Katoph: In Between the Lines

The Tales of Ba Sing Se

The shoji slid shut as the two girls entered their home. The silence they heard as they walked in only proved that neither Sokka or Aang were home. Who knows what Toph would've done if the boys had seen her all dolled up. A little rock here and there would've been enough to shut them up anyways.

"I'm gonna go wash this off," Toph immediately said to Katara. The makeup and stuff was fun while it lasted, she thought. But it's not like she was thrilled about having it on either.

"Already?" Katara replied, slightly disappointed. She understood that the whole concept of a "girl's day out" didn't exactly scream Toph, but pretending for one day didn't seem too far fetched.

"What's the point of keeping it on?" The young girl asked. With the back of her hand, she began to rub off the blush on her cheeks. Thud!

Toph let out a whimper as a warm hand wrapped around her wrist. "Why'd you agree to get a makeover with me then?" Katara questioned. Toph felt the tension of the water bender's stare.

"What do you mean?" Toph responded and wriggled out of Katara's hold. "I went because it got you off my back," she explained, rubbing the area in which Katara once held.

"You could've said no if you didn't want to," Katara rebutted, her eyes still cemented onto Toph. It wasn't a big deal— it didn't matter whether or not Toph wanted to go, she still came and you should be happy. Simple. Yet, the older girl was unsatisfied. Offended, hurt even and she didn't understand why. All she knew was she was feeling something and it demanded to be felt.

"Why are you acting like this Katara?" Toph raised her voice. "At least I came! I could've let you go all by yourself, but I didn't. You should be happy!" she yelled and ferociously pointed her finger at Katara.

"Why should I be happy if you're not?!" Katara answered quicker than she could think.

"What?" Toph said bewildered. But before she could ask anything else, Katara had stormed out, followed by the slam of a shoji. "Katara!" she cried out. Though she sighed and gave up knowing she wouldn't be able to pry the water bender out of her room.

The earth bender yawned. She was tired. She trudged her way to her room and passed out.

x

"... you should've seen the look on her face! She was so mad and her students were totally rooting for me..." a muffled voice spoke from the other room. What time was it?

Toph sat up and yawned. Everything appeared as a brown splotch before she rubbed her eyes. It was dark. Oh great, I slept through my entire day off, Toph thought while untying her bun; it had gotten tangled in her sleep. Rrrrr. And she was hungry. What a productive day, she thought again. The young girl then got up and slid open her shoji so she could go eat.

"... the animals all ran out because of me so I had to— Hey Toph-" Aang diverted his attention to the small earth bender.

"Finally you're up To—" Sokka's jaw dropped.

"What?" Toph yawned. "Why does no one finish what they're saying anymore..." she thought out loud and maneuvered her way around the room to get an apple. As she took a bite, someone finally spoke:

"I like your makeup—" Aang said.

"My what?!" Toph's eyes widened. Her grip on the apple was so hard, she had crushed it, splashing its juices everywhere. She smacked her hand against her cheek and felt around. Sure enough, she felt the chalkiness of the makeup beneath her palm. What the heck! she thought to herself.

"Wow," Sokka awed.

"I- I'll be back," Toph muttered as she tried to gather her thoughts. She can't believe she let them see her like this. I probably look so stupid, she thought. It's not like they've never seen her in makeup; last time was purely because they needed to get all fancy so they could try to meet the Earth King. This was just for fun. Maybe it wasn't a big deal. Maybe.