So I decided to change my taang family to try to fit cannon a little more, even though taang isn't actually cannon. As well as changing the shipping I've made the United Republic of Nations Aang's brainchild with some help from Zuko, rather than the actual cannon Zuko's idea with Aang being a skeptic. But oh well. I still love taang to much, and therefore changed up my characters. I hope you enjoy them. Toph is about six or seven months pregnant in this. She and Aang are 16 and have been married for eight or nine months.
Tenneyshoes
Aang gripped Appa's reigns perhaps a bit more forcefully than necessary. His mind flashed through the various horrible scenarios that he was completely convinced would play out when Appa landed in his father-in-law's estate. They would give him the silent treatment. Lao would probably take him aside to rip him to pieces for 'defiling' his daughter. He was sure to get the "You're dragging our daughter far below her station" lecture; he received it every time they visited. He wrapped his arm tighter around Toph, sleeping against his side.
His mother-in-law would gaze sadly at her daughter and try to convince her to stay until she could throw together a dinner party. The maids would trip and spill hot tea down his front. The guards-
Toph's hand clenched over his heart as she interrupted his inner monologue. "If you don't relax I'm going to lose my mind."
Aang looked down at her, startled. She didn't bother to open her eyes as she snuggled into his shoulder.
"Sorry," he muttered, turning his eyes back to the clouds.
"Just relax. I know you're worried, but it won't be that bad," Toph tried to reassure her nervous husband as Appa began to descend. Aang simply bit his tongue. Toph's relationship with her parents was still on thin ice, and if she knew what her parents put him through she would fight back with a vengeance.
Appa's powerful legs slammed into the ground outside the estate gates. The two guards at the gate didn't move, but Aang saw the shock on the younger man's face. The captain didn't even bat an eye. Aang leapt off Appa and helped Toph slip down. The captain ordered the young man to take Appa around the back of the estate where hay had been set out for him and led the Avatar and his wife into the estate.
Aang suppressed a cringe as they were lead into the dining room. The Bei Fongs sat regally at the table, the perfect picture of propriety and decorum. As Aang moved to his seat he bit down a chuckle. Toph simply sprawled out in her chair, limbs going everywhere.
"Nice of you to join us, Toph," her father said, a genuine smile crossing his face. He studiously ignored Aang. "It's been so long since you were last home."
"Hey Dad. How's the business going?" Toph asked as she picked at her fingernails.
Lao swallowed a dumpling before replying, "As well as ever. And how is your academy?"
After the war, when Toph had finally returned home, she had begged her parents to let her start an earthbending school. Her parents couldn't deny her something like this after she had helped end a war, but still they hesitated. Toph had eventually threatened to leave and never return, saying she could always ask Iroh or Zuko for the money she needed. Faced with the prospect of never seeing their daughter again they relented. A year and a half after the war had come to an end Toph bought the Earth Rumble Arena and started the Bei Fong Bending Academy.
"It goes. We haven't been there much lately because of those insane negotiations about what to do with the Fire Nation Colonies. But we stopped by there before coming here."
Aang watched as a soft smile overtook Toph's face. She'd never let them see it, but she genuinely cared for her students, and being away from them was not her ideal life. If she could, she would pile them all on Appa every time they went somewhere. But of course, her affection didn't dampen her teaching methods. She was just as harsh, brash, demanding, unyielding and stubborn as she had been with Aang.
Toph's mother spoke up next. "How's the baby, dear?" she asked softly.
"Fine, as far as I know. But I'm tired all the time! Were you always tired with me?" Toph sounded pretty tired, Aang admitted. Guilt began to creep up in him. Perhaps he should have been helping her more, not making her stand so much, or- Toph's foot bumped against his shin, halting his self-battery. Of course she would know what was going through his head. Aang's lips quirked in a grin as he tuned back into what Toph's mother was saying.
"-it's hard. But perhaps we should retire to the garden, and not bother the men with our trivial baby talk," Poppy said quietly.
"Poppy, dear, you don't need to-"Lao began before Poppy gently cut across him.
