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 "Disturbia" by Rihanna.

Sky is Falling

No more gas in the rig
Can't even get it started
Nothing heard, nothing said
Can't even speak about it
All my life on my head
Don't want to think about it
Feels like I'm going insane
Yeah…

"Toph… what did you do?!"

The blind Earthbender in question exhaled sharply, disguising her instinctive wince—she should've figured that Aang would go all dramatic and stuff on her. "Geez… if I'd known that'd be the kind of reaction I'd get for trying to help you out, I wouldn't have bothered."

"In what way will killing yourself help me? Suicide is NOT the answer to your problems, Toph!" His panicked voice cracked at the childishly high pitch he was using—she would've thought it kinda cute (in a weird sort of way), if it hadn't been for the fact that she was royally pissed off.

"Who said anything about suicide?! What, did you think I slashed my knuckles because I was aiming for my wrist and missed? FOR SPIRITS' SAKE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!"

"I—! …oh. Uhh…"

Thankfully, her shouting seemed to jolt Aang out of his senseless panic. When she felt he'd calmed down sufficiently to actually listen, Toph continued, "If I was planning on offing myself—which I am NOT—I wouldn't make some stupid half-assed attempt like that. So relax."

After a few beats of tense silence, broken only by the sound of her harsh breathing, Aang stopped digging his fingers into her shoulders and took a deep breath of his own. "…Um. Are you okay?"

"I just got my knuckles slashed by a razorblade—whatever makes you think that means I'm okay?" Toph repeated in a sardonic drawl, feeling blood spill down the back of her hand and the fingers she'd clamped around her wrist; finally dripping on the koala-wool carpet Sokka and Suki'd given her as a house-warming gift. "…Shit. That's gonna leave a stain."

It was then that other, shakier fingers closed down on her arm in a hard vise and pulled her to the nearby basin, hurriedly thrusting both hands into the cold water with a shocking splash. "Here's a towel, I'm going to get the first aid kit" was all he said before he took off in a gust of wind, leaving a light spray of droplets in his wake as well as a random towel he'd flung haphazardly in her general direction (i.e., at her head).

Toph grumbled as she pulled off the towel, fully aware of the awkwardness of the situation. Not to mention how she was definitely not in the mood to be fussed over… although in this case it seemed like she had little choice. If she didn't give Aang something to make himself useful over, he'd be fluttering about like a mother hen—or worse, like Katara.

Shuddering at the thought of TWO Kataras existing in the same universe, the Earthbender plunged her injured hand as far as it would go in the shallow basin and (bending slightly to accommodate the rest of her arm) washed off all the blood she could identify—its metallic scent cloying and concentrated, pervading the air.

"'Suicide is not the answer to your problems,' you said." She kept her voice quiet, reflective almost, as she dumped the blood-water and refilled the basin to wash her hands afresh. "So does that mean you think I have problems?"

…You better not be questioning my mental stability, Twinkletoes.

"Back," said Aang, rushing back into the room and hurrying her to a chair before she had enough time to do more than soap up and rinse. Grabbing the towel from where she'd slung it over her shoulder, Aang rubbed her hands dry with enough fierce assiduousness that Toph hissed and finally batted him off.

"Why do YOU have a razor, anyway? Aren't you monks supposed to be all 'peace and harmony, knives beget violence' kind of thing?" she asked skeptically as he applied salve and wrapped strips of clean cloth around her now barely-bleeding hand.

"I may be a monk, Toph, but I'm also an adult male; that means I have to shave."

Toph was tempted to say something cutting, like 'You're not an adult anything, Twinkles, you're just a stupid boy' …but then she caught herself. That wasn't the kind of thing she'd normally say to ANYONE, let alone to Aang.

He's never been 'JUST a boy'—he's the AVATAR! Even if you ignore that fact, mustn't forget that he's also the last Airbender, he's bald as a baby bunny, and he grew up with King Bumi. None of which are exactly common, these days.

Plus, she'd been unpacking his things (pawing through his stuff out of sheer boredom) and then accidentally sliced herself on his shaving implement. So, technically, it wasn't even Aang's fault.

