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It's over. At least, Katara hopes that it's over. She had just defeated Princess Azula in battle, despite the fact that the princess' firebending was greatly enhanced by Sozin's Comet. Rather than winning through power, Katara won through brains. Luring Azula over a grate full of water gave her the opportunity to trap both of them in frozen water. Katara freed herself and chained Azula to the grate, hoping to keep her in one place and in a position where she can't firebend properly, with her arms behind her back.
With Azula chained down, Katara rushes towards the other member of the Fire Nation's royal family present in the battlefield.
Zuko.
However, he is currently not in a good state right now. Far from it, Katara feared. He's lying on his stomach, twitching and grunting non-stop. The pain he is currently suffering from is agonizing beyond description and he can't muster enough strength to get up. Fortunately for him, he has a healer for a friend running to his aid right now.
Katara carefully turns Zuko over on his back, gently caressing the back of his head as she inspects the damage inflicted upon him. It was horrible to look at. A big, gashing red wound right below his chest. Katara winces at the sight of it, but she doesn’t care about how it looked. All she cares about is making sure Zuko is healed as soon as possible. Reaching for her water skin, she hastily bends the remaining water in it onto the wound, desperate to ensure the prince’s survival. Her hands rest on and around the wound as the water she bends starts to glow bright, signifying the healing process taking full effect.
Katara tries to keep her breathing under control as she waits for a sign that Zuko will be okay.
Zuko… once her enemy… now an ally… a friend, even… the only reason he is in so much pain right now, the reason why he is suffering from this mortal wound is because he protected her.
It was supposed to be Zuko versus Azula in a battle for the Fire Nation’s throne. Katara was supposed to stay back and stay safe. She hid behind a pillar as she watched the Agni Kai between siblings. It was fascinating to see how differently the prince and princess fight compared to the past. Zuko, once fueled by so much rage, now fights with the grace and composure that required of a truly skilled firebender. Azula, once carried herself with poise and discipline, now fights with more craze and less cunning due to her declining mental state. Despite Zuko starting to get the better of his sister, Katara felt the need to come out of cover to back him up out of fear that Azula might try some underhanded tactic. Zuko taunted Azula about using lightning, provoking the deranged Fire Princess into unleashing a super-charged lightning bolt… right at Katara.
Katara is only alive because Zuko jumped in front of the path of the lightning, taking the blast for her. Zuko managed to redirect some of the lightning’s energy to the blood red skies but not before suffering a fatal wound.
And now, here she was, victorious against the crazed princess and desperately trying to heal who she believes to be rightful heir to the Fire Nation throne.
Seconds pass by as her healing water remains on his nasty wound.
Something was happening, but it didn’t look positive.
Zuko’s twitching stopped. His breathing slowed. His mouth stopped making noises. His eyes remained closed.
Katara starts to lose control of her breathing at the sight of this. She puts her hand on his chest and then on his neck, trying to feel for signs of life. It’s fading, much to her horror.
“No,” she panicked. “No, no, no. Please, no! Zuko!”
No response from the prince.
“Zuko, please, wake up!”
There’s still no sound from him.
“Zuko, please! Don’t go! Wake up! Zuko!”
Still nothing.
Katara couldn’t hold it back anymore. The tears that she was trying to suppress, they start to come flooding down her face. She didn’t want to face the possibility that Zuko’s sacrifice might have been his final act, especially not when her healing hands are placed right on top of his wound. But he wasn’t responding, not in the way she wanted. She wants to see him open his eyes, to hear him say that he’s gonna be fine. She wants to see the look on his face when she tells him that she beat Azula.
But, still, nothing happened.
Just nothing.
“Please, listen to me. Can you hear me? Zuko, we did it. We won. It’s over.”
No matter how many times she shouted his name, no matter how many times she begged for him to wake up, he didn’t move nor say a word. The forced smile on Katara’s face disappears as the tears continue to rain down her face and drip onto Zuko’s unmoving body. Despite the tears, Katara keeps her hands on his wound, still hoping that it’s not over. But the longer Zuko remains unresponsive, the less hopeful she feels.
