Chapter 4: St.Jun

There was no lying to her. The scarred prince knew this as fact more than anything else.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"She…intimidated me…That's all." Zuko said slowly, hoping his choice of words would get past Toph as truth.

But of course it didn't.

Toph lobbed one of the fist-sized marble boulders she had in the corner of her room at Zuko's stomach, pushing him against the wall he and Toph had their backs too.

"Ooff!"

"Yah, trying lying to the world's most powerful earth slash metal bender again. Next time I'll aim lower."

Zuko didn't respond to this threat (as Sokka would by running as far from the earthbender as possible, although there truly was no escaping her) and pushing the boulder back to its pill. The firebender stood up, brushed himself off, and walked back over to where Toph sat.

"Wasn't a complete lie," he mumbled, sitting back down.

"Fine. After Sokka showed me to my room, his sister walked in. She threatened my life, telling me that if I ever stepped out of line she'd be there to make sure I wouldn't get the chance to find my way back. She was pretty much just being overprotective of Aang."

Toph laughed, not at the fact that Katara threatened Zuko (because the waterbender could be deadly if need be) but because of the later of Zuko's words.

"Yah, overprotective defiantly sums up Sugar Queen. And I can tell you weren't lying, I could feel both of your vibrations when Katara went to talk to you, heard everything. 'So let me tell you something right now. You take one step backward, one slip up, one reason why I might think you'd hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny any longer.' Shesh, you'd think it was her special time or something."

Zuko couldn't help but smile, but it was erased from his face as soon as he saw Toph's mysterious grin.

"But I wasn't talking about only then Sparky. Seems to me that every time you two are in the same room, the both of you are on the verge of a heart attack. Do you want know what I think that means?"

Zuko didn't answer, but instead looked upon the young earthbender with a look of surprise and anxiety.

Great…she knows…

"Well, I'm telling you anyway," Toph said with a shrug, causing the blanket Zuko had wrapped around her shoulders earlier to slide off. Zuko picked it up and wrapped it around her again.

Zuko realized what he was doing right after the wool left his fingers. He wouldn't have been doing that for just anyone…did he…did he care for the earthbender? It seemed that way… Zuko shook his head. He just didn't want her to start complaining, she'd probably make him cover her again anyway. But he would have never done such a thing, no matter how small, for Azula. Never.

"I think you like Sugar Queen. In the same way Needles likes you." All Toph needed to know whether she hit a mark were Zuko's vibrations, and they verified it all. "So why don't you tell me all about it Princess?" Zuko wiggled uncomfortably at the new nickname; there seemed to be an endless supply from the girl. "And don't try lying to me again, I have a ton more boulders where the first came from." Toph nodded towards the pile. "So spill."

Zuko sighed, wondering when the night of spilling secrets would end. He knew it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"I don't—" A boulder lifted itself from the pile. "Fine! What do you want to know?"

As soon as he said the words he regretted them. Allowing Toph to decided what information she "needed" wouldn't allow Zuko to leave anything out, because the earthbender would want to know everything.

"Start from the beginning Sparks. And leave nothing out."

Ughhhh

"Long before you became the Avatar's earthbending teacher, I found Katara's necklace on a prisoner ship. I knew that where ever she was, the Avatar was, and so I could use her necklace to find him."

Zuko paused, wondering if he should mention Jun and her xirxiu. He decided against it.

"When I found them—"

"Wait! How would you find them with only Katara's necklace? You're leaving something out Princess!"

Another boulder came flying towards Zuko, but he was quick enough to duck, and a second later the marble sphere was lodged into the wall where his head one lied.

Shesh, for a 12 year old she sure is observant.

"Fine! My uncle found a bounty hunter, Jun, and her xirxiu followed Katara's scent. Happy? Now—"

"Hold it. What was the point of leaving that bit of information out? Why is Jun so important to your crush with Sweetness?"

Zuko pinched his nose between two fingers, trying to wipe away the headache Toph was bound to cause.

"She…Jun thought I was looking for my girlfriend, alright?"

"Sweet. That's all you had to say Sparks. Kay, so go on."

"Well, I guess that's where things started. I didn't have feelings or anything like that for Swe—Katara then, but I guess that kinda caused it…Anyway, every time I battled Katara I noticed how she changed, how much more powerful her bending became each time we fought. While at the Northern Water Tribe, we fought alone. I called her…a peasant, which seemed to enrage her enough to almost beat me in that fight. But I won, and made off with Aang. She and Sokka found us in the middle of a blizzard, and she won that fight. I guess it was how much she changed that caught my attention, how powerful she was becoming with her bending…" And her beauty, he thought.

"Yah yah, okay. So what happened under Ba Sing Se?"

Toph definitely caught Zuko by surprise.

"Waah? How did you know we were under Ba Sing Se together?"

"Well, I was talking about the battle you had, but if there was something else…"

Zuko felt like banging his head against the marble walls, but decided against doing such.

"We talked about how the war took both of our mothers, and then she…"

Zuko thought back to the conversation he and Katara had in the catacombs. Her cold tough against his rough scar, the way her eyes sparkled in the light caused by his own flame, the desire he had too…

"Hello?! Earth to Zuko!" Toph laughed at her own joke, throwing another marble boulder his way, and then stopping it before it could hit him. The earthbender returned it to its pile. "You were saying?"

"Katara offered to heal my scar. I'm glad she didn't get the chance; my uncle and Aang found us right before she got the chance. But if she had used that Spirit Oasis water on my scar…"

For once Toph was silent. She realized that Zuko felt guilt, and probably selfish. Without that "healing properties water" or whatever, Aang might not be alive…

But Toph didn't show any sign of remorse for Zuko. Last thing she needed was another weakness.

"So now you're here. You see her everyday, and you've done nothing about how you've felt. What is with you guys? Twinkletoes has trouble showing his feelings on his own, and we all know that Suki is the dude in her relationship with Snoozles. You haven't even said more than 5 words to Katara since you've joined us! What are y—"

Zuko's finger was suddenly on Toph's lips, silencing her.

"Have you not noticed the way she treats me? She thinks I betrayed her after what happened under Ba Sing Se, and she's never going to forgive me for that. She was the first person to trust me, and she was the first person I let down. She's never going to give me another chance, and if she knew how I felt about her, she'd probably keep to her promise about becoming the cause of my death!"

Toph laughed, causing Zuko to look at her with angry eyes.

"You think this is funny!? She hates me and—"

"Stop making a fool of yourself Zuko." Toph wiped a tear away from her eye; it had been a long while since she last laughed that hard. "I told you that both of your hearts were beating to death when you're in the same room together. Hers does it for the same reason yours does. Not because she hates you Zuko. Because she likes you."

Zuko didn't know what to say. All he knew was that he needed to change the subject, and fast.

Damn you, Jun, he thought.

"He Toph, I know you have a crush on Sokka—" Toph glared at Zuko; not only was he ruining her fun, but that was the last topic she wanted to get back on.

"And I won't tell anyone, but have you every considered Aang instead?"

A/N

I'm sorry this took so long, I've been a busy girl with FanFics, Music Vids, and the end of ATLA! OMJ (jonas), I can't believe its over!! I'm going to journal a full commentary of the finale later, so get ready for a long read Also, i heard that there's supposed to be another season or something, has anyone else heard about that? I want more detail if anyone has any!!

Ok, so i had tons of fun with this. I love how Zuko changes the subject. This is also for all of you Zutarians out there, and all of you that believe in St.Jun. Hehehe. Tell me watcha think please!!