In hindsight, she should have seen the signs (blind joke fully intended and noted for later use) all along. After all, his heart made crazy backflips whenever Toph mentioned him not being a bender. She just assumed it was envy. Also, propped against him in the saddle, Toph could feel the heat he radiated like the warm bottle her nanny used to tuck in her bed whenever she had a bad cough on a cold winter night. Then there was the restless, pent-up energy that made him fidget endlessly. And only truly evil people got up voluntarily at the ass-crack of dawn.
A filthy, stinking firebender. And what was that about running into a burning house...and getting out alive...Well, no, that wasn't really a firebender thing. They set houses on fire. They didn't save people. Except, this guy; not-Lee-not-Blue did.
"Who are you?" she squeezed the rocks around his neck tighter, making sure the pointy end of a sharp piece was positioned right between his eyes.
He swallowed nervously. "Lee."
"Liar," she snarled. The rock inched closer to his skin. "I can tell you when you lie."
"You can?" he asked in shock.
Toph let out a snort. He wasn't even a challenge. "I don't even need my earthbending to tell. You are a terrible liar. Did you lie about being the Blue Spirit too?"
"No." True.
Toph frowned. How was it possible? The Blue Spirit was a good guy, a sword-wielding, ass-kicking vigilante who helped the Avatar escape from the Fire Nation. It made no sense.
"But you are a firebender." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. The undeniable proof was right in front of them, in the form of obliviously dancing flames.
"Yes," he admitted.
"I don't understand. If you are a firebender, why do you need to play dress-up and run around with swords instead of just using your bending?"
"It's complicated," he sighed. Also true. Maybe there was a story worth listening to. But Toph could not trust this stranger, not after all the lies. She still didn't even know his name.
"What's your name?" Toph asked again. "And don't even try to lie."
"Zuko." True. Wait, she had heard this name before.
"Are you the jerk with the pony-tail?" she exclaimed.
"Who told you that?" he retorted angrily. She could feel the sparks spitting out of his mouth. That was kind of impressive. Toph wondered if she could spit rocks somehow if the situation called for it. That would be a neat move.
Blue-Zuko continued his indignant grumble. "I've never had a ponytail." True.
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe Zuko was a popular name in the Fire Nation. She vaguely remembered from her lessons that someone important in their stupid royal family was called like that. It's like when King Kuei adopted Bosco and the idiot-half of Earth Kingdom, starry-eyed about anything royal was suddenly naming their first-borns after a bear.
"Sokka said otherwise," she replied, sure that the Water Tribe boy was talking about a different Zuko.
Or maybe not.
"Boomerang boy?" Blue-Zuko huffed angrily. "Tell him that it was a phoenix-tail and if my memories are correct, Water Tribe is the one with the ponytail."
Wow, boys sure were touchy about their hairstyles.
"It's a warrior's wolf-tail." Toph felt honour-bound to defend Sokka's perky little updo. Yes, she did test it with her own hands. It was perky. Anyways, the situation was clear. There was no mistake. This Zuko was the same as ponytail-jerk. Which also meant…
"So you don't deny that you have been trying to capture the Avatar?"
Silence. An even more unsettling thought occured to Toph.
"Were you using me to get to Aang?" she yelled.
More silence. But his heart beat like the thunderous drum-roll at the start of a wrestling match. That was all the answer Toph needed. She turned on her heels.
"Toph, let me explain…" he pleaded.
"There is nothing to explain," she hissed.
She was an idiot who almost accidentally befriended the enemy. She nearly walked him right up to the Avatar. Well, nothing like a bucket of cold betrayal to help her see clearly who her real friends were. Hint: not the jerk stuck in the rocks .
She would not be used this way. Whatever his reasons were, this just wasn't right. Ignoring his increasingly desperate calls, she walked away.
-0-
Section 342 of the Fire Nation Navy Handbook read: "Captured combatants under enemy interrogation must remain silent. If coerced, replies to be kept as short as possible." Zuko knew that. He memorized the entire Agni-forsaken Handbook by the second week of his banishment, resolute to keep his ship in absolute compliance with the rules. Now, he also understood the reason.
He was on track to talk himself out of this hole, until he had to lose his temper about the stupid pony-tail, like the predictable idiot he was.
Why was he so touchy about it anyways? Fine, it was the one symbol of royalty he was allowed to keep. The one tiny bit of formerly-Crown-now-just-simply-banished Prince Zuko. It was the hair his mother liked to comb over and over, humming as she worked the strands, until it was soft and shiny, like the finest silk. When he closed his eyes, he could sometimes feel the shadow of her fingers tantalizingly close to his scalp. But it was just hair. He chopped it off with his own hands and it even made him feel lighter for a brief moment.
The phoenix-tail didn't matter anymore. Certainly, not worth being trapped in a blasting hole, with no way out. His legs were clamped down, his arms held tight against his side by the crushing weight. Deprived of any range of motion, he couldn't bend.
He still had his breath of fire, but it was completely useless against the rocks. He simply couldn't get the right angle, no matter which way he craned his neck.
Zuko groaned in frustration. His situation was absolutely hopeless.
If you keep calm, Nephew, you will find a way out, Uncle-in-his-mind advised.
Zuko inhaled slowly and tried to go deep within himself, contemplating his place in the universe, like he learned as a child. Courage meant being mindful of his death, so it had no power over him. Everything had to die and those who accepted this were able to live in accordance with the paths of loyalty and filial duty…face peril with dignity...
