AtLA: The Noble Art of Popping the Question
Title: The Noble Art of Popping the Question
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author:
kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 855
Rating: G
Prompt: 11. Mission Impossible (
30_romances)
Characters: Sokka, Toph
Pairings: Sokka/Toph.
Summary: It was a Northern Water Tribe tradition, but it seemed appropriate somehow.
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. It wouldn't be fit for children if I ran the show.
Author's Note: *cough* Let me tell you about this fic. This fic was originally a 100-word drabble that decided it didn't want to be. Also I agonized over that damned title forever. I hate this one, but I couldn't find anything else that fit. At least it's fluff at last! ^_^ And I swear I need to write something not in Sokka's POV, because he always comes off so... Dramatic.
It was Northern Water Tribe tradition, not a part of his somewhat weaker culture, but he knew that no matter what Toph appeared to be, she’d always be a girl- no, a woman now- of class and noble birth, and deserved to be treated as such. It took him a lengthy journey to the North Pole to make a proper engagement necklace, and he spent the whole time there avoiding Chief Arnook’s curious glances and hoped he wouldn’t ask what matter of woman had stolen his heart away after his daughter had claimed it so long ago.
The necklace was shoddy, hardly a thing of beauty like the one Yue had worn or the one Katara still wore around her neck, but it would suffice. It would have to. Some of the younger men preparing for their arranged marriages eyed his pathetic necklace with looks of scorn, and he resisted the urge to pound them all into the snow. After all, it was the thought that counted, even if there was sort of a stigma associated with the engagement necklaces- here they symbolized an arranged marriage. Beyond these walls, he hoped it would be a sweet gesture. An attempt at class and dignity that he never quite mastered. Ignoring the jeers of the other young men, he took leave of the North Pole, carrying his little engagement necklace like a badge of honor all the way back to the Earth Kingdom.
Toph had returned home to the Beifong estate after the war, no longer the child her parents remembered and while it took a long time to get it through their skulls, they had finally accepted that their blind daughter was far from the helpless invalid they believed her to be before she left. It was that same estate that Sokka now walked into, the necklace clutched in his hands as he nodded solemnly to the guards, walking out to the garden where Toph was practicing a few Earthbending moves, stopping when he was close enough for her to speak to.
"Where have you been?" she said, turning to face him.
"The North Pole," he said simply. "I, uh, had to do something."
Toph blew a lock of her dark hair out of her face. She was dressed elegantly- it was a compromise she had with her parents that she would dress like a woman of her station should dress when in their home- and looked absolutely radiant, so radiant that Sokka had to wonder what he was thinking trying to ask her to marry him. He- a poor boy from the South Pole. He certainly knew how to pick women above his station, although station never seemed to matter when it came down to it. Still his hand clutched the necklace tighter as he fretted about the outcome of this endeavor.
"You have got to get me out of here," she grumbled, continuing. "They’re driving me crazy."
"They may drive you even crazier after this," Sokka muttered under his breath, although it didn’t go unnoticed by Toph’s excellent hearing.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, arching a brow.
He coughed nervously and held out the necklace, which she snatched out of his hand, feeling it carefully, trying to "see" what it was without really seeing it. "Aw, Sokka, you shouldn’t have," she said, somewhat sarcastically. "What is it?"
"It’s an, uh... Umm... Well... In the North Pole, men give these necklaces to...uh..." He paused, and then lowered his voice. "Womentheywannamarry."
Toph blinked. "...What?"
"They give them to womentheywannamarry."
Toph mouthed the words he kept mumbling to herself, trying to decipher what he was getting at since it was obvious he wasn’t going to be of any help on his own. When she realized what he’d said, she stopped, her mouth falling open. "You’re asking me... To marry you?"
"...Well, not if you don’t want me too," Sokka replied nervously.
Toph thrust the necklace back at him and his heart sank. Sadly, he took it from her, and was about to turn on his heels and leave to save himself more humiliation when he noticed the frustrated look on Toph’s face. "What?" He asked her, half-curious, half-depressed, as if he expected her to rub his nose in his failure. Toph could be horribly tactless when she wanted to be.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Well, are you going to put it around my neck or not?"
His heart underwent a sudden change as it nearly burst from his chest in excitement. He wasted no time in tying the necklace around her neck, not caring that it’s oddly misshapen form and coloring clashed with her elegant light green clothing and jewelry.
"It’s, uh, not the prettiest thing in the world," he said sheepishly as he finished up.
Toph’s nimble fingers traced the necklace and she smiled. "That’s okay. I can’t see it anyway. I’ll just pretend it’s pretty."
Sokka grinned. "That’ll work."
She held out her arm to him. "Shall we go tick off my parents with this announcement?" She asked, the picture of serious.
