Faces Of Koh
Authors note: Minor Pairings. Some Taang friendship, mentions of other pairings, one-sided Kataang.
This tells the theory that Toph's face might have been stolen by Koh in the finale, based off of the Swamp.
I don't own anything, but I can dream.:) This fan-fiction is also LONG. Please try to concept it. It basically is the finale but with minor changes, because many things that were hinted at, such as Aang meeting Koh again, never happened, or Toph's possible/near death. Or Ursa.
Reviews are nice, but please, don't bash if you don't like the mild/implied Zutara, Taang and Sukka pairings.
Her vision was a blur.
Of course, all she ever saw was everlasting darkness behind her eyes if she looked with her face. She must of fell. Yes. She could feel stinking air flowing gently around her toes. At least the earth was firmly cradling her. Why? Something puffy welted up between her forehead. Was she ill. Probably not, but she could not.....
"Toph! Toph, what were you saying?"
She knew that voice. It made her blush. The voice that had made her feel welcome to such a tight-knit group. Who did the voice belong to?
Light, soft footsteps made their way behind him. She knew who this was. Twinkle toes. A smile passed through her lips. She almost had to concentrate to see him.
"Sokka. What have you done."
Was that her mother? No. The voice was too young, too inexperienced. Maybe they were sisters. If she had one.
"One minute we were talking, then the next, BLAM, she fell like a stone!"
The voice she liked; Sokka, she thought, sounded worried. It sent a wave of warmth through her. She'd been part of a group, that was for sure, but who were these people? Was Twinkletoes beside them part of them?
The whiteness melted through her head again. White was a too much brightness. She'd been told that she could feel how "bright" things were into her face. Only normal thing she could ever she. Had these people told her....
Stop. She felt the familiar bulges of aches that swept in her stomach if she couldn't see. All in your head, all your stupid fearful head. Too many questions.
Vaguely, she could feel that these people, this...family had gathered aside her. Their was another. The older one. The one who mother both wanted to despise and...had some other emotion to him. She wanted dearly to smirk. She knew.
"I've not hurt her, if that's what your thinking."
Mother had turned onto the older one, who was on the spot now. Poor thing had started shivering. Mother's fiercely protected young.
What had she been doing? It didn't matter. It would come to her. Crumbly rocks were around her ankles. One, two, sea-cows go "moo", three four, lock the door, five, six, mix the bake, seven eight, stand up straight.
It didn't go like that. Oh well. It was for a young baby, that little rhythm. Maybe her real mother had told her that.
She felt a urgent hand at her side. It was Twingletoes. What was his name? He felt nervous. His heart readings were of the chart. His high voice sounded worried.
"But...But I..."
He was a tiny scary-cat-mole, wasn't the little lightweight?
"Wha....I came alone. Toph, I'm so sorry! If I did, I didn't mean to. Or something. Just wake up!"
Oh. He'd brought her to this group. She didn't mind. She knew his name though. Strange.
The blankness was comforting know. These people needed to loosen up. She was fine. Just had lost her footing. They were ignoring Twingletoes though. Loud shouts as they argued about what to do thundered through them. They wouldn't shut up. She could, though. She'd tell them.
The little toes couldn't move. Must be ill. Could she tell them to help her up? No. She could feel them fine, even hear the blood rushing though them, but the stinking things wouldn't obey. The little voice in the back of her head told her it was for the best. Funny. It sounded different.
She sank back into what must be whiteness. It felt swirling. Aang. That was his name. She'd silence his racket in the morning.
The figure was always out of sight. Toph knew that much. Always just on the horizon, always out of touch. She'd followed her for as long as she could remember. It was her purpose. Muffled sounds of the swamp passed though her ears. Fog always clouded her line of hearing. When had she last bathed? Her hair was were her clothes. It needed doing. Not that she cared.
Her mission could wait. The figure would stay where she was. The girl was light, barley touching the ground, never moving as far as Toph could tell. It was her standing still though. The swamp did change. She did have some purpose.
It was difficult to see in such boggy climate. Everything had an edge of murk around it, swallowed up by fuzziness. Things just nearly weren't there. Other animals lived here, Bear-Foxes, know-it-all-Ground-monkeys, yelling cat-rats out for rubbish. The Light girl was the normal person she'd seen here. A friendly, familiar face. She realized she was next to a bank of water. Little ripples fluttered through her ankles, indicating a slight flow. Toph hated water, nearly as much as she hated air. She belonged firmly on the (admittedly soaking) ground.
