Zuko stared blankly at the bloodly stain that was once his father. Now, there was blood and dirt. He scoffed and kicked a rock. "Dad." he muttered. Toph's eyes glanced in the direction of his voice. "Come on, let's get out of here." she said, placing her hand in Zuko's and leading him back to one of the few remaining ships.
As they walked towards the ship, Zuko gave a sigh as the last reminants of Azula's ship stuck out of the water before sinking with the rest of it. "Azula." he said, gently bowing his head. By the time they reached Iroh, Zuko's once happy expression had faded from his face. Iroh gently placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "It's ok." he said, seeing the tears behind Zuko's eyes.
Zuko practically collapsed into his uncle's shoulder, weeping as an inner pain tore at his heart. "They're gone." he said, his uncle and Toph both hugging the prince gently. Zuko wept that day, not only tears of relief and inner struggle, but tears of love, and genuine sorrow. Toph calmly stroked his hair, letting him cry on her shoulder. Once he had gotten it out of his system, she smirked at him. "You tell anyone about this princess, and you're a dead man." she said sternly, getting a chuckle out of both Zuko and Iroh.
3 months passed. Zuko and Iroh moved to Gaoling and, thanks to a "gental nudge" from Toph, her parents shelled out the money for the two to re-start their tea shop, and then some. "Um, are you sure your parents don't mind giving us this much money?" Iroh had asked with a nervous look, unsure if they would be able to pay them back.
Toph simply shook her head. "Trust me, it's no big deal." she said. Zuko looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?" he asked. Toph looked over in his direction and smirked. "Nevermind." she said, getting a nervous glance from both of her friends, which she couldn't see, but definatly felt..
The young earthbender quickly exited before any more questions could be asked. Zuko shook his head. "She scares me, sometimes." he said. Iroh couldn't help but chuckle. "Makes me glad I'm not younger." the two gentalmen shared a chuckle before unpacking the supplies Toph had generously provided, loading boxes of tea into the large storage closet in the back.
Soon, people began to pour in, rich and poor, young and old. Zuko was practically tripping over his own feet. "Where did all of these people come from?" he asked his uncle when he finally got a few seconds to catch his breath. Iroh grinned at him and held up a gold coin. "I don't know, but I hope they come back again." he said, giving a hearty belly laugh. Zuko couldn't help but smile as he returned to his duties. For once, his uncle looked truely happy and content.
9 hours later...
Zuko breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd finally dispursed, putting away the last of the chairs and counting out the day's earnings. "This is great, we'll be able to pay back the Bei Fong's with interest." Iroh said. Zuko nodded and pushed the money sat aside for payment into a large box, unusually quickly for Iroh's taste. "And just where do you think you're going?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Zuko looked up his uncle. "Oh, I just thought it would be best to, um, get this out of the way." he said. Iroh gave his nephew a quizzical stare, then grinned. "Are you sure this has nothing to do with you and a certain blind bandit?" he asked.
Zuko sweated nervously. "Not sure what you're talking about, gotta go, see ya later tonight." he answered, thanking the spirits for his days as the blue spirit, as he hurried out of his uncle's sight, and question range. Zuko got about half-way to the Bei Fong residence before ducking into an alleyway. Nervously, he looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed, then he slowly opened the box, his palms sweating. As his hands made a grab for the gold, he began to shake as his mind screamed at him. He slammed the lid shut and rested against the wall.
"What in the hell am I doing? This money is for Toph's family, and in turn, for her. It wouldn't be right of me to do this. What would she say?" he asked himself. "She'd say you're in deep mooselion shit." he heard a fimilar, stern female voice say. Zuko stood up and spun around, getting into a fighting stance, but dropping it just as quickly when he saw Toph enter the dim light.
"Hey Toph, I was just on my way to..." but suddenly, he found her hand in front of his face. "I don't want to hear it, Zuko. I heard your little conversation with yourself, and frankly, I'm pissed off at you right now. How could you even think of doing this? I thought those days were over!" she shouted, kicking up the earth under the box, sending it flying over Zuko's head, and catching it in her hands. Zuko gulped nervously, then held up his hands defensivly, slowly backing away. "Uh, Toph, I can explain." he said, backing up from her, before feeling the dirt under him jerk him onto his ass, then into an alley wall.
