#topk

cw: bisexual!toph, childhood crush, ANGST with a happy ending, mutual yearning, muscular mother Toph, Lin & Su mentioned, pet names, swearing, kissing, not proofread.

ⓘ Featuring Toph & you have always been oblivious to each other's feelings.

"I'm sorry." Those were the first words out of Toph's lips when you opened your door to find her wringing rainwater from her long black hair, letting it drip into the dirt beneath her feet. "It's been far too long."

"Toph? Did you walk... all this way?" You stuck your head out the door, looking for proof she'd gotten a ride, but no. Just muddy footprints from the road to your door. "Let me get you a towel."

Your home was on the small side, but it'd always been perfect for you, just off the edge of town, half a mile to the nearest neighbors—it gave you time to breathe, to think, and just to relax.

"You don't need to do that, sunshine." Toph huffed, shuffling through your door behind you, a long exhale at the warmth it instantly brought. "I'll be fine."

"You're getting a towel. At least wipe your feet. I'm not in the mood to mop," you hissed, grabbing a towel from a small closet in the hallway. "Besides. You could get sick."

"You're always worrying." Toph sighed, sniffing the air softly—it smelled of vanilla & chocolate. "Did you just make dessert?"

"You're always getting hurt, or sick, or both, or—" You paused, taking a deep breath & rushed back over to Toph, guiding her to your couch. "I just took a shower; it's just some soap I bought in town."

"You know, you should show me the shop sometime; I think the girls would like that soap." Toph hummed, taking a seat & taking the towel from your hands, wiping her feet off quickly. "They've always loved sweets."

"You walked from the city to my place. Why?" You changed the subject, taking the towel from her hands and dropping it in the clothing bin next to your door.

She could hear the tension in your footsteps & could feel how awkward your voice was, a frown etching her lips as she turned her head, following the sound of your voice.

"I didn't walk the whole way. Just from maybe five minutes up the road." She reasoned, leaning against your couch and wiping damp strands from her face. "Just thought it'd be nice to have a moment to myself."

"In the rain... really? Toph, come on. You could have gotten a cold." You murmured, tugging a blanket off the couch & quickly draping it over her.

"Sunshine. Calm down; you're overreacting. There's no need to worry this much." She huffed, playing it off, though she still wrapped the blanket around herself tightly.

"Toph, I've told you to stop calling me that for years—and no, I'm not overreacting; sometimes I can't believe how immature you are." You hissed, taking a seat beside her & attempted to wipe her face dry. "I don't know why you'd risk getting sick."

Toph's body tensed as you touched her; a quiet scoff escaped her lips, & she subtly moved away from you, creating a distance.

"I miss the rain; I miss you," Toph whispered, bluntly. A stark difference from the way she typically held herself. She kept the distance as her fingers tugged on the blanket. "Katara asked to watch the girls for the day, & I wanted to see you... We've barely seen each other lately."

You froze up. Her words rang true; you'd seen each other maybe five times tops in the last two years. "Toph... You have responsibilities now; you're a mom, and you're the head of police, so you're busy. I'm not mad at you for it. I understand." You pressed your palm to her shoulder.

"Well, I don't," she admitted, subtly leaning into your touch, a pitiful laugh escaping her lips. "You have a life too, and you were always there for me. When I got pregnant with Lin, you were still around; after she was born, you stayed around. Same with Su. But lately, I barely even feel you anymore. I hate that. It feels like I lost you."

The silence that followed her admission was almost deafening, and it hurt just how true it was—a few years prior, the suggestion alone that you'd go one week without talking would have been laughable, let alone going months without talking.

"I didn't know it was upsetting you that much," you croaked, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze, before sliding your hand to rub her bicep in soothing circles. "It's okay. We're okay; we're still friends. Life just... got away from us."

Toph froze, taking a deep breath before placing her hand firmly over yours, tugging it off & cradling it in her palm. "You should be mad, sunshine. I never visit. I never bring the girls around; I never do anything but worry you." Her voice broke, and her fingers clamped around yours.

Your fingers instinctively intertwined with hers, a hushing noise escaping as you tangled your free hand in her hair. "Toph. Don't say that—don't think that. I get worried because I care. It doesn't make me less proud of you; I am so proud of you, are you kidding?"

"I'm still sorry." She whispered, free hand landing on your thigh, an attempt at tugging the blanket over your lap, hand remaining still as she groaned. "I've been such a bad friend to you these past few years; I don't get how you're not more upset. You've barely seen me—"

"Toph Beifong," you hissed, tugging lightly on her hair to shut her up. "I am a big girl. I can handle not seeing you as often as we used to."

She gasped softly, twitching away from your touch before lightly slapping your thigh. "No pulling." She grunted, tucking the blanket so it would comfortably rest on your laps.

"Sorry," you cooed, gently rubbing her scalp to soothe the sore spot. "You're impeccable. Republic City would be nothing without your hard work. You're not a bad friend. You're perfect; it's okay. You need to stop demeaning yourself like that."

Seeing Toph so distraught was... bizarre to say the least. It was hard to believe such a strong woman was actively tearing up on your couch over something so fixable, feeling so miserable.

"You've always been there for me, taking care of me, helping me at my lowest. Kanto didn't help nearly as much as you did after Lin, and what did I do in return? I just stopped showing up for you. How are you so okay with this?" Toph murmured, tears brimming her eyes.

She had depended on you after Lin was born; you'd watch the baby as she bathed, help her walk, try to keep her happy, and took care of her overall.