"No, no. The fresh air will do Toph some good, I think." Poppy rose gracefully from her chair as Aang rose to help Toph up. She allowed his assistance, but shot him a look that clearly said you do plenty for me! He squeezed her hand in acknowledgement. As the women left the room Lao cleared his throat softly, rising from his own chair. "Well, Aang," the Avatar did not miss the slight hesitation over his name. "Shall we move to the drawing room? There are some things I would like to discuss with you." Aang stifled a groan as he followed his wife's father.
He stiffly lowered himself into the very same chair he had sat in four years ago when he had first been introduced to the Bei Fong patriarch. He had been dreading this moment all day!
Lao seemed to have a game plan, because he was the first to move as a servant brought in a tea tray and passed a cup to him. "How have negotiations been going?" he asked, referring to Aang's latest world peace endeavor.
Aang thought carefully over the last month, absentmindedly taking the tea cup the servant offered him. Deciding what to do with the colonies was difficult. He was aware that Lao, like most Earth Kingdom citizens, wanted the colonies removed and the towns returned to the Earth King to do with as he saw fit. They wanted anyone with Fire Nation blood deported and serious financial repercussions to be put in place. In contrast, those from the Fire Nation wanted to keep a foothold in the Earth Kingdom for guaranteed trade. Now that the war was over a completely militarized country like the Fire Nation would have to find other means of prosperity, which meant trade. Without those colonies the prospect would become immensely difficult.
But Aang had been to the colonies, and he had seen how different the culture and social workings were from the rest of the world. The people thought differently from that of either nation. Many families had been living in those colonies on the same land for nearly a century and a half! The Fire Nation wasn't exactly home anymore. People with both Fire Nation blood and Earth Kingdom ancestry coexisted. Many had married despite national ties and families were entangled in a way that would be absolutely impossible to separate now. If the colonies truly were disbanded and anyone with Fire Nation lineage was deported nearly every colony would be emptied except for a very few select families, and the Fire Nation would then have an added problem of sudden overpopulation with absolutely no room or plan as to how to accommodate these people.
"They have been difficult," Aang admitted. "The Fire Nation wants one thing, the Earth Kingdom, another, and neither are willing to give any ground." Aang's voice betrayed how exhausted and frustrated he had been during the negotiations. Coming to visit his wife's parents had almost been a relief. But not quite.
"And what do you think should be done?" Lao's question seemed suspicious. It seemed to hold general curiosity, a warning to say the right answer, and a challenge to see if Aang would really stand for what he thought was right.
"I have an idea. I'm still trying to work out the details. I want this to be perfect before I set it before the Council." Aang realized he had automatically fallen back on his airbender nature. Rather than simply explain his idea to Lao, he tried to avoid the confrontation. Toph would have kicked him if she had been there. For the last three weeks she had been urging him to propose his idea to the Council, saying they could help him work out the details. But he had adamantly refused under the risk that without a set plan the different nations would try to twist the idea to their own benefit. Aang needed a concrete plan before he went before the Council.
"That seems reasonable. What exactly is this plan?" Lao asked. Aang tried to distinguish whether he had passed Lao's silent test, but the older man gave nothing away.
So Aang muscled up his courage, and decided to risk further anger and alienation from his father-in-law in favor of what he was sure was right. "I want to make the colonies a nation in their own right. Any action the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation wish to take will only cause anger and resentment in the future. So I want to make a third solution. If the colonies are simply separated from the other nations, given their own government, that won't happen. The culture there is so different from the other nations. People with both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom blood coexist in a way that the world should. It's already a center for the peace the world should have. And I want to make that official. I want to turn them into a republic, where benders and nonbenders from all over the world are welcome." Aang's confident voice had filled the room, and now there was a heavy silence as he waited to see how his father-in-law would react.
Lao sipped his tea as he processed what Aang had told him, carefully thinking over each piece. Finally he spoke.
"It's a good plan. Why haven't you brought this before the Council yet?"
Aang was slightly surprised by this answer and it took him a second to respond. "Well, there are still some things to think about. Like how to announce this to the Earth Kingdom. Most citizens will probably not be too happy about it."
