Authors Note: A new story just to let you guys know that I'm still alive. I've been working on kikUUki, doing re-readings, and working on it every day. Don't lose hope fellows, I'm still writing it. In the meantime, enjoy this Avatar story. It takes during "The Western Air Temple". I made the cast two years older than the canon to get a more mature tone too. If the characters are O.C. let me know. Also, the cover image is NOT mine. Credit and Kudos to that artist.

Disclaimer: わたしわ don't own Avatar.

Woven & Spun

By: Infinity Comes To A End

"You burned my feet!" Toph cried out in an angry accusing tone, lined with hurt. The pain had caught her off guard and she had fallen backwards on her behind. Standing would only irritate the burns more so, she decided to stay seated to relieve as much of the searing throbbing as she could.

Sitting on ground, she tenderly poked at her burnt soles and hissed in pain at the blistering discomfort that followed. Being an Earthbending master/Sifu, acquiring various wounds and bruises was nothing new to her. But this...this was taking away the very "sight" that had made seeing possible again to her cloudy eyes.

If Toph wasn't blind, she would have already seen the deeply apologetic look on the prideful prince's face. "I'm sorry! It was a mistake!" Zuko quickly shot out of his sleeping bag and tried to approach the quietly whimpering Earthbender. "Let me help y-"

"GET AWAY!" The panicked yell made the ground rumble violently and the teeth in Zuko's mouth rattle. Now on her hands and knees, Toph began to frantically crawl away from the source that had, temporarily, taken her special "sight".

Ignoring her previous warning, Zuko started sprinting towards her but, was suddenly deterred by rocks, the size of his head, speeding towards him with deadly accuracy.

Zuko's eyes widened and his body reacted accordingly with years of embedded muscle memory training.

Fire Circle. Ducking a chunk of rock, his left leg came behind his right and sprang him into swift sprint.

Sozin's Wave. He cartwheeled, canceled into a snapping out-to-in axe kick then, skipped sideways twice into a fluid butterfly twist.

Tenzin Stream. Using the diminishing momentum from the twisting motion, he twisted into an easy hook kick; then topped it all off with an elaborate set of backflips and front flips to dodge and cover lost ground.

Flawlessly executing the advanced Firebending kata, he was able to dodge the relentless solid pieces of earth whizzing by his head and, at the same time, catch up to the retreating Beifong heiress.

He was especially careful not to allow his fiery chi to flow throughout his body. Burning her, again, would have been completely unacceptable.

"Toph! Let me help!"

"I said, go away!" She continued to toss large chunks backwards at him, ignoring his close proximity directly behind her.

The banished prince's impulsive nature, as a Firebender, combined with his ever growing annoyance, caused him to reach out and grab onto Toph's smaller shoulder. "Just stop for a second, OK?!"

The reaction was immediate.

Toph twisted backwards with a spin and thrusted her arms forward, palms out. "Get Off!"

The sensation of flight was a new feeling to Zuko but, the sharp pain to the ribs was not. Azula had never held back during their vicious spars and his ribs were one of her favorite targets. The burst of star across his vision was also another unwelcome feeling as, the ground came up to meet him.

Landing on his back, a few feet away from the crackling camp fire, he allowed his head to stop swimming before sitting up. Taking a look around the dark forest, the sight of nobody else greeted him.

Toph was nowhere to be found. She was probably on her way back to her friends. They would hear stories about how, he was still "evil" and how he had lashed out and blinded her as purposeful payback.

It just wasn't his night.

Zuko stood to his booted feet and could only yell out one thing in frustration; all while pulling at his shaggy, black hair.

"Why am I so bad at being good?!"

Faint flickers of soft light shone down on Aang, as he picked up another piece of dry firewood. Straightening back up, he idly weighed the wood in his hand, while looking around the quiet forest.

The happy chirps of crickets melded with, the symphony of a night forest full of life. His exposed Airbender tattoos glimmered whenever they were hit by a stray ray of moonlight. He couldn't stop the wide grin from fading from his face. Even being alone on 'Firewood Collection Duty', as Sokka called it, couldn't down his free-spirit.

It almost seemed like everything was perfectly aligned for once in the young Avatar's hectic life.

