Toph woke up to the warm rays of the sun tickling her toes. The sounds and sensations of the world filtered into her consciousness slowly. It was a usual mix of birds singing, breeze rustling the leaves, the gentle vibrations of critters scurrying through the undergrowth. And then there was something else; a monotonous tapping of a stick against a rock that didn't quite fit into the usual morning sounds of the forest.
Right, her prisoner was fidgeting.
Toph - still half asleep - flicked a small pebble at his head. "Can you stop that? How long have you been up?"
"Ouch," he yelped indignantly. "Since dawn."
"Dawn?" Toph repeated incredulously. There was something deeply wrong with the guy.
"It's a firebender thing," he said defensively. It was at least an explanation why the Fire Nation was evil. Toph would have waged a war on the world too if she never got to sleep in.
"So why didn't you get up?" Surely, there were more productive ways to spend the morning than disturbing others with squirming.
"You shackled me to the ground." He sounded rather disgruntled about it.
"Don't tell me you couldn't have gotten out of that if you wanted to," snorted Toph. She made sure that the shackles were flimsy and loose. She was curious what he would do. Also, she really didn't want to be woken up in case he had to use what Sokka liked to call the "facilities".
"It was my impression that you didn't want me to," Zuko muttered.
"You are still playing by other people's rules." Toph shook her head in disappointment. She had hoped that Zuko would take a clue from their sparring session and start behaving more like his free-spirited alter ego than this tight-laced good boy.
Permission received, there was a flash of heat, and the shackles were broken. He sat up, stretched and sat back on his heels, eerily still. Slow breaths, steady calm heartbeat. It was freaky. And boring.
"What are you doing?"
"Meditating. We soak up the sun's energy to strengthen our chi. Early morning is the best time for firebending practice," he explained in a leave-me-alone kind of voice. It was pretty much the only voice he had.
Toph cracked her knuckles.
"Well, as luck would have it, anytime is the best time for earthbending. And since I'm already up, how about we work up an appetite before breakfast?"
"The thing is...there is no breakfast, Toph. We are out of food," he sighed mournfully.
That was definitely a set-back.
"Then let's head to the closest place for supplies."
"We also have no money," Zuko added with a sigh.
Yes, because you gave it all away, in a bout of generosity, Toph thought. His constant negativity was starting to get on her nerves.
"Won't be a problem," she smirked confidently. She had plans for these kind of things. After all, she had to use her wits to put together the entry fee for the Earth Rumble championships too. There were lots of ways to make money if one knew how to grasp the opportunities. And the Beifongs have built a business empire on this knowledge for generations. "Let's go."
"Uhhm…" Zuko cleared his throat, like she was supposed to know what that sound was supposed to mean. Waving his arms around in her general direction in a frustrating blur did nothing to help clarify the situation either.
"I have no idea what you are pointing at," Toph said with annoyance. Didn't he realize that she was blind?
"Your...erm...hair. Maybe you could… " he sputtered.
"What?" snapped Toph. Something was wrong with her hair?
"I don't know… brush it? We don't want to draw a lot of attention."
He sounded almost like Mother. Toph raked her fingers through her hair twice. "Better?"
Silence. Maybe her hair was really that bad? On most days Toph didn't care. It's not like she ever had to look in a mirror. And in the fighting arena rough looks were a bonus. Or so she was told by the thickskulls. But since she was out in the world, the question started to nag her just a tiny bit. What if she was ugly? Not that she knew what that meant, but she imagined it was like how a ragged boulder felt compared to a smooth marble.
"Actually, let me...?" he offered hesitantly.
"Fine. Since you are my valet anyways, you might as well make yourself useful." Toph leaned back. Ordering someone was not the same as asking for help, was it?
His fingers felt rough against her scalp. He pulled on her locks clumsily as he tried to untangle them. There was a pang of something deep inside Toph's belly as she remembered her mother's soft touch. Poppy personally helped her get ready every morning; brushing her hair, tying the sash around her waist, washing her skin with rice water. Whether the pang was called regret or longing, it sucked, so Toph refused to examine it more closely. Emotions could make you soft and malleable, but she preferred to be a rock. Hard and unmovable, just like a rugged boulder. Those packed a good punch. She focused her attention back to Zuko's very-unlike-mother's fingers twisting her hair.
"Where did you learn about girls' hair?" she asked. This was a new dimension of her companion, no, her valet.
"I was forced to play with my sister and her friends," he admitted grumpily. So Blue had a sister. That was also new information. So far, he only ever talked about his uncle.
"Well, you do have stone hands," Toph complained.
"Funny, coming from an earthbender," he noted drily, but made an effort to be more gentle.
"Where is your sister now?" she asked curiously.
