As the first rays of morning light warmed her hands and face, Toph made her way to the prison.
It would have been easier if she was back to full strength with her bending. She could feel out shapes and movement well enough now, and earlier she'd been able to trap her own hand in the earth, over and over again, without tiring out; but she couldn't do what she wanted to, sinking into the land beneath the capital and bursting out of the ground in the prison like a demented daisy.
The thought made her smile, at least.
The guard at the door was nervous. She could feel it long before they was close enough to speak.
"Uh, my lady?"
"Yeah, it's me." Toph put down her hood.
The guard hesitated, unsure of whether she should stand aside.
"Do you want me to go get Iroh before you let me in? Or do you want me to wake up the Firelord?" Toph asked evenly.
"No, my lady, that won't be necessary," the guard said quickly, stepping aside.
How far would that threat get her in the Fire Nation? Zuko would probably hate her using him as a threat, and when it came down to it, Toph was probably more dangerous than he was. Especially in the Fire Nation; they knew how to handle firebenders here, but they weren't great at fighting earthbenders. But barring fighting, shit, it was fun to drop names.
The high-security cells were in the basement. She felt the uneasy shifting of guards' feet on the ground as she passed, and beyond them, the restless breathing of Firelord Ozai, the Phoenix King.
The guard let her into the cell without a word, and closed the grated window. Half the cell was barred off, for the safety of visitors, Toph guessed. She knew Zuko had visited often over the years, in some kind of effort to be kind to the father who had despised him.
She didn't really see the point of that.
"I remember you," Ozai said.
Toph snorted. "Yeah, one of the little kids who defeated the self-declared king of the world. We'd be pretty hard to forget."
"Why are you here?" he snapped.
She twirled her staff one-handed, then planted it hard on the ground, the sound echoing almost painfully in the small stone cell. "I'm marrying your son."
Ozai scoffed. "He's marrying an earthbender? Oh, I don't know why I'm surprised. He's always been weak, and you're–"
"The greatest earthbender in the world," Toph interrupted him, grinning. "Trust me, I'm way more surprised than you are that I ended up with him. Now let's get down to business: you hurt an innocent child, your own son, because you thought he was weak. But you got your ass kicked by the twelve-year-old Avatar, one of the gentlest souls on the planet, while he was still in training–being taught by three other children, including the son you reviled–so I'm not especially impressed, you know? You've hurt everyone close to you, especially your children, but Zuko still wants to treat you well, fuck knows why."
"Because he knows what's good for him," Ozai said. "He was crowned at sixteen. He has no idea how to be the Firelord. He needs me to guide him, and some Ear–"
Toph waved her hand dismisively. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You don't like me, I don't care. I respect what Zuko's trying to do, even if you're the biggest douchebag in the Fire Nation and don't deserve him. I'm just paying a courtesy visit to let you know that Zuko is off-limits. And if you ever attempt to hurt, or manipulate, or fuck up any of my kids the way you fucked up your own family, I'll come back and kill you, real slowly. I'm not sure if Zuko would try to stop me, but it doesn't really matter. It'd happen anyway."
"The Avatar couldn't kill me," Ozai said, barking out a laugh. "You think you could?"
Toph shrugged, slinging her walking stick on her shoulder and turning towards the door. "Aang couldn't bring himself to kill another human being," she conceded. "But don't worry; I'm not nearly as compassionate as he is."
—
It took two weeks on dusty old roads to get to Mai's home. It was at least as big as the palace compound, spread out over acres of countryside. She and her husband (an extremely good looking non-bender, by all reports) ruled over a huge swath of land together, and both her father and her husband's father sat on Zuko's council.
Azula had her own wing in the enormous home, not that Toph visited it; both women met her together in a large, probably elaborately furnished sitting room. She could feel Mai lounging in the afternoon heat, but Azula was sitting with her arms crossed, practically motionless. Apparently the whole damned family was made of tightasses.
"I'll cut to the chase," Toph said. "I came to make sure there're no hard feelings. If either of you are pissed, let's just have it out right now."
"Zuko and I were over years ago," Mai said. She had a way of speaking as though she hardly cared whether anyone heard her or not; as if she was just talking to pass the time. "We still write sometimes, but I'm not jealous, if that's what you're asking. I'm just glad he's stopped moping around the Capital and started getting laid again."
Azula made a disgusted noise. "Please, Mai."
Mai sighed. "Grow up."
"What about you?" Toph asked Azula. "I'm not asking for hugs and fucking kisses, I just wanna know you're not going to show up in ten years trying to kill Zuko or my kids."
"Please," Azula repeated. "I'm not a child-killer. Well, not since I was a child."
Okay, that was kind of funny. Toph snorted.
"I didn't exactly have a healthy childhood," Azula went on. Her voice still had a playful lilt to it, but there was something beneath that, the depth of character of someone who has been broken and rebuilt. "I wouldn't inflict that on another child, especially not a niece or nephew."
