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Rises with the Heart	By : AngelaBlythe Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 11670 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-PART I
- 2-PART II
- 3-PART III
- 4-PART IV
- 5-PART V
- 6-PART VI
- 7-PART VII
- 8-PART VIII
- 9-PART IX
- 10-PART X
- 11-PART XI
- 12-PART XII
- 13-PART XIII
- 14-PART XIV
- 15-PART XV
- 12
- 13
- 14
A/N: Ahem, your attention please…
GODDAMN IMPORTANT!!!
Right, hopefully I have your attention now…
THIS IS ALL SET THREE YEARS AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER!!!
RISES WITH THE HEART
XIII.I
Toph had returned home after the infamous Ozai’s Plague Blockade. She was just a child, what did she know of post-war politics? And as much as she hated to admit it, she missed her parents. She missed her father, and her room, and a clean bed and hot food every night. Toph was born into privilege, and though she could rough it with the best of them, she really did like warm baths and fresh sheets.
She had taken her tearful leave of Aang, Katara, and Sokka, joining a wagon train to her hometown of Gaoling. Her homecoming was more tearful than when she had taken leave of her former companions. Her mother and father welcomed her warmly, with promises to never confine her if she never ran away again. For a good long while, Toph had been happy. She’d been content and she’d been comfortable. She’d been awarded medals, and even the King of the Ba Sing Se had recognized her with a banquet. Her name was almost as big as the Avatar’s or Katara’s – the Beauty of the Eastern Islands, she believed they were calling Katara now.
It was true. For a long time, things were wonderful. She didn’t have a complaint. But rumors would reach her from time to time, and letters from her friends would bring back secret longings. Apparently, Katara was knee deep in a project to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe. Aang was taking on the rest of the world, though he had a side project of looking for surviving Air Nomads. Toph knew it was a shot in the dark. Any remaining Air Nomads were either unaware of their roots, or too terrified to come out of hiding. Toph didn’t expect too much. But even Sokka was making a name for himself in the Water Tribe navy. He apparently had a few ships under his control – though young, he was greatly respected by many as a budding tactician. One thing Toph could say about Sokka was that he never made the same idiotic mistake twice. Though he seemed very adept to making similar idiotic mistakes all the time…
Perhaps it was the news of her friends’ activities that made her feet itchy. Perhaps it was just her time. But a half a year after Toph silently returned home, she left just as surreptitiously. She knew she’d promised her family that she wouldn’t run away again, but she also knew they would understand, and they’d be there, waiting, when she decided to return.
For a long time she didn’t really know where she was going. She spent some time in the South Pole with Katara and Sokka, though she felt underfoot. She stayed a few weeks in Ba Sing Se with the Earth Kingdom king, fulfilling her promise to visit. Then she made a truly valiant effort to find Aang. He was unreachable. Since it wasn’t urgent, Toph didn’t raise too big a fuss over it. But it was then, when she was about to give up her wandering, that she came across the waterfall pond that she, Aang, Katara, and Sokka had spent a few restful days at. It seemed so long ago, and the events that followed so horrific – trapped in a great bowl of sand pudding for days and days…
It was then, standing over the waterfall pond that Toph knew why she’d left home. “Sandbending,” she murmured against the thunderous crashing of the waterfall. If she went south of the tiny oasis, she would find the scavenger society of sandbenders. The Si Wong Desert stretched hundreds of miles, and there was no reason to think she would survive the desert to find any sandbenders.
That was probably the reason she filled her twin water skins to the brim with oasis water and waited for night to fall. She would be literally blind out in the desert; she would be utterly helpless. But Toph was too tough to die.
Or so she had thought at the beginning of her journey. However, by her seventh night of walking her water skins were low and her food had run out. With no sign of sandbenders, and no idea where she was, Toph began thinking about death. It wasn’t until her last drop of liquid that she truly gave up hope. It was then that she walked without purpose, exposing herself to the elements of the desert, knowing that if she slept she might not wake up.
It was her tenth day in the desert, long after she’d resigned herself to death, that the first precious drop of water parted her lips. She remembered the moment as clearly as it was yesterday. Someone eased her mouth open with a wet finger, soothing her chapped, burnt lips, and slowly let water drip into her parched throat. The man held her with infinite care, like a child or a precious doll. He spoke soft words to her, fed her a bit of soft cheese and fruit.
She had been in bad shape – dehydrated and exhausted from ten days in the desert. Later, her tribe told her she lasted longer than many sandbenders would have. In fact, they would come to call her Zosi, which meant ‘will to survive’ in the tribe’s tongue. It was the Bedi-Humi Tribe that found her, the oldest tribe of sandbenders in the Si Wong Desert. Though, she knew that every tribe was the oldest in their own stories. It was Sha-Mo’s tribe, though it had been his son, Ghashiun that found Toph and nursed her to health. He recognized her from their run in months and months ago.
