Hello fellow angry mob-sters! As you probably have noticed, it has been well over a month since the Jade Knight has posted a new chapter. And, hm, doesn't this sound familiar?
"I have chapters 18 and 19 with Richard now, expect them out soon!" Hmmm...soon...
I guess I'll have to lead the angry mob now. Sigh.
Well, enjoy the long-awaited chapter anyway! And possibly prepare yourself for a glimpse or two of Tokka....hint hint. Well I won't spoil it. Read away!

~Kitty~
*Meow*


Richard steps out of the castle and walks across the draw bridge. He had just been knocking on the absurdly large doors and thinking about compensation when he noticed some people milling around in the courtyard. Deciding he was tired of waiting for the Knight to answer he wanders over to see what's going on.

When he gets close enough he sees that there is a bus sitting at the end of the driveway and the people seems to be relaxing and drinking bottled water. Many looked like they had been doing a lot of physical activity lately and were just cooling down. Curious

"Whats going on over here?" asked Mr Caine.

A man stepped forward, his name tag saying only 'Silver'. "I am the driver of this bus, and I work for the 'You Pissed Us Off' mob transportation."

"Yeah that bastard promised a quick update!" shouted a random man.

"Kept screaming something about it not being his fault," said an old man leaning against the black bus.

"Yeah," said a woman suspiciously, "he kept saying that he really did have both chapters with you and was only waiting for you to return them."

"Did he really?" asked Richard innocently, as he noticed that their seemed to be no sign of his metal accomplice. "What were you doing to him while he was 'screaming' all of this?"

"Beating him with hammers, running him through with lances and making him watch every episode of Barney the dinosaur."

"Did you now?" said Richard schooling his face into one of triumph. "Well I just so happen to have discovered this in his castle while waiting for the slow tin man."

"What is it?"

"Chapter 18," he said holding out a stack of papers. "And I had nothing to do with the lateness or his consequential lies – horrible, horrible lies." A thunderous cheer goes up from the mob as they quickly pile into the Bus, rushing home to be there when it was uploaded.

After watching then race into the distance, Richard Caine, feeling quite safe now began to make his way back up to the castle. Stopping only once to pick up the dented and beaten green helm he had seen on the way down, choosing not to acknowledge until right then.

"See I just saved you metal ass; you owe me." The green eye-slits narrowed but no voice came forth as the lower half of the helmet was missing … as well as the body, rendering the Jade Knight quiet unable to speak or deliver physical blows.


Alright, sorry for the delay but here is chapter 18. Things came up as they sometimes do and this is where we are. 19 is done, like I said before and 20 is started. I'm not going to jinx it by guessing when the next update will be, so make your own conclusions. But do know that it will be a short time. The THINGS THAT CAME UP -thunder clap- are still nipping at the heels.

-

NEW FORUM UPDATES!

Black Sword FanArt: we already have a few submissions. Add something of your own or look at what other people have put up! Quality is not an issue; any put downs or insults against someones art work will not be tolerated. -I would like to ask Silver to put a link to his 'Mob' drawing, all of us over here really liked it :)-

AND A SECOND NEW FORUM ANNOUCED AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER. DON'T SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELVES!

-

k, I think thats it.

Curtain Up!


Written and read best in 1/2 format


Sokka: Master of the Black Sword

Author: The Jade Knight

Co-Author: Richard Caine

Beta: Kitty (A.K.A. kathykatinahat)


-The Resistance Saga-

Chapter 18

-

The Story of Sokka

Footsteps In The Dirt

-

I walked through the streets slowly, my hands hooked into my belt – I didn't have pockets. I wasn't sure what I expected, but I supposed I just needed to go someplace where no one knew who I was; somewhere to just think. I looked up into the wide blue sky, my sword weighing down on my back like a constant reminder of the power I would soon wield.

How strong was I to be?

I had no idea. Sure I had defeated Yasuragi, but that was only because Aang was still just learning all of his bender stuff and he didn't have access to his Avatar state. I felt goosebumps rise when I thought about how powerful he would be with it. I didn't think there was anyone left alive today that remembered what that much power looked like. Except maybe Bumi.

But I did.

He was like me, he had a base power that rose a little every day. With just that base power he would eventually have the ability to redirect rivers and divide mountains. Hell, Roku had almost beaten a bloody volcano! But then you add in the power increase that the Avatar state gave him and … he rose to god-like strength.

What else could you call two thousand times the raw energy it took to raise a tidal wave, or level a city?

Apparently I had a ten times ability increase in my 'Incarna state.' But what was I capable of in the first place? I would never have the raw might Aang did. I would always be leagues behind him in raw power. But my power lay in another place.

My strengths were smaller, but more refined then his. While he was like a massive explosion ripping apart the night sky, I would be a poisoned arrow to strike at the neck of the enemy. I would be able to fight along side him, even against him if needed. But never like him.

Was I a powerful spirit shaper? I didn't know. I had never really seen other shapings apart from the ones in my past, my crafted memories from Piando or the few that he did himself. How would I measure up?

I imagine I would be the Avatar to their benders, but I wasn't certain. And even then what did that mean? A thousand benders in a frontal attack against the Avatar might score a lucky hit, or they could even push him back under sheer numbers. It wouldn't make them stronger, but they could defeat him.

I wasn't infallible and I never would be, but what did that really mean?

I sighed deeply as I continued on. This thinking was getting me no where. I would not know what kind of abilities and strengths I would have until I discovered them.

What a pain in the ass.

I made my way down the street, tossing a few copper into a beggars bowl and turning down a few merchants. The sun was getting closer to it peak. I could feel the temperature rising and the time running out. I would have to meet Piando soon to deal with whatever he had wanted earlier. Then I had to tell the others about that earth Jenkotsu. We should meet the resistance while we were there. And then later on there would be the festival that 'Arc' was going to attack me at.

Should I go to the festival knowing what would happen, or risk the unknown by not going? Damn, I hate prophecies. Not that it was a prophecy that I had made. Nope. Not a chance.

I've always thought self delusion to be the sweetest.

I bought a sweet bun from a vendor as she ambled past, pushing her creaky cart. I bit into the warm bread and let out an appreciative groan. It was damn good. I wandered along mindlessly for a while as I ate it and just let the world pass me by. It was nice to just be another face in the crowd, if only until I ate my little sweet bun.

I finished the last piece and brushed the crumbs off my face. I looked around to see where I was. I had walked for a while without really thinking about anything and I had ended up in what seemed to be a market square.

