Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

76

"Oh Spirits, Suki, can you, like, not?" Song wailed.

Suki rolled her eyes. "What am I doing?"

Song gestured to her despairingly. "You've literally got a binder full of coupons."

"Well, do you want good deals, or don't you?"

"I said the other day I wanted to feel like an heiress." She crossed her arms. "Extreme couponing is possibly the least heiress-like thing I could do. And it's definitely in the top five least sexy things I've done this week."

Suki laughed. "Okay, I don't even have time to unpack all that, so we're just going to move on." She bent back to the stack of local magazines she'd picked up at a wedding convention downtown. But the urge to question Song festered, and she set her magazines down. "Actually, it's going to bother me if I don't. One- you're not an heiress, that's why you don't feel like one. Two, I'm literally bursting with curiosity at what the other four least sexy things you've done are."

"Oh gosh," Song muttered. "I don't even want to tell you."

"Well, now you have to-"

The front door swung unceremoniously open, stopping both girls in their tracks, and Mai stepped in, gliding across the floor like a wraith. "Suki," she called waspishly. "I texted that I was coming over to talk about the shift swaps, like, twenty minutes ago."

"I'm so sorry!" Suki exclaimed. "We were talking about the wedding, it must have slipped my mind! Were you out there long?"

"Only ten minutes."

Suki frowned. "Why didn't you call?"

"Anxiety," Mai replied somberly, and both Song and Suki nodded their understanding.

"Mai," Suki began, "this is my friend, Song. She's getting married in the summer. We were going over wedding plans."

"Sounds fun," Mai said dryly. "I don't want to be in the way. I was just hoping you could switch with me for Friday evenings. I told Zuko when we first started that I needed Friday evenings off- family obligations. I don't know what was bouncing around in that broody little head of his."

"Are you talking about the guy with the..." Song put one hand up to her right eye. "You know."

Mai stared at her. "Are you trying to say the word 'scar'?"

Song had the good grace to look embarrassed. "It just seemed rude to call him out like that. But I've heard about him; one of my girlfriends goes to your café all the time and she has a massive crush on him. We all think she's gone off the deep end. I mean, he's cute, but every time she tries to talk to him, he stares at her like she's got three heads."

"He's shy," Mai defended sharply, and Suki smiled covertly into one of her magazines.

Song smirked. "Retract the claws, love. I don't want him. I'm getting married."

"I don't fight over boys," Mai said.

"Good for you! I love that," Song answered cheerfully. "Look at us bonding." She gestured back and forth between herself and the pale girl, and Suki had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing. "I guess we're friends now."

Mai glared at her. "I don't do new 'friends'."

"I believe that about you," Song said glibly.

Toph was curled comfortably on the couch, a mug of tea wrapped between her hands. "This tea really is good," she commented offhandedly over her shoulder as Aang put away the dishes.

"Thanks," he said warmly. "It's the oolong. It's one of my favorites. It's actually really good for you; full of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants."

"I will not retain that information."

He sighed, though it was tinged with begrudging affection. "I know. But I'll remember that you like it for the next time you come by."

"When's that going to be, by the way? I noticed you invited me over here while Sugar Queen is in class." Toph scarcely concealed a sniff of disdain. "I guess she doesn't want me around, huh?"

"'Sugar Queen'- she hates when you call her that, by the way- doesn't not want you around," Aang said. "But, you're not helping your case by crashing our dates and making abrasive comments all the time."

"It's what I do," Toph laughed. "The abrasive comments, not the crashing dates."

Aang rolled his eyes. "Could have fooled me, with your little third wheel act the other day. I swear you were stalking me."

"Do you think there's ever been a blind stalker?"

"I don't know," Aang said, exasperated. "But if they didn't exist before, they do now."

"I wasn't stalking you," the blind girl replied, chuckling. "It really was just a happy coincidence."

"Tell that to Katara."

Toph snorted. "I'm sure Sugar Queen was well-compensated."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You probably spent half the night in bed making up to her for having to hang out with the weird-mean blind girl."

"I refuse to dignify that statement with a response," Aang said, flushing.

"That means it's true," Toph noted. "And, Spirits, Aang, come up for air every once in a while. 'I refuse to dignify that with a response'? You even sound like her."

Aang chuckled. "She's smarter than I could ever dream of being. I'm okay with some of her phrases rubbing off on me."

"I've hung out with you for three years and I haven't managed to rub off on you."

"I'm not in love with you."

Toph's hands lifted skyward. "Thank the Spirits for that."

"Are you going to be this nice when Kuzon is here? You haven't seen him in eighteen months." Aang closed the dishwasher firmly. "Maybe you could drop the 'devil-may-care' act and be welcoming, for once."

"I am excited to see him," she admitted. "Is he bringing Onji?"

"I don't think so. He hasn't mentioned her."

Toph leaned back. "Now, that's a damn shame."

Aang blinked. "Why?"

"She's sexy as fuck."

"She's dating Kuzon."

Toph shook her head sadly. "Wasted on that idiot." She pursed her lips. "I wonder what he's here for."

"A physical therapy seminar," Aang reminded her.

"He's a physical therapy guru," she said. "He doesn't need a seminar. He's here for something else."

"Like what?"

Toph shrugged. "I don't know yet. I guess we'll find out."

A/N: I think that The last 10-15 of these chapters are going to be a little longer. Maybe 2-2.5k words instead of 1-1.5k. Thoughts?