Toph froze where she sat, waiting silently as she decided on what she wanted to say after he finished touching her lips. Waiting, listening, like she was in the Earth bending ring again. Hopefully this time she would come out as a champion, too. But she knew if she won, this time she wouldn't be getting a belt.

"Is this what I'm supposed to appreciate?"

Her eyes widened, her cheeks set alight by his speech. Sokka was supposed to be clueless! He wasn't supposed to understand things! He was supposed to trudge around with his stupid sword and eat meat and beat his chest. She knew she could lie very well, and if she just picked the right set of words she could throw him off the trail. He would think he was wrong, and then they would never have to do this again.

"Yes," she said, her voice as steady as the element she bended. "This is what you're supposed to appreciate. Toph… as a person instead of a weapon."

Sokka leaned in closer to her, and she felt her cheeks maintain the heat. "I… I already do, Toph."

"You do?" she asked in surprise, tilting her head up to look in the direction that she guessed Sokka's head was. Even if she was blind, she sometimes liked to look at people while she talked. It made them forget she was blind.

"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" his voice wasn't as soft as it had been before; he was gaining confidence. "You're strong, independent, and let's face it: you could probably invade a small country by yourself."

Her face fell. He was appreciating her bending again. Maybe Sokka didn't understand, maybe he had misunderstood all of this.

"Wait, wait, let me finish," he said, looking at the disappointment so clear on her face. "But that's not what I like most about you, Toph. I like… I like how your hair falls in your face and you don't even bother brushing it back. I like that you don't care about appearances, and that makes you great. Because… because you don't even realize how incredibly beautiful you are." She blushed, and he smiled. "But most of all, I like your blush."

She cleared her throat. "Well, I'm glad you finally appreciate me, Sokka…" she said, with a hard joking edge to her voice. That had been awkward, with her just lying there as he told her all of these things.

"I do," he said and his smile softened. He leaned closer to Toph, finishing the gap between them. He pressed his lips against hers, and part of him prepared for the rock to the head he was half-expecting.

But Toph wasn't planning on launching any rocks at him. She didn't even think she could bend anything right now. Her head was too full of thoughts, most of which screamed he's kissing me! His lips weren't as soft as hers were, but she appreciated them anyway. They were… well, what word could she use to describe them? They were like Sokka.

"Toooooph! Sokkaaaaaaa!"

The two broke apart, both of their cheeks flushed. Toph recognized whose voice it was, and slammed one of her feet into the ground. A rock shot up from underneath Sokka, making him stand suddenly.

Out of the forest that was edging the river came three figures. Katara came first, her cheeks, like Toph's, were also slightly flushed. Zuko looked kind of happy, which was strange to Toph. Finally, from up above on his new glider, came Aang – the one who had been doing the yelling.

"I told you that they'd come, Ponytail," Toph said, her voice clearly saying don't tell them anything happened ,and stood up to join Sokka.

"Yeah. Well." Was all Sokka managed to say.

His sister looked at his sheepish face with suspicion. "What were you two doing?"

Toph looked in the direction of the Waterbender, and was thankful that she was the only one who could detect lies. "Rescuing the cups."

--

Thanks for sticking with me until the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter – I know I loved to write this. I'm better at writing about mushy stuff than people flailing around in a river. I really like the end dialogue from Toph. "Rescuing the cups, duh. WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING, MOM! BAJEEZUMS!"