Wow, I write wedding night and everyone starts getting ideas...XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar

Toph closed the door around her and scanned the room with her reacquired sight. When she had drunk the bitter potion her father had handed to her senses had rushed back to her and for a moment she had felt almost overwhelmed. It was like standing in a room where the light suddenly turned on and you discovered you were standing in the middle of a crowd. To be able to feel again, it was such a relief. To be able to feel the earth again…she felt giddy with joy. She wanted to bend, wanted to feel the earth obey her every command.

She had thought about hurting her parents but she hadn't. It wasn't that she didn't want to, that she was afraid of hurting them, but her anger had gone beyond that. They weren't worth it anymore, they were nothing. She cut herself off from them completely.

The first thing she did was rip the hair ornament from her head, trying to unpin as much of her hair as possible at the same time. She held the flower in her hand for a moment, as if hesitating, then she dropped it onto the floor and, with kick, earth-bent it into the depths of the room, enjoying the feeling of power, the clear flow of the chi, the vibrations of the earth.

It wasn't so much a room that had been prepared for them, but a whole apartment. She was standing in a front room, like an entrance hall. There were two doors, one at the front and another at the side, that one presumably leading into the bathroom. Zuko was nowhere to be seen and so Toph strode across the room and kicked open the door.

It was the bedroom with a wide, soft-looking bed in the middle of it. Toph ignored the bed and instead began opening the drawers and closets that were to be found in the room. They were filled with all kinds of useless knick-knack but in one she found a bag, which she tossed onto the bed and next to it she flung the first normal clothes she came across. Then she swept the jewelry standing on the counter into it and continued to look around the room for anything that could be useful.

Zuko, meanwhile, had been looking at the bathroom, not wanting to be part of whatever exchange would be taking place between Toph and her father. When a sufficient amount of time had passed without anything hitting the door he opened it and looked out.

All seemed to be quiet but the door of the other room was ajar. He hesitated for a moment, then crossed the room and opened the door.

Toph was in the room and though he was sure she had felt him come in her back remained turned. She was still wearing the dress, it floated around her looking pale and ghostly, but the hair ornament had been removed and some strands of her hair had come loose and were hanging down, the black contrasting with the white skin of her slender neck.

Zuko leaned against the doorframe and watched her. She seemed to be stuffing clothes and other small items into a bag that she must have found lying somewhere around the room.

"So you're going?" he said into the silence of the room.

"Yes."

He nodded slowly, forgetting that she couldn't see him. That was one thing he had thought of. Well, he wasn't going to do anything to stop her. It would ruin the whole wedding, the whole symbol but that was fine by him. The whole symbol had been wrong from the start.

"Where will you go?"

Now her shoulders tightened, as if he had hurt her and her hands sank from her packing. His question had driven something home.

"I don't know," she whispered, "I have no where to go. I thought I'd follow Aang, but I have no idea where he is. But I can't stay, I just can't. I'm not a doll that can be forced to accept things. I'm NOT!" Her voice had been growing steadily louder and she yelled the last words out, her shoulders shaking now. She hadn't allowed herself to cry, not once, through out these last months and she wasn't going to start now that everything was over.

Zuko stepped forward and laid one hand onto her shoulder. Giving comfort wasn't one of his strong points, and he struggled to find something to say that wouldn't sound like he was patronizing or pitying her. Toph would never stand for that.

"I think," He said hesitantly, "I think the Fire Nation is probably keeping an eye on the Avatar, so he doesn't disappear again. Why don't you come back there with me and I can find out where he is. Then you can go join him."

Toph turned around to him, her face set, fierce and suspicious, "You could do that?"

He shrugged, "Probably."

She was silent for a moment, thinking, then she shrugged off his hand, "Alright then. I'll stay for now. But I need to get out of these clothes."

"I'll go," Zuko said, quickly departing from the room to give her some privacy. An obi was difficult piece of clothing to put on but Toph tore it off quickly, ripping through the delicate material, not caring whether she damaged it or the dress. She let both pieces fall to the floor and pulled on a piece of clothing from the bag she had packed. The bag itself she stowed in the closet, ready in case she should change her mind.

She turned back to the room and surveyed the bed and then it struck her. There was only one bed. And there was only one bed because everyone was expecting Zuko and her to sleep together. They were expecting them to have sex.

She felt revolted, literally as if she was going to be sick. Not that Zuko was a bad looking guy. From what she could gather from Katara's joking evaluations he was as good as they got. Even the scar she heard so much about gave his face character, according to Katara. But the thought of what she was supposed to do with him disgusted her to her very core.

There was a knock on the door and when she answered Zuko entered the room. He too had changed into something more normal.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her standing in the middle of the room, an expression of utter repulsion on her face.

"There's only one bed," Toph answered.

"Oh," the realization struck him as well and he stared between her and the bed. It was wide and covered with soft, delicate silks and giant pillows. "I can sleep on the floor."

Toph almost laughed and she felt an unexpected rush of gratitude that it was Zuko she was with.

"You don't have to," she said and slid in between the soft covers, trying not to think about their meaning too much. Zuko hesitated for a moment, debating with himself, then he got into the bed on the other side. They laid on the edges, facing away from each other, careful not to touch. But the night had been long and soon they were asleep.

So, since it was my birthday on Wendsday (18! I am now legally allowed to...do whatever it is I want to do) you can all review as a present to me!