Part One: Winter

Chapter One: Be My Hero

"What if- what if I don't come back?"

"Don't say that. Of course you'll-"

The waves lapped and rolled against the side of the ship, and Katara found herself getting drowsy despite the severity of the situation.

She knew that Aang didn't have long to live.

It was pure torture, sitting in her cabin in the darkness. It was as if she were just living, just taking every breath for granted, and she couldn't bear it. Her eyes fell on the beautiful silk bedsheets, on the finely woven tapestries, out the little window... it was horrible.

Every breath she took made her stronger. Every breath he took made him weaker.

She willed herself to stay strong. She couldn't cry, she wouldn't cry. She wanted Aang to live, and crying seemed to a way to convince herself that all hope was lost.

Holding in a sob, as if it would help Aang to live, she thought about him, his smile, his eyes that danced like flames.

She thought about his laugh, about the way he said her name. Life was like a miracle to him, and he loved it. He loved the world, and would die for it.

"What if- what if I don't come back?"

She tried her best to hold in the tears that threatened to flow down her cheeks, and thought of Aang, thought of that moment where his lips brushed hers just for seconds.

Back then, she had never thought it would come to this. She had thought that Aang would never die, that good would always win in the end, that nothing, nothing could kill her best friend. She had never thought how stupid she was for even thinking that he would come out unscathed.

How wrong she was. How horribly, horribly wrong.

Dear spirits, help Aang. Help Aang to live.

Praying would do no good, because she knew that nothing could save the Avatar from death. Not even herself.

Her face remained stone-cold, unreadable, and the warrior glanced worriedly at her.

She was dressed in a pale-green robe that flowed to the ground, and her hair was done up in a graceful bun, so unlike the quick one that she had always managed to pin up in a matter of seconds. She looked absolutely uncomfortable, and Sokka knew that it was trying her patience. Still, she had to act civilized, and the warrior knew that trying to help her would end up in his dismissal.

So he looked on, silent, as Toph contemplated her fate.

Lao Bei Fong sat before the Earthbender. His face was calm, quiet, but Toph knew that he was nearly bursting with joy. She could feel it, feel his tremors of relief and happiness, and wondered, Do my parents really care about me? Do they really love me this much?

She sighed, and knew that they didn't. If they did, they would let her free, free to travel the world and live out her destiny.

Her father sighed and shook her head. "It's unbelievable, really... I never imagined, Toph, that you would come back to me willingly, after the way we've treated you."

It's not like I wanted to. But if you really feel that way, maybe you do care.

"I understand that you've wanted more freedom. After all, you are a growing girl, and we can't shelter you from the world so much anymore. That's why I've decided to let you make your own decisions. We can't keep you in Gaoling forever."

Sokka's eyes widened. Toph must be ecstatic! Didn't she hear what her father had just said?

Toph bowed her head, a grateful smile on her face, but Mistress Bei Fong, who was sitting next to Lao, quietly sighed. "Go on."

The gentleman cleared his throat. "So, Toph, since you want freedom so badly, we've decided to let you choose a husband. One that will take care of you accordingly. I'm sure that he'll let you travel, as long as he escorts you."

Toph let the thought sink in for a moment, then shook her head.

"I'm twelve, Dad. I can't marry yet. Besides, nobody in Gaoling is eligible."

What kind of a joke was this? She was way too young, and besides, what kind of freedom was a marriage?

Sokka watched with silent fury. They couldn't do this to Toph, not now. She was free, and suddenly, they wanted to marry her off?

"Toph, I understand your confusion. There are so many people in the world, and so little that are eligible. But we've sent letters to all the provinces nearby, and the prominent families will arrive at the ball."

"What ball?"

"The one for your thirteenth birthday." Lao looked at his daughter expectantly, waiting to see joy light up her face. Toph remained cold, quiet, until she stated, very low:

"I don't want a husband."

"Oh, dear, we won't marry you off now," Mistress Bei Fong said hurriedly. "We can't force love, but if you find somebody at the ball, I'm sure we can make negotiations, maybe an engagement..."

"I'm twelve, Mom! I don't want to get married!" Toph couldn't believe this was happening. Suddenly, the world was spinning under her feet, and she felt frantically around her, feeling nothing but air, seeing nothing but darkness.

"You can't do this!"

"Toph, it really is all for the best-"

"You can't make me!" She took a step forward, but she felt so dizzy, felt so numb... was this a dream? She felt the earth, felt it under her feet, but saw nothing but black, saw nothing at all...

"Toph!" Immediately, Sokka dashed to her side as she stumbled, crying out as she toppled to the floor.

"Toph!"

"Oh, dear, are you alright?"

"Spirits, Toph, breathe, it's gonna be alright," Sokka whispered as the Earthbender shook her head, disheveled, in his arms.