On all four sides of the square shop windows were thrown open, allowing people to gaze longingly at their wares. One just to my left seemed to be a fresh sushi restaurant – delivered daily according to the large sign over the doorway. I glanced into the window and noticed that almost every table was full. Next to it was a clothier with a number of tasteful robes and shirts hanging in the display case – at least I think they were tasteful. I was never really good at that sort of thing. Meh, Yoten's looked better anyway.

Next to that was what appeared to be a blacksmith. I ambled over and let my eyes drink up the glittering goodness laying on a table just inside the building. I stepped into the shade of the store and my greedy fingers danced over the shiny things before me.

"Careful there laddie," called a gruff but not unkind voice from further in. "Don't cut yer'self."

"I won't," I said, unable to look away from the beautiful bladed tonfa in front of me. They were crafted from the darkest mahogany I had ever seen. I let my fingers touch the handles and I couldn't even feel the grain of the wood beneath the impossibly smooth varnishing job. The leather grips were supple, looking of a very high quality and I couldn't help but pick one up.

I held it up in front of my face, the leather wrapped handle held firmly in my palm. The main body of the weapon was secured perpendicularly to the handle – much like the batons the law-enforcers carried, except for the fact that this one seemed to be made from a single piece of wood instead of several. But it's main difference from its law counterparts were the blades reflecting the golden flames flickering the the belly of the open furnace in the back of the building.

The first blade was secured by metal rivets, perfect flush with the dark wood bringing a startling difference between silver and black. It swept gracefully down a foot and a half past my elbow, without sharp angles of any kind and ending in a wicked hook.

The second blade rose up out of the wood in the same grace but a few inches from the first. I turned it slightly and noted that both blades seemed to also be a single piece, crafted with expertise far surpassing anything I have ever seen before. The blade went far past my fist, straightening into a double-sided knife that would be devastating in a forward punch or a slash.

I had never held one of these before, but there was something about how it sat in my hand that was achingly familiar. My hands had not toughened up like they would have if I had trained with these all my life, but even still, some part of me knew that if I dared I could move with these as though I had fought with them for fifty years.

" Exquisite," I said softly, unable to break the spell the tonfa had over me.

" Isn't she?" said a voice next to me with the same longing and wonder. I pried my eyes from the orange flickering in the polished metal and looked to my left. "Problem is that the smither knows that; he wants twelve gold for her."

I nodded in agreement. This boy – well man, as he looked a year or so older than me, was looking at the tonfa in my hand completely moonstruck. I guessed that he couldn't afford them since he had a haggard 'laborer' look to him; the kind of guy who worked all day, everyday at some job just to earn enough to eat. Someone who worked hard to get everything in his life, who had been handed nothing and wasn't bitter because of it.

But his hands told me another story.

He had the toughened skin between his index finger and thumb that came from holding tonfa without the grips this one had – from the looks of it he had had some sort of old cloth, maybe an old shirt, wrapped around the handles. But he still received the occasional splinter – I could count two from here.

They told me of a man who raced home and practiced with his own handmade tonfa for at least two hours before supper, and then another after he did the dishes. His black eye and bruised forearms told of a man who takes his yearly vacation time off to go to one of the tournaments that always seem to be going on this time of the year.

He practiced with tonfa because it was something he was good at. He had fought against other people who said it was nothing but a waste of time and made it something all his own. In a world where he had very little, the tonfa represented his independence.

"Did you win?" I asked casually, openly looking over his battle wounds.

He looked down at his own hands as though seeing the bruises for the first time, and then grinned sheepishly. "Not quite. I entered the mixed combat tournament that we have in this district and lost my fifth match."

"Oh," I asked, my interest coming through on my voice. "I entered one in one of the smaller settlements out west. It was a lot of fun and I saw some things I had never even imagined before." Well, it was true. I had gotten my first look at a Gel-Hassad there. Not forgetting some of those wicked fights. Ahh, I needed to do that again sometime soon … if only Katara wouldn't kill me for it.

"Yeah," he reminisced. "I had three of my fights against Fire-Benders and they were tough fights and all, don't get me wrong. But you should have seen this one guy with a spear."

"A spear," I cracked mockingly.

" Damn right a spear," he shot back grinning. "It was about a ten-footer and the guy whipped it around so that it actually curved coming in, and every time it would be a slightly different angle." He paused for a moment to glow. "He was amazing."

"Sounds like you have a crush," I joked. He looked at me funny for a second before realizing I was just playing with him and started laughing.

"Kurogan," he said holding out his hand as he fought down the giggles. "I didn't see you at the tournament, but it was a big thing."

"I just got into the city last night," I replied, giving his hand a shake. "And who says I would want to enter anyway?"

"The sword on your back does; she's a real looker. Where'd you get her?"

"It was specially made," I said, putting the tonfa down gently next to it's counterpart and pulling my sword from its scabbard so that we could both admire it. Its deep black surface reflected the minimal light in the dark space and positively radiated awesomeness. I spun it around so that the hilt faced Kurogan and held it out.

Just as he was about to take it I began to wonder why I was trusting a man who's name I had just found out with my sword. A little pull at the back of my mind pissed me off. It seemed that I wasn't allowed to know this quite yet either.

"I've never seen a metal quite like this," Kurogan commented, running his hand over the hassad yavim. He tilted it slightly to get a look down the long end of the blade and appreciated the craftsmanship. "She's a beauty, and someone has loved her, taking good care of her."

" She's saved my life quiet a few times," I replied seriously. He offered the blade back and I re-sheathed it.

"Ain't that the usual story these days?"

"Pretty much."

"Alright, it was nice meeting you and your girl but I need get going before I'm late."

"Sure thing," I said, shaking his hand again. "We'll meet again soon."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Psychic, are we now?"

Something like that." I grinned wildly as he thought that over for a time before he shrugged it off.

"Well, it was nice talking to you," he said, tipping me a bastardized military salute. Then he turned around and jogged off to wherever he was going before he had stopped to chat. I smiled as he left, following him out of the building a minute or so later when he had vanished into the thickening crowd.

I knew we'd meet again.

I made my way over to the fountain in the middle of the square and let the smell of the water waft over me. I smacked my lips on the taste of moisture in the air and sat down on the edge. It was a nice fountain. It was made of a light desert stone and had a fantastically carved dragon twisting up out of the water. It was scaly and had long whiskers that looped around it's head. Heh, it reminded me a little of Katara. I just stared at it, water arcing out of it's mouth, and tried to get my mind in the right place.

Toph.

