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Toph stood, back straight, arms behind her back, next to her metal bending officers. She tried to keep a smile on her face as she felt Suki walk up the long path towards Sokka, but she felt it slipping as they smiled at each other.
She always dreamed that she and Suki would be standing up there, they would be smiling at each other and when Suki said-
“I do”
Toph felt her heart break and she couldn’t keep the tear from falling down her face.
She remembered the day she fell in love with Suki, the day they traveled the Serpents Pass. She never thought about women like she thought about Suki until said woman saved her from drowning. Kissing Suki’s cheek would be something she thought back on longingly for years to come.
“I’m so happy for you, Suki”, Toph spoke with false excitement. It wasn’t that she wasn't happy for Suki, because even though she couldn’t see her face, she knew Suki was happy. Suki’s happiness was more important than hers.
She never really realized she was in love with Suki until she thought Suki died during the day of Sozin's comet. The only thing keeping her from falling to her death was Sokka pulling her. The relief she felt when she heard Suki's voice made the pain in her body disappear.
She tried so hard to move on, having short relationships with men she could see bits of Suki in, not that any of them helped ease the pain in her heart. Getting pregnant with Lin and Suyin distracted her from the crippling emptiness but, in the end that was still not enough.
“Your leaving?” Asked Suki, “where are you going to go?” Toph tried to imagine what Suki looked like when she said that and a bitter part of her wanted Suki to be sad.
“I’m gonna travel the world,” Toph shrugged her shoulders, her blank eyes staring forward.
“We’ll miss you, Toph”, she could hear the smile in Suki's voice, “Be safe, alright.”
She didn’t know what she was hoping when she went to see Suki before she left. Perhaps she wanted Suki to tell her to stay.
When she heard that Suki died after years of living in the swamp, she cried for the first time since Suki and Sokka's wedding. Sobs and yells filled with agony, filled with missed chances and regret, filled with the love for a woman who didn’t love her back.