Chapter Twenty: Toph

Never in my life have I ever felt such a rush of emotions. I almost couldn't breath. The colors, so vibrant for such a bleak place. It took me a few moments to compose myself.

I wiped my tears as I glanced at who I could only assume was Chenlei. He was a couple yards away from me and as gruesome as I imagined, it almost appeared like he was talking to himself.

I watched as he muttered nonsense to no one in particular while he walked himself in a circle. I placed my hand flat on the marshy ground trying to sense any vibrations.

Aang was right. I couldn't bend here. Then I was transfixed on my hand. I held it in front of me. Looking at the lines and wrinkles, how pale my skin was.

My eyes trailed down my hand across my arms. I stared a long time at my tunic and shorts trying to understand what color it even was. Wishing I knew what it was called, but at the same time I couldn't be bothered to care.

I was captivated by the swirls and harsh lines at the edge of my shorts that I never knew existed, then down to my bare feet. I bent forward to get a better look as a piece of hair came loose behind my ear swinging in front of my eyes.

The color was dark as I twirled it between my pale fingers. Curiosity got the better of me and I leaned forward once again catching a muddy reflection of my face in the murky water.

My eyes were large, my nose, small, my smile, charming. Pretty even.

Pretty.

How strange. I never gave much thought to what I'd look like, but this image was as good as any. I briefly wondered which traits I received from my mother, and which from my father.

I stood, my body feeling like that of another's entirely when I couldn't sense anything with my feet.

It was bizarre, almost like I had to relearn how to walk.

After a few minutes I got the hang of it and tried to plan my escape. But how could I possibly beat him, and where would I even go? I couldn't bend and I was still walking like a newborn giraffepig.

Then I began realizing how normal I was for the first time in my life. I could see like a normal person and I couldn't bend. Sokka would be thrilled if he knew.

Well, there's always plan B. "Hey asshole! What're we doing here?!"

His body spun with a speed and an intensity that my eyes could hardly track and seconds later he was directly in front of me.

"How very interesting, child. The spirit realm seems to have cured your ailment. Such a shame Koe will take your pretty face along with it."

I instinctively slid into a defensive bending position that would do nothing at all. It caused his laugh of amusement.

"Your bending is useless here, young one." My anger and frustration began building in my stomach, I've never felt so dependent in my life.

"Why are you doing this? And what did you do to Naoki?" My heart thrumming in my chest as I tried to remember what Iroh told me about Koe.

"This dates back centuries, child. Eons before your pointless life ever existed. The Avatar does not have the capabilities to stop us anymore. My brother has taken the faces of so many, and I have taken the souls of many more that wander here.

"Long ago, the spirit world didn't even exist and we all lived together. The spirits controlled everything, as we should. We are superior in all ways, you humans have not earned this right. But the Avatar trapped us in this realm.

"Once we purge the world of the Avatar our only threat will be extinguished. His earthly attachments bind him to your world. And keep him from reaching his full potential. So I thank you, and the blue eyed girl, for keeping him distracted.

"And as for the boy's body I took, he isn't dead so to say just...asleep. I may have further use for him, I rather liked wandering earth in his squishy form." He cackled.

My mind spun at the influx of information, but one thing didn't make sense. I bound Aang to the physical world? And I didn't have to be told who the 'blue eyed girl' was, or what the color blue even looked like.

It was too much too fast. And my heart all but stopped when I watched a very handsome man with dark hair like mine and arrows across his body, leap into the air behind Chenlei.

He landed just in front of him. I watched astonished as he placed his palm on his forehead, his arrows glowing.

'Aang…'

My eyes couldn't leave him. I was mesmerized. I had never seen anything more beautiful. I was in a trance as an almost blinding light shot into the sky. Chenlei's body fell to the ground seemingly lifeless.

My eyes tracked Aang as he turned to me and broke out in a run. "Toph!" My name sounded so foreign off his lips now that I could see him. It felt like the first time I met him all over again.

