Title: Plans by the Fire
Pairings: None, hinting of ZukoxSong, Zuko-Toph friendship
Rating: PG, very, very mild cursing.
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"You know, Katara could probably heal that."
Zuko raised his head to look at the smiling boy—quickly becoming a teenager—in front of him. Suddenly he realized he was tired of tending the fire and let the flames consume the twig in his hands. From the corner of his eye, he could see Uncle taking a break from his conversation with Toph to lean in. Surprisingly to anyone paying attention, including Zuko himself, he did not glare or scowl or launch a fireball at the Avatar.
Instead he simply blinked somberly. Unfazed, Aang went on, "She's great at healing. Not that she'll be a healer or anything; she's such an awesome fighter." He paused. "Isn't she great?" A smile so wide that one might think was hurting his cheeks was on his face, and not even Zuko could find it himself to yell at him.
"Sure," he replied distantly.
"That scar sure does look nasty," he observed, not noticing at all the way the young Prince's hands clenched. "How'd you—"
"Aang!" Iroh quickly interrupted. He had been in such of a hurry to stop him from going any further he had forgotten the respectful 'Avatar' in front of his name, which he usually added. "Um, perhaps you would like to take another whack at that lightening bending?"
"Okay," Aang said, standing up. He turned to Zuko once more, causing a nearly inaudible moan from Iroh. "Really though, think about it. I'm sure she could do it." With that he left with Iroh, most likely to climb some mountain for practice.
The only person around the campfire was Toph. Katara was in the river, practicing her bending. Sokka and Aang both disliked the idea of her alone at night, so Sokka was with her, despite the fact he was probably bored to death. Momo was sleeping.
And so, out of lack of will to get up, his head rolled towards Toph. She was sprawled on the bare dirt, playing with three small rocks, too big to be pebbles. Without even moving, she barked, "What're you looking at?"
The spitfire nature of the young earthbender still took Zuko by surprise and he jumped very slightly. "Nothing," he murmured softly after collecting himself.
"Look," Toph began, "I know you don't really walk the optimistic side of life, but you've really been getting on my nerves lately." This caught Zuko's attention. He was too intrigued to get angry, for the moment.
"Whenever you walk, you sort of drag your feet or walk like you're depressed. I'm frickin' sick of it!" She was letting her temper take over, fast.
"What would you even know? You're blind!" He scowled back.
"I feel the vibrations in the earth. I can tell someone's mood by the way they walk," She was a little more calm now, speaking in a matter-of-factly voice.
Neither of them said anything for a while. Sometimes Zuko would get up to get another log for the fire, or tend it with a twig. The cackle of the fire was, surprisingly, intensely soothing.
Toph grew content again, resuming her playing with the rocks. Zuko, on the other hand, felt a growing pain somewhere vaguely in his chest. It wasn't something that would require medical attention, and he was beginning to realize what it was.
"Do you remember the ostrich-horse I had when we first met in Ba Sing Se?" He said after a while. Toph dropped her rocks and sat up.
"I remember you riding an animal," she said. "I didn't know what kind it was."
For a moment he was silent. He was collecting himself. "I stole it," he said finally. He looked to her for the reaction. She did not say nor did anything right away. Zuko relaxed somewhat, knowing he had chosen the right person to talk to.
Aang would've been shocked and very disappointed, and neither Sokka nor Katara were entirely fond of him. What he had shared wouldn't help that. Plus, like him, Toph had a disability. Maybe, in someway, she could relate.
"From who?"
"A healer," he said. "Uncle once tried to make a poisonous plant into tea"—Toph snorted—"and it almost killed him. We took him to a healing hut in the Earth Kingdom—a girl named Song invited us into her house; fed us. Later she showed me a scar she also had due to firebending. I think…" His voice lowered, "that was when I began to stop looking up to my father. I have her to thank."
"Great. Where are you going with this?" Zuko was to some extent amused by Toph.
"I just…I never got to properly thank her." There was a tone of anger in his voice.
"What happened to the ostrich-horse?" Toph had paused before speaking—this time carefully choosing her words.
"I sold it."
"What do you want me to say?" More and more, Zuko was beginning to like Toph. The way she spoke that was so blunt; a year ago it would've driven him wild with anger. But now…Zuko knew he would never really bond with anyone in the Avatar's party. He had too many times to kill them and although they accepted Iroh, he was different. They looked at him different. They saw the scar first.
Not Toph though. Because even if she weren't blind and could see the scar, she would treat him the same way she was treating him now. He knew he would never love her romantically, he knew he would never even feel anything like that towards her, but maybe, just maybe, she could be his friend.
"I'm not sure what you're fishing for," she said. She was the tiniest bit uncomfortable; Zuko could barely detect it.
"Never mind," he said, suddenly feeling dejected. "Forget I said anything." The silence between them grew so awkward that Toph threw up her hands in defeat, half-way annoyed.
"Alright, fine, here's what I'm going to tell you. When this war is over I'm taking you into Ba Sing Se and we're going to find that ostrich-horse and then we're going to visit your girlfriend's house." Zuko almost felt the need to inject that Song wasn't his girlfriend, but oddly, kept his mouth shut. "And you're going to give it back to her and apologize. So is that it? You done being depressed now Prince Broody?"
When Zuko didn't reply, Toph flopped back on her back and closed her eyes. She fell asleep quickly. Soon, he too got down and lay in front of the fire. As he watched the embers being spat into the air and then dying away, he knew he would never forget this conversation.
He knew Toph, even though she had said it almost half-asleep, would hold him to it. He shuddered at the thrill of seeing her again. He had been practicing the words for weeks and now he would have a reason to look forward to the end of the war.
"I'm sorry," he whispered aloud, as if to think she might've heard him.
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Yeah. I don't know why but those breaks aren't working for me.
This is the start of a collection of Avatar drabbles, pairings, and almost-oneshots. If you've got a crack pairing and a tiny plotline you'd like me to write, send it in a review. I'd be glad to.
Um, yeah. I really like the ZukoxSong pairing and I really like a Toph-Zuko friendship. I know there are tons of stories involving Zuko becoming friends with the 'gaang' but really, the only people I see Zuko being friendly with is Toph. Reasons I don't feel like explaining now.
