The tale of Aang and Toph
Toph ran the last few meters as the rain began to pour down. She entering the large archway of the recently reopened air bender cultural archives located in the northern airnomad complex. Thanks to the thunderstorm, it was already pitch black outside except for the occasional flash of lightning that illuminated the almost empty courtyard.
Most of the other inhabitants were on the other side of the northern air temple celebrating the opening of the library she had just entered. It had been a lot of work and everyone had pitched in, so it was no surprise that all were now celebrating within the large dining hall. The only exception to this was the one airbender who had lead the whole construction, and who was in fact the leader of the settlement, a young man by the name of Aang.
Toph shook her long hair loose and tidied herself up a bit. Not that the young earthbending master was worried about her looks or anything, not even the journey through puberty into a an attractive young woman had helped on that score, it was just more convenient to have her long hair in order and out of the way.
With the rain pouring down behind her, Toph wondered if there was any way back without getting completely saturated by the downpour that had set in. But then again, the thought of being stuck out here alone with Aang was of no concern to her. She knew she could always rely on her good friend for fun and amusement, assuming she could get the workaholic to tare himself away from whatever serious matter he was currently working on. But in all these years, Toph had become especially good at doing just that.
Toph bounded up the stairway to the third story. The building was pitch-black, as no one else was there, but this was no concern to her. Toph suddenly froze, deciding it was a perfect opportunity to try something.
Aang sat at a small illuminated desk in a corner of a small room. Rain hit the closed window pains in front of him rhythmically. Absorbed in his task, he barely looked up to register the new noise. Instead, he grabbed a new scroll so as to start a second index.
The young man diligently scribbled away. He seemed to hesitate a moment before continuing.
Toph took great pains to hide her movement. She snuck her way around the corner, trying to sense for any signs of Aang's awareness with her earthbending.
Aang was only a few steps in front of her. Toph hesitated, waiting for another thunderclap before she would pounce on him. Before she could, however, Aang suddenly spoke.
"Don't make me airbend you out the window" said Aang matter of fact like.
Toph deflated as the thunderclap suddenly sounded.
"Damn it Aang" she said with a huff after the loud rumbling had stopped, "I wanted to be 'twinkeltoes' for once."
"You should have started to sneak a little earlier, I felt you running up the stairs" he said, not turning around, though it was clear that he had a cocky smile on his face.
Toph smiled shrewdly.
She walked up beside him, leaning over, and on, his shoulder a bit to get his attention.
"The burden of teaching a prodigal student too well" said Toph with an over emphasized sigh, "I'm just too good a teacher, that's my problem."
Aang smiled. He easily took Toph's weight and continuing to write.
He sniffed the air momentarily.
"Been celebrating?" he asked, smelling the punch on Toph's breath.
"I only had a glass or two" she replied, leaning more forward so as to be a nuisance, she was far from being intoxicated. Her attempt to inconvenience was to no avail, Aang was now a young man, significantly larger and stronger then her physically.
"And that's what you should be doing" Toph continued, "celebrating with the rest of us, not sitting around up here."
"Just a few more things I have to do" Aang replied, writing away.
Toph gave up her position on her friend's shoulder and moved to lean against the desk.
"There are always a few things you have to do" she stated, "and they can always wait… and it always takes me to remind you."
Aang finally stopped what he was doing when Toph leaned over, her arm cutting across his.
Aang looked at his friend.
Pushing back with his feet, his char slid back a bit.
Aang smiled.
"And how do you always know when that is?" he asked.
"I can tell" replied Toph with a smile, "I bet you haven't shaved again."
Toph reached out to touch Aang's face, she rubbed her thumb against the stubble that was just managing to appear on the surface of the young mans cheek.
Aang sighed. He also moved his hand to sweep a stray lock back from in front of her face.
Toph didn't remove her hand form the side of Aang's face.
"Why do you always do that?" she asked "It doesn't make a difference where my hair is."
"I just like to look at your face" replied Aang with kind sincerity.
