Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender. It is the property of its creators and Nickelodeon.
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Chapter 2: Payback and Breakfast
"Really! You mean it! My feet are all better!" Toph asked Katara excitedly.
"That's right." Said Katara.
Toph excitedly jumped onto the ground, and slammed her foot. She could feel all the vibrations of everyone and everything throughout the temple complex.
"Alright! Toph is back in action!" she yelled. Suddenly, she picked up movement heading toward the camp and smirked. "Well, look who's back."
Katara, Sokka, Haru, and Teo all turned to see the Duke, Aang, and Zuko walking back towards the camp. This didn't surprise them, but what they were also doing did. They were talking to one another. Casually. As though they were friends. This didn't quite register with Katara.
Toph walked over to them.
"Wow Toph! Your feet are all better!" exclaimed Aang.
"Yeah. They sure are." She said to Aang. She then turned her attention to Zuko, "So are you ready for my revenge?"
Zuko looked at Toph blankly for a moment, but he then remembered that Toph agreed to let him in on the condition that she could pay him back for burning her feet.
"Sure, whatever," said Zuko with no form of emotion in his voice.
Toph was taken aback by his apathy. "You don't seem very, I don't know, intimidated," said Toph.
"Yeah", said Aang, "Toph can be very frightening."
"I'm sorry. I guess I'm not really intimidated because I lived with people like my father and sister," said Zuko.
"Well, I guess that's understandable." Began Toph. "But…" all of a sudden, Toph slammed her foot on the ground and a column of earth shot out, hitting Zuko square in the chest. The force of the impact was strong enough to send him flying into the pillar behind him. Everyone but Aang, and the Duke began to laugh.
Zuko got up slowly. He was in pain. It wasn't the first time he was hurt, but like with all of the times, he did not show it. Like a true Fire Nation warrior, he kept his pain to himself. Toph approached him, and Zuko looked up at her.
"So, I suppose you finally got your payback?" he asked.
Toph only grinned, "Well, only part of it…Sparky."
Aang and the Duke smiled, but Katara and the others were surprised.
"Sparky?" asked a confused Zuko.
"Zuko! Toph just gave you a nickname! Do you know what that means?" said Aang. Zuko just shrugged in confusion.
"It means 'welcome to the group' Sparky", Said Toph, "By the way, I'm Toph." She introduced herself while extending her hand to help him up.
Zuko looked at her hand for a moment, and then back up to her. He grinned, took her hand, "I'm Zuko. Not 'Prince' Zuko. Just Zuko."
"Nice to meet you, but I'll call you Sparky anyway."
"Fine," he said, "So what's the other part of your revenge?"
Toph just grinned, "Get on your knees!" she barked.
Zuko was confused, "Wait. What?" he asked.
"Do it!" she ordered.
Zuko, deciding not to press the matter anymore, sighed and got on his knees. Toph then walked behind him, and latched herself onto his back. "Carry me." she ordered.
"What?"
"Part two of my revenge is this: you're going to be my personal slave, and ostrich horse. Well, komodo rhino in your case, since you are from the Fire Nation and all." She answered.
"You have got to be kidding me," muttered Zuko.
"I kid you not. Now take me to breakfast!" she ordered.
"Fine," He said before walking to the camp with Toph latched onto his back.
Everyone, even Aang and the Duke, couldn't help but snicker at the sight of Zuko taking orders from a girl who is a smaller and younger than him. When he reached the camp, he set Toph down to get food from Katara. She bended the porridge into the bowls, and everyone got a bowl, except Zuko who sat a respectable five feet away from the group and just stared into the scenery.
"Hey Zuko!" called Aang, "Don't you want to eat with us!"
Zuko was about to get up to join them, but then he saw who he had dubbed as the 'unfreindlies' and became hesitant. He then looked back to Aang who had a look of reassurance.
"Uh…sure, alright," he said, and he began to inch his way toward Aang, the Duke, and Toph.
When he got there the camp became quiet, everyone who didn't like Zuko eyed him suspiciously, especially Katara.
