Takes place somewhere in early-ish Book 3...
Toph stood at the mouth of the little bay not far from their campsite and expelled a frustrated growl. In the dark, Momo tilted his head at the sound and cooed at her questioningly. She stared sightlessly out over the calm surface and clenched her fists. It was the middle of the night; between Sokka's inconsistent snoring and Aang's occasional sleep-mumbling, no one would ever notice her slipping away. And that wasn't even taking Appa's grunting into consideration. It was beyond her how they all fell asleep nightly. Actually, she mused, when you came right down to it, it was beyond her how they'd avoided being snuck up on, considering the ruckus this group made. Or at least how they'd avoided it before she'd joined them anyway. With her unique ability to sense even the tiniest vibrations in the ground, she could 'hear' movement miles away. Often times a blessing, sometimes a curse, it had saved their lives on more than one occasion.
And it was the crux of her problem now.
Even though she'd never been in the habit of letting her physical limitations deter her before and she would die before admitting it, when it came to some situations she truly was a prisoner to her blindness and there was just no outmaneuvering it. Water was one of those situations.
Ever since that incident at the Serpent's Pass, she had promised herself that she would learn how to swim, no matter how long it took her. After all, everyone else could swim. And Aang had told her once, in an effort to make her feel better, that it was hard to swim with your eyes open anyway so he was sure she could do it, probably better than any of them. He'd even offered to try and teach her the basics, which she'd flat out refused. Having to own up to a weakness was one thing; demonstrating it firsthand was another altogether. Even if it was to the Avatar, who happened to be one of her best friends.
Although if she was being honest with herself, her inability to swim hadn't even been the most humiliating aspect of that particular situation, as she recalled how she had mistaken Suki for Sokka. Even now it still caused her cheeks to heat up a little bit as she remembered how Suki had laughed it off when she had basically inadvertently admitted to her little crush on Sokka. Looking back on it now, she was relieved it had been Suki rather than Sokka, but great spirits, it was disheartening to unwittingly share information like that with the object of your crush's affection. And even more so to be laughed at, like there was no possibility that he could ever want...that they could ever be...
Beside her, Momo shifted his weight and gave another short questioning trill. In answer, Toph glared in the direction of his movement and said, "You'd better be keeping this between you, me and this beach, Momo. I don't need Twinkletoes or worse, Miss Water Queen herself finding out about this."
Momo let out an indignant cry, as if he was insulted. Toph ignored Momo's annoyed response and moved closer to the water's edge. This was the hardest part- actually forcing herself to leave the comfort of the steady soil beneath her feet and take that first plunge into the water. She'd been able to make herself do it a few times before after some internal struggle, but she still hadn't become accustomed to the way it affected her sight. The ground was still there beneath the water, a feeling for which she was immensely grateful, but the water...muted her connection to it somehow. It was like walking on...a sponge- it was firm, yet squishy. Vibrations weren't sharp, or reliable. It felt like she was feeling things through a great big bowl of pudding. That was strange, but when she lifted her feet even just to wade out farther in the shallows- that was when the real fear came. With no direct contact to the earth, it literally felt as if she was stepping off of a precipice blindfolded. She'd been blind all her life, and never truly been able to appreciate how it felt until now. It made her heart race and her breath catch in her tight chest. So far, she hadn't been able to progress any farther than waist deep, which really wasn't all that far when one considered how short she was.
But tonight, she promised herself, clenching her fists again, was different. Tonight she wasn't going to take no for an answer. When she was limited to practicing depending on how close they camped to water, she had to take advantage of it. And besides, she was Toph Bei Fong- afraid of nothing and it was time she remembered it, she thought stubbornly as she stripped off her tunic and dropped it to the ground, leaving her in nothing but her underclothing.
Though it made no discernible difference to her, she closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and bringing her right foot into contact with the cool, waiting water.
Sokka woke out of a sound sleep and sat up alertly, startled by something he couldn't name, and grasped the knife he kept by him at all times in case they were ambushed while they slept. The hair on the back of his neck prickled and he looked keenly about the campsite, trying to figure out what had woken him.