"No, they can't make me, you know it, Sokka."

"Oh, Lao, this is urgent... look what they've done to her, they've made her so blind now!" Mistress Bei Fong cried frantically as Lao Bei Fong took Toph from Sokka's arms and helped her up again.

"Toph... Toph, are you alright?"

"I'm fine." The Earthbender muttered. Suddenly, she started to feel something horrible inside of her, some awful pang in her chest, and she felt like crying.

But no, not with her parents here. Not with Sokka here.

She just shook her head again, and Lao wrapped her in an embrace.

"Oh, Toph, it won't be too bad. It's just a ball, really, you won't have to do much."

"Don't make me... you can't make me!"

"Hush, dear, all the fine young men from the nearby provinces, you know some of them, it won't be too bad."

"Mom, just stop, please!"

"Toph, be reasonable!"

"Why can't you see that she doesn't want to get married?!"

The rage that had been building up inside Sokka suddenly grew too large for him to control, and it suddenly burst out, surprising everyone. He looked at Toph, who had protests written all over her face, and at her parents, who were too naive, too naive even to comprehend what their daughter wanted.

Toph, it's alright, he found himself thinking. You have me.

Suddenly, Toph broke the silence, her voice coming out in a small, shaky whisper. "Just the ball, but I don't want to marry... I'm too young, really, I just want to stay like this. I don't need protection."

Lao looked at his daughter, helpless, while Mistress Bei Fong shook her head.

"You're a disgrace, Toph. Your father has invited all sorts of prominent people to your ball, expecting a beautiful young lady, but you're acting like- like a child!"

Lao stammered a little. "Now, don't say that, dear, it's just that we've worked very hard on this surprise, and expected you to be happy, but-"

"You're going to dishonor your family!" Mistress Bei Fong muttered, and Toph looked away, wishing that she could just run to Sokka, just to fly away and never come back again. Lao Bei Fong looked at the scene uncomfortably, from the nervous warrior to his trembling daughter and wife, and shook his head.

"Oh, Toph... I wish I could tell you otherwise, but they know we've got a daughter now, and if they don't see you there, if they don't... they'll assumed you've run off, or done something horrible- Toph, please, listen, there's nothing else we can do now that we've gone and sent the letters, and-"

"It's all your fault," Toph muttered, fury in her voice. "It's your fault and not mine. You were the ones who sent those letters. You were the ones who wanted them to come and marry me!"

"No, we wanted your input, but you wouldn't come back, and the war-"

"Dad, you don't get it!" The Earthbender wrenched herself away from his embrace. "Don't you see? Marriage isn't freedom! It's... it's for adults. I'm just a kid, and I don't want to go and live a life like yours! I'll stay with Sokka, and I'll go, and I won't marry!"

"Fine, then! Stain your family name and leave us in disgrace? Unreputable? Toph, you're a young lady! Young ladies can't go frolicking about the world and kicking up their heels in dirt! You have to stay and prove that you're a Bei Fong! You have to honor your family!"

"Mom, I've tried, but I can't live like this!"

"Enough arguing." Everyone looked up at Lao, who shook his head weakly.

"Toph, you will follow our commands and attend the ball. There, you will pick a suitor or stay forever on Bei Fong property. As for your escort, he may not accompany you to the ball." Lao Bei Fong glared at him, and Sokka tried to meet his gaze calmly. "When choosing a chaperone, Toph, you must look for a well-mannered one. This oaf probably polluted your mind and caused all this commotion."

Sokka waited to hear Toph's counterargument, but to his surprise, the girl stayed silent, her head bowed in submission.

"You will not talk back to your parents again, or your escort is banned from the premises. Do you understand, Toph?"

"Yeah, Dad. Sure."

Lao and Mistress Bei Fong stood up, and both Toph and Sokka bowed.

"I'll go to my bedchambers now," Toph mumbled, and as her parents led her away, Sokka was left standing, wondering where the brave, strong Earthbender he had admired had gone.

Maybe to a place where there aren't any forced marriages. Maybe she ran away again.

"Hey, Toph?"

The girl lifted her head weakly. She was alone in her bedroom, collasped on her fine silk mattress, trying to form an escape plan while reassuring herself that it was all just a joke, all just a game that her parents were playing. She would not have a ball for her thirteenth birthday. She would not choose a husband. She would not stay in Gaoling forever.

Yeah, right.

"Toph, it's me, Sokka. At the window."

The girl sighed, rolled off the bed, and proceeded to yank the window open. Sokka crawled inside, evidently with great difficulty, before tumbling onto the carpet.

"I can't believe them."

Toph groaned and flopped back onto her bed.

"It's all a joke, right? I only agreed to play along, and at the end of my visit, we're all going to have a big laugh about it. It's all a joke."