Katara stops speaking as she lowers her head in despair, seemingly surrendering to her tears.
She can hear Azula’s manic laughter. Her brother is dying and she’s… laughing?
There was this sudden urge to bend dozens of ice shards straight at the psychotic princess, but Katara resisted. Her sorrow is overwhelming her desire for revenge. But why? Azula did this. Azula did this to Zuko, her own brother. Katara’s mind wandered to Yon Rha and how she wanted him dead for killing her mother. She may have chosen to spare his life, but it wasn’t easy. That urge to kill, it’s still there. And she’s feeling it again. It worsens the longer Azula laughed. But despite that growing urge to take further action against the princess, Katara resisted. She chooses to stay near Zuko and cry her heart out, because that’s all she wanted to do now. To just stay here by his side.
All of a sudden, memories flash in Katara’s mind. Memories of Zuko. The scroll… the catacombs… the Western Air Temple… the temple, that’s where her mind lingers much longer than expected. Why? She immediately knew why. What she said to him that day…
“I’ll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there, permanently.”
Back then, Katara believed that Zuko’s destiny is to deliver the Avatar to Fire Lord Zuko and prove himself the true prince of an evil nation. Oh, how wrong she was about him. Eventually, she realized that his true destiny is to become the Fire Lord and help the Avatar restore balance to the world.
And then the image of Zuko getting shot by his sister’s lightning blast replays in her mind over and over again. Why did that have to happen? It’s because he chose to protect her. Her, who decided to stop hiding and help him, leaving herself open for an attack, resulting in his gut reaction to take a fatal blast close to the heart just so she would live. Katara can hear a voice in her head repeatedly shouting at her, “It’s your fault.” The voice started out angry, only to quickly turn sad.
“No, not like this,” Katara cried. “Please, not like this. Not ever. Not after… not after we finally… please, no.”
Katara doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t want to move from her current spot. Her hands remain on Zuko, refusing to let go no matter how bleak the situation appears right now.
“I’m sorry,” she said with a crack in her voice.
What am I apologizing for? Katara wondered. Surely, she can’t be blaming herself for Zuko’s fate. But looking at him now, witnessing her efforts to heal him appear futile, her mind can’t help but wander into the worst places. Is the universe punishing me for treating him like the enemy? She always felt justified in refusing to trust Zuko when he decided to join Team Avatar and teach Aang firebending. She felt that no one had the right to tell her that she was being unfair to Zuko. After what he did to her in Ba Sing Se, making her feel sympathy for him, making her believe they both share the pain of losing a mother, only to blast fire at her face when he had to decide between fighting Azula or joining her. She remembered Jet and then Hama, and their respective betrayals only validated her decision to remain suspicious of the Fire Prince’s true intentions with the Avatar.
But he never meant us any harm, she reminded herself. All the days, hours, minutes, and seconds she spent giving him the death stare as a reminder of her willingness to put him down for good if he crossed the line, no matter how justified her reasons are, they felt like a huge waste of time. My distrust towards him, it was all for nothing. Katara never truly took the time to sit down and think about Zuko’s actions since becoming part of the Avatar’s inner circle. The times he brewed tea for them, the odd attempts at telling jokes, helping Sokka free her father from Boiling Rock, saving her from falling debris, supporting her on her mission to exact vengeance on the one who killed her mother, never casting judgement on her regardless of what choices she’d make on the mission…
She eventually realized that his desire to be good is sincere.
The man she thought represented the evil of the Fire Nation was just a boy who was scarred by the world around him. He needed his mother just as much as she needed hers, but all they had now was each other. That thought brought her back to the catacombs once again. The sincerity in his voice when he spoke of his mother, the genuine empathy he showed towards her… it was as if the universe wanted her to think very deeply about what kind of person Zuko really is. How far he went to prove to her that he was a changed man, how he genuinely wanted to help her get closure for his mother’s death, that boy was a far cry from the untrustworthy bastard that she thought him to be after his betrayal in the catacombs. Since then, he has done nothing to her but try to be nice, supportive, and helpful.
