Chapter Text
Three years after the war. Aang couldn’t believe it’s been that long. It took one year for the weekly assasination attempts on Zuko’s life to stop, another for them to help Zuko to find Fire Lady Ursa, and three years for his family to split up(Zuko had already stopped joining them), realizing that they couldn’t stay together anymore. Not when they all had duties to the world, and most of them weren’t children anymore. Zuko, Sokka, and Suki were all adults, and Katara had been acting like one since he’d known her.
Thinking back to two and a half years ago, when he and Katara had officially called it quits, he remembered how his heart didn’t actually break. He had loved Katara since she broke him out of that iceberg, but they both had realized that she wasn’t IN love with him. That’s how she had explained it as they sat on the cold, metal bench in Fire Lady Ursa’s Garden. “I love you Aang,” she had said, “but I’m not in love with you.” Aang had realized in that moment too, that he hadn’t been in love her either. Wouldn’t have gotten over seeing her like that so quickly if he had. They were better as friends. He could see her now, wandering the garden below teasing Zuko, who looked like he was on the verge of laughter or annoyance.
“Heya Twinkle Toes.”
Aang jumped, almost falling backwards off of the window ledge, “Toph!” He exclaimed, “How did you-“
“Sneak up on you?” Toph smirked, striding towards him. “I’m me. And you were too busy eavesdropping on Sparky and Sugar Queen so you can tease them tomorrow.” Aang sat up straight, indignant. “I was not! I’m just appreciating the view,” he said, gesturing to the sky. She shrugged, nudging his feet off the ledge to make room for her. She jumped onto the ledge, nestling herself across from Aang and crossing her arms.
“So, where to Twinkle Toes?”
He sighed. Well, he would have to face the inevitable. “The peace summit is over, Katara’s staying here to sort Water Tribe stuff out, Sokka and Suki are going back to Kyoshi, and I got a hawk the other day. King Kuei needs my help putting down a rebel group that moved to the Earth Kingdom years ago. There’s new data about their whereabouts so I guess I’m headed there. Alone.”
A heavy feeling, heavier than an armadillo settled in his chest. He was going to be truly alone--just him, Appa, and Momo--for the first time since he came out of that iceberg. No grumbly Sokka in the morning, no smell of Katara making breakfast. Zuko hadn’t been traveling with them for a while, but Aang had missed Zuko’s bad jokes and horrible tea in those few months. And Toph. Out of everyone, he would feel the empty air where she sat on Appa, and miss her the most. Her loud, brash complaining but steady sureness of everything grounded Aang. I don’t want to move on.
“--Gaoling, so I’m coming with you.” Toph said, pulling Aang out of his reverie. “Wait, Toph, what did you say?” She rolled her eyes at him, looking very amused. “I’m coming with you to the Earth Kingdom.”
“Oh.” Of course she was, she needed a ride to Gaoling to see her parents, or to Ba Sing Se to visit Iroh. “Are you going to Gaoling?”
Toph leaned forward, bringing her hand up to knock Aang’s head. “You alright in there? No Twinkles, I’m coming with you. To whichever village that takes us to. I’m ready to beat up some rebels.” Her hand moved back, pulling away from him, but Aang grabbed it with both hands. He turned over her hand, the palm facing up and clasped their hands together. The armadillo in his chest reared back, raising its head.
“Are you sure? You don’t want to see your parents? I mean not that I don’t want you to come but I’d understand if-”
“Twinkles?”
“Yeah?”
Her hand curled, folding on top of his. “Shut up.”
He smiled, the armadillo in his chest dissolving into a bird, happily fluttering as Aang grew light, realizing he wouldn’t be alone. He let go of Toph’s hand, both of them leaning back against the ledge walls, and looked out across the city again.
The sun was setting, sending a splatter of reds across the sky, a tumultuous wave of orange washing everything in a glow, like fire. Slight drops of pink, purple, magenta appeared, and decorated the orange as if they were jewels atop a golden necklace. Draped on top, was a blanket of deep blue, where Aang spotted the first stars, twinkling like glitter caught in wool. The sun itself was a near crescent disappearing in the horizon, but still burnt a hole in the sky, the brightest star. It seemed to be brighter than before, as if it too could sense that Aang was happier. He sighed, whirling his hands in small circular motions to send a breeze across to Toph who grumbled in response.
