A/N: A big thank you to everyone who's favorited/followed/reviewed! I'm so glad you're enjoying this :) Reviews make me so happy. Here is chapter 2- out of 7 total

"Not that I'm one to question your map-reading skills or anything," Toph said, hitching her pack higher on her shoulder. "But how do you plan on reaching Omashu by the end of today? We don't exactly have a flying bison to carry us and all our stuff."

"No, but there are other ways to travel," Sokka said. The road out of Gaoling was just opening up, and he pulled out his boomerang and threw it in a smooth arc in front of them, catching it neatly in his right hand. "There's a fishing village a little ways northwest of here, and I bet we can find a boat to take us straight to Omashu. If the wind's good, we might even get there before dark."

"Great," Toph muttered. "A boat."

"It's the most efficient way," he said, picturing the route he'd drawn out as they left. Despite his misgivings the night before, that morning he'd realized that this was possibly the best idea Toph could've had. It was satisfying, to put his mind to something he knew he was good at, to something accomplishable and practical. It felt good to have somewhere to go, something to do, while remaining free of any real responsibility.

"Who cares about efficiency?" Toph griped. "It's not like we're on a time crunch or anything."

"So you're saying you want to walk as much as possible in this heat?"

"I'm saying it'll be better than taking a stupid boat," she said. "You know I'll just be puking the entire time."

He did know that, and he felt a little bad, but he wasn't about to change his mind. "It won't be that long," he said. "And after that the terrain gets easier and we'll just be walking, I promise."

"What's wrong with the terrain?"

Sokka huffed. "Nothing right now, but a little further north there's a swamp–"

"Ha!" Toph gave a shout of laughter. "Is that what you're afraid of? Catgators and elbow leeches?"

He glared. "I'm not afraid of it, but that place is weird. You wouldn't know, you've never been."

"Yes I have."

"What?" He stopped and turned around, wondering if she was joking.

But her face was serious. "I said I've been there."

"…When?"

She shrugged. "Once or twice when I was a kid and ran away from home. I felt… drawn to it, I guess. The earth there feels different, and not just because of the water. I can feel how everything's connected."

"You sound like Aang," Sokka muttered. It was weird to hear Toph talk like that, usually he could depend on her to be like him– only bothering with what was real.

She scoffed. "Whatever, 'Fraidy-Pants. We'll do it your way, if a little fog bothers you that much."

"It's not the fog." He turned around and kept walking, hoping the ground beneath his feet and the heaviness of his pack would distract from unsettling memories. "It's what's in the fog."

"You mean swampbenders?" Toph said, jogging to catch up.

"No, I mean–" Spirits, why was he talking about this? "The fog… messes with your head. You start to see things. Visions of people from the past, and not usually the parts you want to remember."

"Who did you see?"

Of course she'd ask that. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, because it wasn't real."

"Sounds pretty real."

He ground his teeth together. "I saw Yue, okay? And she reminded me I didn't protect her, which– you know, nothing I didn't know before but it just felt great to have that thrown back in my face."

She had the grace to look a little chagrined, and Sokka prayed they could just drop it. But sometimes Toph was like a polar dog with a bone– refusing to let something go until she was satisfied, or whoever it was got too angry to talk to her anymore.

"Do you think if you went back you'd see Suki?"

Sokka resisted the urge to tear his hair out. "I don't know, okay! And I don't really want to find out." He paused, taking a breath. "Besides, it's not the same, what happened between us. I didn't lose her like I lost Yue."

Toph cocked her head, her expression perfectly neutral, although Sokka could see the wheels turning. "Sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Positive." He hitched his pack higher on his shoulders and took advantage of his longer legs to put several feet between them.

/

They walked in silence for a long time, until Sokka began to keep an eye out for the turnoff to the fishing village. The dirt road had deteriorated into what could barely be called a trail, and each branch was far from clearly marked. It was starting to make him anxious– wouldn't it be perfect if he managed to get them lost on the first day. Just more proof he wasn't really good at anything.

Right on cue, Toph said, "If you still want to get a boat today, I hope you have a backup plan."

"Why?" he said, peering closely at his map and wondering if they'd just passed the third crossroads after the turnoff to Chin City or the fourth.

"There's a storm coming. Soon."

"How can you tell?" he snapped. "Does sensing the earth allow you to predict the weather now?" He shoved the map in his tunic and started walking again.

"No, but I can sense your footsteps, and you're starting to favor your left. The pressure change is making your leg hurt."

That's ridiculous. He was about to retort with something sarcastic, until he glanced down and saw his hand already hovering over his left thigh, where his leg had broken on the airships. Right on cue, he felt a dull ache begin to radiate into his knee and hip, like it always did before bad weather.

Before he could think too hard about how Toph seemed to know his body better than he did, she walked past him and sniffed the air. "Also, I can feel all the moisture settling around us. Can't you smell it?"

