So, I've been waiting to type this chapter since like…the beginning of this story. I always thought Toph could be a good swimmer.

So, I give you fair warning that Toph is kinda OOC…maybe…not really. But anyway, just keep an open mind. Oh, and also remember that (I'm sure if it's true…but I'm making it true here…) the rocks in rivers usually go all the way down to the river, so if Toph can feel vibration…(nods as readers [hopefully catch on to what she's saying…)

Oh and I finally hit 50 reviews!! Yeah! Thanks everyone!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender. Goodness, will you just stop asking?

They had hit Fire Nation territory early that morning. They decided against the idea of flying people over the vast forest that had lain in front of them. One, because it would take to much time; two, Appa would probably die of exhaustion by the end of the day; and three, the Fire Nation would defiantly see a two ton flying bison coming toward them in a matter of three or so trips over the forest.

How do we get ourselves into these situations? Sokka thought bitterly as he swung his machete cutting another branch out of his way. He was still upset about NOT hearing who Suki had kissed before last night. She had run along ahead of him and then he tripped over a branch, and she thought that he was faking it. So, she continued running. Well an hour or so later Sokka came stumbling in the campsite with a limp and a scowl. Too bad they were all asleep; they didn't even notice.

So this morning they had entered this forest and Sokka let his bitterness out by hacking every tree insight.

Boys can be very immature, Katara thought sighing, watching her brother swing his swords around.

They continued walking for the longest time until the sun was in the center of the sky. Then they stopped to take a break and eat lunch. After that they continued walking for what seemed like ages.

And then they saw something in the distance. It was the edge of a cliff and then the beginning of another cliff. Sokka ran ahead and saw, that only twenty feet below, was a rushing river.

"Okay," Sokka said. "This is bad."

The rest of the group told the rebels to stay behind as they ran to the edge. They all gasped. "Look, there's a bridge," Aang said, pointing to the pieces of wood and nails all thrown across raging river held up by a measly piece of rope.

"That?" Sokka questioned. "We can't go across it. I mean, what if it breaks?"

"We don't necessarily have a choice," Katara said to her brother, crossing her arms. "How 'bout just me, you, Aang, Toph, and Suki go across it first. And then, if it's safe, then we'll take ten or so rebels at a time."

"And what if it's not safe?" Sokka asked, worry stitched across his face.

"Then we'll find another way," Katara replied glaring at her brother.

"Come on, baboon, it won't be that bad," Toph remarked sarcastically.

Sokka rolled his eyes but the group made their way to the bridge. Suki and Sokka walked on first, then Aang, then Toph, and lastly Katara. Suki held onto the back of Sokka's arm and kept her eyes planted forward. She hated heights. Toph clutched onto the rope that was used to hold onto and tried not to get splinters in her feet. Katara walked across just slightly nervous. Aang and Sokka kept their eyes on the water.

And then, it happened.

The wind picked up very quickly rocking bridge that the last hopes of the world were standing on. They all yelped and grabbed onto the robe. The wind died down quickly afterward and they all let out a sigh.

They heard the bridge crack. And then they heard a snap and a yell. Toph suddenly heard Aang yell. She reached out in front of her. Aang! She thought. Where's Aang!

"AANG!!!" she heard Katara yelled. "Oh no!! Aang!" She could sense that Katara tried waterbending. It was two far down there, at least twenty feet.

Toph knew immediately what she had to do. She crouched down and felt the place were the loose floorboards had been. It was fairly big enough for her to fall through. So, before anyone could protest, she jumped through.

"Toph!!" Suki yelled. "You can't swim that good yet!"

Toph heard her name being called but she couldn't reply and she couldn't stop. She started counting feet: one foot, two feet, three feet…

Everything that had happened to them since they had gone off: in search of the Guru, the Swamp, the boiling oil, her parents, and the catacombs, she just couldn't lose the student that had forgotten her again. Not again, not when he was finally showing the signs of remembering everything that had happened.

Eighteen feet, Nineteen feet, Twen—

She hit something hard. She fell through and she held her breath. It was water. She had hit on her butt, and before she would allow herself to panic she knew that she had to swim upward.

And so she did.

The felt the wind rushing in her face and she knew that she had reached the surface. She took a big gulp of air until the current took her under again.

She faintly heard the muffled screams of her friends up above.

Katara and the rest of the house were now by the Avatar's bedside. Aang looked around at them confused. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing to Toph.

"Aang," Katara said, panic rising in her voice, "that's Toph. She's your earthbending teacher. You don't remember her? We found her at the Earth Rumble Six arena."

"We did?"

All eyes were wide and plastered on Aang. He didn't remember. "What about the fight with Azula, do you remember that?" Katara asked.

"Who's Azula?"

