His fingers gripped her pale cheeks, silent tears ran down his face and dripped off his chin. His hand slipped behind her neck and cradled it softly, he pulled her towards him until their foreheads touched. He bit back a sob as her head lulled sidewards, her misty green eyes once filled with courage and strength were still filled with fear that she had felt before this moment.
He pressed his fingertips to her eyelids and pushed them slowly down. She looked like an angel, sleeping peacefully, mind away in another land, but he knew this wasn't the truth. She wasn't in a faraway land and she wasn't asleep, she had left him and she wasn't coming back. The tears now flowed freely down his cheeks his sobbing becoming louder and more uncontrollable by the second. He didn't hold anything back, his body shook and spasmed as he became unable to hold in his grief. He wanted her back he wanted to save her, to love her, to hold her. He wanted her so much, he couldn't let her go. Never.
"Toph-h-h! Toph! Pleas-e-e! Please, come b-back to me! You can't leave yet, you hear me!? Who's gonna get my jokes, or make fun of Katara with me?" He smiled, the tears still running freely down his cheeks.
"Who's gonna call me Meathead and make fun of me because I fight like a wimp? Who's gonna make faces with me when Katara and Aang start making kissy faces? Who's gonna punch me when I say something stupid or Earthbend me to the Spirit World just for the heck of it? Who's gonna laugh with me at absolutely nothing at all, or enjoy the finest array of jerky the Southern Watertribe has to offer?" He waited, hoping –praying to Yue- that she would answer him, but he knew it would never happen.
"Come on Toph, please jus-st-st please, open those beautiful eyes of your please" He placed his hand against her still warm cheek and directed her face towards his. He whispered quietly, afraid that if he heard his own voice that this nightmare would actually be reality.
"Please Toph, you can't leave me. You need to open those beautiful unseeing eyes and punch me again because of how close I am to you. Please Toph, open those gorgeous eyes. I never told you that, did I? How beautiful your eyes are, how their misty colour enchants me or how I love the way you blow your bangs out of your face only to have them land in the same place or how when you bend I'm mesmerized by the way your body moves so elegantly yet effortlessly. I'm sorry I didn't tell you Toph, didn't tell you that I like it when you grip my arm till I can't feel it, or the way you scrunch up your nose when you're mad. Or how I love it when you say my name or punch me in the shoulder or smirk at me or EarthBend me or smile at me. I never told you any of this and now it's too late, I'm sorry Toph I'm sorry I didn't save you. Sorry I couldn't protect you, I have a habit of doing that apparently" the tears flowed harder as he recalled all of his past lovers.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I'm so happy you joined our little group, that whenever were alone together my heart speeds up slightly. I'm sorry Toph that I never told you that …. That I loved you" He pressed his lips gently against hers for the first and last time, they were soft and tasted like dirt and copper, a combination that he found do not mix well. He pulled away expecting to see a pink tinge on her cheeks from the blush she would've undoubtingly felt and her wide milky eyes open with surprise. He wasn't. He knew he wouldn't ever again.
"Wait for me Toph. Wait for me for eternity. Or however long it takes because I will find you, I'll search all of the Spirit World if I have to and I'll finally tell you how much I love you."