Waking up in the cold was something she would never get used to and flying in the air on Appa's back didn't help any, thanks to the wind being extra cold since they were headed back to the Southern Water tribe on the South Pole. Subconsciously she crawled to the nearest source of warmth and cuddled up against it, not caring what it was or who it was. They'd just have to get over it.

She pressed her forehead against something solid and warm and smiled as she then placed her hands on the solid object. She curled her legs up so she was curled into a sort of ball and tried to fall back asleep. She became more aware though when it felt like arms had wrapped around her form and pulled her closer, her chest now pressed against the object in question. Her cheeks felt warm, as she knew she was blushing. The object let out an audible sigh and she relaxed. She knew that sigh anywhere, but now she felt completely embarrassed being in the arms of the Water Tribe warrior. She wondered if she should try to get out of his grip without anyone seeing her, but she didn't want to lose the extra heat. It was a win-lose situation in her mind. Toph grumbled quietly as she closed her eyes and decided she wanted the heat more than anything at this point, and went back to sleep.

It had seemed like hours since she had fallen back to sleep but the sound of muffled voices above her brought her back to the world. She tried to ignore them as she was in a very comfortable position and she was warm and she didn't want to get up and face the cold again. She felt a hand on her shoulder and another on her head. It felt as though someone was playing with her bangs. Strange enough, it felt good. So, she decided to act like she was still sleeping and just listen to the conversation that was going on between her friends.

"You don't think she's sick, do you?" This voice belonged to the Avatar, she knew it. His voice was still somewhat on a high note as he had yet to reach puberty. She'd wondered why he thought she was sick.

"No. I don't think so. I think she was just cold."

'Sugar Queen.' Toph thought to herself. Katara was the only other girl in the group, so it was easy to pick her out. Was it because she was sleeping next to Sokka is what sprung all the questioning if she was sick?

'Gosh. One strange thing I do, they get all worked up.' She thought grumpily to herself.

"She probably didn't know who she had gone to though, since she can't see and all…" That voice belonged to the last person in the group, the one she was laying on.

'Sokka.'

"I wonder what it must be like to not be able to see…" Sokka thought aloud as he ran his fingers lightly against Toph's forehead, swishing her bangs around unknowingly.

"It's probably like walking around with your eyes closed all the time." Aang answered. Toph sighed softly as she thought about the subject they had stumbled upon, the subject she never really liked to talk about.

It wasn't like what they were saying wasn't wrong, what Aang had thought. It was just more like being in a dark room and never being able to find the light. She never liked the feeling, but seeing through the earth was ok enough to where she was fine with it. But sometimes…

"How about we not talk about that right now. You know, she could probably hear us, even if she is sleeping," Katara said quietly. The boys grew silent as Appa continued flying to the sibling's home. Toph planned on pretending to stay asleep until they got there, being as comfy and warm as she was. She let out another sigh and smiled, drifting back into a light sleep.

--

"H-how…do-o y-you l-live here?" Toph muttered, sitting as close to the fire the Avatar had made as possible without burning herself. She was bundled up in the Water Tribe clothing, except for her feet. She refused to wear anything on her feet so she could still see.

Sokka and Katara laughed lightly.

"We've lived here all our lives Toph." Katara answered. Sokka got up from his seat next to his sister and moved to sit next to Toph. He leaned backwards, resting his hands on the skin rug beneath them and smiled in Toph's direction.

"W-well, I s-still don't g-get it." A man entered the tent and looked at the group of kids. He smiled, and when he did, you could see the young Water Tribe warrior in him. Katara looked up to the man.

"Hi dad," She greeted. Hakoda walked next to her and sat down, cross legged.

"AAHCHO!" Toph let out a loud sneeze and grumbled under her breath. Sokka pulled the girl closer to him as he felt bad for her and tried to help warm her up. Her cheeks turned a bright pink.

"Bless you." Hakoda said. Aang and Katara looked at each other from their friend's actions and both exchanged confused looks.

Toph didn't object to Sokka's action. She was just glad she didn't make the move though, like she had during the early morning. She sighed as she leaned into him more, hopefully without bringing attention to herself by doing so.

