(To my readers who are of African or Native-American descent…I am sorry.)

First Meeting II

"Aang…do I have to?" Toph groaned.

"Come on Toph. Sokka and Katara are really nice." Aang tugged on her wrist.

"Can't we just go some where and throw dirt clods at passing cars?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Aang refused to let her wrist go.

Toph sighed. She was already beginning to wish that she hadn't agreed to meet Aang's friends. Of all the things that could be said about her, she was not social. She had put off meeting Katara and Sokka for a while already. A life time of being sheltered in her giant house gave her an inscrutable sense of solidarity. So new experiences, particularly meeting new people, made her uncomfortable. But after hanging out for over a week, Aang and her were now officially friends and he insisted that she'd meet the two siblings.

Aang led her to Sokka and Katara's, two story, white house in the middle of town, while Toph dragged her feet as Aang described their home. He said their house was big, but the rooms inside were cozy and warm, full of love and fond memories. Despite having eight rooms and a garage, it was still nothing compared to Toph mansion.

"Urgh!" Toph tried to turn around and run as they approached the door.

"Toph…will you come on already!" Aang complained. "Don't be such a chicken."

Toph spun around and, defensively, barked at Aang. "Whoa, whoa, hang on. I am not a chicken!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Aang taunted her. Toph got so flustered that she fell for Aang's trick and rang the doorbell herself.

"There! See?" Toph laughed, thinking she had won. Then she realized that Aang had outsmarted her and began to feel uncomfortable again. "Well, they're taking kind of long to answer, huh. I guess they're not home." Toph turned around but Aang grabbed her before she could leave.

The front door opened and out walked Katara, the stunning flower of her high school freshman class. She was dressed in a regular t-shirt and jeans, but she still looked beautiful.

"Hey Aang." She smiled at him and Aang's cheeks lit on fire.

"Hey Katara." He waved awkwardly. "Oh…uh, this is Toph." Aang introduced them.

"Hi Toph. Aang's told me so much about you." Katara held out her hand, expecting a graceful, gentle shake. Instead, Toph grabbed Katara's hand a shook it widly, nearly crushing her delicate fingers.

"Nice ta meet ya." Toph said.

"Um…thanks." Katara rubbed her sore knuckles. "Well, come in."

Katara held the door open for the two of them. Aang took of his shoes and neatly placed them by the door. Toph flicked off her sandals and let them fall on top of Aang's sneakers.

"Nice place." Toph said, not knowing what else to say. Aang's description was right. It was nothing compared to Toph's home.

"Thanks." Katara looked at Toph up and down, taking careful notice of her punky clothes and spikey wristsbands. She was pretty, but such a toyboy that she could barely function around other girls. Katara leaned over to Aang whispered "This is the super rich girl you were talking about?"

"Yep. But don't call her rich or she'll kill you." Aang warned her.

"Okay. Sure."

"No. Katara…I mean she will kill you!"

"O…kay." Not even a minute had passed and Katara was already starting to regret letting Toph into her house. "So…I guess you'll want to meet Sokka next!" Katara quickly suggested when she saw Toph touching her grandmother's expensive decorations.

"Yeah, sure." Toph said. She put the antique vase down with force. Katara's heart jumped.

Every room in the house reflected the personality of each member of the family. While Katara's room looked pretty and smelled nice, Sokka's room accurately reflected his own image…which was that of a human wasteland.

The walls in his room were covered with posters from countless old school rock bands. Black Sabbath, Iroh Maiden, AC/DC, Kiss; the rock gods watched over him every night as he slept. Sokka was still asleep under the messy sheet of his bed, because it was still noon and he had been up since four am..

"Sokka, this place is a dump! I told you we were having friends over!" Katara nagged her brother. Sokka responded by pulling his pillow over his head.

"It's just Aang. Who cares?" Sokka yelled from under his pillow.

"It's not just Aang today!" Katara reminded him. Sokka sat up, rubbed his eyes and noticed the strange girl that standing in his room.

"Oh…my bad sis." He jumped out of bed. He was wearing yesterday's clothes. He scratched the bald parts of his head and straightened out his mini-Mohawk (or ponytail depending on how you looked at it).

"Oh my God! What is that?" Katara yelled at her brother.

"What?" Katara grabbed the stud in Sokka's ear and pulled on it. "Ow! Easy on the hardware!"

"This! Is this another piercing?"

"No. Those metal things just grow there overnight if I don't shower." Sokka pushed Katara off him

"Dammit Sokka! Grandma is going to kill you!"

"As a teenager, I feel that it is my job to disobey my elders." Sokka contested. Toph liked him.

"Argh! You are so…difficult."

Ignoring his sister, Sokka looked at Toph and nodded to her. "Sup?"

"Nuttin." Toph shrugged. Sokka held out her hand and Toph slapped it.

"Okay…" Katara looked at them like they were both freaks. "...Aang. I have your calculator in my room. Come on, let's leave these two alone for a while."

"Sure." Aang followed Katara. He had a habit of doing everything Katara told him to do.

So they left Toph and Sokka…alone. Almost a full minute of silence passed between them.

"So…" Sokka finally said something. "…I hear you have money."

"Yep." Toph said.

"Lottery?"

"Real-estate, stock in oil, inheritances." Toph said plainly.

"Oh. That's nice." Sokka didn't know much about money or business, as he was always broke and, half the time, unemployed.

Another painfully, awkward silence filled the room. Before Sokka could think of something else to say, Toph's short attention span kicked in and she decided to poke fun at the punk-rocker, just to push his buttons.

"So…" She opened her mouth. "…you're like…a Mexican, or something?"

"I…wait, what? I'm not Mexican!"

"Puerto Rican?" Toph shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not Latino!"

"You're black?" Toph's eyebrow rose.

"What? No!"

"Whoa, calm down brotha. You don't gotta get angry."

Sokka quickly lost his patience. "I'm Native America! If you own property, your family got their fortune from leeching off of my people."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow your roll man. My family never owned slaves." She grinned.

"I'm not black?"

"Oh! So you have something against black people, is that it?"

"NO! I have something against you, you little…"

"Hey!" Aang poked his head inside their room. "Sorry that took so long. How are you two getting along?"

"Just swell Aang!" Toph smiled and wrapped her arm around Sokka's neck. "I think that we are going to be bestest friends!"

Sokka groaned, finally realizing that she was only joking with him.

"Okay. Great! Katara wants to go see a movie. Toph, you up for it?"

"Sure. And Sokka, my questionably Native American friend…would you like to come and share a tub of popcorn with me?" Toph's smile stretched.

"Sure…I guess." The offer of free food was always too much for Sokka to resist.

"Great. Let's get going." Aang said.

"Thanks for being a good sport, Sitting Bull." Toph slapped Sokka on his back.

"Don't call me that. Seriously, that's not cool."

"Sorry."

"You can make it up to me by paying for my ticket. Think of it like reparations."

Sokka is the man!