IMPORTANT- Okay, I've two things to ask you guys before you get reading. First off is that at the end of every chapter from here on will be the day the next chapter will be posted. I'm doing this because there are so many new fics coming out now that the finale's over, and so stories get pushed to the third page or so just a couple hours after they've been posted. I plan to post chapter 3 on either Saturday or Sunday. So yeah, I'd like to hear if that sounds cool to you guys or not. Secondly, I have a question. Would you be interested in a AU (alternate universe) Zutara fic? It would be kind of a play off Romeo and Juliet, only Avatar style! (Not sure if it should end happy or not though) Anyways let me know, and enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer- I don't own Avatar or the second quote which is taken from the book, Snow Country. The first quote, however, is mine.
(Scene 5: Fire Nation Palace; Twelve Days Before the Wedding at exactly 12:15 a.m.)
Am I awake, or is this just a dream?
Am I alive, or am I just imagining it?
Toph was wide awake. When a person can't fall asleep and is unable to see what time it is, lying at bed can be a living torture. She had been counting the ticking of Sokka's makeshift time teller (his newest invention) but had lost track a long time ago. If she had retired to bed at ten o'clock it must be a least twelve by now.
Two nights ago Sokka, accompanied by Aang, came over to the palace. Toph wasn't unaware until then that Sokka had planned to come with her and play the part of her manservant. Him along with a whole bunch of earth kingdom coins would be her dowry. And yes there was still the dowry thing practiced in the Earth Kingdom. (If arranged marriages were than dowries were too.) It will help assure your position as a high class lady, he said. And someone to make sure you aren't in danger. Toph wished it was for reasons other than that. Had he said, 'make sure you're alright.' or 'to keep you safe' Toph would have been much more satisfied. Of course Aang must have read her mind because he added, 'and to look after you of course.' Toph gave him a smile of
appreciation hoping that Sokka was getting a clue.
Her ears pricked up. She had heard sometime. A cracking of a branch? A bird bursting into flight from its tree home? Being blind made a person noisy. Toph raised herself up, and quietly pushed the blankets aside. She was only dressed in a long sleeved shift that was quite thin, but in the heat of summer she didn't feel cold. Come to think of it, the Fire Nation was mostly always balmy.
There it was again! Accept a different sound. A door opening in the room next to hers. Sokka was up.
Toph inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Now was a good a time as ever to talk to him. She could let everything out, regain the tight friendship she missed and be gone of this love. She wanted to laugh with him again, and taunt him because of his dysfunctional bending ability.
But when she opened her door, she couldn't feel him. He wasn't walking in either directions. Her eyebrows knit together. She lightly walked to his room and put her hand on doorknob. Sokka strangely did not close the door all the way, but left it just slightly open. Why would anyone leave their bed to open their door a crack? Was Sokka daft? High on catus juice? And why was he standing by his bed?
Then she heard a cry of surprise and agony. Toph whipped into the room to feel two men struggling in the dark. One clumsy and slower in his motions, another alert with a dagger in hand. Sokka was the clumsy one and was wrestling the other man above him. She recognized his weight on the ground. He must have just been awakened for he was sluggish and groped in the dark. And this person came in the room, it was not Sokka who opened the door. Everything made sense now.
Toph lifted her foot and stomped hard, sending ripples that threw Sokka's attacker off of him. Once she did that, she spun her body and pushed forward. Her earth boulder missed her target, who dodged skillfully, and hit the wall with a defining crack like thunder. Sorry Zuko, that'll need to be repaired.
She raced forward to Sokka, blocking the intruder with a high wall. The man grunted as he was forced backwards.
"Sokka!"
"Toph," he moaned. He squeezed her hand tightly between his. "My leg."
Toph felt them only to touch something warm and wet. "So much blood," she gasped.
"Ahhhh!!"
A bunch of little rocks as well as bigger rocks went flying. The man had cracked through her wall. One rather large rock hit her head. A dizzy feeling overcame her. Raising herself for defense only made her stumble and reach for the support that was not there. She heard something whistle in the air, but couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"Toph!"
Her body lurched backwards and hit the ground as the dagger narrowly missed her wrist, but nailed her long sleeve to the floor. Another followed the first and pinned her other sleeve. Her chest panted from the impact. As she struggled, she kicked and summoned a pillar but it was too late. Something was suddenly scalding her ankles, worst than a thousand pinches. Somewhat aware of the yelps that left her mouth, she realized what was happening. She was on fire.
