I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.
"Hey Twinkle Toes?" Toph said suddenly. She could feel his vibrations jump a little as he heard his name.
"Yeah?" he replied, and he turned his head slightly to see the twelve year old girl with jet-black hair still looking straight at the sky. For a brief second he felt a little sorry for her; it sucked that she couldn't see the sky.
"Sugar Queen says we're a lot alike," she said, glancing in the direction of the only other girl in the group.
"Really? When have you guys had time to talk?" Aang asked, shifting slightly, wincing in the process; it had been three weeks now since the fall of Ba Sing Se and his back hurt still, when he walked, stood, and even moved for that matter.
"Since you got hurt we've been moving a lot more slowly," she replied, sitting up, "and sometimes she stays up all night watching you. She gets really worried….But I guess it's in her nature, she is our family's mother."
Aang nodded. He looked back towards the sky, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't he asked, "What did you talk about?"
"Well," Toph replied, picking at her ear (Aang shook his head but smiled), "She told me that you lived with a monk that was like your best friend. And then when the other stuck-up monks were going to make you go away to another air temple, you ran away. And I guess it was for the better.
"I did that too. I lived somewhere that I didn't belong with only one friend."
"What friend?" Aang asked. "You said you never had any friends."
"Earthbending," Toph replied. "Earthbending has always been my best friend. And I ran away with you guys-" (that was one thing she had told Katara, was that she had run away) "-it was for the better….most of the time."
She laughed and Aang chuckled lightly before coming over with fit of coughing.
They sat there awhile in silence. Then, "So is your best friend still earthbending?"
His question made Toph feel a little insecure. Sure, she loved earthbending but her friends, even in doubt, hate, or stubbornness they were more important to her. Especially Aang; with his care free laugh and his light steps that hardly ever touched the ground. But now, it seemed he was always down here; he didn't fly anymore. In a way, that made Toph very sad.
"I'm not sure," she finally answered.
Silence.
"Well I guess elements aren't really people," Toph said, after she had felt Aang's vibration darken a little. "You can be my best friend, Twinkle Toes." There that did it.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because even when you're hurt you still hardly ever notice it because you're still the same old care free Twinkle Toes. And me, I never leave it…well except when we're on Appa. It cancels each other out. Yin and Yang, I guess."
Aang's ears perked up. Yin and Yang. She almost sounded Ko. That spirit had said something about Yin and Yang. What was it? Saving? Saving what? Love? Loving who? Katara? No, he had let her go. Toph? Toph…? Was it Toph that he couldn't let go?
"That's cool, thanks," he said.
They sat for a while without talking. Just the slightest sign of pink was coming through the tree tops that surrounded there camp.
"And," Toph said. "You're Twinkle Toes. You fly. And sometimes, I feel like I go with you. And my feet…you allow them never to touch the ground."