Chapter 9: Let Down
Toph, Sokka, Aang, and Katara rode in Appa's saddle, headed towards the Firenation. Aang had abandoned his typical post on Appa's neck in favor of comforting his wife. Katara was braiding Toph's long hair with minimal protest from the blind woman.
Toph scowled as Katara tugged on her long hair, and kicked Sokka in the shin.
"Hey!" he cried. "What was that for?" Toph smirked and shrugged.
"I don't know Snoozles. We all know I'm just the helpless blind girl when I'm on Appa." Katara rolled her eyes as Sokka rubbed his injured leg.
"Oh sure, take her side." He muttered, and then glanced towards the palace rising on the horizon. "Does anyone else feel weird?" Katara and Aang exchanged a glance and shrugged. Toph slipped the dagger from her waist and ran the tip under her nails. Katara gave her a perturbed look.
"Is that safe?" she asked, tying off the braid she had created. Toph laughed as they began to descend.
"Oh man, you would have lost your mind if you had been with me these past two years." She answered, her expression playful. Katara put a hand to her head and looked away from the girl and down at the palace. As they landed, Zuko was already running into the courtyard to meet them.
"Aang, Katara, I am so sorry for this. I always knew that Azula was unstable, but I never thought that she could do something so…" Katara turned away, breaking into sobs. Surprisingly, it was Toph who wrapped her arms around the stricken woman. Aang clasped Zuko's hand, and nodded.
"Thank you for agreeing to consider her demands." Zuko nodded and then shook his head.
"A letter just arrived, but I was waiting until you arrived to open it." The four followed Zuko into the palace.
Mai threw a bag onto the war-room table, startling the group. Zuko glanced at his wife with a look of confusion.
"What, you didn't think that you guys were going without me do you? I have a score to settle." She said, opening the bag. Inside was an array of throwing knives, arrows, and blades. There was a small satchel that she pulled out and unfolded, revealing a set of daggers. She handed one to Katara and one to Aang. At Aang's look of revulsion, Mai sighed. "With Azula, it may come down to killing or being killed." Sokka nodded enthusiastically.
"I have a couple daggers, and I know Toph has at least one. Do you still have your dual swords?" he asked Zuko, and Zuko nodded.
"Yes. I think that Ty Lee and Suki would be good additions to our rescue party." Sokka cringed at the mention of Suki's name, and Toph glared.
"Why do we need that bitch?" she asked, venom dripping from her words. Zuko and Mai exchanged a glance, but Katara intervened first.
"Ty Lee's skills are greatly appreciated, but do we really need Suki?" Zuko shrugged.
"I suppose not, but you know that she'll want to come." Sokka snuck a peek at Toph, and was relieved to see that she looked calmer. He touched her thigh and she jumped, surprised at the contact. As she blushed, Mai spoke.
"Okay. So tell me again what Azula's demands are, and what our plan of attack is." Sokka smiled, having a chance to talk.
"Okay, so Azula wants Zuko in exchange for Kira. We're supposed to meet her at the beach house their parents used to live in. Basically, the two are supposed to do that whole, walk to the other side exchange thing. Katara has sent word to the North Pole, asking Chief Arnook for water from the Spirit Oasis, just in case something should go wrong. A messenger hawk should have it to us before we get there. As soon as Kira is close enough, Katara will take her into a cave that Toph is going to create, and then Aang and I will help Zuko if needed." Mai nodded slowly.
"The rest of us will serve as back up, right? And if Azula tries anything, Ty Lee can block her chi." Sokka snapped his fingers.
"Precisely! But, I'm not going to tempt the universe and say that everything will be okay." He smiled, clearly proud of his cleverness. Toph rolled her eyes. Mai smiled.
"Okay, so then…I guess we're headed to Kyoshi Island to pick up Ty Lee." Zuko nodded, and they left the war-room to prepare for the journey.
Toph stretched her legs out, and accidentally hit Zuko in his sensitive man parts.
"Ah! Toph, watch where you're…oh." Zuko trailed off, staring into Toph's milky eyes. Toph rolled her eyes and scooted closer to Sokka, and stretched her legs to the left of Zuko.
"Sorry, I can't watch anything. I'm not used to Appa's saddle being so full." Sokka absently noticed her closeness, and blushed. Mai, looking for action like usual, called him out.
"Aw, is Toph snuggling with her Meathead?" she joked, her eyes lighting up. Sokka blushed and Toph smiled.
"Of course she is. She loves her Meathead. Toph wants to do so many things to her Meathead in this saddle." Mai's jaw dropped and Zuko laughed. Aang glanced at Toph from his position on Appa's head.
"Toph, when we get Kira, you know you can't talk like that, right?" Katara giggled as Toph blushed.
"I was just teasing Apathy. No harm intended." Sokka was still in a state of shock, and struggling to force the slew of thoughts she had drawn up out of his head. Toph leaned back into him, and bit his arm.
"Spirits Toph!" he yelled. Toph tilted her head up at him and smiled.
