A/N: Avatar Nick wholly owns the Last Airbender.

Being in love also means being able to talk and share more than just bodily fluids.

(This was meant to be a one-shot, but it's evolved.)

Chapter 18

Dance of Hearts

The Great Ballroom of Republic City's Grand Hotel now stood empty, except for a solitary couple that twirled slowly around on the dance floor. The orchestra that had graced the earlier affair and paid, now departed, along with the melodies and rhythms they created. Yet they danced as if the music were still filling the room.

The man gazes at the woman's face. He seems enthralled, totally captivated by her smile. Cheeks alight, his heart beats rapidly, and a joy that he could not have fathomed prior consumes him.

"I love you," he whispers. "Why do you make me so happy?"

She smiles softly. The pink glow that has beset her face mirrors him as she lays her head upon his chest.

"I guess this is how love makes you feel," she meekly replies.

His heart flutters at her cuteness. "Are you happy? I said how I felt, but I never asked how you felt."

"I heard asking about other's feelings was a sign of maturity."

"Did Sokka tell you that or was it, Uncle Iroh?"

She shook her head against him. "Neither one of them. Azula. You know she's pretty smart, and she runs a support group for people who are dealing with the trauma of the war."

"Really?"

Toph nods. "Yeah, and she's writing a book about her childhood. Sometimes she reads me the chapters. It's hard to listen to them. Aang, she was a victim too."

Aang's gray eyes shift up. "That's hard to believe my love, with her almost killing me."

"I thought the same thing too. But when we got to know each other, I saw the true beast was her father. Any man that would sexually assault his own daughter is less than an animal! All that nonsense about raising a pure royal family is hippo-bull shit!"

Aang froze for a moment. "Whoa, he did that?"

"Yep. Even when she was supposed to become the Fire Lord, she was going to have to bear the Phoenix whatever's kids! Isn't that just sick? No wonder she lost her mind."

The Avatar swallows against the lump in his throat as they continued dancing. "Gyatso once told me that monsters aren't born; they're created most of the time. He also said there were exceptions. I thought Azula was one of those exceptions."

"I'm sure Sokka thought the same way before he got to know her. Now, look at them. Getting busted doing it in the coat closet! Those two are absolutely adorable!"

Aang shook his head. "I don't know about adorable, but that's a site I won't soon be forgetting. They looked like a human pretzel!"

The couple laughs.

Aang sighs. "But from what I know now Toph, I'm starting to get the picture that she had it very rough. Azula must have been very lonely."

"She was. So, when she thought Zuko turned Mai and Ty Lee against her, she flew into a rage. It seemed to her that he abandoned her, taking her friends with him! She was left alone with a father that saw her only as a weapon or a sex toy. She told me it took a while to accept Sokka's affections. She thought he was just trying to manipulate her for sex."

"But I heard their relationship was pretty hot from the start. No pun intended," Aang states, intrigued by the conversation.

Toph nods. "She was determined to get the upper hand first. She told me, she thought he was cute, and then when he unleashed his trouser serpent, she was going to tame it! He was supposed to be her toy to use and eventually throw away."

"That sounds like Azula. What changed?"

Toph smiles. "Sokka was just, Sokka. He plays games with her, childish games, the ones she never got to play. He indulges her selfish whims and holds her when she had night terrors. He tells her how beautiful she is and laughs at her jokes, and trust me Aang, the girl has zero sense of humor, like some waterbender we know. But I think most importantly, he listens to her pain and cries with her. Even when she gets mean, he's there for her."

The Avatar sniffled. "That sounds like Sokka. When did she learn he was sincere?"

Toph bit her lip before speaking. "Azi told me that had this huge fight, on her birthday, no less. She admitted that she was starting to fall for him and that scared her. He bought her a bracelet that she said she wanted. It was costly, the most expensive in the store. She didn't know Sokka could buy the whole place. She was living in a scruffy one-room apartment and refused to go to his place, thinking that it was some rundown shithole. Her words."

"And she had no idea that he lives in a mansion?"

"Well, Sokka told her he did, but she thought the doofus was bragging since he didn't act like the rich people she knew from before. She assumed that a mansion for a peasant was, well, a shithole."

Aang chuckles. "Got it. So, he gives her this ungodly expensive gift and then what?"

"She accuses him of stealing it! Can you believe that? She thinks her poor, impoverished boyfriend has broken the law to try and impress her! She tells him to take it back before he gets arrested!"

"How did she come up with that notion?"

