Title: The Verisimilitude between Tangled Sheets
Summary: Zuko and Toph are friends. Sometimes lovers, but only when it's convenient. No questions asked, no strings attached—but of course, that was inevitable.
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender is not mine. The characters are not mine. All I own so far is this plot…and this computer that I'm typing it with, but that's about it. It's a sad existence.
The Verisimilitude between Tangled Sheets
Chapter Seven – Misconstrued Intentions
There was something wrong. Even buried in the comfort of his bed, he could feel the earth shaking. It had been only seven months since Toph's last visit and he found it highly improbable that she would return so soon. Not that he'd mind of course. Besides, the tremors were way too subtle to be hers.
Anyway, he reasoned, he thought she was favoring underground tunnels these days. In the recesses of his mind, a voice reminded him that she had dented several major water pipelines that day. But that voice was quickly shut off.
The ground continued to shake, as if determined to disrupt his slumber. Zuko groaned and covered his head with a pillow. But the damage was done. His sleep was disrupted and he was angry.
Zuko marched outside, eyes red and nostrils flaring, and ignoring his palace staff's pleas along the way. Whoever had the nerve to disrupt a politician's precious sleep had hell and a half to pay.
Large masses of dirt appeared on the horizon and their arrival was sluggish at best. Zuko's interest was piqued and his eyes scanned the obnoxious obstruction on his property. He squinted into the distance, muttering something about the uselessness of crescent-moons.
All the anger and annoyance instantly vanished along with the intent to destroy who interrupted his sleep. Toph was atop the hills, seemingly struggling with just alternating them. Worry quickly swelled his heart and before he knew it, he broke off in a sprint towards her.
"Toph!" screamed Zuko, trying to catch her attention. He saw her half-lidded eyes snap open in recognition and realized diverting her attention when she was already having trouble controlling her choice of transportation was not the brightest of choice. Zuko watched in horror as the earth under her collapse and her small body was thrown off.
It was all a blur, is what Zuko would have said later, if asked. Because that was how it felt like. One moment, he was under a dreadful paralysis, the next he was crouching over Toph's frame, desperately shielding her from the assault of solidified dirt.
Shouts of his panicked staff snapped his attention back to reality, and he hastily ordered them to summon all the best healers to his room. The Fire Lord refused to let anyone else besides the doctors touch Toph, carrying her to his suite himself. She felt hot in his arms. Not the kind of low-fever he faked when he was younger to get out of school, hers was the kind of fever that struck a very familiar painful chord in his heart.
The healers have done all they can to lower Toph's temperature, but they were still uncertain of its origins. Zuko stayed by her side that entire night, diligently rinsing and changing the rag that has been placed on her forehead.
-x-
A few hours before noon, Toph stirred.
Zuko's head snapped upwards and quickly asked her if she was okay, pressing a hand against her forehead, her cheeks, and then her neck to check her body's temperature. She replied with a small nod and a drowsy smile.
If she could see, Toph would have seen Zuko's bloodshot eyes and the bags that hung heavily underneath them. She would've seen his messier-than-usual hair. She would have seen the worry that creased the corners of his eyes. She would have seen that one of his hands held one of hers in a death grip, but she didn't to—she felt it.
Toph uttered a silent 'thanks' and struggled to sit up.
"I don't think…" Zuko's warning ended prematurely as he was proved correct. A wave of nausea washed over Toph and her head surrendered against the pillow.
"I'll be right back," Toph felt Zuko pat her hand before slipping his away.
Had her brain not swimming unstably in its own mental juices, she would've asked him to stay and keep her company. But alas, the nerve that connected her mind and her mouth was still malfunctioning, so the sound was reduced to a small mumble, which Zuko just shrugged off with a chuckle.
Toph rested under the heavy covers of Zuko's linen, eyes closed. Thinking back to yesterday, she figured it would have probably been smarter to stay in the small village and let them nurse her, but Toph hadn't been sick in a long while, and she'd be damned if she let strangers probe her. And so, with a high fever, she travelled to her nearest available friend, who just so happened to be Zuko, who just so happened to be an entire day's journey away.
That probably didn't help her fever.
A few minutes later, Zuko walked in with an earthen bowl in his hands. She felt him set it on his bedside table, and gently arranged pillows behind her back to prop her up.
Toph frowned. "I'm sick, not helpless, Sparky."
A sigh laced with worry was heard from Zuko. "I know…I just wanted to make things easier."
The blind earthbender leaned back, letting the pillows engulf her back and small shoulders.
"I made soup," Zuko announced with subtle uncertainty. She heard his clothes shuffling as he reached out to grab the bowl. "Say 'ah,'" he said, blowing lightly to cool down the hot soup.