I couldn't help but let a goofy grin find its way onto my face. My little warrior Toph.

I could never give Suki the life that she wanted, because what she wanted was peace in the traditional way. She wanted someone to be there, to stand beside her and most importantly to lead a life on the crest of a lake. To wake up to the sounds of water lapping at the shore and the cries of seagulls next to someone she knew would be there every morning.

It was simple and I could understand it; but I could never be that person.

But what about Toph?

Toph was … ha, how did you classify her?

She was a force of nature. She could stand as tall and steady as a mountain and then turn right around and become a boulder rolling right at you. She would never let anyone baby her or treat her like she was breakable. She wanted an equal, someone who would be there for her without trying to take everything over. Hell, for some things I'm sure she would settle for nothing less than taking the front seat.

At least that was what I thought she wanted … or was it just what I hoped?

But even then, did she like me that way? Was I just an annoyance to her like I seemed to be at first? Or did she come to view me as a brother like I had done with Aang? My head was starting to throb with the oncoming of a major headache. Dammit! Why was this all so complicated and tough? Why couldn't I just … I don't know … do anything!

I dipped my fingertips into the water and the koi-fish beneath the water darted away. I swirled my hand through the water for a while, just letting the cold water numb my fingers.

Maybe I was just thinking this whole thing the wrong way?

I was trying to think of how she could come to care about me, but I was just making myself sick trying to figure this out. I was supposed to be some great savior of the world like Aang, but what did that mean about the me who had grown up on the icesheets back home? Aang had told me that it was him, not the Avatar that loved Katara. Was I the same way? Two halves of the whole that would always be side by side, but opposite?

I guess it made sense – sorta.

I looked down into the water and my own face reflected back at me. Only … it wasn't quite me this time. I may have just been imagining it but it was almost as if the Incarna in me had separated a little more. "Well, what do you think?"

No response, and here I was almost expecting one.

I drew my hand over my reflection, stirring it up until it was swallowed in the ripples. I stared hard into the pool, hoping that it would somehow show me an answer. My face started to appear behind the froth I had created, and right there, just over my right shoulder was a misty apparition of a wolf. I focused all of my attention on it as the ripples thinned out and the water calmed again, showing only me.

I guess I could have ranted and screamed about it, but I just didn't see the point. I was going to have to face the wolf eventually and it was going to be a part of me for the rest of my life. I suppose I might have called it here, so that I could make this decision.

"Do I go ahead and try to build something with Toph or do I back off?" I asked, looking into the water where the wolf had been. No answer presented itself. I sat there for a time, trailing my finger through the water. I liked the feeling of the water on my hands. We had been in the desert for a few days already and it felt nice. Yue; what had she said?

" 'Think deeply on your feelings for her.' Great, what do you think I have been doing?" I said darkly, looking up into the sky where the moon was almost invisible in the noontime sun. What was the rest of it? "'Most importantly think about what you would do to get her attention.' All right, I'll go with you on this one."

"What would I do?" I asked my reflection. I suppose I would try to start a few conversations to get to know her a little better. Alright, that was a start. But what else? Something was knocking around the back of my head again. It was getting a little annoying really.

"Have you ever though about how strange letters and writing are?"

I shook my head, jarring loose stupid thoughts. She had started a pretty random conversation back there, could it be that – no, it couldn't be. I cleared my throat once to try to break the tension that was building around me. "Your hoping again, stupid boy," I told my reflection.

Now, back to the smart-making. What else would I do if I wanted to get her attention? Hm, I was never really good at this stuff; I usually just winged it. But, I supposed I could also show her that she could trust me and that I was willing to support her in whatever she wanted to try.

" I don't know Katara," said Toph thoughtfully. "He might stand a pretty good chance, after all I was both the youngest and smallest Earthbender to ever win the Earth-Rumble. Size is no clear indication of power."

I blinked a few times. Behind me a ball bounced past chased by a few screaming children. A look of confusion and something else fell across my reflection's face. Toph had said that when I had wanted to enter the Sodatsu to get us the five hundred gold piece prize money that we we currently living off of.

I tried not to dwell on hopes again and pushed on. I could also try to get some time away from my sister and Aang so that we can just talk or something.

"No, because I gave her some story about how I had only been with you guys for, like eight months and you were the only one I hadn't really gotten to know yet. I talked to Aang all the time when we earth trained, and since we always used to divide up the chores by gender I think I know quite a bit about Katara. But I said that I hadn't talked to you alone all that much."

This time I had to remind myself to start breathing again. No, there was no way in any of the seven hells I was this … this much of a 'stupid boy,' as La had put it. I looked down into my reflection once more, only this time it looked bewildered and almost hopeful. Could it really be?

I was assaulted by dozen of memories that I had just brushed off at the time. She had blushed when I mentioned that Toph was a pretty name when we were trying to think of a fake one. She would seek me out to try to start a conversation when ever we were setting up camp. Little glances and nudges from Katara just before Toph would come over.

" Really! Wow, Sokka, coming from Toph thats a very nice compliment, isn't it?" Aang asked wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Ow, what did Toph do that for? I was trying to help."

"That wasn't helping!" shouted Katara. "That was as blunt as an avalanche!"

"But your the one who said that Sokka was the dumbest smart person you had ever met for not seeing that-"

"Shut up, Aang before you say it."

My reflection stared back at me open mouthed, with a very stupid look on his face. Was I just making connections in hope or was that really … if that was real, then...Oh gods no. Aang knew before I did!

I hung my head over the water and fought the urge to drown myself.

-

After I managed to pull myself away from the very inviting water I made my way as fast as I could to the Lotus Garden. I knew that Toph would still be there later, but I needed to see her now. I needed to find out if it was like I thought it might be, or if I was just being an idiot again. I mean, if I remembered everything correctly there was no doubt, but what did that mean? Did I have a chance with her? Or was I just seeing patterns in the air?

Another burst of adrenaline caused me to nearly run.

I hated to admit it, but I was beginning to play with the idea that I might have to spend my life alone, that I would never be fit to give anyone a proper life. But what about Toph? She loved a good challenge and she never liked sitting still or any of that stuff, but would she still want to be around me years from now with all this? I didn't know, but I possibly had just gotten a huge slap across the face that told me I was being an idiot again … and it felt a lot like Toph.

I slid around the corner and forced myself down to walk. I didn't want to get in there all red-faced and puffing – it wasn't the best look on me. Once the Parlor came into sight I had to fight with myself every step of the way down that path. It was right there, only a few hundred step away, and she was in it!

