Ember Island would be just what this earthbender ordered. It wasn't usually Toph's cup of tea to spend a week with blurred vision and nothing but the terrifying ocean to distract her, but this year was different. First and foremost- Republic City was sweltering. It wasn't just the incredible heat that caused her armor to feel like a convection oven that was cooking her alive, but the humidity that seemed to slow her movements with its thickness. Aang even complained that it was more difficult to airbend lately. Ember Island may be tropical and hot, but there was a breeze at least and it was low humidity which would also alleviate some the pain of getting a comb through Lin's hair in the morning. The wet air caused her hair to take on a life of its own and Toph spent at least twenty minutes a day forcibly holding Lin's arms at her sides as she brushed her hair to screaming protests and kicking legs.

The other reason Toph was looking forward to her upcoming stay in the Fire Nation was Sokka. It had been just over a week since "it" had happened and not too much was different. Sokka confessed over lunch how relieved he was that their relationship had continued on as comfortably as before, with a few added bonuses of course. They hadn't told the rest of the group about their new arrangement yet mostly out of a lack of opportunity.

In the week following, Toph had convinced a shop keeper in the Dragon Flats borough to go on record about his alleged bloodbending experience. He openly identified the well-known crime boss, Yakone, as his attacker in exchange for protection by the Avatar himself. It was a start for the case she was building against Yakone and enough to take him off the streets for one day, but a single testimony wasn't enough to keep him behind bars indefinitely. She would need more people to come forward, but if what they said about him was true it would be quite a risk to do so.

Within hours of the shop keeper's testimony the press were at her door asking for specifics and whipping the population into a panicked frenzy with their speculative headlines. In light of this, the Council had been in what seemed to be an endless string of meetings regarding the safety of the victim, the morality of press embargoes, and passing general measures to calm the citizens. In short, they were both terribly busy. Too busy to discuss the change in their relationship themselves, let alone explain it to Aang and Katara.

On top of it all, Lin's fifth birthday landed in this same week. It was far too hectic to get any sort of a party together so the Gaang decided a proper celebration would be held during their annual vacation instead. In lieu of a party, Toph and Sokka put together a small cake with five candles for her to wish on. Lin was more than pleased with this, blowing her candles out with conviction. She was gifted her very first pair of sunglasses for the upcoming trip by Sokka and Toph gave her a slingshot, which she regretted almost immediately. It was a busy day, but a successful one. Toph tucked her daughter in that night and Lin was sure to reminded her that she was now five whole fingers old, counting off her digits happily.

"Happy Birthday, baby girl," Toph laughed as she kissed her forehead.

"Mom? Want to know what I wished for?"

Toph gave her a soft chuckle, "I have a feeling you're going to tell me either way."

"I wished for Dad to come home," she said quietly, "maybe he can go with us to the beach?"

Toph felt an aching in her chest at Lin's words, "I don't know if he will make it to the beach, kiddo."

"He must be really busy," Lin replied with a yawn, "since he had to miss my party. I guess he'll just have to give me my present later." She said her words with such naive confidence that Toph had to blink back tears at her assuredness.

"We'll see," Toph whispered, giving her another quick peck before leaving to join Sokka in her own room.

Toph felt a twinge of guilt leaving her post at such a busy time, but as she packed one last linen tunic into Lin's knapsack she figured it was a well-deserved vacation.

"You ready to go get pampered, kid?" Toph asked as she fastened the button of Lin's bag and slung it over one shoulder.

Lin who was proudly sporting her new sunglasses was busy making various expressions at herself in the mirror, "Whats that kid's name again? The kid we are staying with?"

"You mean Firelord Zuko?" Toph asked with a laugh.

"No, Mom. The kid," Lin stressed as she stuck her chin out and pulled her bottom lip up further than it ought to go.

"Princess Ursa?"

"That's the one," Lin confirmed, yanking her lip down again and bugging her eyes behind her glasses. "She's bossy."

"That's rich, coming from you," Toph replied.

Lin huffed and snapped the glasses off her face dramatically to look at her unobservant Mother, "She is. Just because she is a Princess doesn't mean she can tell me what to do!"

She placed the glasses back on her face with an exaggerated haughtiness and Toph let out a laugh, "You are so my kid."

Lin nodded emphatically and began miming earthbending forms and shouting "Hands up! I'm the greatest earthbender in the world!" Her movements were spastic and her tone of voice bordering on a screech as she danced about the room pretending to be her legendary mother. Toph placed one hand on her head in a vain attempt to still her movements, "Whoa, ok there. Time to tone it down spaz," she told Lin who responded in a caricature of her mother's voice, "Ok, Mama!"

The gentle warning did nothing to calm her hyper daughter who continued to spin in circles making non-sensical sounds as if she couldn't possibly get all the energy out of her body fast enough.

Toph groaned, she knew it was a mistake to skip morning bending practice to pack. "Do I really have to spend an entire day on the back of sky bison with you?"

Lin laughed maniacally and moved in to tickle her mother's sides. Toph recoiled with an amused scream, "Ok! That's it. We're all eating Lin soup for dinner tonight!" she announced moving in to scoop Lin up, flipping her upside down and holding her by the ankles, "Any last words?"

"I'll stop!" Lin laughed, face reddening by the second. By now, Toph was laughing hard enough that she might lose her grip, so she lowered Lin to the floor, leaning down to kiss her nose. "I love you, you little lunatic."

"I love you too, Mama!" Lin cheered just as Toph gave her one last tickle.

"Ok- lets get going," Toph said finally pulling Lin to her feet, "its officially vacation time!"


Upon arriving at Air Temple Island, Toph was confronted with a fretful Avatar who circled his sky bison emitting all kinds of anxious groans. Katara was already on Appa's back, lifting their bags out of Sokka's outstretched arms and tying them into the saddle. The children were running amok, adding to Aang's anxiety, no doubt.

