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Toph POV
"Toph!" Katara calls walking into our living room, in the house we've been provided in Ba Sing Se while Aang and Zuko talk with the King about what to do with the Fire Nation colonies.
"What?" I ask, lightly tapping my foot so I can get a better look at her, she has something in her hand, paper.
"You have a letter from your parents" Katara tells me with a smile in her voice.
A letter? "What's it say?"
She unrolls the paper, "Dear Toph, thank you for writing before. We hope that now the war is over you will come home, we realise that sending bounty hunters after you before wasn't the right thing to do, but that doesn't change the fact that we are worried and want you to come home. Lao and Poppy Beifong."
"Ohhhh, they are not happy" I snort.
"What do you mean? They sound worried to me" Sokka points out from the couch.
"They used their names not Mum and Dad" I point out, "They only do that when they're not happy and wanna remind me they're my aunt and uncle and not really my parents."
"They're you aunt and uncle?" Zuko questions, "Then why do you call them Mom and Dad?"
I shrug, "They raised me and I never met my parents. My Mom, Lao's sister had a thing with some Fire Nation Soldier, my Grandparents thought it was shameful, cause she was unmarried and he was the enemy, so they made Lao and Poppy claim to be my parents."
It's not like it really matters, my birth Mom died when I was 6 months old and my Dad never knew about me, I may not agree with Lao and Poppy all the time, but they are my parents.
"Your father is Fire Nation?" Zuko questions surprised.
"That's what they tell me" I agree.
"Do you wanna track him down?" Sokka asks kindly, "The wars over now. No reason not to know him."
"He's a soldier therefore probably dead" I point out, not liking even saying it, I use to dream of having a nice family member who wouldn't treat me like glass and would take me to explore the world, but I found people like that and have seen the world with them, but doesn't mean I wanna let go of the fantasy.
"That doesn't mean you don't have family back in the Fire Nation" Aang points out brightly, "I'm sure they'd love to meet you!"
My mind goes to a kind grandparent, telling me stories of my father, or a cool aunt teaching me to throw knifes, "Okay…..maybe finding my Dad's family would be cool."
I get up and go to my room, getting the drawing of my parents I've kept all my life, I may not be able to see it, but knowing what's on the paper always brought me comfort when Lao and Poppy drove me mad.
"What you got Toph?" Sokka asks when I walk back in.
"A drawing of my parents," I tell him, handing it to him, "Easer to find someone if you know what they look like right?"
Sokka nods, turning the paper around, Zuko looks over his shoulder from where he's sitting next to the Water Tripe boy and freezes.
"What's wrong Sparky? You know him?" I question.
"…..It looks like my cousin Lu Ten" he replies quietly staring at the paper.
"I didn't know you had a cousin" Katara tells him.
"Please tell us he's not the kind of relative who will shoot us full of lighting the first change he gets!" Sokka asks loudly.
Zuko shakes his head, "Lu Ten died in the Siege of Ba Sing Se" he says sadly, "He was Uncle Iroh's son though, more than he was like my family. It if was up to him he would have spent his life travelling the world searching for rare kinds of teas" there's a sad smile in his voice.
My heart drops, so my dad is dead.
Katara squeezes his hand, "I'm sorry you and your uncle lost him."
"So does this mean Toph is your second cousin?" Aang asks, drawing us back on topic.
Me related to Sparky? I could think of worst people to find out your related to. Like his sister, father, grandfather, great-grandfather… though having Iroh as a Grandpa does sound really good.
"Easily way to find out" Zuko nods before going to the kitchen and mixing some…. stuff together.
"What are you doing Sparky?" I ask following him.
"It's a old test to see if someone is related to another" he tells me, "I light this on fire and you squish it around in your mouth for a minute-the mixture will make the flames harmless, then you spit it out and if we're related it will turn purple."
Sounds easy and weird, I shrug "Then let's do it!"
"How does it know?" Katara asks curiously.
"A Fire Benders fire hold a piece of them, their family and someone's spit holds the same thing, the mix makes it so you can compare the two pieces and see if they are from the same family line" He waves his hand over the cup then hands it to me, I take a big sip of the disgusting mixture and squish it around in my mouth, then turning to Sokka spit it at him.
"Toph!" he screeches, making grossed out noises and wiping it off his clothes, "Did you have to do that!?"
"Nope" I smirk, "So what colour was it?"
"…Purple" Zuko says quietly, looking at me.
I grin, "Sweet! I can't wait to tell Iroh he's my Grandpa!"
"I'm sure he'll love to hear it" Katara agrees.
"Toph" Zuko says quietly, "You know what this means right?"
"That I have a Awesome Grandpa who will always be offering me tea and advice for the rest of time" I guess.
Zuko snorts, "Another than that."
"You now have a new favourite cousin" I smirk.
He shakes his head, "Toph. With half my family locked up and you being part of the royal family your now second in line to the throne, if anything happens to me your Fire Lord."
"WHAT!" I freeze, "No way! What about your uncle? I'm not even from the Fire Nation!"
"Uncle turned it down years ago" Zuko tells me, "And it doesn't matter if you were raised in the Fire Nation, you have royal blood."
Aang and Sokka laugh, so I stomp sending them flying into a wall. "Can I turn it down?" I ask ignoring Aang and Sokka's complaints.
"Not while your underage" he replies looking to our friends, sounding amused.
"Well dam" I sigh.
Katara puts a hand on my shoulder, "It's okay Toph, its not like you really have to become Fire Lord one day, when Zuko has kids they'll become his heir, until then you get to enjoy people calling you Princess and doing whatever you say."
I smile that does sound like fun.
"But Toph isn't a Fire Bender" Sokka points out, "Isn't that against your royal rules or something?"
Zuko shakes his head, "There's nothing in the rules about a non-Bender being the Fire Lord or the heir…. though I've never heard of someone with another kind Bending in the family I don't think it's against any laws."
"Sweet" I nod, "Now let's go see Grandpa and tell him the good news!"
Zuko chuckles and follows me out the door.
Iroh greets us both warmly when we get to his shop and offers us tea.
"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko nods once the three of us are sitting down with tea.
"Of course, nephew" he replies kindly, "I always enjoy a nice cup of tea with good company."
"There's something we need to tell you uncle" he hands him the drawing of my parents.
He takes the paper and stares at it, "…. Where did you get this Zuko?"
"From me" I tell him.
"Those are Toph's parents uncle" Zuko tells him kindly, "I've already done the test she is family."
Before I can think Iroh gets up and hugs me, "I am very pleased to have you as my Granddaughter Toph."
I don't push him away like I normally would, I won't say it but having Iroh as family sounds great to me.
ONE-SHOT.