Chapter 2! This was also appart of last year's Tokka week, though I never submitted it. So You're the first ones to read it.

Atla belongs to Nick and Bryke.

Tease: To make fun of or attempt to provoke in a playful way.

The first time Toph broke a bone was when she was eighteen, it was her tibia, a leg bone. Meaning that she was limited to wheelchairs, beds and crutches for a whole seven weeks. Not exactly her cup of tea, and anyway, thanks to the caring heart of Iroh, she'd had about enough tea to last her a lifetime.

But hey, she was Toph Bei Fong, the Blind Bandit, the Runaway, and the world's first Metalbender. Excessive consumption of tea and a broken leg didn't faze her. Oh no, she could handle little things like that. The one thing that she couldn't handle in this situation was a certain twenty year old Water Tribe boy, who went by the name of Sokka.

You see it was with this particular boy that she made a bet, one that she lost and he was never going to let her forget it.

*Flashback*

"Mani said that his mate jumped it once, landed safely right on his feet," Sokka commented.

The pair of them stood at the edge of a dip in the landscape, where a natural three meter width scar ran through the earth. They'd heard about it from one of Sokka's friends, Mani, and decided to check it out one boring Saturday afternoon.

"Pshh. Easy." Toph scoffed.

"What, you think you can make that?" Sokka laughed.

Toph slammed her foot into the ground, re-measuring the distantce, she swallowed. "Like I said, easy."

"Alright, it's a bet!"

"What? I never agreed to bets!"

"Too late now Bandit. Five bucks says you don't make it." Sokka dispelled her argument.

"I love your confidence in me." Toph rolled her unseeing eyes. She slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling out a fiver and dropping it on the ground between them.

"And no Earthbending." Sokka stated as he dropped a matching five dollar note onto the ground.

*End FlashBack*

As you can deduce, that hadn't ended well. Toph had been unconscious as soon as her head hit the ground. Sokka had had to carry her to the hospital, leg swelling and turning purple. Although he did make time to go back and retrieve his ten dollars.

Then the teasing had started, it was funny at first, everyone had a laugh. But it soon grew annoying.

Last Thursday:

Toph sat on the couch reading, er, feeling one of her brail books, when Sokka suddenly burst into the apartment.

"Toph! They're holding an earthbending comp this afternoon in the square. Top prize is 250 bucks! You have to enter!" He caught his breath.

Toph bit back her frustration. "Sokka I ca-"

"-Oh that's right, you can't! Because you lost a bet. To me." Sokka said smugly.

"Well actually I can't because I have a brok-"

The door slammed shut before she could finish her sentence.

Last Saturday:

Sokka and Toph sat with sake in hand, not doing anything in particular beyond drinking. The silence was broken by Sokka's phone. He flipped it open, walking into another room to take the call. Toph drowned the rest of her drink.

When he walked back into the room, Toph asked who it was.

"Aang, he said that he's got vouchers from work for free rock climbing lessons. We should go, they expire next week."

Toph poured herself some more sake, not bothering to reply.

"Oh wait! You can't because you lost the bet!" Was the inevitable 'sarcastic realization' on Sokka's part.

On Monday:

Toph sat in her wheelchair as Sokka pushed her through the shopping mall. She hated shopping, even more so when she was in a wheelchair and couldn't escape, and even more than that when Sokka insisted on going into every store. Apparently needing to satisfy his completely manly need to look at clothes and bags.

They were nearly out of the center when Toph felt her chair halt suddenly and had to stop herself from falling out. "Sokka! Wha-"

"-It's the adult shop, Toph!" Sokka explained.

"Oh spirits…" She groaned.

"Damn! Check out those tights. They'd look good on your legs." He said, nudging Toph in the shoulder.

"I-wh. Th-They wouldn't fit. Cast remember?" She fumbled over her words, surprised by Sokka's forwardness.

"Oh yeah…How did that happen again?"

"Uh...I fell down a hole and broke my leg…"

"Plus you lost a bet to a certain someone." He said smugly, sneaking his hand into her pocket and removing her wallet.

"Oi!" Toph yelped. "Better give that back Snoozles or so help me I will crush you when we get outside!"

She heard him laugh and then felt his breath near her ear. "I think I'll risk it." He whispered. Toph was about to reply when Sokka spoke to the shop assistant first. "I'll take the tights, thanks."

On Wednesday:

Toph sat on the ground outside, her head against the wall. She was digging her fingers in and out of the dirt when Sokka walked up to her. As soon as he was a few feet away she twisted her hands, sending earth up his legs and holding him in place.

"Wha-" He began.

"If you say any of the words: 'bet', 'broken' or 'leg', you can kiss your ability to walk goodbye." Toph threatened.

"Noted." Sokka said, voice slightly higher than usual. "Er-hum." He cleared his throat. "I was actually coming here to say that I was sorry for gloating and that I should really be a little nicer to you. Seeing as I'm partly the reason for your, uh, injured…um, limb."