He chose to die for you even if you didn’t deserve his kindness, she says to herself. Even though she had forgiven him, she feels as if she has not given him enough. Why? Why is that? When that play on Ember Island showed him betraying his uncle, she didn’t mock him for it; she felt sorry for him. When he showed hesitation to face the uncle he betrayed, she consoled him and gave him the little push he needed. When he asked her to help him dethrone Azula, she did not hesitate to come with him. What more could she give him?
I don’t know, she cried.
Does it even matter? Zuko continues to lie still. She refuses to accept that the worst has happened and that it was probably all her fault. The self-blame enrages and saddens her. She finally forgives him, they go on this dangerous mission together, and she makes one little decision out of worry and concern that might’ve just doomed the Fire Nation’s monarchy. Despite forgiving him, it was as if she needed to do something else for him. But what is it?
Her heart aches for the scarred boy. All she can do now, besides wallow in guilt and self-pity, is think. To truly think about who Zuko is as a person and who he is to her.
That moment they shared in the Crystal Catacombs… she saw the grief and longing in his eyes upon mentioning his mother. She saw how much he despised the scar on his face, describing it as the mark of a cursed prince destined for misery. The sympathy and empathy she felt for him, they compelled her to make a serious offer. She offered to heal his scar, to help him be rid of the mark that he would always see in the mirror. In that moment, she no longer saw the Fire Lord’s son. She saw a boy in pain and in desperate need for help. She wanted to offer him that help. Despite tying her to a tree, blackmailing her with her mother’s necklace, and refusing her offer to heal Iroh after he was injured by Azula, she still allowed her kindness to determine what she wanted to do at that moment. If there was goodness locked away inside him, maybe fixing his face would be the key to unlocking it and freeing it.
When she finally forgave him for his betrayal, she started to see him for who he really is, who he has become. The drive to do right by the Avatar and his friends, it’s genuine. His need for her trust and approval, she found it equally frustrating but adorable. How his presence has become a strange source of comfort for her in these dark times, it’s an odd thought that just crossed her mind. The universe seemed to be trying to push them together, side by side, no matter how much she wanted or didn’t want him in her life. The more she looked at his face, the more she understood his heart. The image of Zuko she has in her mind now… she respects him, admires him, adores him-
Katara briefly opens her eyes, reluctantly laying eyes on the fatal red mark on Zuko’s body. Her tears continue to rain down her face and even drip onto the healing waters that still glow at her command. Through her tears, Katara notices that the healing water is glowing brighter. She thought nothing of it. Maybe it was just a hallucination.
“U-uh…”
Katara’s eyes open wide at that sound. She can hear the sounds of someone in pain. They’re hard to listen to, but they were sounds she wanted to hear. She turns towards Zuko’s face. He’s moving. He’s opening his eyes. He can speak. He’s alive! He’s okay! Katara smiles a genuine smile. Her tears of sorrow immediately turn into tears of joy.
“Thank you, Katara,” said Zuko. His voice was weak, but it was filled with gratitude.
Katara blushes and smiles at his words before saying, “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
Katara keeps her healing hands on Zuko’s wound until he was strong enough to move. She puts a hand on his back and gently helps him up. Now sitting up, Zuko looks down at the new scar on his body, as well as the hand that proceeds to make him feel better. He looks up at Katara. She was shedding tears, but she has this relieved smile on her face. He could’ve sworn there was this faint tint of red on her cheeks, but he doesn’t know if he’s just seeing things. What matters the most to him is that she’s right here, in front of him, alive and well. She beat Azula, which is amazing to think about considering Sozin’s Comet still flying above their heads. To know that his sacrifice was not in vain puts a relieved smile on his own face. He saved her, and now she saved him.
“Why did you do that for me?” Katara asked.
Her voice cracked. She tried to sound calm, but her tone betrayed her.
“I had no reason not to,” Zuko replied.
His voice was still weak, but he was clearly trying not to strain himself.