They all gasped. Katara could feel tears in her eyes. "Amnesia," Fay said quietly. "He has amnesia. His injury must have hurt his spinal cord. He doesn't remember anything from the time you fought this general guy."

"No—no," Katara said. "Aang, do you remember waterbending."

He laughed. "Yeah—of course. Guys what's going on"—

"Earthbending?" Toph spoke for the first time. "Do you, Twinkle Toes, remember earthbending?" Aang sat there for a minute just staring at her. She had ebony hair that was wrapped up in a bun and eyes that were green but seemed to be glassed over. She was wearing a green shirt that was covered by a golden vest. She wore shorts and a belt. She looked mean and fearful. And why was she calling him Twinkle Toes?

"Uh—I—I—yes. I remember earthbending. I just don't remember how I learned it. I remember the lessons. Rock-a-lied…Move a Rock…whirl pool of rocks…"

"Well at least I don't have to teach him earthbending again," Toph mumbled to herself, a little hurt that he didn't remember the girl that gave up her life just to teach him earthbending.

She reached the surface again and this time she swam with her arm outstretched waiting for a rock or something, preferably Twinkle Toes, to come along.

She crashed into a rock. Toph clung on it for dear life, feeling faint vibrations in her element. She felt the ground of the river that was only five or six feet below.

It wasn't that far down…

They rode in silence for a while until Aang asked a single question, "Why are we even going to the Eastern Air Temple again?"

"Because," Sokka said, "you have to learn how to master the Avatar State with the Guru or whoever you said you had to meet there, while we were in Ba Sing Se."

"When Appa was stolen?"

"Yes."

"Toph," Aang said, turning around, "can you tell me about the story how Appa was stolen?" Toph groaned. "Please," he added sweetly.

"It'll pass the time away," Suki urged.

"Yeah," Katara added, "go ahead Toph."

Toph Bei Fong glared at them both before sighing and replying, "Fine."

"Well," she started sitting up and holding on to one of the arm holes in Appa's new saddle. "We were in the middle of the dessert because Sokka wanted to go to this mysterious library to get information on the Fire Nation.

"And when we found it I stayed outside. I don't like libraries"—

"Why?" Aang asked.

"Gee I wonder," Toph replied coldly. Aang's face fell and he kept silence mumbling his apologies. "Anyway, while I was waiting outside for you guys I was talking to Appa about how I see and stuff when the ground shook. I looked around and realized that the library was sinking! So, I jumped up and ran over to the library's tower and a grabbed it, trying to make it slow down so you guys could get out.

"And then I felt another vibration. There were several of them actually and they felt like men. Like the men we had saw earlier that day. Sandbenders. I tried to earthbend them away from Appa but the sand made my vision blurry. So, I continued holding the library up to save you guys. They stole Appa.

"And when you guys came out, you asked me where Appa was, and I just shook my head. I was so shameful. I let Appa be taken away…and I couldn't do anything about it."

Toph finished and expected Aang to have the same reaction he had on her before, since when she was telling her story about her and her parents, he had the same reaction then.

But he didn't. Aang just sat there and listened contently to the story. He didn't say or do anything.

"I'm sorry that I overreacted," he said, "I was probably just upset that I lost my first and only friend when I found out that I was the Avatar."

Toph shrugged.

"AANG!!" she yelled. "AANG!"

"Toph…" she heard faintly.

"Aang!" she commanded before he could say anything else. "Find a rock or something and grab a hold of it! Yell and keep talking as loud as you can! I'll find you!! DON'T YOU DIE ON ME TWINKLE TOES!!"

She heard a faint reply that sounded like a "yes" and then she dove under, taking a deep breath before she did.

"There you are," the older Toph nagged. "Where were you?"

"Sorry, Toph, honey"—

"Honey my butt," the older Toph interrupted. "Where are the kids?"

"Kids?" Toph and Aang said in unison, both equally shocked. They exchanged glances and looked away. It was just an older form of themselves who were arguing over their children after all.

Suddenly they heard a loud roar.

And the two Toph's and the two Aang's looked to their right toward the sound that they had heard. And three small kids ran out from behind the huge tree that the older forms of the Avatar and the earthbender were standing.

There were two boys and one girl.

The oldest was a boy about five who had gray eyes and brown hair like Aang's. He was wearing a thin long sleeved, gray shirt that was open at the neck and soft-orange pants.

The two littler ones looked like twins. They both looked about two and a half. The girl had black hair and gray eyes. She had on a green dress. The other boy had black hair also and green eyes. He was wearing a green robe that was tucked into his brown pants.

The younger Aang smiled at the three children.

"Where were you?" Toph asked crouching down, tugging at her younger son's clothes. She wiped the dirt off of her older son's face.

"We were playing, Mommy," the older boy said, smiling.