Toph giggles again. "She told me that's the only rationale that comes to her. In her eyes, he can barely afford the clothes on his back, and even when they go out to eat, it's always these common places. She didn't know Sokka likes to go to places that serve the most food for the price. Azi just thought he couldn't afford better."

Aang snickers. "Who would have thought Katara's enemy would become her brother's lover!"

"Now that I think about it, Aang, Azi never complained about him being low class. She even was worried he'd get into trouble over her! She must have already been in love!"

"When does she find out he's richer than your dad?"

"Oh, wow, listen to this. Sokka gives her the bracelet, and she throws it back at him. He then grabs her and snaps it on to her wrist, all the while, she screaming for him to take it back. She said he hugs her and whispers 'Happy Birthday' and she's yelling at him! Sokka then kisses her, and she burns his lips."

"Woo, that must have hurt."

"It did, and Sokka punches a hole in her wall. Now, Azi is complaining not only about the bracelet but the spirit-damn hole and possibly getting evicted for property damage! Sokka is trying to take care of his burnt lips that looks like he just kissed an oven! I bet that was hilarious! He finally finds the burn salve that they keep for more spirited nights; if you know what I mean."

Aang rolled his eyes. Now I do.

Toph continues. "After Sokka settles down, he punches the wall a second time. Azula told me that was the time she got scared."

Azula scared?

"She thought he was going to hit her like her father did. Even though she knew she could burn him to ash, the thought of him hitting her, slapping her, just was horrifying. I think she was afraid of losing him. He punched the walls and doors a few more times before he noticed her shock; he told me that part. He started to apologize, but then she demands he leaves. She gets hysterical screaming 'Get Out!' over and over."

Aang shakes his head. I guess they were both out of control. "What happens next, Toph?"

"How come we're still dancing Aang?"

"Because your storytelling is like, music?"

She shrugs. "Okay, I can buy that. Well, as Azi tells it, a short time later while she's still seething and thinking about burning the building down, because of the holes."

Aang shakes his head. "Figures a princess would think that way."

"Then comes a knock on the door and the manager tells her that he has had a lot of complaints and that the landlord was here to speak with her. Azula just about shits herself; huh, that's what she told me. She thinks about running away by jumping out the window. Oh, they only knew her as Hina Azure. She was still on the run from her brother. When she helps me out, she uses that alias still."

Pretty name.

"Eventually she opens the door and right behind the manager is standing, the burnt lip doofus himself, wearing glasses, a beanie and a full-length red silk robe! She asks where the landlord is, and the manager identifies Sokka as the owner, Wang Fire. Azula starts to argue with the man, but he assures her he knows Mr. Fire personally, the wealthiest man in Republic City. He explains that she should be grateful for his time and personal attention. Of course, Sokka was smiling like the panther-cat that ate the proverbial sparrow-keet."

"Oh, this is getting good. To think that my pops would be so shrewd," Aang joked.

"That's right, Sokka and Katara were your folks when you went to Fire Nation school. Ugh, so gross, and to think you almost married your mother! What were you thinking, Aang?"

"I would definitely have to fault my upbringing. Honestly, Chief Bei Fong, I was ignorant!"

"Truer words were never spoken," Toph snickers.

"Hey, that was mean, my love. True, but mean."

They giggle loudly.

"To make a long story short, she gets the picture. The next day she's living at his place and holds deed on the building as the new landlady. Her birthday present, so she didn't have to worry about the holes."

"And the bracelet?"

"That day she went back to that jewelry store, with him, and bought all the accessories to match. He spoils her to no end. Says it's his duty. I know he's trying to make up for the hell she's been through in his way."

"Is he buying her love, Toph?"

"No way. Azula turned the building into an orphanage and then sold everything but the bracelet to fund a burn unit at the hospital. Sokka didn't say a word. Whatever she gives away, he replaces with something else. I can hear the pride in his voice whenever he talks about her. It used to make me jealous."

"Uh, Toph, when did you know Azula was in Republic City?"

"I guess I can say now. Sokka told me before he brought her to the city. I just about called him every name in the book for an idiot when he explained their relationship. I just thought it would be a matter of time before he would be ash. That first night in the city, she actually stayed at my house. It was a tense meeting, but after a good lunch, and a couple of strong cherry cordials, we hit it off. She stayed with me until she found that apartment."

They stopped dancing once more. "Toph, you the police chief, aided, harbored and consorted with a known fugitive?"

"Yeah, got a problem with that, Mr. Avatar?"

Aang shook his head. "Nope, none at all," he replies, spinning her about on the dance floor. "I used to think of Azula as some emotionless, monster."

