Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryke, not me.

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Drabble #12: "Don't Scare Me Like That"

Setting: during season three

Sokka stopped dead in his tracks. "Katara…"

"What?" she asked, rummaging in her pack. "I swear, it's in here…"

Sokka grabbed her by the shoulders. "Katara, where's Toph?"

His sister stared at him blankly. Sokka's heart plummeted to his shoes.

"I-I thought she was right behind me," Katara stammered. She turned around, as if she expected the smaller girl would pop out of nowhere. "She was…I kept a close eye on her!"

Sokka let go of his sister and yanked Aang by the collar. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"I thought she was with Katara!" Aang yelped.

"Well, she's not with either of you," Sokka snapped.

"Katara, you go back to camp and see if she's there," Sokka ordered. "Aang, you backtrack through the market. I'll go in the back streets. We'll meet back at camp." He shouldered his bag and stalked away.

It would be easy for an adult to get lost in the city, and even easier for a blind child. It didn't matter if she was a earthbending prodigy; an unscrupulous enough individual could find plenty of ways around that. Toph was an easy target- small, young, pretty, and disabled.

Sokka gritted his teeth as he turned resolutely into the red light district. He'd met plenty of individuals on his travels who wouldn't think twice of taking advantage of a child. Sokka looked up. The sky was darkening, thickening. Early evening coolness draped heavily over the rickety buildings. Several women who could have been anywhere from forty to fourteen sat on the stoops and steps, their shoulders and waists and knees bared. None of them met him in the eyes, but several called out half-hearted offers. Sokka focused on the alleyways and hiding places lurking in the background, ignoring their calls. He walked past a particularly young girl dressed in orange, her eyes empty but her lips curled into a smile. She couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"You looking for someone in particular?" she asked.

Sokka stopped. Her makeup was thick and cracked around her eyes. "I'm looking for a little blind girl, about twelve years old," he said.

She grimaced. "Like 'em young?" she asked loftily, as if she was some wise matron.

"No, she's lost," he said. "She's small, about this high, with black hair and pale eyes. She got separated from us."

"She your sister or something?" the child-whore asked.

"Kind of," Sokka said. "Not really. I mean…I care about her…"

"Wish I had a brother to come after me," she said bitterly. "I ain't seen a little blind girl, but I'll keep an eye out for her."

"Thank you," he said, but the young girl had already disappeared into the tenement. The sign above advertised SUN MAIDEN HOUSE in tipsy, garishly painted letters. Sokka thought of Toph, her body bared and her eyes soulless, and walked faster.

The yellow and orange lamps burned harsher as the night grew blacker. An hour passed, then two, then three. Sokka's stomach growled with hunger and his feet ached. She must be hungrier and more tired than me, he thought, and he kept going.

Drunkards stumbled around him, sloshing their spirits on his shoes. Painted girls laughed, the sound harsh and hollow. Sokka ignored them, his eyes trained for Toph. There was nothing.

Sokka stopped to lean against a storefront, resting for a moment before he could keep going. "She bit me," a man said in the loud, uninhibited tones of the drunk. "That brat bit me."

"With a face like yours, I'd bite you too," his companion roared, slapping his big thigh absently. "No wonder she ran."

The first man grabbed at his hand; several small marks stood out on the web between his thumb and forefinger. "Aw, I just wanted to give her a little kiss," he slurred.

"She knew you wanted more than a kiss," the other man scoffed, his face florid with drink. "And that's all you're gonna get for a while. None'a the others will want anything to do with you when they find out you're not man enough to make a woman out of a blind girl."

Rare hot anger seethed through Sokka's vision. He grabbed the neck of the more coherent man and threw him to the ground. "Where is she?" he demanded through his teeth.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. He cowered behind his raised hands. "I dunno what you're talking about."

Sokka tightened his grip. He desperately wished, for the first time in life, that he was a firebender so he could turn this idiot into a heap of ash. "Where's the little blind girl?" he raged.

"Uh…she ran off that way," he said, weakly pointing.

Sokka let go, letting the man fall onto the rocky streets. He ran down the narrow alleys, looking for a sign- a footprint, a torn piece of clothing, anything. Sokka turned down a crooked alleyway and stopped at the dead end. There was nothing but a heap of rocks, but it didn't look natural. "Toph?" he said gently.

The rocks shifted slightly.

"Toph, it's me. It's Sokka," he said. "You can come out."

The rocks melted away. Toph stumbled out of the rubble, her arms outstretched. "Sokka!" she cried, and she fell against him.

Sokka closed his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. She shook like a tree in a windstorm. "You're safe," he said hoarsely. "You're safe."

He pulled back and examined her with skilled eyes. Dried blood streaked down her face and her slender neck. Her red clothes were torn and ripped; the fingerprint-shaped bruises screamed silently what had caused the damage. Toph's slim arms and legs were dirty and scraped. The golden band in her hair was half torn away, leaving long locks of hair tangling over her ears, her narrow shoulders, her back. She trembled, leaning heavily on his broad shoulders. Sokka fumbled in his pack for his waterskin. He poured some of the contents onto a clean, dry cloth and dabbed at the thickly caked blood on her face.

"He…he…he tried to…" Toph struggled to put into words the unspeakable evil.

"I know," he said softly. She winced, swallowing her tears, as the cool cloth touched her bruised nose. "Did he…did he hurt you? Did he touch-"

She shook her head violently. "I didn't let him," she said, some of her typical bravado returning.

