Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Chapter 21

The Fury of the Wind

Toph pushed the door to her mother's room open with her hip as she carried in the tray of food.

"Mom? You awake?" she asked. "Got some lunch for you."

Her mother did not answer. Toph already knew that she was awake, otherwise she would not have bothered coming in. She placed the tray of food on the nightstand and sat down on the floor next to the bed.

"You gonna eat?" Toph asked. "You're just gonna get sick if you don't."

Toph did not expect an answer. She knew that her mother was just going to sit there and would only decide if she was hungry enough to eat later. One week had passed since that day and her mother had barely improved. Toph did not get the same hollow feeling as before from her mother, but she spoke rarely and barely touched whatever food was brought to her. Not being able to stand her leaving her mother alone in that condition, Toph had not been to school that entire week either. Normally it would have been her dad that would keep her mother company, but he did have a business to run. The servants were not much help other than the cooking and maintenance of the household with the exception of Kuzon, but he now spent all of his time watching over her father and helping him keep it together for meetings and other such business affairs. Every time that Toph was around him she could feel just how broken he truly was, but being the head of Bei Fong Industries he was not allowed to show it.

Ty Lee was over almost all of the time now too. She tried to brighten Toph's days but had very little success. It was not that Toph did not appreciate what Ty Lee was trying to do, it was just that she was more concerned about her mom at the time. Other than Ty Lee there were other people who made it clear they wanted to help her. Aang was saying all week that if she needed him all she had to do was call and he'd be right over whether it was during school or not. Katara had even skipped classes to come by the day after the hospital incident to check up on her family. The concern of her friends meant a lot to her and Toph really wanted to let them help, but there was a problem. How was she supposed to help them understand what she was going through when she did not even understand it herself?

Then there was the fact that Toph could not turn on the radio or the television without hearing someone bring up her families personal tragedy. What was it about people that made them take such an interest in wealthy or famous people's personal lives? It was like her family was just a source of detached entertainment for some sick, heartless gawkers. This was a private matter and it was none of the rest of the world's business. That was not even the worst part of it though. The usual throng of jerks that more or less slept outside her house had doubled since they had heard the news. It was hard going by an open window without someone seeing her from the wall and screaming for some kind of answer or interview.

"I'm gonna go now, Mom," Toph said. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"

It was frustrating. Toph wanted to help so much, but she knew that there was nothing she could really do. Why were there so many pains that people had to go through by themselves? Why were there so many hardships that pushed people so far passed the breaking point? It was not fair.

"Pardon me, Miss," one of the servants said.

"What now?"

"You have a guest waiting in the living room."

"I thought I told you guys I didn't want any guests!" she growled as she stormed down the hallway. "Whoever they are, I don't have time to put up with them!"

"You don't get a say in the matter," Zuko told her when he heard her outburst.

"What do you want, Hot Head?" Toph asked. "I'm busy right now."

"We're going out," he said, grabbing her by the arm.

"I'm not going anywhere," she replied as she tried to pull her arm free.

"I know how you feel, but there's more than enough people here to look after your mom," Zuko said, tightening his grip. "You need a break."

"I told you I'm not going!"

"And I told you you don't get a say!"

Toph tried to break his hold, but no matter how hard she tried Zuko still managed to force her out the door. To her surprise there were no screams or camera flashes to greet them, just an unsettling kind of silence.

"Where'd everyone go?"

"Away," Zuko answered.

"Away? Why?"

"Because."

"Why, Zuko?"

"I made them leave."

"What did you do?"

"Do you want them to come back?" Zuko asked her as he pulled on her arm.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere that we can blow off some steam."

Toph was not sure she really liked the sound of that at the moment. Something was off. Zuko was acting strange. Not really strange, but not like himself. Or at least not like usual. He was acting more like he did back when they had first met.

After a few blocks Zuko finally let go of her arm, but she continued to follow after him. It might have been because of the way he was acting, but part of her knew that it was probably because he was right. She needed to get out of that house. She had resigned herself to its walls because she knew that she was not ready to go back out into the public eye yet. Having Zuko around seemed to be keeping the public eye pretty far away though, so maybe it was a good time to go ahead and get some fresh air. At least that would have been nice. The place that Zuko nearly dragged her to was far from fresh smelling.

"Where are we, Hot Head?"

"A place Angel told me about," Zuko replied shortly.

"It smells like a bar," Toph said as she listened to the sound of pool balls knocking against each other. "Sounds like one too."

"Probably because it is," Zuko said. "Part of it anyway."

