It wasn't as though he wanted to place this weight on her. But it had been weighing on his mind during the mission. He even talked to it with some of the others, who confirmed similar feelings that just fed into it.

"I know. I'm glad you're here. I know I acted like it was a party when it was just me and Toph, but we had no idea what we were getting into."

He never would have made it this long alone.