"But that can all be discussed after the proposal is set fourth, can't it?" Lao reasoned. "It would be easier to work that out with the Earth King, than trying to come up with a solution on your own."
Aang bobbed his head in acknowledgement. Of course, Toph's father would say the same thing she had been telling him all month, albeit a bit more diplomatically. Toph had simply smacked him upside the head, telling him to stop taking on more responsibility than he had to. "You're right. Toph's been telling me to do that for weeks, but it's all so complicated and I want to make sure I don't miss anything."
Lao nodded his understanding. If there was one thing the business tycoon understood it was the delicacy of politics. Without warning, he changed the subject. "So what are you planning to do once the baby is born? Poppy and I hear news that you seem to be in a different part of the world nearly every other month. Do you plan to continue this after the baby arrives?"
And so it begins Aang thought. "No, that's another part of the United Republic that I want to create. There is one particular colony I want to make the capitol, and in the bay there is an uninhabited island. I want to build an Air Temple there so Toph and I can live close to the city and help to guide it until it can function on its own."
"But how long will it take to build this temple? Toph is due in mere months. Do you intend for your wife and child, my daughter and grandchild to live on an uninhabited island?" Lao's voice was grating as his eyes bored into the young man.
"Of course not!" Aang said, slightly offended. He was a lot of things but completely idiotic wasn't one of them. "Toph and I plan to live at the Western Air Temple when the baby is born. Katara is going to be her midwife, and the temple is only a few hours away from the capitol on Appa. If I have to leave for something before the baby is old enough to travel Toph can stay with Katara and Zuko at the palace until I return. And when the temple is built we will move there." Toph and Aang had talked about this already, working out every detail. They were going to be good parents, he was sure of it.
"Why there? The Western Air Temple is on the other side of the world! Wouldn't Toph be more comfortable here, in her home?" Aang had to bite down a guffaw. He had suggested this to her himself, when they were first trying to decide where to live months before Toph was even pregnant. She had tackled him to the ground and demanded he take it back, mashing his face into the dirt.
Without really thinking about the action, he rubbed his cheek, remembering slamming into the ground when Toph had taken him down. "Toph wants Katara as her midwife. And since she is the Fire Lady, she can't exactly up and run to the 'other side of the world'."
"Why not the Southern Temple?" Lao insisted. "It is closer to here, and you've told me it is still only about a day's ride on your bison from the Fire Nation. It is also the temple you were raised in, was it not? Why not raise your own children there?"
Aang's face darkened. "Being raised there is exactly why I don't want to live there anymore. There are too many ghosts," Aang said, his thoughts drifting back to Gyotso, and the guilt at being the reason he, and the rest of the Air Nomads, were no longer alive. "Besides, the Western Temple is Toph's favorite. She absolutely loves it there, and I'll follow her to wherever she wants to go. We'll only be living there for a couple of years anyway, at the most. You have no need to worry about your daughter and grandchild. They will be well looked after." Aang took a deep breath, realizing he was becoming a bit hostile.
"I think I'll go join Toph in the garden," Aang said, using his 'Avatar Voice'. Toph claimed it had something that meant no argument, which was exactly what he wanted now. "Fresh air is… good…for Airbenders," Aang cringed inside, wishing he could come up with a better excuse on the spot. He rose from his seat, bobbed his head toward his father-in-law and promptly walked out the door.
Upon reaching the garden Aang realized he had no idea where his wife and mother-in-law were hiding within the expansive maze of flower beds, hedges, ponds and dining areas. Clawing through his memory he started off in the direction of a cherry tree Toph had a particular fondness for. Rounding the corner of a tall hedge Aang smiled. Toph was stretched out on the grass beneath the tree, her toes splashing in the pond as her mother picked at some embroidery. Aang allowed himself a small selfish moment of pride for knowing where his wife would be (and that he had only gotten lost twice on the way).
As he neared the two women Poppy looked up from her thread roses and gave him a small tight smile. Slipping her needle into her embroidery, the Bei Fong matriarch rose from her bench, made her excuses, and left the couple alone.
