Archive of Our Own ^beta

"For the love of every spirit in this damned world, please just let me make it for you" 

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this on my own. I invented metalbending , how hard can poetry be?" 

Very hard, obviously. Sonnets, poems, love confessions, all of it was incredibly hard. And all Toph wanted to do was write some pretty words for a pretty girl, but she just couldn't seem to get the words out right. 

And it didn't help that Sokka kept complaining about every little thing under the sun. 'You spelled that wrong', 'You used the word sweet like eight times', 'I'm starting to think you have no idea who you're writing about anymore'.

"You suck at this though! And I don't really feel like reading how 'beautiful Katara's smile is' for the 80th time frankly"

"I don't have that much to work with!" The 16-year-old grumbled, picking up her pencil again and flipping over her sheet of paper, "I can do it this time, I'm gonna write the greatest love poem you've ever seen!" 

" Suuure ," Sokka leaned back into his chair, folding his arms, "Where'd you even get this idea from anyway?" The two teenagers sat in the Jasmine Dragon, at a small table in the corner of the Tea shop, near the backroom, "What happened to the 'I can't tell Katara because it'd ruin the friendship we worked so hard to make!' Thing you had going on for a while?" 

Last year, Toph and Katara had come up with the idea to read her how to read and write via the natural graphite mineral in pencils. They reasoned that if Toph could use her Earth sense from the vibrations in the Earth, then sensing the vibrations in the mineral should be simple enough. 

And surprisingly, it worked . It took a couple of months to learn all the symbols and spelling and wait not but by the time of present day, Toph is able to do that all on her own (unless it was ink instead, then she couldnt read or write with it).

Toph snorted, scribbling down sloppy words on the paper, "I don't think I'd call four years a while. Plus," She started, "I saw Sunshine making a poem for you and I figured 'hey, I could do that' and who better to help me than the king of poetry himself?" Toph gave a wide grin at the 19-year-old

"Well I am the best writer out of everyone on the whole team- wait, don't try and suck up to me, I still think this is stupid!" Sokka paused, he blinked, "Wait, Zuko's writing me a poem? Awww"

Toph nodded absent-mindedly, going back to concentrating on her writing, "Uh-huh. I read it, it sucks" 

Sokka sighed, resting his chin on his hands with a dopey smile on his face, " Yeah, I bet it does…"

"Alright, alright, focus here. How's this sound?" Toph sat up straight and read from the paper, her fingers lightly tracing over each word she has written, " Your eyes are brighter than the greenest clovers" 

"Katara's eyes are blue" 

"Mother fucker- Your eyes are brighter than the ocean you bend"

"You're so bad at this. Why don't you just tell her you like her? Katara isn't that hard to please," Sokka took a sip from his cup, "And if you're gonna write her something, don't keep it visual. Focus on… Uh, I dunno- her voice, or how she makes you feel" He waved the iron cup as he spoke 

Toph groaned, her face slamming against the wooden table as Iroh walked up to them, he refilled Sokka's cup as he spoke, "Are you two still writing that poem?" 

The Water Tribe boy cringed, "Yep, and it's going about as well as you'd expect" He gestured to Toph, whose face was still buried in the table.

The old man smiled wearily, "I'm sure it cannot be that bad," He spoke as he bent down and picked up one of the many crumbled pieces of paper from off the floor; one of Toph's other drafts. He read it aloud, " Your hands are pretty and I like holding them. Actually, I think all of you is pretty. Your jokes aren't that funny but I'd laugh if you'd want me to-..." He stops and looks over at the two, "Oh Toph, you talk about her hands, then her, then her jokes… There is no consistently"

Sokka waves his hands, "That's what I'm saying!" He runs his temples, "I'm getting a headache, you're giving me a headache, Toph. That's how bad your writing is"

"Ginger tea is best for headaches and has a wide range of other health benefits, I could get you some" 

Toph lifted her head with a wincing smile, "That's great. You got any tea that'll help me talk to a girl, Uncle?"

Sokka snapped his fingers, "That's it! Uncle!" He jerked his entire body towards the man, "You're a ladies man, you got any tips on how we can fix the garbage fire that's Toph's writing?" 

"I don't think I'd say my writings a garbage fire-"

"I would say perhaps don't write. If you truly want to confess your feelings for Katara, do it in a way you know best. Maybe create something from stone and dirt, your forté" 

The girl sighed, "If I could impress Katara with my bending, I woulda done it by now." While she spoke, Toph gently held her empty metal cup in her hands, bending it into a tiny frog. 

"Well why can't you?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow 

"Because I've already been impressing her with it for four years now! I mean, I don't think she's tired of it- because who could get tired of Earthbending- but I dunno if making a giant statue a her will have the same effect as some sappy love poem because if I know Katara, and I do , she'd probably really like a poem, you know? And not some crappy one like what I'm writing, like a good one. Because good poems won't. Kill. A. Mood!" Toph spoke all in one breath, by the time she was done, she was out of breath. 

The two men blinked. 

