A/N: This is most definitely longer than I thought it would be. It almost half again as long as most of my other chapters! It's even longer than chapter 5! (Maybe it's a side effect of writing Earthbenders...first Bumi, now Toph...) But it would have been awkward to break this chapter into two parts though, so consider this a present, my dear readers! Such long chapters are not my normal method at all.
Anyway, go read! And tell me what you think.
--
Toph sighed with satisfaction, and pushed away from her seat at the table in Zuko's sitting room, burping contentedly, stretching her legs out and linking her hands behind her head, taking advantage of the more private setting to act like her normal self. She heard an exasperated sigh coming from Katara's direction and that only made Toph grin all the more.
We're not eating in front of the whole freaking Fire Palace, so I don't have to use my manners. I can be ME.
It was something they'd all gotten used to soon after Zuko's coronation. Eating together in a more private setting allowed Zuko and Aang the chance to relax their guard and be themselves, since they wouldn't have a chance to once the day truly started. And Zuko had to put in an appearance at least at one of the main meals in the dining hall or his courtiers got antsy. Something about proper protocol not being observed.
Toph didn't really care.
"Does anyone know where Ryou is?"
That light, airy voice could only be Aang. Though his voice had deepened as he got taller, he still sounded like his element to Toph.
"It is early. He might not be up yet."
That calm, soothing voice was Katara. Of course, it helped that the Waterbender was sitting right next to her, but Toph could pick out each of her friends by voice alone. She could use her 'sight' to observe the pattern of breathing of each person around her to figure out who was speaking, but occasionally she liked to exercise her more normal senses as well. This was one of those mornings.
"He practically passed out in his food yesterday," sarcastic and sharp, with a veil of laziness masking the keen mind Toph knew he possessed; Sokka. "I did teach him a lot yesterday." Toph knew he was probably preening at his teaching skills, or what he thought were teaching skills, anyway. She didn't bother to flatten her feet on the ground to check.
"Are you sure you didn't just scare him off swords forever, Sokka? After all, being repeatedly whacked on the head isn't very conducive to proper learning, or encouragement."
"I did not hit him that hard! And I only got his head once!"
Toph grinned as the conversation devolved into sibling bickering for a moment.
"He was up late last night, wandering the gardens." Quiet, thoughtful, with a slight hint of a wicked sense of irony. Zuko.
"Wandering the gardens?"
"He didn't even bother to change into night clothes when I left him in his room. He was asleep before I could get back to the door. You sure he wasn't just sleepwalking?"
"I'm sure."
Silence for a few moments. Toph heard an exasperated huff of breath from two directions; one across from her and another to her side.
"Well?" Sokka and Katara demanded in unison.
"What?" Zuko's voice would have sounded even and calm to any one else but Toph. The heir to the Bei Fong fortune, however, could hear the slight hint of amusement in the Fire Lord's tone of voice. Zuko was messing with the Water Tribe siblings deliberately.
Toph wholly approved. Katara always took things too seriously and Sokka could always use someone around who could take his ego down a notch or two without having to throw a boulder his way.
"Why was he wandering the gardens?" Sokka's voice had taken on the tone of one forced to explain something blaringly obvious to a student who was usually very quick to grasp such things. Toph made a bet with herself, flattened one foot on the floor and grinned. Sokka was miming a person walking around in a daze, complete with limp arms and staggering gait.
"Because he couldn't sleep?" Zuko's tone matched Sokka's exactly and Toph stretched her legs out again, still grinning widely.
"Well, of course he couldn't!" Sokka nearly shouted. "That's obvious!"
"Then why did you ask?"
Oh yeah, there was a definite note of amusement in Zuko's voice. More pronounced now than earlier, and Toph knew her Fire Nation friend had to be wearing that exasperating expression that combined a hint of a smirk and bland political politeness at the same time. Katara had described it to her a few weeks back, when Toph had asked why so many of the envoys left a meeting with Zuko either extremely flustered or extremely surprised.
