Author's Note: At the current time, Toph is 16years old, Sokka is 19, and Suki is 18 (I'm not sure of her exact age in the series).

Suki's POV (Don't worry, it won't last long ;D)

I have to admit, this really, really wasn't what I was planning when I asked Sokka to come stay with me a little while ago. I'm a practical girl. Even when I was young, all I wanted to do was fulfill my home's traditions, learn how to apply makeup without the help of an older warrior, and grow up.

That was my least practical goal. With the Fire Nation coming closer and closer to total dominance of the Earth Kingdom, even a tiny, yet ancient band of warriors couldn't go unnoticed for long.

Of course, I got there. Eventually. My next step would be to get married--I wasn't expecting anything like "true love" along the way, but contentment--and raise a family. Then, I'd grow old and instruct the warriors-in-training as my children took their own places on Kyoshi Island.

As you can see, it hasn't turned out quite like that.

For one thing, the growing up part of my plan happened all at once, not little by little as I'd thought. For another, I achieved contentment quicker than I thought I would: Sokka.

And another person I hadn't counted on was Toph.

I was happy for her and Sokka's friendship, sure. But something about the way she acted around him made me wonder if it wasn't just friendship. I knew Sokka loved me, but I also knew that I was, well, a safe bet, a sure thing.

Sokka wasn't.

He liked challenges, and he liked girls. Never in a million years would Sokka cheat on me. But it's always possible to fall in love with someone else--a step we'd skipped. It had gone from like, to lots of like, to love, with no "falling" in between.

That meant that however happy we were, our "true loves" were still out there. Though being the practical girl I was, I didn't believe in mystical, romantic things like that.

"So, how exactly is this gonna work?" Toph requested after a long and awkward silence. I glanced at her, then back at Oyaji, before giving Toph a small smile I knew she wouldn't see.

"To my house." Sokka and I each shared our respective sides--not to say we didn't cross over every once in a while. We took off, weaving on the paths through the trees. "I'll explain everything about your stay here on the way."

Toph nodded, then inquired--not without a hint of sourness, "So, I guess I'm gonna be doing community service and all of that crap? But you chicks have all of that weaponry here, don't you..." A small smirk flitted across her face. "I'm sure I'll find some time to kick Snoozle's ass."

"Actually, Sokka's a pretty good swordman," I admitted, suddenly reluctant to go on. "He'll..." Biting my lip, I hesitated. It wasn't certain till I said so. But Sokka would be so disappointed...

"He'll be teaching you the ways of the Kyoshi Warrior, our bravery, honor, and respect," I forced out. "It's part of his service to Kyoshi...before he becomes a citizen here and joins our ranks." After all, we had male warriors, too.

Her eyes went wide. "Sweetness! You mean I won'tbe working my ass off the whole time here?" Toph exclaimed. An emotion I couldn't name flickered across her face for the merest of seconds. Realization? Pain? I couldn't tell. But I imagined she'd just realized what "joining our ranks" might mean for Sokka.

"Not exactly." I shook my head. "It's actually a bit like the Fire Nation military schools, where they send you to get straightened out. After you learn our ways--and trust me, it won't be easy--you'll spend a two week period traveling around the Earth Kingdom and completely the easier tasks a Kyoshi Warrior would complete."

"Oh." She paused, face falling the tiniest bit. "Wait!" Toph yelped suddenly, horrified, "do I have to wear a dress?" Without waiting for me to answer, Toph told Karma to do something very rude, and biologically impossible.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. Toph kept insulting the universe, destiny, and every other mystical being she'd heard of.

I had to admit, I didn't have the best sort of feeling about this whole thing. But, honestly, Toph's sentence couldn't change toomuch on Kyoshi, orbetween myself and Sokka...

Could it?

Toph's POV

A dress.

A dress.

Dammit. A freaking dress.

Grinding my teeth, I spat out curse after curse at that stupid Karma, Destiny, Fate, and maybe a few at the Avatar, too. God. Why did I even bother defending Aang from things like that?

After all, the asshole had called him weak for leaving the Loser Lord himself alive, said he'd left all the bending to his teachers, and then made some rude joke about how he was screwing seven different people--not all of them girls--behind Katara's back.

Okay, look: you can question his sanity, his strength, and his bending abilities (hell, I still do). But I'd been around the two lovebirds enough to know that you never, everquestioned Aang's devotion and love for Katara.

