Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any other copyrighted property that may appear in this work of fiction. Lyrics in this chapter are from "Comatose" by Skillet.
Sky is Falling
I hate feeling like this
I'm so tired of trying to fight this
I'm asleep and all I dream of
Is waking to you
Tell me that you will listen
Your touch is what I'm missing
And the more I hide I realize
I'm slowly losing you
"Aang… when you and Sokka came up with this plan, you guys didn't think it through all that well, didja?"
"Huh? What d'you mean?"
"Well for one thing, you didn't have any alternative but to sleep on the bed… since you wouldn't be able to keep watch if you slept on the floor." Toph emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, briskly toweling her hair dry. "And that's why you ended up having to borrow Sokka's old sleeping bag."
"No, actually it's because I—"
"—didn't think it through," Toph reiterated with a knowing air, removing the towel and raking a hand back through her long unbound locks. "And don't bother arguing, I can tell even without listening to your heartbeat that I'm right. You lie worse than a losing pai sho player, Twinkletoes."
"HEY! I'll have you know that I was winning games of pai sho before—before even Zuko's uncle Iroh was born," the tattooed Avatar muttered a bit sulkily, lying supine on top of the covers with the sleeping bag wrapped tight about him like a cocoon. "Seriously, I haven't lost a fair game in decades."
"Tch. This is counting the time you spent in the iceberg, right? Whaddaya do, wile the years away challenging Appa to board games?"
Aang pouted and shifted restlessly in his restrictive sleeping accoutrements. He wasn't lying about his gaming skills—he'd been pretty good at it, if he did say so himself. Monk Gyatso had been one of the best, and although he hadn't been above stooping to an occasional cheat or two, the elderly monk had taught him well.
It irked him somewhat that she was right about the rest, though: it had been a while since the last time he'd needed any bed other than Appa's warm furry back or the ones provided for him in every town, village or city he visited. Frankly he could've done without the bag… but this was Toph's bed, and she viewed it with the possessive attitude of a platypus-bear: THIS IS MY TERRITORY.TOUCH AND DIE.
After much persuasion on Sokka's part, she'd reluctantly ceded half of it so Aang didn't have to suffer through either sleeping on hard wooden floorboards or the table. She was the one who'd insisted on the bag, much to the older Water Tribe sibling's mixed amusement and bewilderment.
"Oh c'mon, Toph… I thought you girls got over the 'guys have cooties' stage years ago!"
"Believe me, Snoozles, that is NOT the issue here," the petite Earthbender had snapped, her eyes narrowing in annoyance. "This is insurance, to make sure I don't wake up in the morning and find that not only did I not get any sleep to speak of, but that the Avatar is draped over me like a lumpy blanket."
"What? It's just Aang, for cryin' out loud—"
"And this is my house… my rules. If you don't like it, the two of you can bug off and find some other Spirits-damned insomniac to babysit!"
That, if nothing else, shut Sokka up quite effectively. Personally Aang had been somewhat tongue-tied himself, although more out of mortification at the fact that no one besides himself seemed to take the complaint seriously.
It's like that kind of thing just isn't credible, period. It must be because I'm "just Aang," like Sokka said: the Avatar, a monk, a twenty-two-year old boy.
Did Toph think of him as "just Aang" as well? Even unasked, the question had the immediate effect of making him wince. Why WOULDN'T she? After all, he'd never given anyone reason to believe otherwise. Not even Katara, who he'd kissed and embraced so many times—who'd he loved for so long—ever seemed to expect or even WANT anything more intimate than that.
No. No more thinking about Katara now—it's Toph I'm spending the night with. The thought alone made his stomach clench, and with a convulsive movement he unzipped the bag and knuckled his temples briefly, willing himself to calm down. Come on, what am I so nervous about? It's only Toph!
…Hmm. "Just Aang" and "Only Toph" …We match.
"I told you guys this was a bad idea," he could hear her muttering as she rummaged through her things, opening and closing drawers apparently at random. "But nooo, Toph is unstable and needs help. You know—" she whirled around, jabbing her brush in his direction with something of a menacing air. "Just because I'm having some really creepy, trippy dreams DOESN'T mean I need someone to hold my hand through the night, all right?!"
