A/N: I was re-watching my Taang video – a first-ever Sony Vegas attempt for me – and I suddenly was struck with inspiration for some drabble material. So here it is. XD

I can't describe her.

I used to think that I could – quite easily, might I add – but now I'm not so sure. She is… indescribable. She is… difficult to place. And yet I've known her for seven years now, so you'd think that I could think of something. But Toph is different.

But ever since Katara and I fell out of love –

The waterbender realizing that she'd fallen for Zuko somewhere between their mission together, their fight with Azula, and hers and Sokka's and Suki's time spent in the Fire Nation after the ending of the war…

And myself when I watched as Toph grew up, like the rest of us, both maturity-wise and physically, starting with the reunion between her and her parents, and ending with recently when she shot up four inches and developed extra, er, curves –

Things have changed.

Ever since our tight-knit group drifted apart, slowly, breaking up into couples on separate lands… things have changed.

Sokka and Suki got married last year, in the Earth Kingdom, naturally on Kyoshi Island. Suki is trying to teach poor Sokka how to correctly handle a pair of fans. His father is back in the South Pole, taking care of the children there, teaching them to be expert boatmen.

Katara became part of Zuko's family, accepted into it by his mother, whom he found on a corner of the globe none of us knew actually existed outside of myth. She's known as the Liquid Fire Princess by all of the firebenders who weren't loyal enough to Ozai's ideas to join him and Azula in prison.

And as for Toph and I… well, we bounce between visiting Sokka and Suki and Zuko and Katara. I feel closer to Zuko, despite our rough beginning, and often find myself sitting beside him, simply chatting. But then Katara would walk in, and either things would get affectionate and I would politely exit, or things would get roaring funny, and I would cry from laughing too hard.

But when Toph is around, I don't know what to do anymore. She is… beautiful. She is strong. She has fast reflexes, and faster humor, although it is extremely dry and sarcastic. She is as blind as ever, but she can see me. She has always pointed out my weaknesses to me – earthbending or otherwise – but it is because of this that she can see me for who I truly am behind my usually cheerful demeanor. Toph knows me, and it frightens me, but also intrigues me.

Because she is my friend, and the one closest in age to me, and because she can be sweet or needy when she wants to be, it makes me wonder.

Makes me wonder how I feel about her, the wild child of the Earth. It makes me wonder: could I be n love with her? Could I have anyways been in love with her, but never realizing it because I was too childishly clinging to my feelings for Katara because Katara made me feel safe and loved, like the family I left behind and never quite had?

Katara was like that. She was like a big sister to me, a mother to me, but I confused it for romantic love because I was young. I didn't know how much like family the waterbender was until I kissed her, really kissed her, with my hands on her body and my tongue in her mouth. It felt strange, and unfitting, and after we kissed she was frowning. We both felt it, both knew it, but didn't want to break the other's heart, so we held on for another year or two. Which was foolish, but how were we to know what to do?

So here I am. Here I am, lost in my own heart, because it doesn't know what it wants. I no longer know what ties me to this Earth, and that's bad, because despite what the guru said, Avatar Roku told me that an Avatar needs to be connected to the world because an Avatar is the world and all its elements in a nutshell.

But I'm beginning to wonder if Toph might be my connection to the world, because she is… a rock. She is a rock, and I am a kite, and a kite needs the Air to soar, but needs the Earth to keep it from flying away. The guru wanted me to fly away, detached and free. But I don't see it as freedom, merely disaster.

The Earth and the Air. Opposites, but necessary for one another, like Fire and Water. Opposite poles attract with magnets, like Sokka told me when he gave me a "science lesson." And now I understand why Katara and I could never be: we weren't different enough. We had to be opposites, not two of the same. Air and Water are too fluid, and will flow past one another. But Fire with Water: the two are stopped in their tracks. The same goes for the Air and the Earth.

The only problem is, I don't know if I can move the Earth. The Wind has never been able to sway the Mountains, so how can I get Toph to return my sentiments?

Because I do love her. I just don't know if I'm in love with her… yet.

But I must be. She's all I think about. She is everything I need, and all I want. I want to know her world, want to be apart of it more so than I already am. And I need her to say that she loves me, too.

Toph is the yin to my yan, and she mirrors all of the faces of all of the lovers my past lives have known. Katara was close, but Toph is closer. Except she is out of reach, only slightly, but enough to the pint where I don't know if I can grab her, hold her, keep her. She is a rock, after all. And I am a kite. And kites are not meant to touch ground very often, unless the Wind is choppy or absent.

