So I am really late on the Tokka bandwagon, but recently I've become obsessed with this ship. I'm also late for Tokka week, but I felt like writing a Tokka story. That's when I decided to use the prompts and thread together a story out of them. I've written fanfiction before on other accounts, but I forgot my login for those and none of them have to do with Tokka.

So without further adu.. I give to you…

Tokka Week 2013…better late than never.

Shelter

In many ways, Toph's predicament was her own fault. Her parents had offered her a great chunk of their fortune. Not wanting to give them another reason to have control over her, she proudly declined. Of course, she figured that as a hero of war and dear friend of the Avatar, she'd have no problem with finding a place to stay. This would have been true, had she not tried to make sure that every burly man, in every inn bar, knew that she was the greatest earth bender in the world.

Thrown out of the past three inns she visited tonight, Toph realized that she would have no place to stay for the night. Now being midnight, she also realized that most inns would have already accepted all their guests for tonight.

Usually Toph would have no problem sleeping outside on the ground; sometimes she even preferred it. However, Toph had a very important meeting with Republic City's council tomorrow; a meeting regarding her future as Chief of Police. While Toph was a shoe-in (after all, she did invent the metalbending, which the force uses as their main weapon), she knew it would be better if she didn't show up looking like she had trashed a bunch of taverns, albeit she had. In addition to her current appearance, rain was coming down profusely. Not to mention, the sewers of the city, along with its wolf-rats, were not as appealing as the grounds the country side used to offer her.

Toph suddenly decided it was a rather perfect night to visit an old friend.

-o0o-

Sokka wasn't sure he was hearing correctly. Awaking from his sleep, he looked out his window to see the moon still bright in the sky. "Who on earth is knocking on my door in the middle of the night!" Sokka was certainly not used to visitors at this hour, though he'd probably tell the guys down at the bar a different story.

Toph continued to bang loudly on the door to Sokka's apartment. Though Sokka was a councilman, his home was rather plain and small. Obviously this didn't bother Toph in the slightest, though she did realize that if the citizens of Republic City knew that the future chief of police was visiting a rather important public figure in the middle of the night, the tabloids would make a scandal out of it. Not really caring what other people thought, Toph banged louder on the door.

"I'm coming!" Sokka said at a normal volume. "For the love of Yue, I'm coming!" He said this last part a little louder than necessary.

Finally opening the door, Sokka was surprised to see his good friend, Toph, looking disheveled. Part of her shirt was torn at the shoulder, exposing her collarbone and only the very top of her right breast. Her hair was out of its usual headband and bun; instead it gripped to the sides of her face and neck, drenched from the rain outside. The bottoms of her loose-fitting pants were tattered, dirty, and wet. On her left arm, Toph had a small scrape near her elbow, with a bruise to match it.

"Toph! Oh my spirits! What happened? Are you okay? Tell me who did this to you, I'll rip their faces off!" While ranting about Toph's current state, Sokka pulled the drenched girl into his arms, petting the top of her head as her face made contact with his chest.

Toph laughed slightly while pushing herself off his chest and away from her friend. "While witnessing you trying to rip off someone's face would be hilariously entertaining," Toph took a moment to giggle at the thought, "No one did anything to me. I'm fine."

Sokka was confused. Why would Toph show up like this at this hour if nothing had happened to her? "Well then, why are you all wet and bruised and why are your cloths ripped like that?" Sokka blushed when he noticed the tear in her shirt had exposed more of her chest. He blushed deeper and looked away when he realized that she wasn't even wearing bindings.

Toph noticed the peak in her friend's heart rate and joined in the blushing as she realized just how exposed she was. She uncharacteristically covered her chest with her arms. "Sorry, I didn't realize. Actually, it's a funny story really. I was at a couple of bars tonight, looking for a place to stay, and well…I ended up getting kicked out."

Toph followed Sokka as he turned and walked towards his bedroom. He reached into his dresser and pulled out one of his tunics, handing it to Toph. "How many bars did you go to?"

Toph pretended to think for a moment, slightly embarrassed by the answer. "Uh, three?"

"And you got kicked out of every one of them?"

Toph yanked the shirt out of Sokka's hands with attitude, more in character than she had been a few moments ago. "What can I say, it's not my fault people don't believe me when I say I'm the greatest earthbender that's ever lived. I had to prove it!"

Sokka chuckled at this. His chuckled turned into a silent gulp as he watched Toph's next movements. The eathbender faced the door, her back to Sokka. Sokka's mouth went dry as Toph lifted her wet shirt over her arms, exposing her naked back to him. Sokka couldn't help but notice the side of one of her breasts, skin still damp and glowing from the moonlight. Sokka finally realized he was staring inappropriately at his best friend, and reluctantly looked away as she finally pulled his tunic over her torso and faced him again. The tunic, much too large for Toph, hung on her body like a dress, reaching her mid-thigh. Realizing this, Toph undid the sash of her pants and slid them down her legs, discarding them, along with her soaked shirt, to the side.

