What is this? Eight, now? Alright. Eight, then.

EIGHT: Innocence.

Sokka and Toph walked along the streets of Omashu; her in her green outfit and he in his dark blue water tribe clothing. They weren't the same clothes they had worn those five years ago when they had first met. Oh, no, definitely not. Teenagers had a tendency to grow a large amount in a very short time, so Sokka had needed to have someone sew him new clothing when he had shot up two inches and his shoulders had widened into those of a man. The tiny Earthbender was still smaller than he was, though she had also grown taller. She was still petite, though, but the sharp angles of her Blind Bandit outfit were softened by the curves of womanhood.

Speaking of womanhood… Sokka's eyes trailed after a couple of pretty specimens of women. As they passed them in the street, the women giggled and smiled and he noticed that even after the beautiful women were gone there was a wonderful, flowery fresh scent that remained.

"Pah."

Sokka had barely managed to catch the sound that escaped his friend's lips. No, no, Sokka. Look at her eyes. Not her lips. He told himself, tearing his gaze upward to her blank eyes. Her expression was so controlled that he wasn't even sure that the sound had come from her.

"What?" he asked, throwing his arms up. "I'm not allowed to look at girls?"

"You and Suki just broke up a week ago." Toph told him, a scowl settling onto her pale face. "Don't you think you should wait before you start lusting after women out of your league?"

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Since when did Toph use words like lusting? "Have you been talking to Katara again?" he accused her, pointing a finger in her direction. "Did she start spewing about how I need – "

"A steady girlfriend, yeah." Toph admitted, her shoulders slumping a little. "You and Suki are… insane. First she breaks up with you, then you get back together. Break up, date more people, back together. Now you've broken up again. It's a never ending cycle!"

Sokka crossed his arms over his chest. "Look, Toph, I appreciate Katara's concern, but it's fine. I'm fine with breaking up with Suki. To tell the truth, I'm tired of all this repeated breaking up. It's crazy. But I don't like Katara spewing all this stuff about what I need. Especially with you. You don't need to worry about all this stuff."

"Why would me being worried be any different than Katara being worried?"

"You're not my sister. And you're too young to be worried about – "

Toph was pleased that he didn't think of her as his sister, but she was also concerned about how he told her she was too young. "What? Sokka, I'm not twelve." She scowled at him.

He couldn't help but glance down at her figure. "I know," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Anyway, you shouldn't be looking at those girls. They're out of your league and they're useless. What you need is a girl like Suki, who was strong and could fight with you. I mean, you know. By your side."

Sokka shrugged. He tried to think of any girls he knew that were like that, but the image of Toph appeared in his mind and he could not shake it. "Yeah, but I don't want her to be too fight-y. I want to take care of her, sometimes."

"And you shouldn't just ask them out straight away. Get to know them, first." Toph pressed urgently, though Sokka couldn't quite understand why she was so interested in giving him advice.

A sudden thought struck him. "Why are you giving me advice?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've never even been on a date! Why are you giving me advice?"

"So what if I've never been on a date? It doesn't mean I'm some innocent little kid, Snoozles." He smiled. It had been years since she had called him Snoozles.

"Toph, have you ever been kissed?" he asked flatly, coming right out with the point.

She shrugged. "Not exactly."

"Yes or no?" he pressed.

"No."

"Then you shouldn't be giving me advice. I should be giving you advice." He said, an amused look on his face as they continued to walk down the streets of Omashu.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"Yeah." He said in imitation of her.

"What kind of advice would you give me about dating? Carry lots of meat around with me so I can lure sarcastic men to me?" she laughed. It was still the same laugh that he had first heard at Earth Rumble Six all those years ago.

"I'd make you bring every interested guy to me. I would have to interview him and approve him. Get references, maybe. And no guys who have any earrings." He said flatly. "Ever."

"Would you ever let any guy date me?" she asked him, rolling her eyes at him.

"Only if he was good enough."

"So who makes the cut?"

"I would have let you date Aang. Or Zuko. Haru, maybe. You might chew him up and spit him out." He laughed and paused for a moment, as if picturing it. "Not the Duke. He's too young for you. He's just a kid."

"Okay. What are the qualities you would look for in a guy who dated me? Smart? Tall? Short?" she asked him, an expression he didn't recognize on her face.

"Hmm. Kind. But brave. Tall, definitely. If you two were both short your kids would have absolutely no chance. That'd be just cruel. I'd say – "

"Who said anything about children!"

"You'd have to have a future with him. I'm not going to let you waste your time with some guy just looking for a cheap date. Hmm. He'd be funny, to make you laugh. He'd stick up to you from time to time, so you wouldn't go mad with power."

Toph was silent for a moment, her cheeks flushing as she slowly churned around what he said in her head. "… Sokka?"

"Hmm?"

"You realize who you just described, right?"

His face went blank, then a slow flush crept across his face. "Uhhrnnrm."

"Sokka?"

"…yeah?"

She grinned. "Would you like to be my first kiss?"

"Unngmr." He said again, though this time he nodded his head just a fraction. He would. He had known Toph for years. He had fought many battles with her. He remembered tucking her beneath him for protection when debris was falling from the sky. He wondered why this had never come to him sooner.

He leaned towards her, but as he got close to her she grabbed his face and shoved him away. "Not now. I didn't mean now."

Sokka blinked. "Why not?"

"Because, Sokka. We've been walking in the hot sun for five days. I'm sunburned and my lips are chapped and dry. It wouldn't be a very good first kiss. You should wait until we get to Bumi's place. I'll get some, I dunno, salve or something and stick it on there and wait for them to heal so you won't have to – "

She was cut off as he suddenly pressed his lips to hers.

Toph had been right. Her lips were chapped and dry and cracked. But he couldn't remember ever having a sweeter kiss in his whole life. As he continued to kiss her on the side of the street, a scent rubbed his nose. Then it struck him… that amazing flowery scent hadn't been from the girls who they had passed. It had been… Toph.