The aroma of Zuko's soup wafted into her nostrils and made delicious promises. Toph rolled her eyes but opened her mouth anyway. The taste did not disappoint.
"Wow, that was great!" she said enthusiastically. "You'd make a good wife, Sparky. When did you learn how to cook like that?"
Zuko grunted at being praised for his domestic abilities. "When I was young."
"Oh? Why?"
"Long story."
"I've got nothing but time," Toph grinned.
"Well, I have duties to attend to. I've already skipped this morning's—" he cut himself short.
"I didn't ask you to stay by my side, idiot."
"It's not like you could've," Zuko pointed out. "You were unconscious."
"Insignificant," Toph dismissed airily. "You knew you were glad to have an excuse to get away from those meetings. So you're welcome."
"Forgive me for caring," Toph guessed he was rolling his eyes. "Now that I know you're feeling better, I'm gonna go back to work."
"Aw, come on, Sparky," there was a subtle hint of plea in her jest. "You already got the morning off, just extend it for the rest of the day!"
A pathetic grumble was Zuko's protest, and he caved. "I learned how to make that soup when I was young."
With a tilt of her head and a questioning gaze, Toph encouraged Zuko to go on.
"When I was younger, I'd get these really high fevers," Zuko began, his voice thoughtful and slightly clenched at the memory. "The healers said that it should just be an overreaction to my emerging firebending abilities, but that didn't make it any better. My dad would just glare at me and call me weak whenever I'd cry because sometimes the headaches would be unbearable. And my mom," Toph could hear the small smile behind his voice. "My mom would always make me that soup."
"I don't know if I ever told you this before," she said. "But from what I've heard, your mom sounds like a great lady."
"She was," Zuko confirmed. "So when she was really, really sick, I took care of her the best I can. I was scared, Toph, really scared. I couldn't bear the thought of losing my mom. I was seven, I think, and I asked the head chef to teach me how to make the soup she always made for me. And so he did, and I made a bowl for my mom, and she loved it."
Toph grinned at him. "Well it is good soup, anyone would love it!"
"Dad and Azula hated that soup."
"Alright," she corrected herself. "Anyone who's not a psychotic megalomaniac would love that soup."
A lighthearted laugh filled the room.
"Come on, Sparky, I wanna take a walk outside," declared Toph, pushing the blankets off her legs.
"No," said Zuko firmly, pulling the blankets to cover her once again and pushing her shoulders back. "You're staying here until you're better."
"But—"
"No buts, young lady," Zuko's firm tone was comical as he instructed Toph.
"I already feel better!" Toph protested before she could be cut off again.
"Toph," Zuko's voice was weary. "I've stayed by your side these past ten hours to make sure you were okay. I was worried sick and I'd be damned if I'm gonna let you exert yourself again—"
"Who said—"
"Don't even try that with me. I know you're itching to earthbend again, and the answer's no. Earthbending's the most physically-exhausting and you're not going to strain yourself while you're sick."
Toph was at a loss. This was new. Zuko had never tried to be authoritative with her before. She blinked. Once, twice. And then she crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her tongue out.
"No!" she shrieked and turned her head away when he tried to kiss her. "I'd get you sick then I'd have to take care of you and I hate taking care of sick people."
-x-
Zuko felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as Toph stretched, tilting her face upwards to meet the sun's rays.
"It feels so good to be out and about again," she said.
"You were on that bed for less than twenty-four hours."
"It might as well have been forever."
He couldn't help but scoff. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Under different circumstances, maybe," she smirked suggestively.
It had been several days since Toph's bed-arrest and they were enjoying an afternoon walking through town.
"So when did Uncle say he was going to open up his own tea shop?"
"A few years or so."
"Ba Sing Se, huh? That far from his home, he must have really fallen in love in that city."
"Yeah, we've got some good memories there." Zuko's eyes dimmed briefly as he remembered his sister's coup d'état and his betrayal.
"Hellooo? Earth to Sparky!" A rock hit him in the shoulder.
Toph had meant it literally, apparently. "What?"
"I asked if you made friends, or at least met some nice people," she said with a huff.
Zuko paused, considering the question. He remembered Song. And Jet and his crew. And he remembered Jin. "Yeah, I guess," it came out to a mumble.
Here he was almost five years later, and he was still a bit flustered by Jin's unexpected kiss. And the fact that he kissed back.
Toph snorted. "Girlfriend?"
"What?! No!"
His companion only let out a hearty laugh. "Jeez, Sparky. You're so obvious."
"She was not my girlfriend!"
"Who?"
"Jin—hey!" Zuko just realized he had been baited.
"You make it way too easy."