Argggh… Toph fought the urge to bang her head on the nearest solid surface. This… all because of that stupid dream! Or more accurately… that stupid voice.

………

It's a thief in the night
To come and grab you
It can creep up inside you
And consume you
A disease of the mind
It can control you
It's too close for comfort
………

The moment she'd closed her eyes, she knew that it wasn't her usual nightmare that was waiting for her—for one thing, she felt no fear. There was no blood, no haze, no screaming or cursing… just white, fluffy cottony stuff. A cloud…?

She sat on a cloud (pale, insubstantial and yet impossibly holding her weight) looking down on the world, on the Four Nations. She'd never seen them before, of course, but what else could those landmasses be? Toph knew perfectly well she wasn't the type to make up fantasy worlds, even in her dreams.

Because it was a dream, she sat serenely with her feet dangling off the edge, and looked her fill. By some strange freak of vision, she thought she could even identify Kyoshi Island—there, where Sokka lived with Suki. She could make out their house, the sparse wooded area around their village and the smoke that rose from the chimneys, the slow progress of the barges as the local fishermen plied their trade.

Suki (that's Suki??) sat inside the house Sokka had built for her, comfortably propped up against the arm of the sofa and reading a folded sheet of paper. Toph would've bet anything that the thick black caterpillar scrawls on it were Sokka's, letting her know that he was coming home to her and their unborn child (just beginning to show, curving her slender form outward like a spoon). She was sure she could see him, too—a solitary, whistling traveler with a sword at his back, straw traveling hat on his head, and the road beneath his feet.

Sokka's gonna be a father. Toph wondered for a moment why the thought didn't hurt more, when for years she considered him her first and only crush… then she remembered it was a dream, and that dreams are funny like that.

Next she scanned the land for Katara—not difficult, seeing as she was riding a giant sky-bison to the Fire Nation—and found her almost immediately. Aang would've thought her more beautiful than ever, the way the wind whipped her long wavy hair from her face and exposed her eyes, glowing with blue fire. She seemed so full of purpose; filled with the knowledge that she was needed.

But what of Zuko, who awaited her at the end—the one who had asked her to come so urgently? The question begged to be asked: what about the Fire Lord?

No sooner did she finish that thought than her dream-vision instantly warped—zooming in on the Fire Nation, and into the Fire Palace. The effect of the flashing afterimages was extremely disorienting, and Toph squeezed her eyes shut.

When she opened them again, she found herself in a large bedroom, dimly illuminated and sparsely furnished for a room of its size. A woman lay in the bed, long hair loose and uncombed and matte with sweat, eyes closed in a face wasted and hollowed with illness. A man sat at her side, his hair (dark, almost as black as hers) drawn up tightly away from his face, his eyes glinting and hard as iron. He hadn't spoken yet, but there was something about him that made her feel like she ought to recognize him—the tautness of his posture, the tight unforgiving lines of his stony expression… the guilty grief that showed so clearly in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the silent woman, and the slightly raspy timbre of his voice was so… Zuko, she realized with a sudden giddy start of recognition. That made sense, and that meant the woman on the bed (whose hand he held so tightly) must be his girlfriend and promised fiancée. "I'm so sorry, Mai.

"The sickness came on you so fast. One day you were fine, the next you were too weak to walk, too tired to even move… and then your voice was gone, and you couldn't speak. You could only try to smile and nod at me, trying to tell me that you loved me and that you, you'd be okay… then…" Zuko bit his lower lip, which Toph noticed was already wet and covered with bloody bite marks.

"I… I wish I could've loved you more. Like you deserved to be loved… and as much you loved me." His voice sank to a whisper, and brought with it a release of emotion—tears, silently coursing down the planes of his patrician features.

"…What am I going to tell Katara, now?" This time he seemed to be addressing himself, not the ever-silent figure on the bed beside him. "There's nothing that can be done… not anymore. Not when Mai's already dead."

"Mai's already dead."

How had three little words managed to change everything?

"Zuko…" Toph murmured soundlessly, standing in his room as he embraced the cooling corpse, his lips grazing her temples and leaving faint smears of red behind on her pallid skin. It hurt to breathe, just watching the older boy grieve—it felt like fragments of his pain would break off and wedge in her own breast, nicking slivers out of her heart.

