a/n: Running on spotty internet at the moment, so excuse any grammar errors for the next 24 hours. I'll reread this in the morning to make it more palatable.

OOO

Chapter 17

Baggage

OOO

Aang had thought about wandering in the streets for a little bit — maybe trying to use the rest of the money that he swiped today in order to buy some more food or to actually wander through a store and actually buy some second hand books. But that would mean making it incredibly difficult for Katara to find him later, and he certainly wasn't one to make Katara worry over his safety anymore than she did normally. It was bad enough that she was trying to lecture him into doing the one thing he refused to even discuss; he didn't need her irritation over him disappearing for a few hours as well.

Better to stay in a place where she knew he would be and hope that she didn't immediately chase after him and sit him down for another talk.

He already had Sokka's lunch anyway, and it was a while since he had gotten the chance to catch up with Katara's older brother. He was always either burning the midnight oil in the workshop, or sleeping away a week's worth of labor. Besides, if Katara decided to come to the workshop and try to meddle, he was sure that Sokka would temper the situation for him. While Katara's protectiveness was endearing most times, she often had trouble figuring out when people needed to brood in private.

Aang turned down the collar of his coat and knocked on the door to the workshop, adjusting the pack of lunch that Katara had given him. It took a few more knocks and a few more minutes of jogging in place to keep warm while standing in the cold until Sokka opened the door, slightly out of breath. It seemed like he wasn't anticipating company, because he blinked in confusion when he laid eyes on Aang. "Oh, hey there buddy," Sokka grinned. "Haven't seen you in a while. Wasn't expecting you."

The younger man shrugged and held up the wrapped package. "Katara said you forgot your lunch again."

Sokka groaned excitedly and snatched up the food. "Oh, thank Spirits! I knew I forgot something this morning. I hope it's meat…"

Aang snorted. "Well, knowing her she packed you a sandwich piled nice and high with every cut of meat she could find," he joked.

"Ah, sisters," Sokka said dreamily, already untying the strings holding the wrapping paper in place. "Thanks, man."

"It's no trouble." Aang peeked over Sokka's shoulder and into the workshop. "You mind if I come in for a bit? You're not busy, are you?"

It seemed like Sokka was too impatient to wait until he left the threshold of the house to eat, deciding to lean against the doorframe and start biting into his sandwich while he stood there. He spoke through a mouthful of food. "Quite the opposite actually. The Mechanist closed up shop today." Sokka opened the door wider and ushered Aang inside. "Get in, you're letting the cold in."

When Aang stepped in, he saw that the large workshop that was on the ground floor was completely empty and all the shutters were locked up tight, keeping any light from coming into the room. The fire was the only thing that was going, warming up the rest of the shop. The only light that was coming in was pouring in through the windows along the stairs and upstairs where Sokka's own workshop was. Aang kept close behind Sokka and asked, "Where's The Mechanist? Did something happen?"

Sokka shrugged. "Nah, nothing too major. He has a son, Teo, who sometimes gets a lot of pain in his legs from an accident that left him unable to walk. It gets so bad that he has to close up shop and tend to his son."

Aang frowned worriedly. "That's a lot of business he's losing."

The door to Sokka's workshop was already propped open and Aang stepped over what looked to be the wheel of a rather expensive looking carriage. Sokka dropped his sandwich on to his work desk and nodded. "That's what I said," Sokka agreed. "I offered to take over for him today, but he insisted on not overloading me. I guess he's right. I still have a lot of orders to fix up for next week, anyway…"

Aang looked around the workshop as he pulled up a chair near to Sokka's. "Anything I can help with?"

Sokka frowned and gave Aang a once over. "You want to help?"

"Why not?" Aang shrugged, picking up one of the order tickets that Sokka had in a pile on his work desk. "Looks like you need it. I'm sure I can do something."

Sokka chuckled and raised a brow. "I mean...yeah, that'd be great." He turned around in his chair and jutted his chin over to a bench covered in slabs of wood. "I was gonna start smoothing down that wood for some tables I'm making. You've helped with that before, right?"

Aang was already taking off his coat, hanging it on the back of his chair, and rolling up his sleeved. "Mmhm. You keep the glasspaper in the drawer on the bottom right?" Sokka nodded through his bite of food and Aang immediately went to fetch what he needed. It wasn't the first time he had ever come to Sokka's workshop to offer a helping hand — especially when the older man was feeling the strain of having too many tickets to handle — and he'd figure he might was well make the most of his time here while he was avoiding Katara and any other subsequent conversations she wanted to have.

He was situating himself on another workbench while Sokka stared at him with amusement and confusion. But, he didn't seem to comment when Aang actually sat down and started smoothing down the long planks of wood with the glasspaper without any comment. It didn't take long for Sokka to quickly finish his lunch, slide his chair up to the worktable, and assist Aang with the task. With the exception of Sokka reaching over to give Aang suggestions on how to get through the task faster, they both worked in reasonable silence.