Aang felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn't intended to chase Poppy away. He knew she cherished her daughter and any time she could get with her. But he was ready to blow something up after the conversation with his father-in-law and Toph was the closest method of relaxation beyond about three hours of meditation. Putting Poppy's abrupt departure from his mind, the Avatar dropped unceremoniously to the ground, propped his back against the smooth trunk and pulled his wife's head into his lap. He began to card his fingers through her bangs with one hand while the other played along her jaw line.
Toph gave Aang a couple of minutes to relax, simply drinking in the moment before venturing to ask him what had happened.
"I told your father about Republic City," he answered noncommittally, his fingers continuing their ritualistic patterns. A finger smoothed the line that had appeared between her eyebrows at his evasive answer before running down the bridge of her nose.
"And?" she prompted. When he still hesitated she nudged him again. "What happened? Did he shoot it down?"
"No," he answered quietly. "He said it was a good idea. Told me to tell the Council," he offered after a moment.
She stilled his thumb dancing along her neck toward her collar bone. "Then why are you out here? I would think he would be pitching his business. I'm sure he hopes to be one of the top merchants hanging around there." Again Aang hesitated and Toph squeezed his fingers in encouragement
"I told him about the Air Temple, about the island." Toph smiled. She absolutely loved the idea. Ever since they had lived in the Western Temple during the war Toph had wanted to have a part in them. She knew from her history lessons that the Air Nomads and earthbenders had worked together to build the soaring towers on the peaks of mountains and the cavernous halls that clung to the bottom of a cliff hanging over a canyon. When Aang had tentatively told her his hope to build a new temple she had jumped at it. When he told her his intention to make it their home she had promptly grabbed his ears and dragged him into a particularly long kiss. The idea of finally building the home they would raise their children in had been one of the main factors behind Toph's insistence for Aang to pitch his idea to the Council.
"What did he say to that? They can't possibly think you unworthy of me now," she teased, "building me a temple to live in." Her smile slipped and that line appeared between her eyebrows again as she felt Aang's relaxed position slowly giving way to tension again. "What did he say?" she asked cautiously.
"He accused me of not being able to take care of you!" Aang exploded so unexpectedly Toph actually jackknifed into a sitting position. His voice held more fury than Toph had heard from him in a while. His temper reminded her uncomfortably of his frustration when he had struggled to find a solution to defeating the Loser Lord.
With Toph off of his lap Aang surged to his feet and began to pace anxiously. He seethed silently, his heels pounding into the ground as he walked back and forth like a caged panthercat. Toph rolled onto her knees and sat back on her heels as she tried to think of what to say.
Of course there had been gossip when the Avatar announced his betrothal to the Bei Fong heiress over a year and a half ago. And most of it had slid off of Aang like water off a duck. But the one bit of gossip that had wormed its way past his saint-like patience and humility was that a sweet boy like him could never possibly be enough to please and satisfy the spitfire earthbender for very long. Whispers from corners of parties pitied the poor girl. She would always have to do everything, make the home, raise the children (as was a wife's duty), but also keep a stern leash on the flighty Avatar, make sure he honored his duties, attended to his various charges, and enforce peace where he could not.
It seemed that Aang's victory of only two years previous was completely forgotten. Never mind he had saved the world from an egotistical, tyrannical sociopath. Never mind he had ended the longest world conflict in history. No, he was simply the immature young man that had now ringed the greatest earthbender in the world into a very demanding marriage. It ate at his pride.
Yes, he knew that Toph could take care of herself, that she liked it that way. And he loved her for it, loved her independence and drive. But under all of his patience and humility and peace with himself and the universe, he was a man and a man was supposed to take care of his wife!
Toph hadn't given a second thought to the rumors whirling around the couple. She knew who she was, she knew she loved Aang and wanted to be his wife and she didn't give a flying hoot in Diyu* what anyone said. And because nothing else had fazed Aang she didn't think this had either. At least, not until she noticed he was slowly becoming more stand-offish, less willing to give his opinions to her, and lashing out at her and their friends more and more as the wedding crept up on them. Finally a month before their wedding as the couple attended a celebration in their honor in Ba Sing Se, Aang had snapped at the Earth King's new head of security after he had made a comment about wanting Toph to perhaps give a demonstration to some of his men. Toph had apologized and tried to smooth the man's feathers, blaming Aang's short manner on his exhaustion with the coming wedding and his Avatar duties when he had turned on her, spitting a biting comment before turning and stalking away.
