Chapter 11: Hero
Toph bolted upright and turned towards the direction that the scream had come from. Sokka followed suit and stared into the slums, standing and grabbing Toph's hand, pulling her along behind him.
The two ran through the slums, dodging beggars. When they caught up to Azula and Suki, Azula had a knife aimed at Suki's throat.
"You two shouldn't try to stop me, especially you Toph, she has this coming." Azula laughed, her eyes filled with a haunting madness. Sokka instinctively pushed Toph behind him, and glanced around, trying to find a weapon-his were at the inn. Suki raised her hand, palms facing Toph and Sokka, and sighed.
"Just go, it doesn't matter." She pleaded. Toph stepped forward, summoning a small pillar and sending it towards Azula. Azula kicked and sent a burst of fire towards Sokka, who dodged, and Sokka nudged Toph.
"It looks like you're losing your bending." Sokka declared, having noticed that Azula's flames were no longer burning blue with intensity.
Azula laughed and jerked Suki, nearly sending the blade into the young woman's throat.
"I'm still more of a bender than you. It looks like you're weaponless, not that it would have made a difference anyway." Azula sneered. During her talking, Toph had summoned a pointed rock, and sent it through the bottom of Azula's right foot. "You bitch!" she screamed, nearly losing her grip on Suki.
Sokka saw an opening and grabbed the dagger from Toph's belt, tossing it deftly towards Azula.
Azula dodged, but lost her grip on Suki, who fled and crouched behind Toph. Toph summoned a pillar of rock, and sent it towards Azula, who had recovered and was now wielding two daggers.
"Give it up Azula, and we'll let you live." Toph offered, though she wanted nothing more than revenge on the woman who had tortured her. Azula took a step forward, and Toph sent a cautionary boulder just over her shoulder. "I mean it." She said.
Sokka glanced around, again trying to find some sort of weapon, and in his moment of distraction, Azula launched a bolt of lightning at Toph.
Though Toph felt the energy leave the ground, it was Suki who stepped forward, and Suki who took the lightning. Toph turned as Suki fell to the ground, and sent a pointed rock straight into Azula's heart.
Toph and Sokka rushed towards Suki, both kneeling beside her. As a crowd gathered around them, finally people were aware that a fight had taken place, Suki breathed her last breath.
Sokka held Suki's limp body and cursed at the sky. He sobbed as Toph stepped back, her face lacking any outward emotion.
Sokka mourned Suki's loss with gusto, staying by her funeral pyre as it burned through the night. Though Katara attempted to comfort her brother, it was Aang who sought Toph out.
Aang touched Toph's shoulder softly, and though he thought he had approached loudly, she still jumped.
Since they had arrived on Kyoshi Island the previous day, aside from the ceremony, Toph had not left her bedroom.
"Toph, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." he said, waiting for her to give him permission to sit down with her on the edge of the balcony. Toph nodded her head slightly, as thought he had verbally asked her, and Aang sat down.
Toph's legs dangled through the rungs of the balcony, and she sighed. "It reminds me of flying on Appa. Not being able to see, and whatnot." She said, and Aang nodded, understanding why she hadn't heard him approach. It was quite clear that she had been deep in thought.
"I love flying on Appa." Aang agreed, looking out into the expanse that Toph could never see. "You can take him flying sometime, if you want." He offered. Toph sighed and shook her head.
"I don't think that's a good idea. Aang…" she trailed off and turned to face Aang. "Do you think that he's going to be okay?" she asked. Aang chose his words carefully.
"He's lost her twice now, but he has you." Aang said, his eyes drifting back to watch the smoke in the distance. Toph stood abruptly.
"No…she'll go down in his memory as a hero. She'll go down in everyone's memories as a hero. But I know the truth. I know she stood by and watched me get tortured. So she saved me, so what? If she hadn't sought Azula out I wouldn't have needed saving. And now, Sokka's left with this memory of her dying to save me, and you know how he is about that kind of thing. He'll always love her now, and I don't think that I can stand being the one who lived." She stepped back towards the opening to her bedroom, and closed her eyes. She shook her head and continued on, her heart breaking with each step.
