Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Her fingers were growing numb, and Toph didn't like it one bit. She clung tighter to Sokka's back, burying her face in his shoulder and wishing, not for the first time, that he'd been born in the Earth Kingdom. If he had been, then they wouldn't have had to make the long trek out to the Southern water tribe's icy home.

Toph shifted so that she could talk to Sokka without her voice being muffled in his shirt. "How close are we?" she asked nervously. She hated the ice, hated not being able to see. It made her feel so weak. She truly was crippled if she couldn't bend. Sokka tilted his head to the side, and his warm breath blew over her cheek.

"Nearly there. We should be in the village in a couple of minutes. How are you holding up?"

Toph scowled. "Cold. Hungry. I feel so blind." Sokka chuckled.

"Well, now you know how all the non-Earthbending blind people feel, right?" he offered. "It'll help you gain a little perspective." Toph's soft laugh was nearly swallowed up by Sokka's shoulder.

"It's a mixed up world when you're giving anyone mature advice."

"Hey!" Sokka complained. "I can be mature!" Toph just shook her head and hid her smile.

"Whatever you say, Snoozles." Suddenly Sokka stopped.

"We're here." He set Toph down. Her shoes sank into the deep snow. She was relieved to at least have something below her feet, even if she couldn't see through it. Sokka wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her forward, into the heart of the village.

The sounds had been muffled by the thick layer of snow over everything, but now that they were in the middle of things she could hear better. Lots of people, it sounded like. Sokka called out. "Hey, Yon, guess who?" Suddenly, a series of loud crunches - footsteps, Toph realized, judging by the rhythm - came towards them. Sokka was yanked away from her, and Toph's heart leaped to her throat as she was left with no way whatsoever to navigate.

"Sokka, kiddo, you sure grew up! Where were you? Katara visited a couple of times, but she didn't ever seem to know where you were are what you were up to." It was a male voice, judging from the tenor an adult. Sokka interrupted the man's joyful rant.

"Hey, Yon, good to see you too, but do you think you could put me down?" Toph smirked, and a soft thump in the snow next to her told her that Sokka had been put down.

The newcomer spoke again. "Hey, who's the girl?" he asked. Toph could feel him radiating body heat in front of her. She opened her mouth to answer, but Sokka beat her to it.

"Yon, meet my fiancee, Toph Bei Fong. Toph, meet my best friend growing up, Yon." Yon whistled.

"Man, little Sokka's gettin' married? Time sure does fly." Sokka's hand slipped into Toph's. "So, you gotta tell us everything! How'd you guys meet, what's up with little sis, when's the wedding - everything." Sokka snorted.

"Sure, but do you think we could go inside first? I for one, am freezing." Yon roared with laughter.

"You've been away so long, you've gotten soft! This is nothing, compared to what we get in winter, remember? Back when you were ten, we had that huge snowball fight, we got everyone to join in, and your sister beat us all!" Yon continued to ramble, his voice getting further away, and Sokka tugged on Toph's hand.

"C'mon, lets get you inside and warm you up," he told her. Toph quickly followed, wanting to get out of the cold as soon as possible.

They ended up in a small tent-like structure towards the edge of the village. Toph crawled in ahead of Sokka and was glad to feel thick furs under her gloved hands. It might not be earth, but anything was better than more ice. Yon was already there, and he shifted over to allow them more room as Toph and Sokka entered.

"So," he rumbled, once everyone was settled. "How'd you two meet?"

Sokka moved a little closer to Toph, and she kicked him in the shin. "Well, you were gone fighting the Fire Nation when it happened, but... did anyone ever tell you about how Katara and I found the Avatar in an iceberg?"

"Well, yeah, I think the little kids mentioned it a few times. I always thought they were making stuff up." Yon shifted eagerly. "So... I guess they weren't? Hang on... is she the Avatar?" he asked. Sokka snickered, and Toph thumped his arm. He winced.

"Nah, the Avatar's a guy named Aang. He's madly in love with Sugar Queen - Katara. I'm his Earthbending teacher." Toph answered. She could clearly hear the disbelief in Yon's next words.

"You're an Earthbender? No offense, but aren't you a little... small?" Toph glared at where she thought he was sitting.

"Size's got nothing to do with it. Before Twinkle Toes came along, I was undefeated in Earth Rumble - it's an Earthbending tournament. As it is, my record is 42 wins one loss. And Twinkle Toes used Airbending." Yon whistled appreciatively.

"Twinkle Toes?" he asked, curious. Toph shrugged.

"Aang. He's always really light on his feet, makes him really hard to get a good picture of, so I call him Twinkle Toes." Yon digested this information, before asking another question.

"What do you mean, 'hard to get a good picture of'?" Toph snorted.

"I'm blind as a badgermole, so I 'see' by feeling vibrations in the ground. It's an Earthbending technique, called Earthsight. That's why I don't like this place, too - it doesn't work on ice, so I'm basically helpless." Toph kicked her shoes off, glad to feel her feet exposed to fresh air again. They were getting hot, cooped up in her boots.

Yon nodded thoughtfully, digesting this new information. Then he turned to Sokka and clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Earthsight, tournaments, nicknames - Sokka, man, you sure picked a winner!"