"Aren't you finished yet?"

"Stop talking."

An eyebrow arched. "Excuse me?"

"If you don't stay still, I'm going to mess this up."

"Why did I let you talk me into this?"

Sokka dipped two fingers into the bowl of white paint. "Because it is a good idea. Now I'm almost done, so stop talking for a couple more minutes, okay?" He brought his fingertips to Toph's chin, making sure to cover every bit of her pale skin. "We need camouflage, and this war paint does the job beautifully."

"This makeup had better work then," she mumbled.

"War. Paint."

"Whatever."

Sokka set the bowl on the ground and leaned back to admire his work. He'd never seen a woman wearing the traditional war paint of the Southern Water Tribe. As he looked at his wife sitting across the earth tent from him, he couldn't image why women didn't wear it every day. The grey, white and black painted across her face only accentuated her features. The paint on her shoulders wasn't exactly a part of the traditional wear, but Sokka deemed at that moment it should be – if only to have another excuse to let his fingers and thumbs linger over her soft, creamy skin.

"All finished," he announced.

Toph opened her eyes. The soft green of them was a striking contrast to the rest of her face. Right then and there, he decided that he had to convince her to wear the paint more often – as in every day. "So," she asked, biting her lip. "How does it look?"

He answered her as honestly as possible. "I have to say, I'm really turned on right now."

Toph smiled at him. "Later, Lover Boy. We have a job to do this evening."

He inched toward her. "Just one?"

She held him at arm's length. "No, you'll ruin the paint job."

"You don't care."

"But you do." She stood and crossed the earth tent to the entrance she'd left open. "And the quicker we get this done, the quicker we can move on to other things."

He didn't need to be told twice. Sokka grabbed his sword and boomerang as he stood, made sure his wolf tail was secure, and followed her out of the tent.

Toph was waiting for him in the clearing, hands on her hips, eyes closed. Sokka was used to this stance from her – she was listening to the earth, pinpointing the direction of their assailants. After a few moments had passed, she opened her eyes and pointed to her left. "They're coming from over there," she explained. "Should be here in a couple minutes."

"How many?"

"Nine."

"That's all?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Captain Snoozles. Next time, why don't we just invite everyone who hates Zuko, Aang, the Fire Nation, and peace as a whole?"

Sokka strode to a spot behind a tree and sheathed his boomerang. "I just meant that this isn't going to be a challenge."

A sly grin broke out across Toph face. "So it will be over quickly then, won't it?"

He watched her as she went to her own hiding spot among the trees. Her dark blue clothes hid her well in the night shadows, and the paint was doing its job. If it weren't for her pale legs – which she had flat-out refused to cover completely – he would have had trouble finding her at all. As it was, he could make her shape out from the trees and shrubs, starting with those soft and firm calves, then her thighs, his eyes travelling up her body –

The cracking of a twig drew his attention back to the task at hand. At the opposite end of the clearing, several people in the attire of both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire nation approached with trepidation. They couldn't have known that he and Toph were there, waiting for them, but they apparently weren't taking any chances. They were looking in every direction, watching and waiting for an ambush.

Sokka turned to look at Toph again and waited for her sign to attack. Sometime ago – he couldn't remember exactly when – he began relying on her for their signals. She could sense more with her sight than he could with his, and he knew she was waiting until she could feel all nine of them in the clearing before she'd give the cue to attack.

Four of the rebels had passed between them before Toph raised her arm. Sokka gripped his sword with both hands, waiting for the soft tremble in the earth that told him it was time to move.

Her hand lowered and the ground beneath Sokka's feet vibrated with a soft hum. A second later, he and Toph simultaneously exploded from their hiding places. Back-to-back, they surveyed the rebels; each was shocked as they stood there, frozen in place. No doubt they were surprised that the ambush they were expecting consisted of nothing more than two people with painted faces, and only one of them was armed.

The man closest to them inhaled sharply. "The Bandit and the Wolf," he whispered.

"Aw, did you hear that Sokka?" Toph cracked her knuckles. "We're famous."

"Shall we show them why?"

The one who recognized them wasted no time at all – he turned and fled without another word.

Sokka bit back a laugh. Not the reaction he'd expected, but one he appreciated. None of the others followed their buddy, so it was now two against eight.

He liked those odds.

They attacked as one. Sokka went right for the archer while Toph concentrated her attention on three men who decided it would be a good idea to come after her with swords.

Sokka made it his priority to take out every archer he could as quickly as possible on missions like these. Toph could handle men with swords, take on benders twice her size, but she couldn't see an arrow streaking through the air toward her. This worried him most and brought out his protective nature. Before the archer could even knock an arrow, Sokka threw Boomerang and knocked the arrow from his hand. Sokka was on him, and one swing from his sword sliced the bow in half.