She didn't know Mai well enough to mourn for her, but Zuko she remembered with clarity and much commiseration. He's such a tragic hero… Yet he was wrong about Katara, when he said that there was nothing left that could be done. Once Sweetness finally arrives she'll take care of him. She's never been able to resist the scent of misery; the call of someone hurting.

…But what would Twinkletoes have to say about that, if he knew?

Ah, but I think you and I already know. Don't we, Toph?

Toph jerked, startled, and turned about sharply—but there was no one there, much to her surprise. When she looked back towards the rest of the room she found that it too had vanished into nothingness, with Zuko and Mai nowhere to be seen. "What…?"

She was blind again. Toph swore under her breath… painfully aware that before this had all started, this nothingness had been her natural state. Blindness had been her constant, and she'd depended on it—defined herself by it, even. This switching of blindness/not-blindness was both unpredictable and unsettling, and caused her to be dissatisfied with the things she'd always taken for granted.

Then again, the returning blindness usually meant that her dream was about to end. With relief Toph turned to this fact, and concentrated hard on waking up.

…Alas, no such luck. The voice remained, and went on:

The Avatar Spirit has always been too aggressive, too possessive for its own good. It rides the cycle of reincarnation like a child on a carnival wheel.

Pathetic, is it not? Lifetime after lifetime, preaching about destiny and sacrifice … and yet in the end, always being unable to accept that this is how it MUST be. Over ten thousand years have passed, and I have not seen one whit of true difference.

The mysterious voice, Toph decided, was best described as dark—dark and edgy, overly casual, and strangely familiar. Strange, mainly because Toph couldn't place it, and she never forgot a single voice.

Oh, that's right… it was a dream. Of course things could be expected to be strange. That was the way of dreams.

Too bad the strange not-stranger kept speaking—every nuance of his (was it a he?) voice sent familiar warning prickles down the back of her neck. Danger, danger! Beware, here there be MONSTERS.

…You always did see too much, for someone who was blind. How does it feel to foresee the future?

"This CAN'T be the future," she whispered disbelievingly, horrified and furious at the realization that he… it… whoever or whatever it was, reveled in her horror. "How could it be? You're just in my head!"

And this is just a dream? A stranger's chuckle, deep and rolling like the undertones of an approaching summer storm, echoed in the recesses of her inner ear. Can you truly believe that, as a blind person who can see?

Toph? Aang's worried voice emerged through the mocking laughter pealing in her ears, latching onto her (like a lifeline, or maybe a noose). "Toph!"

"STOP IT!" she shrieked into the darkness, dropping all pretensions to composure. To go as far as to use Aang's voice against her! Insufferable—and under no circumstances would she accept it. "Stop laughing, and go away… GET OUT OF MY DREAM!"

"TOPH!" Aang's winded voice (his hands rough on her arms, shaking her back and forth) brought her back to reality— jolted her back into awareness. She was in her bedroom, on her bed, where Aang knelt and held her as she shuddered with post-nightmare jitters.

She had to tell him of what she'd seen. Whether she believed the voice or not, it was somehow important that Aang knew about this development as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, he didn't exactly respond as she thought he would.

"Mai can't be dead, Toph. You were just dreaming."

"But I saw—!"

"No, Toph." Aang's voice was controlled, but she could feel something like sadness, like dejection in his words. "You didn't see anything. You couldn't have, especially if you were asleep."

"Et tu, Twinkletoes? Even you?" The frustration and hurt bubbled up again, and she bit down on her lips to prevent anything more from slipping out. She ought to have anticipated this reaction—had no excuse for not doing so.

She didn't see it coming. But it seemed like no one else expected her to be able to, after all.

………

What's wrong with me?
Why do I feel like this?
I'm going crazy now…

Your mind is in disturbia
It's like the darkness is the light
Disturbia
Am I scaring you tonight?
………

That night, after much personal wrangling with her instincts, Toph came to a decision about what to do. Choosing to forego her bath (which she only did out of consideration for Aang—there was nothing wrong with a healthy layer of dirt), she came out wearing her shift and an additional pair of long loose-fitting pants, and strode purposefully toward her target.