As much as Sokka appreciated the need for space and silence when in a troubling mood — the complete opposite of how his sister liked to approach matters — Aang could tell from the way Sokka was frequently looking up at Aang and back down to his work that he was probably eager to break his own advice. Aang hiked his sleeves up higher, shook out his arm, and continued to shave away the rough surface of the next piece of wood on the table.

Sure enough, Sokka sighed and smirked. "You know, not too often you come here to help me work," he commented over the noise of their work. "Kinda out of the blue, don't you think?"

Aang shrugged. "Eh, I just thought I'd help. I didn't have much to do today anyway."

Sokka nodded. "I see," he conceded thoughtfully. "Strange, isn't it? Not having anything to do...or perhaps it's not wanting to do something…just offsets the whole day, doesn't it?"

Aang's smoothing slowed as he looked at Sokka suspiciously. "What are you implying?"

"Nothing," Sokka denied with abashment. "I wouldn't accuse you — my friend — of anything. Least of all of avoiding your problems. No, no. Ridiculous. Please. The nerve…"

Aang rolled his eyes with an exasperated smile. "Avoiding my problems, huh?"

Sokka tapped his chin. "If I guess correctly, do I get a prize?"

"No, but I'll admit you're right and let you guess."

"My nosy sister?"

Aang winced. "Remarkable."

Sokka clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Knew it. You only come here to help when something's bugging you."

There wasn't a point in arguing that really. Aang sort of supposed that this was true and didn't decide to refute Sokka the point. "How did you know it was about Katara?"

"Ah, that was a lucky guess," Sokka explained. He tapped the side of his head. "Instincts, you know?"

Aang raised his brows, trying to look impressed, but being reminded of his bad mood resulted in him frowning through it and appearing disinterested instead. "Impressive…"

Sokka stared worriedly at his friend and stopped his work, leaning forward on the table. "This isn't about...you know...the thing she keeps telling you to do?"

The scratching coming from the glasspaper scraping over the wood got louder as Aang put more muscle into his smoothing. He breathed out roughly through his nose and nodded shortly. Sokka hummed in acknowledgement and went right back down to the wood he was preparing. Unlike Katara, there was no need for Aang and Sokka to delve into a lengthy discussion about the topic. It had been breached in Sokka's presence many times, and if there was one thing Sokka usually avoided, it was getting touchy with Aang.

"Well, I figured as much," Sokka responded. He looked up with a faint trace of amusement. "She really laid into you this time, didn't she?"

Aang shrugged. "I wouldn't say she laid into me," he corrected. "But she was insistent. And upset. And loud. And I can't deal with that many things from Katara at once. Not that I don't appreciate the worry, but — "

"Enough is enough," Sokka nodded, finishing Aang's sentence. "Yeah, Katara knows how to worry and talk her head off. Typical. Though, to be honest, you didn't seriously expect anything less, did you? I mean, do you remember the last time she threw a fit because you refused to work here with me?"

Oh yes, Aang remembered that conversation. To Aang, it had been a ludicrous suggestion. Katara thought it would be perfect considering how often he helped Sokka, but she got frustrated when he didn't agree. Even though Sokka had wisely kept out of the conversation, Aang knew that Sokka had his own opinions about this sort of thing despite the fact that he kept them to himself.

Aang knew that Sokka wasn't the type to re-hash, but Aang asked just to be sure. "What do you think?" Aang responded. "Am I just being a coward, or is this just Katara being...I don't know. Motherly."

"Well it's definitely the latter," Sokka said with a smirk. He stopped what he was doing and looked at Aang. "I wouldn't say you're being a coward. But you don't avoid things for no reason."

Aang grinned bitterly. "Yeah, that's true…"

Sokka sighed. "Look, I trust you. Whatever you feel you need to do, you do it, and I'll back you up whatever you decide. And you should never do something that you think isn't right for you. But," he reasoned, "sometimes, in order to survive, we have to do things that make us a little uncomfortable."

Aang quirked up the corner of his mouth. "Just a little?"

"Like I said, I'm not trying to tell you what you should be doing," Sokka repeated. "But yeah. Can't get anything done in your comfort zone. At least I don't think so."

There wasn't any further commentary from Sokka and he seemed to have left the conversation at that whilst they settled back into amicable conversation while they both worked away at the pieces of wood for the tables. Aang almost felt like he wanted to say something else to justify himself, but there didn't seem to be any point. Like Sokka had said, he wouldn't judge Aang for any decisions that he made. That wasn't Sokka's style.

But Aang knew a dropped hint when he heard one.

