Extended Stay
Author: therealMojogreyKawasaki
Pairings (/"Ships"... whatever you wanna call it): Toko (Toph & Zuko)
Warnings: Nah, none for now.
AN: Hey, guys. So, this is my second fic for A:tLA. I decided not to go on with my first one for many reasons, but I promise to take this one seriously. My musical inspirations for the different chapters in this fic are The Killers' All These Things that I Have Done; Billy Joel's Always a Woman; Fall Out Boy's I'm Like a Lawyer With the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off; Oasis' Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Wonderwall and She's Electric; Mumm-Ra's She's Got You High; Belle & Sebastian's If She Wants Me; and finally, Coldplay's Yellow. I've always shipped Toko and until now, I'm still hoping that they did end up together or, at least, were together at some point. (I mean, I can't actually picture Zuko being Lin Bei Fong's dad.) Anyway, I'm planning to make this story short, but if I get positive reviews I might extend it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender nor do I own any of the awesome characters in this story (except for the admiral and the matchmaker… who can't really be categorized as awesome). Avatar: the Last Airbender was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
Extended Stay
Chapter One: What the Rain Brought In
"My name is Admiral Tsai Yeon," the man said with pride. "I hail from the city of Yuwon Xiao and I am the son of the late general Hsung Yeon." All she heard, though, was an endless stream of "blah's" which exited one ear as soon as it entered the other. This was all she'd been hearing for hours now. Her parents, on the other hand, were patient, courteous, and always had a very positive attitude in dealing with each one of these suitors of hers.
She had just turned eighteen three months earlier and her parents deemed that it was about time for them to find someone capable of taking care of their helpless, little, precious gem for the rest of her life, knowing that they wouldn't be around forever. Doing so would help them hit two zebraparrots with one stone, they also figured. Marrying her off to a man from a wealthy, prominent family would mean a merger of chattels. Of course, as one might have already expected, the Blind Bandit would have rather died than agreed with her parents on this one. This was not her cup of dirt. But then, she had no choice.
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"My name is Lee. I told you, I'm one of Miss Bei Fong's friends!" the young firelord argued with the two guards outside the Bei Fong estate. "Go home, kid. It's getting late and it's raining iguanacats and sheepdogs. Don't dare march up to us tomorrow, blaming us if you get a fever," mocked one of them.
"Please," he begged. "Can't one of you just call her? I'm telling you, she'll recognize me right away! Just… Just give me one chance. I've traveled so far just to get here. Just to see her again." Zuko's voice bore a hint of hopelessness, but he was determined. He wouldn't give up, go away, come back some other time. He'd see her. That night… or he'd die trying.
"The Bei Fong's are busy. They have special, honorable guests in the manor."
Zuko growled. He wanted so bad to tell them who he really was, but he could not, else the whole world would eventually find out that the firelord was not in fact sick in bed, but was instead roaming around disguised as a lowly wanderer in the middle of a foreign land for agni knows what reasons.
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The admiral ended his speech that seemed to have lasted a million years to the beautiful young, and not to mention, bored earthbender who was seated in front of him.
"What can you say to Admiral Yeon, Toph?" her mother asked and she did so, she secretly prayed to the spirits that her daughter would, for the first time, give a proper response, but to her and her husband's dismay, the spirits heard nothing.
"Well, Mr. Yap-a-lot," she began and could almost sense her parents' facial reactions.
"It's Admiral," he interjected.
"Whatever!" she quickly yelled. But just as she was about to spit out yet another ever so Toph-like remark, she felt the vibrations of a familiar heartbeat just a few meters away from where they were. The vibrations were faint, so she wasn't entirely sure if it was really who she thought it was, but nonetheless, it was enough to form a smirk on her face.
To the matchmaker's annoyance and to everyone else's shock, Toph immediately stood up from her seat, ran outside the room and into the miniature maze of halls inside the mansion. As she was running toward the main entrance, a servant spotted her and held up an umbrella, but she did not stop running. She went outside the house in the middle of a storm. Her hair looked terrible and her makeup sagged as the rain soaked her from top to toe and mud splattered across her mint green floor-length dress. She continued running until she heard a voice. Her smirk turned into a sincere yet confused smile for the voice she heard, though quite lower than what she could remember, was undeniably his.
She earthbent the ground beneath her and it forced the gates to open. The guards both outside and inside were baffled, but allowed her to carry on. The opening of the gates caught everyone's attention, especially Zuko's.
"Let him in," she yelled at the guards blocking the firebender's way. As the two moved to the sides, an unobstructed view of the stunning woman standing before him met Zuko's eyes. A menagerie of thoughts ran through his head upon seeing the sight. But before he could process all these thoughts, she walked up to him and grabbed his hand. She pulled him away and the two walked back to the mansion.
He smiled as they slowly strolled in the rain. He could not speak. For awhile, it seemed to him as though he forgot how to. Just then, the earthbender spoke, "You couldn't have come at a more perfect time," she spoke as if talking to the rain. "It's been six years," he hesitantly replied, not knowing what else to say. It took awhile for her to reply, an amount of time that felt like dynasties to Zuko. "Just keep quiet," she finally said. They went on with their walk in silence.
As they entered the rather large room from which Toph came, the firelord felt very uneasy. Her parents, the matchmaker, and the men all looked their way and if looks could torture, he'd have already been chopped up into bite-size pieces by then. He wanted to speak out, but he remembered what Toph had told him earlier. In his mind, though, he was begging her to open her mouth already. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, she did break the silence.
"Mom, Dad, everyone, I'd like you all to meet my fiancé, Lee!"
And so the game began.
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