AN: This one's a crossover.

Day 6- Lies

"How's she doing?"

The voice was familiar, comforting almost.

"Hasn't slept much. Won't eat. Still hasn't left the room."

The second voice was not familiar or comforting. It was older, cold, detached.

Her hearing in this place wasn't what it used to be, but she could make out their hushed voices outside her door clear enough. The walls, the floor, something creaked. One of them was about to come in.

"It's difficult for some," the unknown voice added. A reminder, a warning. "We don't usually free a mind once it's reached a certain age. It's dangerous, the mind has trouble letting go."

A long pause.

"I'll talk to her," the familiar voice promised and minutes later the heavy, metal door swung open.

...

They sat side by side on the narrow cot that she had used as a bed the last few nights. It was old and lumpy and only slightly more comfortable than the metal floor below her feet. She knew that because she actually tried sleeping on that instead.

"Toph."

"That's not my name, remember?" she snapped, but the bite in her tone was gone. She sounded only half alive. Inwardly, she cringed at how weak and pathetic she was being.

It wasn't like her. But, that was the problem, wasn't it? She didn't know who she was, who she was supposed to be now. As if reading her thoughts, he finally spoke up.

"You're still the same person." Reaching for her hand, he stopped midway. With a sigh, he continued. "I am, too. We're the same people we've always been and-"

"No."

It was the voice of the Blind Bandit and one side of her mouth curled up.

Still, she wouldn't look at him. Couldn't. Her gaze remained focused on her hands lying in her lap. Her skin looked so soft, so smooth, paler than she ever realized. Frail and delicate were the words that came to mind. Because gone were the tiny scars she had felt crisscross her hands and arms. Gone were the calluses on her palms, once rough from earthbending. In their place, skin like a baby's and black rings where her body had been pierced with cables.

When she closed her eyes she could see the badgermoles, that first day she used her bending, eventually sneaking out of her house to become Earth Rumble Champion. Then, getting knocked out of the ring by Twinkletoes, running away with him, helping him win the war. Years later, without meaning to, she fell in love with Aang and he with her. Their first kiss, their first time...

None of it was real.

"Don't you get it?" she said on the verge of losing it. "It was all a lie. All of it."

"Not all of it," he replied just as adamantly. That time he did take her hand with steady confidence.

When his came into her line of sight, brushing his fingers over the back of her hand, she frowned a little. The tattoos she often wondered about were gone, too. As he laced his hand with hers, she choked back the sob stuck in her throat. His hand was so warm and tangible, she focused on that to steady her, and squeezed back.

Closing her eyes, she imagined they were back home. Flying on Appa from one city to the next, the sun on her face, the wind in her hair. Momo would be sleeping on her lap and Aang would be telling her stories of his people or trying to steal a kiss...

When she reached for the bangs he often liked to sweep away from her face, the illusion was broken. Instead of silky strands, there was short, prickly stubble along her scalp. Instead of her seismic sense, she had eyes that could see just like everyone else's. Everything was different. Instead of the lush, wonderfully smelling world she learned to earthbend in, there was only metal, the smell of death and decay, and something called sentient machines. Instead of the peace they fought for when they were children, there was a very different war raging on.

"I wish we could go back."

"You don't mean that."

"I do," she assured him. She did. With her whole heart. "I'm..."

"You're what?" he asked, inching closer until the sides of their bodies touched. He hoped she would welcome the contact, if not, he would slide away and give her her space. "Toph?"

Gently, he lifted her face to his. When she caught a glimpse of his jaw, she shut her eyes tight. It was childish perhaps, but seeing him would make this 'real world' infinitely more real. For her, anyway. Because then, there would be no more pretending otherwise. Once she saw his face and looked into his eyes the truth of those lies would come crashing down on her.

His breath ghosted across her lips, softening her expression, but her eyes remained closed. Then, he pressed his forehead to hers.

"Please open your eyes," he whispered, brushing the side of her face with the back of his hand. "Please look at me, Toph."

Had she attempted to speak, the tears would have fallen and she didn't know if she would be able to stop them, so she simply shook her head. She could not look at him. She couldn't.

"What happened to facing things head on?" he asked her.

"That never happened."

"Of course, it did," he said with such vehemence, his entire body trembled. "We were real. That wasn't a lie! We were real, Toph. We are real. Unless..."

"Unless what?" she asked, opening her eyes, but keeping them lowered. In her periphery she could see his lips, the tip of his nose...

"Unless you were only with me because I was the Avatar...?"

She snorted. "I was with you despite it."

"Prove it," he challenged because whether in the Four Nations or outside it, he knew she couldn't resist a challenge.

With time slowing to a halt, heartbeat rising, breath hitched in her throat, the young woman raised her eyes to his. Along the way her gaze lingered on his lips, pale and full. His nose, not as long as she imagined, but slightly wider. And then, his eyes. Brilliant, luminous, the color of the metal walls she woke up to. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"We're in this together," he promised, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Then, with a hesitance that felt so familiar, he closed the small distance between them.

The kiss was soft, so incredibly soft that a few traitorous tears fell, but she didn't care. It was strange to think this was the first time their lips were actually touching and it felt just as wonderful. It was different and the same, just like everything in this new place would be. But she didn't care. Her focus was on him, on the feel of his mouth, the taste. Warm and slick, his tongue slid against hers and a small sound escaped her as they deepened the kiss.

He was the first to pull away. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and lose herself in him once again, have it be like it was but, that wasn't possible anymore. Looking up into his eyes, bright and light, she knew he was right. None of it had been a lie. It was all real. Just like this new place would be.

"We took the red pill for a reason, Toph."

She took it to help him, to protect him. Isn't that what the woman Niobe said.

"He won't survive without you. The others...they will have their own issues to deal with and have much difficulty adjusting, but you never really saw the dream world you were in... The transition should be...easier. But ultimately, the choice is yours."

Not much of a choice. And, Niobe couldn't have been more wrong, but those thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind.

"What about the others?" she asked. Sweetness. Snoozles. Sparky. Fangirl. "We gonna find them and unplug them, too?"

Those beautiful grey eyes smiled back. Oh, she could definitely get used to this seeing thing.

"Yes, we are."

"Good," Toph grinned, for the first time looking like her old self in this real world. "Let's get started then."

AN: So...what'd you think? It was purposely vague, but since The Matrix is one of my favorite movies, this was bound to happen eventually! ;) And it fit nicely with the 'Lies' theme, I think, so there it is. =)