Toph sat on a large, round rock in the shade of one of the few trees that had escaped the scorching of the world, giving her feet a rest after hours of walking. While she sat, she took the time to eat and take stock of her supplies. To her dismay, she found that she was running low on both food and water. She knew exactly why she was low on supplies, but she didn't want to think about that. Unfortunately, the thoughts found their way into her mind anyway and she was forced to face the fact that it had been her relationship with Ren that had depleted her supplies.

It had been three days since Toph had left Ren behind and she hadn't given the firebender all that much thought. It hadn't really been that difficult for her to walk away. Ren had betrayed her and she had never considered that ending their relationship would affect her like this. But now that she thought about it, she realized she may have acted rashly. Sure Ren had been a pain in the ass and a traitor, but Toph had enjoyed the company. But she was unwilling to go back. Ren had stabbed her in the back, and even if that betrayal had really only been a diversion to capture Hong and his raiders, how was Toph supposed to trust Ren now? The answer was simple and Toph knew it. She couldn't trust Ren, no matter what Ren said, and she would not allow herself to be suckered into another trap.

And yet, the more Toph thought about it, the more she found herself missing Ren. It was illogical, she knew, to miss someone she barely knew. It had been less than a month since she'd met Ren, so why did she miss the firebender girl so much? It didn't make sense and yet the feeling was there, gnawing away at the back of Toph's mind.

"Damn it Toph." she muttered. "She was a traitor. She stabbed you in the back. Stop worrying about her and just move on."

"But what if you can't?" a voice in her mind asked. "You know she didn't betray you. And you know you want her back, so why are you fighting this?"

Toph shook her head, hoping to somehow dislodge the thoughts in her mind. She would not play this game with herself. She refused to do it. She had left Ren behind and that was that. There was no argument her mind could come up with that would convince her she'd made the wrong decision. Ren had betrayed her and nothing would change that. There was no sense in trying to repair the breach and Toph was determined to move on, no matter how hard it was.

With that in mind she got to her feet, pulled her hat on, and set off again, hoping to leave her thoughts about Ren behind her. She was still several days from Ba Sing Se, but every moment brought her closer to her goal and she would not be distracted now. And yet some part of her knew that even if she reached Ba Sing Se and found her friends it would still be a hollow victory without Ren. But she pushed the thought aside and pressed on, determined not to dwell in the past.


That evening Toph stopped again, exhaustion catching up with her. Her wandering had not provided the relief from her thoughts she had hoped for and the chaos in her mind was sapping her of her energy quicker than she would have ever thought possible. It seemed there was no escaping these thoughts and Toph felt her resolve falter. How was she supposed to focus on the future when she was stuck in the past? Why couldn't she get over this? Was it guilt that made her feel this way? Or was there something else at work here, something that was beyond her current capacity to understand?

Toph shook her head again, once again trying to dislodge the thoughts from her mind. But just as they had before, the thoughts refused to leave. It was then that another, far more terrifying thought occurred to her. Perhaps there was no guilt, perhaps she was just going insane. She supposed it was possible. She had been largely alone for the past six years, after all, and that kind of isolation could certainly drive a person to madness. But insanity didn't seem like a satisfactory explanation for Toph's current condition. She'd had some companionship in the past six years, certainly enough to keep her from losing her mind. But if she wasn't going insane then what was wrong with her? Why couldn't she let go of her conflicting thoughts about leaving Ren behind? Ultimately Toph decided she would try and figure it out in the morning. Sleep was calling her and she found she could not fight against it any longer than she already had.

Sometime later that night Toph snapped awake, her seismic sense alerting her to the presence of another person. "Who's there?" she called, preparing herself for battle just in case.

"Relax Toph, it's just me." Ren's voice answered, her tone somewhere between amusement and relief.

"What are you doing here?" Toph demanded, instantly angry.

"I followed you, obviously." Ren answered, as if this was no big deal.

"I told you not to follow me." Toph said, trying to control her anger as she spoke. "Our relationship is over. I want nothing to do with you anymore."

"Yeah, and I'm choosing to ignore all that." Ren answered. "Because I don't think you're serious about that."

"Oh really?" Toph asked. "Well, allow me to show you just how serious I am then." With that she launched an earth block at Ren, who easily destroyed it with a blast of flame.

"Come on Toph, are we really gonna do this?" Ren asked.

"Yes." Toph answered. "We are. Because it's the only way you'll learn what happens to people who stab me in the back."

"I've already told you, I didn't betray you." Ren shouted, rolling to her left as she spoke to avoid another of Toph's earth blocks.

"And yet, I still don't believe you." Toph said, before launching a third earth block at Ren.

"Why, though?" Ren asked. "Why don't you believe me? I proved to you that I didn't betray you, so why don't you believe me?"

"You proved to me?" Toph asked, perplexed. "Are you serious? You think that little stunt of yours counts as proof? You really are stupid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ren asked, her tone indignant.

