Title: Fifteen Summers Lost

Words: 3431

Rating: K+

Summary: Asami hasn't seen the Bei Fong's in years and she's eager to know why. But sometimes it's best to leave certain things alone and just move on. AU where Toph is born in the LOK universe. Toph and Asami friendship fic. Pro-bending circuit submission.

a/n: I got an LOK and ATLA crossover as my prompt this round, but I wanted to do something a little weird and unorthodox just as a personal exercise. And also because I spend a lot of time thinking of really weird and improbable headcanons.

Task: Crossover story where an ATLA character teaches an LOK character something they never knew.

Chosen Characters: Asami from Legend of Korra and Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender

Prompts:

(dialogue) "How could you?"

(location) Republic City

(genre) Mystery

Bonus: Include the element Earth in the story

OOO

Fifteen Summers Lost

OOO

"That was a damn good eulogy, Gear Head."

Asami's mood had been understandably abysmal—even her girlfriend was having trouble getting her to perk up just a little—but for some reason, hearing that old ridiculous nickname that she thought she hated when she was a child made Asami laugh in a disbelieving sort of way. She shook her head and turned to the shorter woman standing next to her. "You don't change, you know. You look the same, you kept the nickname, and you're still as short as ever."

Toph rolled her eyes. "I leave you alone for like fifteen years and you turn into an Amazon. You're lucky you're grieving otherwise I'd punch you."

Asami smiled again. Her teasing aside, it had been a shock to see Toph accept her invitation. Memories of a five year old Toph had come crashing back when she had seen the now twenty year old woman sign the guestbook along with her mother at the beginning of her father's funeral. Toph did look the same in some respects—same eyes, same smirk, dry humor—but she'd gotten taller, slimmer, and more elegant over the years. She would have been the perfect heiress to Bei Fong Industries had she not run away from home and relinquished her inheritance. Asami remembered laughing when she had read that in the paper.

"Remind me to say hi to your mom," Asami requested. "And I missed your dad. Did he come?"

Toph paused and shook her head. "Nah. The old man always has too much to do. Besides, just because my mom forgave me for running off and giving up my birthright doesn't mean good ol' dad has gotten over it."

It was a perfectly reasonable excuse, and Asami didn't dwell on it further. "How's the Metalbending Academy going?" Asami asked conversationally, hoping to steer the conversation away from fathers. "I saved a newspaper clipping about it. I would have called to congratulate you, but apparently you're always everywhere but where you're meant to be."

Toph laughed at the criticism, taking pride in it. "Yeah, well, you know me. I can't stay in one place for too long. Metalbending Academy is coming along. Just finished repairs on the place. Might start taking students at the end of the summer if all the contracting forms get sorted out. How's the company?"

Asami shrugged, still trying to quell her smile. "It's good. Going strong. I've had a lot of practice heading it beforehand, so it's not too much different now."

Toph didn't respond, but she seemed bemused for some reason, her blind eyes were unfocused but still glimmering in amusement over something that Asami hoped she wasn't too aware of. But, Toph being the perceptive little devil that she was, turned to Asami with an eye roll and her arms open. "Okay, if you'd calm your freaking heart down and stop it with the eagerness and the nerves, I will permit one hug. Just…get it over quick."

Asami laughed in relief and collected Toph into a strong hug that she was relieved to feel the Earthbender return with equal ferocity. She rested her cheek against the Earthbender's familiar thick hair and actually felt herself feel happy for the first time since the day started.

"I missed you," Asami admitted, not caring that she sounded so emotional.

She could feel Toph smile into her hair as well. "Ditto, Gear Head."

OOO

Korra forgot that she was supposed to be helping Asami clear out her father's office, and instead decided to sit on top of the desk and rant about Toph.

Toph and her mother decided to stay in Republic City for the rest of the month before they started the tiring return journey. But Asami was relieved that she melded well with her friends. Toph had promised to teach Korra and Bolin some basic Metalbending if they promised to get her into a Pro-Bending Circuit tournament for free. Even Mako had to admit that Fire on Earth spars with Toph were great exercise. Plus her sarcasm and her jokes were pretty freakin' hilarious.

