Hey...No, I haven't died or anything. I've just been UBER busy, and (oh, enough with the excuses) blame school.
Disclaimer: Let's stop and think. If I were Mike or Bryan, would I spend time writing FanFiction, or would I go make the stories reality, hmm? Yeah, I thought so.
Okay, in this chapter, I decided to try something new - I'm not mentioning "his" name. It's a test in characterization for me. If you could tell who it was, great! If not, well, I'll say it at the end. It starts off in an Earth Kingdom City four years after the war and the defeat of Ozai. Zuko is now Fire lord (duh), with his wife Mai at his side. Katara and Aang have been going steady, but Sokka, Toph, Azula, and Ty Lee, along with MOST of the Freedom Fighters, Teo, and Suki are still single.
Ages: Sokka - 20
Toph - 16 (nearly 17)
Aang - 17 (just turned 17)
Katara - 19
Zuko - 22/23
Mai - 20
Suki - 19
Ty Lee - 18
Jet - 21
Longshot - 19
Smellerbee - 17
The Duke - 13
Pipsqueak - 24
Toph could feel everything. She could feel the people walking by, across the small stream. She could feel the entirety of the bridge she stood upon with bare feet. She could feel the light on her face and the wind curling in wisps around her hair. She could feel the man next to her – her best friend, and so much more.
She was glad of the darkness that covered her rising blush, thankful that he couldn't feel her heartbeat. She was glad of the time they'd spent together since the end of the war, glad of the freedom she had with her friends.
Suddenly, she felt his heartbeat grow faster, and he turned to look at her. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand why his heartbeat was so unbelievably rapid. There was nobody behind her on the bridge, or on the other side, either.
He came closer, and she could hear his breath, and the way his fingers were drumming awkwardly into his palms. She turned to face him, meaning to ask what was going on. Instead, warm lips captured her own.
Both heartbeats stopped. Time itself had halted to watch, the stars above twinkling benignly, the warm, fiery glow from the lanterns warm upon their cheeks. The people bustling by simply vanished. Everything but the two together for the first time was gone.
It was as if it was meant to be.
After an eternity, he let her go, hands retreating off her waist, and feet moving back a few steps. She couldn't move. Nothing in her worked, except her heart, which was beating out of her chest as if it wanted nothing more than to leap right out.
"I'm sorry, Toph, I shouldn't have, I –" He stopped short at the glare he caught from her. "It wasn't my place…" he muttered. He tried not to look into her milky jade eyes, but felt himself staring as they shined in the orange light.
She frowned. "You never do anything right, and when it's wrong, you don't apologize, but now, when you've finally done the right thing, you say sorry?"
It took him a minute to decipher her meaning. "…Right thing?" his voice almost broke as it used to when he was fifteen.
Still frowning, but in a manner to cover up her pleasure, she turned her head away from his, to the water below. She felt him step closer, and tilt her face up. "The right thing?" he repeated.
"The right thing, meathead. It was the right thing." And suddenly, the world stopped again.
Toph cursed herself that he could do this to her. The one person in the world who could break her stance, her reputation, her pride as the Greatest Earthbender in the world.
This time, it was her who broke away. "Why?" she asked, trying not to sound forceful. He traced her cheek's contour with a finger, pondering his answer.
"Why not? You're you, and that's why. For so long, I've thought of you as my Toph, but only today did I find the courage to tell you. I found the courage in your eyes, Toph."
She did a strange thing. She snorted, and said, "Who are you and what have you done to the blundering man I know? Who taught you that speech?" He blushed, and remembered that her bluntness was what he held close.
He laughed along, and said, "Actually, you did, Toph, it was true…"
It was almost too sudden when she stopped laughing. "I know. You didn't lie. You've never really lied to me. I know. Too many people have, and they took pity on me. But you showed me that I was equal, if not better. Thanks, meathead. You did something else right, too." Her grin returned to her face, and she punched him in the arm, the familiar endearing, and painful way she said thank you.
"It is known to happen once in a while," he smirked, his cockiness returned. He tried not to rub his arm or wince where she'd hit him.
"Very rarely." If anything had changed about her it was her more formal way of speaking, which all but evaporated in her increasingly frequent journeys with him.
He poked her in the side, causing her to stomp her foot. "Uh-oh," he muttered, and the Earth shot up under his feet, hurling him into the air. "Toooopphh!" He screeched, reminiscent of the old days.
