Work Text:
On any normal day, Sokka would have enjoyed the hustle of the port’s market along with its festive fall lanterns. Stalls had now switched to more fruits from the later harvest and the wind pulled at the tent flaps lining the row of carts on either side of him. He watched mid-stretch the blue arrow tattoo of his friend zipped through the market, melting into the heads and baskets of the crowd. It didn’t take long for Aang to find his way back, concern drew his lip between his teeth. Most of the items in his hands spilled into Sokka’s arms.
“Dude!” The water tribe man cried, wobbling with the items in his arm from surprise. “What the- what’s with the flowers and the sweets?”
He didn’t get much of an answer, Aang had disappeared once again. A gust of wind tickled his cheeks, pulling in the opposite direction of his friend. Sokka tried to run after him this time, weaving between the growing market crowd, clutching the flowers with his eyes pinned on the prominent blue arrow head of his friend. It didn’t take long to catch up to the air nomad, now hunched over a different cart, holding his chin in thought. It was strange to see Aang, normally composed and a bit silly, standing over the colorful array of flowers with such focus.
Aang muttered, taking the large bouquet from Sokka’s arms. “Help me find the most fragrant ones, I need to be sure they’ll smell amazing.”
“Well, I need to know who it’s for. What diplomat are you trying to hand them to?”
“It’s not for a diplomat.”
“Then who?” Sokka pinched his brows and sighed. “Wait! Don’t tell me this is for-”
Aang fiddled with a small pile of silver lilies, brushing up its scent followed by a subtle inhale. “It’s for Toph.”
He could feel the humor in Sokka’s tone, a joke already swimming inside the water tribesman’s wolf tail head. “So, trouble in paradise? What’s got you under pressure?”
“Yes…” He fixed his sights on a different large bushel of flowers, ones from a mountain river. “It’s just that Toph has been acting weird lately.”
“Oh Really? Toph? Being weird? Who would have guessed.” Sokka shrugged, sarcasm dripping from his voice more so than usual. Aang jabbed his side and his eyes drawn tight in annoyance.
“She hasn’t punched me in two weeks! Sokka, this is serious.”
The water tribe’s man still had it in him to annoy his friend, holding a broad smile. It was hilarious from his end watching Aang, calm and normally serious, wrapped around his best friend’s pinky where he was now counting how long it had been since he’d been punched.
“Okay, okay, I get it.” He settled on the bouquet of special tea flowers, ones he’d seen Iroh use before at the tea shop.
“But I’m serious Sokka. She hasn’t punched me like she usually does.”
That drew Sokka’s attention away from the panda lilies before him. Of course it was strange and the relationship of Toph and Aang was still something he couldn't wrap his mind around, but they were happy. At least, that was what could be interpreted when the two bickered and Toph threw her punches at Aang with a bashful look on her lowered face. Part of Sokka didn’t understand how it had happened, but he was delighted to witness his two closest friends happy together.
Aang drew back from the flower stand to his full height and waited on a response.
“I don’t know man. Are we even sure she’s upset? You’re still standing here in one piece.”
“Sokka,” The buzzing market air shrouded them in a soft ambience while Aang’s voice dropped. “I’m serious. She called me ‘Aang’ last night!”
He went on to list the exact remnants of that morning. The couple had decided to get breakfast at a nearby tea shop, mostly it was Aang’s suggestion since Toph had decided to sleep outside alone that night. Hoping that the small trip would ease his worries, Aang had them seated and asked for the specials. It was as if the world froze when Toph replied to Aang with his name. At first, Aang ignored it and believed it was a fluke, but then it happened again when she addressed him during their walk back to their guest rooms.
“Maybe she’s tired of that ridiculous nickname and finally taking you seriously?” That only caused Sokka to receive a deep scowl from the former. He knew it was serious, the earthbender rarely called Aang by a different nickname, let alone his real name. It was serious if she had decided to take back ‘Twinkletoes’ and use the monk’s name instead. To top it off, Toph had stopped throwing her affectionate punches at Aang, which did draw a bit of concern from the water tribe’s man.
A different flower caught Sokka’s eyes. He raised it to his nose and drew back in surprise at the fragrance that lingered. “Alright, alright, I get it. If you’re so worried about your rocky relationship, I think this should do the trick. A nice gesture that should get Toph punching you again in no time.”
The flower petals looked similar to a jasmine, wide five petals giving it a star shape, but the color was a deep purple. Aang drew it close to his nose and sniffed, throwing a wide smile at Sokka. It was strong and somehow subtle in its sweet scent, mixing the heady cream floral scent of jasmine with a twist of musk to it. It reminded him of blooming flowers at the edge of a swamp during spring. The flower’s scent still lingered in his nose, not overwhelming but pleasant in its wake. Aang sniffed it again with a wry look and pinched brows, still unsure about the plan.
“Will this really do the trick?”
