I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. This chapter is a little shorter than the others (by about 200 words) so sorry about that. Anyway, read on!
Disclaimer: A:TLA is owned by Bryke and Nick.
Chapter 3: One year before 'The boy in the Iceberg'
Katara had already show Mr. Bei Fong and his wife to their tent and his associates to their shared shelter as well. Sokka was about to make his way to the tent that would be his and Toph's, which was a part of the deal, as her guard he had to be with her day and night. Instead he walked past it and made for the Bei Fong's.
He entered after announcing himself, Toph followed after him, her arm still glued to his. Sokka looked over to Lao, who was sitting on the fur hide floor, legs neatly folded and arms resting on his lap. "Yes?" He inquired.
"I, uhm, just wanted to let you know that Toph and I are now, well, acquainted. And I was wondering if there was anything more you wanted to tell me?" He hadn't really thought about what he was going to say, he'd just felt as if he needed to report or something.
"I see." Lao looked disinterested. He addressed his daughter, "Toph, do you think this, Sokka, will be adequate to look after you while you're here?"
Sokka glanced at her to see that her demeanor had completely changed from what he's seen on the boat. Now she stood a little behind him, head bowed respectfully and unseeing eyes staring at the floor. "Yes, father." Her voice was soft like a whisper.
Almost dropping his mouth open in confusion, Sokka looked back at Lao, who was nodding. "Good." He stated. "Sokka, I'll have a talk with you in the morning to discuss my team's plans. But for now I've had a long trip, and would like to rest.
"O-of course, sir." Sokka stammered. "I'll be back at dawn." And with that the conversation was over. He led Toph outside and toward their shelter. Still completely unsure of what just happened. He stole a look at Toph and wondered for a moment if behind those unseeing eyes there was some kind of split personality.
Shaking his head, he opened the hide door for her and led her in. It was a small shelter, about two and a half meters squared, just big enough for a cooking fire in the middle, and two sleeping sacks on either side. The fire was burning low, and after he'd helped Toph to her bed, he stoked it with more wood. Sokka took a seat next to her, warming his hands. Toph took off her gloves and did the same. For a moment they sat in silence and he watched the different shadows that the fire cast against her pale face. He was still wary of her sudden personality shift.
"We haven't been properly introduced." He spoke up. "I'm Sokka, son of Hakoda. I'm seventeen and the temporary leader of the Tribe."
"Good to meet you." Toph said, her head tilting toward his voice. She placed a hand on her chest. "Toph Bei Fong, fifteen, sixteen in three months, lover of food and all things earth."
Sokka's mouth gaped a little. "You love food?"
"What idiot wouldn't?" She asked. He was struck by how different her voice was to the one she'd used not ten minutes ago. While she had spoken to her father in a quiet and subdued tone, Toph's voice was now deeper and full, with a noticeable roughness to it, like she'd had on the boat. Sokka took a liking to it immediately and was about to ask about the sudden change when she yawned.
"Well, I don't know what time you lot go to bed, but I'm tired." She said, feeling her way behind him to the top of the sleeping roll.
"I-b-but what about dinner?" He asked, shuffling round to make room for her.
She stopped in the process of pulling off one of her boots to reveal the thick sock underneath, and seemed to think a moment. "You're right, food, then sleep."
Sokka grinned. "Sounds like my kind of night."
Toph buried her nose further into the furry bedroll. Even though they were inside and had a fire going, there was still a cold bite in the air that stung whenever she breathed in. Spirits, how she hated her life right now, getting dragged down to the south damn pole where it was so cold she had to wear shoes all the time. And even the thought that there was earth somewhere underneath her didn't make a difference, because through all this ice and snow she could barely sense it at all, let alone bend it.
At times like these, she really hated her father.
She rolled over onto her side, one arm under her head and the other around her middle. At least she wasn't sick anymore, and that meal had been pretty good. Well, better than the fish they'd been living off for these last weeks on the boat. Toph shuffled about a little and blew away a piece of hair that had fallen across her nose. All these stupid furs, she couldn't feel anything at all and they weren't even keeping her that warm.
Bringing her hand up, she drew the lip of the bedroll further around her face in an attempt to keep the heat in. "You cold?" Came the low voice of the Watertribe boy. Sokka, she mused. The youngest guard she'd ever had and the only one so far that seemed to be concerned about her for her sake, not just her father's. Well, that's what it seemed like, she couldn't tell much without feeling his heartbeat.
"A little." She told him, not really wanting to show any more weakness than she already had. But hey, she really needed her feet and hands not to freeze right now.
Toph heard some shuffling, then felt a few dull thuds through the furs. "What're you-" She began to ask, sitting up. She was cut off by the warm mass that must've been Sokka sitting down against her legs. He placed something soft in her lap.
"Here," He said, "Your parka's terrible, you can use mine for tonight and we'll find you a smaller one tomorrow."
