literature

Tokka: Duty

Deviation Actions

crumblingcookies17's avatar
Published:
1.1K Views

Literature Text

Tokka: Duty
-----------
Bare feet padded softly on the deep green carpet. The soft fabric tickled the sensitive skin in between Toph’s toes. The tan walls normally looked bright, but with only moonlight coming in through a single window, it didn’t seem so happy in the living room that night. Toph approached a table that stood against one wall. On it, she knew it had a picture of her and Sokka, even if she didn’t know what it looked like. She could see the clay vase and the glass bowl though. She had made the vase for Sokka birthday. It had water tribe marks and symbols all over it, the biggest of which was the water tribe symbol. Sokka had made the bowl for her birthday, somehow. He still wouldn’t tell her how he did it, how he got the shape so perfect. Inside the bowl was sand from the seashore in the fire nation, along with some shells she and Sokka had collected resting on top of the sand.

She turned to face the opposite wall, leaning against the table. She knew there were stones imbedded in the wall, carefully placed together to form a fireplace. The fireplace had gone out hours ago, and her robe wasn’t thick enough to keep out the cold. A shiver ran through her body, and she wrapped her green robe tighter against her small frame. Sokka had given her the robe, it was another birthday present. The light green brought out her eyes he had said, and the silk felt nice against her skin. Sokka, oh how she wished he was here. But he had his duty, and she had hers.

Duty. Oh how she despised that word. It was her duty to stay in Ba Sing Se to lead the police against the rebels, to bring peace again to this city, and to help rebuild and repair the damage the rebels had done. Sokka’s duty had taken him to the other side of the world, to the Southern Water tribe. According to Fire Lord Zuko, the people in the water tribe were getting restless and concerned as mysterious attacks were happening. The attacks were said to be from fire benders, but Zuko wanted Sokka to find out for sure before he sent more people over.

Toph put her head down, thinking of Sokka. Her black hair hung low over her grey, sightless eyes. Yes, she was blind, but you would never know it. As the greatest earth bender to ever live, she was difficult to get along with. Her arrogance and temper got her in a lot of trouble, as well as her big mouth. Snoozles saw past all that though.

Sokka was Toph’s best friend, and boyfriend. His cocoa colored skin stood out against her ivory skin, and his black hair was usually pulled back into a ponytail. A faint smile played across her lips, his hair was such a mess when it was out of the ponytail. He looked like a porcupine.

The smile left as she remembered the past few months. Things were such a mess right now. Two months ago, they had been in the Fire Nation. It had been a surprise trip, but she enjoyed it there. Zuko had invited them to his home, to introduce them to his new daughter. Toph had laughed the first time she had heard the baby. She elbowed Katara, who was holding her daughter, “She sounds just like you sugar queen.” Katara had smiled, because even though Toph couldn’t see her, she was right. The baby girl looked like Katara, cocoa skin, black hair, but she had Zuko’s golden yellow eyes.

After a long day, Sokka had taken her to the sea. She felt the warm sand slip between her toes and the warm sun on her shoulders. She had traded her normal earth bender attire for a red swimsuit. It was red with orange accents, and had shorts that came mid-thigh, and a sleeveless shirt that tied behind her neck, and showed her toned midriff.

As the walked along the beach, hand in hand they watched the sun set over the horizon. Sokka had stopped, and she felt him turn and face her. He knelt on one knee, and she felt his heart racing through the sand. In his hand, she felt a stone, connected by a long piece of silk. It was an engagement necklace. It was made of granite, and an odd greenish color fused inside of it. Sokka said it was the color of her eyes. It was round, and it had the three waves lines at the bottom, like the water tribe symbol. There was only one swirl above it though, representing the earth kingdom symbol. It was beautiful. Everything seemed to be right in the world. But as she had learned, that’s when things usually went wrong.

