Title: Draw not up seas to drown me
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: takes place before Zuko joins the gaang
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 300
Point of view: third
Prompt: dam
Toph wakes up a little while before dawn and at first, she doesn't know why. Aang wakes next, mumbling, "Wha?"
Sokka and Katara sleep on until Toph realizes what's going on and shouts, "Get up, get up!"
But there's no time, no time at all. Aang panics and tries to hold back the giant wall of rushing water, and Katara hurries to his aid, but it's no good.
So Toph reaches and yanks, and the ground explodes up, and the water roars as it passes by, and passes by, and passes by.
So much water. She can feel it and hear it, raging against the ground.
"What happened?" Sokka asks, shuddering. Momo chatters, shaking in Aang's arms, and Appa groans, agitated. Katara pats his side, shushing him.
"A dam burst," Toph says, trying to be calm as a stone. "A long way away. But the water…"
"It's angry," Aang murmurs. "Out of balance. Cooped up for a long time. So angry."
Toph looks; a town lies directly in the water's path. She reaches again, and tells the earth to rise. A cliff rushes into existence, making a gulley into a bowl. It'll be years before the water can get through.
Sokka takes Katara's trembling hand and Toph feels them look over the edge, into the water still raging by. "Thank you," he says quietly. "Toph, thank you."
Katara is still shaking. "The water," she says. "It's so angry. Like the Ocean Spirit."
Toph feels the water find her new wall and lash against it. The water rages, but her earth stays firm, and Aang buries his face in Momo's fur.
"It'll be okay," Sokka promises them all, and he sounds so sure.
But Toph can feel the tremor in his heart, and knows he thinks that might be a lie.