Work Text:
.·:*¨༺☆༻¨*:·.
Not soon after Toph feels their airship crash into its second target, she hears the creaking of a metal hatch opening somewhere nearby. Curse her inability to see well on metal! It was great quality metal, but that meant she couldn't see as well. She really hates being blind, and also being on a flying machine that she has no idea of how it works, where she is relative to the ground, and who is near her. Oh! And the possibility of her falling off and not being able to save herself due to the fact that she can't feel the metal all that well and that the ocean covers the land below it and she would die from the impact before she could sense the earth. But at least she has Snoozles to oh so violently grab her arm and drag her away from whoever just opened the hatch.
And thank god she did, because apparently that person was a Fire-bender. She feels the air heat up behind her and the whoosh that she had associated with Fire-bending after sparring with Aang and Zuko enough times. He led her across the airship, and she didn't feel the fire letting up behind them. If anything, she could only feel it getting closer and hotter the longer they ran.
Then she was falling. Exactly what she's been afraid of. Sokka holds onto her hand though, so maybe it isn't that bad. She also hears his sword digging into the hull of the ship to try and stop their descent. It didn't seem to be going very well for him though, because they weren't slowing down.
Honestly, she hadn't even noticed that she had been screaming until she was fully mid-air again, only the feeling of Snoozles hand in hers and the wind all around her once again. Toph squeezed her eyes shut, praying that somehow they would be caught before they reached their inevitable demise. How likely is it that Zuko and Katara have already beat Azula and were bringing Appa back and could see them falling? Super unlucky. And Aang wouldn't be done with Ozai in time to save them, and she has no idea where Suki was. The other girl had been left on a different airship and was probably in Fire Nation custody by now. So it was just up to the Non-Bender idiot and the Blind-As-A-Wolfbat Earthbender.
At least one of them could see, otherwise they definitely would have fallen to their deaths. She hears a thud as Sokka lands heavily on something, and she stops falling. Her arm screams as it's violently pulled to a stop, but she's thankful nonetheless.
Sokka grunts with effort to keep them both up. “My leg! Hang on Toph!” He calls down, and she swallows down her panic for now.
Great, something’s wrong with Snoozles’ leg, which will probably make their lives harder. Amazing, wonderful. Which also means her precarious position is a lot more precarious than she had previously thought.
“Aye aye, captain!” She yells back, staring blindly upwards to where Sokka should be.
His grip on her isn't as strong as it was when they were falling, and she's getting a little worried. What if he can't pull her up? What if they both fall again? She hopes he can find a way out of this. The Sarcasm and Meat guy really needs to turn his planning brain on to get them out of this one.
Boots clang on either side of them, and Toph's breath hitches. It goes quiet, no one making a move that she can hear. Then, in rapid succession, there's a whoosh of fire to her left then the clunk of metal hitting metal and a scream as (presumably) the person falls. One down, one to go. She hates being useless.
The signature shlink of Sokka's “Space Sword” as he calls it, follows next. He most likely catches it then throws it, because there's another clunk and another scream. She sighs. Two down, hopefully no more to go.
Apparently he did throw it, because he says, “Bye, Space Sword.”
…And now they're weaponless. Unless Boomerang magically comes back, which seems very unlikely.
Even more boots clang down the metal, but this time not to the sides. No, they're in front, probably blocking the exit from wherever they are. It sounds like about 6 pairs, but there's so much blood rushing in her ears and wind whipping around that her hearing might be a little bit off.
Her heart skips a few beats when her hand starts slipping. Down, down, down, down. She's about to fall, there's about to be no more hope. They're merely hanging onto each other by the fingertips. How she wishes she could metal bend right now. How she wishes she could do the movements, feel the metal, save herself and Sokka. Panic consumes her mind. Falling would be terrible.
Sokka strains again. “I don't think Boomerang is coming back, Toph. It looks like this is the end.”
Tears well up in her eyes and steam down her cheeks. It can't- This won't- It isn't- How could this- She can't die. She's The Greatest Earth-bender in The World! She invented Metal-bending! She invented Seismic-sense! She's Toph Beifong! She can't die at twelve! She shouldn't even be a part of a stupid war! Everything is so unfair!
Her hand was getting sweaty. One of the Fire Nation soldiers is talking to them both now, but she hasn't been listening. She could feel Sokka's arm trembling with the effort to keep her from falling.
“-must surrender or fall to your deaths! The Phoenix King demands your immediate surrender! You are surrounded.”
Sokka groans in pain. “Never! We will never surrender to Ozai!”
She hears someone click their tongue a couple times, then start walking away. “Your loss. Throw them-”
Her scream of terror interrupts the soldier as Sokka's arm gives out. Nothing's there to catch her this time. Just her, the open air, the airships above her, and the ocean below her.
