I Knew I Loved You
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender! If I did Aang and Toph would have ended together. This is a TAANG two shot!
Summary: He knew he loved her before he even met her. He chase after her; following her laughter as his heartbeat echo loudly in his chest. He didn't understand why he did it, but something inside him demanded that he did. He was confused back then at the lake, but now it all made sense.
Chapter One: People We Loved
Aang swears that he will always remember the first time he met Toph, even if she herself doesn't know, he treasure the memory. His first memory of her is her sweet laughter, her beautiful face and playful attitude as she ran from him on the swamp. He blindly followed her, wanting to know who she was…needing to know who she was. He was sure he never met her before, yet, at the same time she felt familiar. He felt distressed when the image of the girl he was chasing went away (he thought he was going crazy!), but soon his emotions calm down when Huu (that crazy, but wise old man.) explained everything to him.
"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we've loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tell us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death."
Aang was less distressed, but still so confused at the end. Katara saw her mother, Sokka saw Yue, but he saw a girl he never met before. He tried his best to forget about it; he needed to master the all four elements, and fight a crazy fire lord! He didn't have the time to spare, but still when he went to sleep he was haunted by her laughter. It didn't stop until he finally got to see her, the real her at the tournament, and he felt like it all click. The swamp showed him a vision of the future… of someone he will love! She was a great earth bender, even better than his friend Bumi, and she was destine to be his teacher. Aang didn't want to leave without her, he couldn't leave without her, he knew he would never find someone like her to teach him.
She didn't make his attempt at recruiting her easy; she was as stubborn as the very element she commanded. At one point he was actually thinking she was out to get him (she tried to drown him in his soup!), but she did save him at the end at a personal cost. She revealed who she was to her parents, and they practically rejected her! They didn't see that she was more than a helpless blind girl; she was destined to be great! To be more than they could imagine or even wanted her to be (of that Aang was sure!). He was depressed and Katara was trying her best to comfort him, yet he felt himself mourning.
"They're are other earthbenders."
"Not like her."
He remembers saying just before hearing Toph voice as she ran towards them… towards him. He was so overwhelmed with happiness he didn't question her when she said her parents change their mind. Later, much later, he would wonder why did Toph's parents change their mind… if they actually change it? He didn't let himself entertain that thought. He didn't actually care either way. Training began and he was frustrated by his lack of progress. He was also getting extremely frustrated with Toph. Unlike Katara gentle way of coaxing him to work, Toph used pain to teach. In the end; her crazy teaching method work! Sokka almost died, but that wasn't the point. He could earthbend now!
Sokka survival was a nice bonus too!
That same night when he went to sleep; he slept with a smile on his face. His dream was filled with green eyes sparkling and mischievous grins, it was filled with a filling of accomplishment.
P.S. Yes, he is still in love with Katara. I know he doesn't show it here, but it will show in the next chapter. Yet, it will only be so we can see it turn into TAANG.
P.S.S. Please review!