"Did you know, many people in the Fire Nation thought of you as a monster too, Aang?"

She could feel his nod through her body.

"I read the reports Zuko shared with me about their attack on the Northern Water Tribe. They called me a murderous demon in the guise of a child. I used to brag about not killing, but the loss of life their fleet experienced says otherwise. Even before I had merged with La, I sank a lot of their ships, and many of their sailors died."

"That's the nature of war Aang. The only people who don't kill are the ones who don't fight."

"Isn't that the truth. I'm just sorry for the blood on your hands too, Toph."

"Hey, my choice is my choice. It had nothing to do with you, sweetheart! I knew that it wasn't going to be a show. I still remember the first guy I took down on the Day of Black Sun. He was calling out for his… mother," she revealed as her tears dampened his tunic. "That didn't stop me. A lot of people died that day, ours, and theirs. I only wish it had ended there. Being a police chief, it comes with the territory."

Aang squeezed his bride tighter. He had long accepted the real-world dangers of her job. She had been close to death more than once and looking over her reports; the metal cop didn't hesitate when it came to protecting the citizenry or her fellow officers from murderous gangs. Aang tried once to convince her to walk away from the job. Her stern conviction silenced his pompous pontification.

"You know Toph when I woke from that iceberg, and I thought the girl I first saw was an angel. She was so pretty with a halo of white fur. That's what I thought."

"Being locked in a block of ice for a hundred years would have made anyone look good. Thank goodness Sugar Queen got to you first, or you might have ended up one of Sokka's bitches. I heard even the guys thought you were cute back then."

"Not funny Toph!"

"Hey, keeping it real! Besides, why did you bring that old story up?"

"I was thinking about when I saw that vision of you in the swamp and how my heart was beating so fast, I became out of breath. Do you know how hard it is for an airbender to get out of breath?"

She giggles, and it makes his heart flutter. "That does sound like a difficult thing. Did it hurt?"

"Hmm, oh yes, very much so. When you ran from me, I was afraid I would never see you again. I never felt that desperate in my entire life! I thought that if I didn't catch up to you, I would lose everything. Somehow, some way, I was going to catch you was all that I thought about." Aang's voice descends into a shallow sigh.

"Tears? Are you starting to cry Aang?"

"Tears of joy," he declares wiping his face in her thick raven black hair.

"It's allowed today, my husband. I've shed more than a few myself. Now that you've gone and caught me, I hope you don't grow weary or regret the effort. I heard that sometimes the chase is better than the capture," she expounds with a soothing moan into his chest.

He laughs lightly. "Says the predator to the prey."

"Oh, so you figured out who was chasing who, now did you Aang?"

"I think that's supposed to be who was chasing whom," he corrected.

"Whatever, who, whom, just silly words. But you like silly things."

"Well, I do like you. Ow! Toph, you bit me!" he exclaims in surprise, patting her bottom sharply.

"And you said something mean to me, so that makes us even. That spank on my rump, do it again, a little harder this time."

"You want me to spank you?"

"Ugh, you know something husband, you need to heed your wife's words," she says, biting his chest once more right on the nipple.

This time the solid hit echoed through the empty chamber as they stopped dancing. Toph tilts her head up so that he could see her glistening, misty, jade green eyes and quivering pouty lips. She looked like a child about to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Toph," he mumbles.

"I said a little harder; you knucklehead! My ass is still ringing. You're gonna have to kiss it and make it better!"

"Here? Now?"

"Yes, here and now! You spanked me, here and now! My own father never spanked me!"

That explains a lot.

"Ow, Toph! Why did you punch me now!?" he complains, rubbing his shoulder.

"Because you were thinking something rude!"

Aang pouts, unable to deny anything to the human lie detector.

Suddenly she turns her back to him, swiftly lifting her skirt and slips up, displaying her full pale buns, one with a bright red handprint on it.

The surprised Avatar stood for a moment appreciating the round perfection of her bodacious bouncy booty and just how defined the handprint was. He felt a bit proud of his handiwork, but clearly, he had miss gauged the amount of force.

Her finger points to the bruised area. "It stings! Kiss it!"

Aang drops to his knees as his arms wrap about her full bare hips.

Toph's eyes drop half closed as she releases a loud, lingering, lustful lament and her face and ears flush a deep rosy pink.

Aang's tongue slowly traces the impression he had inadvertently made, leaving a long damp trail along each finger. Opening wide, he plants the open mouth kiss on the palm mark. His lips and tongue press firmly against her still tingly butt cheek. The side of his hand presses against her clitoris. The combo move solicits another comely sigh from his new bride.