Katara smiles at his response. She doesn’t need some extended speech about honor and doing the right thing. Those six words told her enough. They only further confirm what she already thinks and knows about him at this point in their relationship. She keeps her hand on his wound, making absolutely sure that he is healed enough to stand up. He repeatedly reacts negatively to the pain, but this oddly makes her happy because it’s further proof that he’s still alive.
Katara and Zuko look into each other’s eyes for an awfully long time. Zuko does not dare move from his spot. Katara’s hand and healing water stay glued to the brand new sore spot on his upper body. Zuko cannot put into words how much her touch and her power is dulling the still agonizing pain he feels. Katara cannot put into words how happy she is to see him awake and breathing. There was this silent agreement between them to just say nothing and let their eyes speak.
Katara’s eyes look towards his injury again, while Zuko keeps his eyes on her face. The tears are slowing down, but she does not bother wiping them away. Her smile remains on her face, showing him how relieved she is that he would live to wear the Fire Nation’s crown. He cannot help but stare at her with all the admiration he could show. Once upon a time, she was just a pesky Water Tribe peasant standing in his way of capturing the Avatar. Now, she was this fierce waterbending warrior that deserves all the respect in the world. But what dominates his mind is the look on her face when she saw him wake up. He can actually imagine how scared she was when he couldn’t move or breathe; he heard every word she said him, begging him to wake up. He knows that she trusts him now, but he sees that she has grown to care about him. He shouldn’t be surprised, considering she gave him encouragement to apologize to his uncle back in Ba Sing Se, but her compassion towards him still felt surreal at times.
Zuko closes his eyes, calmly breathing in and out as another method to ignore the pain below his chest.
While Zuko’s eyes are closed, Katara feels this strange urge to reach for his face. She slowly raises her free hand and her fingers find their way to the dreaded scar on his face. Zuko feels her gentle touch on his scar, reminding him of that fated encounter in the catacombs. He dares not to react to her touch. He just sits there, breathes slowly, and savors the moment. There’s something about the way Katara touches his scar that makes him feel at ease. The strange comfort he finds in her touch is not lost on him. It’s the same feeling he felt back in Ba Sing Se. It is also a painful reminder that he betrayed her trust and wasted the perfect opportunity to choose the right path. He feels tempted to hold her hand, but decides to resist. He focuses on her healing and her comforting touch.
Just as Zuko was about to open his eyes and finally speak, he feels something press against his lips. That something feels like another pair of lips. Katara’s lips? Zuko opens his eyes for a few seconds, and he is shocked that his guess was confirmed.
Katara is kissing him.
The kiss started out soft and careful. The passion from her end slowly increases, threatening to push Zuko down on his back once again. She surprisingly keeps her passion under control, as he remains sitting up but still shocked. To his own surprise, Zuko does not pull away or push her away. The longer her lips remained on his, the stronger this burning sensation inside of him feels. It’s not pain from his wound. It’s an uplifting feeling in his chest and a light burn behind the skin of his face. These feelings prompt Zuko to close her eyes and lean forward, returning her kiss.
However, it’s this returning act from Zuko that makes Katara pull away. She has this look on her face like that of someone who just realized they did a very bad thing.
I’m sorry, she wanted to say, but didn’t.
Instead, she just closes her eyes and looks down in shame. She couldn’t bear to see the look on his face, his reaction to her impulsive act. Why did I do that? She yelled at herself. I know why, but why? Katara wants to blame her intense emotions for what she considers a shameful act. Is he upset with me? Angry with me? Would he talk to me again?
Suddenly, Katara feels something warm touch her cheek. She opens her eyes and sees Zuko gently holding her face, sees the smile on his face. He doesn’t look upset at her. That doesn’t mean she’s in the clear, though. She waits for him to say something, but the feeling of his hand on her face was bringing back those intense feelings that made her kiss him. She puts a hand over his hand, the one on her face, as she lets more tears of joy rain from her eyes. Her worried frown turns into a smile despite the worry that he might react negatively to her impulsive action. But the soft look on his face tells her that she has nothing to worry about. It may just be her imagination, but there’s this glow in his golden eyes that’s trying to ease her worries about a fractured relationship.
