Katoph: In Between the Lines

The Chase

Katara was the first to wake after their overdue slumber since the chase. Her vision was blurry, thus she rubbed her eyes. The first clear image she saw was of Toph. How cute is she when she's asleep? Katara smiled at the thought. Even when she's mad and we both wanna rip each other's head off, she's still cu— she abruptly stopped her thought. Woah Katara. Get a hold of yourself. What's wrong with you? You guys only met. She shook her head, in hopes those thoughts would follow suit. Nope, that didn't work. She's still adorable. She let herself smile this time. No one would be awake to dispute it anyways. I wonder if she'll still be mad at m—

Out of nowhere, Toph jumps up, merely uttering a cry.

"What's wrong Toph?" Katara asked as quickly as Toph had gotten up. Did she have a nightmare?

"I felt like someone was watching me!" Toph announced in full alert.

Sokka groaned, shortly turning away from all the racket.

Oops. Katara confided to herself. Maybe I shouldn't have stared at her. "We're in the air," Katara reassured Toph, trying to shake off her embarrassment. "I'm sure it was nothing."

"Oh me too," she raised her eyebrow, magically having had figured out she was lying, "I'm sure it was nothing, Sweetness."

"Sweetness?!" Katara blurted out, crossing her arms in a huff, "first 'Sugar Queen' and now this?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing," Toph adjusted herself so she was positioned upright against the saddle, "it's not like you're the only one up." Satisfied, Toph threw her hands behind her head. As a cherry on top, there blew a subtle wind. This only amplified her feeling of superiority over Katara.

"Am not!" Katara remarked defensively. I am not letting her beat me! Though, it is kind of hard to win given the circumstance.

"Tell that to Twinkle Toes," she lolled her head back, "oh wait! You can't." She just barely swallowed in a laugh.

"Hmph!" Katara stubbornly looked away in defeat.

Sweetness is so cute when she's mad. Toph smiled to herself. I could still be mad at her, but how can I... She shut her eyes. Remember what you're here for... Aang. Although she felt the stare that so rudely woke her up once again. But! I guess while I'm here, I can have some fun.

"What are you smiling at?" Katara raised her eyebrow, even though Toph couldn't see. The thought made her want to laugh, but suppressed it, to her better judgement. She didn't wanna seem lame and laugh at her own joke.

"Oh nothing," Toph found herself incapable of wiping a grin off her face. It aggravated her that it's because of Katara she couldn't control herself.

"Well you're not that good a liar yourself," Katara teased. To which was accompanied by a very snarky grin.

"Oh yeah?" Toph sat up straight now.

"Oh yeah," Katara challenged.

Toph began crawling on all fours towards Katara, quickly diminishing the space between them. Katara's heart began to palpitate. What is she doing? Katara frantically wondered, butterflies in her stomach. And what am I feeling? Shortly, Toph reached Katara. Katara feared her heart would jump out of her chest at this rate. Toph then raised herself up and met Katara face to face. This won't do me good.

Katara bit her lip— the one time she was actually grateful Toph couldn't see. Toph was so close now, almost close enough to...

"I'm the best liar here," Toph smiled, in spite of all the knots in her stomach, "Sweetness."

Feeling the heat emitting from Katara's face only enticed Toph. Oh how she loved having this power over Katara.