Toph felt his heartbeat and knew he was being truthful and so she let her grip go and the dirt fell into a mound around Sokka's feet. "Apology accepted."

Sokka let out a relieved sigh. "Phew. Well, now that that's over with I-"

"I wasn't finished." Toph stated, raising her hand. "I forgive you, but I'm warning you now that I'll get you back. You won't know when, you won't know where and you won't know how." She made sure to say the last part in a more menacing tone. It worked well.

"Aw, Toph! You know I hate not knowing when you're gonna get me. It's so, so…"

"Suspenseful? Frightening?" Toph offered.

"Yeah." Sokka said weakly.

Saturday (present):

Sokka finished his soda and threw the bottle across the room, just missing the trashcan.

"Spirits." He cursed, ignoring the laughs from his sister and Aang. Even Toph, who was sitting next to him on the couch, had a smirk on her face. "What?" He said to her, "Like you could throw any better."

The smirk disappeared and was replaced by a deadly frown. Sokka winced and made to apologize for the low jab. But before he could open his mouth Toph slipped her bare foot out from under her and rested it on the stone floor, weighing her bottle in her hand, she threw it in the general direction of the bin. Goal.

"Oh, come on!" Sokka whined.

"If only I'd made that a bet." Toph said with a smile. Sokka's heart quickened, any mention of the word bet and he thought back to Toph's threat to get him back. He rubbed the back of his neck and coughed.

"Aha, uh, yeah." Sokka moved a little further away from her.

But nothing happened for the rest of the evening and so Sokka thought he was safe. The four young adults chatted, caught up on the latest university news and just hung out. Soda was soon replaced by sake, not that Aang had any. Both Toph and Sokka were at the point of smiling non-stop and laughing spontaneously at every word, when Katara decided that she would head home, Aang offered to drive her. So then it was just the two troublemakers left, their cheeks flushed and words jumbled.

Sokka dimly noticed how Toph was now curled up beside him, her legs tucked under her as well as they could with the cast, and how his arm was around her shoulders. He wondered for a moment at what point she had moved closer, or was it he that had pulled her toward him? He frowned and found that he couldn't remember. Toph's laugh died down and she turned her head towards him, "What?"

Sokka guessed he'd been silent for too long and she'd picked up on it. "Nothing, it's just that you're…you know…right…there." He managed to get out, waving at her position, even though she couldn't see the gesture.

Toph laughed again. "You really are dumb, Snoozles. We're always this close."

"We are?"

Why hadn't he noticed before?

"Yep. Arms 'round shoulders, skin touching, cuddling on the couch and all that." She listed, counting on her fingers. Sokka watched the pale digits, his confusion growing. He searched his memories and tried to think of all these 'moments'. He thought back to yesterday, when his hand had slipped into hers at the lecture they shared. He remembered plucking her from her wheelchair, bridal style, and helping her into his car. Even though she could have 'hopped' in herself. Sokka's mind wandered further, picking up on things he had never thought of before. Like how he and Toph always sat together on the couch, or chose the same side of the table when they ate with friends so they could share food. And as they stole chips from each other's plates their knees would touch ever so slightly.

He was suddenly bought out of his mind by Toph's voice. "People are forever asking me if we're dating or something."

"Th-they are?" Sokka stumbled over his words, his intoxicated mind not working very well.

"Yeah," Toph nodded and paused a moment. Sokka watched silently as she sat up as well as she could, moving away from him to straighten her back. Immediately he missed the warmth at his side, though not for long as the young woman placed her slim fingers on his shoulder. He felt the pressure intently as she leaned up towards him, her breath on his ear. Sokka was too surprised to say anything as her other hand splayed itself on his chest.

"You know," she whispered, "I sometimes wonder how close we could get."

"I-wh-…h-how do you mean?" He tried not to focus on the feel of her skin as her other hand found it's way under his shirt.

"Oh, come on, Snoozles. You know how well I see with my bending. I feel your muscles when you move and your breath on my skin when you talk close to my ear." He watched as she licked her lips. "And just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't feel those stares and long gazes you give me."

Sokka swallowed and couldn't find the power of speech.

Toph gave a low laugh. "You know what I think we should do? I think that we…" She continued to whisper in his ear, and his cheeks grew a deeper shade of red. Her hand was cold against his chest as she asked, "What do you think?"

Sokka nodded slowly, then after remembering she couldn't see that, he spurted out, "Yes, th-that sounds good."

He saw Toph smile. "Mmm." She lifted her hand off his chest and placed a finger on his lips. "That's a shame," she said warmly into his ear before pulling away suddenly and standing up. "Because you know, I lost a bet." She said flatly, lifting up her cast leg for emphasis, before slowly making her way to her wheelchair. Sokka opened and closed his mouth for a moment, before he understood.

Toph wheeled over to him, "Now come on, I think you should be a gentleman and walk me back to my apartment." She stated, grinning.

Sokka groaned and made a promise to himself about what he'd do when she got that cast off.

Hope you liked it! Please R&R! :D