He could, and he noticed the way the atmosphere felt heavy and thick. The sun was still out and beating down upon them, but he had a feeling they'd end up camping outside the fishing village instead of getting on a boat.

They still picked up the pace, but instead of thinning out like he expected, the trees seemed to grow denser, crowding around the trail until he could barely see. At the same time, storm clouds began to block out the sun, and his leg started throbbing in earnest.

"Uhh, Sokka," Toph said. "I think it's going to–"

There was a crash of lightning and they both flinched, then covered their ears as thunder followed right on its heels.

At that moment, the heavens opened and they were both instantly drenched in the downpour.

"Can you maybe earthbend us a shelter?" Sokka shouted over the roaring in his ears.

"Where?" Toph screamed, gesturing around them. The forest had become so dense there was barely room to stand, let alone bend an earth tent.

With no better ideas, he gave a frustrated growl and started stumbling forward, pushing through the branches and praying to all the spirits for a clearing, or a cave, or something that would save them from the weather.

Then the rain around him seemed to thin, but when he looked up he realized with a sinking stomach it was because the canopy above him had grown thicker, almost as if all the trees were connected.

Fuck. His next step left him stumbling through a puddle, cringing as water soaked through his boots and socks.

Then he turned around and his pulse jumped in his throat as he that realized Toph wasn't behind him anymore, he was alone looking into an endless sea of fog.

/

After some more stumbling, Sokka found what he thought might be a trail and kept on walking. He called Toph's name every few steps and strained his ears for sounds that might indicate where she went, although he knew in these conditions she had a much greater chance of finding him than the other way around. Any other day she might've found him already, but the thunder that still rumbled every other minute probably disturbed her seismic sense, and the pounding rain made it difficult for Sokka to hear much besides his own breathing.

He tried to focus on that sound, and the ground beneath his feet as he walked. If he stayed calm and sharp, he might be able to get through this without any weird visions.

Eventually the torrent of rain slowed to a drizzle and the thunder began to move farther away, but the fog only grew thicker until Sokka could barely see his hand in front of his face. Wary of Huu and vengeful vines, he didn't draw his sword, but kept one hand on the hilt and an ear out for trouble. But the swamp seemed eerily still around him– nothing moved in the water or the trees. Not even insects emerged to buzz around his head.

There was a sound off to his right, and he whirled. "Toph?"

He walked towards the sound, splashing through puddles and clambering over roots. The fog in front of him thinned, and he strained his eyes for any sign of movement.

Then he heard it– a laugh, but not like Toph's. At least not anymore. It sounded like the laugh of a young girl, and with a flash of irritation he turned away. It's just the swamp playing tricks on me.

But then he heard the laugh again, and a faint splash behind him. He hesitated, and it occurred to him that on the off chance it was a real child, lost in the swamp alone, he couldn't in good conscience leave her.

Alright, Swamp, you win. He turned around and walked towards the noise. The fog was clearing as suddenly as it had descended, and he caught a glimpse of her in the distance. She was wearing a green earth kingdom dress, but the skin of her arms was darker, almost like his. She was facing away from him, but as he got closer he couldn't help but think her hair might look like Katara's, if Katara's hair was black– wavy and thick.

Of course, before he could get a really good look she darted away. And like an idiot, he pursued her, blaming his natural curiosity and the fact that the swamp probably wouldn't let him go until he saw what it wanted him to see. He was sure he'd never seen her before, but there was still something so familiar about her, a thought that was just out of reach.

He ran for longer than he could keep track of, stumbling over logs and into puddles while she seemed to move unnaturally fast. Every time he thought he'd lost her she reappeared, her face always just out of view.

When she finally seemed to slow he had to stop, bending over his knees and gasping. His pack pressed down on his shoulders, hindering his ability to get a full breath and his vision wavered.

He squinted up at the branch where the girl had paused. She suddenly appeared not quite so young– certainly not old, but not a child anymore. He straightened and started to climb up the tree after her, and she waited until he was right below her to leap over to the next tree.

Hauling himself onto the branch she'd just left, he balanced against the trunk and leaned to get a better look.

She was almost facing him now, sitting on her tree branch, ankles crossed and toes pointed like a dancer. There was something in her hands– or rather, between them– something moving as she curled and flexed her fingers.

An earthbender, he realized. Playing with a meteorite.

Then she turned her face towards him and he saw her eyes. Though set in a sharper face and lacking the same white cloudiness, they were a fierce, bright green that he'd know anywhere.

He gasped, then his hand slid over a patch of wet moss on the tree trunk and he lost his balance, falling ass over tea kettle down the sloping branches and roots of the tree.

He landed with a splash in shallow water, and before he could blink the water out of his eyes he heard footsteps and a very familiar voice, "There you are, Snoozles! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"So how long did it take you guys to find me?" Sokka said, squeezing water from his wolftail and looking across the fire at his… finders (not rescuers, he didn't need to be rescued).

"Near on all night," drawled Due, biting in to a giant fly. "We was almos' convinced y'was dead."

