Bloodrush
Love. Guilty until proven innocent.
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Chapter 11: Response
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"You can't respond to him if you don't allow him to respond to your call first."
…
/
Previously…
To say the Avatar was shocked is an understatement. He stands at his tree branch staring at the woman on the ground, her pale, sightless eyes seemingly brought to life by the gleam of the moon. He prepares to airbend himself to her when she stops him.
"Stay there. Just… just forget what I said."
She does something she's never done before. She runs away.
/
Seven moons have passed since the Fire Lord revealed his affections to the Fire Lady. And seven moons have passed since a spoken word from one was directed to the other. On the other hand, the Avatar was taking every chance to talk to the master earthbender, who was pretending to be deaf rather than blind.
"Katara! I—"
The monk looks at his friend from head to toe and continues.
"What happened to you?"
She sighs.
"I can control mud, but so can Toph. We were sparring and I got distracted. Hence, my need for a bath."
His eyebrows meet.
"That's weird. You don't get distracted that much. What happened?"
Like she was going to tell him that she got distracted by what she thought was a flash of gold passing by. Fat chance.
"Nothing. Just remembered I had a meeting today…"
Ask about him!
"…and I'm supposed to meet with Northern Water Tribe dignitaries and…"
"Oh yeah! Zuko mentioned that to me yesterday!"
"Really?"
Ask about him now!
"Speaking of, how is Zuko? I haven't seen him much this past week…"
An eyebrow rises.
"You're married to the guy, Katara."
"I know, but we've been busy and…"
"You know that's an excuse, right?"
She gives him a scolding look. He laughs nervously.
"Zuko's fine. He's quiet, but then again he always is. He meditates a lot lately. I think he just went to the courtyard to train."
She tries to act nonchalant. The Avatar buys it.
"Oh. Alright. I'll be on my way now, then. Really need that bath."
He smiles and nods. She continues walking.
"By the way, where did you say Toph was?"
She smirks.
"I didn't."
"Katara…"
She laughs.
"She's by the pond. I think she's either still training or trying to scare the turtleducks."
The Avatar speaks all too quickly.
"Turtleducks? Better go now! Gotta save those turtleducks!"
He runs. She shouts after him.
"Saving the turtleducks? Is that the new way to say 'wooing Toph'?"
He looks back to her and sticks his tongue out. She clicks hers.
"Turtleduck… Hmm, I think Toph would just love that nickname."
She hears a slight "shut up, Katara!" followed by a strong gust of wind. She chuckles and continues to her quarters, her stride a step and half quicker.
The Fire Lady had been right. What she saw was in fact, a flash of gold. Specifically, the fire crown on top of a sprinting Fire Lord. He had been making his way to the courtyard from a long meeting when he saw splatters of mud on the pathway. Suffice to say he didn't want to confront the waterbender after what happened, which led to him running as fast as he could without being noticed. He turned a corner before braving a peek to see the waterbender walking away, leaving the earthbender behind.
She speaks.
"You know I can sense you, right?"
He walks into the clearing.
"I forgot."
"You were sprinting a while ago like you're being chased by giant flying lemurs."
He sounds indignant.
"I wouldn't run away from lemurs!"
She giggles.
"Whatever you say, Sifu Hotman."
He calms down.
"You sound like Aang."
She opens her mouth then closes it. He knows he has struck a nerve.
"Did anything happen between you and the Avatar, Toph?"
Keeping her sarcasm alive, she speaks.
"Not much. Pretty much just poured my weak, sissy heart out to him."
His eyes widen.
"Really? I did too."
"Yeah, but mine wasn't obvious. Everyone knows you are smitten with Madame Fussybritches."
He looks at her.
"What did Aang say?"
"Nothing. I didn't let him say anything."
"Why not?"
She sits down.
"Well, if he wasn't too much of a girl then maybe he would've still said something."
"Maybe you don't realize how scary you are, Toph. I mean, Aang must have been too terrified to speak."
She ignores him.
"How 'bout you? You said you confessed to Caramelqueen. What'd she say?"