Wait… that's it! The Wind! If I stop bending the air for a while, I'll stop flying. And if I stop flying, I can concentrate on her.

xXxXx

"Hi, Toph," I smile gently as I sit down beside her. Not, 'float down' like I normally do; some monks give up speech for a vow o silence until something is accomplished, but for me, I am giving up my airbending until I win Toph's heart. So I won't be Twinkle Toes or a while, my presence no longer masked from her vibration-oriented 'sight.'

"Aang?" she questions as she turns half towards me, Momo on her shoulder. He is getting older, the poor thing; flying lemurs live not much longer than the average house cat. "That's funny: there wasn't a gust of wind before you sat down. I almost wouldn't think it was you," she adds, jokingly of course.

I chuckle lightly as I bring my knees up to my chest and hug them against the chill in the air. The Earth Kingdom is nearing winter, making everything just a bit cooler than I like, being so accustomed to the Fire Nation. "I didn't expect you to notice. But since you did, would you like me to explain?"

She laughs. "Duh, I would notice; you normally like to flitter about, and any change in you I can spy right away since we hang out so much. We're the last of the Gaang who isn't settled down."

I frown. "Katara and Zuko aren't 'settled down'," I remind her.

Toph snorts as she flips a stray chunk of her long black hair from her shoulder, shoving it back to join the rest of her hair that hangs under her miniature chopstick-decorated bun. "Not yet, but they will be soon enough. Firebug told me that he got his girl a ring. He's going to propose soon, if he hasn't already."

I cock an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

She nods and tucks part of her bangs behind a recently pierced ear. Her ear is still a little red around the new hole, and I bite my lip, because I have the urge to kiss it better. "Yeah. He sent me a letter not too long ago, and I had Teo read it to me. Our little Firelord is all smitten, and can't wait." She is smirking now, and I find my eyes lingering on the upturn of her lips.

I'm suddenly overly glad that she is blind; I would hate it if she knew how much I stared at her, especially lately. She would tease me, and I would blush all the time, and it would be awful.

Toph leans back on her palms, her bare feet kicking out to stretch in front of her on the dirt. "Aang?"

"Yes?"

"You never explained why you didn't use airbending to plop down beside me like you usually do," she says, and turns her head towards me, her misty pupils and minty green eyes as inquisitive as a sighted person's.

"Oh! Sorry," I apologize with a hand combing through my spiky brown hair. I let it grow out again because – oddly enough – I kind of missed it. "You see, uh… I gave it up. Airbending, I mean. Not permanently, but just for a while. Kind of like how other monks give up talking, you know?"

She punches me in the arm. Hard, so it hurts, but not overly violent. "That's stupid! Why would you do that? I know some other monks do stupid things like that, but why you, too, Aang? You shouldn't give something up – like eating or talking or freaking bending – just for religion! Those things are part of who you are, you dimwit! They aren't meant to be given up."

I wince, but smile nonetheless. "In my defense, Toph, I didn't give up airbending for religion."

She's pouting a little. "Then what did you give it up for?"

I move to look her in the eye, even if she isn't looking back. "For you, Toph."

The earthbender is temporarily dumbstruck. "Wh-what the hell are you talking about?"

I force myself to smile broader, and I tense in case she plans to hit me again. Her tough love is charming, but painful. "I had a revelation, Toph: a kite and a rock can never be in touch with one another unless there is no wind to keep the kite afloat. So I decided to give up airbending until I get you to love me."

She shakes her head slowly and clenches the soil, her nails scooping up the dirt to keep her from shaking. "I don't get it, Aang. I don't know what you're saying."

I know that she actually does understand, but like how I was, doesn't want to admit to the truth. Because the truth would mean the two of us becoming part of the cliché building around us by our friends. But we're nineteen years old; we can't dance around each other forever. I want her, and I won't stop until I have her. I'm a pretty determined person. But then again, she knows that all too well; after all, I was the one who challenged her during the Earth Rumble Six tournament in order to meet her; I was the one who asked around town to learn her name, or who she was; I was the one who went directly to her home in search of her, and all to have her as my teacher.

To help her out, I confess to Toph: "I'm saying that I love you, Toph, and that I refuse to airbend until you agree to go out with me."

She grits her teeth for a second, but then her lips twist into a smile. "You're funny, Twinkle Toes," she remarks, using her old term of endearment for me. I love how it stuck since we first met. "You never cease to amaze me with your antics."

"I could say the same about you," I reply as I carefully maneuver closer using earthbending to slide me beside her even more. She senses the movement, but doesn't bother to lean or scoot away. Instead, Toph leans towards me.

