Author's Note & Disclaimer: I don't own the Avatar universe. And why aren't there tags for Toph or Sokka under Legend of Korra?
Author's Warning: Discussion of a violent crime.
Laughter - boisterous, carefree, riotous laughter - that's what he remembers most clearly. Always a bit too loud, always a bit too indecorous, and always a bit too spirited, Toph's laughter would fill the space, no matter how vast, with her mirth.
...
He was twenty-one and working as the assistant to Councilman Xian. He stood behind the Air Councilman as the trial began. There was a man, one of average height, muddy brown hair, hazel eyes, and neatly trimmed fingernails dressed in earth tones, seated at the defense table.
Aunt Toph - Chief Beifong - was called upon to present evidence. She recounted, in meticulous detail, how this mundane-looking man tortured his victims: how he brought them to the brink of death again and again by suffocation, by drowning, by strangulation, how he delighted in cutting and burning them dozens of times to hear them scream, and how he violated their corpses.
Councilman Sokka halted the testimony midway and proclaimed a recess. Tenzin escaped to a washroom and threw up everything in his stomach. It required every ounce of willpower he could scrape together to return to the Council chamber.
The trial lasted a week. Once it finished, the Beifongs were able to come for dinner on Air Temple Island. A sober mood hung over them; Sokka, Tenzin, and Toph overshadowed by the week's work. Too junior to be directly involved in the case, Lin knew it well nonetheless and it showed in her solemn expression and silence.
"Hey, tell Aang that joke, Sokka," urged Toph, breaking the quiet.
"Huh?" Sokka blinked. "What joke?"
"You know - about the badgermole and rabaroo?"
"Now?"
Toph slapped his back. Sokka nearly face-planted into his plate. "Yeah."
Turning to Aang, Sokka asked, "What did the badgermole say to the rabaroo?"
"I don't know," he replied.
Toph answered, "Nice to see you!" She guffawed. "Get it? Badgermoles can't see!"
Involuntary smiles, albeit small ones, appeared on Aang's and Sokka's faces. The air lightened and Tenzin felt his muscles relax fractionally.
"Sokka, knock, knock," Toph said.
"Who's there?"
"Aang."
"Aang who?" Sokka responded with a glance at the Avatar.
"Aang on a minute - do I even know you?" Again, Toph laughed; this time, the smiles on the others' faces were more genuine.
"How about this one," Sokka offered, "What did King Bumi say when he got mud on his new shoes?"
"Oh I know!" cried Aang. He outright grinned. "Oma Shu!"
He and Sokka joined Toph in her chuckles while Katara smiled; Lin gave them a sort of half-grin. For the remainder of the meal, Aang, Sokka, and Toph traded jokes and puns. The events of the previous week faded into the background of Tenzin's mind to be replaced by the sound of their sporting.
After dinner, Tenzin walked the Beifongs and Sokka to the quay. As the ferry had yet to arrive, Toph stopped while still on land. Sokka and Lin continued onto the wooden planks, Sokka gesturing at something towards the city. Tenzin stayed with his aunt.
"What is it, kid?" she demanded.
He blurted, "How do you do that?"
"Do what? Be awesome?" Toph smirked. "That's just who I am!"
"No. How do you...laugh and joke after something like this trial? How do you just forget all of it?"
"I never forget something like this. But I don't let it ruin what's good either." Toph turned to him. "When the bad part is over, you have to laugh. If you can't laugh, you've got to make yourself laugh. You can't let people like that monster win."
...
Tenzin misses her laughter the most. He misses other aspects too - her gusto for life, her rough style of affection, her utter refusal to see her blindness as any sort of weakness, and even her tipsy revelries with his uncle and her endless supply of nicknames. But most of all, he misses his Aunt Toph's laughter.
Secret: He misses Aunt Toph.