Sokka was beating himself up. How could he not? He was supposedly the greatest swordsman in the world, but he hadn't been able to protect his sister, he hadn't been able to protect his friends, and he couldn't protect Toph. He hadn't even been able to get any information out of the guy that hurt Toph, or take his revenge - the assassin had taken his own life so quickly that there hadn't been time to do anything. He'd even been too late to take out the chi blockers. If it hadn't been for Wan's timely return, Toph may not have even survived - but he couldn't think about that. She was alive, and awake.
He had felt the same way after Yakone's trial. Helpless, a failure. The night after the entire court had been bloodbent, Katara and Aang had watched Lin, and Sokka and Toph had stayed up all night together, drinking and trying to avoid talking about the feelings of failure and shame that they shared. There had been a moment, when they had both been pretty well in their cups and had been sitting shoulder to shoulder on the floor, that Sokka had put his arm around Toph, drinking in the scent of her hair and revelling in the fact that she was alive. When she turned her face towards his, their faces had been so close that their noses touched. He had been working up the courage to kiss her, when she got up suddenly, stumbling, and disappeared into her bedroom. Sokka had not followed her, but slept on the couch that night, having fitful drunken dreams about being bloodbent and kissing Toph.
For months, he had thought about the hazy memory of that night, and wondered whether he should ask her out, make a move, or say something about it. It seemed strange, that in his middle age he should feel so much like a confused teenager again, but Toph had never mentioned it, and their interactions had continued as normal. Their friendship had carried on in its simple, easy way, which Sokka would never have traded for anything.
Now, at her hospital bed, he was feeling ashamed of his failure as a swordsman when his friends had needed him, ashamed of his failure as a councilman in allowing Quon Li to walk free, and ashamed that he had never talked to Toph about that night. Thinking of how he may have lost her...
"Earth to Sokka!" said Toph. Sokka looked up and saw that she was smiling. He hadn't even realised that he was hanging his head.
"I'm sorry, Toph." he said. "I should never have let that guy get anywhere near you."
While Sokka had been lost in his thoughts, Zuko had walked around to his side of Toph's bed. Now he put a hand on Sokka's shoulder and said "They took us all by surprise, Sokka. Katara and Aang were barely in the fight before they were hit with those darts. It was a cleverly thought out attack."
"And they were after me specifically," said Toph. "The way they knew to vibrate the walls, so that my feet would be confused... that was a very blatant move."
Sokka suddenly remembered that Toph didn't know that the attackers were from Quon Li. He actually hadn't told any of the others either - he wasn't sure how to deal with the information himself. At first, he had wanted to go after the villainous dirtbag himself, but sanity had prevailed when he thought of how easily the man's thugs had taken out the Avatar, the only Southern waterbender, and the Fire Lord.
He looked at Toph's face, paler than usual, ignoring the flurry of reassuring words coming from the rest of his friends, as well as Hotaru and Koichi at the other end of the room. If he told her about Quon Li's involvement, she would be trying to get out of that bed in a second, and even under Katara's considerable care she was in no condition to do much more than walk to the bathroom, let alone go on a crusade against Quon Li.
"Guys, relax," he said eventually. "We should be worrying about Toph, not my honour."
Zuko chuckled, and Katara flashed him a sweet smile.
"It's time for a healing session anyway, Toph." she said. "Everybody out!"