There wasn't anything out there as far as she could see. The wind was so loud in her sensitive ears it was deafening. She wasn't used to the cold, growing up in Ba Sing Se it was warm all year around. Her nose was numb with frost and the hair in her face was caked in snow. The thick fur around her hood muffled the whip of the arctic wind but did very little to clear the air. It was impossible to hear her travel partner, and currently the man that was her eyes.
She knew they were in the village just outside of where they landed on Appa when many pairs of hands touched her shoulders and when she politely recoiled, a familiar arm encircled around her back.
"It's nice to see you too." His deep voice perked her ears up, attentively. "Where's Gran-Gran?" He excused themselves from the moderately sized crowd. The frozen girl heard her name passing numerous lips.
"That's Toph Beifong" – "Toph Beifong in our village." – "She must really be blind here." The comment made her set a hard brow, it wasn't malicious, but it was a weakness.
They were guided into a hut, the wind was silenced and warmth finally reached her frost bitten cheeks and nose. Even on rugs, the shoes she wore still muffled her vision like a heavy blindfold.
"Gran-Gran!" Sokka let go of his partner to rush towards his grandmother.
"Sokka, it's so nice to see you. My, you've grown." The old womens voice was a new one to be stored in the blind-girls memory. That's how she knew everyone, she never forgot a voice. Sokka looked around the small hut of ice and blankets.
"Where's Master Paku?" He inquired.
"Oh, he had to go back to the Northern tribe and take care of a few things. You just missed him by 2 days." Before Sokka could say anything, Gran-gran asked, still in a merry tone. "How's Katara?"
"She's great! You'd be so proud to see her. She's a master, AND is working very closely with Aang." Sokka said in an excited tone, even though the siblings fought, they were still very proud of each other.
"That's my granddaughter." She said with a laugh. There was a pause and Toph stood where ever she was, still and tranquil with a hint of uncertainty.
"Gran- Gran, I'd like you to meet our very close friend- Toph Beifong, the best earth bender of all time." He gestured towards her, still one hand in his grandmothers'. The old woman approached her.
"Ah yes, I've heard so much about you. The fearless girl who can see with her feet." Toph smiled and extended a hand, she could hear the muffled sound of boots on the furs underfoot but couldn't distinguish much else. A rough warm hand closed around her mitten covered one.
"You invented a new form of bending, yes?" Toph was taller than Gran-Gran but not by all that much, she was still behind on a growth spurt.
"Metal bending, was it? Very smart." She clasped another hand over Toph's upper arm. "And very strong too." She turned back to her grandson. "Don't be a smart mouth with this one Sokka or you'll be through the roof." She said with a serious set face. Sokka rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders in the spotlight.
"Oh believe me Gran-Gran, I know." He nodded.
"It's so nice to finally meet you- uh, Mrs. Sokka's Grandma." She made an unsure laugh.
"AH HA" Gran-Gran chuckled wonderfully and warmly. "Just call me Gran-Gran." She smiled, even though Toph couldn't see it. Even with her red cheeks, the girl looked dangerously pale, almost ill.
"You two must be exhausted. I'll send some food. There are two pelts for each of you and I set out more blankets on the small table over there." She gave the direction really to Sokka but spoke facing Toph.
"Pleasure meeting you." Toph bowed respectively as Gran- Gran let go of her and went back to Sokka. Kissing his cheek and walking back out into the cold.
Unsure how to take off any of the heavy clothing, Toph was completely reliant on Sokka to take care of her. She was just a helpless little blind girl all over again.
They were alone and without the watchful eyes of the village, Sokka took the liberty of undressing her and began helping Toph out of her freezing clothes.
Taking his gloves off first and stuffing them in his pockets, he pulled her hood down ad untied the scar. He unraveled it with care and let the soaked scarf hit the rug. Occasionally his fingers brushed her cheek with undenounced purpose.
"Hands up." He had a smile with a light hearted laugh.
Toph sniffed and raised her arms up, allowing him to pull the thick long coat over her head. She didn't feel odd about having the young man undress her. Beforehand, she had dressed her in traditional water tribe garb. Some of the clothes actually belonged to Katara: a blue shirt that V necked: pair of sweatpants over tight leggings: and boots he had to make her. He spend months finding just the right materials for the boots to be made, making her try many dozens of different furs on her feet to see what would be comfortable for he. He knew, and she had told him, that she would be blind once off of Appa. However, he was grateful she took the trip with him.
