Crossroads

AN: Thank you for the reviews. I appreciate them. Have a pleasant night.

Hurt

It had been raining most of the afternoon. Sokka was tired of riding the ostrich-horse. How the young warrior longed to be under warm blankets and have the company of his lovely Suki. Heck, he even wished for his sister to be with him; she could be useful in many aspects. She could bend the water, preventing it from falling on them and she could cook one of her many delicious soups. He would give his right arm for a warm bowl of miso soup or noodles. His stomach growled loudly at the thought of food. It was probably passed his meal time. He needed a comfortable, dry, and warm bed and food, promptly!

"Do you have food in your bags, Toph?" Sokka asked weakly, his right hand holding the reign of Toph's ostrich-horse and his, while the other one rubbed his stomach. "I'm starving."

"Me too, Momma," Rae said, slouching his shoulders and looked down at his hands.

"I didn't bring food for you," Toph said coldly. "Are you tired, Rae?" she asked softly. Her son nodded and sighed. "We just need to go a little further,"

The young warrior turned to face them and saw Toph tussling the kid's hair. Her kid giggled and leaned his little back against his mother's chest. Toph covered him from the rain with her leather poncho. It was rare to see the little earthbender show such display of affection. Sokka was eager to ask her so many questions, but he kept his inquisitive questions at bay. He didn't want to fly off his ostrich-horse or have a rock-a-lanche wipe him off the road. It took all his might to not speak. He bit his tongue tightly, keeping himself from speaking. He didn't want to anger the erudite earthbender. He could tell that she wasn't too thrill to travel with him. He wondered how the gang would take it. No one knew that Toph was a mother. Hell, he was still skeptical of the kid being hers, but there were plenty of similarities that indicated that the child was Toph's.

"I'm hungry," the kid whined softly. "Can we stop and rest, Mom," he said looking up at her. "It's dark and I'm cold. I'm tired, Momma." He said, tugging at Toph's poncho.

"Ugh, fine, Rae," she said inhaling a deep gulp of air. "Sokka, we can stop for tonight." She said loudly.

"Okay, let's go a little higher on the road," He said, squinting as he observed the road ahead. They needed to travel a few yards, until the road reached the top of the hill they were travelling. It would be safe and the water would not run in to the earth tents that hopefully Toph would bend from the earth.

"Okay, just tell me when we reach the mountain," she said and lowered her head.

"I will,"

It took a little longer than he expected to reach the top of the hill. It'd stopped raining then, but the gusts of cold wind irritated him. When they reach a flat ground, he stopped his ostrich-horse and Toph's. He carefully got off it, without letting go of the reign of Toph's animal. He tied the animals to a tree trunk and helped Rae off the saddle. Toph jerked his hand off and hopped effortlessly, sighing in relief.

"I love the feel of the earth," she mumbled gratefully.

"I'm going to start gathering small twigs and branches," Sokka said, taking the initiative. "You should help your Mom gather some food or anything that we can eat," he said, directing his eyes to the small child.

"Momma," Rae said, his golden eyes glaring at Sokka. "Can you come with me?"

"Yes," Toph said, rubbing her chin on the child's head. "Let's go, Rae." She said, offering him her hand. The child merrily took it and together they walked in to the dark woods, leaving Sokka behind.

He stared as they walked away and wandered the opposite direction. He didn't know exactly what was bothering him. He felt the need to ask his friend why she kept her son a secret. He knew that Toph would probably bury him under a pile of dirt. He shivered at the thought, but took hold of himself and went in search of branches to make a fire.

His arms were filled with as many wooden branches that he could carry. When he got back to where they had settle, he saw that Toph had made two earth tents. Her son sat on her lap, warming his hand to the blue fire that was burning in front of them.

"Who is he?" Rae asked, raising a thin eyebrow as he glared at Sokka. "How do you know him, Mom?" he asked distrustfully.

"Well, he's an annoying person," Toph scratched the back of her neck awkwardly and then placed the palms of her hands on the wet ground and leaned back. "He's an old friend of mine."

"I don't like him," Rae said warily and leaned his back against his mom, resting his head on the crook of her neck.

"You and me both," she chuckled playfully, hitting the ground and created a small earth stool for him to seat. Sokka took a reluctant step, and then stopped. "It won't collapse."

"Oh," he said apprehensively and slowly marched to where they sat. He threw the sticks on the floor and kicked the stool with his foot. "You find it funny when I hurt myself." He said uneasily and gently crouched and sat down on the stool. His eyes never left Toph or the kid.