"Toph!" Sokka yelled again. He let out an 'oomph' as he was kicked in the stomach. Groaning again, he was forcefully smashed into a dresser.
Toph screamed. The pain increased and she tried to roll her bottom half with no avail. That's when Toph saw the closest thing to red as was explained to her. Red was everywhere, on her feet, on her chest, in her lungs.
She barely heard Sokka delivering a solid punch, barely heard her name screamed by someone else. And then scampering, before a powerful blast of air blew straight into her face. Her head hit the stone floor and Toph felt herself slip into unconsciousness.
(Scene 6: Fire Nation Palace; The next morning)
As he caught his footing his head fell back,
and the Milky Way flowed down inside of him with a roar.
Yasunari Kawabata (Snow Country)
"Oh God she's awake!"
Katara was using her healing hands on her ankles, which were still burning as if fire had just touched her flesh. Toph blinked and then noticed Aang holding her hand looking at her anxiously and Zuko staring at her with a flicker of a smile.
"She's too much of a pain in the ass to stay unconscious for long," Zuko said. "Won't give us a moments peace."
"Oh shut up, Zuko," Katara said, but not in a venomous fashion. "Toph, are you okay. Aang was afraid he caused you to hit your head to hard." She sniffled and Aang was biting his bottom lip. "He was afraid he might have- damaged something."
Toph closed her eyes and tried to recollect her thoughts. It suddenly came back to her in a rush. The intruder, no assassin. Sokka screaming. Sokka's blood on her hand. Fire. Pain. Black. She sat upright. "How's Sokka. He was hurt, and I didn't have a chance to look after his wound. It looked bad. And what happened to the guy. I'd like a word with him."
Aang let out a big sigh which blew Toph's bangs out of her eyes.
"She's back to her old self I see," Zuko said.
Katara pursed her lips at him. "Make yourself useful and get me some wet cloths for her ankles. Cold now."
"Hey I'm not the waterbender here."
"Do it," Katara demanded. She dipped a compress in the water while creating a water whip and shaking it threateningly toward Zuko.
Zuko grumbled, but did what he was told. But not before giving Toph a sympathetic pat to show he felt sorry for her. She was sorry too. Now Sugar Queen was going to be all attentive and never leave her alone for a few days.
"I'm fine Katara, other than my ankles that is."
A silence followed and she felt Katara move to her side and take her hand, the one that wasn't already being held by Aang.
"Toph," she began slowly. "I tried my best with your feet, everything I could have possibly done... and your feet are healed for the most part...but on your ankles there is some scarring."
"Oh." Toph's fingers drummed down her thigh and went past her knee when she felt it. The feel of raw, burned flesh rather than smooth skin. It felt like Zuko's scar, only worse. As she traveled even more down the skin became smooth again, tender but smooth. And it wasn't like she was mortified, but she was shocked and found herself at a loss for words all the same.
"It's not that bad," Katara said quickly and putting her hands back on her ankles. "Probably feels worse than it looks."
Aang nodded.
"Well," she said, her voice shaking. "At least I don't have to see it. How's Sokka."
She felt Aang stiffen at this and assumed the reason was because Sokka's condition was not good.
"He's going to be fine," Katara said taking her hands off her ankles. Toph's legs felt much more relaxed and Katara wrapped the cold compress by her burned feet. "It's going to take a while for his leg to heal though. That dagger pierced him right to the bone. Tore a tendon. He's lucky though, he could be dead. That was the assassins goal after all."
Sokka's alive. He's okay. Toph relaxed into her pillow again. "So he's fine?"
"Yes, Toph he's fine didn't she just tell you that," Aang snapped, surprising Toph and Katara.
Toph raised an eyebrow and frowned. "What's that suppose to mean."
"Nothing," he muttered and looked away. Aang shook his head to get out his bad thoughts. He fixed Toph in an intense stare, even though she wasn't aware of it, and took her hand again.
"I'm just glad your okay," he said.
