Peace or Not (Avatar Roleplay)

"I'm sorry but I'm not about the take chances with someone who just attacked me and my guests," Zuko said, using a harsh tone. "But if you tell me what I want to know you will be set free."

"Usually," said Toph. "He's sort of endearing that way, though." She sighed, utterly exhausted. All she wanted to do was lay down and take a long nap.

"Well, come on," Mai said, talking more to a nearby guard who picked Sokka up before heading for the palace, "You two will be taken to a somewhere to rest and get looked at. For once, I'm grateful that the Royal Family has to have an overabundance of physicians and healers."

"You know, I love being talked about like I'm not there," Sokka muttered, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

"Shouldn't you be used to that sort of thing?" asked Toph.

She could no longer hear the sounds of battle, and she guessed that the worst had ended. An eerie sort of peace settled over the garden and the palace. But Toph could still not shake the feeling that all was not well.

"I just love your personality, Toph," Sokka told her with a wry grin.

After about 10 minutes of searching through the increasingly crowded palace, Mai found an empty room for them. She set them both on an over-sized bed, typical of Fire Nation nobility. She sighed.

"I'll get a healer for both of you," she told them, "Just stay here."

*

"Oh, Zuzu, you are so cruel," the masked man whined.

"I'll think about it," said Toph.

She groaned as she lay out on the bed, belly-first. Her back was bothering her, but she was starting to think the wound was not too serious. A little healing session would take care of it, easy enough.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sokka asked her as he laid on the bed, turning his head so that he was facing her. He inwardly groaned. Typical. He was having what was possibly the best night in his life and it had to be ruined by crazy, mask-wearing, insurgents.

She sighed. "I'm alive. I guess that's all that matters. I'm a little annoyed, though. The guy actually got the drop on me!" Toph swore underneath her breath. "I'm a little sore, too, but it's nothing much. It's not like I was poisoned or anything."

"Yeah. I'm glad for that," he told her honestly, "I wouldn't have forgiven myself if you were that close to death."

He smiled a little, "I'm pretty sure you did worse to him, right? And you saved my life. I never thanked you for that, did I?"

"I save your life at least once a week. I don't really care if you thank me or not," she said, blushing a little. She smiled. "And, yeah, I did him one worse than this little cut. I think I broke his arm."

Sokka chuckled, "See? I was right. And I think I should thank you occasionally, just to catch up to all the times you saved me."

He smiled back. She was beautiful when she blushed, he found. Why didn't he notice before? He supposed it might have been because she seemed like a kid all those years ago or maybe because it was war or because Suki occupied his thoughts. Now, however, he couldn't shake the thought if he tried.

"I won't hold you to it," she said, chuckling. "I don't save you expecting to be thanked, though. I do it 'cause you're my friend. I care about you, and I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you if I could help it."

He grinned at her, laughing a little as well, "I feel the same way. Still, it eases my pride to thank you once in awhile."

He smirked a little at her, "It's a shame our little dance was interrupted. I think I was impressing you."

"Guess you'll never find out now, huh?" Toph sighed. "Who knows if I'll ever agree to dance again? Even with you, who knows? I'm no easy catch, after all."

She was teasing, of course. She would love to continue the dance, if they ever had the chance. But after all that happened, it helped to joke and kid around with him.

"Aww... Come on," Sokka whined, crossing his arms with a grin, "What do I have to say to get you to agree to another dance? That you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen? That you honor me with your presence? That you radiate pure awesomeness and that I'm not worthy?"

He couldn't keep the playfulness out of his voice as he asked. If he could, he'd be pretending to kow-tow to her.

She laughed. "Okay. I'd say those earn you a little dance, Snoozles. Next time there's a party, I'm your girl."

"I know," he told her with a cheeky grin, "I'll hold you to that, you know. Just make sure we hit the town afterwords."

"Hey, it wouldn't be us if we didn't hit the town." She gave him a weak punch in the arm. She did not have the strength for anything more. "It's a date then, Snoozles. Don't forget now."

"Like you would let me," Sokka told her happily before rubbing his arm, if only to keep her pride going, "Do I look stupid to you?"

"I honestly don't know what you look like." She waved a hand before her face. "Blind, remember? About the only thing I can tell you is that you have a warrior's wolf tail and that your eyes are blue, and that's only because I've heard people say that what you have."

"Oh, right. Sorry," he told her sheepishly. Sometimes, he forgot she was blind. He grinned, trying to change the subject, "But rest assured, I am quite a catch, Miss Bei Fong. Just ask anyone."

"And you are humble too," she said. "That must turn the ladies on!" Toph snickered and smiled at him. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Zuko took a deep breath to supress his rage. But then he was confused. Zuzu? Few people had ever called him that. He was tempted to make the masked man take off his mask, but he decided against it. He didn't want him to completely hate him. Not that he probably didn't now.

"Take him away now. I'll be by later to talk to you."

"Oh yes it does. You like it and you're a lady, when it suits you," Sokka teased her with a smirk, "And if I'm an idiot, then I'm your idiot."

*

"That sounds fun," the man commented dryly as he was led roughly away. He glanced at the guards. He had a feeling that they didn't like him much.

Toph paused at that. She really did not know what to make of it. She was sure of her feelings for Sokka, but he was not sure of his feelings for her. Why did all of this feel like he was flirting, then? He wasn't "hers," not really.

And she didn't want to pressure him, or force him, into liking her. That would be wrong, and she worried that she may have overstepped herself.

"I think that's enough. I'm tired," she said. "You should rest too, Sokka."