Toph scoffed and then looked away. He knew that she was listening to the earth. He was aware of the extend of her earthbending. What he wasn't aware was how good was her son in firebending.

"Where are we going?" Toph asked anxiously. "You didn't tell me where we are heading to."

"It's a small village east from here," he said, throwing twigs in to the fire. Rae moved his hand up and down, increasing the size of the blue flame. His eyes rested on Sokka, as he glowered at him. He wanted to laugh. There was no denying it. The kid was definitely her kid. "Aang, Katara, Suki, and Haru are going to meet us there."

"Why couldn't they pick us up in Appa?" she said irritated and suddenly reached for her son's arm. "Can I borrow the bracelet I gave you, Rae?" she asked politely. Rae nodded and smiled lovingly at her.

"Here, Momma," he said and took off the space rock bracelet she'd made for him.

"You still have that?" Sokka asked inquisitively.

"Yes," She nodded and started bending it to different shapes. Rae laughed, as he watched the display of shapes that his mother bent for his enjoyment. "Are you still scared?" she asked, lowering her chin to the kid's head. "I won't let anyone harm you."

"He won't harm us?" Rae asked, pointing at Sokka. Toph shook her head and sighed. "Promise?"

"I promise," she muttered and brought him closer to her and kissed him tenderly on the temple. "No one will harm you. I'll die protecting you."

"I believe you," He yawned and stared off in to the fire. "Where are we going after here?" he asked sleepily, blinking his eyes a few times.

"We are going to search for a friend of ours, Rae,"

"Oh," he said, satisfied with his mother's words. "Why haven't I met your friends before?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence that surrounded them.

She shrugged and exhaled. "I didn't think that it was necessary,"

The kid was satisfied with her response. She continued to play with the space rock that Sokka had given her many years ago, when she was still a kid. "Mom, why is he staring at me so much?" Rae said, whipping his head to face his mother. "He's creepy." He whispered next to her ear.

"I don't know," she laughed and touched Rae's shoulder. "Why don't you ask him?"

"No," Rae murmured and shook his head. "You ask him,"

"Fine," she relinquished. "Sokka, why are you staring at my son?" she asked uninterested. "He doesn't like when people stare at him."

"Um, I'm not staring at him," Sokka lied and looked away.

"Yes, he is, Momma," Rae said petulantly.

"I'm not," Sokka said indignantly. "I'm not staring."

"You can't see him, Mom, but he is," Rae said agitated. "He is, Momma,"

"I believe you," she said indifferently.

Rae continued to stare at Sokka, his eyebrows knitted together in a familiar expression. The young warrior stifled a laugh and continued to inspect the child's features.

"Can he earthbend like you?" Rae asked curiously.

"No, he's not a bender." Toph replied. "He can't bend."

"I'm a warrior," Sokka said proudly, pulling out his new boomerang. Suki had gotten it for him a few years ago, but he always kept it clean and shiny.

Toph sneered and he glared at her. "Please,"

"I'm a warrior, Rae," he said, sitting up straight on the earth stool Toph made for him. His shoulders were broad, giving him a boastful appearance.

"What's a warrior?" the child asked questioningly.

"A fighter," he responded. "I use weapons to fight the enemy."

"For real?" Rae asked interestingly. "I'm a fighter too," Rae said excitedly. "I can fire-"

"Rae," Toph said aggravated, placing her hand on the child's mouth. "We should eat," she said, closing her eyes and sighed heavily. "We caught a raccoon-leopard," she said, her voice was strained.

Toph dropped her hand and sat her son on the ground. "Mom, he's staring."

"I'm not!" Sokka said frustrated.

"Liar," she said exhausted and moved her left wrist, causing the stool that he was sitting on to collapse. "I can hear your heart beat. You are lying. Why are you staring at him for?"

"Ouch, that hurts," he complained and stood up. "I'm going to cook the raccoon-leopard," he said irritated and walked to a far corner and prepared the meat.

They remained in silence as Sokka cooked the meat that Toph collected. When he was done, they ate the food in silent. Rae was the first one to finish. He waited patiently for Toph to finish her food. She finished her meal and walked to their earth tent and unwrapped the sleeping bag that they were going to share. She stayed with him, until he fell asleep.

Sokka stayed up late, staring at the moon that slowly peeked out of the clouds, shining dimly at them. He felt the earth move; Toph's tent was sinking in to the ground, then the roof opened up and she emerged. With a flick of her hand the door she created diminished in size.

