A/N: *sigh* School has started already. But the good news is that it's going to be cold soon (I really don't like warm weather). So I'll try to suffer through schools during the weekdays and present chapters to you all on the weekends.

Chapter 23

The sun was slowly starting to dip and the horizon was stained with wonderful shades of crimson, allowing a wondrous scene to be displayed for all of the Earth Kingdom to see. Normally, such a sight would have brought peace of mind and content. But for a particular group of six war heroes, the sunset only served to bring more anxiety and more pressure onto their already frayed nerves.

Aang had finally passed the last of the group's belongings to Zuko who was trying to his best to accommodate as much of the luggage as possible on top of the flying bison. The luggage was placed on carefully and the saddle was double checked to be sure that it was as secure as possible. Everything was prepared in case the group had to make an emergency get away. Aang made sure to whisper words of encouragement to Appa, saying that the bison only had to sleep with the saddle on for one night. It was important that the group be prepared for anything. The bison gave a grunt, showing that he understood.

Sokka nodded his head firmly. "Okay, Appa's packed and ready to go." He turned towards the other five members of the group with sharp, serious eyes. "Let's go over the plan one more time."

"We're going to have to get as much sleep as possible," Sokka explained. "It's no use getting worried over tomorrow and then not resting up to be prepared. We'll all get up before dawn and get on top of Appa as quickly as possible. Considering all of that, we should be able to make it over to the town by sunrise. Then, we'll just wait for that freaky spirit to show up just as planned."

Sokka clenched his teeth slightly. "If that bug decides to show up in the middle of the night, don't panic. Make your way outside of Omashu as quickly as you can. We'll have a better chance of battling that thing in an open area instead of inside those crowded halls. Does everyone understand?"

The rest of the group nodded in affirmation.

"Aang. You're going to be watching Toph tonight, right?"

The Air Bender nodded. "Don't worry. I've got it covered. I'll be staying in her room. Nothing's going to happen to her."

Sokka turned to Toph. "Don't do anything stupid like trying to find that thing in the middle of the night, alright?"

Toph scoffed and crossed her arms as an annoyed expression crossed her features. "Please. I'm not an idiot."

"He's not saying that you are," Suki offered comfortingly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You just tend to be very…determined when it comes to things like this."

"Play it safe," Zuko translated. "Don't run of thinking that you can stop it yourself and just wait until morning like the rest of us."

Toph rolled her eyes. She stared pointedly at everyone else's general direction. "I thought we went through this already. I'm accepting the fact that we have to stick together and I'm not going to try and solve it myself. Don't worry."

It didn't do anyone any good to think that Toph would go back on her promise against doing something reckless, so the conversation ended on that note. Appa was left in the stables next to the palace as the rest of the group walked back into the palace.

Bumi had informed the Water Tribe siblings earlier that day that he would sadly be forced to leave Omashu for the next few days. Tension had been growing between him and the Earth King back at Ba Sing Se to the point where negotiations needed to be made before King Kuei did something ridiculous. The two Earth Kings needed to ban together in order to rebuild the Earth Kingdom and there was no use in postponing their meeting any longer. The king of Omashu, however, didn't seem to be too worried about the news that the Water Tribe siblings had presented him with.

"I've known Aang every since we were young lads," Bumi reminisced. "If anyone is capable of solving a problem of this degree, it's him. The boy's grown to become wiser and stronger than he was in his younger years."

Bumi smiled and let joyous laugh. "I'd feel comfortable leaving my old friend in charge of the palace while I'm gone. And I'm sure that he'll do a fine job in protecting that Earth Bender he cares so much about."

Most of the servants and maids were missing. The new recruits were left behind to do the tedious work like watering the plants, dusting the furniture, washing the floors and windows, and altogether keeping the place spotless for the King's return. The heroes' footsteps echoed loudly through the halls as they made their way back towards their quarters, contemplating the battle that was expected tomorrow.

Katara and Suki made sure to give Toph hugs of encouragement and whispered encouraging words to her before they retired to their rooms. Katara even went so far as to place a small kiss on the top of Toph's head as reassurance. Sokka patted Toph lightly on the back while Zuko reached down and ruffled the hair on the top of her head.

"Relax. This'll be over before you know it," Sokka said confidently. "That insect doesn't stand a chance against my battle tactics!" he said triumphantly.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Of course. Because your battle tactics are so impressive."

"Look, Mr. Fire Lord," Sokka started.

