Chapter Nine

The rock sailed past his face just missing the tip of his nose. As he was blasted with its passing wind, Aang snapped from his meditative trance with a horrified yelp. Eyes flared wide, he watched as the jagged hunk of earth careened across the Bei Fong garden, loping off the head of a marble figurine along the way before embedding itself in the stone wall enclosure beyond with enough force to create a sizable dent and crack the wall clear down to its foundation.

Toph snickered. "I so wish I could see your face right now!" she crowed.

Aang reflexively patted his face down for injuries before pinning her with a withering scowl. "That's not funny, Toph! The rock was this close!" he indicated, bringing up his hand to make a minute gesture. He pouted. "I like my face."

"Yeah, it's a really beautiful face too!" Toph gushed enthusiastically.

"You think so?" Aang piped. "I don't know if I'm so much to look at, but I…" He trailed off abruptly when it dawned on him how insincere Toph's compliment had been. Her trademark wave in front of her sightless eyes only added insult to injury. "You're an evil person," he deadpanned.

"I try."

"Whatever," Aang grumbled, closing his eyes in preparation to resume his meditative exercises. "Why don't you go throw rocks somewhere else? Can't you go find some hapless animal to torture?"

"Oh, but you're more fun!" Toph retorted. "Besides…why should I leave? Maybe you shouldn't meditate in my practice space!" She stomped the ground, popping out yet another large chunk of earth and sent it hurtling forward.

Aang raised his hand and, with a effortless flick of his wrist, disintegrated the rock mid-flight so that it became nothing more than a harmless spray of dust. He blasted off a wave of air, protecting himself from the rain of dirt and debris. The grainy particles ricocheted off the sphere and back onto Toph. She growled at him. He smirked back.

"Maybe you shouldn't practice where I meditate!" he threw back. He wisely floated to his feet when she started to stalk him. "Stop it! I don't want to fight you, Toph," Aang said, holding up his hands to stave her off. "What's with you? Why are you so crabby?"

"I'm always crabby!" she replied laconically. "You should be used to it by now!"

"Okay, well you can be crabby alone," Aang replied, straightening abruptly in affront. "Since meditating is obviously out," he declared meaningfully, "I'm going to have some fun and go for a swim in your parents' lake."

"Should you do that with your arm?"

"I'll keep it dry," he said. "It's already healing."

"If you say so, but just a heads up…my dad stocks that lake with golden piranhas," Toph warned before he'd even taken a step.

Aang froze and directed a slightly uneasy look over at Toph, his enthusiasm for swimming cooling considerably. He stood there in absolute silence, caught between believing her and dismissing her "warning" altogether. Finally, he announced dubiously, "I don't believe you. You're playing with my head, just like always."

Toph merely shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you want to provide the piranhas with a before dinner snack, it's no skin off my nose. It was nice knowing you though."

He started to walk away, only to stop short a second later and pivot to face her once more. "Are there really piranhas or is this just your way of getting me to stay here with you?" he demanded.

She snorted. "Twinkle Toes, I don't care what you do either way."

For some unfathomable reason, her seeming indifference to his companionship bothered him. As a result, he felt compelled to return her lackluster attitude in kind even when he actually would have preferred her company, tetchy as it was. "Fine," he said with some bite in his tone. "I'm going then. At least, I know the piranhas will be glad to see me." He turned away too quickly to notice the laughing smile that came to her face with that parting shot.

"Aang, wait!" Toph cajoled at his back as he began trekking towards the lake. "I didn't mean what I said before. Don't go."

Though her reluctance to voice the words aloud was quite palpable, Aang still appreciated the fact she'd made the request in spite that. With his annoyance instantly forgotten, Aang resumed his abandoned perch and waited for her to speak. When she did, he wasn't at all surprised that she managed to directly avoid addressing the thing that was bothering her.

"I want to leave," she announced instead.

That was the last thing he expected her to say and Aang showed it. "But we just got here!"

"Yeah, and it was great," Toph replied. "I came. I saw. I hugged and now I'm over it. Let's head to the South Pole."

"Huh?"

As she balanced herself on the narrow, curving edge of a nearby fountain, Toph flashed him a smile. "Am I going too fast for you, Twinkle Toes?"

