Hey y'all it's been a hot minute. I am sorry for losing steam on this story Thanks for following along!
Aang was feeding Appa and Momo, so Toph had some free time to herself. She decided to pay a visit to her father-in-law. They were adjusting well to temple life, Toph's only complaint was not being able to sleep with him (both literally and figuratively).
"Gyatso, can I ask a favor of you?"
"Of course, dear." Gyatso set down his quill and turned his attention to her as she stood in his doorway. Despite their tense initial meeting, Toph liked Gyatso. He was witty and kind.
Toph played with the end of her braid. "So… I obviously can't write. Would you send out some letters for me? But don't tell Aang."
He raised an eyebrow. "Secret letters?" he mused.
"Well it's— uh, I guess first I should ask if I can invite some people to the wedding ceremony?"
Gyatso blinked in realization and chuckled. "Of course you can. It's your wedding."
Toph smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't know if there's some custom against that. Anyways, I want to keep it small, since the wedding we had at my parents was… not small. And very overwhelming."
"Of course. Who would you like to invite?" His unspoken question hung in the air— why can't Aang know?
"I want to invite Aang's friends. As a surprise."
Gyatso grinned at her and slightly teased, "That is a very sweet gesture."
Toph flushed and crossed her arms, "Yeah well, Aang has been rubbing off on me, I guess."
The older man laughed, "Yes, he is a very sweet boy who spreads joy all around."
"Yeah… he is." Toph smiled warmly. Then she coughed, "Anyways, he spoke of four people in particular: Sokka, Suki, Katara, and Zuko."
Gyatso fought a grin. Perhaps this girl was a good match for his son after all. "Yes, I know them, I can send letters out to them."
Toph breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, because I don't know where exactly they live. I'm not sure if Suki will want to travel with her newborn."
"Ah, I'm sure she will for a wedding. I'll have to remember to also write congratulations." He chuckled, "Anyone else?"
"Um... Yes, my parents. I think they'd like to come see the temples. But uh… probably need to put in that this second wedding is a cultural thing and they shouldn't be insulted, and they don't need to bring a barrage of gifts or something."
Gyatso hummed and rubbed at his mustache. "Certainly, I can word that politely. Not a problem."
She blew out a gust of air and smiled at him, "Thank you, Gyatso. I really appreciate it."
Toph quickly exited his room and met up with Aang before they would head their separate ways for bed. She was excited for his friends to come, he would be so pleased...
~~~
It was only a few days later when his friends showed up.
"Great Hai Bai! Is that—?" Aang felt his jaw drop as he watched a group of familiar people ascend the stairs.
Toph squeezed his hand. "I invited them. For our wedding."
Aang planted a firm kiss on her lips. "Have I ever told you that you're the best wife ever?"
She grinned and boasted, "Feel free to tell me daily."
"Best wife ever! Thank you, T." He pulled on her hand eagerly. "Come on, let's go meet them!"
Toph ran with him towards his friends, feeling a ball of nervousness clench in her stomach. When Aang let her hand go, she lingered further back from their reunion awkwardly.
Aang practically jumped onto his group of friends, and they all returned his hugs and greetings. He cooed over the newborn, and that's when someone noticed Toph standing there.
"Hi. You must be Aang's fiancée? I'm Suki."
Aang turned to grab her hand and pull her forward. "Everyone, this is my wife, Toph."
"Uh, she's not your wife yet, right?" Zuko furrowed his brows. He was sure the letter had said they were invited to a wedding…
"Well, it's a long story. We actually got married in the Earth Kingdom about, what a month or two ago? But we're getting married again using the Air Nation customs."
They all stood shocked at that. Katara crossed her arms examining Toph's form.
"Well geez, buddy! It woulda been nice to be invited to the first one! And Gyatso had to tell us about this one?!" Sokka pouted.
Aang rubbed the back of his head. "Well… wait, Gyatso sent you letters?"
"I asked him to." Toph admitted, squeezing his hand gently. She felt very unsure; Aang's friends didn't seem very happy to have been left out. Maybe she should have let Aang write them letters...
He smiled at her thoughtfulness and kissed her hand. He could tell she was nervous and uncertain with his friends. He was touched by her thoughtfulness.
"So who are you anyway?"