Toph had a habit of popping into the gym Asami always trained in, wrapping up her knuckles, and having friendly non-bending fights with Asami that lasted hours. They always ended with the two of them on the floor making fun of that old cook that Asami used to have when they were really young or about the time when they were four and the two of them turned the staircase in the Bei Fong's summerhouse into a gigantic pillow slide.

"Wait," Korra interrupted. "The Bei Fong's had a summerhouse in Republic City?"

Asami rifled through a pile of papers. "They still do. It's that huge mansion right behind the practice track. It's been empty for a while since they stopped spending the summers here, but they're staying there now for the rest of the month." It was how Toph and Asami had originally met. The Bei Fong's summered in Republic City, and The Sato's were right next-door. Their mothers sewed together, their fathers discussed the paper, and Asami and Toph would spend the long days getting into scads of trouble.

Korra hummed to herself and quickly started pulling boxes from the shelves when Asami glared at her half-heartedly. "Oh, that's cool! But, why did they stop spending the summers here? You said you haven't seen her in close to fifteen years. What happened?"

Asami paused her rifling. It was something she didn't know the answer to, and a question that she had asked Toph since her arrival for her father's funeral. Toph either cleverly changed the subject or came up with some excuse like, "Look, I was younger than you when we stopped spending the summers here. If you don't remember, what makes you think I do?"

The Bei Fong's stopped coming to Republic City shortly after her mother was killed. Her father didn't offer any explanations and never seemed to know how to get into contact with Toph's family whenever Asami asked if she could call Toph in Gaoling or send her a letter. Toph had never attempted to make any contact with Asami in Republic City from her end either. Getting into contact with Toph became even less possible when she found out that Toph had run away from home and was Spirits knew where.

Maybe Asami was being a little ridiculous, but it seemed like Toph knew something and she wasn't telling Asami. Her father was gone. Toph's father decided not to come. Asami wanted answers after all these years and there seemed to be no one who had them.

Remembering that she was meant to give Korra an answer, she merely shrugged and muttered that she didn't remember.

The topic wasn't breached again until Korra yelped from the other side of the room and managed to drop a particularly heavy box and allowed for very old, yellowed documents to flutter all over the room. Korra slowly turned her head to Asami and looked incredibly sheepish. "Sorry. The bottom of the box just fell off."

Asami laughed. "Eh, I was gonna throw out everything in that box anyway. It's fine," she smiled brightly.

Korra started picking up the old documents and piling them up on the ground next to her. She squinted at one for a long while and tilted her head in thought. "Huh. I thought you said Gong Fu Inc. was the metal supplier for Future Industries."

Asami turned to her girlfriend. "They are. Always have been. We've been using them since dad started the company."

Korra held out the paper she was looking at. "That's not what this says."

Asami rushed over and stared at the paper, her brows furrowing in confusion the further along she read.

Korra held up a hand in her defense. "I mean, I don't know much about how companies and businesses work, but I'm pretty sure that's a receipt for raw metal exports. It's got Bei Fong Industries written all over it."

OOO

After sifting through hundreds of old receipts, Asami realized that Korra was right. Future Industries' original metal supplier was Bei Fong Industries, a metal manufacturing company.

The receipts switched to Gong Fu Inc. starting at around fifteen years ago. The fact that this coincided almost exactly with when the Bei Fong's ceased their Republic City summer vacations was not lost on Asami.

Toph still knew nothing. If anything, she acted just as surprised as Asami did.

"I mean, Dad was falling on hard times around then," Toph explained in an effort to console Asami. "I sort of remember him telling me that was when one of his iron mines turned out to be a bust and his numbers were dropping. Maybe your dad had to depend on a more stable company?"

Sure that sounded practical. But the fact that this business break coincided with the Bei Fong's dropping off the face of the Earth was just too perfect. One had to do with the other. Asami was sure of it.

Asami spent three whole days fact checking and had come up dry. Her finance team knew nothing, the president of Gong Fu Inc. knew nothing, and her father left no notes on why the business break happened. She even tried calling the Bei Fong estate in Gaoling to find out if Toph's father might know something. But the moment she told the servant on the other end of the line that her name was Asami Sato, the servant started tripping over his words and immediately hung up. When Asami kept trying to call again, no one would answer the phone.

