"That one's nice– oh, but that one has the Earth Kingdom symbol in gold on the front, just like my old bag," Sokka said to himself as he stared through the window of the shop. Toph swayed side to side, a permanent look of giddiness on her face as she tried to not fall over while she waited for Sokka.

"I didn't realise you still loved your little purses," Toph called to him. He glared back at her, but finally stepped away from the closed store. "Another thing you and Satoru seem to have in common," Toph noted as Sokka walked back to her.

"They're not purses! They're bags for men, a man-bag if you will," Sokka snapped, then paused. "Although, maybe in Satoru's case, calling it a purse is correct."

Toph gave a small laugh. "I still don't get why he acted that way. I never knew he thought like that," she said. "I thought you two were actually becoming friends."

"He's probably intimidated by having an actual warrior around him." Sokka shrugged, then frowned when Toph stopped and doubled over with laughter. His expression deepened when she kept laughing, her arms wrapped around her sides. "Hey, I'm very threatening!"

"Maybe to little girls," Toph managed to say. She suddenly stopped, an amused look on her face as she looked at Sokka. "Oh, wait..." She broke down into laughter again, while Sokka crossed his arms and turned away from the girl, noticing the people passing by looking at them. Toph pulled herself together, then rolled her eyes when she realised he was turned away from her. "You're so easy to make upset. Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Sokka couldn't help but grin as he was dragged by a girl nearly half his size. She slowed to a walk once Sokka had found his footing, but didn't let go of his hand.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather hold onto my big muscles?" Sokka asked, smirking at the memory of Toph discreetly fawning over him back in the Fire Nation. She immediately released his hand and gave Sokka another punch to add to the collection.

"That's the sixth one today; my arm is going to be black and blue for weeks!" Sokka pouted as he rubbed his arm.

"They're birthday beatings. Stop being a baby." She smirked at him. "Although, if you want me to stop..."

"What are you plan–" Toph grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled down sharply. The ground opened and swallowed his hand, then with a small clench of her fist, the ground closed around his hand. With a few movements of her feet, she did the same to his ankles.

"Haha, very funny, Toph. Now let me out," Sokka said, not bothering to try to pull out of the earth. He craned his neck and saw Toph step in front of him. She placed her hand on the top of his head.

"What did you say back in the Jasmine Dragon again?" she asked.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Now let me out." Sokka looked up at her malicious grin. Toph simply laughed as she stepped to the side and pulled up his sleeve. She pulled back her fist and Sokka shut his eyes and braced for what was coming.

"Seven," Toph said, lightly tapping his arm. "Eight." The tap was a bit harder, but nothing that would faze the man. Toph kept counting with slightly more power behind each punch. "Sixteen." Sokka clamped his mouth shut and gritted his teeth. "Seventeen."

How is such a tiny girl so strong!? Sokka grunted from the hit, and Toph grinned. She walked in front of him again and bent down until their faces were only inches apart. He stared into her milky green eyes. I could easily kiss her from. . . Sokka decided to stare up at the sky, but his eyes wouldn't leave hers for very long. Just a small one on her lips. She's already going to punch you anyway, might as well give her a reason. He let out a slow sigh and looked back into her eyes.

"Well?" Toph said.

"Well, what?" He stared at her. She rolled her eyes and stayed quiet for a moment.

"What am I?"

Cute. Sokka huffed, understanding what she wanted. "You're Toph Beifong, the greatest earthbender to have ever lived." Toph raised an eyebrow at him.

"And?"

Beautiful. "You're not short?" he tried. Toph stood up straight, placing the heel of her foot on his forehead.

"Good enough," she told him as she released his limbs and pushed him. He fell backwards, landing on his back, and found himself staring up at a teasing smile. "Eighteen." Sokka let out a chuckle as he took the hand Toph offered him and pulled himself up.

He dusted himself off and stretched his back. "I'm going to get you back for this somehow," he said as they began walking again.

"Sure, you will." Toph giggled as she swayed and bounced off his shoulder. Sokka watched, amused, as his friend concentrated on walking straight, but failed spectacularly.

"Maybe I gave you too much to drink tonight," Sokka said, putting his arm around her shoulder and keeping her steady.

"You drank way more than me though," Toph argued, shrugging off his arm and standing with her arms crossed.

"Toph, I'm still able to walk properly," Sokka said, holding back a laugh as he saw her take a step back to stop herself from falling over.

"You've just had more practice, so you're able to hide it better," she shot back.

"I think you're just a lightweight," Sokka said, grinning as the small earthbender stepped up to him.

"Toph Beifong is not a lightweight!" she snapped. She poked him in the chest, slightly off centre. "I have to use my feet to even be able to see; you have it way easier."

