Toph Beifong, as Tapeesa had learnt, was quite the character to be around. She was stubborn, loud at points, unbelievably blunt as well. It was obvious who she was from the moment she introduced herself to Tapeesa, and it was then she realised most stories about her were true.
She was truly quite small. Tapeesa considered herself a tall woman, her eyes level with Aang's nose as they walked side by side, their attention on Toph as she kept talking about her time teaching earthbenders how to bend metal. She had been moving from city to city, she had learnt, and so far, she seemed to have been disappointed by what she had found, although she didn't seem ready to give up just yet—that was yet another rumour that was true—stubborn as she was, she wasn't about to move on if she wasn't satisfied with her progress. Another rumour that was actually true was that she hardly ever called people by their names, although she doubted she did it because she had forgotten them.
Tapeesa had thought she wouldn't have liked Toph. Not when she was so loud, so expressive in her complaints, so intense. The more she watched her talk to Aang, though, the more she respected and liked her. She was honest with him, hid nothing from him, wasn't afraid to be blunt and straightforward. She knew she cared about him, though, and soon enough, she noticed herself looking forward to her next dry comment.
Aang, on the other hand, hadn't stopped grinning ever since Toph had flung herself at him back in the garden. They had left right then and there as she had dismissed her disciples and now they were just moving around the city, the two old friends exchanging stories. Toph showed them around, all the while never stopping her talking, and it was only when the sun was low on the horizon that she suggested they stopped to have something to eat. With that in mind, they finally headed to a diner Toph claimed she knew the owner.
The moment they got inside, it was truly evident Toph knew where they were. The people working in the diner treated her with bright smiles that only seemed to widen as they caught sight of Aang, the Avatar himself, following after her. Tapeesa brought the rear and even though the patrons were confused, they still greeted her politely despite not knowing who she was.
They sat down, made themselves comfortable, all the while Toph hadn't stopped talking. She had moved from the subject of the port of the city that she claimed was bustling with movement to the dinner she had had in this place the last time she had visited, and anyone would have claimed she was oblivious to everything around her. They couldn't have been more wrong.
Toph couldn't see. At least, not with her eyes. But she could feel. She could hear. Through the ground, she could even see. And she knew what she had seen. So, while she was talking, her senses were on high alert, in tune with anything happening between her two companions.
She hadn't thought anything of it at first. When they had first begun moving around, she had written it off as Aang being friendly, and after he had explained the way they had met, she had thought he was just grateful for all Tapeesa had done for him. There was an undeniable fondness in his tone though, not entirely noticeable, but to Toph, it was glaringly obvious. She could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke, she could feel his body as he moved closer, she could see it with her feet, the movement he did as he glanced at her, the way he reached to brush his arm against her own in an attempt to show her something. She decided early on, his behaviour wasn't a result of gratitude only.
She had been intrigued to realise Tapeesa was responding. She always answered his questions, she heard her smile a couple of times as well, and when Aang reached over to brush an arm against her own, she had felt her heartbeat pick up just a notch. Toph had had a difficulty hiding her smirk for the next couple of hours.
While she had been talking, she had also been paying attention to Tapeesa. She was observing her without looking, in the more discreet way there was. She was curious about her. She learnt how she met Aang, she learnt she was part of the Fire Nation fleet, she learnt she was a waterbender. She wasn't that interested in all of that, however.
She was more interested in her presence, discreet, quiet, but conscious all the same. She was interested in the way she spoke, her voice deep but strangely soothing, words slow and clear, as if it were a slow river passing over a pebble. The tone of her voice betrayed next to no emotion and that had been a reason Toph had been wary of her at first – she couldn't have recognised a fraud she orchestrated if she had tried. The more time passed, though, she began to trust her as she noted the interactions between her and Aang. She focused more on her aura, her footsteps, almost as light as Aang's, as if she were gliding over the ground even though she was no airbender. They had that in common. And despite herself, Toph caught herself thinking that perhaps she wasn't all that unpleasant.
Hours later, as she sat with Tapeesa and Aang moments after they had ordered their meal, she knew he shared her sentiment. At the moment, her friend had piqued her curiosity by recounting part of a tale about his relationship with food from the water tribes. Toph didn't quite manage to hide her smirk as she noticed Aang's excitement the moment he realised Tapeesa too wasn't overly fond of the water tribes' food.
"So," Toph spoke when there was a lull in conversation, moments after their food was served. "When are you planning on leaving?"
"Tonight," Aang answered and she could hear his frown in his voice. "I would have loved to stay around for longer, Toph. I haven't seen you in a while. But we need to go."
"We only have one more city left," Tapeesa joined in the conversation, "it's not too far away. Perhaps then you can return to this city to visit Toph."
"Zuko will be waiting for us, though," he kept frowning, "I need to start negotiating and you need to return to the fleet."
"A couple of days isn't going to make much of a difference," she pointed out.
"It's fine," Toph said through a mouthful of food. She swallowed. "You go on to the next city. I can fend for myself. I've done fine so far on my own. We'll see each other again."