Toph flung her arm out and smiled and the crunching sound that was made when her fist collided with Sokka's arm. "Calm down. Why don't you follow your brilliant advice and get to bed. We're going to be getting up pretty early. It's best to get to bed now so we can get as much rest as possible."

"Spirits Toph. You broke my arm!" Sokka shouted.

Toph stuck her finger out and pushed on Sokka's shoulder, making him tumble down to the ground. "Oh please. I didn't punch you that hard."

Aang shook his head and fought back a laugh. His face became stoic as he focused everyone's attention back. "We'll see you in the morning then?" Aang asked.

Sokka and Zuko nodded confidently and turned back towards their friends and slowly walked down the hall towards their rooms. Toph stayed rooted in her spot in the hallway until she felt Sokka's footsteps enter his room, followed by Zuko's footsteps entering his own bedroom. The minute she heard the sound of two doors shutting and two locks clicking in place, she let out a big sigh. She heard the flames of a torch flickering as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you want to head to your room?" Aang asked softly.

Toph stood silent for a moment before nodding and walking forward to her room. Aang's footsteps tapped along behind her only a beat behind her own. It amazed her how many little things were allowing for comfort. Everyone's assurances, the physical contact from her friends, Aang's voice, Aang's footsteps…even the sound of the fire burning in the torch holders that dotted the hallway. For some reason, it allowed her to believe that all of this wasn't a dream and that all of this was real. And that soon, she would be able to end it all in an instant as long as she tried hard enough. This wasn't a trick. This wasn't a joke. It was simply reality, and she was determined to being normality back to her reality if it was the last thing she did.

Kyoshi's oath to protect her all she could…even Ummi's own confidence in her…

Toph nodded silently to herself. She could do this. She was going to be alright.

"Do you mind if I take a bath first?" Toph called behind her as she stopped at her door. "I feel a little grimy from everything that's happened today."

Aang shrugged, grabbed the doorknob and twisted it silently. "Sure," he smiled. "I'll start it up for you."

Toph almost forgot how nice it had been to let her mind float during a nice bath.

Despite the fact that she had been using the bathroom every day since she arrived at the palace, this was probably the first time where she wasn't rushing it, letting her worried thoughts run rampant, or any combination of the two. For some reason, she could finally find some time to wind down tonight. It was sort of ironic since she should have been more worried now than she ever had been. But she wasn't about to argue with her feelings. She was finally getting some quiet and she sure as hell wasn't about to get rid of it now.

She piled her hair on the top of her head quickly before she sank deeper into the scented bath water. Toph let out a large sigh before she let her head drop backwards against the cold tiles of the floor. If she concentrated hard enough and let her feet touch the bottom of the bathing pool, she could see the rest of the bathroom as well as her bedroom right next door.

She could feel a corner of her room was cluttered with an array of objects. She heard a rustling of paper through the door of the bathroom so she assumed it was probably Aang sneaking scrolls from Bumi's library again. She felt him place another scroll on the floor and then pick another one up. She heard more rustling as he untied the scroll and opened it up again. Toph laughed to herself. It was probably him finishing up that dumb Earth Kingdom drama he was reading a couple of days ago. Figures he would want to finish it up before they left here.

Toph's eyes closed as she listened to the continuous rhythm of Aang closing a scroll, typing it up, placing it down, picking a new one up, undoing the tie and opening it up. She mused back to her earlier comment of finding comfort in the simple things like her best friend reading scrolls in the next room. She tried to succumb to unconsciousness and see if she could possibly take a small nap before having to get out. But of course, it seemed impossible.

Even though the whole day was tiring and it was going to get late soon, Toph didn't feel the least bit tired. She couldn't even force herself to take a ten minute nap in the water. Her fingers were constantly tapping on the edge of the bath and she was swinging her feet back and forth under the water. Her behavior definitely wasn't due to nervousness, but rather the adrenaline of tomorrow morning running through her. She was excited, but she was definitely eager—eager to end all of this stress and just sit back and relax like she used to in the old days. She sort of missed the simple days when she was twelve years old of lazing around on Appa and not doing anything in particular. Back then she was wishing for some excitement. Now she just wanted some rest.

"Man, how am I going to fall asleep?" she muttered.

She turned around so that her arms were resting on the edge of the bath. She let her head rest on her arms as she watched the mirrors all around her fog up from the humidity.

