Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Duty Versus Love ❯ Toph To The Rescue ( Chapter 42 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Light-Eco-Sage 
Avatar is owned by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, not me!
Non Anime: Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Fantasy / Martial Arts / Romance / Supernatural / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.02.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 509 | Status: Work In Progress
Avatar is owned by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, not me!
Non Anime: Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Fantasy / Martial Arts / Romance / Supernatural / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.02.2013 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 509 | Status: Work In Progress
LES: So… I took a day-long break from writing. But now it’s back to business as usual. Now… to explain some more things that came up in reviews that do not involve saying “I can’t believe Aang cheated on Katara!” (I’m really glad I got that straightened up before I lost all my readers, BTW.)
#1. “How could Aang and Katara go from making love to ‘divorcing’ so quickly?”
When I originally wrote this story, I never had any plans for Aang and Katara to ‘divorce’. They were just going to separate. However, you’d be shocked at how quickly a marriage can fall apart, and the reasons for it to fall apart. My parent’s marriage was destroyed because of a single lie that did not even involve cheating. And, when I say ‘destroyed’, I mean that my mother and I packed what we could in a two suitcases and left that very day. It was very much like how Katara left. So… believe me… speaking from personal recent experiences. It happens.
#2. “How can the child have gray eyes if it is not Aang’s?”
In the 40th chapter, I said that gray eyes are rare, not that Aang is the only one that has them. Even in the show, Aang is not the only one with gray eyes. Ty Lee also has gray eyes. I’m not saying the child is related to Ty Lee, I’m just pointing out that gray eyed people are rare, but they are out there. Keep in mind; it took Azula over a decade to find a gray-eyed child.
#3. “What about Mitsuko?”
She’s as much a victim of Azula’s meddling as Aang is. She was also Soulbent into believing that her child is Aang’s. She honestly believes that she is telling the truth.
Any other questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask. The little debacle with Chapter 40 taught me that one of my weaknesses in writing remains the idea that things that I think is obvious is not always obvious to the reader. So let me know when you are confused. If it does not spoil future story plots, I will do my best to explain it.
Anyway… on with the story!
Chapter XIIL: Toph To The Rescue
Several days passed before Sora returned to the Southern Air Temple with Toph and The Duke on his bison, and it only took that look for the situation to get much worse. A world that depended on its Benders for a variety of tasks was in disarray. It was a good thing that Masters were yet to be affected, but Anil had started getting reports of young, untrained children and children who had just started their training losing their Bending powers completely. Bending powers were slowly disappearing, starting with the weakest Benders first.
Not only that, but Anil was going more desperate about his father’s situation. As far as he knew, Aang had not had anything to drink or eat since Katara left. If he kept refusing food for much longer, losing muscle mass would be the least of his problems. He could very realistically die.
So when Toph and The Duke arrived at the Southern Air Temple, Anil was so pleased that he pulled himself away from his father’s work and ran down to meet them himself.
“Uncle Duke, Aunt Toph, thank the Spirits you’re here!” Anil gasped with relief as he embraced them both.
“Okay, so spill the beans, Twinkletoes Jr.” Toph said. She knew that it would hearten Anil to be called by his old nickname. “Sora gave us a run-down of what happened, but I want to hear it from you.”
Anil sighed and told Toph everything, including his suspicions that there was something not right about the situation.
“You’re right.” Toph said. “Something about this stinks. I’ve known Aang since he was twelve years old, and he’s never been one to keep secrets well. There’s no way he would have been able to keep a secret of this caliber for so many years, especially from me.”
“Besides, we all know how Aang feels about Katara.” The Duke pointed out. “It’s no secret that he’s been in love with her practically the whole time he knew her.”
“Exactly.” Toph said, nodding.
Anil was heartened by the fact that Toph agreed with his assessment of the situation. He had a great deal of respect for his Aunt Toph, and it was nice to know that someone with more experience with matter of love then him also agreed that something was wrong with the whole situation. “I’m glad you feel that way, Aunt Toph.”
“So, where is Twinkletoes anyway? Still locked up in his room?” Toph asked.
“Yes. He’s blocked the door and windows with Earthbending.” Anil said. “None of us could do anything about it because we’ve only got Airbenders and one Waterbender here.”
“You couldn’t use Airbending to slice through the rock?” The Duke asked. “I’ve seen Aang do that from time to time.”