His heartbeat quickened with - what was it? Fear, apprehension, worry?
"I'm not sure." The reply came after a long beat. It was true. Or at least rue enough.
He put the last pins in place and announced, "We are done."
They rode the short distance to the village in silence. Toph was wrapped in a gloomy cloud of homesickness and Zuko was his usual grim self. The pangs of hunger was an extra irritation that dampened their mood.
They were in luck. It was market day; the hustle and bustle offered a welcome distraction from unpleasant thoughts. Toph soaked in the sounds and sensations. Markets also attracted exactly the type of people Toph was looking for: the hustlers, the cheaters, the scammers. She wandered around the stalls until the unmistakable noises of excitement and disappointment told her she found what she was looking for.
She whispered instructions into Zuko's ear and cut off his protests reminding him that valets did not argue with their employers. He hissed back that employers usually paid their staff, but lacking a better plan, he acquiesced.
Toph stepped forward towards the card stall, putting on a show of stumbling and bumping into people. It was the poor-little-blind-girl-act and people bought it without fail.
"Can I try my luck?" she asked innocently.
"Do you have money?"
"No, but I have this," she held out a jade bracelet. It was an expensive piece with excellent craftsmanship, or so her mother had informed her.
There was unmasked greediness in the man's voice as he extended his invitation. "Take a seat, little bird."
-0-
Zuko leaned against the wall behind the card stall, pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes, hiding his face as much as he could. The crowd made him uncomfortable. Azula peppered (flooded?) the Earth Kingdom with wanted posters of Zuko and Uncle Iroh (come on, Zuzu - isn't it good to feel wanted finally?) and even though his hair changed, his scar remained very recognizable.
Toph was drawing too much unwelcome attention by her miraculous winning streak, which she accompanied by exaggerated displays of joyful surprise. It was like watching the Ember Island Players butcher a scene from Love Among Dragons all over, dying of second-hand embarrassment.
"You care to guess again?" The card guy tapped his fingers impatiently. His lack of enthusiasm was understandable; there was an ever growing pile of coins in front of the blind girl he had thought was going to be an easy prey.
"Sure. It's my lucky day after all," she intoned with the fakest sweet smile.
Zuko glanced at the cards from his vantage position. He tapped his foot lightly eight times.
Toph's scratched her head. "I'm thinking of saying twelve, because I'm twelve, but then seven is my lucky number. You know what? I think it's an eight."
"Are you sure you don't want to go for your lucky number instead?" the card guy asked.
"I'm sure. There is this little voice inside me that just keeps whispering eight," Toph grinned cheekily.
"She won again. She must be a truth-seer..." The amazed murmur went through the crowd.
"I rubbed a badger-mole's balls for good luck," Toph announced loudly. "Maybe you should try it."
A giggle rippled through the crowd. Card-man's eyes flashed with hatred.
Zuko was on edge. This was not going to end well. They needed to get out of here - right now. He cleared his throat, and when that failed to draw Toph's attention, he walked towards an abandoned alley, making sure to stomp his feet deliberately so she could not miss it.
She appeared soon enough, hands in pockets, a furious expression on her face.
"What's wrong with you? I was not finished, Zu-" she hissed.
"Don't call me that here," he interrupted. "Yes you were. We have enough money now. We should go," Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a fruit stand.
Only when the merchant asked him what he wanted did he realize that it was full of stuff he did not recognize. The Earth Kingdom had very different produce from the Fire Nation. Also, it's not like he had much idea how to cook anyways. Finally, he spotted something familiar.
"We'll take four mangoes," Zuko told the seller, absent-mindedly paying the two silver pieces for the fruits.
"I hate mangoes…" Toph said loudly.
"You are drawing attention," Zuko whispered and pulled her along. She must have done some earthbending trick, because she felt heavy like a bag of lead or a particularly stubborn ostrich horse.
"You are drawing more attention by overpaying like a dumbstick instead of driving a bargain," Toph retorted. Zuko glanced back at the mango merchant's slick smirk and realized that she probably did have a point. Even if he was in a hurry, he had to blend in and bargain like the rest of the customers. Like Uncle always did, which used to drive Zuko crazy. He wished he paid more attention to the old man, instead of complaining about wasting precious time.
"Let's get some rice," he headed down the street hoping that for once Toph would follow his lead.
Of course, she didn't. She stopped and sniffed, turning her nose in the direction of a stand where a woman was steaming dough.
"Let's stop for dumplings instead," she suggested.
"We should be careful not to spend too much," Zuko objected. Her winnings would tide them over for two weeks even if they stretched the money.
"Don't worry. There is plenty of more where that came from. And your rice sucks. I want dumplings," she insisted.