"Right, yes ma'am—no handholding, completely understood!" Aang chuckled uneasily, eyeing the grooming implement with trepidation.
"Well, good… so long as we're clear." Toph's shoulders sagged a little, and she ran the brush absently through her hair a few times before vehemently chucking it back onto the nearest table and plopping down on the bed with a bounce of the mattress. "Damn it."
"What? Is something wrong?" He rose up on one elbow, curious despite himself. He'd also dressed down for the night, since Sokka's sleeping bag was designed for arctic weather and was rather uncomfortably stuffy for this time of summer. The flaps of the bag loosened as he changed position, allowing the night breeze that slipped in from the open window to cool and lightly caress his bare arms and torso.
"…Oh, nothing much. Just, how the heck am I supposed to get to sleep with YOU here?" She indicated him with a half-hearted jerk of her head. Strands of jet black hair fell in a gentle cascade at the sudden movement, clinging damply down her back. "You're almost as sound a sleeper as Snoozles… 'cept your snore was more of a whistle than a rumble, last I recall. Wonder if that's changed any."
"Ahaha… uh, well, I wouldn't know." Aang scratched his neck and tried not to think about how many years had passed since that last time they had all slept together, unchaperoned and innocent as you please. Of course, now that they were adults, the very thought of chaperones would be laughable… and yet Aang knew with a heavy heart that he was no longer quite as innocent as he used to be.
As for Toph… well. If she was at all concerned about the changes a decade had wrought in them both, Aang saw no sign of it. No longer was she the short and stocky girl of twelve—well, she was still a little on the short side, but no one would ever deem her 'stocky' now.
The Bei Fongs were tall, slim and poised; their breeding showed in every line of their elegant figures. Leave it to their most unconventional daughter to break the mold.
Dressed only in a thin shift in the style of her youth, Toph extended both arms above her head with a yawn, blissfully oblivious to her bedmate's absorbed scrutiny. She was a study in contrasts, all raven night and shadowed curves packed into a compact, sturdy body. Her pale rounded shoulders surfaced and bobbed through her sea of hair as she stretched—her back arched like a cat's, curvaceous form silhouetted by the moon. Moments later she drew up her feet and got under the sheets, her chest rising and falling in a slowing, mesmerizing rhythm as she settled into her pillow with a sleepy sigh.
Aang gulped and burrowed even further down, blushing furiously. Despite being the Avatar, a monk and everything else, he was still only twenty-two years old—and puberty, while a very, very long time in coming, had hit with a vengeance. Yep, there's no worry that I'll fall asleep tonight…
To distract himself he spoke. "Toph?"
"…Yeah, Twinkletoes?"
"What are your dreams about?"
She was silent for so long that at first Aang thought she had fallen asleep. Then: "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"What—? But of course I would!"
She snorted pensively, and a bit drowsily. "Sure, Twinkles. Just like you and Sweetness and Sokka all believed me earlier."
Aang fidgeted awkwardly. "Well, that was different."
"No… it wasn't." He felt her shift and turn to him, and when he dared glance over he saw her gaze fixed upon him, eyes luminous and intense. "You know, I never used to dream in anything but vibrations and densities, if I dreamed at all. What would you say if I told you I dream in color and shapes now? That I dream of sobbing mothers, children clutching at their skirts screaming, and men cursing the Spirits, faces turned toward the skies? People lay dead in the streets, chaos and fury and frustration reign supreme, and still nothing but destruction pours forth—"
"Stop it, Toph!" Aang cut in, a little more forcefully than he'd meant to. As borderline delusional as her fantasy sounded, coming all together like that seemed to make it more and more believable… and that made him uneasy. Hurriedly he tried for a more comforting tone: "No matter how real it might seem, in the end it's still only a dream. Okay? No need to get all worked up about it."
She shut her mouth with something like a sullen sob, twisting onto her other side. Aang instantly regretted his words, and unzipped his bag far enough so he could reach out to her. "Toph…"
Without turning she grabbed his wrist and flung it away from her, curling closer into herself. "Don't touch me."