Anil shook his head. “I can slice through small rocks with my Airbending. But only Dad would be powerful enough to slice through a rock like that with Airbending. Hitomi, our Waterbender, tried to slice through the rock as well and failed. It’s too hard, almost like diamond.”
“Sounds like a challenge an Earthbender should do.” Toph said. “All right, Twinkletoes Jr., I’ll go up and knock some sense into your father.”
“Please don’t.” Anil said. “We need to get to the truth of the situation.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll recover.” Toph said, walking up to the Temple.
Toph made her way up to Aang’s room and she felt with her Earthbending vision Aang move in his room and quickly block the door with Earthbending to prevent her from entering. Toph sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Twinkletoes, we just want to talk to you!” She called, taking up a Bending stance and attempting to remove the blockage.
To Toph’s amazement, the rock was actually much harder than what she was used to Bending, almost as hard as diamonds. Not only that, but it actively resisted all her attempts to Bend it. It took her a moment to realize that she was not fighting against the rock’s hardness, but Aang’s Earthbending power as he stopped her from Bending the rock.
“Aang! Stop being such a baby and let me in!” Toph yelled through the rock. “We’re here to help you!” She did not get a single response. “Okay… fine… I’m going to get in there eventually, and the longer you make me wait, the less pleasant it’s going to be, I can promise you that!” Toph said, leaving Aang to the darkness of the room and his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Toph was once again on her way up to Aang’s room, followed by her husband, when she came to a stop.
“What, Toph? What is it?” The Duke asked, looking around. A few moments later, he saw what Toph had seen with her Earthbending, and he instantly felt his heart drop, along with all chances of saving Aang’s life. “Oh no.”
“Understatement.” Toph commented. They both saw Katara’s brother stalking towards them, looking as pissed as a raging Saber-tooth Moose Lion.
“Do you think he’s heard?” The Duke asked nervously as Sokka began to make a beeline towards them.
“Judging by the way his blood is practically boiling in anger… I’d guess that he’s heard.” Toph said, putting a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Just… let me handle this.”
“Be my guest.” The Duke said, taking a step back and holding his hands up in surrender.
Sokka stormed up to them, glaring at Toph, breathing hard. “So…” Sokka began, crossing his arms over his chest. “I suppose you’re here because you’ve heard?”
“Anil called us for help.” Toph said simply. “So I’m here to help.”
“Help?!?” Sokka demanded. “You’re here to help him! Do you even know what he did to my sister?!?” Sokka demanded.
“That’s what we’re here to find out.” Toph said.
“What’s there to find out about?” Sokka demanded. “Katara wouldn’t lie about something like this… leave the man she loves for no reason… And I suppose you’re here, letting that cheating bastard cry on your shoulders?”
“Okay, first of all… you know I would never let anyone cry on my shoulders.” Toph said. “Anyone who tried that would be socked in the stomach and you know it. Secondly, I haven’t even had the chance to talk to Aang yet. He’s locked up in his room.”
“Because of shame, I bet.” Sokka said. “He’s locked himself up?”
“With Earthbending. Every time someone approaches.” Toph said.
“Well, we’ll see about that…” Sokka growled, stomping towards the Temple. It took a few seconds for Toph and The Duke to realize that there was murder in his steps, and they quickly rushed after Sokka.
Sokka took off at a run as soon as he entered the hallway that lead to Aang’s room. As soon as he got close enough, Aang sensed his approach and began to raise the earthen barricade, but he was too late. Sokka jumped into the room just before the door was blocked. Strangely, once Sokka was in the room, he made no further attempt to get Sokka out. He froze where he was, on the bed, staring at the wall, lost in his own cloud of gloom.
“So… you have nothing to say?” Sokka asked. He vaguely heard Toph and The Duke outside the room, trying to get through the block. Apparently, Aang was still holding it there. Aang did not respond to his question in the slightest.
“Explain to me why you did it.” Sokka said. “If it doesn’t involve the word ‘love’, I might not kill you.” Aang did not reply. Sokka lost his all ready fragile temper, grabbed Aang by the front of his shirt, and punched his face hard. Aang did not even react to the blow. “Don’t think being the Avatar will stop me from killing you.” Sokka growled in Aang’s face. “People have assassinated the Avatar for less, you know.”
Aang did not respond or acknowledge his presence at all.