In just a few minutes I would be talking with her about things I had kept inside for a long time. What would she say? Would she tell me that I was being stupid? Or that I should have seen it long ago? If that was the case – considering how stupid I had been lately – I wouldn't be too surprised if I was the last one to catch on.

I reached for the ordinate door handle. My hand shook slightly as I gripped the warm metal, and pulled. I fought the nervousness shooting through my chest and forced my breathing down to a more reasonable pace.
I opened the door and stepped into the parlor. I walked past the doorman and the bouncer who only nodded respectfully. I quickly glanced around the room, over the Pai Sho players sipping their teas and the waiters weaving their paths between them. Steam rose to the roof in fading spirals over the tables from the tea cups. The click-clicking of the painted tiles on the playing board was only just downed out by the three men playing stringed instruments on the small stage at the front. I passed over the dozen or so faces, and it only took me a second to find those hair loopies.

I tried to keep a goofy grin – or a worried expression-- off my face as I walked over to my sister, seeing only Aang next to her at the table. They had a light lunch in front of them, – just the two of them. Oh, I see. Any other time I would have revealed in the blush and look of momentary panic from Aang before he calmed himself. I suppose any brother is scary for a moment – even one who gave you permission – if they sneak up on you looking a little crazy in the face.

" Katara," I said as soon as I was close enough to negate the need for shouting. "Have you seen Toph?"

Katara looked over her shoulder and smiled when she saw me. "Last I saw she was going out to the garden in the back. She said something about needing some dirt beneath her feet."

"Great," I exclaimed jubilantly, resisting the urge to bolt to the garden. I veered away from their table and cut my way through the old men over to the back door, forcing myself to walk with dignity, although I think I bounced a little on my steps.

"Sokka, what's this about?" asked Katara, a slightly worried look growing on her face.

"Do we all need to get together? Is it something dangerous?" called Aang, but I was almost at the door and still trying my hardest to restrain myself.

"Its nothing bad!" I called back with a cheery wave.. "I think I just realized what an idiot I am … but, yeah; it might be a little dangerous." Aang seemed about ready to jump up and follow me but Katara grabbed him and pulled him back down with a strange look in her eye. Some part of me recognized it as the look all women had when there was a relationship brewing. Whoot! Maybe I had a chance! I walked quickly through the door and down the short corridor. I passed the kitchen, almost drooling over the meaty smells. But I managed to bully myself past it, hitting the the back door and stepped out into the sunlight again.

The Lotus Garden had a decent sized piece of land behind it that had been converted into a peaceful retreat. Well, nice size considering that it's in the middle of the largest city in the world.

It had a dozen different kinds of trees; everything from the Mondale Spruce found mostly in the southern parts of the Earth Kingdom to the trees I couldn't name with sandy brown leaves. They were packed as closely together as was comfortable ringing the modest garden. Most of them were young, but a few were clearly reaching for two hundred years, raising up above the rooftops and a nice sight to see from all around.

I walked down the small cobblestone path leading from the door deeper into the garden, bright flowers blooming on either side. A flowerbed laid to my left, filled with reds and golds that shown brightly in the almost noon time sun. Ferns brushed my legs and a cherry blossom lounged in the middle of the garden sprinkling pink petals over the whole area.

I took a steeling breath of the perfumed air and continued on. Outwardly I think I looked pretty calm, but inside I was a frantically trying to figure out what to say. A thousand things spun themselves up and down in my head until I think I started to get motion sickness.

I stopped quite suddenly on the path when I can across a pair of abandoned shoes – shoes with the soles punched out. I stood still, and when I had manged to get some impression of order in my head I began looking over the loose dirt for footprints to follow. After I found them I took off my own shoes and placed them beside Toph's before I began to make my way though the flowerbed, careful not to crush anything. The earth was cool and crumbly under my feet – an interesting sensation and not completely unpleasant. I followed the footprints until I had to gently push my way through the hanging branches of a weeping willow.

She was there, leaning up against the trunk of the tree, the long shadows cast by the limp branches masking her presence in the shrubbery. Her face was cast down, draping her hair over her eyes. I hesitated slightly; something was really bothering her. Her bare feet dug into the earth as I drew closer, but other than that she was motionless.

By the time I had closed the distance and sat down next to her my priorities had changed. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back, her voice missing all of the usual strength and energy it usually had. A man passed by on the path I had just turned off, not noticing the shoes on the path or too busy to care.

"I was looking for you." She just sat there silently, her steady breathing the only indication she was not a statue. "What's up?"

For a long time there was nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the city. Somewhere near a bird chirped, drawing a twittering reply from just above us. "I was thinking."

"That's always a good thing," I said, letting my own head rest against the rough bark. "About anything in particular?" I expected that I would have to wriggle the answer out of her over the course of many hours, but she was unusually forthcoming.

"I think I was a hypocrite, or am? I don't know," she said, sounding tired of asking herself this same question. "Maybe both."

I twisted and ducked my head a little so that I could see her face beneath her splayed hair. She looked okay, not pale or sick looking. Well, she looked a little – down, but other then that see seemed fine. "A hypocrite how? You didn't do anything."

"I was a hypocrite, and I always hated that about people."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. When were you a hypocrite?" I asked genuinely confused.

"Back in the oasis, before Aang freaked out. I told you that you were being an idiot for thinking you were a monster. I yelled at you for beating yourself up over it and now …"

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she mumbled softly. She buried her toes in the soft dirt beneath us and leaned her head back against the tree to relax a little more, even though the tension stayed in her body. I took a second to search her face and I found anger at... herself, I believed. There was also something else, something that took me a second to figure out because it wasn't an emotion I had seen in her many times; she was afraid.

I knew what was bothering her now. It was something that had haunted me also – in one form or another, and now it was my turn to talk some sense into her like she had done to me. "The Gel-Hassad are not all monsters, and neither are you."

"You knew!" she accused in a voice that startled the birds from the trees. She was now upright and facing me.

"I knew you had some Gel-Hassad blood in you, yes. But I didn't intentionally keep it from you. I was trying to figure out how to tell you without making you feel like you do now."

Her head was tilted to me just a bit and I saw her toes bite into the earth a little deeper, almost as if drawing strength. When she spoke again her voice was back to being doubtful of herself, but it also held an edge of something that might have been betrayal. "What were you going to say?"