The archer looked Sokka straight in the eyes. He held his sword back, waiting for the next movement. An intense staring contest commenced between them.

"Boo!" yelled Sokka, and he grinned from ear to ear.

The archer's eyes rolled to the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

Sokka left the archer where he fell. He turned to find three more men unconscious, two rolling around the ground in what appeared to be agony, and the final two trying to get the best of Toph. His first instinct was to help her, but this was overridden after he'd taken two steps in her direction.

There was a battle being fought, and his wife was in the thick of it, but all Sokka could do was stare.

He stared at her arms as she moved them in and out of various bending forms. Her muscles rippled beneath the supple skin as she flowed from one stance to another. Power radiated from those arms, the same arms that held him close at night. Her fingers were precise in their movements, strong as the earth she moved, yet they would turn to velvet as she ran them through his hair.

He stared at the inky blackness of her hair. The dim moonlight didn't shine off it; the light fell into it with no hope of escape. Trapped in a braid, it begged to be released and allowed to cascade around her pale shoulders and over her back to her petite waist.

He stared at her hips, her legs, her feet. There resided the most powerful weapon the world had ever known. The best earthbender in history, and the only metalbender, those legs and feet could take out an entire army and sink the biggest navy ship. But for all that strength, they were sensitive enough to feel ants marching through the grass and the spike in his heartbeat when he looked at her.

Toph had utterly and completely hypnotized him.

Sokka hadn't even realised that she had taken care of her attackers until she shouted at him. "Are you just going to let me do everything tonight?"

He shook his head. "Sorry. My mind wandered." It was the truth after all.

"Obviously." She planted her fists on her hips and shifted her weight to one leg.

Sokka looked around. "Any more coming?"

Toph closed her eyes again. He never knew why she needed to close her eyes to concentrate, and he didn't think he would ever ask her. It was her way, and that was fine with him.

When she opened her eyes again, the milky jade pierced through the dark of the night. "Nope," she confirmed. "These guys are all there is."

"Good to know." Without another thought, he dropped his sword and boomerang, picked her up by her waist, and pinned her back to a nearby tree. Hungry lips found hers, and his hands moved to her thighs.

"Wait!" Toph pulled back as much as the tree allowed her. "You're going to ruin the paint job."

"I don't care."

"Good. Neither do I." She grabbed his tunic, dragged his lips to hers, and wrapped her free hand around his neck. Her legs circled his waist as he pushed her back against the tree once more. He placed his knee under her to steady himself; falling over at that moment, while quite Sokka-like, was simply not going to happen.

Sokka was very aware of every part of her body. Her hand danced in his hair and freed it from its wolf tail with practiced precision. Her tongue darted in and out of his mouth while his did the same. She had released his tunic and somehow managed to stroke his bare chest beneath his clothes. Her legs wrapped around his hips to trap him against her.

It took all his strength and resolve for Sokka to pull back from their kiss, but the need to breathe won out over the burning desire to remain attached to her. He panted before targeting that spot where Toph's shoulder met her neck. Taking one final deep breath, he bent his head down and flicked his tongue over her skin. The effect was immediate – Toph moaned and cocked her head to one side, allowing him better access. Her thighs, already tight around his hips, came close to crushing him in the most delightful way possible. He moved his fingers higher up her legs and kneaded her muscles. Even through the cloth of her pants, he could feel the heat increasing under his touch.

"Sokka..."

Her voice was thick and husky and almost made Sokka lose what little was left of his self control. "Hmm?" It was good to answer without having to remove his mouth from her neck.

"You know...we have...an audience?" she asked between ragged breaths.

Sokka looked out the corner of his eye. Sure enough, a few of the rebels were regaining consciousness, while the ones that were merely in pain before started to clamber to their feet. "Lucky them," he muttered, and returned to what he was doing.

The fingers that had been grabbing at his hair now curled around his ear. "And your sister...will be here in...a minute."

"She's not here now."

Toph pulled his head from her neck with surprising force. Her fingers travelled up both sides of his face until her palms cupped his chin. "Good point," was all she managed to say before pulling his face to meet hers once again.

Katara would arrive later, and she would no doubt see the smeared war paint covering both their faces and necks, and she would jump to all the right conclusions. At that moment, he really couldn't care less.

At that moment, all he did care about was the girl pinned beneath him, the only one who could both quench and ignite the fire that raged within him.

A/N: Another fic based on a pic over at dA. See my profile for the link.

Thanks to myah5000 and gentlewolf for the beta work! Love you two!