Negotiations and Forfeitures
Rating: K
Summary: Toph finds herself playing the role of negotiator. Iroh finds himself outmatched. Set post S2 finale.
A/N: This was written for flameraven on Livejournal, who has been a huge supporter and a wonderful reviewer of my fics. She asked for something with Iroh and Zuko and Toph, and this is what fell out of my head.
They were silent at first, with only the clink of porcelain tiles filling the room. The amiable quiet was broken by the smaller of the two companions.
"You know, my tutor read to me once about the Dragon of the West," she said quietly. "She said that he was a vicious, evil man who would sacrifice anyone to accomplish his goals."
"Mmm." That was the only response she received, along with the soft sound of a tile shifting. Toph focused on the board and debated her next move.
After a moment, a deep voice rumbled, "I read once, when I was studying before the invasion of the Earth Kingdom, about the Bei Fong family of Gaoling. It said that they achieved their great fortune by being manipulative, cruel, and loyal only to themselves." He paused, and then queried, "So what does that tell you?"
"Books are wrong," Toph said confidently.
"Books are only half right," Iroh countered easily. "And also, the green jade flower cannot be moved horizontally."
Toph gave her most innocent smile (it was the same one that often made Sokka, and later Zuko, shudder in fear, though they would never reveal that information). "It's hard to tell all these tiles apart… you know, in my state." She made a legal move with the green jade flower. "Because I'm blind," she added helpfully.
Iroh knew full well that she could tell the tiles and the carvings upon them apart – and he knew full well that she was merely testing him, having made her opinions on the sympathy of others clear long ago. "I see that the writer of that book was correct when they called the Bei Fong's manipulative."
Toph gave a small laugh – it might have even been classified as a giggle, though Toph would bury anyone alive before admitting that she giggled – and asked, "So what did my tutor get right about the Dragon of the West?"
He ignored her question. "Tell me why the great manipulator Toph Bei Fong opens the metal walls between our cells every night, but does not open the wall to get out of the palace and back to her friends."
"I came for you," Toph reminded him.
"And was promptly captured."
"Allowed myself to be." Her tone was indignant, and she didn't notice that she had made a stupid move on the Pai Sho board. "I didn't know how else to find you without spending days wandering around this underground labyrinth. And since you won't leave, I guess I just have to wait for you."
"You're an earthbender," Iroh remarked mildly. "Neutral Jing should not be a problem for you."
She bristled and carelessly flicked at the tiger's eye tile in front of her. "This feels more like Negative Jing. You're just waiting for Zuko to join you in retreat."
Iroh shook his head. "It is not in my nephew's nature to retreat. He's far too stubborn. When they write about him, that is what he'll be remembered for – not the occasions when he was kind or compassionate –"
"Or the occasions when he betrayed those who cared for him-" Toph interjected loudly.
"- but how he was stubborn to the point of his own misfortune," Iroh continued determinedly over her. He gestured around his cell. "I am comfortable here – he has brought me a Pai Sho board, and pillows, and he regularly brings me tea. Are these the marks of an unkind person?" Iroh shook his head. "No, he is only stubborn and confused. It is hurting him far more than it is hurting me."
"You don't think that stubborn thing might be a family trait?" Toph offered innocently, before growing serious once again. "Listen, this whole waiting-around-for-the-stubborn-betrayer thing is working out great for you, but we're wasting time. Zuko is not the only one who needs you."
Iroh sighed and toyed with a purple lily tile. "So the Avatar needs a firebending teacher?"
"Sokka told me he had one before, but that was before Aang learned earthbending and that the guy ran off before Aang could finish the training." Toph frowned. There was more to the story, but Sokka had been reluctant to tell her what he had. "And we need someone who knows how to travel in the Fire Nation. We can't even get hold of a complete map."
"You talk openly about invading the Fire Nation and attacking the Fire Lord himself. Has it occurred to you that you are talking about my brother?" Iroh's purple lily jumped Toph's water lily, and she let out a little grunt of dismay.
"I figure you can't be too loyal to the guy who kicked you out of your home and declared you and his own son traitors to his cause," she pointed out, reaching for the fire opal before changing her mind and moving the rose quartz forward instead.
"I am loyal to my nephew who has turned traitor against me and tried to regain the favor of a man who named him traitor in the first place," Iroh pointed out.
Toph scoffed. "He hasn't turned traitor against you. He wants both you and his father, and he hasn't realized yet that he can't have that."
Iroh studied the board's layout, debating what to do next. "And what do you think of that?"
"I think the family you're born into isn't worth the bother," Toph said, almost cheerfully. "It's the family that you choose that matters."
"And who should he choose?" Iroh pressed.
Another scoff. "It doesn't matter what he should do."
Iroh conceded. "What will he do then?"
"You can't even predict his actions, and you're the closest person to him." Toph shook her head, and fingered an unidentified tile. "Besides, he's not the one I'm worried about."
"Has the Avatar recovered from his experience in the catacombs?" Iroh asked, waiting patiently for Toph to make her next move.
Toph bit her lip. "He's… nervous. Anxious. The eclipse is coming soon, and he's afraid he's going to be known as the Avatar who failed. I think everything that happened down there just reminded him of that."
Iroh felt a tug in his chest. He was half-surprised that the boy had lived through the night at all. Toph twirled her tile between her fingers, before confidently laying it down on the board. "And I'll take the pot," she announced happily. They were playing with Iroh's favorite candied marshmallows that Zuko had dropped off earlier during the day.
"What?" Iroh peered down at the board. Her blue lotus had trumped his white lotus. Iroh wondered when he had taught her that.
She stood up and stretched, her back popping loudly and knuckles cracking as she laced her fingers and pulled them above her head. "I only have one more day, and one more night," she said warningly. "If I don't meet up with my friends, then they're coming for me, and we'll have to go try to find that guy that ran away."
Iroh said nothing, still studying the board and how she had achieved her come-from-behind victory.
Just as her grasping hands felt out the doorway she had made between their cells, Iroh mumbled, "Was."
"What?" She turned back, blinking curiously at him in the moonlight.
"'She said he was a vicious, evil man who would sacrifice anyone to accomplish his goals.'" Iroh repeated what she had said earlier. "You asked what the book had gotten right. Was."
Her face remained blank for a moment, and then understanding dawned. Though somber, she bowed respectfully and carefully bent the metal between their cells back into place.
Iroh sighed and started to clean up the game board; she had beaten him, and he knew that tomorrow night he'd have to leave and teach the Avatar firebending. That didn't mean he couldn't use his last day to try and talk to his nephew one last time; Zuko might have been determined to sacrifice himself, but Iroh was unwilling to sacrifice another ever again.
A/N – it kinda helps to know that I pictured the Bei Fong's as the mob when I described them at the beginning of the story. This is just a short diversion until Chapter 13 of Shadows goes up.
Enjoy!