The subway rocked, and a young woman's sightless eyes stared dully into the dark of the outside tunnels. Of course, to her, it wasn't really all that ominous or foreboding: her sharp ears could pick up every little click or clack that the links between the train cars made, the slight squeals of the wheels made as they ground against the endless tracks beneath their feet.

Normal people would never see this, she realized. They could only see with their eyes…

The bland voice of the intercom came up, announcing that her stop was coming up.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips, and turned in the direction of the door. Had her eyes functioned, she would have been able to see a spectacle unlike anything else.

The subway train burst out of the ground on its rails, to open up into a fast expanse of the city, where all of the holiday lights shown brightly; rainbow stars scattered across the earth.

As the young woman waited, it appeared she was looking out the window, gazing at the incredible spectacle before her.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" She heard from behind her.

Toph attempted a smile, though failed. "Are they?" she asked quietly.

She turned towards the owner of the voice, an older woman from the way her bones creaked. Her face fell as the woman was taken aback by, she guessed, her horrifically white eyes.

"Oh…I'm so sorry…I didn't realize that you were blind," the woman quickly stuttered. "Oh, you poor dearie…Would you like some help getting out of the train?"

Toph turned back towards the window, hoping that her eye twitch went unnoticed. "Th-that's fine…thank you…"

"Anything I can do to help those less fortunate than I am." She felt the woman smile, and simultaneously felt her blood boil.

Is that all she was to other people? "Unfortunate"?

This woman meant well, of course, but that fact did nothing to curb her temper.

All but stomping out of the railway system, (causing a few earth tremors as she did so,) she stormed down the street, crashing into her apartment and flopping face down on the couch.

Her scream, however muffled, did not go unheard.

"Rough day?"

"Shitty life…" she muttered.

This earned a chuckle from the male voice, as well as a clack from the kitchen, where she could feel him cleaning the dishes.

A flop of the dish towel signaled his finish with the dishes, and he soon came over and plopped on the couch next to her.

"Christmas cheer bugging you again?"

"VERY simply put, yes…" she growled.

Her soul mate chuckled again slightly, pulling her form close to his own. She acquiesced, leaning up against his comforting warmth, letting out a slight contented sigh despite herself.

"I don't know…" she said after a moment. "Every year everyone always talks about 'how beautiful everything is,' and…" she stopped for a moment, a frown furrowing her brow. "I just wanted to be able to ENJOY it for once, and not be 'unfortunate' to everyone else…"

"You're not unfortunate, just different. Besides, who said you can't enjoy the holidays?"

"Cause I can't see anything?" she said sarcastically.

She heard him click his tongue in thought…and was that annoyance she detected? "Toph, what do you notice about our tree?"

"…It's there?"

"…And…?"

"You said you put lights up on it, I don't know why you would say something like that at a time like this, since you know all I can do is hear…the…bells…"

She broke his embrace for a moment, standing up to "look" at the tree as if for the first time. He had put bells on the tree! That little bastard had put bells on the tree while she had been away!

Small bells, large bells; bells made of glass and of metal, and about every tone that she could imagine. Gingerly taking a branch, she shook the tree slightly, rewarded by the onslaught of musical prowess and divine notes.

This was Christmas?

She rang the bells again, then again like a kid at Christmas opening a gift she'd always dreamed of but never asked for.

"Merry Christmas, Toph," she heard, as if through a dream, a pair of arms snaking around her middle.

She turned back around in his embrace, and kissed him square on the lips, tears in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Zuko!"

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Sappy and late enough for ya? Lol, sorry about this taking so long, hope you enjoyed!

Dak