She rolled her eyes, but moved the earth so he would land where it was softest. With a thud, he smacked down, and groaned.
When he had lifted his muddy self from the ground, he asked, "How come we still act like we did before the war ended?"
Toph Bended the mud off him, and said, "Because it was hardly four years ago. We were kids then, and we're kids now. Only now we've been changed by 'the horrors of war'."
He puffed out his chest. "I'm not a kid! I'm twenty!"
She snorted. "Yeah, and you haven't let anybody forget it since it happened last week. Are you ever going to find humility?"
"You seem to have extra for me every time, like now. You're sixteen. You're not a kid either, Toph." They faced each other on the bridge.
"There's another thing you don't let me forget, no matter how much I want to. I'm afraid…I'm afraid that everything is just going to disappear. Everything that I've come to love…" She never ever let her fears show. Ever. Once again, without meaning to, he broke through her walls.
He gathered her in a huge bear hug, making her feel like he was crushing her ribs into dust. "No, Toph. You will never lose everything. You will never lose me. That I can promise. Katara and Aang won't leave you, either. And come to think of it, neither will Zuko, or his crazy Uncle. You're too good to lose."
Toph made a playful retching noise at his soppiness, and squirmed out of his hug. He looked at her, confused. "Too mushy for me," she growled. Then, she put her arms around him. "But thank you anyway."
She defied herself. She never hugged people, but he kept astounding her in this way.
His arms wrapped around her again, but more tenderly this time. "I love you, Toph," he whispered.
And she knew that he would astound her forever more. She buried her face in his shirt to hide the sudden tears that had sprung into her eyes. "I love you too," she mumbled into his chest.
--
(Not over yet!!)
--
Toph knew everything would change. She was on the brink of losing it all. She was soon falling into oblivion. She was going to close her eyes from the evils, and turn her head. She was crumbling apart. She had tugged too far at the lies.
It hurt to remember it all.
--Flashback--
It was her 17th birthday, and she had no idea the events it would bring. She felt halfheartedly happy, for some reason completely unknown to her. He was going to be there with her, and it was all she needed. Whatever the rest of them did was no matter to her.
She stood out on her balcony, facing the sea, seeing nothing of it. The feeling of the ocean spray glancing across her face, or the salty tendrils of wind that tickled her face was ignored. Her mind was too full of the past 17 years' memories.
Something made her feel anxious; something was going to happen, and it was inevitable. She felt everything of those earlier moments, searching for some clue to what was going to happen.
She remembered when Aang, Sokka, and Katara had shown up at her house, and before that, the Earth Rumble 6. She had hated them then, for beating her out. How much she'd grown since then! In so many ways…maturity, as an Earthbender, as a person, as a friend…
She remembered saving Sokka and Suki's lives, and having to thank herself, shunted into her shadow. She remembered the war, and the second invasion that had cost them so much. They had risked all of their lives, of course, but so many people had died.
Teo's father was lost, leaving the orphan in a state of depression. Azula had – well, it couldn't be sure that she was dead, but she was gone for good. Zuko had almost died, as had Katara, defending each other.
So many other nameless, faceless people had died, too, leaving a toll on their families, and loved ones.
It was unbelievable really, that the five of them had survived - a miracle of luck.
"Hey, Toph!" he interrupted her thoughts. Unperturbed, she replied with an offhand, "Hey, meathead…"
"Tooopphh! I told you not to call me that!" He whined, typical of himself. Some things a person just can't grow out of, it seemed.
"Like Snoozles better?"
He groaned. "No, but still, just call me by my name. It's not that hard. See look: S-mph!"
Rather than kissing him quiet, she had punched him in the mouth. Smirking, she marveled at how hard his jaw was, compared to the Earth she Bended.
"Ow! Toph! That hurt!" Then, seeing an opening to flirt shamelessly, he said slyly, yet with an air of innocent pleading, "Kiss it to make it better?"
She grinned, enjoying the moment. "Nope."
"Aw, please, Toph?" He pouted, knowing full well she wouldn't see it.
"No."
He moved closer, wrapping his arms around her. Leaning in, he whispered, "Please?" in her ear.
Once again, she refused resolutely. He had a sudden idea. "Ughhnn, there's a bug here! How do you stand it?" Removing a hand from her waist, he swatted at the air for realistic effect.
