Price

DISCLAIMER: AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER AND RELATED CHARACTERS ARE NOT OWNED BY ME

She found him sitting up against a wall in the kitchen with a beer in his hands and tears dry on his face. She didn't talk but sat down next to him. She grabbed him around the shoulder, and pulled him close. He rested his head on her shoulder. They sat like that in silence until Sokka dropped his beer.

The shattering woke him up from his stupor and made him realise where he was. "Go 'way, Toph." He slurred.

She didn't move.

"I said go 'way!" He pushed her away.

When she didn't move again he looked away from her, heartbroken. "You'll die if you talk to me." He whispered.

At this, Toph punched him in the arm. "Get a grip, Knucklehead. Those deaths weren't your fault."

"Yes they were." He said, tears forming in his eyes. "I wasn't strong enough to save them. First Mum, then Yue and now Suki. I can't go through that again."

"Suki made her choice." Toph said, instantly regretting it.

"How can you say that! She died so you could live!" He yelled.

"What if you HAD chosen her? Would she still be alive?" Toph yelled back.

"Yes!" He yelled.

"We'd all be dead, Numbskull! She wasn't going to leave with us and you know it! She made the choice, not you!"

"Leave. Now." Sokka hissed through his teeth turning his head away from her.

She stood up. "If you want someone to blame, try Azula." She said, walking off.

She felt him break down in tears as she left.

A frantic thud woke her from her slumber. Groaning she stood up, dragging herself away from the comforting ground and opened the door. She knew who it was before she even opened the door.

"What d'ya want, Sokka?" She mumbled.

"I couldn't sleep." He said, leaning against her doorway.

"So?" she asked, her hands finding her hips.

"So, I need to talk to you." He shrugged.

"Look, I'm happy you're talking to me again, but can't this wait 'til morning?" she yawned, emphasising her point.

"It can't! What if you're dead by then? What if you die before I can tell you that you were right?"

"Geez Sokka, get a grip. What's with you?"

"I... I'm scared Toph. I'm scared I'm going to lose you too." His voice cracked as he choked.

Toph pulled him into a hug. "Who do ya think you're talking to, Sokka? I'm the world's greatest Earthbender; nothing can stop me!"

"Except arrows." He whispered.

She stiffened at his words and the now healed wound began to throb in remembrance. She broke away from the hug. "Sokka." She said calmly. "Everyone is going to return to the Earth sometime. What matters is what you do before you go."

She felt his heart rate increase. "You wouldn't understand!" He shouted at her. "You've never lost anyone."

Sokka would be bruised for weeks from the punch Toph gave him. "What! Zuko was like a brother I never had! His death hurt me, but it didn't turn me into a complete jerk. It didn't stop me caring."

"You started?" He asked in disbelief.

She growled. "I have had it with you! I miss the old Sokka! The one that wasn't afraid to live!" She walked back into her room, making a point to slam the door on her way in.

" I can't believe Toph is ignoring me!" Sokka whined.

Katara sighed and continued her water bending. "I don't blame her."

"What?" Sokka exclaimed. "You're my sister, you're supposed to take my side!"

"Not if you're being a complete jerk."

"Thanks Katara. Way to make me feel better." Sokka replied, sarcasm dripping from his lips like melted seal blubber.

"Look, have you tried apologising to her?"

"Me? But I did nothing wrong! She should be the one apologising!"

"You blamed her for Suki's death, you ignored her when she tried to help you, then you burst into her room at the middle of the night, demand sympathy that you threw back in her face. Yeah, she should be the one apologising." Katara rolled her eyes.

"You are a terrible sister." Sokka said. "Besides, I didn't mean what I said to Toph. It was a joke."

"She certainly didn't think you were joking."

"So it is my fault that she lost her sense of humour?" Sokka asked in disbelief.

"I don't think you meant it as a joke. I think you were frustrated at Toph for how she was dealing with Suki's death."

"She acted like Suki wanted to die! It wasn't like that at all!" Sokka flailed his arms about.

"What was it like?" Katara prompted.

"She died because I chose Toph over her." Sokka whispered.

"Why do you blame Toph for that?"

"What? I do not!" Sokka yelled.

"You ignored her for a month after Suki's death."

"I ignored everybody."

"No you didn't. You spoke to me and Aang."

"That's different, you're family."

"And she's supposed to be your best friend."

Sokka sat quietly, feet dangling in the lake. "I know it isn't her fault." He whispered. "But I felt guilty everytime I looked at her."

