Ever since Toph had gotten overexcited and blown a giant hole in the side of their guest house in Ba Sing Se, any sounds from outside were much louder than before. There was a scaffold and tarp up now, in preparation for the upcoming repairs, but it didn't do much about the noise.
One night, a particularly heavy rainstorm woke Sokka and he stumbled out of bed to relieve himself. He was barely awake, squinting and stumbling along, but managed to notice that Toph's door was wide open.
He peeked inside the dark room. Empty.
That's weird…
Where would she have gone? It was the middle of the night and she obviously wasn't in the bathroom, because he'd just been in there. The house wasn't that big, so there weren't a lot of other options.
He wandered out to the main living area and realized the front door was wide open. Surely she hadn't left…?
The rain on the slate roof was heavy enough to be deafening. From the open door, the rich smell of the earth wafted through, and Sokka wondered if that was what had drawn Toph outside.
She was sitting in the middle of the street, feet planted firmly on the ground with her chin on her knees, hugging her legs. Her long hair, completely drenched now, fell down her back nearly to the ground. She looked so small and pitiful out there all alone.
"Toph!" Sokka called from the front porch, the roof's overhang protecting him from the rain. "Toph!"
She didn't move or acknowledge him in any way. With a sigh and a wordless grumble, he braved the downpour. At least it wasn't cold, he allowed. Summer rains in Ba Sing Se were a far cry from 'summer' rains in the south pole, and infinitely less uncomfortable.
Knowing she'd be able to sense his footsteps, he wasn't worried about startling her, so he knelt down next to her without hesitation. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good."
"Um…you sure? Because you're sitting outside alone in the rain, in the middle of the night."
She idly brushed a dripping lock of hair away from her face, which seemed calm enough. "I used to do this all the time in Gaoling, whenever it rained. As long as it wasn't thundering, of course."
They'd known each other long enough that Sokka understood. Thunder never failed to make her flinch and scowl, her fingers digging into the earth if there was any nearby. If there wasn't, the skin of his arm would become a substitute. To see someone as tough and fearless as her showing that kind of vulnerability always warmed his heart, so he didn't mind comforting her at the expense of a little pain.
Right now, though, she didn't appear to need any brotherly comforting. She was serene. Eyes closed. Fully at peace.
Sokka closed his eyes, too, and tried to feel the world like she did. He let his ears take over to listen to the unceasing white noise created by water on stone, dirt, and plant life. There were tiny disturbances in the sound where it dripped from roofs and leaves, or ran through the gutter into the sewers below. Everything else was drowned out. How much stronger would that effect be for her?
"Isn't it so loud for you?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said with a smile.
"And that's good?"
"Cities are so noisy. Not just for my ears, but for my feet, too. People talking, walking, doing things. Everywhere. All the time. It drives me crazy. I can't tune it out. But…when it rains like this, it washes it all away. There's just the rain, hitting the ground and roofs and sending out vibrations in every direction for miles and miles. It's all there is. It's the whole world for me, until the rain stops."
Sokka just stared at her in open-mouthed shock until the raindrops began to pool inside. "Toph Beifong, I didn't know you had that in you. You poet, you." He cuffed her on the shoulder and was unsurprised to receive a much more forceful punch in retaliation.
"Do you get it, though?" she asked.
For a few seconds, he replayed her words in his mind. It wasn't something he'd ever given much thought to. Most of the time, it was hard enough just remembering that she was blind. In so many ways, she could see more than anyone. The rain sterilized her seismic sense, which wasn't something she could ever just turn off.
"Yeah. I get it. I'm surprised it doesn't make you nervous, though. Less aware of your surroundings."
"A little. Adds some thrill to it." She shrugged and wiped a stream of rain off her nose. "But not right now."
A small, crooked smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and he idly wondered what she was thinking about. But he was glad she felt safe here.