Love Enlightened

Chapter 2:

Despite her excitement about the gang's arrival, Toph retained her cool and sarcastic personality throughout the rest of their breakfast, which her parents grumblingly called for more of. They still hardly approved of their daughter's friendship with the hooligans who had stolen her away, so they believed, but gave the Avatar his due respect since he had saved the world and all. That meant dinner for unexpected Avatars and their wives... and brother-in-laws. It was quite possible that Sokka was the main source of unpleasantness for the Bei Fongs. His sister was charming and polite, and the Avatar was forever grateful and smiling, but the warrior in blue did nothing but fill his bottomless pit with their expensive meats and compliment the gravy.

Or so they thought. What they didn't know is that that warrior in blue also made Toph's heart flutter at the most unexpected times, so that it was all she could do to stubbornly bite down the giddiness and force back the blood in her face, before finding some reason to abuse him, whether with her tongue, muscles, or earthbending. He took it all in good stride. This was the Toph the three of them knew well, and he knew she meant no malice by it. She never seriously injured him anyways. She just teased him a bit whenever his own foolishness left him open to it, or elbowed him whenever he started to say or do something that might offend her parents more than he already did as a person.

Needless to say, it was an interesting meal.

That day, the four of them caught up on lost time. They went into town, checking out the sites of Gaoling, even though they'd seen them all a dozen times. At one point when Katara dragged Aang into a quaint looking shop, Sokka and Toph donned some disguises and conned someone for old-times sake. Katara came out and caught them, and they gave the money back, but the laughter never stopped. Aang found a small jewelry stand that had some uniquely beautiful pieces and made Katara blush by holding some earrings up and telling her how beautifully the blue reflected her eyes. Toph simply pointed a finger down her own throat, and Sokka stifled a giggle. Katara and Toph shopped for clothes, during which Toph both complained and smiled. The water tribe woman found one simple but elegant outfit that she said Toph simply had to buy. Toph had shrugged and purchased it, knowing the amount of money didn't matter, and Katara said it had looked good. Much to Toph's happiness, they joined up with Sokka and Aang again and went to a pub that all four knew and loved. Toph and Sokka enjoyed platters of all kinds of meat while Aang ate some steamed vegetables and Katara had some turchicken soup. Toph and Sokka also enjoyed some of the brewery's finest, but no so much that they lost clear thinking.

On the walk back to the Bei Fong house, the four laughed together at some joke they'd made. Sokka wiped a tear from his eye with a final laugh and said, "Aha... that was a good one."

Toph chuckled. "So, knuckleheads, how long are you staying for, and where are you headed off to next?"

Katara wasn't sure how, but she was sure that her brother became both sad and excited at the same time. She spoke first. "We can only stay for a few days, unfortunately. We still have a couple of treaties to get signed between the Fire Nation and Northern Water Tribe. They took a two-week break from the meetings, thankfully, so we took this little vacation. We're also going to visit Kyoshi before we go back."

Toph bit her lip. Of course they'd visit Kyoshi. It made perfect sense for them to visit Suki.

"Right, well," She forced a laugh, "Don't let me keep ya'!" She punched Sokka in the arm, and he jumped and grabbed the offended area with his hand. "After all, I'm sure you'd like to spend time with your girlfriend!"

Sokka blushed and looked away. "Can I still call her that? I haven't seen her in a year..."

"Of course you can, Sokka." His sister said, like it made perfect sense. She smiled. "She didn't fail to tell you how much she'd miss you last time you left, did she?"

Sokka blushed uncomfortably, and though the others didn't see, Toph did too.

Back at the Bei Fong estate at the end of the day, the Avatar and his wife decided to go lay down. They'd been travelling on Appa every couple of weeks in the last year, and the Bei Fong's mattresses were soft and inviting. Sokka was just about to declare that he certainly wasn't tired yet when a terrific yawn told the Bei Fongs otherwise. Sheepishly, he got up from his chair.

"I guess maybe I do need some rest." He smiled lazily, looking from Toph to her parents as if he wasn't sure if they were supposed to dismiss him, or...

Toph grinned. "G'night, Snoozles. Don't let the chipper bugs bite."

That was a good enough dismissal for him. "I won't. Goodnight, Toph." He started to walk away as Poppy turned, wanting to glare at her daughter for insinuating that her house had vermin such as chipper bugs in it, when Sokka stopped suddenly and turned back to the Bei Fongs. He surprised them more when he smiled and bowed at the waist as his master Piando had taught him. "Thank you, Sir Lao Bei Fong and Lady Poppy Bei Fong, for your hospitality and graciousness. I apologize for not sending ahead to tell you we were coming, it was an oversight on my part that I hope not to make again."