“TOPH!” Sokka's high pitched scream pierces through the wind blowing in her ears and the ringing in her ears. She's already stopped screaming. There's no point. It won't get her anywhere. She'll be falling either way.
Down, down, down, down.
She wishes she could have said goodbye to Aang and her parents first.
Sure, her parents weren't the best people ever, but they still raised her. She still… loves them, no matter what. She does have good memories with them despite everything.
Aang is sweet. But she never admits it. He's her age, and has even more responsibility than she does. Neither of them deserve to be caught up in The 100-Year War, even if Twinkle Toes is the Avatar. He was a pushover sometimes, but he is - was - a great student. And he is somewhat of a brother to her. But would she ever admit this to his face? Nope.
Katara and her never really have gotten along. But after stupidly stealing with her, things had been better between them. Mostly after Sokka had talked to Toph about why Sugar Queen acted the way she did. She was more like a mother to her than her own mother was sometimes. She was caring and kind, but also let Toph do (usually) whatever she wanted without worrying. It was nice most of the time.
Sokka is an idiot, plain and simple. He always goofed off and said the stupidest things. His jokes were really funny though. But again, she would never admit that. Even when he makes plans, or they go on missions, he still acts like good ol' Snoozles. Yes, he's a little more serious, but he's determined to make everyone smile at least once on their trips. She doesn't know how to categorize him in their little family. But it would probably be brother again.
Zuko is one of their newer additions to the group, and so far he's her favorite. Sure, he isn't talkative, cheerful, or funny like Sokka, but he's nice. Yeah yeah, he burned her feet - by accident - but it doesn't matter. He's so much like an older brother to her, and he seems to like it. Dammit, she isn't going to get her field trip with Sparky. Oh well, she doesn't need it. They spent plenty of time together already.
Suki's the only one in the group that she doesn't know a ton about. She's definitely a badass though. Her and a bunch of other girls banding together to protect their village? Amazing. She apparently uses fans to fight off anyone who gets in her way and is an even better fighter than Zuko on good days. Sokka seems to really like her, and they seem great for each other. Sister-in-law sounds right, and she's pretending that Suki and Sokka are just already married.
These weirdos have become her new family.
Her tears are falling upwards now. A smile creeps onto her face, and her eyes close. She's okay with this.
Toph's okay with this.
✮.•*•˖.˖•⋆˖⁺‧☽◯☾‧⁺˖⋆•˖.˖•*•.✮
“TOPH!” Her hand slips out of his own, and he turns onto his stomach to try to grab it again. His fingers brush hers, and then she's gone.
Her figure gets smaller and smaller, until she hits the water. Sokka can imagine how it sounds. He shivers, arm still dangling over the edge, and pulls himself up. Hardening his eyes, he looks back at the stupid Ashmakers that made him- They're… gone?
CREEEEEECH!
The whole airship shudders and he looks behind him. One of the other ones has crashed into his own. Could it be-
“Suki!” He jumps down, forgetting about his broken leg, and promptly lands on it. “Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Terrible idea! Never, ever doing that again!”
“Sokka!” Suki runs over, helping him up. “Where's Toph? Did you guys get separated? Is she on another airship?”
Sokka cringes as she says it, holding back his tears.
Her hand in his. Then she's slipping. Holding just by the fingertips. The soldiers. The wasted time. Her hand lets-
He shudders, looking down at the water. “No.”
His girlfriend looks confused for a moment. “What do you mean? Was she captured?”
He shakes his head. “She… fell.”
Dead silence. Complete and utter silence. For all of 10 seconds.
Suki gasps. “I had her. I was holding onto her. She- She was slipping. My leg- I couldn't get her up. The soldiers distracted me. And she… She fell. I… watched-” He chokes, “-her hit the water.”
She hugs him tight. “Oh Toph…”
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Their airship lands, and Suki helps Sokka get off. It's a little awkward, and would be easier with two people- Nope. Nuh-uh. Nope-ity nope nope. Not today.
Anyways, they landed on the pillar Aang's standing on - how is he going to tell Aang? - with Ozai. Probably dead-bodied Ozai.
As soon as they're off the ship, Sokka starts talking.
“You did it! You should've seen yourself! It was amazing! You were all like-!” He makes plenty of explosion noises to cover his thoughts right up. “-And the Fire Lord was all like-” Then he imitates dying.
Step 1 of Distraction: Make tons of weird noises. Check!
Step 2 of Distraction: Do tons of wild gestures. Check!
And Suki was definitely helping! Even though she left him to balance on one foot. “So, did you, you know, finish the job?”
