Prompt 6: No Way Out (#59)

"We're going to die."

Toph groaned, and she would have covered her face with her hands if she wasn't chained to a solid steel wall by thick iron chains. She made a good attempt to do so, though, rattling the chains with tired struggling. How many times had she strained against the unyielding metal chains already? She still had fight in her - Toph Beifong always has fight in her - but the situation was quickly driving her up the wall. Her steadying breaths had long since lost their steadying properties, though the heavy breathing still served well to communicate her murderous impulses.

"We're going to die, Toph. Like, for real. This is the end for us."

"Sokka, I swear to the spirits, if I managed to snap these chains-" rattle rattle "-then your neck will be the next in line if you don't shut up."

"But it's true." Sokka's voice was frighteningly tiny for a usually boisterous and snarky boy. Toph immediately felt guilty for snapping at him - he was coping, just as she was, and here she was telling him that running his mouth was not an option. Although Sokka could stand to be less panicky. And annoying.

"We're not going to die, Sokka." Toph said evenly, trying her best to keep a calm tone of voice. "I'll figure something out."

"…But I'm the idea guy," Sokka protested weakly, "and from what I can see, we're trapped with no way out of this mess."

Toph sighed, and tried to tune out his pessimistic rambling. "You whining about it isn't helping."

"What else can I do?" Sokka rattled the chains binding his wrists together helplessly. He could walk and move his arms - more than what could be said for Toph, who was chained completely to a wall - but even then he felt completely powerless. "Bend my way out of here?"

It was not meant as a jab at Toph, but she certainly took it as such. "Oh, so it's my fault now?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Sokka said quietly. A rare moment of clarity for him - it was a familiar cycle by now. Hysteria, followed by a few moments of sanity before dipping back into panic induced hysterics.

"No, it sounded a lot like you were blaming this on my bending."

"I'm not, Toph, why do you keep-"

"Don't you go pinning this on me."

"Toph, please. I'm not blaming you-"

"Damn straight, this is on you."

Sokka flinched, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly for a few moments before they snapped shut.

She's right. This is on me. Sokka thought, a sick feeling in his gut. She was handling herself fine with those Dai Li agents. She was going to be fine - but then I just had to go screw it up.

Toph cringed, immediately berating herself for being so damn stupid. Without any voices to fill the tiny cell, the silence bore down on her like a physical weight, crushing what little spirit she had left.

Toph fought to choke back a whimper. She never meant to snap at Sokka. Her feet scraped the floor, felt cold steel against her toes, but saw nothing, the metal defying her senses. Her ears twitched, naturally honed to compensate for her sight, but all she could hear was oppressive silence and her own heartbeat pulsing through her ears. That, and the hushed, ragged breathing from her friend. Whom she snapped at, because she could not deal with her own feelings of fear and anxiety so that she had to direct them onto someone else. But she felt no anger, only crushing shame and guilt and terror that her friend would be dragged away then and there, and the last moments of his life would be spent thinking that somehow he was to blame for the failings of an entire city.

She took a shuddering breath, feeling a pricking at the corner of her eyes that could've been tears in the right light. But she fought against it - no, damn it! - tears were not what they needed in that moment. Instead, her lips parted slightly as she inhaled, taking a sharp breath to compose herself.

"Sokka-"

"Toph-"

They stopped as their voices spilled over one other, pausing as they waited for each other. They noted that they were already breathless from only one word.

Toph broke the new silence first. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. It's not… It's not your fault…" Her voice caught, her breath stuck in her throat. She couldn't finish.

Sokka didn't respond for a long while. Toph cringed again, certain that she had ruined things. What horrible person insulted a person when they faced near-certain death?

She stiffened when she felt a gentle touch on her face. "It's okay."

She melted when she felt soft lips press onto hers. Their breaths intermingled, and for a brief moment, the darkness melted away.

He pulled away, and she shivered, feeling his breath on her face - and her breath on his.

"If we're going to die anyway," Sokka said, his voice suddenly firm. "I don't want to leave any regrets."

Toph's eyes widened, then, with frightening intensity, she said, "Then don't die."

Their lips met again, this time without the fear, without the hesitation. Toph felt a swelling within her she had never felt before, a surge of strength, and anger, and indignation. There was a roaring in her ears, and she leaned forward into the kiss, her brow furrowed - she had too much to lose to die here. She didn't even need her senses to know that Sokka, kissing back with equal ferocity, had the same thoughts in his mind. They were desperate, and angry, and determined, and no goddamn cell was going to keep them down. The roaring grew louder, and louder, and louder, until-

CRACK

Her hands tore straight through the metal chains, flying forward to pull Sokka into a deep embrace. They held the kiss for as long as they could, blissfully unaware of the miracle, but eventually they had to pull away, to recover their breath.

"So…" Sokka stared down at Toph's broken chains, amazed. "Was that supposed to happen?"

Toph grabbed the chains binding her legs, and pulled - snapping them in half. "…I don't know. If I knew this would happen I'd have done this sooner-" Her sentence turned into a surprised laugh as Sokka grabbed her and swept her up in another kiss, before pushing her towards the metal door.

Toph grinned, and smashed the door down. "Come on - we have a city to save!"

A/N:

Love conquers all - especially an inch-thick steel door.