Arranged Love Story

She wished that she could see to know for sure that Aang was asleep on the couch. But these damn wooden floors made it impossible to sense him, and all she had to go by was her hearing. She knew it must be dark, she had waited a good two hours from when they parted for bed.

Toph could barely hear his soft breathing from the direction of the couch. He must be asleep soundly.

She tiptoed slowly to the door, knowing the path well enough by now that she wouldn't trip over any furniture. Her ears strained to keep tabs on the sound of his breathing as she moved about the room. She was right by the door now- if he woke and questioned her she would have no excuse for what she was doing. Taking a midnight stroll?

The door creaked as she opened it, and she froze. But his gentle breathing went on, not even a stir. She slowly squeezed herself out the door and closed it as softly as she could. Going down the stairs was a bit hard, since they were also wooden, but she carefully made it down.

Once her feet hit solid ground she took a breath of relief. Ah, earth. Now she could see!

The inn was close enough to the outskirts of Gaoling, not a far walk at all to the underground Earth Rumble.

And after a quite tame practice of forms with Aang earlier, she was itching to really fight.

Toph walked quickly before giving up hiding her excitement and full on running. There was no one around to see her being a fool anyways.

She laughed as she ran, feeling free as her toes dug into the soil.

Eventually she slowed back down to a walk. She didn't want to be recognized in the streets, so she formed a tunnel that would take her directly to the underground fighting ring.

And when she finally arrived, they were happy to see her. Many welcomed the Blind Bandit back, and she was immediately placed in the ring as others wanted to see how they'd fare against the champion. It was a blast to really fight.

In the end, she beat everyone. Of course.

Toph walked down with the bag of reward money in her hand. At first she had thought to hide it in case she needed to escape, but... she didn't feel the need to run away. (The thought of her husband brought her a foreign feeling of comfort that she decided to ignore for now.) Now she was thinking of finding some families to give the reward to instead. She knew there were many more in need of this money than her.

"That was some very impressive bending out there."

Toph felt as if ice water had been dumped over her head. That was her husband's voice. Dumbly, she noticed his airy footsteps approach her too late.

"Did you follow me?!" She was stunned, turning to him sharply. Stunned mostly because she hadn't noticed him following her. Nobody could evade her senses like that.

Aang held his hands out cautiously. "I'm sorry! I thought you were running away from me... I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

Toph swallowed. Damn this man for being sweet and caring.

She crossed her arms and glared at the ground. "Of course I wasn't running away from you. You're... I-" she hesitated. I like being around you. "I'm your wife now. I have to stay with you."

"That's-" Aang frowned. "Toph, I didn't mean to... to trap you. I thought... you liked me, too..."

Toph could hear the regret in his voice, and it made her heart squeeze painfully. Without thinking, she reached out to grab his hands. "I never said I didn't."

"You hardly speak to me, you think I'm going to rape you or hit you, you hide your true bending from me and sneak out at night-"

"Okay I get it." She huffed. "But can you blame me? From everything I have heard, husbands are horrible to their wives. Why should I expect anything different?"

Aang squeezed her hand gently. "Because I'm different. I'm trying to show you that."

Toph smiled, "You have been showing me that, Aang. And I think... maybe I can trust you, and show you who I really am."

"That's all I want." Aang whispered.


After finding some kids to give the rewards to, they made a silent trek back to the inn.

Aang cleared his throat awkwardly, "So... how did you do that?"

Toph blinked in confusion. "Do what?"

"Do what?" He mimicked her voice. "The bending, Toph. That was the best earth bending I've ever seen. Better than me, better than my kooky old teacher, Bumi. How did you do that?"

The small woman smirked and folded her hands behind her head as they walked. She decided to really wow him. She changed her direction to a small boulder on the path.

"Toph, watch-"

Aang cut himself off as he watched her leap on top of the boulder easily.

"What... you..."

She grinned at him. "I don't see with my eyes, but I can see with my feet."

He stared at her in awe.

"As long as there is earth under my feet, I can use my bending and see just as well as you can. Maybe even better."

Aang furrowed his brow, "Better?"

Toph nodded, jumping back down to continue strolling. "I can see the ants over there. I can tell there's no other human around for a mile. I know there's animals skittering about in the desert. I can feel your heart rate."

He stopped in his tracks. "You have got to teach me this!"

She laughed heartily. "We'll see! That's why I was so surprised you had followed me, because I hadn't noticed."

Aang puffed his chest up proudly. "I'm sneaky!"

"Hmm, more like you're a fancy dancer with those light footsteps." Toph giggled as she felt him deflate. She hummed, "I really have never been able to not detect someone though, so I guess it's still impressive."

"Not as impressive as you."

Toph blinked. She turned her head away from him as her cheeks flushed red. "Well, yeah. Avatar Shmavatar- I'm the best earth bender."

Aang took no offense as he laughed in agreement. They came upon the private inn, and Toph detested the wooden structure. Aang ushered her up the steps with a gentle hand. "Come on, let's get to bed. I'm beat."


There was a light knock on her door that almost made her jump. She quickly tied her robe over her nightgown- if you could call it that. Her mother had packed it and it was... well she might as well sleep naked. "Come in." She called, grateful that this time Aang had waited for a response before entering. He continued to surprise her with his thoughtfulness.

"Hey. I brought you some water. You should drink it after exerting yourself so much."

Toph smiled softly as he approached her and put the glass in her hand, sitting on the edge of the bed. "You're really nice, Aang."

He chuckled as she took big gulps. "Just trying to be a good husband."

Aang took the empty cup from her hands and placed it on her nightstand.

She pondered over his words. A good husband.

And her duty was to be a good wife. And that meant...

Toph swallowed roughly, grabbing his sleeve as he shifted to stand from the bed and leave. "Don't you... need to consummate the marriage?"

Aang sighed. "No, I don't need to. I'm not going to force myself on you."

"You... really aren't going to hurt me?" She whimpered, the question slipping from her before she could swallow it down.

"Toph, I swear on Ravaa that I will never hit you or rape you. I promise."

She felt tears gathering in her eyes. She believed him. Aang sighed sadly again, placing his hand on her cheek gently. She didn't flinch away from his touch.

"But... don't you want children?"

Aang shrugged, she could feel it in the movement of his hand. "I do. But I wanted to marry you. So now you are my first priority. I want you to be safe and happy. I'm going to take care of you, Toph."

Toph felt her lip tremble. Why was this man so kind?

"I'm glad." He continued speaking as he wiped at her tears with his thumb. "Glad that I married you, so that someone else didn't put you through a living hell."

She was glad, too.

She couldn't take it anymore, and like a dam she broke, a built-up river of tears quaking from her. Aang drew her into a hug, and she buried her face into his toned chest. He stroked her back and let her cry, her small frame shaking with sobs.

Toph was crying to let out her fear, and her relief. Aang was good and she would be treated like her own person. She wasn't going to have a miserable life.

Eventually, the dam ran dry. She had exhausted herself silly, and she let her eyelids close as she gripped onto Aang's tunic.

For the first time in a long time, she felt completely safe and free in someone's presence.

(The next morning she was still alone in bed and she wasn't quite sure why that made her feel so empty.)


Notes:

Oooooh we are starting to get somewhere here pals. When I said slow burn I MEANT IT.