Katara knew that the prince could probably hear them whispering about him. Why didn't he just come and introduce himself? She had never seen a toy act so strange.

It had been almost a week since he appeared. Usually when Jia got a new toy it didn't take even a day for them to be welcomed in. Katara and Sokka always made sure everyone knew each other; they were only a small group of toys. It didn't make sense for anyone to be left out. But this one was odd - as far as they knew, he was one of Jia's dad's shelf toys, and Jia had gotten him because he was damaged. Surely that would be even more reason for him to get acquainted with them? No one in their little group would be anything but understanding to a toy like that.

There was only one way to figure out what was going on - take matters into her own hands. She left Sokka and Suki, who were trying to work out the best way to approach him, and marched across the room towards the window. All the other toys used the pull cord of the blinds to climb to the windowsill, but Katara instead used her water whip to deftly swing up along the knobs of Jia's dresser.

Just as the window came into view, so did the prince. He was busy rubbing something vigorously with a long item in his arms. Peering closer, Katara saw that it was a black marker from the pot on the dresser. It was a permanent one, one that Jia's mom kept out of her daughter's reach and marked her storage boxes with.

It looked like the prince was scribbling out the designer tag on his boot, though for what reason, Katara couldn't tell.

When he heard Katara's step, he jumped in surprise and turned to face her, drawing himself up to his full height.

Katara tried not to be discouraged by the distrustful scowl that met her.

"Hi," she said, trying to appear as friendly as possible. "I'm Katara. You're from the next room?"

He looked at her square in the face. Katara did her best not to stare at the melted plastic scar. Then he glanced down at the room, suspiciously eyeing the toys that were meeting on the rug.

"My name is Prince Zuko," he said, noticing Katara's hopeful expression. He looked down at his boot almost unconsciously as he said it, and Katara berated herself for following his gaze. Only a glint of gold remained on the edges of his tag, the rest, with his name and maker's signature, was scratched out by the marker pen.

He was ashamed.

Katara took a step forward. Prince Zuko's eyes widened a minuscule amount when she moved, and Katara's heart fell with the motion. She remembered how wary she had been those first few days after she was thrown out.

"Okay… Zuko? Do you want to come and hang out with us?"

Immediately he stiffened. Katara wondered where she had misstepped? Was he used to being addressed with his title? Well, that wouldn't cut it in this room—

"I—" he started, and paused. "I won't."

"What? Why not?" She was staring at the tag again, and Zuko turned as if to shield it from her view.

"I'm not like you," he said defensively. He looked at her up and down, his eyes lingering on her clothes and her hair. Katara felt humiliation rise in her stomach as she realised what was happening.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not like you! This room - you're dirty. Look at all of you. Your clothes, your joints are all cheap. I don't belong here."

"Oh really?" Katara demanded. "Then where do you belong?" She glared at him, anger bubbling inside her. Who did he think he was? Everything she heard about shelf toys was true.

"From where I'm standing, you're just like us - you're in Jia's room," Katara said coldly. She tried to control her temper. This was not working out as she had expected, but still, she could sympathise with his position. She was once too proud to accept her situation too, and this prince had much further to fall than she ever did. "Look, I know it must be confusing, but I know what it's like to be thrown out—"

"I told you, I'm not like you!"

Why did he insist on being so stubborn? She could guarantee his supposed superiority wouldn't even matter in a day or two, he was just trying to save his dignity in a humiliating situation. "Listen to me! You've been removed from your old home and you have to figure out where you belong all over again. The same thing happened to me."

He advanced, but his eyes were almost confused as they fixed between Katara and the toys on the rug. "It's different for me! I'm not a playing toy, I'm not easily replaceable!"

Katara jerked back in an instant. That was it.

Zuko seemed to know within moments that he had overstepped, his eyes widening. But it was too late. His stupid mouth gaped open. "I- I didn't mean you-"

Katara had heard enough. She turned and jumped from the windowsill to the dresser and sped back, past the rug, all the way to the toy box. Sokka caught her eye as she passed and gave her a confused look, but she couldn't explain, not now.

If Zuko wanted to be arrogant, bitter and alone, that was what he deserved. Katara would not waste her time.

