Life Doesn't Have An Ending
May. 15th, 2008 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kolLife Doesn't Have An Ending, 31_days fic for May 15, His dreams have lost some grandeur coming true.
Author's Note: This is a speculative fic, written before we had finale spoilers, of what happens AFTER the war is over, particularly Toph's way of handling the gaang breaking up. I think her reaction to it would be fascinating, so I decided to write how I saw the situation out.
Toph can feel the sky cold and damp pressing against her skin and knows the touch for night. The sun has fallen on the first in what she hopes is a long line of days with no war throughout the nations, and she knows Yue is somewhere above, watching over the landscape she once walked upon.
But she needed no light, and walked stiffly from the camp, her body still aching from the wounds healed only hours before. She wound by the ruins of the Fire Lord’s sanctuary, finding no joy in the sensations of twisted metal and stone strewn upon the soiled earth. Her feet continued further, finding their own road beyond the city, whispers of the battle tugging at her mind with every vibration revealing a little more of what she, and the others, had brought upon this place.
Her feet finally came to rest on the debris cluttered beach, the voices of the earth finally silenced by the gag of sand between her digging toes.
For the first time that day, Toph could breathe.
It was difficult to sense the passage of time at night, when the cold simply settled deeper and deeper into ones bones, but she guessed an hour had passed before her keen ears picked up heavy footsteps approaching. She might have tensed, forcing the sands below to a temporary fusion from which to launch a terrific attack, if she hadn’t recognized those even steps.
She settled herself on the sands instead, letting the gentle wind finish the healing Katara had begun.
“I figuring someone would come after me,” Toph began once the intruder’s steps hit the sands. “I just didn’t figure it being you.”
Katara laughed, her voice as gentle as the winds, but beneath the sound was a strength Toph knew she could never bend. “You looked troubled, so I gave you some time before coming after you.”
Unsaid, but still pressing down on Toph, was the question what bothering her.
“The war’s over.” Toph straightened her lower lip before it could betray her with a quiver. “And that means nothing is going to be the same again.”
“I don’t know-”
“Look, Aang’s going to go around doing his Avatar thing with Appa, that isn’t going to change. But our gang? This is the end. Zuko’s going to stay here, probably end up Fire Lord after a few years. And you and Sokka are going to go home with your dad. We’re done.”
Katara settled herself on the beach, but Toph could get no read for what emotion Katara carried within her, nor the rarely incorrect clue of her heart beat. What little Toph could read from the tiny granules of sand informed her only of Katara’s vague and indistinct outline. It was as if Katara’s head had merged with the night itself.
She never had liked the sand.
“I guess you’re right Toph, we are splitting up. But it isn’t like we won’t see each other again. You’d love it at the South Pole-”
“Ice? Blindness? Freezing valuable body parts off? I don’t think so.” Toph managed gruffly before leaning back in the sand, her arms propping her head up.
“Well, we can always visit you-”
“You guys are the only real family I have. My parents never responded to the messanger-hawk, remember? I… I don’t really want to go back there. Maybe I’ll go visit Bumi in Omashu. Maybe I’ll travel as an Earthrumble champion. Maybe I’ll go to Haru’s village and show them what real earthbending is. But I won’t go back to Gaoling. I won’t go where I’m not wanted.”
“Toph-”
“No, I’m okay now, Katara. We’re splitting up, I can deal with that. And you are right— we’ll see each other again. I’ll be fine, really.”
“Toph, I’m sure your parents want you-”
“Seriously Katara, a fourteen year old who barely knows me is a better mother than my own. How do you think that makes me feel? Not wanted. My parents sent bounty hunters after me— for a few weeks. But have you noticed anyone after us? No. They don’t want me. And I… I don’t want them.”
“What’s everyone doing at the beach?” Aang called out, snapping both girls towards the sound of his voice.
“Nothing.” Both said, their voices mingling into one.
*-*-*
The next morning, Toph woke to hands covering her person. She blinked, mentally labeling each hand to its owner, and relaxed in the care of her real family.
