"How is he?" Toph reached out for the female.
Toph's hands found their way to a youth's face. Soft and smooth like the surface of a small body of water. Having no sign of any sort of disfiguration from age or the harshness of the elements evident on her. Yes, she was indeed young... but why?
"My lady, this servant has spoken to your husband. This servant requests to seek solitude in a quiet place, please." The way she spoke was so shy and dainty.
"Of course,"
The conversation was almost six hours ago. By now the sun had set and darkness was reigning over the sky. And in Zuko's room there laid the royal family, all nicely knit together. The center of a happy family by an outsider's eyes.
Toph found comfort with her husband as she laid beside him while her fingers ran through dark hair. The Fire Lady hummed softly as she heard her daughter's soft snore beside her. The child was out cold and her back drew closer to her parents' warmth.
"Liu, my cousin... we knew each other as kids." Zuko yawned and he leaned in closer to Toph's belly. "She was the weird one out of the three kids. Her family had lost favor with my father. And Azula never liked her nor did Ty Lee nor... Mai." Zuko said numbly, he was drifting to and fro from sleep. His arms reached around his wife while his hands rested on his daughter's side.
Toph kept humming as she listened to Zuko's mild chatter, she couldn't help but smile every so often. Whatever induced her husband to start rambling was beyond her but she was silent as he spoke.
"I never saw her again after my banishment. They just vanished.. I was told they were all killed." And finally... Zuko fell asleep. His voice trailed off into the night and the royal family fell completely silent as the darkness took it's course.
And by the next morning Toph had made her way from the bed and opened the chamber doors. Needless to say the blind, pregnant woman had almost fallen over a body that sat in front of her husband's chambers. Toph was quick to scold and throw a fit at the person who got in her way. But after realizing who sat quietly before her Toph was quick to apologize.
"This servant has spoken to the nearby spirits."
Toph rubbed her eyes as she sat on the floor beside Liu. They began to whisper softly in the quiet corridor even though this meant the Earth bender would need help getting up; her stomach was larger than life itself.
"Tell me, Liu, what's going on?"
"The Fire Lord is being punished, Mistress. Punished for his transgressions against the Earth spirits."
"What do you mean punished by the Earth spirits?" Her whisper came out hoarse and rushed.
"This servant is told that he must understand his transgressions against the Earth spirits. It is not uncommon fo– "
"Understand what exactly?"
There was silence between the two females. Liu's heartbeat had not once sped up, her calm demeanor frightened the Fire Lady. "You, Mistress."