The Duke had to leave Gaoling. He really couldn't stay any longer at all, not after how…nice it was getting. How at ease and at home he felt.
Home was a hard thing for the Duke. If you had a home, you could lose it. And that was exactly what happened to all of the Duke's homes. He'd had a real family once; a mother, a father, an older sister and a younger brother. But then the Fire nation had come, and they'd all been killed, and the town they'd lived in was destroyed.
And the Duke had been on his own at age eight.
He was tough and resilient, and that was how he got by, for nearly a year. He was small, and easily overlooked, and thus could steal food that he needed, and sneak into places to sleep and stay. He had always been feisty, always had the need to prove himself, that he was just as strong as anyone.
And then, he'd finally had a reason for it. He had to, just to survive.
But then he'd stumbled upon the Freedom Fighters, and was allowed to join them. And that became another family for him, another home. He'd had a whole band of brothers and sisters to look up to and look after; it had been exactly what he'd needed.
But that fell apart too. The Freedom Fighters had disbanded, and Smellerbee and Longshot and Jet had gone to Ba Sing Se, without him. So he stuck with Pipsqueak; they'd been closer anyway.
It was hard, though. Jet had become a sort of father figure to the Duke. He still thought about him, still wondered what had happened. There was a distinct chance that he was alive, but knowing Jet, he probably crossed the wrong people at the wrong time. Something told him he was dead.
But, he'd stuck with Pipsqueak, and for a long time.
Until Pipsqueak got a girlfriend, when the Duke was twelve. After that, the Duke just saw everything going downhill. Jet had lost his touch, his urgency as a Freedom Fighter, after meeting, and becoming interested in, Katara. Pipsqueak would change to, and besides; girlfriends become wives, and who wants some kid hanging around when you're building a family?
So the Duke had left Pipsqueak, and that had hurt, even if he'd been the one to make the decision. Everytime he felt like he was home…it fell apart, or it ended, or it was taken from him.
So, he'd rather end it all, rather than be hurt in the long run.
Which was why he had to leave Gaoling. It wasn't just that he was getting to know the town, and the people, and the hustle and bustle of everything.
There was Toph.
He'd always liked Toph. They got along well, even back during the war. She had a no nonsense way about her that he'd always liked; she'd tell it to you straight, and not take any shit from anyone.
And even at the young age of eight, he'd respected that.
But after seeing her at Sokka and Suki's wedding, he'd been taken away. Maybe he hadn't noticed, being that young, or she'd really changed over the years, but it struck him immediately: Toph was beautiful.
She'd let her hair grow out from the short style she'd had before; it reached to midback now, and was thick and shiny and it made the Duke just want to stroke it, to see if it was as soft as it seemed. And she was so much more womanly now; sure, she was short (which the Duke liked a lot), but she had a figure now. Not has curvaceous as Katara's (but then again, who else had a body like hers), but Toph was definitely a woman now.
And that had been why he'd sought her out during the wedding celebration, when he noticed she'd gone missing.
And why he'd offered to escort her home.
They had fun together, and the more time they spent together, the more the Duke's feelings for Toph grew.
It wasn't until he realized he could happily stay in Gaoling forever with Toph that the Duke made the decision to leave.
Super short, but necessary.
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