In a manner of speaking, she was. Aang had to shake his head because her frequent mood shifts were beginning to make him dizzy. "Are you messing with me again?"

She hopped down off her perch, hands plunked onto her narrow hips. "I. Want. To. Leave," she enunciated slowly. "Do you understand?"

"Toph, your parents are throwing you a welcome home party tonight," Aang emphasized.

"I didn't say we wouldn't stay for the party, if that's what has you worried," she reassured him. "I like a good party as much as the next girl. But after that we should get going."

"Um…what's the hurry?"

Toph shrugged and sent yet another rock sailing. "I don't want to wear out our welcome."

"But they're your parents," Aang reasoned slowly. "Aren't they expecting that?"

"My parents are very busy people, Aang," Toph pointed out, "with busy plans. Lots to do…especially with the new baby and all… We don't want to be in the way of that."

"Oooh…" Aang drawled with sudden understanding. "Now, I get it. That's why you're acting so strange. Toph, do you have a problem with the fact your parents are having another baby?"

"What? That is so…so lame," Toph scoffed, but her attempt at bravado was woefully transparent, even to Aang.

"You do have a problem!" he cried in disbelief.

"Shush up!"

"What? Are you jealous or something?" Her normally inscrutable features twitched guiltily. "You've got to be kidding me!" Aang gasped. "You're jealous of a baby that hasn't even been born yet? That's so…"

"What?" she snapped in challenge. "It's so what, Aang?"

"Weird," he concluded frankly. Once again, Aang shook his head in bewildered dismay. "I don't get it."

"Oh, you don't?" Toph bit out in challenge. "Well, maybe that's just because you're magically wonderful at everything you do!"

"I'm not 'magically wonderful,'" Aang denied, a hot blush of consternation staining his cheeks. "And besides, this isn't about me. Toph, your parents aren't going to love you less just because they're having a baby."

"You don't think so?" she scoffed. "What if it's a girl…a sighted girl? Or, better yet, what if it's a boy? My father gets a son and an heir. They'll have what they wanted all along and then they can stop bothering with me altogether."

She turned her head away to conceal the shameful tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes. Consequently, she didn't realize that Aang was approaching her until he reached out to take hold of her hand. Though she didn't jerk away from his touch, she stubbornly refused to turn her face towards him. Aang was undeterred.

"I saw your parents' faces when they saw you, Toph," he stated softly. "They were happy. I doubt they were faking for my benefit. Don't run away before they can prove to you just how much they do love you." Toph swallowed audibly, but otherwise remained silent. Aang sighed. "You told me that I can't be so open all the time," he recounted, "and I think you were right about that. Sometimes, you do need to guard your emotions. But, at the same time, you can't be so guarded all the time that you never let anyone in. You can't be so afraid of rejection that you automatically reject first."

Toph tugged her fingers from his grasp. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"I think you're afraid of needing your parents," Aang considered. "Or maybe you're afraid of letting yourself believe that they could need you too."

****

Aang cringed as Toph's yowl of fury penetrated the oak double doors and filled the corridor where he loitered somewhat impatiently. Moments later there was an audible thud, followed by a serrated groan. Not for the first time he wondered what they could possibly be doing to Toph in there. Whatever it was, it sounded excruciating. "Glad it's not me…" Aang mumbled under his breath.

During his earlier conversation with Toph in the gardens no satisfactory agreement had been reached on whether Toph would stay for the party only or spend a few days with her parents as had been the initial plan. She was intent on leaving and no argument Aang made had seemed to convince her otherwise. In the end, Aang had wisely recognized the futility in pushing her.

So, they had agreed to disagree and had gone for a swim instead, splashing around in the piranha-less lake together until the servants had come to retrieve Toph so she could prepare her for the evening. One hour later, Aang was clean and dressed and waiting outside Toph's bedchamber where she was still being "worked over." If her howling were any indication, it wasn't going very well.

"I said no touching my feet!" Toph blasted. Her enraged bellow was followed by a loud explosion and a series of crashes. Reconsidering the wisdom of waiting for her in light of her less than pleasant mood, Aang started to creep down the hallway to safety when Toph's bedroom doors suddenly flung open and she barreled through them.

