MD: Second attempt at Avatar fanfic goodness. Toph's POV. Also posted on the LJ Zutara community.
disclaimer: I'm an Avatard, but I don't own anything. Except all four DVD's and Burger King toys 8D.
There's a feeling in the air. She's unsure of exactly what it is, because she's never felt something so… alive before. No one else has mentioned it, though, so she doesn't say anything. She's content to stick with contemplating this aura and figuring it out on her own. She loves a challenge.
She wants to mention it, but doesn't know how. She doesn't really know how to describe it. It's different from seeing through the earth, because she's feeling it through the air. But she knows the gentle step of her waterbending friend and the harsh feet of the firebender, and she knows they are together a lot. It seems to go unnoticed by the others, so she mentally praises them on their stealth. Of course, she almost wishes she could see the looks on their faces if she were to tell them she unearthed their secret. Ha ha, she inwardly laughs, amused at her pun.
"Something on your mind, young earthbender?"
Toph isn't startled at the old man's arrival; she heard him approaching, his steps casual and slowed but full of purpose. She knows his arms are folded across his chest with his hands tucked into his sleeves, because of the way his clothing rustles. "Sort of," she replies, leaning backward so her hands caress the ground behind her. She feels Sokka and Aang goofing off near their campfire.
"Care to share your thoughts then?" Iroh asks, kneeling down next to her.
"I'm not sure how to explain it," she confesses. She's always found it easy to talk to the ex-general; perhaps it was his calming voice or witty comments. Or maybe it was the tea.
Iroh let out a hmm, pondering her words. She feels him shift a bit in his seated stance, getting more comfortable. It appeared he would be sitting for a while.
"It's just something I can't see," she says, stretching her legs and banging the tips of her toes together.
"Now that is a puzzle."
"I know!" she snaps, almost leaping her to feet. "It's like there's this weird vibe in the air and I just can't figure it out! Why can't I figure it out?"
"A vibe, eh?"
"It's not bad or anything. Actually, it's almost… giddy. Giddy to a point where I feel like throwing up."
Iroh chuckles and she feels his laughter rumble the earth beneath her. There is a small blip and she knows Momo has thrown something at Sokka's head.
"I think it's your fault," she chides.
"My fault?"
"Yeah. I never noticed it before you and that dumb nephew of yours showed up."
He chuckles again and there is a secrecy in his voice; he knows something and isn't telling her. This thought irks her, as the earth tells her everything she needs to know, but here is something she doesn't know and wants to. "What?" she hisses, glaring through unseeing eyes in his direction.
"It is rather complicated, young one, and I'm not entirely sure you would understand it."
"Try me old man," she smirks. And she knows he's smiling back at her.
"Actually, why don't you describe this vibe you feel more. I am most curious about it."
She knows he's avoiding her question and continuing to hide something, but chooses to humor him. "It's new and fresh."
"Fresh?"
"I mean, I've felt things similar before, but this one's different. It feels… a little doubtful."
"Doubtful?"
"Unsure. Unsure, but definitely giddy. Again, way too giddy."
Iroh chuckles again. When she glares at him, he only urges her to go on with a wave of his hand.
Toph pulls up her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. She feels Katara standing some distance away with Zuko not too far. As a matter of fact, he's quite close. And they're still, as if frozen in place. "It's definitely not a bad vibe, but for some reason it's like … I don't know, it's weird."
He nods, taking in her words. She feels his head shake as the movement echoes down his body to the ground beneath him.
"You feel it too?" she asks, hoping she isn't, in a sense, hallucinating this whole thing.
"Perhaps more strongly than you do, dear Toph," he says and for some reason, she does not doubt his words nor have the need to stand her ground and argue against it.
"I feel it more strongly when I'm around Katara…" she says, feeling the girl's feet skip towards a puddle as she speaks her friend's name, "And… Zuko."
"As do I."
She sighs, seeing Zuko lean back against a tree. Katara splashes in the puddle, and then some of the water vanishes off the ground. She is bending it. "Why from just them though? I mean, I'm not saying it's bad…"
"That's quite a few times you've denied it was bad."
"Because it's not!" she barks, slamming her hands into the ground and curling the dirt between her fingers. "You think it is?"
"Quite the contrary. It lightens the atmosphere."
"So why'd you say that then?"
"I'm just curious. It seems like you're trying to tell yourself that it isn't bad."
She pauses, instantly knowing the old man is right. But having just figured this out, she keeps up a stoic face and stares expressionlessly at him, her hazy eyes pouring into him. "It just seems like this good vibe is bringin' about … a dreary one."
"Dreary, you say?
"Yeah!"
"For who? Or what?"