"That will vent the tent so he can breathe," she said nonchalantly and sat down across from him, hugging herself to keep warm. "He'll sleep until morning. He wakes up with the sun rise," she said lowly.

"Like a firebender," Sokka muttered and felt like an idiot for making such a comment.

Toph nodded and sighed. "Just like a firebender. What gave it away?" she asked, bending a bench in front of the fire. She sat on it and played with the earth, creating different shapes and cities that were unknown to the young warrior.

"Toph," Sokka said, tracing circles on the wet ground with his sword and boomerang.

"What?" she said curtly, lying on the bench she'd made and covered her eyes with one arm. "What do you want?"

"Your son," he began, clearing his throat.

"What about my son?" she asked haughtily.

"He's a smart boy," he said quickly. "And he can bend fire, can't he?"

"What do you want with me, Sokka?"

"I just, um," he sighed. "He'll know that Rae is his son." He said flatly. "I knew that your son looked so familiar when I first saw him,"

"Go to sleep, Sokka," she said rudely.

Sokka grunted and paced around the camp. "He's Zuko's son, right?" he asked bravely. He leaned against a tree and watched for Toph's reaction. She remained nonchalant, her arm over her face, covering her eyes. He took a step forward, when a stub of earth or a rock rose from the ground and he tripped, falling flat on his face. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, rubbing his nose in pain. "What was that for?"

"I said go to bed," she responded crossly.

"Why did you do that for? I only asked you a question! He is Zuko's son."

She sat up and stared at his direction. He shivered at the look her sightless eyes were giving him. He'd never seen her look so angry – ok, he had, but she'd never looked at him this way before. It was the look of pure death!

"Does he look like him?" she asked, her eyes saddening.

Zuko nodded and hobbled over to where she sat. "He does look like him… but not entirely,"

"What do you mean?"

"He's faired skin like you," he began. "His hair is black and his lips are pouty like yours,"

Toph laughed dejectedly; as she listened to Sokka describe her son. She's heard from others that her son was a beautiful child. Her mother's intuition told her that. She'd heard people say that Rae was pale, with midnight black hair and deep golden eyes. She loved hearing their words. She wanted to see him, at least once. She wanted to see how her son looked like. Did he really look like his father? She knew that he acted just like his father, and that made her feel melancholic.

"I know that already," she said softly. "Can you describe him for me? I haven't really asked people to describe my son for me. I want to know every detail, please."

"He's a perfect combination of Zuko and you," he said in a low voice.

Toph nodded miserably. "I was scared when I had him," she confessed. "I was alone. I haven't spoken to my parents and I wasn't going to do it now. What if they took him from me? They think that I'm invalid, due to my incapacity to see. I couldn't loose my son, Sokka," she said wretchedly. "I never cared about how Rae looked. I only want him to be healthy and happy. I love him; he's my child and I don't care if he does or doesn't resemble his father. He's the only thing I have that is mine… But, now that you are here… I want to know the truth. Does he really look like Zuko? Be honest. I can tell if you are lying."

"He does," he said slowly. "He has his father's frown." He teased.

"He frowns all the time," she chuckled. "It's like having his Zuko with me. Do you think that he will take Rae from me?"

"We won't let him," Sokka said firmly. "He's your child. No one will take him from you, Toph. I promise."

"Thank you," she said thankfully.

"Rae's eyes are golden, just like Zuko,"

"Continue, please,"

"Uh, okay," he said, raking his brain for something to say. "Rae bends blue flames like Azula."

"He does?" she asked alarmed. "Do you think that he'll be-"

"Nope. He's a good kid. You don't spoil him," he reassured her. "Azula's hatred was fueled by her father's need for control. Your son will be fine."

"Thank you,"

"You are welcome,"

"What about you? Any children?"

"No," he said melancholic. "I want children, but Suki is busy teaching the ways of the Kyoshi warriors to many girls in the Earth Kingdom. She still doesn't want to settle down and have a family."

"I wouldn't settle with you either," she teased.

"Not funny,"

"It's funny to me," she laughed and then turned serious. "What about him?"

"About who?"

"Um, him,"

"Oh, you mean Zuko?" he asked casually. She nodded and looked away. "He was doing fine a month ago. He is a fair Fire Lord. He'd changed many of the political views his people had on the war. He works very hard, but after he went missing, Azula is campaigning to dethrone him and place her son as a Fire Lord. If she convinces the Fire Sage; she'll get what she wants."

"Why her son?" Toph asked confused. "Shouldn't she be in the home for crazy people?"