It didn't take them long before they started carrying large planks of wood down to the larger workshop on the ground floor where Sokka would have the space to assemble them. Sokka was rustling around in the drawers in his smaller workshop, looking for nails, hammers, and a slew of other tools that Aang didn't catch the names of, while Aang was sat on the floor against the wall, wiping sweat from his brow and picking small splinters out of his hands. He pulled his stifling sweater over his head, threw it into the corner, and winced as he extracted a particularly large piece of wood.

Sokka was clambering down the stairs to look for another tool just as someone began knocking on the front door downstairs. Aang leaned over and yelled down the stairs. "Are you expecting someone?"

"No, but that doesn't seem to be stopping anyone today," Sokka called back in mock annoyance as his voice travelled towards the front hallway. "Hey, I can't find my work gloves down here or upstairs. Can you check in the back storeroom? I keep losing those damn things…"

Aang sighed as he kept looking at his hands, but obliged and headed to the back storeroom piled high with tools, old workbenches, half completed furniture, broken cart wheels and boxes and boxes filled with tools. Aang snorted as he looked around the clutter and tried to locate the work gloves that Sokka was talking about. His idea of organized chaos was a sight indeed...

After searching for a few minutes and plucking up the gloves that were sitting underneath a pile of broken chairs, Aang ran downstairs and entered the workshop. "Want to explain how your gloves were lying underneath a pile of broken furniture?" he announced.

"Because he's a scatterbrained meat head and can't be left alone for extended periods of time?"

Aang paused and saw Toph sitting on top of one of the workbenches, swinging her feet back and forth, and laughing at Sokka's expense. She smirked and poked him in the back with her foot. "Seriously, you need to clean up back there. One day you'll get lost and then Katara will have to send a search party."

Sokka frowned and shoved her shoulder lightly. "I have a system in there!"

Aang threw the gloves in Sokka's direction and stared at Toph curiously. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Toph shrugged and picked up a handsaw that was lying on the table, observing it distractedly. "Eh, nothing. Katara was busy, I was bored. Figured I'd come bother Snoozles for a bit." She picked up the handsaw and brought it up to her face to look at it closer. "You should sharpen this or something, how can you cut anything with this?"

Sokka snatched the saw back and glared at her. "I know it needs to be sharpened," he replied defensively. "I was going to do it...later...or something."

"Mmhm," Toph hummed. She turned to Aang. "Didn't expect you to be here still," she told him. "You kind of stormed off in a hurry."

Aang shrugged. "Yeah, well...Sokka needed his lunch and everything."

"Right," Toph answered slyly. She hopped off the table and looked around the workshop. "Hey Sokka. Remember when you said you'd show me those swords you're always selling? Where are they?"

Sokka frowned as he started setting up the legs to one of the tables. "Um...you wanted to see them…?"

Toph crossed her arms. "Yes! Sokka, yes, I wanted to see them."

He put down his hammer. "Um, yeah. Ok. Uh, they're hanging on the walls upstairs. I guess, you can go look at them."

"Perfect!" she announced. She walked over and landed her hand on Aang's shoulder. "Think you can show me where they are, Twinkle Toes?"

"Um — "

"Brilliant." She grabbed his upper arm and dragged him towards the stairs. "Let's go." Aang was sputtering and trying to come up with a response, but Toph was already pulling him up the stairs and he figured that there wasn't much he could attempt in the way of excuses.

Sokka looked up the stairs after them in bewilderment. "Okay, so uh, I guess I'll be down here...then," he called after them.

Aang stumbled up the stairs — Toph dragging him quicker than Aang's feet could walk — and didn't have the time to try and interject and ask for any clarification before Toph turned into Sokka's workshop, hurried Aang inside, and shut the door behind them. Aang was rubbing at his arm while Toph shed her coat and her cloak, throwing them across the one of the workshop tables without a care.

She was raking her fingers through her hair and sighed as she collapsed into a chair. "You know, usually when you're trying to avoid people, you should go somewhere that's not totally predictable. Trust me, I'd know."

Aang frowned. "Yeah, well, your best excuse to get me alone was 'I want to go see your swords'? Seriously?"

Toph snorted and propped her feet up on the table in front of her. "Touche, jerk."

Aang smirked and hopped up to sit in the table, pulling her feet onto his lap. "Sorry. But it was kind of a bad excuse."

"You're one to talk. 'Sokka needed his sandwich'? I mean, come on. I may not have known you for long but I know when something's wrong."

"He did need his sandwich. That part wasn't a lie."

Toph shook her head and nudged her foot into his abdomen. He turned to her and saw that she was staring at him pointedly. "I'm serious, you know. You acted pretty weird back there."

Aang winced and leaned his arms against Toph's ankles. "I really didn't want to talk about it," he muttered quietly. "It would have turned into this whole thing. It almost did."

