Hey there, everyone! Before I talk randomly, I have a VERY IMPORTANT announcement. Okay, so are you reading clearly? ARE YOU? ARE YOU! Okay, well, I would like to kindly ask you if you could read my other story, its called Through My Purple Eyes. Also, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long, I have been very busy, so I tried to write as much as I could in this chapter. So, here it is!
SOTU: Talk You Down by The Script (not recommended for this chapter)
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters in this chapter. Therefore, you have no right to sue me. Okay? Okay. I hope we are clear on that.
Chapter 10: The Face
Toph watched the light bounce off the clouds below her and into her eyes. She knew what they were, so she giggled as she tried to make shapes of the puffy formations. She observed the way the pillows grew and shrunk, when suddenly, she thought she saw the formation of a face. She yelped, tumbling back and falling on Aang.
"What happened? Are you okay?!" Aang shouted, grabbing Toph and shaking her around, trying to find out if she was hurt.
"I saw a face in the clouds. And it was, well, an evil looking face."
"Oh, my poor Songbird is scared. Its okay, I'm right here." He cooed, stroking her raven hair softly and comfortingly.
"I'm not scared. I'm just in a bit of shock, that's all." She defensively retorted.
"It's okay. You don't have to pretend in front of me."
"Is it getting dark? I can't see very well."
"Yeah, actually it is. We should land. I think I see some ground below us."
"Land quickly. I need to see. Now."
"Okay, okay, calm down, I'm landing."
The bison fell slowly to the ground, into an area quite familiar to Aang.
"Stay here. I think I should check the area. Keep quiet." Aang whispered.
She nodded subtly and lay back on the saddle, trying to imagine what the stars might look like.
He kissed her on her forehead and jumped off the bison.
He scanned the land, shuffling through his memories to try and remember where he had seen this place before. He went down on a knee and pounded the strong dirt, ground seeing if there was anyone around.
Aang walked around, and suddenly, he fell through a hole in the ground. The flashback played through his head, telling him exactly where he was.
"Hello? I'm looking for a spirit named Koh?"
Just listening to himself say that one line made him realize what danger he was truly in. He shot up through the hole keeping his face still as he shouted "Appa, Yip Yip!"
The Sky Bison flew up, taking Toph away and as she realized she was in the air, she screamed "AANG!"
"It's Koh. Get out of here. Show no emotion until you are far away from here. I will meet you there."
"Stay safe, Aang." She shouted, and Appa was gone.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Avatar, back for his revenge." Koh hissed.
"I never wanted revenge." He said to the porcelain masked creature.
"Are you sure about that? Maybe I might be able to give you some motivation." Koh teased, and changing his face, Aang stared at him blankly, until suddenly he saw his Ummi.
He suddenly panicked internally, making sure not to show any emotion. He was staring his love right in the face.
"How did you get her? What did you do to her?"Aang sternly questioned.
"I have my ways." Koh whispered, crawling to the other side of Aang.
"I could do the same to you if you'd like." He offered, tormenting the Avatar.
"Listen, Koh, I want no troubles with you. I'm stuck in the Spirit World already as it is."
"Ah, so you're not here on a meditation vacation?"
"Koh, I just ended a 101 year old war. Do you really think I'm in the mood to see you?" He asked, trying to hide the sarcasm in his comment.
He noticed that there was something different about Toph's face. He looked closer, and he did not find her little birthmark behind her ear.
"Okay, I'll tell you what. If I can go away safely, you get to keep my love's face. Do we have a deal?"
"A deal? What's the fun in a deal? I can't torment you with a deal. How about I just give her face back, and take your face instead?"
"No thanks. I'm good." He retorted, slowly walking away.
"But what will she think of you? She probably hates you right now because you love yourself more than her!"
"That's actually quite accurate. I do love myself more than I love her." He calmly told the Spirit, pointing at her face.
"So, you don't care that she'll never see you again?"
Aang was right at the exit of the cavern, and he was silent for a while, pretending to contemplate Koh's offer. He tried one of Toph's clever tricks, and observed his being. Aang noticed that the girl's face had a collar that was partly metal.
