It Runs in the Family
AN: I don't know what possessed me to write this. Maybe it's the anticipation of Season 3 coming up. Anyway, yeah, I wanted to do a bit of in character fluff for my OTP because, well, for those two fluff and in character really don't go together. Which tends to be the case with most pairings I like. Oh well... I tried my best!
Special thanks to Candyland for betaing for me and coming up with the title .
Disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own it.
Aang really could pick the strangest times to decide it was time to confess his undying love for Katara. Today's attempt was in a small park the four of them had gone to in Ba Sing Se. Katara, however, seemed to be more interested in seeing if they could bend the water in the local well into fountains, leaving the twelve year old blushing and stuttering beside her. Although, you couldn't really blame the kid for trying.
Unless you were Sokka.
"He's trying it again, isn't he?" he asked as he sat several yards away on the grass with Toph, who was thoroughly uninterested.
"Yep."
"Why doesn't he just tell her?"
"I don't think she's listening."
"Still, he should just say it! I mean, it can't be that hard."
"You'd be surprised."
Sokka blinked. "Wait, what?"
"What?"
"What did you just say?"
"I don't know, what are you..."
"You just said I'd be surprised at how hard telling someone that can be," he said, beginning to sound devious. "How would you know?"
"I-I don't know!" Toph replied after a second. "Who cares. Just drop it."
"Who is he?" Sokka asked, grinning.
"Who is who?"
"This guy! Come on, you wouldn't have said that if there wasn't somebody you weren't telling, right?"
Toph didn't answer right away, which he immediately took as a yes.
"See, you like someone, too! Who is it?"
"Why do you care?" she said a bit more quietly than usual.
"Because you're one of us now! Tell me; I wanna know!"
"No."
"Come on, Toph, you can tell me!"
"No."
"Is it someone I know?"
"I just said I'm not telling you," she said with a frown.
"Or maybe it's some guy you used to know before you met us..." Sokka continued, not seeming to notice her comment.
"Oh yes, I had such an active social life when I was with my parents," Toph replied with her usual sarcasm.
"Oh, right. So it's someone you know now!" Sokka said, grinning again.
"Just drop it."
"No, I'm gonna figure this out!" He thought for a few moments as Momo ran past them, chasing a butterfly.
"It's not Aang, is it?"
"Why would I be interested in Twinkle Toes?"
"Hey, it was just guess," Sokka said, still thinking. "Wait, it's not..."
"I was only around that Zuko guy once and he was a jerk from what I could tell."
"Okay, okay. So if it's not Aang and it's not the annoying guy..."
There was a moment of silence in which Toph began to feel more uncomfortable than she had been.
"Then... that means..." Sokka began, realization dawning on him.
"Hold on, I..."
"You must have met some guy here in the city!"
There was another moment of silence, this one replaced with a feeling more like wanting to hit yourself over the head with a blunt object.
"Why do you even care?" she finally repeated.
"I told you, it's my business to. Now who is he?"
"I told you I'm not telling you."
"You told me who it wasn't!" Sokka pointed out. "Come on, why can't you tell this guy?"
Toph didn't answer.
"I'm not letting you get out of this, you know. I'll just keep asking you."
"Fine," she growled.
"So why can't you?" Sokka asked.
"Because," Toph replied disdainfully.
"Because why?"
"Because I can't."
"What, do you think he's not interested or something? Because you never know until..."
"I know he's not interested."
"How do you know if you haven't told him anything?" he asked, thoroughly confused.
"It's... complicated," she answered, starting to sound sad.
Sokka seemed to notice the change in her mood. "Aw, come on, Toph, someone would have to be crazy not to like you!"
"You're just saying that."
"No, I'm serious! You're great! This guy doesn't know what he's missing!"
She didn't answer, a bit of color coming to her cheeks which, this time, Sokka didn't seem to notice.
"I'm mean, you're... uh..." he began, suddenly seeming strained for thought. "Um, you're a really powerful bender! And, um... You're... strong..."
Toph frowned. "You're making me sound so great."
"No, you are, really!" Sokka said quickly. "I'm just not very good at describing people..." he added quietly.
She started to stand up. "I'm going now."
"Hey, wait!" Sokka said. "There are plenty of things! You're smart, you can beat anyone you come across, you're, well, your sense of humor isn't as good as mine but you're getting there."
Toph didn't reply, turning her head a bit away from him so he couldn't see her face.
"You've got really good connections in the Earth Kingdom, but I suppose that's not much of a personal thing. You are kind of cute, I guess. You know, for a twelve year old."
"Stop it."
"Seriously, Toph, you're a really great girl," Sokka continued, smiling. "Any guy should think that. I really think you should tell whoever it is how you feel. Who knows, maybe he'll agree with me."
Toph stood there for a moment, her face still turned away. "If I did, I'd like it if he could say that again when he could really mean it."
Sokka blinked again. "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind," she replied, sitting back down. She really couldn't say much more. And, even though it hadn't been quiet the right context...
...He wasn't lying.
Sokka had seemed to decide this conversation had reached a dead end and was now looking back at Aang, who had obviously given up and taken to sulking behind a tree.
"You know, I suppose it's not entirely his fault," he finally said. "I mean, he's tried so many times by now you'd think Katara would have caught on. She's really clueless."
Toph sighed. "It runs in the family," she muttered.