"You think I'm properly drunk, don't you? I'm barely tipsy," Sokka told her, smiling smugly down at her.

"Prove it."

"Easy." Sokka looked around for a bit. The street had emptied somewhat. He walked over to get a better view of his target. He slipped his boomerang out of its sheath and took aim, imagining the curve of the path in his head.

"Of course, you'd go straight for your throwing toy," Toph said as she felt him take his stance.

"Weapon. You're just jealous that I'm better at something than you," Sokka said, then let his weapon fly.

Toph had tried before to figure out the path Sokka's boomerang would take, but quickly realised it was pointless beyond the first couple of feet. It just didn't make any sense to her how to predict it, and yet Sokka was able to do that perfectly every time. She had worked out a better technique. She gave a light tap of her foot as he had thrown it.

No way will he make this, Toph thought as she focused on the building he had thrown his boomerang at. She knew that two windows were open on the second floor, perpendicular to each other, and could imagine the tight curve the boomerang took, passing right through the building and out the other side.

Sokka took a proud stance, before sauntering over to Toph, who stood with her arms crossed.

"I hate you," Toph said when he hovered his hand just a few inches above her head and smirked down at her.

"You love–" Toph heard the dull thud and Sokka jumped back, hopping up and down on one leg while clutching the shin of the other. Toph laughed as he cursed every spirit that came to his mind.

"Nice job, Snoozles. Aim higher next time and knock some sense into that thick skull of yours," Toph said as he sat down on a small plot of grass along the road.

"I almost feel bad for Combustion Man after hitting him in the head now," Sokka said, rubbing his shin and feeling it beginning to swell. "Nothing feels broken, thankfully." He watched Toph pick up his traitorous boomerang.

"Do you think you could show me how to throw one of these someday?" Toph asked, tossing it up and down.

"I don't see why not, although I may have to do the catching for you." Sokka grinned.

"Great. Honestly, it's probably my favourite of all your little toys," Toph said as she walked over to him.

"Weapons!" Sokka said. He gave her an odd look when she giggled as she handed him back his boomerang. She sat down next to him, pulling her legs close to her. "I actually offered to show Suki how to use it, but never found the time to do it after the war. I thought it would have made a good addition to the Kyoshi Warriors' arsenal."

"Why didn't you just head over to the Fire Nation and teach her there?" Toph asked, breathing heavily to keep herself warm.

"She always seems to be busy with His Royal Highness the Fire Lord." Sokka sneered, Toph feeling the faint beat of his heart get stronger. She stayed quiet for a moment, the conversation she had with Zuko replaying in her mind.

"You couldn't just go over there, anyway?" she suggested, and Sokka looked at her, confused. "Sure, you'd be with Zuko most of the time, but you two would still be spending time together, right?"

"I had planned to do just that, Toph," he said. "She cancelled on me due to some trip she had to go on with Zuko. Apparently he's more important to her than I am." He let out a small sigh as he lay down with his hands behind his head.

"Okay, then why didn't you just go on the trip with them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why didn't you just do what you did with Satoru and me? You pretty much showed up on the doorstep and decided to come along." Sokka didn't respond for a while.

"I guess I was worried about annoying Suki," he admitted, looking up at the stars. "She always likes things being planned out and in control."

"So you being the planner guy..."

"Exactly. If I had shown up unannounced, she probably would have been happy to see me, for about two seconds. Then she'd get angry at me for messing up her plans. That would just make the visit sour before it even starts. It's not just most of the time with Zuko either. Away from the Fire Nation, she'll be by his side all the time, so I won't really get to have alone time with her." The two sat together in silence for a few seconds, before Sokka gave Toph a light poke in the side. "Plus, you're way more fun to hang out with."

"Thanks," she muttered, a smile on her face as she felt her cheeks warm up. She shifted closer to Sokka and lied down on his arm. A small shiver went down her back. The man continued to stare at the stars, but grinned as he looked down at the blind girl. He slowly began to flex his bicep, and watched Toph's head rise up. He braced himself as he saw her fist pull back, but instead she turned towards him and let her hand fall onto his chest. She shifted even closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Toph probably doesn't need her earthbending powers to feel my heart threatening to burst out of my chest. Tui and La help me. Sokka looked up at the crescent moon. Yue, mind giving me some advice? He decided the safest option, at least for his personal safety, was to simply ignore the cute girl currently cuddling into him. He tried to focus on the stars, looking for constellations, but the little breaths next to his ear were distracting.

