I know this is annoying, but I still feel the need to do this so I don't get anyone on my back. I do NOT own anything, but the story line.

Chapter Four

Two weeks later when they arrive in the Fire Nation…

Toph

Toph was getting frustrated. She hadn't been able to get either Zuko or Mai by themselves. They couldn't be separated. She was a little confused as to why it was so important for her to separate them and end their engagement, but it felt necessary. Hell, she even dreamt about it! It had been a nice fucking dream too.

In the dream, she and Aang had worked together to make Zuko and Mai realize that they weren't perfect for each other. In the process, Katara had fallen in love with Zuko and Aang had realized that Toph was the right girl for him. Toph longed for the dream to be real; not that she'd show it or anything. She wasn't that soft.

"We're here," Katara told Toph.

"Yes!" Toph broke free from her reverie in excitement. "I can finally return to my beloved dirt. Oh how I've missed it!"

Katara chuckled and Haru came up on Toph's other side. "Training deck doesn't have enough dirt for you?" He teased.

"There's no such thing as having enough dirt. Land just has a sufficient amount of it," Toph shrugged. She'd been doing a lot of that recently to hide her feelings for Aang which had been more prominent in her mind recently. It was a habit now.

"Hey guys, the gangplank is down. Let's go! I can see Sokka and Suki!" Aang's excited voice came from above her so Toph guessed that he was airbending. After all, she hadn't felt him coming or anything. It didn't surprise her anymore when his voice came from nowhere.

With that Toph ran off the gangplank and thrust herself into the dirt kissing it fervently. Sokka laughed and Toph rose and punched him. "I forgot how much your punches hurt Toph!" He exclaimed.

"Would you like me to punch you again to remind you better?" She smirked. Toph could remember when she had a crush on Sokka, but it had passed. After hearing Sokka's voice when Suki had come back and helped them when they were on the airships, it was impossible to love him when he was so happy with someone else. And not to mention, she was extremely impressed with Aang for keeping with his beliefs when nobody else thought it was possible. It was the kind of mindset she admired most.

"I think you should refrain from punching him again Toph," Suki giggled. "He can't take a hit from a girl."

"I can!" Sokka screamed.

"Sokka, I've missed you so much!" Katara was running down the gangplank right into her brother's waiting arms. Toph could feel tears of happiness falling onto the ground from both of their faces. Apparently, separating them wasn't the best idea.

"I've been taking good care of her," Aang landed lightly next to Sokka. Toph felt a spike of jealousy course through her. She didn't need a guy to take care of her and neither did Katara.

"Thank you Aang," Sokka was obviously grateful for something Aang hadn't done.

"Katara can take care of herself pretty well though," Zuko had come off the gangplank with Mai by his side. Haru wasn't too far off either.

"You should have seen her spar with Zuko!" Haru exclaimed. Toph held back a frustrated scream. It would have been great if Mai had been jealous of all the time they spent with each other training. But no! That was just way too hard. She had to accept it and ENCOURAGE it!

"It was pretty cool," she allowed herself to acknowledge.

"Katara kicked your ass right Zuko?" Sokka obviously, after all this time, was still eager for Zuko to lose at whatever he did.

"It's been pretty even actually," Katara spoke. She sounded passive. She was probably just extremely happy to see her brother.

"Mai, Zuko you guys are back!" And there was that circus girl. Ty Lee was her name. She was light-footed too which irritated Toph since she wasn't an airbender.

"Wait," Suki obviously was shocked by something. "Mai, are you and Zuko ENGAGED?" the Kyoshi warrior shrieked.

"Yes, we are," Monotone Girl replied.

"How long has it been? When will the wedding be?" Ty Lee gushed.

"We've been engaged for two weeks. We're still debating when to hold the wedding date," Zuko was obviously in a good mood.

"Can we be shown to our rooms already?" Toph was done with this welcoming shit. She had to start planning to separate Sparky and Gloomy girl. That was official.

Katara

"I'm going to go talk to her," Katara watched Toph storm off. She wondered what was up. Toph had been a bit gloomy recently, but Katara had been pretty sure that it was because she had been off-shore for so long. It was time to deal with this.

Katara reached the door that Toph had been directed to and knocked. Even though she knew that Toph would have sensed her coming, she did it out of politeness.

"What do you want Katara?" She sounded miserable.

"Toph let me in please," Katara called softly. "I just want to talk to you."

"Fine, do what you want!"

Katara opened the door and looked at the bed where Toph lay sniffling.

"You're crying!" Katara exclaimed shocked. She quickly shut the door and rushed to Toph's side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," the earthbender sniffled before quickly swiping away the tears that adorned the corners of her eyes.

"Toph, something's wrong. You're crying. You know you can tell me anything," Katara quickly skipped through all the possibilities. That way she would be prepared to comfort Toph when she finally told her.