"Gifts should be in the receiver's best interest, but also in the range of the giver's limits" Iroh walked away and Toph was starting to believe that if he didn't say at least one proverb a day, he would die 

Even Iroh thinks she's hopeless in this sonnet! Come on, she isn't that bad! And even if she is, she will just get better! 

"You know, I don't think she'd mind if you gave her a shit poem. Aang once made her the ugliest necklace ever during the war and she loved that thing"

"Yeah but that was when she liked him. I dunno if she likes me! Plus, Aang's a goofball, you expect that from him. I'm no goofball," As Toph said that, she bent the metal into a hollow shell and placed it on her pointer finger, she laughed and showed the other, "Ha! Look, it's a hat for my finger-" She paused

… 

… 

Sokka just looked at her, "Yeah, you're definitely no goofball" 

"Be quiet and just help me!" 

He chuckled, "Okay okay, let's just start over. From the beginning, why don't we just write this about your feelings for her," Sokka grabbed a blank piece of paper and stole her pencil, "How do you feel about Katara?" 

"Well I like her" 

"I think everyone and their mother knows that , and I'm honestly surprised she doesn't ," He rolled his eyes which earned him a flick in between his eyes, " More than that. You're telling me, I wanna feel your feelings"

"Ha, that's gross" 

"STAY SERIOUS!" 

"Alright, jeez," Toph grinned, "Katara makes me feel, uh… She makes me feel," Toph paused. How did she make her feel? There were so many feelings that when actually asked to share them, they all seemed to vanish. And what does it really mean to feel? Toph feels tons of things, she has no choice but to feel things. Whenever Katara actually responds to her stupid banter and plays along with it, it makes her so happy but at the same time, she wants to jump off the nearest cliff. When she hears Katara's voice, she imagines swirls and when she touches her, she feels her nerves start to short circuit, "Um… Cold" 

"Cold. My sister makes you feel… cold."

"Yeah. Cause she's a Waterbender, you know how they're always cold? Especially her hands," Toph giggled, gaining some confidence back, "This one time, she was reading this stupid romance book out loud to me and I guess she really liked the story becuase when I said something about how corny it was, she grabbed me and started to touch my back and my arms and stuff with her hands, and they were freezing!" Toph laughed a little at the memory, she remembered how afterwords, she silently had several mini heart attacks after realizing what had happened

Sokka fought back an eye roll, "I dunno if she'd be okay with you calling her cold" 

She shook her head, "No, not like that! I like the cold! I like how it bites. It's snappy like Katara. She can be so mean and angry and aggressive!" 

"You're just listing a bunch of her negative qualities!" Sokka shouted, does she not know how love poems work? He rubbed his temples, aggravated, "Whatever, let's move on. We have cold , what else? And please just say something nice "

"Something nice? Well uh... She makes me feel like I could do anything, I mean I could do anything but she just applifiys it. Like we'll be in the middle of training and she'll look at me and be like 'Is that all you got?' and I'll realize that I was holding back and then go ham on her!" 

"That's…" Sokka looked surprised, "Better actually. Keep going!" He encouraged as he wrote down a few things 

"Oh okay, her sense of humor is complete and utter trash so basically anything I say is hilarious to her. And I love her laugh, it's the funniest thing ever. It's kinda like a hiccup, like two breaths in and she only exhales for half a second, then she sucks that air back in and it makes me laugh so hard and then we're both just laughing until our throats hurt" Toph was smiling like a maniac

"I'm gonna be honest with you because you're one of my best friends, and as my best friend, I wanna say that's adorable. But as Katara's brother, I have to say that's disgusting how much you care about her laugh" 

Toph slumps into her chair and buries her face in her hands, "I knoooooow, everything from today stays with us" 

"Do you really think I'd tell anyone? I'd never do that! And the mere idea that you think I would goes to show-" 

"I know you're lying"

"Fuck me," Sokka knocked himself on the head, "Okay, let's forget that for a second. Anything else about her?"

"Well, I can trust her, unlike some people," Toph tried her best to glare in his general direction, "I haven't even tried to sense if she was ever lying at all for like a year now" 

"Wait… You haven't used that on her for how long? " 

Toph looked prideful, folding her arms, "A year! I don't do it for Zuko either, unless I'm asking him about how much sleep he's gotten-"

Sokka cut her off, reaching an arm over the table and flicking her nose. 

" OW! What was that for?!" 

"IDIOT! Why don't you just ask if she likes anyone and see if she's lying!"

"Well cause that wouldn't-..." Toph paused 

… 

She slammed her face directly onto the table with a loud THUD! Causing a couple other patrons to stare at them questionably.

"Why am I so fucking stuuuuppiidddd…" 

"Yeah, you are stupid," Sokka rest his head against one hand and blew air from his nose, "And you looked proud for a second, stuuupid " 

"Shhhuuut uppppppp" 

Sokka wrote down something, speaking it out loud as he did, " Trust… A lot of trust" 

"You're the worst, you know that right?" 

"I know, but you love me," He then held the sheet of paper up and in front of him, "Okay. So we have that she's cold, pushes you to do better, you like her laugh, and you trust her a lot. I think we could make a poem outta this, sprinkling in a little confession here and there!"

