[Fic] Avatar: tla - Teo and Toph - Understanding
Title: Understanding
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Requester: linjeec and situation here
Characters/Pairing: Toph and Teo
Rating: G
Warning: None
“Your bending skills are amazing,” Teo said as he approached Toph.
Toph was soaking her recently burnt feet in the fountain at the Western Air Temple. She might not have been able to see with them, but she could still tell it was Teo. The wheels on his chair squeaked as they rolled.
“You taught Aang well,” Teo complemented. “I heard you even taught yourself.”
“The advance stuff,” Toph replied frowning, she rolled her eyes as she explained further. “My parents hired a master to teach me how to breathe properly. But it was after I learned how to use earth bending to ‘see.’”
“You miss them don’t you,” Teo remarked noting her melancholy tone. “I miss my father too.”
“You’re lucky,” Toph pointed out. “Your father encourages you to be independent. He sees you as capable. My parents don’t think I will ever be able to do anything.”
“Is that why you are so determined to be the best earth bender?”
“Yes,” Toph admitted. “But even if I get to be the best, I doubt my parents will ever acknowledge it. No matter what, to them I will still be their little girl who is completely helpless. They see things as fixed and unchanging. They see the war that way. I thought like them once, but I was wrong.”
Teo nodded. While Toph believed that no one could fully understand her, she had to admit Teo came close.