Second Sight: Chapter 01

Rating: K

Pairing: Toko

Ah, here is my first chapter of my first Toko fanfic. This one will probably not be very long, probably only five chapters or so, but I hope it comes out alright. Thoughts on how to improve it are always welcome, as usual. This one is set right after 'Fire Bending Masters', so Katara is still acting very b****y to Zuko. Toph gets bored, and decides to involve the newest person in the group in her antics. Bad results naturally occur. Toph is a harder character to get down than the other gals from the series, so tell me if I messed her up too much. That said, enjoy, Toko fans.

Aimlessly turning her head about the small clearing, Toph felt for where the various members of their little group were scattered. Katara was off procuring some water for cleaning and cooking, the domestic type of things that she got so much joy out of. It was something that Toph was both envious of and completely mystified by. Why would anyone enjoy cleaning so much, or cooking for someone sporting a bottomless pit of a stomach, like Sokka.

Aang, in his usual manner, was keeping a short distance between himself and Katara, trying his best to make the object of his affections notice him as something more than what they were at that moment. Even from such a long distance away, she could practically feel the boy's affections, and it made her want to gag.

The blind girl's ears pricked a bit as she felt for Sokka, much closer to the edge of her range than the others. They had fruitlessly hunted for something meat-like to eat over the few days they had been there, to no avail. But Sokka, ever the meat lover, was not one to give up, and was still at it close to a week later.

She wondered how anyone could be so single mindedly focused on something, to the point of it being a near obsession. Her brows knit together as she felt around for the newest member of their little group, the moody ex-Prince of the Fire Nation.

"Hey, where's Princess?" Toph asked loudly, feeling Katara's body tense at the mention of the fire bender. She fought to hold back a smirk at the feeling, knowing that even having the boy around irritated the water bender to no end.

"He's probably doing his breathing exercises," Aang yelled, emerging from behind the fountain a short distance behind Katara. The dark skinned girl seemed to almost fume, her seething dislike for the Prince apparent even to the blind girl.

"Maybe he got lost and wandered off a cliff or something. He was never the brightest light in the sky," the older girl sneered, pricks of fear echoing on the back of the neck of Aand and his earth bending teacher. Katara seemed oddly amused by the notion of Prince Zuko wandering off a cliff, and each of the younger kids got the distinct impression that she would have been more than happy if that had been the result.

Toph felt particularly confused by the older girl's attitude, despite only knowing Zuko for a few days. It wasn't like Katara to hold a grudge for no reason, so she assumed logically that there was something in particular between the two that was causing the distrust and dislike. Well, the one-sided dislike, anyway. Zuko, for his part, was clearly trying to be civil and kind to everyone in the group.

She would have to get some answers to what happened one day. But as she felt the young warrior wander back from his failed hunting trip, Toph felt something she had come to know quite intimately during her years locked up in her parents' home. Boredom. Sure, she could just play some prank on the others in the group, but they had all gotten to know one another, and she wondered if her jokes would work on any of them.

Not to mention, she had gotten close to each of them, for various reasons. Aang was, ostensibly, her earth bending pupil, and so was in regular contact with him. He knew her almost inside and out, something she wasn't sure she was comfortable with. It made it harder to play jokes on him involving earth bending, as he seemed to hold a natural talent for all things bending. Show-off.

Sokka was too easy, a sucker through and through, she liked to jab at him occasionally, usually in reference to her blindness, but generally found the lack of a challenge in regards to the only non-bender in the group to be boring in itself.

Katara and her shared a sometimes adversarial relationship, sometimes more like bitter enemies, or two girls fighting over the same guy. Though, she cringed at the notion that she liked Aang. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, or anything like that. She figured that was part of the reason she wasn't into him. She didn't want nice. She didn't want some guy drooling all over her, trying to protect her from everything in the world.

And just for a moment, that line of thinking brought her to the potential next target for her unique brand of "affection". She hadn't known Zuko long, but just from the minor interactions they had shared, she had a feeling that if she did something to him, he would probably do something in return, something she looked forward to.

Not bothering to make any excuse, Toph dropped from her perch at the fountain's edge, letting her feet pound softly on the carved stone as she made her way through the oddly comfortable temple. It was strange to her how at home she, as an earth bender, could feel in a temple supposedly designed for air benders.

With each step through the wide corridors, she let the feel of the immense structure fill her unusual brand of "sight", taking in each crack, each line of carved stone, each sculpture that dotted the walls. Finally, after only a minute or two of walking, she found the room she was searching for. Concentrating for a moment, she felt the young man doing a few simple movements in his room, away from the eyes of the rest of the group.