Sokka lost the very last shred of his patience and began to hit the Avatar again, over and over, every bit of him that he could reach. He screamed “Tell me why!” with every blow, but Aang still did not respond, only taking Sokka’s beating quietly, without a hint of pain ever passing his lips, even as blood began to flow from his battered body.
Only one good thing came of it: Sokka punched the Avatar in the Temple, and finally knocked him into unconsciousness. With the Avatar no longer conscious, Toph was able to break through the earth blocking the doorway and bending it back easily. She and The Duke stared in shock at Sokka, who was still hitting the unconscious Avatar with everything he had.
“Sokka!” Toph yelled, jumping forward and getting her arms under his arms, holding him back from Aang and pulling him away from the Avatar. As Toph struggled to control Sokka, she yelled over her shoulder towards her husband. “Hurry! Go and get Hitomi!” The Duke nodded and ran out of the room, leaving Toph to control the raging Water Tribe man.
She was eventually able to fling him into a wall and Bend the stone around him, holding him in place and he continued to growl like a wild animal. He was an animal with a single intent… to get to Aang and cause him as much pain as possible.
“This isn’t helping, Sokka!” Toph yelled at the straining man as she rushed over to assess Aang’s injuries. He was a right mess, broken bones, ruptured organs, and internal bleeding. Without a Waterbender, the injuries would have certainly been fatal.
“Sokka was actually trying to kill you, Twinkletoes.” Toph said. “Katara’s probably really messed up and misses you as much as you miss her.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It took only a few minutes for The Duke to return with Hitomi and about a half an hour for Hitomi to heal Aang’s physical injuries. He regained consciousness as Hitomi was healing a rib that had broken and punctured his lung. For the first time, he seemed to acknowledge the presence of the other people in the room. He glanced at them in turn, and then laid his head back down. “Leave me alone.” He croaked with a voice that had not been used in days.
“If we leave you alone, you’re going to die, Twinkletoes.” Toph said.
“Fine. So be it. I’m tired of this life.” Aang said. “Without Katara, my life is not worth living.”
“And your children?” The Duke asked.
“Anil.”
“Anil has been doing an admirable job of taking care of your Avatar duties, running the Temple, and training his siblings.” Toph said. “But he can’t be a father to his siblings. You know this.”
“I don’t care anymore. Leave me alone to die.” Aang said, rolling over.
“I swear, Twinkletoes… you’re about to make me hit you. And I swear on the Spirits it won’t be like the little love-taps you received from Snoozles.” Toph said. “He couldn’t make you cry out in pain. I can, and I will. Why don’t you start by telling me what happened.”
“What’s the point? I betrayed the woman I love. I am not worthy of her love, my children, or even being the Avatar.”
“What happened?” Toph asked firmly. “Tell me now, or I’ll knock you straight to the Spirit World.”
Aang sighed. “The first time I set eyes on Mitsuko and her child, I remembered… the memories… they came out of nowhere. I had forced myself to forget because of the pain. I remembered having an affair with her. I remembered conceiving a child with her. I remember hiding my infidelity from Katara. Oh Spirits, what have I done?” Aang moaned loudly. “The child even had my eyes! My gray eyes!”
In the time it took for Aang to be healed and start talking, Sokka had managed to calm down some, since he had nothing better to do while sealed to the wall. Just like Anil and Toph, he realized the impossibility of Aang’s story. How could you just make yourself completely forget something like that? There were many things in Sokka’s lifetime that he would give anything in the world to forget… but those shameful hurtful memories were the ones that stuck around the hardest. You could put them out of your mind for a while, but never would they be forgotten.
As Aang finished his story, The Duke turned to Toph. “Well?” He asked. “Was he lying?”
“I… I don’t know. I’m getting a lot of mixed signals.” Toph said. “Let me try…” She moved closer to Aang, and placed her hand on his chest, right above his heart. “Okay, Twinkletoes… tell me again: ‘I cheated on Katara’.”
Aang stared down at her hand in shame. “I cheated on Katara.” He repeated.
For several moments, Toph studied his body’s reactions to the statement, and then after a while, she pulled away. “Great Spirits, Twinkletoes… all this trouble over a lie?”
That caught the attention of everyone in the room, including Aang. “A lie?” They all repeated.
“Yep. A complete and utter lie. Whatever else is going on here, Aang has never, once, cheated on Katara.” Toph said.
“But… these memories… they are so real…” Aang said.