Toph hastily apologized and made an excuse before tearing off after her betrothed. Whatever was going on, it didn't give him the right to turn on her. She loved him and she was going to be his wife, and she was not going to stand around while he disrespected her like that!
She caught up with him and wrapped her arm through his, her strong fingers clamping around his forearm as she steered him out into the corridor. Turning a corner she rammed her shoulder into his side, forcing him against the wall.
Toph chewed him out for treating her, and everyone else, as he had been for the past several months, demanding an explanation. Already guilt ridden for snapping at her so cruelly when it had been uncalled for, Aang's determination to keep his insecurity to himself crumbled. He had told her everything that had been slowly destroying him from the inside out. With tears streaming down his face, Aang had offered to break of their engagement.
She had slapped him. Then immediately kissed him. Toph assured him that she had complete confidence in his ability to care for her and he should stop being such a light weight and ignore simple-minded nobles.
And that was where the issue ended. Until now, it seemed.
Toph was well aware of her parents opinion that no one would ever be good enough for her. And she knew that Aang bent over backwards, sideways, and over the moon to try to reach that impossible standard.
"You know it's not true," she said matter-of-factly, her voice surprisingly small for stating a fact. Aang's incessant pacing halted but his weight still shifted restlessly.
"I…" His voice faltered. Clearing his throat he tried again. "I have to prove to them that I can take care of you. And the baby." He paused again, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know they didn't really want us getting married. Despite what everyone kept saying-"
"Some!" Toph insisted.
He capitulated. "What some said, they couldn't exactly say 'no' to the Avatar. But you know as well as I do that they hate me. And now he insinuates that I can't take care of you! As if I could possibly let anything happen to you!" he declared, throwing his arms in the air and beginning his pacing again.
Toph winced at a cramp as she raised a pillar to help her to her feet. Stepping into Aang's path she brought her palms to his chest, stopping him in his tracks. She waited a moment until she was sure she had called him back from whatever dark thoughts were swirling around his mind and had his full attention before slipping her small hands up his chest over his shoulders and around his neck, drawing him close.
His hands brushed against her belly on their way to her hips, pulling her to him out of habit as he waited for what she had to tell him.
"You married me," she insisted, one hand contracting on the back of his neck for a moment. "Not my parents. You love me! Not them. This is our life together and we will live it in the way we see fit." She pressed her abdomen closer to his as she said, "This is our child. And we are the only ones in the world that will know how to raise it." Pausing for a moment Toph drew Aang's head down until their lips met for a brief kiss. Drawing back she pressed their brows together. "You are my husband, and you are the only man in this or the Spirit World that will ever be able to take care of me."
-x-
Knowing dinner would be slightly more of her parents than Aang could handle at the moment she made some excuse about being tired from the trip and insisted that Aang help her prepare for bed. When her mother insisted she eat something Toph threw a suggestion for a servant to bring their dinner to their room over her shoulder and continued down the hall, Aang beside her.
As Aang closed the door behind them Toph shuffled toward the bed. Suppressing another wince from a particularly painful cramp she crawled onto the bed, not even bothering with the coverlet and curled up in a ball on her side.
Her toes curled when the bed shifting as Aang crawled over to join her caused another cramp to erupt at the end of her spine. But Toph Bei Fong was never one to complain over something as trivial as pain.
Aang slipped an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss into her shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked gently.
"Just some cramps," she replied tiredly. "I'll be fine."
A few moments later Aang's hand began rubbing small circles across her abdomen. His palm was unusually but pleasantly warm and Toph hummed happily as his hand glided over her hip to her back.
The combination of her tiredness from the day's traveling, visiting with her mother, trying to reassure Aang, improvising an excuse for dinner, and Aang's warm hands moving over her body gave Toph only one option – sleep.