“What? Let me enjoy the view.”
“Okay, it is beau-TOPH!”
She snickered, shaking her head. “Everyone falls for it. Life’s good.” He had the urge to throw a rock at her, but instead he jumped off the ledge, back into his bedroom. “Let’s go.” Toph raised her eyebrows. “Let’s head out now, at night. Appa has been restless for a week, he’ll be fine. We’ll leave a note for Zuko.”
She shrugged her shoulders in indifference and hopped off the ledge. Aang watched as she leaned down to pick up a sack on the ground, one that definitely belonged to Toph. “You already packed?” he said. “I know you too well, comes with being your Sifu.” Toph replied, walking over to him. Aang held out an arm--which Toph swatted away--and they both ran out of the room. They sneaked through the hallways, avoiding world leaders, councillors, and Aang’s least favourite, Toph’s father. Quickly popping into Zuko’s chambers he slipped a note under the door and sped away before the guard could come back from the non-fight that had broken out(courtesy of Toph destroying a statue and yelling in different voices).
“TOPH! Why are you destroying a statue?”
Aang winced, that was definitely Zuko. He knew Toph would find a way to escape, so Aang continued out of the palace, earthbending through a wall and out the side of the palace.
Skidding out the side of the palace, he looked out around, spinning wildly in search of Toph and blowing his bison whistle at the same time.
Appa landed on the lawn, next to the dragon fountain and groaned again. Aang ran over, jumping onto Appa for a very one-sided hug. “I missed you, buddy.”
“AANG! Let’s go!” came Toph’s voice. He looked up, spitting out a mouth of Appa’s fur and saw Toph running across the lawn. He jumped up, sitting on Appa’s head as Toph came closer. “You’re going to have to sit here with me Toph, his saddle isn’t on right now.”
Toph nodded, stomping on the ground to earthbend herself up, and forwards. “Hey be car-oof!” He caught her, grunting at the force at which she had barreled into him. “Okay, yip yip!” Toph said, grinning at Aang. Appa groaned one more time, and Momo appeared, flying down to rest on Toph’s shoulder. She took hold of Aang’s right arm, wrapping her hands tightly and leaning slightly onto him. Appa took flight, heading for the Earth Kingdom. He didn’t look back, and instead looked at Toph, who was grinning from the adrenaline rush. He smiled, and turned forwards to the open night sky.
_______________
Toph didn’t understand what was so great about rambutans. Sure, they exploded in her mouth, and were the best fruit she had ever tasted, but they were definitely not worth all this trouble.
FSHHHH! BOOM!
“We’re surrounded!” Aang yelled out to her right, as the Phoenix Feathers(whichever rebel that thought of that name deserved to be buried six feet under) barreled towards them, shooting flames. Toph couldn’t penetrate through the wood wall, or platform or whatever wood thing that blocked her senses. She couldn’t feel anything besides Aang and any rebels within one bison in front of her. As a last resort, she moved her hands, pushing down and stomping to raise a dome of earth and deflect the flames. Then she sent out a wave of earth, burying the rebel. Toph felt annoyed. They had spent a month here, tracking down the rebels, and then just as they decided to check another village they had been ambushed. She felt Aang roll into the dome, making an entrance for himself. “Aang, where’s Appa?”
She heard him shake his head. “I left the whistle in our room, I thought we were just going to pick fruits for a snack! There’s too many of them Toph, I need to go into the Avatar State,” he said, panting heavily.
Toph who had been throwing boulders at the rebels through a peephole whipped around alarmed. “Okay, but be careful they have us surrounded, and the wood platforms they’re standing on isn’t doing me any favours,” she replied, turning back around to shoot a spear of earth at an offender.
She felt Aang roll out, pulling water from the nearby river and dousing the entire group. Then she heard Aang’s voice ring out. “Fire Lord Ozai’s reign is over. Surrender now. Or I’ll have no-”
WHIZZ! WHIZZ! WHIZZ!