He took her arm in his, his grin widening. "Sounds like fun."
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author:
kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 855
Rating: G
Prompt: 11. Mission Impossible (
30_romances)
Characters: Sokka, Toph
Pairings: Sokka/Toph.
Summary: It was a Northern Water Tribe tradition, but it seemed appropriate somehow.
Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine. It wouldn't be fit for children if I ran the show.
Author's Note: *cough* Let me tell you about this fic. This fic was originally a 100-word drabble that decided it didn't want to be. Also I agonized over that damned title forever. I hate this one, but I couldn't find anything else that fit. At least it's fluff at last! ^_^ And I swear I need to write something not in Sokka's POV, because he always comes off so... Dramatic.
It was Northern Water Tribe tradition, not a part of his somewhat weaker culture, but he knew that no matter what Toph appeared to be, she’d always be a girl- no, a woman now- of class and noble birth, and deserved to be treated as such. It took him a lengthy journey to the North Pole to make a proper engagement necklace, and he spent the whole time there avoiding Chief Arnook’s curious glances and hoped he wouldn’t ask what matter of woman had stolen his heart away after his daughter had claimed it so long ago.
The necklace was shoddy, hardly a thing of beauty like the one Yue had worn or the one Katara still wore around her neck, but it would suffice. It would have to. Some of the younger men preparing for their arranged marriages eyed his pathetic necklace with looks of scorn, and he resisted the urge to pound them all into the snow. After all, it was the thought that counted, even if there was sort of a stigma associated with the engagement necklaces- here they symbolized an arranged marriage. Beyond these walls, he hoped it would be a sweet gesture. An attempt at class and dignity that he never quite mastered. Ignoring the jeers of the other young men, he took leave of the North Pole, carrying his little engagement necklace like a badge of honor all the way back to the Earth Kingdom.
Toph had returned home to the Beifong estate after the war, no longer the child her parents remembered and while it took a long time to get it through their skulls, they had finally accepted that their blind daughter was far from the helpless invalid they believed her to be before she left. It was that same estate that Sokka now walked into, the necklace clutched in his hands as he nodded solemnly to the guards, walking out to the garden where Toph was practicing a few Earthbending moves, stopping when he was close enough for her to speak to.
"Where have you been?" she said, turning to face him.
"The North Pole," he said simply. "I, uh, had to do something."
Toph blew a lock of her dark hair out of her face. She was dressed elegantly- it was a compromise she had with her parents that she would dress like a woman of her station should dress when in their home- and looked absolutely radiant, so radiant that Sokka had to wonder what he was thinking trying to ask her to marry him. He- a poor boy from the South Pole. He certainly knew how to pick women above his station, although station never seemed to matter when it came down to it. Still his hand clutched the necklace tighter as he fretted about the outcome of this endeavor.
"You have got to get me out of here," she grumbled, continuing. "They’re driving me crazy."
"They may drive you even crazier after this," Sokka muttered under his breath, although it didn’t go unnoticed by Toph’s excellent hearing.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, arching a brow.
He coughed nervously and held out the necklace, which she snatched out of his hand, feeling it carefully, trying to "see" what it was without really seeing it. "Aw, Sokka, you shouldn’t have," she said, somewhat sarcastically. "What is it?"
"It’s an, uh... Umm... Well... In the North Pole, men give these necklaces to...uh..." He paused, and then lowered his voice. "Womentheywannamarry."
Toph blinked. "...What?"
"They give them to womentheywannamarry."
Toph mouthed the words he kept mumbling to herself, trying to decipher what he was getting at since it was obvious he wasn’t going to be of any help on his own. When she realized what he’d said, she stopped, her mouth falling open. "You’re asking me... To marry you?"
"...Well, not if you don’t want me too," Sokka replied nervously.
Toph thrust the necklace back at him and his heart sank. Sadly, he took it from her, and was about to turn on his heels and leave to save himself more humiliation when he noticed the frustrated look on Toph’s face. "What?" He asked her, half-curious, half-depressed, as if he expected her to rub his nose in his failure. Toph could be horribly tactless when she wanted to be.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Well, are you going to put it around my neck or not?"
His heart underwent a sudden change as it nearly burst from his chest in excitement. He wasted no time in tying the necklace around her neck, not caring that it’s oddly misshapen form and coloring clashed with her elegant light green clothing and jewelry.
"It’s, uh, not the prettiest thing in the world," he said sheepishly as he finished up.
Toph’s nimble fingers traced the necklace and she smiled. "That’s okay. I can’t see it anyway. I’ll just pretend it’s pretty."
Sokka grinned. "That’ll work."
She held out her arm to him. "Shall we go tick off my parents with this announcement?" She asked, the picture of serious.
He took her arm in his, his grin widening. "Sounds like fun."