Chapter 20

Too soon for Toph, Yung had dropped the anchor at the designated spot. The plan was for Zuko to use the anchor chain as a guide and lower them to the ocean floor. When her feet touched bottom, she'd bend until she ran out of breath. At her signal, he'd bring them up to breathe again.

It sounded so simple, but Toph feared she wouldn't be able to function at all. Putting her head underwater was not something she did on a regular basis. Not even to wash her hair. That's why they made earthenware jugs.

As they prepared to go over the side, Yung brought out a thick belt that appeared to contain metal plates. "Here," he offered the belt to Zuko.

"I don't think I'll need weights," Zuko replied. "I sink like a rock."

"Yeah, don't rub it in," Yung answered. "Trust me, that doesn't last forever. One day you'll float. But the tide is coming in. You might appreciate a little stability down there."

Zuko nodded his agreement and secured the belt around his waist. "Keep the engine ready," he instructed. "Who knows how much time we'll have to get out of here if this works."

He walked over to Toph, who stood facing the water, her hands knotted together. "Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded a little, but he could see fear in her expression. He took her face in his hands. "You can do this, sweetie. You're the world's greatest earthbender. That's why I married you." Then he gave her a soft kiss. "Let's finish this up and go home."

"Okay," she managed to respond.

Zuko jumped overboard, feeling the weight of the belt pulling him toward the bottom. It wasn't hard to hold onto the anchor chain, but he knew he'd sink fast and it would be work to come up again. He did a test drop. Once on the bottom, he was glad for the extra weight because just like Yung said, the current was moving against him. He swam back to the surface and reached up for Toph, glad to see that her nerves appeared to have settled a little.

Toph felt a jolt of nerves as she watched Zuko sink out of her sight, but once he surfaced and gave her a smile, she forced herself to calm down again. She could do this she repeated to herself as Yung lifted her once more over the side of the boat.

Once over the side, Toph concentrated on seeing the things she could see—the metal anchor and chain, the ocean floor just beneath her, Zuko. With one hand, she held her nose, then she closed her eyes against the salt water, and nodded.

With one hand, Zuko held her against him, her back to his chest, and allowed the other to trail down the anchor chain as they dropped. Almost immediately, he felt Toph squeeze his hand in the signal to surface. He pushed her to the surface ahead of him, and she came up sputtering and gasping.

"I can't do it, I can't do it," she repeated in fear. "I just can't."

He held her tightly against him. "Yes, you can, Toph. I know you can. You just have to keep your mind on something other than the water," he assured her. She just shook her head in fear.

Maybe he could distract her, he thought. "Besides," he continued with a soft tone in his voice, "the water's really nice. It's warm and soft." She nodded.

Then he rubbed his cheek lightly against hers and whispered in her ear, "Relax and let yourself feel the water. Let yourself float."

He kissed her on the cheek, then on the side of her neck, then nibbled at her earlobe until she giggled. "See," he murmured again, "it's not so bad out here, is it?"

"No," she answered, "I guess not."

He relaxed his grip around her little by little, letting his fingers spread out underneath her shirt against the soft skin of her stomach, all the while trailing soft kisses up and down her throat to her shoulder. "Can we finish this and go home?" he asked gently. "Can you give it another try?"

"I think so," she answered dreamily.

"I'm here. Feel me holding you," he said. "I won't let go."

Toph closed her eyes so she could see him better. There he was behind her, holding her close. He wasn't going to let go. Then she held her nose and nodded. This time, she concentrated on the soft warmth of the water, not nearly as soft as Zuko's kisses, but nice nonetheless. She let herself hold him in her vision as they sank and was surprised at how quickly they touched the seabed.

Still watching him on the edges of her earthbending sight, she extended her concentration to the location of the secondary vent. She was glad to see they'd gone right to it. She gave it a preliminary nudge, then squeezed Zuko's hand to surface for air.

They broke the surface quickly. "We're in a good spot," she said, wiping the water from her face. "I gave it a little push, but we need to go again."

"Not a problem," Zuko responded. "Just give me a nod when you're ready."

She took a few more deep breaths, then nodded. Down again to the sea floor and she could tell at first touch that her push had done some good. The magma was already beginning to move closer to the surface. She gave it another good nudge, then squeezed his hand.