Toph put the box down, then walked over to him, a devilish grin on her face. She placed her feet on Zuko's ankles, then her hands on his wrist, holding his arms above his head, before kissing him firm, hard on the lips. "You've been a bad boy Zuzu." she said with a grin. Zuko expected her to hands to start roaming, but instead, he felt nothing, except immobility.
It was then that he realized that she had bended his hands above his head, and his feet to the ground. "Come on Toph, let me up." he complained. Toph simply whistled a tune as she walked off, leaving Zuko pinned to the floor and wall. "This'll give you time to think about your actions, young man." she said with a laugh, walking off, leaving Zuko angry, but uninjured. She didn't speak to him for the next 3 months.
3 months later...
Toph practically ran into 'The Jade Dragon", Iroh and Zuko's tea shop, something unusual for her, panting and huffing. "Sokka's getting married!" she shouted, holding up the letter that had been read to her that morning, the invitation addressed to all three of them. Zuko cautiously took the letter from her, unsure if she wasn't just going to knock him through the roof or not. She was still ticked off at him, after all. He mentally sighed when he noticed his body was on the ground. Zuko and Iroh both read the letter:
"Dear Zuko, Toph, and Iroh,
So, how's things in Gaoling? Tea shop going great? Toph get knocked up yet?"
Zuko looked away and huffed as Toph gave a slight grunt. She was going to have to hurt Sokka for that one.
"Anyways, just thought I'd let you know, I finally proposed to Ty Lee, and we're getting married in a couple of weeks. Kyoshi is really nice. The villagers had a hard time at first, getting used to me and Ty Lee, as well as dealing with Suki's death. We'll talk more when you guys show up. You are showing, right?
Sincerly, Sokka & Ty Lee
P.S. This is the last time Sokka writes the inviatations. I swear to the universe. - Ty Lee"
Zuko and Iroh stared at their inviatations, then bursted out laughing. Obviously, Sokka had done the pictures, and he still had no artistic ability. Zuko stopped laughing when he watched as Toph jumped up and stormed out of the shop. He gave a nod to his uncle, then chased after her.
She waited until they were far enough away from the city, before turning around and sending three pillars of earth his direction. Zuko jumped out of the way and got into his stance. "So, what do you want to talk about?" he asked. Toph said nothing, but slowly circled with Zuko. "Come on, there's got to be something on your mind." he asked, recieving the same answer as last time, only this time directly underneath him.
Zuko flipped forward, and Toph shot a wall of earth in front of him, Zuko barely avoiding it. Zuko cautiously waited until Toph tried to send another pillar of earth from under him, this time using it to leap into the air and send several fireblast Toph's way. Toph simply wrapped the earth over her, locking herself inside of a dome of rock. Zuko stopped his attack and pressed his ear against the dome. He heard her, crying, cursing herself and any and all gods that would listen. "Toph, I'm sorry." he said. She responded by throwing the front half of the dome at him, pinning him against a tree.
Toph instantly put the dome down when she heard Zuko's back hit the tree, unsure if the crack was the tree or his spine. She ran up to him as he practically fell into her arms. Toph gently placed him on the ground, listening for any sign of cracked ribs, a broken back, anything. "Hey Zuko, you alive?" she asked, her head resting against his chest. Zuko grinned, then took this opportunity to grab her arms and pin her to the ground, positioning his legs so she couldn't knee him in the groin. "So, how does it feel?" he asked. "You bastard." she said. Zuko smirked. "Now, that's not very lady-like." he said. Toph smirked, then a few tears began to form in her eyes. "Damn you." she said coldly.
Zuko quickly released his grip on her and climbed off of her. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned that he might have hurt her. Toph sat up, then walked over to Zuko, and fell into his arms, crying. "Why does it hurt?" she asked. Zuko gently held her, remembering how much it hurt to see Katara embrace Aang. "I don't know." he said softly, just letting her cry on his shoulder. Gently, he lifted her head and kissed her, letting her hands touch his face, his scar, tears falling from his good eye. Toph and Zuko's hands roamed over eachother, lips locked, each crying for the other.
After almost 10 minutes of kissing, crying, and Toph vowing to kill Zuko if he told anyone about their moment, Toph walked back to the city, Zuko's hand holding hers. When they got to the Bei Fong household, Toph kissed Zuko one more time before walking inside, Zuko noting the stare from Toph's father. Zuko took a deep sigh, then started walking back to the small apartment next to the tea shop. He and uncle had a lot of packing to do.
The Next Day...