"She really wasn't—" he tried to explain.
"Don't worry, Sparky," she slapped him on the back, of what she could reach anyway. "It doesn't matter to me. I really don't care."
Zuko was left to incoherent syllables as Toph walked on ahead. How could Toph be so indifferent? He knew he'd be annoyed at even the prospect of his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend.
-x-
It was two weeks later when the rest of their group arrived. In the midst of a lively dinner, Sokka and Suki announced their engagement.
Their small circle of friends cheered.
"It's about time, Snoozles!" Toph shouted jokingly.
"So when is the wedding?" Katara prodded.
"Oh, we're thinking some time within the next two years, hopefully." Suki answered.
"Why are you guys having such a long engagement?" asked Aang.
"Wedding preparations take so long, and I really want my baby to have everything set," Sokka grinned.
"The Kyoshi Diamond Festival is next spring," Sokka's 'baby' explained. "We have it only once every ten years, and it's time consuming. And I'd prefer to have the wedding some time after, so I can devote more time and energy into it."
"You guys are coming right?"
Responses ranging from 'of course' to 'eh…maybe' filled the air.
The dinner continued with idle chatter, ending with two servings of dessert, to celebrate the couple's engagement. They seemed genuinely happy and still so taken with each other despite the years that it surprised Toph to hear them arguing in hissed voices much later that evening.
"It's normal," Zuko shrugged. "All couples argue."
Toph nodded solemnly.
"Except us, I mean," Zuko shrugged, almost as an afterthought.
"But we're not a couple."
"Touché."
"It's better that way."
Zuko grunted, whether in agreement or derision, Toph couldn't tell. His change of mood happened quickly, it was almost unnoticeable.
"Shall we go on with our midnight rendezvous then, mademoiselle?" Zuko asked in what he assumed to be a suave tone, offering her his hand.
"We shall," Toph replied with a coy smile as she let him lead the way to his room.
It was almost always like that. As a general unspoken rule, whenever Zuko would bring up their current relationship, Toph would shoot it down, and he would let it drop. It was unfamiliar territory that would only bring awkward disasters in its wake.
Unfortunately, Toph wasn't quite as lucky with avoiding unfavorable situations with Sokka.
"Are you drunk?" she asked incredulously when he showed up in her room a week later.
From his spot by the door, he swayed slightly, as if trying to compose his bearings. "M—me? No, no. That'd be—"
"I don't need earthbending to know you're lying. I can smell the alcohol in your voice."
Sokka hiccupped.
Toph sighed impatiently. "Your room is further down the hall, you infernal idiot," she said as she tried to push him out.
"I've gotta—I—gotta talk to ya," Sokka slurred, spreading his arms to restrict his passage through the door.
"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until you don't stink."
"No, no, no. No," he waved a drunken finger at her face.
Toph shooed it away from her and demanded what was it that Sokka wanted.
"Suki wants a threesome before we get married."
"That's great for you, Snoozles. Why did I need to know that?"
Sokka slung a feeble arm around Toph's shoulder. "You're invited."
Flabbergasted, Toph didn't quite know how to react. But that was okay, since Sokka wasn't done talking.
"You see, my baby wants a threesome—oh wait, I mentioned that already. Anyway, so she wants another girl to come join us right? And so since you're our friend, we picked you! Suki wants it to be with someone she trusts I won't form any adoll—adul—adulterous feelings for and so you're perfect for the job! Whaddya say, sport? Ya up for it?"
The annoyance that was simmering inside Toph quickly boiled into anger. She widened her stance and thrust a fist in the air, sending the Water Tribe Warrior crashing into a pile of rubble.
"I am NOT some cheap, easy FUCK TOY you and your wife can play with! And if you EVER talk to me like this again, I swear you won't even have a HEAD to think with!"
Mortified and livid, Toph stomped out of her own room, making sure another large pile of rubble descended upon Sokka's head for good measure.
-x-
A part of Zuko wanted to castrate Sokka while the blue-eyed-boy was unconscious, but he decided to leave that honor to Toph. He had heard the outrageous 'invitation.'
He followed her out into the garden, where spikes of soil sprouted wherever she walked.
"Leave me alone." Said Toph, sensing his presence.
"Sokka's a drunken fool, Toph," Zuko told her in a soft yet firm voice.
She said nothing, instead folding her legs in front of her and burying her head on her knees.
Zuko heart clenched, aching to comfort her. He reached out a hand to touch her, but she shrugged it away.
"What, you think I'm some cheap fuck too?" she spat. "Well tough luck, Sparky. I don't feel up to it tonight."
"No!" he gasped. "I don't think that at all."