"She said… Wait. Caramelqueen?"
She shrugs.
"I used to call her Sugarqueen, but then she became Fire Lady and I immediately thought of changing that name. Firesugarqueen seemed a little too forced for my taster. Then she showed up in Gaoling smelling a little burnt—"
"Burnt? BURNT? She was injured? You should've sent me a hawk! It might've been fatal, Toph!"
"She's a healer, Fire Lord. Besides, it wasn't even a real burn. It was just something on the outside. Sort of like an extremely thin layer of irritation, like she's been in proximity to but not in contact with something really hot, like blue fire, or…"
"Amplified fire. One of a Fire Lord's. I must have harmed her in the throne room without my knowing. I'm such an idiot."
She raises her hand. The Fire Lord is thrown ten feet into the air by an unexpected rock pillar. He drops back down on the exact sport he was seconds before.
"There, now you guys are even."
He groans.
"Toph…"
"As I was saying, she smelled a little burnt and suddenly I realized, burnt sugar! She's caramel!"
He groans again. She laughs.
"It's perfect! Her position in the Fire Nation, her disposition, even her skin!"
He smiles, but just a little.
"I guess it does seem appropriate."
She nods in approval.
"So what did she say to you?"
"She told me she wanted to go, and then she did."
He tries to act nonchalant. She doesn't buy it.
They stay silent until he speaks.
"Can I offer you my advice, Toph?"
She smiles.
"You must at least have a little bit of Iroh in you, so go ahead."
"Give the Avatar a chance to express himself. He may not be the most articulate, but he can tell you what you need to hear. Painful or not, you're going to hear what you need to."
She turns toward the sky and feels the wind. She says nothing.
"Did you know that turtleducks are born blind?"
She turns back to him and leans her head to the side as a question.
"Yes, they are. They are born blind, but they learn to be extremely familiar with the surroundings, with themselves. They learn how to see. Every now and then, you see one that steps foot in unfamiliar places, but you never see them afraid. They call out and someone, sometimes their mother, other times their mate, calls back. They don't just find their way back to the comfortable, they find a way to make the foreign comfortable."
She starts playing with the ground. She remains silent.
"You can't respond to him if you don't allow him to respond to your call first."
He stands up.
"I have to go now, Toph. I've been itching to train this whole week."
He walks.
"Thanks, Iroh."
He smiles to himself.
"Anytime, Turtleduck."
She closes her sightless eyes and nods. He quickens his pace.
He hears her scream.
"What did you just call me?"
He watches her on his air scooter.
"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought if you think I can't sense you."
He sighs and dismounts.
"Toph, can I please talk to you?"
She fakes a smile.
"Twinkles, it's fine. We're good. I just needed a couple of days to blow off steam, and now I'm fine. Seriously—"
Aang feels a sensation in the tips of his toes.
"I'm fine."
There it is again. It appears on his fingers, like he was bending subconsciously.
"Are you sure, Toph? You seemed pretty upset when you—"
She snaps.
"I said I'm fine, okay? Don't flatter yourself too much, Avatar."
He snaps too.
"You know what, Master Toph? If you get down from that high ostrich-horse of yours you might realize how much of a brat you're acting now."
She narrows her eyes and faces him.
"A brat?"
"Yes! A brat! You won't listen, even though you expect people to listen to you!"
She grits her teeth.
"Now look here, you arrogant little Avatar—"
"I'm arrogant? Look at yourself Toph! I've been trying to talk to you everyday for the past week and you act as if you don't even know me! You think you're so strong running away from this, but you're not! You're weak, and you're deluding yourself if you think you're dealing with this well. The way you you're evading this problem, the way you don't stand your ground against me, you… You…"
Don't say it, Aang.
But he ignores himself.
"You don't deserve to be an earthbender!"
The leaves stop swaying from the wind. A tear falls to the ground.
His eyes widen.
She walks toward him, head-on and pushes him aside with one arm, not even stopping to do so. By the time she reaches her room, she feels dehydrated. Tears were formally her body's water, after all.
It was always like this. In air, she just falls.