With a slight shift of his foot, the collar started choking the ancient Spirit, and Aang walked away, letting Koh in on his little secret.
"She never will see me, and if you really had her, you wouldn't be able to see me." And with that, he clicked his glider and flew away.
Fortunately, Koh was too busy with his collar to notice the snide smirk Aang swept across his face.
He whistled the first chorus of the birdie song and heard a response in an island about a mile in the distance. He shot through the sky and landed smoothly on the earth.
"AANG!" Toph screamed, swinging her arms around him in a strong embrace, resting her head on his shoulder.
She released, and they were face to face, noses almost touching, and they breathed deeply for a second, staring deeply into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Toph pressed her lips on his, and although he was surprised, he pressed back, letting her lean into him, and savoring every second of their first true kiss, where they both were expressing their love for eachother, and not under some love spell, or driven by the competitive side of Toph, they were really kissing, and they both knew how real it was.
Eventually, they stopped, and laid on Appa's saddle, staring at the sky.
"I brought you something." Aang whispered.
"What could you have gotten in the cavern of the Face Stealer that could interest me?" Toph teased.
"Well, I found a couple of pieces of his shed skin."
"Eww, gross!" she squirmed.
"No, no, it's not bad, I swear! I cleaned it really well. I've heard it has great properties."
"Like what?" Toph asked.
"I think it would be better if I just showed you." He sat up, pulling her up with him. He slid a pair of spectacles made of the monster's skin on her face. The frame was made of vines from the swamp that he used to try swamp bending every once in a while. The lenses were square and shaped her face well.
"How is this possible? I can see the sky at night! What are those twinkly thingies? And that giant white sun? Oh, Aang, these are amazing! Thank you." She exclaimed, kissing him softly on the cheek.
"You're very welcome, my lovely Songbird. Now, you see, those twinkly thingies are stars. And that giant white sun? It's not a sun. It's called the moon."
"Sometimes, if you connect the stars, they make really cool shapes. Look, you see that right there?" he asked, pointing at a constellation. "That's called the Boarcupine constellation. And that one there? That's the Bear constellation."
"That one looks like The Hippo and the Duke!" Toph shouted, pointing to another constellation.
They both started laughing, and making up crazy constellations that looked like their friends, family, and each other. They snuggled on Appa's saddle, and for the first time, Toph felt like she could really find love after all.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Katara, Suki, Sokka and Zuko were already asleep. All that remained was Mai, and she planned to get her revenge on Katara. She did the classics, the shaving cream on the face, the moustache, and the wet the bed technique. She then did one of her tricks she had been dying to actually do. She hopped on Katara's dresser and jumped to grab the industrially strong pipes. She swung hard and wrapped her ankles around them. Ready in position, she was laying on the two parallel and one intersecting pipes. Her arms free, she grabbed her blades and began to throw them at her. When she finished, they were surrounding her, trapping her on the bed, the knives around her head, arms and legs, framing her entire body. Mai began to giggle, one of those things that she rarely ever did. She sung on the pipes like monkey bars and climbed out of the room silently.
She then walked over to Zuko's room, and crawled on top of him. She threw her lips onto his, waking him up in one of the best ways. He opened his eyes, startled, somewhat expecting Katara rather than Mai.
"What is this? I thought you were done with me."
"Did you really think that tramp was going to stop me from getting to you? Please, I can handle her. I'm not done with you yet."
She got off the bed, quietly tiptoeing to the door and locking it.
"Does this mean that you forgive me?" he asked her after kissing her for a few minutes.
"I never blamed you in the first place" she whispered, smiling.
"I'm glad." He smiled too, cradling Mai in his arms.
So, whatdya think? It was much less disgusting than that last chapter, huh? Again, I am SOOOOO sorry for not updating. I was very busy, and I couldn't find an open space of free time. Well, I really hope that you liked this chapter, and I will try to post a bunch this weekend so that then you can read those until next weekend. I think I'm going to try to do 3 chapters a week. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Again, PLEASE read my other story, its called Through My Purple Eyes! Okay, I believe that's all for today. So, orevoi!