Toph blushed ever so slightly. It wasn't as if she never received complements… it was just that the ones from Aang always made her go ever so slightly red in the cheeks.
This was something Aang knew, which made giving honest complements all the more fun.
Aang's kind nature endeared him instantly to almost all he came across. There was practically one who didn't enjoy and cherish his light hearted company, particularly considering the time constraints the young Avatar was under. Toph knew however that Aang always saved extra time for her, there was no need for this, but he did it anyway, and it meant a lot more to her then she would let on.
The two pulled their hands away.
"And why do you always have a need to touch my stubble when I don't shave?" Aang asked teasingly in reply.
"That's easy" replied Toph with a smile, "I like to think that it was partly my training that finally made a man out of the twinkletoes… I just like to confirm it occasionally before you go back to your baby face."
Aang laughed.
"Not a fan of smooth faces then?" he asked teasingly.
"I never said that" replied Toph suggestively.
The good natured teasing and mild flirtation had become a hallmark of their close relationship. Toph's high spirits and playfulness was a good offset to the continual pressures on Aang to become a responsible adult too quickly.
Though Toph had developed on from her tomboy youth, she was still not one to talk about her emotions. This was the complete opposite to Aang who freely expressed his love for his fellow human being openly. As much as Toph occasionally found this embarrassing she secretly cherished it deep down. It was her own inability to express it back that, unknown to her, caused the greater frustration. But as with all feelings, these too eventually found expression; and Aang was good at interpreting feelings, even ones as cryptic as Toph's.
"Come on, let's go mud canyon sliding" said Toph suddenly.
"Now?" asked Aang questioningly.
"Of course now, its pouring outside, perfect conditions."
"Isn't it a bit cold?" Aang questioned.
"What kind of a question is that?" dismissed Toph, "would you prefer to sit in here with your work, you need to have more fun Aang, just go for it like when we were younger, you still have plenty of time to be an adult later."
"We are adults Toph" Aang reminded her with a smile.
"I know that" the young woman dismissed, "and we still have lots of fun… now stop your arguing and let's go!"
Toph jumped up and grabbed the airnomads arm, trying to pull him out of the chair.
"Don't make me use earth bending" she warned good naturedly.
"Ok, ok" Aang submitted, there was no use arguing with her when she was like this, and any way, he needed a break.
It was many minutes later as the two were hurtling their way through the torrential rain in pitch blackness.
The moist ground made earth sliding easier and the two raced up and down canyons, slaloming between trees, banking of cliffs and jumping between obstacles as they raced from peak to peck. The two were saturated… and having a ball.
"Yeah!" shouted Aang as he skidded up the side of a cliff, using a bit of water bending to bank back down before earth bending again at high speed through the sparse forest.
Toph slid closer nearby, a large smile on her face.
"No water bending avatar!" she yelled through the rain.
"Not that I need it to beat you!" Aang shouted back with a cocky smile.
"Oh, that's it!" Toph shouted back with mock annoyance.
"First one to lone rock!"
"You're on!" shouted Aang.
The two immediately swung downhill to make a beeline for the large obelisk further up the canyon.
Toph and Aang crisscrossed each other's path as they attempted to slalom their way up the canyon at high speed, exchanging good natured banter as they went. The rain had turned the small creek into a torrent and manoeuvring was difficult.
Aang broke right to avoid the rushing creak and the steeper walls of the canyon.
The young man smiled as he saw that he was increasing his lead.
Toph grinned devilishly. She stayed on her more difficult path, knowing that the riskier move was the only way to beat Aang.
Aang doubled his tempo for the final dash as he saw Toph take the shortcut.
Toph picked up speed and climbed rapidly up a slippery shear cliff. She had to push off momentarily to avoid a waterfall and her momentum carried her clear. She shouted triumphantly as she pulled off the dangerous move and headed straight towards her objective with a reckless heist. The creek had burst its banks, however, and Toph quickly lost contact with the ground as she suddenly found herself aquaplaning. Falling forward into the mud, she slid to a halt at the base of her objective.