Toph lifted her head, "Is this gonna take long? Because I don't feel like spending nine hours with you verballing attacking me the whole time" 

Sokka shrugged, not entirely listening to himself, "We could get Aang. He'd balance out our horribly toxic nerd-jock relationship..." 

"And he probably knows Katara better than anyone..." 

"..."

"..."

"Oh! Oh! Now say that 'even though you're cold to the touch, you never fail to warm my heart! ' Katara'd love that! " Aang laughed, leaning nearly all his weight onto Sokka, peering over his shoulder 

"I'd never say that, write that 'I really like when we fight and make mud!' " Toph was leaning against Sokka's other shoulder 

"You're still horrible at this, we're going with what Aang said" 

So they got Aang. After finishing their tea, the two had headed back to the Fire Nation Palace where they had practically dragged the Airbender from out in the courtyard to inside where they sat down and asked his help, to which he had happily agreed. 

Now Sokka is sitting at a desk with the two goofballs pushing him and shouting suggestions in his ears. 

"Maybe you don't know good writing" 

"Maybe you should develop a new Earthbending technique that helps you hear the words coming out of your mouth-" 

"Okay! We got another line down, let's keep going!" Aang walked around Sokka and hopped on the desk, sitting right next to Sokka's paper, "I really like this line here, 'I admire your strengths but I love you for your flaws' , I think we should dedicate a whole stanza to that!"

Sokka began beaming, "Hey, that's not a bad idea. We can talk about her weaknesses and how they could be her strengths too!" 

"What? Like how she complains a lot but it just shows how much she cares?" Toph asked

Aang nodded furiously, "Yeah! It'll show how you notice the little things! She'll really appreciate that!" He flapped his hands excitedly, "This is fun! If Katara didn't like you before -which I doubt- After she reads this poem, she definitely will!" 

A fiery red flushed across Toph's face, spreading over her nose and reaching her ears, she turned her head away. She didn't know what was worse; Katara not liking her, or Katara liking her. At least she was prepared for the possibility of her not returning her feelings, she thought about it a lot, but she does not know what would happen if she actually likes her. 

She wanted to say something confident, like there was no way Katara couldn't like her! She's Toph! At least give those two a show but she couldn't even do that. Unable to get the words to leave her throat. She stayed quiet and embarrassed. 

"Let's think of more weaknesses! Oh man, I've known Katara my whole life, I've got plenty" Sokka sat back, cracking his knuckles, fully prepared to bash his sister through poetry 

Aang put a hand on his shoulder, "Well, we don't wanna destroy her. We gotta leave Katara some dignity"

"Yeah, can't have her hating me after this," Toph punched Sokka's back, "Say that she can be a little violent but she's only like that when she's protecting the people she cares about" 

Sokka goes back to writing, "Good one, let's get one more and we'll move onto the next thing" 

An hour and a half and three and a half stanzas later, and the three had finally finished their official first draft of the poem. 

Aang held up the paper in front of himself, admiring the fancy words and Sokka's beautiful handwriting, "I think we did good! This is an amazing first draft!"

Toph takes the paper, running her fingers over the words to read it over, her face getting redder and redder with every passing second, "Yeah it's good. I can't believe I'm actually giving Katara a love poem, what have I become" 

Then it was Sokka's turn to take the sheet, glancing over it with squinted eyes while rubbing his chin, " Hrmmm… "

" Hrmm? What do you mean hrmm? Is it not good?" Toph bombarded the older boy with a thousand questions 

"Yeah Sokka, what's wrong?" 

"I dunno," He muttered, "It's missing something. It's missing that spice- the drama of a real love poem" 

The two 16-year-olds blinked, completely confused, " Spice…?" Toph repeated

" Drama?" Aang tilted his head, then began smiling, "Man Sokka, you know so much about love poems!" 

"I do, don't I?" Sokka laughed, "But we're gonna need a pro in the flare we're looking for," He looked down at the desk in thought, "But who?" 

"I dunno anything about drama and stuff but Zuko loves theatre, if anyone knows anything about that then it's probably him" Aang suggested 

Sokka snapped his fingers, "Hey, great idea! That nerd goes to see plays every month! Someone go get Zuko!" 

"Go get Zuko for what?" Well speak of the Fire Lord. The 20-year-old walked through the door and stood by the door frame 

Sokka's chair did a complete 180°, jumping right out of it and into Zuko's arms in two seconds flat, "Zuko!" 

Zuko hugged him back as if the two hadn't just seen each other this morning. 

"You guys saw each other like, five hours ago" Toph cringed 

Aang came up to Zuko, "Zuko! We need your help! Toph's writing a love poem for Katara but it's not spicy!" 

Sokka pulled back from the hug, both him and Aang were standing in front of the Firebender, "We need your extensive knowledge of theater to make it sound better so it could be the perfect poem ever!" 

Sokka and Aang both clasped their hands together and with big, puppy dog eyes, pleaded in unison, " Pllllleeeaaaassse!" 

Zuko cocked his head to the side, "I uh-... Wait ," He turned and looked over to Toph, who was still standing by the desk, "Toph, you're writing a love poem to Katara?" 