The smell was enticing. Zuko's stomach growled in agreement, so he agreed.
They munched on the steaming noodles happily, as they continued walking through the market, looking for a rice stand and maybe some salted meat. It was the easiest thing to carry long distances.
Toph insisted on buying a lychee lemonade, picking a lucky fish (which was unsurprisingly unlucky) and stopping to listen to a group of vagabonds dancing and singing an annoying tune about some secret tunnel. It was worse than music night on the ship, and that was saying something. Toph clapped loudly when the song was over and threw a copper piece at the performers.
She walked away whistling the stupid tune. She was worse to shop with than Uncle. Zuko felt like screaming even though it was a bad idea, because sometimes screaming meant smoking nostrils and spitting sparks and well, that would surely get him caught. Instead, he took a deep breath and started reciting the names of the 3073 islands of the Fire Nation. He got to Dovetail Bay before he felt safe to open his mouth again.
They barely took three steps when she got distracted again - this time by another scammer playing a shell game.
"Ooh, that's my favourite…" she exclaimed.
"I'm not helping. We got lucky the previous time," Zuko whispered angrily. Dragon Cove. Eclipse Beach. Ember Island. Emerald Cape.
"Well, I don't need your help on this one," she shrugged. "If you are such a wimp, why don't you go and do the rest of the shopping and come back when you are done."
That sounded like a terrible idea.
"Toph…"
"I didn't ask your opinion. Go, do the shopping, Valet," she ordered loudly.
Zuko noticed that some of the people started to stare at them. Maybe letting her play was a terrible idea, but arguing publicly was even worse.
"As you wish, my Lady," he replied through gritted teeth, accompanying his cold words with a quick, but impeccably executed bow. Not that she saw it, but it was a good way to keep his face hidden from view until he disappeared in the crowd.
Zuko wandered around in search of the rice stand, fuming internally. Toph was reckless and insolent. It was madness to stay with her, no matter what "terms" they agreed to. After all, wasn't she the one cheating people and encouraging him to break rules? Maybe he was meant to run away.
"Would you like Jasmine, purple, black, wild or Wuchang?" a merchant asked.
"What?" Zuko realized that he was indeed in front of a rice stand staring at the grains. "Just rice."
"There is no "just rice" here - we only have the finest selection of Earth Kingdom. The purple variety goes best with poached platypus-bear egg, wild rice can do wonders for virility, though I'm sure that a fine young man like yourself has…"
Whaaaaat? Firefly Island, Firestone Bay, Flaming Rock…
"I'll take the Jasmine." It sounded like something Uncle would choose.
"Excellent choice," smiled the merchant starting to fill a bag with a tiny scoop.
Zuko waited impatiently, tuning out the merchant's chatter about the different (rather dodgy) uses of rice. Instead, he listened to the hurly-burly of people bargaining and exchanging, until his ears picked up a conversation far more interesting than rice-ology.
"...by the Avatar." It was the woman from the Secret-Tunnel-troupe.
Her companion interrupted, "The Avatar is probably inside the walls of Ba Sing Se by now, if he has any sense.
"Nonsense, I heard he was…" she replied. The end of her sentence was drowned in the sound of screams, pottery crashing, fruit carts turning over. The ground was shaking which could only mean one thing.
Zuko ran towards the shell-game stall where he left the 12-year-old epicenter. The shaking subsided, and he spotted Toph trapped inside a wooden cage, surrounded by a crowd.
"This girl is a rascal. She's cheating, you all saw it," the card-man yelled pointing at her.
"You just suck at playing cards," Toph growled back, shaking the bars of her cage.
"I agree. She manipulated my game too," the shell-game guy agreed.
"The girl is a street urchin," added someone from the crowd.
"I think she works with an accomplice. A shady guy too," a woman's agitated voice joined in.
"There he is," yelled one of the men who had witnessed Zuko's argument with Toph earlier.
That was his cue. He dashed down among the stalls, knocking over a cabbage cart to slow down his pursuers.
"MY CABBAGES," the merchant's pained howl echoed among the houses.
Zuko jumped in an alleyway, climbed the walls and disappeared among the rooftops. He ducked behind a clothes-line covered with large sheets and waited motionless for the footsteps of his pursuers to die down. An owl-cat appeared from inside the house. It inspected Zuko with a hiss and a loud meow.
"Sshhhhh," Zuko shushed the animal. "I've had a rough day."
The owl-cat blinked its green eyes. It walked closer, rubbed itself against Zuko's leg and curled up in his lap.
Zuko sank his palm into the animal's soft fur. "Tell me, kitty, what is the right thing to do?"
The owl-cat purred in response.
"That's what I thought, too," Zuko sighed heavily. Animals never sugar-coated these things.