A few moments later Aang came to a stop next to her.
"Ha ha ha" laughed Aang as his friend the mud monster raised form her shallow puddle.
"Laugh it up fly boy" said the mud heap with a big grin, "I still won."
"That you did" confirmed Aang with a smile.
Toph suddenly sneezed.
Aang stopped his laughing just in time to see Toph shiver.
He too was incredibly cooled down after travelling through the rain at high speed, despite their sturdy all-weather clothing.
"We had better head back" suggested Toph.
"It's too far in this rain" said Aang, "we should dry off and heat up first."
The young airbender nodded over to a small abandoned Temple structure nearby that would provide shelter.
"You worry too much" said Toph, but then sneezed again.
Aang raised an eyebrow, which Toph could sense, even without her earth bending.
"Fine, fine" she said.
A few minutes later, and a combination of all four element bending had resulted in the two youngsters sitting in dry clothes around a small fire in the cave like shelter of the temple ruins.
Toph sat close to the fire in an attempt to warm up. Despite being dry, she was still shivering a bit.
"Still want to head straight back?" Aang asked, taking a seat by his friend.
"Very funny." replied Toph, still shivering, "maybe it was a bit late in the year to canyon slide in the rain."
Aang smiled. He cherished Toph's reckless mannerisms. It was an inexplicably valuable outlet for the stressful formalities that he had been burdened with. The carefree adventure seeking boy he once had been, had long been buried with demands and responsibilities… but Toph, more then anyone else, always knew how to dig that boy back out. Toph was indeed a tough nut to crack, but once you got past the prickly façade she had a heart of gold. It was one thing to appreciated similarities in another's personality, it was entirely something else to cherish their differences. And this is what circumstance had allowed, and this is what had brought them so close together.
Aang water bended some rain nearby so as to make a sphere of water float in front of him. Not having any cups, he simply heated the water over the fire to warm it up.
"Here, drink this" he said.
"Drink what?" asked Toph, unsure what he was referring to.
Aang moved closer, sitting to her side.
"I just heated up some water, its floating just above my cupped hands… drink it. It'll help warm you up."
Toph felt around in front of her, touching the edge of the floating shear.
"Brilliant" she said with a smile.
The young woman leant forward to drink the floating sphere out of the air.
"And just the right temperature" she added.
Aang leaned to the side, still close to Toph, looking at the fire.
"Looks like all those years with Katara rubbed off on you."
Aang smiled.
"What, the water bending?"
"Looking after people" confirmed Toph, her voice softer.
Aang smiled, though it wavered slightly.
Having been in each others presence for so long the two could sense the slightest emotional change through their earth bending. It was sometimes as if they could have a complete conversation just by reading each others emotional state.
Toph's mind began to itch, once again she had a desire to thank Aang… but for what? She wanted to talk to him but felt restrained, as if fighting her own nature. What she really wanted to do was tell him how much he meant to her, but every way her mind came up with a way to do this was fraught with doubt… Toph was not the soppy emotional type, but that didn't stop her having emotions, it just caused them to be stashed away somewhere. And the problem was, her storage area was running full, and thoughts were beginning to leak.
In Toph's mind she examined the earthbending silhouette of Aang more closely, he really had become a hansom young man, caring for everyone. She also sensed some doubt in him.
"Thinking of Katara?"
"Yeah" Aang confirmed, though Toph couldn't help but notice that her friend's pains had dulled over the months of separation.
"Time dulls all feelings at least" Aang confirmed a moment later, "unfortunately… even the good ones."
"It won't be forever" Toph said in an effort to comfort him, this was not her area of expertise, and both could sense that something was slightly off with her sincerity. As it was so slight, Toph had hoped that Aang had not sensed it and blushing slightly.
Toph knew instinctively that more time with Katara naturally meant less time with her, and despite being genuinely happy for her friends, she couldn't help but be slightly hurt by the idea.