The Earthbender shrugged, "Yeah but it isn't a big deal, I dunno if I'll even go through with it, I mean, it's not like I'm writing it. Those two are doing most of it and I don't even know when-" 

Toph's rambling was cut off with Zuko suddenly right in front of her, clasping her shoulders for dear life, "Toph, you're writing a love poem to Katara and didn't tell me?" 

"It's not a big deal! It doesn't matter and-" She paused, "Are you … crying, Sunshine?" 

Zuko sniffled, " No," 

He wrapped his arms around the short girl tightly, lifting her up into the air, "I'm just so happy! I've been waiting for this day for so long . But I thought Katara was gonna make the first move," He let her go and was now brimming with happiness, "What do you guys need help with?" 

"Alright!" Aang leaped back over to the desk, grabbing the paper and giving it to Zuko, who sat down at the desk chair, eyes already darting all over the paper

"We need you to do what you do best: add some pizzazz" Sokka said as he sat on Zuko's left leg 

"Yeah, pizzazz it up!" The Avatar sat on Zuko's right leg 

"You think adding drama to things is my best quality, not leading an entire nation into an era of peace maybe?"

Toph plopped down on the floor, "What can we say, you're really good at keeping that drama and comfama" 

Zuko sighed and continued reading. 

After a couple minutes, Zuko finally speaks up, having kept silent to retain his focus solely on the poem in his hands.

"It's good" 

Their heads all simultaneously perk up, Toph speaks, " But ..?" 

"But you're right, it runs on" 

"Okay, great!" Sokka says, placing his hands in his lap, "So how do we fix it?" 

"I think word choice and pacing is gonna help you guys the most. You really used 'love' a lot, try different words. Like adore, or worship ," Zuko then took the pencil from off the desk and began editing, circling, crossing out, and underlining words and sentences, "And this second stanza is really long, like longer than the rest. Maybe we could break it up or cut some out" 

Toph stood next to the rest, "Oh, get rid a that line in the second stanza, the 'Your words pull me into an enchanted spell and I do not wish for freedom'. Doesn't sound like me at all" 

"No! That line's great! Plus, it isn't supposed to sound like you, it's poetry. No one sounds like this" Sokka explained 

"Uncle kinda does" Aang said 

"Uncle's on a whole other level when it comes to talking, he doesn't count!"

Zuko continued editing, "Why didn't you guys go to Uncle for help?" 

Sokka smiles cheekily, giggling, "He took one read at one of Toph's poor excuses of drafts and told her she should stick to Earthbending" 

"HE DIDN'T SAY THAT!" 

"I wouldn't be surprised, he takes art as seriously as he takes tea!" Zuko said, then asked, "How do you spell contradicting?" 

"Oh, it's C-O-N… " 

The four were doing good, making genuine progress on this whole poem thing. It's a little concerning and a major blow on Toph's ego about how many people need to help her make a simple poem but she'll live. Her main problem wasn't making the poem, but actually letting Katara see it. 

It's embarrassing and it doesn't help that Zuko keeps adding such flowery language that makes her want to crawl into a hole and die (after this whole thing is over, she is gonna need to be alone for a good week just so she could recover mentally and actually be able to look any of them in the eye again). 

And the worse part? She knows Katara will love it. She knows that Katara will eat up the 'you're art, my very redemption' bullshit. Even if she ends up not liking her like that, she knows that she would still love the poem regardless. And she'll probably talk about it endlessly and read it out loud just to bother Toph and it would make her wanna tear it to shreds but wouldn't ever do that because it makes Katara so happy (And she would have most likely memorized it by then). 

And although they had indeed made wonderful progress, it eventually came to a sudden halt. 

"Wait wait wait, go back. What does this line even mean?" Zuko was very nitpicky, his intentions were good (he only wanted the best poem possible for his sister), but it was annoying, "And we used gorgeous too many times"

" In place of chasing, I'd much rather walk side by side. In an ideal world we are linked' means that Toph doesn't wanna be friends and she wants to date her! Duh!" 

"Katara isn't gonna get that, her brain is gonna jump right to friendship I'll tell you now" 

"She isn't stupid, Sunshine," Toph waved him off, "I like that line, and we only used gorgeous twice!" She ruffled Zuko's neat hair, "You're being too picky about this!" 

"I just wanna make sure both ends of this thing are gonna be happy with the finished product" 

"But you keep going back and changing things that we already agreed was good, we'll never finish it if you keep doing that!" Sokka argued 

"I know, I know. You're right," He paused, glancing at the paper, "But maybe if we just changed this one thing I think we could-" 

"ZUKO!" Sokka and Toph shouted simultaneously 

Aang stood up, taking control of the situation, "Okay, I think we've all been sitting in here for way too long," He says, resting his hands in his hips in a very ' I'm the Avatar, I know what I'm talking about' kinda way, "We need a change of scenery!" 

Sokka stands up from off of Zuko's lap, pushing his hands against his back, a loud popping sound emitting from him, "Yeah, you're right! We should go to the docks! Some fresh air could be nice! And it's by the ocean, maybe we'll even get some inspiration!" 

