Prompts: Modern & Mother

Context: Modern AU, same universe as "A Different World" and "Late to the Party"

Location: Bridalshop

Toph removed her thick glasses to clean them, and the world became a fuzzy mess for several moments. When she put them back on, her mother, Poppy, her friend, Mai, and her friend's mother, Haruka, became crystal clear. While Poppy and Haruka sat comfortably but properly on the couch across from the one that Toph was sitting on, Mai stood on a pedestal, looking like a porcelain doll in the sample wedding dress she was trying on.

Toph belched, scratched her stomach, and slouched down even further into the couch to make herself more comfortable.

"Toph, please!" Poppy said. "Sit up straight and stop scratching yourself like that! You look like a boy."

"I wish I was a boy, then I wouldn't have wear this stupid dress!" Toph said, indicating the bright turquoise bridesmaid dress she was wearing. "Mai, are you sure I can't just wear a tux and stand on the guys side?"

"If it were up to me, Zuko and I would have just eloped by now." Mai said and she turned gracefully on the pedestal to get a good look of herself in the tri-mirrors that she stood in front of.

"Ugh," Mai continued, commenting on the dress. "Definitely not this one-it makes my butt look big with all those details in the back."

"Don't worry Mai, the attendant is coming back with more dresses…where is she?" Haruka said, glancing at her wrist watch.

"You know, I never pegged turquoise to be your color for a bridesmaid dress, even if it is tradition that they be hideous." Toph said to Haruka.

"The actual color Iwill be/I red," Haruka said, "but we needed you to try on the style to make sure the sizing was right."

"Well, I guess it's right. Can I go take this off now?"

"Toph, you might as well get used to it," Poppy said, "You'll be wearing it for several hours on the day of the wedding."

Toph just groaned and threw her head back. Lucky Katara, lucky Suki, lucky Ty Lee. They were out of town for the weekend, coaching and chaperoning for a dance competition with the studio's junior troupe. Granted, if anyone would have enjoyed this, it would have been Ty Lee.

"When do the others get to suffer?" Toph asked, picking her head back up.

"Next weekend." Haruka answered with a snide smile, which Toph ignored. "We'll get the final measurements for everybody, and then the order is off to the tailors!"

Mai stepped down from the pedestal, and sat down on top of it. With her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees, she looked into the mirror with a bored expression.

"Where is that attendant?" Haruka said, getting up from her couch and exiting the dressing room. Poppy followed her.

The two young women sat in silence for several moments.

"Getting cold feet?" Toph asked, "I wouldn't blame you, what with Sparky's family issues…and it looks like you're dealing with enough of your own."

"It's not that." Mai said, sitting up and turning around to face Toph. "It's this stupid dress. It's all these stupid white dresses! I wish I could tell my mom the truth so I could wear something else, but she'd never let me live it down"

Toph's eyes widened and she sat up.

"Mai, you've been living with Zuko for more than a year…your mom's not an idiot, though she plays one well."

Mai laughed.

"Even if you did tell her the truth…" Toph continued, then lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned in to get closer to her friend, "she'd probably still make you wear a white dress, to have you project a good image to the Ipublic/I."

Mai gave Toph one of her subtle smiles.

"You're absolutely right." Mai said. "I just wish that I was the boy and that Zuko was the girl, so that I wouldn't have to deal with this mess…guys don't realize how easy they have it…Zuko, Sokka, and Aang just need to shower, throw on a tux, and show up at the chapel! It's not fair."

"Yeah, they're lucky bastards." Toph said with a snicker.

Notes:
Since the engagement party ("Late to the Party")
-Poppy and Haruka (Mai's Ma) have become BFFs since their husbands are now doing business together. Daitaro (Mai's Pa) invited the Bei Fongs without asking the bride and groom...but Mai didn't care.
-Sokka and Suki broke up, but it was mutual
-Sokka now dates Toph
-Suki now dates Haru
-Suki is still a bridesmaid as she and Mai work together at the dance studio.
-This is more of a MaixToph friendship piece-sorry!