So, in anticipation of the new (and obviously lacking) movie from M. Night, I decided to write my first ever Airbender fanfiction. And it's weird, because I would usually go for slash, but something has inspired me to go TophxZuko. Decidedly odd, and I've never seen much evidence of it in the episodes, but what does that mean to a fanfiction writer? We follow our fancy, damn it, so I'm following.
Disclaimer: If I owned this series, I never would have allowed it's cast to be white-washed.
Note: I really really love comments! And I usually listen to whatever my commenters want, so if you have ideas you'd like me to pen out, put them in the comments!
Love, Vigilant
"Love, though said to be afflicted with blindness, is a vigilant watchman." – C. Dickinson
The ocean was palatinate blue, and it was beautiful. Zuko was too far up on his cliff to see the shallows, but he knew that his blue would fade into something lighter - maybe Tiffany blue - until it was just white sea crest pulling at the edge of the sand. Pulling on the edge of the world.
Aang and Katara had tilted their heads and shrugged, neither of them understanding the fine art of color, and had simply toppled over into the frothy waves. Toph clearly could have no say in the matter, and Sokka was too busy making out with Suki under a tree to care. After that, Zuko had come to his spot alone, and they had let him. The group was oddly attuned to things like personal space.
There had always been something about the ocean that attracted him; before, he thought it was just a part of knowing your enemy - all of the elements were deadly, but a Firebender couldn't deny that water was its main concern. But now, fingers curled into the biting grass, Zuko wondered if it wasn't what the ocean could do that inspired him so much.
Like take out Sozin's Comet, should it ever decide to enter Earth's atmosphere.
The peaceful lull of the ocean stopped in his ears as he regarded the sky warily, his one eyebrow knitting together towards his scar. He'd almost forgotten, just for a moment. Suddenly, looking at the ocean wasn't as peaceful as it had been. Zuko pulled a fistful of grass with him as he stood, warily regarding the beach below. Toph was walking alone among the sand, which was odd. He ran down to meet her.
"What are you doing here?"
Toph pursed her lips – it didn't look as if the sand was cooperating with her, what with being ridiculously loose and hot – and narrowed her eyes.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be left behind with those guys?"
"Uh…"
"Sokka can't unglue his lips for five minutes, while Sugar Queen and Twinkle Toes do their stupid dance of awkward love. Even being in this stupid excuse for dirt is better than dealing with that!"
She raised her arms and the sand below her gave a feeble sort of twitch.
Zuko scratched his hair, "Oh. Well, I guess – "
"And they're prettier than me."
"Wait, what?"
Toph ventured towards the ocean with baby steps, squealing just a bit when her dirty feet connected with the surf. Zuko always forgot that she couldn't swim. She sat with her arms around her knees, letting the waves clean the imperfect dirt off of her feet, her usually proud head dejectedly pressed against her arms.
"Katara and Suki. They're prettier than I am."
It hadn't taken Zuko long to learn of Toph's uncontrollable temper. One time Sokka had made an off-color joke, and before Zuko could even blink a fifty pound rock had come hurtling out of nowhere, nearly throwing the poor Water-tribe boy off of Appa. So yes, he knew he was tempting fate by standing so close to her, but he couldn't hear her with her head in her arms.
"Toph," he put his arm on her shoulder, "you can't even see them."
"You think I don't know that?" The tone in her voice was biting.
He cleared his throat. "What I mean is, you can't see yourself either. You don't know how to compare yourself."
He had to admit that – as the seemingly harmless sand lifted him off the ground and chucked him into the ocean – Toph was talented. It hadn't taken her very long to get the hang of the sand. The water stung where it connected with bare flesh, and it was cold. He opened his mouth, inhaled a gallon of seawater, and choked. He hit the surface with a pained gasp. Toph was gone.
When he reached the shore (she had really chucked him), he stayed on all fours and heaved.
"Well fuck!"
That night, dinner was incredibly awkward. Zuko realized for the first time what Toph had been complaining about earlier, and it made his ears go red. That, and the fact that Toph wouldn't even look at him, didn't do much to make him feel amazing.
"So how come you were all wet when you came home, huh, Zuko?" The boy was all subtlety. Aang smiled the happy, oblivious smile of youth. Zuko wanted to reach over and pop him in the nose.
"Fancied a dip in the ocean," Zuko answered nonchalantly. It wouldn't do to let them know that the Prince of the Fire Nation had been hurled into the ocean by a hormonal teenage girl with self-esteem issues.