Sokka shrugged and tried to return the previous flowers from the pile Aang handed him. “I’m not sure man. It’s Toph, so maybe. Who knows? What I do know is that I’ve never smelled anything like that. And, all women love good perfume. It’s sure to get her attention.”
“Well, thanks Sokka. I think you’ve given me an idea…”
Sokka threw a rough slap Aang between his shoulder blades. His wide easy smile drew the attention of a few women passing by. “All in a day's work buddy.”
The two of them found their way to a nearby perfume shop, scaling the store’s vast shelves of full bottles with various yellow, green, and clear liquids. Aang stumbled upon a table of empty bottles, a sign between the stands brought him an idea. The perfumer had been kind enough to take the flowers from him for a discounted price, ‘an avatar special’ he called it. Minutes passed and the two friends found themselves enraptured by the new musk discovered on a random landpatch by a fisherman.
“I have your order ready sir.” Aang took the bottle with excitement and handed the merchant a few silver pieces.
Sokka eyed the bottle and flower in his friend’s hand through the market. “So, perfume?
He didn’t get a response, so the two continued on towards the inn. The late noon sun beat down waves of autumn heat, casting shadows across the wooden boards of the port village. The two departed at the courtyard entrance, Sokka was heading to his shared room with Katar and Aang to his. The water tribesman threw an encouraging smile and wished his friend luck, heading down the stone path with a few items in hand.
Holding a breath, Aang closed in on the door of his shared room, quelling the fast beats of his heart with slow exhales. He raised his hand and knocked, first once and then another, in a rhythmic code that only the person inside would know. After no response, Aang opened the door and saw a lump of blankets on the stone floor of the cozy cramped room. The lights were turned on with a sharp push from Aang’s hands. The body didn’t stir from the ruckus.
“Toph! Are you asleep?”
Aang gently tugged the blanket from one end, revealing her calloused feet instead. “Toph?”
A rock the size of his palm erupted from the ground, whistling through the air and aimed for his head. Aang ducked in time, feeling the drag of air at the top of scalp. “Oh! So you’re awake.”
With a wave of his hand, Aang summoned a gust of wind that pulled the blanket off and revealed a creature tangled in messy waves of long black hair laying in her undergarments. Toph glaring at his feet. A violent groan echoed from her before the earthbender used the stone floor and propped herself up on her feet, grumbling out her words.
“What?! You have a death wish or something?”
Toph tried to swing but missed, each blow landing was met with air as the tall monk dodged and caught her fists with ease and familiarity. Aang’s musical laugh tickled her ears and caused her to stop. It grew pointless for her to try, so she blew a tired breath and fell face first on the large bed behind her, drawing in the cotton sheets whispered sleep to her droopy eyes.
Her voice is muffled by the bed, but she’s too tired to get up. “You know how this month has been for me.”
Most of her time had been spent sucked into grandiose or tiny meeting rooms alongside the group. That didn’t stop some of the few council men from pulling the earthbender into rescue missions of the likes with Katara. A large storm had triggered a landslide for the bay village. After the mountain buildings were restored, Toph was tasked with retrieving missing villagers. By the time the duo meet up with the rest of the group, they’d grown worn from long nights and even longer days of their search mission.
Aang gently raised her by those broad shoulders and cupped the back of her knees, carying Toph in his arms. He laid her back against the silk pillows of their bed, ignoring the soft glare she threw.
“I have a gift for you and I think you’d like it.” A clink from the vile retrieved from his pocket drew Toph’s attention.
“It’s something new, the flower merchant called it ‘swamp jasmine’ since it came from one.”
“Hold on, what’s this?”
Sweet with a stirring note of clay, the flower presented to her caused Toph’s scowl to melt away. She pulled Aang’s wrist
“You woke me up, knowing that you’d get crushed, for perfume and flowers?”
The gift was strange, each inhale had the lingering touch of the unique scent tickling her throat. Toph drew back, pushing his hand with the vile aside. Her hand was caught, Aang gingerly traced the scabs and healing cuts on her knuckles. The ghosting warmth of his lips traced her fingers and brought Toph out of her mind.
Toph reeled her hand back, shouting at Aang while red heat crawling up her face. “Have you lost your mind Twinkletoes!?”
“Well I just wanted to do something nice. Toph, You haven’t been yourself lately. You’ve been really withdrawn and-”
“What?”
Aang closed the bottle, handing it to her along with the flowers. He mustered up some calm, swallowing a small smirk from his flustered wife. “They reminded me of you and I thought of getting them. It’s a gift, take it. You can use the oil for a nice bath, at least, that’s what the merchant said.”
