Author's Note: Hello everyone. So, I haven't had the inspiration to write in a while. This hit me while I was at work today, and, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to keep it up, here's hoping. Anyway, this particular piece is almost solely based around Sokka and Toph, because having watched Avatar many, many times I can't resist knowing how fantastic those two would be for each other. Anyway, R&R, all that good stuff, let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: So, yeah, no owning of the Avatar. Nickelodeon and those helpful creators own it. Not I.

Only One Her

Awake, again. Stuck in bed alone.
Sokka hadn't been sleeping well. Then again, he usually didn't when Suki wasn't around, but this wasn't the same. This wasn't the same as missing the warm body next to him, a different nagging feeling was keeping him from the slumber he so desperately wanted.

He wasn't happy.
If he was really honest with himself, it wasn't even all Suki's fault. The jobs he did were difficult and long, and kept him from home more than he'd like. Suki too had her responsibilities, either back at her home on Kyoshi Island training the warriors or off on some other mission in the Earth Kingdom. It just felt like...While he spent all his time trying to get home, Suki spent most of her time trying to stay away, and it confused him to no end. He made the time, or tried to. She didn't.

He knew they were good when she was home, though. They had spent three years together, filled with happiness and love and laughter. She was wise and calm, and picked up on all the little things that Sokka missed, and he loved that about her. He was loud and obnoxious and funny, always making her laugh, and he knew that as much as she rolled her eyes at him, she loved him for that, too.

"So what exactly is the damn problem!?!" Sokka roared to no one in particular, bedding flailing everywhere in his frustration. Fumbling a bit less gracefully than he would have preferred, he snatched his black sword from its usual resting spot next to his side of the bed, fully intending to exhaust himself until his mind finally shut up and let him sleep.

Not bothering to grab a robe or even a shirt, he threw open the door to the small backyard of his apartment in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se, threw away the sheath, and launched himself into an attack routine so forcefully he thought for sure he pulled a muscle in his arm.

With the pale glow of the full moon high above him, Sokka cut, thrust, and danced his way across the yard, never ceasing, dodging invisible enemies this way and that until his muscles felt like burning fire and he was soaked to the bone in sweat. Finally coming to a rest after a particular vicious routine that would have, in theory, left at least three enemies without innards, he slumped down next to the small hill overlooking the cliffs leading to Ba Sing Se's back wall. Looking down, he could see the water swirling peacefully against the rocks, perfectly content in the back and forth motion of its existence, never ceasing, always in perfect rhythm. Sokka envied it, while at the same time calmed by it. He may not be a bender, but he was from the water tribe. Water calmed him, even if he couldn't shape it the way his sister could.

Shaking his head, trying to clear the mist from his eyes, he sighed, pulling free the thick cord that held back his fondly named "Warrior's Wolf Tail" and shaking his long hair free, baffled at how long he'd actually let it grow. The newly grown goatee on his chin itched a little too, and he scratched it absently as he pondered the water below. "Spirits...I really am all wolfy now, aren't I..." The proclaimed "Southern Wolf" laughed a little at the ridiculous joke, and looked up, gaze settling on the full moon. His eyes softened, and he was quiet as he whispered, "Spirits...I wish you were here, Yue." He let out a huge sigh, his muscled shoulders slumping. "You'd know what to do. You'd know how to help me. I loved you so much Yue...and I love her too, you know that. You're the one that let me accept it myself when I wasn't done grieving for you. She was good for me Yue, and she still is, I know she is. But why does it feel so different now? What's changed so much that her being home doesn't feel like she's home at all? I'm so lost Yue...I don't know what to do. Where do I go from here..."

His next thought scared him just as much, if not more, than his current predicament; for the first time in perhaps his entire life, he, Sokka of the Water tribe, the so-called "idea guy"...had no ideas.

"Sokka? Sokkkaaaa...Sokka!!! What the-SOKKA!!!" WHUMP!

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" BAM!

Sokka, forced from sleep, flew high into the air before landing face first on the back lawn of his house thoroughly dazed, confused, and in more than a small amount of pain. However, that didn't stop him from jumping up, albeit a little off-balance, and roaring out, "What the hell was that for!?!?"

His attacker, who turned out to be none other than the famous Avatar Earthbending Sifu Toph Bei Fong herself, who while admittedly surprised, wasn't going to back down so easily, even though she could feel something was off about him and his vibrations. Even with his jumping, he felt...lighter.

"Sokka, are you naked?"

"What!?"

Sokka looked down, concerned, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw he was still wearing the same light cloth pants he'd tried to sleep in.

"Nope, not naked. Pants are a go-" Right before the rapid movement caused them to fall around his ankles.

"They just fell, didn't they."

"Yeah."

"Feel like you should pull them up?"

"Most likely."

"Great. Let me know when you handle that."

"Will do."