Scooping up some soft, but clean sand, Toph rubbed her arms gingerly. She might as well be dry, it was nice in the humidity. It disintegrated into nothingness by the time she'd gone for a second layer. She frowned, then brushed off the remaining dirt. Things here had a habit of being so annoying. She pushed her fingers around a near by rock, and took aim. What could she see? Ah. There. A little baboon-monkey. Sitting pompously on a rock. She'd wiped the smug expression of of his.....
"You!"
Me?
"I know your there."
The monkey spoke weirdly. Too many meditations. Toph felt him more clearly now. He was along the opposite bank, perched on his shrine of a stone.
"Turn. Around!"
"Why?" She felt warm breath move up and down her throat. So this was what talking felt like. Like breathing, but more....refreshing.
"Because its polite." The little rodent fingers where pushed together, the palms spread out in greeting. At least it was real.
She turned in his direction and looked up to what be his line of sight. Was that normal?
"I'm not THAT...small."
She flushed. Made a baboon out of a baboon. The monkey had returned to its pose, eyes shut tight, gnarled feet curled upwards.
"Are you just going to sit there all day?" It came out with such force. She liked it.
He opened one eye reluctantly and hissed out:
"Yeeesss."
This was getting nowhere. Stupid furball.
"That's it then?" She smiled.
He returned to his stony silence, still as a statue. He was wearing formal clothes, draped over his shoulder. They made annoying dents in the air.
"Who's that? Over by the...sea?" That word meant something. Toph had found herself pointing towards the Light Girl, still standing on the outskirts of all that she could see.
The Furball was still unmoving. The hard rock, meant to be thrown, was still in her clammy hands. Giving a hard toss, it was flung out into the pond, sending unnatural ripples into the calm waters.
"Answer me, Furball!"
It un-ravelled himself finally and after a another pause it began to clean its long nails.
"Impatient. Clothing of a red variation. Defiantly former Fire-Nation."
That rang a bell. She shrugged it out of the way. Not important.
"She's always far away. How is that?"
"Its answers we need, not, QUESTIONS!" His unusual stresses pounded her ears.
Swishing sounds came from him as he put his leathery fingers in his ears. Idiot. It began to babble non-nonsensically.
"Why am I here, Furball? Why is everything so...so...wrong?"
It shook its furred head, breathing steadily.
"No one to you. Nothing to you. How have you come be here?"
Well, that made sense. What did it mean? She was like him, like all of them, lost in this world of mist.
"I've been here for...awhile. Maybe for how long you've been lounging on your....."
"GET OUT!"
Its bellow nearly sent her backwards. What was this Furballs need for odd mannerisms?
"Go. Away." He snapped his mouth up and proudly shook his head back up.
Oh yes, she'd get away from this helpful little baboon. Fine, then.
She felt herself stomping off, back into the rotten silt, feet and fingers contracting for....something to happen. Couldn't she move the earth? No, that was too silly. Stupidity was not what she, Toph Bei Fong, needed. That was for riddling Baboon-Monkeys.
"No thanks to you, Fuzzy."
Good riddance.
"My name is Enma! Enma, young lady!"
So what? He was in her way. She had needed to get to the Light girl. Why? Don't let those thoughts nag, Toph, control. She'd been having thoughts, repeating consistently, of people she recognized but did not know. They interrupted life too much for her understanding. A tall-ish boy a couple of years older than her, one that made her thoughts shy away from him. A heavy girl whose heart sped up every time she was around the tall one. A icy girl who pretested at kindness, the outsider who made her emotions spill out. And Aang. He wasn't part of them. He was here.Toph avoided him r, though. She saw him a couple of time, his soft feet grazing the murky undergrowth. She'd hidden. He wasn't normal. How did he know her? Or, more likely, her mixed idea of him.
It could be solved in the morning. Which was...something. It was always something else. She punched the ground, frustration seeping through her tiny knuckles. Why didn't it budge? She might be a tiny, small as a shrew-bat girl, but she was powerful, wasn't she? All that blankness regained oozing into the back and middle of her head again. It reminded her of sleep. Yes. She'd do that. She'd wait till this she could remember that the marshes were softly warmer and had a edge of brightness surrounding her eye lids.
Light spilled from the figure, its creases of clothes billowing in the non-existent wind. Drips of water rushed past as it swept alongside the soaked plants of the undergrowth. It paused, turning towards the tangle of roots and tree that flourished along the burst of the river. This was not her usual terrain. But children had found their way here. She'd protected people in her rein in the mortal earth, and now she would protect them in her own realm. She could easily find the spirit she was looking for. He'd been cast out of his land, just like her, by people who destroyed their protection and environment. Hei Bai knew who she was. The panda spirit would tell all he knew if you were careful.