Tapeesa and Aang exchanged a look she couldn't see before he spoke up. "I know you can take care of yourself, Toph. I just don't want you getting lonely."
Her shrug was instant. "I'm not lonely, Twinkletoes. I'm fine by myself."
He didn't push it any longer and Toph knew she had won this one. In an effort to fill the silence, Tapeesa spoke up once more. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning. You can still stay with us tonight."
"I'd rather not," she mused as she finished her food and leaned back in her seat. "There are a couple of things I need to do."
Aang groaned at once. "Please tell me you haven't found an underground arena to fight in again."
Tapeesa didn't bother hiding her smile as Toph turned to Aang with a flat expression. "I'll let you know I enjoyed my time there. Unfortunately, there aren't any good enough fighters in this city for this."
He breathed out a sigh of relief and Tapeesa felt the corner of her lips twitching in response as he sent her a look of mild exasperation. "I don't see how that's unfortunate."
"It is for those who don't know what fun is," she grumbled.
Aang's eyes narrowed in mock outrage. "Excuse me?"
Tapeesa's smile widened as Toph lifted her head and turned to him. "You heard me, Twinkletoes."
His eyes narrowed even more just as Tapeesa cleared her throat and stood up, quickly excusing herself. Toph waited until her footsteps were no longer heard to lean back in her seat and send a smirk at Aang. "You know-"
"Are you ever going to tell her anything?"
He stopped, gaping at her for a moment before he seemed to catch himself. He forced his mouth shut, took a few moments to brace himself and gather his thoughts before speaking up. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. You like her."
He shushed her at once, "Not so loud-"
"She isn't anywhere near to hear," she scoffed, "what are you even waiting for anyway?"
"I don't want to make this weird," he whispered, his eyes darting around, the last of his food forgotten. "It was hard getting her to trust me. It took a while. I don't want us to get back to the way it used to be."
She scoffed, "You won't, Twinkletoes."
His eyes widened at once. "What do you mean? You know something?"
"You would too if you paid attention," she snapped, "what are you, a child? I've been with you for a couple of hours and I know more about your relationship than you do in weeks."
He pursed his lips. "Well I can't quite sense her heartbeat, you know."
"And I can't see but I'm understanding more things than you do."
He sent her a small glare. "It's complicated."
"You don't have much time, though."
He was aware she was right and this time, Aang didn't speak up. Instead, he stayed quiet, just as he caught sight of Tapeesa returning. She sent him a small smile as she got close and then sat down beside him once more. With a small smile at her, he kept eating while Toph took over.
"So, Tapeesa, how do they punish you in the Fire Nation fleet if you don't follow their orders?"
She raised an eyebrow. "They make us do chores, usually. Depends on what we did. How come you are asking?"
She shrugged, "I'm thinking of spicing up my punishments when my students mess up."
Tapeesa's eyes widened as Aang choked on his own saliva. Meanwhile, Toph was simply smirking as she looked over at him, shortly before standing up and leaving.
"It was nice spending time with you, although I need to go now. The meal is already paid for."
"What?" Aang frowned as he stood up to pull Toph in a hug she didn't shy away from. "You shouldn't have done that, Toph."
She whispered something Tapeesa never managed to hear as she pulled back and hit his arm. She then turned to Tapeesa just as she spoke up.
"Thank you, Toph. It was nice meeting you."
"It was nice meeting you too. I'd like to see you again."
Tapeesa sent her one last smile and muttered her agreement before she left, and at once, Aang sat back down in his seat. He had finished his meal soon enough and so they left, heading back to their camp. They were quiet for most of their walk, Aang stealing glances at her from time to time. For once, Tapeesa didn't seem to realise she had his attention.
"I'm not sure I'm going to be joining the fleet again."
Aang appeared confused at her random confession as he looked over at her. "Why not?"
"Sokka and Katara offered me a place in the Southern Water Tribe. I'd be with waterbenders. Perhaps there, for once, I will belong."
"That..." he gulped before speaking up again. "That does sound nice. Do you like the idea?"
"I suppose," she shrugged, "it's better than going back to the fleet. I don't have any better ideas."
He was hesitant as he looked down at her, although she didn't notice, too caught up in her own thoughts. "You could stay with me."
That caught her attention. She turned to him, her eyes slightly wider than usual, surprise crossing her features for a while before it settled back to the usual, relaxed expression. "And do what? Tag along in your missions and travels?"
He seemed to shrink under her gaze. "Would that be so bad?"
"Not at all," she shook her head, "I really enjoy your company, Aang. I do. But I can't tag along all the time. I can't follow you around doing nothing."
"I understand," he murmured, unable to hold her gaze.
"Thank you, though, Aang," she muttered as she reached over and brushed her fingers against his arm, the way he had done before to reassure her.
Aang sent her a small smile. In his disappointment, he failed to realise she had hardly ever initiated proper contact before until this very moment.