Uncle Snoozles

Even though her cousins were here, even though she could show them all the new things she'd learned since she had last seen them, even though she could proudly boast that she knew all the elements plus some. . . Aiti was intently hunting for her Aunt and Uncle.

"C'mon, Momo!" she prodded the little lemur who had taken residence on her pillow. He stirred and blinked his large, bright eyes at her tiredly. "C'mon! It's dark outside. I want you to come with me."

The small animal grumbled, stood, turned in a circle and flopped back down again. She sighed and looked out in the dimly lit hallways. Being the youngest of her siblings and cousins, mama had said she had to be in bed at this time. She had already planned on sneaking out to see what her cousins were doing though . . . it had been late when everyone got here. She had been . . . "sleeping." But she had heard when Uncle Sokka and Auntie Toph came down past her room. Sokka had a present for her! But her mom determined that she could wait till morning, even though Sokka had continuously asked her that he could just do it tonight . . . it must be really good if her Uncle couldn't even wait!

"C'mon Momo! I'm afraid of the dark!" she whispered.

Momo was the only one she told her secrets too . . . she told him lots of things. He even let her hold him at night until she fell asleep when there was no moon to give her even the barest amount of light. Her daddy said Momo scared the night monsters away and she believed it – Momo slept right next to her every night.  She prodded him again, her bare feet growing cold on the stone floor.

"Please Momo?"

His big ears flicked backwards, as though the sound of her voice alerted him. With an energetic gurgle in his throat, he leapt up and jumped onto her shoulders, wrapping his tail around her neck as he stared straight ahead at her door. She giggled and pulled him down into her arms, hugging him tight as he went limp, already giving into her crushing embrace.

"You know, daddy says your fat but I say your just extra squishy." She said, letting him scramble back onto her shoulders. "And I don't think it's nothin' to be sad about. Just makes you more huggable."

Now with new determination, she set off into the dark hallways of the air temple, her tongue poking out between her lips as she held onto Momo's tail for confidence. The lemur stuck his head out slightly in front of hers, his nose twitching for signs of danger. She cautiously felt along the wall, her soft hands damp with her nervousness.

But she had Momo.

She swallowed back her fear, taking quick and quiet steps. Were they in the kitchen? Maybe they were outside in the gazebo . . . or sitting in her dad's study? But that was going in the opposite direction. She gulped and looked over her shoulder. She didn't want to go outside. Momo had a habit of getting distracted by fruit trees and leaving her all alone . . .

She stopped walking. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea after all. She looked over her shoulder again.

"Maybe we should just go back to my bedroom, Momo."

The lemur made an excited gurgle and leapt to the ground, dashing back into the darkness, even as she reached out to stop him.

"No Momo!" she whispered into the darkness. "Wait for me! Momo!"

She didn't run after him though. Instead, she slank against the wall and bit her lip as tears threatened to come. Now she was all alone . . . in the dark . . . Then she heard a soft, muffled sound . . . footsteps. Her heart sprang into her throat and a soft whimper escaped her lips. She sank to the ground, back against the wall and she pulled her legs to her chest.

And then she saw the dim glow of a lantern.

She raised her head, sniffing back tears and then dashed forward when she saw Toph and Sokka coming down the hallway, a small lantern clutched in Sokka's hand.

"I thought I saw someone down here." Toph's quiet voice said and instantly Aiti flung herself around her aunt's knees. Toph chuckled, taking a small step back to keep her balance and running her fingers through the little girl's hair. "Now that's how you do a sneak attack Sokka . . . Aiti's about as soft on her feet as her father. What are you doing out of bed anyway, missy?"

Aiti looked up into the pale, milky eyes of her aunt and wiped her tears on her sleeve. "Lookin' for you. But it's dark and Momo left me and I got scared and . . ."

"Oh what's this now?" Toph said, picked Aiti up and holding her close. "Afraid of the dark? Not my metal-bending niece . . ."

Aiti pouted.