Agni, this was not working.
"Heeeeelp," Zuko yelled, swallowing his pride.
The response came immediately, in the sound of heavy footsteps. Maybe the universe heard his desperate cry. Someone came to rescue him… Maybe Uncle was near. Oh, please, be Uncle.
A hairy foot appeared in Zuko's line of vision. His heart sank. As usual, the universe played a cruel joke at his expense. It was the stolen ostrich-horse.
The animal looked at him with detached curiosity, exhaling his stinky breath right in front of Zuko's nose. A rough tongue darted out and licked his face, covering him in disgusting ostrich-horse slob. Karma was a crueller bitch than certain family members who shall not be named on account of having promised Mother solemnly that he would not call names and make every effort to get along.
After surviving Zhao's assassination attempt, the cold of the North Pole, the perilous journey on a make-shift raft, being hunted like an animal by his sister, he would die here in this hole; all alone, covered in ostrich-horse spit, captured by a blind, 12-year old earthbending-prodigy brat. He started laughing hysterically, because the only alternative was crying.
And that was a lesson he learnt quickly after Mother left. Father made it known that crying was not an appropriate response to any pain or emotion he felt. He tried to bottle it up inside, until Azula, in a moment of uncharacteristic generosity tipped him off that if he was lucky, he could get away with manic laughter or incoherent yelling instead. They spent an entire afternoon in front of the big mirror in her room, experimenting with pitch, cadence and rhythm trying to copy Father's majestic cackle. It was one of the last good memories he had of her.
"At least things can't get worse," he told the ostrich-horse, trying to look for the silver-sandwich. The beast shook her head with a neigh, just to contradict him one last time before his inevitable and untimely demise.
Scratch that. Things could always, always get worse. He should have understood that by now. Because sure, it was bad to be stuck in a hole, trapped by a blind kid, covered in ostrich-horse drool. But being stuck in a hole, trapped by a blind kid, covered in ostrich-horse drool and have a saber-tooth moose lion cub take an interest in you was infinitely worse.
Objectively speaking, the cub was adorable as it came closer, sniffing Zuko mistaking him for an exciting new toy. But everyone knew that cute little saber-tooth moose-lion cubs had big, frightening saber-tooth moose-lion mothers. And mothers could do all kinds of wild things to protect their kids.
Like walk out without an explanation and never to come back kind of wild. Like grand-fathers mysteriously dying … no he couldn't go there. Mother would never. It was a coincidence.
At least, his death would be swift. It was preferable to be killed by a wild beast than to die slowly of exposure or thirst. But for sure, there was no more undignified death on record in the entire history of the royal family.
He'd be a footnote on those fancy family-tree scrolls. Prince Zuko, brother of Fire Lord Azula ( even saying it mentally made him choke on the words ), died before reaching the age of majority in an unfortunate saber-tooth moose-lion incident. They might magnanimously call it a hunting accident to embellish the truth about the passing of the black koala-sheep of the family.
He'd be the winner of the most pathetic royal death, a competition nobody ever wanted to compete in. Worse than Prince Kanzu - or was it Zendo? Azula would know for sure - who died hitting his head on the doorframe. Or Princess Azina who famously succumbed to an infected bite by a spider-monkey she took home as a pet against her father's warnings. At least, he would finally get first prize in something.
"Go away," he growled at the cub angrily, sparks escaping from his lips.
The cub let out a frightened whimper. Shit. That was stupid.
Deep rumbling in the woods announced the approach of the mama moose-lion. Zuko steeled himself. There was nobody to watch and give account, but he was determined to die like a prince, with a last defiant scowl at fate. He may have been beaten, but he was never broken and that had to count for something. At least it was going to be over - the hunt, the shame, the guilt. He was exhausted.
Sorry, Uncle, I hope you know that I never gave up, I just reached the end of the path, he thought. There were no other good-byes to make. Nobody else would miss him.
The saber-tooth moose-lion mother growled at him, eyes red with anger, white tusks glistening in the sun. Zuko looked at the light - Agni, give me strength . The animal charged. Encased in the rocks, Zuko could feel every thundering footstep, vibrating deep inside his bones.
The beast was only a few steps away, when a wall of rocks emerged from the ground, knocking the moose-lion back. The cub ran to his mother in alarm, nudging her with its nose. The mother rose to her feet with an angry grunt and tapped her feet. Large rocks were hurled in her direction from somewhere behind Zuko's back. The animal backed away. With a disgruntled roar, she decided that he was not worth the trouble and disappeared behind the tree-line with her cub in tow.
Zuko let out a sigh of relief. A shadow cast over him, and lifting his head, he could see the silhouette of his saviour. The brat came back.
"Toph..." he started hoping to explain.
"I've thought about it and," she interrupted, holding up her hand. "I realized that it would be a shame to leave you behind..."
Zuko nodded in agreement. After all, he did jump into a river to save her life. Honor required that he'd be repaid in kind. A life for a life.
"...when I can find so much better uses for you," Toph's lips curved into an evil grin.
Zuko tensed up again. This was not good.
It was the type of grin he was intimately and painfully acquainted with. The type of grin Azula would have on her face before she casually set his bed on fire. This grin did not promise anything good. Maybe undignified death by angry saber-tooth moose-lion mothers was preferable to whatever that grin meant.
"So here are the terms…" Toph crossed her arms on her chest.
Zuko closed his eyes in defeat. No good deed ever went unpunished. It was time to pay for his.