Toph stood there frozen in her steps. She could hear lightning crackling all around her. Then she heard as Katara screamed and could do nothing as Zuko fell to the ground. Katara ran to him, but Toph knew that he was already gone. And as she was destracted by Zuko and Katara, she felt another body hit the ground.
"No..." She whispered.
It was impossible, she had only hesitated for a minute at most. Now all she could hear was Azula laughing. She ran over to where Aang was and could feel as tears ran down her face as she did. She knew he was gone before he even hit the ground, but she could not believe it and as she knelt down and held his lifeless body in her arms, there was no denying it.
She then turned her anger towards Azula, who was fleeing the room. But before she had a chance to take off after her and avenge her boyfriend, Katara grabbed her shoulder.
"Toph, it's not worth it." Katara said from behind Toph. But Toph could feel that she was lying, she could feel that Katara wanted just as bad as she did to be the one racing after Azula. Toph pulled against Katara's grip, but Katara held her back.
"Toph come on. We need to get out of here." She said and unwillingly Toph gentally lifted Aang and set him in Appa's saddle. Katara did the same with Zuko and then sat next to Toph in the saddle and as Katara shouted, Toph zoned out on the ride back to the Earth Kingdom, the only one she had ever loved, the only one who had loved her back, was gone. Forever.
Days passed before Katara saw Toph again. Toph had secluded herself to her room since they got back from the Fire Nation, and Katara was becoming worried. She went to Toph's door and knocked, but there was no answer. She doesn't want to talk. Katara thought. She grabbed the door handle and opened the door. She expected to see Toph curled up in the corner of the room, cheeks red and fresh tears still running down her face, but as Katara scanned the room, she found it empty. The window was open though. Oh no, where have you run off to now Toph? Katara asked herself, then stepped out the window.
When Katara saw Toph she was being dragged into a jail cell. From what she had heard from the crowd Toph had picked a fight with some soldiers. After Katara followed them to the jail, she pleaded with them to let her talk to Toph. It took some persuasion, but she finally got her way. As she walked into the cell she saw Toph, covered in buises and looking like she hadn't slept in a week. Toph looked up at the sound of the cell door opening, but as she relized it was Katara, she looked away.
"What are you doing here Katara?" She asked angrily. Katara did not say anything, mainly because she didn't have an answer for it.
"I could ask you the same thing Toph." Katara said quietly. Tired of standing, she sat down next to Toph. "Why are you doing to yourself?"
But Toph said nothing, she just stared blankly into space. Minutes passed before she said anything. "I miss Aang so much Katara..." She started, then the tears she was trying so hard to hold back slid down her face, "...I just want to be with him."
Katara knew what Toph was going through, because she felt the same way about Zuko. She felt sorry for Toph, it was true Aang was the only person that had ever shown feelings for Toph. Seeing Toph cry was painful though, Toph was such a strong willed girl and Katara had only seen her cry a few times since she met her. Katara pulled her friend into a hug to try and calm her down.
"I know Toph, and you will see him someday...just not now." Katara said trying to get Toph to stop crying. It was unbearable. Then on of the soldiers walked in and looked at Katara. "Your friend is free to go." He said, pointing at Toph. Katara nodded and stood up grabbing Toph's hand.
"Come on. Let's go home." To Katara's surprise, Toph didn't protest against this. Instead she stood up and followed Katara out of the cell. Katara turned to thank the guard for letting Toph go and looked back to see Toph run out the door. Not wanting Toph to get into more trouble, Katara ran after. Once she caught up she asked, "Toph, can we just talk this over?"
Toph stopped and sighed. "Katara..." Toph had originally had planned to tell Katara to 'shut up and leave her alone' but she knew Katara wouldn't, especially after she had run off. "Fine." And she began to tell Katara how she really felt. How it was her fault that Aang was dead, that she was too distracted by Zuko falling to the ground and turned her back on him, didn't protect him.
Katara listened as Toph spoke, not speaking but simply nodding every now and then. When she finished Katara waited a few minutes to make sure that Toph had nothing more to say. "Toph, Aang's death wasn't your fault. You don't need to focus on the bad facts, instead focus on the good times you had with Aang." By this time they were no longer outside, but now standing outside Toph's room in the house.
Toph thought for a moment then turned and opened the door to her room. But before entering she looked over her shoulder towards Katara.
"I'll try" She said, then walked into her room, slamming the door almost off it's hinges behind her. As Katara walked away, Toph walked over to the corner of her room, and sulked down into a sitting position against the two walls. She then pulled her knees up to her chest and set her head down upon them. What did Katara mean by the good times? she asked herself. He left me here to suffer alone in this world, I would rather die and be with him then stay here alone.
But then she thought back to the times before this; him hugging her before the invasion on the day of black sun, him taking her by the hand: the feeling she had gotten as his hands brushed against hers in every training session they had had like fireworks in her head everytime, the fact that it was Aang who found her in her parents house and gave her a path to freedom, and him kissing her for the first time. But now that he was dead, so were the memories because they could never be repeated.
