Milestones

Summary: Looking at the life of Toph Bei Fong through eleven hugs.

Pairings: Mentions of Sukka and one-sided Tokka.

Warnings: None.

Toph doesn't remember her first hug, but she likes to imagine that she received it when she was just an infant. After hours of sweat and pain, her mother reached out and gently cradled her newborn child to her breast. And Toph doesn't know for sure, but she thinks that as she was held in her mother's arms, she felt a teardrop or two land on her head.

-x-

When she's six, her father clutches her tightly to him and mumbles things into her hair, like how he was so worried and how he couldn't live with himself if she had died. He tells her that he'll never let anyone take her away ever again.

Toph knows that this means that there will be even more guards following her around, but she doesn't mind all that much. And she doesn't even mind that he'll never know that she was the one to escape from the kidnappers, using Earthbending, because she's wanted him to hold her like this for as long as she can remember.

-x-

The Badgermoles curl around Toph, cocooning her in a nest of warmth. She can feel soft fur rubbing against her cheek and a steady heartbeat beneath her ear. It isn't a true hug, but this is one of the best ways that they can express themselves. She knows that she doesn't have much time before her parents check on her, but for now, she is content, nestling between the two creatures who gave her the opportunity to see.

-x-

Toph is eight years old when her mother tells her about her sister. Her sister was just a little girl. A little girl who laughed and smiled and danced. A little girl who was so perfectly healthy that no one thought anything of a small cough that she had developed. She was dead three days later.

At this point, her mother breaks down sobbing and draws her into a tender embrace. As Toph stands there awkwardly, enveloped in the scent of her mother's perfume, she thinks she knows why her mother holds her – has always held her – so gingerly, like she's going to break if she squeezes too hard.

-x-

Toph has been sneaking out into the city for a few months now. She loves the thrill of being able to go out and do what she wants without anyone hovering over her shoulders. No one tries to stop her, or even looks at her twice. Here, she's just another kid (without shoes) running underfoot.

When a girl jumps so suddenly into her path that she doesn't even have a chance to sense her with Earthbending, Toph nearly has a heart attack. Before she can even start talking, Toph walks right past her, ignoring her.

But the girl isn't deterred, skipping beside her and talking about how this is her first day in the city and wouldn't you know it, she's lost again and could Toph please point her in the direction of the Stadium?

Toph doesn't know why she bothers to answer the obnoxiously cheerful girl, but when she does, she is pulled into a hug. This is the first time that a person outside of Toph's family has ever hugged her. It's so brief, so unexpected, that by the time Toph realizes what is happening, she has let go, and is bounding away. The girl will never know how much this has affected her.

-x-

Sokka gives her a one armed hug, a friendly squeeze. She tries to ignore the feelings bubbling up in her chest, and the blood rushing to her face, because he doesn't think of her that way. He regards her as a teammate, a comrade. The kind of embrace that she wants him to give her is reserved for Suki. She knows that, and accepts it. But that doesn't mean she has to like it.

-x-

The "Aang Gang" is very into group hugs. She learns this when she is twelve, in the form of numerous group hugs. Strangely enough, she likes them. It's different to hug as a group. She feels so connected, so close. In this kind of hug, she can comfort other people, but at the same time, she herself is being comforted. She likes knowing that she is part of something like this.

Zuko is surprised at being included in one of their group hugs. Toph doesn't need sight to understand that. Due to his past, it makes sense that he hasn't had many hugs. Toph knows how he's feeling right now, so she makes sure to hug him extra tight. Of course, she can't go around hugging all the time. She's got a reputation to uphold. She'll make it up later by punching a few people and spitting a couple of times.

-x-

The Duke hugs her at Zuko's coronation, which comes as quite a surprise to her. She hadn't thought that he would do something like that. Sure, they had developed some sort of bond on the ship, but Toph isn't sure what offering your helmet to someone who's going to vomit in it means in terms of friendship. Nevertheless, it is a nice gesture, and she wonders if she's just made another friend. The happy feeling welling up inside of her is telling her that she has.

-x-

Toph has spent years waiting for this moment. Her parents have finally seen who she really is. They've acknowledged that she's not some helpless little blind girl. They have a lot to make up for, and they know it, but right now it doesn't matter. Not when they're finally hugging her the way that she's always wanted them to. Nineteen is far too old to be crying. Nope. She's not crying. She just has a little moisture in her eyes.

-x-

At the age of twenty-six, Toph becomes the proud mother of a wonderful baby girl. She strokes smooth skin and downy hair, and she knows that her baby is beautiful. Her husband remarks that because she has married and had a child, some people will see her as weak. Her daughter clumsily wraps her chubby arms around her mother's neck, clinging weakly to her, and Toph knows that she will do anything to protect her. She tells him to think of a mother Platypus Bear. She can hear him gulp.

-x-

Toph has stopped counting her hugs. Over the years, she has received so many kinds, that it's pointless to continue keeping track of all of them. She still treasures every hug, but there are a cherished few that she will always remember. At seventy-seven years of age, the "Earth Kingdom's Toughest Grandma" receives one last hug, dying in the arms of the man she loves.

A/N: I added that part about Toph not being weak even after marriage and a child because there are people who seem to believe that a female character can't be strong and married at the same time. Rubbish, I say. Toph's awesome no matter what.