Azula cleared her throat, letting a sneer overtake her face as she watched her brother enter the study. "What happened to you?"

She could sense Mai rolling her eyes and Ty Lee's concerned expression out of the corner of her eye. They probably thought she was about to go on some tirade. Azula rolled her eyes. Why couldn't they fathom the lows Zuko had reached since leaving the study?

"I was out," Zuko barked.

Azula smirked. Zuko got riled up just by existing, it was almost too easy to be fun. Nothing had really changed about him since he left. "You're all covered in dirt," she observed with flat distaste.

Zuko had the gall to roll his eyes at this observation. "I've been in the garden with Toph," he said, almost proudly. "What are you up to?"

Azula sniffed. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he really was turning into one of the peasants he spent his time running around with. She knew he had rejected them at first, which surprised Azula, eager as he was to discard his royal heritage. But that event seemed to have changed him for the worse; Azula had been appalled when he had strayed even further than the hand-me-downs in Jia's room and gotten cosy with actual garbage outside.

There was hardly more he could do to fall from grace.

"And I'm fine." She hacked a cough to suggest it was Zuko's dusty presence that was disturbing her. "Or I was."

There was no reason to let him know about the conversation she had overheard. He had lost the right to any knowledge of their family when he left.

"Did you find out what the new toy is?" she asked, hoping that making mind-numbing small talk with her brother might distract her.

"No. Toph said he was expensive, and a new favourite of Jia's, that's all."

Azula scoffed inwardly. As if that dirty little hunk of wood had any appreciation for expensive, with the way she dared to boss around the Royal Line's prince. "Did she now?"

"Yeah. I've seen him, too. He's got some kind of flying stick made of wood and buttons and all that."

Azula turned this over in her mind. A contraption made of wood that was also mechanised? That certainly sounded expensive. Would it be too much to imagine…?

She regarded Zuko again. "Stop being so pathetic, Zuzu. Go get in with this new toy before he gets indoctrinated by the rest of those rejects. Who knows, you might finally make a friend worthy of your own name."

Zuko began to screech something in his friend's defence again, but Azula wasn't paying attention. Li needed money. If she played her cards right, not to mention her brother, then there was still another option. And Zuko was not the brightest, so that wasn't going to be hard.

There was still a way to try and make sure that she would get her new family members. Ones that understood their worth, their status, and the importance of their home.

Zuko inched his way down the garden towards Toph, who was peeking out from behind the shed. He was trying not to draw Jia's attention, which wasn't a difficult task: Jia's curious eyes were fixed on the worms wriggling on the patchy, damp earth in front of her.

"Toph, hey," Zuko whispered.

"What?" she said without turning.

She was making a bizarre series of gestures with her arms, as if ushering something towards the house, towards the girl sitting with her lemonade in the middle of the garden. Upon closer inspection, Zuko noticed that it was Toph who was bringing the worms out. Only one cluster of them had squiggled into Jia's line of sight, her eyes following them with rapt attention. Toph looked like she was attempting to glare the rest into submission, drawing them out of the earth and coaxing them to follow the crowd. Zuko shuddered at the odd, unpredictable way they slithered.

"I need your help," he hissed.

"Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Annoyed, Zuko attempted to make sense of why exactly Toph was busy with this bizarre task. She was a strange creature, no easier to approach now than she was yesterday, when Zuko had first met her by tripping right over her as she was taking her afternoon rest. How was he supposed to know that not all the wooden beams piled at the end of the garden were, well, beams?

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked flatly, giving up. "Are you… are you worm-whispering?" He couldn't help the wariness that seeped into his words. He was already cautious of the fact that Toph didn't want or have an owner, but if she was also talking to animals, that was a whole other level of wild than what he had entertained.

But he had come here with a task and he needed her help.

Zuko squared himself up. "I saw you had a couple of knives with you yesterday. I need a weapon." He was quickly becoming aware of the fact that if he didn't band with the other playing toys, he needed another form of defence, just to be safe. Houses were full of hazards for toys.

Toph was humming absently. The last two worms, glistening in the grass, gave her a wave of sorts and began marching towards the house. Zuko had to look away from their squirming movements in disgust. Finally, she stood up and patted down her dusty trousers with satisfaction. "I can help you. But those blades are gone."

