A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. *awkward face*. School is a killer and I'm trying to get all these history/science fair things finished. Ughhh. This was actually supposed to be chapter 11 but Chapter 10 can work as the new chapter 11.

Disclaimer: I own nothingggg

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"You have no idea how happy I am you have returned to this wonderful palace, m'Lady," The doctor sucked up in that pretentious way of his. Little bubbles were dripping over his ear and onto his shoulder. "You are quite a lucky lady I managed to get here when I did, if I must say," he finished jotting down some notes.

I rolled my eyes. Since only a very small amount of people knew I was really the Fire Lord's daughter, the doctor gave me an earful after my "disrespectful" and "discourteous" comment. Oh and insolent, he called me insolent.

Then the Fire Lord gave him an earful for threatening me, his daughter. Biotch.

Okay, okay. Maybe I'm a little biased.

Either way the royal doctor (pain in the ass more like it), Ziti was back to butt kissing which I'm convinced was his true profession. He also shoved Tyro to the side, leaving my mother not only drenched in blood but also in water. Sokka's son moved to stand next to me as far from Ziti as possible.

I gave him a panicked look, my eyes flitting from him to my mother and then back to him. He placed a hand on my shoulder, before mumbling, "I healed her enough. She's good."

"Zuko?" Mom said. I mentally cringed. The way her voice shook reminded me of all the times she acted the parent and I acted the misbehaving child. Zuko moved closer to his wife, but he did not touch her. Except for the space bracelet (courtesy of a younger Sokka). It was wrapped around her upper arm like it always was and my father tapped it with his finger. He was letting her seem him.

I wasn't sure how I felt about the sudden added mushyness my heart decided to become.

I think it and the mixture of the blood would, ultimately make me throw up, but I held it down.

"What happened . . . to Hiro, he . . . was a much better . . . doctor." It seemed to be hard for her to speak but I think she was doing fine. Her eyes were open now which meant she was trying to stay awake and her bare feet were twitching with longing to reunite with the stone floor.

I glanced at Ziti, who was gaping at Mom. He was completely aghast.

Good.

"Vacation," Dad answered with a grin. "They are brothers."

"Waterbender?" my mother called out with a roll of her eyes. Tyro twitched from beside me and took a step forward. His eyes were flashing again. "You did . . . a far better job than . . . the doctor at making me . . . feel better."

Sokka smiled along with everyone else, patting Ziti on the back. "Enjoy the last of your bubble bath there, man."

Ziti dejectedly made his way out of the room. Thank Agni.

"Sokka?" Mom called out. "You're here?"

It was quiet for a really long time. Somehow this whole situation had become some sort of dramatic play write. The guards were unashamedly staring at my mother and father. Two of the lightly armed men had their fingers crossed probably hoping for some heartfelt tears and maybe a kiss or two. The Fire Nation citizen was running his hands through his hair over and over, clutching at the broken arrow like it was his life line. Sokka was about to cry, I could just tell. I didn't want to be here anymore.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "I missed you, Toph."

"I missed you too, Snoozles," she said smiling.

Tyro had his head bowed as he picked up his bending like before. It looked like he was trying to become a turtle. He didn't want to be here anymore than I did. He must have felt me staring because he looked over at me. For a moment I felt like I understood him or I could at least relate to him. His eyes darkened for a moment before returning back to normal. It was freaky. It was too much for me to handle.

I rushed to the door hoping to escape before anyone (i.e. my mother) tried to stop me. I had almost made it when the door opened. Again, mind you.

It was a woman everyone knew as the beautiful, talented, psycho—that's right you guessed it.

Princess Azula.

I wheeled on my father, a finger pointing accusingly at the woman, who, you know, could quite possibly shoot me down quicker than I can say "agni kai". "What is she doing without a leash?" I flinched, my eyes squinting closed waiting for the pain, which never came.

I looked at the fallen princess, who looked amused despite her sneer. "Hm," she said, before pushing past me towards the sick bed of my mothers. "Khol told me about your daughter, Zuzu. She's got a very pretty face," she tutted.

