Toph was quiet because for once, she had nothing to say. She stared at the doctor with cloudy eyes, listening to his heartbeat.
"Miss Beifong, if you are unsure about this, there are certain arrangements that can be made for you."
The world spun around her in a way she hadn't experienced since a battle on an airship long, long ago. A cold sweat started its way down her back and she froze.
"No." She rose up from the table fluidly, planted her feet firmly on the ground. "I want to do this." She placed a hand on her still flat stomach. "This is mine."
—
Toph is not one to sit at home and mope but she is five months pregnant and utterly alone. Without even work to distract her, she is forced to sit at home and listen to the radio and all the things they say. Speculation about her love life, the future security of Republic City, the future of women holding government positions…Toph isn't sure what the newspapers are saying but they must be worse because Katara doesn't let any of her kids speak of them anymore.
She leans her head back against the couch, sighs, and for a moment, she imagines his arms around her, his hands resting gently on her rounded stomach. Maybe this would have all been better if he was still…
"Toph!"
Her eyes fly open and she gasps, her feet recognizing the heartbeat of someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Sokka!" She tries to get up but he stops her.
"You're losing your touch," Sokka notes. He settles into the couch next to her and slings an arm over her shoulders. "You used to be able to see me a mile away. You should also get into the practice of locking your doors." She is silent. He studies her carefully, surprised at how much has changed in two years. She is rounded in ways she had never been before, in a way he thought previously impossible on Toph. She is all soft curves and smooth valleys. He likes it. "You look good, by the way."
An unbidden blush spreads across her face and she leans into his arm cautiously. She is too fatigued to care at how stilted this reunion is, too worn down from the weeks of embarrassment and sorrow. All she needs right now is her friend.
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Sokka's voice is quiet. "I know I'm not in Republic City all the time but I at least thought I had the right to know. I thought you would have the courtesy to tell me yourself. I didn't know I'd hear about this," he waves to her stomach, "through the grapevine."
"Sokka, you were so far away…I didn't know how to reach…" Toph's voice sounds fake, even to her own ears.
"Bullshit." Sokka leans away from her now and she misses his warmth immediately. "You knew exactly how to reach me, Toph. Cut your shit."
Toph springs to her feet, too quickly, and her back screams in protest. "Why is it important to you anyway? You're not Badger Mole's father. You're not pregnant. You're not the one who has to listen to the radio every single day only to hear what people say. Toph BeiFong, that harlot. Always knew a woman couldn't train men. She can't even hold herself in. Sokka, you don't hear it!" Toph is shaking, her hands clenching and unclenching.
"Toph, I could have protected you!" Sokka springs to his feet now and paces away from her, his icy water tribe eyes boring holes through her own.
"Protect me from what, Sokka? What could you have done?" Months worth of tears stream down Toph's round face and it infuriates her all the more. "You were so busy traipsing around the globe. You know it's been almost two years since I've seen your damn face around here. Why would you come back just to stop a few papers from running the story of Republic City's new chief of police and her escapades?" She angrily brushes away the tears that roll down her face.
"Toph, that's not what I meant and you know it. I...I could have helped you. I would have done something, anything for you! Why didn't you call me?"
"Helped me for what? Do you know the whole story? Could you have stopped me from being petty? I was so angry, Sokka! I wanted him to care, I needed him to care about Badger Mole. I wanted to punish him, I wanted to make him sorry by making him work late and the next morning when I wake up I find out Yakone and his thugs killed my best police team while they were on a routine patrol? Nothing was supposed to happen! I robbed my child of a father." She is sobbing in earnest and the earth beneath them quivers. "And now I'm Republic City's most famous whore, unmarried and pregnant and unfit to run my own city! How could I come to you for help? How could I stand before you and tell you all this?"
Sokka steps forward to place a hand on her shoulder but she jerks away angrily.
"How dare you come here and tell me you could have protected me. How could you? I never thought I'd end up like this. All this fucking time I thought that maybe this could have been you and me but instead I'm alone and no-" Toph cuts herself off with a scream. She presses her fists to her eyes.
This time when Sokka steps forward to touch her, she doesn't resist. She folds into his embrace effortlessly and he revels in the way the swell of her stomach presses against his. He hears her hiccup into his chest, his water tribe furs soaking up her tears.
He holds her carefully and the earth is still.