Sokka smiled, cupping her round face in his hands. "You're safe now," he said. "Let's get you home." He picked her up carefully. Toph wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him like a koala monkey. Sokka draped his cloak over her naked shoulders, shielding her from the chilly evening and the lecherous stares. Toph buried her face in the crook of his neck.

She was easy to carry, much easier than he had expected. Her dirty bare feet dangled against the backs of his thighs. She still shivered. "Are you cold?" Sokka asked.

"A little," she whispered.

Sokka tugged his tunic open at the neck and let her press her cool cheek against his warm skin. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

She turned her head in the direction of his voice. "Can I get something to drink?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "We'll stop." He looked around at the painted women lurking by the doors, the hulking men leering at the beautiful child in his arms. Sokka tightened his grip, grateful that she couldn't see them. "Let's just get back towards the market. I'll get you a drink, and then we'll head back to camp. Katara's got to be worried sick."

"Really?" Toph said, her voice muffled.

"Of course," he said, surprised. "Katara adores you. She didn't mean to lose you."

"Oh," Toph said in a small voice. "That was my fault. I wandered off. I thought I could walk around on my own, but…but I got lost…and that man, he…" She shuddered, the movement traveling violently from her shoulders down. "He kept following me, and telling me I was pretty, and then he…he pushed me up on the wall and tried to kiss me."

Sokka's stomach churned. "You fought back, didn't you?" he said.

Toph flashed a familiar, reassuring, cheeky grin. "I bit 'im," she said.

"Good," Sokka said firmly. Impulsively he kissed her soft round cheek. Toph blushed and ducked her head against his strong broad shoulder. Sokka's ears heated. He hadn't thought that through.

The streets widened. Fewer people lingered on the walks. It was more peaceful, and cleaner. Sokka relaxed. "I'm going to set you down, okay?" he said. "Stay here and I'll get you something to drink."

"Okay," Toph said, unusually agreeable.

Sokka placed her down carefully on a bench. He pointed his finger in her face. She didn't blink. "Don't move," he ordered.

"Okay," she said again, this time with an impish, sheepish smile.

Sokka dug in his pockets for a few loose coins and ordered a drink. He glanced over his shoulder as the sleepy shopkeeper got his order. Toph sat on the bench, drowsily digging her toes in the dirt. There were still traces of blood on her fair face. The shopkeeper handed him the cold drink, Sokka handed him the coins and walked back.

"What'd you bring me?" she asked.

Sokka placed the big cup in her hands, closing her fingers around it. "It's lemon mango," he said. "Hope you like it."

She gulped eagerly, spilling a little bit on her chin. Sokka wiped it off his thumb. "You must be thirsty," he commented.

Toph set the cup down, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. "I haven't had anything since we left the camp this morning," she said. "Of course I'm thirsty."

Sokka tucked an arm around Toph and tugged her close. Her bare shoulders were cold. "I'm sorry," he said.

She sipped her juice, holding the cup with both hands like a child. "It's okay," she said. "It's my own fault for wandering off."

"How'd you get all that blood on your face?" Sokka asked.

"When I bit him, he punched me," Toph said matter-of-factly.

Sokka lifted her chin, studying her pale face in the light of the streetlamps. Her foggy eyes stared serenely at his cheek. "Well, it's not broken," he said. He imagined the big man throwing his fist in Toph's face, the small girl stumbling back as blood spurted through her fingers.

"Are you okay?" Toph asked. "Your heartbeat sped up really fast-"

"I'm fine," he said. "Just drink your juice." Toph obediently sipped the last dregs and set the cup down. Sokka tucked his hands under her arms and picked her up. "Now, let's go home."

Toph nestled her head against his shoulder. He tried to walk as smoothly as possible so as not to jostle her. Sokka swept her thick hair back over her shoulders. Toph drooped. Her locked arms relaxed. She snuggled into his chest. Sokka stroked the back of her neck. As he walked out of the city limits, Toph fell asleep in his arms.

Katara sat by the fire, her face dull and worried in the flickering light. She jumped to her feet when she saw them approaching. "Toph!" she cried.

"Sh, she's asleep," Sokka warned. "Is there a sleeping bag we can put her in?"

"We can put her in mine, it's already set up," Katara said. Sokka set Toph down carefully. Her slender arms and legs drooped as he laid her down. As soon as he let go she rolled over onto her stomach, still fast asleep. "Where did you find her?"

Sokka kept his voice low. "The red light district." Katara blanched. "She's okay," he said hurriedly. "She just had a bad scare."

Katara tucked Toph in snugly. "This is all my fault," she said. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I'm awful at this."

"No, you're not," Sokka said. He stroked Toph's hair away from her forehead, smoothing his fingertips across her soft skin. "Toph told me she wandered away. Don't blame yourself. Besides, she's all right."

"What if you hadn't found her?" Katara asked. She placed her hand on Toph's back. "What if she had been…what if someone else had found her?"

Sokka remembered the girl under the streetlights. "I'll always find her," he said fiercely.

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Author's Notes:

I write about prostitution a lot. Has anyone else noticed this? It pops up randomly throughout my stories. It's even a big plot point in my next big Avatar story, "Ecclesiastes." Wonder what that means…

In any case, I love writing Sokka as a rescuing hero. It's fun for me.

Coming up next: "Drinking Buddies."