Chapter 16

It took them two days before they made it to the Capital. The moment they docked, Toph started walking. She didn't want to hesitate. She knew that if she stopped she would never make it up the hill and into the throne room, so she didn't stop until she got to the throne room.

"You can't go in there." The guards tried to stop her but she bent their armor and attached them to the wall. She knew that if she let them try to stop her, that she would stop herself. Every step she took felt like a knife to the chest. She knew she was going to be standing in front of the love of her life and his wife the moment she entered the room. She steeled her nerves and took a breath to calm her beating heart. Then she and Sokka entered the Throne room. Zuko was already standing as he had heard the guards call out to them before they entered. Mai and Izumi were beside him.

"Toph, Sokka, what are you doing here?" Zuko's voice was filled with relief for a moment before it filled with pain. He fixed his eyes on Sokka. He knew that he couldn't look at her. He knew it would break him if he had to.

"We need to talk, alone." Toph demanded. The anger she felt since Sokka told her hadn't diminished, and it caught Zuko off guard.

"Ok, Mai, Izumi, would you give us a minute?" Zuko said, turning to his wife and daughter.

"Of course," Mai replied before leading Izumi out of the room.

"Clear the room," Zuko commanded the guards. Once it was just the three of them he looked at Toph.

"What is wrong?"

"Years ago you told me that no matter what there would be a helping hand here. Is that still true?" Toph asked. Sokka chose to stay silent. He knew that both Zuko and Toph were barely holding it together, and he refused to make it any worse.

"Of course it is. That will never change." A pained smile graced Zuko's face.

"Since I left I had another daughter. Her name is Suyin." Zuko felt like he had been stabbed. Was this how she had felt when Izumi had been born? The room around him seemed to darken. It took him a moment to realize that the fire around the throne had almost extinguished.

"And?" he asked forcing the words out. He tried to hide the pain in his voice but he failed miserably.

"Lin and Suyin have been kidnapped. All we know is that they headed this way. I need your help Zuko. I have to find my daughters." The anger in Toph's voice turned into pleading as she told him. She was barely able to stay standing as she spoke the words. While she did her best to stay standing, her control on her hands left and the tremor returned. Zuko walked forward until he was a step away from her. It took all his strength to not take her into his arms, but somehow he succeeded as he faced her.

"We will find them. I promise you, and the people who took them will pay." Zuko then called the guards and commanded a Nationwide search, before preparing a wagon for the three of them. He then asked the messengers throughout the Nation if they had seen anything. It took about three hours before they had a lead as to where they were. They were in a small town on the border. It was a hub for criminals, and the locals had seen two little girls being taken into the town the night before.

….

I took them about half a day to get to the edge of the town where the girls had been seen. The trip had felt like an eternity for Toph, as she sat just feet away from the man she loved and yet knew that he wasn't hers. All of them sat in silence for the trip. Zuko had been lost in his thoughts. Sokka and Toph had been worrying about the girls. Sokka's hand sat on his sword handle. Toph and Zuko both held a small ball of their element in their hands as they reached the edge of the town. They had discussed the plan during the first part of the trip. The second part had been spent in silence. Zuko could read between the lines. Sokka was Suyin's father, and he could tell it by how willing he was to be there. He knew by how they acted, though, that they were no longer a thing. He was happy that Toph had moved on, that she had found a place, but it still cut like a knife that it wasn't with him. It made him think about what she must have been feeling when Izumi had been born. With how this was feeling for him, it hurt even more to think that she had gone through it only a year after she had left. That after all that they had experienced he had made her feel pain like this. Today though, he was completely and entirely determined to protect his family, even if that family had no idea who he was. He would destroy the people who dared take his daughter, who made Toph so stressed. They would pay. Maybe he wasn't a part of Lin's life, but that didn't change the fact that she was his. Sokka could see the pain and anger that Toph and Zuko were feeling, and while he felt the same way, he knew that for them this was agony, especially for Toph. He knew that she saw Lin as the last bit of Zuko that she had. He also knew that she saw Suyin as her ray of sunshine after a storm. He knew it would break her if anything happened to either of them. They had planned to move in at sunset, and it was just about time. Both Zuko and Toph were ready. They would fight together again for their daughter. They had a mutual understanding that they would do the dance again while Sokka got the girls. They had vowed never to do it again, but for their child they would. Sokka had been told to grab the girls and get as far away as possible. He didn't know why, but he had agreed. He trusted Toph and Zuko. Ather the sun had set, they slowly walked their way into the town. Toph and Zuko were preparing themselves for what was ahead. Sokka was scouting out the best exit plan with two little girls. All of them knew that this wouldn't be easy. Toph and Zuko had no idea if the dance would even work anymore, but they were determined to try.

"That's the house," Zuko whispered, pointing straight ahead of them.

"We go on my count," Toph commanded before she started counting,

"3, 2, 1, go." They quickly barged through the door. The girls were tied in the corner. The men who captured them sitting at a table in the middle. They immediately stood to fight. Zuko glanced at Toph before taking his first step into the dance. Toph followed behind him. Fear was piercing Toph's heart as she tried to not look at the girls. She had never wanted to do this again. Sokka stood in amazement for a second as the power started swirling before he remembered that he needed to get the girls out of the room. He ran over to the corner and untied them before leading them out the door. Once outside he glanced back at Zuko and Toph, and his eyes widened in surprise. The flames were blue as they circled them, and rocks were flying through the fire. Eventually, the rocks and fire combined and started to form lava as it flew around the two of them. He knew what was about to come so he turned and picked the girls up and ran with them outside of the town and back to the wagon to wait on the others. Zuko and Toph arrived at the wagon at sunrise. Neither of them said a thing about what happened, but when Sokka looked back at the town he could see the smoke rising in the morning sky.