When you mix a special friendship between a boy and girl, stealth and unhelpful servants what do you get? Something like this.

000

Dark Clouds Into Clear Skies

000

"The young madam doesn't wish to see you." One of Toph's butlers said curtly.

"Listen, if you just let me in, I can clear up this up with her!" Aang argued, rubbing his temples. This had been the fourth time the butler had said that to him.

"Like I have said before, she wishes not to speak to you about anything." Aang groaned. Aang didn't have time for this. He wanted to see Toph and only Toph.

"Well could you at least tell her to come down here? Tell her that I need to talk to her before it's too late."

"I will not. Bringing your name up has resulted in very painful…situations in this house." The butler rubbed his arm. Ah, Toph hit him. She even hits her servants? No wonder he didn't want to let me in. He'd be killed.

"Toph! I know you're up there! Come down here and let's talk!" Aang's voice boomed through the mansion "Come on To-" The butler immediately reached out and covered Aang's mouth "Hey!"

"You're being too loud Master Aang!" He looked back into the mansion, hoping that neither Toph nor her parents heard him.

"Toph's parents are here and…where did he go?" When the butler's gaze fell back to Aang, he had already disappeared. Aang slipped from his grasp and disappeared from plain sight. The butler scratched his head and closed the door.

"God! What is that idiot thinking?"

Toph pulled her ear from her bedroom door and threw herself onto her bed. She didn't want to see Aang right now. Even after the talk she had with Katara, she still wasn't up to it. She wouldn't know how to apologize to him. Rather she would appreciate it if he apologized to her. Wait which is it? Do I want him to apologize or not? Ugh. I hate my life.

Worrying about it wasn't helping, so she drowned it out by indulging herself in Modern Warfare once more.

Aang had to find a way in. He wouldn't let Toph slip through his fingers. She may have been a pain in the butt for the past few days but she was still his important friend. He couldn't just let her go.

It wasn't like he hadn't done this before. Sneak through the extremely large Bei Fong estate. The freakin' huge Bei Fong estate. Did he mention how huge it was? To walk around the estate would at least take him 4 hours, 5 hours tops (exaggerated). If that wasn't a problem already the place was literally crawling with guards. From the angle Aang was in, he could have seen at least 10 guards on the roof and more 20 searching through the grounds.

Searching? They were looking for something? Well after his explosion at the main entrance, he knew they were looking for no one but him. This was going to be tough but manageable.

For a moment, he felt like he was part of mission impossible. (Insert Mission Impossible theme music)

Aang begun his mission by slipping out of the bushes he was hiding in and crept behind the household. He made no subtle movement, but he kept his running speed in check. He hid behind the trunk of a tree making sure no one saw him. When he was sure of that he climbed for little recon.

"4 guards on ground, 3 on roof."

That was manageable. For a moment Aang felt like a criminal. He was able to get passed so many guards time and time again. It was now that he occurred to him that what he was doing was a feral offense! He could get arrested. He shook the vile thoughts through his head and reaffirmed his feelings.

"Toph is worth it! Toph is worth it!" Just then, the number of guards increased. "Son of a b-"

"Did you find him?" A guard asked from below Aang. Aang clung to the tree branch as if he life depended on it. And it did. At least the leaves and branches that surrounded him would have provide some sort of cover.

"No. He doesn't seem to be around here. Just keep looking."

The guards split up and Aang gave a sigh of relief. But as fate would have it Aang gripped a twig ever too tightly. When it did, he felt his heart beat skyrocket after his soul left his body.

"What was that?" Both guards said in unison as they looked up into the tree. Aang audibly gulped. He could feel a cold sweat falling down his brow. How the heck was he going to get out of this? He racked his brain for solutions. Eventually he found a solution but it seemed…to stupid to try.

"You think something's up there?"

"I don't know. I'll check." Stupid and ridiculous as it was he had to try!

"Tweet! Tweet!" Aang began to chirp like a bird. He felt like if anyone saw him do it he'd die of embarrassment. Besides no one could fall for that. Aang had a horrible time making animal noises. This plan was doomed to fail from the beginning!

"Oh, it's just a bird." Both guards shook their heads before they left.

"…seriously?"

If Aang ever got through this, he was telling Toph to get new guards.