"You don't know? But it's…oh, you can't see how he looks. I forgot." Katara's voice dropped in apology. Toph scowled and waved the older girl on. "Well…I guess you need to know what he looks like. His facial features are sharp, angular. And the scar on the left side of his face…it makes him look intimidating at times." Toph nodded. She knew about the scar. "And Zuko's got the perfect politician's face when he puts his mind to it. I would never have thought he could hide his emotions so well. He always seemed so…well, I guess open about them, while he was chasing us around the world. And then after he joined us, he didn't really try to hide them…"
"Katara…"
"Anyway, he'll use that perfectly bland politician's face and the right side of his mouth will curve up just the smallest bit. You almost don't notice it if you're not looking. It always seems like he's restraining a smirk or a sneer."
"Ah."
"That's why the envoys always get so flustered around him. They never expected the hot-headed Prince Zuko to be a good politician, and when it looks like he's smirking at them without actually doing so…"
"Serves them right."
And now, she just had to wait for it…in three, two, one…
"Hey! Zuko! I'm not one of those stupid envoys! Quit looking at me like that!"
Toph started to laugh, then, great guffawing laughs, the ones that made Katara cringe when they were supposed to be formal with the court. She managed to get herself half-way under control, stood and snagged Sokka's arm as she made for the door.
"Sokka and I will see why Ryou's still in bed this late, Aang. You and Zuko are gonna be late if you don't get moving soon. And don't you have a meeting with Master Pakku, Katara?"
She heard her friends make various squawking noises and scramble for the last of their breakfasts. What would they do without her to keep them in line?
--
Ryou sat at his window, which sported a nice seat just below it, and watched the early morning sky. He had been up late the night before, talking to Zuko, but he had woken just after dawn, as he usually did at home. He had made his bed and on the smoothed covers a travel bag rested, packed and ready to go.
"I don't want to go," Ryou whispered to the pink and purple sky, which was slowly shifting towards the normal blue of a Fire Nation sky. "I've done so much here, and I've made friends…how can I just leave?"
Ryou sat there for a long time, long enough that the sun had risen high in the sky and the rest of the palace had woken up to go about their days. Ryou sighed and got up. He really should show himself soon, or he'd worry his friends.
A pounding on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Hey! Ryou! Wake up, already!"
"Toph, you don't have to try to break his door."
"I'm not trying to break his door. If I was trying, trust me, Snoozles, it'd be broken."
Ryou snickered at the banter going on between Sokka and Toph and threw his travel pack into a corner as he made his way to the door. He would find a way to tell them he was leaving later, but he didn't want them to suspect anything right now. He'd just have to act normally.
It couldn't be that hard, could it?
--
Toph maintained her banter with Sokka as they dragged Ryou down to the kitchens to get something to eat. The Fire Nation boy had missed breakfast, holed up in his room as he'd been. But underneath the cover of the banter, Toph was listening and seeing.
"Why were you still in bed, anyway, Ryou? Kinda late to be sleeping!"
"I was just tired, is all. You worked me pretty hard yesterday, Sokka!"
Ryou's breathing didn't indicate he was lying. There had been a jump in his heart rate as he spoke, but it had quickly settled down, and now was simply doing a faster than normal tattoo against his chest. Toph cocked her head, as if she were listening for Sokka's response, but the move was more a reflection of her confusion. Ryou was good at hiding his reactions if the only thing that had changed was his pulse and heartbeat, both things no normal person would notice. Why was he lying about why he was in bed for so long?
"You can't tell me you didn't enjoy it though." Sokka preened and strutted as Ryou laughed and conceded the point. "I'm an excellent teacher!"
Toph rolled her sightless eyes and jabbed Sokka in the side with her elbow. He grunted and doubled over with a whuff of displaced air. She grinned.
"Don't get too full of yourself, Snoozles," she warned him in an overly sweet tone of voice. Ryou's heartbeat was starting to slow down. That was good; if they could get him to relax, maybe they could get him to slip up, as well, and tell them what was going on.