A few minutes more, she told herself sternly, ignoring how her insides were quivering, Just a few minutes more.
Author's Note: This is a speculative fic, written before we had finale spoilers, of what happens AFTER the war is over, particularly Toph's way of handling the gaang breaking up. I think her reaction to it would be fascinating, so I decided to write how I saw the situation out.
Toph can feel the sky cold and damp pressing against her skin and knows the touch for night. The sun has fallen on the first in what she hopes is a long line of days with no war throughout the nations, and she knows Yue is somewhere above, watching over the landscape she once walked upon.
But she needed no light, and walked stiffly from the camp, her body still aching from the wounds healed only hours before. She wound by the ruins of the Fire Lord’s sanctuary, finding no joy in the sensations of twisted metal and stone strewn upon the soiled earth. Her feet continued further, finding their own road beyond the city, whispers of the battle tugging at her mind with every vibration revealing a little more of what she, and the others, had brought upon this place.
Her feet finally came to rest on the debris cluttered beach, the voices of the earth finally silenced by the gag of sand between her digging toes.
For the first time that day, Toph could breathe.
It was difficult to sense the passage of time at night, when the cold simply settled deeper and deeper into ones bones, but she guessed an hour had passed before her keen ears picked up heavy footsteps approaching. She might have tensed, forcing the sands below to a temporary fusion from which to launch a terrific attack, if she hadn’t recognized those even steps.
She settled herself on the sands instead, letting the gentle wind finish the healing Katara had begun.
“I figuring someone would come after me,” Toph began once the intruder’s steps hit the sands. “I just didn’t figure it being you.”
Katara laughed, her voice as gentle as the winds, but beneath the sound was a strength Toph knew she could never bend. “You looked troubled, so I gave you some time before coming after you.”
Unsaid, but still pressing down on Toph, was the question what bothering her.
“The war’s over.” Toph straightened her lower lip before it could betray her with a quiver. “And that means nothing is going to be the same again.”
“I don’t know-”
“Look, Aang’s going to go around doing his Avatar thing with Appa, that isn’t going to change. But our gang? This is the end. Zuko’s going to stay here, probably end up Fire Lord after a few years. And you and Sokka are going to go home with your dad. We’re done.”
Katara settled herself on the beach, but Toph could get no read for what emotion Katara carried within her, nor the rarely incorrect clue of her heart beat. What little Toph could read from the tiny granules of sand informed her only of Katara’s vague and indistinct outline. It was as if Katara’s head had merged with the night itself.
She never had liked the sand.
“I guess you’re right Toph, we are splitting up. But it isn’t like we won’t see each other again. You’d love it at the South Pole-”
“Ice? Blindness? Freezing valuable body parts off? I don’t think so.” Toph managed gruffly before leaning back in the sand, her arms propping her head up.
“Well, we can always visit you-”
“You guys are the only real family I have. My parents never responded to the messanger-hawk, remember? I… I don’t really want to go back there. Maybe I’ll go visit Bumi in Omashu. Maybe I’ll travel as an Earthrumble champion. Maybe I’ll go to Haru’s village and show them what real earthbending is. But I won’t go back to Gaoling. I won’t go where I’m not wanted.”
“Toph-”
“No, I’m okay now, Katara. We’re splitting up, I can deal with that. And you are right— we’ll see each other again. I’ll be fine, really.”
“Toph, I’m sure your parents want you-”
“Seriously Katara, a fourteen year old who barely knows me is a better mother than my own. How do you think that makes me feel? Not wanted. My parents sent bounty hunters after me— for a few weeks. But have you noticed anyone after us? No. They don’t want me. And I… I don’t want them.”
“What’s everyone doing at the beach?” Aang called out, snapping both girls towards the sound of his voice.
“Nothing.” Both said, their voices mingling into one.
The next morning, Toph woke to hands covering her person. She blinked, mentally labeling each hand to its owner, and relaxed in the care of her real family.
A few minutes more, she told herself sternly, ignoring how her insides were quivering, Just a few minutes more.