"Great idea, Sokka. That sounds nice" Zuko agreed

Aang was the first out the door, practically flying out, "Great! I'll go get Suki!" 

"Woah woah woah," Toph stopped him, catching him by the cloth of his robes, she tugged him back inside, "Suki? Who said Suki's coming?" 

"Suki could help us! She's smart!" 

Sokka leisurely strolled out the room, Zuko in hand, "Yeah, she might just be the feminine touch we need to this poem" 

" I'm enough of a feminine touch , I'm so much of a feminine touch that I'm like a feminine punch to this fucking poem!" 

"See? This is exactly why we need Suki. That energy right there" Sokka said

"Fucking shit, fine. Get Suki, tell her if she's not outside in three minutes she isn't allowed to read it" 

So that's how Suki ended up becoming a part of the official 'Toph sucks ass at writing so she needs our help' club. 

" An eternity with you is what I'd wish and then some' Holy shit, this is so gross" Suki howled with laughter as they walked through the Fire Nation Capital, "But this is the exact kinda gross thing that Katara would love" 

It was mid afternoon and Toph felt the ground underneath her feet start to become cooler. The sun was beginning to set. 

Toph whined, pulling at her bottom eyelids, "I knoooow, and that's what makes this whole thing even grosser" 

"But it's good right?" Sokka asked, his arm locked with Suki's arm that was holding the paper

"I mean, I'm not a literary pro like you or Uncle or something but if a girl gave me something like this, I think I'd be pretty down to clown" 

"Don't ever say down to clown again please" Zuko begged 

"Well if Suki likes it, it has to be good!" Aang punched the air, "Woo-hoo!" 

"Well, I just don't get this part right here. 'In place of chasing, I'd much rather walk side by side.'" 

Nearly automatically, Zuko glared right at Sokka and Toph. Sokka folded his arms, holding his nose up, "It means she likes her okay?! I don't get what's so hard about it! I like the line so we're keeping it!" Toph agreed

Suki began walking at a faster pace, going ahead of the group, holding the paper close to her face, " Words cannot put how I feel about you to justice," She was… Reading the poem. Out loud, Toph jumped as Suki continued, " When I think of you, I hear blood singing, ears buzzing, Earth rumbling, and-"

Toph ran up to the teenager, snatching the paper right from her hands, " HEY ! You can just go reading this out loud like that!" 

"It's cute, let the whole world hear that you LOVE KATA- " Toph covered her mouth, her face completely red. Toph knew she was just fucking with her, and she knew she shouldn't give her a reaction because that is just what Suki wants but you can't just scream stuff like that!

" SSSHHHhhhut up!" Her voice cracked in a humiliating way, folding up the paper, "We are not doing this right now," Toph stomped ahead of the group, "We're gonna go to the docks to finish this fucking poem so I could crawl in a hole and die " 

Sokka cheered, "I love the energy! Who wants to race there?"

"I'm in as long as Aang doesn't cheat" 

"Airbending doesn't count as cheating!"

"If you're racing against a couple of Nonbenders and a Firebender, then yeah it does"

Half an hour and about a dozen or so opportunities to get side tracked later and the group were nearly at the ship line. 

"And then this man -who I don't know- starts screaming, 'I know you! You're the Avatar! Him and his friends are always following me and destroying my cabbages!'" Aang was prattling on about a story that was far too long to actually keep track of, "And I was so confused but this guy looks so angry. Like I've actually been destroying his cabbages for years without even meaning to or something!" 

"And it was just the craziest thing ever and- HEY LOOK THE DOCKS!" The Avatar had effectively managed to cut himself off, jumping up into the air and pointing ahead, they were finally here. 

The docks did not reach as far as Toph could sense, abruptly stopping where the stone ground met (what she assumed to be) wood. She could not use her Earth sense on wood, once she walked straight off the dock and right into the water, thinking that there were a few more feet worth of planks. But thankfully, today they were staying on the ground. She could feel that today was slow, with not many people littering around the area. 

"Not a lot of people here, and there's about," Sokka stopped telling her what she couldn't see for a moment to, what she heard to be, counting something, "Eight, nine… Like 14 ships in the water. But yeah, it's pretty empty today, well, there's someone sitting on the docks. I think it's a girl, wait…" 

They continued walking forward as Sokka spoke, 

"Oh shit- It's Katara!" 

" WHAT?"

And Sokka laughed, he fucking laughed, " HA HA! OH MAN! WHAT A SMALL WORLD, HUH TOPH?" 

"Wow, that is a funny coincidence" Zuko said 

No. Fuck no. Fuck this shit, no fucking way is she gonna stay here and allow for whatever tomfuckery these assholes are probably already scheming for. 

Toph turned on her heel and began silently walking away and she would have left if it wasn't for Suki placing a hand on her back, redirecting her back to the rest, "It isn't so bad, this could be a good thing! We could get some hints on what else to put in the poem" 

"Yeah! Maybe it's the universe's way of telling you to give it to her now!" Aang suggested 

Sokka continued crying with laughter.