He tapped a finger lightly on her nose, and kissed it, saying, "Oh, it had landed on your nose!"
Toph rolled her eyes at his antics, but played along. "Can I Earthbend it away? Or did you squash it with your mouth? I can Earthbend it away there, too."
"No, no, it flew away, and I missed. You didn't see it in the air." He flapped his hand again near her head.
"Oh, okay, then. I'll get it next time."
He tapped her mouth now. Quickly leaning in, he closed the space between.
Suddenly, Toph leaned away, when he was just about to reach her lips. "Coming Katara!" she shouted.
Grinning at the expression she knew his face held, she said, "She wants me to help get ready. I think she's probably planning something…I hope it's nothing as big as what she did for Aang," she added with a shudder.
"Katara can wait," he mumbled, leaning in again.
Once again, she dodged him. "Yeah, I know, Katara! I'm coming!" she yelled over her shoulder.
"Toph! You're so infuriating sometimes!" He frowned at her, trying hard not to stare at her incredibly delicate features.
"Oh? Whatever do you mean?" She asked, the picture of innocence. He forgot what he was saying for a moment, lost in her beautifully unseeing, milky green eyes.
At a poke from her, he remembered where he was. "Oh, er…I…erm…well…"
"Yes, I understand completely! That makes so much sense now!" She was somewhat oblivious as to what she did to him, but he seemed to lose his train of thought so often these days.
He managed to look away, finally, and he said, "I meant, you're so infuriating sometimes, because you're…well, you're making up excuses!" He threw up his hands in exasperation.
Taking pity on him, she tugged him closer, and said, "Oh, sorry. What excuses?" But instead of waiting for him to answer, she pressed her lips to his.
As the kiss deepened, their arms wound around each other tightly, holding each other to their hearts. Again, the world stopped to watch and marvel at the beauty of their love.
When they surfaced, breathing hard, he said, "I don't remember…" Toph chuckled at the way he said it.
Never in her wildest dreams had she expected something so perfect, nor had she ever imagined acting so girly. Love changes everything, she thought.
She turned to lean on the banister of the balcony's stone railing once more. Not surprisingly, his head rested on her shoulder, and his arms were around her torso from behind. "I love you, Toph," he reminded her.
Feeling sentimental, she replied with, "And I you, forever." She had long since stopped feeling for his heartbeat around her; he never lied to her, and it was always overly high.
But now, it was far higher than ever before. His arms found themselves clasped behind his back in nervousness, and he stepped back a few paces. She turned around confusedly.
"Toph, can I ask you something?"
She couldn't even begin to think what it was he wanted to ask, so she said, "Depends on what it is you're planning to ask."
She reached out with her senses to try and figure out what he was thinking. "It's important." Her mind reeled from the speed of his heart.
"Will you calm down first?"
"I can't."
She cocked her head to the side, but consented. "Alright, ask away." She could hear him take a deep breath.
He felt in his pockets, and extricated something she couldn't place. He stepped around her until he was right behind. Hesitating a moment, he tied something around her neck.
Toph's breath caught. She knew what he was doing.
"Toph…I've wanted to ask you this for a while now, but could never find the words to do it. You're the only person I can ever see myself with. And I want this to last forever." Removing his hands from the clasp, he moved to face her again.
He caught her hands in his. "Toph, will you marry me?"
She was frozen completely, rooted to that spot, seemingly for all eternity. Only her heart and mind seemed to work anymore. How to answer that question? How could she put words to what she was feeling? Was there any way to put justice to her heart now?
His hands began to get clammy in nervous anxiousness. "Toph?"
She smiled weakly. "I guess we're going to have to tell Katara to change the decorations to Happy Birthday and Happy Engagement."
His breath came out all at once in a relieved huff. "I love you," he repeated.
"I know!" she replied cheerily. She reached up to her throat to 'see' the stone that hung on the engagement necklace.
The cloth of the band holding the stone was silken and soft, green with a ribbon of blue to his eye. She rubbed her fingers across the stone, which was engraved exquisitely with the joined emblems of the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe, with a small emerald embedded in its center.
The stone pendant itself was made from nothing other than meticulously polished space rock covered with a thin layer of marble.
"You made this yourself?" she asked incredulously. Though she couldn't see, she knew he was never a good artist.
"Yeah. It took me a long time, though. Longer than it should've. And it's still not perfect."