" I was going to say that you were right before; that no one is a monster simply because they share something with monsters." I thought her eyes softened a little and pushed on. "Monsters are people of either race who abandon their souls. They are demons in the most pure sense of the word. They hate and rage at everyone, blame every wrong in their lives on everyone else, and think that exacting some sort of revenge on the people will bring them their wants. Life has no meaning for them other than to be put to their own gain. The Master seems to be one of them; a few of the past Incarna and some Gel-Hassad are, too. But that doesn't mean that we are simply because we share roots with them."

"I didn't say that," she said flatly, but she was speaking normally again. I breathed a slight sigh of relief. I was thinking that she might have thought I had been keeping something from her before. I never wanted her to have a reason to doubt me or think I might betray her, because there was no way I ever could.

I grinned back at her. "I paraphrased."

"So your idea is...we're not monsters?"

"Sort of," I said slowly. Okay, let's hope this sounded like it did in my head this morning. "There will always be someone who calls us monsters, or demons or whatever else they can think of … and from their perspectives they may even be right."

Her forehead crinkled. "You started out good, but I think you lost it again."

"No, I know what I'm talking about this time," I said quickly, and got a raised eyebrow in response. "Like I said; it's a matter of perspectives. Alright, let me put it a different way: Have you ever heard the story of Dimitrik the Bloody?"

"Yes," she said, clearly not seeing how it was relevant but going with it anyway. "The tutors that my parents hired told me about him. He was supposed to be some Duke or something a thousand years ago who wanted to be the emperor of the entire Earth Kingdom."

"Kind of," I chuckled. "Four and a half thousand years ago when every city in the Earth Kingdom had its own King, he was given a piece of land to watch over. It had a few small towns and he even had a modest castle, but he wanted more. First he crossed the borders within his own kings land and overthrew the Duke next to him, and took his land and warriors to fortify his own army. Later he even marched on his own King, then the next one over, and the next one."

"I remember that," she said. I think she was starting to see where I was going because she was obviously calmer and a few steps back to herself. "He got a whole lot of land and a huge army before they stopped him. He even had some weird thing about making all of his boots and other leather things out of the skins of his enemies, "

"Yup, and don't forget that lovely house keeping tip of his; mount the decomposing heads of fallen kings on your throne room wall."

"I remember that," she said, pulling a face. "Wouldn't that smell? How could he stand it?"

A broken smile fought its way past the bile in my throat. "He liked the smell. Sitting there with the rotting heads of his enemies around him told him that he was alive, that he was that much closer to ruling the Earthkingdom; and sometimes it was even an excitement for him."

She frowned. "I don't remember hearing that. Unless … oh."

" Yeah," I muttered darkly. "He was a Gel-Hassad Incarna, one of the few who lasted a bit longer than most. He was a monster. Many even called him the Demon King, but I am not like him and neither are you. All of the Gel-Hassad who followed him and believed in what he was doing, hoping that he could being their race back into it's 'proper' place in the world, were just as bad. But you aren't them either."

"Sounds like he deserved what he got," she said and I had to nod. I didn't remember much about him other then his weird fixation with blood. But I remember learning that he was finally killed by a mob. I got a feeling that the mob was lead by Yasuragi.

"Pretty much," I said. "You can name ten of the worst people in the world, and I guarantee you that at least four of them will either be Gel-Hassad or other versions of me."

"After that, I'd believe it." I felt a lot of the pressure in my chest lift when she laughed like she always did.

" There are many differences between just people and monsters, but most of them are just how you look at it. Like for instance, seven thousand years ago, Vernis Demilo; the man who lead his horde of warriors across the land that is now the Earth Kingdom, pushing the Southern Water tribe from its edge until they were totally in the Antarctic? Was he a monster? He lead thousands of raids against the Water Tribesmen, crushing their resistance in a matter of weeks and driving them from the land that once belonged to his grandfather. Hundreds died resisting him, and he burned many villages and many cursed him as a murder and a monster."

"I remember hearing about him; he did some pretty terrible things."

"Yes, but do you remember why?"

"Not really," Toph admitted.

"His people were dying," I said bluntly. "When the Water Tribe had come there seventy years before they had taken a large piece of his grandfather's land, and that lost land meant lost recourses for trading and building as well as lost farm land. He and his father tried their hardest to make things work because neither of them wanted a war. But eventually their people grew to be too many and the kingdoms around them would not give them anymore help, so it was down to either war or letting their people starve to death in the coming winter."

"Some of the things that he had to do were monstrous, and the Water Tribe called him a monster for a long time after it, but he was not because he left war as a last resort and only did what he had to. Sometimes knowing who is a monster and who is not is very difficult, because a lot of the times they can look like the same thing at first glance. What makes the difference is what kind of person they are; their morals, and what they fight for."

"It's actually really complicated," I said, receiving a snort that said that was an understatement. "Sometimes you can become a monster for the right reasons, or a hero for the wrong ones. But I think most people can tell what is right and wrong--it's just the little compromises that doom a good person. But like you said, the mere fact that you are asking yourself if you are some kind of demon or inhuman beast makes that untrue."

"You are Toph Bei Fong, one of the most powerful benders in history and you use that power for the right reasons. You are strong and stubborn when it comes to something you believe in and that is one of the qualities I like best in you." A light blush rose on her cheeks, but I continued. She needed to hear this. "Yes, you may have a mixed past and you can do things that no pure-blooded human your size could, but you're the bravest, most beautiful woman I have ever met and I wouldn't change a damn thing about you and screw anyone who thinks you're anything but."

I rambled down to a stop and felt my own face heat up at what I had let slip in. Oh well, at least she wasn't hitting me or looking all depressed anymore. I'll just deal with whatever she has to throw at me … I hope. Oh, I hope this doesn't hurt.

"Sorry I got all pathetic there." I let out a sigh of relief and slumped back against the tree. Hurray, she wasn't going to bury me alive!

"No problem," I said waving it off. "I was just repaying the favor."

"You know of course if you ever tell anyone about this I will do horrible things to you?"

"Without a doubt," I said grinning. "But I am curious. What brought all of this on? How did you figure it out?"

"Well, even though no one seems to remember, I am blind." I nodded, pretending like it hadn't slipped my mind again. "So, when I look at someone I don't see faces or things like that. I see body weight, the ripples of pressure going up and down limbs. I can even tell when someone nods just by the subtle shifts in their weight."

" Anyway," she continued, cutting off her explanation. I had actually found it really interesting; just trying to understand how the world would look to … oh, I get it now. "I always knew some people felt different, heavier and moving like their skeleton is just a little off, but I never really thought anything about it until we met that guy in the Lotus Garden. You know the desk guy you pretended to be a Gel-Hassad to so that you could talk to Piando? Well, I got to thinking last night and it all started to make sense. He felt exactly like this one second cousin guy I know." I snorted into the back of a fist as I tried to pretend I was just coughing, and she slapped me upside the head.