"Not…a chance…of…that happening…with you…around," Sokka managed to gasp out, one hand rubbing his side and Toph could sense he was looking her way as he spoke. She simply grinned cheekily. Ryou's only partially smothered laugh moved ahead of her. Toph cocked her head, curious. She focused her senses, and caught the smell of fresh-baked bread.
Ah, he found the kitchens, she thought to herself, dragging Sokka after the other boy, declaring her intention of finding more food as well. Whatever Ryou was worried about, it's not something I can sense anymore. His heart rate and pulse are normal. I'll just have to be alert.
A small self-satisfied grin appeared on Toph's face. She did so enjoy a good challenge.
--
Sokka leaned against a momentarily unused table in the kitchens, watching Ryou and Toph sweet-talk some extra food out of the cooks. Something seemed off about Ryou today.
But I don't think he's bothered by not being a bender anymore. I think we fixed that yesterday. And he doesn't really seem worried. More…gloomy, I guess. But why? What happened between last night and this morning to make him sad?
"Absolutely not. I know you already had breakfast, Toph, and it's not my problem if your friend slept in too late to get any food. I'm sure he can make do on a few apple-pears until lunch."
"But Ryou hasn't been here before, he's never tasted any of your sweet rolls, Sanaz. Please? Just two?" Toph begged with the wide-eyed innocent expression she assumed whenever she wanted people to notice the fact that she was a little blind girl more than the fact that she was one of the Avatar's teachers and could take care of herself perfectly well. Sokka snorted to himself with amusement as the head cook wilted slightly under the hopeful gaze of the little Earth Kingdom girl - though it really wasn't a 'gaze,' since the word implied being able to see - and the hangdog and sleepy-eyed-but-trying-to-hide-it expression Ryou had adopted.
Sanaz finally did capitulate and handed a small basket filled with two sweet rolls and three apple-pears to Ryou, casting an admonishing look Toph's way as she did.
"And don't think you fooled me with that little act of yours, Mistress Toph," Sanaz warned, though her eyes glinted merrily. "I know perfectly well how you conducted yourself just now is very far from your usual behavior."
"But, Sanaz!" Toph protested, keeping to her character. "I was only helping a friend!"
"Go on, get out of here you," Sanaz shooed the two younger children out and waved for Sokka to depart as well. He pushed off from the table as Sanaz turned more fully to him. "Don't you let them get into trouble now," she warned.
"Oh, I'll try. But it's hard enough keeping Toph in line, what with her love of magic dirt…"
Sanaz chuckled and shooed him out of the kitchen as well. Sokka went willingly, darting forward to snag one of the apple-pears before Toph took his.
That gives me an idea though.
"Hey, Toph! Ryou! I've got an idea."
--
"What are we doing?" Ryou asked, peering warily around the clearing Sokka had dragged Toph and him to.
"We're going to train!" Sokka said, grinning widely. "See the trees are the perfect shield for sneak attacks and the terrain around here can easily be used to get higher ground or-"
"Oh. We're playing hide-and-explode?" Ryou asked innocently. Sokka choked on air and frantically slashed his hands in a negative gesture.
"We're – not – playing – a – game." The Water Tribe boy ground out between his teeth, attempting to control his still slightly erratic breathing.
"Oh, relax, Sokka," Toph drawled. "Yeah, Ryou, you might as well call this hide-and-explode, if you want. It's the same thing, basically. Snoozles just likes feeling important when he pretends it qualifies as real training."
"Toph!"
"What? It's not like you can call a halt when you're actually in a fight."
"But the point of training is to fix things as you go!"
"But why are we training?"
Ryou's interjection cut through the other two's argument and Toph grinned, inclining her head towards Sokka in an indication that the older boy should field the question.
"What good would that lesson I gave you yesterday be if you don't practice more?" He demanded. Ryou blinked, and Sokka grinned, a small glint in his eyes the only hint of his humor. "Unless, of course, you've decided you don't want to learn more."
