(A/N) Not mine. End of story. Written while I had a 104 degree fever, be kind? Review, pretty please :D Also- I take requests!
Toph Bei Fong was what one might call a connoisseur of earth, She's felt many kinds and variants of the substance, from the pulsating crystals of Ba Sing Sae to the gritty natural limestone only found in the desert.
And now, currently in the Fire Nation, the Blind Bandit had been privy to many kinds of earth previously unavailable to her in other regions. In fact, this particular beach boasted something quite interesting- a cove private enough to provide cover, very deep and lined with a peculiar mix of marble quartz and diamond.
At least, that's what Toph had been told. His amazing substance was only available at the bottom of the very deep, very water filled cove. To the other members of the gaang, this wasn't so bad- they could see it simply by swimming to the bottom. But for Toph, who could neither see or swim, this problem proved itself to be quite bothersome.
Normally, the raven-haired girl would have shrugged this off as bad luck- but there were just so many diamonds. Oh, don't misconstrue that, the monetary value of the rough gems had nothing to do with Toph's great interest, rather the vibrative quality they possessed. Diamonds, more so than any other substance on earth resonated with the vibrations of things around them. Chi has a way of ferreting out the purist substance in which it can react with, and you just can't get much purer than diamonds.
So, taking this in to consideration, a person would logically conclude that one Toph Bei Fong would be able to 'see' uncommonly well when standing on diamond. Which could very well be true, only Toph had never tested that theory out. Hey, even the Bei Fong's didn't have that kind of money.
So, in Toph's mind, this was an opportunity that could not be missed. She had thought of several different ways to get her dirt-encrusted toesies on top of all that precious marble. The first- and probably most improbable- was to convince Twinkles and Sugarqueen to bend the water out of her way. That wouldn't work because of the vast quantity of the bothersome liquid- that and the fact that Sugarqueen was in a particularly pissy mood at the moment.. The second idea was to bend the rock up to Toph- but that water issue reared its ugly head again- even being the greatest earth bender in the world and having Twinkle's help wouldn't do much good; the friction caused by the amount of water would prove the task impossible. Even that little bit of bending Toph did at the Serpents Pass was harder than she expected.
So, after eliminating the impossible, Toph was left with only one idea- if she couldn't bring the earth to her, she'd bring herself to the earth! Even if she couldn't swim, Toph could hold her breath for an uncommonly long time, and she'd always heard of earth bender's using their skill to walk on the bottom of the ocean, this couldn't be that different! This information is what led Toph to where she would soon feel to be a very bad position.
The petite earth bender had waited until the rest of the group left the cove (going to some fancy tea party or something, feh.) before stripping down to her wrappings, and gingerly easing her way into the shockingly cold water. It shouldn't be so hard to get to the center of the pond, if Toph just bended her way across the bottom. Soon enough, she proved herself correct.
Only, by the time Toph had gotten into a position where she could feel the diamonds resonating beneath her, she had used up most of her stores of oxygen. In fact, the uncomfortable pressing sensation on her chest had built up to a level where she couldn't even enjoy the 'sights' around her (which were rather anti-climactic. Some trash here, a rock there… very disappointing. But really, what did Toph expect, Atlantis? She was on the floor of a rock cove, anyone else probably would have realized this before getting themselves stuck in a like situation.)
So, now our dear little Toph had a problem at hand- how would she get the hell out of this death trap in relatively one piece?
Toph's mind raced, she bended the marble away from her feet. So what if she didn't know how to swim? Now was a perfect time to learn. As the diamond-speckled quartz let go of Toph and her toes left the ground, her mind went numb with panic. Now she truly was blind. She felt herself floating (where she assumed to be) up. Fear paralyzed her limbs and Toph's lips parted, she felt the pressure that had built up in her lungs release, and in its place icy water wormed its way in.
Well, if this was how Toph was going to die, then so be it. At least she wasn't burning alive or something else gruesome like that. Although she really would have rathered an honorable death in battle…
As these thoughts drifted in and out of Toph's quickly diminishing consciousness, she faintly registered strong arms encircle her waist and lips pressing against her own. Air filled her lungs, mingling uncomfortable with the strangling liquid that was already there.
The arms pulled her close to a warm torso, she felt her savior kicking them both to the surface. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Toph realized that this person had to be Sparky. Shoulders too broad to be Twinkles, a striking lack of breasts, so Sugarqueen was out, and much to muscular to be Snoozles. So, Princess Zuko was the only one left. Odd, thought Toph, what is he doing back here? One thing the drowning have in common; illogical thought process.
Not fully unconscious, Toph felt the water break and Zuko pulling her up on to solid ground.
"What the hell," he growled, holding Toph's nose and breathing into her limp mouth, "were you thinking," he continued, after breaking off to press on her chest. His breath came in ragged gasps, a steady pattern of inhale, growl, exhale, inhale, yell, exhale.
"Stay with me Toph. Come on." Zuko pressed his lips against the blind girl's one last time, forcing more air in to her. "Toph!" Zuko's frantic pressing died down, his huffing stilled and silence fell upon them. Toph felt him punch the ground next to them with a force she's never experienced from him before.
Toph could feel the water coming up (thankfully), she turned her head away from Sparky and coughed up more water than she'd thought possible. Toph would never step foot in another body of water for as long as she lived.
"Oh spirits, thank you…" Zuko breathed, wrenching his fist out of the ground. He gently shifted Toph on to her side, rubbing her back as she choked out what felt to be gallons of the offending liquid.
"You could have killed yourself, you moron," Zuko grumbled, sounding more concerned than angry. One strong hand on the younger girl's back helped her in to a sitting position. Toph nodded, for once acknowledging the absolute idiocy of what she'd just attempted. If it hadn't been for Sparky, she'd be a goner. "I'm sorry," she murmured, quite uncharacteristically- Zuko gaped. This was obviously not the reaction he'd expected from her. Yelling at him, yeah, a grateful punch, maybe, but an apology? No way.
"Er, Toph? Are you feeling alright?" Zuko blinked, highly confused. Toph's sightless eyes gazed up at the space she assumed to be Zuko's face. A Cheshire-like grin found its way on to the pale girl's face, "Just fine," answered she, punching her savior with considerably more force than was necessary.
Having seemingly regained her senses, Toph used Sparky's decidedly bare shoulder to hoist herself up.
"Hey Princess, make me some tea." The blind girl ordered, grabbing her neglected clothes and shrugging them on, despite being soaking wet.
"Sure thing," Zuko's strangled voice sounded out. He stood, casting a glance back at the impatient earth bender.
Oh yes, she knew what she did to him.