Another scroll was picked up and she heard Aang gasp loudly. A loud "what!" rang through the bathroom door followed by a frustrated groan. Toph chuckled. She had never met anyone who took those stupid drama stories so seriously. Honestly, all those stories have a weird twist near the end of the story. She knew that. So whenever the maids used to read those stupid scrolls out loud to her, she accepted the weird plot twists and odd situations as part of the formula that made for a successful soap opera. But because Aang was gullible, it probably just took him by surprise. Toph shook her head as she heard that he was picking up and putting down scrolls a lot more quickly. Maybe she should ask him what happened just for some humor. After all he was…

…oh right.

Top groaned and smacked her forehead. Aang was staying in her room tonight. She had totally forgotten.

Well, no. She knew full well that he was. But she supposed that the awkwardness of the situation didn't hit her until just now. Aang. Herself. In a room. Alone. By themselves. All night. Three feet away from each other.

It was official. She was going to get absolutely no sleep tonight.

She wasn't uncomfortable around him. Oh no, far from it. In fact, his company seems to be the only thing that has been keeping her sane all these days. If she would have anyone come and keep her company tonight, she would have picked him in a heartbeat. It was probably due to the fact that she didn't know if they were crossing some sort of line or jumping on a late opportunity by sleeping in the same room. It wasn't that big of a deal. He was just keeping an eye on her. He was being extra protective over her and was willing to do anything at all to keep her safe, even if it killed him. That's something a friend would do, right?

Please, Toph thought. Friend was far too inappropriate after hearing him sound so determined and so serious when he said that he felt this intense need to protect her. That wasn't something a friend said. It was too strong and too intense for your best friend to say. And if the kiss they shared that night wasn't another indicator of the fact that they abandoned the title of friendship long ago, then she didn't know what was.

Alright, so is wasn't friendship. Lust maybe?

She crinkled her nose. No, definitely not. Sure she found him highly attractive (if leaning against his chest while he was massaging her wasn't any indication of that, among other things) and her heart sped up every time he was within the vicinity, but something about their understanding of each other, their trust, and their bond seemed to deep and meaningful to be chalked up to something as superficial as physical attraction.

That meant is had to be something else, or at the very least, something that fell in between the other two. Then a specific word crossed her mind for a second…only for one second.

Love.

Totally impossible, she thought automatically. She didn't even know what love was. She had never felt it before and the closest she had ever come towards it was what she had heard from stories and from other people. It was the most irrational thought she had had in a while. But the strange thing was that as she tried to find another word to explain her relationship with the Airbender in the next room, they were all wrong. They were too weak, too superficial, too completely different from what she felt. It was odd, unexpected, and completely irrational, but love was surprisingly the only thing that made sense at the moment.

But that's impossible, she kept thinking. Aang was obsessing over Katara for the entirety of their youth. Plus we hadn't seen each other for years. Then we spent a few weeks together because of this mess. How is that the equation for two people to fall in love? It's stupid. It's ridiculous. It's completely irrational.

But it was the only thing that made sense.

Toph groaned. This was the last thing she needed: to have half of her accept the inevitable and have the other half deny the impossible. Aang was always her buddy. He was her buddy, her punching bag, her whiny Earthbending student, her partner in crime, and her friend. That was the summary of their relationship when they were kids and that's how she thought it was going to stay. But somehow, in the course of a few weeks, he turned into something entirely different. He was her source of comfort, her protector, her safe haven, the only person that had ever shown her any sort of deep compassion, caring, and understanding. Aang was the only one she could talk to anymore. He was the only one that she knew would listen to her and not just hear what she had to say. He was the only one that she would allow to see her completely exposed and without the rough, tomboy façade up to protect her.

Plus, she couldn't think of a single other person who she would be willing to do any of that with.

He was special. There couldn't possibly be anyone like him in the entire world.

If that wasn't the ramblings of a person in love, she didn't know what was. The only problem was that it came so quickly and so unexpectedly that it seemed painfully stupid.

So the point of all of this thinking was that she was either in love or completely crazy.

Toph sighed for the nth time. This is so confusing.

She started to feel that her fingertips were wrinkling up in the water. She must have been in here for well over an hour. She reached over to the other end of the tub and started to drain the water and grabbed the towel that was next to the faucets. She dried herself off mechanically and tied a robe around her waist as she let herself juggle to the two ideas in her head all over again. In love. Crazy. In love. Crazy. She felt like there was such a fine line between the two that it was almost useless trying to argue which one was actually legitimate. But still, there she was: still arguing with herself over the fact.

It was almost as if she refused to accept that the two ideas were simply interchangeable so it was useless to just leave it alone. It was almost as if she was really leaning towards the fact that she was in love. It was almost as if she was accepting that love had finally grown between her and her student and that it was the most natural thing in the world right now. It was almost as if she was ready to walk into the bedroom, confess her feelings to Aang, and then have everything end happily ever after.