Beside him, Katara slept peacefully and beyond her, Aang slumbered fitfully, mumbling words Sokka couldn't quite make out. Appa breathed rhythmically next to him, undisturbed. He looked to his left and realized that Toph, usually snoring lightly beside him, was nowhere to be found and the night around him seemed odd, just because of that lack of familiar noise. He knew a moment of panic- had she been kidnapped? He grasped his knife a little tighter, unsure of whether to scout things out or wake the others to help look for her. After he'd thought about it for a minute, he realized that Momo was gone too and it wasn't altogether impossible that she'd been unable to sleep and taken Momo for a little bit of night exploring. He relaxed slightly; nothing appeared out of sorts except for his missing companions. Still, it would make him feel better to know that she was safe. He may not be a bender, but as the oldest and a warrior besides, he took his duty to protect this little group seriously. He may have started on this journey with only his sister to protect, but he'd gained an entire family along the way and their safety was now just as necessary to him too.
He was getting to his feet and putting his hair up when he heard the sound of water splashing from nearby. They hadn't camped near a waterfall, but the bay was directly to their right. The sound was too big to be a fish...had Toph gone to the beach? But...why would she do that? She couldn't swim. He heard a little more splashing and worried again- what if she had intended to just sit near the water and somehow fallen in, and even now was fighting the water dragging her to the bottom? He couldn't stand it; his instinct told him that the splashing was related to Toph's absence and he trusted it. He grabbed his boomerang in addition to his knife, just in case, and ran toward the sound of the water.
Toph resurfaced, sputtering water out of her mouth and sucking in a huge gulp of air as she cursed violently. The ground under this particular bay was uneven, probably because they were so close to the Fire Nation with all of its volcanic rock, and she'd come across a drastic dip in the terrain where she'd promptly lost her balance and fallen into the crater face-first. For a terrifying moment, she'd thought that was the end of her. She could only think that she'd gone in too far, and nobody knew she was out here. Then she realized that she was standing in a giant hole, and even standing in the giant hole, her head was still above the water. That made her feel stupid, which made her curse even more.
"Stupid freaking water. Dumbest element ever," she grumbled, purposely ignoring the fact that it wasn't actually the water to blame, as she backed up a few steps to try and find the higher ground again.
From his perch on the tree near her tunic, Momo gave another questioning trill.
"Oh shut up, Momo. Who asked you anyway?" Toph muttered. She pushed the wet strands of her hair out of her face, annoyed that now her hair was soaked. She hadn't been planning on actually going underwater tonight. She used her hands to help pull herself out of the hole when she found the edge and sat down on her bottom in the surf to regroup. The water was less than knee-high in this area, and the waves gently rolled past her waist in a completely non-threatening manner.
After a few minutes of deep breathing to calm her racing heart down, she got to her feet and carefully made her way back into the shallows. She concentrated on feeling her way carefully around the deep gouge in the earth that she now knew was just sitting there waiting for innocent bystanders to fall into it, determined not to give up so easily.
Sokka reached the beach just in time to see Toph emerge from the water in the moonlight, spitting and coughing and swearing with words he'd had no idea she'd even known. He'd seen her disappear abruptly below the surface, but had been too far back to do anything about it. As he came closer, he realized that she wasn't actually in any danger- she'd obviously just lost her balance. He wanted to call out to her, but just then Momo chattered at her antics.
"Oh shut up, Momo. Who asked you anyway?" he thought he heard her say in a sulky tone. Her response had him smiling in spite of himself, and rethinking his actions. He knew Toph was proud; she was clearly in command of the situation, or at least as much as was possible for her, and had no need for his worries. Biting his tongue now would save him a bruise on the arm later, he rationalized.
He watched in confusion for a minute as she back-tracked her steps, feeling the ground beneath her with her hands. She crawled up out of what was obviously an unexpected deep spot and sat, letting the waves roll over her lap. He sat quietly, not wanting to draw her attention and most likely her ire.
At first he would just stay nearby to make sure if she got in any trouble he would be able to help, he thought. As he sat there and thought about it though, how irresponsible of her was it not to let someone know she would be here in the first place- what if she did need help and no one knew she was here? He really ought to tell her so, he thought, feeling more justified with each passing second.
He stood up and bent to remove his shoes and trousers; he'd left camp so quickly he'd forgotten to put his tunic on. He dropped his weapons on top of the pile and stalked down to the water's edge. Momo, sensing his presence chattered happily at him, garnering Toph's distracted attention.
"Who's there?" She asked menacingly, turning her body in the direction of Momo's chattering.
"Oh thanks a lot, Momo," Sokka muttered under his breath. "I had a plan."
"Twinkletoes, is that you?" she demanded in a less threatening, if no less agitated, voice. She had gone stock still and he could see her face in the moonlight, dripping from her wet hair. Even through her bravado he could see the slightest bit of worry on her face. She shifted tensely, testing the air with her sense of sound.