Suddenly, with a playful laugh, He threw up the firewood and gave it an Airbending enhanced crescent kick, as it came down. The size-able log flew through the air, curving and spinning all the way; it promptly landed heavily in an already wood laden earthen-made cart.

"Ok, that should be plenty!"

As soon as he finished speaking those words, the earth underneath his feet shook violently. It was as if Mother Nature was throwing a late-night temper tantrum to oppose his giddy attitude.

No sooner did it start, it was suddenly over. Aang was suddenly thankful for Toph's harsh lessons in being 'firm like a rock'. The earthquake hadn't thrown him from his feet but, his teeth felt akin to a baby's rattling toy. There could only be one person with that type of power….

"Toph! Where are you?!" The air reacted to his distress causing an fwip fwip fwip sound as his Avatar robes blew in the angry gusts. A rustling from a nearby bush caused him to stop turning and focus on it instead. "Hello?"

A bundle of green abruptly shot out of the foliage and bowled over the teen. Aang gave a manly yelp as he was knocked down but, managed to wrap his arms around the person to save them from the worst of the fall. It was only when he opened his eyes and loosened his grip, did he realize his was holding a slightly battered Beifong Earthbender.

Scratches covered her face as if she had been thrown into a pit of angry cat owls. Her thick hair, which she was always so careful to keep in a tight bun, had come loose in a knotted mess. Random tears and rips littered her attire. She looked highly distressed. An emotion Aang wasn't used to seeing on her face.

Aang gently cupped her face in his hands and spoke; the ever-present playful tone gone from his voice. "Toph, calm down. What's wrong?" He carefully turned her head from left to right; slowly checking for any sort of serious injury. "And why were you crawling on the floor?"

"I can't see Aang" her clouded green eyes were red-rimmed but, she didn't appear to be crying at the moment. Apparently, nothing could get Toph Beifong to shed any tears. Not even the loss of her special brand of "sight".

"Oh...ah...sorry?"

"You dunderhead!" She threw a solid right hook into his left arm. "I meant my Earthbending sight!"

"Well…how did it happen then?" His question was met by a brief silence on her part. He couldn't understand. Toph was always so quick to trade words no matter the occasion. What had changed?

"I'll…I'll tell you later, OK?" It was more of a statement than a question. Aang almost nodded in agreement before he caught himself. "Right."

She was so strong and Aang had to admire that resistant quality in her.

Rubbing his sore arm, Aang spoke up again this time, with a rueful grin on his lips. "Well, it sure looks like you didn't lose your temper too, huh Sifu?" When Toph started to cock her arm back for another hit, he raised his arms up in mock surrender.

"Just kidding Sifu!"

Toph blew a few thick strands of glossy raven hair out of her eyes and crossed her arms. "And wipe stupid grin off your face."

Aang's smile only widened more. "How do you know I'm smiling Toph? I could be frowning too you know." His smile faded a bit, out of surprise, when two soft female hands gently cupped both of his cheeks.

He looked down to see her leaning in closer with a toothy grin in place. Her hands kept his head in place until they were practically nose-to nose with each other. She smelled earthy but, still had an alluring feminine scent that lingered on her warm skin and seemed to make it hard to form coherent thoughts. The overcast greenness of her eyes was hard to miss, given how close she was, and he couldn't help his eyes flickering down to her moonlit pink lips every few seconds.

If Toph was bothered by their proximity, she didn't outwardly show it.

"Knew it. You're too easy to read Twinkle Toes." Her grin soon grew to match his fading one. "Now give me a ride back to Sugar Queen, my feet feel like they're on fire and a comb would be heavenly right now"

Aang rolled his eyes "Very funny Toph"

"Admit it. You love me and my awesomeness"

His heart couldn't help but thump loudly when she said that things like that.

Ignoring it, he allowed her to climb into his back, hooked his arms under her legs and started walking back towards the camp. Feeling Toph lay her head against his back, he smiled again knowing everything was in place again.

"Maybe one day..." he muttered.

"What?" she squawked from on his back.

Aang smiled knowing she couldn't see it. "Nothing Sifu…"

FIN

Author Ending Note: You may notice that the Firebending is a bit…different. Since the Firebending style contains is similar to Tae Kwon Do with the kicks, I used my black belt knowledge of Tae Kwon Do to alter the style. I also added a bit of Tricking into the mixture. It makes it much spicier.