I brought the tips of my fingers to my cheeks. She said that like it was a bad thing.

"Doesn't she, Tyro?" she continued, taking a seat in a wooden chair in the corner.

He glanced at me with a smirk. "Yeah sure."

I rolled my eyes.

"Oh," Azula kept going. "Hello, Tophy. I didn't see you there."

Mom ignored her, closing her eyes. "Tyro was it?"

"Yeah," said boy replied.

"I'm feeling better you can stop now."

"Finally," he grumbled, slipping the water back into the basin. There was sweat trickling down his temple and I noticed for the first time just how warm it had gotten in that room.

"There are too many people in here," I complained quietly. "I'll just leave, give you guys more space, you know?"

"No," Azula said slowly. "I came here to speak with you, Ursa."

"Psh," I said. Why was I acting so weird all of a sudden? "Why would you want to speak with little ol' me?"

The woman rolled her eyes, turning to her brother, who, honestly only had eyes for Mom at that moment. "Oh Fire Lord," she taunted in a sing-song voice. "What do you plan to do with this daughter of yours?"

My father looked utterly confused at the turn of conversation. I sighed, finding a chair quickly to collapse into. Tyro was sitting on the floor wiping at his sweaty face not too far away from me. Dad was sitting on the bed next to Mom and Sokka was hanging on one of the bed posts. I silently hoped the guards would leave. I didn't want them knowing what my father had planned for me.

Heck, I didn't want to know what my father had planned for me.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked focusing on his deranged sister.

"Is Ursa the heir now?" she asked, cutting to the chase.

It was quiet for a long time after that. I knew it wasn't my question to answer but I couldn't help but think about it. Was I? Honestly, I didn't know. It wasn't something I was totally expecting either. I had only come here to meet my father—that was it. All my plans stopped there. I never meant to meat Longshot and his family; I never meant to meet a person like Tyro or a little devil like Kohl; I never in a million years thought about meeting my father's mistress, or their son; I never imagined Azula (my aunt . . . scary, I know) barging into an overcrowded room demanding to know if I was the new heir.

Obviously, I don't think things through.

Did I want to be heir? I glanced at my father from under my eyelashes hoping that no one would notice. Alas, Azula had made me the center of attention, so they noticed. I looked at the ancient and traditional hairpiece that hung loose on just a few clumps of hair. Did I want that?

I looked away undecided.

"Azula, can you leave?" He said his sister's name slow, almost patient, but the rest of the words came out blunt and scathing.

"It's just a simple question, Zuzu," she complained, mocking innocence.

"No it isn't. Ursa arrived here yesterday. I haven't even had time to call a meeting to discuss the matter, and then!" he practically yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. "My wife shows up covered in blood. Do you really think I'm thinking about my heir?"

Azula shrugged. "So you've been a bit busy, I don't see why that would hinder you from coming to a de—"

"Leave," he said running his hand down his face. "You're annoying me."

"Fine," Azula huffed, bringing herself to her feet. I watched her guardedly as she made her way across the room. When she came close to me she scrambled for my chin as if she had received an epiphany. Eventually she let go, spitting on the floor disgusted. "You remind me of my mother."

Finally she disappeared. Dad gestured for the other guards to follow her at a distance. It was getting to hot in this makeshift hospital wing.

"She's gotten better," Mom says suddenly, with a bit more strength. "That was almost boring."

"Mom," I said suddenly. When everyone remaining—Dad, Tyro, Sokka and Mystery Man—became still I realized that I had not yet spoken to her at all. "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

"Ursa, come here," she said sternly.

Eesh. What did I do wrong now?

When I was close she lifted her good arm and wrapped it around my neck in a hug. Mom wasn't the most affectionate of beings. The only times she showed emotions were almost always in a fight, so to have her hug me . . . well that meant something big. I put my hand on her arm and buried my face in her neck. I hadn't realized how much I missed just the smell of her in the past forty-eight hours.

"I'm proud of you, Inferno," she said. I let out a sound that was a mixture of a sob and laughter at the nickname she gave me when I was six. I had almost burnt the entire house down.

"I'm happy you're here, Mom," I said brushing away a lonely tear. "Do you want me to wrap that for you?" I said gesturing towards her wound even though she couldn't see it. It was oozing blood again, but slowly and at least it was clean. I glanced at Tyro, giving him a thankful look.

"Yeah, that would probably be best."

I smiled, looking around the room for something that could pass for gauze. Sokka noticed and reached over me at the bedside table where the idiot Ziti had left his sack of doctorliness. I rolled my eyes, taking the gauze from Sokka's hand and began to work.

"Are you here to stay?" Sokka said suddenly. He didn't sound funny, or hopeful like he most always does. He sounded like he was in a war meeting. There was this look on his face—a look that made me feel sad. His eyes were a window to all the horrible things he had seen and experienced with my mother. I could tell that if he was hurting when my Mom left the first time, it would break him if she left again. I looked at my father. He was no different from his friend.

"Of course she's staying," Tyro suddenly spoke up. All eyes were on him.

"Oh really?" I could hear the grin in Mom's voice when she spoke.

"Really," he returned just as challengingly. "You set this," he brought up his hand to wave a piece of cloth with writing on it, "all up."

"What is that, Tyro?" Sokka said, suspiciously.

"A warning. It fell out of her hand when I was healing her." Tyro handed it to his father to inspect. I quickly tied a knot and then another so I could look at it as well.

"It says . . . 'You're in' ? What the hell does 'you're in' mean?" Sokka said confused.

"Toph," Dad said, suddenly grinning like a maniac. "What exactly did you set up?"

Mom shrugged as she struggled to keep a smile from her face. "The arrow was a Yu Yan arrow wasn't it? And I believe it's the Dai Li who has taken leadership over the Yu Yan archers, yes?" She paused, her fingers twiddling over the surface of her space bracelet. "I just gave you a reason to get involved in the civil war in the Earth Kingdom."

"You're brilliant!" Everyone watched as my father suddenly leaned in and clamped his hands on either side of my mother's face and kissed her. I'd rather not describe this kiss because they got pretty into it at the end. I probably should've felt awkward watching it, I did but I think the happiness overwhelmed that awkwardness.

Suddenly, Mom yelped in pain. It wasn't a sound I associated with her so when it reached my ears my entire body tensed. She was breathing heavily, her good arm clutching at the gauze. I reached out and pulled her hand away afraid that her sudden movement would reopen the wound but it was too late. Her fingertips were tinged with red and the gauze was quickly soaking up fresh blood.

"Well," Mom gasped, her voice still etched with pain. "That was embarrassing." After another breath Mom fell asleep, her eyes twitching every once and a while from beneath her lids. I took the time to notice that she was covered in grime and sweat and I was overcome with the intense urge to embrace her.

Tyro was by my side once again with glowing water encasing his hand. He instructed me to remove the gauze carefully after which his cooling hands covered Mom's gaping hole. Sokka was having a hard time concealing his laughter, much less pointing at the Fire Lord mirthfully. Dad sent him a withering look which honestly made me want to shit my pants.

"It was beautiful," the Mystery Man uttered, his voice level but weak. Everyone turned to him. Waiting to hear what he had to say. "She just spoke to us," he continued his head shaking miraculously, "like she had known us all her life, all of our lives. My mother always used to tell me that Fire Lady Toph gave something back to the Fire Nation the day she married the Fire Lord."

There were tears in this man's eyes now and I crouched beside him and with the clean edges of the old gauze I mopped up as much of Mom's blood as I could from his arm.

"What did she give back?" Sokka said quickly, entranced by the man's humble words.

He gave a chuckle—a chuckle that quickly became a hearty laugh. I couldn't help but smile at his apparent happiness. "It might sound cheesy but she gave this country innocence. Pure happiness that hasn't been felt in over a century suddenly overtook everyone. And it doesn't even matter that she left once." He locked his eyes with me, as if trying to get me to understand just how amazing my mother really was. "She's back now and so is the happiness."

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A/N: pleas reviewww and I hoped you liked it. It was kind of painful to write but I think I did a good job with it :)