What She Doesn't See
Pale eyes gazed unseeingly over the crowd of people bustling through the streets of Ming Te, the current city they were taking refuge in. It had been years since the Fire Nation began to reign supreme and there were few places around the world where life remained untouched by their destruction.
Ming Te was one of those cities. Their walls were thick like Ba Sing Se, the inhabitants were a mixture of Sand Benders and Earth Benders and it seemed that anyone seeking refuge here was welcome. Even the Fire Benders who travelled with them.
Toph could feel the excitement rising within the citizens as sunset grew closer and the festival grew ever nearer. There would be extravagant displays, fireworks and dancing and singing and all that festivals came with. From the balcony of the tower, the Gang looked around excitedly, laughing and talking animatedly with each other.
Aang, who had grown during the last five years, held Katara's hand and the two watched the throng of people below them. Sokka was having a rather confusing conversation about his knives with Iroh who kept laughing every now and then at the antics of the Water Tribe boy. They were all talking about the festival and what sorts of things they would soon see.
None of them seemed to notice the green eyed girl leaning over the balcony with emotionless eyes. No one except a certain banished prince who leaned against a pillar watching the girl silently.
Liquid pools of amber glinted as the last rays of the sun disappeared over the horizon and the streets below began to light up with lanterns and torches. The Earth Bender wore shoes for once and Zuko could feel the discomfort of those restraints on her feet coming from her.
She was jittery and on edge but it didn't seem as if she was going to take them off any time soon. She finally pushed off from the balcony and muttered, "I'm going to walk around," to them all, taking the stairs and walking down at a bored pace.
No one seemed to hear her except for Zuko who, after a while, followed, his catlike footsteps unnoticed by anyone other than his uncle who had a twinkle in his eyes as he watched his nephew.
…
The shoes constricted not only her co-ordination, but her senses. She had to rely only on her hearing and though hers was probably better than most others', it still wasn't enough to stop her from bumping into people and stumbling as she walked.
Thoughts of the happiness that went through her friends as they talked about the festival made her mood even darker. They could see. She couldn't. It was as simple as that and for the first time in a long time, she wished she could see. She wanted to share that happiness and excitement with them.
She wanted to see the world and what everyone fussed about. She wanted to see her friend's faces instead of recognising them by their footsteps and their voices. She knew their features, but it was different from actually being able to see them, detail for every miniscule detail.
Her face crumpled under the bitterness of it all. She wanted to know what it was like to see light and colour and brightness, all in coordination with each other instead of the blur of darkness that her unseeing eyes witnessed every hour of every day.
Biting back sobs and tears, she pushed on, desperate to get away from everyone. For now, she just wanted to be alone, like she'd been before she'd found her friends. Alone and silent and unspeaking. It wasn't that painful. In fact…it was quite numbing.
The laughter and chattering roared like thunder around her as Toph struggled to escape the crowd of the people of Ming Te, pushing, shoving and running to get out of their suffocating clutches.
Men cried out in alarm as she rushed past them, women let out shocked cries and yelps and those older or in between cursed and shouted out in anger but the girl paid them no heed and ignored their calls and yells and just ran faster. She had always hated walls and the people here felt like stone walls a hundred feet high.
Nothing could feel better than the openness of fields, forests and grasslands. And as she finally pushed her way out of the last bunch of bodies, she took in a deep and audible breath, one that felt like the first one after diving for hours.
The dark haired girl panted and stood up, finding herself in a small deserted alleyway. Through the soles of her shoes, she could still feel the thrum of the mass of footsteps behind her. She felt a wall of a building next to her and placed both hands on it, dragging them along the stony substance as she walked.
From what she could tell, the area around her was empty save for herself and so she deemed it safe to venture on. Her shoes scraped on the stony, sandy ground, a feeling she wasn't used to for constantly having her feet feel the ground she was on. It was an oddly soft sensation.
And so she walked on, coming to the end of the alley which opened out into a large courtyard where the ground changed and became smooth. Cobblestones, she realised. Towards the centre of the courtyard, there was a huge stone monument. And upon coming closer, she realised what it was; a fountain. But there was no water.
It was empty and dry. Green eyes glistened with tears as the girl's body slumped against the fountain, her fingers gripping the wide, rounded edge and her cheek resting against the cold marble. She felt her hot tears roll down her face and fall onto the stone. Maybe, just maybe if she cried hard enough, she could fill up the fountain. And it would be bright and running once again.
…
Zuko watched as Toph had struggled to escape the crowd of people, he saw the desperation in her movements and felt a stab of sympathy for her. She seemed so sad, too sad for the usually bright and sarcastic spit fire who always found a way to make everyone laugh even when she didn't intend to.