"No! I want to learn more. So how do we do this?" Ryou asked eagerly. Sokka grinned and started to explain the rules to Ryou. Toph stood slightly back from them both, with her arms crossed and a small satisfied grin on her face. Sokka couldn't help but imitate her as he watched Ryou.
He's forgotten whatever got him all gloomy this morning. Let's see if we can keep it up.
--
Aang and Zuko departed the meeting room as quickly as was polite, and headed immediately for the small sitting room that Katara and Suki had found. The first of this final round of meetings had not gone as well as they had hoped.
"I don't get it. Everything was going so well, too," Aang lamented softly. Zuko reached the sitting room door first and wrenched it open with more force than was strictly necessary.
"It's politics, Aang. They all want something and as we just saw none of those desires coincide." The Fire Lord stalked inside and kicked at a footstool, sending it flipping end over end into the corner. Aang, glancing after the abused stool, sighed deeply. It'd been a long time since Zuko had taken out his anger on his surroundings like that.
"They were all so eager to end the war though, and now…if they're not careful, someone is going to start a new one all over again."
Zuko growled again, pacing around the room like a caged tiger-bear and Aang could tell the Fire Lord was attempting to control his anger by the way the few lit candles in the room flared and dimmed in sync with Zuko's breathing.
Aang sighed again and flopped into a chair, staring morosely at the wall opposite him. He really didn't understand why the same people who had been so eager to end the war were now so determined to make it so that their respective nations came out on top of the peace agreements. It would start another war if some of the proposals in the meeting today ever were seriously considered.
It doesn't make any sense at all. How can-
Aang's thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt opening of the door, rather reminiscent of the way Zuko had banged it open not so many minutes ago. The airbender looked up, startled, as Zuko spun on his heel, mouth open to yell at whoever had intruded upon their sanctuary, be they servant, noble, or envoy.
And closed his mouth, just as quickly, as Sokka stormed in, face thunderous and his entire posture radiating contained fury.
"Sokka?" Aang asked, confused. He had rarely seen the Water Tribe boy so angry. Zuko stayed back, out of the way, not very inclined to invite any of Sokka's snipping his way at the moment.
"I've HAD it!" Sokka exploded as his furious gaze settled on Aang. "I have tried EVERYTHING I could think of and a few things I NEVER want to do again!"
Toph marched into the room then, dragging a perplexed looking Ryou by the arm. Her expression was just as thunderous as Sokka's and Aang and Zuko were frankly amazed the floor hadn't started to vibrate in reaction to her anger yet.
"Toph, Sokka…what's-?" Aang tried again to get some sense out of one of his friends, only to be cut off by Sokka's continuing rant.
"I'm running out of ideas!" Sokka seemed to take this as a personal affront. "I'm not dealing with this anymore, Aang! Do your freaky Avatar magic stuff, or whatever you want to call it, but FIX HIM!" An accusing finger zeroed in on Ryou, who looked slightly panicked to have Sokka's ire focused on him. The older Water Tribe boy spun on his heel, and stomped out of the room, declaring, "I'm going to go hit something!"
Aang didn't have time to do anything more than take a breath before Toph stalked over to him, still dragging Ryou. She shoved the Fire Nation boy into Aang and planted her hands on her hips.
"If I have to listen to his heart going at speeds that could challenge a cheetah-fly at its quickest anymore while he's trying to pretend nothing's wrong with him, I'm going to hang him upside down from the CEILING!!" she declared and stalked back out of the room, slamming the door in her wake.
Zuko, Aang and Ryou stared at the slightly vibrating door in astonishment, then turned identical perplexed looks on each other.
--
Zuko leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, just listening to Aang and Ryou throw stories back and forth at each other about Ryou's great-grandfather. For a person Zuko'd never met, he was learning quite a bit about him.
