Chapter 8: Pieces
Her anguished scream as she fell back against him rang through his ears, and he felt as though his heart had stopped beating.
Sokka slid to the ground with her while Mai produced a fistful of shuriken, Zuko and Aang dropping into offensive stances.
Katara struggled against her captor, trying desperately to get to the wounded woman who had just saved Sokka's life.
Toph's hair was longer, Sokka noticed distantly, and one of the knives previously held against his sister was lodged in her chest.
He couldn't remove it. There was no way to do so without draining her.
Sokka glanced back up at the woman who was holding Katara, her face contorted in rage.
"I should have killed her sooner." She muttered, pressing her remaining knife harder against Katara, ending her struggling.
"Who are you?" Katara demanded, her fingers moving almost imperceptibly as she began bending the surrounding snow.
"Doesn't matter. With Toph out of the way there's no one to stop me." She cackled, the sound cut short by Katara flinging an ice dagger at her hand.
She dropped the knife and Katara spun away from her, ducking so that the others could attack.
Zuko sent a wave of fire at the woman, which she dodged, and Mai sent three shuriken, which she also dodged.
Aang unleashed a wall of earth at her, which she used to run up. Clutching her injured hand protectively to her chest, she unsheathed a knife from her thigh and threw it at Zuko.
Aang threw a wall of earth up to protect him, and Mai ran to Katara, who was inching towards her brother and the fallen Toph.
The woman cackled again, and lightning sprang from her fingers, headed straight for the foursome that was unprotected.
It dissipated before it could reach them.
The group stared at the knife lodged between Azula's eyes, then turned to Toph, who was sitting up, blood pouring from her chest as she stared directly at the woman.
"Stay away from my family you psycho bitch." She mumbled as Azula fell.
Blood bubbled from Toph's mouth as she stared up into Sokka's eyes.
Tears poured down Katara's face as she worked to heal the wound. "It's so deep," she murmured. She stood up and ran over to the small oasis, praying that it was still imbued with live-saving water.
"I…met…the moon." She coughed. "She's…beautiful…Meathead…you have…good…taste." She pulled her parka down and unfastened the previously concealed necklace.
Her bloody fingers held a Northern Water Tribe betrothal necklace out to Sokka before her arm dropped, her eyes clouding.
Sokka ran his fingers over her face, trying to wipe the blood away as tears fell from his eyes.
"I knew she wasn't you Toph, I didn't love her like I love you." He cried.
Toph's body went still in the blood-tainted snow, her body heaving out one final breath, a crooked grin on her face.
Katara rushed back to them, Aang at her side. Mai and Zuko were now kneeling beside her, Mai gripping Toph's small hand in her own.
Katara poured the water into the wound and ran her hands over it, her eyes closed in concentration.
They all released the breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding when Toph's chest finally rose.
Toph was in and out of consciousness on the journey back to the Firenation Palace.
They decided that she should recover in the warm climate given her aversion to the cold.
When she finally came around, there were a lot of questions that needed answers.
"How on earth does Azula play into everything?" Aang asked, running his hands through Katara's long hair.
Toph took a sip from the glass that Sokka held to her lips and smiled.
"It didn't make sense to me at first. There were clues, but it wasn't until I really started digging that everything became clear.
"Azula escaped from the sanitarium where she was being held and went to Ember Island. She assumed my identity so that she wouldn't have to pay for things. I didn't realize it when I went to her for help, but I gave her everything she needed to slip into my role when Sokka was found to be alive.
"I told her a couple things that only I could know, and she was able to see how I had changed my appearance when I was undercover. Apparently she had planned on taking my place some time ago, because she had already hidden Sokka in the Northern Water Tribe. My guess is that once my name was cleared she would have tried to kill me." Toph informed them, pausing to take another small drink.
Sokka sighed and brushed her bangs away from her face.
"It makes sense. She knew just enough about you that I never questioned her. Plus the way she treated Zuko makes quite a bit of sense too. She started warming up to Aang and Katara before we went to the North Pole, probably because she couldn't be you and not like them." Sokka concluded.
Toph shrugged and her bangs slid back over her eyes. She blew on them, her milky eyes sweeping the room. "She never could have pulled it off. First of all, she would have had to kill me, which never would have happened. Second of all, it sounds like she was arousing suspicions anyway."
Zuko moved closer to the bed and tilted his head slightly as he stared at her.
"How did you escape after Aang took your bending? And how were you able to see to hit Azula?" he asked, voicing everyone's next thought.
"Aang of all people should have guessed," she began, flashing him her crooked grin. "I had some help from a spirit. She gave me sight and a way out of the prison. As soon as I gave her amulet to Sokka, my vision was gone." She told them, a hint of sadness in her words.
Sokka nodded beside her, brushing a wayward lock back out of her eyes.
"It was Yue." He confirmed.
Zuko stood and moved to Toph's bedside, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm so deeply sorry for everything that has happened." He said, his voice thick with emotion.
Aang nodded in agreement.
"Me as well. I would like to give your bending back." He said, smiling when Toph grinned.
"Yeah, I'd like that." She said, before her breathing evened off and she fell asleep.
A/N: Not much left. An epilogue. I'll need a few days to get it the way I want, but it will be up as soon as possible. Thank you all for reading despite the long wait. I appreciate each and every reader. Special thanks to those who have taken the time to review. It helped motivate me into getting this chapter up today. Be on the lookout for the epilogue!
