More than just the boy
Jul. 18th, 2008 12:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kolSUPER late 31_days fic for April 19, Taking time out to forget AND sort of unfinished at that. I cut the last 300 words off-- trust me, it works better. Might add more to this later on, I like the concept, and this forgotten drabble doesn't do the topic justice. Because honestly, these kids really aren't going to escape from the situation without some emotional scars-- and sometimes, it really is more than just the boy.
“Get down!” Toph shouted, stomping her foot; the earth beneath Sokka’s foot collapsed, and the frazzled warrior landed hard on his rear.
Not that it did much good— he sprang back to his feet, oblivious to the fireballs being hurled. “I have to find her!”
This time, Toph didn’t depend on her element to stop him— she pulled him back firmly by his armor. He wasn’t going anywhere without her. “Well, do it smart! Because I don’t think Suki wants a flambéed Sokka!”
That seemed to bring him up short. “What else can we do-”
“Sokka, you might not be able to see her, but I can feel everything. She’s just over that ridge—”
And he took off, heedless of the fire cast around, creating a heat so fierce it was wilting the stone walls.
Muttering under her breath, Toph raced after him, wincing at the uncomfortable heat on her still healing soles.
Because she didn’t want a flambéed Sokka either.
Pausing before she crested the ridge, she could feel Sokka stop. Her hand struck the ground, revealing more than just Suki— she was wrestling with the slender girl who stole bending. Toph wasn’t particularly worried for the newest member of their group— she seemed to have a good handle on the situation— but when Sokka began yelping and hallering, Suki paused.
And that gave the slender girl all the edge she needed. Three short jabs, Suki falling onto the ground, and Sokka charging forward, club raised.
“He never learns.” Toph stomped her feet, sending a block of stone to knock the slender girl back against the wall. The vibrations told her the girl was knocked out— but that didn’t mean they were any safer.
Sokka had reached Suki’s side by the time Toph had begun her descent of the hill. “Suki? Suki are you alright?” He was holding her with a tenderness that stabbed at Toph’s gut, but she ignored it.
“Of course she’s alright, she just can’t move. Pick her up and lets get out of here.” Toph twisted to her right, head cocked. There was something just behind the wall— “Get down!” She cried out, pushing a wall of stone before them. It barely absorbed the fierce barrage of fireballs.
They’d walked into a trap. Great.
“We can’t go back up the hill,” Toph pointed the way they’d gone for emphasis. “There’s a legion of firebenders marching in our direction. And we can’t take on the twenty on the other side of that wall.”
“What are we going to do?” Sokka brushed his hand against Suki’s face— probably to push her short hair from her face, Toph rationalized, refusing to see the tenderness in the gesture. “We can’t stay here.”
There wasn’t much of an option. If they stayed, firebenders would be upon them. And the ground beneath them was tainted with pure metal— no way she was going to bend around that and sink them to safety. There was only one chance.
“You two go to the north. I’ll hold them back.” Toph said flatly, pointing towards the fallen arches that had once been the entrance to the firebending academy.
“But-”
“Go!” Toph kicked the ground, and Sokka jerked forward a few steps.
And he left.
* * *
“She’s got to be here somewhere,” Suki grunted as she pushed a heavy stone off the huge pile that had marked where they had left Toph. “Come one Sokka, help me push this one.”
But Sokka was staring at the broken ground, a stricken look on his face. Suki squinted— he wasn’t staring at the ground, but at a strange black rock, shaped in a roughly hewn manner to resemble a bracelet. “Sokka, what’s wrong?”
He shook his head, bending to touch the shiny rock— it was a perfect match for his sword. “This was Toph’s…” He said softly, closing his eyes. “She never takes it of.”
“Maybe it fell off,” Suki leaned down, pressing her hand on his arm for comfort. “It could have fallen off in a struggle.”
Sokka was shaking his head, his hand still on the bracelet. “She protected us. She was just a kid, and she protected us.”
Suki let out a breath— that’s what was bothering him. “Sokka, you would have done the same for her. This war— none of us are kids anymore, Toph especially. She knew what she was doing.”
“But-”
Suki pulled the bracelet from his grasp and tucked it into her skirt. “No buts. Come on, we need to find her.”
Aang’s voice broken the moment. “You guys! We found Toph!”
