Author Note: Wow, this was even harder to write than the last one. Hopefully this is clear to understand. Read, reply, and enjoy! Oh and don't get too depressed like I am when I write this series.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender

"Toph, come on! It's just ice."

Just ice, but it is so different; so impossibly, unexplainably different.

How would he know?

He would never understand, no one would ever understand, and I was used to this.

But there was a frantic tone in his voice, a panic under wraps.

Even though I would love to poke fun at Snozzles, I knew something was wrong.

I heard the thrashing in the water, but what it could be, I had no idea.

They forgot I was blind, again.

The violent splashing of water sounded closer, I needed to move, no time to be a wimp.

Taking a deep breath, I picked up my foot, vibrations suddenly leaving and my world became a strange, terrifying place where I felt like the helpless blind girl my parents portrayed me as.

I heard cracking, shouting, screeching.

Terrible screeching that sounded so out of this world.

Too many sounds, I wanted to cover my sensitive ears.

I wanted to stay on my element, the only place I felt like me.

I stuck my foot out father and my heart quickened, my stomach heaved, and I felt like I was falling.

I hated leaving the ground.
Another deep breath.

Just ice.

He said it was just ice.

I placed my foot down and it gently hit something cold and hard.

It felt unreal, as if I were floating in air, falling.

I had no sense of direction, no sense of anything.

When I stepped onto the ice, for once, the world was truly dark.

I took my foot back as if it touched fire, which it might as well have been.

Vibrations pounded the earth and I could see, my body settled, and I felt confident again.

I felt like me.

"Actually… I'm gonna stay on my little island where I can see." I put my hands to my mouth and shouted back to where I thought Sokka was.

Boom.

The earth shattered un-expectantly behind me, pushing me forward as I let out a shriek.

My feet were on ice, and I felt paralyzed.

I could hardly think.
Could hardly breathe.

The screeching again, the thrashing.

It destroyed my earth and it could destroy me too.

I put my hands out to my side, trying to steady myself.

For the first time in my life, I felt blind.

Shuffle.

One foot then the other.

"Ok, I'm coming!"

My voice sounded so small, and I hated sounding like I needed help.
I hated sounding weak.

Shuffle.

Breathe.

Shuffle.

Ignore the sound in the water.

Shuffle.

Keep moving.

Shuffle.

You're the greatest earthbender in the world, why should something like ice scare you?

Shuffle.

"You're doing great! Just follow the sound of my voice."

Shuffle.

My heart quickened and a bead of sweat dripped from my forehead.

"It's hard to ignore."

Shuffle.

He offered a distraction.

Shuffle.

An image of Snozzles' face appeared in my mind's eye, a frown from being teased, his eyebrows knitted as he tried to create a comeback, it forced a small smile onto my face.

Of course I had no idea what he might actually look like, no idea what anything looked like.

His voice shook me from my self-pitying.

"You're almost there!"

Almost?

Already it felt like I had been walking for years.

Crash.

The ice suddenly gave out beneath my feet.

I gave a scream as I plunged into the cold water.

It swallowed me, getting in my eyes, my nose, my mouth.

I tried to keep my arms above my head.

My legs kicked frantically, searching for solid ground to stand on but finding nothing.

"Help, I can't swim!"

I felt my self sinking, and I kicked even harder, my arms recklessly trying to find something to hold on to.

"I'm comin' Toph!"

My world slowed down for just a moment.

Snozzles… no, Sokka was coming.
He would save me.

The cold pit of fear in my stomach left, and I felt comforted even though the water rushed over my head.

Sokka was coming.

I closed my non-seeing eyes and held my breath.

I only had to wait a few minutes, then Sokka would save me.

You're waiting for him to save you? You're the world's greatest earthbender. You don't need help.

The water turned colder, my lungs began to burn.

Why hasn't he come yet? Was I far from where he stood safe?

Didn't he say I was almost there?

You don't need help, Toph. Just save yourself.

I tried to kick hard, but my leg only seemed to float gently in the water, the temperature ever dropping.

You don't need help.

No, I didn't need Sokka to come save me. I wasn't a damsel in distress; that was Sugar Queen's job. I could save myself.

I pushed my arms down, I tried to call the earth to help me, but I was out of my element.

Maybe… maybe, this was what it felt like to be helpless, to need someone to save you.

Shivering, I felt all remaining air drive out of my lungs.
And suddenly, I didn't feel the water around me.

I felt detached.

My world was crashing around me, I felt cold, I felt warm, which was up, which was down.

Sokka though, he said he would save me.

No more air.

I tried to take a breath, and water filled my lungs.
Sinking faster, I still had no fear, though I knew I was in my final seconds.

I felt strangely peaceful, more calm then at any other time in my life.

Sokka said he would save me.

I felt myself going, slowly shutting down.
I was falling asleep, and when I woke up, I'd be on earth again.
Snozzles would get such a pounding for making me wait so long under water! Didn't I say I couldn't swim?

Moving anymore seemed impossible as I sunk faster into the deep cold water.

I tried to breath, but only water filled my mouth and it choked me, it made my head pound, and suddenly my world was becoming hazy and even darker.

He said it was just ice.

He said I was almost there.

He said he would save me.

Sokka lied.