For several days, Toph was confined to the hut structure in the center of the catamaran. They were traveling to the Tribes Council out in the fabled Si Wong Desert Oasis, where the tribes met every twelve full moons. That year, the Bedi-Humi Tribe would be given first pick of campsites, and they had not wanted to stop for a speck of green in the distance. Toph was that unfortunate green speck in the distance.
XIII.II
“So, you’re finally awake,” the soft, familiar voice said to her, helping her to sit on the futon on the wooden floor. The floor vibrated underneath her.
“Water,” she whispered. She realized her throat was dry like sand as she choked on the words.
The voice chuckled, formless, disembodied. Toph couldn’t even open her eyes – not like it mattered. “You can’t have too much,” he said, bringing a water skin to her lips. She grabbed at it greedily, but he held her back. “You’ll get sick,” he explained. “Drink it slowly.”
“I’m not a child,” she barked impatiently. Though she did what he said.
The man snorted. “Well you certainly don’t have any woman curves,” he said dryly, poking the center of her chest lightly.
Toph turned away, blinking her eyes experimentally. They were dry, and she rubbed the crust away from them. “What are you doing?” she asked as a light breeze hit her face. Her hands darted out in front of her face, swiping. She knew what he was doing, though.
“You’re blind?” he said incredulously. She heard him fall back on his heels.
“No!” she growled, taking a small sip of water. “I’m Toph.”
“My gods,” the man said with a laugh if disbelief. “You ARE blind! How did you survive? How did you get here? Where are the people you travel with? I thought you were with the Avatar the –” and he stopped suddenly.
That was when Toph finally recognized the voice. It had irritated her, knowing the voice but not being able to pin it to a specific memory. “I get it,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “You’re the guy that stole Appa. That’s how you know me…”
“Yah,” he finally answered.
Toph nodded. “Then it seems like I came to the right place,” she said after a long silence.
“How so?” the man asked, a little hesitant.
“I’ve got to learn sandbending from someone,” she explained with a wicked smile.
XIII.III
At first, no one took her request seriously. Women didn’t learn sandbending out in the Si Wong Desert. There were very few women earthbenders as it was – though it wasn’t an exclusively male practice, the mindset wasn’t very feminine. Women tended to not have the right mentality for earthbending. Notable exceptions included Toph and Avatar Kyoshi. The women of the sandbending tribes were few in number, and didn’t travel with their husbands and sons. They kept stationary camps around the tribe’s well or small oasis. The Bedi-Humi Tribe was considered very large, with three wells and an oasis, and six or seven women plus children at each water source.
Eventually, however, when the tribe reached the Si Wong Desert Oasis for the Tribes Council, Toph was able to put her feet on solid ground and ‘see’ for the first time in weeks. It was then that she showed off her impressive earthbending skills, earning the respect of many tribesmen from many tribes. Sha-Mo was a respected sandbender, and agreed to take Toph under his wing. Sha-Mo was the father of Ghashiun, the unfortunate youth who had been observant enough to notice Toph as a speck of green in a desert of blinding yellow.
Mastering sandbending was incredibly difficult for Toph. Firstly, she couldn’t see in the sand. Everything felt disconnected and mushy, like she was wading in jelly. She learned to refine her hearing, though she had to receive most of her instruction on solid ground. It was an interesting sensation, learning to see in the sand. It came slowly, and foggily, and it wasn’t ever going to be as clear as when she was on solid ground.
The principle weapon for a sandbender was a sack of sand attached to a long rope. It functioned almost like a mace. An experienced sandbender could wield up to seven of these sandbags at once. Toph had worked herself up to four of these sandbags, though once past five she didn’t have as refined of control. Sha-Mo routinely worked with seven, but he admitted that carrying around seven bags of sand wasn’t only impractical; it was heavy. They weighed between eight and ten pounds each, after all.
Toph spent two years in the desert with the Bedi-Humi Tribe. She was finally able to fulfill her wish to be free. She definitely had freedom of movement out in the Si Wong Desert. No one told her what to do, and the Bedi-Humi Tribe didn’t rest too much on manners or politeness. Respect was earned, not given, and outspokenness was considered a strength, not a character flaw.