Toph let Zuko lead her to a table near the sounds of the pool games that were going on. She did not know what had put the thought in Zuko's head to bring her here, but she was beginning to think that it was not her that he was really doing this for. He ordered a couple of sodas when the server passed by their table and then Toph could feel him just staring at her.

"What?" she finally asked.

"What yourself," he replied.

"If you brought me out here to be a jerk, how about we just cut the crud and just skip to me pummeling you?"

"Now we're getting somewhere," Zuko said somewhat darkly.

"Enough of this, Zuko!" Toph nearly yelled.

"Enough is right!" Zuko agreed. "It's about time you start getting this out of your system!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Except for whatever time you spent at the hospital, all you've done since your mom got home is look after her. You can use that as a cover with the others, but not me. It's about time you started taking care of yourself. You're angry and sad, but your not letting any of it out."

"So you drag me out and piss me off?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes!" Zuko snapped back. "Katara almost never gets angry and I don't think Aang even does anger at all. Out of everyone you know, I'm the closest thing you've got to an anger expert! It's important to keep it under control, but shutting it up and pretending your not angry at all is the worst thing you can do!"

"Being angry doesn't help anything though!" Toph spat in return. "Getting mad and angry and frustrated doesn't make me feel better!"

"Of course not!" Zuko agreed. "But until you get it out of your system, you can't get passed it! You can't get to the heart of the problem here!"

"Which is what?"

"Accepting it!" Zuko answered. Toph sat back breathing heavily, not really wanting to listen to Zuko as he told her everything she did not want to hear. "You have to accept that it happened. You have to accept the fact that your mom lost the baby. More importantly than that, you have to stop being so angry at yourself for it."

"Why would I be angry at myself?" Toph asked even though she knew the answer.

"Because you weren't there when it happened. And even if you were, you couldn't have stopped it."

"It's not fair!" Toph screamed as she bashed her fists on the table. Many of the other customers turned to take a short look before going back to their drinks or their games. "Why did it happen? Why couldn't they find the reason? Why my mom? Why my brother?"

After fuming over the thoughts that Zuko had put into her head and after losing count of how many sodas she had guzzled down, something came to Toph's mind.

"So what about you, Zuko?" she asked. "Why are you so pissed off?"

"It's nothing that important. I can handle it later."

"After all that talk about not shutting up your anger and making me spill my guts, you're not getting off that easy."

"It's my dad, alright?" he hissed. "We got a call at the shop today from that mental place he's locked up in. They wanna know if me and Azula are willing to go and have a session with him."

"That's crazy," Toph said flatly.

"Is it?" Zuko asked.

"You said yourself that he's faking it. Why would you go and see him?"

"Because he thinks I won't," Zuko told her.

"And that's supposed to be a good enough reason?"

Zuko did not answer. He just leaned over his glass and took a long drink. Toph knew what must have been going through his head, but unlike him she was not going to force it out. Seriously, of course she was mad. Who wouldn't be? But it was not like she was using her mom as an excuse to not deal with it. Was she?

"Hey, it's two of my favorite people!"

"The universe hates us, doesn't it?" Toph asked in response to the unwelcome voice.

"We out trying to get a drunken fling going?"

"Do you get your kicks having your life threatened, Kaze?" Zuko asked.

"Big talk for a guy who hasn't done a tournament in almost two years," Kaze's cousin Gashwin said.

"I'll go back when there's a worthwhile challenge."

"You sayin' my cousin isn't good enough?" Kaze asked.

"At least you're not as stupid as you sound," Toph informed him.

"Watch your mouth, little girl."

"If memory serves, didn't I tear both of you up once before?"

"Try coming at us when we're expecting it and we'll see who tears who up," Gashwin said.

"You couldn't take us if your lives depended on it," Zuko said. "Which they might if you don't back off."

"You're all talk," Kaze said. "Think you're all tough just cause daddy gave you a nasty boo boo when you were a kid."

"The fact that you think you have a right to say something like that just shows how pathetic you are," Toph told him.

"Like you can say anything!" Kaze laughed. "You're so pathetic that your own mom's baby would rather be dead than be born into your family!"

Zuko was on his feet and ready almost as quickly as Toph was. She stood with balled fists at her side as her blind glare focused in the direction of Kaze and his cousin. The surrounding patrons now gave their full attention to the two who were making all of the noise earlier. A fight was coming and no one wanted to miss it. Just as Zuko was expecting the first blow to fly, something happened that he could not believe.

"I hate you."