But the key word here was almost. So being the stubborn Earthbender that she was, she was still arguing with herself as she walked out the bathroom.

In fact, she didn't even notice the fact that she had lazily walked by Aang in a short bathrobe. She didn't notice that Aang had looked up and that his face turned exactly 26 shades of red, pink, and purple. She also didn't notice that his eyes were glued to her as she walked into her wardrobe to look for some appropriate sleepwear. No, she didn't notice any of this. She was still thinking. In love. Crazy…

"Um…Toph…?"

She walked out in a knee length night gown with her eyes still glazed over in thought. She yanked at the tie that was holding her hair up and let her hair fall down her back. Aang sucked in a deep breath. He simply kept watching her from his chair in the corner of his room, the rest of the scrolls her was holding long forgotten. He watched her lay down on her stomach across the bed, facing him, with her head propped up in her hands.

The initial shock of her walking in just a bathrobe across the room and the shock of how amazing her hair looked let down had passed, and now it simply puzzled the monk as to why she was acting so quiet and weird. She just walked out the bathroom in complete thought and stretched out across the bed, the look in her eyes indicating that her mind was miles away. Toph wasn't interested in the monk sitting in front of her. Her head was still swimming.

Aang stood up and waved a hand in front of her face. Then he mentally kicked himself as he realized that waving his hand in front of her wouldn't have gotten her attention even if she wasn't daydreaming. He poked her on the shoulder and got close to her face.

"Toph, are you there?"

Love makes the most sense. But then again, I can think up some pretty stupid things…

"Toph, are you even paying attention to me?"

But is it really that stupid? I mean Katara says love is an amazing feeling and that I should embrace it…

"Toph, wake up!"

But what if I don't want to be in love? What if it's some overrated feeling…?

"Toph!"

But if what I'm really feeling is love, then love isn't overrated at all. But then again I could just be…

"Hey!" he yelled in her ear.

Toph jumped back and banged her head on the headboard of the bed. She gritted her teeth together and growled at the pain that was throbbing through her skull. She sputtered and growled under her breath and glared at Aang.

"What in the hell was that for?"

Aang rolled his eyes. "Okay, so when I'm not paying attention to you, you get to Earthbend me in the stomach, but when you don't listen to me and I yell in your ear, I'm wrong."

Toph scowled and nudged Aang on the shoulder. "Smart aleck," she grumbled.

Aang ignored her and shook his head. "What were you doing? Are you alright?"

Toph tilted her head. "What are you talking about?"

She felt Aang walk over to the couch at the other end of the room where it seemed like Aang had already had blankets set up for when he was ready to fall asleep. Toph crawled over to the foot of the bed so that she was facing Aang as he sat cross-legged on the couch.

"What I mean," he started, "was that you were totally walking around like you were on Cloud Nine three seconds ago."

Toph gaped. "Was not."

"Were too," Aang chuckled. "I didn't peg you as such a deep thinker."

Now Toph felt affronted. "What, so I can't think deep? Thanks."

Aang shook his head. "No, that's what I meant," he said quickly. "I'm just saying you looked like something was bothering you. You don't usually think about things that upset you, so the fact that you looked so troubled made me think something was wrong."

Toph frowned and fell back on the bed. She sighed deeply and faced the ceiling. "I don't know. I think I'm going insane."

Aang was suddenly kneeling down in the floor next to the bed. He rested his chin on the edge and looked right at her. "Why?"

Toph shrugged. "I'm starting to think things that are making very little sense. But for some reason, they also seem to be completely rational at the same time."

"Okay," Aang said slowly, listening intently.

Toph rolled over and propped herself up with her elbow. "Alright. It's like knowing something is true without ever seeing it for yourself."

Aang scowled in confusion. "Explain."

Toph sighed. "Think of it like believing in a fairytale. On one hand, you think that it's totally fake and that nothing of the sort could ever happen. But then again, you also hope that it's real, because believing that there is actually magic out there is better than accepting that it doesn't exist."

"But you don't which one to believe in," he finished.

Toph nodded. "Right."

Aang stood silent for a moment, clicking his tongue against his teeth as he sat there thinking next to her. "Well, who are you to say that magic doesn't really exist?"

"What?"

"How do you know that magic is really fake?" he questioned her. "How do you know that it's totally impossible? Maybe it's all over the place. Maybe it's because you've trained yourself to think that magic is fake. So even though the evidence is right in front of you, you refuse to believe it."

