She

Chapter 7

I woke up with a quiet cry, my body aching as pain flooded in everywhere. I stood up, shaking and rubbing my body as I felt the echo of hands all over it. Every movement made the pain worse, but I couldn't sit back down and just ride it out. It brought an unnerving feeling with it.

I walked over to the place Aang was training before, quietly passing by everyone. The moment I arrived I began pacing around in circles, trying to get all my energy out.

"Are you okay?" I heard someone ask. They were standing at the edge of the area.

"Yes, I'm fine." I ignored them.

"You're lying." They walked closer to me.

"I'm fine-" I stopped, gasping and falling to my knees as the pain got worse.

"You're not fine, I'm getting Katara."

"No, she can't do anything to help me. I can only ride this out." I sat down, looking up at the person. It was Toph.

"If you're sure." She stood in front of me.

I felt something drip down on my hand. There was a cool feeling on my cheeks. I reached up and wiped away whatever was there.

There was an awkward silence left between us.

"So... what are you doing awake?" I asked, breaking it.

"Your pacing woke me up." She yawned.

"Oh, sorry about that..." I fiddled with my fingers.

"What about you, why were you pacing so much?"

I frowned, and shuddered. "Just in a lot of pain." I brushed away an imaginary feeling on my arm.

"Oh... Sorry I guess."

"Thanks..." I picked at the ground. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Oh," she seemed surprised, "uh, thanks. I don't think I've ever had anyone say they're sorry to me about something like that. Usually I'm the one supposed to apologize."

I giggled, then winced and stopped. "Ow," I groaned.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, sucks that I can't laugh though." I sighed, laying down. "So, how exactly did my pacing wake you up?" I glanced over at Toph.

"I can feel the vibrations of the earth with my feet," she said.

"Oh..."

Toph shrugged and sat down next to me. "You get used to it at some point... Sometimes. Sound will wake me up too, like Sokka's snoring. But that could probably wake anyone up."

I giggled again, then winced, annoyed, as another wave of pain washed over my body. "I can't wait until I get used to this, no more random bits of intense, severe, pain. Or at least none that I'll notice." I looked back over at Toph, "How'd you learn to do that anyway; see with your feet?"

"When I was younger I ran away and found a cave with a bunch of badger moles in it."

I snorted. "Oh? That's uh, certainly something. Sorry go on."

"Well they're blind, I'm blind, eventually I learned to see the way they did, by feeling the earth." She smiled, and laughed. "And now I'm the greatest earthbender ever."

I smiled. "You know I don't think I've ever met an earthbender other than you before."

"Well then you are lucky." I smiled. "Anyway we should be heading back to the camp, before one of them wakes up." I nodded and stood up. We walked back to the camp together, and went back to sleep.