A/N: This is my first Avatar fic, so I apologize in advance if everyone isn't exactly in character.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
They had set up camp about an hour earlier in a small clearing in the woods. It was extremely hot and humid outside, so they had left their tents in Appa's saddle. Aang could hear Sokka's snores from the other side of the campfire, Katara's easy breathing accompanying it as she slept next to her brother. Aang interlocked his fingers behind his head and let his eyes rove aimlessly across the star-littered sky. He tried and failed as he did every night to not think of the quickly-approaching date of Sozin's Comet. It seemed like that was all Aang ever heard about anymore. Every morning Sokka would wake up, look at his map, and then announce his daily countdown. Aang felt like he was ticking off the days to his execution on a prison wall.
Aang pulled his mind away from the future and back into the present. He had found that when he took his days one breath at a time life seemed a little more bearable. Katara and Sokka were definitely asleep. Toph was lying next to him, and he could tell by the way that she was bouncing her heel that she was still wide awake. Her right hand was pulling the grass out of the ground from under her. If Aang hadn't known any better he would have said that Toph was looking up at the stars the same as he was.
He tilted his head to get a better look at her. The moonlight shined on her pale skin, giving her a glow that gave her the appearance of something other-worldly. Her hair had started to get a little long, and her eyes were almost completely covered by her bangs. Aang knew that Toph was an expert on hiding her emotions and would deny any insecurities she had all day, but he couldn't help but wonder if, deep down, she was ashamed of her eyes.
Toph took a deep breath. Her chest rose and fell, and as she exhaled she spread her fingers out on the ground, savoring the feeling of it. Aang knew that she probably cherished ever moment that she could get on the ground. He actually felt really bad about that. Toph had to get sick every day that she spent of Appa's back.
Aang tried to keep his heart rate down as Toph completely let out her breath and tilted her head slightly back, exposing her neck. It still amazed Aang that Toph could go from a scary-strong twelve-year-old that could easily kick his butt whenever she wanted to this graceful beauty lying down next to him.
"Whatchya thinkin' about, Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked, playing with the grass again.
Aang blushed and prayed that she couldn't feel his accelerated heart rate through the ground. That would be embarrassing. "Er… Not about Sozin's Comet?"
Toph sighed, but in a different way than before. "I know what you mean. It's hard to believe that six months ago I was secretly earth bending in my parent's backyard. Now look at me!" she said, holding her arms out.
Aang tried not to let on that he had been for the past few minutes, and he gritted his teeth as he continued to do so. "Yeah."
All was quiet for a minute. Toph's face morphed into an expression that Aang couldn't recognize. Toph opened her mouth, and he knew that a question was on the tip of her tongue, but she was debating whether or not to voice it.
"What is it, Toph?" Aang asked.
Toph moved her head so that she was facing Aang, her eyes staring straight through him. "Can I see you?"
Aang blinked. Was this a trick question? "What?"
Toph sat up and held her hands up to Aang. His mouth opened into an 'o' of understanding.
"But… I thought that you already could through earth bending."
"I can make out the shape of things, but I can never make out the small stuff, like the pattern on your clothes or the features of your face."
"Oh."
Toph dropped her hands. "Never mind. It's stupid." Toph moved her face to the side.
"No." Aang said quickly. "No, it isn't."
Toph moved her face back to him, a hopeful expression on her face. "You don't mind?"
Aang shook his head, then added, "Not at all."
Toph held out her hands again, and Aang sat up across from her. Toph scooted a little closer and let her fingers fall onto his face. Her touch was surprisingly light, like ten little feathers were dancing across his skin. Aang tried to control the shiver that shook down his spine. From the slight grin on Toph's face Aang knew that the physical reaction from him didn't escape her. Her expression then dropped in concentration as her fingers drifted down to his neck and began to drift upward.
She traced the edge of his jaw twice, trailing down to the tip of his chin. She then fanned out her hands, moving them up and down from his temple to his cheeks. Her fingers glided along his eyebrows. Aang closed his eyes as Toph passed over his eyes with her thumbs and dusted over his lashes.
"What color are they?" Toph asked.
Aang wondered how knowing what color his eyes were could help her. She was blind since birth. Did she even understand the concept of color?
"Grey," Aang answered.
Toph's lips pressed into a line and her eyebrows furrowed and she tried to imagine it. She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth and she ran her thumbs across his eyelids again.
"Here," Aang said, gently holding her wrists and putting them down in her lap. "Wait a sec."
He stood up and looked around the camp. The fire was giving off a dim source of light, and Aang tried to use it to the best of his ability. Finally he found what he was looking for. He picked up the small, smooth rock, but it was sharply cold to the touch. Aang brought it back to camp and held it over the fire. After a while the rock grew warm. Not too hot, not too cold, but the kind of warmness you find when you've woken up after a long and peaceful sleep. He sat back down in front of Toph and bended the rock to that it was a perfect, flat circle.
"They're like this," Aang said. He picked up Toph's hand and placed the warm rock in her palm. Toph smiled and held it between her thumb and forefinger. She rubbed her thumb on it in a circular fashion.
"Thank you, Aang," Toph said. "Can I keep it?"
"It's all yours." Aang said.
Toph tucked it into a pocket on the inside of her shirt. She held up her hands again, and Aang leaned forward to meet them.
She began at his eyes, passing over them once more with a kind smile on her lips. She moved back towards his ears and traced them before she moved back. Her fingers brushed inward to his nose, her thumbs trailing down either side of it.
Her fingers reached the top of his lips and she caught her breath and hesitated. She seemed to squirm a bit, and she let her breath out through her own pursed lips. It made Aang swallow. Hard. Toph closed her eyes as she let her fingers continue, first tracing them, then letting her fingers rest across them. Aang was careful not to move at all and had to grit his teeth to hold himself back. He carefully watched Toph, waiting for what she was going to do. Her teeth tugged at her lip again, but in a different way than before. She took a deep breath and dropped her hands. She opened her eyes and gave him a small smile.
"Thank you," she said.
Aang placed his right hand on the back of Toph's neck. "I want to see you too."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Every cell in his body surged with electricity, and his heart pounded against his chest. Toph stiffened, as hard as a rock. Aang took that as a bad sign, and although it pained him, he pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Toph. I don't know-"
He was cut off by Toph wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. He placed a hand on the small of Toph's back and savored the moment. Toph pulled away smiled widely.
"Do you like what you see?" Toph asked.
Aang tucked a hair behind Toph's ear. "Of course." he held Toph's hand and rubbed it with his thumb. "Do you?"
Toph squeezed Aang's hand. "The more I see, the more I like."
Aang laughed, and Toph joined him.
Just two innocent kids, laughing underneath the stars, seeing each other clearly for the very first time.