The mud was stirring. It was crumpling in on its self, pouring into the void beneath itself. This felt uncanny. She must be doing this. Her ankles pounded the ground, grip slipping. Seeing was difficult in such porous places. That sounded nice. Porous places. Fingers clenching together, her arms strained to control the earth, still moving of its own accord. It had started just after she had slept, just a drip far bellow. It was now curling around her toenails, tugging at her feet. Why was this piece of mud moving?
Toph's feet began to thump the ground in vain, trying to be the earth underneath her. Still nothing. Shapes of high stone were far into the sink hole, crushing the others below them. It was a building, and a large one at that. What were they used for? Stuff. Wood things were piled along the stone. She didn't like wood. Tree's were fine, they were rooted to the earth and she could still feel her way round. Not furniture. Strange word.
Sand was grasping her skinny legs,heaving her down. Toph hoisted her legs up, catching on the floor, pulling her down. It happened too quickly! This earth had a life of its own.
With that, she had been engulfed into the whirling pit. And I didn't even have a chance to breathe.
"But what should I do?"
The young boy's high pitched voice ran out in to the silent woods. His companion was just as solid as he was, yet....different. Like everything else. And floating above a pool.
"Few have passed into the realms of the Spirit World, young Avatar." He sighed as much as his non-existent shoulders could let him. "I, and the other Avatar's, stay in this world but are dead humans. It is not in my power to help anyone. We cannot even psychically hold a simple stone."
His grey eyes rang out his concern. He edged closer towards the moss-ridden pond and opened his mouth.
"I never wanted to hurt her, I just wanted your hel...."
"There comes a time, young Avatar, where me must let go of are fears, among other things."
He shut his mouth. Could he mean....
"Why would I choose knowledge over Toph?" He manged to squeak out.
The older Avatar shook his head, and drew back towards the bank.
"Your earthly attachments hold you back more than once. I have seen too it that the Earthbender is safe. Now." He held up his hand too the Avatar. "You are not to blame."
He looked away into the depths of the swamp. Was he?
"Responspitly can make us guilt-ridden and anxious. It comes with over costs as well, Aang."
Aang wished Avatar Roku would just stop mention that. He'd chosen love, or what he thought was love, over power. Now it was his fault that more innocent lives had been taken. That the Fire Nation continued to push into the other Nations. That Toph was in danger.
"Even a small pebble, flowing against the tide, can become useful when unblocked."
Aang gazed at Roku, unsure of what to do. He had encountered rocks before, stopping his chakra and him reaching the Avatar state. Roku nodded at him as he bent over, feeling the rock between his fingers, wet in the water. The rock wouldn't budge. He pulled with what strength he could, without his bending in this world. It remained steadfast.
"Sometimes we must accept what is around us and work with the tide, not against it."
Aang shifted his weight and began to push down onto the rock, loosening under the pressure. It bent, then was buried under moving mud. The murky pond was swallowing its self almost, mud washing into the shore.
"Wha..."
Roku smiled, and with a gust of wind, left in shimmering light. The pond took Aang with him.
Breathing as it turned out, wasn't a problem. It must of just been a strange habit. The Baboon-monkey never seemed to need air. Cocooned in grit and sand, Toph was in her element. It was like being a little child again, always held in others arms because they saw her as weak. Little girl. She didn't know why. She was tiny, but not as small as a spider-mouse, and she could see clearly. Maybe she was a rock here. She felt like one encased in all this soil. There was paper thing on the floor, ink all over them. Clay scarped along her soles, making her realize how battered they were. She needed a bath as well. Toph had never found herself craving a bath, and she didn't like it. But she was covered in filth, not just earth, after tumbling into...somewhere. She sighed, shoulders heaving. So many blanks.
A trickle of water was outside. It fell in from above, dripping onto the smooth floor. She'd be a good girl like they, whoever they were, and wash herself. She wiggled her fingers, sending sand to heap on them. That wouldn't work. Maybe she could kick her way out? More mud buried her as she flailed her shins. Bubbles of panic rose up in her chest, no matter what happened, earth should be on her side.
"I see someone has come to steal my collection."
A beak had thrust its way into her cocoon, grazing her arms. It was rubbery and smooth, like the Humming-Herons that occasional felt fishing in the marsh. Except that this beak was easily much, much larger.
Something had gone down her sleeve, maybe if it was more mud.....