"So…" began Aang trying to break the awkward silence, "what are we going to be learning today Zuko?"
"Today, I'll give you some vital information on firebending. After that, we'll do breathing exercises, combat forms, and then some meditation," answered Zuko.
"Alright, sounds cool," said Aang.
Suddenly, Zuko's stomach growled in hunger, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He looked to Katara.
"Uh…I don't suppose I could have some congee? Please?" asked Zuko as politely as possible. Katara just gave him a hard look.
"I'm sorry Zuko, but we don't have any leftover," said Katara without a hint of kindness in her voice.
"Oh. I-I see."
"Katara, are you sure? I'm still kind of hungry," said Toph.
"Here Toph" said Katara bending porridge into her bowl.
Zuko wasn't too surprised, and as a result didn't bother pressing the issue.
"Here."
Zuko looked up to see a rather sympathetic Toph offering him her second helping of porridge.
"Toph!" exclaimed Katara in disbelief.
"What's this for?" he asked Toph.
"Well, strong as you are, there is no way you can train Twinkletoes, or be my personal slave on an empty stomach. So, here," she answered.
"Thanks" he said. He began to drink the congee, and gulped it all down in a matter of seconds. When he was finished, he turned to Katara, "It's good."
"Hmph" was all Katara was willing to say to him.
"Don't worry. Sugar Queen will ease up after a while" whispered Toph.
"If by a while, you mean a hundred years," said Zuko. He then got up, and turned to Aang, "I'm going on ahead to the courtyard on the far side of the temple. Meet me there when you're ready."
"Alright," said Aang.
"Hold it," yelled Toph.
"What?" asked Zuko.
"Aren't you forgetting something, or for that matter,someone," said Toph pointing to herself.
"Oh, right, sorry," said Zuko remembering that he was supposed to carry Toph around. So he went over, bent down to allow Toph to climb on, and they both headed to the courtyard.
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After two minutes of an awkward silence, Zuko spoke up.
"So…", began Zuko, "You want to see me train Aang?" he asked while tapping her feet as a reference to her sight.
"Yep that's right," she answered.
"So, then, your feet are all better?"
"Yep."
After another minute of silence Zuko finally spoke up.
"Look, I'm sorry about the whole 'foot burning' incident," apologized Zuko.
"What do you mean? It wasn't entirely your fault. If anyone is to blame, it's me," replied Toph.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you did burn my feet, which will always be a fact. But, you were also half-asleep. You must have thought that I was Azula, or some enemy sneaking up on you, so I can't really put all the blame on you," she answered.
"Well, that's true" began Zuko, "To keep my uncle out of danger, I had to keep an eye out for Azula. I guess being back out in the wilderness made me have that mindset."
"Your sister must be really evil if you had to keep watching your back like that," said Toph.
"Well yes, and no."
"What do you mean?"
"She wasn't always so bad. There was a time, a long time ago, when she was just like any other older sister. But then, my father got to her."
"Oh," said Toph. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, You've got me around."
"What do you mean by that?"
"If you want, you can think of me as your big sister."
"Where is this coming from?"
"Simple, you need friends, but you can think of me as a big sister that you never had," explained Toph.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you wouldn't like it."
"Come on, tell me," insisted Toph.
"Well, if you insist on knowing, you're too small and too young to be an 'older sister' in my opinion."
Instantly, Toph kicked him in the side with her heel, and pulled his hair.
"OWWWWW!" cried Zuko.
"Too short and too young huh?" asked Toph triumphantly.
"Okay, okay. How about 'little sis' instead?" asked Zuko offering her a consolation.
Toph thought about it for a moment. "How about just friends?" she asked.
Zuko was taken aback, but just smiled "Sure, just friends" said Zuko.
Authors Notes: For those of you who are a little bit confused, the reason that I made Azula older is because I have the Avatar season 3 issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. Inside one of the comics, Azula calls Zuko "little brother," so I decided to roll with that.