"No, we weren't." Toph stretched her legs towards the fire and rolled her eyes.

Unconsciously, Sokka caught himself staring, trying to get a better look at her in the light of the fire. The image of the girl he'd seen was still fresh, and every time he looked at Toph his mind flashed back to the glimpse he'd caught of her face.

"He could'a been dead," Due said. "Didn't I say he could'a been struck by lightnin'?"

"Yeah," said Tho. "But I thought he would'a drowned first."

"Sorry to disappoint," Sokka muttered, feeling over his pack and wondering if any of it would be dry by the morning.

"But here we found ya alive and breathin'!" Due said, as if Sokka hadn't spoken at all.

"Jus' in time, too," said Tho. "Yer lady-friend was startin' to get worried!"

"Really?" Sokka smirked and reached out to nudge Toph's hip with his bare toes.

"No, I wasn't." She glared and batted him away. "And I'm not his 'lady-friend.'"

"But yer a lady," said Due. "An' his friend."

"She means the other kind'a 'lady-friend,'" Tho said, grinning at Sokka.

Sokka felt his face go very red and pressed his mouth closed, both to suppress the nervous laughter and to stop himself from saying anything that might get him buried ten feet underground.

Toph growled. "Watch it, or I'll go find Huu and get him to take us to Omashu."

Wait, what? Sokka hadn't heard about that part, but he didn't get a chance to ask before Due and Tho broke into hasty apologies, only stopping when she said imperiously, "Fine, but you'll only get what you want upon services rendered."

The swampbenders relaxed and, seeming eager to avoid any more conversations that might damage their favor with her, Tho gave an exaggerated stretch and announced they'd go to bed. Due agreed, and they lumbered a little ways away from the fire to a couple hammocks strung up between branches.

Sokka watched them go before shifting closer to Toph. "What services? And what exactly did you promise them?"

"Oh, that." She shrugged, as if she wheeled-and-dealed with swampbenders every week. "I got them to agree to waterbend us to Omashu in one of their boats."

"In exchange for what?"

"Dried sea prunes."

"What?"

"I know you have some buried in your pack. When they heard I was looking for you it was all they would talk about. Apparently they got to try some at Sugar Queen's wedding reception and have been hooked ever since."

Sokka ground his teeth. "That's all I have left of my stash from the last time I saw Dad. I'm not going to just give it up in exchange for a boat ride."

"Why not?" she said, dropping onto her back with her head pillowed on her arms. "You were dead set on a boat all day, and this way we still get to Omashu without walking through the rest of the swamp."

"But– you–" He spluttered, trying to think of a reason her plan wouldn't work, but coming up woefully empty.

"Do you want out of this swamp or not?"

"Yes."

"So wouldn't you agree that's worth a couple handfuls of disgusting Water Tribe food?"

"…Fine." He slumped down next to her, but didn't close his eyes. His boots were still drying by the fire and the longer he could stay awake to keep an eye on it the less unpleasant they would be in the morning.

She was quiet for so long he thought she'd fallen asleep, but then she said, "So… have any freaky visions?"

He opened his mouth to lie, then closed it again, remembering she'd be able to tell. "Yeah."

"Who'd you see?"

He licked his lips, wondering how much he could tell her, how much he could describe without wading into all the messy, uncomfortable feelings that bubbled up when he remembered the vision. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? Aren't you supposed to see people from your past?"

"Not always." He looked away into the fire. "The last time we were here, Aang saw you, and we hadn't even met you."

"Pfft." Toph blew her bangs out of her face. "How does that even work?"

"Don't ask me." Sokka frowned. "We're supposed to see people we've loved or lost, and Huu said some shit about 'time being an illusion,' which I guess means you could see someone you love or lose in the future."

"So you saw someone you haven't met yet, but will meet?"

"Maybe." He flicked a bit of dirt into the flames. "Or maybe I was just tired and disoriented and not thinking straight."

"Aw come on, that's no fun." Toph said. "Who do you think they'll be? Your next girlfriend? Your future wife?"

"Wha– no." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Nothing like that. That's not the feeling I got from her at all."

"So it was a her."

"It doesn't matter," he said, lying back down and pulling his hair loose. "It's not always about that kind of love. Aang saw you, and Katara saw Mom, so it can also be… familial love."

"So you think she'll be part of your family? Like maybe one of Katara's kids? Or one of yours?"

"No, and no." He turned onto his side and looked back at the fire. "She was an earthbender," he said quietly. "And she was playing with a meteorite."

"…Oh." Toph let out a little breath of air and fell silent for once, and Sokka left her to her thoughts. He needed a chance to sort out his own, anyway.

The more he considered it, the more certain he was that the girl he'd seen would be Toph's daughter. If the green eyes and meteorite-bending didn't seal it, that small half-smirk just playing at the edge of her lips made him sure.

So the only question, he thought as his eyes grew heavy and Toph bent a slab of earth over the dying fire, is why the swamp decided to show her to me.