Nothing. Nothing was here anymore. She could here things, the ruffle of those paper things, the sound of rushing water, a clunk of metal on metal, but it didn't exist. But she could feel.....feathers. Had this over sized pigeon-rat picked her up?
"Put me down now!" She loved reverting back to rage.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Toph Bei Fong." How did this bird know her name? The bubbles of panic she had had pushed their way into her gullet. The bird could have her down his gullet, if she didn't get away now. Writhing, she tried to punch the little maggot-worm.
"Resistance is futile against humanity's betters."
She didn't catch a word of its talk, and she didn't care.
"I suggest you stop attacking he who knows a thousand things, or you will face consequence's for your previous actions."
What was he who knew everything squawking about?
"Look birdie, I have absolutely no idea what your...."
"Toph?"
A stuttered voice piped up from below the bird. It almost sounded like a cricket-bat, but it had the vibe of a ...human? And was everything stalking her here? The bird turned his head sharply and must be glaring at the...human.
"She is obviously human. And humans cannot cross into the spirit world."
"She....she means no harm. Do you?" His voice was a high babble. It strained her ears. It reminded Toph of old things, objects of worth.
She still struggling as she spoke:
"Why would I harm you? This animal, on the....."
Pain shock through her skull as she landed sharply on the hard clay floor. It ebbed away as the tiles faded away from her then reappeared untouched. The pigeon-rat obviously responded badly to her jibes. She nudged herself into a crouch, then almost fell on her feet crossed-legged. She was exhausted.
"I am no mere mortal. I have gathered information for millennial, and will continue to do so." His claws swept across the ground, till Toph could feel his rounded face near hers.
"But I think you are." Yes, she wasn't a giant owl-snake. Thank you for the information.
"Where is Aang? And Sokka and Ka....." It was the old guy.
"I don't know who your talking about! Leave me alone." She choked out the last words. They painfully rang a bell. But Aang was real, just far away.
"You are lying. You were part of the cause for the deconstruction of my mortal library. You helped them, so you are an enemy of me." His face drew back, and he swirled towards the man.
"If you were part of this, I will leave you in the realm of....."
The older man's heart began to thump hardly and he started hyperventilating, chest rising. Couldn't he control himself?
"On my heart, I swear I have had nothing to do with this, I am just....."
"A human." He marched across to him. "An imbecile who wishes only for destruction and suffering."
The man knee's crunched as he sank to the floor and choked out apologies to the wise-old bird.
"So your pretty learned, huh, are you?" She regretted taunting the owl seconds after she said it, the faint rise of his hackles as he spoke so close she could feel it through air.
Its voice kept the same monotones throughout, she half wished it would be annoyed, worried, express some emotion throughout his speech.
"So what so you wish to know? I know how you must have got here, if that is what your seeking, and I'd be more than delighted to see you go back."
To where? This knowledge seeker was off his pedestal, clearly.
"Noooooo." She attempted to control her voice with its breath down her neck, and failed. But she still smiled.
"Who is the girl who stands on the edge? The light one?"
The bird eased itself into a more relaxed posture, and moved his foot of the floor in must be a puzzled gesture.
"She is the one who guides the moon around the other realm. She never be contacted, if that is what your friend wanted you to do."
Footsteps edged there way towards her, surprising soft. A tap on her shoulder remained her that the man was near her.
"Toph? Toph do you remember me?" From like, five seconds ago.
"I'm Professor Zei. From Ba Sing Se? He sounded hopeful. Maybe she had bumped into him when she was looking for the moon girl. She saw the moon sometimes, at those times where the light girl would appear on the other side of the horizon, looking onto the world instead of turning away from it.
"Yeah...Maybe."
Zei sighed with relief and stood up, feet denting the floor.
"So your healing! Just as I expected. Such a plucky girl as this, I know, Aang sai....."
"You know nothing. His voice is a constant thing. No mortals mind cam handle it. He can play with his targets, giving them pinpoints of clarity, yet keeping them in the dark. He is bound by honor and law, which stops him seizing I, in the unlikely event that he should want......"
"You've seen Aang? I was looking for him earlier, but he never showed any sign that her even recognized me, selfish little....."
The owl snapped its beak shut, spun round and stalked off, toward the strange piles of wood. To guard them? But they were worthless.
Zei faced the direction it had left. Little Professor would know anything.
Gathering enough strength to do so, she took a sharp intake of nothingness.
"Why can't Aang see me?"