Katara stopped her bending and sat down next to Sokka. "Why?"

"Because I chose her over Suki." He shrugged.

"Why?" Katara asked softly.

"I want to say it was logical, that Toph was closer, that she was easier to save. I want to say that I chose Toph because she was tougher and was more likely to survive. Truth is, it wasn't logical at all." Sokka sighed, tears swelling in his eyes. He wiped them off with the back of his hand before continuing. "I thought about life without Toph and I couldn't bear it. I was willing to sacrifice everything then and there to save her."

"You sacrificed Suki?" Katara asked.

Sokka nodded, tears streaming from down his eyes. "Suki died because I loved Toph more."

Katara brought him in to a hug.

"Toph! Come on, Toph, open up!" Sokka knocked impatiently on her door.

"Seriously, Sokka, it is getting old. And kinda creepy." She replied through the door.

"At least it isn't at night!"

"True." She replied, but the door remained shut.

"Look, Toph, I'm sorry! I treated you badly before, when I blamed you for Suki's death, and that was wrong." He yelled through the door.

He didn't get an answer.

"Will you please stop ignoring me?" He pleaded.

"How long has it been?" was her reply.

"Since what?" He asked, confused.

"Since I started ignoring you."

"Uh, about two weeks."

"Two more to go."

Sokka repeatedly struck his head against the wall. Spirits, she frustrated him sometimes. Like now, when he was trying to man up and apologise for being a complete jerk. Apologising probably wasn't enough for her. She wanted him to suffer, and she was doing a damn good job at it.

The next two weeks were hell for him, and even worse for those around him. He moped around, complaining to whoever would listen to him about Toph's unfair behaviour. It wasn't until Katara yelled at him to shut up that he finally stopped torturing them and went and did something productive. For the last week he had focused intensely on working out new battle strategies. The interesting work kept his mind occupied and stopped him pining over Toph.

Spirits knew he missed his best friend. He wanted nothing more than to laugh with her. It'd been too long since he had found something to laugh at.

He found her propped up against a tree, bending the space metal he had given her so long ago. More recently, before Suki's death, he had asked her if she found it difficult. Her response was a snort, followed by a not so modest comment about her abilities. Sokka had been around her enough to know she bent the metal to calm and entertain herself. Judging by the look on her face, it was probably the former.

"Hi." He said, taking a seat beside her.

"Hey, Snoozles. You're up early." She didn't stop her bending.

Sokka smiled, not that she could see it. 'Snoozles' was a good sign she had forgiven him. "Is my punishment over then?"

"Well, actually..." A grin slowly etched upon her face. Sokka knew that look, and it haunted his worst nightmares. It was the look of malice, and pain always followed.

Sure enough, a deft movement from Toph sent a piece of earth hurtling towards his gut. Pain erupted as it made contact, causing Sokka to double over.

"Now we're even."

"Gee, thanks..." he groaned.

After recovery the two began to make up for lost time, cracking jokes, talking and most importantly, teasing each other. Sokka even told Toph about his conversation with Katara (well, some of the conversation, anyway).

"Sweetness actually took my side over yours? Ha! Suck it, Sokka! Guess people just like me better!" Toph grinned.

"No, no, she was clearly just angry that I was interrupting her bending. You know what women can get like."

"I would have just bended you away. Painfully."

"For the sake of my spleen, I am glad that Katara stuck with emotional torment." Sokka said, touching his freshly injured gut.

They sat in silence, each deep in their own thoughts, each simply enjoying the presence of the other.

It was Toph that broke it, in a small, uncertain voice. "Sokka?"

Sokka looked at her in concern. It wasn't like her to show weakness of any sort, even to him. "Yeah, Toph?"

"Thanks." She lowered her head, hair covering her face. "You know, for saving me. I know how much it cost you." She was bending the space metal again, clearly in an attempt to calm herself down.

He looked at her then, so vulnerable, so dangerous, so sweet, so bitter, so fun, so annoying, and he knew he had made the right choice. He put his arm around her and drew her closer to him. "It was worth it."

A/N: So, I tried something a little different for this one. It was also originally supposed to follow another piece that I wrote, but I am still yet to fix it up (the writing is really lazy). So, hopefully this makes sense as a one-shot *fingers-crossed*. I'm sure I'll get around to editing the other one at some stage. Don't hold your breath. You will pass out. For realz. And if you do, don't do it in a place where you can drown or hit your head.