Toph smirked in response. "Yeah, I get it. I've avoided my fair share of lectures too. But I had to check, you know?"

Aang grinned. "You were worried?"

"I wasn't worried," Toph clarified. "Just want to make sure you aren't going to run away and mope for days just because someone told you something uncomfortable."

"Don't worry," he assured her. "Not moping. Just...needed some space."

She shrugged and crossed her ankles. "If you say so..."

He started drumming his fingers against her calves, smiling briefly when he saw that she didn't seem to mind. "Stop it. I'm honestly...fine," he tried to emphasize. "Nothing's up."

Toph was wrinkling her nose like she didn't totally believe that, but she didn't press for information like Aang expected her to. But he saw her staring at him from the corner of his eye like she was waiting for him to just crack and admit what she wanted to hear. It wasn't something that he was necessarily used to. His friends either pestered him incessantly or left him alone. He wasn't sure why Toph was here and what she was expecting him to do. It wasn't like her staring was going to make him drop to his knees and confess, but her company wasn't necessarily unwanted. So he kept tapping little imaginary beats against the bone of her ankle, hoping she'd change the subject and let everything drop.

For a while it seemed as if they were going to sit in silence for the next hour before Toph reached over and grabbed Aang's wrist, halting his nervous jittering. He immediately stopped and turned to her, a weak apology ready, but that didn't look to be what was bothering her. Instead, Toph frowned as she twisted his wrist inward, exposing part of his forearm. Her eyes were carefully roving up and down his arm, and for a moment he was unsure of what she was doing. But then he realized that he had forgotten to roll his sleeves back down. Aang bit his tongue and felt like kicking himself.

Of course, Sokka wouldn't have said anything about the scar. He knew about it already. That's why Aang didn't mind showing it around him. But Toph was tracing a finger up and down the ragged scar and staring up at him with confusion. "That's a pretty nasty scar…" she muttered.

It was probably her version of a subject change, but Aang didn't find this topic any less troubling. "Yeah," he replied. "I got it a long time ago."

Aang shivered when Toph's thumb traced the deeper part of the scar near his wrist. "How'd you get it?"

"That's a long story…"

Toph shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I've got a pressing schedule or anything. I've got time."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Okay. It's a complicated story."

"I'm pretty clever," Toph assured. "I'm sure I can keep up."

Aang glared at her. "Why do you want to know so bad? It's just a scar…"

Toph was still staring. "Maybe it is. But, you looked like you were annoyed that I saw it. Like you go through the trouble of covering it up. It doesn't look self-inflicted, so you must have gotten hurt. I was just wondering what happened."

Aang pulled his arm back and pushed his sleeve down, making sure to pull the fabric past his wrist just for extra measure. He must have looked incredibly annoyed because Toph immediately sat back and pulled her feet down from her lap. "Alright, alright. I get it," she said quickly. "Too much information." She sighed and stood to her feet, reaching over the table to grab her coat. "I'll just...leave you be."

She was already putting an arm through one of the coat sleeves when he reached over and grabbed the edge of her coat. "No, come on. You don't have to leave," Aang explained. "I just…"

"Just what?" Toph repeated. "Look, if you don't want to talk, I get it. It's fine. I just wanted to check up on you. But you're not dead or dying, so I'll leave you alone. Don't worry about it."

Aang shook his head. "It's not that, it's just...odd to talk about," he admitted, his left hand unconsciously moving to wrap around his right forearm. "Most people I know already know what it is and I usually don't have to explain it."

Toph furrowed her brows and dropped her coat back on the table, staring at him like he was this delicate object that she needed to be extremely careful around. "I didn't mean to make you angst out on me," she said. "You got all serious all of a sudden."

Aang looked down at the floor and sighed deeply. It wasn't like he was holding some deep, dark secret that no one else was allowed to know about it. There was just a lot of...muck associated with it. Besides, more than anything, he didn't want to Toph to just up and leave. Deciding that the simplest answer was probably his best bet, he raked his fingers roughly through his hair and avoided eye contact with Toph when he said, "It's nothing serious, really. I, uh…" He cleared his throat. "I got it the first time I ever tried to steal something."

Toph's eyes widened and her eyes immediately darted to his arm worriedly. "Seriously?"

Aang shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, I was young and didn't really know what I was doing. I was trying to steal some fruit, but I didn't run far away enough before I started eating it. And, you know. Merchants don't take kindly to thieves…"

Toph leaned her hip into the table. "How old were you?"

"Mm, maybe six?" Aang guessed, honestly not remembering just how long ago it was. "I think he meant to cut my hand off or something. But I squirreled away in time." Aang brought his hand up and rolled the sleeve back down, deciding there was no harm in it anymore. "Got my arm pretty good, though. It never went away and it stretched as I got older."