Zuko's hope fell. Where were they going to get more knives? The ones Toph had had looked sharp and well-crafted. Zuko assumed she scavenged them from her old house.

Toph noticed his pointed silence after a few moments, and shrugged like it couldn't matter less. "I gave them to the stuffed panda next door. He was dying trying to get gum out of his fur. So dramatic."

"But we can make more?"

She nodded, beckoning Zuko to follow her behind the shed. There lay an old, upturned bucket, which would have been bright red before it was bleached by the sun. Toph bent her knees and hoisted it up with surprising ease. Zuko hesitated before crouching and stepping inside.

Within its walls, the space glowed pink from the sunlight filtering through. A small hole at the top provided a sliver of light.

Zuko looked around, amazed. Stacked around the edges were odds and ends of every type. Zuko spotted a pile of grocery bags, folded; screws and bolts and metal scraps; stones, sticks, strings and even piles of soil. There was a patch of fabric that looked to be the same cotton as what Toph's outfit was made of. She reappeared by his side with a couple of long rectangular razors in her hands, like the ones Li bought and left on his desk sometimes.

Zuko winced when he realised she was holding them so carelessly that the blades were leaving scratches in her wooden arms. She didn't even seem to notice. He touched his own eye and felt the plastic twisted and pulled out of shape.

"I fought the guards at the dumpster in front of the house for these razors. The bins are usually full of them, but this is the fanciest kind."

"You fought the guard?" Zuko was taken aback. The more he found out about Toph's lifestyle, the more he discovered how little he actually knew about toys.

Toph laughed, glittery and high. "How do you think I got these clothes? Lady Princess toys don't exactly come dressed in sports gear. The guards are easy, anyway, they're old school soldiers."

Zuko eyed the razor blades warily. It felt like there was a whole world of savage toys that existed far away from anything he'd ever known. "And what do we do with these?"

"We make them into weapons, genius." She considered him with her hand on her chin before grinning. "I think a prince like you should have a sword!"

So they did. Zuko was made to stand back while Toph handled the initial twisting and shaping. Then, following her instruction, he spent the rest of the evening hammering out and sharpening a long, curved blade like the ones he had seen the ninjas carry in one of Jia's old picture books. Toph made another after his own design, though she finished before him. Zuko was too amazed to care.

By the time they ventured back into the grass to test the swords, the sun had set, the blue twilight settling over the garden like a cool blanket.

Zuko found a couple of stiff weeds, slicing cleanly through them as a test. Toph listened intently for the sound and then she whistled, impressed, as if she wasn't the one who had managed the whole scheme.

"What were you doing with those worms?" Zuko asked, settling down on the grass. He looked at the corner of his robe, the smudges of dust and grime covering it, and then the sword he had made, glinting clean and silver.

"Jia looked so sad when she came into the garden looking for them yesterday and they were all underground. I thought I'd make them give her a show."

Zuko was surprised. "I thought you didn't like kids."

Toph laughed again. The sound was like the only remnant of her past life, high and feminine, clear like a toy in an advertisement. "Just because I don't want to be owned by them doesn't mean I hate them."

Zuko didn't say anything to that. He wished he could be as carefree as Toph. "I can't believe they actually listen to you," he said, still thinking about the filthy worms. He tried to imagine Azula even being in the same room as one; the image was laughable.

Toph leaned back into her arms, settling in the grass. "Ah, I have my way with them. They're all right." She laughed as Zuko wrinkled his nose. "Moles are my favourite, though. They are too cute."

Zuko couldn't exactly agree with that, but what did he know? He stayed out with Toph until it was fully dark. When he left, she let him have both swords, saying that she could get more any time she wanted. Zuko didn't doubt that for a second.

Aang sat on Appa's back and watched as Sokka tried to explain to Suki and her warriors how to throw Jia's boomerang so that it returned properly to the owner. He had whiteboard diagrams and everything. Aang had to admit, Suki did not look convinced. His eyes flitted around the room, looking for something to do. Jia had taken Katara to her friend's house today, so they couldn't hang out like they usually did. He patted down Appa's fur. He wasn't bored, exactly, not when he had a room like this to wander around in, but it would be nice to do something he could tell Katara about later. He had already made friends with practically all the toys here.

