Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, I wouldn't have to resort to writing fanfiction.

Seeing Through The Darkness

Katara stopped and stared up at the stone arch overhead and the inscription it carried. The tall warrior-statues had been restored after the cave-in and stood once more on either side of the opening, throwing menacing shadows across the cavern. The archway looked sturdy enough, an assumption she had made last time, yet a moment later she had found herself trying to calm a claustrophobic sky-bison as he clawed at the collapsed rocks. Appearances could be deceiving.

"Come on, Sugar Queen, what's the hold up?" Toph's pale clothes barely showed up in the gloom as she stopped at the edge of the light and turned. She drummed a foot impatiently on the ground, setting up answering echoes in the rock walls and bringing dust tumbling from the shadows above.

"That doesn't help!" Katara hissed, closing her eyes. Remember, you got through these caves before, in spite of the nomads and Sokka and the wolf bats and... Her palms began to sweat at the very thought of entering the cave once more. Her heart thundered against her ribs painfully hard and her breath came in short gasps.

"Katara?" Toph felt the waterbender's pulse leap and recognised the distinct pattern of fear. "I thought you said you'd been through these caves before." She had planned their return to Omashu around that fact, after all. Detouring through the mountains, even with an earthbending master's help, would add another three days to their schedule and they were overdue to meet Sokka and Aang as it was.

Katara swallowed hard and tasted grit in her mouth. A scream nearly escaped her; she bit her lip to trap it. Get a grip! Come on, Katara, focus, she commanded. Focus. She chanted the word inside her head, imagining herself speaking it aloud until she could feel the word in her throat, and she used it as a shield against the overwhelming fear.

"Hey." Toph stood beside her and dug her bare feet into the dirt underfoot. She could feel Katara trembling. With a little more concentration, she could make out the waterbender's hands flexing as if she sought to bend the very water in the air into a protective shield. Katara seemed terrified. "What happened in here?"

"It doesn't make any sense!" Katara shook her head, her eyes closed tightly against the sight of the cave. "I... I came through here before. It shouldn't be this hard."

A sarcastic remark leapt to mind but Toph chose to ignore it. She hesitated for a moment before making up her mind; she laid a gentle hand on Katara's shoulder. The older girl took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, calming herself.

"There was a cave-in," she said simply. "Several, actually. Aang and I got separated from the others. We all found our way out eventually and no one was hurt, but... that's why it makes no sense!" Her voice rose in frustration. Toph smiled to herself instead.

"You waterbenders, always gotta make sense out of everything. C'mon." She took Katara's hand before she could think twice about it and dragged her into the cave. Katara barely had time to cry out before she found herself vanishing into the gloom.

"Toph!" Black shadows leapt and danced as they crossed the threshold from daylight into the enveloping shroud of darkness. Daylight vanished and with it the air she breathed. Her lungs tightened, her throat closed, she was going to choke...

"I'm right here." That low voice came from beside Katara and a warm grip enclosed her hand. Toph had stopped dragging her like a heavy sack of turnips and let her walk on her own two feet, but that contact forged a bond between them of human warmth and compassion. Katara was not alone, and she was grateful to Toph for reminding her of that fact. Rather than lose the fragile connection linking them, she closed her hand a little tighter.

Toph had been born blind, and learned to see through her other senses. She had no fear in this place, Katara realised, because she was literally in her element. Her blindness didn't matter in such perfect darkness. Her ability to see through the ground and manipulate the earth around her made her as suited to this place as the badger-moles that lived here.

For a moment, Katara remembered her visit to the spirit oasis at the North Pole and the mixed sense of tranquillity and great power that she had felt there. Did Toph feel any similar emotion now that she walked in the birthplace of earth-bending? She had to. Her palms were damp and, if Katara pressed into the muscle of Toph's thumb, she could feel the pulse running strong and fast. She counted the beats as she walked, glad of the distraction, marvelling at the feeling of the earthbender's life flowing beneath her fingertips.

Toph scrubbed her free hand on her pants as if that would dry her other hand. Surely Katara had noticed her palms were sweating; she was holding so tightly that she could probably feel Toph's heartbeat. The more tightly Katara held to her hand, the faster her heart raced. Katara would notice any second now, and when she did... Spirits, don't let her notice, Toph begged. She had so carefully avoided any close contact with the waterbender, knowing that her body would betray her, and now she could only thank any listening spirits that the darkness hid her face. She was blushing so hard that she was surprised Katara couldn't see by the glow.

I wish she'd let go of my palm for a second. Just long enough to dry off her hand. But then Toph would have no excuse to touch Katara again, and she was enjoying the delicious torment too much to give it up. The itching was driving her crazy, however, and the path she was following began to blur as her concentration wavered.

"Toph, why are we stopping?" Katara almost ran into the younger girl. She could hear Toph's ragged breathing as she wrenched her hand free. The earthbender didn't reply for several long seconds, then Katara heard her curse softly and a fist slammed into the wall. Katara plucked up her courage and opened her eyes.

Darkness. She could hear Toph breathing beside her but she couldn't see her. She couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. Katara refused to give in to the panic this time, instead she took a deep breath and imagined herself breathing out her fear until it dissipated. She turned towards the source of the occasional muffled swearword. Her heart sank under a very simple realisation.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry, Katara." Toph kicked at the ground in frustration, barely remembering to restrain her power. She didn't want to frighten Katara any further by accidentally bringing down part of the roof. How could she have let this happen? It was so stupid, to let herself get distracted over something as silly as holding hands. She holds your hand for a minute and you lose all sense of direction, she sneered at herself. Ridiculous. And you can't even stop thinking about it long enough to try and find your way again!