He was, she figured, quite a private person, either not wanting to risk doing something to draw Katara's ire, or just more comfortable doing things on his own. Toph smiled as she remembered for a moment her conversation with his uncle Iroh, and how two related people could be so different. But her minty green eyes narrowed a bit in something akin to disappointment.

Zuko seemed to be the type to take in all his surroundings, difficult to get the drop on, something that Sokka really needed to work on if he was going to be an accomplished warrior. She wondered to herself, if Zuko and Sokka sparred, who would win. But he seemed to either not notice her, or take no caution in her presence. So, she leaned against the outside of his doorframe, the heavy wooden door closed on its hinges.

She felt as he settled in the center of the room, his steady breaths sounding not unpleasantly on her ears as he cooled down. Shuffling towards his mattress, he pulled something out of his small pack, placing the items against the opposite wall. Toph wondered what he was doing, what his breathing exercise entailed.

The soft puttering of a newly lit flame sounded through her slightly heightened hearing, a sound repeated once, twice, five times. Suddenly she wished she could see, or at least have someone explain to her what it was that he was doing.

Contrary to her nature, which would usually prompt her to do something, to be up and about, Toph waited. She "watched" as he set himself down in the center of the room, cross-legged, a single deep breath calming him down completely. She listened as the movement of cloth dissipated, replaced with the rhythmic breathing that indicated meditation.

One might wonder what Zuko could gain from meditation, his personality so much more fiery and volatile than Aang's. It seemed that he was not the type to be sitting there breathing, and yet here he was. Yet, knowing it did not make it any easier to understand or accept.

After a few minutes, her boredom returned full force, and Toph tried to think of something she could do to irritate the focused fire bender, something to get him to explode, and maybe cause a hilarious argument between him and Katara. Their opposing elements seemed to make them natural enemies, something Toph made sure to note for ant future bouts of boredom. God help her if they ever decided to get along.

Sensing that Zuko was focused on whatever it was that he was doing, Toph decided to break up her boredom, and involve Zuko at the same time. A loose flick of her wrist, and she loosened the ground beneath the young man, a playful smirk crossing her lips as she felt the ground begin to give way.

"What the hell…?!" Zuko shouted, his voice nearly drowning out the sound of increasing sized flames. She felt his heartbeat quicken as he fell a bit forward, barley stifling a chuckle at his expense. Served him right for getting so involved.

But her giggle died down as she felt his heart rate increase, instead of decreasing. Figuring that maybe something was wrong, she entered the room, letting the heavy door bang against the inside of the wall as it flung open.

"Hey, what is your problem?" she asked directly, feeling his body turn towards her, something distinctly resembling anger and fear causing his body to tremble. She could tell that his hand was waving directly in front of his face, slowly but surely, and she wondered what that could mean.

"Oh, god, Toph, you just surprised me," he said, his heartbeat telling a completely different story than his lips. His voice trembled a bit in what she could only call fear, as he slowly got up from his sitting position in the center of the room. Toph's ears perked up a bit as she listened to the soft rustle of cloth as he stood, his movements a bit more uncertain and slow than usual.

"It's no problem," she said somewhat hesitantly, feeling the uncertain footsteps as he made his way towards the direction of the door. It seemed strange to her that his usual confidence could disappear just like that, and he was almost moving like he was…

Frosted green eyes flashed open as a twinge of guilt rang in her chest. There was no way that could be the case… could it? But there was only one way to check. Before he could make his way to the opened door, Toph brought up a small lump of earth in front of the young man, something that he would usually notice and either step right over or sidestep. But her fears were realized as he stumbled, his face planting against the inside of the wall opposite the door.

"Oww!" he yelled, stumbling back onto his backside, hand rubbing his now sore face. Toph swallowed hard on the lump in her throat, backing hesitantly away from the no doubt angry fire bender.

"I'm uh, sorry," she mumbled, knowing now what was wrong with him. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but now she had no doubt. "I'm sure Katara can do something about it," she reasoned, knowing how hard it could be to deal with what he was going through.

"I'm sure it's just temporary," he said, trying his best to be reassuring to the younger girl. Placing his hand against the cool stone, he gave her a small smile, patting along the wall as he slipped out of the room, wincing in pain as he banged into one of the walls of the small corridor.

Toph planted herself on his mattress, banging her head against the hard stone of the wall nearest her. How could she have done something so stupid? She truly hoped that Katara would be able to heal his condition. But could water bending heal blindness?

Well, that was the first chapter. Thoughts welcome, as I said before. Toph is one of the harder characters to get down in the series, so I was worried about starting this one. The next few chapter will, hopefully, be better, and focus on the Toko interactions. Next update will be for my Jinko story, as I settle into a pattern of Jinko - Zuki (Zuko x Suki) - Toko. Until next time, good readers.