Asami was trying to get into the habit of trusting in bad feelings when they came her way instead of trying to deny them. If something about all this felt strange, it was probably for a reason. But since Toph apparently knew nothing and both of their fathers weren't willing or able to give information, there was only one other person that Asami thought she could go to.

"You know, I was never really told much about the company," Lady Bei Fong admitted as one of the Bei Fong servants poured her and Asami cups of jasmine. "Toph was the one my husband was trying to educate about all of that. That is, of course, before Toph went and started her Metalbending Academy." The woman chuckled to herself and shook her head, drawing amusement from the debacle more than disappointment these days.

"I just thought it was strange," Asami quietly admitted. "No one had told me anything."

"Well, your father and my husband were two very serious and very stubborn men," the Lady reasoned. She reached out and pushed a strand of hair behind Asami's ear. "I regret that I didn't get to see more of your family before he passed away, you know. Although I'm glad to see that you've grown up into such a beautiful and accomplished young woman. You and Toph both."

The mention of the family's long absence didn't go unnoticed, and Asami immediately felt her mood dampen. "I always expected that you would come back to stay here again. Republic City is such a nice city. I thought you all loved staying here."

"Oh, we did, darling, don't ever think we had any contempt for this city." Lady Bei Fong smiled to herself. "In fact, I always found it far more charming than Gaoling. So much activity and life. But as I said, your father and my husband were stubborn, stubborn men. I've never seen two grown men hold a grudge for so long in my life."

Asami's ears perked up. "Grudge? Did they get into an argument?"

"An argument? I daresay it was a full out war," the woman bemoaned. "It was after your poor mother died. The two of them could barely look at each other. I don't know if you remember this, but they wouldn't let either of you girls play with each other it had gotten so bad. To this day, Lao won't tell me much about what they disagreed upon. But it may as well have been a familial enmity from that day on."

This was definitely news to Asami, and suddenly a certain man's absence made sense. "Is that why your husband didn't come to the funeral?"

Lady Bei Fong nodded glumly. "I wish I could have convinced him, but he wanted nothing to do with your father, alive or dead, it seems." She reached out and placed a hand over the hand that Asami was clutching in her hand. "I know I've already apologized on his behalf already, but I feel so awful. He did ask me to send his condolences over to you."

"What on Earth happened between the two of them?" Asami asked desperately.

"Darling, if I knew anything for sure, I would tell you," Lady Bei Fong answered sadly. "I'm almost afraid to hear what the fight was about. If I ever learned that it was over something silly, I'd never forgive myself. Lao didn't want to spend his summers anywhere near Hiroshi and it killed me that he separated you two girls for so long over it."

Asami remembered her father in the days following their mother's death. He was grieving, obviously, but there was always a hidden irritation. She didn't have any trouble believing that all of that negative energy and contempt morphed into the fuel necessary to blow a fight between Toph's father out of proportion. It was technically the answer she was looking for the past week. But Hiroshi didn't exhibit anger for no reason. Asami took Lady Bei Fong's words to heart and believed that the woman truly didn't know anything else.

Lady Bei Fong must have seen Asami's distress and decided to speak up once more. "You know, Lao was training Toph up to be the heiress to our family company, and he often confided the strangest things to her." She tightened her grip on Asami's hand and stared at her meaningfully.

"There's a lot that Toph knows that I'm sure is a mystery to even me."

OOO

It wasn't until that evening that Asami found a good opportunity to approach Toph again.

The blind girl was sitting in the corner of the gym, swiping a towel over her forehead, when Asami asked once more. "Why did your family stop summering here?"

Toph stopped, and turned her sightless gaze over to Asami in annoyance. "Dude, I already told you I don't know. We were really young when all that crap happened."

But Asami wasn't taking that as an excuse anymore. "How could you? How can you just sit there and lie to me?"

Toph flung her towel to the ground. "I'm not lying to—!"

"I may not be a lie detector," Asami interrupted. "But I can tell when people are feeding me crap. And in case you didn't realize, you're not as good a liar as you think you are. You know something, and you're not telling me."

