What Toph Didn't See
Katara had spent the better part of the day training. She had taken a break only to whip up some lunch…and then had dived right back into training. The invasion may have been a failure the first time, but she wasn't going to let that happen again…or at least that's what she had told her friends as she left.
Zuko was her default opponent, it seems. The moment he had seen Katara head out to the secluded stream, he had followed wordlessly. No one else protested, not even Sokka. Katara was a big girl; she could take care of herself.
They went about their work, their thoughts not straying to Katara or Zuko or anything other than their own tasks at hand.
Sokka went over his sword-fighting stances. Toph continued Aang's earth-bending training. Momo found some interesting berries to munch on. Appa slept.
Around mid-day, as they were just beginning to tire, Katara and Zuko reappeared, Katara served them the sort of simple lunch they had become accustomed to, and they were gone again.
That evening, as the sun set and the moon rose and the children began to feel the physical impact of their intense training, Katara and Zuko returned again.
They didn't say a word to each other as they separated the moment they entered the camp-site. Zuko went to his corner and sat down determinately to sharpen his swords, Aang told Katara of his earth-bending accomplishments before wandering off to feed Appa, Sokka proudly gutted and cleaned some poor "tiny little meat-creatures" he had managed to catch hold of, Toph lay on the ground, absent-mindedly picking her nose.
A bonfire of substantial size crackled and burned, flooding the air with the smell of pine and cinders…another one of Sokka's proud accomplishments.
Katara chose a spot of grass to sit on, near Toph. Toph knew something was different about her friend almost immediately…
'What's going on Sweetness?' she asked innocently enough.
'What do mean?'
'Something's up…I can feel it,' the earth-bender insisted.
'Nothing's up…It's nothing,' Katara blushed. Toph felt her friend's heart speed up just a little. But tonight, Toph wasn't in the mood to argue. Toph was tired and wanted food and a place to sleep.
'Fine. If you say so…but I know you're lying. I'm sure you'll tell us eventually,' she concluded before rising and heading to see if Sokka was done preparing the meat.
The thing is, Toph, being blind, didn't see that Katara looked different. It was a little thing, the tiniest of changes.
Toph didn't see that Katara's old necklace was missing. The precious engagement necklace given to her by her mother.
Toph didn't see Katara blush ever so lightly as she brought her hand to her throat.
Toph didn't see her hand slip from the cool, smooth stone nestled at the crook of her neck.
And Toph didn't see it, but the stone's jewels glinted sapphire-blue and ruby-red, reflecting the slowly burning fire…