AN: I know it's been forever since I posted, but life has been very busy. I am still writing, but at a snail's pace. I actually wrote most of these a long time ago, but when WithinOurTemptation posted hers again, I had to finish these and post them. Don't worry, I always finish my stories, just FoF is taking a while to get the steam going again. So, sit back, enjoy, and let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.

Day 1 Understanding

No one understood her, she thought as she stalked away from the dining room. No one, not her parents, her friends or…or anyone. The thoughts rolled through her mind as she wiped at her eye, becoming even more frustrated as she wiped a small amount of liquid away. She had a right to be happy, didn't she? And her parents still went ahead and made a decision that should have been hers to make, to pawn her off like an old piece of furniture or some lumpy baggage. And to have thought that they would have learned over the past three years. Yeah, that was a laugh. Her parents still saw her as frail and weak, even though they tried to give her more freedom. Her friends had been there when the announcement was made, and though she had felt anger in Aang and Katara, they had accepted it as she made no protest. But how she wanted to protest! To shake the floor and building and whole valley in protest! She was not just some thing to be bartered away.

She took a deep breath and made her way out to the gardens, kicking her disgusting shoes off to curl her toes into the cool, comforting earth. She knew her parents had a good reason for agreeing to the arranged marriage. It was for the good of their family, their honor, and their country. Also, she thought with a wry grin, no other suitor that had shown up had lasted a day, let alone an hour with her before they ran off and rescinded their proposition. Anger welled up in her again as she thought about the upcoming union. Still, they didn't have the right to choose for her. He didn't have the right to force this on her. She felt him enter the gardens then and knew he had seen her and was starting to walk towards her. She lifted her chin and turned her back to him as soon as he was within a few feet of her. He should know how she felt about this. She had thought he understood her the most. She had thought she understood him, but apparently she was wrong.

She heard him growl under his breath as she kept her back to him. After a minute of silence and a fluctuation in temperatures at her back, he spoke.

"Look, I didn't decide for it to be this way either," he stated, and she heard his temper underlying his tone as he struggled to control himself. "They wanted a diplomatic marriage and this was seen as the best for both of us."

She knew who they were; the council of elders overseeing the reconstruction of the world, and the ones who kept a watch on the Fire Nation, making sure they didn't fall back into old habits. The council was mostly made of Earth Kingdom elders, but there were a few Water Tribesmen and a handful of Fire Nation, mostly those who had helped free Ba Sing Sae during the comet, including Iroh. But though she felt for him, she kept her back to him, still angry that he had accepted this so easily, and had made her accept it without giving her a chance to have any say in it.

"I didn't want it to be like this," he said as she felt the temperature increase again, which she thought was odd. He had been calm the whole time inside, though she had felt one spike in temperature when her parents had told her the news, but then it was gone. Now, the temperature spike had returned, but stronger, but it didn't seem to be coming from anger, or at least not all of it.

"Toph, look at me!"

"You know very well I can't do that," she stated, keeping her back to him.

"Damn it, I will not keep talking to your back!" he said and surprised her by grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face him. She struggled for a bit, but it was useless without destroying the garden to get away and finally just glared in his general direction.

"Happy now?" She asked, trying to act polite, but letting her anger enter her tone as well.

"No," he said, and she thought he sounded sad. "I…they weren't supposed to tell you. I wanted to ask first."

"Ask what?" she said, letting her emotions control her tone. "To imprison me? To take away all my freedoms? To go away with you and become nothing but a figure piece that would eventually have to become a baby machine?!"

She felt tears come to her eyes again as her voice rose, but she was too stubborn and too tired to wipe them away. Strangely, he just stood there and took the abuse and then sighed.

"No," he said again, but in a softer tone. He kneeled, and grabbed her hands. She tried to pull them away, but he held on and when she gave up, he still held on, but his grip loosened. "I wanted to ask you if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Not because it will be best for our countries, but…"

He trailed off into silence and Toph wondered what was going through his head. He seemed hesitant, unsure and almost scared. And that was totally unlike him.

"But what?" she asked.

She felt his head come up and knew he was looking at her, and it felt like they were younger again and just having fun between training sessions as they prepared Aang to face his destiny.

"I…I've come to care for you," he said quietly. "I didn't want it to be

like this either. I feel so trapped and lonely sometimes…it's hard, trying to turn the Fire Nation around. So many people are looking at me, waiting for me to screw up. I need someone there I can trust, someone who will tell me the truth, no matter what. I need you, and…"He trailed off again and she waited, as she had always done, knowing she would feel the next move and counter it or let it wash over her as she had always done. But what he said next floored her.

"I love you, Toph."

She didn't know how she had got there, but she found herself sitting on a bench with him next to her, still holding her hand.

"Toph, you ok?" he asked, worry in his tone and she smiled slightly, almost feeling his forehead crease in worry lines.

"Will you promise to try?" she whispered.

"Try? Try what?" he asked, confused.

"Try to understand? Try to understand me, to accept me for me and not to change me or mold me into what someone says I should be?"

She turned her face to him and felt heat come from his body again, but this time, it was a comforting heat, not an angry or distracted heat. He touched her cheek and she heard a smile in his tone when he answered her.

"I thought I always understood you better than anyone, but yes, I will try. If you try something for me."

"What?" she asked.

He leaned in and she was surprised as he kissed her softly. "Try to understand me and try to care for me, even a little."

She smiled, her old smile, and it felt good. It was as if her old self was coming back from being repressed for the three years she had been with her parents. Sure, she had been able to visit her friends and spend time with them and had even visited Zuko a few times and they had grown closer over the years, but this was the first time she felt like her old self again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. "Yes Zuko, I'll try, though I think you'll have it tougher than me. I love you too, I always have."

She felt him smile against her mouth as he kissed her again and again. And it was that way that her parents found them and her mother had fainted at the improper way her daughter was acting with her fiancée without a chaperone.