AN: Well, this has been writing itself in my mind… :3 I'm not planning on writing more that this, but if anyone wants more, please tell me! Teehee. TOKO! 3 Also, Toph's age is around 14 in this fic. But, it really depends on what part your reading SO. :3 ENJOY!
The Color of Fire
Toph Bei Fong lied a lot.
She told everyone that she was born blind.
She told everyone that cared her parents were so protective of her because of this.
It was all a lie; in fact, the young girl was born with fantastic eyes.
She knew colors.
Toph knew the brilliant shades of blue the sky could turn. The rich green of foliage. The gray of stone. The fantastic grainy brown, sometimes favoring tan color of earth. No, she knew colors. That is until the eleventh year of her life. Above everything she remembered about sight…
Toph remembered fire.
. . .
She was the age of eleven. Her parents, Lao Bei and Poppy Bei Fong insisted that, her being the heir to an enormous fortune, she remain within the Bei Fong's bountiful estate since her birth. They were afraid that she would be kidnapped; terrified, actually. That is why she was kept a secret for her entire life. One cloudy afternoon Toph was wandering the ample gardens of her home, trying to find some poison ivy to slip into one of her guard's tea. She didn't have anything against him personally, it was just so she could slip out.
No harm done here, he would get over it quickly… the young girl though to herself as she plucked the plant out of the earth with the end of her obi. She grinned widely.
Hours later, the young woman was bending herself stairs over the wall surrounding the estate. Smiling, she thought: No harm no foul, right?
Wrong.
As she was wandering the streets of Gaoling she felt a hand snatch her obi. She whirled around, surprised, and hit a red uniform. Slowly, she stared up into the dark orange eyes of a Fire Nation bandit. Toph was effectively strong, and she knew it. As she felt him shift his weight onto his left foot, she crumpled the dirt into a sand like substance, knowing he would sink.
Before she knew what was happening, she was off the ground and over his shoulder. He had jumped her attack.
Impossible! She thought desperately. She started another complex bending trick that would strike him in the face with tiny pellets of sharpened rocks when a blindfold was secured on her eyes.
She couldn't see.
She couldn't feel.
Soon, a handkerchief was placed over her mouth, and she felt her consciousness slipping.
. . .
The young heiress awoke to a dim room, lit only by candles. She felt horrid. Through heavy eyelids, Toph could make out a fuzzy room lit by candles, a Fire Nation symbol hanging upon every wall that was in her line of vision, and a man sitting in a chair staring at her.
"I… I'm gonna hurl..." she mumbled.
Through a wave of nausea the room started to spin. Everything she had eaten and anything she had thought of eating rose in her throat.
After minutes of heaving, her vision had cleared and her stomach felt eons better. She knew the nausea would return though. She was vaguely aware that she was chained to a wall. She was on a wood floor. Panic arose in her throat as the man stood up and walked towards her with a sick smirk on his face. He walked to a distance of five centimeters from her face and whispered in a voice she still had nightmares about…
"Hello there my little heiress. I have some good news and some bad news for you, darling."
The 'little heiress's' skin was raked with goosebumps. She glared into the mans eyes, searching for a weakness there. What she saw terrified her more than anything.
And that was nothing. There was no emotion of any kind in the mans eyes. They were a dull, dark orange. She could think of nothing to say, and if she did choose to speak, she knew there would be a quiver in her voice. Toph would not show this bastard any weakness. She spit right between those terrifying empty eyes, giving him the most fierce glare she could muster.
He paused for a moment. Wiping the saliva off his face, he smiled at her.
The glare faltered.
His hand shot out and brought a bone jarring impact upon her face. Toph sat stunned, as tears burned beneath her lids.
"The good news is that we have notified your parents that you are in our hands, and that they may have you back, for a price. The bad news would be that it has been two days and we have received no reply. Which means, darling, that you mean nothing to us. And honestly, we do not have any regretful feelings about killing one puny, meaningless Bei Fong."
Toph's eyes were wide as his smile twisted into a smirk.
Die? Meaningless? What is this man talking about? He wouldn't kill a little girl. That's just… Just inhuman.
He smiled again and roughly grabbed her chin. Dark orange stared into bright emerald.
"But oh dear me, I wouldn't want to ruin such a pretty face, now would I?" he licked his lips.
Toph kicked him in the groin.
His yell of fury was quite satisfactory. If she was going down, it wasn't without a fight.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" he roared. She stared with wide eyes as his arms burst into full flames. That was the last thing she saw.
Flames.
. . .