Toph grabbed his arm his time, cradling it in her hands as she stared pointedly at the scar. It wasn't uncomfortable and upsetting so much as it was strange to have so much attention brought to it. Aang made it a point not to show it off if he could help it, and most of the time nobody bothered to bring so much attention to it to the point where he had to repeat the story. But Toph seemed enraptured — probably more evidence of the fact that she was masquerading in a world completely removed from what she was used to. "It healed so badly…"

"Well, Katara wasn't around back then," Aang explained. "So, I had to make do."

That made her wince, and she dropped his arm so that it hung back down at his side. Toph rolled her tongue against the inside of her cheek, probably debating what she was going to say and whether or not it was appropriate, but she closed her eyes and decided to come out with it. "And this scarring injury didn't deter you from stealing more in the future because…?"

Aang crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not like I had much of a choice," he admitted casually. "In case you haven't noticed, a guy like me doesn't have very many options."

Toph didn't seem to take too kindly to that response. "You know very well that's not true…"

Aang stared at her harshly. "And how would you know?"

"You said it yourself," Toph told him. "Weren't you the one who said you hate what you do? That you don't like stealing? I mean, shit, you got hurt the first time you tried it, and how you're still doing it over a decade later. Frankly, only an idiot keeps walking into a fire knowing that it's going to burn him every time." She stopped for a moment and shrugged lightly. "You know. No offense."

He raised a brow. "None taken…? Look, you don't get it, okay? The world isn't an open field of opportunity for me. How else am I supposed to survive?"

Toph smiled bitterly. "Have you thought of getting a job?"

Aang cursed under his breath and turned away from her. "I said I wasn't talking about this..."

"Too late, because we already are," Toph snapped. "You don't get to storm out of every place you walk into the minute you hear something you don't like."

"Did you seriously come all the way here to pester me about this?" Aang asked in weary disbelief.

"It's a job," Toph said slowly. "It makes no sense why you're freaking out about someone suggesting you get one. You're acting irrational, and everyone kind of wants to know why."

He turned to her and heard the words come out of his mouth before he could stop him. "I'm not an idiot, Toph!" he said shortly. "Don't you think getting a job was the first thing I thought of doing?"

Toph's glare lessened, but she was still staring at him as if she were justifiable frustrated with him. He knew that his outburst was more out of frustration on his end as well rather than any desire to tell the truth, but he supposed there wasn't anything to be done about it now. Apparently, everyone decided to band together and discuss this with him today, so he supposed it no longer made any sense to try and be evasive. Besides, Toph didn't look finished, and he wouldn't put it past her to keep badgering him unless he did.

"How the hell would I know?" Toph asked in annoyance. "You're a thief. I thought stealing was like your trade or your status quo or whatever. Getting a job doesn't exactly fit in with your whole deal."

Aang rubbed at the back of his neck. "I wasn't always one," he said. "And this isn't a matter of maintaining an image." He braced both of his hands behind his neck, not believing that he was actually attempting to explain himself to someone else, and also not even knowing where to begin. Toph was standing there with her arms crossed waiting for an answer, and Aang didn't really feel like looking her in the eye. "Look, I've...I've tried work," he admitted. "I have. Ask Katara and ask Sokka. When I was really young...I made an effort. But it didn't work out."

He held out his arms, suddenly very aware of the hole on the elbow of his shirt, the patched on his pants, the peeling leather on his boots. "I can't be any more presentable than I am now. I've literally got rags for clothes. I have no address, no family, no references, nothing. People see that and assume I'm a lowlife." Aang spit out the last word, sick to death of how many times he's heard it directed at him in his lifetime. "I'm uneducated, I'm a delinquent, I can't do a thing to support myself…" He dropped his arms carelessly. "I'm scum to them, Toph. No one wants to hire me to do anything."

His last words hung, punctuated in the air, and it seemed like everything Toph had prepared to say to him had just flown out of her brain and left her there staring at him in bewilderment. Not that he blamed her. Aang rather surprised himself with his words as well. But it wasn't as if they weren't true, and it had been so long since he had confided in someone else what he truly felt about all of this — someone fresh faced, new, that had the potential to tell him something new that he hadn't already heard. Whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing, Aang really didn't want to go through the trouble of finding out, but he supposed it was too late now.

Still, it wasn't as hard to come out with as he was making it seem. Though, Toph looked like she had accidentally opened up a box of troubles that she hadn't expected to deal with.

She swallowed and canted her head to the side. "Since when were you so self deprecating?"

Aang shoved his hands in his pockets. "It's not me being self deprecating, it's me being realistic," he replied bitterly. "I can't afford to be idealistic. Not the way I live. I have to be practical. No one seems to understand that."

