Tulips In The Snow

**A/N: Welcome to another Avatar one-shot of mine! I haven't been around lately, but with college, work and other private projects, I haven't had the chance to do some writing that involved characters other than my own for some time. I was puttering around YouTube and some Avatar sites the other day, and I rediscovered my love for Tokka. I felt that their story was untold after the finale, even if Suki was around, and after everything they went through together in the finale, I just knew there had to be more. So here is my take on what may have happened after the finale. I know that I haven't written these two in a long time, so I'm hoping they're not too OOC. Enjoy!**

**Summary: Post finale. Toph wasn't enjoying her stay in the South Pole, until Sokka gives her the one thing she'd been missing. Tokka fluff. One-shot. **

**Disclaimer: None of these are mine. They all belong to Mike and Bryan; I just like to play with them. **

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Tulips in the Snow

The world was finally at peace.

Firelord Zuko sat on the throne, the kingdoms were on their way to repairing rifts that had been there for far too long, and the Avatar was no longer hunted. Everyone was beginning to put their lives back together, to pick up the pieces left behind by Ozai's tyrannical rule. It had been a long, hard three years, but it seemed as if the world was finally righting itself. The waterbenders returned to the poles, to their cities of ice and snow, the earthbenders began to rebuild Ba Sing Se, and the firebenders learned to live in harmony with their neighbors for the first time in years.

That didn't explain why Toph was so miserable. She sat curled before a fire in the South Pole, listening to her teeth chatter in the silence of the tent as she cursed her own folly. Why was she here? What sane and self-respecting earthbender would journey to a land of ice and snow?

She knew why she was here—even if she would never voice it aloud and continue to deny it if you asked her straight to her face. After two years at Zuko's side, advising him on the best way to go about repairing the damaged kingdoms around them, the group that had been so instrumental to Ozai's downfall had decided to go their separate ways. Toph couldn't bear to be parted from the people she considered to be the closest thing she had to family.

Aang, as the Avatar, had left on a year-long trip around the world, stopping in each kingdom as an envoy of peace and harmony. Katara, unable to leave his side after everything they had experienced together, went with him as an ambassador of the Water Tribes and as a healer, coupling Aang's message of peace with her own of healing. Sokka and Suki had decided to temporarily separate, torn between their love for each other and the separate duties they felt towards their peoples. Sokka had decided to return to the South Pole, where he would take his place at Hakoda's side as a true Water Tribe warrior. Suki was currently at Kyoshi Island, helping the Kyoshi warriors—including Ty Lee—rebuild the island and their training grounds.

As for Toph, she had been given the choice to stay in the Earth Kingdom, welcome in both Iroh's teashop and her parent's home. The latter was harder to acclimate to than the former, for Toph was not ready to forgive her parents. On her only visit there, her parents had stiffly explained that the only reason they had tried to bring her home by kidnapping her was because they loved her. Toph had received their explanations, unmoved, and walked away. Home held nothing for her now, and even her mother's desperate pleas for her only daughter to come back had held no sway over the blind young woman, no matter how much guilt and pain she felt later. She was no longer the little girl she had been, sneaking out of her parents' house to participate in fights and lash out the only way she knew how. She had changed during her time with the Avatar, and she had experienced things her parents, in their pampered and cloistered environment, would never understand.

So when Sokka offered to show her the South Pole, Toph jumped at the chance. To go somewhere new, to let the adventures continue even though the war was over, was something Toph could not let pass her by. It did not occur to her at that moment of anticipation that she may regret such an impulsive decision later.

They had traveled to the South Pole by bison, as Aang and Katara both longed to see the Water Tribe village again—Katara to see her grandmother once more before she and Aang left on their long journey, and Aang to recapture some of his stolen childhood by penguin sledding. Even at fourteen, the Avatar still put aside the heavier duties for a bit of fun when he had the chance. Battling Ozai and carrying the hopes of the world had not completely dampened his childish spirit.

It wasn't until Toph cautiously climbed down from Appa—clumsy in her heavier, bulkier, borrowed Water Tribe clothes—and placed bare toes on the snow did she realize she had made a mistake. There was no earth here at all—not even under the snow! Well, if there was, she certainly couldn't feel it! There was nothing but snow and ice underneath all that snow. Biting back tears and yelps of pain, Toph scrambled back up Appa as carefully as she could to put on the boots that Katara had found for her.

When she finally made it to the ground, she stood next to the air bison, unsure of what to do. She couldn't see—and she hated it. It was worse than the desert, worse than being imprisoned in a wooden cage—this snow was loose and powdery under her boots, and already her feet were itching to be out of the confining footwear. She was an earthbender, she had to have earth! For a moment, she almost panicked, but, upon hearing the crunching footsteps upon snow that signaled someone's approach, she quickly swallowed her fear and panic. It would not do her any good for anyone to see her in a moment of weakness. She had to be strong, like the boulders and earth she was already desperately missing.