That made Toph stop to think for a moment.

"Maybe it's because you've trained yourself to think that magic is fake."

Did she really make herself believe that falling in love was a stupid idea? She always looked at the way her parents acted around each other, how Katara and Zuko acted around each other, and even how Suki and Sokka acted around each other. They seemed so blinded by everything around them and they seemed to ignore the other's flaws. They were willing to look past the ugliness of the other and still find a way to care for the other. It was because they were in love.

Toph remembered as a girl that the maid's had always told her that love truly makes you overlook everything. Love could make the worst person in the world seem like a savior—a saint. At the time, the thought disgusted her. How can you possibly find good qualities in a terrible person just because you were in love? Toph was already physically blinded at birth. She refused to metaphorically blinded as well just because of a petty emotion like love.

Sure, she had her random crushes in the past, but they never made her lose sight on what was important. That's because she wasn't in love. She refused to fall in love if it meant being so absorbed in another person. Love led to things like marriage and being committed to another human being for the rest of your life. You would never have independence. You would always have go through your life knowing that you had to consider the opinion of the person bound to you for life. She wasn't bound to anyone. She liked her independence. She liked being by herself. She was used to be alone after living with parents who never cared for years. Being alone worked for her. And she liked it.

But maybe she really was finally falling in love for the first time in her life. And like Aang said, because she had been so disgusted by the idea, she'd been making herself think that what she was feeling really wasn't love. But there were so many clues, so much evidence that supported her feelings that the idea of her being crazy was slowly starting to seem like a stupid idea.

Overall, maybe she really was in love.

"But what if magic is a scary idea," Toph continued. "What if you've heard so many stories of how bad things can go because of it? What if you know it's real, but it scares you?"

Something about the way Aang started to ghost his fingers across her palm made her think that Aang was well aware that they weren't talking about fairytales anymore.

"All the more reason to believe in it in my opinion," Aang said quietly. "After all, it might be scary and unpredictable, but magic makes people feel happiness that's out of this world. It's special, it's unexplainable, and I think it's something worth finding out about. Especially if you're not alone while you're searching for it."

Toph nodded and felt shivers go up her spine as he continued to trace patterns on her hands. "But magic has hurt so many people."

"It's also made people's lives ten times better."

"But you know if that's going to be the case."

"You never know what's going to be the case," Aang explained. "You don't know exactly what's going to happen in the future. When you get dressed in the morning, do you know how the day is going to go? Of course you don't. But is that a reason to stay your room all day? No. You go out into the world and explore the day, and accept whatever is going to happen. Just because you don't know where you're going to wind up doesn't mean you shouldn't walk forward. Because then you'll just be stuck in one place, regretting the fact that you didn't make an effort."

Toph chuckled to herself and closed her hand around his. She let her elbow collapsed so that her head was resting against the sheets. She felt Aang's gaze on her face and his hand squeezing hers. "You know, you can be really deep sometimes," she told him.

He shrugged in response. "It's a terrible habit of mine that I can't seem to totally get over."

"It helps though," she answered honestly.

"You're feeling better then?"

She nodded.

"How are you? You know…about…" he trailed off.

Toph nodded again. "I'm fine. I'm not worried, just…eager."

Aang let out a sigh. "I probably should let you go to sleep."

Toph didn't really want him to leave right now. She sort of felt silly when she remembered that she was worried about sharing a room with him. Because right now, she didn't know how she could have possibly thought that him sleeping in here was a bad idea. Now that he was speaking so sweetly to her and holding her hand like this, she didn't want him to leave. Even him sleeping all the way at the other end of the room was starting to seem like a bad idea in her eyes.

"I don't want to go to sleep."

"You should."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm still thinking."

"About what?"

She paused for a few seconds and made sure that her eyes weren't going to meet his when she said this.

"If I told you that I liked you—I mean really…really liked you—what would you say?"

It sounded as if Aang's breathing got really quiet. She didn't take it as a good or a bad sign. She was too tired and too absorbed in their conversation to think about his reaction to the question. All she really cared for was the answer. At this point, she had never felt more at ease in her life. And it almost seemed that she would be satisfied with whatever answer he gave her, that's how comfortable and calm she felt. And to think that he accomplished all of that in only a short amount of time. It was dizzying, yet satisfying.

"I would say that I liked you too—I mean really, really liked you," he chuckled.