"No, I love it. Really." Toph reached over and squeezed his hand. He then leaned in and kissed her forehead softly.
"C'mon, let's get inside. We've got a lot of people to tell." He led her inside, a firm grip on her hand.
"Er…do you want to tell them? I'll er…stand there and pretend to be deaf, too." He laughed at her nervousness.
"Alright, fine. But when they say something to you, don't pretend to be deaf then."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She flapped a hand in his face. But she was completely unprepared as to what their reactions would be.
She followed him into the fairly large house, which was in one of the richer districts of the Southern tip of the Earth kingdom, where they were close to the Southern Water Tribe, the Southern Air Temple, and Gaoling, her own home. Even the Fire Nation was not too far off.
It was decorated for her birthday, against her greatest wishes, and completely Katara and Aang's doing. There were banners reading "Happy Birthday Toph!" strung up all over, and lanterns hung off the ceilings, casting a fiery glow over the place. And for once, all of the rooms were clean, with none of Sokka's or her things strewn about.
Why this was necessary, she couldn't figure out. She was blind. She didn't know or care what anything looked like. Her own appearance or their house. What did it matter to her?
Katara had sent out invitations to most of the people they had met and known during the war, to celebrate with Toph. Surely enough, people were beginning to trickle in, looking around. So this is where the Avatar lives, they were thinking.
She recognized Teo's wheelchair instantly, but she did not try to go greet him. No doubt Katara and Aang were doing that. He was now living with the Freedom Fighters, who took him in gladly – an orphan hurt so by the war. He was also useful in the air – the one element the Freedom Fighters hadn't conquered before him.
Smellerbee and Longshot followed him in, accompanied by – no. She stomped on the floor to get better vibrations. There was no doubt about it now. It was Jet.
Toph coughed to get her new fiancé's attention. "I was wrong! Jet didn't die! And he's here! So are Smellerbee, Longshot, the Duke, Pipsqueak, and Teo!"
He grabbed her wrist and rushed downstairs. "Jet! Smeller! Longshot! Everybody!" he screeched in greeting. She freed herself from his grip to rub at where he had grabbed her. Though she was tough, her skin, unfortunately, was not. It was in most part her bending that saved her from scrapes and scratches.
She left him to his talking, and went to hide from the guests. Their congratulations were fine and dandy, but she didn't want to share one bit of news until later, and Katara's wary eye was sure to catch the new necklace, and she'd realize immediately who gave it to her, what it meant, and what her answer was.
"Toph! Where are you?!" Unfortunately, Katara wouldn't leave her to her peace. Never in a single moment had she been free from that girl's mothering. Grumbling and making a big to-do of facing the people, Toph returned to the door.
She did her best to hide from Katara, but the older girl plucked her out of the thickening crowd and forced her to greet everyone who was trickling in.
"Bumi!" Aang greeted his old friend with a huge bear hug.
"Hahaha, hello, Aang!" he caught sight of Toph. "So this is your great Earthbending teacher, eh?" Aang turned to her, missing her grimace at the attention.
"Yep, this is Toph." He paused, and then whispered dramatically, "I think she's even better than you! Plus, she listens, and then strikes, like you told me to."
Bumi moved towards her as she stood her ground defiantly. "Better than me, eh? We'll see about that!" He cackled his manic laugh.
"I'm the greatest Earthbender in the World. The last two dunderheads who forgot were locked in a metal box with no key or way out. Did I mention I can Bend metal?"
Bumi stepped back a little, daunted. Katara turned from the other guests, and supplied with a note of pride, "and she's blind. I don't think you can take her, King Bumi."
That was when Katara spotted the pendant that hung from Toph's neck. Within seconds, she had pounced. "Toph! Is that a new necklace? Where'd you get it?"
Her fiancé, ever by her side, coughed pointedly. Katara's eyes widened, and she peered closer at the stone. "He gave it to you? Do you know what that means? Did he ask you –"
"Yes. And yes to the next question too." Toph directed her sightless gaze into the floor, hiding beneath her bangs.
"Oh Toph!" Toph groaned as Katara squeezed her past the point that should have been allowed.
Then Katara turned on him. "I knew you could do it! Oh, I'm so happy for the two of you!" She stifled both of them with another round of hugs, in which Aang joined.
