A Brief History of Sight and Rivers: Toph's Story
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters, but this story is mine.
I remember it was summer, hot and dry. The world was only as big as the garden walls would reach, but what did they have out there that I didn't in here? Here I was safe, clothed in the finest silks money could buy, taught by Ba Sing Se's finest minds, showered with exquisite gifts. I was content with my comfortable life, and back then I might have even said I was happy, but that was before I knew what happiness truly was.
I was six when I met him. His mother had worked for my parents as a maid before she died. I had liked her. He was a year older than me, too young to work in the fields, so he was assigned to be my playmate. I had never had a playmate before.
"Toph, this is Hiro," said my father, and thus began the start of our friendship. We would spend hours in the garden chasing each other, rolling around in the grass, picking flowers. And when it rained outside, we would comb the hallways of my home, exploring each room, listening to the gossip of the maids and cooks. We could do anything we wanted, be whoever we wanted. It was wonderful.
One day Hiro and I were playing outside by the pond. I had saw something under the water and reached down to get it, but clumsily I had fallen in. I couldn't swim, I had never learned. I trashed in the water, gasping for air. The pond didn't seem this deep before.
"Hiro!" I yelled, coughing and spitting up water. Before I knew it a pair of arms wrapped around me and pulled me up.
"Toph! Are you alright?" he asked, laying me in the grass, holding my head up. Hiro's green eyes searched my face, trying to find some sign of reassurance. I nodded, coughing some more. He smiled wide, pushing his black hair out of his face.
"Thank you for saving me," I said, sitting up.
"Of course," Hiro replied, "Whenever you need me Toph, I'll be there. I'll always protect you." He helped me up and took me into the house to change into some dry clothes.
"Toph! What happened to you?" My mother rushed toward me, checking me all over.
"I fell into the pond, but Hiro got me out. He saved me." I smiled up at her. Mother turned toward Hiro and thanked him. He blushed and ran off.
A year came and went and nothing really changed. Hiro was now eight and I seven. We were still too young to know the truth about things. When the anniversary of his mother's death came, we went to her grave. I held his hand as he cried.
One night at dinner I told my father I wanted to marry Hiro because he was my best friend and I loved him. It was all true.
"That way," I continued, "Hiro and I will always be together." My father had stopped eating and shared a worried look with my mother. He then explained to me that I was too young to know what love was, and that I would never be able to marry Hiro.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because," He paused, searching for the right words, "he is on one side of the river and you are on the other. The river cannot be crossed." The rest of dinner was silent. I didn't understand what my father meant. How could Hiro be on the other side of the river? Why couldn't I cross it? I wanted always to be with him, and now someone was telling me one day we would be apart? I cried myself to sleep that night.
As time passed, things changed, as they always do. I was not allowed to run around as I pleased, I was told to learn to sit properly and how to talk like a lady. Hiro spent more time running errands in town, helping in the kitchen, or other things I would had rather been doing. I told Hiro about the river. He got quiet and walked away. We never could talk with each other the same way after that.
By the time I was ten, Hiro had started working full time and I rarely saw him. I began to understand what it meant to be on my side of the river and what it meant for Hiro to be on his. Sometimes he would join me for some tea, but we never really said much. I felt the river grow stronger and wider. I didn't like it. I found a tear slip down my cheek as we sat across from each other.
"What's wrong, Toph?" Hiro asked, leaning forward. I felt angry.
"Everything." I whispered. "It's like you're going one way and I'm staying in the same place. I feel like you're leaving me." A few more tears slipped out.
"That's stupid." He said, getting up, "I'd never leave you. Didn't I say I'd always protect you? How could I do that if I left?" Hiro walked over to the other side of the room. "It's just… things are a little different now." I wiped the tears and away and changed the subject. Although it still hurt, Hiro's words did comfort me a little. I felt the river slow down, becoming smaller.
When I was eleven, all Hiro would talk about was the city. About how alive and busy it was. All the things you could but there, all the people who lived there. I found myself jealous of him. How come he got to come and go as he pleased? Why couldn't I see the things he saw?
"Take me with you." I said one afternoon while we walked in the garden, "Take me to see the city next time father sends you on an errand." Hiro stopped walking.
"I don't think that's a very good idea." He looked me in the eyes, I felt my heart quicken.
"Why not?" I challenged, clenching my fists at my sides. Hiro explained to me that I was not allowed outside the manor walls, something I had heard countless times. I sighed and knew he was right. I started back inside.
