I honestly have no idea how long the chapters will be. They could be anywhere from 100 to 10,000 words, potentially.
I'm not gonna say which one, but I did get the idea plot from a Nicole Kidman movie. I know, sad. But if any Kidman stalker/perverts are reading this, you might catch on real quickly.
Also, this is a flashback. Toph is dreaming about the final assault on Ozai's fortress/castle thing. Hence the italics. If it's in italics, it's in her head, mmkay?
Chapter One: Message
Toph smirked as the last of the firebenders disappeared beneath the quicksand, his screams stifled as his head was lost amongst the deceptive sand. She lay down to tend to a burn a lucky firebender had inflicted upon her, before he had been thrown from the ground into the fissure. She could feel them stamping and screaming in the small cave she had made for them beneath the rock. It's only too bad she couldn't hear what they were saying. She toyed with the idea of poking her head in to tell them of her… disability.
While she fantasized about their reactions to learning they'd had their asses whooped by a blind girl, she felt a number of people trundling toward her position from the fortress-castle. She jerked herself to an upright position, ready to defend herself when she recognized one set of the footsteps. Sokka? Yes, those were his footsteps alright. She also felt the footsteps of 15 earthbenders, 6 less than who had joined Sokka and Katara in the assault. Toph's eyes widened as she had a momentary panic attack. Wait, Katara! Where is she? She then sighed with relief as she felt the somewhat lighter footsteps of Katara come into range of Toph's senses. Yes, her steps were noticeably lighter than the other, larger men, but certainly not as light as-
Toph froze. She quickly accounted for every moving creature in the parade coming closer. Yes, 15 earthbenders, Sokka and Katara. No more, no less. Needless to say, it wasn't the no less that brought a tear to her eye.
"Aang!"
Toph awoke with a scream. Beads of sweat dripped off her long, black hair. She panted with her head in her hands, and as the panting slowly gave in to crying, she lost all control.
For an hour she sat there, on the cold, damp earth (Not that she wasn't used to it by now), sobbing uncontrollably into her hands. Ten years. Ten years it's been since he died, and you're still crying like a baby! Toph slowly gained control of her tears, although she took her time to stop the flow completely.
Well, I'm sorry. I just… can't… accept it…
Well then accept it!
But… Aang…
Yes, yes, Aang. But you're not Aang, are you? You're Toph! You're the toughest person in the earth kingdom! Are you… Are you becoming… sensitive?
No! No, of course not!
Then why are you doing this to yourself? You've done more than anyone else has! YOU were the one who found that band of airbenders, YOU were the one who convinced them to come out of hiding! You were the one who stopped the rebellion at Elan, were you not?
Yeah… Yeah I was! I'm better than this!
Then stop being a fucking nomad, and go home!
But what would Mother and Father say?
WHO CARES?
Well, it has been 10 years…
WHAT DID WE JUST GET DONE TALKING ABOUT?
I'm sorry.
Sheesh. Let's go.
But how do we get there?
Dunno.
I see…
For three days, Toph continued along the path, hoping for any signs of civilization. Fortunately, she was no longer plagued by visitations from the past, so she was able to enjoy the trek in a fair amount of tranquility. Eventually she came across a traveler, and judging by the amount of weight on his small feet, he was packing heavy.
"Excuse me, sir?"
"What can I do for you, ma'am?"
"You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest town is, would you?"
"Yeah… it's about…" Toph felt his stance shift, indicating he was looking over his shoulder. "4 hours, maybe? Straight shot from here, just follow the path and you'll be there in no time." Toph noticed a bit of uncertainty in his voice, obviously at his realizing she was blind. "Would you like me to walk you back there? I can postpone my trip a day." Toph was infuriated. She wanted to rage and scream at him. She opened her mouth to yell at him, tell him she could see better than him, and that she needed no help from anyone, especially a peasant like him. Toph quickly regained control of her mouth, answered with a lame "No thank you", and simply walked passed him, feeling his eyes on the back of her head. She ignored his stare, and marched for one… two… three hours down the path. As the fourth hour neared, she began to see signs of human life. The trees were lightening, eventually giving way to plains and farms. She felt the stomping of cattle, the waddling of ducks near ponds, the footsteps of farmers and their families in the fields. She continued on for a half hour, both excited and nervous at the prospect of "seeing" people again. It'd been two weeks since she'd passed through a human settlement, and now she was going to find out how much longer until she'd see her parents.
The news was bittersweet. It was only a day's walk away, something she hadn't expected. She'd expected at least a week of travel, giving her more time to mentally prepare herself for her return home. However, she supposed that she had a less likely chance of over-thinking her decision, possibly causing a panic attack halfway down the road. She figured that she'd have to settle with one day of preparations, and then begin her hike at the crack of dawn. She got a meal, the first hot one she'd had in two weeks, and then rented a room in a motel. She got cleaned up, and loved the ability to sleep in warm sheets again. She undid the covers, slid into bed, and by the time the sheets had reached her neck, she was asleep.