As she stalked towards him, Aang stopped short, escape abruptly forgotten.

They hadn't finished with her yet. She was without her formal robes and clad in only a simple, white undergarment, bare feet and dark hair. Long, straight, dark, unbelievably beautiful hair. Aang had seen it unbound only once before and then it had been an unruly mess, hopelessly tangled and twisted with leaves and twigs. He had never imagined that it could be so incredibly thick and glossy or that it flowed nearly to her waist like an inky river. He had never imagined that the simple act of washing and combing one's hair could transform a person's physical appearance so thoroughly. Aang stared at her wordlessly, his mouth suddenly going dry.

"What?" she demanded impatiently when she sensed his trenchant stare.

"Your hair," Aang croaked. And then, realizing how hoarse and unrecognizable his voice sounded, he cleared his throat and added, "You…you look so different with it that way."

"Oh, right…that…" Toph sighed with a frown, sweeping up a lock of the aforementioned and flipping it over her shoulder. "It's a pain. There's so much of it. I wanted them to just lop it all off and be done with it, but—,"

"NO!" Aang exploded fervidly. His sudden outburst left Toph making a weird face. Acutely aware of her expression and growing more and more flustered as the seconds passed, Aang quickly amended, "I…I mean, you shouldn't cut it. What I'm saying is…it looks nice. Your hair looks nice, Toph." Having been able to voice that without making a complete fool out of himself, Aang heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh…well thanks, Aang," Toph replied a little stiltedly. "You can breathe easy though. It wasn't going to happen anyway. My mom wouldn't hear of it."

Having ventured into unknown territory where their relationship was concerned, an awkward silence passed between Aang and Toph. She couldn't recall a single time he had paid her a compliment concerning her looks and neither could Aang. The fact that he'd noticed enough to even say anything at all baffled her…made her feel vaguely self-conscious. She stamped down the reflexive desire to smooth down her hair and Aang made a deliberate effort to stare at his shoes. It was a weird moment.

He tugged at his collar uncomfortably. She blew locks of hair from her eyes. Neither of them moved a single inch.

Finally, Aang broke the painfully uncomfortable silence and said, "Well…uh…I guess you should be getting back inside there, huh?" He nodded towards her bedroom.

"Actually, I'm taking a break," Toph told him. "That's why I came out here. One of the servants told me you were in the hallway."

"Did you want to talk to me?"

"You were right about what you said earlier," Toph confessed bluntly, but then quickly added, "But before you go bouncing off the walls singing, 'I told you so,' hear me out. I'm still uncomfortable about the whole thing. I'm still pretty sure I'm setting myself up for major rejection. But…I guess I'll be fair and wait for the actual rejection before I react. There? Are you happy?"

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but I'll take it." Aang grinned at her. "Does that mean you're staying?"

"On one condition…"

"What's that?"

"I know you want to get to the South Pole as soon as possible," she prefaced nervously, "but, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like it if you stayed here with me…just for a little while, until I'm more comfortable." Because he didn't answer right away, Toph quickly added, "It's okay if you don't want to. I don't want you to feel like you don't have a choice or something."

"No. I want to," Aang said after a moment. "Of course, I'll stay, Toph."

Naked vulnerability settled across her features, softening them considerably. "You will?"

"Yeah."

Toph smiled at him and, in doing so, her features glowed radiantly. He couldn't recall a time when she had ever smiled at him that way and the effect was a like a blow to the chest. It literally felt as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him. This wasn't a smirk or a satisfied grin, but a genuine smile of pure gratitude. He found himself returning the smile in kind, even though she couldn't see it.

"Thank you, Aang."

He watched her disappear back inside her bedroom and vaguely wondered why he only felt mild disappointment at having put off his departure for the South Pole once again.

****

They were the talk of the evening.

It did not go unnoticed among the crush of Bei Fong guests how the young Avatar and the newly returned Bei Fong heiress seemed never to be without each other's company. Whether they were dancing with one another, flicking each other with food, bickering incessantly or generally making mischief among the guests, it was blindingly apparent to all present that they enjoyed being with each other. Consequently, the talk began and speculations on a possible betrothal between the Avatar and Toph Bei Fong began spreading through the room like wildfire.