The two were drawn out of their bubble and blinked in shock at the rude question. Aang frowned at Katara.
Toph however, didn't like being spoken to that way. "I'm Toph Beifong. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I just think it's odd that our best friend, who's never been interested in marriage, is suddenly married to a girl we've never met, let alone heard of, and he didn't tell any of us. Just because he's the Avatar doesn't mean you—"
"Katara, that's enough." Aang growled.
There was an awkward silence from everyone before Toph slipped out of Aang's hold and stomped away, ignoring his concerned call. He could catch up with his great friends by himself.
~~~
"What the hell, Katara? Toph fucking Beifong didn't marry me for fame, in fact, she didn't want to marry me at all at first, so I'd really appreciate it if you were nice to her. She is the one who invited you all here to be a part of our wedding. I've been meaning to write you all letters, but that's certainly no way to treat her." Aang chided, quite peeved at his friends for the poor first impression.
The foursome's eyes widened at their friend's colorful language. Aang never cursed unless he was really upset. They stood in silence unsure how to respond.
"Beifong? Aren't they like the richest family in the Earth Kingdom?" Zuko scratched his head.
Aang scoffed, crossing his arms. "Yeah. She certainly doesn't need me to boost her status."
Katara frowned guiltily. "I'm sorry, Aang, it's just—"
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," he glared at her.
She sighed, "Right."
Sokka awkwardly asked over the silence, "So uh, is she blind or…?"
Suki punched his arm. "Oh my Spirits, Sokka, you can't just ask if someone is blind."
"Yeah, she's blind. And she's also the best earth bender I've ever seen, so you're lucky she didn't catapult you off the temple." Aang muttered, his eyes searching for where Toph had run off to. She wasn't one to run away— this must have really shaken her.
Zuko nudged Katara's shoulder and she groaned. "Alright. I'll go find her and apologize."
~~~
This sucked. Her first time meeting Aang's friends and they already hated her. Toph tried to not let it bother her— she tried to deny that her chin was quivering and her eyes were threatening to release angry tears.
It's fine. I've never needed friends anyways.
She had wanted to make a good impression. She had wanted to make Aang happy. She thought that maybe… she could be friends with them, too. Instead she had caused a fight.
Toph could feel footsteps approaching. She knew it wasn't Aang. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for her to escape to; she was on some kind of suspended terrace that had only one entry and nowhere to hide.
"Uh, hey Toph. Sorry that wasn't exactly… a good introduction. Can we start over?"
She stiffened as she realized it was the snooty lady. The one who subtly accused her of using Aang.
Toph clenched her fists in anger (and maybe also to stop them from shaking). Sure, she should be nice to Aang's friend. But if Katara wasn't going to be nice then why should she?
Before she could decide on something scathing to say, Katara continued, "Aang is like… our little brother. We're best friends. And the whole marriage thing took us all by surprise. I'm just protective of him because he can be a bit naive sometimes."
It's too bad she couldn't throw herself off the terrace and air bend away like Aang could. She did not want to talk to this girl. And yet, she found herself answering.
"What, did you used to date him or something?" she spat out.
Toph felt Katara's heart rate speed up before she answered, "Um, actually… We did date when we were younger… and obviously it didn't work out. But there's nothing there except friendship now, of course!"
She regretted asking. She hadn't thought the answer would be yes. Toph felt a sour taste fill her mouth— Aang hadn't told her that.
Her insecurity must have been showing on her face, because Katara gently continued, "Really, Toph. Aang was the one that introduced me to Zuko, and now we're about to get married. What Aang and I had was just a young puppy love— we were barely teens at that point."
Toph swallowed, feeling her throat tightening and her eyes burning. Something ugly was coiling in her stomach. She didn't like this feeling. And she'd be damned if she was going to cry in front of Aang's ex-girlfriend. Princess Sugar— or something, she still needed to work on nicknames. But she didn't think she liked this girl very much, so maybe she wouldn't get a nickname.
Katara sighed, "I'm sorry, Toph. I feel really bad for snapping at you earlier— it's obvious that you care about Aang a lot."
"Yeah, I do." Toph turned away from the older girl, trying to discreetly wipe her eyes. "Will you go away now?"