Finally, Toph had enough. "Sugar queen! We're all happy. Now let go before I blast you through this wall!" Just that once, Katara had enough sense to do what she said.
Aang laughed as a sudden impulsive thought came to his head. "Katara, you must be scaring them, you're acting like Ty Lee!" The Gaang couldn't help but laugh at that, though others who heard had not an idea.
Soon, the party was full, and spilling over into the lawn. At the center of it all was Toph, who was being forced to elaborate on every excruciating detail of the proposal. Finally, she screeched in exasperation, "Why don't you just ask him!"
She sat back against his chest and refused to say another word, just toying with her old meteorite bracelet. Suddenly, she felt someone come to the door, and bolted away, leaving everyone, even him, in a state of confusion.
He, of course, new better than to sit there forever; he had to find out what on Earth could cause someone so tough to run like that. He left the Avatar and his girlfriend to find her.
He ran into the Fire Lord and Lady, Zuko and Mai, who congratulated him heartily on the engagement. He marveled at how incredibly fast news could travel amongst gossips.
There was an insistent knocking at the door, which could be heard over the low hum of the music and the much higher, faster, more chaotic buzz of people's voices. Huffing a sigh, he crossed across the people who stood in his way, from the Swamp men to Master Pakku, Earth King Kaolin, and Master Piandao. They all stopped him to greet, praise, and give advice for his life.
Finally, he reached the door, which he was about to throw open, slamming it against the wall, to scare whomever was behind it, knocking like they needed a bathroom, fast. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite what happened.
--
"Suki!"
The woman on the other side stared at him for a moment, before screeching, "It's you! My warrior!" She threw herself at him, not caring in any way who watched in jealousy.
The Kyoshi Warrior kissed him passionately, barely noticing the lack of enthusiasm the kiss returned to her. For her, life was perfect at that moment.
Completely misinterpreting the urgent hands around her torso, she tugged him closer.
Suddenly, there was a huge rumble as the ground shook, knocking everything and everyone to the floor. A thud was heard outside, and the rest was masked by the panicked voices and the crumbling rocks that fell from what had undoubtedly been the wall of an upstairs room, now resembling the huge hole that had torn its way into his heart.
Finally, he managed to push her away, quite harshly. He didn't bother to give an explanation, but ran full speed out the still ajar door. In the far distance, he saw her.
She felt his footsteps, and raised a rockslide to propel her faster across the streets. Anything to get away. Feeling up to her throat, she ripped off the necklace, hurling it to the ground, blood boiling in rage, and sadness. Being hardly two hours engaged, he'd betrayed her.
Love may change things, but not that much. He will always betray this. I can't believe I was foolish enough to say yes! I'm obviously second to her! The tears stained the Earth to mud.
When she was far enough away, she hurtled head-first into the forest running past brambles and trees, ripping her clothes and skin to shreds. Soon, she was completely lost, and it began to rain.
Miserable, she Bended a cave into the muddy Earth, crawling into it and curling up like a child. Even the meteorite bracelet she flung off and it sunk into the mud with a squelch.
Hours may have passed, or perhaps days, she never knew. It may have been a few seconds even, but her heartbroken body had lost all grip on its mind and soul, losing everything but the thought to keep breathing. The rain beat on the ground, drowning out her hearing and 'vision' as well.
Suddenly, the mud around her spattered, and there was a crashing noise before a dirty hand clamped over her nose and mouth, lifting her off the ground. Now she was completely blind. "Mmmmph!" She tried to call for help.
Thinking fast, she bit down hard, so she would be able to breathe, if not live for long. Unfortunately, whoever had her pinned knew everything. He was wearing thick swamp-gator skin gloves that resisted her efforts as much as the brawny muscles.
Without her sight of the Earth, she was nothing. No vision, no Bending, no weapons. The man laughed, the smell of old cactus juice reaching her nose despite the gloves. She gagged, still squirming around. One contact with the ground, and she'd win over an entire army of people. It was all she needed.
"Toph! Toph! Where are you? Toph?! I'm sorry! That wasn't me, I swear! Toph!" his voice barely reached her ears through the pounding rain and her struggle for escape.
"Hehe. The Avatar and his friends will pay a good price for you, dead or alive. Hahaha!" Another hand brushed past her hair. "Come to think, so will a lot of other people. Understand, girl?"