She pauses again, pondering whether to go on or just storm off. Then again, it's easily one of the most intelligent conversations she's had all week. So she speaks again, albeit a bit hesitantly.
"Aang."
Iroh draws in a breath, then lets it back out again. Toph notices the slight increase in temperature around her, but says nothing. "There is dreariness around the Avatar?"
"I don't think he realizes it," she says, stretching her legs out again and digging her toes into the ground, relishing in the feeling. "It's like, whenever this giddy vibe pops up, another smaller one pops up around him, only it's … not so giddy."
"This worries you?"
"Of course it does!" she snaps. "A depressed Avatar isn't gonna save the world!" This is what she nearly shouts at him, but the other, more submissive reason is tucked away behind blank eyes. She doesn't recognize the other reason anyway, so why bring it up?
"I see what you mean," Iroh says, relaxing a bit more in his posture. There is more pressure on the earth under him.
"Hmph. Whatever."
She is closing herself up again, and as if sensing this, Iroh clambers to his feet. He pats his stomach enthusiastically and she knows he is grinning. "Well, this old man is getting hungry. I'm going to check on our dinner."
She listens to him walk away, each step pulsating under her. He sits down by their campfire, tending to the fish forgotten by Katara.
She strains to find her, but the girl has wandered off. Her footsteps are faint, off in the far distance. She doesn't see Zuko anywhere either and concludes he's gone with her. The vibe has loosened up a bit and isn't so overbearing anymore. It's almost a relief, as the other annoying feeling of dread is gone too.
Toph finds herself thinking back on her talk with Iroh. At least she wasn't the only one who realized it now. And it didn't seem to bother him, so why should she let it bother her?
Only too late does she remember that he never answered her question about the nature of it; what exactly it was. The old man knew something and completely neglected to tell her! As a matter of fact, he probably purposely rerouted the conversation away from it! She felt her anger rising, about to send a nice wave of uplifted earth in his direction, before quickly calming herself down. If there was one thing she noticed about herself during her travels, it was the fact that she had gained better control of her temper. And she wonders if it was Aang's doing. Perhaps it was. But she didn't have time to figure out that mystery right now. She needed to focus on that stupid aura coming from Katara and Zuko.
There was something familiar about it, but she couldn't place it. She knows she's felt it before, but there was something that tweaked this particular vibe into something belonging only to them. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know if they know it themselves. Usually people overlooked auras and vibes, but Toph had become entranced by them. They often told her things about people she might not know through just the earth. Things people might not know themselves.
And she concludes that neither Katara nor Zuko knows what it is either, because Toph herself is slowly putting the pieces together, and she's ten times as smart as them. If anyone does know, it's Aang.
Instantly, she turns her sights on the bald monk. He's not on the ground therefore he must be flying. Seconds later, he lands, his nimble feet dancing across the grass as he slows to a stop and tumbles. Toph almost smiles, before remembering she doesn't smile at times like this. She hears him laughing and his joy is vibrating through the ground. But at the same time, the dreariness is around him again, threatening to engulf him. And she knows it's because Katara and Zuko are off on their own again.
She climbs to her feet, walking over to him. She stomps her foot and the earth beneath him shoots up, sending him into the air. Aang screams in shock before quickly regaining his balance and landing gracefully with a flair that only an airbender can pull off.
"What was that for, Toph?" he asks, and she senses his confusion.
"Stop being negative!" she orders. "As your earthbending master, I command you to be happy!"
She doesn't see it, but she knows he raises one eyebrow. "Uhh… what are you talking about?"
So, she thinks, crossing her arms, he doesn't notice his depressing aura either. "Don't get smart with me! When I say be happy, you be happy!"
Sokka exchanges a curious glance with Momo, or at least Toph assumes that's what the older boy would do. She knows Iroh is staying quiet purposely and almost considers thanking him for that later.
"But I am happy!" Aang declares and she just knows he blinked. "We're taking a long deserved break from fighting and having a good time. Why would I be sad?"
"Doesn't matter," she barks, threatening to send another rock at him. "I'm your master and what I say goes! So don't even think about getting upset!"
By now, she knows the Avatar is thoroughly confused, but she doesn't feel the drear swallowing him anymore. And so she doesn't care about his confusion. Because confusion is better than sadness.
And if the vibe between Katara and Zuko is what she thinks it is, then Aang was going to need all the cheering up he could get.
Toph wasn't a fortuneteller, but she knew if things continued as they were now, Aang was going to be a very broken hearted Avatar.
So she decides she'll do what she can to keep him a happy Avatar.
Not that she'll tell anyone.
END
MD: The end. Critique welcome; I want opinions on how I've managed Toph, should I attempt something else from her POV.