Hello again! Before we start two things, not remotly connected to each other: 1. This story is definantly a Toko story, not a Taang. Don't worry. 2. I live in Germany and the drinking age in Germany is 16 for beer and wine 18 for all the 'hard' stuff so yes, I can drink.

On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar


For a while Zuko drifted in the half sleep, half awoken phase that came just before the actually waking

For a while Zuko drifted in the half sleep, half awoken phase that came just before the actually waking. Then he blearily opened his eyes and saw a lot of black hair. Toph, he thought, and sank back into the pillows. But Zuko was awake now and he knew from experience that sleep was not going to return to him.

So he looked at Toph. She was curled up on her side, her back to him so the only thing he could see of her was a mess of black hair and the quiet rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed. He was aware of her presence, her body close to him under the blanket but not touching.

For a long time Zuko just laid there, letting his thoughts drift. He looked at the ceiling, whitewashed and bare as he went over all that had happened in the last days. But before he could reach any certain conclusion there was a sharp knock on the door and Toph raised her head groggily. .

A servant opened the door to the room but didn't entered, "Breakfast is ready."

"We'll be right there," Zuko said hastily as he noticed the man's eyes scanning the room, passing over Toph's shoddily discarded wedding dress on the floor without so much as flicker. The servant bowed and retreated from the room.

Zuko pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed. "You coming?" he asked Toph.

The corner of her mouth quirked up in a grin, "Did I hear breakfast?"


They departed for the Fire Nation that very day, together with Uncle Iroh. In order to cover the distance as quickly as possible they rode in a balloon, a larger, more comfortable version of the Fire Nation's war balloons.

Toph hated it. She hated being in the air, being separated from the earth once again, though in a different way this time. But this was the quickest way to get back to the Fire Nation.

She was standing at the edge of the basket, leaning out to feel the wind blowing across her face, whipping away her bangs. Her fingers gripped the edge of the basket, the rough material rubbing into her palms. In a strange way being here reminded her of being on Appa, of the happiness that had lain on the big creatures back. But it was probably just the wind.

"Hey," Zuko said suddenly beside her and she nearly lost her balance and tipped forward but he caught her arm and kept her from falling forward, the strong, rough fingers holding tightly onto her. The basket was made of some strange materiel that was most definitely not earth and once again she couldn't see a thing. "You shouldn't stand so close to the edge."

"Don't sneak up on me like that," she snapped at Zuko, punching him, "I can't see anything on this stupid piece of shit you know!"

"Hmm," Zuko let go of her arm and also leaned onto the edge of the basket, "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, well it's not going to change is it?" She turned her back to him to face the wind again, "Besides…it's not the same kind of not seeing."

"No?" The gold eyes watched her face, sharp and perceptive.

"No," Toph answered, "before…my powers were cloaked. They weren't there anymore, the connection I feel with the earth, with everything. But here, I'm just removed from it. And even this dumb flying machine has metal on it," she grinned as she pulled out a lump of something that was now unrecognizable and held it up for him. It was obviously a piece of metal that she had unscrewed somewhere and bent. He hoped it was any vital part of the machine.

Zuko watched her as she played with the metal with obvious delight. How could they, he wondered, how could they have taken that away from her? He didn't understand.

"Toph…" he began.

"Yeah?" she picked the metal out of the air and placed it back into her cloths, "What?"

"Your parents-"

Her face hardened, lips pressed together in a thin line but she said nothing so he continued, "It's just…I don't understand. I was watching them at dinner and they didn't seem cruel."

"No," she snorted, "My father is the perfect loving father who cherishes and wants to protect his daughter and my mother is the sweet, patient, complacent wife who wishes for nothing more than family peace." She paused but Zuko didn't interrupt, sensing that more was coming, "Those are exactly their faults! My father: overbearing, controlling, authoritarian who sees me like a weak puppet that mustn't be let out of range and my mother who is so obedient and dutiful that she would never go against him!" Toph's hands were gripping the edge of the basket and she spat into the depths.

"They mightn't be as clearly messed up as your family, well, most of your family," she continued, "but they don't understand me at all. They don't want to understand me, for them it's easier not to see the real me. And you know what? I don't care anymore. I'm never going back there again. After what they did to me…they're not my parents anymore. Parents don't something like that to a daughter they love."

"Yeah, I know," he answered and he did. He understood hating your parents and he understood holding a grudge. She was an earthbender, hard and steadfast. It was the air- and waterbenders that accepted and let go; that went on. Earth and fire…not so much. They were constant, consistent; earth even more so than fire. Earth was strong and steady, unchanging, rough, rugged, stubborn. There was no letting go in earth, no accepting and moving on. Here things were set in stone.

And he understood that.


I don't like this chapter very much actually, at least not compared to the others. But do me a favor and review and then well even cross the one hundred review line!