THE EXAMINATION
"Wait, you have a scar?" Toph asked in surprise.
Zuko almost nodded, but then stopped himself. It was so easy to forget that Toph couldn't see. "Yes," he replied, "it's around my left eye."
Toph didn't hesitate. She reached up towards the sound of his voice and touched him. Then, using both hands, she carefully examined his face. There was some confusion of the "your left or my left?"-variety, and then her small fingers begin tracing the savage burn mark that was almost the only thing that really connected Zuko and his father.
Zuko didn't shy away from her touch. People were always fascinated by his facial scar, but everyone else could satisfy their curiosity from a distance, with their eyes. Toph didn't have that option.
"Your father did this to you?" Toph said. The expression on her face was somewhere between awe and horror.
"My father is a pretty bad man," Zuko said quietly.
Toph's hands were still on Zuko's face, now curiously tracing the shape of his entire face. Zuko sometimes wondered if it was a result of her blindness, or just a quirk of personality, that made Toph so-often wander from rules of basic courtesy. Despite her tendency to be abrasive and sarcastic, she wasn't cruel or ignorant of the feelings of others - she just seemed to have a problem with understanding that sort of thing.
He reached up and gently touched her wrists. Toph suddenly realized that she was being intrusive and quickly pulled back. For some reason, Zuko was reminded of a time when a butterfly landed on his arm - and then urgently took flight after it realized that it had picked the wrong place to set down.
"Are you blushing?" Zuko asked. Now there was a wide grin on his face.
"Absolutely not!" Toph replied indignantly.
And then her face got even redder after Zuko leaned over and kissed her on the top of her head.