"Toph?" The voice had her reaching out stupidly, and once again, she hated the absence of earth. At least her hearing hadn't been affected; she knew that it was Sokka that stood before her. His voice had deepened some in the two years after the war ended, but he was still Sokka. His arm found her groping and mittened hands, and she clung to his reassuring warm form, knowing he wouldn't let her get lost in this dark world of snow.

It was why she was currently curled up in front of a fire, desperate to get warm. If she had earth, it would not be a question of warmth—the sun on bare earth was one of the nicest sensations, but she had no earth, no rock to cover herself with. The only rock she had with her she currently cradled in her hand. The space earth that Sokka had once given her long ago was tied to a bracelet on her wrist, and she clung to it, the last piece of rock she in this snowy place. The young earthbender had never felt so desolate and alone. She was clothed in some of Katara's old, used articles—despite the fact that she was two years older than when she had first met Aang, she was only a few inches taller. Katara's grandmother—a kind woman who had instructed Toph to call her Gran Gran as her own grandchildren did—had found that some of Katara's clothes from her younger days fit the blind earthbender well. Toph didn't really mind—she had to stay warm in this cursed place somehow.

"Toph?" The earthbender lifted her head as someone pulled aside the flap of the tent, allowing the cold sunlight to stream in. She couldn't see, but the blind young woman knew that voice. However, the absence of earth had left her moody and irritable.

"What do you want, Snoozles?" She snarled, her hands fisting in the furs she was sitting on. He hadn't been around in the last two days—the days after Katara and Aang had left, as well as Suki—the Kyoshi warrior had to return to her people, and had only stopped to visit Sokka. Katara and Aang had stopped by the South Pole to visit Sokka and Toph, and if their conversations were any indication, it was the only time Toph was glad she couldn't "see." The blind earthbender had convinced herself that she didn't want to be in the way during all the "lovey-dovey mushy stuff" and had avoided both couples as much as possible. When she did socialize, she had spent most of her time with Aang and Katara, hating the way the Kyoshi warrior was monopolizing Sokka's time.

"Will you come with me?" Softly spoken, the question had a touch of impatience, and Toph climbed shakily to her feet, settling her hands on her hips and ignoring the sound of approaching footsteps and the brush of his hand on her arm.

"Why should I?" She knew she was acting like a petulant child, but her friends had practically ignored her when they visited, so wrapped up in their significant others. She would never admit it, but Sokka ignoring her cut the deepest, and now he had been ignoring her even more over the past two days. _Most likely moping over Suki and trying to hunt more meat,_ Toph found herself thinking bitterly.

The young woman heard the warrior heave an exasperated sigh, and then she was being dragged forcibly from the tent, feeling the harsh winter sun on her face and stumbling through the snow.

"Are you trying to kill me, Snoozles?" She snapped at the man in front of her, but Sokka gave no answer. Toph could only wonder where they were going. They hadn't gone very far from the tent before Sokka slid to a stop, sending the earthbender crashing into his back.

Pushing away, more annoyed than ever, Toph found herself being tugged by the hand towards something. As she stumbled forward, Toph realized that the ground was smoother, as if the snow had been scraped away. Feeling Sokka give her a light push, Toph walked forward, realizing that her feet were no longer sinking into the ground. There was no snow here, she realized, and the ground felt different. Not snow, but not ice either.

"Take your boots off." The quiet command had her spinning back around to confront her friend. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he could see hers. She gave him the most irritated expression she could muster.

"Have you been drinking cactus juice again, Snoozles?" Toph demanded, wondering if he had gone mad after everything they'd been through. "I may not live here, but I know the stupidity of taking off my boots in the snow."

"You won't be in any danger." Sokka's reassurance did nothing to move the earthbender from her stiff posture, and Toph heard him sigh. "Trust me."

"Fine," Toph found herself agreeing angrily, settling down on the snow and beginning to pull off her mittens. "But if my toes fall off…" As one bare hand brushed against what she thought was snow, she broke off with a gasp.

Sokka watched as her face lit up, disbelieving but desperately wanting to believe that what she was feeling was real. He watched as Toph pressed a palm to the earth under her fingers, gently, hopefully, as if it would disappear if she put too much pressure on it. Then she was tearing off both mittens and boots in a mad dash to stand barefoot in the cool earth that he had provided for her.

For a moment, she merely stood, feet planted in her element, turning her face up to the sun and feeling warm for the first time. It was true that the earth was not part of the true ground—she couldn't "see" as clearly as she normally could—things were a bit fuzzy around the edges—but it was earth, and that was all she cared about. Moving one foot cautiously, she "saw" something on the outer edge of the large crater that Sokka had filled with dirt. Moving confidently towards it—more confidently than she could ever walk on the snow—Toph put out a hand to brush against a large boulder. There was more than just this one, she "saw" now—there were at least twelve ringing the large, hollowed crater that she know stood in. Wondering how much she could earthbend in a large dirt bowl that was not rooted into deeper rocks below, she attempted to move the large boulder in front of her. It took a bit of work, but it slowly moved when she commanded it to—and that was enough.

Sokka looked up in surprise when he heard her laugh—a pure joyful sound that he was sure he had never heard from the sarcastic earthbender before. Toph was reunited with her beloved earth, and she was happier than he had ever seen her in her entire stay at the South Pole.