Blissfully ignorant to the swelling gossip about them, Aang and Toph were currently seated at a long table at the very fore of the Bei Fong's grand ballroom. They were flanked by each of Toph's parents, with Lao Bei Fong seated on Aang's right and Poppy Bei Fong seated on her daughter's left. While her parents quietly conversed at the other guests sharing the table with them, Toph and Aang surreptitiously elbowed one another in a bid for space.

"Stop poking me!" Aang grated at Toph from behind a plastic smile.

"Then move over!" she hissed back. "You're practically in my lap!"

"You have plenty of room!"

"I can't even move my elbow without knocking into you!"

"What do you want me to do? If I scoot over any more, I'll be in your mother's lap! Good grief, Toph, it's not like I'm an elephant-hippo!"

"For the last time, Aang, move or I'll move you!" she threatened.

Lao Bei Fong heaved a loud sigh of long-suffering and leaned over to whisper to his daughter, "Am I going to have to separate you two? You've been holy terrors this entire evening!"

The harsh admonishment in his voice quelled any further squabbling between them. "Sorry, Dad," Toph answered contritely.

"It won't happen again, Mr. Bei Fong, sir," Aang added dutifully.

Mr. Bei Fong leveled them both with a severe once over. "I expect better of the Avatar and his earthbending master," he stated implacably. "I trust we won't need to have this conversation again?"

"No, sir," both Aang and Toph answered simultaneously, only to make faces at each other the moment Lao Bei Fong turned away.

It was a rather aggravating quandary that they found themselves in. Though they had promised to stick together for the evening, Aang and Toph were now reluctant to be in one another's company because it seemed that the prolonged nearness to each other was beginning to have a rather bizarre effect. Each was unexpectedly filled with strange thoughts about the other and the resulting confusion over those unbidden musings was making them both little cranky.

Throughout the evening, Aang had found himself continually distracted by Toph in noticing things about her that had, heretofore, gone completely unnoticed by him. For instance, had her eyelashes always been so lush and long? Even a faded green, Toph had extraordinarily beautiful eyes. And her smile…was she smiling more radiantly than usual or had he simply failed to notice before?

Many times in his own mind, he had likened her hands to small boulders because of the power she usually packed in a punch. He had never thought of them as anything other than sturdy and capable. However, upon closer inspection, Aang realized that her hands were actually rather small and slender…almost delicate. She was delicate. For the first time ever, Aang was seeing Toph…as a girl.

Likewise, Toph was noticing things about Aang too. Had he always smelled so good? She couldn't remember noticing before. His scent had merely been something she'd associated with his presence. When the scent tickled her nostrils, she knew he was there. Simple. She'd never considered whether it was a good or bad smell. But now she realized that Aang smelled of an intriguing mix of wind and rain and earth. He smelled like the very elements he commanded and she liked it.

But Aang's scent wasn't her only obsession. She was also strangely engrossed with the cadence of his voice, acutely aware of the low baritone quality it had now. How long had it been so deep? When had it changed from the high, cracking of before? Why hadn't she noticed before now? Why exactly did it matter to her?

The questions were driving her crazy, especially because Toph already suspected why she had suddenly become so pathetically preoccupied with the nuances of Aang. She was doing it again. She was developing yet another crush. First Sokka, then Zuko and now Aang. It was pathetic. It was ridiculous. It was completely unwanted and…

It was happening.

Why, Toph lamented inwardly, why Aang, of all people? He wasn't anything like Sokka or Zuko, though she'd admired both boys for very different reasons. With Sokka, she had been intrigued by his ingenuity, his silliness and his sarcasm. With Zuko, she had been compelled by his honorable spirit, his bravery and his fortitude. Her reasons for liking Aang, however, were an enigma…

He wasn't overly sarcastic, though he was extremely silly at times. He was honorable and brave, but in a way Toph often found naïve. He was too sweet, too kind, too genuine…too good. And yet, she found herself liking those qualities about him, admiring those qualities…wanting to emulate them. After spending every day of the last month with him, the majority of that time alone, it had become quite impossible for Toph not to recognize how wonderful Aang really was.