"It's call an asylum, Toph,"

"Don't Mai and Zuko have children together?"

"No," he said carelessly. "After you left they broke up. He never told us why. He just ended things with her. He took it hard when you left the Fire Nation. It was hard to track you down. Katara wouldn't tell me anything about you…" he trailed off. "But, that's beside the point, how did you find out that Rae was a firebender? I mean, when did you find out?"

"Um, a few months ago. He always ran a high temperature. I mean, I knew that it was normal. Zuko's body was always warm, especially in the mornings," she said, blushing. "One day, we were training in my dojo. He was talking about fire… but one of my pupils, Kan; he'd lighted candles all around the dojo… Rae and I were alone, practicing, when he accidentally burned my feet," she chuckled miserably. "The irony of life. Zuko's son burned my feet!"

"I'm sorry to hear that," he chuckled loudly. "But, how did you and Zuko… when?"

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Didn't your mother ever teach you about how a child is procreated or conceived?" she asked offhandedly, placing her hand on her hip. "How do you think we made him!"

"I'm not talking about that," he said frustrated. "And yes, I know how kids are made. Suki and I, well we know how t-"

"Ugh! I don't want to hear this!" she said, raising her hands. "That's not what we are discussing,"

"You brought it up, Toph," he said defensively. "Fine, forget about what I said. When did you and he? How… old is your son?"

"Four, going on five," she shrugged.

The wheels in his head started turning, as he made calculations in his mind. "Oh, no! You were pregnant when you left us?" he said loudly.

"Shh!" she hissed. "My son is sleeping. He doesn't need to hear this!"

"Sorry," he said apologetic.

"And no! At least I didn't know that I was pregnant," she said, lowering her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore… describe my son, please."

"Okay," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Rae… he's smart and tall for his age. He's eyes are like honey; like his father. He has your temper. His lips are similar to yours. His nose is like Zu- just like his father. He glowers a lot… like his father. I wouldn't have guessed that he's Zuko's kid, if he didn't have his father's eyes."

She sighed hopelessly. "I was truly hoping that if we came across Zuko. I was hoping that he would find any resemblance to in our son. I don't want him to take my son away from me," she paused dejectedly. "I think we should head back to Song. Rae, he'll be safe with Hana. I've never been separated from him... but the occasion merits it..."

"No, your son stays with you. I promised you that Zuko will not take your son away from you," he reassured her. "I won't let it happen, Toph. And what if we take a long time searching for him? Are you willing to leave your son behind for so long? Won't he suffer?"

"He will... But, what if Zuko is in trouble? Wouldn't coming to help him expose my child to harm?" she asked crossly. "It's not a win-win situation."

"Toph," Sokka shrugged. "Maybe the only thing that will happen is that Zuko will meet his son," he said coldly and walked over to his tent. "A father needs his son," he said. "A son needs his father."

"Ugh!" She was seething. "What for? He's probably changed and is just like his father: a tyrant!"

"You know damn well, that Zuko is different! He proved it to us time and time again," he shouted back. "You are just trying to find an excuse, Toph. Have you thought about what he can give your son?"

"What can he possibly give my son?" she yelled. "Riches? Good social standing? Living under strict rules? Losing his freedom, because he has a duty as a prince? Is that what my son needs?"

Sokka ran his hand over his face and grunted. "It's not what status he can give your son, Toph! Money, power, and riches don't mean anything! What matters is that your son knows his father. Rae deserves a father. You know that Zuko will dote on your child. Zuko always dreamed of passing down his heritage to his children. You know it better than anyone... they need each other... Your child will always wonder why his father was never around. He needs his mother and father! No matter how much you love you provide him with, Toph, he'll always question why his father was never there for him. He'll resent you in the future, Toph."

"Don't you dare tell me what's best for my son!" she spat. "I'm all that my kid needs. I've been both a mother and a father to him. I've protected him; provided for him. He won't resent me."

"I'm not telling you what's best for him, Toph. I'm just being honest with you. Your child carries the blood of the Agni family; they are a proud family. And if your kid is anything like his father... he'll resent you." He hissed. "I'm just telling you the truth. The truth always comes out. As your friend, I care about you... I'm just telling you that it will happen. Zuko won't take your child from you. I vowed to protect you and your son. Zuko will not take your son away from you. But you have to let him know… he has a right. He's the father... and the moment that he sees your son; he'll know."

"Go to hell," she spat, opening a hole on the ground and crawled in to it.