Authors Note: I'm really happy about the reviews I got for the first chapter and I hope you like this one. I loved writing it :)
I straightened the straps of my pack on my back so that the weight was distributed evenly. I had been walking for about an hour and my mind kept replaying snippets of my memories of Mom tucking me into bend, telling me her stories.
I found one of the earliest ones and felt myself getting lost in it . . .
Toph was fourteen now and she found herself very much in love with the Fire Lord standing next to her. As they walked through the palace corridors she felt her hands brush against his as they turned a corner. She felt an unnatural, though completely welcome warmth travel up her fingertips and to her shoulder and then to her neck.
She had never felt this way about anyone before. Why did she love him so much? She was almost ashamed with herself. Almost.
"What are you thinking, Toph?" Zuko asked.
"The war," she answered, though technically she was thinking about him. She was trying to think about the war though. It had been exactly a year since the fall of the Phoenix King.
"Hmm," he inquired when he remembered she couldn't see his expectant stare.
"It's almost unbelievable. Stuff like that doesn't happen to normal teenagers but we were in the middle of all the action . . . you know what I mean, Sparky?"
Zuko laughed and she thought she felt her heart stop. "Normal teenagers don't have eyes on their feet."
"Normal teenagers don't have scars on their faces." There was a moment of silence and Toph was afraid she had gone too far. Stupid foot-mouth disease. "But don't worry," she said quickly. "I think it looks dead sexy."
Zuko gave her a shove. "You're blind, you idiot." She could tell he was smiling by the way his voice jumped up and down the walls of the halls.
"Oh, yeah." She punched him in the gut forcing him to lean forward so he could catch his breath. She reached for his face, her fingers searching for the scar that everyone made such a big fuss about. The skin around his left eye was rough and dry, but she knew there was more behind it than its tough exterior. Feelings as soft as rain and as smooth as silk. It was Zuko. "I meant it felt dead sexy."
Zuko choked on his laughter still trying to catch his breath, but it wasn't so much the punch to the gut that affected him when he had Toph's hands on his face . . .
I felt myself being pushed and pulled wherever the crowd wanted. My mind felt fuzzy and I had a headache that hurt just enough to distract me from my mission. I knew that this was what I wanted—to meet my father. To know he loves me even though he's never seen me. I was scared though. I had my doubts just like my mother did. But what she really doubted I have never been able to figure out. It's kind of hard to find out what scares my mother. Not being able to earth bend is the only legitimate fear that I could think of.
I know she didn't doubt the Fire Lord. She always seemed as sure as her element when she talked of him. She wasn't scared of him. She had loved him, maybe she still did. I don't know. But what else would push her away from a life with her husband and daughter?
I wondered if his voice would sound familiar. It sounds silly, especially since I was born after my mom left, but what if those months were enough and I heard him speak a million leagues under the sea. I had nothing better to do than listen anyway.
With the possibility of hearing his voice I shoved passed a group of people whom I had been stuck behind for some time. I was distantly surprised when I heard no retaliation but I kept walking. I now commanded the crowd, no longer letting it create its own course for me. I was going to get to that castle and I was going to get . . .
What did I really expect myself to do once I got there? Once I met the Fire Lord, my father, what would happen? Would he welcome me with open arms or treat me as the plague. He already had another child to look after. A son, named Lu Minh. He didn't really need me did he? I felt my eyes water at the prospect. He needed to. I needed him to.
Another of my mother's stories pushed itself into my mind, pulling my attention from the crowd once again. . .
"Quit it, Toph," said the young Fire Lord with an exhausted disdain.
Toph, busy poking at Zuko's person did not pay much attention to anything else. Much less something the princess said. Never.
She poked him again and he scowled. "Toph don't make me call the guards. Don't think I wouldn't do it." She poked him one last time before everything stilled. Zuko looked over at the blind earth bender who was sitting on the grass next to him as he read a few legal documents.
Toph liked to visit the Fire nation as much as she could. Zuko suspected that she just wanted to get away from home, but she claimed that she just loved to feel the volcano rumble underneath her feet. She was an aggravating little brat, but he felt she was his only friend these days.
He smirked as he quietly went back to reading up on a court case that needed his supervision. It was about land ownership, again. It something he felt he really shouldn't have to bother himself with especially if it was normally easy to resolve. He hated this part of the job.