Toph woke up to the sound of Zuko arguing with the front guard. "What do you mean she's ill? She was just fine yesterday!" Zuko shouted. "Sorry, orders from the head of the household, no one is to see miss Toph for at least a week." Toph rubbed the sleep from her eyes and earthbended the guard out of her way before greeting Zuko. Zuko couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, the nightgown looking almost like a bright yellow dress. "So, um, uh, wow, you ready?" he asked.
Toph huffed at him. "Do I look ready, princess?" she asked, inviting him and Iroh in before returning to her room. Zuko couldn't help but nod at the guard. "So, sick huh?" he asked. The guard just gave him a nervous glance. "I'm sorry sir, it was the order of Lady Toph's father." he said. As if on cue, Toph's father appeared in the doorway, his wife obediently following behind him. He scowled at Zuko. "What is he doing here?" he asked, the look on his face staring like he had just stepped into something rotten.
The guard bowed. "Forgive me sir, Lady Toph, um, overrid your orders." he said. Toph's father looked over at Iroh, and scoffed. "See these two, um, people, out of my home." he said. The guard took one look at Iroh, then at his employer. "Um, sir, you do it." he stated, backing away.
Toph emerged from her room, wearing an outfit similar to the one she'd worn when she'd first joined Aang, except that her hair was done in two buns, the outfit looked more like a dress with green shorts, and spiked wrist bands, her dufflebag slung over her shoulder. "So, are we ready?" she asked.
Toph's father stared at her. "Toph, I forbid you to go with these two, um, fugitives." At this point, Zuko stood up and he had to be held back by Iroh. "How dare you call us fugitives. Those days are long gone." he said, his hands glowing. Toph's mother turned to her daughter with a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Toph, please understand, your father and I only want what's best for you." Toph stared straight forward, listeing to words being thrown back and forth, before finally summoning a pillar of earth inches from both Zuko and her father's faces.
"That's enough. Dad, these people have been my family for the past 9 months. The avatar and his companions treated me 100 times better than I was treated here. I tried to move back in, make amends, and even let these servents take care of me, but the truth is, I don't belong here, this is my decision, and you can't just..." she was suddenly stopped by a hand, slapping her, hard, across the face. It wasn't her mother's doing, it was her father's.
"I won't hear another word from you, you ungrateful child. You will do as I tell you. I am your father and my word is final!" he shouted. It took every bit of Iroh's own will power to hold back Zuko, as well as himself.
But Toph, on the other hand, didn't feel like holding back. She stood up and licked her lips, her cheek stinging. "Is that all you've got?" she asked with a smirk. Her father tried to strike again, but this time, Toph grabbed his wrist, and bent it backwards, bringing her father to his knees in pain. Toph tapped her foot on the floor as she released him, sending up three pillars of earth, knocking him backwards through the dining room table.
Zuko and Iroh both watched as Toph's father went crashing through the table, being knocked unconscience. Toph looked in the direction of her mother. "Bye mom, I love you." she said, before walking into her room, picking up a wide-brimmed straw hat, and walking out the door, never looking back. "Hey, you guys coming?" she asked. Iroh and Zuko nodded to the lady of the house, before running after Toph. Toph's mother stared down at her husband, his chest rising up and down. "You had it coming." she said before storming off to make plans for a divorce.
Iroh and Zuko quickly caught up with Toph as she stormed ahead of them. "Come on boys, we got a wedding to go to." she said. Zuko suddenly stopped her and hugged her. "It's ok, you can drop the tough-girl act. We won't tell anyone." he said calmly.
Toph titled her head down, then embraced Zuko, shaking. "What have I done?" she asked, tears stinging her eyes. Zuko felt her cheek, where her father had struck her, and for a second, he wanted to go back and rip him apart, but he quickly let that thought go when Uncle Iroh placed his hand on his shoulder. "Cowards like him don't matter. Right now, she is the one who needs us." he said, placing his other hand on Toph's shoulder. Zuko embraced Toph, letting her get out all of her sadness, her guilt, her depression.
Once she had finished, Zuko decided to tell her the good news, and she full-blown plowed him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me the ship still worked?" she asked, walking between Zuko and Iroh. Zuko held his left arm, dreading the bruise that would show up the next day. "You never asked."
Toph sighed. "You jerk, I was about to walk all the way to Kyoshi Island." "Or, you could always swim." Iroh suggested. "No thanks Grandpa, water just isn't my thing." Iroh gave a stern look to Zuko "Grandpa?". Zuko rolled his eyes. "We haven't done anything." Toph smirked at where the conversation was going. "Yet." she chimed in. Zuko couldn't hide his blushing.