Toph blinked. She had no idea what that was. It couldn’t be earth or metal, meaning something wooden had been shot at Aang. She felt the ground for vibrations, for the light footsteps that meant Twinkles was alive. She found no vibrations, just a faint heartbeat that beat against the ground. A constant Thump. Thump. Toph concentrated, and then felt Aang’s body being dragged across the ground, and then disappeared onto what she assumed was the wood. “He’s knocked out,” she realized. But the only thing that they could have used to subdue the Avatar like this was Shirshu poison, meaning the group had someone acquire the poison, shoot Aang and then knock him out. “Fizzle sticks.” she muttered. Somehow she would have to fight a group of around 20 benders that were using wood as a weapon. Her best bet was to go quickly, bend the earth so it became unstable, and grab Aang and go. They could defeat the group another day. Toph took a breath. In. Out. She moved her arms, pushing them outwards, and the dome collapsed, as she moved the earth into slushy mud.
“Release him and I’ll let you go!” she called out, frowning. She couldn’t sense the rebels, but she could feel Aang’s body. She dragged her foot in a circle, propelling herself forward on a flat piece of Earth, right up to Aang.
“Come on Twinkles, GET UP. You are not letting me die here, and I’m not letting you die here.” She grabbed onto Aang’s arm rolling him over next to her, when she felt two, no four, no eight pairs of feet suddenly behind her. “There you are,” she said, smirking. As she raised her hand to send a wall of earth at the rebels, she felt a hand tug on her collar--from where she had no idea, this rebel was not standing on the ground--and suddenly Toph was blind. The darkness enveloped her, panic rising in her chest as she rushed forward and was met with bars. Wooden bars. “HEY! What the hell are you doing? What is this?”
She was still clinging to the bars when a face came close, and let out a hot breath over her face. “You’re our insurance. And the bait for the Fire Lord,” came a gruff male voice, a rough hand almost making contact with her face. She jumped back, shuddering. Backing up until she hit the back wall, Toph yelled,“I am NOT bait. And neither is Aang. Let. Us. Go.” She heard the smirk in the man’s voice as he replied, “You don’t think that’s actually going to work, do you?” Toph huffed, but stood tall in defiance. “I’m going to get out of here. And then I’m going to bury you.” The man chuckled, and Toph heard a tapping noise behind her. She whipped around, holding her hand out in front of her, but only managed to whack it against the wooden wall. “You’re not going anywhere. Not surrounded by wood, with no Earth or metal with you in there. Sit down. Relax. We’re going to find a good hiding place.” Toph’s hands closed into fists--her right still throbbing from the impact with the wall--shaking angrily beside her, but she didn’t say anything. The more this guy talked, the more information she got to use for their eventual escape.
Suddenly, the cell started shaking. Moving so much that she fell, landing on her butt. She heard a faint, “Enjoy the ride,” as if she were elevated somehow and being dragged away. Toph ran to the side where she had heard the voice, banging on the cell wall. “You’re all going to pay! I am the greatest earthbender in the world!” No reply came. She sighed, flopping down to sit. Then she remembered. “Aang?” Silence. She couldn’t even sense his heartbeat in this wooden cage. Toph reached out, her hand quivering as she felt the floor around her, hoping that they had put her and Aang in the same cage. She moved forwards, crawling across the cage, until her hand hit a body. Carefully, she traced the arm? Yes, it was an arm. Toph was pretty sure this was Twinkle Toes, but just to make sure, she moved down to his hands. Her touch, lighter than a feather. Yeah, this was Twinkles, no one had softer hands than him. “Okay, Twinkles. You’re going to have to wake up before we get to their base or whatever. If they have this wooden cage, then whatever prison they throw us in will definitely be just more wood.”
Then a thought struck her. “But they’ll keep shooting you with Shirshu poison. They definitely will because you’re the Avatar and you can see and use any of the other elements to make it through the wood. So, Twinkles, you’re going to have to help me here. Wake. Up. We need to escape before we get there.” She rested her hand on Aang’s chest, where she could feel his heart again.
Thump. Thump.