This lump was very large and un-moving. It was an animal, yet it must have been injured. Its large face had a tear right through it, smooth and solid. Poor thing. It was....something. And to be avoided. Wan Shi Tong had told her to. It was heavy too. All of them were, each horrible thing drifting forever, as if they couldn't sense her. Something caught the edge of her thigh, and she slipped in the heavy mud, splashing over her fringe. Stupid tree. Stupid fog. Stupid bird commanding her to find his fellow knowledge seeker, some insect had captured. Toph kicked the branch, and snickered. She could squish bugs.
She turned, trying to dig her toes into the fine layer of earth. Everything was a plant here, clinging onto a powder earth. It gave a sharp quality, rattling along the undergrowth. The light...moon girl was still there, and a panda was munching away quietly, always in the background. It was comforting to have something that wasn't trying to kill her here.
Footsteps collided with the undergrowth. Another professor? No, it was...young. No more than ten years old than her. Was this guy following her too?
"Leave me alone, creep-snake." He stopped, as if he knew she was there. They didn't know anything here.
"Go on." She spat at his feet, then gasping. What had she had against this guy? More buzzing white questions.
His feet had such heavy shoes on. His whole garb was padded, protection against the elements. He was wrong as well, but he had dents in his skin, blood pounding in them. And he took no notice of her. Like Twingletoes. She'd glimpsed delicate boy in the....forest, still looking for someone else. This thing called Katara. She wasn't here, unless that was the Moon Girls name. A pang rang along her. No one had spoken to her, except for the brainiac.
His hard shoes thumped across the soil, paying no attention towards how she could see him. The owl's directions had been weird too, asking her to follow a "orange path" and look for a dead "brown" tree root. Must be some building. Finally, some company.
I slice went through the air as he sharply pointed back. She'd been that way? What was this guy playing at?
"I need to find an insect named...."
He nudged her roughly, again in the same direction. The pang boiled up inside her. He still had large ears.
"Please, I need you to speak..." Wet tears welled up in her eyes, all that they were good for. Everything wanted to hurt her. But she must be strong.
He backed away, leaving trail of footsteps. His his singed flew towards his wrecked face, contorting. What now?
"Oh..Just sto.."
These...imitations of animals, broken life, had no face. A head as smooth as stone. Like statues. But the inside of his face was squirming underneath, and she could feel it inside her.
Block it out. Block it out Toph. It still hungrily ate up her toes, pushing at the delicate bones. Those icky, long bones. Why did she have them? Too...bend. Touch her toes?
"Ah".
Its voice strangled under its hole in its chin, wrinkled in concentration. It wouldn't stop. She found her self on her knees, holding her feet, lifting them into the strangely welcome air. Safe. Free from him. Who wasn't making sense. Lua Yen?
"Phather...Uiroh." His mouth was making out words...Names? But this was still creepy. Worse than the bird.
"Nome, Lu... Ten.Ou." So that....
"Your called Lu Ten? Right?" She squeaked out. It hurt her sobbing throat.
She felt him..Lu Ten, nod, even in the air. Her fear sank back down into her stomach, dragging her ankles to the floor gently. They hurtled back up again when she felt the lack of any features, any soul.
"Tel...im.. Softe." Softy? This guy had looked like he'd been dragged thourgh the bird's nest. Not a weakling.
"Softy? You want me to tell him your soft?" His feet stamped on the ground angrily. No.
"Goa." He tapped her elbow, trying to pick her up. No way was she being helped by creep-snake. He was still making out noise, wheezing out tingling sound.
"Tis', Baa Singa Saei aruptured? Mis Ursar?" Toph didn't know.
"Let me be. I'm fine!" But she was sprawled on the ground, crying out like a baby, fists clenching at the dirt. And still no where near the tree root which Koh called home.
It had been long since he had added a child to his collection. Many had seeked the truth and suffered for it. It was on their consequences. They were things men were not meant to know. But this girl deserved her fate. Age, nation, gender or spirit, he did not discriminated. It was his duty. He must learn what he must do.
"Your here! I knew I could find you..."
He had finally decided to join her. Instead of looking for the other girl.
"Instead of her!" Toph snarled. She was soaking, and covered in filth from her...experience with the faceless. Her face was safe, and wet with salty tears. Not because of him.
He sounded confused, probably wondering why someone like her was curled up to a mossy rock, tucked into her knees. She wanted sleep. His company was better than nothing, though. Delicate little twingletoes.
"What are you going on about?" Aang asked. Feeling waves of anger pass over her, she found her herself standing over him, drawn to her full tiny height.
"You know! You were shouting after her like a lost pet. She's not here, Twingletoes. I am."
"I was worried that the other guys could get...."
She started to yell, "OTHERS?
"They are no others Aang."