Lin left Toph's side to join the other kids in creating chaos as Toph raised her bag for Katara to load.

"You aren't bringing your armor or anything, right?" Aang questioned nervously, rubbing his neck.

"Why would I bring my armor?" Toph returned, picking up on his unwarranted distress.

"I just want to make sure there is not too much weight on Appa's back," Aang explained with a sigh. He quickly broke away from her, coming around to Appa's face and petting his nose.

"Sweetie," he called out to Katara, "Do you absolutely need everything in those bags?"

Katara sucked in a breath, "Aang, if you ask me that one more time...I am going to scream."

"Okay, Okay," he relented with a defeated sigh, "Its just that there are a lot of us now and-"

Sokka came around Appa, sauntering up just behind Toph and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Ready for a week in paradise?"

Toph's lips curled into a smile at the sensation of his breath on her neck, "With these two?" She asked skeptically, bowing her head in the direction of Aang and Katara whose conversation had devolved into bickering.

Sokka laughed, "I'm sure we can find some time alone..." he insinuated just as Aang let out a grumble of finality.

"Let's go!" Aang ordered, obviously put out by his domestic dispute. The kids came scrambling over and Bumi made a production of climbing onto Appa from the front instead of the approved way of boarding and was lifted by a forceful gust of wind and planted in the saddle with a thud and a disapproving look from his father.

Toph and Sokka followed the rest of the children up Appa's tail and Toph took a seat next to Katara. She could feel the irritation coming off of her in waves.

"I feel relaxed already!" Toph announced sarcastically as Appa kicked off the ground with a grunt.

"Hey, I'm having a great time," Sokka retorted, leaning back and clasping his hands behind his head.

Katara rolled her eyes as the ocean stretched out before them.


The only stop they made was at Shu Jing where the group had a late lunch with Master Piandao. The elderly swordsman was elated to catch up with Sokka and gave the children a short lesson in fencing, leaving them all atwitter and Bumi in particular dazzled.

Sword fighting was the only thing the kids wanted to talk or think about for the remainder of their trip. It was well after dark when they finally arrived on Ember Island, landing just before the vast estate of the Fire Lord.

The flickering light from burning lanterns lit the faces of the attendants that hurried over to assist the guests in disembarking. The men scrambled to unpack their bags and water Appa while Zuko's equerry came to Aang's aide.

"Avatar Aang, it is an honor," he said with a bow, "Please follow me."

He lead the group up the small set of stairs and into the front hall. A small man in full Fire Nation regalia standing along the wall cleared his throat and stepped forward to announce his sovereign.

"May I present to you, Fire Lord Zuko!" He bellowed just as the double doors opened to reveal Zuko, alone.

The liveried man bowed and Zuko put up one hand, "Thank you, Li. No need for the formality with this group," he said, raising one eyebrow at the weary travelers.

"I'm sorry if we woke you," Aang began with a smile and a bow.

Toph lifted one finger, "For the record, I'm not sorry."

Zuko grinned at them all and bent down to greet the youngest of their group, he reached out picking up Kya's dainty hand and planting a kiss on her knuckles, "Welcome to the Fire Nation, young lady!"

Kya blushed and he moved down the line, giving Bumi a serious salute, then shaking Tenzin's hand in a way that made him feel like an important adult. Next he made his way to Lin who kept her hands clasped behind her back.

"I don't want you to kiss my hand," she stated plainly and Zuko laughed, glancing up at Toph.

"No question which one you belong to," he joked, standing up straight finally and patting Lin on the head instead. He made his way through the group of adults, bowing and hugging, and finally clapping Sokka on the shoulder and giving him a knowing wink. Sokka returned it, a little suspiciously.

"I'm sure you are all tired," Zuko began, " I've had your rooms made up and you'll find some food in there if you're hungry. Otherwise, I will see you all for breakfast in the morning."

At that point the attendants appeared again and offered to show each guest to their rooms, Toph and Sokka lingered in the back as they were lead down the hallway.

"See you after Lin's asleep?" Toph whispered.

"A mind-reader and an earthbender! What are the odds?" Sokka replied with a smile.

The room for Toph and Lin was enormous and a bit difficult to acclimate to, its size translating to a lack of structure for Toph. She found the large four-post bed easily enough and the washing basin thereafter. She was originally alarmed to find that their bags had been unpacked for them and each article of clothing placed into the drawers. It didn't take long to settle in and for Lin to drift off to sleep in the comfort of the overstuffed velveteen bed. When she was sure Lin was out for the night, she found her way back out to the hall and tiptoed in the direction of Sokka's room.


It was a race for Sokka to get everything in the room just as he liked it. Judging by the way Lin's head had begun to dip as they approached the island he figured it wouldn't be very long before Toph was knocking on his door. He pulled the blankets back, opened the window to hear the crashing of the waves, and killed the lights.

And then he sat.

For at least five minutes.

Just as he was getting ready to seek her out himself, the door cracked open letting a tiny ray of light through along with a feminine silhouette. She closed the door and the room went black again and Sokka could hear her feeling her way around in the darkness. He walked over to where he estimated she stood and reached out one hand encountering the curve of her hip. He silently pat himself on the back for this accuracy.

Sokka pulled her in and kissed her without a word. His action seemed to startle her at first and it took a moment for her arms to settle along his shoulders and return it fully. Her kiss was softer than usual and something about it felt naggingly familiar. Sokka's stomach sank and he pulled back, scrambling for the light switch. Finding it, he gave it a flick and the room was bathed in a soft glow to reveal exactly who he suspected he might be kissing.

"...Suki?"