So they hadn't heard him, or they would have hurt him as well. Though she hated him now, never, ever would she want him dead. NEVER. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed him away. Please, just go! There's danger – if you come here, they will kill the both of us! Just go. GO!
The man guffawed, thinking her expression of utmost concentration to be one of disgust and apprehension. Why had she thrown away both the bracelet and the necklace? Both contained stone, the stone used to forge a sword, even. But in her rage, she left herself unprotected.
"Toph! Please, no! Toph! Where are you? Toph! Listen to me! I love you, not her. Please, just come home! Toph!" There was no doubt this time. The man heard now, and above ground, unheeding her warnings, he was getting closer.
"Love, eh? That'll git me an even higher price, won' it? It all depen's on how much, neh?" He stank, badly. Toph tried to call out, but he still had her mouth covered.
Suddenly, there was a whizzing noise, and the hand over her mouth wrenched away, tilting her head first into the mud. The rest of her body was still suspended upside down. Now, she could see, at least a little.
She wriggled a bit, hoping to get out of the death grip. Her nose hit something hard, and she knew her life was saved. With her teeth, she picked it up and threw the object over her head – to land in her struggling hand.
With a grin and a flick of the wrist, she shaped the bracelet into a dagger. Knowing how to fight, she hung limp and still, hiding the dagger beneath her dirty sleeve.
The man who was holding her down didn't loosen his grip, but shifted her a little to cover her face again, letting go of her feet in the process. As soon as they touched down, she flipped up and Bended all the mud onto him, but he seemed to be an Earthbender as well.
His rock cage shattered within seconds, but Toph was not daunted. "Little pest!" he shouted. She Bent him deep underground, twisting the Earth and yanking out all the soft, muddiness and water. The man was trapped in a cage of metal.
"Toph! There you are! W–" He had found her, muddy, bloody, and panting. "What…happened?" he asked slowly.
Toph, still raging, brushed passed him, and said, "You happened. Get out of my way, or you'll end up same as him." She pointed with the dagger at the ground, where the man's face was visible through a grille in the metal.
He took a look, and noticed who it was. "Toph, that's General Fong!" She didn't recognize the name, but stopped a moment, not turning to face them.
"Who?"
"General Fong – he was the one who tried to force Aang into the Avatar State before we met you! Aang kinda laid him to waste, after narrowly escaping. He tried to kill all of us. In the end, Aang did end up in the Avatar State, and he wiped out everything." He explained patiently, with a voice full of anxiousness. "I don't know what he's doing here."
Toph continued to walk. "Why don't you ask him yourself? It was no help by you that I managed to escape just now. Thanks, idiot." The last sentence dripped with sarcasm, showing that she was returning to normal after her shock.
Leaving him with the unconscious man, Toph walked away from them, not knowing or caring where she was going. The dagger was gripped tightly in her fist, only bending keeping it from turning to dust in the vice.
--Present--
That was yesterday, and now she was far away from them, from everything. She had run in a random direction, catching stares as she passed. By nightfall she was far enough away that she wouldn't be found, unless they brought Appa. Fortunately, Aang had a head on him and would know not to come searching, and just give her time.
The same couldn't be said of all of them, though.
"Toph?" Oh, great. Him again. Doesn't he get it? She opened her mouth to tell him to leave her alone, but he held up a hand. "Before you say anything, I just want to say, I'm sorry. But how could you believe that? After all the years we've spent together, and after all the times I've told you I love you, how could you let one mistake break your faith in me?" He rubbed his temples to try and understand.
Toph didn't answer, only kept her eyes trained sadly upon the ground. "Toph," he sighed. "Really, what are you thinking?"
She took a breath. "It never made sense for you to love me," she explained, no sarcasm in her voice. "I always knew that. I was always second to her, always just the best friend. When..." she tried to choose her words carefully, to make him realize just how she felt.
"When you left to train with Master Piandao, all those years ago, we didn't know what to do. We were left without a plan, without anything. Katara and Aang missed you, sure, but that was when I realized that you weren't just my best friend. I did miss you. And I lied to you. I made it too easy for you to believe me, too.
"Of course, when you and hothead rescued Suki, I was shunted to the side. You never realized, and I never told you. Before that, at the Serpent's Pass, I saved your life from that rock slide, yours and Suki's. I had to thank myself. You were too busy making sure she was fine." She turned away from him completely.
