Taang Week

The airbender frowned, “Like, why am I with you, or why am I with you?”

Toph gave an exasperated sigh, but she responded, “The last one. Why are you dating me?”

“Oh, well…” Aang pondered the question. He wanted to make sure he answered this sincerely, but he also wasn’t quite sure the answer himself.

It wasn’t like he regretted being with Toph, but it wasn’t like he planned to be with her, either. They were just friends, until they weren’t, until they couldn’t stand to be away from each other. They understood each other like no one else did, and Aang trusted his life to her, and on some level, Aang knew that Toph trusted him with her life, and more importantly perhaps, her heart.

Aang didn’t really choose Toph Beifong. It was like they were already destined to be with one another.

So he responded candidly. “I’m not quite sure, but it’s like… I have this feeling that we were just meant to be together. We were best friends until we realized we were in love, and now I can’t live without you.”

A small smile grew on her face, and he couldn’t help but grin with her. She always looked beautiful, but he loved her quiet smiles that told him she was at peace and content with the moment in time.

“Good,” she replied, cutting off the brief silence they held. And when he got the hint that she wasn’t planning on saying anything else, Aang posed the same question to her. “So, now that you know my reason, why are you with me?”

Toph gave a light shrug of her shoulders and leaned back on her hands. She faced Aang, and with an openness she gave only to him, she said, “I just feel like I’ve always known you.”

Aang frowned. “Say that again?”

“I feel like, in a different life, perhaps even in this one, I’ve known you all my life. You’re familiar, like the earth I bend or the air I breathe or the grass beneath my feet. I know you better than I know myself, and I feel safe with you. It’s just nice, you know? I feel most like myself when I’m with you.”

The response shocked Aang. Not because her answer was wrong or inaccurate, but because it felt true to Aang as well. There was something so special and different about how he felt when he was with Toph that made it so simple. Easy. Like they had done this before.

In a different life, perhaps.

“So,” he began after a moment. “ Would you consider us soulmates?”

Toph blushed at the question. Thinking and actually saying the word soulmate was different. It made things real. And the declaration carried a great significance for one another, so Toph bit her lip as she pondered what it meant to be a soulmate.

“Yeah,” she replied quietly with a smile. “Yeah, I think we are soulmates, Aang.”

His breath caught in his throat, and his eyes couldn’t pull away from her. She looked so sure and at peace with her response, and the statement gave Aang so much love and hope for his life with her.

They were soulmates, ready to take on the world together.

So Aang grabbed Toph’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “That makes two of us,” he responded, smiling.

And in that moment, they were the only two people in the world. They were the only ones on each other’s minds, and when their lips met, Toph and Aang melted into each other.

So yeah, it's the final day of Taang week! Thank you all for following through. Shoutout to @taangweek for arranging this and giving us such lovely prompts! Those are always the hardest to come up with and really set the mood for all the creators out there, so I'm glad we had some good one's to work with! It's been a fun 7 days.

However, I did say I planned on doing 8 days! So while this isn't officially part of Taang Week it is part of my collection. I mean c'mon, y'all probably noticed the rhyming couplet titles and pieced together there weren't enough days to finish the poem.

Though, since it isn't exactly part of Taang Week I will warn that it's not solely both characters in tomorrow's story. In fact, for a little puzzle here, it's just Aang, but there's still two characters.

Yeah, lil' head scratcher huh? ( ¬‿¬)

Until next post,

I'm posting this one real early today because my sleep schedule's a mess and I decided to post it sooner than later.

Anyways! This was definitely a fun one. I was kinda inspired/taking note from my other FFN Taang series, Legend of Avatar (LoA) and working some of that concept into here. I guess canon divergence is the long and short way of surmising this one!

I always liked the idea of Korra asking about Toph's relationship with Aang in the past, and even in Taang form because I like to think it's another form of Soulmates in another shape. And I actually think Toph and Korra would get along a lot more than what the canon offered.

It's fun to think about.

Until next post,

This was definitely the hardest in terms of prompts. Not to say it wasn't a good prompt! I like challenging prompts especially when I try to work it with my theme or approach. Hopefully this still counts? I find myths are not too far off from stories of culture, and well, the depiction can be left up to interpretation.

And ain't that poetic?

Until next post,

Toph and Aang traveled and explored and made the world their home through their adventures. And when the world became small and uneventful, they decided to make their world bigger.

The world grew by one, and their world expanded into adventures beyond measure. Their hearts filled immediately the second they heard her cry.

They named her Kun.

Her arrival gave them happiness and joy beyond measure, and the Beifongs enjoyed their little world once again. Every noise she made stopped them in their tracks. Every move made them smile. And when she grew strong enough to explore the world, they held her hand and showed her everything they knew. Love and pride filled their hearts when she slowly grew into her own person, with traits that reminded them of each other, and yet, were still so distinctly her. Kun was just like Toph and Aang, but still her own person.

Something was missing, however. It seemed that their family of three could use some company. Perhaps it was time for their little universe to grow again.

It didn’t take long for them to open up their hearts to the prospect of a bigger family, and soon enough, their dream would become a reality. Once again, they were ready for the happiest moment in their lives, the moment where they could hold a new child in their arms.

That was how it was supposed to be, at least.

Any other emotion or outcome was far from their minds, they were ecstatic to welcome the newest member of their family. Kun was so excited to be a big sister. Aang couldn’t wait to rub it in Toph’s face that there would be more airbenders in the family than earthbenders. He just knew that this baby would be an airbender too. And Toph was just… excited. She needed no other reason to be happy other than to add another little one to their family.

A family of four. It would be theirs, and it would be perfect.

The moment arrived for the Beifongs to welcome their newest addition to the world, and the necessary items were packed away and the trip to the hospital was quick. Other than the expected pains of childbirth, things were good. They were great.

