A/N: Well, hello! 8D

I've written a few multichapter fics before. However, this is the first that I've gotten around to posting. I'm quite lazy. xD

As school will soon be ending, I am finding more time to write. Thus, I have started this new story, Maladroit. 3 I've had a lot of fun writing it, and am looking forward to seeing what you think of it.

Maladroit is another word for tactless, in case anyone was wondering...

Happy reading.

I draped the hood of the cloak Katara had given me months previously over my head, feeling the edge of it touch my nose. I pulled it down further, hiding my nasal area as well as my eyes- it's not like I needed to see, anyway. I brought my hands to my neck, searching for the string to secure the cloak around my neck. I found one end of it easily, but I couldn't locate the other. I carefully directed my right hand, trying to find it, until a larger, more careful hand take hold of it.

"Here," Sokka said, "let me do it."

I dropped both my arms to my sides while Sokka tied the string around my neck. He tied very slowly, I noticed. When he finished, he stepped back- I pictured him admiring his work. I brought my hand to my neck to feel the knot. He had tied it into a bow.

"Are you ready now?" He asked. Maybe I imagined him smiling.

"Yes." I said, my hand still at my neck. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"We're going to save Aang and Katara." Sokka replied, almost exasperated. "Duh, Toph."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know we're going to save the two lovers, but where are we going, exactly? What place?"

"Oh."

"Oh." I repeated dryly.

"Well…" He paused, and then walked towards me. "I'm not too sure."

"What?!"

"I don't know where we're going." Sokka said simply.

"So, you have no idea where they are." It wasn't a question.

"No, I don't." He stopped suddenly, and I felt his gaze on my face. "But we're going to find them. I'm sure of it."

"HOW can you be sure of it?!" I screeched "You don't even know where we're going to look for them!" I threw my hands up, this time I was the one in exasperation. We had been planning to rescue Aang and Katara since the time they had been captured nearly a month ago. All the sleepless nights, all the combat practice, all the time alone with Sokka, it all seemed wasted. Though the alone time with Sokka, I didn't consider exactly wasted…

"I just know we will." He said again. I heard the grin in his voice. The grin I had imagined so many times… I'd always wondered what it really looked like. I fought the sudden urge to touch his face.

"But…" I meekly tried to focus on the matter at hand. "if we don't know where they are, how will we rescue them? Are we just going to fly around the Fire Nation until you see a flag waving in the wind that says 'AANG AND KATARA ARE HIDDEN HERE!'?"

"Well, no, that wasn't my plan…"

"Then what is your plan?" I stomped my foot.

"Did you really just stamp your foot?" He was laughing.

"Shut up!" I had seen- well, not seen- Katara do this many times.

"I can't believe you stamped your foot! You're taking after Katara!" He was now in hysterics. I felt my cheeks redden, and furiously tried to force the blush away. "Look! You've even got your hands on your hips, and you're leaning to one side."

I turned around, to stomp away in a huff. I had no desire to speak to him if he was going to make fun of me and make plans without knowing where the plans would be carried out.

"Toph, no wait! Sorry, I didn't mean that!" He trailed after me.

I scoffed and turned a corner. I heard his nearly desperate footsteps follow me. I walked faster.

"Toph, I was just kidding about you taking after Katara. Don't do this, we need to go rescue her and Aang!"

"How?!" I turned around, furious. "How do you plan to go about that, Sokka? We don't know where we're going, so our plan is nearly useless. How can we break into a prison, or jail or whatever if we don't know how heavily guarded it is, or the layout of the place!" I sounded angrier than I really was. To tell the truth, I was angrier that he had made fun of me than the fact that we, now, had no plan.

"We can wing it…" He said.

"NO! I don't think we can 'wing it', Sokka!" I almost stamped my foot again, but stopped myself. "If we wing it, we'll end up being captured too." I folded my arms across my chest, the better to avoid placing them on my hips once more.

"Well, then… what should we do?"

"You tell me." I said, acidic.

"We can…" I sighed pointedly. He huffed. "If you don't want to hear my plan, then I'll go without you." He crossed his arms. This surprised me, because I felt his arms brush against mine when he did. I suddenly realized that we must be standing very close together. My instincts told me to take a step back, but something, something stronger than instinct, told me to stay right where I was. I hated this force, whatever it was.

"Don't you dare think about that." I said, and I hoped that I sounded harsh and menacing. "You won't get past the guards."

"I managed to get past them before you joined the group." Ouch.

"But…" What could I say? He was right. He had managed to get past guards on his own. Pirates, Fire Nation soldiers, and even Freedom Fighters bent on destroying a village, from what I had heard. But I had never seen him do this… hmm.

"Ha, you have to admit it now. I can get past people without your help." He was smiling again.

"I wasn't finished."

"Then finish."

"You got past them," I said, "with Aang and Katara's help."

"Well, of course I did! I mean, they were there." I smirked under the hood of my cloak. "Oh…"

"Exactly. You need me, and I need you."

"You need me?"

"Yes, I need you."

He chuckled and walked away. Confused, I followed him, instantly reminding myself of him following me earlier. "What?" I questioned.

"You need me."

"So?"

Gathered in his cloak, a gust of cold mountain air blew into my face as he turned around sharply. "You need me." He repeated, as though there was nothing more to the matter.

"I need you. So…what?" Now he had really confused me.

He pulled my hood down; I'd almost forgotten I still had it over my face. As he pulled it away, his fingers gently brushed the side of my cheek. The small amount of contact sent shivers down my spine, and I struggled to control them. I vaguely wondered if he did that intentionally.

"Do you need me?" He asked, whispering.

"Yes," I was whispering as well, though it wasn't a secret, and there was no one to hear us.

"Good. I need you too, you know." I realized that he was leaning over, closer to my level.

"You do?"

"Yes. You never know when I'll fall, and I'll need to you save me. And kick some Fire Nation butt in the process." I forced out a laugh.

"Yeah. You do seem to depend on me a lot."

"Hey, that's not what I meant." I gave him a playful shove. He laughed.

"So, are you coming or not?" The whispering was over, I noticed.

"What?" I shook my head, as though snapping out of trance.

"Are. You. Coming?" He said each word slowly and carefully as he walked away. "With me? To go save Aang and Katara? The lovebirds?" He chuckled again.

"Yeah, saving the kids… who are in love and stuff." I followed him.

"Climb on." He called from somewhere above me- he must've climbed onto Appa. I had to get a grip on myself. I put my hand out, found his, and we pulled me onto the bison's fluffy head. I sat close to him and clung to his arm- he didn't object. He even put his arm out, as though he expected me to hold onto him.

"Are you ready?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.

"No." I was never ready to leave the ground, to leave sight.

I swore he smiled as he said "Yip yip."