Suki couldn't help but giggle as my stream of curses became more creative and proficient. Sometime's, that chick really ticked me off. But then again, so did Sokka, and I fell in love with him, didn't I? So that meant that Suki...

Ugh. I shuddered, not wanting to even go there.

But see, when your easily irritated, see, people tend to believe that because you're always irritable, and that when something comes up that's really and truly annoyance-worthy for once, it's no big deal. 'Cause your used to it and all.

Nope. Nuh-uh. Way off the mark, guys. We easily irritated people are actually irritated every once in a while.

Suki's house was now coming into view. It was big for one person, but then again, she was the leader of all these warriors-in-dresses. If I was honest with myself, I did respect Suki--a little. She was actually pretty nice, and even though I doubted we'd ever be close, well...

I didn't hate her. Or, that was to say, there were times when I liked her. On the other hand, there were also times when I despised Suki with every fiber of my being.

Either way, this stay with her would be tolerable--nothing more, nothing less. As for the Sokka part of it...it was that portion I wasn't so sure about.

Soon enough, I was still standing inside Suki's doorway, apprehensive at the feeling of my feet against the wooden floors. After showing me just within the house, Suki had gone to track down Sokka, and left me here just a few moments ago. How was I supposed to "see" where I was going?

"Hey, Toph. So, I guess Suki let you in?"

I froze.

Sokka.

"Eh." I forced myself to shrug. Obviously, my plan was failing miserably so far. I'd fall for Sokka, and then I'd be crushed, demolished by the end of it. It was a cycle doomed to repeat forever...like washing dirty socks. Explaining why I go without them. "It's okay."

"But doesn't the carpet really complement the cieling?" Sokka said excitedly. "I picked the colors out myself," he boasted.

"Wow, you're right, Snoozles," I said in mock astonishment. "It's such a magnificent shade of pink, isn't it?"

"Actually, it's more of a pale maroon--oh." Sokka broke off sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess there are some habits you just can't break." True, oh so true. Clearing his throat, he offered, "So, you want the tour?"

I didn't, because it was only starting to dawn on me that Sokka was living here. With Suki. And that meant marriage couldn't be too far off on the horizon, either.

But I just shrugged, and grinned, "Yeah, why not?" So he was living with Suki--a fact that now seemed obvious to me. And probably going to marry her soon. Whatever.

I took comfort in the fact that I could still pretend it didn't hurt.

I latched on to Sokka's arm without thought, and he stiffened. It hadn't mattered three of four years ago, but...I loosened my grip, touching Sokka as little as I could. But I couldn't help the disappointment and slight hurt that laced through me. I was always so tough around everyone else...Sokka was truly the only person to unearth the sensitive Toph, the Toph beneath it all.

"So this is your room..." He through open a door, and I cautiously stepped through...

To find my feet firmly planted on solid ground.

"Dirt, sweet dirt!" I moaned exuberantly, immediately able to see my bed by the window, the dresser pushed against the wall, and the small table at the back of the room. Even five minutes without my precious vibrations had been uncomfortable, and I'd been hating the fact I'd be spending so much of my time within these wooden walls.

"I told them about your feet," Sokka grinned, the tiniest bit smug, but above all happy with my reaction. "Am I good, or am I good?"

I didn't care about retaining my image--I was thrilled. "The best! Snoozles, this is...awesome!" I flopped back on the bed. "Though I'm still not the happiest about all of this," I added a moment later.

"Yes, I amquite good, aren't I?" Sokka agreed, before pointing out, "Well, you could be in jail right now, being raped by one of your fellow convicts. Or a fugitive stranded in the desert with nothing but cactus juice to eat or drink."

"Hey, cactus juice is a food staple, too," I pointed out with playful mock, my grin falling through as the majority of my jubilation slipping away all at once. I was enjoying myself...for now.

But I was here and Sokka was here. Either way, things were going to get churned up, and they were gonna get churned up good. That was one mess I didn't want to clean up, especially if it was a one-sided spill.

In all honestly, I'd have picked the desert.

A/N: I UPDATED. I'd Lie's next, then Love Bites. But since Nerf-or-Nothing asked...to see what Toph and Sokka now look like, see "Sokka and Toph" by Palila at devART. I'll put the link in my profile later...

And is it wrong to have FUN writing Suki? Either way, it was...interesting. I think I'm starting to like this chick, 'specially cuz she'd getting a bigger roll in the Tokka-ness of it all then I originally thought she would.