Judging by the vibrations, aforementioned target was kneeling on the floor, busy attempting to pull Sokka's sleeping bag out from where he'd stashed it under her bed. Toph stood there silently, hands on hips and head cocked to one side, observing his struggles. Finally she sighed.

"Leave it."

"What?" Toph could hear the vertebrae in Aang's neck crack at the speed with which he turned his head. "Oh, hey Toph… I didn't hear you arrive."

"Yeah, well, you were occupied fighting Smelly Cured-Hide Bag-zilla." She sighed again, weighing her options one last time, and trying to judge the advisability of her chosen course of action. "Look, I'm sorry about jumping down your throat earlier. It's just these dreams—they have me kinda on edge, y'know? So I want to apologize."

"Oh, well…" Toph could tell Aang was getting a bit flustered, for he fumbled with his response. "I-it's alright, I guess…"

"Good." She cut off his rambling and continued. "By the way, why'd you stick the bag down there? I haven't swept under my bed in years… the dust bunnies have probably taken over the floor space and colonized it by now."

The dense figure that was Aang turned and bent over again, apparently re-examining the herculean task he'd unwittingly set himself. "…Umm. I suppose I could push it out with airbending?" He sounded dubious, and Toph rolled her eyes.

"And blow dust everywhere? No thanks. How about you just leave the bag and—" deep breath, quick, say it— "we split? I… guess I wouldn't mind sharing if the alternative is dragging up and depositing random crap on my covers."

…Spirits. I can't believe I just said that. Why'd I even offer?! This is a BAD idea—worse than that time Sokka suggested skinny-dipping at Ember Island!

No, can't freak out now… casual, look casual. Breathe.

There was a stunned silence, the kind in which one could've heard a pin drop. Then, after a very long pause: "Are you… are you serious?"

"Sure. I mean, you know there are RULES, right? No touching of body parts whose names begin with the letter N, and no—"

"Nn?" Aang was starting to sound more and more strangled by the minute. Toph couldn't blame him—she still had doubts herself that she was even doing this.

"Yeah, N. Like nostril, nipple, whatever." She waved a hand about vaguely and uncomfortably, hoping he got the point. "You're a monk, the Avatar (and Katara's your girlfriend… no, wait, don't say that). I'm banking on the fact I can count on YOU of all people to behave."

Toph gave him a few minutes to process what she'd said. While he did so, she took the opportunity to walk over to the other side of the bed. Turning down the first layer, she slipped in with a sigh and drew the covers up to her chin.

As much as she would've liked to ignore it, Toph couldn't deny feeling a slight uneasiness as soon as the mattress dipped on his side—and for absolutely no reason. At least, she couldn't think of any possible rationales for it.

"Took you long enough." Her voice sounded nowhere as composed as she wanted it to be, so she quickly switched to stern irritation. "Look, I'm like ten seconds away from thinking myself out of this! Just so long as you don't give me a reason to rethink we oughta be fine."

"…That's what I want to know." Twinkletoes' quiet question provided excellent contrast against the hectic hammering of his heart. "Why'd you change your mind?"

Why?

"…Because you're a dead weight on top of the covers. It's annoying."

Because something big's going down. Because I've never fought a war inside my head before, where my enemy is a voice and a creepy laugh and knows way more about me than vice versa.

"Oh. But I thought earlier you said you didn't want… you were afraid I'd hog the blankets—"

Because I was scared, Aang. I can't afford to be.

"I don't KNOW why, okay? Just shut up already and go to sleep!"

So take these lies as truth; don't ask questions.

"Y-yes ma'am!"

Because I need someone to remind me what is real… and what isn't.

………

Release me from this curse I'm in
Trying to maintain
But I'm struggling
………

Only blackness this time. As much as she should've felt relieved that tonight didn't start off with a nightmare, Toph only felt cheated. All that time and trouble, working up the courage to talk to Twinkles—wasted.

Ah, well. Might as well cut to the chase.

"Hey, whoever-you-are! I can feel you lurking around. Start talking."

Silence.