Katara had her back turned, but wondered at the words exchanged between them. It wasn't like Aang to be so tender with anyone but her. Usually he showed sincere concern, but not hand-holding and eye ogling. But it was just Toph, so Katara smiled at her foolishness. She trusted her boyfriend and her best friend, who were the few people closest to her heart. And her brother and father of course. Zuko too, she supposed. Yes, Zuko too.
Speaking of Zuko. "Where's Zuko with those towel?" Katara turned around and dressed Toph's tender ankles. She noticed the two hands had dropped from each others embrace. Katara did notice as well the way they itched to attach themselves again.
Katara's orders were to spend the next three days in bed. She offered to move Toph's bed next to Sokka's, but Toph refused using the excuse that she was too tired. Most likely Katara saw right through her lie, but Toph was too weary to deal with it at the moment. And before she knew it, those three days were long gone. Though she walked tenderly at first, Toph got to the point where she could walk all on her own. So she left the confinement of the bed, a temporary sanctuary from her rapidly approaching wedding.
It was two days before when Sokka called upon her. He lay in bed, his leg heavy bandaged and propped up as to not have any more damage done to it. She heard the scratching of quill against paper. So he was writing to Suki. Who else?
Sokka smiled when he saw Toph. "Hey."
"Hey. You okay?"
"Yeah, Katara patched me up," he rubbed the back of his head. "You really saved me back there."
"Well I couldn't let our 'idea guy' get himself killed." There was so many things she could say to him. A whole bunch of 'whys' a whole bunch of 'what ifs,' but all she could seem to utter was reserved and unnatural. Being just friends sure beat this. Why had he asked her in the first place? And why- why hadn't she said yes? Maybe she could be holding him now, and he lovingly resting his head on her hair murmuring honey-sweet words. She'd truly lost it. She was delirious.
"I can't go with you to Ba Sing Se."
She raised her eyes.
"My legs screwed up, I won't be much of a manservant if I'm in bed for two weeks."
"My ankles are burned and that's not stopping me," she accused. It made her angry to think of him backing out of his own plan, while she had to still pull through.
"Toph, I can't walk yet. I can't go."
"Sokka," her voice broke. This was so embarrassing. "I can't go alone."
"I know." He reached over and grabbed something on the floor. "That's why Aang's taking my place."
"What?" Toph looked baffled. "But he's the Avatar."
"Its all been planned, by the wedding his hair will grow. (Yes it grows that fast.) And he'll be with you all the way through. My back up was suppose to be Katara, but she needs to stay here to tend my leg."
"I guess that's okay then." She shifted from one foot to another. Should she hug him good bye? Was she allowed to do that now without suggesting anything?
"Good. Katara's not going to like it though."
"Why? Honestly, does she think I'm going to steal Twinkle Toes away from her." Toph could laugh at that
.
"Maybe," Sokka said. "Your pretty enough to."
Toph blushed something awful. Did Sokka just call her pretty?
"Here," he tossed her the thing in his hand. It was a shape shifting moon rock. Toph had lost the bracelet in the last battle and had always secretly missed it being on her arm. It was something special between them.
"An early wedding present. If you don't-"
Sokka was crushed in the earth benders hug. "Hey there, I've got enough broken bones on me."
Toph laugh and punched his arm. "Tell anybody about me needing someone to go with me and your dead Snoozles. I'm warning you."
"So I'm Snoozles again huh?"
She grinned what he called her wickedly awesome smile. "Yeah. It soots you better than Sokka." Toph began to walk out the door when she stopped and turned around. "By the way what's my code name?"
"Cho. It means butterfly."
"Short and sweet. A little girly, but it'll have to do. Is that what your writing?"
Sokka lifted up the paper.
"Um yeah, great. What is it genius?"
"Oh, sorry. There passport that'll get you and Aang across the border."
"So what's Aang's code name?"
Sokka pondered a bit on this before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm no good with names. All I got is Arrow Guy. You've got something?"
Toph thought for a bit and burst into a big smile. "Ping Pong."
"Excuse me?"
"Aang's code name can be Ping Pong. It'll give me a good laugh at least." Toph left the room.
Sokka shook his head chuckling. "She's one heck of a girl. Agni, he'd better be ready. That criminal's gonna be sending her back in a week, money and all."
Okay, that's it! I hope you liked it, despite the fact that it's a little shorter than the first two. I'd love to hear critics and comments from you guys, so review! Okay tune in on either Saturday or Sunday for a new chapter.