Well, Sokka thought, there was nothing for it now.
"Toph, I can't believe you snuck away in the middle of the night just to go for a swim," he said evenly as he crossed his arms for no one's particular benefit. He knew full well she couldn't swim. "You could have at least invited me."
She froze; her mouth dropped open the slightest bit, and he thought that she had gone visibly paler, though that could have been a trick of the light.
"Go away, Sokka," she finally demanded in a low voice that brooked no argument.
He deliberated on the beach for a moment, wondering whether he should address her pride or tell the truth. Instinct told him that he was wading in dangerous waters whichever path he chose, though he couldn't for the life of him say why.
"Can't do it, Toph. Sorry," he finally said simply as he uncrossed his arms and stepped in the water. She did not look happy with him. She looked like she wanted to earthbend him into next year actua...suddenly it hit him how cold the water was.
"Aaaagghhh!" Sokka shouted, jumping back instinctively. "Spirits, Toph- this water is freezing!
"Shut up you big lunkhead!" Toph hissed. "Are you trying to wake everyone up?"
"Sorry!" he whispered in a loud voice, still trying to get over the chill of the water. She still looked less than thrilled that he had found her.
She plopped back down on her bottom in the shallow water and hung her head in defeat. He sucked it up and stepped back into the cold water with a grimace and moved slowly towards her, feeling the bottom carefully with his feet since he couldn't see anything under the surface in the dark. He almost tripped a couple of times- the ground under the water was surprisingly firm, rather than sandy, which made it slick. Being a man of science, he cringed to think about what exactly it was that made the rock feel so slimy.
When he reached Toph, the water was still just below his knees. He hated the thought of sitting on that slippery, slimy rock, but it didn't look like Toph was too interested in getting up; her head was still bowed, the ends of her wet hair swirling around in the water as the tide pushed and pulled rhythmically. He grumbled mentally, but Toph looked so dejected that all the fight left him. He eased himself down beside her, stifling a yelp as the cold water splashed his bare torso.
Toph said nothing. For a minute, they sat in silence as Sokka adjusted to the water. He stared at the pattern the moonlight cast on the pulsating surface of the water and thought about Yue and about how they hadn't even known Toph then. His time with Yue had been so fleeting, and it seemed like it was a lifetime ago. On the other hand, right now, it felt like he'd known Toph all his life.
He glanced at her still form and noticed some moisture dripping down the cheek he could see. He didn't bring it up; he could sense that she was already distressed by this whole thing and besides, Toph didn't cry. He also suspected that to accuse her of such a thing would earn him another bruise, or worse, she might actually use her bending to teach him a lesson. Given the strange surface of the beach and his lack of knowledge on how it would affect her bending, he decided it might be best to just let it pass.
After another moment of silence between them, he turned his head slightly in her direction and said softly, "Why didn't you just ask me for help, Toph? You know I wouldn't have made fun of you." He swirled his hand idly in the water, reflecting that the parts of his body that were underwater actually felt warmer than the air now that he was acclimated, as he waited for her response.
She gave a little huff and reached up to push a wet strand of her out of her face. "I don't need your help, Ponytail," she said shortly. Sokka didn't respond, but she could still hear the swirling sounds he was making in the water.
The truth was she hadn't asked for his help because if she wanted to admit her weakness to anyone, it definitely wasn't him. He would never see her as anything other than a short blind girl anyway; she didn't need to give him more of a reason to dismiss her so readily. Still, he wouldn't be sitting out here in this cold water if he hadn't been worried about her, at the very least.
In a softer tone, she continued, "But thanks anyway."
"Alright," he said after a minute had passed, and Toph heard the sound of water slapping as Sokka stood up. "Suit yourself," he said nonchalantly as he made a show of splashing back in the direction of the shore. He had no intention of leaving the beach without Toph, but if she was determined to do this on her own, he could back off. Or at least make her think he was anyway.
"No, wait!" Toph shouted, jumping to her feet quicker than he would have thought possible from her position in the water. Sokka grinned to himself but didn't say anything. He turned back around to face her and was momentarily taken aback. He hadn't really thought about it when he'd stripped to his own undergarments; it was just what you did when you went swimming. And in her sitting position, he really hadn't even been able to tell what she was wearing. Hadn't even considered it. He supposed that the linen shift was nothing more than a functional undergarment most of the time...but when it was wet, and plastered to her small frame so he could clearly see the outline of her every curve in the soft moonlight, functionality flew out the window.