"What about Zuko?" Toph asked, crossing her arms behind her head and leaning back. Mai had some comfortable damned furniture.
"It took us five years to treat each other like humans, let alone siblings," Azula said. "I'm not especially interested in being manipulated into hating him again. And I'm not especially interested in the crown anymore. Oh, and in case you can't tell? I look really exasperated right now."
"Thanks for the info," Toph said wryly. "You know, I'm kinda disappointed. Either of you could have given me an actual fight, for a change. It's been a while."
"Forget it," said Mai, flipping open a heavily ornamented fan to cool herself off. "I am so done with the knife act."
"But we're bound to spar eventually," Azula sighed. "You're not really a member of the family until someone loses their temper and challenges you to an Agni Kai."
The servant brought in mochi ice cream and they dug in. This was the last place Toph had expected a friendly reception, but here they were.
—
She bought a ticket to Yu Dao at a small port in the south. In clean Fire Nation clothes, with her hair down, no one questioned her business in the ex-colonies.
Deep down, she almost wished someone had stopped her. Going to Yu Dao meant she was practically in the Earth Kingdom, and that meant she was one step closer to seeing her parents, tentatively reunited in their old home.
She wasn't ready. She knew she'd never be ready.
Before she left, she sent a message to the capital, by messenger hawk.
Going to Yu Dao. I love you.
There were only three people who could read Toph's 'writing,' so there was no need to sign it, unless Sokka told Zuko he loved him regularly.
She'd told Zuko not to interfere, but now that she was on the verge of seeing her parents again, she didn't want to be alone. But she didn't want him to be there, either, to see her weak, to see her speak softly and cry, to see her doubt.
To make matters worse, she hated traveling by ship nearly as much as she hated flying. She spent weeks throwing up into a bucket and emptying it over the side every two hours, like clockwork. It was a good thing she knew for a fact she couldn't be pregnant; that would have just been the icing on the crap cake of this month.
When they finally got to Yu Dao, it was a clear morning. She dug her feet into the sweet, sweet earth and never wanted to let go. All that time off the ground had done her good; she could see again, see everything. The city was growing fast; her school had been absorbed into its outskirts, and downtown there were buildings that were four or five stories tall. With a stupid grin on her face, she made her way to the market district. Throwing up for weeks really gave a girl an appetite.
Old Shan was still selling meat skewers in his shop, though the corner he was on was a lot busier than it used to be. With a stick of barbequed gullsalmon in hand, she found a bench and settled in to have a relaxing meal with the morning sun warming her face and watch the world go by.
"Read all about it!" a boy shouted, peddling papers to the adults who pushed past. "The Viper Bat Triad takes the north shore! The Earthen Fire Refinery opens new headquarters downtown! Read the Republic Times!"
Viper Bats? Great, a new gang. Before Yu Dao's governmental system was set up as a republic, some of the old ex-Rough Rhinos had formed a firebending gang. Toph and her students had kicked their asses straight out of town, but she knew it was just a matter of time before someone else set up.
At least Satoru and his uncle were expanding their business. Good for them. They'd bought her dad out years ago.
"The Viper Bat Triad captures a dragon!" the boy went on. "Th–"
What the fuck?
"Hey, kid," Toph shouted. "Come here."
He pitter-pattered over. It was strange to think that he was about the age she and Aang had been when they'd fought in the war. He seemed so innocent. "Paper's two yuans."
"I'm blind," she said. "I'll give you five yuans to tell me what's going on with the dragon."
The kid looked both ways before taking her money. Clearly he wasn't supposed to do this, but he could pocket the five yuans, and he wasn't about to pass that up. "They say it started when this guy showed up in town a couple weeks ago with a dragon," the kid said quickly.
"Holy shit," said Toph. "How big was it?"
"It was almost as big as a person!"
"Dragons are a lot bigger than that. Maybe it was a lizard."
"No way!" he insisted. "It was a dragon! I saw it breathe fire myself!"
Fuck's sake. Children. "Okay, kid. Hey, did the guy have blue arrows tattooed on his body?"
She could feel the boy's glare. "If it was the Avatar, I woulda said it was the Avatar! I know what he looks like! It was just some guy! Anyway, everyone was talking about the dragon, and the guy got really mad because he didn't want to make a big deal about it, but it was a dragon, then the Viper Bats nabbed him and no one's seen him since."
She suppressed a groan. "Huh, interesting. Thanks."
Toph tossed him an extra yuan, and he scurried back to his corner. She finished her gullsalmon and chucked the skewer into the trash.
Life could never be easy, could it? It could never give her a fucking break. I mean, it's probably not a dragon, she thought. But I can't take the chance. And I don't like the sound of the same gang taking control of the north shore, either.
Well, at least she could put off seeing her parents for a while longer.