They were making a routine sweep past the cantina when Toph felt the first pangs of homesickness. Lately she’d been haunted with dreams and illusions of friends and family. She missed her parents, and she missed Aang, Katara, and Sokka. She’d heard no news of the world outside the Si Wong Desert, and she’d fully integrated herself into the sandbender culture. She had become comfortable in an uncomfortable element, but it was still usual for her to get a little reminiscent on solid ground. As they passed the cantina, Toph turned her head longingly in the direction of home and sighed.
Ghashiun was, by then, an expert at reading her emotions…
XIII.IV
She stood at the starboard side of the sandbender sailor, facing the direction of what many considered the beginning of civilization. Ghashiun put a strong hand on her slender shoulder, giving her a slight squeeze. “We can stop by if you want,” he said. “My father wanted to make a trade for some of mother’s jewelry.”
Sandbending women mostly raised children and occupied themselves with jewelry making with the ample precious metals found at the magnetic center of the desert. Sandbenders made periodic raids of the huge rock face, gathering the metals for jewelry. Trading jewelry was their primary contact with the outside world, and they haggled with the best of them.
“Two years,” Toph murmured.
“We don’t have to go, Zosi,” Ghashiun said gently. He always treated her so kindly; it was mystifying to her. He’d been a spoiled, lying, little thief when she’d first met him. Toph bet Aang had scared the honesty into him with his Avatar State explosion. It made sense.
“But I do,” she said finally.
Ghashiun hung his head. “Then we shall prepare a feast in your honor, Zosi,” he replied.
The feast was full of food and drink, singing and music, dancing and storytelling. It was better than the Tribes Councils she’d gone to, because all of this was for her. Some of the older men drank watered-down cactus juice – Toph hated the stuff, but she took the obligatory sip, feeling lightheaded and woozy. She danced with her tribe sisters, ate with her tribe fathers, cried with her tribe mothers, and listened to the old stories with her tribe brothers. This had become more of a family than she had ever known – save perhaps Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Someday she would return, but she had a pressing feeling that she was needed in the world outside the desert.
Toph took a moment to clear her head, stepping out into the brisk night air of the Si Wong Desert. She’d removed her head cloths and shoulder wrap, so the wind bit into her particularly coldly.
“It is right that you should leave,” Ghashiun said quietly. He was always able to sneak up on her. Toph turned to him, her stance confused. “But it is also right that you should return,” he finished, taking her shoulders and turning her to face him.
Toph sighed. Had she sensed this? Had his touches grown warmer, more frequent the past few months? Had his voice been softer, his presence been more noticeable? “If you had stayed, I would have made you my wife,” Ghashiun whispered as he held her closely. “Though, you would not have loved me as I love you.”
“Shiun,” she replied, uncertain of how to react. She could smell the cactus juice on Ghashiun’s breath, but he spoke and moved with his sane mind.
“It’s okay, Zosi” he said quietly. “I hope you remember me kindly.”
He pulled away from her, but Toph’s grip was like iron on his wrist. “Wait, Shiun,” she said, her hands finding his shoulders, neck, and then finally face. He twitched under her fingers as she traced his strong chin, noble nose, and defined brow. His cheeks were high, and slightly heated from cactus juice, and his skin was weather-beaten but not leathery.
He held her fingers against his lips when she reached them, kissing each pad lightly. “If I kiss you,” Ghashiun asked, pulling her close again, “will you still leave?”
Toph dipped her head. “Yes,” she answered.
Ghashiun chuckled morosely, and Toph received her first real kiss. He tipped her face up by her chin and brushed the hair away from her eyes. Toph imagined his lips smiled as he bent down to her – he was much taller, much older than she was. His lips met hers hesitantly, and it made Toph think this was his first kiss, too. Ghashiun’s nose brushed hers lightly as his lips moved against hers. Then he pulled away. “I will not be there to see you leave tomorrow, Zosi,” he said. “My father has the responsibility to see you out of the desert.”
XIII.V
True to his word, Ghashiun’s father, Sha-Mo, returned Toph to her home – or at least saw her out of the desert. Sandbenders felt out of place away from the desert. Even the cantina was a foreign world to them. Toph could understand Sha-Mo’s dislike of the world outside the desert, but she also understood she was needed. She didn’t know how, but there was a reason Toph trusted her instincts. It was because they were always right.
So she left Zosi in the desert with Ghashiun and Sha-Mo, and the rest of the Bedi-Humi Tribe that had become her family. She would return one day; she hadn’t lied. But she wouldn’t marry Ghashiun like he hoped, and she would never stay as long as two years. She knew this in her gut, and she knew it as she faced Aang for the first time in two and a half years.
“Aang,” she sighed as she fell into his arms.
“Toph!” His voice was that of a man-boy. His body was that of a man-boy. But he twirled her around like a whirlwind when they embraced. Toph’s feet went flying, but she didn’t mind.
