Hellfire

It was another rainy day. It has been raining the last three days, the streets were muddied and flooded. Some officials in the palace were concerned that some citizens in the the poorer districts might have to be evacuated. When it rains, its tough for an earth bender to practice their craft. The mixture of the elements is the mixture of two different disciplines. For Toph, the rain also meant that she can't see. The constant vibrations from the rain drops meant the feedback for her was overloaded with information. Blinded be seeing too much.

So on rainy days she would spend most of her time in her room of the palace. Today, there was being held a meeting to deal with the potential flooding. Toph had to be there, the king was making an appearance, and being the head of the guard, she needed to over look the procedures. She was putting on her armor when there was a knock at her door.

"Five minutes commander."

"Yes. Thank you." she responded.

She hurried to finish dressing. She tripped over her desk and side table.

"Everything alright in there ma'am?"

She heard the guard speak through the door. The handle rattled.

"Come in here, and I'll personally make sure you can't have children, understood?"

The rattling stopped, the guard cleared his throat,

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm fine though. I can get dressed by myself."

Toph finished getting dressed and realized she didn't know where the door was. By walking and feeling her way around the room she got turned around. Flustered she stood there for a couple of seconds thinking of how to get out of this situation.

"Guard, please come in and escort me to the meeting."

"Ma'am?"

"That is an order. I can't quite see today."

The door opened and the guard took her arm. He led her to the meeting room. The rain outside was pounding against the roof and the walls of the palace.

"I wish I could see what you were seeing ma'am."

"Trust me, it isn't worth seeing."

Arriving at the meeting, the guard led her to her spot behind the throne. Toph was worried that even if there was an attack or even an attempt that she would be helpless to defend the king. She decided that in the end, that she would earth bend the whole room and everyone else would have to deal with it. The meeting was getting under way, the king arrived with his dispatch of guards on either side of him.

The meeting was uneventful, but one piece of information stood out to her. An official advised that maybe a water bender be brought in and work in conjunction with some earth benders to help clear out the mud and water that has been clogging the slide and chute network the crisscrossed the whole city. The king seemed to like the idea and said to have it looked into. Other than that, just some boring meeting stuff that Toph was never interested in and had her wondering way she was called to the meeting in the first place. As she was calling for a guard to escort her back to her room a familiar voice spoke to her.

"This rain must be pissing you off."

"You have no idea." she smiled in the direction of the voice.

"Hello Toph. It's been a while."

"Sokka," she realized, "what bring the Water tribe chief down to the little city of Ba Sing Sa?"

"Business mostly, but I couldn't resist the idea of seeing an old friend."

"And who would that be?" she raised an eyebrow.

"The king for one." he paused, she felt his eyes look her over, "and you."

"Little ole me? The girl who saved your ass how many times? Who fought a war with you. You know that me?"

"Yes, Toph, glad to see your abrasiveness still hasn't rubbed off. I was getting worried for a second."

"I'm little more on edge due to this weather."

"Don't worry, I remember you have an eternal struggle against the rain."

Toph shook her head, "What business?" she wanted to keep Sokka nearby, it was as if she could almost see again with him around.

"How to deal with the flooded. Turns out, there is a lot of water in the Water tribe. I'm what you could call, a water expert." he laughed. His warm, hearty laugh that filled your chest. Toph smiled for she had missed that laugh.

"Hard to imagine that you have to deal with water." Toph said.

"Right. I was called to discuss options with the king. Speaking of whom I have to go see now." Toph didn't want him to go. "I'll be seeing you around Toph. Maybe if this rain clears up, You should show me around. I haven't been in Ba Sing Sa for quite some time. It would be nice to see the city and catch up with you."

"Well, if you ever want to chat, ask a guard to bring you to my room. We can catch up there as well."

"I'll look into that." he puts a hand on her shoulder, "I'll be seeing you Toph."

"Don't think I won't be doing the same Sokka. I remember the trouble maker you used to be." he laughed again, this time getting distant as he left the room.

Sokka staying in the royal palace was certainly a good reason for Toph being called to the meeting. She called for a guard to take her back to her room. As the day grew on she swore the rain was getting worse.

Three years. Geez. It's been a long time. I hope this turns into a short little story to help me get my feet wet again so I can finish the stories I have published. I hope you guys like this one, as well as the other stories and endings I have yet to plan.