"That help?" she asked, her eyes dancing with mischief. Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know how it is that you guys managed to travel together for so long without killing each other." Sokka smiled and elbowed his sister.
"Years of practice." She muttered. "I had a lot of practice."
Later that night, they landed about a day's travel from Kyoshi Island, and set up camp. Having learned from previous mistakes, Toph helped set up camp. As they all settled into their bedrolls around the fire-courtesy of Zuko-Sokka couldn't help but notice they had all paired off. Toph was already asleep beside him, her bedroll mere inches from his. She had been abnormally quiet the rest of the ride. Sokka had his suspicions that it had something to do with Suki, but said nothing. Sokka had long since fallen out of love with the warrior, and his newfound…old…feelings for Toph were so close to the surface, he was surprised he hadn't blurted them out as yet. Toph seemed to be shying away from him, becoming a source of comfort for Katara, who was prone to breaking down and crying at random times. He wondered if it had been his actions during the meeting in the war-room. Sokka hoped that he had not succeeded in pushing Toph further away from him.
The journey to Kyoshi was long, and Toph was incredibly irritable. Anytime anyone would mention Kyoshi Island, she would go off on a tangent about the lack of self-worth makeup brought about. She went on about true beauty and the artificiality body enhancement brought. After a while, the group learned that it was best not to bring it up. As they touched down on Kyoshi Island, Toph opted to stay on Appa and keep guard.
Sokka found Ty Lee and Suki in the Kyoshi Warrior training room. They both perked up at the sight of him, and he received hugs from both women. As they both stared at him inquisitively, he delivered the bad news.
"Azula kidnapped Katara and Aang's daughter, and she wants Zuko in exchange. Ty Lee, we would like if you could come, in case things go bad. We already have a plan, and I'll explain it-" Suki raised a hand.
"Wait a minute Sokka. You guys don't want my help?" Sokka slowly shook his head.
"It's not that at all Suki. We just figured that you have a lot of responsibilities here, and we didn't want to pull you away from them." Suki gave him a skeptical look, and Ty Lee smiled.
"I'm honored to help!" Suki glared at Sokka.
"Well, I'm coming too. Kira means a lot to me too." Sokka sighed and pointed towards Aang-who was being worshiped by several teenage girls.
"Talk to Aang about it. I need to check on Toph and Appa." Suki put a hand on his arm.
"Is she the reason you guys don't want me to come? She doesn't want me to?" she asked, her eyes displaying the hurt she felt. Sokka put a hand on her cheek.
"Look, all Toph remembers about us splitting is that I was hurt. She's just trying to protect me. I'm sure that if you're nice to her, she won't mind." Suki nodded and walked towards Aang, hoping to get his approval to come. Sokka turned and headed back towards Appa. Toph was sitting in his saddle, casting stones into the water. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" he called. Toph jumped, surprised by his presence, and waited as he climbed into the saddle with her. After a moment, she sighed.
"You're going to stay with Suki, right?" Sokka stared at Toph blankly.
"Um…no. Suki and I ended a long time ago. We haven't spoken in years. But, I wanted to tell you, she's demanding to come. I just wanted to warn you. I'm sorry Toph." Toph shrugged, her face turned away from him.
"Whatever." She muttered, casting another stone into the water. Sokka sighed.
"Toph, I think there are some things that we need to talk about." Toph rolled her eyes and turned back to him.
"Sokka, I think it's best if we just focus on the task at hand, okay? I need to stay focused so that nothing goes wrong." Sokka slowly nodded, ready to confess his feelings but understanding her need for focus.
"Okay Toph. Whenever you are ready." He said, and left Toph to her thoughts.
Toph had been silent the entire ride from Kyoshi Island to the island they were currently camped at. Ty Lee had flirted shamelessly with Sokka, and he had politely shut down her advances. Suki had attempted to make small talk with her multiple times, but Toph ignored her. She was curled in her rock tent, away from the fire and the others, wondering if she had been wrong to believe Sokka when he said that he was no longer in love with Suki. Right now, she could feel Suki moving towards Sokka. The two left together, and headed away from the group. Hurt, Toph stood, not wanting to feel the vibrations she was sure they were about to create, and pushed her tent back into the ground. She stood up and moved to Appa's saddle, now on the ground, and nestled into it, tears silently coursing down her cheeks.
Sokka stared at Suki and slowly shook his head.
"I don't know what Toph's problem is. I wish I could help you, but she isn't exactly speaking to me right now either." Suki sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
"So, have you finally admit your feelings to her?" Sokka gaped at Suki and she laughed in return. "Come on, we all knew that it was just a matter of time. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you." Sokka shrugged and sighed.
"Yeah, I really love her. It's weird knowing that we should have been together all this time." Suki nodded.
"Well, I wish you luck and happiness. Things will work out, I promise." Sokka nodded and went back to his bedroll, closing his eyes and preparing himself mentally for tomorrow's battle.
A/N: I just realized how squished my writing looks. I thought that upgrading my writing software would have fixed that. Hmm…anyway, thank you for reading and please review! Thanks again to all of you that have, it really encourages me to keep going. More tomorrow. ~Kirsten