"Ow," I said as I pretended to hold my head in pain.

"I didn't hit you hard, get over it."

"Meanie," I muttered. "So anyway, this cousin guy of yours?"

"Jai-Roh," Toph replied. "He would show up every so often and he would sometimes have a whole bunch of body guards or a few women with him. He never seemed to go anywhere alone, and there was always a different woman. My mother didn't seem to approve of somethings he did, but then she didn't really approve of everything I did." I felt a sudden urge to slap her mother.

"Are you sure he was one of the People?"

"People?" she questioned interestingly.

"Who?" I asked. Oh yeah, I had said that. "I dunno; I think that's what they call themselves."

"Okay," she shrugged. "So, although she didn't seem to really like him, my mother always made time for him. A messenger or a letter carrier would come with word of his arrival and she would drop everything to meet him, no matter what else was going on. I remember that we once skipped going to a political party at the Earth King's palace to meet with him. Father was really mad that day, but like always he didn't say anything about it. I asked one of the servants who had been with the family back before they were even married and apparently it was actually a condition of their marriage that the family would come first; no questions, no exceptions."

"Ahh, yeah," I said understanding. "Although its a little original, at least from the little bit I know of Gel-Hassad customs, thats not all that uncommon."

" Well, I thought it was weird, but nothing to really worry about. I was just curious at the time," she said in an offhanded voice. "I though it was weirder that he took her last name when they were married."

"Why?"

She turned and faced me, silent for a second, like she was waiting for a joke.

"What?

"Seriously?" she asked. Whatever was up was truly surprising her.

"I guess?"

"Most of the time its the woman who takes the mans name."

"Really?"

"Yes," she said surely. "Why don't you know this?"

"I dunno," I shrugged. "I've never had a last name."

"What? Really? You mean your just Sokka? Nothing else?" she said sitting up straighter.

"No," I said. "In the Water Tribe we don't really have family names. Its traditional for us to introduce ourselves with our fathers name; like 'I am Sokka, son of Hakoda. How do you do?'"

"I never knew that," she confessed, kicking her legs back and lounging back against the tree.

"I never thought to say anything," I said. "My father told me about family names, so I knew that Bei Fong was a family name, but I don't know the little things about it." I logged it away and couldn't help a few thoughts bubbling up. If she did like me that way, and we got that far, and a few years went by… might I become Sokka Bei Fong? I coughed embarrassedly, rubbing a hand over my face as my heart pounded. Don't think that, you dumb ass.

"What are you thinking now?"

Oh, damn. Damn her heart reading stuff! I couldn't admit what I was thinking right then, that would just be too embarrassing. But, there were a few other things that I had just thought of. "I was just thinking that a few random references to people who lived a few thousand years ago isn't going to completely convince you that neither of us are monsters."

" It helped," she said shrugging it off. "And I don't think you're a monster."

"That exactly my point." I leaned back against the tree again and looked out at the flowers peeking through the hanging branches, listening to the sounds of the city in the background. A squirrel-mouse darted out from under a bush and froze, watching us for a moment until it ran up a red barked tree. "I may not be a monster, but I can … or I think its better to say I will do monstrous things."

"Do I have to smack the sense back into you again?" she threatened.

"Then I'd have to do it right back," I said flatly. She leveled a look at me that dared me to try and I couldn't fight off the grin. "Remember when I told you about Genzou? I said that she was the spirit of the Futures That Might Be? Well she opened that happy little door for me a few times, and each time I saw myself doing things."

"Isn't this the little cat bastard that we don't trust worth a damn? Why the hell would you trust anything she shows you?"

"Because she has no powers over what I have already seen," I said.

Toph thought about that for a time, frowning a little. "Okay, try that again."

" She can open up the possibilities of the future to me and let me frolic around it the fire and all, but she has no control over what I remember of our encounter."

"Alright, I'm following so far."

I sighed deeply, remembering it again and only the same jumbled mess. "I have two sets of memories now. The first is what I saw originally, and I only know that because I can remember thinking about how it would affect things. The second set of memories is new, as I have no recollection of ever considering them before. Thing is, they are both so real remembering my reactions to them is the only way I can tell which one is the real one... or the original one?"

"So what, you remember doing the same thing twice?" Toph asked, following along so far.

"Not really," I said. "When I looked into the future, it wasn't a definite thing. What I see is a possibility; the most probable possibility, and now I remember seeing two entirely different things at the same time, and it wasn't like that before."

"Okay, I don't know much about this spirit crap of yours," she told me. "Your going to have to tell me what that all means."

"It means that I'm going to do something that has never been done before, at least not to this scale." Toph growled at me threateningly and I laughed. "What I mean is that I am going – well I suppose I have already done it in the future since I can see both possibilities now, but the point is I am going to somehow take the infinite possibilities of the future and change them."

"Don't we do that all the time?" she asked. "Like you said, everything is a matter of what we might do; possibilities. Aren't we always changing them?"

" Yes, that's true," I admitted. "But I am going to do something nearly impossible. I'm not going to be making some off-the-wall choice or anything like that; I'm actually going to fight destiny and change the possibilities of the future, even as I was viewing them. What I mean is that I am going to change things so much and in such a way that what I saw a few days ago is no longer the most possible like it was then – meaning that I remember looking at what I saw the first time as well as the future where I changed the most possible outcome."

"That still makes very little sense," she sniffed. "but basically your saying your going to take control of your future, so what?"

"Not just my future," I said, trying to explain things that the human in me barely understood. "Everyone's. I am going to be rewinding the entire world and forcing it onto another path of time."

Toph turned to me what I said that, meaning that I might have just made my point. "You're going to rebuild the future?"

"'Reorder' is a better term, but yeah. I'm going to change the probabilities of reality itself."

"Damn," she whispered, finally getting the full force of what I had said.

"And that makes what I can do monstrous, but it does not make me a monster. Do you get it now?" Toph just nodded, going over what all of this meant. "And you're like me; you can do things that some people will call monstrous, but you aren't one."

"I suppose," she mumbled.

"Toph!" I shouted, getting a dirty look from her. "Are you getting all weak and pathetic again?"

"I'm not weak!" she hollered loud enough for the people outside the walls to hear. She was facing me again and breathing hard, looking like she might smack me.

"And I thought I just proved that neither of us are monsters."