***
Her small torso wrapped in bandages, Toph winced as soon as the original gang dove in for hugs. “I’m not a rock, I just crush them,” She reminded them, her feet telling her the newer members were hovering in the back.
Suki was the first to approach, laying a familiar object on her hands. Toph recoiled as if burned. “Keep it.” She said abruptly, turning her head away. “I don’t need it anymore.”
“But-”
“It doesn’t fit anymore. You keep it.” In her push away, Toph’s legs came off the ground— she shoved the bracelet blinding in the air. “I don’t want it.”
Sokka was the one who took it from her, his voice hurt. “I don’t understand you.”
“We won, didn’t we?” Toph demanded shortly. “That means adventuring is over. I won’t have much use for spacerock in Gaoling.”
That brought everyone up short. They had won— what would become of the gang now?
Impatiently, Toph waved her hands where Suki had been. She never liked awkward silences. “Look, I know you are here to say thank you— but don’t bother. I saved you, you saved me. We’re even, so drop it.”
Suki’s response was to hug the stiff girl— with considerable more care than the others. “I’ll hold onto it for you,” She whispered. “But the minute you are ready, its yours.”
But Toph knew she’d never be ready to wear that bracelet again.
* * *
A lot can happen in ten years. Children are born and some die; old friends join those unfortunate young souls in the spirit world; wars and peace wrestle with each other, with peace finally winning— for now; and the aches of childhood pass into the night.
Or, that was what Toph said to herself, walking the streets of Gaoling after another easy victory at a rumble. There was no challenge these days, just a quick victory and the pressing emptiness returned. A hollow rock was easy to break— it was a wonder none of her opponents over the years had figured her weakness.
For a few years, she’d thought it had been Sokka. But no mere boy could inspire the emptiness she felt, which grew stronger with each year. She’d fallen off her friends radar over the years— all of them misconstruing why she was so quiet, all of them attributing it to the wrong things.
Twelve year olds go to war— but they rarely come back whole.
She pushed the gate open, uncaring of the clatter it rang into the courtyard. Her parents were in Omashu, brokering some new business to help the still struggling city, and it wasn’t like the guards cared how much noise she made. Her footsteps were heavy against the heavy stones on the walk to the house; each step brought her closer to even more darkness, for the house she had lived in for so many years had wooden floors.
“You don’t look so happy for a champion.”
Toph’s head sprang up— had she imagined Sokka’s voice? Her toes pressed into the stones, revealing her old friend and Aang, with Appa just behind them.
How had she missed them? She really must have been tired…
She took the easy route, and waved her arms. “Those losers? It was a piece of cake. I haven’t had a good challenger since the war.”
She could feel the two share a look.
Impatiently, Toph strolled forward, hands on her hips. “What brings you to Gaoling?” It was more demand than question.
“Well, Katara wanted you at the temple… she’s about to burst any day now.”
“Katara’s pregnant?” Toph blinked uselessly in surprise. She really *had* been out of touch. “Why does she want me there? I didn’t even know she was knocked up!”
“Well, we’re getting the whole gang together-”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not interested. I’ve got a great life here.” Toph said flatly, hands clenched at her side. It would have been so simple if she could see at that moment— then, the flashbacks would have been one sense. But Toph was assaulted by the other four senses, which remembered the war after all this time.
It sucked, but whenever the gang met up, it was always like this. The taste of fire in her mouth, the burn against her side, the smell of flesh bu-
“Are you alright Toph? You look a little green and shaky-” Aang moved forward, but Toph jerked backwards, stumbling against the stones.
“I’m fine! Just leave me alone!” She shouted, and raced into the familiar blackness of her house.
* * *
“Been a full day, she hasn’t come out again,” Aang spoke from Appa’s side.
Sokka hadn’t left his place, watching the house from the stones, his arms stiff at his back. “She hasn’t sent the guards after us— or a large bolder. She just needs time.”
“Been ten years Sokka. I don’t think she wants to be around us anymore. Maybe we should respect that.”
“I’ve seen this before, after the war, with some men in my father’s army. They came back different, broken— the kind of wounds that aren’t easily bended all better. Some of them never got better. Didn’t realize she had it until now. But it all makes sense. Why she’s avoided us. Why she’s avoided m-”
“But I thought-”
Sokka shook his head, his back still stiff. “We all thought it. But Toph needs us. And we aren’t going to leave her again. She saved all of us, so many times…”
“And its our turn to save her? I don’t know if we can, Sokka. Especially if she doesn’t want our help.”
