses tingle was on the verge of knocking me out from the overload.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded as we waited for a table to clear. After three minutes my patience really wasn't holding out so I sat down on an empty chair, lifted my feet and slammed them down onto the table while leaning back in my chair. In the process I had knocked over a couple of drinks that had splashed onto both girls and boys alike. The table was cleared out with a chorus of ew's in less then ten seconds.

An exasperated air came from Twinkle Toes as he sat down next to me.

"See Twinkle Toes, that's how you do it."

He scoffed. "I prefer the polite method. You know–'excuse me, would you mind making some room?' instead of slamming my nasty, sweaty feet up on tables where people were eating. I'm sure more than a few of the girls are barfing from the smell." He was smiling, I could tell.

I grabbed my foot and inhaled. "It's not that bad. Want to smell?"

He pushed away my foot from his face with gentle ease and set it back down on the table. I tried to ignore the way my foot tingled from his touch. It wasn't strange to feel his heartbeat through my feet, especially when he was holding them, but it was strange to miss him being so close.

"You're used to your own smell. Not the case with other people."

I shrugged off whatever that feeling was that tingled my stomach. "Whatever, they can kiss my feet."

He chuckled. "Are you trying to become a murderer? If so, that's a very creative way of killing someone: death by smell," he said dramatically.

"It's fast and really doesn't require a lot of preparation. All I have to do is not wash my feet for three months and then shove it into someone's face."

There was a pause as I waited for his remark and then, for some reason, he began laughing hysterically. Was he laughing at me?

"Did I say something funny, Twinkle Toes?" I asked, weaving menace and blithe together effortlessly.

Air from his palm fanned my face as I imagined he was doing to his own. It brought my temperature down from the heat of the packed room so I relished in it before he stopped.

His voice was filled with laughter when he answered. "No, no. I'm not laughing at you. You just reminded me of something I heard when I was traveling." I waited for him to continue since a new round of laughter overtook him. "S-see. There were a lot of rumors about you in this little village located just before you reach the Earth Kingdom. I stopped to let Appa get some rest because we'd been traveling for days. This was like a few years ago, remember my visit?"

"The one where we started a pudding fight?" I asked with a mischievous smile.

"That's the one."

Oh, good times. We had gotten in a verbal fight about what tasted better: nuts or berries. I can't remember how we got onto that topic of conversation – the hilarity that ensued drove all thoughts from my mind – but before I could put him in a hole a butler called out to us that dinner was being served. We left the topic at a deadlock, that is until dessert came rolling around. Berry pudding, and hazelnut pudding was being served. As Sweetness and Sparky began conversing on whether or not Katara should be allowed to go to the market by herself, I had challenged Twinkle Toes to a tasting contest. He grabbed four bowls of Berry and hazelnut pudding and put two in front of me. As he ate, I got the idea that maybe berry pudding tasted better when flung at a high speed. All of us–including Sparky–started a massive food fight that left the servants and maids cleaning for days.

"What about it–other than the fact that berry pudding rules?"

"Lichee nuts bury berries ten feet under. But anyways, I mentioned your name to a couple of villagers who asked me where I was going and it was like Fire Lord Ozai was standing right behind me. They elders shrank back while the kids smiled and started asking me questions about you. I asked them what was the matter and it seems that you've made quite a name for yourself Toph."

"Well," I stretched my arms in front of me and relaxed them behind my head. "I am just that awesome. So what were they saying about me?"

"Apparently a group of bandits were camping out in a forest near there some time ago. Forty strong. Yet, only ten of the bandits actually made it into the village where they begged to be jailed. Though they were bandits and their clothes were tattered and worn, it didn't look like they'd been in a fight. When asked what prompted this decision your name was the only thing they could say." He laughed again. "I was just imagining you shoving your feet into the faces of thirty men while torturing the other ten. The village gossips told me that you were a frightful thing to behold if you could take out thirty men without earthbending. Now I know your secret."

Was that the village with Chan Juan and her little group? Wow, that really was a while ago. I felt a surge of pride and I swear I heard my ego inflating. Did I make that much of an impression on the little village with such few earthbenders? Huh. Go me.

"Well," I ultimately said. "Don't go telling people my secret. I use the element of surprise because my method isn't effective if the enemy knows what that smell of rotting hog monkeys really is."

"It's not that bad," he assented.

"Hey," I turned myself towards him as much as I could without falling over. "You think you've done your job with Ana and Toto?"

He hesitated a moment before answering. "Oh, um, I guess. But I still need to talk to Todd's mom about her staying home more. I think Ana's happier now. At least I hope so."

I shook my head. "That's not the problem. With Toto I mean." With either of them.

"What is?" he asked obviously confused.

