After that, the day went pretty slowly. There were no more startles or anymore unexpected surprises. Sokka stayed planning and scheming in his room until about 4 o'clock when he went to the back fields of the palace to practice with his boomerang. Katara and Aang wrapped up their session at about 3 o'clock. Then Aang was supposed to practice earthbendig with Toph but she complained that he worked too much and told him that he should just take a break and relax for at least one day. Katara and Sokka didn't pay much attention to her decision and didn't actually wonder why she had done that.

But Aang was wiser than that. He was the only one that noticed the fade sound in her voice. It was a mere drop of tone in her voice. Only someone that really knows her and notices the tinniest details could have distinguished it. It was a sound of sorrow and pain. A sound that the soul produces when its beholder does not wish to set free his or her feelings. It was a melancholic and depressive sound that could just tear up the heart of whoever heard it in a full scale. A sound that made Aang tremble on the inside. A sound that made him fear for his friend and teacher…

He knew that Toph was the first one to deny him a break from earthbending and then she'd hit him in the head for just asking. He knew that when it came to earthbending and training she was really serious and didn't buy anything. He knew she wasn't like that. He knew that something was definitely wrong…

That night, Sokka turned in early and so did Toph. They said their goodnights and each went to their separate rooms. Katara and Aang were in their living room in front of the fireplace. They were in a time of silence and thought. Aang was thinking about Toph and about how could he help his friend feel better. Katara on the other hand was thinking about what was going on inside Aang's head. She sometimes knows him better than himself.

"So…" started Katara trying to make conversation "anything knew?" she asked looking at him with her soft and gentle stare.

"Hm?" said Aang while turning his head away from the fireplace and focusing on the waterbender. He didn't realize she was talking to him until now. "Sorry, I was…well, distracted" he said shrugging his shoulders while focusing on the fire again.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

He looked at her and gave her a small smile "Don't worry, I'm fine. I promise."

"Well, ok." She said heading to her room. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow" she said in an uncertain tone.

He gave her a small nod then she entered her room. Aang always loved to talk to her. She was so sweet and understanding. He felt like he could talk to her about anything. But this was different. This problem wasn't his, it was Toph's. He didn't feel he was in any position to discuss this with anyone, even with her.

He didn't know what he was going to do about Toph. He wanted to help her but he just didn't know how. After meditating for about an hour or so, he decided he should get some sleep. He concluded that Toph was strong and tough and that she would be back to normal by tomorrow.

He went to his room, changed into some night garments the King provided and the second he got into the bed, he heard a door creak. He sat up and waited and listened for any other movement. Then he heard, what seemed, the same door creak close. He then crawled to the extremity of the bed closest to the door and stretched his neck as far as possible and tried to hear for anything else so he could determine how should he approach the situation.

Then he heard something. A sound that his ears have never behold. A sound that wasn't meant to be heard. A sound that has been kept secret from the world until that very second. A sound he thought he'd never hear. He heard a cry. But that wasn't what surprised him. What made him stay shocked in that position without moving a muscle was the person that was emitting that sorrowful sound. It was his friend, his teacher, Toph Beifong…

THE Toph, the Blind Bandit, the greatest earthbender in the world, the first person that discovered how to bend metal, the person that ran away from home at an age of merely 12, the person that took on guys 3 times her size, was crying in a distance of 5 meters from his stance.

Aang didn't know what to do. Would she be mad at him if went and talked with her? Would she be grateful? Would it help if he showed himself? Or would it make it worst? He didn't know. All he knew at that moment was that his dear friend woke up at 3 o'clock in the morning to cry. And that's all he needed to know…

He got out of his bed and slowly opened the door that led to the sitting room between both bedrooms. Toph automatically sensed him and started to wipe her tears. By the time that he left his room completely, she had already wiped all of her tears off.

"What are you doing awake, Twinkle Toes?" she asked with her usual rude tone and with her head turned to the fireplace. She was sitting in the sofa nearest to the girls' suite.

"I kinda herd the door so I came to see what was going on." He said sitting in the sofa nearest to his suite. "What are you doing up?" he asked looking at her.

"Why do you care?" she spat back crossing her arms and turning her face to him.

"Well, I sorta herd you crying…" he started but Toph immediately cut him off…

"I wasn't crying!!" she said in a whispered yell, not wanting to wake up anyone else.

"Fine, fine" he said backing up a bit. Then they both turned their heads to the fire. "So…" started Aang once again looking at Toph with the corner of his eye "why were you crying?"

"I already told you, I wasn't!!" she teethed defensively turning to Aang once again.

"Come on Toph, you can tell me anything" he said standing up and going around the table that was in the middle of both couches "you can trust me…" he said as he sat down next to her.

Toph turned her head away once again to the fireplace. "Did something happen?" asked Aang pretending that he hadn't seen the spectacle earlier. Besides, he didn't even want to know what she would do if she found out he was spying on her private conversations.

She brought her legs to her chest and hugged them while looking at the floor. "I don't want to talk about it." she said in a low whisper.

"Fine" said Aang in a sigh as he got up "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow…" then he headed towards his room. He didn't think he should push to hard, she could get ticked off and that wouldn't be too good for him.

Toph felt him leave. She didn't want him to leave. He was the only person she could talk to and she felt he was the only one that understood her. He was the only one that could answer her questions. And that was exactly what she needed, she needed to get answers. She needed to know what was so great about this thing that separated her from the rest of the world. She needed to know what was so special about it that could make the person she liked break her heart because she didn't have it. She needed to know; she needed to know now…

She bit her lip and sucked her pride. "Twinkle Toes?" she said turning to him.

"Hm?" he said turning around right before he entered his room.

"What's it like to see?" she quietly asked, her voice trembling.

Author's Notes: This is sorta of a cliffhanger. Me like cliffhangers!!! But don't worry, you won't get too many from me. I'm trying to update more often since school is going slower this semester. Anyways, for all Naruto fans out there, I'm starting to work on 2 different fanfics. One is mainly KibaHina and the other is Tenten x ? Remember to R' & R'