Stunned beyond response, Poppy and Lao nearly gaped at him in their awe. Toph had a bemused but impressed expression on her face. She wasn't surprised that he knew to say such things. She was simply glad he had remembered to say them, and impressed that he had bothered. Finally, Sire Lao regained his voice.

"It is our pleasure, Sokka of the Water Tribe. The Avatar and his friends are always welcome here. You bring our daughter much joy."

Sokka straightened, a broad grin on his maw. "I'm glad to hear that." Then he turned and left the room, headed for a bed he knew was as soft and comfortable as a cloud.

Quickly trying to forget how impressed he'd been at the water peasant's sudden politeness and gratitude, Lao turned back to the hand-written reports his employees had given him earlier in the day, purposely furrowing his brow and frowning in concentration upon the sheets of paper. Poppy stretched her neck discretely before returning her attention to the fabric she was embroidering - the hobby on which she spent most of her copius free time. Toph sat sideways on her chair, one leg thrown over the arm rest and one setting where she could have one foot on the floor so she could see. She was still and silent, trying to percieve the moods of her parents and playing out in her head how they would react when she told them of Ohev's offer. Not all of them were too optimistic. She fidgeted. A popping candle on the table by the wall sparked and the wick made nine pops in close concussion. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore. Unable to think of a subtle way to broach the topic, she jumped into it headlong.

"Dad, Mom, Ohev proposed."

The affect was anything but immediate. Lao never took his eyes off his paper, even as he lifted a steaming teacup to his lips and put it down again on the saucer. Her mother finished a pattern in her embroidery and folded it neatly before looking expectantly at her husband. Eyes still not deviating, he swallowed his sip of tea and paused before speaking.

"When?" He asked simply. Toph studied him with her earthbending.

"Yesterday."

"Did you answer him?"

"Not yet."

When her father deigned not to ask another question, Poppy stepped in, not missing a beat.

"Why not?" She asked. Toph shrugged.

"Not sure. I wanted to let you know first... and I needed to think about it." Poppy's brow furrowed and the "why" was on her lips when her husband came back into the conversation.

"Toph." He said in his 'be reasonable' voice. Toph hated that voice. He finally put his paper down and looked away with a sigh. "Did you really think I could give my blessing to him?"

Toph bristled. "I don't see why not." She countered. Her father sighed, as if she were a child that didn't understand adult affairs.

"Toph. I know you think he's nice, and he is a good man, but he has nothing to offer you as a husband. He's the son of a servant who became a nomad with no personal possessions. He has no savings, no business to support you with."

"I don't need money to be comfortable." She spat. "He loves me. Isn't that enough?"

Her father closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, keeping his jaw clamped closed to keep himself from getting angry. This really wasn't something to get too angry about. He could understand her disillusionment.

Toph's face remained set and stubborn until her mother's voice broke the silence.

"Toph," Poppy said quietly, "Do you love him?"

Toph kept emotion from her face in the moment of silence that followed. A memory of a man's vibration passed through her like a brisk breeze. A distinctive laugh and characteristic whine paired with the memory of his footsteps as he walked away, down the hall to the guest bedroom. The feeling of his stances swept through her as surely as if she knew them all herself, and the sound of his sword slicing the air was as familiar as the whispering of the tree's leaves in the summertime.

But she only turned her head away from her mother's eyes, which she knew must be searching her face for the truth. Stoicly, she repeated her previous words. "He loves me, mother. That's more than I've ever gotten." Poppy sighed.

"Toph..." her father started.

"Father," Toph interrupted, "I let you know about his proposal out of courtesy. You are my parents and you deserve to know. But if I deny him, it won't be because of his lack of money. And if I decide to marry him, I'll do it with or without your blessing." Before he could answer, she turned and stalked away, headed towards the only sanctuary she had from them anymore, her room.

As she laid down on her soft bed, blind to the world, she let out a breath. She needed a vacation from this. From her parents, and yes, even from Ohev. She thought about Kyoshi island. Would she rather brave possible lovey-dovey interaction between Suki and Sokka or deal with her angry father and a questioning Ohev. He was sure to ask why she hadn't answered yet. Toph sighed and turned onto her side, drawing her knees up slightly in unconscious uncertainty. She'd ask Katara tomorrow if she could go with the trio to Kyoshi. She hadn't practiced her sandbending in a while, anyways.