“Yeah, I was getting lots of mixed signals from your body. I do have a theory.” Toph said. “It’s possible that your mind thought you had cheated on Katara, but your heart knew that you hadn’t. Congratulations, Twinkletoes, you’re a faithful husband after all.”
“Wait… get me down!” Sokka said. “I promise that I’m calmed down now.” Toph hesitated before releasing Sokka from his prison. “There’s still something I don’t get.”
“Obviously.” Toph said. “How the memories got there in the first place. I doubt Aang would sit around, imagining what it would be like to cheat on Katara.”
“Never!” Aang protested.
“It kind of reminds me of the Dai Le brainwashing… except it wasn’t done as well.” Toph said. She placed her hand on Aang’s chest again. “Were you ever captured by the Dai Le?”
“No.” Aang said.
“It’s the truth.” Toph said, and the group continued to ponder what could have happened. Nothing came up.
“Okay… is there any ability in the world that would allow someone to screw with someone else’s mind?” Sokka asked in exasperation.
“Soulbending.” Aang answered automatically. “I could mess with someone else’s memories if I focused on just the mind instead of the soul.”
“Yeah, but you would still never do something like that to yourself.” Sokka said, rolling his eyes.
Toph pressed her hand to Aang’s chest again. “Have you ever encountered someone else who could Soulbend?” She asked.
“No, what are you talking about? I’m the only Soulbender in the world.” Aang said.
“That’s another lie, Twinkletoes.” Toph said.
Everyone fell silent as the full implications of what Toph was saying hit them. There was another Soulbender out there who had purposefully messed with Aang’s memories for the sole purpose of destroying his marriage with Katara.
“So… what went wrong?” Sokka asked. “You’d think that Soulbending would be able to brainwash someone stronger than the Dai Le’s brainwashing.”
“The Soulbender obviously screwed up somewhere.” Toph said. “That’s the only explanation.”
“It’s because I still knew…” Aang said, gasping with amazement. “They could change my memories, but they did not change my soul. My soul was incapable of loving any but Katara, so even though my mind was fooled, my soul was not.” He buried his face in his hands and began to cry with happiness. “Katara… Katara… I remain faithful to you.”
LES: If you don’t believe about the Soulbender screwing up, go back and read that chapter. I put the loop-hole in that chapter. Azula told him to focus on just his mind and not his soul. This lead to an incomplete brainwashing. It really is unfortunate for Azula that her Soulbender could not think for himself, or he probably would have fixed this oversight. Even when the memories first came, Aang knew that something was wrong about them.
So… the bulk of Aang’s depression is over! Thank God! Now time for Plan B!
#1. “How could Aang and Katara go from making love to ‘divorcing’ so quickly?”
When I originally wrote this story, I never had any plans for Aang and Katara to ‘divorce’. They were just going to separate. However, you’d be shocked at how quickly a marriage can fall apart, and the reasons for it to fall apart. My parent’s marriage was destroyed because of a single lie that did not even involve cheating. And, when I say ‘destroyed’, I mean that my mother and I packed what we could in a two suitcases and left that very day. It was very much like how Katara left. So… believe me… speaking from personal recent experiences. It happens.
#2. “How can the child have gray eyes if it is not Aang’s?”
In the 40th chapter, I said that gray eyes are rare, not that Aang is the only one that has them. Even in the show, Aang is not the only one with gray eyes. Ty Lee also has gray eyes. I’m not saying the child is related to Ty Lee, I’m just pointing out that gray eyed people are rare, but they are out there. Keep in mind; it took Azula over a decade to find a gray-eyed child.
#3. “What about Mitsuko?”
She’s as much a victim of Azula’s meddling as Aang is. She was also Soulbent into believing that her child is Aang’s. She honestly believes that she is telling the truth.
Any other questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask. The little debacle with Chapter 40 taught me that one of my weaknesses in writing remains the idea that things that I think is obvious is not always obvious to the reader. So let me know when you are confused. If it does not spoil future story plots, I will do my best to explain it.
Anyway… on with the story!
Chapter XIIL: Toph To The Rescue
Several days passed before Sora returned to the Southern Air Temple with Toph and The Duke on his bison, and it only took that look for the situation to get much worse. A world that depended on its Benders for a variety of tasks was in disarray. It was a good thing that Masters were yet to be affected, but Anil had started getting reports of young, untrained children and children who had just started their training losing their Bending powers completely. Bending powers were slowly disappearing, starting with the weakest Benders first.