Toph felt a huge wave of heat head towards them, and she quickly stomped, and threw her arms into the air, throwing up sand. Sokka grabbed her, and knocked her over, covering her with his body. The sand sprayed everywhere, snowing on them, as the fireball stuck it. Toph and Sokka were thrown back, skipping like stones across the sand. She felt Sokka look up, and his heart stopped, then quickened. He grabbed her hand, and they began running towards the city. “Sokka, what happened, what did you see?” She heard her voice shake.
Sokka didn’t say anything for a moment. “The man who attacked us was a fire bender.”

Toph rolled her eyes. “I could tell that much Snoozles.”

Sokka couldn’t help but grin. “The problem is Toph, is that he works at the palace. We have to warn Zuko and Katara.”

Toph’s smile faded, and a grim expression hardened her face. They reached the palace and didn’t slow their pace. As they ran through the halls of the palace, they left a trail of sand that stood out against the deep red carpet.

They found Zuko in his study, with Katara and their new baby next to him. As they burst through the doors, Zuko stood up, concern on his face. “What’s going on?”

Sokka and Toph were out of breath from the journey there. Sokka recovered first, and explained what had happened.

“Are you sure he worked here?” Zuko inquired.

Sokka looked past him at his sister. She was looking at the baby, concern and worry plain on her face. He looked back at Zuko. “I’m sure. The clothes matched.”

Zuko groaned in frustration. “I’ll look into this immediately. For now, I need you to go to the Southern Water Tribe. There have been reports of fire benders randomly attacking villages. I need you to find out what is going on before. I’ll send in reinforcements soon after you leave, but I know that you’ll get there much faster if you travel alone. Perhaps Aang can give you a lift; I heard he’s in the area.”

Toph felt Sokka’s hand tighten against hers, and she felt the same way. She didn’t want him to go, not now. But Sokka and Toph knew what he needed to do. “I’ll go.” he said. “When do I leave?”

Zuko handed him a parchment. “As soon as possible.”  

Zuko had suggested that Katara stay with Toph, but Toph didn’t think that was a very good idea. “Look, it’s not that I don’t want Sugar Queen at my house. It’s just that I won’t actually be home often with all that’s going on. I’ll be busy at work most of the day, and a lot could happen when I’m not there. I think it would be safer for Katara and the baby if you were with you, Zuko. Take a few weeks off, go somewhere and hide until things settle down. I think you have enough people here to take charge while you’re gone.” Zuko agreed, as did Sokka once she slugged his arm. It would be best if they went somewhere safe and quiet, together.

When it had been time for Sokka to leave, Toph had a typhoon of feelings rolling around inside of her. Sokka had tried to comfort her, but he wasn’t very good at dealing with those kinds of those things. “Come back soon.” She whispered in his ear as he embraced her. His warm, strong arms were such a comfort and strength to her. She didn’t want him to leave. Sokka gently kissed her. “I will.”

Toph came back to reality. She looked around her, and remembered she was in her house. Soon after Sokka had left, the rebellion had been stopped, the reconstruction was almost complete, and crime in the city was slowly disappearing. With less and less to do everyday, her sorrow had been building to the point of breaking.  

Toph’s knees buckled, and she crashed to the floor, knocking the table over. The vase cracked, and lay sideways of the floor. The glass bowl lay on its own spilled sand, undamaged. The picture had landed face down, but she could tell the glass was cracked. She felt hot tears roll down her face, and a choked sob escaped her lips. What if she never saw him again? What if he came back only to be buried? A burning heat sparked in her heart. The heat spread to her limbs, and she felt the anger cloud her mind. Toph grabbed the vase, and hurled it at the wall. A loud smash indicated that the vase had shattered in hundreds of pieces. She grabbed the bowl’s edge and she chucked it into the fireplace, shattering it. She felt sand rain gently down, and heard the crinkling of the glass as it spraying pieces everywhere. She grabbed the picture, ready to throw it, but didn’t. Instead, she gently put it back down.