"Yeah," the girl said as the older Toph picked her up.

"Right," Toph muttered as she pulled at her daughter's dress. Then she turned back to the younger Aang and Toph.

"Toph and Aang," she said. "What you're looking for is here." The older Aang nodded agreeing.

"Oh, and before we go," the Toph said, "Aang"—she turned toward the younger Aang, "remember that I'm always right. Always."

Both Aangs smiled.

"Yeah," said the younger Toph, agreeing with herself. "Always."

The older Toph winked at them both and then, in a flash, the family was gone from the young monk's and the Blind Bandit's sight.

Toph reached the bottom of the water and slammed her hands up against the rock solid bottom. She felt the vibration of underwater trees and other particles she couldn't identify.

She felt pieces of rocks stacked on top of each other and then she felt something faint but very familiar. She could feel Twinkle Toes.

Breath, she thought. She then captured the vibrations in a mental picture and swam to the top, her lungs straining as the air ran out.

"So, does this look right?" Aang asked. He extended his right arm forward and shot his left out very fast.

"Aang," Toph groaned, "I can't watch you. Duh…"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Aang replied.

She reached the top and started swimming toward Aang, who she could hear singing something about fruit pies and monks.

He was still alive.

Thank the spirits, that stupid kid was still alive.

She started swimming toward the voice that belonged to her earthbending student and the vibrations she had faintly felt.

It wasn't until they saw Aang that they questions stopped. Then they went over to him and yelled. "Where did you take my daughter?" her father roared.

Toph quickly walked in between them. "Dad," she said, "Aang didn't kidnap me. I ran away."

"Why would you do that?" her mother asked.

"Because," Toph replied, "I'm so tired of you controlling my life. I thought I showed you last time, Dad, that I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for. I can take care of myself. You said I didn't have enough protection! I have plenty of protection! Too much protection!"

"But Toph," her father said, "it was for your own good. We only wanted you to be taken care of. You're blind, and tiny, and fragile…"

"That's not true!" Aang spoke up. "She's the strongest earthbender I know! She can take care of not only herself, but four kids!"

"WHAT!?" her parents said, flabbergasted.

"Never mind that," Toph said, glaring at Aang. "It's a long story and we don't have much time."

"What do you mean?" her mother asked.

"We have to get back to the wall of Ba Sing Se in about a week and we have to find the next clue in the Guru's message," she explained. "Look, there's no time to explain, but Mom"—Toph looked her mother straight in the eye, even though she couldn't see her—"please, please, let me go."

Her mother broke the eye contact. "Aang didn't kidnap me. I did it on my own. If you love me at all then you'll let me go. Let me go."

Her mother glanced at Aang and then Toph's father.

Then, "You have my permission."

"AANG!!" She called as she slammed into the rock that she had heard the voice from. She only now realized how cold and tired she was. She was a blind earthbender trying to swim after all.

"Toph?" Aang questioned. "Why did you—how did you"—

Toph grinned in accomplishment. "I've been practicing," she replied arrogantly. He smiled as her unseeing eyes lit up at her statement.

"Come on," she went on, her voice suddenly very serious. "We have to get out of here before we both drown."

He chuckled nervously and then wrapped an arm around each other's shoulders to support one another. Then the reached the left side of the boulder in the river and pushed off.

They both struggled to swim over to the bank, while the current became stronger as a waterfall approached.

"Come on," Toph said to herself. "Go! Go!"

They coached each other until Toph could feel a moist ground beneath her knees. Sand. It was the first that she absolutely loved the sand.

They both crawled to the surface, their arms still around each other's shoulders. They turned around as soon as the water was had stopped rushing from under them.

They then laid down on the sand their arms still around each other's shoulders. Both benders were breathing very hard.

"…Thanks…" Aang managed to say.

"…It was nothing," Toph replied.

"Why did you do it?" Aang asked hesitantly.

"Why? Because I can't afford to lose my earthbending student again. And not to mention the world would probably go into complete chaos if they found out you drowned in a river."

"Well," she said. "Why would we have four children?" She laughed nervously, looking down, away from his penetrating gaze. "I mean we're just friends. You like Sugar Queen…"

Did she trail off? Aang thought looking down at the master earthbender. "I dunno," he replied, knowing that she wouldn't continue. "Sokka said that we see people that we've lost or people that we love. The time I went to the swamp with Katara and Sokka I saw you as you are now.

"But last time, I saw you in our later years. It's so strange. I remember that the first time I went, Katara saw her mom, someone she had met, loved, and then lost, and Sokka saw Yue, someone that he met, loved, and lost too. I only remember seeing you as someone I've never met before. Maybe…

"Nah it's too crazy…" Aang finished his thought, his cheeks turning just the slightest shade of pink.