"I don't know about that, Toph. Your parents seemed like they were telling the truth." The warrior brushed himself off and joined the girl lying on the finely-woven bedsheets. The Earthbender rolled over and buried her head in a pillow.

"Ugh. I just hate it, Sokka!" Was the muffled reply.

"I know. Well, I don't know. What did your parents say when they dropped you off here?"

Toph looked up and scoffed. "Nothing. They never do. They don't care about my happiness."

"Well, they want to protect you. That's a fact."

"No, they don't! They just want to make alliances with the other rich people in the provinces." The girl lay her head down again, this time sideways. "Even if it is all a joke, if I stay here in Gaoling any longer, the subject of... getting married... is always gonna be in their heads. Sokka, please, get Appa and take me outta here."

"But Toph, your parents. They're not going to appreciate it, and all that talk about disgracing your family... Toph, they really do care about you, and what would happen if you ran away again? They risked their reputations inviting all those rich people to your ball, and if you leave, they won't be respected again."

"You're right. At least I can Earthbend a little here, with the guards around and me wearing safety padding and..." She stopped, shook her head. "Sokka, I forgot how horrible life was here. I just want to leave, but I can't disgrace my family. You're the plan guy; how will we get through this?"

"Just go to the ball and pretend that you don't like any of the suitors. That's the only way to get out of this marriage fix."

"Trust me, Sokka. I won't have to pretend to dislike any of 'em."

The Earthbender paused a little.

"But you're not gonna be there. What if things go wrong and I have to get married anyways?"

"I don't know. But I'll be around, and if your parents choose a husband for you... we'll take that as it comes."

The two sat there silently, hearing the moon-crickets chirp, and Toph jumped off the bed, Sokka following suit.

"I wish I could stay like this forever. Not growing up, never, ever, getting married..." she stated. "I wish I weren't rich, so I could run away and nobody would care, and I would feel the earth and see everything in the world. I don't want to go to fancy balls, and get engaged to a total loser when I'm only thirteen."

Sokka nodded. It felt like his love for Yue all over again: they loved each other, but they could never be together. They could never be together because she was going to get married.

Suddenly, he felt like the whole world stopped spinning and it was just them, just them alone in this one moment in time.

"Sokka?" Her voice came hesitant, questioning. "You're... there's something wrong?"

"No... but I was just thinking of someone I used to know, someone who got an arranged marriage. She was from the North Pole..." Sokka shook his head. "Well, never mind."

"Well, tell me more about her. If that's okay," Toph added quickly. She wondered what happened to this "girl". After all, she was forced into marriage too, and any advice would be helpful.

"Okay, then, I guess it's alright." Sokka felt a slight pang in his heart. "Well, Yue- yeah, that's her name- she was a great person. A really nice, wonderful, sweet person. And she got engaged... to this jerk of a guy." The warrior found it a little hard to explain, but regained his bearings and continued on in a strong voice. "She didn't want to marry him, but she had to- you know, North Pole traditions and all. They were together and everything."

"What happened to her?"

"Well, Yue was really sick when she was little, so when the moon was full, her parents begged the Moon Spirit to heal her. Some of the Moon Spirit's energy became part of her." Sokka found his voice wavering a little, the pain of old memories weighing him down. "So when the Fire Nation attacked the North Pole and... killed the Moon Spirit... Yue gave her life, her life on Earth, to take the Moon Spirit's place." The warrior could see the confused look on Toph's face.

"So the Fire Nation killed the moon, and Yue brought it back to life?"

"Yeah."

"So... she's the moon now?"

Toph couldn't see it, but tears were threatening to escape from Sokka's eyes, and he brushed them away swiftly.

"Yeah."

"And this girl- Yue- you liked her a lot?" Toph asked softly. It was a personal question, but for some reason, she felt like she had to know.

"Y-yeah."

Toph nodded, and shook her head. She let a minute of silence pass before asking, courageously, "What happened to her fiancee?"

"He died."

"Of a broken heart?"

"No." Sokka found himself struggling to keep his composure. "Her fiancee never really cared about her anyways, only about her money and her status and..." He bowed his head, finding it too hard to say any more.

Toph said nothing, but went over to the window, where a full moon looked over the sky. She leaned her head outside and felt the cool wind brush her cheek, felt the freshness of the winter air.

"Sokka, I'm sure she wouldn't want you to be sad. After all, she's probably outside looking over you now."

It was the most sentimental thing she had ever said to Sokka, and she felt herself flushing a little as she felt Sokka's footsteps approaching the open window. She stepped away to let him look outside, and the pale light of the moon shone over his face, shone and illuminated his eyes.

"Yeah, that's her."

Amazingly, Sokka found himself smiling despite himself, and Toph, vaguely embarrased by all the emotion going on, stayed silent as the warrior peered out into the sky.

