Tokka: 5 Years After the War (Avatar: TLAB-LoK WA 2017)

Tokka: 5 Years After the War Toph: 1

It had been five years since the war with the Firenation, and everything had changed. Avatar Aang turned 17 and was still trying to bring peace to the world with his girlfriend, 18 year-old Katara. Katara and Sokka moved back to the South Pole where they were helping to rebuild their tribe from the harshness of the war. Sokka was turning 19. Zuko was the new firelord and had married Mai, the new firelady. Sukki had gone back to Kioshie island to teach new warriors, and never made contact with the gAang. Toph was taller. She had also grown her silky jet black hair out and rarely wore it up. She moved back in with her parents and had recently celebrated her 17th birthday with the gAang. ( Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Zuko had business to attend to.)

They gathered at Toph' s parent's house two weeks earlier. Yesterday had been Toph' s birthday. She lay in bed attempting to wake up.

Toph peeled her tired eyes open. The gAang stayed up late that night, celebrating. She smiled, remembering Sokka and Aang- drunk mind you- singing horribly. They sounded like a band of dying platypus-bears. Not that she had ever heard one. She'd never seen one either. That was impossible.

You see, Toph was blind, yet she managed to become the greatest earth bender in all the nation. How was that? Wasn't she blind? Yes, but she saw with earth bending. She could feel vibrations in the ground, allowing her to see. That's why she never wore shoes. Her feet did get dirty, but she always scrubbed them well.

Toph swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and wiggled her toes, then placed her feet on the earthen ground. She could see Katara in the next room brushing her long, wavy brown hair, Aang playing with his glider, and Sokka, still snoring soundly. Her parents were in Ba Sing Se, visiting some old friends.

She jumped out of bed, grabbed a fresh change of clothes and headed for the bathroom. After a refreshing soak in the bathtub, (Sokka' s latest invention. It was quiet convenient actually.) Toph slipped on her jade dress and brushed her long hair. She secured a gold pin in her bangs to hold them out of her eyes. Prancing out of the bathroom, she walked by Sokka' s room. She could see that he was still asleep with the vibrations made by her feet as she walked.

" Sokka," Toph sang, "time to get up."

Sokka rolled onto his side with a groan. Toph plopped herself on the side of his bed and poked him in the stomach.

"Ow," he mumbled, "I'm up."

Toph rolled her milky jade eyes at him. He was going to be hard to get up today.

"Come on Sokka. We have stuff to do today, and I need help making breakfast since Katara is busy....I can feel you closing your eyes."

"Mmhhmm," Sokka agreed.

She sighed, giving him the impression that she was giving up, but that definitely wasn't the case. Toph poked him again, but this time harder.

"Owwwwwwww! Alright I'm up! For real this time," he promised, catching Toph's doubtful expression as she starred at the wall. Toph didn't move her eyes to look at people. What was the point? She couldn't "see" them, so she just kept her face in the most comfortable position. In this case, it was facing the wall.

"What kind of stuff," he asked her, rubbing his forehead. She guessed he had a headache. Served him right, for getting drunk.

"Um... stuff?" Toph offered. She hadn't thought to plan anything.

"That's what I figured. Can I just go back to bed?" He whined.

"No! I'm hungry. I told you I need help. I'm not good at cooking. Plus, I can't see fire," she told him as she yanked Sokka out of his bed and onto the floor.

"Fine. What do you want?" Sokka gave in.

"Make it a surprise," Toph told him with a warm smile. Well... she hoped it was a warm smile, seeing as she'd never actually witnessed one, being blind and all.

"Ok," he sighed," Just let me get dressed."

"Sure!" She answered happily. Sokka shoved her lightly out of his room and closed the door.

She could still feel his hands on her shoulders, his warm fingers lightly brushing her soft skin. Toph shook her head, forgetting her daydream about Sokka. She'd felt this way about him for three years, but she'd never told him out of fear that the feeling was not mutual.

Sokka burst out of his room at this moment making her blush. She could only hope he didn't see it. He had his hair pulled into its usual ponytail, or warriors wolf tail as he liked to call it. She turned away pretending to look at an artwork on the wall.

"Wow! This is beautiful. I've never noticed it, have you?" She asked the first thing in her mind. Sokka fell for it, even though she couldn't actually see the picture.

"Actually, yes, I have noticed it. It's one of my favorite paintings in your house."

"Oh, ok. I'll keep that in mind," She replied stupidly as she started for the dining room.

Sokka walked into the kitchen, clearly in another world. Toph sat at the table, wondering what he was thinking about. Could it possibly be her? No! That was silly. He didn't think of her in that way. She sighed. If only-

Her thoughts were cut off by Katara.

" Toph! Are you listening?" Katara asked.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. When did you come out of your room?" Toph asked, leading Katara away from asking what she was thinking about.

Katara joined her at the table," A few minutes ago. Aang's still getting ready. Where' s Sokka?"

"Oh, he's in the kitchen cooking breakfast. I got him up. Since you were busy, I thought he could cook. I can't see flames or else I would've done it. I know Sokka is terrible at cooking," Toph answered with a smile. She pictured Sokka in the kitchen humming, as he burnt their food.

Aang floated in and sat next to Katara without allowing Toph to feel any vibrations," Morning girls."

"Hey Aang. Did you sleep ok? I want to know how that new beds felt. Apparently, they cost an arm and a leg." Her father had bought new beds for all the bedrooms in the house. She slept better on them, but she wanted to know what every one else thought.

"An arm and a leg....?" The bald munk asked confused.

"Its a hyperbole, Twinkle Toes," Toph explained

" Hyperbole? What's a hyperbole?" Toph sighed. She'd forgotten that he hadn't gone to school like she had.

Sokka swayed in carrying four plates. The smell met her nose, and she gagged. He'd defiantly burned their breakfast, whatever it was.

" Eggs, scrambled. I hope I made them right. Is that what they're supposed to look like?"

Toph doubted that they were supposed to look how ever they looked. She guessed they were black or green by the smell. Katara and Aang mumbled their answers and picked up their forks. Toph picked up hers, but she was a little bit apprehensive about taking a bite. She plunged a fork full of eggs into her dainty mouth. She wasn't sure if you could call them eggs, because they tasted like dung. She spit them out pretending to have a cough attack.

"Are you all right Toph?" Sokka asked her.

"Yeah. Just had a tickle," she picked up the eggs again. This time she swallowed, for Sokka' s sake. It was hard. She wasn't sure if the eggs would come up again

"So... Um Aang. Are you going to come home with me and Sokka?" Katara asked stalling so that she wouldn't have to eat the eggs.

"Sure. I'm all packed. When are we leaving?" Aang replied

Sokka suddenly asked," Ohhh! That reminds me. Toph, would you like to visit the South Pole?"