Sokka chuckled slightly and wrapped his arm around Toph's shoulders, planting a kiss on Aiti's forehead. The little girl giggled and pushed him away.

"Uncle Sokka, your face tickles and it's all scratchy!"

Toph laughed and hugged Aiti. "I've been saying the same thing for years, kiddo. But these boomerang-benders are just so stubborn about their hair."

"Hey!" Sokka said indignantly. "I'm actually quite proud of this and – "

Toph shook her head with a laugh. "Let it go, Snoozles, you're out-voted."

Suddenly Aiti broke down into a fit of giggles and pointed at Sokka. "Snoozles?"

"Pretty clever, huh?" Toph said shifting Aiti to her other hip as Sokka shook his head.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Sokka said with mock aggression. "Looks like someone doesn't want their special present that I made for them . . ."

Aiti's energetic blue eyes went wide and she stretched herself across Toph's arms to get closer to Sokka.

"I'm sorry Uncle Snoozles . . ."

Sokka raised his eyebrow as Toph fought back a laugh that shook her shoulders. Eventually, Sokka smiled and rubbed her head.

"You know, it's a good thing you're five. And you're my niece."

"What did ya bring me?" Aiti said, suddenly very focused.

Toph smiled and pulled her back. "How about Sokka and me take you back to bed and we show you there, hm? Before your mom comes and we all get in trouble?"

Aiti nodded vigorously. "That's a good idea . . ."

As Toph started forward, Aiti wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck and buried her head in her shoulder. Toph smiled and tightened her grip on the little airbender.

"You know, I'm in the dark all the time." Toph said softly, picking her way forward. "It's not so scary."

Aiti nodded. "I know you are. Daddy say's you can't see."

"No, I can't." she said slowly. "I have to rely on my ears, and my feet and sometimes I even have to rely on your Uncle Sokka."

"Is that why you married him?"

Toph snorted. "No, I married him because I was determined that he wasn't going to get rid of me anymore."

"Mom says it's cause you two love each other but dad says it was because he stuck you on a block of ice and called it home and that you can't see as well on snow and ice."

Toph giggled. "That too."

"So what should I do when I'm afraid of the monsters in the dark, Auntie Toph?"

"You know what you do? You close your eyes and you pretend that you just earthbend them away like I would! That's how you get rid of them."

Aiti sighed dramatically.

"What?" Toph asked.

"I don't have to pretend to earthbend, Auntie, I already know how!"

Toph smiled. "Oh . . . right, I forgot."

Sokka stopped when the came to her bedroom and pushed the door open. He stepped in, waved the lamp around and then looked to Aiti.

"I didn't see any monsters did you?"

She perked up and pointed under her bed. "Check there first."

"I've got this one," Toph said, shifting her stance and for a moment, the stone floor responded to her feet and she drew up. "Well there is something under there!"

Aiti gasped and clung tighter to her neck as Sokka bent down on one knee and put the lamp under the bed and then chuckled as he reached under and pulled Momo out. The lemur blinked in the lantern light and turned his head to the side.

"Aang was right, Momo, you really have put on some weight!"

Aiti giggled as Momo jumped out of Sokka's grasp and curled up on her pillow. Toph sat down, setting Aiti down on the bed between her and Sokka.

"Better?" Toph asked.

"Yep! I'm not afraid anymore, 'specially not with you and Uncle Snoozles here."

Toph laughed and gave Sokka a side glance. "I win – my nicknames are better than yours."

Sokka was about to retort when Aiti jerked excitedly on his shirt, her eyes anxious and impatient. Sokka chuckled and reached into a bag on his back.

"Hm . . . now where is it . . ." he muttered, keeping the bag just out of her reach. "Uh oh . . . did I forget it at home?"

Toph reached over and punched him on the arm. "Don't tease her Sokka . . . You've been admiring your handiwork the entire trip here, now give it to her already."

Sokka smiled and laughed and then pulled out a small, yellow, curved object and placed into Aiti's outstretched hands.