Toph awoke with a scream. She felt like she was trapped. Hurriedly, Toph broke the rock walls around her. Feeling around to get her bearings, she remembered in a rush of memories that she was at the Western Air Temple with the 'gang'. She also remembered Zuko trying to talk them into letting him join them in their Avatar training. She was all for it, cause hey, the young man could teach Aang a whole lot about firebending, not to mention he was… quite a built man. She smiled, then suppressed a shudder of repulsion from her terrifying dream. She had blocked the memories from her mind, but her kidnapping from three years ago still haunted her in her dreams. She knew that there would be no more sleeping for her that night; at least, not until she found something to calm her down.
. . .
Toph found herself wandering around in the forest. She wasn't sure of her goal, but feeling the wonders of the temple suited her just fine for now. A gin spread on her face as she felt a human body through the rock. A very built human body. She walked steadily towards where she felt the presence, thinking a talk with Zuko might very well calm her. And please her. And, well. She did love the sound of his gravelly voice. Toph shivered at the thought. And smiled wider.
She made way towards a clearing ahead of her. Once she entered, a stray twig snapped under her footing, making her presence known. As soon as she started to speak, she felt the chi in the air crackle. She jumped backwards but stumbled and landed on her backside. Her feet flew into the air as feet tend to do when your on your back. And they caught the burn.
Toph didn't move for a few seconds.
All she felt was pain.
And fire.
And she couldn't see.
She couldn't see. Ohmyspiritsshecouldntsee.
She scrambled onto her burnt feet and tripped, catching herself. All she knew is that she was running away from the heat. Her senses were so scrambled all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears. She couldn't see.
She ran blindly anywhere, anywhere but there. Her feet felt as if they were still on fire. The pain was unbearable. Oh spirits the pain. She felt fresh, non foresty air hit her face. She didn't stop. Then she was falling. There was no earth beneath her. Just air. She had run blindly off of the cliff.
But then two strong arms encircled her waist and pulled her onto the stone. She landed on a muscled chest, but it was also soft, and heaving, trying to catch its breath.
She screamed and struggled and screamed again and tried to break free of the arms like iron.
She failed, and a hand was placed firmly over her mouth to hush her. Tears poured from her eyes, because she felt no use to hide them. She couldn't see at all anymore, in all senses truly blind. She was ready to give up. This man could kill her. She had done her duties in life. None of it mattered anymore. But then,
"Toph! Stop screaming!"
It was a voice she knew. And adored. And had wanted to hear so badly.
Zuko.
"Get off me you stupid conniving bastard firebending asshole!" She screamed through his hand. She had to scream, or else she would start sobbing. She knew it. His hand came off her mouth and encircled her waist to join the other hand. He held her tightly.
"G-get off me!" Toph stammered.
"No." he replied indignantly.
That's when she really started to like this boy.
. . .
Five years had passed since the end of the war and the crowning of the new Firelord.
Toph, of course stayed with Zuko. Feeling her parents felt like a betrayal. They had not cared about her, their only daughter, in her time of need. Ever since the kidnapping she couldn't think of them in the same way. Whatever, she had Zuko to entertain.
She spent her days sparring with the man, telling jokes and eating fruit, playing childish games and having an altogether wonderful time. Mai (unsurprisingly) broke up with Zuko days after the coronation cause he was 'borish'. Well, he was certainly not in Toph's opinion, but Mai could have her own. She joined the circus with Ty Lee, who found meditation for hours simply boring. The Kiyoshi way was not hers. But Toph, she really hadn't changed much. She grew a few inches, but still remained well below Zuko's shoulder. Her chest had blossomed, but she wanted nobody to know what, so she bound herself with a light crystal vest of her creation.
She was quite content with the way things were in the temple.
. . .
It was a freezing night, rare for the Fire Nation, but still there, and pellets of rain fell in sheets outside. Zuko did a wonderful job of keeping her occupied and happy while she was there, and she hadn't had a nightmare in years. But today, Zuko was swamped with his duties, and Toph was trapped inside because rain made the ground all soggy and hard to bend. She couldn't do much, really. It was disturbing. So, she sat in her room all day, alone, before falling into a deep slumber.
And she saw everything as clear and earth vibrations in her dream. The man. The colors. The Fire.
BOOM! Thunder cracked.
She let out a piercing scream as she fell off the pillowed mattress and into the floor. She ran, panicked, towards Zuko's room. She threw open the doors, feeling him awake through the motion on his bed. Her chest was heaving, she was soaked, and tears wouldn't stop their flow down her cheeks. He was out of bed immediately and across the room soothing his best friend. He held her tightly to his chest. And then he noticed something.
Something, no, somethings were pressing themselves against him.
Right where Toph's chest should be. He hurriedly pulled her away and pulled the hem of her nightshirt down past the point of her ribs. She gasped and turned scarlet.
He gaped.
Toph had Breasts.
She smacked him via a rock to the back of his head, and pulled her nightshirt up to her collar. Her face scarlet with humiliation and anger.
"WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!"
Zuko's mind was blank with shock. He was finally starting to realize that Toph was actually a… a…
A woman!
Not a girl. A woman.
Then he blushed. Oh spirits did he blush.
And he noticed Toph was still trembling and sobs were still raking her chest. Little did he know that the man that had kidnapped Toph had done the exact same. But so much less gently.
He held her, whispering calming words and stroking her raven hair. She cried until he finally picked up the girl and carried her to his bed. He slid under the covers and held her body to his. Zuko kissed the top of her head and smiled. An eventful night this HAD been.
"We will never speak of this again, Sparky." She mumbled as his warmth enveloped her.
. . .
It had been days since that nights event. Toph now regularly slept in the Firelords bed. It was a small comfort to both of them, and today she had decided that it was finally her turn for a magical life changing experience/fieldtrip with Zuko. She stomped into his study and announced, in a loud voice:
"ALRIGHTY THEN SPARKY, IT'S MY TURN! PACK UP!" with that she brought a block of earth to under his chair, making sure his body hit the ground with a satisfactory "CRACK". Zuko looked up at her as if she was insane.
"What?" he said in incredulity. Toph's grin just widened.
"My Magical Life Altering Field Trip With Sparky! MMLAFTWS!" Firelord Zuko just stared at her. He then rolled his eyes and stood up, brushing dust off himself, and sat back down in his chair and resumed his paperwork. Toph sensed this and pouted. But her grin was quick to return as she folded the metal desk in on itself, making it impossible for Zuko to get any work done.
"TOPH!" he yelled, slamming his hands on what remained of the desk. Sparks flew from his hands. The young heiress laughed at his frustration and walked towards him. He glared at her and threw out his arm as if to warn her to not come any closer, and an unbidden line of flame emerged from his palm. He forgot she couldn't see.
"Wait Toph look ou-!" his sentence stopped mid word. He looked at her in horror.
Toph felt a wave of warmth hit her and felt something weird. She could smell burning cloth.
"Sparky, are you burning yourself? Put it out, dum-" she stopped as she felt the lick of a flame on her sleeve. She yelled and hopped around, yelling for someone to put it out. She felt Zuko stand up and cup his hands around her sleeve, diminishing the flame.
"You set me on fire!" she screamed at the man. He felt like he had just attacked a blind girl. Oh wait, he had.
She glared in his general direction before smirking.
"Well, Sparky. Where should we go?"
. . .
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm" Toph muttered as Zuko stopped talking and demounted his horse. They were in a clearing in the middle of some forest beyond the kingdoms grounds. She was confused. She then felt Zuko shift into a defensive stance and he threw a fireball at her.
"GYAH! What in the name of the moon are you doing!" She yelled.
"Sparring." Was his reply.
Ohhhh. Now she understood. She grinned and pelted him with bullet-like rocks. She felt him shift again and threw up a wall around herself, jumping in the air as she felt flame moving towards her feet. As she was in the air she was blind again. She awaited for ground impact and just as her feet touched the ground, they were swept out from under her again. Her back hit the ground and her hands and feet were held down. Her face was blank with shock.
"I've been practicing." Zuko panted out.
"I can tell. Geez, Sparky."
His head came down to meet her forehead.
Their noses touch.
He whispers words, she is shocked.
His lips mold to her mouth. He meant for it to be a sweet, short kiss. Kind of like her. But he found he didn't want to break contact. His lips pressed on hers, begging for response. And finally, a subtle pressure met his. He was so happy, in such rapture, that he picked her up and spun her in the air. Her breathy laugh seemed not like the tough young woman she was, but something of a woman in love.
An arrow shot out of the thick forest and stuck Zuko. Toph fell, hearing his grunt of pain. She felt him topple to the ground. She couldn't figure out what was going on. She felt several figures in the woods, and quickly tried to encase them in a dome of earth, but once again she was lifted into the air. She was now being dragged, and she didn't know what had happened to Zuko, and she couldn't see, and she was so angry at these horrible people.
Zuko's vision was swimming. The last thing he saw before darkness was Toph being dragged away.
. . .
She awoke in a room resembling the one of her previous kidnapping. Cold terror was streaming through her veins. She couldn't believe she was in this situation again.
Only now, she was aware of nothing. She heard a door blast open and felt the heat. She heard fighting. A body crumple to the ground. Then Zuko's voice.
"It's all right Toph. Those men wanted to kill me, and use you as bait. I've taken care of them. "
She scoffed and launched herself into his arms.
His lips crushed hers, relief and joy making his heart ready to burst.
Those two were never far from each other again.
Toph was deemed Firelady.
She never stopped calling him Sparky.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Fin.
So, Thus ends a long fic. Please review!
Cherry(kawaiiniki)