He looked at me quizzically and stopped a foot in front of me when I met his gaze directly. "Toph..?" I stood up slowly, my eyes never leaving his.

"Wow…" I said, I couldn't stop myself from admiring him. He cocked his head at me and asked, "Can...can you see me?" Words were past my comprehension as I just nodded my head.

His arrow peeked out from under his thick dark hair, his eyes made me lose all train of thought, their cloudiness had me searching them for something I wasn't sure I'd ever find.

Aang's lips commanded their fair share of attention, even more so when his shining teeth started gleaming back at me. He was absolutely breathtaking. My eyes snagged on an object that quickly moved behind us.

Aang sensed him too. His eyes widened, "don't make any sudden movements, no facial expressions, Toph. Stay calm." I watched as Aang's face slipped into something I could only describe as emotionless. I tried my best to reflect his blank stare.

"Avatar Aang, it's good to see you again. It's been too long. And you've brought me a treat as well." I tried my best to stare at the ground, watching my toes wiggle under the water.

"I don't know what you've done to my brother or how you've done it but it almost doesn't matter anymore. You're too late."

Aang faced him head on, seemingly unafraid of such a hideous creature with its many faces.

"I'm surprised you've brought the earthbender with you Avatar, I've long expected the bronzed beauty with ice that flowed through her veins. But I can sense your bond with this one is just as strong if not stronger."

"I'm not afraid of you, Koe." She smiled wickedly, the young woman's face he chose contorting into something truly heinous. "I know you aren't, but she is."

His body twisted and in an instant he was right in front of me. The dark eyes of this woman made me feel naked as she looked into my soul. Her mouth reached over to my ears.

"I know you love him, child, and I know I won't make it out of here alive, the dragons must've given away the secret to our deaths. Damn snitches.

"But you must know one thing, in the end, he will choose her. I hope he's worth it."

I couldn't stop my pained expression at the words I already knew were true. Before Koe could take my face Aang was there, like he always was, hand flat on the woman's forehead. The same blinding light appeared but I couldn't look away.

I was never Aang's first choice. I still wasn't. But hearing it come from an all knowing spirit pained me even more because the truth of our situation was validated.

I should run away from him. I should bury my heart and lock away the key. I should protect myself from the inevitable pain he will cause.

But when his strong arms enveloped me in a tight embrace, I forgot where I was.

When he pulled back and I met his eyes, I forgot who I was.

And when my time ended and I was just a speck of dust floating in this world I knew I would never forget who he was.

So I found myself asking, "What color are your eyes?"

His response made me want to laugh at the irony of it all. "Grey. Like...like thunderstorms." Of course that would be the name, it sounded as foreboding as my future.

Undeniable pain literally stared back at me in the form of two beautiful eyes, almost begging for me to be cautious.

But I threw it to the wind. For him to bend and manipulate. Whether he meant to or not. It was too late for me when I watched his calloused hand encompass my own and gooseflesh covered my body.

Hardly a touch at all and I realized I began falling the moment we made eye contact.

A fall from which I knew he'd never catch me. But my heart soared and my body felt alive, safe, and elated. More than enough emotions to mask the dread that sat in the back of my mind.

"I want to show you something, Toph."

I could have told him no. I could have told him to bring me home to Iroh. But I didn't as I laced my fingers through his and followed him around the spirit world.

I tried my best to memorize the feel of his hand in mine. I tried my best to memorize the curve of his lips. The thickness of his black hair. His smile when he was excited, the way he looked at me when he told me my eyes were green.

But I lost track of it all in the bliss that was every color and smile he sent my way.

We spent hours talking about colors and nothing in particular. Just as we reentered the physical world and the light faded to darkness I asked, "Aang, what's your favorite color?"

"I've always loved the color blue." He could have said any of the colors we talked about. And when he showed me the color blue it was the sky and the clearest of water. The most pure color that I saw other than white. But one thing was painfully obvious.

He'd always love blue.