One
Toph Bei Fong had always been the kind of girl who never let anything get in her way. She stood fast, strong, and struck true with brute force if need be. But why on earth was this…such a difficult task for her? The difficult task being…finding rest.
She stared unseeingly at the stars that could not be reflected on her pale eyes, the shadows of the darkness surrounding her the only thing she could make out in all of this chaos. She was smack-dab in the middle of the fire nation with seemingly no one but herself at the moment.
The earth hummed beneath her calmingly; she felt no disturbance except for the airy footfalls of none other than Twinkletoes himself.
She pounded either of her fists into the earth below her, and her tent came down, shifting from its solidity to become one with the earth again.
The young Avatar ran a hand over his bald head, sighing a little, dark circles under his eyes. He didn't know what to do or say; he couldn't find the words, so he started small.
"Toph,--I don't know about all of this…what if I make some sort of mistake? I would talk to Katara, but she's all about the optimism, and I'm so confused!" His words seemed to come out all at once in a whisper.
Toph sat up and stared unseeingly at her pupil as she felt the world around her shift, the ground accommodating itself to seat the Airbender. "This is your destiny, Aang, and I know you don't feel like this is the right thing to do, but Ozai has done a lot of bad things…To all of us."
Aang's semblance seemed to slip as he listened to the words that had come out of her mouth. And suddenly he scowled, his demeanor all the more intimidating in the firelight. But Toph didn't have to see this, she felt it.
"I know you're lost, Aang." Toph began again. "But that's all the more reason you need to see things for how they really are. I know you don't want to defeat the Firelord…the way that's been suggested…"
"I can't take his life, Toph…" He sighed, tears of frustration welling in his eyes.
"Well if you don't do something Twinkletoes, he's going to take all of ours."
He gave her a very serious look then, and when he noticed her face…
"Something's wrong, Aang…I can't see…"
"What?" He asked, immediately standing up, suddenly all alert.
"I can't see!" She said again, standing up, but stumbling, loosing her root each time.
Aang caught her as she stumbled, peering into the night, trying to reach out…But he couldn't…Why?
The last thing he could remember before darkness swallowed him was Katara's shrill screams cutting through the night.