Instead of saying anything, Zuko slowly leans closer and closes his eyes. Katara sees this and internally panics, only to find herself darting forward in response. Their lips reunite. Zuko’s hand lowers from her face and rests around her waist. Katara’s puts one hand on his scar and the other around his neck. The waterbender’s tears dry up finally as she willingly loses herself in the moment. After the adrenaline from her life-or-death battle against Azula and the grave scare from almost losing Zuko, she needs this. And so does he, if the passion on his end of the kiss says anything. Despite the physical pain of his sacrifice, he ignores it as hard as he can to focus on this wonderful moment between him and Katara.
That moment, however, was interrupted by a loud cry.
Katara and Zuko stop kissing and turn their heads towards the source of the cry. It was Azula. She was no longer laughing maniacally, not after witnessing Zuko survive her own lightning blast. She was screaming and crying and breathing fire as she desperately tries to break free from the chains. The tears storming down her face tell a story of someone who appears broken inside. Katara and Zuko, unfortunately, don’t have the full context to know what to think about her and what to do with her. They knew since coming here that she was slipping mentally, but they had to focus on dethroning her.
Zuko almost felt foul taking advantage of his sister’s current mindset to gain the upper hand in battle. He looked at his sister with a moderate level of sympathy in his face. Katara could not feel sympathy for the princess, not after what she just tried to do to her own brother, but all the waterbender can do is offer a comforting hand on the prince’s shoulder as they wait for Azula to calm down on her own.
Meanwhile, at the borders of the Earth Kingdom, Avatar Aang had finally completed the very mission that he has worked a year to finish. He had just defeated Ozai. Instead of taking his life like his friends expected him to, he took away the Fire Lord’s firebending by using a form of bending he learned from a lion turtle - energybending.
Three of his friends - Sokka, Suki, and Toph - came to him on the only remaining Fire Nation airship left in the sky (since they pretty much destroyed the entire Fire Nation airship fleet). They were so happy to see him (as he did disappear on them without notice) and even happier that Ozai is a now a powerless loser. Severely weakened by Aang’s energybending, Ozai can only lie down and listen to Sokka and Toph mock him for his failure and literal powerlessness.
“Okay, if we’re done with the name-calling, we might wanna restrain Mr. Loser Lord here, just in case,” said Suki.
Toph then cuffs both Ozai’s hands and legs with rocks. Sokka asks if he can spend another minute or two coming up with insulting nicknames for Ozai before they load him onto the ship. The others reluctantly give him permission.
“What’s say we have a friendly conversation, Lame-ix King?” Sokka started, already brainstorming jokes and nicknames.
“He’s such a buffoon,” Suki said, but with an amused smile.
“Well, good luck kissing that thing for the next one hundred years,” Toph said sarcastically.
While Sokka annoys the fallen Fire Lord, Toph turns her attention to the Avatar, who is currently standing near the edge looking at the still red skies above. Sozin’s Comet is still passing by, but Aang hopes that the rest of Team Avatar’s allies have finished this hundred-year-long fight once and for all. He was glad to see three of his friends right here with him, but it makes him worry about where the others are and what they’re doing. Finding out about the fates of Katara, Zuko, and the rest of their allies will have to wait until Sokka is finished with his comedic name-calling (or, at least, he considers his name-calling “comedic”).
Toph stands close by, but keeps a distance from him. Trying to block out the Water Tribe boy’s ceaseless blabber, the blind girl focuses on the bald monk who had just saved the world from the Fire Lord. She can feel his mostly steady heartbeat, which was no doubt because of Ozai’s defeat. She can sense some tension in him, but that was probably just worry for Katara and the others. Toph wants to step closer and say something, but she stays frozen on the spot, unsure about what to do next. Her entire focus is on Aang, and the more she thinks about him, the more frozen she feels. He had just disappeared on his friends as the comet flew closer to the planet, and now he just showed up with a bizarre but truthful story about lion turtles, acting like he had just left to buy food from a marketplace.