"Liar," Toph muttered. Then, raising her voice, "He was probably doing something gross and needed to destroy the evidence."
Four pairs of interested eyes glued themselves to him: Sokka looked impressed, Suki and Katara looked embarrassed, and Aaang... Well, Aang -
"What kind of gross thing?"
Zuko couldn't help it; he reached over and popped Sokka in the mouth. He felt bad, but he couldn't hit the Avatar. It would have been like hitting the blind. Not someone like Toph, who he was about to smack if she didn't calm down, but a normal blind person. It just wasn't done. For this blind wildcat, however -
"Let me GO, damn it!"
"No, not until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you."
The door was a distraction, and he could hardly let Toph go to get it. He sent a jet of fire from the sole of his foot and dragged Toph out of the incinerated hole. The others had crowded around looking more piqued than was probably proper, but a well placed glare quickly sent them scurrying back to the dinner table.
"Zukooo!"
The summer home had faded behind them before Toph remembered that she had a certain power over the sand, and Zuko hit the ground with a dull thud. Toph made a run for it, but Zuko reached up from his self-shaped hole in the ground and grabbed her ankle. They probably looked ridiculous (their wiggling was akin to earthworms trying to make it back to the safety of their dirt, but they would never admit this) but neither could afford to slacken their efforts.
"Talk to me, Toph!"
"Oh what do you care? You only joined our group because you felt guilty about your past!" she screamed, trying to kick sand in his eyes.
It stung, probably more than anything she'd ever said to him - and she was not afraid to hand out insults - but he gave one good tug and she ended up at his level, her head resting in the crook of his neck.
"Don't turn this on me," he panted. She really was a wildcat. "What's up with your low self-esteem? Where'd the crazy proud Bei Fong child go, huh?"
"You wouldn't understand, you're not alone!"
Zuko could hold both of her wrists in one hand, but he thought it better not to risk it, and took one in each. Better safe than a swift kick to your solar plexus - or worse. The downside, he thought, to this group was their insane ability to feel different. Separated. He thought he was moody, but damn.
"Aang is the Avatar. I'm the prince of the Fire Nation. Katara is the only Waterbender left from her tribe. Suki is a warrior. And Sokka - well, Sokka is normal. What makes you so special?"
"At least you can see each other! At least you can see the world. You know what a smile looks like, what color your hair is." She beat her fists - tiny, really - against his chest, uselessly.
"Your smile looks like you're about to kill someone, and your hair is brown. There, feel bet - OUCH!"
She bit him, sinking her carnivores right into his neck. A little closer and she would have hit his jugular. Zuko's eyes felt like they would burst, they'd opened so wide. He let go of her hands like they were fire (odd, really), and pushed her away. Toph lay on the sand - exhausted, angry, but unmoving. Her breathing was heavy. Zuko was bleeding. His fingers were stained with blood.
He knew Toph couldn't see his face, but he still had to make it. "You bit me."
"Hell yeah I bit you. I bite anyone who pisses me off. What makes you so special?"
There was that biting edge in her voice again, laced with exhaustion and a bit of sadness.
"Look, Toph, is this about the beauty thing?" Zuko wasn't good with compliments. He'd never learned to give them, being the arrogant son-of-a-bitch that he was, not to mention a prince. He'd been given plenty, of course, but he didn't understand their meaning. So it was with a slightly dry mouth that he kept on talking. "Because you're beautiful."
Toph glared at him, "Yeah, because I'm going to believe you when you say it now."
"You know I'm not lying. I know you can feel heartbeats."
The Earthbender sighed. She wiggled her toes in the sand, her face turned towards him. Her brows were drawn.
"I never really cared before, you know? Not when I was a kid, not when I was bending in the tournament. I liked that I could get down and dirty, and I never thought about it. Even in Ba Sing Se, when Katara tried to help me... I got over it, I believed that I was okay. But now, with Sokka and Suki, and Aang and Katara, I just can't help but feel like - like I'm not beautiful. And that I'll never be able to really assess it, because I'll never be able to see."
Zuko nodded. "I, I kind of understand."
"You do not!"
"Look!" he snapped, "I've got a scar that covers my entire left eye. Whenever people see me, that's the first thing they notice. It's all they look at. Don't tell me I don't understand."
Toph bowed her head. "...Sorry."