Kuzon, for instance, in the story Aang was currently relating, apparently had at one time attempted to make a modified version of an Airbender's glider, and had crashed it into the side of his neighbor's house when he tried to test it. This story inspired quite a bit of laughter and no little bit of snickering on Aang's part. No doubt the memory was very clear for him, since while it had happened over a hundred years ago, for Aang, it had only been about three years since the incident.
"…never seen Jabir so mad! He made Kuzon clean off all the scorch marks and fix all of the holes he put in the side wall. And his dad made him do extra chores for a week because of it."
"He really tried to make a glider that would work with firebending?"
"Yeah, he said it wasn't fair Amihan and I got to go flying around all the time, whenever we wanted, so he was going to find a way to do it, too. We tried to tell him flying a glider wasn't as easy as it looked, but…" Aang shrugged, laughter still filtering through in his voice. Ryou started to laugh again. "Alright," Aang said, "your turn."
"Okay…" Ryou paused a moment, thinking of a story. "Oh! This one is my sister's favorite. See, when my grandfather was about ten-"
The door opened just then, interrupting Ryou's story and causing Zuko to open his eyes. Katara stood just inside the still open doorway, eyeing all three of the boys inside with an exasperated expression. Zuko and Aang shifted a bit nervously, unsure if Katara was going to imitate her brother and start shouting. Ryou simply looked curiously at her.
"Are any of you aware of the time?"
"Uh…no." Aang admitted after glancing side-to-side at Zuko and Ryou, who both shook their heads at him. "Why? There aren't any more meetings today, so we don't have to be anywhere."
Katara rolled her eyes. "No, there are no more meetings today. But you might remember that you still have to eat, don't you? Dinner has already been started."
Zuko paled. Katara smirked at him. "Katara, Archana isn't…"
"Oh yes, she's on the war path. You're late, Fire Lord. And you didn't show up at lunch time because of the meeting."
Zuko didn't bother to answer. He hastily pulled his rumpled clothing into a more orderly arrangement and darted out of the room past her. Katara grinned and turned to face Aang.
"Archana will probably never let him eat if you don't try to cool her down some, Aang."
"I still don't get why the Fire Lord has to be present at one of the meals in the main dining hall. What's the point?"
Katara shrugged. "I have no idea, but Archana will probably skin him alive for being late if you don't go help him calm her down."
Aang looked briefly mutinous before he levered himself to his feet, shooting an apologetic glance Ryou's way.
"I'm sorry-" he started, but Ryou cut him off with a smile.
"Don't worry about it, Aang. I understand. Besides, I need to eat too. I hadn't realized it was this late already."
Aang, Ryou and Katara left the sitting room together, walking just slightly more quickly than usual to reach the main dining hall before the Mistress of Palace Ceremonies flayed the newly crowned Fire Lord for being late to dinner.
--
"Proper ceremony and tradition cannot just be ignored, Fire Lord! You should know that better than anyone. Our nation has a very proud history and to simply disregard one of the-"
"Archana, I did not disregard the tradition. I simply lost track of the time."
"-most ancient traditions we have is irresponsible-"
"I was not being irresponsible, Archana. And aren't we wasting even more time by arguing about this?"
"-sure your mother, Princess Ursa, taught you better than to disregard such hallowed traditions-"
Aang and Katara, coming up the corridor behind the dining hall, winced at the last words the Mistress of Palace Ceremonies had fired at their friend. Ryou wasn't certain how to react. He was sure the way the woman was speaking to Zuko was way past insubordination and surely such a lecture, even if deserved, would be better conducted in private.
"That wasn't a good thing to mention," Katara murmured.
"I'd better go help him before Zuko decides he's had enough and does something he'll regret later," Aang sped up his pace and rounded the corner in time to interrupt Zuko's angry rejoinder.
Ryou moved to follow, hoping he and Katara could slip past the confrontation without getting noticed by the angry woman and was startled to feel a hand on his arm holding him back. He glanced over his shoulder to see Katara shake her head at him.