Toph located Sokka easily—he stood just inside her earth hollow, and she quickly made her way to him, rejoicing in the way the earth felt between her toes. Abandoning her normally emotion-hating façade, she flung herself at him, feeling that the only way to thank him for this life-restoring present was with a hug.

She felt his arms come around her, nearly lifting her off the ground—he had grown as she had, and now towered several inches above her. The earthbender was surprised to find that tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes, but she shook them away.

"How did you do this?" She whispered against his shoulder, and felt him straighten at her question. This was the Sokka she knew—the one that took great pride in his ideas and his plans, providing lengthy and elaborate explanations for every scheme he came up with.

"It was Aang's idea, actually," Sokka told her, still amazed at her transformation. Before, she had been moody, sullen Toph—irritable and even more sarcastic and biting than usual. Now, she was a flower that had opened to the sun once she was planted with dirt—not openly emotional, but good-natured and stubborn, the Toph he knew before.

"When you got more and more moody as we got farther from Ba Sing Se and closer to the village, we though maybe it was because you hadn't been able to talk to your parents." Toph lifted her head from his shoulder, realizing that her friends didn't know she had met her parents again. But Sokka was still talking. "When you were still in a bad mood, we didn't know what was wrong. Aang was the one who figured it out. He figured that you were moody because you didn't have any earth. He said that if anyone took away Appa or his ability to use the air, he would react the same way."

Toph shook her head, unable to picture the affable Aang irritable and enraged over not being able to bend—but it had happened before. Sokka laughed at her expression and her movement. "I know," he confided, "I couldn't see Aang throwing one of his fits like he used to."

"Anyway, I decided that we should make you an earth hollow, filled with dirt and rocks. While Aang and Katara went to get the dirt, Suki and I dug this place." Toph sensed him sweep his arm across, as if to show the finished product. The blind earthbender lowered her head, feeling ashamed that she had thought that they had been off together; in truth, they had been doing something for her.

"Thank you," she whispered, and Sokka blinked in surprise. He didn't often hear Toph thank anyone, let alone him. He tightened his arms around her, both in a silent acknowledgement and a way to keep her warm.

"How did you get this here?" Toph wanted to know, still unsure this wasn't all a dream. Perhaps in a moment she would wake up in the tent, freezing and without earth.

She could feel Sokka smile, inflating with self-importance as he continued to explain. "Aang is the Avatar. What he asks for, people are happy to give to him. He offered to pay the earthbenders for the dirt they gave him, but they wouldn't let him. The boulders were harder to get, but the earthbenders in Ba Sing Se wouldn't let him or Katara pay for them. Appa didn't enjoy carrying the boulders here, but he did it because Aang asked him to."

"You made this for me," Toph whispered, her black hair blowing in the fierce wind, covering milky green eyes that looked suspiciously misty.

"You were unhappy," Sokka told her, hugging her close. "We didn't want to you to be unhappy while you stayed with us. We care about you, Toph. _I _care about you."

Suddenly, Toph didn't care that her toes were slightly cold from standing barefoot on barely warm earth. Sokka's arms were warm around her, and he cared about her. Not caring if this was a dream, she pressed an impulsive kiss to his cheek, surprising them both.

"Thank you," she told him, blushing and backing out of his embrace, rubbing the back of her neck as she did when she was embarrassed. Although she was blind, she could sense the puzzlement on Sokka's face, but she didn't want to face it. Toph put them both on comfortable ground by gently slugging his shoulder. "I needed this, Snoozles."

"You're welcome." Sokka sounded genuinely pleased that she was so delighted with the gift, and Toph didn't notice as he moved off the earth and back onto the snow. Leaving her mittens and boots discarded on the ground, the blind earthbender crouched to bury both fingers and toes into the damp, malleable earth. Standing, she focused her attention on the slightly fuzzy outline of an eight foot boulder to her left.

Sokka watched her earthbend for a moment, invisible to her on the snow. There was a grace in her that he had missed in these past few months, when she had been blind and trapped in the snow. She had constantly stumbled, and while he didn't mind that she had always turned to him for support, he had missed her independence. It was one of the reasons he was drawn to her. He watched the way her face lit as the boulder finally responded, and her black hair was lustrous in the sunlight as her small feet beat a tattoo against the earth she was so fond of.

Turning away, Sokka left the young woman to her element. He would come find her later. He had missed her company, these last few days when he strove to keep her gift secret, and he was sure that she would be in a better mood once she had practiced for awhile.

Behind him, Toph heard him retreat, his footsteps slowly getting softer, but she didn't turn. She would thank him again later, and Katara and Aang when they returned—and yes, perhaps she would even thank Suki with a gracious heart—but right now, she turned towards another boulder with a grin. The warm earth between her toes felt like home.

Perhaps her stay in the South Pole wouldn't be as unbearable as she had originally thought.

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**A/N: Well, there you have it! Is it any good? Have I been out of this fandom too long, and the characters are hopelessly butchered? Let me know what you think!**


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