"I'm not a warrior, and I'm not a Princess. I'm not refined and beautiful like the rest of them; I'm rough, brash, tough, and bold. But I'm just me. I can't change myself to prove anything to you, to anyone.
"What if you hadn't gone your separate ways? What if the four of us separated? What then? Would you have chosen me? Don't answer that question. I know already. You would have found her again, and I would still be your best friend."
He moved towards her. "Toph, you know that's not true." He spoke softly.
"Oh, do I?" Her voice was filled with ice. He took her elbow to turn her to face him, but she flinched away. "Don't touch me." she growled.
"Look, I know you're not going to believe me now, but maybe someday you will. I. Love. You. Not Suki. She obviously never heard about us being together, or she wouldn't have done that. It's you who mean everything to me. It's you who are the World's Greatest Earthbender, and it's you who I've fallen for. If you don't understand that, I don't know how else to prove it to you." He turned and began to walk away, slightly angry and frustrated that she didn't realize just how much he cared.
"Wait." The single word was filled with so much emotion that he was compelled to listen. "I...I'm sorry. You're telling the truth, and I was...stupid for not believing you. I'm sorry."
He looked at her, and she was so forlorn and upset that he had to take a cautious step towards her. "No, Toph. Never stupid. It was my fault for giving you reason to think I was lying. You knew that after Yue...died, I was quick to find something in Suki. I never let myself get close to anyone, and maybe that was wrong. Back before I met Aang, and Katara and I left the South Pole, my mom died, and my dad left for the war. We had no idea what had come of him for a long time. I was always so protective over Katara because I didn't want something to happen to her, too. Afterwards, Aang came along, and he taught us to have fun and adventure, and we left to find Katara a Waterbending master. Along the way, we met so many people, and Katara began to learn Waterbending from Master Pakku." Toph was listening to his every word, never having a real account of their travels before her by him.
"That was when I had met Yue. She was so protected and cared for that I figured, 'hey, nothing can happen to her, right? So why don't I let my guard down a little?' How wrong I was. The three of us brought destruction and death everywhere we went, and the Fire Nation caused it. Commander Zhao - the ocean Spirit finished him - killed the moon Spirit, and he threw everything out of whack. Yue gave up her life to become the moon. I was pretty wrecked, until I met Suki, who was a warrior, and taught me some of the stuff she knew. She could protect herself, and she didn't have a freaky connection with the Spirits. I let my guard down again. But the Fire Nation - Zuko specifically, tracked us down again, and they lay waste to her town. We left.
"The time came for Aang to find an Earthbending teacher, and we returned to Omashu to see if King Bumi would teach him. That, obviously, was not the case. We traveled around, looking for someone who matched Bumi's cryptic description, and we went to the Earth Rumble Six to see if anyone would suit it. And Aang picked you, one little girl who was short and skinny, looking like a porcelain doll, and obviously having no chance whatsoever against The Boulder. Ha! I often judge people by the way they look, and I'm a fool for doing so." He had been pacing slightly, while recounting this, and now stopped to face her.
"The rest you know, and you know that you became my best friend, and the person who I always looked up to. Toph, whatever I did until the war was over, and even a bit after that, was just my stupidity. I never saw the person I had right in front of me - I had always wondered why it felt wrong to be with Suki. The first time I kissed you, that was when I finally understood. I was in love with you the entire time, and I just never let myself realize it. Suki never knew that, I guess, but I can't lie to myself and her now that I know what it's like to be with you." He looked into her eyes.
"Is that really how you feel?" she asked after a moment of pondering all the information. He got to his knees, head bowed, like when he had confessed to Master Piandao before fighting him. "With all my heart - and humility, Toph." Though his words were true and heartfelt, they had a quality of humor about them.
"Ha! Humility! Well, I guess we're back to being meathead weds Miss Bei Fong now."
"It's Sokka."
"Yeah, whatever, Snoozles."
"I love you, Toph."
"I've heard. Now let's get home. I want to make Twinkletoes make us some meat!"
Don't you just love his non-existent humility? Ah, the power of fluff! You'd never believe how hard this was to keep in character. I still fear that Sokka's a bit mature, although Toph hasn't changed too much. She's got an excuse, anyway.
RnR, please! Just pop in and hit that little blue(Periwinkle?) button there, and make the world a better place...one author at a time.
--iamtheblindbandit/Sepulchral Roses