He snuck around the back avoiding as many wide open areas as possible (which was hard since it was like a multi acre backyard) . He clung to the walls, and took advantage of the flora hiding whenever a guard passed by. After 15 minutes of sneaking around, Aang's target was in sight, Toph's window.

Climbing up the vines to Toph's room should have been the simplest thing in the world. It would have been, it she didn't cut all the vines that clung to the walls. After he had gotten all this way, there wasn't even a way to get into her room!

"Now what…?" He looked around but there was no other way to get in. He eyed the wall for what felt like hours. "Toph did always say that I was like the guy in Prince Of Persia…" He chuckled nervously.

Me? Jealous over Twinkle toes? Please.

Toph's thoughts from the other day caught up to her. How could she possibly be jealous? It was just Aang. Aang is a goofball idiot who is too dense to notice if anyone likes him. He is a fool-hearted boy who'd believe anyone if they told him the sky was actually purple. Aang is an idiot who is…staring at me from outside my window.

"Jesus!" Toph instinctively jumped back "What the hell? Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Aang, who was heaving and panting heavily, knocked lightly on the glass pane mouthing the words. 'Let me in'

"Why should I?" Toph crossed her arms.

'So we can talk'

"What if I don't want to talk?"

'Come on Toph!'

"No!"

'Toph!'

"Fine!" She opened her window and Aang came crashing in, face first.

"Smooth, Twinkle toes, smooth." Her face, from neutral, grew angrier than before. "How did you even get here? There are guards everywhere and I cut all the vines."

"I was Tom Cruise for a day."

"What?"

"I've been getting by them all this time, give me some credit." Aang rested his back against the wall "And you're the one who told me that I could climb walls if I tried hard enough." Aang had to literally scale the wall, using whatever bumps and items he could to give himself altitude. After a minimal number of times (15), he finally got to her window.

"So what the hell do you want?" She barked at him.

"I…um…" He felt his tongue swell up. He had to admit even he got scared when she got angry like this. He shook his head and cleared his mind. "Look, I'm sorry for getting so peeved last time. I wholeheartedly apologize. But you're treating it like I'm the only one who did anything bad. I only tried to protect you! You didn't have to get so angry."

Toph eyes' narrowed. "Get out."

"I'm not leaving until we talk about this." Aang crossed his legs and sat straight up.

"Get. Out!" She repeated. Aang didn't flinch at her raised tone and cold glare. Aang maintained his composure, even when Toph grabbed his collar and hung her fist in front of his face. "I'll say it one more time Aang. Get. Out. Of. My. House."

"Hit me as many times as you want. I am not leaving."

Why was he being so stubborn? Why was he trying so hard? I don't get it!

"Why don't you go harass your new girlfriend? I'm sure she is so missing you right now."

"First of all she isn't my girlfriend and secondly, even if she was missing me, I'm not planning on moving from this spot."

"How could she not be? She was all over you!"

"Toph! On Ji is my friend. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. And that isn't going to change."

Toph paused for a while trying to take in what Aang just said. Then it came to her "But what if she wants it to change?"

"I'd…have to turn her down. I don't feel that way about her. And that's the truth."

"Fine, you don't like the girl." Toph looked away for a moment. The look of sincerity on Aang's face told Toph enough. Aang hadn't lied to her. But still…It's not enough. "What about Hide? Do you still not want him to hang out with me?"

"Of course."

"Aang-!"

"No listen. I don't care what your reason for keeping him around is. After all that boy did, I refuse to accept him. But it's not my place to decide things for you. You have your reasons. Regardless, that doesn't mean I have to like him." Aang said sternly. He still couldn't imagine why she hung out with hide in the first place. He had been nothing but trouble from the moment he transferred.

"Aang I only hang out with him because of late he is the only person who seems to want me around them!"

"What? Where would you get the idea that I didn't want to be around you?" Aang defended.

"You haven't spoken to me in days Aang! Days! What am I supposed to think?" Toph's cries made Aang remember what his grandfather told him.

That's just it. You haven't done anything since you two fought. She is building a wall so that you can't possibly hurt her anymore. It's only a matter of time before you two eventually drift apart. Aang's emotions pulled at his heart. They seemed to fluctuate between anger and sorrow. Not being able to deal with it properly the words in his mouth just flowed out without a second guess.