"Every boomerang-bender needs her own boomerang, don't you think?"

It was small enough to fit into her hands, made especially for her tiny fingers. Her face broke in half with a smile that stretched to her ears. She began to jump up and down on the bed and then squealed, making Toph wince.

"Kid has a set of lungs . . ." she muttered, grinning when the bed flopped with the weight of Sokka as Aiti tackled him with a big hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she said excitedly, sitting cross legged on his stomach, admiring her new gift. "Now we can boomerang-bend together! This is the best present ever!"

"You bet!" Sokka said excitedly. "Lessons start tomorrow morning, right after breakfast!"

She giggled and cradled it to her chest. "Can we practice all day?"

"Of course!"

"Hey, what about those metal-bending moves you were going to show me?" Toph interrupted, crossing her arms indignantly.

Aiti jumped off Sokka and nestled into Toph's side. "We can do that too! I can't wait! Your gonna be really impressed."

"I always am!" Toph said, give her a side hug.

Aiti held the little, yellow boomerang out in front of her, swinging her legs off the edge of her bed. "It's so pretty!"

"Your mom said your favorite color was yellow, so I made sure to find the perfect paint just for you."

"Yellow's my second favorite, but you couldn't really paint it in my first favorite color."

Sokka looked a little taken aback. "Why? What's your first favorite?"

"Invisible." Aiti said simply with a little shrug of her shoulders.

"Invisible?" Toph and Sokka asked together.

"Yup! 'Cause it really exists but it doesn't!"

Sokka looked at her with a half hearted grin as Toph shook her head.

"You are completely and wholly your father's daughter." Toph giggled, rubbing her eyes with a small yawn. "But I think we best be getting to bed . . . sounds like we have a lot to do tomorrow."

"I guess so . . ." Aiti said plopping next to Momo. The lemur moved over some and then stretched out so he curved around the top of her head.

Sokka and Toph stood. With a grin, Sokka pulled the blankets around Aiti as Toph leaned down to kiss her forehead. Sokka leaned down to kiss her forehead as well, and then tickled her skin with his beard, making her giggle and squirm. He smiled and pulled out of the way in time to avoid being smacked by her little boomerang.

"Alright. Good night Aiti." Sokka whispered, picking up the lantern.

"Sleep tight, squirt." Toph said with grin, opening the door.

"Night Auntie Toph . . . Night Uncle Snoozles."

Sokka softly shut the door behind, watching as she curled up with the boomerang in her grasp, Momo's tail draping over her innocent, round face. A face that reminded him so much of Katara . . . he smiled. There couldn't be a prouder uncle on this planet, he was sure. With a quiet snick! the door shut and he automatically reached for Toph's hand. He entwined his fingers with hers, giving her a small glance as they made their way down the hallway.

"Doesn't it make you want another one?" he asked softly.

Toph raised an eyebrow. "About that . . ."

Sokka stopped. "Toph?"

She grinned back at him, the dull light lighting up her mischievous features, reflecting off her unseeing eyes. Her grin spoke volumes.

"Well don't just stand there like an idiot, Sokka, come sweep me off my feet or something!"

With a soft laugh, he ran forward and lifted her from the ground, spinning her in a circle as the light flicked around them. When he stopped, he pressed his lips gently to hers, smiling as her arms wrapped around his neck. When he pulled away, he set her down again, sighing happily.

"And for what reason did you wait until now to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"Toph . . ."

"I haven't said a word about anything!"

She giggled, not needing to see the accusing look his eyes to know that he was confused, tired and not wanting to play this game. But she did anyway and continued down the hall, leaving him standing there, shaking his head as the lantern swung softly back and forth.

Well, at least he knew Aiti would always be his little boomerang-bender . . .

"Coming to bed, Snoozles?" Toph asked down the dark expanse.

He grinned. "Yeah . . . and that's Uncle Snoozles, by the way . . ."

He wrapped his arm around her waist when he caught up with her and Toph laughed. "Whatever you say, Sokka . . ."