Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters or places mentioned herein.
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The entire time they were in the North Pole, Toph remained tucked up in a sullen ball against Appa. She knew that they had to be here to get the greatest healers for Aang, and they needed a safe place to wait out his healing time.
But did it really have to be in this place, where even in the late spring, she could feel the spit freeze in her mouth? The entire place didn't even have a decent piece of dirt to burrow into. She tucked her bare feet into Appa's deep fur and sighed for the fifth time that day. At least she could tell it was day right now. Katara had told her stories of entire weeks when the sun never sank, or the moon never gave up her position. Toph didn't quite understand all the symbolic speak, but she was grateful for the almost normal length of days and nights.
Without her connection to the ground, she didn't even know how many days they'd been there, and she kept by Appa not only to stay warm, but to make sure that they didn't leave her here in this frozen hell.
"Toph, I brought you dinner." She wormed her mittened hands out of the pile of furs and reached out to the direction the voice had come from. The earth king bent down to place the steaming mug in her hands and sat beside her, leaning against Appa. "Be careful, it's steaming."
"Really?" she asked, excited. Most of the food here turned icy in a very short amount of time. She took a big slurp of it, only to almost spit it back out because of the taste. "Yuck! What is it?"
The earth king chuckled and she would have reached out to hit him if she was only sure where he head was in relation to her body. "The chief calls it sealkelp stew. Apparently, it's a delicacy here." She just knew he was making a face from the sound of his voice. She drained the cup, sticking out her tongue in disgust before thrusting it back out of the furs.
"Thank you, your majesty."
He lifted the mug from her hands and stood. "No, I'm no king anymore. It's just Kuei, remember?" He sighed and added, "I miss my home though."
"Me too," Toph replied, her face buried in Appa's side. The rich, deep ground of the Earth Kingdom cradled her and supported her. Here in the Water Tribe, she only had Appa, and she wasn't going to leave him for a second. Not here, where her nose ran constantly and she had to pick the ice trails off of her face.
That was just wrong.
Author's Note: So, this little fic won for a prompt "From Water to Ice" over at one of the many ATLA livejournal communities. I think it could use some work, but here it is. Please review. I'm on the lookout for a beta, if anyone is willing.