The whole time Toph was like a compliant doll, probably used to it from the years of pampering from her parents and servants in Ba Sing Se. She raised her arms as needed and lifted a leg to slip the sweatpants off over her boots without a hitch or complaint. Nor was there any attempt by her to do it on her own. Sokka questioned that most of all, but upon getting the baggy pants off he discovered just why she didn't. He slipped the pants off of her left booted foot and with her right leg only planted on the ground, Toph lost her balance. It startled Sokka as she immediately bent to put her hand on his shoulder for stability. Without her ability to see through earth bending, everything was dark except for herself.
Sokka stood up, untied the string holding each of her mittens on, an original design meant for a child, and pulled them off with care.
"Cold?" His voice was amused but soft, he was leaning forward and into his charge.
"Freezing." Toph didn't sound as nearly amused as him.
Sokka brushed the long ebony hair away from her delicate face and tucked it behind her ears. He wore a half smile with pride and laid the inside of his hand on her face, cradling her frozen cheek in his palm. His hands were warm and brought the feeling back in the tingling skin.
"Here." He rubbed his thumbs on the apples of her cheeks. Her pale green eyes were distantly lingering on his chest, although out of habit he looked into them.
With his hands on her, she was given an entire image of him, the way he stood close to her, his muscular arms held up gently to hold her face in his big hands.
"Thanks." Toph paused but her tone left more than one word. She saw the way Sika's chin tilted. "Huh." Her laugh was empty. "So this is what being blind feels like." Her indifference sparked concern in her best friends' chest.
"I guess." The back of his hand ran up the hollow of her cheek. "Are you mad for coming? I could take you home tomorrow morning if you want." Toph shook her head.
"No. I want to stay with you. How many times have I made you suffer at the academy, anyway?" Now there was forced humor in her voice, and she licked her chapped bottom lip. "I just hate feeling so- so"
"Hate feeling helpless?" Toph turned her face away, out of Sokka's hold.
"But this time I am, I've been here 10 minutes and am sick of not being able to see a thing. I mean, YOU'RE my feet. It's amazing if I'm not dead by the time we leave." She threw her hands up in a very Toph way and her voice was animated with amusement, not to hurt Sokka, but in her common joking vernacular.
"You're not missing anything and there's nothing to see but snow for miles. And the village? Not much either. And, HEY, you trust me more than that! "He chuckled when Toph stuck the tip of her tongue out at him and smiled, brightening her sullen face.
"It's funny." She raised her hands up, one finding perch on his broad chest, and the other searching for his hand. "I can't see-see you, it's like being completely alone."
"But you're not alone Toph, you're here with me." She could faintly see the sway of his head nodding in assurance.
"Not like that, dunder-head." She moved her head in her way of rolling her eyes. "It's like… look." She slid her finger tips up to his face and covered his eyes with her hands. "See that?"
"No."
"That's what I'm feeling. Like there isn't anything around me, there's only me, until I can feel through someone else." She moved her hand off of his face and was alone again. "Right now. I can't see you. Or feel your heart. Or tell if you're going to step one way or the other."
Sokka still looked into her eyes, now with a better view that her hairs was pulled away.
"You can still see me Toph, you just have to use your hands." He put his hand around hers and brought it flat to his chest, just above his heart.
Toph's fingers splayed slightly, feeling the thump of his strong heart. It was silent in the hut for a moment as he looked down at her, and her face was tilted up towards his. The tiny ridge between her eyebrows told him that she had something on her mind.
"What else?" She asked.
Sokka smiled and took her other hand that was now at her side. He placed it to his cheek lightly. 18 years old and Toph's never seen the face of her best friend. In chaste kisses they no longer talk about, she felt his cheek bones but never tried to map his features out
.
Toph's fingers swept up his temples and down along the bridge of his nose, delicately sweeping over his eyelids, and brows. She could feel his heart beat faster. The tip if her index finger and first knuckle caressed just along his jaw that was even sharper than the last time she thought she mapped it. She reached the dimple in his chin, he was looking down at her, and his lips were just barely parted.
The pads of her fingers brushed his lower lip and a small smile pulled at the corners of her baby doll lips. He didn't know what she was thinking about but had a feeling it was the same thing he was.
The young pair were pulled apart by a voice calling their attention from just outside the hut.
"Sokka, I said are you both hungry?" Sokka looked up, clearing his throat as Toph turned her head away and cast her glassy eyes downwards.
"Yeah, just leave it here. I'll get it. Thanks." He let her hand slip out his and went to the entrance.