For @samyescalona for the Terror Prompt “I can’t open my eyes. I don’t want to” So sorry this took me so long, I don’t have an excuse for myself
Aang’s eyes shoot open and his breath is coming in gasps. He can feel the sweat on his body and it makes the sheets cling to him uncomfortably. Koh had been so close to him, so close to taking his face. Koh had said something about Toph that had caught him off guard and when he winced, he could practically feel the centipedes smile as he started moving towards him.
His breathing is just starting to calm down when he feels Toph shift in the bed next to him.
“Aang?” her voice is tense and panicked and it instantly shoots his heart rate through the roof. In the dark, he can just barely feel her sitting up and looking over to him. Even through the dark, he sees only the smooth expanse of her face, none of the characteristics he has come to know so well over the years.
“No, no no no!” Aang mutters, shaking his head, trying to back away from her. He squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to see her like that, he wouldn't be able to bear it.
“Aang, what’s wrong?!” Toph says, her voice becoming a little shrill, her panic feeding off of his.
“Oh spirits, Toph, your face oh spirits your face, I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry!” He covers his own face with his hands and lets out loud sobs.
“My face? What about my face?” Toph says, her panic beginning to ease as she starts to understand what's happening and that he is still a little delirious from a nightmare.
“It's gone, Toph! He took it, just like he said he would,” Aang says, eyes still clamped shut and head buried in his hands.
He feels her kneel down beside him and slowly pry his hands away from his face, “Aang,” her voice soft and soothing, “Aang, look at me, my face is still here.”
“No! No, I don't want to see, I can’t. I can't open my eyes.”
“Aang,” she says again. She lifts one of his hands to her face and places it on her cheek, “do you feel me? I'm still here, okay? I'm still here,” she moves his other hand and places it on her lips, lightly kissing one of his fingers.
Slowly, she feels his heartbeat slow as he begins to take notice that she still has her features. His fingers map out her eyes and nose, the parts of her that he knows so well.
Finally, he opens his eyes and the room is still incredibly dark, but he is able to just barely make out her eyes, almost glowing in the dark.
“Okay, okay,” he says, a breath of relief caught in his throat. He throws his arms around her and buries his face in her neck, inhaling her scent.