I hate you sometimes, Twinkle Toes. Toph wanted to say that, but she didn’t want to open her mouth just yet. It’s an odd feeling. Usually, she’s an open book, doesn’t mince words, and says whatever she’s thinking. Now, though, at the dusk of an epic final battle against Ozai and his fleet, Toph isn’t feeling very talkative. She did just insult Fire Lord earlier, but that was when she was feeling the excitement from victory. But that excitement has faded rather quickly. She’s now in deep thought about what to say and do now. Why is this so hard for me? The blind earthbender thinks hard about why her current state of uncertainty.
Not too long ago, Toph felt like it was all over for her in the worst way possible. Up above in the sky, surrounded by comet-powered firebenders, hanging over a great height, facing an unsurvivable drop, she only had Sokka’s hand to hold on to. With no sight and no earth to “see” with, Toph felt truly helpless and scared. She felt herself shedding tears as the grave seriousness of the situation really hit her. If Sokka lost his grip on her hand, it’s a long way down with no form of sight to save herself with. As the fear of losing her grip increased, so many thoughts circled her mind. All she could think about, besides worrying for Sokka, were the things she won’t be able to do if she fell.
I’ll never see my parents again.
I’ll never get to cement my legacy as the Greatest Earthbender ever.
I’ll never see Aang again.
Toph balls her hands into fists and they shake, thinking about how her mind wandered to the Avatar in what could’ve been her final moment. When Suki came in last minute to save theday and she “saw” Aang again, she momentarily forgot about what was running through her mind as she dangled over death’s door. But now, her mind was returning to those thoughts again. She can feel the steel in her heart wearing down as she fights over what she should and shouldn’t do right now. When tears threaten to escape her eyes again, she wipes them away, not wanting anyone to see her cry, especially since this is supposed to be a triumphant moment for Team Avatar.
Toph reaches for her hairband and undoes her bun, letting her hair down. She keeps a tight grip on her hairband as she finally decides to walk towards Aang, stopping right next to him and getting his attention.
As Aang turns to his left and looks at his earthbending teacher, Toph winds up her free hand and punches Aang on the shoulder really hard.
“Ouch!” Aang reacted.
“If you ever disappear on us again, it’s Earthbending training for you for 24 hours straight, Twinkle Toes,” Toph said. She sounded upset, but her voice cracked and it was not as intense as she wanted.
Aang chuckles nervously and says, “Well, I don’t know if I can really promise that I won’t vanish again. But after everything I’ve been through, maybe an entire day with a friend like you is exactly what I need.”
Toph’s nerves shake again in response. She’s gritting her teeth, seemingly holding back something. The way he says those words sounds so friendly and innocent, but her heart reacts to them in a way that she wishes it didn’t. But it does and she can’t change that. Can I really do this? Why is it so hard to fight back against what I’m thinking of doing right now?
Despite her attempts to stand strong and rigid, Toph steps forward.
Aang closes his eyes quickly as he braces for another punch… but it never came.
Instead, he feels something wrap around him.
Aang opens his eyes and sees a pair of arms wrapped around him. Toph’s arms. She is hugging him. She rests her forehead on his shoulder as her fists shake against his skin. Aang swears he can hear sniffling coming from her. He can’t see her face, but it’s easy to tell that she might be crying right now. Plus, he can feel something wet against his shoulder - her tears.
“Uh, Toph?” Aang spoke.
“Just shut up, Aang,” Toph said, but in a low and emotional tone, like that of someone trying to fight against their tears.
Aang was surprised to hear Toph speak like this. It especially surprised him to hear her say his actual name this way. His initial confusion was replaced with concern. Toph doesn’t often allow herself to be vulnerable in front of others because she has this “toughest earthbender ever” image to maintain. But right now, she’s allowing herself to show probably the most emotion he’s ever seen from her. Not knowing what to say and wondering if he should even say anything, Aang decides to do one simple thing.
Hug her back.
Both his arms were kinda restrained by Toph’s strength, but he wiggles out of them just enough to return the hug, hoping it would make her feel better. Toph’s sniffling slowed down in response, seemingly appreciative of this simple gesture.
“Looks like someone really missed you, Aang,” Suki noticed.