After an hour or so Sokka returned to the house, only to see his frustrated sister waiting for him. When he asked what was wrong, there was no noise except the click of a door as Toph exited her room. Katara looked over, hoping to see Toph's face brightened, but it was still a bright red with tear trailed streaked across it. Toph hovered in the room for a moment, but then walked into the kitchen. Katara saw this and slowly followed Toph, leaving Sokka alone in the room.
Minutes of silence passed for Sokka, his sister and Toph didn't even seem to be in the house. The next thing he heard was Toph shouting at Katara 'I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!' Sokka, who had been staring out of a window turned just in time to see Toph storm out of the house. As Katara walked out of the kitchen Sokka shot her a questioning look, but Katara mearly shook her head. But then an idea struck her.
She quickly told Sokka what Toph was going through in her greif for Aang. Sokka understood this as Katara did, for he felt the same pain about Yue. He pointed this out to Katara, but she quickly reminded him that she had lost Zuko the same time Toph lost Aang. Katara sighed, releasing some of her anger and in a calm voice said, "Sokka, I need you to talk to Toph. She doesn't listen to me."
Sokka knew this was true. Ever since Toph had joined the group, she had never listened to Katara. He feared that talking to Toph would just push his friend further into depression, but seeing the look of anger and desperation on his sister's face, he quietly gave in. As he did, Katara pointed to the door and Sokka, not wanting to recieve his own lecture from Katara, he quickly walked through it.
There was one spot around the house that Sokka knew Toph would go at a time like this. There was a ledge next to the ocean, in fact it was the place where Toph and Aang had first kissed, and that's where he found her. She could feel his presense, but simply ignored it hoping he would leave. But instead he walked over and sat beside her.
"We need to talk." He said. In response to this, she simply blew a strand of hair out of her face. He knew she wasn't going to speak to him, but spoke anyways. He began telling Toph the story of when Yue had died, how her father had given him the job of protecting his daughter, not knowing that Sokka had loved the young princess. And how Sokka had watched as Yue gave up her life for the people of the entire Water Tribe, leaving Sokka alone and guilty for not completing the task Yue's father had entrusted him with. He saw Toph nod every now and then, acknowledging that she was listening. When he finished, he began to speak of how he had found a new love after Yue's death. He had met a girl in his travels who was young, smart, and a brave fighter. Toph began that Sokka was expressing feelings for her, and began to search her heart to see if she felt the same way about him.
"...The one thing I enjoy about her the most is that she's not a bender, like me..." This hit Toph just as she had found a shread of feeling for Sokka in her broken heart. Sokka wasn't talking about her. But...if he's not speaking about me...then who is he...? Then it dawned on her. Sokka was not speaking about her, but of the warrior girl she had met(and accidentally kissed) on their journey through The Serpent's Pass. That Kyoshi Warrior named Suki.
When Sokka had finished, he looked at Toph and saw that her expression had not lessened from the angry one she had wore when he had first started talking. He had failed in helping Toph feel better. Giving up he stood up, and was surprised to see Toph do the same. She followed him back to the house.
As they walked through the door, Katara looked up at Sokka, a hopeful expression on her face. But seeing the loss of hope in her brother's eyes and Toph's expression, Katara's expression faded. Toph said nothing as Katara looked away from them, but simply walked to her room quietly. Katara, seeing there was nothing else she could do, followed suit. Sokka gave out a long yawn then followed his sister into her room to explain the discussion he had with Toph.
Toph silently watched as her friends walked to their rooms, then lied down on her bed. Sokka's just trying to help, but he has a weird way of showing it. But she had truly thought that he had been talking about her, the way he protected her, even when she didn't want it. The first time she had heard his voice, now that she looked back, was him cheering as Aang knocked her out of the ring at the last Earth Rumble tournament. How could I ever have thought that he had feelings for me? He never showed it. The only person who ever did was Aang, and Aang's... But even in her thoughts she could not bring herself to say it.
She did not leave her room again until she knew that Katara and Sokka had both fallen to sleep. Then she quietly opened her window and climbed out of it. But instead of going to the village, she returned to the ledge. It had seemed like her life, well her TRUE life, had started here. This is where they had first kissed. She listened, picturing the scene over and over in her head, but each time it seemed to fade away into the nothingness. After a few minutes, all she could here was the waves hitting the cliff below her. She turned back towards the house, making sure that her friends had not followed her, then jumped. And all she knew after that was a flash of cold and no sense of where she was. And then there was nothing at all.
Katara awoke with a jolt as she heard a loud splash come from outside. Her first instinct would have been to run outside, but something prompted her to first run to Toph's room. She pushed open the door and found it was empty. Damn it Toph, what have you done now? She ran outside and to the cliff to see the bubbles settle on the surface. Then she realized what Toph had done, she had jumped and drowned herself. Katara knelt down at the ledge, tears running down her face. First Zuko, then Aang and now Toph. What had this world come to?