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Moonlight dispersed across the curtains like a white light across a prism. The only difference was that it didn’t split into a colourful rainbow. Instead, it formed a cloudy mist because it got mixed with the smoke coming from the bed. It wasn’t a good day for Sokka, and according to him, it was all going wrong. It wasn’t easy being the chief of his tribe, and he had learnt to accept that recently. Not the he expected it to be all fun and games, because he had always been very realistic with his expectations. However, he did expect it to bring him some sort of self-gratification or satisfaction atleast. Lately, it was proving to be anything but. It was relaxing to have Toph here for some time, have his meals with her, wake up to her, in his bed. Though they managed fine, her being in the city fulfilling her chief duties and him being the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, but the duties and the burden he placed on himself nearly always got the best of him. It was good to have her by his side for once.
He looked towards her, sleeping peacefully, her snow white face glowing in the ethereal light that Yue lent her. He felt sorry for subjecting her to this environment, because she indeed “felt” blind here. Toph hated many things, she was so opinionated, but most of all she hated feeling weak. Though she never made him feel that she was unhappy there, but that was because she had matured over the years, and during the early stages of their relationship she couldn’t help herself from breaking down sometimes when she would no longer be able to pretend. She was happy to see him after long even if it had to be this way, and he knew that, but he couldn’t help but feel apologetic when he saw her counting her steps towards the bed, or make her way to the other room by feeling the walls. Don’t beat yourself over it, it’s temporary, and I don’t mind. That’s what she would tell him, because she knew how he felt, but they both knew he wouldn’t be able to shrug off this feeling, him being the epitome of self-burden.
He ashed his cigarette as he finished it, his eyes never leaving her glowing frame. Is that a red nose? His thoughts dissipated into the smoke as he gently lowered himself back on the bed towards her so he could get a closer look. Toph was from the tropical and extremely warm climate of the Earth Kingdom and though she had been to the tribe more than once, she felt extremely cold here. She wore the thickest fur robes and kept her hood on at all times, not straying away from the bon fire he would light for her every evening. When he’d see her chattering teeth form an O as she held her hands over the fire and an expression of relief spread across her face, he would feel thankful to the Agni that Zuko prayed to.
“I can feel you staring, you know.” Her voice was low and hoarse due to the cough formed in her throat. She had an awfully sweet voice for her age. She had always had a sweet voice, that wasn’t something new, but he figured as she’d grow up it would become deeper like it did for Katara. But her voice stayed sweet, and he would always chuckle when she would scold him because of the awfully adorable sound she’d make. It annoyed her when he made fun of it, but she learnt to love it because of the little compliments he’d make about it.
She moved towards him, wrapping her hand around his waist, bringing her face closer to him. She extended her other hand below his cheek on the pillow so it’d rest on it. Her hand was warm as opposed to his cold cheek. He brought her closer to himself by pulling at her waist and her jet black hair caressed his face. Though he loved her long black hair, they were blocking his view right now. He gently tucked them behind her ear. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” He said, poking her little red nose. “Smoking again, are you?” she kept her eyes closed and came closer burying her head in his neck. She wasn’t one of those people who had an issue with smoking, she herself needed one daily to deal with the stress of her life. It wasn’t easy managing a job which kept her on her toes and a child who was growing up. Though they had both decided to quit, him realising he had a responsibility as a father now, and her realising that it wasn’t the solution to her problems, it was easy to fall back to old habits for the both of them. “Yeah..” He admitted, kind of apologetically. He was a man who followed his plans religiously, and he always motivated her when she’d find it difficult to quit. That’s why, it wasn’t easy for him to admit that he was the one to slip.
Toph wasn’t seeing this behaviour for the first time. To most people, he was the meat and sarcasm guy, the life of the party, the craziest guy they’d ever known. Thankfully, she wasn’t most people. She knew him too well, and knew when it was the time to reprimand him for his actions and when it was time to let it go. She may have not been able to “see” him while she spent some time with the otter penguins during the day, but she heard him when he was arguing with someone over a trade policy with Omashu, she knew when he hated everything so much he wouldn’t finish his food leaving the cooks wondering what went wrong, she knew when he would restlessly keep tapping his feet on the floor because he was too busy complaining about someone’s incompetence in his head.
“Wanna talk about it?” she asked, hoping he would. He had trouble sharing his emotions, often masking them with his humour. She shared her inability to confront and face emotions with him, even if they had different mechanisms to cope with them. When she didn’t get any answer, she knew something was definitely up. “You gotta talk babe, otherwise this is gonna eat you up and you know it. It’s me. Comeon, spill. What’s going on on that mind that never stops?” she probed. He lowered his head to her level, their noses touching now. “I just.. I.. I don’t know. I don’t know..” He closed his eyes. Her hand left his waist and cupped his other cheek, his face being in her palms now. “It’s okay. Just say whatever comes to your head, hmm? She gently nudged his nose with hers. “I don’t know man, I don’t know if I’m any good as chief. I got into an argument with Idak today, and he told me that the elders aren’t so happy with my decision to construct the school. I know it takes time and budget extensively, but our tribe needs to progress. I don’t know why they don’t get that. I’m gonna rebuild this tribe upto a level of competency they’ve never seen, and sometimes I feel I can do that. But other days, man, I don’t know if people can ever be happy or is it.. my fault. Am I not able to convince my people? Why? Is it my fault? What more can I do? I don’t know!!” He confessed.
“People are never gonna be completely happy anyway, Sokka. That’s their nature, and you know it. And the elders of your tribe, someone needs to teach them a thing or two, and I’m speaking from personal experience. You believe in yourself, no one can be a better leader than you, and that is also something I know from personal experience.” She opened her eyes, hoping she was staring into his arctic blue wolf eyes.