She could miss her parents. After all, they loved her and while they were mad at her for running away, they were finally beginning to accept who she was. She could be irritated that Haru had gotten the position of ambassador. Though that seemed unlikely to, since she was always teasing him and helping him out with earthbending. There seemed to be one other valid option. But could it really be…

"Are you in love with Zuko?" Katara blurted out.

Toph's head jerked up in shock. "No! Why would you even begin to think that?"

"Well you kind of got a bit irritated somewhere around the time when he and Mai got engaged. I was just wondering if you could be in love with him and angry that you didn't win him over." Katara quickly replied.

"No, I'm not in love with Zuko," Toph spoke slowly. "But I don't think that he and Mai belong together. They're so different. Not quite polar opposites like you and him…"

"What is this about Zuko and me?" Katara had a bad feeling about Toph's mention of her and Zuko being extreme opposites.

"You guys are complete opposites. He's fire and you're water. He becomes loud and annoying when he's angry whereas you become cold and secluded. He's the heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. While you are the daughter of a great warrior, you are still practically a peasant, no offence. You guys cancel each other out. If Zuko hadn't been going out with Mai, I would have sworn that he would have gotten together with you. You guys would have been great together," Toph shrugged. "Too bad it won't ever work out."

Katara couldn't work a sentence out. She had never thought that anybody would think of her being with anybody other than Aang. "Toph, I think you're just tired. I'm going to go to my rooms." Katara rose and left the room feeling dazed. Her room was across the hall. Oh great. That's just what I need right now: to be near the crazy earthbender who thought Zuko and I would get together.

Zuko

Zuko was mindlessly walking down the hall towards the royal sleeping quarters when he bumped into a distraught Katara.

"Hey, did you figure out what was bugging Toph?" He placed an arm on her shoulder to stop her and she slapped it away furiously.

"No, why do you care?" Katara spat.

"She's practically my little sister. What's wrong with you now?" Zuko narrowed his eyes in a glare directed fully at the waterbender.

"Nothing's wrong with me. What's wrong with you?" She glared right back at him.

"You're the one who hit me when I asked a simple question!" His voice rose to nearly a shout.

"Shut up! There's no need to shout!" Katara scolded him.

"You are the one who's being a bitch and causing me to get this frustrated so why don't you fucking calm down and stop looking at me like you want to skin me alive.

"I've had enough of you Zuko!" Katara stomped to her room a few steps away and slammed her door shut leaving Zuko standing in the middle of the hall feeling angry and confused.

He kicked Katara's door to leave her a little message that he was just as angry with her and then proceeded down the hallway towards his rooms. When he reached them, Mai was waiting.

"Zuko, are you okay?" Mai rose and started to walk towards him.

"Leave me alone Mai," Zuko growled. "I don't feel like talking to anyone right now."

"All right then," She lifted her hands up in surrender and turned to the door. "At least…"

"Please Mai," Zuko sat down and put his head in his hands. "I need to just clear my head before dinner."

"Fine," She seemed a bit angry, but as she opened the door she turned back and spoke softly. "If you need me I'll be in my rooms."

Zuko made a motion that he had heard and when he heard the door shut softly he rose. He paced around his room for a little; contemplating Katara's anger towards him. He couldn't find any answers though. This wasn't like when he had joined the Gaang and she was angry at him for betraying her at Ba Sing Se.

Zuko sighed and picked out a suitable outfit for the feast that Ty Lee just had to hold for the arrival of…well… everyone. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw the proud Fire Lord that he had always imagined that he would become. Well he hadn't imagined the scar being there, but it was a mark of who he was. If he had never been scarred, things could have been so different.

Zuko left his room and quickly walked to Mai's. He knew that he was barely going to make it on time to the feast so his fiancée probably had already left, but he just had to check.

He was about to knock when Mai opened the door and smiled. "Are we both ready to go then, Zuko?"

"Yes," Zuko nodded. "And Mai, I'm sorry for being a little rude and rough when I spoke to you. I know you were just concerned. I just needed some time on my own."

"It's fine Zuko. But what was wrong?"

"It's nothing important Mai. I just got into an argument with one of our guests. And… and that person… the argument reminded me of how I used to be… rash and violent. That person brought that back out in me and I'm both angry at that person and myself."

Mai gently put a hand on Zuko's chest to stop their progress to the feast hall. "Zuko, you've changed. You've become much more calm and rational. Yet, you will always be you. There will always be times when you lose your head in an instant and do something rash or break out into a quick burst of violence. But I'm sure that it never lasts long. I'm sure you'll never lose yourself again."

Mai

Mai looked at her boyfriend when she had finished. She normally didn't give Zuko any sort of speech or lecture like this, but he needed it now.

"Thank you Mai," Zuko took Mai's hand off his chest and lightly held it in her hand as if it were breakable. Mai, in exchange, gently curled her fingers around Zuko's.

"Shall we keep heading towards the banquet then?" She smiled.

Zuko wordlessly removed his hand from Mai's and smiled offering her his arm. Mai took it without a word or smile in exchange and they kept heading towards the banquet. Ty Lee had outdone herself. There were marks of all four nations everywhere. From the banners to the tablecloths, everything had the essence of the peace that Aang had brought to the world; with the help of everyone else including her fiancé.

