Just a small, tiny forgotten one shot i found while rummaging through some old files and decided to post it. A little sad i may say so...

Is there any chance you could see me too?
Cause I love you
Is there anything I could do
Just to get some attention from you?
In the waves I've lost every trace of you
Where are you?

Woodkid-I love you

Stupid Twikletoes….

It was a beautiful day on Ember Island, perfect for a swimming day. With that climate almost all year round it made the Island one of the principal touristic attractions of the fire kingdom.

But if you asked Toph she would say it was truly annoying and let out a grumble.
Toph let out a sigh feeling completely defeated, even when she made an effort to fight (a strange defeated trait on the earth bender).

As always she stayed on the beach, playing on the sand. And playing on the sand got really old really fast after so many days of hearing your friends play on the ocean.

Of course they offered to stay with her and take care of her as she swam, but it was a rare occurrence the girl accepted; she didn't wanted to be a burden for her friends. This of course, didn't keep her friends of asking and sometimes even spending some time with her (as she knew how they, many times, literally were bustling with anticipation of the template waters) or even dared to drag her to the waters. Zuko, more often than not was her partner on those swimming evenings, something along the lines of not being himself a swimming person kept him laying on the warm sand for hours, even when, ironically he was such a good swimmer. Something about being a firebender or whatnot. But today that was not the case, Sokka had issued a challenge to the fire prince (or should we say lord?) in a battle of surf…and from the laughs she could hear, both were losing. Thus she was alone, trying to figure what their friends did on the water.

"what'cha doing sifu-killjoy" Aang surprised her, a tone of joke on his voice. He was always so silent, as if he was part of the world, a breeze that you don't find out of place. Was it also a teaching of the monks, to be in such equilibrium with nature that you passed as part of the layout an air bender thing or just an Aang thing?

"Ah, nothing , trying to figure who will give up first" she responded not being in the mood for a witty exchange of words

"Well, Sokka almost gave up when he crashed face first on the sand"

"I swear I heard it all the way to here"

"Katara practically was preparing her healing water when he said…"

"Something about his manly watertribe warrior honor I think" she interrumped

"Ha,ha, yes that's right"

"Sparky sounds like he is doing fine"

"Yes, I think he has done this before"

And as they were on the shadow of a parasol, in the warm sand Toph felt something close to a calm contempt. Her friend was close to her, so close she could feel the warm of his body over the temperature of the hot day; that she could make out the heartbeats and rhythm of his breath; that she could feel the cold wind he always seemed to carry everywhere in an unconscious way. That she could extend her hand and take his. It was too easy to just raise her hand and place it on his, an innocent act, a harmless move that somehow had so much meaning to her.

But as she was going to bring her hand down on the unsuspecting avatar, a voice woke her up of the stupor Toph had induced herself.

What it said didn't matter, nor the tone nor the distance. Just a vague resemblance to that voice brought something akin to sadness to her hearth and the reality crashed her little wonderland.

"Aang, what're you doing?"

Katara, it was Katara's voice and only that was enough to break the spell she had so un-carefully woven. Reality was harsh as Toph realized the breath caught on her friend's throat, the faster rhythm of his hearth, she could even feel the smile creeping on his face and Toph could swear she saw how his eyes looked Katara with longing. With love.

And all valor and fantasies abandoned her being.

His body betrayed him, of what burned deep into his soul and was so evident for everybody:

Aang loved Katara with all his self.

And under that evident pressure, under that immeasurable weight her timid affections were buried where nobody could see them.

"Excuse me Toph" Aang said as he got up and ran to the ocean, away from her, never looking back to see the well-kept mask behind which sadness hide and the longing look of the pale green eyes he left behind.

Toph was his master, his comrade; she was a friend to the avatar, a good friend but a friend nevertheless. Katara was his lover.

"Stupid Twinkletoes"

And with that thought her hand felt to the empty sand that now felt so cold.