He attempted to hold her, but she fought him off. But he was determined and he kept trying. He positioned himself behind her, with his legs on her sides and his arms joined hers on her knees. Zuko managed to wrestle her into his lap and he rested his chin on to her shoulder and murmured against the dark mess that was her hair.
"Listen to me, Toph. You're an amazing woman, nowhere near worthless, understand? Forget what Sokka said."
Her small shoulders shook and he suddenly became aware of the dampness on her arms. He had never seen Toph cry. And here she was, brought to tears by the same boy who made her laugh so much when they were younger.
Without ever turning her head towards him, she expressed her hurt at Sokka's intentions.
Zuko grew very angry at Sokka, but he suppressed it and instead focused his energy on comforting Toph. Sokka could wait for his wrath.
Zuko scooped Toph and brought her back to his room. In between hiccups and tears, he stroked her hair and whispered comforting words.
It hurt him to see her like this. It hurt him to see the strong, defiant earthbender reduced to an emotional mess. It wasn't fair, Zuko thought. Even though he and Toph were so close, it was still Sokka who could make her cry. Not that he would ever want to. He'd never want to make her cry.
Because he loves her.
And he told her so, but she appears to be asleep already.
Author's Notes: Ahhh! This is so late! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! X.x But I hope you enjoyed the conflict and realizations that came with this chapter. I wonder how Toph would react if he said he loved her while she was conscious…? Again, sorry for the tardiness. I was supposed to finish this last night, but I got distracted.
Review replies:
Avatargirl92: haha, they need to be split up so the realization that they love each other would be sweeter!
Miyiku: Does this make you feel special too? XD Haha. Yes, last chapter was the inkling that he liked her more than just for the sex. And in this chapter, he admits it. To be honest, the caged bird thing was out of impulse. I was watching some old Naruto episodes, and I was watching the one that explained the Hyuuga clan's branch family. Anyway, YEAH! I used to go to a catholic private school when I was younger, and I'm not kidding when I tell you there were like, lesbians galore. Sucks that there's so much teen pregos among your friends, I imagine it's not easy.
Shirozero: Not much sexy scenes…or at all, for that matter, in this chapter. But I hope its emotional equivalent is enough!
Chi The Turtle: I was freaking out that this was two weeks later, but it's only been a week. But that wouldn't exactly count under the 'updating soon' category…but I hope you like this anyway!
Blz1990: Gah, I feel like an awful person for putting off writing this. Sorry if you waited long!
Lazyguy90: Oh yeah. If you asked me, I think Zuko would be more likely than Toph to want something more just because he hasn't really had a very stable emotional support, besides Iroh. And yes, in this story, I wonder if he gets it too!
Forever: Um…okay? Haha.
Destinygirl: YES. Their political status would make their affair scandalous, because everyone from all the nations would be talking about it. And don't worry, I plan on having Toph lounge around in all her elegance a little bit later…it'll be something to look forward to, promise. Hahahaha. 'Write on,' I don't know if you meant it to be that way, but it's very pun-ny. Geddit?
ShikaruTo: Maybe I should put my hair up in a spiky ponytail…maybe I'll be smart. Haha. I went through a period when I hated Sasuke with a passion. So many people were severely injured trying to get him back and I was bawling like a baby when so the genins fought til the very end! I was like, "Stupid Sasuke! Go get harassed and molested by pedophile Orochimaru for all I care! You're not worth five young lives!" Gah. Sorry. Now we're talking about Naruto. But that's okay, because now I know at least one person will get one of my allusions in the upcoming chapters. I think you spoke too fast about my update speed…this one took forever and a half!
Brotherchimo: Toph and Zuko will get together properly when…well, that'll be ruining the surprise if I told you! From this chapter, what do you think?
Party in the Afterlife: They don't have airplanes. And it takes a long time to travel the world by feet, ya know! I just don't think Toph would keep returning more than necessary to the fire nation when she really has no emotional ties to it. Haha.
YumKiwiDelicious: No problemo. Toko is so underappreciated. And hahaha. In this chapter, he does realize it, and he tells her but she's asleep! Or is she…dun dun dun DUNN!
Animefreak03: Phew, that's good to know. I know some time skips are really irritating, so I try to make them as seamless as possible. And I knowww. Zuko's being so tortured, and I feel kinda bad, but it's necessary! Oh, it won't end terribly, I don't think. I will present my butt too you in a silver platter if it does. And you can stab it with a pitchfork to your heart's content.
Miss Avatard: Yes. Drama drama drama. Because a good story isn't without them. :)
Liooness: Toph's a bit of a commitment-phobe, I suppose. Too bad for Zuko, though! Haha.
Thanks for your patience everyone and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
R&R