Tokka - TW4 - Alone

The sun began to set on the horizon, lighting the ocean a brilliant sapphire blazoned with orange. The trip Aang decided to take everybody on really felt like old times again. Tents, camping, emotional talks by the fire. As night approached, everyone began to settle into their tents. Toph, as always, sit out on the ordinary pitching. When she felt ready, she stamped her foot as two slabs of earth shot out of the ground, creating the perfect tent.

She settled into her stony home, and summoned two more earth slabs as doors for privacy. She lay down on the familiar earth, and closed her eyes. As she began to sleep, she felt the vibrations of two people approaching. She recognized the soft footsteps as they passed her tent and made their way to the beach.

Sokka and Suki

They started to talk, at first incoherently. Toph pressed her ear to the wall as the words became clear.

"I know you must feel upset, but I really have to do this. I can't just stay away from them forever, and you can't stay away from your home forever," Suki was explaining. "I must go back to Kyoshi Island."

"But, what if-," Sokka began. His heartbeat was frantic, but there was something strange about it.

"Sokka, I don't want to talk about it anymore," she said with a hint of sadness. "I love you, and that's never going to change. I'll see you in the morning."

Toph heard them kiss as Suki's footsteps faded away, before they finally stopped inside her tent.

Toph lowered her earthen wall and stepped outside. She breathed in the chilly night air as she caught the scent of the dying fire mingling with sea salt. She felt Sokka sitting on a rock next to the beach. The scents, the sounds of the ocean, and the only other people around were lost in dreams. They seemed to be the only people in the world, all alone. She shivered at the eerie thought as she made her way over to Sokka and sat next to him on the worn stone.

"You heard that whole thing, didn't you?" Sokka questioned, staring out into the ocean.

"Only the last part. Do you want to talk about it?" She asked concernedly.

"Suki thinks that she's been away from Kyoshi Island too long and that she can't stay away from her home forever. She feels they need her there, but what she doesn't understand is that people need her here too," he explained.

"So does this mean you guys are, ya know, splitting up?" She asked.

Sokka nodded in the silence. "Suki is the only girl who has ever understood me. I don't want anybody else."

Suddenly, Toph felt Sokka's heart rate increase drastically, and felt his muscles tense. Sokka was lying .

"You know," She began with a smile, "If you're going to try to lie to someone, don't pick the one that can sense your heart rate."

Sokka blushed as he tried frantically to explain. "I uhh, well…you see, I don't-,"

Toph clapped her hand over his mouth, before slowly letting go. "It's alright, Snoozles. Whatever you have as a secret, it's safe with me. But tell me, what's really on your mind?" she questioned.

"Well," He began, "I've actually wanted to break up with Suki for a while now. Not that anything bad has been happening, but I've…," he trailed off as he searched for the right words, "Kinda been wanting somebody else."

Toph felt his heart beat faster as he spoke. "Well, have you talked to her about it?" she inquired.

"Well, no."

"Why not?" She questioned further. She could feel his heart racing.

"Well, she doesn't know that I feel that way about her yet," he answered.

Still confused by his thumping heart, she tried again. "Why don't you tell her?" she asked.

"Well… I guess because I don't know how she would react," he answered calmly. His heat betrayed him though; it hammered in his chest like a drum as he took a few deep breaths. "I don't know if she would see me the way I see her," he said, his voice calm, as he placed his hand over hers on the cold stone.

Toph gasped at the gesture. As his heart began to slow, her heart sped up, as if the energy was transferring through their bodies. She hoped the night hid the ruby red blush on her cheeks as she searched for her words.

"Well," she began, "I think I can tell you that she sees you perfectly just the way you are," she said quietly. She turned her palm and entwined her fingers in his, while moving next to his warm body. She rested her head on his shoulder as they both sat in silence for the rest of the night.

Through the scents of the sea, the faint traces of cooked meat and smoke from the fire, the chilly ocean breeze and the warmth of Sokka's body, she realized that feeling like the only two people alone in the world wasn't so bad after all.