-x-
Toph wasn't entirely sure what had woken her. Sometime after she had fallen asleep Aang had moved her under the covers and now she realized she was uncomfortably hot. Her skin felt sticky and her bangs stuck to her cheek as she shoved the coverlet off and placed her feet on the floor.
Before she could stand up pain ripped through her abdomen. Groaning, she curled forward and pressed her hands into her stomach, hoping it would help.
After a minute, the pain subsided and she pushed herself off the bed and shuffled to the window. The summer night air was no cooler than her room. Frustrated, she slammed her hand into the frame of the window and let out a low growl.
Pushing off from the window she moved to the vanity and poured water from the pitcher into the bowl. Toph splashed the cool water onto her face and ran her wet fingers down her neck.
Another cramp dug into her back and she leaned onto the vanity, squeezing her eyes shut as her knuckles turned white against the wood of the table. Turning, she moved back toward the bed when her knee buckled under and she fell to the ground.
She felt like she was being ripped in half! Screw being strong! She thought as she cried out curling into a ball on the floor.
Aang jerked from his dream blinking into the darkness. Creating a small flame on his palm he looked at the bed next to him. Toph was missing, and in her place was a dark wet stain on the bed clothes. The tangy bite of iron assaulted his nose and something constricted around his heart.
He opened his mouth to call for Toph when she moaned his name from by the window. Leaping out of the bed he gave the flame more juice and saw Toph curled in a ball on the floor, surrounded by blood.
"Toph!" he gasped running to her. "What…" he had no idea what was happening. Toph's bloody hand closed around his wrist as he pulled her into his arms. His brain didn't seem to be working. He leaned in close to hear what she was whispering.
"Make it stop," she begged. "Make the pain stop!" Her fingers clenched around his wrist loosened suddenly as her eyes slipped shut and her head slumped against his shoulder.
His mind jumped into overdrive. He smothered the flame in his palm as he scooped Toph up and gently set her on the bed before sprinting to the door and yanking it open. He collided with something and fell to the ground in the hallway. Turning to look into the pool of light from the lamp he saw Lao on the ground also, saying something.
"What?" he gasped, shaking his head, trying to think clearly.
"What is going on, Aang?" Lao asked, holding his hands up to try and calm the panicked young man.
Aang rose to his feet, trying to find his voice again. "I… I don't know. I jus-I woke up and Toph wasn't there, and there was blood on the sheets, and then she was on the floor, and… there was so much blood," he rambled helplessly.
He noticed Poppy for the first time as she stepped out of the room. Her face was ashen as she whispered frantically to her husband and then dashed back into the room. Aang tried to push past Toph's father but the older man pushed against his shoulders. "No, son," he said gently. "You don't belong in there right now. You'll only get in the way."
Aang looked at him desperately, his eyes begging to be allowed to go to his wife. When he spoke, his voice sounded broken. "What is happening? What's wrong with her?"
Lao's face looked pained before he spoke. "She lost the baby."
Aang's brain stopped. He couldn't even process the words. What did 'lost' mean? The meaning of words itched the edges of his mind but he could not grasp them. His body felt cold, but then again he didn't even feel entirely apart of his body. He almost felt like he was in the Avatar State, but it wasn't quite the same.
"What?" He couldn't remember commanding his tongue to speak.
"Toph has had a miscarriage." Lao explained patiently. Aang felt the older man squeeze his shoulder and tried to turn him to down the hallway, but Aang still resisted.
"I should be in there. Why can't I go in?" He felt strangely calm now that he knew what was wrong. He saw Lao hesitate and waited for him to explain.
"Miscarriages are hard on the mother. Sometimes they are too trying on the woman's body… and she doesn't make it."
"You mean, I might lose Toph!" Aang yelled. Again, he made for the door, and again Lao blocked him.
"No! The healer needs to focus on Toph. If you go in there you will only make things more difficult."
"What do you expect me to do? She is my wife! I can't just… I need to be with her." Aang's voice had started as a yell, but by the end, he barely made a sound.
Lao found his eyes, forced the young Avatar to meet his, and said, "I know what you're going through. Toph wasn't our only child. But I swear to you, going in there is only going to make things worse, for them, and for you."