"So...you steal?" Toph asked him in genuine confusion. Aang didn't bother to answer the question — what was he meant to say? — so he stood silent as she continued on. "Even though you hate it. Even though it's gotten you hurt in the past. Because it's the more practical option." She laughed humorlessly, shaking her head in disbelief and smiling as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm sorry, Twinkle Toes, but your logic jumped off a cliff somewhere in between." Her eyes darted to his arm again. "Did something else happen?"

Aang chewed on the inside of his cheek, but he merely shook his head and felt his shoulders hunch. Of course there was more to that story. Aang wasn't joking when he said it was a long and complicated one. But despite his sudden honesty, there was absolutely no way he was revealing any of that to Toph. Even Jet knew not to ask about details, and he certainly wasn't the type to leave things alone or to let Aang of all people fester in his past.

His jaw was set and he could feel it tensing. Thankfully, Toph read him well and stepped off again, muttering a faint apology before looking to her left at the old stained wood of the table.

Aang swallowed the lump in his throat and switched topics abruptly. "Weren't you the one that called this 'liberating'? You thought it was so great when I told you about it."

Toph's forehead wrinkled. "Twinkles, forget what I think. You hate doing it." she gestured towards him. "That should be reason enough for you to stop. I don't judge lifestyles, but you don't seem to like yours. So why not change it?"

"Because not all of us have that luxury," Aang replied reflexively.

Toph sighed and began walking closer to him. "Don't give me that," she said tiredly. "Don't you believe in giving and being paid back? You may not have anything physical, but I like to think that I know you. Even if just a little." She was standing right in front of him now, her arms hugged closer to her body and looking up at him in an attempt at sincerity. "You're intelligent. You're talented. You're hard working. I don't see why no one wouldn't be able to give you a chance. And hey, you can provide for yourself. A job!" she grinned widely. "Money. You can go and buy things without having to steal money from people. Isn't that the ideal situation for you?"

Aang tried to return her smile. Of course it was. But he didn't have the heart to explain to Toph that the idea of working for money was probably this wonderful new concept that was intriguing simply because it was so at odds with what she was used to normally. It was distant from her because of her standing — because she didn't need to do it. It was different for him for similar reasons, but not because he had the privilege of not having to worry about it. For the longest time, it seemed so far removed from him. Something that wasn't on his table, and not anything he needed to worry himself about. His life with Jet was rough, challenging, but simple. They survived. They had for many years. They'd continue doing so.

Still, he did quirk his lips up and stare down at her fondly. "For what it's worth, thanks for the vote of confidence," Aang answered honestly. "Don't know if it means much yet, but...thanks."

Toph sighed in exasperation and rolled her eyes with a returned smile. "I mean, I'm not above stroking egos when I must, but I don't make a habit of it."

He felt the need to add, "It's not as easy as you make it sound, you know. Other people don't help."

"I get it," Toph said solemnly. "I'm not going to kick you out into the street and make you start knocking on doors. But, you're not scum." She grabbed his arm and shook it lightly until he looked her in the eyes, glimmering and earnest. "You do know that, right?"

Aang shrugged. "I guess I do, now that you said it."

"I'm serious," Toph insisted. "Do what you want, but don't do it because you think there's something wrong with you. Because that's a shit reason."

He nodded. "And you hate people having shit reasons for things. Duly noted."

Toph smiled, looking pleased. "Nipping temper tantrums in the bud. It's what I do best…"

Aang laughed fondly and didn't bother to berate her. "I guess Katara's going to be expecting an apology."

She patted him on the back. "Good luck with that, because you're on your own."

The door to the room suddenly rattled lightly with the force of a series of meek knocks. Sokka cleared his throat and called through the door. "Er...are you two done doing...whatever it is you're doing?"

Toph called over her shoulder. "You're good."

Sokka opened the door carefully, peeked his head inside, and looked about the room. "You guys weren't doing anything in here that I should know about, right? Because that's not cool."

Aang blushed and Toph placed her hands on her hips. "No, you pig! I just needed to talk to him."

Sokka sighed out and fully entered the room. "Oh good. A man has to make sure. You never know…."

"Why am I not surprised that this is the first the you'd assume?" Aang asked.

Sokka lifted his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm a guy. I think about these things. But I assume the lack of yelling means that everything's cool?"

Toph grinned sarcastically. "Yes, you creep."

"Good!" Sokka cheered, ignoring the insult. He rushed past them and started rifling through his drawers. "Because I was in desperate need of nails for like fifteen minutes and I didn't know what to do." He turned to Aang. "If you're done, I need you to help me hammer. I tried doing it myself and it wasn't really going well…"

Aang walked over and started to rifle through the piles of completed tickets and old tins of tools, trying to help him find a spare box of nails and grateful for the distraction. "I'll hold everything steady for you."

"Perfect," Sokka sounded relieved. "But seriously. Has anyone seen any spare nails around here?"