Until… until they weren’t.

It wasn’t until the pain edged the line of being unbearable and the pushing began that they realized something was terribly wrong. But signs were ignored and fell under the illusion that it was the pain of childbirth that caused it all. Until suddenly, the noise of people in the room grew by one.

A baby boy was born, strong, healthy, and crying out of discomfort.

He was beautiful, truly. So young and tiny and innocent and Aang could see the strength in him already. It made his heart soar looking at him.

His eyes never left his son as the healers cleaned him up. “He’s so beautiful, Toph,” he cried. “He looks like you.”

It wasn’t until he felt Toph slacken her grip on his hand that Aang looked down at her. “Toph?” he called out as he turned, and in an instant his heart went from soaring in the heavens to dropping all the way back to earth with fear and dread.

Her skin and lips were so pale, and when he called for her again she remained unresponsive. Aang screamed for help and begged for her to stay with him, to stay with their children.

But there was nothing that could be done. Toph was gone, and the darkness in Aang’s heart seeped in and latched on, its hold forever impacting his views on the world. He was filled with an instant rage against everyone that was alive because Toph wasn’t, and that wasn’t fair.

Perhaps it was time to get to the bottom of it all, and Aang determined the best way to figure out what was wrong was to face the issue head on!

So he did.

On a warm spring day and while they stopped for a quick lunch break, Aang stormed up to Toph as she was eating her meal. “What’s your problem?”

She pointed her unamused expression at him and raised a single eyebrow. “What’s your problem, Twinkletoes?”

Aang took a deep breath. Right. These were the first words he spoke to her all day. This conversation was unprompted.

But it was too late to retract his fumbling of words. Toph noticed his heart rate rising and she jumped on the opportunity. “Oh,” she began, setting down her meal to focus her attention on Aang. “Croco-cat got your tongue now, Twinkles?”

“Um—”

“Wow, that was riveting,” she remarked. “Now I get why you have a problem with me. It’s all coming together.”

“Toph—”

“Have you ever considered getting into public speaking? I think you have a knack for it. Better than the Avatar crap. This is your true calling!”

“You keep hitting me!” he yelled, clenching his fists and scowling at the earthbender. “You keep teasing and hitting me and poking me firmly and I’ve just about had it!”

“So you hate the way I show affection?”

“Wha—no! No, I love your show of affection, but why are you insistent on hitting me all the time?? I mean, seriously. Every other conversation, you hit me.”

“Twinkles—”

“And another thing!” His momentum was strong, the last thing he needed was for Toph to take over the conversation and tease him or hit him again. “There are nights where we are talking about something kind of serious, and you quickly change the subject and hit me. Now tell me, Toph, what’s going on??”

Toph went silent, but her silence spoke volumes, and so did the flush of color that grew across her cheeks. It took Aang a moment, but he finally put the pieces together.

Oh.

“Oh,” he said aloud in shock. “You were trying to show affection!”

The earthbender let out an annoyed sigh. “Yes, Aang. Didn’t I just say that’s how—”

“Yeah, but I just assumed friendly affection! This was… you—you were trying to flirt!”

She went silent again, and whenever Toph got silent, that usually meant he was onto something. So Aang sat down next to her and continued to prod. “C’mon, Toph. You can tell me anything!” When she said nothing, Aang sighed and looked for the second packed meal for them. He wasn’t going to bother her to spill any information, because matters of the heart were moments of vulnerability not just for Toph, but for Aang too. He sat next to her in silence and ate his food thought to himself.

Because he had a confession to make as well. He started developing feelings for Toph as well. It was subtle, practically impossible to tell, but when he recalled all his favorite moments and days and who he thought of when he wanted to share news with, he thought of Toph. The realization came about a minute or two after he realized that Toph may have feelings for him, but this… this blooming feeling was unique and special than all others.

So, he decided to be brave first and confess what he had been feeling this whole time but ignored.

...Not without a teasing remark or two first…

Aang swallowed the bite of food he was working on and teased, “Gee, Toph. I know they call it hitting on someone, but I don’t think they actually mean for you to hit people!”

Her glare at him was priceless, and he continued, “Same thing with love is like a battlefield, please don’t throw rocks at my head if you want to flirt with me.”

“Can it, Twinkles,” she growled, the blush still prominent in her cheeks.

“Hey, I’m just teasing, Toph,” he reassured her. “I know how my crush works. She likes to cover up all her affection with bruises to my arm.”

Toph let out a tired sigh and began to explain herself, “It’s not that I don’t know what I’m—say that again?”

“Say what?” he hummed.

“That thing. About your—”

“My crush? Oh, yeah. That’s you, Toph.”

It was a rather funny sight to see Toph’s mouth agape at the realization. He let out a loving laugh, and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t punch you to confirm this, but just know that I think you’re the most amazing person in the world. Everything you do amazes me, and anything I work on or a place I travel, I think about whether or not you’d like something.

“I’ve got it bad for you, it seems,” he admitted.

At first, Aang wasn’t sure what Toph was thinking at that moment. But then as time passed, a small smile formed on her face and she asked with a raised eyebrow. “So, that was your problem?”

He laughed at the question. “Yes, Toph. That was my problem this whole time.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

The airbender pondered the idea for a second, but it didn’t take him long to figure out what his next move would be. Without a word, he turned Toph’s face toward his, leaned in close, and gave her a soft, sweet kiss.

C'mon. Like... c'mon! It's Taang. Motherfucking Toph and Aang. Teasing is like, the go to default most Taang shippers think of when it comes to these two. Writing this was like breathing, it was such a joy!

But from the outside in? Well, it's always fun to play with perspectives. (good practice too!)

This one was fun for sure.

Until next post,