"Yeah, no. I'm good, and not to exaggerate or blow anything out of proportion but I think I'd rather grind up my own teeth and snort it before I deal with-" 

"Oh hey guys! What're you doing here?" 

Mother fucker. Toph should have used her time to get the fuck away from this place. But she didn't, now Katara had noticed them and was walking right towards them.

Sokka met her half way, still gasping for air. He held her shoulders, going limp in her arms, cheeks hurting from smiling way too much over Toph's terrible misfortune, "Katara! Oh man, Katara- you're not gonna believe, I mean- Listen to this!-" He bursted out into another howl

Katara stayed still, still holding her delirious brother. Confused, she looked up at the rest for answers. 

Zuko takes this as his cue to start talking, beaming with happiness as he took the folded up poem right out of Toph's distracted hands, more than ready to just hand it over to the Waterbender right now, "You're not gonna believe this but we're helping Toph write you a!-" 

"A REVIEW! They're helping me write a review!" Toph leaped right in front of Katara, swiping the paper out from Zuko's hands and back into her own. She grinned, anxiously fiddling with the paper, "Uh, it's about that book we read together a while back, 'Kurb and the Ice Kingdom'!" 

Katara blinked, "Sounds neat!"

"Nice save" Suki remarked, Toph kicked her leg

"Why didn't you tell me you were gonna write a review for it? I love that book! I have so much to say about it, I could help you too! Oh, like that scene when Kurb and her knight get thrown in jail! And they have that heart to heart moment! That scene was amazing!" While speaking, Katara held Toph's free hand, shaking it excitedly. 

Aang whispered, "Have you ever read that book before?" Zuko shook his head 

"What did you say, Aang?" 

"Oh uh!" Aang stuttered, "I asked what are you doing here?" 

"Oh, I'm just watching the ocean. The water looks so nice when the sun sets," Katara grinned sheepishly, then tried to grab the paper from Toph, "Anyway, lemme see what you have so far-" 

Toph wrenched her hand away, face engulfed in flames, "No! No you can't look at it!... Yet! It's a… It's a surprise!"

Sokka facepalmed, as Katara rolled her eyes, taking a step closer to the short Earthbender, "A surprise? Come on Tophey, I already know what you think of the book. You said the ending was terrible" 

"I never said that!" Toph took a step back, "It's just that Kurb's knight obviously liked her but they still made Kurb with that other guy!" 

"His name is Aoron! And I don't like it any more than you do, but it doesn't mean it wasn't a good book!" Katara tried to swipe the paper away again, Toph pulled it away before she could grab it 

"No one said the book was bad, I just think that she and her knight should've gotten together instead" 

"Well you told me what you thought. Can I read it now?" She said, "I can't believe you let them help you before you asked me!" Katara stood back up straight, "Wait… Why didn't you come to me first...? Have you guys even read the book?" She looked at the others 

"Uh…" Suki said, " I didn't. I was there for moral support. But Aang loved the book, didn't you say that Aang?" 

Aang shook his head, pushing Zuko in front of him, as if hiding behind him, "Uh-uh, I think you're thinking of Zuko, Suki!"

Zuko opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again, "I can't read" 

"Uh well, we all did more of a light skim through!" Sokka hastily explained to his sister, "But we got the gist of it!" 

Toph cursed under her breath, fuck they were all so stupid at the worse possible times, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, they got the gist of it… But we're still in the middle of writing it" 

"You should've asked me, I wouldn't have minded..." Katara's gaze was bashfully fixed on the stone ground, she gently grabbed Toph's free hand once more, giving it a hard squeeze 

Toph swallowed hard, she wasn't sure what to focus on; Katara's drumming, increased pulse rate through her hand, or her own running heartbeat. 

"I…" Toph played with the edge of the paper, "Actually, can you help me write this? I think I might need someone who actually knows the book" 

Katara's face lit up, "Really?" She nodded, "Of course! I'd love to, I'll just have to read it and then we could… We could…" She paused and Toph felt her pulse speed up ever so slightly, Katara was looking behind her, "Um…" 

"What?" 

Toph felt the others' presence. They were standing directly behind her, practically breathing down her neck. She heard them whispering to her. 

"Are you really gonna show her it, Toph?" 

"I can't wait to see how this plays out" 

"I bet they'll kiss" 

Toph grinned crookedly at the Waterbender, giggling nervously, "Gimme a second," She then turned on her heel, facing the group, "Get outta here" 

Sokka whined, "Aw whaaaat?" 

"You mean we're not gonna be here when you… You know?" Aang pouted 

"Why would I let you- No, just beat it" 

"No wait, I can help set the mood. I've been practicing whistling" Zuko pursed his lips and whistled a slow song 

Suki laughed, mimicking him but all that came out was spit, "I wanna be here when you guys smooch-" 

Toph blushed and stomped on the ground, Earthbending a slab of stone now sticking out of the ground, "I SAID BEAT IT!" The stone shoved the four backwards, several hundred meters away from the two girls 

She sighed and turned back to Katara, " There . Okay, can we get this over with?"  

