Chapter 2
The day of the wedding
Toph
Toph nodded absently as Katara talked excitedly in her bridal glow. Toph could hear the pure happiness in her voice as she listened to her talk as she put on her wedding gown.
"How do I look Toph?" She heard Katara walk towards her, and saw the outline of her. She could tell her dress flowed in a small circle on the floor, and she could tell where it accentuated her waist and the outline of Katara's pulled-up hair, but other than that, she didn't really know. Toph put her hands on her waist.
"You guys really must stop doing this! I am blind since you all forget!" Toph said, feigning anger, and trying her hardest to be serious, but a laugh escaped her. She was happy to be around someone to mistake her for not being blind. It reminded her of Sokka and all the times he had done that years ago. Sokka. His name echoed through her mind, the familiar ache of his name piercing her heart.
She wrung her hands. It had been 5 years since she'd seen him and not a day went by that she didn't think of him. She heard his voice in her dreams, haunted by the beautiful things her heart wished for that would never come true. But today she would see him again, and she would have to face him with her heart just as broken as it was 5 years ago when he wrote her telling her that he and Suki were getting married.
She felt bad that she had just stopped writing without an explanation. But she needed time, or at least, she thought that would heal her. She thought about the last letter she ever sent him.
Dear Sokka, it read. Congratulations on the engagement. Tell Suki I said she will make a beautiful bride. I wish you both happiness. -Toph
He deserved more than that. Guilt waved through her. She remembered the letters that she never responded to. Toph shared no part of her personal life with anyone, but she used to just suck up the embarrassment of letting her secretary read the letters because she wanted to talk to Sokka just that much. After he got engaged, she knew it would be unbearable asking her secretary to read the letters carrying Sokka's wonderful life updates and to hear from the voice of a third party tell her about how in love with Suki he is, so she just let them pile up and eventually, they stopped coming. She would hold them in her hands, and tears would fall on them, but they almost as she asked her secretary to read them to her, her cheeks would redden and she would never ask.
Her heart broke more over the years. She thought time would heal, but instead, it just dug a hole that years of trying to patch yourself up with distance and silence always does. And there she was, at the wedding, her heart more broken than ever (although she would never admit it) , trying to convince herself that she would be ok to hear Sokka and Suki together, and trying to convince herself that she wouldn't fall apart at the sound of his voice.
Katara's laugh pulled her out of her feelings that she had sunken into, feelings that she hadn't allowed herself to feel. This is not your day. Push this down and never think about them again. You can get through one day.
"Oh right, sorry Toph," Katara said, remembering Toph was blind. "Old habit." Toph smiled.
"Don't worry, Twinkle Toes is going to love you. He might just pass out." Katara grabbed her hand and squeezed, and breathed out one shaky breath. Katara's dad walked up and took Katara's arm, then moved Toph in front of them. Music started playing from the other side of the doors, and the doors opened, hitting Toph with a wave of oohs and ahs, and blasts of music. But she was only focused on the outline of Sokka, and the racing heartbeat she knew belonged to him, because no amount of height difference or years of repression would ever allow her to forget it.