Not only that, but Anil was going more desperate about his father’s situation. As far as he knew, Aang had not had anything to drink or eat since Katara left. If he kept refusing food for much longer, losing muscle mass would be the least of his problems. He could very realistically die.
So when Toph and The Duke arrived at the Southern Air Temple, Anil was so pleased that he pulled himself away from his father’s work and ran down to meet them himself.
“Uncle Duke, Aunt Toph, thank the Spirits you’re here!” Anil gasped with relief as he embraced them both.
“Okay, so spill the beans, Twinkletoes Jr.” Toph said. She knew that it would hearten Anil to be called by his old nickname. “Sora gave us a run-down of what happened, but I want to hear it from you.”
Anil sighed and told Toph everything, including his suspicions that there was something not right about the situation.
“You’re right.” Toph said. “Something about this stinks. I’ve known Aang since he was twelve years old, and he’s never been one to keep secrets well. There’s no way he would have been able to keep a secret of this caliber for so many years, especially from me.”
“Besides, we all know how Aang feels about Katara.” The Duke pointed out. “It’s no secret that he’s been in love with her practically the whole time he knew her.”
“Exactly.” Toph said, nodding.
Anil was heartened by the fact that Toph agreed with his assessment of the situation. He had a great deal of respect for his Aunt Toph, and it was nice to know that someone with more experience with matter of love then him also agreed that something was wrong with the whole situation. “I’m glad you feel that way, Aunt Toph.”
“So, where is Twinkletoes anyway? Still locked up in his room?” Toph asked.
“Yes. He’s blocked the door and windows with Earthbending.” Anil said. “None of us could do anything about it because we’ve only got Airbenders and one Waterbender here.”
“You couldn’t use Airbending to slice through the rock?” The Duke asked. “I’ve seen Aang do that from time to time.”
Anil shook his head. “I can slice through small rocks with my Airbending. But only Dad would be powerful enough to slice through a rock like that with Airbending. Hitomi, our Waterbender, tried to slice through the rock as well and failed. It’s too hard, almost like diamond.”
“Sounds like a challenge an Earthbender should do.” Toph said. “All right, Twinkletoes Jr., I’ll go up and knock some sense into your father.”
“Please don’t.” Anil said. “We need to get to the truth of the situation.”
“Don’t worry. He’ll recover.” Toph said, walking up to the Temple.
Toph made her way up to Aang’s room and she felt with her Earthbending vision Aang move in his room and quickly block the door with Earthbending to prevent her from entering. Toph sighed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Twinkletoes, we just want to talk to you!” She called, taking up a Bending stance and attempting to remove the blockage.
To Toph’s amazement, the rock was actually much harder than what she was used to Bending, almost as hard as diamonds. Not only that, but it actively resisted all her attempts to Bend it. It took her a moment to realize that she was not fighting against the rock’s hardness, but Aang’s Earthbending power as he stopped her from Bending the rock.
“Aang! Stop being such a baby and let me in!” Toph yelled through the rock. “We’re here to help you!” She did not get a single response. “Okay… fine… I’m going to get in there eventually, and the longer you make me wait, the less pleasant it’s going to be, I can promise you that!” Toph said, leaving Aang to the darkness of the room and his mind.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Toph was once again on her way up to Aang’s room, followed by her husband, when she came to a stop.
“What, Toph? What is it?” The Duke asked, looking around. A few moments later, he saw what Toph had seen with her Earthbending, and he instantly felt his heart drop, along with all chances of saving Aang’s life. “Oh no.”
“Understatement.” Toph commented. They both saw Katara’s brother stalking towards them, looking as pissed as a raging Saber-tooth Moose Lion.
“Do you think he’s heard?” The Duke asked nervously as Sokka began to make a beeline towards them.
“Judging by the way his blood is practically boiling in anger… I’d guess that he’s heard.” Toph said, putting a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Just… let me handle this.”
“Be my guest.” The Duke said, taking a step back and holding his hands up in surrender.
Sokka stormed up to them, glaring at Toph, breathing hard. “So…” Sokka began, crossing his arms over his chest. “I suppose you’re here because you’ve heard?”
“Anil called us for help.” Toph said simply. “So I’m here to help.”
“Help?!?” Sokka demanded. “You’re here to help him! Do you even know what he did to my sister?!?” Sokka demanded.
“That’s what we’re here to find out.” Toph said.