The anger drained out of her body, as did her energy. She reached up to wipe a tear away, and felt a warm liquid run down her hand. Her tongue reached out, and touched the liquid. It tasted metallic, and it was warm. It was blood. Her blood. The crack on the vase must have cut her as she threw it. All the crying and anger had left her more drained than before. She stayed like this for hours, eventually falling asleep. When she woke up, she heard footsteps approaching the house. The gait was uneven, meaning that the person had a limp. The footsteps were heavy, indicating a man. Even though Toph was still groggy, she knew who was coming. “Sokka,” she whispered.

Toph had trouble getting up, but eventually made it to her feet. Stumbling towards the door, she only made it half way before falling again. She was dimly aware of the door opening. ‘I must have lost more blood than I thought’. The man’s heart raced as the moonlight fell on her. She must have been quite a sight: hair loose, falling everywhere; red, puffy eyes with dark circles underneath; blood on her hand, on the floor, and probably on her robe; clay and glass all over the floor, and tearstains on her pale face. The man rushed towards her, and lifted her up to look at him.

“Toph!” Sokka said. Toph could tell that he was beaten up and bruised, but he was alive. His hair was in a ponytail, but with loose ends sticking out everywhere. His clothes were dirty and ripped. He had put his pack off to the side as he cradled her. “What happened? Did someone try to break in?”

Toph gently shook her head. “No. I don’t know what happened. All my emotions…”
Sokka noticed her hand, and grabbed some white gauze from his pack. He gently wrapped up the cut on her hand, and held her. Toph began shivering; the loss of blood and the open door were rattling her bones.

Sokka put the bandage back into his pack. “So we figured out that the attacks were for Katara and Zuko. They thought they would be in the Southern Water Tribes, visiting our family there. They wanted to capture them, for some crazy plan of world domination.” He chuckled. “Last time we saw that, it didn’t end up so well for The Loser Lord.”

Toph chuckled, still weak. “Sugar Queen, Sparky and the baby are safe though, right?”

Sokka nodded, knowing Toph could feel it. “I got a message from Zuko, saying that they were safe, and that they caught the man behind it, and are working to capture the rest of the rebels.”

Toph weakly nodded her head, “That’s good.” Her mouth stretched wide as she let out a mighty yawn. All of the emotional drama had left her more exhausted than a rough day at work.

Sokka gently kissed her, and set her on the floor. He shut the door, and went over to the fireplace. The pieces crunched and broke under his feet as he bent down. He brought a match out, and brought the fire to life. He stuck some logs in, bringing warmth to the room. Toph felt him take off his shoes at the edge of the mess, and walk into the other room. He returned with a blanket, and wrapped her up. She lay in his lap, happy that he was back.

Sokka kissed her forehead. “Toph, before I left, I wanted to ask you something.”
Toph snuggled up against him. “Okay, what was it?”

Sokka pulled out the engagement necklace he had made. “I thought about you the entire time I was gone, and I dreamt of you every night. I nearly died when I saw you lying there; I thought I had lost you. I never want you to be alone or sad ever again, and I can’t imagine my life without you. I guess what I’m trying to say is: Toph Bei Fong, will you marry me?”

Toph’s face lit up. She felt tears build up the corners of her eyes, and her smile seemed to reach her ears. “Of course I will Snoozles.” She felt Sokka’s heart race, and felt him smile he adorable, dorky smile. She would have given anything to actually see his face right then, because she was sure that his eyes were dancing with joy. Sokka gently tied the necklace around her neck, and kissed her lovingly. All was right in the world again.

The End
© 2013 - 2024 crumblingcookies17
Comments4
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
tastyxnoodles's avatar
DAAWWWW!! oh that was so cute and mushy and i must say, i was gripping the edge of my seat with suspense! so many tokka feels Love this fanfiction was really well written, and i loved that i got to see the more emotional side of toph :meow: i also liked how you threw in some backstory without adding a whole extra paragraph to explain. definitely favoriting this!