Book Four: Air

"Yeah, well, some guys just like being dicks, I suppose," said Toph. She chuckled, and added, "If he was trying to get to me, it didn't work for long. I can't even remember what it was like."

It was only partly true. She could not remember or understand what she had seen, but she remembered how she had felt.

It was cool out. Toph suddenly winced.

"Oh, crap. It's late, isn't it? Zuko's gonna give me a stupid lecture for not looking after that fuddy-duddy representative."

IC: Azon

Azon escaped the curious eyes of the villagers, and leaned against the stone wall of a building. The path ahead of him led to the beach, and he could make out the still water.

"Ah," he muttered to himself, his hooded face staring out in the direction of shore.

"Love...what an apparent thing. The lovebirds are near. I suppose waiting for them to pass, and then following them would be best..."

"Here," Sokka told Toph, wrapping his cloak around her with a grin, "Maybe we should go back. I'm glad we came out here, though. It was fun."

"Other than the part where I freaked out? Sure," said Toph, humorously. "Yeah. It was fun. I like goofing off with you. I've missed it."

She had missed him even more.

Toph stood. She did not toss off the cloak he had given her, either.

"Back to the wind and grind now, I guess. Ugh." She smiled in Sokka's general direction. "You didn't have to come after me, you know. Still... Thanks." Toph punched him, lightly, in the shoulder. "You better not tell anyone else I was this girly though."

"Of course I won't," Sokka told the blind girl with a laugh, "I want to live." He smiled back at her. He had missed her more than he thought.

IC: Azon

Azon heard the laughing voices of Sokka and Toph before he saw them. Quickly, he moved behind a nearby stack of crates, listening intently to the sound of their voices.

"Ah...there we are."

"I knew you were smart," said Toph, with a toothy grin. Unable to help herself, she added, "Even if you don't show it all the time."

They walked out of the cove and back along the path that led into the city. Knowing she was probably already in trouble for abandoning her post, Toph did not hurry back to the manor. She lingered in the streets and stopped by a vendor to buy herself and Sokka something called a funnel-cake.

"You have to try one of these. They're amazing," she said, shoving a piece up to where she figured Sokka's mouth to be.

"I do to show it," Sokka began only to have something shoved in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed before grinning happily, not noticing that he licked Toph's fingers, "They are."

"Of course it is. I won't trick you when it comes to food. Well, not too much," said Toph, with a silly grin.

He had not noticed, but she had. It had only been an accident, but Sokka had definitely licked her fingers a little when she fed him a piece of the funnel-cake. Even Toph knew that could be an intimate gesture.

She blushed a little but soon had it under control. She'd not let something like that get in the way of having a good time with her best friend.

"Here, have some more." Toph held up another piece up to the sound of his voice. "Since you're such a bottomless pit and everything."

"I'm a growing boy," Sokka told Toph with a grin as he took the piece of funnel cake from his best friend, "Plus, I need food to fuel all my training."
He looked over at Toph with grin. For a second, he thought she was blushing but it must have been his imagination.

IC: Azon

"Watch it mingle," muttered Azon, peering out at Toph and Sokka from behind a rather large crowd of partying civilians.

"Watch it change, and see it grow."

He smiled and tilted his head, moving for a better spot.

"I wonder....no....I'll follow them a while longer."

"You're definitely growing somewhere," said Toph, poking Sokka in the gut. She laughed. "And admit it. You just like to eat."

Of course, so did she.

They finished off the funnel-cake and continued on their way down the street.

"So..." said Toph, beginning the conversation again. "Your training is going well?"

"I'm growing muscles," Sokka argued as he walked with her, "And it's going great. Master Piando and Dad are tough teachers, though."

Iroh was getting very tired of walking so much.

“Hey old man” he heard someone yell near him. He raised his head and looked forward, he managed to devise a figure at the adge of the river, and as he got closer, it got clear, it was a man. A smile came to his old dirty face.

“Hey there!” Iroh yelled back. Iroh noticed something weird, he saw that the man’s expressions change as he got closer to him.

IC: Toph

"You sound surprised by that," said Toph teased. She patted his arm. "Seriously though, Sokka, that sounds good. And maybe they're riding your rump, but you're getting better. That's what counts, right?"

***

IC: NPC

The man abandoned his post by the river and walked up to the elder. "You look like you've had a rough time of it, mister," he said, with a friendly smile. "Why don't you come back home with me? Me and my wife can feed you up, give you a place to rest."

"Yeah, you're right," Sokka told her with a grin, "I just wish they'd let me relax once in awhile."

IC: Toph

"Hey! That's what you're doing right now, isn't it? Doesn't hanging around with me, goofing off and eating loads of food, count as relaxing to you?" Toph laughed. "You're a hard one to please."

"Oh, no. I don't mean now. I love being with you!" Sokka exclaimed with a grin, "But when I'm away from you, it's hard to find something fun to do."

Toph snorted. "I can imagine that. Kyoshi Island sounds really boring. That's rough, buddy."

Though she did not say it aloud, she was happy with his words. He had missed her. It made her feel all warm inside, and she liked that feeling.

They finally arrived back at the manor.

IC: Azon

"So..." muttered Azon, watching the two approach the manor, making sure to keep himself hidden behind a nearby tree.

"I'll just have to wait. The Mosquito-Fly is always drawn to what it does not understand...only that it believes to need it. The question now is simply...who is the Mosquito-Fly?"

He walked out from behind the tree and let himself slid down against the trunk, resting his legs openly in the path.

"Well, it's time to face the music," Sokka teased when he saw that they had finally arrived back in the manor.

Toph grumbled. "Oh joy. Can you hear my enthusiasm?" She sighed. "Might as well get it over with."

At least this job gave her a real excuse not to return home as the helpless child of the Bei Fong family.

As it was, Toph was lucky. Zuko was speaking with Wuong, privately, and that meant she would not have to deal with the fall-out of her skipping out on her job.

So she dawdled again. Toph yawned and scrubbed her eyes. She grinned over to where she could sense Sokka.

"We'll have to do stuff like tonight more often, Snoozles. Maybe next time we'll even chance to play a few pranks on these geezers."

Toph hesitated before adding, "What're you gonna do now?"

"We should do this again," Sokka said in agreement. He shrugged at Toph's question, "I don't know. Find Suki, goto bed. Today was exhausting, but in a good way, at least with tonight. The peace talks were hell."

Zuko

Zuko entered the room, a little irritated. The day was one of the worst he'd had since becoming Fire Lord, including a prison break, possible Civil War and Toph running off from an important job. "Representative Wuong, I hope this is important, I had to leave Avatar Aang to meet with you," he said, making no attempt to hide his frustration.

Toph could only nod. It worried her, even if she did not admit it aloud. With all that was going on, it seemed as if another war would soon arise. The world did not need another large-scale conflict, not so soon after the last.

"Bed would be nice," she said. "I doubt I'll get that chance, though. Princess will probably be mad I left some stranger my job, just so I could play hooky."

She punched him in the shoulder, grinning.

"Ah well. Go knock yourself out, Snoozles. Big day ahead of us tomorrow."