He seemed to look back, shocked. He was the scardy-mole?
"I thought that since you were here, I might hurt someone..."
"Who are you talking about? I've been after this girl who moves water like a Koi-fish, for how long now?"
His heart sped up, pounding in his chest. So this was what he was....
He took a breath, gathering up.
"Katara's here. I lost...her?"
More of those bubbles came up, clouding her mind, and throat.
"Not you, softy. No one brought us here." Talking about this always made her feel ill again. Shut up. Short sentences. Be Stubborn, like a rock.
"No, I...."
But Toph had brought herself to her senses, spun round and pushed away through the swaying fronds of ferns, ignoring the calm, watching, fluffy panda gulping down large shoots of bamboo. Aang's heart sank, and so did his feet. He made to follow her, but the large mass of white and black fur barricaded his view, shaking its head.
"Hei Bei?"
She could feel its pulse. The plant was living, a thing. It stretched upwards into the sky, for once giving her a glimpse of the atmosphere. Her own pulse was throbbing, in....something. The same thing that made her...sister's heart leap at the sight of...the fire guy? But she was daydreaming again. The weird mixture of fear and longing. The bird said Koh could help her go somewhere. Anywhere but the Swamp and the large empty valley that she was in was good enough for her. Maybe Katara, the moon girl Twingletoes kept chasing after her could help her. They must be related, after all, and she was only a bit older than Toph. Teach her to move the earth, like she controlled water. Her toes dug into the root longingly, trying to seek out moisture, dirt. She gulped. She and air did not go together very well, and she was very much high in it. Bugs liked tree's, right?
She dropped onto all fours, nudging along the last entwined roots towards the sheltered, cramped space. Her hand suddenly jerked sideways, a piece of the branch had given. The muffled thump echoed up to her tiny ears. It was a long way down.
She turned the palm over and rubbed it clean. They felt scabbed and raw from her climb up here through the bamboo forest, and she was covered in muck. It stung in pain. She winced, and tried to gain her balance walking. The blankness swirled upwards, but she was surprisingly clear headed up here. The illness must ebb away at the source of her.....
"Toph?"
And more urgently:
"Katara!"
He could never reach her in time. She had found some way up into the mist-clouds, and he was stuck to the ground. If he had his staff, or even just bending, he could stop her, and find Katara. But both were lost to him. His fault.
She looked like she was about to fall of, making his breath catch. But she simply slipped, pulling back up again from her crawl. The dot didn't fall down into the marshs. The large, dark brown roots were mockingly vertical, Aang could never catch them or climb. He must find Katara. She must be the spirits target. Yes, Toph is the bait. Katara would always try to save others. Except for...Zuko. Maybe. They seemed friendlier know that he'd gone on his field trip with her. To his surprise envy rose up in him. He swallow it down. They only hugged once. Katara had always like him, she'd hated Zuko before. Or....No. Katara's life was in danger. She was probably worried sick after Toph.
But why did Toph stalk off? She'd always been...prickly to say the least, but she and Katara had no fight with each other now, not in the spirt world. Maybe she tried to make her take a bath. He smiled, trying not to laugh manically. Yes, that was why Toph was covered in dirt and....was splashed with tears and huddled over. He pushed away the thought and began to call again.
He made her almost fall to the floor again with dread. She could feel him, legs grazing the underside of the roots. All 600 of them, scraping along the ancient dead plant. What had the old bird told her not to do? A shake ran through her shoulders as she felt him. There. Right behind her. Not moving, not showing any sign of emotion. Nothing. She must stay still. Be calm. Not anger him. Try not to hug herself from fear.
"Little girls should be seen and not heard, young one."
Toph couldn't move. Only the quiver of hair betrayed the slightest hint of a sway. Echo's of the words bounced off the walls, hurting her ears, repeating the speech.
"Answer me, tiny!" His....face was closer now, but held no breath. It overwhelming stank. A shiver passed through her. The owl said he could not hurt her as long as she remained numb. The insect drew back his head, scuttling over to her side. It feet moved in waves, swimming along the sandy bed.
"Hmm. Has the Wisdom seeker taught you well? I'm surprised you and your "friends" could ever learn anything." His voice suddenly changed, becoming rougher, and a shriek. Absorbed into his head, and out back. How did it do that to its face?
Stifling a cry, she tried to keep her voice steady.
"Wan Shang Tong wanted his...brother to be freed. What do you do to these animals?"
He began to rock, in amusement.
"Why, it is their fault. I take anything, anything at all." Koh swayed into her again
She pulled her face again, keeping the mask. It depended on it.