“Okay, I’m about done messing with Ozai. Boy, that was fun,” Sokka said, satisfied. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We gotta check on Ba Sing Se and the Fire Nation capital, see if any one of our friends need some Avatar-style assistance.”
“Forgetting someone, Snoozles?” Toph questioned, offended by being unmentioned.
“Earth plus metalbending assistance, as well,” Sokka corrected himself.
“Before we go, I gotta say, you guys were amazing, too,” Aang said, complimenting his friends. “Taking down the entire fleet, this is a story for the ages.”
“Well, we all played our part,” Toph said nonchalantly. “We sure showed them, didn’t we, Aang?”
Toph still has her arms wrapped around Aang. He doesn’t seem to mind, but he was starting to feel a little awkward because she’s been holding on to him for a really long time, even after he stopped hugging her back. Toph can hear, feel, and sense his awkwardness, but she just smiles.
“I gotta help Sokka onto the ship,” said Suki, pointing at her boyfriend’s injured leg. “Toph, can you carry Ozai for us?”
“Sure,” Toph agreed. “But first, I think the Avatar deserves a reward.”
“Huh?” Aang reacted, confused. “What are you-“
Toph interrupts Aang by grabbing his face, turning it towards her direction, and kisses him right on the lips. Aang is both shocked and confused by this unexpected act from Toph Beifong. He doesn’t know how to respond. He can’t pull back because he’s afraid of upsetting her, but he is feeling extremely awkward about this, especially because it was completely unexpected.
Why is she doing this?
Is she messing with me?
What if she’s not?
Should I kiss her back?
How long has she felt this way about me?
Before Aang can do anything, Toph ends the kiss. She then casually shoves Aang towards the airship, pretending that she didn’t just kiss him a second ago.
Sokka is hunched over, mouth open so wide that you can fit a king’s buffet inside, and wearing the facial expression of someone who just witnessed something inconceivable and beyond the realm of possibility, like a talking sky bison standing upright on two legs. Suki, on the other hand, has a fairly regular surprised look on her face.
“Well, what are you idiots waiting for? Let’s go!” Toph demanded, pretending like everything is normal. “Our friends could be dead or dying, and we need to move.”
No one says a word and boards the airship, along with the powerless and incapacitated Ozai.
While Sokka and Suki debate on where to go first, Aang can’t stop looking at Toph, who is just standing by the window acting as casual as she can. That kiss, he can’t stop thinking. Why would he? All this time, he thought of Toph as an amazing earthbending teacher and a good friend. Despite all the rocks, insults, and punches she threw his way, he knows she cares about him just as much as she cares about her. But what she just did, he has trouble processing it.
The simplest explanation is that what he feels for Katara, it’s what Toph feels for him. Even with that explanation, he still feels like it’s not the full story.
Before the kiss, there was the strangely long hug. She held him as tightly and as close as possible, crying on his shoulder and speaking with the voice of a person who sounds like they’re struggling to appear strong. Toph is strong, but she is still human.
Toph stands far apart from the rest, wishing to be alone until they reach their next destination. Despite what she did to Aang, she puts on that tough girl image to convince her friends to leave it alone and focus on the important stuff. She can’t take back what she did, but she can try to avoid talking about it.
Toph senses someone walking towards her direction. It was Aang. She knows that he probably wants to discuss what happened. She’s already prepared to just stay silent about it. If he pushes her, she’ll remind him that Katara is fighting Azula right now. That’ll distract him, she was certain. Taking a deep breath, Toph readies herself for endless prodding and questioning that she will simply refuse to respond to. He’s not going to make me talk. He can’t make me-
Toph stops thinking to herself when she feels a soft and delicate touch wrap around her right hand. Aang is holding her hand. Right now, she’s just thinking about the heat beneath her cheeks that was most certainly not caused by the hot temperature of the area.
Aang just stands there and smiles. He waits for her to respond, whether it’s a punch to the shoulder or another hug and kiss. Toph says nothing and refuses to show her face. Aang does not prod. He just holds her hand.
Aang is hoping she was smiling.
And he was right.
Behind that curtain of black hair, there’s a cute little smile on the earthbender’s face.