They both went through plenty of struggle when they decided to get married. Toph wasn’t exactly a very eligible candidate for the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. They didn’t care that she invented metalbending, set up a school for budding Earthbenders when she was a teenager or had a whole police force that she headed as chief. They didn’t even care that she was the daughter of Lu Beifong, one of the richest in the world. No. They just saw her as a blind woman from the Earth Kingdom with a child whose father left her. The Southern Water Tribe had a whole set of eligible candidates for their newly appointed chief, and they weren’t pleased when he chose her as his bride. “She wouldn’t understand our culture, she’s an Earth Kingdom girl!” “What is the point of her being your wife? It isn’t like she would leave her job to be here, to support you!” He heard many such opinions from his tribe elders, but nothing angered him more than the comment he heard a common man pass to his friend while embarking for a fishing trip. “She’s desperate. No one would marry a woman like her, no husband and a child you know, and no man of his status would even look at her. God knows why he is adopting her and her child? What is he proving? He probably pities her, and she seems to have a reputation for being rough. Women like her, they’re wild in bed, that’s the only thing that makes sense to me!” That man had a broken nose for about a week after, and that was the first action Sokka took as chief that brought him under public scrutiny for violence against a brother. He didn’t regret it though, neither when he did it, nor when he refused to apologise for his actions. Eventually they got married, people gossiped for a few weeks and then got over it like they always did. They had the right to be happy and chose it. They’d always stand by it.
Sokka brought his lips closer to hers, knowing the personal experience she just mentioned. “I know.. doesn’t mean it can’t hurt ,you know.” He tried to explain. “I know. It would hurt me too, and I feel things a hundredth of you. But you need to take this with a pinch of salt. It’s a part and parcel of your life. No great leader became great without criticism, isn’t it? Her mouth curved into a smile as she said this. He smiled too, eventually joining their lips to kiss her. Her cold nose warmed up against his and she brought her body closer to him wrapping her leg over his waist and enveloping his neck with her hand. The kiss was soft, and soothing, a relief for him and his head felt lighter. “Sometimes, I want to run away with you. Damn, I wish I’d loved you sooner. How’d it be, the two of us, planning iconic escapades, chasing the sun?” he said, longing for something that would never happen. “It’d be epic.” Her misty green eyes twinkled as she found a dream in the endless black that she saw. “share a dream with me, Toph.” His voice was deep and intense. “Hmm…. Now that you put me on a spot like this.. okay, got one! I wish, and I’ve never told you this, but I wish I could see you. I’ve never felt this for anything else ever, but I wish I could see you so much. I don’t know what blue is or looks like, but I dream of losing myself in an endless blue sometimes.” She confessed. She found herself surprised when she felt him remove her leg from his waist and instead put his over hers, lying her down and climbing over her. “And what does endless blue feel like?” he asked, his tone demanding an answer. She found herself breathless and consumed, a common feeling when she’s with him but it still made her heart skip a beat. “It feels like you. It feels, consuming, kind of how I felt in the waterfall with you five years ago.” She hoped her answer was enough.
“I remember. I remember how you trusted me to take you in.. and you never left my grip for a second. I remember how you were afraid. Then how can you dream of it?” he stroked her hair off her face with one hand and held her other hand with his other. “I know.. But you were there, and I was in your arms, and when you calmed me down, the water that fell on me didn’t irk me, it calmed me. It absorbed me in itself. When you twisted me slowly, I felt at one with the water, with you. I heard so much about your blue eyes from Suki and other women, but in that moment, I felt I saw you, or atleast felt like I know how seeing you would make me feel.” She didn’t realise that she had been whispering. “I promise you I will take you there again, Toph. You never told me this before, now I know, I’ll make you feel that way again.” His promise was earnest, as always. She brought him closer and kissed him deeply, their lips heating up eachother’s bodies. His hands made their way down, towards her waist, and he gently stroked her smooth skin as he kissed her with all the love he could hold in his heart. Her hands spent their time wandering over his back, giving their time to each muscle on it religiously.
Once they pulled apart from the kiss, Toph laid him down, facing herself. She levelled herself a bit above him. As she came closer, Sokka realised what she was trying to do. She laid his head on one hand and wrapped the other around his neck. It was maybe not a big deal for others, but Sokka always liked to be the big spoon in any relationship he’d had. It gave him a sense of safety, almost like his embrace could keep away any danger from his loved ones. But Toph had unravelled something he didn’t even know about himself. One time, he felt the same way as he did now, and Toph knew it would be hard for him to speak and she wasn’t going to push too hard. They both needed space sometimes, and they respected that about eachother. But that wasn’t going to stop her from comforting him when he needed it. So she quietly and swiftly took him inside her embrace and they slept that way that night. It was a first for both of them, neither had shared something like this before with their previous partners. It was too intimate.
“I always like cuddling you. You, inside my embrace. That’s the real deal.” He muttered near her neck, his breath warming her neck which was now exposed to the cold again. “I don’t care. This is happening. Now. Get cozy, snoozles. we’re doing this.” She said with her eyes now closed. As sokka’s face touched her neck while he made himself comfortable, he felt comforted. He felt loved and adored. He felt needed. But mostly, he felt how well she knew him and how much he needed her.
They both slept soundly the whole night. They were growing older now, but that didn’t mean that they were above the stage of life when they needed eachother’s comfort. Both the chiefs looked quite independent to their colleagues or friends, but they still needed some hugs or kisses from time to time. With eachother, they were safer despite being heard, no one pushing too hard or pulling. It was perfect, kind of soothing. They understood eachother, and though they still made mistakes sometimes, they tried their best for eachother every time. And luckily, they almost always succeeded.