Zuko wasn't really so bad, just as long as he wasn't talking about politics. Toph had had quite enough of politics, and all she really wanted was a friend who wouldn't talk about politics with her. When Zuko arrived, she'd thought that might be him, that they could reminisce or something, but he'd let her down. He'd become a politician. At least he spent a lot of time with Iroh, so she could feel good about that, and not have to spend much time with him.

She tried talking to Huang, but he became quiet and awkward when she tried to talk to him about his personal life. Junjie was slightly better, but he was busy at the docks most of the time, building ships and being useful. Ty Lee would be the next person she would normally turn to, but she was off with Mai most of the time, and Toph wouldn't begrudge her time with an old friend. Bao and Fei Yen weren't much for talking, and Suki was still out of town doing spy stuff.

Toph was feeling especially lonely that week, which is why when she first felt his footsteps, she thought she was imagining it. "Great, now I'm hallucinating things, and I can't even see," she muttered. She was sitting in a tearoom, enjoying the warm sun on her skin in a rare moment of rest.

But he kept walking up to the palace, and she concentrated on him, and she could hear him asking for her, and when a maid answered him very kindly she figured he had to be real, for other people to be reacting to him.

She jumped to her feet and raced down the hall, leaving Bao and Fei Yen to scramble behind her. Just before she entered the hall he was in, she slowed to a stately walk and held her head up high. She had just been in a dance lesson with Guanyin, and so she was still wearing a fancy dress – even better to make him feel uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here? What makes you think you're welcome here?" she asked him haughtily.

It wasn't until Suki stepped forward to argue for him that Toph even noticed she was there too. "You were just-" she started to remind Toph of what she had said before, but he interrupted her.

"I'm sorry, I guess you're right, I shouldn't have bothered you…" he said sadly. Toph nodded slowly, and he sighed and started to walk away. For a second, Toph almost ran after him, but he turned around and laughed. "Did you really think I'd fall for that again?"

Toph laughed, and felt the weight of all the crap of the past months fall away as she went to him and hugged him. "I missed you sleepyhead," she told him.

Sokka had been prepared for a punch, and he had braced himself for it, but a hug – that caught him off guard, and he almost fell over. He grinned and returned her hug. "I missed you too."

Toph let go and punched him, now that he wasn't braced for it anymore. Sokka couldn't help smiling as he rubbed his shoulder.

"You could sure use a bath Snoozles," she told him. "You smell awful."