Slightly surprised, she began to feel the thing he'd given her, it felt similar to her own, though a lot bigger and with a furred lining. Finding the sleeve holes she pulled it over her head, settling it underneath the covers at her knees. She was suddenly surrounded by the light scent of sweat, hide and sea salt. Taking a breath through her nose, she decided that it wasn't as good as dirt, but she didn't mind it that much. Actually, she kind of liked it.
"As much as I appreciate it," She said, hoping that she was looking in the right direction, "Do you ever wash this?"
There was a weight shift somewhere near her thigh. "You're welcome, and yes, I do actually." Came his defensive reply.
"Just checking." Toph offered a teasing smile. There was a silence and she wondered if she'd offended him and was about to call him a wussy girl when he spoke again.
"Toph, I know we just met, but I gotta ask. Why do you act so differently in front of your parents? I mean-well-I'm just not sure who's the real one." He blurted out.
She paused.
"For a guard you sure ask a lot of personal questions." She said, a little accusingly. Toph felt the warmth leave her legs as Sokka moved away.
"You're right, sorry, never mind." She heard him take a step or two before making a spilt-second decision.
"No, wait." Toph told him quietly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not that used to talking about myself to people."
The warmth returned just by her knees as he sat back down. "Why?" He asked.
"Well," She gave a sigh, "My-my parents, as you can probably tell, are a little protective of me. More like super protective. They assume that just because I'm blind, I can't look after myself and that I'm defenseless. For my whole life they've kept me locked up, not telling a soul that I even exist, because you can't hurt something that you don't know is there…Truth is, I've never had a friend, only guards and handmaids. You're the first one to have ever spoken to me on a personal level."
Toph tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Anyway, I keep up the image for them because it's all they know and they wouldn't accept me any other way."
Sokka seemed to be mulling her words over. She attempted to be patient while he thought. "Now, don't get offended by this," he said. "But, while I think it was extreme of your parents to have hidden your existence like that, I don't see how you're not defenseless. I mean, you seem to have a, uh, way with words, but you are, well, blind."
She fought back the urge to snap at him for his ignorance. "I'm not blind." She said through gritted teeth.
"What? But- how-"
"Can I trust you?" She asked suddenly.
"I-sure." Came the confused sounding reply.
"I-sure." Sokka told her. Not blind? Of course she was blind…or had she been lying to her parents for the last fifteen years? He didn't have time to think about it as Toph's small hand flew out to his chest, landing squarely in the middle. Too stunned to do anything, all he could focus on was the feel of her fingers through his under-clothes. A look of concentration crossed Toph's face and he noticed her nose crinkle a little.
Slowly her hand moved across to the left, just above his heart. "Hey, uh-"
"Shh!" She cut him off. "Can I trust you to keep a secret?"
"Yes." He repeated, annoyed at being shushed. There was a minute's pause where her hand pressed a little harder into his chest, he felt his heartbeat increase and she pulled away.
"Okay." Toph leaned a little closer to him, voice a whisper. "I'm an earthbender."
"You're a what!" He shouted.
"Keep it down!" Her hand shot out to cover his mouth and his lips began to tingle at the contact. He grasped her small fingers and pulled it away.
"How can you be an earthbender!" He asked, speaking in a quieter tone.
"It's how I see." She said with a shrug. "I can feel vibrations through the earth and use my feet and hands as my eyes."
"So, can you see now?" Sokka asked, trying to understand what she'd just told him. Without warning she punched him in the shoulder.
"Hey-!"
"-Just how thick are you?" She flicked some of the hair around her face. "Of course I can't see! Does this look like earth to you?" She grabbed a fistful of furs from the floor of the shelter.
Sokka pulled a face and was going to defend himself when a thought occurred. "So why did you need to feel my chest just now?"
"I wasn't feeling your chest!" A blush had spread across her cheeks. "I was listening to your heartbeat, to see if you were telling the truth."
"So you're a human lie detector as well?" He asked, thinking about how cute she looked embarrassed. But it had passed not a second later.
"Pretty much." She said in an 'I'm awesome' kind of way. "People's heartbeats change and falter when they lie."
Sokka sat back, accidently leaning further into Toph's legs, but she didn't seem to mind. "Wow. Not really what I was expecting."
"Yeah, well. You weren't exactly what I was expecting either." She told him, shuffling back down into her bedroll. "Thanks again for the parka."
"It's okay." He stood up and sat back down on his own side of the tent.
"Won't you get cold?" He heard her ask. Glancing at her pale face behind the fire, he felt something stir in his chest. Her eyes had closed and her nose was now buried into the furs.
"Is that concern I hear?" He joked with a smile that was lost on her.
Toph rolled over, back now to him. "No, I just don't like owing people."
"Right, well I'll be fine. I'm used to it." He said with a small laugh. "Goodnight, Toph."
"Night." Came the muffled reply.
Please R&R! :D
