A/N Mai and Zuko were so cute in last Friday's episode.

-shamelessMaikofan-

I can't wait until Day of Black Sun. I'm really freaking out right now.

-------------------------------

It was never completely dark in the palace, not even at night. There was always some torch, some fireplace, some bed of coals…fire was its lifeblood, and it was one of the few things that remained constant in palace life.

Torchlight flickered in the corridor behind Zuko's bedroom door. He watched it, eyes open without really seeing it. He was lying in bed, his head on his arm, trying to sleep. But he couldn't. Dirt Girl weighed on his mind. She hadn't returned—it had been almost 4 hours since he had last seen her, being taken away by the Servant Lord. He knew he shouldn't worry, shouldn't care—

--but he did anyway.

It was because of this that he couldn't shut his eyes, couldn't relax. A voice in the back of his mind whispered that he should sleep, and the Servant Lord would return Toph at some point. Worry overrode it.

The door opened; torchlight fell upon Zuko's body, up to his face. The shape in his threshold was nothing more than a silhouette against the light:

"The servant, Your Highness."

A form was thrown to the floor with a thud. The door was shut. The room was once again dark, save for the torchlight below the door. And it was almost silent.

Almost. Zuko could hear soft, ragged breathing, coming unevenly in nearly inaudible gasps. She was trying to hide it, he could tell. There were long pauses where it sounded like she was holding her breath, so that he would hear nothing from her. Once again he was struck by her stubbornness, and her refusal to show weakness.

He threw back the sheets, stepping out on to the cold stone floor, and walked around to the foot of the bed. He could barely see her shape, a heap in the shadows, rising and falling with each soft, uneven breath. He lit a flame in his palm, crouching down. He could see her more clearly in the firelight—her face was turned away from him, her arms were bent and above her head. Her back was towards him—he bit back an exclamation.

The back of the shirt she was wearing was in shreds. Through it he could see her back, covered with red welts and purple bruises.

It rose and fell again, more unsteadily this time. Zuko suspected she was holding back tears.

"Come on," he told her, somewhat gruffly. "Get into your corner. I'm not having my servant sleep on the floor."

The words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them; did he just call her HIS servant?

She didn't seem to notice. He took her by the arm, like he always had, but as soon as he started pulling she cried out in pain. He realized he was pulling the skin on her back when he tugged at her like that.

"Fine. Get there yourself," he told her, releasing her arm. He expected it to drop to the floor—but instead, she pushed herself off the ground, and crawled forward. Her fingers traced the foot of the bed, and she crawled along its length until she got to the corner. Then she turned at an angle, and continued until she reached the large pile of cloth that was her bed. Flopping down on to her stomach, facing away from him, she heaved a great sigh and became silent.

The room was quiet for a while. "I have a salve for those bruises," Zuko said, unable to keep it to himself—it would just be cruel. "I'll give it to you tomorrow. You'll still be expected to work."

The girl didn't reply. Zuko thought, at first, that she wasn't going to respond at all, and half-turned to return to his bed. But then he heard her, softly: "Have you ever lost your bending?"

The question made him stop. He stared at her. "No, I haven't."

Her voice was even quieter: "It's like going up the stairs, and thinking there's one more step than there is. You wait for that step to hold you, to support you, but it never comes. And instead, you fall." She took a deep breath. "I tried to flatten that guy. Drive him into a wall. Throw a boulder at him. Make a crack under his feet. Throw him into the air with a column of stone. Nothing happened. My feet hurt too much to make a stance. My earthbending never came. I fell."

Zuko said nothing. She buried her face in her arms. "Falling was what got me here in the first place."

The room was silent again.

"I'll give you that salve tomorrow," he said, extinguishing the flame in his palm, and turning towards his bed. She gave no response.

As he lay there that night, he again found it difficult to fall asleep. He believed it would have been a lot easier if he hadn't been listening for Toph's suppressed whimpers well into the early hours of the morning.

-x-x-

"Did she deserve it?"

The monotone voice again. Toph shut her eyes tight, trying to block it out.

"I don't know," Zuko responded, sounding torn. Toph noticed that he seemed much less annoyed at things when Monotone was around. "She rebelled. She pulled out all of the flowers as well as the weeds."

Monotone chuckled. "Rebellious, hm? I think it's in their blood. Took us a while to bring down Ba Sing Se. And the Dai Li betrayed their leader in an instant. Perhaps they can't help it." Toph's eyes widened. She was there! She was one of the girls who pretended to be Kyoshi warriors!

She struggled to get up, finding it very difficult. She floundered amidst the cloths of her 'bed', attempting to ignore the sharp pain in her back. A hand was placed gently but firmly on her shoulder, forcing her to drop back down to her stomach. It was a smaller hand than Zuko's, with thinner and longer fingers. "Calm down, Dirt Girl," Monotone said. "I've got to put the salve on you."

Toph relaxed with a sigh, remaining wordless. She had nothing to say to this girl.

"Zuko couldn't put on a salve to save his life," Monotone continued. "When I first came in, he didn't think this was enough!" She chuckled, but her laugh was small and quiet. It didn't seem like she laughed often. "I think he would have dumped the jar on you if I hadn't come by." Thin fingers whisked cool cream on her back, instantly soothing them, and rubbed it in gently.

"Thank you," Toph said through clenched teeth, unwilling to forget that this girl had brought down the Earth Kingdom capitol.

"Zuko, your servant has manners," Monotone observed, obviously amused. "You're welcome, Dirt Girl."

The name was beginning to stick.

"Surprise, surprise," Zuko said dryly—cloth moved. It sounded like he was putting on a robe. "And I thought earthbenders could surprise me no more."

