Ch. 4

Zuko was mostly quiet on the way to the skating rink, occasional joining in the conversations going on.

"So Zuko, who's your favorite soccer team, mine is Manchester United. Have you seen how hot the guys are on that team," Ty Lee said in her usually merry voice. "I just love Christiano Ronaldo, he is so fast and so good and have you seen his abs."

"Ty Lee, I'm sure Zuko doesn't care how hot you think Christiano Ronaldo is and I don't think he picks his favorite soccer team by how hot the guys on it are. Why does it even matter anyway how hot they are, all that matters is if they can play soccer," Toph said pointedly.

"My favorite team is Liverpool. I've liked them since I was a little boy, my mom got me started on them and I've liked them ever since," Zuko said quietly.

After about thirty minutes of walking they finally made it to the skating rink. Admissions were three dollars and skates were two dollars. Everyone had enough money on them and got there skate sizes. There weren't a lot of people at the rink. The rink was medium size and there was a small arcade and food court.

Katara and Aang were the first two to start skating. Katara was very good, but Aang couldn't keep up with her no matter how hard he tried. Ty Lee and Sokka went in next. Ty Lee was even better than Katara, but Sokka couldn't even stay on his feet.

Toph was the last to go in and only stayed next to the wall. She seemed afraid of falling and you could see it all over her face.

When she first ventured from the wall she fell flat on her butt. Zuko immediately went over to her and helped her up. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I just can't skate," she said softly, "I've never been good at it and I've never liked it. I can't see where I'm going or doing."

Zuko caught Toph by the waist before she fell to the floor again and she grabbed onto his shoulder to regain her balance. Toph cheeks started turning red and Zuko couldn't help but smirk. Her touch was gentle and Zuko shivered through his body.

"Do you want me to help you off the rink?" he asked.

"That would be nice."

He helped her out and led her to some chairs, where you can sit to watch the people skating. Sokka seemed to be trying to chase after Ty Lee, but he kept falling down on his face or his but.

"I wish I could see Sokka making a fool out of himself out there," Toph said back to her normal self.

After about ten minutes Toph went back out in the rink, but stayed close to the wall. She seemed to be getting better, but she kept occasional running into someone skating in front of her.

Zuko or Haru seemed always to be close behind her.

When a couples skating song came on, Sokka asked Ty Lee to go skate with him and Aang asked Katara. Zuko, Haru, and Toph all went and sat down to watch them skate. Toph had a disgusted look on her face, clearly showing she didn't want to be out there making googly eyes at her partner. Haru looked like he wanted to ask Toph to go out there with him, but he was a little too shy.

Soon the skating session ended and they all had to leave. Toph took off down a road, which led to the more expensive buildings of the town. Aang, Katara, and sokka went down a road that led to a normal looking neighborhood. Ty Lee went to her dad's office a block or so away from the rink.

Instead of going straight home Zuko went to the school to practice some soccer. When he arrived, the football team was practicing a few fields over.

He got his ball out and immediately started to try and bend the ball. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't bend it like Toph could. He started to turn back; Iroh was probably going to be expecting him soon anyway.

"You're putting your foot on the wrong side of the ball. If you want to bend it, you need to move your foot lower," Toph's voice said coming from behind him, halting him from his actions.

"Like this," she said demonstrating her foot movements. She took a powerful shot at the goal and just like before it had a great amount of curve to it.

Zuko tried what she said and the ball had more bend on it than he normally had.

"That's better," she replied smirking.

"How long have you been here," Zuko asked. He was a little concerned that she had been there when he had mad all his previous mess ups. If there was anyone he didn't want to lose face to, it was Toph.

"About ten minutes," she replied, "Of course I can't see you, but I can feel and hear you."

"Try bending the ball again," she said with an all work and no play look on her face. She was a serious soccer player and she was good at it.

He kicked the ball again and again until Toph felt satisfied he had progressed enough for one day.

He left before it was to dark to see, but he could still see Toph out there practicing.

the next chapter is the first day of school, so I just had to get this one up and get it off my mind, so it's not the longest, but i hope you like it, so please review.