"Toph I'm sorry I hurt you but I didn't avoid you. I…just didn't know what to say to you. What else am I to think when you don't want me to be around?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Toph…"

"I…It's your fault for believing me anyway! You know how I can be sometimes! I just say things that I don't mean!" Toph felt herself let go, the emotions from that they came running back to her fogging up her senses. She didn't know what she felt anymore. Aang just wanted to protect her, was that so bad? But she hated it. It made her feel weak, vulnerable. Why did he want to protect her so badly? Why did he come all this way? Was she worth all of this?

"Why? Why won't you leave me alone? I never asked for any of this!"

"No you didn't. But I'll be damned if I lose you because of some stupid fight!"

"…what?"

"You heard me."

"Aang you won't lose me…I'm not going anywhere."

"Then why does it feel like you are?" Aang said sternly as he held her hand "I don't want any relationship to grow cold. I don't want us to become so awkward around each other that we rarely even speak to each other. It's painful Toph!"

"Even if we still are friends, what's the point if we can't talk anymore? That's the same as losing you!"

Toph was quickly reminded of Katara's words. 'Aang is afraid of losing anyone dear to him.' Toph finally let go of his shirt, backing away from him. She couldn't get far because still had a strong grip on her hand. She didn't know what to say…no, she did. She had known all this time. She didn't muster the courage to say it.

"Toph!"

"Stop it! Just stop it Aang!" Toph tried to run away but Aang wrapped his arms around her before she could. She began to struggle and thrash about but Aang refused to let her go. It was there that she fully noticed him. His clothes were stained with green and brown blots like he had been wrestling with a tree. His fingers were scratched up and red. Was that blood?

"Why…?" She lowered her gaze to the floor and whispered almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"Why are you doing all this…? It wasn't supposed to be this way…" Aang couldn't understand a word she meant. He kept his hold on her and listened. "No one has ever tried so hard to be my friend…they always half-assed it and gave up when I told them to stay away from me. Why…? Why are you so different?" Aang couldn't help but notice that Toph was shaking.

"No matter how hard I try to push you away you keep coming back…No matter how many times I insult you keep on smiling…No matter how many times I hurt you, you still try to protect me…"

"All I'm asking is…why? Why am I so special that you have to keep hurting yourself to keep me around…?" Toph's legs gave out and she collapsed but Aang held her up and placed her to rest on her bed.

"You're dear to me. I care about you deeply and I don't want to be separated from you. In the short time we've known each other you've become a part of my life. It would be lonely if you weren't hanging out with me and the others."

"No one is worth all the trouble I get you into every day…"

"Your trouble is fine with me. It's fun being around you."

Toph could feel her cheeks flush. She knew that Aang wasn't lying but she felt like he wasn't telling her everything or there was more behind his words than she thought. Ignoring the implications her thoughts meant she began to speak again.

"…Aang."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. Thank you for being my friend." No matter how many times Aang ran it through his head, what Toph did was no illusion. She had her body against his, arm to arm with her head on his shoulder. Shock was written all over Aang's face. Toph had never acted so 'friendly' around him. Was this a sign that she finally accepted him?

"Um…Toph…" Aang was uneasy about it but that didn't mean he didn't like it. He just wanted to know why.

"…could we stay like this for a while? I feel like I'll start bawling if you move."

"You'll cry?"

"It must be a pride thing. If I cry in front of you I'll feel like too much of a girl. I have to keep up my manly appearance you know." Toph gave a slight smile. One that Aang had been waiting for, for a long time now. Toph may have joked about it but right now more than ever she looked fragile. Like she was on the edge of tears. Aang was extremely, most definitely, greatly, extraordinarily careful when he wrapped his arms around her. She seemed frightened at first but she slowly sank into his arms nuzzling up to him. While Aang held this small, delicate girl who seemed so un-Toph-like only one word could explain how she looked to him.

She's...adorable...

Practice hard enough and you too can scale walls and defy physics like the Prince from Prince of Persia! However, you must be a total bad-ass to avoid 20 guards to sneek into a girl's room...Aang is safe since he has plot armor so don't try this at home kids!

Anyway, Toph and Aang are finally reunited but there is something wrong with Toph. She can't seem to get Aang's words out of her head. She can't help but feel that their 'special friendship' is more than it seems. Could it be...?