The taller girl chuckled, leading Toph to the docks with the hand she was still holding, "Why write a review if you're just gonna suffer through the whole thing?"

"You'll find out soon enough" 

 They sat on the edge of the wooden docks, so close that their legs touched. Toph tapped the wood continually, struggling to keep her composure. 

Why hadn't she tried to see if Katara liked her? Why hadn't she ever checked if she lied? Why did she make a stupid poem, why did she think it was smart to copy Zuko of all people? What if she just threw the sheet of paper into the water, Katara wouldn't be able to read it- nevermind, of course she would. She's the greatest Waterbender she's ever met, she could just bend the water out. 

Dammit, this was stupid. 

"I um… I gotta be honest with you, Katara" She turned her entire body left, facing Katara, slowly unfolding the crumbled paper 

" Katara? No nickname, this must be serious" She could tell she was only half joking 

"Heh, yeah. I guess it is," Toph could practically hear her own heart pounding in her chest, "This isn't a review for 'Kurb and the Ice Kingdom' though writing one with you sounds pretty fun. This is a… It's a poem" 

Toph heard her scoot even closer, she has no idea what she's thinking of or even how she's feeling right now, having no way to sense the other because of the wood, "A poem? About what?" 

"Well, it's about you- and it's for you but I already said that already and uh, it's- I mean, I just wanted to give it to you, you know, alone. It's got a lot of fancy language in there that I know you love and it's kinda a first draft so don't expect anything perfect but uh…" Toph took a deep breath, shoving the paper clumsily into Katara's hands, "I'm talking too much, just read it" 

She heard her finish unfolding the paper, "Can I read it out loud?" 

Oh Spirits please don't. Toph nodded. 

"Words cannot put how I feel about you to justice 

When I think of you,

I hear blood singing

Ears buzzing 

Earth rumbling

And flowers blooming 

I feel insane, I'm spiraling out of control 

Grasping for strings 

Trying to pull myself out from the ocean that is you

At night, I lie awake 

Pondering if you feel the same," 

Sokka had to fight to get those last two lines in, Toph didn't want to come off as creepy (even though it was a fact). She just hopes Katara doesn't take it too literally.

"You're freezing

Although you are cold to the touch 

You never fail to warm my heart 

You speak so kind that even a Spirit feels undeserving of you 

You're laugh is so incredibly 

Contagious 

Confusing 

Captivating

I feel myself hanging off your every word 

Pulling me into an enchanting spell and I do not wish for freedom

Like a lonely disciple, I worship you,"

Dammit, she hates that stanza. She's basically confessing her feelings right there in the open. And Toph was sure she could have added more compliments but couldn't think of anymore. 

"You have many strengths but I admire you for your flaws 

You talk larger than the Earth I bend 

But it's obvious to all it is because you care far too much 

You are powerful, dangerous, violent. You are nothing but strength and unafraid to let that be known 

You protect so fiercely, it is terrifying 

I constantly crave danger and you give it so easily,"

Honestly, this was the worst thing she has ever heard. Why did she think it was a good idea to give it to her now? It was her first draft, she should have waited longer. 

"In place of chasing, I'd much rather walk side by side 

In an ideal world, we are linked

I am patient but I've waited long enough 

Perhaps too long 

Maybe I'm brave for writing this 

Or maybe I'm a fool"

Nope, definitely a fool. A complete and utter dumbass for even thinking this was good enough. And now she can't even feel Katara's heartbeat. She can't see her face. She can't do anything because of this motherfucking wood and- 

"I love it" 

"What?"

"This poem," She placed her hand on top of hers, "I like it, a lot "

Truth.

She could feel her racing pulse, how her blood was going crazy.  

"You do?" The Earthbender feels her move closer, feeling her warm breath on her face and practically sitting on her lap, their hands still interlocked. Toph shivered. 

Katara nodded, "Yeah. And you're right, I do like flowery language. Guilty pleasure," She shrugged before lowering her voice to a whisper, "I've never had anyone write me a poem before... You really think I'm powerful , and fierce and captivating and every other pretty word you used to describe me?" 

All Toph could do was nod, the taller teen continued, "I dunno what to say honestly. I just-... I really like it. This means a lot to me, you mean a lot to me, Toph" 

Toph suddenly felt a pair of soft lips graze her cheek, her eyes widened and she nearly fell straight into the water. 

And as fast as the lips touched her, they were gone.

She touched the spot where they brushed for a moment, "What was that for?" 

"Just think of it as a thank you... Because I can't write you a poem on the spot right now"

Toph would be lying if she said she was calm. Her mind was buzzing with emotions and questions and to be honest, it was getting hard to think. Katara just kissed her cheek . What the fuck. If she knew she would have done that, Toph would have written a thousand poems, each one being cornier than the last. But she also wanted to ask her things. She wanted to ask Katara how she felt, not just about the poem- but about her. How did she feel about her? This was supposed to clear things up but it just made her more confused. 