She didn't look anything like herself with her head bowed. She looked pitiful, and small, and almost - almost girly, which didn't suit her at all. Zuko growled, running his hand through his hair. Whatever he had said about everyone being unique, he knew Toph wasn't dealing with something extraordinary, like Aang or Katara or himself. She was dealing with a disability, even if she hadn't allowed it to take over her life. He couldn't imagine waking up one morning and not being able to look at the sea, the sky, the clouds. Or even at her. There was no way he could make her see herself, but he could try.
Zuko took the girl's wrist and pulled her towards him, catching the other hand that was about to pop him and putting both in her lap. "Don't freak out, okay?"
"What are you doing?"
He placed his hand on Toph's head, fingers threading through the strands. It was oddly soft and smooth, for all that Katara said it looked gross. She smelled like dirt; Zuko laughed.
"This is your hair, Toph. It's really dark brown, maybe black, I can't tell, but it's really soft. Your bangs hang really low, and sometimes I can't see your eyes. You put your head down when you're confused, to cover your face."
She would never be able to see it, but even Toph knew when she was blushing. "Zuko..."
"Hush. These are your eyes - they're incredibly big and beautiful. And yes, they are clouded over." Toph lowered her head, and Zuko raised it. "But they're almost green. A very pale, spring green."
Zuko trailed his hands softly down Toph's blushing face until they were on either side of her cheeks, with his thumbs pressing on Toph's nose. "Your nose is kind of freckled, which I never noticed before. It's small. Dainty. Slightly off center, as if you'd been clocked in the face one too many times; but I like it. It gives you character. Let's me know you're not a wuss."
Toph smiled, "Not unlike Sokka, who's probably still bleeding. That was a good hit."
"Thank you, now stop talking. Your mouth, your lips, are the single scariest thing about you. They let you look demonic, soft, angry, sad, surprised, happy, playful, teasing - and you never know which one is going to come up next."
Zuko tilted Toph's chin up, his hand slipping behind her back to bring her closer and support her. The night had left them in incredible darkness; only the stars and the moon were out to witness them.
"Zuko?" Toph whispered.
"But for once, Toph," Zuko whispered back, "I'm going to know which one is going to come."
When he leaned in and kissed her, her mouth opened in complete surprise. Zuko knew it was coming, but he didn't want to rush anything. He nibbled along the edge of her lips until she closed them, at which point he pulled them right back to his own. Toph melded nicely against his taller frame, her arms awkwardly trying to find purchase on his person. He pulled her onto his lap until she was straddling him and fell backwards into the sand, still kissing.
Toph broke away for air first, licking her incredibly red lips as she gasped, "Zuko!"
He leaned up and kissed her slightly off-center nose, "You're beautiful to me, Toph."
It was a sincere compliment, and Toph knew it. Zuko held her to his chest as she cried.
They spent the night outside, curled under an impromptu sand-blanket before a small fire. When they could no longer ignore the growling of their stomachs, they rose, the sand blanket losing form and cascading down their bodies until it was just part of the beach again. Zuko pulled Toph up with him, into a sitting position. There was still sand in her hair.
"Morning," he nuzzled her neck.
"Good morning," she smiled. Zuko smiled back; he knew she wouldn't be shy after last night. It just wasn't her. "I'm starving. What time is it?"
Zuko raised his arms above his head, little fires burning from the tips of his fingers. "I dunno, but it can't be too late - they would have come looking for us."
"Oh, yeah, huh?"
"Yeah. Let's go in, get some food, and - OUCH!"
Toph popped him in the nose, giggling. Zuko dropped his arms to pinch his nostrils shut, lest he die of blood loss.
"TOPH, whut thu hell?"
"That's what you get for saying my nose is off-center," she stated, before planting a slightly awkwardly placed kiss on his mouth. She jumped up, shook the remainder of the sand from her hair, and headed off towards the beach house, waving and calling over her shoulder as she went. "You coming or what?"
Zuko shook his head, standing. He couldn't be mad at her if he wanted to - it was just how she was. Gingerly, he pulled his hands away; it was a shallow punch. It still hurt like hell, but it wasn't bleeding. Toph sure knew how to throw them. He grinned, running to catch up with her before sweeping her off her feet and carrying her the rest of the way.
"I love you, Zuko," she murmured into his ear.
"And I you, beautiful."
UGH. I hate dialogue, believe it or not, and I had a hard time with this. And I don't particularly care for the ending, but I still think it's sweeeet. And I love me some sweet. Actually, I love me some Zuko, but since he's imaginary, I have to deal.
COMMENT, PLEASE. You have no idea how frustrating it is to see only 'Favorites,' though they are also much appreciated.