“She’s our friend,” Sokka said softly, his eyes never leaving the house. “We have to try.”
“Get down!” Toph shouted, stomping her foot; the earth beneath Sokka’s foot collapsed, and the frazzled warrior landed hard on his rear.
Not that it did much good— he sprang back to his feet, oblivious to the fireballs being hurled. “I have to find her!”
This time, Toph didn’t depend on her element to stop him— she pulled him back firmly by his armor. He wasn’t going anywhere without her. “Well, do it smart! Because I don’t think Suki wants a flambéed Sokka!”
That seemed to bring him up short. “What else can we do-”
“Sokka, you might not be able to see her, but I can feel everything. She’s just over that ridge—”
And he took off, heedless of the fire cast around, creating a heat so fierce it was wilting the stone walls.
Muttering under her breath, Toph raced after him, wincing at the uncomfortable heat on her still healing soles.
Because she didn’t want a flambéed Sokka either.
Pausing before she crested the ridge, she could feel Sokka stop. Her hand struck the ground, revealing more than just Suki— she was wrestling with the slender girl who stole bending. Toph wasn’t particularly worried for the newest member of their group— she seemed to have a good handle on the situation— but when Sokka began yelping and hallering, Suki paused.
And that gave the slender girl all the edge she needed. Three short jabs, Suki falling onto the ground, and Sokka charging forward, club raised.
“He never learns.” Toph stomped her feet, sending a block of stone to knock the slender girl back against the wall. The vibrations told her the girl was knocked out— but that didn’t mean they were any safer.
Sokka had reached Suki’s side by the time Toph had begun her descent of the hill. “Suki? Suki are you alright?” He was holding her with a tenderness that stabbed at Toph’s gut, but she ignored it.
“Of course she’s alright, she just can’t move. Pick her up and lets get out of here.” Toph twisted to her right, head cocked. There was something just behind the wall— “Get down!” She cried out, pushing a wall of stone before them. It barely absorbed the fierce barrage of fireballs.
They’d walked into a trap. Great.
“We can’t go back up the hill,” Toph pointed the way they’d gone for emphasis. “There’s a legion of firebenders marching in our direction. And we can’t take on the twenty on the other side of that wall.”
“What are we going to do?” Sokka brushed his hand against Suki’s face— probably to push her short hair from her face, Toph rationalized, refusing to see the tenderness in the gesture. “We can’t stay here.”
There wasn’t much of an option. If they stayed, firebenders would be upon them. And the ground beneath them was tainted with pure metal— no way she was going to bend around that and sink them to safety. There was only one chance.
“You two go to the north. I’ll hold them back.” Toph said flatly, pointing towards the fallen arches that had once been the entrance to the firebending academy.
“But-”
“Go!” Toph kicked the ground, and Sokka jerked forward a few steps.
And he left.
* * *
“She’s got to be here somewhere,” Suki grunted as she pushed a heavy stone off the huge pile that had marked where they had left Toph. “Come one Sokka, help me push this one.”
But Sokka was staring at the broken ground, a stricken look on his face. Suki squinted— he wasn’t staring at the ground, but at a strange black rock, shaped in a roughly hewn manner to resemble a bracelet. “Sokka, what’s wrong?”
He shook his head, bending to touch the shiny rock— it was a perfect match for his sword. “This was Toph’s…” He said softly, closing his eyes. “She never takes it of.”
“Maybe it fell off,” Suki leaned down, pressing her hand on his arm for comfort. “It could have fallen off in a struggle.”
Sokka was shaking his head, his hand still on the bracelet. “She protected us. She was just a kid, and she protected us.”
Suki let out a breath— that’s what was bothering him. “Sokka, you would have done the same for her. This war— none of us are kids anymore, Toph especially. She knew what she was doing.”
“But-”
Suki pulled the bracelet from his grasp and tucked it into her skirt. “No buts. Come on, we need to find her.”
Aang’s voice broken the moment. “You guys! We found Toph!”
***
Her small torso wrapped in bandages, Toph winced as soon as the original gang dove in for hugs. “I’m not a rock, I just crush them,” She reminded them, her feet telling her the newer members were hovering in the back.
Suki was the first to approach, laying a familiar object on her hands. Toph recoiled as if burned. “Keep it.” She said abruptly, turning her head away. “I don’t need it anymore.”