"At least I still have you to keep me company" Aang said good naturedly, ignoring the slight indication from his friend. He threw an arm around his friend and gave her a brief half hug. Though Aang was, by training, very intuitive and thoughtful he often oversimplified things a little too optimistically to maintain his cheery outlook, this was another area were Toph's cold realism had been a valuable counter.
Toph rolled her eyes. This was typical Aang, good natured and honest to the last, if a little naive by choice. She found it very heard to admit to herself how much she had gotten to enjoy his company, his friendship.
"But it's not the same, and it wont be the same… later" said Toph eventually. She sounded slightly dejected somehow, despite trying heard to cover any unwanted emotion leaks.
Aang looked at the young earthbender sitting next to him.
Being forced to realise that things probably would change, he began to asses his relationship with Toph on a different footing. Sweeping aside his daily good natured mindset regarding his friend, he was himself surprised at how deep the feelings suddenly went, she would indeed be much more of a loss to him then he had allowed himself to believe. Looking at Toph more closely, he again realised what a beautiful woman she had become… this, he had always known, but now, there was a slight revision to the thought
"I don't know about that Toph, after all this time together I'd have to honestly say that you're one of my favourite people to spend time with…" Aang found himself suddenly saying.
Though it was the same old words, the added depth that he had uncovered delivered the words with a whole knew intensity, it was as if his voice had changed.
Toph tilted her head a bit, allowing Aang to catch a glimpse of her beautiful emerald eyes as they flickered in the firelight.
He found himself suddenly adding, "…and a very attractive woman at that."
The change in tone and the feelings behind it were instantly felt by both. It was Aang's turn to mildly hesitate. Their honesty flirtation and candour suddenly exposed a slight rip in Aang's logic. He was suddenly unable to deliver the same complement without the hidden meaning, which now, uncovered, gave greater depth to their daily banter. He really had meant only the most honourable of intentions, but it suddenly became obvious to him that honourable or not, the numbers amounted to the same thing, when seen under the slightest changes in light.
Toph felt the hesitation and change in Aang's demeanour, realising the implications immediately. It had been impossible for her to see past Aang's daily façade, and to be honest, she had never realised that she had been secretly looking. This realisation would have been a shock enough in itself, however, her own secretly held thoughts saw the opportunity too, and decided for her that now was the time to act. Like some type of unstoppable trigger, her subconscious flooded her mind and grabbed control of her actions. Toph was by nature not one to hesitate and it seemed obvious to her heart at least what had to be done, much to her own shock.
Toph suddenly leaned to the side and used her free hand to turn Aang's face so as to guide herself in for a kiss.
Aang was surprised for only a moment. His own subconscious instantly overrode his reflexes to insist that this was a natural development of events, despite what his muddled mind thought of the matter. Aang's conscious mind melted away as he began to return the kiss, moving his free hand to cup the side of Toph's face tenderly. The one kiss turned into a few more kisses, as their subconscious's tenderly expressed their buried mutual affection physically.
Toph slowly pulled back, feeling Aang's breath against her skin. Aang looked into her large green eyes, once again sweeping away some hair.
The thoughts that had been put on hold began to sweep back into the picture.
Toph could sense the growing confusion in Aang.
"Toph…" Aang began to say.
Toph raised her hand, covering his mouth.
"I don't want to here it" she said bluntly.
Aang hesitated.
Toph lowered her hand.
"Let's just enjoy the moment, ok? We'll have plenty of time to discuss it later."
Aang smiled, there was simply no arguing with her sometimes. He nodded, the kind honest expression returned to his face as the thoughts left his mind again… there really would be enough time later.
Toph gave him one more quick kiss before she shuffled back a bit, laying down on her side to use Aang's lap as a pillow.
Aang also made himself more comfortable. Leaning back against a rock, he absentmindedly stroked Toph's hair. He had a slight smile on his face. His mind was free of thoughts as he watched the fire play, heard the rain fall, and felt the warmth of his good friend as she leaned against him.
It was simply beautiful.