“…I'm still alive.” Suki immediately backs up, putting some space between her and Ozai.
“I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance. I took his bending away.” Aang looked from Ozai, to Suki, then to Sokka, and then looked next to him as if someone was meant to be there. (Which there was. But remember! Distractions!)
There was a pause, like someone is meant to say something, but nothing came up. And Sokka? He doesn't care. All his problems like-
“Hey, wait. Where's Toph? Isn't she with you guys?” Aang tilts his head.
Sokka freezes. Suki does too. Aang looks between them for a while, horror dawning on his face.
“She… I had her in my hand. I was holding her up and she just… fell. I- I tried to grab her, I swear, but I couldn't.” Sokka swallowed, mouth dry. “Toph's… dead.”
“Wha-What? No, no you're wrong. Toph- She can't die. She's… Toph.” His voice cracks as he looks up from the ground. Sokka's eyes well up with tears.
“I thought so too.”
.·:*¨༺☆༻¨*:·.
The airship shook as he and Suki landed it. They had agreed to meet in the Fire Nation, and that plan hadn't changed so that's where they now were. Sokka looked out the cockpit windows, and spotted Zuko standing next to Katara.
Zuko's shirt is ripped down the front, with a blooming scar across his chest. Katara was supporting some of his weight, but they both seem like they aren't going to keel over and die. He didn't want to lose anyone else today.
Earlier he and Suki had wrapped his leg to hopefully keep it from getting any worse, though him jumping from high up and landing on said leg was probably not a good thing. Either way, he still needs a bit of help from Aang and his girlfriend to exit the airship. The atmosphere outside is cheerful. Zuko and Katara had defeated Azula. They had effectively won the war, but Sokka didn't see it that way. He failed. He tried so hard to protect everyone he could, and he failed.
During The Day of Black Sun, he made them fail in defeating Ozai because he got distracted by Azula. And then everyone was captured and put into prison, again, his fault. And now he wasn't strong enough to protect Toph. She was too young to be caught up in this war! She was only twelve, why did she have to be the one to die? Everything is so unfair!
None of them should have been in this war. They're all still children, they shouldn't have to see the death and destruction that comes from war. They shouldn't have to personally experience the hardships of war, that should be left to the adults.
For once, Sokka doesn't have any witty remarks to throw at his problem. As soon as Aang realized what happened and wasn't his normal cheery self, he gave up on hiding from reality. If Aang was sad, then reality seems more… important. More prominent. It means that whatever happened is daunting enough or sad enough that even their most optimistic and enthusiastic kid can't uplift everyone else.
“Sokka! You're okay!” He looks up to see Katara running over with Zuko right behind her. A massive smile stretches across her face and just seeing it makes him queasy.
It'll hurt them both to know that Toph is gone, and that it's his fault. They'll both have their spirits crushed.
She hugs him tightly before looking him over. “Are you hurt? What happened to your leg? Does it need healing?”
“No, no. I think I just broke it falling off the airship. Then messed it up even more by jumping off an airship and landing on my leg. And maybe almost dislocated my arm. And probably a lot of bruises and trauma.” He shrugs. “Just the usual. And you need rest.”
He just now notices how shaky and tired she looks. And the fact that she was probably the one who healed Zuko's chest.
Her eyes went wide. “What do you mean you fell off an airship?! Are you crazy?!” He winces. Great going Sokka, that was not the best way to word that.
“Well, yeah! Me and Toph were both on top and-” Shit. He mentioned Toph before he came up with a better way to tell them both about what had happened.
He grimaces as Katara waits for him to continue. When she realizes he's not going to keep talking, she scans everyone else's faces. Suki and Aang both have their faces downcast, and he thinks he can see tears dripping down Aang's face.
She loops fully around until her gaze lands back on Sokka. “Where's Toph?”
Zuko steps forwards, face contorted in confusion. Sokka doesn't respond, doesn't move, barely breathes as Zuko scans his face meticulously before he speaks.
“You're not telling us that… she's…?”
“…I was holding onto her hand and then the soldiers were there and I was distracted and she just… fell.” His eyes burn with tears that are begging to fall, but Sokka refuses.
Katara gasps. “Could she have survived? Is there anyway we could heal her or- or-”
Suki steps forward. “No. It was too high. Sokka… he-”
“I watched her hit the water. There's no way she survived. If the impact didn't kill her, she can't swim anyways.”
Tears were freely flowing down Sokka's face now. “I tried to grab her again… but it was too late. I'm sorry.”
Aang steps up next to Sokka and wraps him in a hug. Then Suki, next Katara, and finally Zuko. A group hug, missing one person.
I'm sorry Toph.
~2857 words~