Aang didn’t wake up. She sighed heavily, leaning back on the- “Oof!” She fell backwards, her back smacking against the rough wood floor of their cage. “Damn it.” The wall had not been right behind her. Toph hated this. When she had gotten trapped in a wood cage with Katara, she hadn’t felt this overwhelming fear of being completely blind like she did now. At least then, Katara had been conscious to talk to her and be Toph’s eyes. Now Twinkles wouldn’t wake up. “Okay, Toph Beifong, greatest earthbender in the world, figure out this solution yourself. And fast.”
There was no way to know how far the hiding place was, the quicker they escaped, the better. Toph laid there, next to Twinkles and thought. Her mind was a tornado, thoughts spiraling, she was unable to think of anything. Not a single thing. She did remember a story though. A tale that she hadn’t thought about in years, not since she started participating in earthbending matches. Lying down in this cage, Toph remembered her other cage, and the secret she had been. The secret blind Beifong daughter. When visitors would come from all over the world and eat with her parents, she would hide in the wall, earthbending a cave for her to sit in and listen to their stories. Today, one of the stories came to her. A story that had been told in an accent unknown to her, one that reminded her of sweets and spices.
“Do you want to hear a story Twinkles?” Aang didn’t reply again. So Toph began:
Long ago, lived a little boy named Krishna. His childhood home, named Brindavan, celebrated Lord Indra with a festival each year. Krishna not knowing this, woke up confused. During the rainy season, most of the villagers slept in, and they would not be sweeping the streets and hanging up lanterns and garlands as they did now. Krishna found his father, and asked him. “Father, what is happening on the streets?
”The villagers are preparing to celebrate a festival to worship Lord Indra," said Nanda, his father. "This year, the rainfall has been more generous and everybody is happy with the fertile crops. Since Indra is the God of rains, we should thank Him for being so kind to us!"
"How do know that Lord Indra is the one who's causing rains, Father?" Krishna said. He did not agree with his Father.
"Of course it's Indra who's causing the rains, Krishna. He is definitely the reason for our good fortune. He's the God of the Rain and Thunder and he rules them... so he is the one who has blessed us with good rain this year," he replied hesitantly to his son.
Krishna shook his head. “No father, you are wrong. Govardhan Mountain is our real friend. More than the clouds above, the mountain in our village has helped us."
"How can you say that?" asked Nanda, confused and in disbelief.
"The fertile mountain sends signals in the air and creates clouds that drift over the Brindavan and give us rainwater." replied Krishna. "So whom should we praise and worship? Not Lord Indra, but Govardhan Mountain!"
Nanda and the other Gopalas who were working nearby gasped in surprise. How could Krishna dismiss Lord Indra, God of the Clouds and direct them to worship a mere mountain instead! This was the first time that they heard about such a thing.
Krishna’s brother, Balaram came up, "Yes, father," he said. "Who gives us medicine in the form of magical herbs and plants? Who sends us clean water and air from the top of its peak?
"And who gives us good grass for our cows, so that they give us milk that's sweeter than honey? It is Govardhan!"
The disbelief and doubts of the villagers began to disappear as they began to see Krishna’s point. Krishna smiled, and said, “So why should we not worship the mountain? We should give thanks to something that is right in front of us, rather than some deva who lives comfortably in the heavens."
Hearing Krishna's words, the Gopalas were totally convinced. They all agreed to worship Govardhan that year, instead of Lord Indra. But Krishna’s father was apprehensive, for he feared that this shifting of loyalty might call upon the wrath of God.
Toph chuckled to herself at this part of thinking about the story. “Then don’t listen to the child” she thought.
In heaven, Lord Indra looked down at Brindavan angrily, “How dare that little boy stop the celebration’s in my name?” Indra’s pride was insulted by the Gopalas’ decision to celebrate Govardhan instead of him. In retribution, he decided to punish the village of Brindavan.
“I will send floods and thunderstorms to Brindavan,’ he thought cruelly. “The entire village will be destroyed, let’s see who saves them then!”
Using his divine powers, Lord Indra created clouds that seemed to be darker than the midnight sky. "Go and destroy Brindavan!" he ordered.
And they heeded their Master's command. Without any delay, they grouped together to form a menacing army of clouds and raced towards the village where Krishna and innocent families resided.