So, she had a crush. Toph readily admitted that truth to herself and decided to face it pragmatically. It didn't have to be a big deal. Likely, she'd be over it in week or so, just as she'd gotten over the others. Sokka had taken a bit of time, but Zuko had been surprisingly easy. She simply needed to keep her cool and wait for the weirdness to pass. Toph was sure that once she and Aang joined Sokka and Katara in the South Pole everything would go back to normal.

In the meantime, however, she desperately needed to distract herself from this sudden idea that Aang was hot. Consequently, she deliberately ignored him, amusing herself by eavesdropping on the private conversations of her parents' guests instead. Most of it was dull, political diatribes, but she zeroed in on one particular exchange that captured her attention immediately.

"…I think it's a shameful disgrace!"

"I agree. Lao kept her a secret practically her whole life and then conveniently mentions her only after she runs off with the Avatar."

"Do you think he planned for this to happen?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. She's blind, after all. It's not like she had grand prospects in the husband department, even with all the Bei Fong money. And now she's landed the Avatar? That's no coincidence."

Humiliation rushing through her and suffusing her cheeks with color, Toph abruptly pushed to her feet. "Dad, may I be excused?"

Her father frowned, concerned by her rapid breathing and obvious upset. "Are you feeling ill?" he asked solicitously.

"I'll be fine," Toph reassured him. "I just need some air."

She was already making her way towards the exit before her father even had a chance to respond. Suspecting the futility in chasing after her, Mr. Bei Fong nudged Aang. "Go after her," Lao bid him. "She'd more likely talk to you than me. Make sure she's alright."

The moment Aang stepped out onto the veranda, however, Toph grated, "If I'd wanted company, I would have asked for it."

"Your father is worried about you," Aang explained.

"Go back inside," Toph ordered him. "Tell him I'm fine."

"You're not."

"How would you know? Besides, I doubt anyone will miss me."

"Toph, it's your party," Aang reasoned. "People expect you to be there."

"That's where you're wrong!" Toph snorted bitterly. "They're not here to see me, Aang! It's all about you. I'm just the poor, little blind girl who's lucky enough to be your friend!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just go back inside, Aang!" she cried. "I want to be by myself."

Disregarding the order entirely, Aang came to stand alongside her. "You know I don't see you that way."

"But they do," Toph countered thickly.

He didn't need to ask who "they" were. "Since when do you care what other people think of you?"

"I don't care," she flashed back harshly. "But I don't like being thought of as a charity case either! I'm blind, but I'm not useless! That's why I didn't want to come back here!" Her voice broke off into a hoarse whisper, made raspy with unshed tears. "I'm nothing here, Aang."

"You're not nothing to me, Toph," he whispered.

He stared at her, his heart breaking for her as she fought back tears she was too proud to shed. While Toph carried herself with such self-assured confidence, she was just as vulnerable as the rest of them, perhaps even more so. Instead of confronting her pain and insecurities, most of the time she buried them deep and she tried to move on. Aang understood the attempt all too well. He did the exact same thing and, because he did, he knew that the wounds never healed that way. They only festered.

Moved with empathy for her, Aang caught hold of Toph's forearm and impulsively pulled her into a hug. Unsurprisingly, she remained rigid in his arms, not pushing him away, but not relaxing either. Aang remembered that time in the desert, when he had been in so much pain over losing Appa that he hadn't even been able to cry. He had been so full of rage and hatred that it had been impossible to feel anything else. But Katara had held him tight even when he was unyielding, even when he wouldn't acknowledge her touch. She had held him and held him until her love permeated the fiery wall of anger surrounding him…until he was at peace again. Aang did the same for Toph, resolving to hold her until she felt at peace again, until she could cry and let go of the bitterness that festered inside her.

When the first, gurgling sob escaped from her chest, the tension was still in her body and Aang held her. Her breathing soughed harshly in and out her lungs with the strain of holding back her emotions and still Aang held her. Her body trembled with the force of controlling the emotional rampage inside her and still Aang held her. And when the need to cry became too much and she finally gave into weeping against his shoulder, her back and shoulders still bunched tight in resistance, yet Aang continued to hold her then too.