“What’s there to find out about?” Sokka demanded. “Katara wouldn’t lie about something like this… leave the man she loves for no reason… And I suppose you’re here, letting that cheating bastard cry on your shoulders?”
“Okay, first of all… you know I would never let anyone cry on my shoulders.” Toph said. “Anyone who tried that would be socked in the stomach and you know it. Secondly, I haven’t even had the chance to talk to Aang yet. He’s locked up in his room.”
“Because of shame, I bet.” Sokka said. “He’s locked himself up?”
“With Earthbending. Every time someone approaches.” Toph said.
“Well, we’ll see about that…” Sokka growled, stomping towards the Temple. It took a few seconds for Toph and The Duke to realize that there was murder in his steps, and they quickly rushed after Sokka.
Sokka took off at a run as soon as he entered the hallway that lead to Aang’s room. As soon as he got close enough, Aang sensed his approach and began to raise the earthen barricade, but he was too late. Sokka jumped into the room just before the door was blocked. Strangely, once Sokka was in the room, he made no further attempt to get Sokka out. He froze where he was, on the bed, staring at the wall, lost in his own cloud of gloom.
“So… you have nothing to say?” Sokka asked. He vaguely heard Toph and The Duke outside the room, trying to get through the block. Apparently, Aang was still holding it there. Aang did not respond to his question in the slightest.
“Explain to me why you did it.” Sokka said. “If it doesn’t involve the word ‘love’, I might not kill you.” Aang did not reply. Sokka lost his all ready fragile temper, grabbed Aang by the front of his shirt, and punched his face hard. Aang did not even react to the blow. “Don’t think being the Avatar will stop me from killing you.” Sokka growled in Aang’s face. “People have assassinated the Avatar for less, you know.”
Aang did not respond or acknowledge his presence at all.
Sokka lost the very last shred of his patience and began to hit the Avatar again, over and over, every bit of him that he could reach. He screamed “Tell me why!” with every blow, but Aang still did not respond, only taking Sokka’s beating quietly, without a hint of pain ever passing his lips, even as blood began to flow from his battered body.
Only one good thing came of it: Sokka punched the Avatar in the Temple, and finally knocked him into unconsciousness. With the Avatar no longer conscious, Toph was able to break through the earth blocking the doorway and bending it back easily. She and The Duke stared in shock at Sokka, who was still hitting the unconscious Avatar with everything he had.
“Sokka!” Toph yelled, jumping forward and getting her arms under his arms, holding him back from Aang and pulling him away from the Avatar. As Toph struggled to control Sokka, she yelled over her shoulder towards her husband. “Hurry! Go and get Hitomi!” The Duke nodded and ran out of the room, leaving Toph to control the raging Water Tribe man.
She was eventually able to fling him into a wall and Bend the stone around him, holding him in place and he continued to growl like a wild animal. He was an animal with a single intent… to get to Aang and cause him as much pain as possible.
“This isn’t helping, Sokka!” Toph yelled at the straining man as she rushed over to assess Aang’s injuries. He was a right mess, broken bones, ruptured organs, and internal bleeding. Without a Waterbender, the injuries would have certainly been fatal.
“Sokka was actually trying to kill you, Twinkletoes.” Toph said. “Katara’s probably really messed up and misses you as much as you miss her.”
~~~~~~~~~~
It took only a few minutes for The Duke to return with Hitomi and about a half an hour for Hitomi to heal Aang’s physical injuries. He regained consciousness as Hitomi was healing a rib that had broken and punctured his lung. For the first time, he seemed to acknowledge the presence of the other people in the room. He glanced at them in turn, and then laid his head back down. “Leave me alone.” He croaked with a voice that had not been used in days.
“If we leave you alone, you’re going to die, Twinkletoes.” Toph said.
“Fine. So be it. I’m tired of this life.” Aang said. “Without Katara, my life is not worth living.”
“And your children?” The Duke asked.
“Anil.”
“Anil has been doing an admirable job of taking care of your Avatar duties, running the Temple, and training his siblings.” Toph said. “But he can’t be a father to his siblings. You know this.”
“I don’t care anymore. Leave me alone to die.” Aang said, rolling over.
“I swear, Twinkletoes… you’re about to make me hit you. And I swear on the Spirits it won’t be like the little love-taps you received from Snoozles.” Toph said. “He couldn’t make you cry out in pain. I can, and I will. Why don’t you start by telling me what happened.”