Aang had gained weight – that much she could feel. His feet were bigger, and his hands were bigger, and he seemed a bit awkward with his wider shoulders and long limbs. He wasn’t filled out, but he would probably always be slight. Toph was almost fifteen, and she knew Aang to be about the same age, but it was still odd ‘seeing’ her old friend like this.
“You’ve changed,” he said bluntly.
Toph harrumphed good-naturedly. She had let her hair grow out with the Bedi-Humi, and she wore less-ragged versions of their clothes, sans head wrap. Their jewelry clinked in her ears and on her wrists, and the years had given her feminine ‘bumps’ as she liked to call them. Though Toph had a feeling it wasn’t the physical that Aang meant when he’d said she changed.
She had changed. It had been two and a half years, what did he expect? But she’d learned a lot from the Bedi-Humi, and not just sandbending.
“They said you went into the desert,” Aang replied lightly when she told him where she’d been.
“I had to learn sandbending,” Toph replied. “The Bedi-Humi were good enough to take me in. They even made me a tribeswoman. See,” she said, pulling down her collar to show him her Bedi-Humi tribal tattoo.
“Cool!” Aang exclaimed. The tattoo had hurt, but it made her a full tribeswoman, a daughter of the Bedi-Humi and a sandbending master.
Aang told Toph of the reconstruction of the Earth Kingdom, and how he’d been searching for the remnants of his people – without any luck. He said that Katara had spearheaded the liberation of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, and helped to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe to its former glory. He told of Sokka’s rising status in the Water Tribe navy, and how their father was the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and Katara was on some kind of council. Toph explained how she’d ‘found’ the Bedi-Humi, and her life in the desert, and what she’d learned. Aang was excited to learn sandbending, as it was kind of a cross between airbending and earthbending.
Finally, though, the conversation turned to more current matters. Mostly why Aang had been using his connections in the Spirit World to try and find Toph. “I’ve had people combing the desert,” Aang explained. “No one even saw a sandbender, much less you. I’ve learned a lot of things about the Spirit World, and I really needed you.”
Toph sighed. So that’s where her dreams and urges had been coming from. “How can I help?” she finally asked.
“Well,” Aang explained, “in a few weeks, Zuko’s going to reopen the Fire Nation.”
“What about the plague?” Toph asked.
“I received a secret messenger about a month ago saying that it had more or less subsided, and that Zuko wanted to reopen trade with the rest of the world.” Aang sighed again. He felt to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I was able to send a message back with the bad news.” Toph raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s trying to kill Zuko,” Aang whispered. “Katara thinks it’s Azula.”
Toph was silent at the Katara comment. “Azula’s dead,” Toph said plainly.
“Maybe not,” Aang countered. “Her ship has been seen a few times trying to burst through Ozai’s Blockade,” he explained in hushed tones. “They say a blue fire witch helms the demon ship…all just stories, but I’m sure – and Katara’s sure – it’s Azula. So Katara’s been pushing for an ambassadorial mission to be sent into the Fire Nation on behalf of peace. Representatives from the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom are going…but I think someone from the Air Nomads should be there, too.”
Toph shrugged. “So what’s the problem?” she asked. “Just go. I’m sure everyone will understand.”
Aang shook his head. “I can’t. I have to find Azula,” Aang explained. “If Zuko dies, it will just be civil war. The Fire Nation will be unbalanced for centuries, and I just want peace. I don’t care if they were once the enemy; there are people, innocent people, that are suffering because of the blockade and Azula. Believe it or not, Zuko is the Fire Nation’s best hope for peace.”
“I guess I still don’t understand,” Toph said bluntly.
Aang smiled. “I want you to represent the Air Nomads and the Avatar on the ambassadorial mission,” he said grinning.
“What?! I don’t know the first thing about politics! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m an earthbender, not an Air Nomad!” Toph cried out.
“That’s okay,” Aang said jovially. “You can learn politics, and if you’re the Air Nomad and Avatar representative it’s just another excuse to have a strong earthbender in the Fire Nation. Besides, the whole thing’s a cover for finding Azula anyway, so what’s the problem?”
Toph closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. “I’ll do it, Aang,” she finally said. “But you’ll owe me. …Again…”
“Great!” he cried. “Now you can teach me sandbending!”
A/N: In addition to the three year gap in time, I am also going to be introducing two new POVs to this story. Up until now I have limited it to Zuko, Katara, and Toph, and I think it’s been going REALLY well. But the story has grown so that I need different characters to fill in the gaps. Both will be cannon characters...but I bet you can’t guess who they’ll be...
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Rises with the Heart