"And to think last night you were so talkative. What, cat-owl gotcha tongue?"

Judging by your eagerness to leave last time, I merely assumed you would prefer it if I stayed silent from now on. My apologies.

Toph snorted darkly. "I don't want your apologies. I just want the dreams gone and done with… and I figure you're the one who's been causing them."

Guilty as charged. But, are you so sure you want them gone?

"Do you have to ask? Oh, and while you're at it YOU can get out of my head—totally and completely."

Contrary to appearances, I'm here to offer you my help, Toph Bei Fong.

Toph felt her eyes narrow suspiciously. "Help?"

Yes, help. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I tell you that the dreams were only intended as warnings. They have not yet come to pass.

"…But you're saying they will? Unless I accept your help?"

Yes. But not for free.

"That's BLACKMAIL!"

No… it's the truth. Even now, Mai lies at death's door with a mysterious sickness. No mortal remedy will suffice to revive her. A word or two from you, and she'll live.

Toph fought down her outrage, taking a deep breath. Steady, now… if she didn't make herself a place to stand (and soon), she'd only find herself overwhelmed. "What makes you think I care about what happens to Mai? I've never even MET the girl, much less like her enough to—!"

To save her life?

"—To compromise my own!"

…Is that it, then? That is as far as you are willing to go? You humans are all so selfish.

Toph paused, thinking. Humans? "Hey, look. I'm not about to do something so BLINDLY self-sacrificing as to… to sign away MY soul for hers! Go ask someone who actually believes in that crap!"

Like Fire Lord Zuko?

Oh shit… SPARKY! Toph stiffened in dismayed silence. Right now, the angst-ridden, overly-noble sap's probably feeling guilty enough to actually go through with it, without a second thought!

"W-wait a sec. I thought you were offering to help ME!"

But you don't care about Mai, you said. No one's forcing you to do anything; in the end it's your decision.

She'd been neatly trapped, and she gritted her teeth against that shameful awareness. "I don't care about Mai, so much… but I DO want Zuko to be happy. He's had so much bitterness, he doesn't need more grief."

Would you take some of his burden, then? Take Mai's place?

"Mai?" Toph wasn't sure whether she felt more amused, annoyed or revolted. "Why would I—? It's not like I want to be Zuko's girlfriend!"

Her sickness then? You're young, active and strong, not some indolent castle flower. You might survive what she cannot.

"You must think I'm the dumbest idiot in the Earth Kingdom if you think I'm going to believe that for one second." Stabbing a finger accusingly in the nothingness as if to make a point, she continued, "You're fishing around for something—and while I don't know what it is or who you even are, it's obvious you want to get it from me. Until I find out more, I'm not making any of those kinds of deals with YOU."

You can't do it on your own. You're condemning her to death, and Fire Lord Zuko to a lonely life of guilt and self-torment.

"I'm NOT on my own. Twink—, er… Aang will think of something. He's the Avatar, after all, and creeps like you don't wanna mess with him."

He won't believe you. Like the others, he thinks your visions delusions. Without proof, it'll appear as if it's all in your head.

"Of course it's all in my head… it's always been…"

Suddenly, it was like a light blinked on—and Toph snapped her fingers in triumph. "That's IT!"

He's been trying to trick me. In sending me the dreams, he's been using my doubts to hide the fact that really… I'm already cured, because of Katara and her miracle healing water. He has no power over me, except for what I gave him.

I could see all this time.

Smiling, Toph closed her eyes and slipped deeper into the darkness. This time, she didn't need Twinkletoes to help wake her up.

It looks like she's beating you at your own game, Koh.

You think so? No, these are but the opening gambits. There is a price for everything, whether given freely or taken… and she has yet to pay mine in full.

………

Throw on your break lights
We're in the city of wonder
Ain't gonna play nice
Watch out, you might just go under

Better think twice
Your train of thought will be altered
So if you must falter, be wise...
………

TBC.

A/N: Un-betaed, and possibly very screwy. However, it's been so long since I last posted, I admit near the end there were times I just wanted to get it done. So here it is...

As usual, do read and review, please! Tell me what you think; I'd greatly appreciate your input.