Two days later...
The Fire Navy ship finally landed on Kyoshi Island, much to Toph's delight. She still couldn't resist the urge to make a dirt angel as soon as they hit the shore. Zuko smiled as the sun shone down upon the town of Kyoshi, hoping that most had forgotten or forgiven him since the last time he was here. However, he knew all was forgiven when he saw his friends standing there to greet them. Toph even pulled herself out of the dirt and helped Iroh unload the exotic teas he had brought as a wedding gift.
"Zuko?" Katara asked, embracing her friend. Zuko nervously hugged her back, trying to get any and all thoughts of her out of his head. He was then greeted with several more hugs, including ones from Aang and Ty Lee. "Hey Zuko, you're only here less than a minute, and already you're stealing my woman." a cocky, smug voice said from behind the crowd.
Zuko quickly relinquished his hug on Ty Lee and jumped back. "She was after me." Sokka walked right up to Zuko, looking ready to punch his lights out, then the two men snorted and went into a fit of laughter before hugging one another.
"So, anything new?" he asked. Sokka rolled his eyes at Aang. "Nope, Avatar-boy here still hasn't asked my sister to marry him yet, Jet still thinks he's got the lone wolf thing going and won't just come out and ask Mai, and then there's you, and well, Toph." he said, looking around for the blind earthbender, before realizing that she was right behind him. Sokka turned around and grinned nervously. "Hey Toph. Did you do something to your hair?" he asked.
Toph smirked at him, then walked up and punched him in the arm, hard. "That's for not telling me sooner." she said, then punched him a second time. "And that's for asking if I was pregnate or not." she said before hugging him. "Just remember to treat her right, or else I'll do things to you that make what I did to The Boulder look like a picnic." she whispered into his ear. Sokka nervously stepped away from Toph as she made an introduction to, and was hugged by, Ty Lee.
Later that night...
Toph walked over the bridge, the one where Sokka had told her about him and Suki's first kiss, kicking a stone several feet away into the water. "Damn him." "Who are we daming?" a male voice asked from behind her. She cocked her head in the direction of Zuko. "Sokka." she huffed. Zuko couldn't help but laugh. She was 16, and yet, she still acted like a child with a crush. "Aw, what's wrong? Is little Toph still hung up on Sokka?" he asked in a childish voice. Toph responded by dropping the earth out from under him and sending him into the cold water below. "I don't know, is wittle Zuzu still hung up on Katara?" she asked with a smirk.
Zuko grinned, then grabbed her leg and pulled her into the water, wrapping his arm around her waist. "You tell me first." he said, playfully tickling her ribs. Once Toph realized that her feet could touch the dirt under the water, she relazed and giggled, trying her best to hold back any laughter. After a few seconds, she exploded in a fit of laughter. "Damn you Zuko!" she shouted, as Zuko gently continued to torment her. The two teens lifted themselves out of the water, laughing and gasping for air.
Zuko looked up at the two lit buildings where the bachlor and bachlorette parties were beind held. "So, wanna go?" he asked. Toph lept up and grabbed him in a headlock. "Not until you tell me, are you still hung up on Katara?" she asked. Zuko tried to break free from her strong arms, but the little earthbender was actually stronger than her petite frame let on. After almost a minute of struggling, he finally gave in. "Ok, let me go, and I'll tell you." he practically whined, hoping no one heard him.
Toph released her hold on Zuko, who stumbled back and rested against a tree, Toph resting next to him, both of them soaking wet. "No, I haven't been for almost a year." he said with a laugh. "Great, I'd hate to have to hurt Sugar Queen." Toph said with a smirk. Zuko sighed as he stared up at the stars. "Of course, she was the first one I kissed." he muttered.
Toph stood up, walked over to Zuko, and planted a punch just inches from his head. " You what?" she asked, before storming away from him. Zuko stood up and tried to run after her, each time getting blocked by one pillar of earth or another. "Come on Toph, it wasn't like that." "So, did you decide to screw her, too?!" she shouted, not caring if the whole island heard her.
On top of a hill, Katara, Sokka, Ty Lee, Mai, Aang, Jet, and everyone else decided to watch the incoming fight between Zuko and Toph, each side bored with their own party. Sokka placed his arms around Ty Lee. "Honey, promise me we're never going to get that bad." he said. Ty Lee giggled at him. "Of course not." she said. "Yeah, if anything, your fights will be much worse than that." Mai said in her usual monotone, a small smirk on her face. Sokka looked up at her, then over at Ty Lee. "She is joking, right?"