Did Katara like her? Was this just girl things? Aang kisses everyone on the cheek, maybe she picked up the habit? Maybe Katara just saw her as a best friend. Because best friends kiss each other on the cheek, and hold hands, and have nicknames for each other, and sleep in the same bed sometimes, and lay awake thinking about how the other's hands felt as they cupped your face because they were just so happy you didn't die after a particularly dangerous adventure. 

She had so many comments, so many questions but nothing of the sort escaped her throat. Toph couldn't, she can't. Not here, it wasn't the right moment- the perfect moment. Things needed to be more clear, more concise. She still had time anyway. Plenty of time to feel brave enough to grab Katara's hand, and keep holding it. 

"You could try, I still have a pencil in my pocket" Katara laughed as Toph fished in her pants pocket for her writing utensil, handing it over to the other

"Oh yeah? And what could I even write? I know nothing about poems!" Although Katara said she didn't know what to write, she made no problem flipping the paper over to the blank side and take the pencil from Toph 

Toph sat on her knees, "Well for starters, I'm hilarious, I want a couple stanzas on why I'm funnier than Sokka. And how I'm smart too. Oh! And then talk about how I can literally move mountains!"

"Alright, alright! Slow down, I can't write that fast!" Katara hollered as she scribbled down a couple of things 

"Well start, my greatness can't depend on your puny hands!" 

" Puny ? You just wrote a poem in my glory and you're calling me puny?" 

They continued laughing and writing on the dock, Katara sloppily pieced together a poorly written poem, stealing lines from Toph's while Toph barked suggestions and shouts of encouragement. The setting sun was now only nearly peaking over the horizon, prepared to say farewell for the night. How long had they stayed sitting there for? What had passing pedestrians thought of the two? Did they see good friends? Lovers? Two crazy people who were screaming and laughing at each other alone? 

"What rhymes with 'natural disaster?'" 

"What kinda fucking poem are you writing, Princess"

"I don't even know anymore, I lost track a while ago," Katara gleefully admitted, lying on her stomach as she wrote down a couple more words, "I just finished writing a stanza about fish for some reason" 

Toph pushed her bangs back, "Spirits, good thing I didn't ask you for help on my poem. We'd get jackshit done" 

"To be fair, neither of us know how to write a poem" 

Toph flopped down, resting her head on Katara's back, her hands behind her head, "That's true"

She shut her eyes and for a while, and just listened to the sound of pencil scratching on paper. 

If Katara was speaking or not, Toph didn't hear it. She was too caught up in Katara's rise and fall of her back as she breathed, the way her lips felt on her cheek, how she was still  the prettiest girl in the entire world although having no way to prove it. 

But it wasn't until she heard the pencil scratching come to an abrupt stop is when she focused her attention back to the world. 

"Listen Toph, this might be random but I think this feels like the right time to uh… Tell you something. Something that I've been thinking about," She paused, Toph felt her heartbeat pick up. She let out a breath, "A lot"

"Yeah…?" She opened her eyes cautiously, not daring to move an inch. 

Was this…?

"It's just that, I think that you're really great. And special, and you mean a lot to me, and when I'm with you, I can't help but smile and I think that I…" 

I what?

Katara's heartbeat was so loud and so fast, she could barely hear her words. It was nearly distracting if it wasn't for Toph knowing how to tune it out. (Although the idea that whatever Katara may say is causing her heart to beat like a jackhammer drove her crazy). 

"That I," Katara struggled to get the words to leave her mouth and Toph was about to say to take her time, or to just not say it if she feels uncomfortable but the words eventually forced their way out, even if she had to force them to 

Holy shit, is she gonna say it?

"I think you're a really good friend" 

Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum 

Lie. 

The Earthbender struggled to control her breathing. Katara lied, she lied. Her heart was beating so fast when she was speaking before. Katara wasn't going to say that, she didn't want to say that. What was she gonna say? Was it…? 

Toph's face began to heat up. 

"You're a good friend too" She shrugged as she heard Katara audibly exhale 

They walked back home shortly after. 

Katara's heart would not let up and the constant reminder was driving Toph crazy. She was going to tell her to calm down, that it was alright that she didn't tell her what she was originally going to say but decided against it. Her knowing that she knew she lied would probably make things worse, so she just ignored it. 

So the poem was a bust. Why did this have to be so complicated? How in the world did Katara manage to not share how she feels about her when Toph literally gave her a love poem. Why didn't she ask then? And Toph was really going to let it slide? Twice. Thrice. And however many times either has tried confessing in the past and failed. 

This is fucking insane. 

"I heard 'Kurb and the Ice Kingdom' got a second book, we should check it out tomorrow" 

"That sounds good to me" 

Fucking insane. 

Toph knew that the moment they got home, she would be forced to answer the millions of questions that the others have in store for her, although she was sure she wouldn't have an answer for most of them. She was dreading having to explain that not only did neither try to explain the poem, that they had written another one together and Katara (What she believed) nearly confessed to her but didn't. How they let the other slide at least four times in a single night with no second thought. 

That their relationship was exactly the same save for even more unspoken words that both will carry for when the time is right. 

It doesn't sound ideal but the when had comforted her. All Toph needs to do is wait for when they're both ready, for the perfect moment.