"That should do it," she said once they broke through. "But we'd better hurry out of here." Yung reached down and easily pulled her aboard, then reached back for Zuko. Suddenly the boat began to twist on the anchor chain.

With a sick feeling, she realized what was happening. The magma was pushing toward the surface very rapidly and causing the water to heat and circulate. She could hear Yung grunting in effort as he struggled to pull Zuko in against the push of the boat against the chain. She ran to the side and reached down herself, grabbing his arm and pulling with all her might.

"Toph, break the weight belt off me," Zuko called. She reached for the metal buckle and bended it free. Once the extra weight fell into the ocean, Yung was able to get Zuko out of the water far enough for him to pull himself over. Yung rushed to the anchor winch and began trying to bring the anchor up.

"There's no time for that," Toph yelled and with a gesture, metalbended the anchor chain in half. The boat slipped violently in the now churning water and the two men leaped to action, Yung grabbing for the wheel, Zuko manning the engine.

"Full power!" Yung yelled as he wrestled with the helm. Zuko pulled the throttle, then threw open the furnace and firebended directly into it. The little engine sprang to life and they moved quickly across the water.

Zuko looked back to see steam rising from the newly opened vent as lava pushed its way onto the sea floor. "What do you think?" he asked Toph.

"I think we did it," she answered distantly, her hand stretched out as if in farewell. "There's a lot of lava pushing through. It should have eased the pressure in the main chamber."

"When will we know for sure?" Yung asked from his station.

"We're a little too close to the action to go back to that beach," Toph replied. "I should be able to know something from the Fire Temple though. But I really feel like that might have done it."

They managed to return to the harbor without incident, but Toph felt as though she'd been beaten. She was not looking forward to another long walk back to the Fire Temple. Plus, it was getting late. The villagers had cautiously returned home as well with the report of at least partial success. The ash had stopped falling, and everyone was optimistic.

An impromptu community picnic was spread on the beach, and everyone gathered around to eat and hear the story of how Toph and Zuko had defused the volcano. Zuko made a point of reminding the villagers that there was no guarantee that the danger had passed, but everyone ignored him completely in their joy.

Perhaps their lack of concern was what drove him, but Zuko was determined to make certain that their efforts had paid off, and Toph found herself walking back through the abandoned village at Zuko's side. Yung had offered to accompany them, but Zuko assured him that they were just going to go straight there and back. Plus, if they were wrong and the volcano began to erupt, Yung would have to lead the villagers' evacuation.

Toph was extremely tired by the time they reached the temple, but she did manage to do a check of the volcano. She couldn't see as well as she could back on the lava beach, but she could tell that the pressure had gone down significantly in the magma chamber.

Zuko looked visibly relieved when she announced this. In fact, she hadn't realized just how tense he'd been until the tension was gone. She reached out and pulled him to her. He rested his cheek against her hair and breathed a sigh. She looked out over the lava fields.

"Look, baby," she said as pointed below them, "there we are—fire and earth." Zuko followed her gaze to see a rolling lava flow progressing down a hillside. In the dusky twilight it was beautiful--deep cherry red and hot orange flashed beneath the dark surface as it moved slowly and sinuously across an old lava flow.

"That's us--slow but unstoppable," he replied dryly.

"I think it's beautiful," she breathed, "earth that moves on its own. It's like it's alive."

She looked up at him with recognition. "That's what you look like, sweetie. Living earth." Then she reached up to run her fingers down his face. He had no idea what she was talking about, but her touch on his cheek ignited something inside him.

The setting sun cast a warmth on her skin and made her hair glint with sparkles of deep burgundy. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He grabbed her hand and placed a warm kiss on her palm, delighting in the way she shivered at his caress. Suddenly Toph pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him hungrily, her fingers tangling in his hair. He wasn't prepared for the passion in her kiss, the intensity of it. She leaned into him and he pulled her even closer, his hands running beneath her shirt to touch her skin, to feel its softness.

She could feel heat coming off his body in waves and moaned softly as his mouth traveled down her throat and his hand slipped beneath her skirt to her thigh. The muscles in his back tensed under her fingers. She wanted to be closer to him, as close as she could get. As if reading her mind, Zuko pulled her even tighter into him, so close she could feel his heartbeat.

Just as the both of them were wondering how long it would take them to get back to the beach house, they heard a voice from above. "Am I interrupting something?" it asked.