Monotone chuckled again. "Is she still working today?"

"Yes," Zuko replied. "The Servant Lord is requiring that she fix the flowerbeds that she ruined, and finish the courtyard."

"Sounds so exciting," Monotone said sarcastically. "Would you mind terribly if I skipped that one?"

Toph could hear Zuko's smile in his voice. "I wouldn't mind at all," he said. Monotone stood, and walked over to him.

"Good," she said softly. "Come to the front courtyard after dinner, we can go to the cliffs at sunset."

"I'll be there," he replied, just as softly. Toph heard a moment of complete silence that she knew could only be a kiss.

Monotone left. The door swung shut. Toph made a gagging noise. Zuko chuckled—it seemed Monotone actually did put him in a better mood. He lifted her up by the arm again, handing her a shirt.

"Put that one on over the one you already have," he said. "It would look very strange if you went to the courtyard looking like that."

-x-x-

As Zuko led the girl down to the courtyard, he was given time to think. Mai had a point: Did she deserve it? He had been avoiding the question since the previous afternoon. It was complicated. Certainly she deserved a punishment for such outright defiance. But was a sharp beating a fair penalty?

He looked down at her. She looked straight ahead, placing her feet carefully as she walked (which was difficult to do, walking alongside him, with her stride so short and his so long). Her black hair had fallen even more in her face than it had when she had first come. Her eyes were almost completely obscured by her bangs, and her face was framed by longer pieces of hair that had fallen out of…whatever that was on top of her head.

Of course, none of that would bother her. She couldn't see anyway.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Zuko blinked. "I…was wondering how you could see through that hair of yours," he replied, deciding he might as well go for the truth. "Then I remembered it wouldn't matter to you. How did you know?"

"You would know too," she said matter-of-factly, staring straight ahead. "You can feel when someone's looking at you. You always can. Plus I felt your hand shift on my arm, like your shoulder was turning."

Zuko nodded, thinking. Being blind heightened all your other senses—doing his exercises blindfolded would be a great way to improve his skills.

The courtyard opened to their right. He led her through the doorway, but she was hesitant, feeling her way with her feet until she found the step. Then she followed.

"Exactly what do you expect me to do?" she asked irritably. Apparently her back was feeling better. "I already told you, I don't remember where all the flowers go. And I don't even know how to replant flowers."

"I think I do," Zuko said, running a hand through his hair. "I remember watching my mother do it a long time ago. I'm sure I remember."

"I'm sure you do," Dirt Girl responded dryly, wriggling out of his grip and folding her arms. "What, do you just bury it?"

"I think so."

"You're kidding me. It can't be that simple."

"It might be."

"I'm not doing it."

He pulled her down to the ground, so that she was kneeling on the grass beside him. "Yes you are. The Servant Lord is counting on you."

He could see it in her face. Every muscle tensed. Her expression became a scowl for a fraction of a second—then vanished. "Fine."

He handed her a purple flower. "I'm going to have to point out which flowers go in which holes, aren't I?" he said, the realization dawning on him.

"Yep," Toph replied happily. "You're going to spend the whole day with me, Sir Prince of Pansies."

Zuko groaned in despair.

-x-x-

"It looks nice, it really does."

"Hmph. If only I could see it. Somehow, I don't quite believe you. The rows seemed a little crooked to me."

"Uh…I guess they are. I don't think anyone will mind. No one comes in here anymore."

"Why not?"

"Back of the palace, I guess…this is the servant area. And the servants are all too busy to come into the courtyard."

"But Ikoh used to come in here all the time, right?"

"Iroh. And yes, he did. His son's room was right down the hall. They would spend hours here."

"Where's his son?"

"Dead."

Toph felt ill, reminded of her own parents. They probably thought she was dead. She hoped they had received her letter, the one she had sent with Sokka's hawk. "That's sad."

"He was never the same after that. When he joined me in my exile, to find the Avatar—he would always say I was like a son to him. He treated me like one. He never left my side, even after I left his."

"He talked about you."

"When?"
"I met him. On the road. When I needed help. He gave me advice. And tea."

"And tea." He sounded unsurprised, almost amused.

"And tea," she repeated, nodding. "He said you were a little lost. But he wanted to be there for you when you needed him. I said he should tell you that he needed you too."

Zuko was silent. Toph listened, trying to hear his heartbeat (What she wouldn't give for her bending!) so that she could get some sense of his emotions. She heard nothing. And he didn't say a word.

"Where is he?" she asked plainly. "You haven't told me."

The silence stretched. She could hear the sound of his breathing shift; he was looking away from her now. The breeze picked up. It felt quite nice as a change from the stifling palace. The sun was out again, warming her face. The grass felt cool through the cloth on her feet.

"He's in prison," Zuko responded, sounding like he was fighting to speak. "Because he was considered a traitor."

"Why? What did he do?" Toph asked, frowning.

"He…he fought Azula," Zuko replied, still in that choked voice. "While your water tribe friend escaped with the Avatar. He distracted the Dai Li enough for them to get away."

Toph thought this over in her mind, striving to recall what Katara had said about what happened in the cave. "But you weren't considered a traitor," she said slowly. "Because you didn't fight Azula and the Dai Li. You fought Aang and Katara."

"You still have three more sides to do," he said. Toph thought he sounded defeated, and tired. "And there are weeds in the middle of the courtyard and around the tree."

She heard his muffled footsteps on the grass, leaving the courtyard. "He said you still have to find out who you are," she called to him. "Have you found it out yet?"

His footsteps were a little faster. They never stopped, all the way out the courtyard. Then they slowly faded away, as he walked farther and farther down the corridor.

Then Toph was left with nothing and no one, but the whisperings of the leaves in the bushes.