Toph raised a brow at the display and went back to pick up her coat. "Well, as touching as this display of strange male bonding is, I only really came here to chat for a bit."

But Sokka head popped up from behind a cabinet and he pointed a paint brush in her direction. "Oh no you don't! You have to help too."

Toph scoffed. "I didn't come here to play carpenter with you two."

"You wandered in here during my working hours. That means I have full right to utilize you for free labor," Sokka announced.

Toph groaned loudly and dropped her coat back down on the table. "That didn't even make sense. Since when?"

"Since right now. Catch!" Sokka tossed a small tin of what sounded like nails that Toph immediately snatched up out of the air. She glared down at the small container and looked about ready to stamp her foot in disapproval. "You can hold the nails while I hammer."

Aang laughed when he saw Toph's face morph into one of horror. "And risk you bashing my fingers flat? No thank you!"

Sokka bounded over to Toph happily while Aang picked up three other cases of nails and headed for the stairs. Sokka was already wrapping an arm around a reluctant Toph's shoulder and was leading her happily back downstairs. "Ah, come on! It'll be a bonding experience. I finally get to see you more often and this is the first time you're not hanging out at the house with Katara. Think of all the fun!"

Aang leaned over conspiratorially, suddenly feeling very light and very relieved at the lighthearted change of topics. "You're gonna make her throw up."

"Nonsense," Sokka said with his chest puffed out proudly. "Dad always used to say that a man's work is the best way to bond. He couldn't have been wrong."

"I'm not a guy!" Toph piped up.

Sokka didn't seem to be very worried. "Whatever. I'm sure it still applies."

OOO

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the three of them assembling around a dozen tables that looked like they were going to be a part of a middle class family's living room. It was pleasantly mindless work that Aang actually found himself enjoying, and Toph looked like she eventually settled into a routine where she wasn't complaining every time Sokka slammed a hammer a little bit too close to her hand. If Toph had wanted to bring up anything his scar or looking for work, she didn't look to be putting much effort into the task, for which Aang was grateful for. Despite the fact that he was sure he wouldn't hear the end of this, Toph seemed to be letting go of things for now.

It only took them a few more hours before Sokka glassed down the last finishing touches on the furniture, locked up the workshop, and called it a day. By the time they had all returned to Katara's house, it was already dusk, and Sokka was stretching his way through a yawn as he clopped up the stairs and shoved his hands in his pockets for his keys.

But Katara had already flung the door open before Sokka could turn the jamb. She quickly brought her hands out and cupped Aang's face. "Oh, thank goodness. Are you okay? You're not still angry are you? I didn't mean to upset you earlier…"

Aang smiled weakly and wrapped his hands around her wrists. "I'm fine Katara. Everything's good. No harm done."

"Are you sure?"

He dropped her hands and put them at her sides. "Positive."

Katara nodded. "Okay, good. In that case…" She pulled the door open all the way and pointed at the kitchen. "Please get your friend out of my house."

Aang was about to ask for clarification when a boisterous laugh echoed through the house from the kitchen. "Wow! Rude!"

Katara turned and placed her hands on her hips as she ushered everyone inside. "Jet, shut up! You shouldn't even be here."

Sokka chortled. "Jet's here?"

Aang looked around the corner and could just barely see Jet, sitting at the kitchen table with his coat draped across the top. He was downing a cup of tea that Katara probably made for him more out of propriety than out of affection and waved at the three new visitors of the house. He threw a kiss in Katara's direction, but she rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and turned back to her brother.

"He was looking for Aang, but now he won't leave," Katara frowned.

"Flirting with you again?" Aang grinned as he headed for the kitchen.

Katara cupped her hands around her mouth so her voice was loud enough for Jet to hear. "That's an understatement!"

Jet was laughing as he tipped his chair back and propped his feet up on the edge of the table. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. I just came to see you. It's been a while, 'Tara."

Katara bustled into the kitchen and moved back towards the wood oven. She smacked his shoulder along the way and crouched down to light the fire. "You've been sitting there all afternoon and haven't helped with dinner."

Sokka sprawled himself across the couch, letting his head hang backwards over the edge so he could still stare back into the kitchen. "To be fair, you're a little bossy. I wouldn't want to follow your directions either."

Katara muttered something impolite under her breathe and started knocking two flints together to make a fire. "Fine. Don't help. It's not like I'm making dinner for you to eat or anything."

Jet shrugged. "Men like us can't cook to save our lives anyway."

"Ain't that the truth."

Aang merely shook his head and moved into the kitchen, taking the flint rocks from Katara and lighting the stove for her in one try. Katara stood up and ruffled Aang's hair. "Thanks Aang."