Toph smiled. Neither of them said that they loved the other, but by the way they were talking before and how warm and sincere he was speaking to her before, she knew that he got the message. He knew what she was really thinking and he probably knew that she knew how he felt too. He was rubbing the back of her hand with his hand and he understood exactly what he was saying.

I love you.

She leaned down and kissed the inside of his wrist. I love you too.

Toph's eyes slowly started to droop and she felt herself drifting in and out of unconsciousness. She kept trying to stay wide awake for fear that she would wake up and they would have to break this comfortable position and face the one thing they wished would just go away. Aang brushed the lids of her half-closed eyes and told her that she really needed to go to sleep. "I don't want to sleep by myself," she mumbled quietly against his hand.

Aang hesitated for a moment, but decided to climb on top of her bed and sit with his back against the headboard of the bed. Toph crawled over to him and settled herself in between his legs with her head nestled in the crook of his neck. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he started making small circles on her back. She sighed as she breathed in the scent of his skin. She melted into his arms as his body heat started to seep into her skin, warming her up all over her body. He made his own sort of lullaby by making circles on her back, rubbing her hair, and placing an occasional kiss on the top of her head. She didn't dare move and she didn't dare say anything to ruin the moment.

She let herself drift off into sleep without any trouble.

Toph was woken up by a knocking sound at the door.

She wrinkled her nose and yawned slightly as the knocking at the door of her room. She tried to roll over on her side only to find that somehow, in the middle of the night, Aang had wound up lying behind her with is arms wrapped around her. It must have still been late at night if Aang was still asleep. Plus, she was still extremely drowsy with sleep and it didn't feel as if the sun was up yet. Besides, she could usually tell when it was morning and right now, it felt like it was still the middle of the night. She contemplated simply lying back down and falling back asleep, until she heard the knocking at the door again.

She leaned over and nudged Aang. "Aang, there's someone at the door," she mumbled.

Aang didn't move a muscle and kept soundly sleeping. It was strange, because if knocking at the door had woken her of all people up in the middle of the night, Aang should have definitely heard it. She was a much deeper sleeper than Aang was, so the fact that Aang was still soundly sleeping was a little strange. But because she was still half asleep, she decided to get up and take a look at who was there. After all it was probably Sokka waking everyone up a little earlier.

She moved into her closet and decided to put on her day clothes. After all, now that she was awake, it didn't seem like she was going to be able to fall back asleep. It was better to just get dressed now. She started to fix up her bun and rub the sleep out of her eyes as she opened the door to the bedroom to peek outside.

"Do you really think that you could trick me like this again, you despicable Avatar?"

"Hello?" she called. There wasn't a single sound outside, and she couldn't feel any vibrations close by. But there was definitely someone out here. She knew she heard knocking.

"I knew that you were trying to hide her from me again. I knew that it was you. Well let me tell you, I wasn't about to let you get away with it for a second time. I'm not that incompetent."

Toph stepped out of the room and closed the door gently behind her. It was so late that she didn't even hear the torches in the hallway. The servants must have put them out ages ago. That meant it was completely pitch black in the hallway. Not that this meant anything to her, but why would someone wake up this late to knock at her door?

"You should have known that I was going to come and stop you. I told you. I'm not going to let her go."

She should have gone back. There were no vibrations, there was not a single sound in the hallway…so that meant she was hearing things. But there was no way that she was hearing things. She knew there was a knock at the door. She wasn't crazy. It was probably someone messing with her. They had to be here somewhere.

"I can sense her. I can smell her. I know where she is."

There were footsteps behind her. Toph spun around quickly and tapped her foot on the ground, bringing up a rock right in front of her. There were no vibrations, but there was someone here. She couldn't see them, but she knew something wasn't right. Someone was there watching her.

"I'm going to find her."

Then she put the pieces together. No vibrations. Sounds only she could hear.

How could she have been so stupid!

She promised Sokka she wouldn't do anything dumb. And here she was running after invisible people, when really it was just…

Toph didn't waste any time running back to her bedroom as fast as she could. She sprinted using all of the energy in her body to get from here to safety as quickly as she could. But it was no use. There was a gigantic crash behind her and then she felt an overwhelming wave of pain overcome her. Toph stopped running and gripped the back of her head which was sticky from the blood that was now seeping from the back of her head. She fell to her knees and started to feel her eyes closing. She tried to crawl forward and get to her room. She had to get to her room. She had to get to her room. She had to get…to her…

Everything went black and she knew nothing more.

"She's going to be mine. I know it.

A/N: Man, I sure know how to ruin the mood. So…um…just hang in there, okay? It'll all work out. I promise.