"So, how long do you kids plan to stay?" Hakoda asked, wondering how long he would have his dear kids for. He always missed them whenever they would leave, ever since the day he had left for war. He missed them each and every day, but he didn't want to ruin their fun. He knew they were safe with the Avatar and he knew his children were strong enough to take care of themselves.

Sokka was first to speak.

"Probably not long,"

"We don't want Toph to get sick." Katara finished. Hakoda sighed. She caught hint of her father's sadness and frowned. "But we'll come back again soon dad." She added, to hopefully lift his spirits again. He smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"That's ok Katara. Thank you." The water bender hugged her dad and looked to her brother whole still had his arm wrapped around Toph.

"Hakoda, Hakoda! Come outside, come outside!" A young boy, around 5, came bounding into the tent, looking excited for whatever it was he wanted Hakoda and the others to see. The group got up, Toph unwillingly though, and headed outside.

The sun was setting and it had hit the snow hills just right to where there were millions of colors dancing on the hills. You could hear the kids yelling gleefully at the colors and see them playing in the snow, trying to catch the colors.

Katara, Aang, and Sokka were in aw. Sure the siblings had seen it before, but they never got over how beautiful it always looked. Aang had never seen anything like it.

"Wow…" Aang stammered. Toph's eyes were wide, as if she could see what they were looking at.

"What is it?" She asked, wanting to know what everyone was amazed about. She thought to herself though, that once you've seen nothing, you'll never see anything. The thought made her flinch. Sokka still had his arm around her left shoulder and pulled her closer to him on accident.

"It's an aurora australis …" He replied, his voice distant as he continued to stare at the world's beauty. The Earthbender rolled her hazy eyes and stared at the ground.

"Hmph. What's so great about it anyway?" She asked again, annoyed that he didn't explain what it was, besides it's name.

"The colors. When the sun hits the snow hills, sometimes on rare occasions it creates an aurora australis. It simply is magnificent." Katara explained. Toph glared at the ground now. She shook Sokka's arm off her shoulder grumbled.

"Oh. Well, it doesn't sound that amazing…" She turned around and walked back into the tent, back to the warm fire. Sitting down, she wrapped her arms around herself and stared blankly at the flames.

She remembered when they were in the war, and on the war craft for the Fire Nation and they had begun their attack on the Earth kingdom, burning all of their land. She remembered being able to see a faint glow in the back of her mind from all of the fire when they had split up and she was with Sokka and Suki.

Being in front of this fire, she could barely see the glow in the back of her mind.

Toph sighed as she rested her head on her arms and pulled her legs to her chest.

"Toph?" The girl in question lifted her head and looked in the direction of the entrance to the tent. It was Katara.

"Yeah?" It sounded as though her voice had cracked, but Toph didn't want to let Katara know anything was up. She felt the girl come closer to her and possibly sit down next to her.

"Are you ok?" Toph could hear the concern in her tone. Just like a mother.

"Yeah. Why would you ask a stupid question like that?" Toph asked, acting like her normal self to possibly try and get by Katara without her catching onto the lie. She could hear her friend sigh.

"Sorry…It just seemed like something was wrong…" A silence grew between the two of them and it felt like the boys weren't going to come back anytime soon as Toph felt their foot steps walking away. It was her turn to sigh and she let down her barriers.

"I guess…I'm just jealous…" She spoke, quietly as she rested her head back on her arms, staring at the fire again. Katara looked up to her, confused.

"Jealous of what?" She studied Toph's face and read the confusion and pain and sadness across her features. Sadness was the most apparent out of all of them.

"For the longest time, I've always thought that being able to see was just over rated. That's why I began to see through earth bending, so at least I knew what was around me…I know being blind has some advantages, but it's not as great as being able to see everything around you. I guess you could say, I've been lying to myself for a long time and…I'm tired of lying…" Katara knew this was hard for Toph, letting her feelings out like this. She was really good at keeping them to herself and not let them get to her. But, this must have been eating away at her for the longest time and Katara felt bad for her friend.

"I want to be able to see. Even for a few minutes, I want to be able to see what colors look like, what you guys look like…" Toph then looked up to Katara, or at least in her direction. "Do you think, you could try and work your healing powers on me?"

--

A/N:

So, this was the first chapter. Not that long, but this is just the beginning. Please tell me what you think and please review. I'd really like that. Lol, I'll give you a cookie!! 8D