All except one.

His eyes caught the figure on the windowsill. Why was he there, every evening without fail? Curiosity got the better of him. Glancing to make sure Sokka was thoroughly occupied, he jumped off Appa's back and glided up to the sill, using the cord of the curtains for guidance.

Zuko turned at the sound of the glider landing. Aang approached him, trying not to feel intimidated by the two swords glinting around his belt.

"You're Zuko, right?" he said, advancing slowly. He stopped in front of the prince and set his glider down, dropping to sit cross-legged inches away. Zuko looked thoroughly confused by this development, but he didn't make a move.

"Why don't you ever play with us?"

"What?"

"Aren't you one of Jia's toys? Why are you always hanging out alone?"

"That's none of your business," he said, brows still drawn in confusion, but something akin to annoyance was inching into his voice. He looked like he was about to dismiss Aang, but then he hesitated as if he remembered something, his eyes softening.

Well, his good eye. Aang couldn't help but stare. Up close, the scar was unavoidable, all the more harsh against his pristine features. Here was a toy of clear quality, from the deep colours of his robes to the detailed partings in his vinyl hair. The angry wound around his eye stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I'm sorry," Aang said, more considerately this time. "It's just that I've never seen you with the group."

Zuko scowled but did not turn away from him this time. "I'm not with the group."

Katara's words echoed in his mind.

"What happened to your face?"

For a moment, Zuko looked scandalised, staring at Aang like he was amazed that someone would ask such a blunt question. Then, he dropped his brows, and glanced away only once before looking at Aang and saying, "Jia dropped me in the fire."

Aang's eyes widened. "Jia plays with you?"

He immediately cringed at the shock in his own voice. He was saying everything wrong, like he hadn't learnt anything by spending a week amongst other toys. But Zuko didn't seem like he had even noticed, glaring out of the window with his arms crossed over his knees. "Not anymore," he said darkly. "I don't think she can stand seeing me. Her dad was so mad at her for this." He pointed callously towards his own face.

Aang didn't pester him further. The rest was painfully clear: he was suffering from the worst fate possible when you were in a child's room. Being discarded while every other toy in the room gets played with.

Aang tried to find something to make small talk with Zuko about. He was surprised he was even getting to talk to this strange toy. It wasn't as if Aang had been discarded by Jia or her dad, but he realised they did have something in common. "You know," he said cheerfully, "I'm damaged too."

Zuko gave him a weird look like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Aang pointed at his own face, "My eyes used to glow," he tapped his forehead, "and my arrow."

Zuko's eyes narrowed in the faintest curiosity. "You're not a playing toy."

"Technically I'm not," Aang said, nodding. "But, since I don't remember where I came from, Katara found me and I came with her." Oddly, Zuko seemed to wince at the mention of her name. "So I guess I am a playing toy now."

"You can't just change who you are," Zuko said, rising, the scowl back on his face.

"Sure you can," Aang stood up to mirror him. He eyed the swords around Zuko's belt. "You did, didn't you?"

Zuko stared at him, looking like he was struggling to decide whether or not Aang could be trusted. Finally, in a tight mumble, he said, "I hated it. Being a shelf toy."

Aang's eyes widened. "Me too. There's nothing to do."

"Right?"

Aang was relieved to find common ground. Still, there was something agitated about Zuko, about the way he addressed the topic. Aang didn't want to alienate him by getting into all the serious stuff about how tedious it was to be a shelf toy. He glanced at the swords again. Now there was a distraction.

"At least you have these cool swords now," he said. "How do you use them? Is there a technique?"

Zuko squinted at Aang for a moment, searching for something that Aang wasn't sure of. A fleeting doubt struck him. What if there really was something wrong with Zuko? He seemed - well, a little awkward, but nothing as bad as the other toys made it sound like, especially Katara.

"I can show you," Zuko said, hesitantly. Aang's eyes followed the length of the sword as he lifted one out and handed it to Aang, who grabbed the makeshift handle that was wound up in layers of electric tape.

"Follow my movement," Zuko said sternly. "Try not to hurt yourself."

Aang grinned.