Slinging his pants back on, grateful for the first time his best friend was blind, he tried, unsuccessfully, to regain some of his dignity before replying.

"Okay. Pants situation is good."

"Fantastic. Thanks for the update." Sarcastic like usual, but she really hoped Sokka couldn't see the blush seeping across her face from this distance. Her anger, however, quickly overrode her embarrassment.
"Mind telling me what the hell you were doing snoring like a baby moose-lion on the edge of the CLIFF outside of your own house, Snoozles?" she made sure to put extra emphasis on the nickname.

"Wait, what?"

"I found you. Out here. Like 5 minutes ago. Sleeping about six inches away from a cliff. So I earthbended you away from it before your idiot self could fall off from it."

The severity of the situation took a couple of seconds to sink in to the scatterbrained swordsman, and he proceeded to freak out and start kissing the ground he was very thankful he was still on, a move he ended up almost instantly regretting. Toph, having been Sokka's friend for long enough to know his antics, waited with a patience she only had for him until he calmed...and she earthbended a hole underneath him, which he fell in with a yelp.

"You still haven't answered my question Snoozles. WHY were you sleeping on a cliff instead of the perfectly good bed you have inside your house not ten feet away?"

There was a deep, resounding silence from the hole before there was an almost whisper-ish, "I...I couldn't sleep."

Toph snorted. "You? Not sleep? You've fallen asleep upside down on a rock with ants in your hair!"

"That hurts Toph, reminding me of that. That really sucked. My hair itched like crazy and I couldn't move my head right for days." Something in his voice told Toph he wasn't in the mood for jokes. Sighing, she stomped her foot and raising the hole, smirking a little at the dust covering her best friend before staring at him with her pale green eyes.

"Sokka, I know you better than anyone alive. You're an idiot, but you're not stupid enough to wander around outside in the middle of the night and pass out next to a cliff unless you meant too. You were out on purpose. Now answer me: Why?" her tone was soft, almost pleading, if Toph was capable of such a thing.

Sokka sighed. "I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about Suki, and I admit, it wasn't pleasant things, so I came out here to have a workout and calm down before trying to go back to bed. I ended up talking to Yue, not literally of course, but I guess I fell asleep. I'm sorry Toph, I should have been mor-"
Sokka's breath was literally forced from him as Toph slammed into him, the much smaller girl bowling his right over.

"You idiot." She said, almost in a whisper.

Sokka smiled. Toph was usually never this emotional, and absolutely never in front of other people. This was the side she only ever showed him. This was the girl Toph Bei Fong, not the warrior Toph Bei Fong, not the Blind Bandit persona she kept up in front of everybody. This was his Toph, the way he liked her best, though of course he'd never tell her.

"Shhh, sweetie..." He stroked her hair, marveling at how long she'd let it grow and how silky it felt. "It's okay, I'm okay. Don't worry. You saved me, like you always do. You were here for me, like you alwa-" It hit him like a blast of Azula's lightning. That's what was missing. Suki loved him, he was sure of that, but she wasn't there for him like she used to be. Even was she was here, she was distant. They didn't talk about their issues or their problems or...anything, really. Sokka couldn't remember the last time she'd told him how the warriors were or asked what he did while she was away, or just lay around in bed talking about nothing like they used to.

Furthermore, Sokka couldn't ignore the feeling of Toph pressed up against him any longer. Looking down, he felt like he was looking at her for the first time. How had he never noticed before? She was so beautiful...Her hair perfectly framed her gorgeous face, she was warm and wrapped up into him in just the right way...And it scared him. It scared him a lot. So much so that he scrambled like a mad Platypus-Bear to get up, almost crushing Toph in the process.

"What the hell is your problem?" The irritated Toph yelled out. "Here I am, showing concern you could have died, and you almost brain me instead? You're an ass, Sokka!" Toph got up, brushed herself off, trying hard not to turn red (for a number of reasons), stomped her foot to send Sokka flying again before storming off, grumbling to herself about how much of a jerk he was while, at the same time, being both horrified and ecstatic about what she'd just done. He'd felt...good. All muscle and warm and kindness. It shocked her how right it felt...
"Com'n Toph, get a hold of yourself, it's just Sokka!" But the lie tasted funny in her mouth.
Yeah, and that was awesome, until he had to go and ruin it...Jerk. Her anger returned, and followed her all the way to the house she shared with Katara.

Meanwhile, Sokka lay flat on the ground, torn between the newly found knowledge of why his relationship was failing and self-loathing about what had just happened with Toph.
He could fix things with Suki, or not. That wasn't even close to the biggest problem on his mind, because for everything he had, everything he knew, he knew he needed Toph Bei Fong in his life. She was his best friend, his conscience, his confidant. She was his other half. Sokka had plenty of friends he cared about, plenty of people he'd gladly give his life for. But there was only one her.

"Dammit."

Sokka twitched. "What the...GAH! STUPID ANTS!!!"