I sighed. "Sometimes, I wonder if you're the Pebble in disguise."

"The Avatar feels conflicted over arguing with a small blind girl over his identity."

I cracked a smile at his lame impression and socked him in the arm.

"The Avatar is over his conflicted feelings." He changed back to his normal voice, "What makes you think I'm anything like the Boulder?"

I resisted the urge to flick his head. In order to make our training later extremely productive, I'd save all my shows of outwardly affections until we were surrounded by miles upon miles of rock.

"You're both kind of slow."

"What do my development skills have to do with Ana and Todd?"

"Do you seriously not feel that? Then again," I mused, "it may just be a blind earthbender thing I have."

This happened before with Sparky when I vouched for him to become Twinkles' firebending teacher and everyone else outright refused. They wouldn't even wait a moment for me to explain just how much Hothead was telling the truth. I knew that whatever he had done to them before really regretted it. All he wanted was a chance to redeem himself, but no one would let go of their grudge long enough to listen to him.

Guess that happens a lot in any world. It was sort of ironic actually. A blind girl could see the world so much clearer than the rest of this world.

However, I kind of doubted that I was the only one who felt the sudden change in atmosphere. There was always an air around Todd when he was near Ana. It nearly suffocated me when he finally saw her in all her splendor today – or at least it was something along the lines of splendor according to his rapidly beating heart and shallow breaths.

I changed the subject. "So, why do you feel the insistent need to meddle into other people's lives?"

He scoffed. "I don't meddle. I help people overcome their troubles so that they can move on with their lives. How's that meddling?" he preached with Avatar pride dripping from every word.

"Meddling is defined as butting in to people's business when they don't ask for your help specifically. Case in point: you trying to fix everyone's lives so that we can skedaddle on out of here. While I condone you're reasoning, I think we're–or rather you–are going about this the wrong way."

"How is that?" He asked in a defiant tone, probably thinking that there was nothing wrong with his logic.

"Well, an Avatar is more like a guide than a dictator, right?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm guiding these people in order to live better lives so we can go back to our world."

"Why don't you just let them settle it themselves? People are intelligent enough to figure out their lives, they only need a nudge in the right direction. You're the nudge."

"The nudge would like to go home faster and the only way for that to happen is to be a pretty big nudge." There was sorrow in his voice and I felt slightly bad for bringing up my thoughts. "I miss Appa and Momo." Katara, was that silent name left in the air after his words.

But I understood that he was homesick. I was starting to catch a bit of that myself, but what did I really have to go back to? My parents who were ready to marry me off to a noble? Sweetness and Hothead who were expecting a little munchkin that would cry its head off and keep the whole palace awake for hours on end? My new recruits? Sokka and Suki? Yes, I missed them, but there was really no home for me back there. No one to really go back to.

Great, I just depressed myself. Way to go Toph.

"Aang?" asked the stupid voice of the school's Queen Bee. I hadn't seen her in a while and I had hoped not to see her ever. Sadly, though this is a large school, it was only a matter of time before she got a hold of us.

"Oh, hi Katherine. Your nose looks a lot better this week."

No one missed the choked sound coming from me as I unsuccessfully stifled my laugh.

"Hello Toph, you look…good," she said in a manner that told me she wished that I looked horrible. My mother was often referred to as being beautiful and since she was married to a royal that could only be true. I was told that I had her beauty and my father's handsome face all rolled into one gorgeous looking me.

"Thanks," I curtly said.

There was a silence where I bet she expected me to say something else but, come one, I had no idea what she looked like. Hopefully horrible.

"Did you want something?" Twinkles asked to alleviate the silence.

"Yes," she cheered up when she addressed Twinkle Toes and I couldn't help feel some sort of anger at her presence in general. "I wanted to know if you would care to join me for a little dance."

Twinkle hesitated for some reason before giving her a reluctant yes. They left and I found my mood just growing dismal now that I was alone.

After a few minutes with my eyes closed listening to all the noise around me, I quickly stood up and stomped over to the doors, not even bothering to go find my shoes.

A/N:

Alright, I'm out for the summer! However, that also means that I'm gonna have a lot of family time and stuff to do, so updating will be a bit more tricky than if I was still in school. (that makes no logical sense but it's what happens – with me, anyways)

Hopefully, I'll finish this story soon. That's my goal this summer anyways.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It's a bit of a filler but I kind of like it. I don't know if I captured the characters as well because I wasn't in my usual quiet and nothing-but-music environment because my room is hot like no one's business – which happens every summer. And it's hard to concentrate when the TV's on and my family is animatedly talking. So I hope that I got this down and, well, I can always revise it later if I read it and I'm not satisfied with it.

R&R por favor!

Love: Lola of the Peaches

=]