Fan 'n' Flame; Earth 'n' Sword

Three's Company: Chapter 11

"I hate wearing boots! I'm practically blind in these stupid things," Toph said while Sokka knelt in front of her.

"You're already blind," Sokka reminded her, tying her laces.

"Shut up. Don't you have any secret Water Tribe method to keep my feet warm?" she spat back.

"Yeah. You're wearing them." He barely dodged Toph's kick when he fell away from her. He rolled backwards over his shoulder and stood back up, grinning at his friend. "Those are my thickest pair of socks. There's nothing else I can do if they don't fit you. Why don't you have your own boots?"

"I forgot them," she pouted. She hopped off the chair and the sharp image of Sokka turned to a fuzzy blob in her mind. "I can't see a thing!"

"It'll probably be even worse when there's snow involved," the blob said to her with what she assumed was a shrug. Her fist shot out and Sokka doubled over in pain, holding his stomach.

"I can still make out enough to hit you!" Toph growled, stamping next to his head.

"Good to know," the winded warrior wheezed. He picked himself off the floor and began taking deep breaths. "I'll get Katara to find a proper pair of boots for you. Without those socks, you'll probably be fine." Toph nodded and sat down, lightly tapping her feet on the floor. Sokka turned his head when he heard a pair of voices coming close to them.

"Thank you for the update," Satoru said to the worker before turning and walking towards them. "Any luck?"

"They'll stay on, but she'll walk into a few buildings if nobody keeps an eye on her," Sokka said as he took a big step out of Toph's range.

"That's...good, I suppose. We should be landing in a few minutes. I suggest not going out onto the platform; it's covered in ice."

"You could have warned me about that earlier," Sokka mumbled as he rubbed his elbow.

Satoru laughed lightly as he looked out the window across the barren sheet of snow to the mountains beyond. "This is my first time in either of the Poles. It's breathtaking." He stepped closer to the window.

"Wait until you see the city. Malina has helped transform the South Pole into something that would rival the North's capital," Sokka said, standing next to the engineer. Toph smiled as she listened to the two talk. There was a small bump as they landed and Satoru gestured for them to follow him.

"Agni protect me," Satoru muttered, breathing into his hands when the cold hit him. Sokka grinned like a madman when he felt the crunch of snow underneath his foot. They walked towards the city until Toph shouted at them. They looked back and saw the Blind Bandit with her hands on her hips.

"Did the both of you forget I can't see?!" She held out her hand. Sokka and Satoru both took a step towards her, but stopped and glanced at each other. Satoru took a step back and nodded slightly. Sokka gave an uncertain but thankful smile before trudging through the snow to Toph.

"Was I right?" Sokka asked as he took her hand. She felt her face turning red as he led her back to Satoru.

"Right about what?" she said, lowering her head.

"The snow making your sight worse. How much are you able to see?"

"Well, everything is just one big blob. It's all sort of blending into itself." She felt Sokka's grip tighten. "Except you."

"Huh?" He stopped and looked at her.

"Well, your heart is making vibrations, so I can see you pretty clearly when we're holding hands." Toph pulled her bangs in front of her face. "I mean...just touching in general allows me to see people a lot better," she quickly added.