Sokka stood up and wiped away the last of his tears. Suki had saved Toph, and in his eyes, redeemed herself for nearly destroying the woman he loved. Sokka smiled. His conscious was clear, and he could live his life out with Toph happily.
Sokka started back towards the home they were all staying in. Katara had left a few minutes prior to him, saying something about hair, and Zuko and Mai had already retired. Sokka was fairly certain that Toph would still be up, and that he could talk to her about the future he wanted them to have.
Sokka walked, and noticed a set of footsteps were drawing near. He stopped, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword, and realized that the footsteps had also stopped. As he stepped forward, they began again, but headed in another direction. Curious, Sokka trailed a distance behind, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person prowling around Suki's pyre.
Picking up speed, Sokka prepared to close the gap between he and his mystery walker, when the footsteps stopped, and a large rock was heaved towards his head. As he dodged, the boulder clipped his shoulder, and he fell to the ground, hoping his melodramatics would attract his attacker close enough for him to catch a glimpse of their face.
"Oh, oh Spirits, I think my shoulder is broken! Oh, someone, someone help me!" he cried, though he probably couldn't fool an animal, let alone a skilled bender.
"Sokka, shut up!" Toph hissed, moving into his line of sight. Sokka stared, completely dumbfounded. He struggled to his feet as she drew closer.
"Toph, what was that for? Couldn't you tell it was me?" he asked, feeling heat rise to his cheeks at his ridiculousness. Toph turned away from him, realizing that he was unharmed. "Where are you going," he asked, desperation sinking into his words. Toph sighed and kept walking.
Sokka trudged after her, his shoulder throbbing, and he reached out with his other hand and grabbed her.
"Let me go." She commanded. It was then Sokka realized she had a bag on her shoulder, and she was dressed in traveling clothes.
"Are you leaving?" he asked, panic surging through his body. Toph turned to face him, wrenching her arm away from his hand.
"Yeah, I'm leaving." She declared, beginning to walk again. Sokka reached out and grabbed her again, wishing that he could stop the determined woman.
"Toph, wait. What's going on?" he demanded. Toph yanked her arm away again, and stepped towards him, sending his scrambling backwards with the look of raw pain on her face.
"I don't want to be here anymore." She stated. Sokka stared into her empty eyes and wished that Katara had not taken away their milky tint.
"We'll leave in the morning. It's too late to travel now." He replied, praying that she still wanted to be with him while fearing the opposite.
"Sokka!" Toph shouted, her eyes filling with tears. "I can't take this anymore. I thought that I could handle you loving her, but I can't. I can't stand the thought of not being the only one you see." She said, turning away, furious with herself for crying. Sokka stared at her blankly.
"Toph, I don't understand what you're saying." He said, though he felt he was beginning to.
"Suki." She spat, the name venom on her tongue. "You still love her after everything she put me through. I wake up screaming at night. I never used to dream, and now, now I have nightmares of being burned and beaten." She whispered, ashamed of her weakness. Sokka pressed a hand to her cheek and held it there despite her struggles.
"Toph, I don't love Suki. I love you." he said. Toph tried to pull away, but he hugged her to him, tears filling his eyes. "I have nightmares about what happened to you too. It scared me so much, not knowing if you were safe, and then finding out what you had been through, it nearly killed me. It was like the darkness was back." He whispered, his voice growing softer with each word. "She gave me you Toph, and I can't hate her because of that. If she hadn't died, you would have. I'm sorry if that hurts you, but all that is there is the utmost respect for her, only because she died in your place." Sokka sighed and noticed that Toph was no longer beating his chest, but listening to him. Sokka decided to continue while she was quiet. "And I don't think I can ever really forgive her for hurting you, but I do think that saving you is nearly equal, and that's why I can mourn for her. But Toph, you are the one that I want a future with. You're the one I want a family with. You are the one that I want to be with for the rest of my life. Suki and I never came close to that." He stated, Toph's head tilting up towards his. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she finally hugged him back.
"I love you too Snoozles." She whispered, leaning up to kiss him.
A/N: