Apprehension

"You and Zuzu are getting awfully comfy." Azula teased with her eyebrows tugged inwardly. She was pressed up against the back wall of her cell, her hands tightly cuffed behind her back. The 'prodigy' was in chains, but her expression didn't show any fear, or signs of weakness.

Even while Azula didn't look any less fearsome, this time, Toph knew that she was dreaming. She closed her eyes and creased her brows, trying to wake up, but unfortunately, the room around them didn't change a bit. The tiny earthbender couldn't just flick her eyes open and return to the real world. This was a different kind of dream—but still a dream, she had to reassure herself of that much, or she'd lose it.

The last thing Toph wanted to do was wake up screaming, again.

"I'm dreaming again." Toph shut her eyes experimentally, but still, nothing would work. Nothing could make her feel that she wasn't still in a room with Zuko's wretchedly evil sister.

Azula rose to her feet, nearing the jail bars and wrapping her hands rather knowingly around the bars. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." Azula's voice was no more than a sickeningly sweet coo. Toph thinned her eyes. There was nothing worse than a good liar.

"I am sleeping." Toph clenched her jaw, likely giving herself a headache. "How's that cement feel on your back, Princess? Real royalty, huh?" Toph's voice had gotten rather loud, and Azula lunged forward, a flame leaving her mouth as she nearly howled at the broken air. Toph ducked, the heat leaving the air nearly smoldering.

It took a moment for Toph to catch her breath in the depths of her throat. "This isn't even real." She warned the both of them, or perhaps it was no one in particular. This was the second night in a row that she'd dreamt of Azula. Why couldn't she just wake up?

"Oh, come on," Azula tittered. "Even you aren't that blind. You can see it, can't you?" The sly tone of her voice made Toph gulp. It felt like there was something that the firebender was hiding, but at the same time, it could've easily just as well been a façade. None of this could have even mattered a bit.

The unfortunate facts were just that when it came down to Azula, Toph couldn't tell which was which…not in the least.

Even the unshakable Toph Beifong had to swallow, at that point. Was pride even an important matter when it came down to dreams? Was this something that was even remotely up for discussion? The idea of giving up to Azula just made Toph angry—she didn't want to.

However, her curiosity got the better of her faster than she'd realized it. "See what?"

By then, Toph had come uncomfortably close to the cell, her hair covering her face, suspecting, but at the same time, fragile. It was difficult to mesh those two expression—mostly because they were two different completely sides of Toph, whether or not she wanted to admit it. At one point, her eyes were that of the girl she'd once pretended to be: frail and small, blind and weak, useless and helpless to her parents' throne. The second look was the girl she'd become: cool and calculating, strong and effective, positive and rock-hard in her battle strategies.

Azula's hand, pale and slim through the bars, clutched Toph's wounded shoulder. Instead of being completely healed like it had in the previous dream, this time, the scar was still there. Of course, Toph couldn't feel it, but the moment Azula gave it a less-than-gentle squeeze, there was a searing pain that followed all the way into her insides.

It stopped at her chest, and while Toph gritted her teeth, Azula kept her hand firm on the wound. It wasn't until there was smoke that rose into the air that Toph's eyes widened—the smell of burnt flesh, and here, it was her own.

Toph slunk to her knees, and Azula took her hand back rather triumphantly, letting the smaller girl fall, defeated, to the ground.

"Pathetic. You know…that it doesn't have to be real. Your fate is already sealed."

The horrendous amount of pain only slightly disappeared when Toph sat up in a cold sweat. It had been much worse than the first one, because this time, she'd felt the unmistakable pain that had taken over her body in shivers, and she wrapped her arms around her core.

Zuko had been standing in the doorway for no more than a minute—a fresh change of bandages in his arms until she'd sat up. He hadn't wanted to disturb her, in fact, if she hadn't woken up right then, he probably would've left the bandages there and headed off. Instead, he bolted to her side, setting the bandages down next to her and watching her face for the first sign of the problem.

Seeing her like that made him nauseous. Was her shock from Sozin's Comet still eating at her? He had been about to kneel down by her side, but she scooted over to the left edge of the bed, giving him room to sit down.

"The maids said you had a bad dream yesterday morning, too."

Toph responded with a small shrug. "I might've seen a little more of your sister than I would' a liked to." Admitting that much with a reluctantly honest glint in her eyes, Toph slouched where she sat, her spine curling forward to outstretch her arm in Zuko's direction.

Tilting his head empathetically—having known all too well how nightmares haunted for as long as they possibly could, Zuko helped her get her injured arm out of the sleeve. It hadn't struck Toph as awkward when it'd been the servant lady helping her practically get out of her shirt, but with Zuko, she could nearly feel her cheeks heating up. It hadn't hit him, apparently, so she didn't make any note to mention it.

"She used to be in a lot of my bad dreams, too." He added quietly, unraveling the bandages wrapped loosely around her shoulder, and down her arm. They'd been tight for the first few days of wearing it, but the wound needed some room to breathe, and bandages that were much too tight were likely to make the situation worse.

When she finally felt the cool breeze from the window brush against her shoulder—bandage-less, she let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to be free of them, but she knew that a fresh batch was coming right back.

"Oh yeah?" Despite the taunting sound of her voice, Toph's expression seemed more worrisome. "Big, bad royal Heat Miser afraid of his little sister?"

Zuko, however, didn't appear phased by her gesture, not really responding to her commentary, aside from arching a brow. "You seemed pretty scared." He retorted, his voice sort of briefly monotone as he took a good look at her burn. Toph's expression hardened, having noticed that she hadn't felt the replacement of any new bandages, and Zuko hadn't said anything else.

"I bet it's gonna be there forever." She murmured rather solemnly, and Zuko watched her eyes all too knowingly for her liking. Whether she was okay with it or not, he knew exactly what she was going through, however, it was much worse in his case. Even so, he didn't make her feel like it was wrong to be angry about the facts.

He started the re-bandaging process from the inside of her arm, holding the roll gently against the inside of her forearm as he pressed his lips together. "Just like the one on my face?"

"I think your face looks great." Her smile was a little more natural the second time around. Zuko rolled his eyes, chuckling dryly as he'd nearly finished the bandages, coming to a stop right before the rest of the soon-to-be-scar.

"…Thanks, Toph. That means a whole lot coming from you."

She used her good arm to throw a punch right as he'd finished up the wrapping process, but her face fell limp soon afterwards. Having quieted down, her eyelids drooped. Quite frankly, she was emotionally exhausted, and certainly not used to all of this turmoil.

"How big is it?" Her head tilted in the smallest bit, furrowing her brows, but he was completely lost by the question. Not having understood what she'd meant, his eyes widened.

"W-what?"

"My scar, you idiot!" She shouted in response, quickly flustered by his second-guess in the conversation. What else could she have possibly meant, especially in a situation like this? It wasn't like anything had really happened, anyways.

Zuko's pink cheeks quickly settled—much faster than Toph's did this time. It was a nice change, for his sake but evidently not for hers. He gently brushed the back of his hand down the burn, which Toph made a small effort to not wince, utilizing a tense expression to the best of her ability. Inclining his head to get a better look at it, he blanched at its menacing mark on her skin.

Azula had made no mistake doing a number on Toph, and Zuko immediately regretted allowing the small earthbender to come along with him in the first place…even though she had very well saved his life.

"It's pretty large." He broke the silence with a look of indecision, not sure how she would feel about a rather sizable marking that traveled across her shoulder, and even a little down her arm. Zuko didn't know how she generally felt about it at all, until he noticed her come up with a cocky grin, flexing her healthy arm and raising a brow in his direction.

At his strange look, she shut her eyes in her own self-fulfillment. "What? I can appreciate a good battle scar."

Not amused by this idea, Zuko huffed. "It's not something you should be proud of!"

"Making it out alive?" The confusion was written all over her face, an undocumented scrawl that spilled about her expression. It hadn't seemed like a bad idea to be proud of surviving such an incident, especially since Azula was so dangerous. If anything, upon telling the story, it would be an interesting accompaniment to the tale.

"No, almost getting killed!" Zuko recoiled, the sourness making his voice cracked. The memory wasn't one that he kept very close to his heart…even while Toph had made fun of him for crying about it. "Don't sport it. Scars should never be exploited…especially not on a young girl."

Toph lowered her head—Zuko was probably right about that much.

"Don't get your robes tangled up, Candlestick…" She squinted, her nose scrunching up as she rested her face into her good palm. "I'm not stoked about it, either."

Sighing, Zuko scratched the back of his neck. "Well maybe I should—"

"Come on!" Toph quickly got up, hopping to her feet from the opposite end of the bed, pulling his hand with her fully-functioning left arm and using her brief burst of energy to run all the way across the corridor, down to a small garden she'd sensed from when they'd passed through the previous night, after the time she'd spent at the ball.

Zuko knew better than to resist, so he hurried after her, holding her hand as tightly as he could. "You can't be serious!"

When they finally stopped, she traveled her way towards the edge of the garden, where there was a rather large open space of flatland beside a small pond. Creating space between the two of them, she took a few more precautionary steps backwards.

"Oh, I'm deadly serious." She readied her hand—one a little easier than the other, pressing her feet into the soil. "How am I supposed to get better if I don't practice to keep up my strength?"

Not impressed with her excuse Zuko didn't even bother coming into a fighting position. She must've been crazy if she thought he was about to surrender to her insane urges when she'd just survived an awful crisis. At one point, he'd wanted to get rid of his frustrations before he'd completely healed as well, and Zuko knew all too well how that turned out.

"It hasn't even been a full week yet! Your arm hasn't had any time to heal!" Zuko's warning seemed to go through one ear and out the other. Toph didn't look very impressed by his side of the argument. In fact she didn't even seem bothered by the fact that he didn't appear to have given up yet.

He cocked a brow, and Toph licked her lips.

"If you knew me at all, you'd already know that there's no winning this match."

Toph minimized the distance between them by bringing him towards her—bending the ground beneath his feet into a steepened slope. He quickly caught his balance, sliding down until he stumbled, taking a quick jump-step until he was practically toe-to-toe with the tiny bender, a whole head taller and whole lot angrier.

Having nearly tripped, and acknowledging that she was probably right—Zuko submerged himself in his pride, instead of his worries. "You're on."

"Déjà vu yet, Princess?"

"Stop calling me that!"

It wasn't very long before she'd pushed her limits, and she fell backwards in pain. Trying to strike Zuko with ground had caused her to shift in the wrong direction, straining her damaged shoulder and in trying to catch her own mistake; Toph had wobbled back and fell right onto her bottom. Even while Zuko hadn't wanted this at all, and while 'I told you so' would've felt great, he rushed to kneel beside her, instead.

"Are you alright? I told you this was a bad idea!" In his best efforts to help her sit up, Zuko's forearm was firm behind her, a rest as she arched her spine to catch her breath. Toph's breathing was irregular, but she didn't bother complaining about her mistake—and she certainly didn't want to hear him, when it came down to it.

She was much too stubborn for her own good. "Oh, be quiet. We'd better figure out a way to solve this before another one of your suitors wants to fight me for the title of a concubine." Toph chuckled at her own joke, her face a little sour to her injury.

"Y-You're not a concubine!" He interjected, and Toph shrugged with the corners of her lips, closing her eyes and lifting both brows. The term didn't feel right—it had certainly just been a joke to fluster him with, but she wasn't in a relationship with him, either. It wasn't like she wanted to rush into anything…after all, where they stood with one another felt nice, and it'd only been a short while of it.

Toph's vague smile only egged his nervousness on. "Guess not, huh?"

She was always so confident in everything that she did, it was like whatever she did and acted like never bothered her. Toph Beifong didn't need anyone's approval—it was one of the things that Zuko had come to like most about her. He'd always wanted to return home to the best of news, to a new understanding of his dignity, and the honor that for quite some time, he'd needed someone else to restore to him. All along, though, the only person who could've given it to him was himself, and he'd done just that.

Bringing down Azula in the Agni Kai had made him feel like like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, but if it was still bothering Toph in her dreams, it concerned him. In all honesty, while his head had once been a safe haven for awful nightmares, too, he didn't recall them hitting him right after the burn. They'd taken some time to settle in—allowed him some 'recovery time' before they destroyed his mentality for a few years.

It was monstrous, and he refused to watch Toph fall apart, like he had.

"We should see if my uncle could visit." Zuko suggested, nodding in assurance. If there was anyone that could do anything that would help Toph in getting away from all of her nightmarish episodes, it was Uncle Iroh. Zuko was more than one hundred percent sure of that. "I'm sure he could help."

Toph remembered Zuko's uncle fondly, and nodded her head. "You think he'd mind?"

"No, I'm sure he'd be glad to come back." The glance at her that had been enough to make her believe that he thought she was insane was enough reassurance, and she slumped forward in relief. Toph had never dealt with so much at one time, and quite frankly, she wasn't sure how to do it now. It was a miracle she had Zuko, though…she wasn't sure where she would've been without him.

When the messenger hawk had returned with Iroh's acceptance of their invitation, the most that they could do was wait.

Surely, coming in from Ba Sing Se would take some time, and before that time could even begin, it had hit Zuko that there really wasn't any time to spare. He'd enjoyed his coronation, the ball after it, but after promising an era of 'love and peace', there were certainly steps that he needed to take, along with the Avatar, to regain control over the miniature battles that were still being fought within the nations.

He owed his people what he'd promised to them, and he would be sure to take care of those things in due time. As the new Fire Lord, the tranquility between the people was a necessary factor to watch over, but when he was being watched every so often…what could he do?

It was a miracle he could walk around the walls of his own palace, really. It was a miracle that he could even be around his friends. Worst of all, though, it was a miracle that he'd even gotten the opportunity to stand before all of the people when the Fire Sages were so deathly afraid he could've been bombarded.

After all, it wasn't like he'd personally upset anyone on purpose. How could anyone hate him so much? Not to the point of death, anyways—that didn't even seem logical in the least bit.

The rooms were open to his friends as long as they needed them—but aside from Toph, who'd asked to stay for an extended period of time, the rest of them had other plans. It had been nice to spend some more time together after having only been around one another in deadly situations, where at just about any time of the day, they could've been under a surprise seize.

"So, Team Avatar, huh?" Sokka asked the group once they'd gotten some privacy at the dinner table. Of course, they were never completely alone, as 'Zuko's safety' was constantly being threatened by the general public, but it was about as private as they'd get. Working at his plate, Zuko didn't respond, but Aang tilted his chair back slightly, pressing his foot up against the leg of the table and clearing his throat.

"Seems like we've gotten pretty lazy." Katara noted, picking at her plate with a fork. Everyone seemed affected by how much their adventures had slowed down to a rate that nearly seemed like they weren't even Team Avatar, anymore.

"Lazy's right. I can't do anything!" Toph whined, huffing loudly and resting her elbows on the table instead of even trying to eat anymore. Her face fell into her hands, rubbing her eyes angrily until she slammed her fists into the wood their plates sat on. A good minute passed as the fine china clattered before Toph crossed her arms. "I don't want to sit around here and do nothing as much as you guys, but Zuko's got a nation to care of. We've all got things to be doing…"

The realization enticed Suki to speak up. "It's nice that we've been spending time together, but—"

"…But, we've got our own responsibilities, too. And while it's fun to enjoy our company like old times, there are bigger things we have to do. As much as it might be great for another adventure with…you know, all of us, right now it just doesn't seem possible." Katara agreed with the other two females, finally taking a drink of her water and slanting her head back in relief of having gotten the fact off of her chest.

"You guys are right," Aang lowered his eyes rather disappointedly. He'd never liked waiting around and doing nothing, but the thought of going without one of his friends wasn't the first thing on his agenda. He'd been enjoying the constant pampering of the Fire Nation servants, and he didn't want to leave. However, while the guilt of leaving Zuko 'alone' was eating at the Avatar's stomach—and the others', too, none of them really knew that he wouldn't be very alone at all.

Not for some time, anyways.

"There are probably hundreds of little villages that still need my help! And I'm sitting around doing nothing."

When Aang came to such realizations—everything changed about him. The seriousness in his eyes, the somberness of his posture, and the clearness in his voice all completely became distinct whenever he spoke about his duties to the entire world. It seemed like those realizations, on occasion, absolutely overwhelmed him, and not even he could control it.

"Aang…" Katara, began, but Zuko interrupted.

"No, Aang's right. There are plenty of other things we could be getting done right now, but for some reason, these servants think that they have some place in my business…and the Fire Sages want to have every say in every move I make. It's sickening." His hand had turned into a fist, the other one rustling the precautionary cloth at lap. "But there's nothing I can do about it."

Sokka's mouth curled downwards, into a dejected frown, and he inclined his head in Zuko's direction. "But, what about you?"

At that point, Toph had stopped huffing momentarily to point out what exactly was happening for the next few months. "Well, I'm kind of wounded. And since I can't fight, I don't really feel like going back to my parents yet. Princess said I could stick around until I was all patched up, so I can always help him!" She reassured the rest of them, and while it was pleasant to hear the news that their friend wouldn't be alone—it was still sort of a shock to have seen how things had played out.

"That way none of us will be alone!" Wearing a lit up expression, Suki's voice rung with delight. Having come on this journey with Sokka had made her so much stronger than she ever could've imagined all on her own, on Kyoshi Island. Perhaps she would've been strong, but certainly not like this. Besides—if she'd never met Sokka, she would've probably been strong and alone. Here, she was strong with him.

She'd never really needed anyone, that was for sure, but it was nice to have Sokka. It wasn't the idea of him that she liked, it was everything that he'd done for her, and how much he'd proved himself over the course of them getting to know one another. The Kyoshi warrior appreciated it more than she often admitted.

"That still doesn't give us a set destination." Aang leaned forward again, sighing before stealing a quick glance at Katara. He hadn't really thought about where she would end up after this. Obviously, while Suki's home was with the Kyoshi warriors, it was written all over her face that she would be with Sokka for quite some time longer. Katara, however, seemed unreadable on what she wanted to do. She had so many options, too.

"I'm pretty sure the Earth Kingdom is a pretty good place to start. We helped with the whole Dai Li problem, but that doesn't mean that there's still something going on that we—you guys, should try and fix." Toph put forward, sort of reluctant to mention her home. However, that place had given her the creeps…Ba Sing Se sure wasn't anything like where she'd come from.

Sokka broke the silence. "Next stop, Earth Kingdom!"

Katara raised her glass before taking a drink, a smile on her face that completely melted Aang's worries away. Evidently, she would be traveling with him for a little while longer.

"Right! Back when I was with Uncle at his teashop, there were Fire Nation people down in the outer walls. We have to get them out of there." Zuko's recollection had the rest of his friends nodding, and it was decided rather firmly. "Then again, those are my people. You don't think they'd try and keep me here, still, would they?" The question wasn't directed towards anyone in particular, but it was Aang whose eyes thinned.

"I sure hope not."

AN: I can not even BEGIN to talk about how tough this chapter was to write. I was sort of at a loss, but really, I've gotten SO much positive feedback it's probably going to eat me alive.. In a great, great way. Figured I'd leave some nice shout-outs to ALL of my reviewers! Especially the guests without accounts! :( You should invest in one, they're quick and easy and you could get an e-mail instead of having to check your bookmarks without the suspense. :p

In any case, I'm trying to update as fast as I can without half-assing anything! Anyways.
This chapter is dedicated tooo...

Well, a bunch of people!
But, my reviewers of course- and aside from that, I've had A TON of extra help.
Brittany: Thank you SO much for the incredible artwork of two of the scenes in this fic! I'll be posting links on my profile, if anyone's interested! It's really amazing. :D
Anthony: In other words, my beta, even if I'm too impatient to wait for him to edit things and leave some pronouns out of place. Thanks much. :D
Cara: For generally helping me muse up before I write these chapters, and really just being great and encouraging. :D
The same goes for Erin, Selina, Dani, allll of my new friends on tumblr, and each and every reader that's stuck with me thus far! :D
Seriously, guys. The feedback means everything. Pleeease keep it up!

It makes me wanna keep working. I promise it'll be worth your while. :)
Seeing a development in my own little fanon has definitely gotten me attached to the way things are going, here.. I mean, these kids are learning and finding their places-their responsibilities, and I'm so stoked to write it out. Still open to your questions, comments, and constructive feedback!
My own canon happens to be morphing around what I've changed, so naturally, Toph and Zuko are slowly adapting to each other. Now, they still have their natural complexes, and I'm trying to keep all of the dialogue as natural as possible-it helps that I watch Avatar like it's my religion, but still.
If you feel like something's 'missing' in your favorite character or something, let me know! I'll try to incorporate your thoughts the best I can, next chapter.
It'll be speeding up by then-the infamous Dragon of the West returns!

Wow, that sort of felt like a:
Next Time on Pokemon!

Anyways. Kisses for everyone, as usual! Review, pleeease! :)