4. The Complication

Hehe. So you know it's going to be an interesting one...

Disclaimer: Don't own A:tLA.

The ball gown was horrible, as was the makeup, as were the multiple pounds of ornaments in her hair, and the way people kept looking at her, some staring outright. Did she have something on her face? Well, stupid question; she had paint caked on her face, but besides the obvious.

Worst by far, though, were the butterflies.

They were not because the Steam Nation's demise was officially underway, and they were decidedly not because she had just been swaying around the ballroom with Aang. Her friend just looked so miserable she'd had to offer to dance once: Teo—ah, Spirits bless the naïve—had approached them about ten minutes ago, and after a little small talk wanted to know why Aang had let Zuko dance with Katara for so long. After two minutes, Twinkles been subsequently ditched at the punch bowl, and, feeling she'd done her part as his friend, Toph was free to be swallowed by nerves again.

Because right now, Sokka was busy getting his own facepaint, if of a different nature, from Ty Lee. She was, to be fair, the most artistically inclined of the three—not exactly that Toph or Sokka posed much competition—and so she was in the process of paling Sokka's skin and painting that wonderful scar that was the source of so much angst onto his face.

Because Stage Two—the scandalous part of the plan—was about to… no, Toph corrected herself. It had just begun.

Ty Lee had just flounced through the door; Iroh, taking his cue, waved across the room to get his nephew's attention. Zuko pecked Katara lightly on the lips and then hurried away, turning out through a side door when Iroh motioned in that direction.

Ty Lee's turn.

Right away, the gymnast pirouetted over to Katara, tapping her gently on the shoulder. Katara's heart pattered for a moment in surprise—she and Ty Lee were far from best friends—but then Ty Lee bent closer, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. Toph didn't need to hear her to know what she'd said: Hey, um, Katara? Look, I think there's something you need to see.

As Ty Lee lifted a hand to point at her, Toph hesitated, trying to look as nervous as possible—it wasn't terribly hard—and then turned, making quickly for the door.

She was just leaving the ballroom when the first thing went wrong.

As Ty Lee continued to explain in whispers why Katara absolutely, like, no excuses, had to come with her right now, Suki glanced over at the two and didn't quite managed to ignore them. There was the fact that Katara looked suddenly horrorstruck, of course, but the truth was that Ty Lee wasn't even close to subtle.

So when the gymnast grabbed Katara's wrist and all but frogmarched her out of the ballroom, Suki snuck a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, and then hurried after them.

"Thank Spirits you're here," he called, as she rounded the corner into the little courtyard. "This makeup's the worst."

"Oh, right. Cry me a river."

A smirk slid across his lips. "You look like Kyoshi," he said, and she smacked him in the shoulder.

"About a hundred times cooler, though. Come on, Sparky, let's make this look good."

Carefully smoothing the skirt for no other reason than to seem occupied, she took a seat on the bench next to him, taking a moment to examine the garden. She could feel the tree behind them, branches reached over their heads; she sensed the small pond in front of them, water lapping softly against the earth; she knew that there was a nest of turtle-ducks, the smallest the size of her palm, nestled up in the small patch of grasses at the far edge of the water. It was still and quiet and so peaceful that their plan suddenly felt ridiculous, but then Sokka wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and thoughts of turtle-ducks slid away. "I hear them coming," he whispered, and she nodded weakly.

"Just sit here?"

"Yep. And look adoring, maybe."

"Don't push i—" she started, but broke off mid-word. "They're at the west doorway." Sokka nodded, angling his head so Katara would be able to see the scar.

She smiled briefly, an expression indulgent if not adoring, and Sokka bent closer. "Is she buying it?" he started, and then Katara's heart took off, slamming against her ribs. Toph was about to nod, until—

Oh, hell. "Sokka!" she hissed, as Katara's lips parted. "Katara's gonna yell! We've got to do somethi—"

His mouth on hers cut her off mid-word.

Sokka had nearly fallen off the bench when Toph walked into the courtyard.

There was a distinct difference between knowing your friend was going to be dressed up and actually seeing it. It was… Spirits, the last time she'd dressed like this was a year ago in Ba Sing Se, but she'd been a kid then, and somehow it seemed she wasn't now. He swallowed hard, searching for something—anything—to say. "Thank Spirits you're here," he blurted, and when her face fell slightly, "This makeup's the worst."

"Oh, right," she muttered, moving seamlessly from a jog to a swagger. She had a walk that practically reeked of wasted nobility, so utterly Toph that he was reassured. "Cry me a river."

He'd been one-upped, but didn't really mind, as what she'd said gave him both an opportunity and an excuse to stare. She'd done something with her eyes that made them stand out, even in the dusk, and her hair was half-down—it was long! Did she usually wear it up? Why didn't he notice these things? "You look… like Kyoshi," he said, catching himself halfway, and she gave a smack on the shoulder he probably deserved.

"About a hundred times cooler, though." I'll say, thought Sokka. "Come on, Sparky, let's make this look good."