"I don't get it though." Katara looked up towards the roof of the cavern, where she knew dozens of pale blue crystals lay embedded in the rock. "There are crystals that should glow in the dark." They hadn't glowed the last time she had been here; at least, they hadn't lit up right away. She had done something, but what? After a second or two, another memory surfaced. Arguing with Aang, a suggestion turning into an insult, standing beneath an enormous statue. The statue and the tomb for which the cave was named.

"The Cave of Two Lovers."

"Yeah. We're lost in it. What's your point?"

Katara ignored the question and touched a finger to her lips. They had kissed, hadn't they? And then... It was the solution, but what a solution. She was trapped with Toph of all people. The very suggestion made her shiver slightly, and not from fear or cold.

"'Love is brightest in the dark'," she whispered to herself. Toph made a strangled sound beside her, and she turned curiously.

"Toph, what--?" She could feel the draught of the earthbender shaking her head back and forth furiously.

Spirits, no! Toph had grown up listening to the legend of the lovers and Aang had proudly told her how he had solved its riddle. She had never wanted to hit the Avatar before, but listening to him boast about kissing Katara had lit a burning jealousy inside her. And now she had given herself away. She could feel Katara's bright gaze on her face, could tell that the waterbender had put two and two together and made four. Or rather, had realised something that Toph would have died before admitting.

"Whoa. Toph, are you saying that…?" Katara's voice filled with wonder. She had definitely figured it out.

"I'm not saying anything!" snapped the earthbender, her voice climbing an octave. She folded her arms defensively, a futile gesture in the darkness.

She does! Her heart began to pound once again. No longer racing with the speed of fear but filling with a sensation of warmth and heavy emotion. Something like exhilaration but much stronger flooded her body with its heat, mingling with the tenderness that she had thought she held only for Aang. She smiled.

"I know how to solve the riddle," she told Toph quietly, "but I need your co-operation." She reached out, found solid warmth, and slid her hands up Toph's arms to her shoulders, to her neck, and gently cupped her chin. The earthbender was frozen with shock, her throat bobbing as she fumbled for words. Katara brushed her fingertips over soft skin until she found what she was looking for. She pressed her lips quickly against Toph's. When no protest came, she dared to try again.

So soft. So very, very soft, Katara thought dimly, tasting honey and a trace of vanilla. She lingered in the warmth of Toph's mouth, delighted when she felt lips move against hers. Toph's hands curled around her waist, a touch that was at first cautious but soon gained confidence. She pulled Katara closer, marvelling as their bodies eased into an embrace that felt at once strange and familiar.

Toph noticed the change first; she drew away reluctantly and stood listening. She could hear a high-pitched crystalline hum over their ragged breathing. The very walls and roof were trembling with unseen energy. Katara opened her eyes and immediately closed them in a wince. The crystals were glowing, more brightly than she had ever seen, their light searing her eyes. Thousands of crystals bathed the cavern in their pale blue light, stretching away into the gloom that led to the cave's exit.

"It's so beautiful," she breathed. Seeing it once before only made it more beautiful the second time. "I wish you could see it."

"I can." Toph could hear the crystal's quiet song echoing through the tunnels and paths. She took Katara's hand and, a second later, felt slender fingers intertwine with hers. "It's one of the most amazing things I've seen." Katara squeezed her hand, but a sigh escaped her. Toph looked at her quizzically.

"We need to go. Sokka and Aang are waiting."

Toph sighed too. She had been quite happy to forget about their journey and their destination. Suddenly a shortcut was the last thing she wanted. This enchantment was newly woven and she feared that it would unravel in the rational light of day.

"All right." She felt Katara's questioning gaze as she began walking. "But we should take it slow. There's no need to rush."

Katara grinned. She understood Toph perfectly and she felt no particular hurry to rejoin her brother and the Avatar. Part of her wanted to keep walking through the caverns forever, following the pale gleam of the crystals that glowed with the strength of her feelings for the girl at her side. The other part of her, which craved daylight and open skies and vast expanses of water, now desired nothing more than the simple touch of a hand and the promise of a kiss.

Katara glanced over at Toph. Did the earthbender feel the same way she did? It was possible that she did, and equally possible that she didn't. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Katara reassured herself. In the meantime... She pulled Toph to a halt and leaned in to steal a kiss, and a second.

"What was that for?" Toph asked as she pulled away.

"Just making sure the lights don't go out on us," Katara replied.

"You waterbenders, always gotta make sense out of everything."

"Ask a stupid question, expect a stupid answer," Katara teased, eliciting a laugh from Toph. The earthbender smiled to herself as she allowed herself to look into the future. Katara had left her fear far behind, near the mouth of the cave. Surely she wouldn't object to taking a short cut through these caves again. Aang would fly Appa over rather than subject him to the claustrophobia of being underground again, and she could easily contrive an excuse to get rid of Sokka. She and Katara would walk the pathway lit by their love and enjoy the freedom of solitude once again.

Katara's hand tightened around hers and drew her back to the present moment. She smiled contentedly as her hope became a certainty.

--Fin--

Authorial nonsense:

This idea popped into my head while watching "The Cave of Two Lovers" and wouldn't let up. I know KaToph isn't supported in the show but I love a challenge. If you have any comments, thoughts or constructive criticism, please leave me a review and tell me!