"Where's… Where's Aang?"
"Toph, I'm sorry, but Aang… Aang…"
"Aang what?"
"Aang's dead."
"What? How is that possible? Oh, I get it! Aang's flying around over me! Come on, Aang, that's not funny, come down!"
"Toph, I'm not kidding, Aang's gone. Ozai hit him with lightning right before he died."
"Uh-huh, sure. Where is Aang, seriously?"
"LISTEN! DO YOU THINK I WOULD JOKE ABOUT THIS? AANG'S DEAD!"
"Toph, we're all hurt by this, but we can pull through this, we can get over i-"
"Shut up, Katara!"
"Toph, listen… Toph? Are… are you okay? Toph!"
Toph sat bolt upright, sweat rolling down her back. When will I get over this? It's been ten years. I'm twenty-two, I'm not a little girl anymore. Toph sighed, and sat with her elbows on her knees, staring, though not seeing, at the bed. Hopefully, I'll be able to cope with it when I get home. Argh! Why can't I stop thinking about it? Come on, Toph, you're better than this!
If I might make a suggestion…
Oh, shut up. Toph glanced around her room, noticing the lighter tinge than from when she'd woken up. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and grunted as she got out of the bed. She sauntered over to her clothes, and picked out her nicer set of traveling attire. She yawned, and then hit the road, snatching something out of a cart as she walked up the street. Unfortunately, it was a papaya. Oh, how she hated papaya.
Toph continued on, nibbling on her despised fruit as she passed through the village's gates. The trip was for the most part uneventful, aside from an attempted robbery that resulted in the robbers becoming locked in a rock cell. She reached her house in the late afternoon, judging by the position of the sun on her neck. She leaned on the building across the street, thinking to herself about the consequences of what she was about to do. She'd confronted Xin Fu and Master Yu long ago, they'd returned to her parents with her letter explaining everything. Hopefully, it had reached her parents. She sighed finally, and slowly began to walk towards the house that had been her prison so long ago.
"Halt, who are you and what business do you have?" Demanded the guard. Toph sighed.
"Move it, Koro."
"Mi… Mistress Toph! The Master has been worried sick, ever since he received your letter." Exclaimed the guard, completely dumbfounded.
"Yeah, that's nice." Said Toph in a monotone voice, moving past the guard and walking through the gardens towards the front doors. She walked up the marble staircase and flung the doors wide. As the doors closed behind her, she felt as if she had locked the door to her own cell.
Toph stomped through her house, wondering where her parents could be. It was late in the afternoon, so she figured they were in the dining room, preparing for dinner. She stumbled through the house, having trouble remembering where exactly the dining room was. After running into a bust of Avatar Kyoshi, she finally got her bearings and remembered that she was on the wrong side of the house. She promptly made an about-face and sped down the hall, weaving between servants, many of whom dropped whatever was in their arms and gawked. As Toph inched down the hallway adjoining the dining room, she calmly dispersed the crowd circling around her (Calm for her meaning utilizing near-threats and blackmail), and paused at the grand oak doors to the dining hall. She stopped moving, trying to listen for any sounds. It took a moment for her to hear anything, but in that time she registered 5 people in the room through the vibrations, Mother, Father, two waiters, and… "Yes, masters, I assure you, your daughter is here." Koro…
"Koro, I swear, if you are lying to me, so help me I will fire you and make sure neither you nor any of your family ever become employed again."
"I assure you, sir, this is no jest."
"Well, seeing as my daughter is not here, I'm thinking I'll just have to let you go." Toph had had enough. She flung the doors wide and strode into the room.
"That won't be necessary, father." Toph smirked as her parents sat dumbfounded in their chairs.
"Toph!"
"You've come home!" Toph's mother flung her chair backwards, and rushed to embrace her daughter. "It's been so long! We were starting to lose hope we'd ever see you again! And… And then… When we got the message from your water tribe friend, we feared the worst…"
"What message?"
"Oh, honey, it's not important, don't worry, just worry abou-"
"What message?" Toph's mother looked shocked that her daughter would focus on such a thing in a time like this.
"Well, honey… Your Water Tribe friend sent a message from the South Pole."
"And what did it say?" Toph had to restrain herself from strangling her mother out of frustration.
"Well… They asked you to go there as soon as you received the news."
"AND WHAT WAS THE NEWS?"
"The… The Avatar is back. But… but dear, certainly you can wait a few days, we have so much to talk about…" But before she could finish her sentence, Toph was out the door.
Phew, that took way too long.7 ½ pages in Microsoft Word. I dunno if any of you guys are starting to get what's going on, butthe Kidman stalker-perverts probably know which movie I found my inspiration from. I only actually worked on it for two days. I hope the length made up for the shitty first chapter/prologue thing. I think it was written much better, but, hell, it's up to you all.
I never planned for Toph to start going Schizo, but, hey, go with the flow. She's not actually schizo, but she obviously is hurt in the head a bit. I tried to keep her as IC as possible, but also tried to factor in 10 years of wandering and loneliness.