The playfulness was gone from her tonight and he had an idea as to why that was. The people around him were beginning to get on his nerves and in annoyance, he growled and elbowed them aside, ignoring their complaints and curses, much like the Earth Bender had done before him.
Amber eyes caught sight of the alleyway she had escaped into and building up his strength, he began to race towards that spot, dodging bodies and dancers and singers and men on high stilts, wearing masks and absurd costumes.
The singing seemed to have got louder ever since the sun had gone down. A man had grabbed him and pulled him around, glaring into his face as he yelled, "Don't you have any manners boy?"
Cocking an un-amused brow and breaking free, the prince began to move again, turning around once to give the spluttering man a rather rude hand gesture. Zuko smirked to himself upon breaking free of the crowd and was sent stumbling. Looking around at the dark alleyway, he noticed that there was no one in sight and wondered in confusion whether the girl had indeed come this way. But upon seeing her small footprints in the soft earth, he followed them towards the end.
And he saw her there; seated on the edge of the fountain, her head bowed low, and through what little light there was, he noticed the redness around her eyes and the tear stains on her cheeks. But she didn't seem to notice him.
He stood where he was for a moment, still undecided about what he was going to do next. Dim gold eyes watched the small girl as she sat silently, unmoving. And he took a step forward, there was no reaction. He took another and another until he stood in front of her, looking down on her.
He knew she knew he was there. And he didn't care. Surprise wasn't one of his intentions tonight. Kneeling down so he was level with her, he said quietly,
"You're by yourself."
"Did it take you that long to realise it, princess?"
Though he scowled at the nickname, it was lightened by the hint of jest in her voice as she spoke. "A better question to ask, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be enjoying the festival?"
He shrugged. "Festivals are overrated."
A small grin graced her lips. "To those who can see I guess they are."
He chuckled and stood, only to take a seat beside her. "I suppose so."
Green eyes looked up to the starry sky and then finally turned and dropped towards the boy next to her, catching his gaze with impossible precision. "Am I missing that much?" she asked. Her question was both rhetorical and not. He could hear the longing to know behind her voice and he himself looked up to the sky.
It was beautiful. But so many people took it for granted. The scarred boy sighed and looked to her again. "If you could see it once, would that be enough for you?"
She took in a shuddering breath and nodded. "Just once would be enough. I don't care what happens after that, I just wish I could see everything once."
His hand crept slowly across the stone and captured her hand, holding it tightly. "It is something that not everyone appreciates. They look up at the sky and then turn away, knowing that they'll see it another day." Small fingers curled around his and she looked to the ground.
"Everyone was so happy tonight. I wanted to be happy with them. I guess you could say I was jealous," she admitted bitterly.
He opened his mouth to say that it was alright to be jealous, but caught himself at the last minute. Saying that it was alright wasn't going to make it any better. "Jealousy is a powerful feeling. I was always jealous of my sister and I let it get to me. I turned out bitter and resentful. But uncle always told me that you have to use jealousy in a way to make you do better so that you can let go of it."
There was a sudden loud bang as the first of the fireworks spiralled up into the sky in a gorgeous display of light and colour. Festivals are a time of lights and colours. Too bad she couldn't enjoy them. As he watched the light shine on her soft, sombre features, he thought to himself, "But maybe I'm bright enough for the both of us."
Then followed a series of louder bangs and shrieks that spiralled into the sky and amber eyes looked up at the beauty of the fireworks. There were all sorts of colours and shapes and the sounds were almost deafening.
Small fingers squeezed tighter around manly hands and the prince turned to the blind girl who was sitting silently next to him, her minty green eyes shining softly. She looked so beautiful to him. And even though she didn't know it, he knew it and he appreciated every singly detail of her.
No one appreciated her the way he did this night. No one ever could. And as he leaned in closer, and made her face him, he knew that after tonight, nothing would be the same for them. Soft, warm lips captured cold feminine ones in the sweetest kiss that Zuko had ever experienced.
Green eyes widened in shock not only at the actions of the Fire Bender but because of the strange feelings rushing around her body. It was her first and it sent the warmest sensation through her as their arms wrapped around each other desperately, wanting to get ever closer.
She didn't know what it was that compelled her to continue but she didn't care. He was there and she was there and right now, he seemed like the only one in the world that she could see.
And what she saw was beautiful.
A/N: Phew, yay! I got another Zuko/Toph fic out!! This was just a little bit of fluff to cheer me up. I'm moving into the boarding house tomorrow…blech! But I'll survive!! Anyways, I hope you all like this. Obviously it's pretty AU and I know that a majority of you guys out there like Zutara…but I'm a major Toko fan and I hope that all of you who agree with me like this! Please REVIEW and tell me what you think! Constructive criticism and reviews are probably the best thing an author could hope for. So please REVIEW and no flames because I'll just use them to heat up my room at night…
Peace out!
Rex