A/N: well now that Taangst Week is over I can focus on HEA! Though Aang Rare Pair Week is next week… and I keep taking prompt requests on tumblr... eeee it's called overcommitment babes. (Check out my ao3 for the tumblr prompts- same author name of joydragon. Or my tumblr is authorjoydragon!)
Aang growled as Gyatso walked off. He turned to the cliff side and spewed fire from his mouth in frustration. Toph could feel the heat of the flames from where she stood a good five feet away.
She frowned at him in concern. Aang was very upset, he had really blown a fuse back there. Maybe this was a continuation of the argument he had had with Gyatso before he left?
"Aang?" She approached him cautiously.
He took a deep breath and sat down. "Hold on. I need to calm down." Toph recognized the lotus-style his body formed and quietly sat next to him. That's right, Aang liked to meditate when he was upset. She wouldn't push him.
They sat there for a while, and Toph felt her eyelids get heavy. They had been traveling all day, and she was exhausted from being around so many people. Well, since Aang was meditating she could just close her eyes for a bit…
When Aang came back to himself, he looked down to his lap in surprise. Toph was soundly asleep using him as a pillow. He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair, pulling it out of its bun. He liked it better when it was down. He traced her features softly, she really was beautiful.
Toph blinked open her eyes as his thumb paused on her lower full lip. She kissed his thumb softly.
"Hey." Aang smiled wide at her display of affection.
Then she smirked. "I was waiting for your hands to travel a little further down, y'know."
Aang barked a laugh at that. He grinned as he dug his fingers into her side. "Oh, like down here?"
Toph giggled as he tickled her side, squirming to get away from him. He let her free- for now.
She sat up and pushed her headband up indignantly, huffing at him. "Rude!"
He grinned at her reaction and leaned forward to kiss her lips sweetly. Toph flushed as he pulled away. "What was that for?"
"Cause I wanted to." Aang answered honestly. He spied her hidden smile under her bangs, glad that she liked surprise kisses. He'd have to do that more often.
Aang stood up, stretching out his limbs. He held out his hand to her. "Come on, let's go find Appa and Momo."
Toph let him pull her up as she frowned. "Shouldn't we wait for Gyatso? He made it sound like he didn't want us wandering too far…"
"Don't care!" Aang said cheerfully. "Let's go!"
She rolled her eyes as he tugged her along. Then he stopped suddenly. "Actually, let me show you how I get around here."
He gripped her shoulders and sweeped her legs out from under her, holding her bridal style. Before she could complain, he jumped.
Toph screeched and gripped onto his tunic as they flew high up into the air. Up and down, Aang would land briefly just to jump again, reminding her of his fighting style. It made her stomach flip.
Finally he gently landed and set her down on her feet. She kept her hand on his arm to regain her balance. She groaned, "Why… why would you do that to me?"
Aang laughed, "Because it's fun! And faster."
Toph shook her head. She felt a little more steady now, so she punched his arm. "Stupid Twinkletoes."
He laughed off her irritation and grabbed her hand, pulling her along towards the stables. "Come meet Appa!"
She could feel very large animals ahead of them. "You didn't tell me those bison were so big!"
"Oh I didn't? Yeah!" He stopped in front of one of the stables. "Meet my ten-ton-flying bison, Appa!"
A loud roar filled her ears, making her cover them with her hands. The animal suddenly tackled her husband, covering him in slobber as he laughed maniacally. It was kind of gross.
"I missed you buddy!" Aang let the massive creature practically crush him. "I'm sorry I was gone so long. Where's Momo?"
Toph heard a weird chittering sound as some tiny creature crawled towards her. It stopped in front of her feet, tilting its head. She knelt down and held her hand out. "Hi there little guy."
It ran up her arm, twirling itself around her neck as it sniffed her hair. Then it jumped off of her shoulder- and she realized it was flying as it landed directly on Aang's chest.
"Hey Momo. How'd you like Toph? She smells good, right?" Aang petted the soft fur on the lemur's head as he purred.
Toph held still as the large bison turned its attention on her. His giant head came towards her as he eyed her up and sniffed her. He didn't seem to be as trusting as the little lemur was.
She held in her disgusted groan as a slimy tongue slid along her arm. At least that meant she had his approval. She felt like she had passed some kind of test.
Aang popped up from the ground, "Let's go on a ride!"
Toph held up a hand as she motioned behind her. "Hold that thought, Twinkletoes. Your father is here."
Sure enough Gyatso turned around the corner of the stables just after she finished speaking.
Gyatso smiled wide, "I thought I'd find you here."
Aang's good mood seemed to fizzle with the appearance of his guardian, as he was reminded of their earlier argument.
"I have good news." Gyatso appeased him. "The council agreed to your marriage."
"Hmpf." Aang grunted, turning back to Appa and stroking his fur. It was clear he didn't care what the council thought.
Toph rolled her eyes at him. She bowed slightly to Gyatso. "Thank you. I know marriage isn't usual for your culture, so I am grateful for the opportunity to allow us to marry."
"Yeah. Thanks." Aang said shortly, dripping with sarcasm. He yelped as a rock sprang up and almost knocked him off balance. Toph smiled innocently.
Gyatso ignored his son's temper. "There is one condition the elders had that you probably won't agree with, but humor us. We ask that you sleep in separate rooms until the ceremony."
Aang groaned. "That's dumb. We've been sleeping-"
"It's fine, Aang." Toph interrupted him. She was just glad they were allowing a wedding, she didn't care what hoops they'd have to jump through now. "And when can we have the ceremony?"
Her husband frowned as he scratched his head. "Yeah, we were supposed to go see Suki and Sokka soon."
"We can have the ceremony as soon as you'd like." Gyatso shrugged. "It does not take much time to prepare."
Toph turned to Aang. "Let's give it a few days? Just so we can settle in."
"Sure." Aang wrapped his arm around her waist. "Whenever you want."
He was such a sap. Toph grinned though. This gave her time to give him his necklace!
"It is getting quite late." Gyatso observed. "Would you like me to show you to your room, Miss Toph?"
She nodded, embarrassed when Aang squeezed her tighter and kissed her cheek goodnight. He whispered to her that he'd come find her in the morning.