"But what if she doesn't come out?" he asked. "I have to be with her."
Lao shook his head. "It won't do you any favors to see her like that. Come with me."
-x-
Aang had finally begun to meditate. Falling back on old habits was his last defense to… whatever was happening. He still couldn't quite believe the turn his life had taken in only a few hours. For months he had been preparing to become a father, and in minutes that future was gone. And now he was at risk of losing his beloved wife. Clearing his mind was the only thing he could possible think to do.
His father-in-law quietly sat beside him, drinking tea nervously. It was the early hours of the morning when Toph had woken up, and now her father watched out the window as the sun rose over the mountains.
Poppy wearily walked into the sitting room and dropped into a chair. Even after spending hours awake in the middle of the night she carried that certain sense of grace about her. She wasn't sure if she should interrupt Aang's meditation or wait until he finished himself, and was grateful when his tired silver eyes slipped open.
She rose and stepped toward the broken young man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's awake. She asked for you when I left, if you feel up to it."
Aang nodded and rose from the pillow he had been sitting on, moving toward the door. Before he stepped out he asked, "The baby?"
"A little girl," Poppy answered softly. "She's in the room."
Aang silently nodded again before leaving the room.
Lao walked to his wife and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, as he asked, "Will she be alright?"
"She'll live," Poppy answered. "But she'll need him if she is going to be alright."
Lao pressed a smile into his wife's hair. "Then we have nothing to worry about. He would to anything to make her happy."
-x-
Aang paused in front of the door. Taking a deep breath he gently opened the door and stepped inside the dim room. Toph lay on the bed, looking clean, alive and beautiful. And completely asleep. She looked exhausted. He didn't want to wake her, she needed her rest. As he looked at the window, he saw a small bassinette.
His heart jumped into his throat as he haltingly moved toward the window. Peering over the edge of the cradle he choked back a sob. She was perfect. Everything he had been hoping for. He sucked in a deep breath again and jumped when he heard Toph call his name.
He practically ran to the bed. He pulled his wife into his arms, reaffirming that she was still alive, still there for him, and pulled back sharply when she hissed. Her arms wrapped around him, pulling him back to her as she said, "Sorry. I'm just really sore."
Aang nodded and buried his face in her neck. For a while the two just sat there.
"I can't remember anything," Toph whispered, finally breaking the silence
"Just…pain." Aang wrapped her tiny hands in his as he waited for her to continue, sensing she had more to say. "Does that make me bad? A bad mother?"
"Of course not!" he answered, firmly, but gently. "I almost lost you too. No one can blame you for this, Toph." When she didn't respond he squeezed her fingers. She dropped her head on his shoulder, tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Where is she?" she mumbled into his shoulder. Aang's silver eyes glanced at the basinet on the other side of the room.
"In her cradle," he answered. After a moment's hesitation he asked, "Would you like to hold her?" Toph's head slowly rose from his shoulder and she shakily nodded. Pressing his lips to her forehead, the Avatar rose and crossed the room. He skimmed his fingers over the lace edge of the cradle before bending to lift his still daughter into his arms. He gently cradled her small head in the crook of his arm as his eyes took in her pretty face from the soft dark lashes over her closed eyes to the little nose that looked so much like her mother's, a slightly rebellious look to it.
Moving back to the bed he bumped his shoulder with Toph's and with his free hand, guided the little infant into her arms. Toph chocked back a sob as she pulled her baby close. Aang wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort his broken wife, when he was falling to pieces himself. His heart shattered all over again when he saw tears fall past Toph's dark bangs and land on the soft green blanket.
For a while the couple just sat like that and eventually the tears stopped though neither had made any effort. Toph leaned back into Aang's chest and cringed as she felt her lower body protest the movement. Aang's long arms wrapped around her, shadowing her arms, allowing his hands to rest over her own as she held the baby on her knees.
Slowly, almost as if she were afraid, Toph raised her hand to brush over the baby's cheek. Aang watched as her fingers ghosted over the delicate eyebrows, over the closed lashes. Her nimble fingers shaped the tiny pink lips and gently tapped the rebellious little nose. Silently Toph memorized the face of her baby girl, retracing the pattern over and over again. Aang was startled when she broke the silence and asked if she had a name.