"Do you think we should go around another way?" he asked, perplexed. True, he'd not been in the palace long, but he was pretty sure having to go around to one of the other entrances to the dining hall would mean back-tracking through at least five different corridors and take at least another ten or so minutes to get to the dining hall.
"No, this way will be fine in a moment, but I wanted to talk to you, Ryou." Katara drew him to the side of the corridor, and regarded him with serious blue eyes. "We're friends, aren't we?"
"Yes! We haven't been for very long, but I still think we are."
"Good. Cause I think of you the same way. And so does everyone else. So, I'm going to tell you something, as a friend, that I think you need to hear."
"Okay…" Ryou shifted uncomfortably. He had a feeling Katara had also gotten wind of his preoccupation and was now going to take her turn at cheering him up. Aang had tried earlier by getting him to share more stories about his great grandfather while Zuko threw in comments every now and then. I thought I hid my feelings better than this. Everyone seems to know I'm worried about something. But they can't know why I'm preoccupied; at least that's something. I managed to divert everyone else today, even if they don't believe that I'm fine. I just have to do it once more. However, he found himself unable to forestall Katara's words, not in the face of her sincere wish to help him.
"Ryou, something's been bothering you all day. I could have seen that even without Sokka telling me. But we're friends and we just want to help you." Katara placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and continued quietly. "I won't push you if you really don't want to talk, but will you tell me what's bothering you? I want to help."
Ryou stared at the ground beneath his feet for a few long moments. Katara's hand never moved from his shoulder as she waited and in the face of her patient persistence, he felt his words of denial die before they ever left his mouth.
Huh, he thought to himself, Katara's managed to do what no one else today has. She just told me she didn't want to pry if I was really determined not to speak and said she'd listen if I wanted to talk. And that was more effective than everything else the others have tried today.
"I…" Ryou fumbled with his words for a moment, and then sighed as he looked up at the Water Tribe girl. "I don't want to go back home. That's what's bothering me." He scuffed the tip of one shoe against the floor, smiling slightly. "I've done so much since I got here. And not just fulfilling my family's duty to the Avatar. I made friends. And I've learned new things, like the swordsmanship Sokka's been teaching me." The Fire Nation boy looked back up at Katara. "But I was only supposed to be here long enough to give Aang the letters and tell him why they were written. I really should have left this morning. I finished everything I was supposed to do. My family will worry if I'm gone much longer."
"Ryou," Katara's smile was evident in her voice. "Just because you go back home, do you think that means we can't be friends anymore?" Ryou blinked up at her.
"But…all of you have to be here to make sure the peace talks go alright. I can't expect you to come visit me. It would be selfish, after how long the nations have been at war."
"Oh, Ryou, that's not true. You're not selfish to want to keep the friends you've made. We'll come visit you. I know Aang remembers where your great-grandfather used to live, and if I remember right, you mentioned the first night your family still lived in that village."
"Yeah, we do, but-"
"But nothing. We'll come visit. I want to meet your siblings anyway. They sound like fun." Ryou blinked, and a tentative smile started on his face.
"Really? You'd come to visit me?"
"We all will, Ryou. Don't worry about that. As soon as the peace talks are done, we're going to need a vacation. I think it'd be a wonderful idea to spend part of that time with you and your family." Katara's smile suddenly turned into a wicked little grin. "Besides, you agreed to let Sokka teach you the sword. Don't think he'll forget that. He'll keep bugging you about more lessons for a LONG time."
Ryou grinned himself. "I don't mind. I like the lessons. And…maybe…" He hesitated, but went on anyway. "You think Sokka would teach my little sister too? She'd love that."
Katara laughed. "You can ask him at dinner. Come on, let's go."
As the Water Tribe girl towed him after her to the dining hall, Ryou grinned widely to himself.
I wonder what my family will think when the heroes of the war come to visit? And what would they think about Zuko being my friend?
Ryou giggled at the images in his mind's eye. Oh yes, the reactions of his family to everything he had accomplished during his brief stay in the Fire Palace would be amusing indeed.