"You think that we'll love each other, and then lose each other," Toph finished for him earthbending once more. "You're right that is crazy but not totally out of the picture. I mean, if Katara lost, loved, and met her mom like Sokka did with Yue it wouldn't be insane if that happened to you and me."

It was so odd how she taking all of what they were talking about so calm and serious. Normally, Aang would think he would be dead right about now.

"Do you want it to happen?" Aang asked suddenly.

Toph's hair hid her face from his view. He didn't think that she would be blushing but he did think, like he, she would be embarrassed.

The last thought of them together came and left Toph's mind very fast. And then she passed out, Aang right after her.

………………………………………………………………………………

Toph's eyes fluttered open to the blue–eyed Water Tribe girl above her, or in Toph's way of seeing, the vibration called Sugar Queen. She groaned and tried to turn over on her side but that was when all the flashbacks of water, Aang, rocks, kicking, swimming, everything, came flooding back to her.

She sat up immediately and looked around trying to ignore the pain her stomach, arms, and legs. She planted her feet on the ground. "Where's Aang?" she asked to Katara.

"He's fine," she replied sighing in relive. Toph was okay, that was all Aang cared about when he had woken up not to long before the blind earthbender.

"Aang?" Toph questioned turning her head left to right even though she couldn't see. For some reason, her feet hurt so much that the vibrations were all fuzzy and blurry like if she as on sand.

"Toph?" she heard the voice pierce through the air like a knife. She turned in the direction of the voice only to feel a pair of arms wrap around her in a tight embrace.

"Toph, are you okay?" the voice asked.

Twinkle Toes.

"Yeah, of course," she replied crossing her arms after he had let her go. "Are you okay?"

"Yep, thanks to you," Aang said.

They sat there a while without talking until Suki's voice suddenly rang through the air. "Toph!" she yelped running over to the Blind Bandit. She pulled the girl into a tight hug before asking, "Where did you learn how to swim like that? Have you been practicing?" she added with a smirk.

"You and yeah, a little," she replied smiling. "Thanks for teaching me."

"Thanks for saving Aang," she said right back.

The girls smiled.

"What about all the rebels, where are they?" Toph asked.

"Oh, we already got them down here," Suki replied. "It turned out that they had found another path that was a lot safer just a mile or so away from the bridge."

Toph nodded as she was handed a cup of tea from Iroh. "There you go," he said chuckling, "you've had a hard day today, haven't you?"

Toph laughed a little before pouring the steaming liquid down her throat. "Yes," she replied. "And thank you."

Iroh smiled and nodded in return. The group of earthbenders, firebenders, waterbenders, airbender, warriors, Kyoshi Warriors, and other rebels all drank tea and ate soup that night laughing and talking.

Toph glanced in the direction of Aang a couple times during dinner before taking a sip of tea and laughing at a joke that Iroh told.

Yeah, she thought remembering what Aang had said that day just days before, when he was mastering the Avatar State.

"Yes," the Guru had said. "Last time you saw Katara. And you left to help her using a vision you saw. This time, you saw Toph. And this time you more connected than you were with Katara. When you saw her in the future life, it was a happiness that you want. Kids, a family, peace, her. You want that future life. You don't want to lose it with your fight with the Fire Lord."

Toph heard him stammer before admitting that he wanted that more than anything.

And once Toph thought about, why wouldn't he? He wanted a family, he wanted happiness that he sure didn't have now with the weight of the world on his shoulders. When he had saw the older her in the forest it had given him hope that he would grow hold and have something that would give him what he wanted.

And Toph continued to feel his vibration, slightly timid and then light and free again, like it had been before he had lost his memory.

She smiled, knowing what probably happened and she walked over to the Guru and learned that he had, indeed, entered the Avatar State.

She could only imagine what he was doing right know but she hoped that he knew that she was with him, wherever he was. That's what she would turn into after all, judging by the four kids they end up having and they being married.

She smiled. She wouldn't mind having that life too. And, right now, she would only want to share that life with Twinkle Toes. That kid that had saved her from her home, been her first friend, had bugged her to death about telling him stories at night, and the kid that she had known was the closet friend she ever would have.

Toph sighed at the thought and glanced over in the young's monk direction, who, at this moment, was telling a story about what else but fruit pies and monks like what he had been singing about earlier.

He looked over to her and paused knowing that she was watching him with unseeing eyes and he gave her the biggest heart felt grin that he knew she didn't and couldn't see.

But, like she really could feel his every vibration, like she could actually see him, she smiled back; the first real grin that she had never shown anyone before this very moment.

Yeah, she thought, I want that life too.

Well there you go. Another Toph/Aang chapter. Thanks for reading, now review!! Please! (Gets down on knees and begs.) PLEASE?!