That was it. There was nothing else. With tears suddenly streaming down her face, Toph had said it and then ran out the door. It had taken Zuko and both of her opponents completely off guard. Zuko just stared after her, stunned. Before Kaze and Gashwin were able to collect themselves, Zuko dropped some money on the table and ran after her.

* - * - * - * - *

After stopping in to see Mrs. Bei Fong and check up on how she was doing, Aang made sure to feed and water Appa before taking him outside. Toph had been so overwhelmed lately that she often forgot to do these things. Usually Aang would stay outside with Appa and play with him, but he was a little preoccupied with the fact that Toph did not seem to be home.

"Excuse me," he said as one of the servants passed by him. "Do you know where Toph is?"

"I believe that she went out with a friend, sir," the man replied.

"Do you know who?"

"The young man with the scar. If you'll please excuse me."

Aang smiled as the man went on his way. It was good that Toph was out of the house, but why did she not wait for him? He would have gladly gone anywhere with her to know that she was doing better. Even if it was just a little bit. Maybe they had gone out hours ago. Zuko did have a lot more free time now that his only responsibilities were to the tea shop.

"I can go and keep Mrs. Bei Fong some company," Aang told himself. "Maybe she'll even feel up to talking to me for a bit today."

Aang thought about all of his potential conversation starters as he walked through the house to the east wing. He could ask her to tell him a story of when Toph was a baby. Or he could tell her about some of the places he had seen with Gyatso. Maybe he could get her to tell him about when Mr. Bei Fong proposed to her. Any happy memory he could try and coax out of her that might help a little bit. As he debated with himself about asking about the day Toph was born, he heard a sudden "bang" from the living room. He sprinted through the hallway to see two things.

First, Toph was home. Second, she was crying.

"Toph, what's wrong?" he asked as he tried to approach her.

She did not answer him. Instead she ran right through the living room and into the east wing. Before he could reach her, she had pulled open the door to her mother's room and slammed it closed with her on the other side. Aang was now more frustrated than he had ever felt in his life. He wanted to scream. He wanted punch his fist through a wall. He wanted to rip down the walls between this world and the next to bring Toph's baby brother back for her. Anything to stop her from hurting anymore. Anything to stop those tears.

"Toph!" someone shouted from the living room.

That voice was unmistakable. Aang darted back out to the front door and grabbed Zuko by the shirt collar before the older man knew what was going on.

"What happened?" Aang yelled.

"It was that idiot Kaze!" Zuko yelled back as he shoved Aang's hands away. "We were at that drink place by the old railroad talking about everything that's been going on when that moron and his cousin showed up. Someone needs to teach him when to keep his mouth shut."

"Someone will."

It did not take long for Aang to find the place that Zuko had been talking about. A lot of the older kids in his school talked about going there with fake ID cards to get drinks. It would not have surprised him to find out that Kaze went there on a regular basis. When he pushed open the door his eyes instantly locked on the striped gold and silver hair that Kaze had been sporting for the last few weeks. It took just as long for Kaze and Gashwin to notice him.

Aang did not speak to them. He did not give them a chance to speak to him. As he passed by the pool tables he pulled a cue from one of the player's hands and immediately struck Gashwin in the gut with the thin end. Without pulling it back, Aang rose the stick up into the slightly taller man's face before using the thicker end to strike him in the side of the knee. Not allowing any time for Gashwin to regain any sense of what was going on, Aang spun around and caught him in the face with the pool cue, knocking him to the ground where he lay groaning.

"Hey man, get off of my cousin!" Kaze yelled furiously.

Aang's menacing eyes turned on him. With a roar of anger he charged at Kaze and pinned him to the wall by the throat with the now cracked pool cue. Kaze gripped the piece of wood and tried to push it back, but Aang was far stronger than he looked.

"What's this about?" Kaze managed to wheeze out.

"You made her cry," Aang answered, venom dripping from his words.

Kaze struggled against the pressure Aang was putting on him, but his efforts gradually weakened. As his eyes started to close and his face began to turn a deep shade of red, Aang's senses seemed to finally catch up with him. Before his eyes he saw a human being struggling to breath under the crushing weight of his own hands. He stepped back and let Kaze fall to the ground before dropping the cue stick to lay there with him. He choked and gasped as the air passed through his throat and into his lungs. Stricken by the realization of what he had almost done, Aang's face paled and he was filled with sudden fear. He turned back towards the door and ran.

A/N: Wow. I think that if I ever put the Avatar State into this fic, that probably would have been the time. So is Toph's mom going to get better? What about Aang? How will he deal with what he did? Then of course there's the new events going on in Zuko's life. How is that going to play out? Feed my addiction for reviews in order to find out!