Sokka tried to keep his brain on the topic at hand. "Wait, what about your apartment. Why did you need a place to stay when you have a perfectly good apartment in one of the nicest areas of the city? Hmm?" Sokka placed his hands on his hips in an accusatory, un-manly way.

Toph sighed, placing her hands on her own hips in a womanly way that did not go unnoticed by Sokka, "About that, I kinda got evicted yesterday."

"What! How is that even possible? You're the richest person I know…other than Zuko….but he doesn't even count cause he's the firelord so…"

"Sokka!" Toph interrupted his rambling. "I'm not rich, my parents are rich. I didn't accept their money, but they had already rented me that ridiculously lavish apartment, so I accepted that. Because I didn't accept their money, they made a huge deal of telling me that I'd have to pay rent for that apartment on my own. Of course now I'm dirt poor and could barely afford to live in a place even like this!" Toph gestured to the room around her.

Sokka frowned. "Hey! I take offense to that."

"Whatever, you big baby." Toph turned around and walked out of his bedroom and into the living room, plopping herself down on his sofa and laying her feet on the table in front of her, as if it were her own home.

Sokka followed her, a little uneasy from his lack of sleep and her lack of clothing.

"Okay, so I take it you need a place to stay for a while?"

"Duh! Why do think I'm here Snoozles?" Toph stretched in a way that made her chest peek out. "It's only for a little while until I'm chief of police and can afford to live on my own."

Sokka's eyes widened, realizing the situation they were in. "Wait a minute. Toph! How are people going to react when they find out that the new chief of police is living with a councilman? Don't you think that'll make us look bad?"

Toph yawned, not because she was tired but to emphasize how little she cared. "So what!? Who cares what people think? It's not like we're banging or anything. Just a friend helping out another friend, offering shelter for a while."

Sokka blushed at Toph's boldness. "Okay, but what if people start to think we're-"

"Snoozles, listen. First of all, people don't need to think anything; they don't even have to know I'm staying here. Second of all, why should it matter if people think we're doing it…We have been friends for like, ten years now. It's nobody's business if we want to stay friends or do more than that. I don't care what people think and neither should you."

Toph surprised even herself with her boldness. Sex was not something the gang talked about amongst each other too often. However, at the age of 23, Toph had grown to be more comfortable expressing her sexuality. Though usually she saved this side of herself for the bar scene and not for her old friends.

Sokka was silent for a few moments, thinking it over in his head. He and Toph had been best friends for a long time, and he wasn't about to refuse his friend a place to stay just because he worried what others would think. He realized he wouldn't really mind having her around more often anyway.

"Hmm…here's the deal." Sokka said matter-o-factly. "We will tell no one about this arrangement, at least no one on the council or in the force. We just don't need the scandal, regardless of how silly it is. Tomorrow after the meeting, we'll go over to your place and pick up your stuff. I can't have you wearing my tunics all the time- that'll just send the wrong message."

Toph laughed at that, "Oh please, you'd be happy to have people think that you got any."

Sokka frowned at that, but didn't deny it. "I'm not finished! Until you can find your own place, you'll have to pay half the rent. You may be my best friend, but your attitude will cost you."

"What!?" Toph sat up sharply, surprised at Sokka's demands.

"And, I want the money upfront." Sokka crossed his arms over his chest triumphantly. That is until a small pebble was flicked painfully at his temple. He flinched at the contact and rubbed the sore spot. "Fine, I'll give you till the end of the month to pay me."

Toph stood up and walked over to Sokka, arms crossed over her chest with attitude. "Fine, I agree to all your terms." She stuck her hand out, sucked back her saliva, and spit on her palm dramatically. "Do we have ourselves a deal?"

Sokka grimaced at the spit, but joined in on the disgusting display of agreement anyway. "We have a deal."

Toph yawned for real this time, stretching her arms above her head, poking her chest out in the same way it had before. Sokka tried to keep from staring, but found himself suddenly too tired to care to look away. "Well then, I'm a little drunk right now and I don't want to be too hung-over for tomorrow's meeting. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow morning." Toph turned away from Sokka and walked towards his room.

Sokka furrowed his brows as he looked out at the night sky, "It is tomorrow morning. And where do think you're going?"

Toph grunted dramatically, "Fine, I'll talk to you when I wake up then. And where do you think I'm going? I'm going to bed!"

"But. But…but that's my room!" Sokka slumped at the realization that what Toph wants, Toph usually gets.

"Hey, if I have to pay half the rent, then I get half the bed." Toph continued walking into Sokka's room.

"Where am I supposed to sleep? Don't you think it's inappropriate for us to share a bed?"

Now inside Sokka's room, Toph had to raise her voice for Sokka to hear her, "I couldn't agree more! You should probably sleep on the couch so no one gets the wrong idea." Toph's words dripped with sarcasm.

Sokka stood between his room and the living room, inwardly conflicted. He sighed deeply before heading to the couch. This was going to get real old, real fast.