"Toph." You rasped, dropping her hand to cradle her face, slipping from her hair to her jaw & gently stroking her cheek with your thumb. "Listen to me." She nodded, slowly exhaling. "I'm not mad at you. I get that you feel angry at yourself, but I'm not mad. You're a mom. You're the head of the police. And, you're my best friend. You'll always be my best friend."

The tears spilled down her cheeks, pooling down the sides of your thumbs. Tophs shaky hands found your waist & pulled you closer, close enough she could rest her forehead on your shoulder.

One of your hands found purchase in her hair again, softly scratching at her scalp, & the other pressed firmly between her shoulder blades, pressing her closer.

"Life didn't give me much, but it gave me you. I'll always have you." You whispered softly, trying to calm her down, eyes fluttering as Toph's hands rubbed your hips. "You'll always have me."

"I missed you," Toph admitted, voice slightly muffled by your chest. "I missed you, couldn't just get my shit together, and I really missed you." She slid her hands up, flat against your lower back & crushed you against herself.

"I missed you, too, Toph." You squeaked, startled by the new position—she was almost pressing you flat against the couch cushions, though it felt oddly comforting.

Reminiscent of the nights spent in your teenage years, cuddled up for warmth on Appa's back & forgetting the rest of the world existed.

"The girls miss you; they thought we had some big blowout or something." Toph laughed, pressing her face into your shoulder, though it sounded closer to a sob. "It's just been hard to be around you."

You paused, fingers freezing in place on her scalp, blinking twice as her words registered. "What do you mean... hard to be around me?" Your voice broke off at the end, & Toph stiffened in your hold.

It took a moment, like Toph was trying to figure out what to say, her fingers trembling on your lower back. "I can always be honest with you... right?" She exhaled slowly, pulling back from you to wipe one of her cheeks.

"Of course, speak your mind," you assured, slipping your hands to rest on her biceps, giving her room to breathe.

"I got mad at you; it's so stupid, but every time we were together, I was furious at you, and you didn't even do anything wrong. Toph hissed, dragging one of her hands down her face before shifting away from you.

That was the first time you'd ever even thought she'd been angry with you—shocking to say the least.

"Okay... Why were you so angry?" You whispered, taking a gentle tone, fingers tensing on her arms just enough to show this was dangerous territory.

"I tried hard to make it work with Lin's dad. You saw it; everything fell apart. I tried harder with Su's father, which ended worse... and you were there for me; you were there during both." She said each word as if it were painful to admit.

Toph groaned, guiding your hands from her body, curling one of her knees to her chest, & rested her chin on it. Her fingers lingered on your skin before pulling back and continuing.

"Neither of them felt right. I thought if I tried harder, or just ignored the growing pit in my stomach, that I could learn to love them—I could learn to accept them in my life, but... it never worked. They weren't you." She admitted, retracting into herself on the final word, tucking the blanket closer.

She looked almost pitiful; your best friend looked like just a shell of the strong, smart & independant woman she'd always been. The one you'd always cherished.

"Toph." You whispered, reaching out, hand hovering over hers for just a moment, before grasping it, giving it a soft squeeze, trying to calm her down. "What are you saying?"

"No matter how hard I tried, no man was ever able to replace you, sunshine." Her voice wavered, fingers tangling themselves between yours as her body slowly relaxed. "I could never love a man, at least not how I love you."

Those words left you both silent. Toph looked relieved, like she'd finally let a thousand-pound weight off her shoulders. You, on the other hand had pure shock etched across your face.

Overthinking every moment spent with her, every affectionate touch, every quiet giggle as you'd teased each other, every time you'd slept in the others' beds, & each time you'd wished Toph would want you, instead of the men that'd beg for her attention.

All of those sad, quiet moments you'd spent years learning to bury and ignore, just to be told she'd felt the same way—hit you like a truck.

Then, you laughed. Not a joyous laugh, one that sounded much sadder than Toph anticipated, one that sent a tingle down her spine while she waiting for your response.

"You love me?" You croaked, giving her hand a tight squeeze, thumb brushing the back of it slowly. "You're in love with me?"

"Hey! Don't make me regret telling you." Toph hissed, shifting her legs uncomfortably. "Do you have anything else to say? At all?"

"You full-on sobbed on my couch because liking girls made you mad." You teased, wiping under her eye carefully as she scoffed.

"Liking girls didn't piss me off. Liking you pissed me off." She groaned, but leaned into your touch, adjusting her fingers between yours. "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"What? No!? Not at all, it's okay." You assured, fingers lingering on her cheek before slipping to cradle her jaw. "I'm not entirely upset by what you told me, don't worry."

"You're upset?" She rasped, body tensing beneath your touch, before pulling away slightly.

"Don't you dare." You hissed, pulling her closer. "I'm upset it took you this long to tell me Toph." You slowly let go of her hand, bringing yours to brush through her hair slowly.

"Sunshine, you can't scare me like that." She mumbled, leaning closer. "It's really rude." Her fingers found your waist, holding you steady as a flush dusted her cheeks.

"That wasn't rude, taking fifteen years to try to kiss someone you love is rude." You whispered, tilting her chin up just slightly, bringing her lips closer to yours.

"I didn't—" Toph began, but instantly shut up once she felt your lips against her, a soft gasp escaping her lips before she melted into you, kissing back quickly.

"I did. Do you accept my apology?" You cooed in her ear after pulling back, tensing as Toph crushed you against her chest. "Toph?"

"Do it again, I dare you, sunshine."

AHEL. TOPK. PAPAPAPAPAPA.