How is he so warm? It's freezing out here! Toph let out a happy sigh, not really caring for the answer. The shiver had come and gone, and now she was simply content to just lie there for the night. She barely took notice of his rapid heartbeat, her mind more focused on being this close against him. She shivered as a breeze blew over them. Sokka's arm wrapped around her, and the feeling of the girly sound that Toph would never make threatened to come out. Toph Beifong doesn't squeal!

Why did you pull her closer! Sokka shouted at himself as Toph's body trembled against his. She was cold, why was that bad? the other voice in his head shouted back. Three things you idiot: She's fifteen years old, she's your best friend, and you are in a relationship! Why don't you get out of this situation, head home, and let her go to bed if you're so worried about her being cold? Sokka's second voice was quiet now.

Toph's eyes snapped open when she felt Sokka move out from underneath her.

"I think we should probably get back home," he said as he stood up, once more glad that Toph was blind so she couldn't see his red face.

"Can't we just lie here some more? I was comfy." She sat up and looked at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

"We'll freeze to death if we do that." Sokka told her and she raised her arms up at him. He rolled his eyes as he took a hold of each arm and pulled her up. She slipped her arm through his, and they began walking back home. Sokka was used to them walking like this, especially when it was just the two of them having fun together. He had never really thought too much about it. It was just something that they did. However, now he took notice of how much they must have looked like a couple, and the way Toph would lay her head on his shoulder as they walked.

"You had a good birthday, right?" Toph's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "I was just thinking that you might have been homesick being away from the tribe for your birthday."

"It was fine, I guess. Satoru kind of ruined the mood for a while, but overall, it was good," he told her.

"Oh, okay... cool. Glad you had fun."

"Birthdays are a pretty big thing in the South, actually. During the war, because the tribe was so small, a birthday, especially a kid's birthday, would have been a day for the entire tribe." Sokka smiled as he thought back to his own birthdays. "We'd all have a big feast at night. Different families would call to the house of the birthday kid, and give him whatever his gift was, maybe some of the catch of the day, or a specially made tool or weapon." He noticed Toph's head snap upright off his shoulder.

"What about a bone? Like a carved one or something?" she asked him nervously.

"Yeah, you'd see a few carvings. Why?"

Toph stopped and began lightly pulling at her bangs. She entwined her legs together and looked down at the floor. "I kind of forgot to get you a present...so here," Toph said sheepishly as she pulled out a small bone and handed it too him. "This was the bone from Aunt Wu's fortune-telling. It felt cool, and it reminded me of you for some reason. I thought you might like it."

"Thanks, Toph, It's nice." Sokka said as he inspected the bone, looking at the way the cracks went around the heart shape at the top.

"Sorry, I didn't get you a proper present," the earth bender muttered.

"Don't worry about that, I like it," Sokka told her, pocketing the bone and slipping his arm through hers. "I got to mess around with you all day; that's a perfect present." Toph had a slight smile on her face. Sokka felt his face begin to heat up again when he saw Toph's own face going a deep red. She didn't bother to hide it this time, and simply rested her head against his shoulder once more. They strolled all the way back to the house like that.

"I'll talk with Satoru in the morning," Toph told him as they neared their destination.

"Don't hit–" Sokka stopped himself. "Hit him if you want."

"Sounds good." They stepped into the house and Toph led Sokka through the darkness until his eyes adjusted.

"I'll see you in the afternoon," he said when they reached the hallway of their rooms.

"Afternoon?" Toph repeated.

"Trust me, you're not going to want to get up in the morning."

Toph laughed at the warning before standing on her toes and wrapping her arms around Sokka. His eyes went wide as she hugged him. "Happy birthday, Snoozles. Goodnight." Sokka laughed and hugged her back, lifting her off her feet.

"Night, Toph." He set her down, and held in a laugh as he saw her use the wall to keep herself from stumbling. He watched her struggle to open the door, then headed for his own room when after she finally managed to get in. He spotted a shadowy figure looking out from one of the other rooms. It stepped halfway into the hall.

"Sokka, I want to apolo–" Satoru began, but an impact from a hard shoulder as Sokka past made him shut his mouth. He grimaced as he watched Sokka walk into his room, and then went back to his own bed.

Sokka fell into bed, and, within minutes, was snoring.


Well that was certainly a adorable chapter to write! It's always a joy to simply get to write two your favourite couple just having fun together. The next chapter should hopefully be up next week, and will have Sokka and Satoru... talking it out like adults. :)

I'd like to give an absolute massive thank you to 8D SerenityCrystal Tear 83, or Serenity for being my beta for this chapter. She's not only helped really improve the quality of this chapter, but giving amazing advice on what I can do to improve myself. ^-^

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always would love to hear your opinion on it so far, or any little comments you may have. Consider following if you'd like to keep up with the story. Thanks for reading!