Suddenly he felt a bony finger jab into his side making him jump. He glared at the culprit who was "staring" off in the distance with an innocent smile plastered on her face.
Zuko flicked a flame at her exposed big toe. It wasn't hot enough to burn her, nor was it close enough, but it succeeded in making her freak out about her precious feet. "Whoa there!" she shrieked in fright. Zuko tackled her, his hands pushing down on her shoulders so she would not move. "Ugh! Get off of me Sparky! You're heavy," she complained. Then with a more threatening voice she growled, "Who do you think you're dealing with?"
"A very annoying girl," he said glaring at her, not caring that she couldn't see it. "Who do you think you're dealing with?" he countered. He was about to proclaim to the world that he was the Fire Lord for Agni's sake when her next words cut through the air.
"A boy," she said and Zuko saw something in her face soften. She wasn't being the hard core Toph most everyone knew her to be—she was being the girl who had talked to him during the intermission at the Ember Island Theatre. "A boy who doesn't have to work every single moment of the day," she elaborated.
Zuko smiled softly, and found his hand reaching for her cheek. His thumb grazed over a couple freckles, and before he could think otherwise, he had his lips pressed to the corners of hers.
Somewhere a cough from a nearby guard woke them up and Zuko pulled away, returning to the blasted paperwork. Toph touched her lips and smiled. Zuko silently hoped that the real reason she kept visiting the Fire Nation was him.
The Fire Lord and earth bender would have a lot to think about that night. . .
"Watch where you're going will ya'?" a gruff voice penetrated my mind, startling me. There was dull throb traveling up and down my arm and I could only assume that I had run into the tall man standing before me, sending daggers at me with his eyes.
Oops.
"Oh sorry," I replied, but I wasn't really now that I thought about it. I am Toph's daughter after all. He should've been watching where he was going as well. The man scoffed at my apology. I decided I liked the man. Before he could walk away I spoke again. "Hey! Could you point me in the direction of the nearest Inn? I'm not familiar with this part of the Fire Nation and I need a place to stay."
The man brows scrunched up as he gave me a once over. He must have seen something because his little slits of eyes widened. He looked panicked as he pulled me off to the side of the market so we wouldn't obstruct the late night shoppers. "How old are you?" he asked sternly. His eyes were flashing from side to side.
"Fifteen," I said a little freaked out. I should've lied—I didn't know this guy. But it was too late.
"Where'd ya' say you were headed again?"
"I didn't." The man brought his skittish eyes back to mine and he cocked his head to the side expectantly. I sighed before answering, "The port."
The man touched his chin thoughtfully. He had dark, almost beady eyes but they didn't look threatening. There was some stubble that peppered his face around his mouth. He looked like he might've been in his late twenties or early thirties. He was carrying a bow over his shoulder and a pack that contained what looked like a million arrows.
"Alright, well, I think you should stay at my place for the night," he said. "Me and my family live about a two hour walk from the port."
I paused. It sounded like a good deal, and was much more appealing than having to find some shady tavern. But I didn't even know this guy's name.
"Uhhh . . . I don't think that would be a very—"
"No I insist. We'll give you a free dinner even." He had this air about him that made me want to trust him. My mother always told me to trust my instincts. Maybe it was because she was blind—even though she had earth bending she still had to rely on something. Keeping that in mind I realized that my instincts weren't telling me that this guy was dangerous. They were telling me that I should trust him—that I should stay at his home. When I hesitated he spoke again. "That's my wife over there," he gestured to a young woman working at some perfume stall. I watched as she smiled kindly at a girl who was inspecting a bottle. I looked back at the man; he shifted his bow on his shoulder more securely.
"Okay," I said. "That would be great."
"Great, I'm heading home right now," he sounded relieved. Maybe I would figure out why he had become so jumpy all of a sudden. "Just give me a second to tell Anya about ya'." He had walked maybe ten steps when he froze and turned back to me. "Sorry, but for the record my name is, well . . . just call me Longshot."
Weird. . .
"Ursa," I supplied.
"I know kid," he said almost sadly. "I know."
Authors Note: So what did you think? I'm trying to figure out how to portray the "other part" of this story (the other part being Toph and Zuko's past), so bear with me! I hope it wasn't too confusing.
