A Brother's Fire
Sight Seeing
It had been an entire year, and now, it was finally time to go home. Well, to be fair, Toph had all but procrastinated when Ba Sing Se asked her to be their Earth Ambassador for the Fire Nation, and being the world's greatest earthbender and all, who was she to deny such an offer? But after a couple of months, Sparky just had to ruin it.
"Toph, when are you planning on seeing your family again?" The young Fire Lord asked curiously, sitting on the floor in the war room, now refurbished into the ambassador's council chambers, Zuko had personally asked Toph to get rid of the wall of fire. Although Zuko hardly ever sat on his throne, preferring to join the other nations on the floor cushions, surrounding the map of the entire world which was laid out before them, the new sun roof breathing it a different life. Toph and Sokka immediately made bets to see how many suckers they could fool into believing that she could indeed see the tiled map. But when Zuko asked that, Toph felt her whole world come down around her, and she felt her unseeing eyes burn staring at that old slab of earth.
"Why would I want to go home?" Toph spoke bitterly, her hands clenching into fists.
"It's not like I can 'see' my parents. I'm just some blind, helpless, little girl. One who shouldn't even dream of 'seeing' the world."
The earth steadily began to quiver to the sound of her voice.
"Toph."
"I'm their precious little girl, who needs to be protected, sheltered, non-existent. A nobody, because what can a blind girl dream of when she can't see the world?!" Toph's voice was horse, high, and desperate, the stone pillars around them cracked to her will and the floor shifted in sandy turmoil, the once carefully cut tiles now swirling together in muddy tears.
"The world isn't supposed to know I even exist, so, why should I want to matter to the Earth!" Toph screamed at last and her ridged posture collapsed and in a violent shudder, the room followed. Everything crumbled in on itself and was fractured, jagged like glass. As the dust settled, and all you could hear was the girls breathing, Zuko stood, his clothes rustling slightly. Toph paid him no mind though; she couldn't look away from the blank stone map, the second thing not destroyed in her rage. Cursing herself for the furious tears that were rolling down her face, Toph didn't even feel or hear the urgent footsteps until Zuko had her in a bone crushing hug.
She hadn't expected it, it was just something Zuko never really did. But here he was holding her firmly in place, his long sleeves wrapping around her like a badger-mole hug as he pressed her into his breast, the silk radiating his natural warmth.
"It's okay." He whispered then, and Toph wasn't sure how, maybe it was his reassurance, or the frantic heartbeat she could hear pounding away in her ears. But Toph knew, she knew that everything yelled, ever admittance, Zuko was trying to heal. Sparky was telling Toph she mattered, that she wasn't weak, or abandoned, hidden and disgraced. No, he was telling her that no one, not even the Earth itself, had forgotten her. And while Toph would never admit to crying again, in the moment, all she could think of was how blessed she was to have Zuko. In the chamber, time seemed to have slowed down, still, eventually though Toph felt the chamber doors open and Lady Mai step through, her arms crossed, hidden in the bell sleeves which concealed the knives in her hands. But one quick sweep of the room and a meaningful glance at her husband, who Toph was now trying to melt into in order to avoid her embarrassing outburst, Mai quietly left to tell the entire armada outside to stand down. The second the doors closed Toph gently pulled away, "thanks Sparky." The earthbender muttered, her strong bravado not quite there yet, Zuko smiled.
"Sure, hey, come here." Zuko said and pulling her wrist the firebender tugged Toph to the stone slab.
"Um, Sparky, this is a nice piece of rock and all but I don't see the point."
Zuko snorted, "Well you were the one who wanted to see the world." And with this he knelt down and slowly he began guiding Toph's hand across the surface.
"Raise the earth." Zuko instructed and slowly but surely, Toph began outlining the nations as Zuko guided her, at some points they would stop to fill in the mountains Toph detailing each one, she even replicated the entire Western Air Temple, they even figured out how to make smoke come from the volcano's on the Fire Nation isles. They were at it for hours, until the heat from the sun was nothing more than a whisper, when finally the map was complete and Toph could see all the places she'd been and all the places she still needed to go, it took her breath away. And the heavy rock that had stabbed her heart was falling away.
"See, just because you can't see the way I do, doesn't make you worthless."
Toph smiled, and then punched him in the arm.
"Ow!"
"Thanks Sparky, and as your little sister and princess to my fare city of Ba Sing Se I must say you are living up wonderfully to your title as Fire Lady Zuko!"
Zuko glared, yet he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face.
"Why thank you Lady Toph, the humblest of all the earthbenders. I'm truly grateful for your approval."
Toph's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, and Zuko chuckled but he fell silent when he looked to the world map.
"But before you continue your journey around the world, first, you need to return home. Even if only to tell your parents goodbye." Zuko spoke and Toph felt her heart tremble.
"Is that the only way?" She asked, the firebender gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"You never know until you let them see you again." Zuko said and they both knew her question couldn't be answered without making the journey and Toph was grateful to Zuko for not filling her head with lies or false hopes. He was only asking her to move forward, and to do that she needed to go home.
"Will you go with me?" Toph asked her voice but a whisper. Zuko gave her a small hug before meeting her eyes and smiling.
"What else are brothers for?" Zuko said and Toph smiled.
"But first…"
"What?" Toph asked.
"You're going to clean up my council chamber! Look at this mess, I have two meetings tomorrow and besides the map, my throne looks like the only stable place left to even try and sit!" The young Fire Lord screamed, waving his arms angrily in the air; he really should have known Toph would destroy that chair out of spite. Still, Zuko found he really didn't care.
