Take it or leave it.
Toph: Leave it.
Yes, that's probably the right way to go. Some suggestive humor for the folks back home, with a hint of an earlier confession regarding this topic.
If you want something serious, read "We'll Meet Again." I feel guilty writing something as mindless as this confession. For that reason I almost didn't post it. But, why not?
Tom Tom's Confession
"Come on, don't be shy," Tom Tom's brother-in-law coaxed. "Tell our guests something you like about grade school."
"No," said Tom Tom flatly, his eyes on his food. "I hate school."
Zuko and Mai desperately glanced around the table at their guests. Sokka was in the middle of a large mouthful, working down a tough piece of meat, but at least his eyes were respectfully focused on the conversation. Katara, her best manners always on display, sat quietly with her hands in her lap. Zuko tried the best he could to convey his surprise at Tom Tom's words through his facial expression. In fact, Tom Tom had only been visiting the Royal Palace for a few days, and, Zuko realized now, he had not once said a thing about school before.
"You don't really hate school, do you?" said Zuko, trying to sound friendly.
"It's perfectly normal not to like school," Katara cut in, a hint of sadness in her voice. Zuko sounding friendly was never as encouraging as Katara sounding friendly. "But he also might have trouble talking about it with a couple of strangers like me and my brother."
Mai shook her head. "I always thought he liked school. Dad says he always brings home pictures from art class. He loves drawing."
Tom Tom kept staring at his food.
"What does he like to draw?" asked Katara.
"Volcanoes erupting on top of villages," said Mai proudly. Zuko winced.
Sokka swallowed his meat with a loud gulp. "You know that's not normal, right?"
"Nonsense," said Mai.
Katara changed the subject, which was a relief for Zuko. "Tom Tom?" she said soothingly in that special way Katara could. No wonder she had become the chief veteran's therapist after the war. No one could talk quite as gently as she. "Why don't you like school? Do you miss home?"
Tom Tom shook his head.
"Do you miss your parents?"
Tom Tom shook his head.
"Do you not like your teachers?"
Tom Tom shook his head.
"Do you not like the other kids?"
Tom Tom didn't shake his head.
"Why don't you like them?" asked Katara compassionately. "What is wrong with the other kids?"
There was a short pause where the only sound in the room was Sokka's chewing, then Tom Tom said at a voice so low that it was almost impossible to hear, "They make fun of me."
Katara straightened up slowly. "I see," she said. "I'm sorry."
"What do they say?" asked Mai.
"They say, 'You're so short. You're so small. You're so tiny. The only reason you're important is because you're Fire Lady Mai's brother and because of Fire Lord Zuko."
Katara exchanged a glance with Sokka, who had stopped eating for the moment. Zuko was hoping that Katara would have something to say that would be able to resolve this conversation, fix Tom Tom's psyche, and allow the conversation to shift towards tea or something like that. But it was Tom Tom who continued talking instead.
"Then I say, 'I might be smaller than Fire Lord Zuko, but I am bigger than him in one important way. Not like Zuko, I have a big, giant…"
Zuko interrupted by standing up suddenly, his knees hitting the table and sending plates into the air to clink back down on the surface. "Anyone want tea?" he blurted out louder than he should have. The he turned to Tom Tom and said, also louder than he should have, "Tom Tom, that's private information!"
"What?" said Tom Tom, confused. "I thought you told me to have the biggest heart of anyone I knew."
"Biggest heart?" Zuko felt himself blushing. He tugged at his collar and took a quick glance at Katara, who was obviously trying to hold in laughter. Even Mai was getting some color in her face. Dammit. "Yes, you're right, Tom Tom," he said, trying to put on a deep Fire Lord voice. Everything was supposed to be under control. No more talking about Tom Tom's big, giant… heart. Zuko sat down and shoved some food into his mouth. It was time to stop talking.
Katara tried to talk with a calm voice, but the laughter was still seeping through: "If you have such a big, giant heart, then you will learn to love school soon enough, Tom Tom," she said with a smile. "I believe in you."
"That's right," Mai joined in. "And you'll learn than even though you're small, size isn't the most important thing. Isn't that right, Zuko?" she said, nudging the Fire Lord with her elbow. Zuko sprayed his dinner out of his mouth and over the feast table.
As everyone laughed, Zuko felt like hurling a fireball into the center of his big, giant heart.
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Read Mai's Confession to know where this came from. A more creative Jun's Confession is up next, so don't lose faith in me because of this lame "Guy's humor." Please?
-samtana
Toph: Wait, you forgot the disclaimer.
Samtana: You're right. Thanks, Toph.
Toph: [waits expectantly]
Samtana: I don't own Avatar.
[silence]
Toph: That's it?
Samtana: [nods]
Toph: But that was so anticlimactic. You're supposed to say something funny! We're all used to it now.
Samtana: Hey, I can't be creative and funny all the time. Being a genius is tough.
Toph: Right. And you think that you're a genius?
Smatana: No, I asked the Mechanist what it's like. He said, "Tough."
Toph: Figures. You spelled your name wrong, by the way.
Samtana: Pure genius! [to himself] Wait, how did she know I spelled my name wrong? Toph can't read!
Toph: [clapping] Way to go, genius.