Chapter 2: Tide

Toph put her head in her hands and sighed.

They had been flying non-stop for a day now, as the countryside laid broiling in the heat below them. It was so hot, that Toph could feel her clothes and hair stick to her with sweat. She would've killed for a patch of shade, or maybe a long, cold drink of water.

Finally, after what seemed like decades but was actually only an hour, Sokka yelled out, "Stop!"

Aang pulled on Appa's reins urgently, and the sky bison stopped dead in the middle of the impossibly blue sky.

"What is it?" demanded Sugar Queen, aka Katara, a note of urgency in her voice.

A wide grin on his face, Sokka pointed downwards.

Toph could not see him do this, so she sarcastically said, "Maybe you could actually say what, Meathead."

Aang answered for her. "Sea," he breathed in reverence.

Although Toph couldn't see it, below them was a wide expanse of ocean, stretching off into the distance, beckoning to them.


"One, two, three . . . GO!" called Katara.

She and Aang used waterbending to make stones skip across the waves, trying to see who would get the furthest. Unfortunately, they had to stop when the stones had bounced out of sight.

Toph dipped her hands into the sand, sifting grains through her fingertips like a waterfall in an hourglass. She licked the salt spray off her lips and leaned back, stretching luxuriously. She sucked in a deep breath of the briny air. Her amber and brown undergarments dripped with seawater from her previous dip. The sun was still beating down on her, granted, but Toph now had a cold ocean to counter it.

She felt a body plop themselves down beside her. The fact they were drumming their fingers against their leg tipped Toph off that it was Sokka. Her seismic sense was better in this sort of beach environment now she'd mastered sandbending, but everything was still a little fuzzy and muffled.

"Hi!" greeted Sokka, his wet hair dripping onto her leg. "Wanna help me make a sand Appa or a sand Momo?"

Toph raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, brilliant idea. Ask the blind girl to help you with your already terrible art."

Sokka harrumphed with indignation and a silence fell between them.

As if struck by lightning, Sokka suddenly sat straight up. "I know what we can do instead!"

"Know what - hey!"

Sokka had grabbed her hand and was pulling her along after him as he raced down the beach. Toph's feet sunk into the sand, leaving deep footprints behind. Sokka kicked up spray as he ran, which soaked Toph. She squealed and splashed him back with a vengeance. Soon, they were chasing the tide, splattering each other with water.

In the daylight, it looked like the sea and sky were painted in watercolor aquamarine; shell-swirled brushstrokes and washes of cerulean.

Finally, the two came to a grinding halt. Sokka was panting heavily, and Toph knew his eyes would be lit up with excitement. She realized they were still holding hands, and quickly let go with embarrassment. Toph hoped she wasn't blushing. She wondered why Sokka's heart was beating so fast.

The whoops and cheers of Katara and Aang had faded away, and the only sound in the silence was bird-wings up ahead. Cold water lapped at Toph's toes; teal fingers greedily clutching at the sand before reluctantly retreating.

"Hey, Sokka . . ." said Toph, breaking the silence. "What color are your eyes?" It was a random question, sure, but she had had on her mind for a while now.

Sokka seemed mildly surprised by the question, but nevertheless answered, "Blue."

I bet they're not, thought Toph. I bet they're the color of the blue sky through a broken prison wall; the color of a perfect raindrop on a blue aster; the color of a river hurrying to join the ocean. I bet you're just saying that because you don't realize any of this.

Wait, what? What was she doing, reciting sappy poetry about Meathead's eyes?! Was the heat making her delirious?

"Cool," she mumbled after a moment's hesitation.

Sokka beamed proudly. "Yeah, I am pretty cool."

"Dream on, Snoozles."

Sokka laughed, and Toph felt it on her eyelashes. She hadn't realized they were so close . . .

A seagull's scream made them both jump apart. Toph suddenly felt weirdly guilty, which was ridiculous. They hadn't been doing anything wrong, had they?

Katara's yell rang across the beach, like a furious spirit's. "SOKKA! TOPH!"

"TRYING TO WAKE THE DEAD, SUGAR QUEEN?!"

Sokka chuckled. "C'mon, we better get back before Katara bursts a blood vessel."

Toph could feel him dither for a bit, before he took her hand again. She clutched at his large, warm palm, their fingers intertwined. Her heart felt too big for her chest.

When Katara screamed for them again, Sokka whispered, "Go, go, go, go," before he took off down the beach. This time, Toph almost matched him step for step as they chased the tide all the way back.