How did she hide that? He thought irrationally, wondering why all of a sudden his mouth seemed so dry. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find his voice right away.
Toph mistook his silence and hurried to qualify her outburst, which she was pretty sure had sounded desperate. "I mean, y'know. Since you're already here, you might as well stay," she said in her most cocky voice, and crossed her arms.
"Wha..? Stay. Yes," he mumbled to himself, still unable to tear his eyes away from the vision she made and feeling guiltier with every passing second. Guilty because, well, this was Toph, and she wasn't his sister...but she was, kinda. He should definitely not be looking at her like that. And besides, there was Suki.
"What'd you say? I can't hear you way over there," she said loudly. "Are you gonna teach me to swim or what?"
Sokka shook his head, clearing it. "Yeah, teach you to swim. I can do that!" he said overenthusiastically, hoping that they could head out to deeper waters quickly so he could stop thinking about Toph in this way that he never had before. In a way that was confusing him, and he was sure would bother her, if she only knew.
Thinking that was an excellent plan, he averted his eyes and walked farther out, expecting her to join him. When he got about chest deep, he realized that Toph was still standing there, looking vaguely in the direction of the splashing that he must have been making.
"What are you doing, Sokka?" she asked, in obvious confusion.
Oh right. Blind. Sokka mentally kicked himself and headed back in her direction, nearly falling face first into the hole he'd seen her disappear into earlier.
As he got closer he kept his eyes firmly trained on her face, which in the shadows of the moon's illumination had even taken on an ethereal quality, causing him to literally view her in a completely different light.
As he splashed his way over to her, he said, "Hold out your hand, Toph. We have to go a little farther out."
She hesitated, the worried look coming back to her angelic looking features. "Farther out?" she questioned, her anxiety easy to detect over her earlier bravado.
"Don't worry. I won't let you float away," Sokka said, grabbing her hand and chuckling at his own joke. She stood immobile, her hand in his; Sokka waited.
"Y'know," Toph finally said quietly, "I've never really minded being blind before. It's never stopped me from doing what I really wanted to do, or gotten in the way."
When it didn't seem like she was going to continue with her train of thought, Sokka prompted her.
"But...?"
"This is really scary, Sokka," she whispered, revealing a split second of real vulnerability. He wondered if she was talking about learning how to swim, or something more.
"Don't you trust me, Toph?" he asked simply. "I wouldn't hurt you, and I wouldn't let anyone else either."
"I do trust you!" she said vehemently, dropping Sokka's hand. "I trust you all. More than I ever thought I would. More than my parents even, and I've known them all my life! But...you guys aren't my family, not my real family. I don't even know what you look like," she said dejectedly. "And now I can't even learn how to swim. I've never felt so blind, or hated being blind so much in my life."
Sokka stood there for a moment, considering what she'd just revealed. When it seemed like she had said all that she wanted to say, he reached wordlessly for her hand.
"Sokka, what are you doing?" Toph asked again, in confusion.
"First," he said, bring her captive hand to his cheek, "I'm showing you what I look like. Then, you're going to learn how to swim."
A/N: So this is my first Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic. It's obviously Tokka- I basically wrote it because I love these characters to death and would love to spend all my free time reading fanfic about them, but so far not much I've come across on FFNet has satisfied my picky nature. I love them together with just a hint of something more, so this is my stab at it. I tried to keep them as 'in-character' as much as possible, hopefully I was mostly successful at it.
I don't own any of the characters; if I did I would have found a way to drag it all out way longer than 3 seasons.
The only thing I do own is the memory of the beach Toph and Sokka are contending with- it's based on an actual beach on the island of modern-day Santorini that I visited once. Santorini, once called Thera in ancient times, used to be a circular island in the Aegean Sea. During the Bronze Age (1600 BCE or so), the volcano that resides there blew, sinking half of the island into the ocean, and covering everything else with huge deposits of ash. It was, and remains still, one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions to date. Now, 3400 years later, evidence of this cataclysmic event can still be seen in the black pebble beaches that surround the island. Below the water, the rock is literally that: hardened lava from that long ago eruption, pitted brutally. The hole that inspired the one both Toph and Sokka fell into is real; I fell into it face-first myself. It seems likely that the land in and around the Fire Nation is probably very similar, which is why I used it here.
Hope you enjoyed the story and the mini-history lesson. Haven't decided yet if I will leave this as a one-shot or expand on it...Please review :)