Aang frowned and withdrew, re-zipping himself back into his bag with a show of indifference. The cold rejection hurt, but what could he do? Most likely she was just upset that he'd interrupted her, and this was her lashing out in response. "Well, then good night. And… sweet dreams."
He heard her chuckle darkly, hopelessly. "Heh. I wish."
………
I hate living without you
Dead wrong to ever doubt you
But my demons lay in waiting
Tempting me away
Oh how I adore you
Oh how I thirst for you
Oh how I need you
………
Come to visit, have you? I should warn you, though: you're too late.
I'm afraid I don't understand your meaning.
You know very well what I mean. Just as Kuruk's beloved fell into my clutches, so have I now gained power over your successor's darling. So here you are.
She is not yours.
Not yet… but she will be.
Aang will never allow it. I have faith that he will be able to stop you.
Well what makes you so sure he can handle—
…Handle what?
Oh, nothing. It just occurred to me that I shouldn't tell you everything, considering your "connections". Best to have something in reserve, as a little surprise.
Koh! Leave the boy alone. You have no right to torment him after the part you played in the war.
It is not he I torment.
You have even less right to torture his companions.
She touched the water, Avatar. She stole life from the Spirit Realm—unbalanced the world of the living dead. There must be retribution.
You are not the one to enforce that it be made.
Nor are you the one to interfere. Who are you to lecture me about my right to do anything? You yourself have overstepped your bounds, Roku, far beyond what any other past Avatars have done for their successors! Did Kyoshi ever aid YOU as much, even when her prodigious abilities might have prevented your death and the realization of Sozin's dreams of conquest?
…No. But then we did not yet risk the annihilation of everything we had worked so hard to build.
And neither will you now, believe me. You said you had faith in your successor. Let HIM save the world this once, without your meddling.
………
Comatose
I'll never wake up without an
overdose of you
………
He was awakened by a punch in the gut. Choking back his gasp of pain, Aang shot upright to see Toph thrashing about next to him, hopelessly ensnarled in the sheets. "T-Toph!"
Monkeyfeathers! Why wasn't I more careful about falling asleep?? He thought, angry at his own inattentiveness as he frantically fought with the zipper and sat up. Grabbing his former sifu by the arms and pulling her upright, Aang shook her desperately.
"Toph! WAKE UP!"
She jolted awake with a shuddering gasp, and (with unnerving accuracy) her eyes immediately sought his—sightless and stricken, filled with a silent and uncharacteristic terror. "T…Twinkletoes…"
"It's all right, you're safe, awake now," he soothed, running his hands comfortingly up and down her chilled arms, chafing them into some semblance of warmth. "Everything's going to be all right."
"No… no, it's not." She seized him, so suddenly that Aang was taken aback, and she hid her face in his chest. "Nothing's going to be the same again."
"Toph, what—"
"We're all going to die."
"…Eventually, yeah." Aang would've said more, but somehow he didn't think that Toph was all of a sudden having an existential crisis because of nothing. Plus her uneven breathing was tickling his collarbone, and the sensation of her shivering, thinly-clad body pressed up against him like this was sorta making most of his brain cells spontaneously self-combust. "But that's not—"
"Aang, please… tell me that you trust me. That you'll BELIEVE me, whatever I might say!"
"Take it easy for a moment, Toph; calm down and breathe." Hesitantly Aang gave into the strange compulsion to stroke her back, fingers brushing against her spine and the cool fringe of her sweet-smelling hair. "Tell me what's bothering you. What happened?"
Toph jerked upright, but instead of giving a straightforward answer she merely posed another question. "How many days will it take for Katara to get to the Fire Nation? Is she there already?"
"No… it'll be at least a couple days, traveling all out," he replied, a bit startled at the intensity with which she accompanied her inquiry. "Why do you ask?"
"She's too late, then." Toph slumped back, her eyes glossy with grief and another, less definable emotion. "…Mai's already dead."
………
Breathing life
--
Waking up My eyes
Open up
--
Don't leave me alone.
………
TBC.
A/N: And the plot thickens... or grows marginally less/more confusing, whichever you prefer. -sweatdrop- Please review and let me know what you think!