After a delicious lunch, the people of Brindavan were dozing in their homes. Suddenly they heard a terrible sound.
CRASH!
Everybody was alarmed and came out of their homes. What they saw outside took their breath away.
It was noon in Brindavan, but nobody would be able to say it was. The whole village had become pitch dark. The sun was nowhere to be seen. Instead, black and terrible looking clouds had enveloped the village. They surrounded Brindavan in a thick mist, darkening the day, making it gloomy.
The clouds looked evil and menacing, but they stood suspended in the air and didn't rain. It seemed as if the clouds were waiting for somebody, or rather, for some signal.
Krishna heard the frightened voices of the villagers. He was curious and came out of his house. But as soon as he stepped out, there was a great roar and the black clouds poured rain over Nanda's house. It seemed as if this was what the monstrous clouds had been waiting for.
The dark sky seemed to open with a vengeance. Hard rain came down in torrents, flushing away the cattle and the frail huts. The mere thatched roofs were no match for the terrible downpour.
"Run! screamed a man in terror and people started to run for their lives. They ran in all directions, to save their family and belongings. But even escape seemed difficult for the Brindavan people. The hard and blinding rain lashed over their faces, as if giving slaps for some unknown offence. Nowhere could they take any shelter for nothing seemed to be strong enough against this mighty cloudburst. The innocent and helpless people wailed in the face of such a calamity. They prayed for some divine help.
The clouds did not stop, as lightning and thunder supported them in riling up the villagers in fear. Floods swept the streets, cows swimming in fear, horses neighing loudly.
Krishna’s father came to him. "Do you see, son? This is no ordinary rainstorm. This seems to me to be the punishment of our transgression. It is difficult to escape the wrath of Gods. That is why we worshipped Lord Indra all these years, Krishna .Because we decided to ignore Lord Indra this year, he's punishing us. Now, innocent people are suffering because of your idea... What do we do now?"
Krishna looked at the skies. "Ah, Indra, your ego has grown! I understand your plan. You want to teach us a lesson, don't you? But first, you need one!"
Thinking so, Krishna laid a reassuring arm on his father.
"First, we need to focus on keeping the villagers safe, Father," he said and walked to the centre of the town. Using his most commanding voice, he called out:
"People of Brindavan. Look at me. Do not run. Do not panic!"
The Gopalas looked at Krishna miserably. They had known the boy for long. They knew that he was not an ordinary human and possessed some mysterious powers. But what can the boy possibly do in such a situation?
"This is all our fault!" somebody murmured. "We insulted Indra and now he's punishing us," said another in misery.
"Yes Uncle, what you say is right. This is indeed an evil plot of Lord Indra," replied Krishna, looking at the man. "But like before, Govardhan would help us once again. Come this way and I will show you how!" he declared and led them to the mountain.
Krishna looked up and smiled at the clouds. He touched the ground in front of Govardhan mountain with his pinky, and cracks began to appear, encircling the entire mountain. And in a blink of the eye, he lifted Govardhan Mountain, like an umbrella, with just his little finger.
“Toph?”
Toph jumped, startled by Aang’s voice. She sat up to look at him and reached out, grasping his hand. “Twinkles! You’re awake! Finally! Now power up and get us out of here.”
“I can’t-I can’t move Toph.” came Aang’s voice, croaky and small.
“Fizzle sticks. You’re still feeling the effects of the shirshu. Guess it’s up to me then.” she said, gathering her wits and thinking about the story. Find the creative solution. Use what you have. Use their ego against them. She looked down, and saw her space bracelet still on her arm. Toph smiled.
Patting Aang’s arm, she stood, and made her way to the back of the cage. She listened closely for voices, sounds, anything to signal there were guards riding behind the cage, watching her. She was met with only the grinding noise of wheels against the earth. “The cage is on some kind of trolley, a moving wood platform.” she told Aang, gesturing(hopefully) to the outside of the cage. “I can’t see it Toph, I’m facing the other way and I can’t move.”
Toph rolled her eyes, “That makes two of us Twinkles, use your ears Mr. Fly Guy!”