"It means you're just like every other ash maker." Toph answered. "You are incapable of recognizing the mistakes in your actions. You say you didn't betray me, but what you fail to understand is that your choice to leave me out of the loop constitutes a betrayal. That's the point I'm trying to get you to see."

"Really?" Ren asked. "That's why you're pissed? I already told you why I couldn't fill you in on my plan sooner."

"And I found your explanation to be insufficient." Toph said, her tone indifferent.

"How was it insufficient?" Ren asked. "I couldn't let you know the plan because if you'd known beforehand it would have made it easier for Hong to figure out that we were tricking him. And I think you know that, you just don't want to admit it."

"Maybe you're right." Toph said. "But it doesn't change anything. Our relationship is still over. I won't let you travel with me anymore."

"You say that like you have a choice." Ren said. "But you don't. You can tell me to go away, but I'll just keep following you, unless you're willing to kill me or trap me like you did with Hong and his lackeys."

"What makes you think I'm not willing to do either of those things?" Toph asked.

"Because I know you Toph, better than you think I do, and you're not the kind of person who takes overt joy from hurting others." Ren answered.

"That's a nice speech Ren." Toph conceded. "But we're still done."

"God, you're stubborn." Ren said, clearly irritated by Toph's unwillingness to listen. "Why can't you just accept that I'm sorry?"

"Because I have experience with this kind of thing." Toph answered. "I know what it's like to be betrayed and I won't go through it again. You say I can trust you, but how can that be the case when you weren't able to trust me enough to fill me in on the entire plan?"

"I already told you-" Ren began, before Toph cut her off.

"I know, you couldn't tell me because you thought I'd give the plan away." Toph said. "But that's bullshit Ren. You could have told me and you know it. I am very good at keeping my emotions in check and I would have played my role perfectly. So your decision not to fill me in was based on the fact that you don't trust me. And if that's the case, then I can't trust you either."

Ren was silent for a moment following Toph's speech, as though she was trying to process Toph's words. And then she found her voice again, her words tumbling from her lips like rocks rolling down a cliff. "You're right." she said. "I didn't trust you, not completely, and I'm sorry for that. I should have realized that you would be able to keep the plan from Hong. It's just...I have spent so much of my life doing things on my own that it's hard for me to get close to people. I don't know who to trust and yet, for some reason, you seemed like someone I could trust. And I ruined that. I'm sorry Toph, truly I am. If you want me to leave, I will, but just know that I truly care about you and I want you to succeed in your mission."

Toph didn't know what to say. How could she possibly respond to that? Ren had admitted that she didn't trust Toph completely and Toph felt as though that justified her unwillingness to trust Ren completely. And yet she knew she couldn't hold on to these feelings forever. She knew that Ren was genuinely sorry and that Ren genuinely cared about her. Yes Ren had lied, but she had realized her mistake and if she could, then surely Toph could as well. But there was more to Ren's apology than that and Toph wasn't quite sure what it was that she was feeling.

It was then that she was reminded of another quote from her past, something that Aang had told her years earlier, to see with sightless eyes, rely on the eyes of the heart. She hadn't understood what the quote meant back then, but now, in this moment, she thought she had finally figured it out. To see what could not otherwise be seen, one had to use the eyes of the heart. And as this realization hit her Toph realized what Ren's hidden message was.

"I...I'm sorry Ren." she said then, tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke. "I'm sorry for not trusting you. I see now that it was a mistake and I promise it will never happen again. I will never again take your friendship for granted."

"Thank you Toph." Ren said, meeting Toph's sightless gaze. "But if I may ask, what led you to this epiphany?"

"Something Avatar Aang told me years ago." Toph answered. "To see with sightless eyes, rely on the eyes of the heart."

"What's it mean though?" Ren asked, both curious and confused.

"It means that to see things that otherwise can't be seen, we must rely on our inner sight." Toph answered. "We must rely on our spirits to guide us in the right direction, because sometimes only our souls know where we really need to go."

"So, does that mean I can come with you?" Ren asked, her tone nervous.

"Yes." Toph answered. "You can come with me. In fact, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, let's go to Ba Sing Se."

Ren nodded and they set off, Toph's mind still dwelling on the quote and what it meant. She was certain she didn't have all the answers yet, but she at least had a faint glimmer of the truth. It wasn't about trust, it was about faith and letting that faith guide them where they needed to go. And as she thought about it she thought she finally knew where her soul was leading her.

A/N: And that's chapter 14. Sorry for the massive delay. I have been distracted by other ideas as of late, not to mention some serious writer's block when it came to this chapter. Anyway, Toph and Ren have worked out their issues and Toph is beginning to realize that there is more to their relationship than just simple friendship. This chapter was meant to illustrate how far Toph has come in terms of her spirituality (if you'll remember, she is the least spiritual of all the benders in the show). The quote has a double meaning for her, of course, as she is physically blind, but in both cases it is her attempt to see what she cannot otherwise see, with the hope that the hidden messages may help her achieve her ultimate goal, something you'll have to keep reading to find out.