He had to speak past the lump that seemed permanently lodged in his throat. "I have one that I'd been meaning to tell you, but the conversation never came up. And I didn't want to make a decision without you." His arms tightened around her waist as he spoke and he buried his face in her shoulder. Toph prompted him and swallowing hard he whispered, "Miya."
He felt Toph's body shift a bit as she thought about it. He could tell she was repeating it over and over in her mind, trying it out. Names and sounds were important to the blind woman, and he prayed to Gyotso that he had picked well. As soon as he had seen this little baby he had known what he wanted to name her. The name didn't hold any particular significance to either him or his wife, but one look at her and Aang knew exactly what his little girl should be called. It was something about that little nose.
Even as he thought it, Toph's fingers smoothed down the bridge of that little nose. "It's perfect. Our little Miya."
Hearing her say that, giving this tiny being an identity, as his daughter, hit him like a ton of bricks. It wasn't that she suddenly meant more to him, but more that there was now an actual identity to associate with the complete and utter love and devotion he had slowly been amassing ever since Toph had first told him she was with child. The sob he had been trying to choke down, trying to hide from his strong, steadfast wife suddenly tore from his chest. He bit his lip and buried his face in Toph's shoulder again even as he felt her head turn and her lips press into his temple.
-x-
They buried her under Toph's favorite cherry tree in the garden. Aang sealed the grave with earthbending and once again buried his face in the sanctuary of his wife's neck, his arms wrapping around her waist tightly. They held each other as Toph's mother stepped forward and placed a Panda Lily on the grave.
Aang felt like he wasn't even a part of his body as he felt Toph gently push against his chest and walk out of his arms toward the base of the tree. She knelt in the grass, her face cringing as her body protested, still not wanting to move after the brutal miscarriage. Placing her fingers on the ground Toph slowly raised her hand, a pillar of stone following her fingertips. Then she began to press her fingers into the face of the stone. Aang watched in awe as his daughter's delicate features appeared in the stone under Toph's guidance.
He had spent almost every moment since he had first seen Miya memorizing her face, terrified he would forget it one day. But he had never needed to worry. He knelt next to Toph and traced the face in the stone. It was perfect, even down to that little upturned nose. He pressed his lips to her temple and helped her to stand.
-x-
Toph and Aang stayed in Gaoling for another week. They were overdue to go to the Fire Nation, but Toph needed to recover, and neither had really felt like traveling yet. But Aang was the Avatar, and they were needed in the Fire Nation. So as Toph hugged her parents Aang tossed the last bag into Appa's saddle.
Aang stepped forward to shake hands with his father-in-law and was surprised when he was pulled into a hug. As the two separated Lao said, "I must apologies to you, Aang. We have not treated you as you deserve. Toph means everything to her mother and me, but you have proven how much you care for her. Things will be hard on her, the both of you, for a while, and she will need you. I know it's not in her character, but she will begin to doubt herself, as a wife. Make sure she knows that this won't make you turn from her."
Looking to his wife hugging her mother, Aang nodded, and smiled at his father-in-law. "I'll make sure she's ok. I promise."
Lao nodded back. "Don't be a stranger. We miss the two of you."
Again, Aang nodded, smiling as he sensed that something had changed between the two of them for the better.
*Diyu is hell in Chinese Mythology
Like I said, I am changing my Taang family to be slightly more cannon. Miya and Arie are obviously no longer twins for one. For another, Tenzin and Lin are going to be a part of this family, yes they will be siblings, no they are not going to have some incestuous relationship in their teens. I thought that was a bit strange from the show, and it will not be happening. Sorry for all of you Lizin shippers, I am not the author for you, it seems. I've decided to leave up my other stories about the family just because I do't see the point in taking a story down, so for now it will stay up. If it becomes to confusing I will consider taking it down. I tried to think about what it would be like for Toph. When you can't see things, you don't always realize it's there. So if she was hot and sticky, she would have probably thought the blood was just sweat, and she was in a bit too much to pain to really notice the smell.