“That’s a new one,” Aang muttered back.
Toph strode quickly over to him, only stumbling for a moment. She grabbed both his hands, and dragged Aang over, right next to her at the back of the cage.
“Toph? I can see you now, what’re you doing?”
She rolled her shoulders back in preparation. “I’m going to lift a mountain.”
“Toph, a mountain? What are you going to do with a mountain?”
“Well not an actual mountain, and not right now Twinkles. Wait and listen.”
Toph squated, bringing her shoulders down and bending her knees. She held up her palms, facing away from her and unclasped her space bracelet. She couldn’t make a sword or anything pointy enough without Aang to melt it, but she could make a ball.
She stretched the space rock, making it form a ball about the size of Momo’s head(she presumed). Breathing in, Toph gathered everything in her. Her strength, her courage, her skill. The years she spent by herself honing her bending, building her power from herself, within herself. She felt it all come to her now, as her bending always did when she called upon it. It gathered in her like water building up behind a dam, like a bird wanting to be let free of its cage. “Bye, space rock.” she whispered down at the ball.
With all her strength, Toph flung the ball down, as hard as she could. And, as she knew it would, the wood cage broke, as well as the wood platform beneath it. “Toph! Wha-what are you doing?”
“Saving you and me,” she replied as she laid down and stuck her arm through the hole. She let her fingers stretch out, until she felt the burn and skid of earth. “Ow.”
She pulled her hand back up, grimacing as she felt the bruise forming.
“Toph, you don’t expect us to jump out of that, do you? ...Yes you do, don’t you.” Aang said.
She smirked.
“Okay Twinkles, I’m going to push you through, you’ll get hurt, but you’ll live. Then I’m going to jump through, and I’ll be fine cause I’m going to earthbend us out of here. Then, I’m going to bury these idiots under a mountain.” She grabbed Aang again, under the arms and dragged him to the hole’s edge.
“Toph, you don’t have to bury them. Just, leave them be. We can track them down another time.”
She rolled her eyes, chuckling morbidly as she ripped both her sleeves off. “They stuck me in a wooden cage. They knocked you out. They’re threatening Sparky cause they love Loser Lord so much. I am NOT letting these rebels go free. Give me your hands.”
She felt two hands, soft like a baby’s, touch her bare arm. She grabbed the first, wrapping it with her first sleeve. Over and under. “Don’t want to scrape your hands. The second you hit the ground you’re gonna get scrapped up, and your baby hands can’t handle that.” she muttered, finishing with Aang’s first hand and picking up the next. “Okay, I’ll be fine Toph. It’s probably not even that far down if you could reach it.” Aang replied, his wrapped hand coming up to her shoulder and squeezing it.
Toph took a step back, and picked Aang up again. Straining herself to keep him above the hole. “Don’t make a sound,” she whispered into his ear. She dropped him.
PSHH…
She didn’t waste another second, and jumped through the hole, right after Aang, and as her feet met the Earth, Toph grinned.
She dove into the Earth, pushing herself away from the cage towards Aang. As she came up to him, she could sense that he was sprawled across the road oddly. “Twinkles? Twinkles, you okay?” No response. She felt his heartbeat though, which meant Aang had gotten knocked out again. “It’s probably not even that far down if you could reach it” she mimicked Aang. She bent down, picking up Aang’s right hand gently. “Stay here.”
She let go of his hand, and took a step forward. She still felt the rumbling of the wheels against the Earth, the rebels weren’t far. Toph bent her knees, splayed her hands out and pulled up on the hill to her right. She heard roots ripping, trees toppling, but she didn’t stop, raising her arms until she held them above her head, and the hill also, floated above her. Then, she heard the rebels’ shouts. “When I told you I’m the greatest earthbender in the world, I MEANT IT!” she yelled. And then she threw the hill.
BOOM!
The hill flattened the cage, rebels, and even some of the trees on either side of the road. She turned back, dusting her hands off on her thighs. As she reached Aang, she stomped her left foot and raised her arms, creating a rock that held them. She moved her arms in a circular motion, and they shot forward, moving back towards the village. “I’m doing all the work. This relationship is very one-sided Twinkles.”