"Wait!" Hiro called after me, running up to my side "There's a festival two nights from now. We can go when your parents think you're sleeping. I can get you back before they even notice." He said. I giggled and hugged him tightly, something I hadn't done in years. I knew he was blushing.
Two nights later when I was in bed, I heard something hit my window. I knew it was Hiro. I got up quickly and opened the blinds. My room was on the ground floor, so it as easy to get out. We snuck into the garden, climbing over the wall that had caged me in all my life. Once we had gotten over, Hiro and I ran as fast as we possibly could. He led me through backstreets to the town square. I never questioned where he was going. All that mattered was that I was free, and that I was with Hiro. I would've followed him anywhere. I loved him.
When we reached the festival I couldn't believe my eyes. It's this memory in particular that makes me miss seeing the most. Ladies wore huge dresses in hues of deep violet and blushing pinks. Children raced on the street in masks, replaying stories of heroes and princesses. Men drank and laughed with strangers like they were old friends. I grabbed Hiro's hand and pulled him through the crowd. He didn't pull away, and that made me very happy. I felt like for the first time since we were little kids, I was on the same side of the river as he was. I was happy. Truly happy.
I didn't let go of his hand as we walked from stall to stall, looking at all the strange and interesting things for sale. When we came to the flower seller, Hiro bought a red spider lily and put it in my hair. I had never felt more beautiful than I did in that moment.
As the night went on, Hiro said they would light fireworks at the end of the festival, and that after them we should start heading home. I felt stiff as he said those words.
"I don't want to go back." I said, fear creeping into my voice. I didn't want this night to end, ever. I knew Hiro felt the same too.
"Don't worry." He said, looking me in the eyes, "This isn't the end."
"How do you know?" I asked, dropping my gaze to the ground.
"Because one day I'm going to take you away with me before I leave Ba Sing Se, and we'll travel the world together." Hiro smiled, "and because I..." He stopped when a firework exploded in the sky. The crowd cheered as it died into the night. Hiro looked back at me. "Follow me." He said, taking my hand.
We snaked through the crowd, getting closer to where the fireworks were coming from. We crossed the line that marked where the public couldn't go past. I got scared, but I didn't want to ruin my night with Hiro. He turned to me and put a finger in front of his mouth, a sign for me to be silent. I nodded nervously and did as I was told. We then hid behind a box of explosives and watched as men loaded up giant metal cannons to shoot off the fireworks. Covering our ears, the cannons released with an unbelievably loud boom. I screamed and one of the men saw us. We let go of our ears, panicking, looking for which direction to run. Just then another explosion went off. The sound was so loud. Then something happened I couldn't explain.
The earth moved. It jumped up, knocking over a box of fireworks. Had I done that? Did I just earth-bend? Hiro stared at me, his eyes brimming with question. I shrugged my shoulders. Hiro then yelled something I couldn't hear, my ears still ringing from the cannons. He waved his arms frantically, pointing at the ground under my feet. I stood in a pile of fireworks, and sparks from the cannon were flying through the air. I was in the middle of a mine field. As if in slow motion, I saw a spark from the cannon falling onto the pile of explosives. I would never be able to get away in time. I screamed. Just then, Hiro pushed me out of the way, knocking me on the ground a few feet away. I saw his eyes looking at me for a split second before he was consumed by fire. Then, everything went black
I remember lots of voices. They were all talking about me, about my eyes. No one said anything about Hiro. Where was he?
"Hiro!" I screamed, reaching out into the darkness that surrounded me. I felt my mother's hands on my forehead. Her words melded together into mush. She said something about an accident, and that I was going to be okay. But I didn't care about me, I cared about Hiro. "Where is he?" I asked. My mother was silent. "No…" I trailed off. "No!" Screaming and crying I thrashed my arms around, making the earth rise and fall. I didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Hiro was gone, he had left me, and now I was alone in this darkness.
I admit that I have regrets, that I've made mistakes in the twelve years I've been alive, but they have made me wise. I have loved and lost. I have broken down, but have also broken out. I cannot use my eyes anymore, I gave those to Hiro when he died, but I am not without sight. I see things hidden in the earth, movements and vibrations. I am the strongest earth-bender in the four nations, teacher to the Avatar. There is none like me, I have made my own side of the river, but I've made it so that people may come and go as they please. Hiro has given me this strength, so that I can take care of myself, so that I won't need protecting. He has made me what I am. I am free, and for that I thank him.