"I—" Katara sighed, "Yeah, I'll leave you alone. But I am really sorry, and I hope we can start over."
Toph nodded at her jerkily, just wanting her to go away. Eventually, she felt Katara's footsteps hesitantly leave.
And then she cried.
~~~
Eventually she was able to calm herself down. It wasn't like her to cry— but she just found that she cared too much about Aang. She didn't want to cause a rift between him and his friends, even if they didn't want to be her friends. And maybe that part stung more than she cared to admit.
She just wasn't good with people, and that's just how it was.
Toph vowed to herself to avoid his friends, and let him have his time with them. She invited them for him, after all. She could avoid them the rest of her life if she had to.
She sighed and wiped at her cheeks. She needed to go wash her face. Or maybe take a bath. Then she could hide a little longer.
The earth bender made her way to the room provided for her, using her seismic sense to avoid coming across anyone's path.
That is, until she finally got to the room. She could sense Aang pacing inside.
She exhaled and opened the door.
"Toph!" He pounced on her, pulling her into a tight hug.
Well shit, she had made him mad and worried.
"Aang—"
"Toph, I'm so sorry, I didn't know they'd be so mad— I should have known— I'm sorry I put you in that position—"
She put a finger on his lips. "No, Aang. It's my fault. I just wanted to surprise you, but I should have told you they were coming and—"
He kissed her finger, lifting her hand to kiss her palm. "You have nothing to apologize for, T. It was a sweet gesture. It's my friends that were assholes."
Toph felt herself laugh at that. She tucked her head under his chin, loving the feeling of his arms wrapping around her. It made that leftover dull ache in her chest ease a bit.
Aang sighed, "Still, that wasn't very nice. I'm sorry you had to hear that."
She nodded against his chest.
"Katara came and apologized to you, right?" he questioned.
Toph stiffened. She pulled away from him slowly as her brows furrowed. "Yeah…" she hesitated before asking, "Is Katara… pretty?"
Aang frowned. "Uh, yes, I suppose so. Why?"
"She… told me that you two dated."
He groaned, "Why would she tell you that when she's apologizing? Spirits, Toph, I'm sorry— that was such a long time ago I hardly remember it and—"
Aang gasped as he tilted her chin up to see tears in her eyes. She was really upset.
"Toph. I love you. Please don't feel any doubts about that. Ever."
She took a shaky breath, "I— I know it's just…"
He tilted his forehead against hers. "If you need some reassurance I am happy to give it. You are the most amazing girl I've ever met. Every day with you is surprising and fun. You are beautiful, and strong, and the only thing I can think about every hour of every day."
Toph felt herself smile as Aang wiped the tears off of her cheeks. She sniffed, "You forgot funny."
Aang laughed and kissed her sweetly. "And funny. And smart. And my Sappy Shrimp."
She weakly slapped his arm. "You know who's not funny? You."
He chuckled and pulled her hips closer. "I make you laugh, though. So what does that say about your sense of humor, hmm?"
Toph snaked her arms around his waist. She ignored his teasing, "Will you lay down with me for a bit?"
"If you want me in bed all you have to do is ask."
She groaned into his chest. "For a nap, Aang."
"Sure, if nap is what we want to code it as..."
Toph laughed and pinched his stomach. "I'm serious, Twinkles. I'm not sleeping well since they separated us."
"See? My Sappy Shrimp makes an appearance again."
She tackled him onto the bed. Aang held her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep, finally, with his heartbeat underneath her ear like it was meant to be.
End Notes:
First off, I'm so sorry I forgot to cross post this chapter on FF a couple months ago! Tbh I've been just posting to AO3 because I like the platform better. I have more current stories posted there under the same name. So if I ever disappear try looking there! /users/JoyDragon/pseuds/JoyDragon
Unfortunately I think I need to put this story on hiatus. I think it will only be two or three more chapters, but you know how I am with planning it may be ten more who knows. I have a lot of events coming up, and five of them I am a mod for so I have other responsibilities to focus on fandom-wise. I also started drawing so I'm trying to get gud at that! Plus with real life, I've not had much time to write or draw at all sadly. I'll try to work on this while I can, but just letting y'all know it may take months between updates. (Like I wouldn't be surprised if it is not updated again this year…) Thank you for your patience!