"O my Twinkle Toes, by the spirits, this feels so gooood! I know, I'm not supposed to, to call you, that any, anymore, b-but I can't think, can't, oh yes, that's the way!"

Aang didn't care what she called him at the moment. Moving with passion, he shifts over to the opposite firm alabaster cheek, making his way all around, not missing a spot as his fingers stroke her sensitive nub.

The enraptured woman's knees buckle, but she is supported by the invisible cushion of air generated from her lover. Still, her body pitches forward, hands thrashing out against open space as her husband's tongue invades the depths of her vagina. Contrasting feelings collide to produce a fiery rush rising from her core as toes curl and fingers straighten. The release ignites a series of long rolling tremors as her captured hips buck violently against his face. She feels his tongue continuing to frolic within, uncovering new sensations that prolong her sensual agony.

The airbender feels her relax against his grip. It is then he pulls her back, and he floats to the ground, her skirt canopies over his head. This new position offers many advantages. Her full, musty, sumptuous aroma is invigorating as his tongue laps her throbbing clit, and her clear heavy dew drips across both cheek and chin.

It takes Toph a few moments to figure out their orientation once her feet and knees make contact with the ground. Her climax is swiftly forming as she tucks her knees under her. The physical shift sends a new shock of pleasure through her center, and the release feels as though Toph is melting on the inside.

As his bride lifts on her knees, Aang can see easily within. Her soft pink labia, framed by a black rim, pulsing to an inner beat, all shining and sweet as he introduces a finger, and they form about his digits. He suckles her clitoris further as Toph explodes in another session of deep groans, grunts, and purrs. Her body convulses at every stroke of his finger or lap of his tongue.

Toph desperately tries to scoot up, only to be pressed back onto her lover's face by his strong arms, locked around her thighs. Each struggle drove her further from sanity. Her unremitting petitioning only seemed to spur him on as again the waves of ecstasy overwhelmed her senses. She leans forward laying upon his body as her cheek feels the hardened mound, still locked with his pants. She greedily pulls loose the drawstring free as up springs her pulsing quarry. Ahhh, sweet revenge!

Less than a minute later and Aang was on the defensive. He twisted and groaned, pleaded and cajoled only to have his supplication fall upon deaf ears. She apparently didn't even stop to breathe as he released the thick, cloudy contents of his scrotum into her ballooning cheeks. The sensitivity of his erection went up by a factor that he couldn't have expected. What she was doing was robbing him of his breath, as well as his mind. Her name repeated over and over echoes throughout the voluminous room until he collapses and the shockwaves of her workings dissipate.

The young couple is spent as they pant almost in rhythm.

"Now that I know sex is so good, why did we wait?" she asks.

"Can't think, only Toph! Toph, Toph, Toph," he repeated, sounding like a train.

She giggles, feeling his hand slowly moving over her bare buttocks. "Hey lover, before I came along, weren't you chasing after Katara?"

Aang paused for a moment. "I don't think I ever chased, like courted her. I mean I did kiss her on the Day of Black Sun, but that was like making a statement to me. I was thinking, of course, she was going to be my girlfriend, no doubt about it. That was pretty presumptuous I discovered later. It was like she was there, so I guess, I never chased her, unless you mean, chased her away."

Toph was gently following the curves of his flaccid penis with a finger. "Was that vision of me really a good decision to run after?"

Aang uncovers his head to looks down at the inverted woman stretched out upon him. The warmth he feels in his chest spoke his answer before his words ever came to mind. "Toph, it was the best choice ever! You're the best for me!"

"Good to hear that," she answered, softly kissing the tip of his penis. "Care for another dance Twinkle Toes, before we head upstairs and take a bath?"

"Sounds good," he replies, floating up and placing his wobbly bride on her feet.

"Wow, I guess my legs haven't recovered from that," she gasps, clinging to him.

Aang tightens his hold on her as they start to glide around the dance floor once more.

"The guru showed me that in my mind, all my people and my hopes to restore them was wrapped up in Katara. He told me I had to let it go. I doubt I really loved her. I never felt about her the way I do about you Toph. I guess I saw her as a means to an end. Maybe that's why I ended up treating her so terribly."

"Is this some kind of confession?"

Aang sighs. "More like an epiphany, I think. I've apologized to Katara tons today, and she keeps asking me to marry her too, saying if I was truly sorry, that I would take responsibility."

Toph giggles. "One thing you can say about Sugar Queen, she sure is persistent."

"True that! When I'm with you, I only think about you, Toph, and that's the truth!"