"Fine," she conceded, still looking dangerous – she was really pretty like that. "I'm not a monster, even if some idiots think I am."

"And what are you going to do if said idiots call you a monster?" I asked innocently.

"I'll bust'em up," she growled and I roared with laughter.

"That's my little Warrior Toph," I said without thinking, pulling her into an gleeful hug. It was about a second before I realized what I had done and pulled away, looking for an angry fist, but finding none. Toph was fairly red in the face and was slightly wide eyed with surprise.

I coughed into my hand a few times and she turned away from me for a second. Brilliant, why don't you go jump under one of those bloody rock train thingies they have, they look nice and smashy, too. Toph finally turned back, most of the extra colour gone from her face. We sat in silence for a few moments after that. I wanted to tell her a few things, and maybe ask her a few too … but she had other ideas.

"Why are you going to do this? Changing reality I mean?" she questioned, her voice a little unsteady.

"I don't know," I said honestly, while trying to get my heart to slow down. "I don't even know what new possibility I'm going to bring up. I can feel a second set of memories and when I remember what happened that day I get a jumble of a dozen things that make no sense and a feeling that I'm not ready to know it all yet."

"Not ready? Who the hell is telling you your not ready?"

I chuckled. "Funny you should ask, because I think I figured it out this morning." I started going over what I knew. "I have a link with the Archive, which is apparently pretty much like an extension of my own mind. I don't know how it works, to tell you the truth. The White Wolf who seems to always be with Genzou, either bound to her somehow or voluntarily. Mouretsu seems a little like me, and outwardly he seems to want to help me, or at least his people – which would make me expendable. And Yasuragi who wants to kill me because she's under the impression that I an endangering the balance of the world, even as her Jenkotsu screw with that same balance. Plus who the hell knows what the Master wants. But you know what I just figured out?"

"No?"

"I'm over-thinking it all!" I shouted in relief. "It's so much simpler then it looks. Oh, sure it's still as confusing as ever, but I can remove a few of the suspects."

"That's good?" she said unsurely.

"Very good! I was thinking it all over this morning when I was out and about with Piando-sensei and I think I understand it a little better. I was panicking and I wasn't thinking it through fully."

"You going to get to a point?"

" Alright, let's start with the Archive. It, like the White Wolf, is not evil or anything like that. Its a bloody library! Well, a library that can swallow your mind if you ask too many questions, but a library just the same. I don't have to fear it. It's there to help me and since I'm the Incarna I have the top access level and no one can use it against me without me knowing or at least feeling when they put anything into action."

"Okay, that one less thing trying to kill you."

" And then there's the Wolf," I said. "I had it right the first time. He isn't evil or trying to kill me or anything like that. He is the power of the Incarna and I kept forgetting that during all this Mouretsu and Genzou crap. He is a part of me, and the only question I have with him is whether to take him over or let him take me over … or to do something else completely."

"Yeah, you said something like that before; something about you giving it tact," Toph said. I must be getting better with my explanations, because she doesn't look so lost this time.

" I think there is more to it than that," I said. "There are a few things that don't seem right, like why is he a wolf?" Toph shrugged. "I didn't think about the why until just recently and it made so much sense. I had been wondering if both Genzou and Mouretsu had been lying to me, but then I asked myself why he was a wolf."

"And?" she prompted.

"What is the thing about me that defines me, and guides all my choices?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You're the one who said it back when we we're having this talk the last time in the oasis." I smiled widely. "What is the thing about who I am that sticks out the most?"

She thought back, her forehead crinkling in concentration. "I was telling you that you were being an idiot; that no monster would run themselves into the ground for other people."

"Exactly," I said slyly. Getting a raised eyebrow I pushed on. "Protect the pack."

"Oh, damn," she mumbled. "So you being all stupid and killing yourself made it a wolf?"

" I know! Wait, no! It's a wolf because I couldn't have abandoned you guys or not gone for that prize money even if I wanted to," I said. "I first thought of it when Piando-sensei said that I appear as who I am inside, rather then what I looked like when I was in the Archive. So it got me to thinking, what if other people than me were like that? I never figured out what that would mean for the rest of them, but I think that means that the White Wolf is a reflection of me."

"I see," she said slowly.

"I don't think it's evil or anything like that." I said happily. "Since it's the power of the Incarna, technically I think I have been interacting with him every time I use the power."

"So, he's the good guy?" she asked, getting it slowly. "So what are you going to do when you meet him?"

"I have no idea. Just because he isn't evil, doesn't mean that I'm not being manipulated into the wrong decision by Genzou or Mouretsu," I admitted. "He's just as much a victim as I am, I think. And Yasuragi is just plain crazy. But the thing that really bothers me though is why, in forty thousand years, has no one gotten a fifty-fifty shot right?"

"Uh," groaned Toph. I looked over and she was spacing out. I laughed a little and poked her in the shoulder. I guess being a Earth Bending prodigy didn't make listening to a guy ramble on about Spirit Shaping any easier.

"I'm done talking about that," I said to her glazed face, getting a little life to come back. I watched grinning as the glimmer came back into her misty green eyes.

"Sorry," she said, not really sounding it. "I guess I just don't find most of that as interesting as you do."

"Meh," I shrugged. "I don't think I could get Katara to sit through it either."

"Probably not," she agreed, then she went right for the vain. "So are you going to tell me why you were such a wreck when you first came over here?"

"Uh, yeah about that," I started nervously. Oh no! I had forgotten everything I had though of to say on the way over here talking so long! I'm doomed!

"You're getting all jumpy again," she commented plainly, no doubt feeling my nervousness. Ahhh! What do I do!

"I was, um, thinking before I got over here."

" You and your thinking again," she mocked and I pretended to be offended. It was easier to stay calm if I joked around then if I let my fears get away from me. Just breath and don't do anything too stupid. "So what did you come up with?"

Damn, damn! What do I say now? If I lead in too much and … I breathed out slowly, trying to calm myself. I was over thinking all that crap about Mouretsu and Genzou, and just making a total mess of myself over it. And now I think I was doing the same thing again. Just speak what you mean, and whatever will happen will happen. I may be terrified that she will hate me – and she might. But if I do nothing I will hate myself too; and the worst thing is that I care about her and if she doesn't feel anything for me, then I will just have to try harder so that she will notice me that way.

I ripped my focus from the single red flower the was peeking between the hanging branches and turned to face her, drawing strength from those misty eyes that always seemed to entrance me. "I had a bit of an argument with the spirit of the Oceans."