"Well," she begins with an exhale resembling a sigh, "I can't say I didn't see this coming."

I'm almost offended. "What, me confessing to you, or me giving up airbending?"

Toph lets out one of her rare giggles, although this one sounds a tad nervous, or awkward. "I definitely never saw you giving up airbending. But… Katara had a feeling that one of the reasons why you two broke up was because of me. She didn't specify, but I caught her meaning. And now I guess I finally believe her."

She glances away, her hands scanning the ground, looking for pebbles. Back and forth she waves her hand over the ground, faster and faster, until a small storm of dust is created. I cough, and she stills.

"Sorry," she says stiffly, "But I'm nervous. You make me nervous, Aang," she repeats, confusion plain in her tone. "I don't know why you make me nervous. You shouldn't; we've been friends for years. But… but I've always been partial to you. I liked Sokka for a while, and I know that I love Zuko like the brother I never had, but you're someone I could never figure out. I mean, I thought I had you pegged, but let's face it, Twinkle Toes: you're unpredictable, no matter how old you are, or how long I've known you."

She leans fully against my side, her head burying into my neck. I use my free hand to brush back part of her bangs from her face as she closes her eyes.

"But no matter what, you're still you. And I can't stand to think of you without Air. So stop this stupid game, because you don't need to sacrifice anything for me. I already like being with you like this –" she gestures to our closeness "– So what harm could it do to be a little bit closer?"

And the earthbender lifts her head, eyes open and blinking up at a face she can't see, and with a teeny smile, she attempts to give me a peck on the lips. She misses and gets my chin instead, so I help her by taking her own chin in my hand and guiding her mouth to mine.

Unlike my kisses to Katara all those years ago, this one is different. This kiss ignites something inside of me, something warm and pleasant. I soften against her, my solid rock, and she reaches up a hand to tug on my ear. I break the kiss with a short, 'ouch,' and she merely laughs.

"You need to toughen up, Aang," she grins, "Unless you want to be the girl in our relationship."

I roll my eyes and lightly push her shoulder with a gust of wind from my hand, already free to use airbending again because she agreed practically immediately. "As if, Blind Bandit. I'm not going to let you take my manhood away from me."

She laughs heartily, nearly falling over. Decidedly, she does fall over, and into my lap. Staring blankly up at me, she replies, "Nah, I wouldn't dream of doing that to you. But aside from Sokka's obsession with shopping, you are definitely the most girlish guy I've ever met. You've gotten better since you were twelve, though."

It feels weird, acting so much like a couple already. But then again, I realize, we've always acted kind of like this, so perhaps it isn't so weird after all. I undo her bun and run my fingers through her silky hair. Toph, ever the opposite of me, became more girly as I became more manly. She wears some makeup now (she's learned how to apply the most subtle of makeup, all of the colors pre-chosen for her so that she doesn't clash), and she makes sure to keep as clean as possible. But her hair still gets tangled on the ends when she wears it half-up or completely down like this, and her feet are still calloused and dirty from walking barefoot, and her nails are still short from being bitten off, dirt under them. And yet these little things make her all the more attractive, because they help to define her.

Define. All this time, I've been trying to describe her and how she's changed, but I kept forgetting that it is the little things that make up who Toph is.

"And you're definitely the most boyish girl I've ever met, but you've gotten better since you were twelve, too," I relay to her, my words reflecting a majority of my previous thoughts. "But we balance each other out, and that's one of the reasons why I love you so much, but our conflicts are also one of the reasons why I couldn't see it at first."

She flushes slightly. "You're just full of confessions today, aren't you, Twinkle Toes?" she says, and her hand searches for my jaw. I tilt my head down to let her fingers find skin. A ghost of a smile touches her pale eyes. "If you keep this up, I might have to punch you again. It's how I show affection, you know."

"Uhg, I know."

She laughs at my false resentment of her physical force. "But you know, I never did say if I loved you or not."

"You don't have to," I reply as I bend down to kiss between her eyes. "You technically already said it."

"When?"

"When you rambled about me making you nervous," I tell her.

Toph doesn't respond, but I can sense that she knows what I mean. She sits up only to pull me down to lie in the grassy section of the hill we're sitting atop of. She hugs me roughly, reminding me briefly of the Earth King's bear-bear.

I inhale the scent her hair gives off, smelling of jasmine-scented soaps and grass and clean earth after it rains.

And that's how we fall asleep, a silent promise to be like this for years to come etched into our hearts.