"So I guess the moral of the story is that arranged marriages always end up in people dying?" She ventured dryly, with a small smile on her face.

Sokka turned away from the window and looked at the blind girl, looking so foreign in those silk robes. But that smirk, that small display of emotion... that was purely Toph and only Toph.

"I don't think people die all the time, but..." He stopped for a minute. "Their lives pretty much end up in ruin."

Toph nodded, trying to comprehend what Sokka had just said, then sighed.

"That's why I need to get out of this place. So I won't die or end up in ruin, right?"

Sokka found himself grinning, and Toph smirked.

"I figured that's the way the story goes."

"Story?"

"The story of our lives," Toph pronounced dramatically. "The awesome, butt-kicking heroine and the machete whacking hero face off against an arranged marriage! We must fight the forces of rich and snotty villains and find a happy ending!"

"So I'm a hero?"

"Wanna be my hero?" The question was asked in a sarcastic manner, but what it meant was clear. Sokka was taken aback, but nodded.

"Sure."

"He's sleeping, don't bother him!"

"Quiet down, I'm just here to... well, just here to look."

This was spoken in a whisper, and his hazel eyes flashed in the moonlight.

"You should be asleep in your cabin now, anyways. There's nurses taking the night shift. Aang'll be fine."

"He won't. I'm his friend, so I can stay awake with him."

Katara's ice blue eyes pierced his, and Zuko sighed.

"I understand your concern for Aang. But the doctors here are more than capable of treating him. He'll be fine."

"I know. I just don't want him to think that I've left him here to die."

"He won't think that." The prince looked at the boy, regarded him quietly. "You two are friends."

"Yeah."

"He won't think that."

Katara shook her head.

"They said that his condition would worsen if we don't get to the North Pole in time."

"He'll be fine."

"And how do you know these things?"

Instead of the harsh tone that Katara had spoken to Zuko in recently, this question came out a little softer, a little hesitantly.

"I just do. He's the Avatar."

"He's Aang. He's a boy too."

Katara bowed her head and looked at the lifeless Airbender before her.

"Can you imagine him? He's so dead now. But before, he was the best friend to ever have around. He was full of life and free. I can't believe that a person would want to end him... I can't believe your nation wanted to end him."

"You know I was fighting on your side." Zuko paused for a moment. "You know that I've never meant for this to happen."

"How could you have known?" The Waterbender gave a small, bitter laugh. "That's the way the world runs, I guess. In a different dimension, maybe everyone's alive right now! Maybe somewhere else in the world, everyone's rejoicing and so happy that the war is over when really, everything's not okay!" She sighed and looked away. "Maybe somewhere else in the world, people have bigger things to worry about than the Avatar's life."

There was silence for a moment, then Zuko spoke.

"I know how you feel. I know how guilty I felt when my father died. I loved him, you know. You have a father too, and you know what it's like." Katara quietly turned to look at him, and he continued, his head lowered. "When the Avatar ended him, I felt horrible that I was a part of it all. That I was a part of taking him down. But I know that if that hadn't happened, Aang would've died, and so would've so many other people in the world. All for nothing." The prince shook his head. "Like you said, that's the way the world runs."

"You understand too."

"Yeah."

Katara nodded and turned back to her friend. Her friend, her best friend, Aang, who lay, still, on a red mattress in Zuko's ship. Her best friend, Aang, who came so close to death for the second time in his life.

"I wish Aang would awaken," she whispered, almost to nobody. "I wish that I could see him again and just tell him how much I love him."

This caught Zuko's attention, and he courageously asked,

"You love him?"

Katara gently held on to Aang's hand, and she looked at him quietly, looked at that motionless body before her.

"Of course I do. He's my best friend."

She held on to him a little longer, then realized how much she had just said in front of Zuko. She flushed and said no more on the subject, holding tight to Aang's hand and looking at him silently.

It's gonna be alright, Aang. We'll both make it through this.

"Well..." Zuko muttered. "I'll be getting back to my cabin now. Get some rest."

"Yeah..." Katara bowed her head slightly as Zuko's footsteps faded, and the creak of the door signified that he was gone.

Then her heart hurt so badly, and she looked at Aang, who seemed to be dying so quickly. Zuko's voice rang in her head, over and over and over again.

You love him? You love him?

"I do, Aang, I really do," she whispered, clinging on tightly to him.

You love him?

Of course I do. He's my best friend.

But best friends didn't love each other. Not in the way she loved Aang.

She only wished that he would stay alive long enough for her to say that.

She only wished that he wouldn't die at all.

A/N: Thanks for reviewing, everyone!

In the next chapter: Toph goes shopping for her ball, and drags a reluctant Sokka along. Meanwhile, the ship draws ever-closer to the North Pole, and Katara is starting to lose hope that Aang will ever awaken. The question is... will he?