"Mai, we must sit next to each other! It's been so long!" Ty Lee pulled Mai and Zuko towards the center table. There were three tables. One was raised, centered, and horizontal: it was for the Gaang. Lowered, vertical, and flanking the center table were two other tables for any nobles or common people who had been invited to the feast.

Mai sat down with Ty Lee to her right and an elegant Suki to her left. The waterbender was on Suki's other side and Toph was sitting on Ty Lee's other side. Directly across from Mai was her sexy fiancé, Zuko. To his right was that goof, Sokka, and to his left was the new ambassador, Haru. On Sokka's other side was Aang and on Haru's other side was… "Would someone like to tell me what the Boulder is doing at this table?"

"Don't insult the Boulder. He is AWESOME!" Of course, waterbending girl's annoying brother had to have been the one to befriend this guy and bring him.

Ty Lee leaned over to Mai and whispered, "He has no manners and is just… ugh! He's awful!"

Mai nodded and looked at Zuko who was staring at Sokka.

"What's the matter with you Fire Lord?" He asked.

"You should ask yourself that question," Zuko calmly replied. "You're the one who befriended the guy who can't talk in first person point of view."

Sokka just turned to Aang and talked to him. Zuko laughed a little and Mai rolled her eyes. Zuko caught that look and smiled.

"So Mai," Suki turned to her. "How did Zuko propose?"

"We can talk about this after we announce it to the nation tomorrow morning," Mai muttered. Did the Kyoshi warrior not know that she shouldn't speak of such things in such a public area until after it had been announced properly to the nation?

Suki looked taken aback. "All right then. I look forward to hearing the story. I'm sure it'll be quite romantic."

"Yes…" Mai trailed off. She had just remembered that she had never liked any of the Kyoshi warriors. Ty Lee didn't really count.

"Mai," Ty Lee looked at her.

"Yes, Ty Lee, how could I help you?"

"Could you be kinder towards my leader perhaps?"

"I'm kind to Zuko! I haven't spoken to him all dinner, but that's because I'm being sociable on my side."

"I'm talking about Suki!" Ty Lee looked like she was going to punch somebody. She was obviously very defensive and proud of what she had chosen to be. She was pure Kyoshi now. There wasn't much Fire Nation left in her.

Mai turned to Suki, "I apologize if I was abrupt or rude. I hope you can forgive me."

"I forgive you, Mai." Suki didn't look at her. She seemed angry. Mai looked up to see Zuko and Sokka giving her angry glances while speaking to each other. Great, my fiancé sides with the waterbender's brother. This is going to be a long evening.

Haru

Haru looked at Ty Lee. She was much prettier than he had thought she would be. Katara had spoken of her with admiration. She was an excellent and rather speedy fighter according to her. And she looked absolutely stunning tonight. She wore a dark magenta dress with a low-cut neckline and sweet, flouncy sleeves. The dress reached the floor. Her hair fell in slight waves past her waist held back by sparkling diamonds.

"So you're the new ambassador, Haru, right?" The very girl leaned forward. Even though she had just reprimanded her friend Mai, she was able to forget about it and start a new conversation. Haru was impressed.

"Yes, I represent the Earth Kingdom here in the Fire Nation," He was a bit nervous. She seemed sweet, but behind her brown, innocent looking eyes was a keen eye. He could tell because looking past her eyes was the sharp look that one could always associate with intelligence.

"Are you excited to begin your work as an ambassador?"

"I am," Haru kept eye contact with her. "It's going to be hard work, I'm sure. However, in the end, I believe it will be worth it."

"Yes, and I'm sure that you'll grow to have at least a liking for the palace," Ty Lee smiled and looked around the banquet hall. Haru could tell that she was soaking in every detail.

"How long will you be staying in the Fire Nation?" He gently asked.

"Not long, unfortunately," She met his gaze sadly. "I do miss it here. I love being at Kyoshi, but the Fire Nation will always be my homeland."

"What's your favorite thing about the Fire Nation?"

"Oh, the pink sunsets are always magnificent. They only occur in the springtime. I fear that it may be a long time until I see them again. Spring is such a busy time of year for Kyoshi and the sunsets there don't ever seem to hold the same pinkness in them." Ty Lee seemed to gaze off in the distance as if reminiscing on these sunsets.

"Maybe if I happen to be on my way to the Fire Nation from the Earth Kingdom in the springtime, I could pick you up and you could stay for a bit to see your beautiful sunsets. The way you speak of them must mean that they are simply breathtaking."

"Would you really do that?" Ty Lee looked at him as if she wanted to believe him, but didn't dare to.

"I'm a man of my word. I would do that wholeheartedly, my warrior lady." He smiled.

"Oh thank you so much!" Her eyes were filled with a joyful hope.

"I look forward to that day Ty Lee," He couldn't stop smiling at her. She seemed so entirely happy and it was infectious.