The rest of the night was spent watching, as Bumi called it "Lifestyles of the Toph and the Zuko.", which consisted of many curse words, rocks and fire, trash-talking, and in the end, Zuko waking up the next morning with Toph under him, and one hell of a headache.
Zuko gulped as he noticed Toph's tunic was un-buttoned, exposing her small, yet perky breasts to the world. As Zuko's mind started another argument of right and wrong, he reached down, re-attached the button, then looked away. Toph, meanwhile, was completely awake, she just felt like waiting and seeing what he'd do. She sat up and wrapped her arms around the warm body that was sitting on her bed, praying it was Zuko's.
"Good Morning Zuko." she said with a giggle. Zuko gave her a sigh. "Did we do anything last night?" he asked, holding his head and falling back on the bed. Toph climbed on top of him and grinned. "Not yet, but I think we could now." she said, before holding her own head and laying next to him. "Or maybe not, damn headaches."
A few hours later...
Toph and Zuko exited their room, sharing a nervous laugh. Unfortunatly, Zuko was greeted by both Jet and Sokka, the last two people he wanted to heard from, while Toph was greeted by everyone from Smellerbee to Katara. "Alright Zuko, way to go." Jet said with a grin. Zuko glared at him. "Nothing happened last night." he said firmly, walking away from him. "That's not what we heard last night." Sokka chimed in. Zuko froze dead in his tracks."What did you say?" he asked, gulping and looking nervously over at Toph. Sokka slowly stepped back as Aang stepped between his friends, noticing how Zuko's hands started glowing. "Look, all Sokka is saying is that we heard some weird noises coming from your room last night after you and Toph got into your fight."
"Fight? I've seen plenty of fights. Those two had Earth Rumble 16." Bumi said with a chuckle. Zuko's hands began emiting sparks, before Uncle Iroh stepped in front of him. "I can tell all of you right now, nothing happened. Trust me, I've been around long enough to tell the difference between two lovers, and two people trying to crawl into one bed." he announced, getting every look from the calm and relieved, to the slightly weirded out. "Besides, my nephew will get intimate with his girlfriend when he feels the time is right." he added in, causing Zuko and Toph to both blush, then, in unison, step away from the entire crowd, rather quickly.
Sokka shook the rather disturbing mental pictures from his head and took Ty Lee's hand, noticing how both of them had taken the same idea to sleep in their wedding clothes. "Come on people, we've got a wedding to get to." he declared.
Zuko watched as Ty Lee and Sokka lead the crowd of their friends and family to the Kyoshi temple. "Sorry about that." he said. Toph felt her face get hot as she held his hand. "It's ok, he got us away from them, for now." she said, brushing Zuko's hair out of his face before tilting her head up and kissing him. "We should really get going, before we miss the wedding." he said, returning her kiss. "I know, but I don't wanna." she playfully whined. Zuko grinned. "Come on, I'll race ya to the temple." he said, using his firebending to propel himself forward. Toph grinned as she turned the earth into her own personal skateboard. "Yeah, and I'll win."
Less than two months later, Toph finally asked Zuko to marry her, after almost a year of beating the issue around. Toph's parents reconciled their differences, and Toph even found it in her heart to forgive her father, who since their incident, has lightened up. Iroh gained help from three unlikey sources, after some convincing by Zuko. Li, Jin, and Song all became employed by Iroh, and the four of them couldn't be happier.
Toph listened to the sound of crickets chirping in the night as she listened to the sound of a second heartbeat inside of her stomach. She smiled each time she felt the life inside of her kick. A second hand placed itself on her stomach, feeling their child kick. "So, is it ready yet?" Zuko asked with all the excitement of a child on Christmas morning.
Toph rolled her eyes at him. "It's a baby, Zuko, not a cake." she said with a grin. Zuko gave out a sigh. "I know, but can you blame me?" Toph smiled as she walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, I can. But, I'm not going to." Zuko sat behind Toph, his arms drapped over the front of her dress, a smile on his face. Toph reached up and gently caressed his face, then rested her head on his chest, listening to both the heartbeat of her husband, and the heartbeat of the child inside of her, and thanking the spirits for the miracles she had.
The End.
So, what do you think?
Please Read and Review.
Thanks.
- Juria