For once, Asami said something that shut Toph right up. The younger girl's jaw clamped closed and it seemed like the Earthbender was struggling to come up with something to say—some explanation that was better than the one she had offered her before. The Earthbender stood and turned her gaze to the floor. "Why does any of that matter? I'm here now, aren't I? We're spending time together again, aren't we? Why can't you just let all this go and just enjoy the fact that we're hanging out again?"

"Because we don't get to not see each other for over a decade, reunite, and then pretend that nothing is wrong," Asami replied shortly. "I spoke to your mom," Asami admitted, and refused to feel sheepish when Toph's head popped back up with her face drawn in anger and panic. "She told me our fathers were fighting over something. That's why your family stopped seeing us, and apparently that's why our fathers broke off all business ties. I get the feeling you know why all of this happened."

Toph looked about to yell, but Asami's rant stopped her once she realized that the older girl had caught her in several lies. She bit on her lip and changed tactics. "How much did you find out?"

"Enough," Asami replied vaguely. "But I still don't know what the fight was and why it was so bad that your father couldn't even pay respects to my father after he died. And why you lied about it."

Toph actually looked guilty—completely wracked with remorse—and Asami didn't need to know Toph inside-out for her to realize that this wasn't an emotion that Toph was used to expressing. The Earthbender sighed heavily, appeared to have a short mental debate with herself, and dropped her shoulders in defeat. "It was his funeral. I didn't want to upset you." Asami said nothing, and urged Toph to go on.

"It was after your mom died," Toph explained. "He walked to the back gardens and saw me bending rocks out of the ground so that I could show off to you. You were the only one who knew I was a bender back then, but then your dad found out." Asami's heart sank. She already knew everything she needed to hear, but Toph kept going. "He didn't want me anywhere near you. Thought I was going to hurt you, and thought I was deplorable. My father took offense, and…well…the fight went on from there. Your father wanted nothing to do with us, and my father felt the same. Business ties were broken, and that was that."

Of course. It was the same reason that her father developed Equalist ties and began creating machinery for them: his contempt for benders. For some reason all memories of their reconciliation were thrown out of her mind as an intense anger for the sake of her lost friend began to build up inside of her. She shook her head in disbelief. "I always knew that my father was horrid, but this is a serious step up. Of all the idiotic things he's done…"

But Toph put a quick stop to her rant. "Don't you dare," Toph reprimanded. "Look, parents do stupid shit to protect you. You don't have to agree with it. You just need to understand it. Because your dad kicking me out wasn't him being a jerk to you. It was him protecting you in his own strange way. You spent so much time forgiving him, don't let all this ruin that. It's why I didn't want to tell you."

"But what he thought of you—!"

"His opinion isn't one that I value," Toph replied honestly. "He's not my dad. Take it from me. Your dad may have done some horrible things, to you and to other people, but you said he apologized to you. He felt remorse. He was just trying to be a good dad to you. Don't knock him for this."

Asami didn't know what to say. "How do you…?"

Toph shrugged. "Because I've got a dad that won't even spit in my direction and I hate him for it," she replied casually. "You had a dad that cared enough about you to make amends with you. It's because he cared about you more than anyone else. More than us." Toph smirked and punched Asami lightly on the shoulder. "It took me forever to figure out why my dad wasn't a good father. So trust me. I know a good one when I see one."

Toph picked up her fighting gloves again and started to strap them on. "I'm sure if he had the chance to apologize to me, he would have. Like I said, your dad was a decent guy. Just thought a lot of dumb crap. I wish my dad would get with the program." She slammed her gloves together. "Come on. Quit dwelling. I'm only here for two more weeks and I'm tired of the two of us ending up even. I will kick your ass."

Asami rolled her eyes and reached behind her to grab her gloves. She didn't think Toph was capable of teaching her something so enlightening. But she did have a point about her father. Besides, maybe it was better to just let bygones be bygones. Toph was here now, and Asami would rather focus on humbling Toph a little than in dwelling on old fights with old men.

"You wish," Asami countered. "And when I finally beat you, you're gonna drop that 'Gear Head' nickname. It has never stopped being annoying."