She took a seat on the bench, taking a slow breath and let it out though her nose. Sokka's eyes narrowed in scrutiny—she seemed to be lost in thought—but after a moment he noticed her toeing the ground, and realized she was looking at the garden.

He couldn't deny that it was beautiful, though to be completely honest, he wasn't entirely sure he liked it. Like the rest of the palace, it was regal and elegant and slightly too picture-perfect, the kind of place that always make Sokka feel small. For all the perks to being Fire Lord, he didn't envy Zuko having to live here.

Toph, of course, was a completely different case. She'd grown up in a home just like this; he had no idea if she liked the palace, but the fact remained she was completely at ease here, just as she was wherever she went. Usually, being around her would make Sokka feel better, but for some reason right now, sitting next to his best friend was making Sokka very nervous.

So, naturally, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I hear them coming," he said, mostly as an excuse.

She'd gone stiff. "Just sit here?"

"And look adoring, maybe?"

If it came out slightly too hopeful, Toph didn't seem to notice. "Don't push i—" She broke off. "They're at the west gate," she murmured, and Sokka resisted the urge to glance up, instead tilting his head to make sure the scar was visible. She smiled up at him, and for a moment he felt himself freeze. There was something about her smile, the emotion not quite masked by amusement, that reminded him startlingly of Yue.

He panicked, bending closer to hide his face. "Is she buying it?"

Toph's mouth dropped open, the muscles in her arm tensing under his hand. "Sokka!" she hissed. "Katara's gonna yell! We've got to do somethi—"

Afterwards, he would have liked to know what the hell other something he was supposed to come up with. Afterwards, he also would have liked to be able to say it was like kissing a sister, or even that it had been awkward, or at least that it had been part of the plan.

But the moment he leaned in, there wasn't any Katara and certainly no plan. He was no longer aware of the garden or the makeup, just her and himself and the way it wasn't Toph he was kissing any more, not the Toph he thought he knew, someone new and captivating but still Toph all the same—?

Several meters away, Katara gave a yelp like a kicked puppy and turned to run. Ty Lee, fighting a giggle of delight, spun to chase after her.

But Suki stayed precisely where she was, in the doorway on the opposite side of the courtyard, staring at the two. There was something wrong with this picture that Katara hadn't taken the time to see. Not even considering that Toph was the little sister Zuko wished he'd had—and unless Suki had read him very wrong, the boy didn't seem like the incestuous sort—there was something off about Zuko: his build, and the way his hair hung, and…

And the fact that his scar was rubbing away.

When a Kyoshi warrior wants to move, she moves fast. Toph—under later defense of being just a little distracted at that point, Sokka—never saw it coming any more than he did. The punch caught him across the cheek, knocking him off the bench. Suki stared down at him, eyes ablaze.

"What," she said. "The. Hell?"

Her glare was reserved wholly for Sokka. If she had so much as noticed the tension, Toph might have been a third wheel, but, staring dazedly ahead, she seemed to comprehend none of it. "Um," said Sokka. The last ten seconds were too much to wrap his head around all at once—he felt like he'd been flung into a cold shower without warning, and coherency was a bit much to expect when managing to breathe was already a stretch. "It's not… what it… looks… like?"

"I can see what you're doing," Suki snapped. "You're trying to break up Zuko and Katara by making it look like he's cheating. I'm not stupid, Sokka; I don't care about that."

He blinked. "You… don't?"

"No, I don't." She watched him carefully, the relief beginning to dawn over his face, and then her eyes narrowed. "What I do have a little problem with is why the hell you're kissing her instead of your girlfriend?"

"Bu… but…" But it had been his and Toph's plan, and he didn't want to risk involving too many people, so would she rather he kissed Ty Lee, and anyway, he didn't think she'd ever know or that it would come to this—

None of which were very good reasons at all. Toph, who seemed to have jolted to, stayed statue-still, terrified call attention to herself. "But I can't!" he protested. "Everyone knows I'm dating you; if Katara saw you kissing me-as-Zuko, she'd expect me to come kick Zuko's ass for it, but then I couldn't do that because I'm Zuko—"

"Who's Zuko?"

All three froze. Zuko stood in the doorway, eyes alight with fury, twin fires leaping in the palms of each hand. Behind him, as they watched, Aang scrambled through the doorway, freezing in place when he caught sight of the four-way standoff. "Oh," Toph mumbled. "H-hey, Zuko. Aang."

"Katara just came running from here," said the Fire Lord softly.

Sokka gulped. "Oh?"

"She's crying," he continued. "And when I tried to talk to her, she slapped me."

"I'm… sorry?"

Zuko's eyes flashed. "So," he said. "I think you'd better explain now."

It wasn't a suggestion.

Angry!Zuko is NOT to be messed with. You've got to appreciate that all his pent-up sexual tension is coming into play here (and as anyone who's watched Avatar knows, there's never a shortage of that.)

Stay tuned for Jin, Mai, and catfights, and maybe all three at once... and till then, reviews are always amazing!