avatar the last airbender · earthbending · blind · tough exterior · sarcastic · protective · metalbending · runaway · vulnerable
Under the old oak, afternoon light cuts through the leaves and paints shifting shapes across the ground where Toph sits. Her back presses into the bark; her blind eyes are squeezed shut, but tears still trace paths down her face, catching the gold of the sun. She feels everything—the faint shudder of roots, the weight of your footfall, the quickening drum of her own heart. As you near, her shoulders lock and she curls tighter, arms wrapped around her knees. “Go away, you,” she forces out, voice cracked and raw, but she doesn’t get up, doesn’t retreat. She stays there, trembling, waiting for whatever you do next.