“But-”
“It doesn’t fit anymore. You keep it.” In her push away, Toph’s legs came off the ground— she shoved the bracelet blinding in the air. “I don’t want it.”
Sokka was the one who took it from her, his voice hurt. “I don’t understand you.”
“We won, didn’t we?” Toph demanded shortly. “That means adventuring is over. I won’t have much use for spacerock in Gaoling.”
That brought everyone up short. They had won— what would become of the gang now?
Impatiently, Toph waved her hands where Suki had been. She never liked awkward silences. “Look, I know you are here to say thank you— but don’t bother. I saved you, you saved me. We’re even, so drop it.”
Suki’s response was to hug the stiff girl— with considerable more care than the others. “I’ll hold onto it for you,” She whispered. “But the minute you are ready, its yours.”
But Toph knew she’d never be ready to wear that bracelet again.
* * *
A lot can happen in ten years. Children are born and some die; old friends join those unfortunate young souls in the spirit world; wars and peace wrestle with each other, with peace finally winning— for now; and the aches of childhood pass into the night.
Or, that was what Toph said to herself, walking the streets of Gaoling after another easy victory at a rumble. There was no challenge these days, just a quick victory and the pressing emptiness returned. A hollow rock was easy to break— it was a wonder none of her opponents over the years had figured her weakness.
For a few years, she’d thought it had been Sokka. But no mere boy could inspire the emptiness she felt, which grew stronger with each year. She’d fallen off her friends radar over the years— all of them misconstruing why she was so quiet, all of them attributing it to the wrong things.
Twelve year olds go to war— but they rarely come back whole.
She pushed the gate open, uncaring of the clatter it rang into the courtyard. Her parents were in Omashu, brokering some new business to help the still struggling city, and it wasn’t like the guards cared how much noise she made. Her footsteps were heavy against the heavy stones on the walk to the house; each step brought her closer to even more darkness, for the house she had lived in for so many years had wooden floors.
“You don’t look so happy for a champion.”
Toph’s head sprang up— had she imagined Sokka’s voice? Her toes pressed into the stones, revealing her old friend and Aang, with Appa just behind them.
How had she missed them? She really must have been tired…
She took the easy route, and waved her arms. “Those losers? It was a piece of cake. I haven’t had a good challenger since the war.”
She could feel the two share a look.
Impatiently, Toph strolled forward, hands on her hips. “What brings you to Gaoling?” It was more demand than question.
“Well, Katara wanted you at the temple… she’s about to burst any day now.”
“Katara’s pregnant?” Toph blinked uselessly in surprise. She really *had* been out of touch. “Why does she want me there? I didn’t even know she was knocked up!”
“Well, we’re getting the whole gang together-”
“Yeah. Well, I’m not interested. I’ve got a great life here.” Toph said flatly, hands clenched at her side. It would have been so simple if she could see at that moment— then, the flashbacks would have been one sense. But Toph was assaulted by the other four senses, which remembered the war after all this time.
It sucked, but whenever the gang met up, it was always like this. The taste of fire in her mouth, the burn against her side, the smell of flesh bu-
“Are you alright Toph? You look a little green and shaky-” Aang moved forward, but Toph jerked backwards, stumbling against the stones.
“I’m fine! Just leave me alone!” She shouted, and raced into the familiar blackness of her house.
* * *
“Been a full day, she hasn’t come out again,” Aang spoke from Appa’s side.
Sokka hadn’t left his place, watching the house from the stones, his arms stiff at his back. “She hasn’t sent the guards after us— or a large bolder. She just needs time.”
“Been ten years Sokka. I don’t think she wants to be around us anymore. Maybe we should respect that.”
“I’ve seen this before, after the war, with some men in my father’s army. They came back different, broken— the kind of wounds that aren’t easily bended all better. Some of them never got better. Didn’t realize she had it until now. But it all makes sense. Why she’s avoided us. Why she’s avoided m-”
“But I thought-”
Sokka shook his head, his back still stiff. “We all thought it. But Toph needs us. And we aren’t going to leave her again. She saved all of us, so many times…”
“And its our turn to save her? I don’t know if we can, Sokka. Especially if she doesn’t want our help.”
“She’s our friend,” Sokka said softly, his eyes never leaving the house. “We have to try.”