"It is merciful." His voice became smoother, and the weird popping noise hissed from his throat again. He towered over Toph, leaning above her on face.
"Do you recognize this face? Of course you do not, helpless child!" He came still closer. "You are blind. A cripple. Which is why your here, is it not?"
Blind? She could see him. Her feet were fine? The
"Seeing is clear enough for me." She cross her arms, not backing away in surprise.
"Knowing is what you lack. Oh yes, you can feel objects. But can you tell me what colour is, what something looks like?"
It hurt. The whiteness was building, and it hurt, the flood of feelings that came back to her. What was this. She clutched at her head.
"You feel the pain, don't you? The pain of remembering, of feeling. This boy came to me by accident, following his father, the noble Iroh. He sought power, of proving himself. So does the Avatar."
She covered her face with her hands, hiding herself. She could keep her voice expressionless this way.
Toph manged to get out:
"What do you want with Aang? What has he done with you?"
"He is an Avatar. Many have tried to slay me, but one almost succeeded. He stole most of my souls. I seek payment."
"What is it that you seek?"
"The face of a loved one. He failed the spirits. He refused to Payment must be for filled."
She wasn't Katara. She wasn't the waterbender in her daydreams. A tingle ran thourgh. So she was in her place.
"Do I have a choice?" She felt serene, knowing her fate.
"You could leave. Spend your days following Spirit Yue, pining over your equals in the other realm. Or." His face mutated again, into a older, heavier voice.
"Stay here. What I'm offering is an eternity without pain, without suffering, without any thoughts or emotions." He sounded sincere almost, soothing.
"No." Her choice was definite. The spirit was away from her again, at the edge of the entrance.
"Look at me, Toph." She kept her hands firmly on her head, blocking her face, her eyes.
"What else is there for you? Unlike the Avatar's dear earthly…..needs." It had a soft, feminine voice for this being, a sweeter...Waterbender.
"I won't."
Koh was blocking the entrance now, obscuring the soft warmth of any light. So this was the end.
"Look....At. ME!"
Toph could feel something behind her eyes, an urge to look. A need.
And there was everything and nothing combined in a flash of....light. Of swirls of objects in front of her face. Of colour. All scrambling inside her brain, confused with her normal vision, a glimpse of Her Aang crying out. So that was what he looked like. Strange.
"You must learn to get over what had happened, and look forward."
She was standing...floating there, so much like Katara, the girl who imitated her. She looked Fire Nation , of course, with the same pale skin and dark eyes, but had the gentle air she had.
"But why would I give up Toph for Katara? I can't choose can I?"
She nodded, still guiding him upwards towards the spire of roots, her red and white robes ballooning out. No one could bend here, but nothing could stop the
"Your spirit may not be able to decide, but your mind can. And so can I." She spoke softly.
Aang's eyes widened.
"But...I can defeat the Fire Nation. With help?"
She let go of his hand, suspending them in mid-air. Why was she stopping. They'd had to save Katara and...
"Will Toph...survive?" She still stared at him with her calm face, the red face paint stock-still. The tiniest corner of her mouth turned down.
"He cannot kill. Whether I could persuade him to give up the face, I do not know."
"You don't? She'll be trapped in here forever!"
"Just like the others. She won't be alone, at the very least. There is even some children. We have tried to release some, with little success."
Koh could give the souls back? But then Katara and Toph must be safe. She started to smile again.
"You being the Avatar, he may be in more of a position to listen. But he does not heed any authority. And under the circumstances..."
His stomach clenched.
"What have I done. I did nothing wro...."
The Painted Lady turned around and almost looked frightening. "You did plenty wrong, Avatar. People have been lost as a result of Ba Sing Sea. All for one girl. She is an attachment, Aang."
"She was in trouble, I had too...."
"You choose to be troubled by others when you want to. You failed to save the lives of the Earth Kingdom, of you own Nomads, but for Katara, or any of your friends, you would rush to protect them." She seemed to be lessening up, realizing how harsh she was being. For him.
"But they're my family." She sighed and touched his shoulder again, rising through the air with no wind or energy.
"You are so young, and so unready. It must be difficult. But try. I will help you."
"What about Katara?" He asked.
"Aang. She is in the other realm."
These young child's great white eyes were large, but useless. Its doesn't matter. Tools need to be arranged differently sometimes. It is still an essence for the faces to drink. Yes, they will stop me, but I have something to bargain with now, something important. The avatar's own sight is too shrouded in love for one that he can confuse another. The arrogant little child does not know what he is dealing with.
