Toph woke up slowly. She came out of oblivion in stages.
The first stage was the sound of distant voices, very faint.
The second stage was realising that they were the voices of people she loved, and that hearing and recognising them gave her comfort.
The third stage was noticing the feeling of starched sheets stretched over a soft mattress beneath her, of dappled sunlight on her skin, and that someone had covered her feet by putting socks on them. Someone was holding her left hand.
The fourth stage was pain.
More intense than any pain Toph had ever experienced, there was a feeling of something being torn in her back; it reached into her newly conscious body in a wave, starting at her hips and moving its way up.
When it reached her neck, she gasped and her eyes flew open involuntarily.
"Toph, you're awake!" exclaimed a voice near her left shoulder. It was Sokka's voice, and hearing it filled her with warmth and relief that overshadowed the pain, even if it was only a brief reprieve.
She tried to say his name but could produce only a slight croak.
The hand holding hers gave a gentle squeeze. Four sets of footsteps approached her bed and she heard water being poured into a cup.
"You must be so thirsty," said Katara. Toph nodded her head with the least amount of movement possible – even the tiniest of movements were painful - and Katara gently gave her a small sip of water. The cold water on her raspy throat was like heaven, but she had a feeling that drinking too fast would be a pretty bad idea.
"Katara, is everyone okay?" Toph asked.
Katara put a hand on her shoulder. "Everyone is fine – they took pretty much everyone in the room out with tranquilizer darts. Only you and Hotaru, the singer from the band, were really hurt beyond a few cuts and bruises. Luckily your officer, Wan, managed to escape during the initial confusion and get reinforcements. If he hadn't, the healers might not have gotten to you on time."
At this last, Sokka's grip on her hand tightened.
"Hotaru… was she the firebender or the earthbender? I remember they were both there."
"Firebender." said a new voice from across the room to Toph's left. "Koichi's the earthbender. He's my brother." She sounded like a young woman in her twenties. Her speaking voice brought back the memory of the song that had been playing when they were attacked, while she and Sokka were dancing.
"How did Wan get out?" Toph asked.
"He slipped out through the west exit. Near your earth rise." Katara said.
"That lily liver should have stuck around to defend people!" she said. "I'll kick his head in."
"Toph," said Sokka quietly, "if he hadn't escaped when he did, there's a very strong chance you'd be dead now."
"He saved your life."
Toph sighed. "Well then I guess I'll settle for a solid punch."
"Are you in much pain?" asked Mai. So she and Zuko were here too; probably the other footsteps Toph had heard had been those of Aang.
"Try a whole lot of it," replied Toph. "What happened to me? I didn't see anyone coming, so whoever got me must have come out of the air."
"You, me, Hotaru and Koichi were the last ones standing," said Sokka, "and then these two chi blockers and a guy with a knife came down out of nowhere - on harnesses or something. They took us all by surprise.
I think... I think they knew that at the very least you would get past the original barrage, and the guys on harnesses were the real enemies. The guy with the knife..." here Sokka paused. "Well, he got to you before I could stop him." His voice was not quite steady.
"Don't beat yourself up, Sokka." Katara said quickly. "You did everything you could."