Toph pulled a chair out, turned it around, and straddled it so that she was facing Jet. "You know, it's startling that men like to point out how inept they are at doing basic everyday things, and call that being manly. If anything, it's just pathetic."

Jet's brows rose to his hairline and he let his feet drop and tipped his chair forward. "Ouch," he smirked. "That wasn't very nice…"

"I don't exist to stroke male egos," Toph smirked back. "Besides, don't fight Katara on this stuff. You're gonna lose."

Katara turned away from the counter where she was chopping ingredients. "Thank you!"

"I'm just being honest," Jet explained. "Katara would get things done a lot faster if she left me out of it. I wasn't meant to cook. My help shouldn't even be called for."

Toph nodded in fake sympathy. "Oh no, I'm sure plenty of women agree that they don't need your help and can certainly get things done a lot faster without your inexperienced fumbling."

Sokka suddenly burst into hysterical laughter from the living room, and Aang couldn't help but hold onto the counter while he covered his mouth and tried not to let his own laughing show too much. Katara whirled on the two of them in disapproval and shoved Toph's shoulder. "Language!" But Jet's head was thrown back in a barking laughter that left him wiping his eyes once he was done.

"Holy shit. I like you." He held a hand to his chest to calm his heart and cleared his throat. "As often as I've seen you, I don't think we've been formally introduced." He held out his hand. "Jet. Pleasure to make the acquaintance of a hilarious dame such as yourself."

Toph lifted her chin and smiled as she reached her hand out to shake Jet's. "Toph. And you're right. It is your pleasure."

Jet chuckled again and looked back towards Aang. "Dude, explain to me how you ran into such a cool chick? What's your secret?"

"No secret," Aang smirked, leaning against the counter. "If anything, she ran into me."

Toph shrugged. "What can I say? I've been told I'm amazing company."

The corners of Jet's mouth slowly started to curl into a devious smirk and he slammed his hand on the table. "Alright. That does it. I said this before, but I'm making it official." He pointed a finger straight at her. "You, me, Aang. We're going out tonight."

"Out?" Aang repeated in amusement. "And just what do you mean by that?"

Jet preened as he patted his pocket. "You forget about the haul that we had this morning. Remember what I said. A third of our cash, up front. That'll be plenty to have a good time."

Toph leaned in, suddenly looking incredibly fascinated. "A good time, huh?"

Jet leaned back into his chair and smirked. "I've got a few ideas. Worry not, I happen to know this city after dark like the back of my hand."

Aang leaned across the table and muttered in Toph's ear. "This is coming from the guy that spends nights in bars and picking up girls for cheap downtown."

"Hey!" Jet announced. "I happen to have a resume that's a big more impressive than that. Quit making me out to sound like some creep."

Aang shrugged. "You said it, not me."

"I'm serious," Jet said, staring at Aang meaningfully. "The two of us haven't gone out in a while. And you and Toph seem to be hanging out so much lately, I figured she could come along too."

Jet raised his eyebrows suggestively in Aang's direction, and he wished that he was close enough to kick his friend underneath the table. He knew exactly what this was. Jet was still convinced that he needed to give Aang his blessing before they went ahead and started dating or whatever it was that Jet seemed to think Aang and Toph were doing together. It certainly wasn't dating. Dating involved...other things, and Jet really never knew when to mind his own business.

But all Aang could do was mouth at Jet from behind Toph, warning him to behave, while Toph started grinning in excitement. "What are you thinking?"

Jet grinned. "What are you into?" he countered.

Aang intervened. "Okay, can I just say that we are not doing anything that's going to get us into trouble?"

"Of course not," Jet promised. "But far be it from me to not show your friend here a good time."

Toph didn't seem too opposed to the idea. "I'm in."

Sokka shouted from the living room. "Don't mind me! I'll just be sitting here, being excluded!"

Katara turned and frowned at him. "You have work in the morning, you're not going out with these three." She turned to the table and pointed her chopping knife at the three of them. "You're sitting down for dinner, all three of you, before you go. And I better not have to patch either of you up in the morning because you went and did something stupid. Is that clear?"

"Don't worry," Aang assured. "I have no intentions of doing anything stupid." He turned to Jet. "None of your dumb, last minute attempts at a thrilling night, alright?"

Jet made a cross over his chest. "Hey, I'm not trying to start anything. I'm just trying to join circles of friends. Honest."

Aang frowned in warning again. It was necessarily a bad idea. But Jet's idea of fun was debateable, and he wasn't too keen on Jet trying to make jokes and assumptions about Toph when there was nothing to make assumptions about. Still, Toph turned to him and shrugged carelessly, and he supposed it wouldn't be too bad so long as Jet behaved himself.

"Fine," Aang relented. "What exactly is your plan?"

Jet smirked and leaned in towards Aang and Toph, smiling wolfishly. "So glad you asked."