"Remain here, Avatar."
"But...."
She looked stern.
"You are too clouded with emotion, Aang. The tremble of a hand, a slight frown, will give you away. We really do not want to search for another 100 years for an Avatar." She waved her hand at him as he tried to enter. Aang stopped. It was his fualt, his duty to save Toph. Stay. Like a toddler in the Air Temple.
"We all need to accept authority. You have done enough."
"Please, just one more chance...." She almost glared at him. Not like Katara at all. She would never...Or would she. She had scorned Zuko. But not him.
"Bring back Toph. Keep her safe. A face needs a body as well."
He shuddered. Could he face her in this state.? Seeing Toph, his confident and assured friend.
"I...I don't think I can do that." Aang whispered.
She lifted the fronds of silk that hid her face for the first time, and she stared at him. Did she even have feet? She was swathed under all the masses of the robe she wore.
"Your friend, the waterbender's kin, has suffered more losses than you have here, and they are irredeemable...."
A sudden crack rattled thourgh the roots, running across the branch, splitting it clean in two. The Painted Lady grabbed Aang shoulders and pulled him out of the way of the gaping, ragged hole. He was gasping. But you can't be in pain here, not psychically if your careful.
"What was that?"
But then he saw the sleek mass of black and white skin, ripping at the roots of the tree. The spirit did know the forest protector. Fallen trees lay across the valley, broken by the rampaging Hei Bei, coming to save them. Like they needed to be.
She still couldn't see. Occasionally part of her fringe waved in front of her newly smoothed face. Or hear anything, except a faint whistling. Air rubbed against her skin, cushioning her like a bed. She wanted earth though. It would guide her like it always had. Feeling was out of the question though. The white blindness smothered her head, a blanket. It was white. A colour. Had she looked through her eyes as Koh...? Was that what the world was? A mass of confusing colours? She could here more now, a tumbling, rushing over rocks. She loved rocks.
She hit the lake with a thump, thrown under the course, she had fallen out of his lair. No need to breathe here. it was softer than the air, and the sand was silty and warm. Maybe someone could fetch her out.
This person was nice. He was much, much older than her, and let her ride at the top of the spirit. All she felt was a tickling, nervy sensation when she fell off, and he had to be held back in his strong arms when she did. They didn't talk.
She felt...freer than she ever had, not bound by the earth. It was like flying, feeling the wind instead, sensing movement instead of heavy weight. Appa had always flown, but being in the sky had been dizzying, terrifying her. How could she know when she was about the plummet to her death?
For the first time she realized how Aang what saw, felt about gliding.
She always had such pretty, long hair. Now bedraggled and torn. Her daughter's temper always seemed to get the better of her better emotions. Such a pity, just like her father.
"What a shame. You always had such beautiful hair." Her voice was flatter than it needed to be. It would not assist her.
"What are you doing here?!" A snarl, not even a greeting.
"I didn't want to miss my own daughter's coronation....."
She didn't, but could not even watch.
"Don't pretend to act proud. I know what you really think of me.... You think I'm a monster." No one is truly a monster, not even the man who sealed her fate.
"I think you are confused, all your life you've used fear to control people. Like your friends Mai and Ty Lee." She never understood what her uncle tried to teach her. She still brushed her ruined locks, a habit, a sign of weakness. She would hate that.
"What choice do I have? Fear is the only reliable way. Even you fear me" She was so wrong. What else could a mother do?
"No. I love you Azula. I do." And then she threw her brush at the mirror, shattering what connection she had to her world. She could see her own reflection in the mirror instead of her young daughter,puffy eyes finally watering, threatening to burst. The man behind her held her shoulder weakly, his large scar across his face reminding her so much of her son's own mark. A betrayer. Just like herself.
Ursa sank down to the hard, wooden floor. It just burst out. Tears raced down her face.
"My children.....What has happened to...." Less monotonous than her control before. Controlled just like her.
"We have been informed that Zuko is out of the Fire Nation. He may be an outsider again."
"And Ir...."
The old, scarred deserter like her shook his head.
"The White Lotus has its ways, but there is no way of knowing what has been done to him. He may be residing in the Earth Kingdom still. Or killed."
He touched-his badge gently.A pure white, lovely flower. A symbol of hope.
"I only wanted to save him....I didn't mean to...."
AN: CLIFFHANGER!!!!
Who is the guy comforting Ursa? Where is Ursa? What will happen to Toph?
I *may* write something continuing this, but this was an incredible drain on me. Even if I do write a sequel, it will take months to do just like this one, so, the ending is in your imagination.