“What’s the point? I betrayed the woman I love. I am not worthy of her love, my children, or even being the Avatar.”
“What happened?” Toph asked firmly. “Tell me now, or I’ll knock you straight to the Spirit World.”
Aang sighed. “The first time I set eyes on Mitsuko and her child, I remembered… the memories… they came out of nowhere. I had forced myself to forget because of the pain. I remembered having an affair with her. I remembered conceiving a child with her. I remember hiding my infidelity from Katara. Oh Spirits, what have I done?” Aang moaned loudly. “The child even had my eyes! My gray eyes!”
In the time it took for Aang to be healed and start talking, Sokka had managed to calm down some, since he had nothing better to do while sealed to the wall. Just like Anil and Toph, he realized the impossibility of Aang’s story. How could you just make yourself completely forget something like that? There were many things in Sokka’s lifetime that he would give anything in the world to forget… but those shameful hurtful memories were the ones that stuck around the hardest. You could put them out of your mind for a while, but never would they be forgotten.
As Aang finished his story, The Duke turned to Toph. “Well?” He asked. “Was he lying?”
“I… I don’t know. I’m getting a lot of mixed signals.” Toph said. “Let me try…” She moved closer to Aang, and placed her hand on his chest, right above his heart. “Okay, Twinkletoes… tell me again: ‘I cheated on Katara’.”
Aang stared down at her hand in shame. “I cheated on Katara.” He repeated.
For several moments, Toph studied his body’s reactions to the statement, and then after a while, she pulled away. “Great Spirits, Twinkletoes… all this trouble over a lie?”
That caught the attention of everyone in the room, including Aang. “A lie?” They all repeated.
“Yep. A complete and utter lie. Whatever else is going on here, Aang has never, once, cheated on Katara.” Toph said.
“But… these memories… they are so real…” Aang said.
“Yeah, I was getting lots of mixed signals from your body. I do have a theory.” Toph said. “It’s possible that your mind thought you had cheated on Katara, but your heart knew that you hadn’t. Congratulations, Twinkletoes, you’re a faithful husband after all.”
“Wait… get me down!” Sokka said. “I promise that I’m calmed down now.” Toph hesitated before releasing Sokka from his prison. “There’s still something I don’t get.”
“Obviously.” Toph said. “How the memories got there in the first place. I doubt Aang would sit around, imagining what it would be like to cheat on Katara.”
“Never!” Aang protested.
“It kind of reminds me of the Dai Le brainwashing… except it wasn’t done as well.” Toph said. She placed her hand on Aang’s chest again. “Were you ever captured by the Dai Le?”
“No.” Aang said.
“It’s the truth.” Toph said, and the group continued to ponder what could have happened. Nothing came up.
“Okay… is there any ability in the world that would allow someone to screw with someone else’s mind?” Sokka asked in exasperation.
“Soulbending.” Aang answered automatically. “I could mess with someone else’s memories if I focused on just the mind instead of the soul.”
“Yeah, but you would still never do something like that to yourself.” Sokka said, rolling his eyes.
Toph pressed her hand to Aang’s chest again. “Have you ever encountered someone else who could Soulbend?” She asked.
“No, what are you talking about? I’m the only Soulbender in the world.” Aang said.
“That’s another lie, Twinkletoes.” Toph said.
Everyone fell silent as the full implications of what Toph was saying hit them. There was another Soulbender out there who had purposefully messed with Aang’s memories for the sole purpose of destroying his marriage with Katara.
“So… what went wrong?” Sokka asked. “You’d think that Soulbending would be able to brainwash someone stronger than the Dai Le’s brainwashing.”
“The Soulbender obviously screwed up somewhere.” Toph said. “That’s the only explanation.”
“It’s because I still knew…” Aang said, gasping with amazement. “They could change my memories, but they did not change my soul. My soul was incapable of loving any but Katara, so even though my mind was fooled, my soul was not.” He buried his face in his hands and began to cry with happiness. “Katara… Katara… I remain faithful to you.”
LES: If you don’t believe about the Soulbender screwing up, go back and read that chapter. I put the loop-hole in that chapter. Azula told him to focus on just his mind and not his soul. This lead to an incomplete brainwashing. It really is unfortunate for Azula that her Soulbender could not think for himself, or he probably would have fixed this oversight. Even when the memories first came, Aang knew that something was wrong about them.
So… the bulk of Aang’s depression is over! Thank God! Now time for Plan B!