Her feet were dangling in the air, leaving her to trust the tone in his voice, which she did. It didn’t waiver, resound and calm but with that same candor he always had. The smooth metal grooves of the talisman danced in the air from Toph’s fingers, finding comfort in the air nomad necklace Aang had gifted her. Guilt gnawed at her chest and she slid off the bed to sit on the cold floor, trying to sort her thoughts out with Aang’s gifts resting at her feet. Of course he had noticed, her withdrawal was obvious to him, and she hadn’t done a grand job at hiding it either.
Stress and the new demands of the council hadn’t been kind to her. At one point she even snapped at Katara, it happened after she had returned from Chameleon bay. Constantly combating with officials and gentry of the area had grated at her patience. Luckily, Katara didn’t take her outburst personally, but that didn’t stop the flood of shame Toph had felt afterwards. So she opted to take a step back from everyone.
“So you noticed, huh?”
The air nomad humored her with his answer. “Well you called me ‘Aang’ yesterday, and that’s pretty hard to miss.”
A sharp punch to his shin caused the monk to yelp. Aang cradled his left leg and swung the right in time to dodge Toph’s other punch. He was relieved to feel her affectionate punch, despite the chances of a small bruise forming on his leg. The two fell into comfortable silence while minutes slipped past them.
“It’s been really strange recently, with the diplomatic stuff and all. Everything just seemed to pile up with those officials and those stupid meetings. I just…didn't want to throw my frustration on you and do something stupid.” Toph drew her knees into her chest. “I didn’t…I was trying to get some space.”
“It is alot.” Aang agreed. “ Seeking space is what I would have done too. That’s pretty normal and fine, but I’d wish you had told me that. You know?”
He flopped back on the bed, the motion of the mattress resounded on Toph’s back. “Phew! And here I was, worried that I had upset you somehow.”
Aang sat up and watched as Toph’s face turned to his view, she scoffed at him. “If you did, I wouldn’t have bothered marrying you in the first place. Hell, I’m still upset about that.”
The two laughed, a dry tired sound ringing with relief from them. It echoed until the two surrendered to the warm quiet lingering between them.
“Thank you Twinkletoes.”
It was reluctant and quiet, but Aang latched on to every word, carving it into memory to store it later in his heart. He slid down the bed to the stone floor beside her, scooping Toph into a tight hug.
She soaked in the sun dried scent of his clothes mixed with the warmth of his skin. Toph buried her head in his chest, holding him with the bruising force of unvoiced relief as she hugged him back. The tenderness in his touch made her heart ache. Soothing fingers ran through her locks and large warm palms rubbed her back, and she gradually eased her tight grip.
When she resurfaced from the crook of his neck, Aang took the opportunity to push her bangs out of her face. A clear view of her face, usually stern, now held sightless eyes silently reaching out to him as he traced her features with his steel gaze. Toph could feel the familiar weight of his stare, she didn’t need sight to know what the air nomad was thinking. Soft and chapped lips drew warm fluttering trails of kisses all over her face. She closed her eyes and grew still, trying to let the foreign tenderness melt into her bones. He stopped short of her lips, their warm breath mingling until the air grew cold from absence and her eyes opened in shock.
“You still need a bath, right?” Aang stood up with a soft snort and held a hand out, which was ignored as Toph stood up.
Her pale face was now a myriad of red that swept past her roots. She had been teased.
In sharp steps, Toph marched up to Aang with a frown while burning a hole into his chest. He tried to muster up an apology, but what left his lips was a sharp wheeze as the air in his body was knocked out by the sudden column of earth erupting from the ground. It was subtle and the ground shook as the column sunk back in alongside the motion of Toph’s lowered hand.
The earth bender bent down to his crumbled body and pecked the top of his head. The vial of perfume in her hand along with her clothes for the day. She turned back towards his direction and drew a smile bent with anger and a thinly veiled promise.
“I’ll be sure to use your gift Twinkletoes!”
The door shut loudly behind her, each stop shook the walls and rippled through the stone ground, the impact softening with distance.
“I guess that sorta worked.” Aang muttered to himself, dusting off the rubble and sand on his orange shirt.
Sure, he had left her hanging when he drew back before they could kiss. Just thinking back to that moment caused his ears to burn. His fingers drummed the chapped skin of his lips, ruminating on the possibility. The white flowers from the floor now rested in his hand. Aang knew it was only a matter of time before Toph got her revenge.
A loud bang shook his door. Aang didn’t have enough time to open it when Sokka and Katara charged in. Sokka held the recently invented boomerang sword, ready to strike and high on alert. Katara had summoned the water from her sleeve, the glittering ribbon hovering over her graceful form. Both the water siblings saw Aang, eyes tracing from the flower to the rest of the neat room and sighed out in relief.
“What are you two doing here?”
Katara bended the water back into her sleeve. “Aang, we thought you were in danger. Why was the floor shaking? Are you okay?”
Sokka recognized the flowers in his friends’ hand. His stern face split into his usual gloating smile, putting the sword back into its hilt. “He’s fine Katara, look at him. Did they work? I’m going to guess from your face they did!”