"You fought with the ocean?" she snorted, her eye glimmering with mirth again. "You just get into all kinds of trouble don't you?"

"Actually, he was there to tell me that I was being an idiot."

" If you really needed that Ocean to tell you that, you're beyond hope."

"Ouch, my feelings," I whined. I knew that she was just joking around and I could appreciate a good sense of humor, after all I am a joker myself. "And it wasn't just him, the Moon was there too."

She laughed and shook her head. "You know, when I first meet Aang I though nothing I could ever do after that could possibly be anymore strange. But then you went and dragged me into a conversation you had with the Ocean and the Moon."

"Yup," I said happily. "Thats what a life around me entails. Laughs, jokes, small talk with conceptual gods and a little blackmail."

Her eyes flashed and Toph's grin grew into something that would send grown men running away crying. "Blackmail?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh, yes," I said offhandedly with an uncaring sniff. "Didn't I mention it? I knew La – the spirit of the oceans, back when he was still human and making a complete ass of himself."

"Oh, this is sweet," she drawled in an evil voice. "What can we blackmail the Oceans for?"

"With what I know," I started softly. Then in a loud shout: "Anything we want!"

Toph cackled madly, and I joined in with what I though was a devious laugh of my own. I was fairly sure a bolt of lightening flashed right then, and if it didn't, it should have.

The peel of thunder rolling across the sky right then made both of us jump.

We were silent for a second, just facing one another. Toph tilted her head at me in a suspicious manner. "Did you do that?"

"I couldn't have," I said, looking up into the clear sky. "It must have just been someone banging stuff around."

"Like what, mountains?"

"I dunno," I muttered, looking around the garden for anything that could have made that noise. It had sounded exactly like thunder, but it couldn't have been.

"Whatever," said Toph shrugging it all off. "So what was this about blackmail?"

"You are enjoying that way too much," I pointed out.

"Well you start talking about blackmail, what did you think I would do?" she asked in a deceptively sweet voice.

"Blackmailing two gods does sound fun," I said slowly, going over the possibilities. I did have enough to pull off quite a bit with La. "But it's what they wanted to talk to me about that's important right now."

"Oh?" she asked, clearly disappointed that the blackmailing talk was over.

"Yes, apparently – according to them I've been quiet a bit of an idiot," I said, trying my hardest to keep my pulse down and my hands from shaking.

"What about this time?" she asked in amused voice.

"People around me," I said slowly. The grin faded from her face as she thought about what that could mean. "I was always freaking out so much about what could happen. I was wasting a lot of time panicking rather then doing anything about it."

"Oh?" she repeated, her voice shaking slightly. Was it excitement or fear, or both? Was she afraid I might like her because she didn't think of me the same way?

"Yeah," I continued. Now or never. "What would you say if I asked you if you'd like to do this more often? Sitting and just talking about whatever; just you and me?"

"Like how?"

"Like getting to know each other better?" I said nervously. Damn man, just say it! "Like maybe a date?"

" I'd say it's about damn time," she shouted, flinging her arms over hear head in relief. She seemed to be buzzing and about ready to pounce. She was grinning madly and looking like she was bouncing up and down even as she was seated. Wait, 'it's about damn time', did that mean what I thought it did?

"Is that a yes?"

"Hells yeah!" she yelled gleefully, a goofy grin I knew well – from myself – plastered on her face. "I was almost starting to think that Katara was full of it."

" Katara?" I asked weakly, even as the rest of me felt like it was going to explode. I felt like I wanted to run in circles screaming until the sun went down. It wasn't a no! She said hells yeah! I have a chance, now all I have to do is not screw it up.

"Yeah, I was really starting to get tired of all her plans and ideas. It really didn't seem to be doing anything," she said – well almost yelled as she was clearly not too calm. Maybe she'd like to run screaming with me? No, bad first date. Wait a second, something she said didn't seem to add up.

"So you were planning, as in thinking ahead and plotting, before you acted?" I asked slowly.

"Yup," she quipped, obviously seeing where I was going "I was all smart and stuff."

"I didn't mean anything like that," I said defensively waving a hand. "I just always thought you'd be more … well, forward."

"That was my original plan, but then Katara figured it out when I was getting ready to talk to you and told me some stuff," she said, already seeming to get a hold of herself. "She said that you were still just getting over a girl that died and what you needed right then was a friend. She said I should wait till later for other things."

I thought back to when we had first added the little power house before me to the team. It was barely a few weeks after I thought Yue had died completely and I was a total wreck. For a month after that I threw myself into chores and training with my boomerang just to get through the day without breaking down. Yup, not the best time to be in a relationship. "Smart girl."

"Yeah," she said, still unable to sit still. "And then Aang found out and we had to shut him up a few times."

"How'd he know before me anyway?" I said, trying to get an answer to the offending question. "I mean really, I knew he liked Katara before he even did. Sure I watched him like a paranoid brother, but he was fairly clueless."

"He overheard us planning one time," she said, then pulled a face. "Okay Katara planning and me shooting down half of the crap she said I should do. I was glad for her advice, but some of the things she said were just too girly for me."

I laughed deeply as Toph stood up. I got up with her and, thinking that we were going to head back to the Lotus Garden or at least around the garden to keep talking, I pulled back the limp branches like a gentlemen and extravagantly bowed her though the opening. "There's one thing, though," she said, playfully trying to kick me for being chivalrous.

"Yes," I said, only too agreeable right now. She said hells yeah!

"I've been dying to do this for months now," she said slightly softer, her blush rising again. She came closer and I froze, unsure what she was planning but trusting her anyway. She stopped just before me and seemed to be conflicted about something. Then she huffed in annoyance and reached up, grabbed the collar of my Fire Nation shirt and pulled me down to her level. The next thing I knew she came forward, my eyes crossing for a second as I tried to follow her.

And then I forgot everything.

The hand on my shirt was firm, but her lips were shy and softly seeking. I wasn't too good at this kissing stuff yet, and I didn't think Toph had had too much practice, but I don't think either of us thought it was lacking. I felt, as well as heard a little moan of pleasure from my little warrior Toph just before she pulled away, letting my shirt go.

I thought I should say something, at least I think I did. I was still reliving it and thinking about how soft her lips were. But I'm pretty sure I said something like, "Darb?"

Toph blushed a little more before she figured out where we were again. She took a step over to pull the branches aside herself and holding them for me to go though, which I did without argument. "Wow, Snoozles … we'll have to do that again."


Jade Knight - Richard Caine - Kitty

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