Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA, except for the characters I make up (Toph's fiancé, etc.) I want to give out a HUGE thank you to all my readers out there. You guys are diligent, patient and I know I am horrible at updating when I say I will, but I just wanted you guys to know that you are always on my mind. Please enjoy this chapter.

Four Months Later…

It was getting harder and harder for Toph to hide her growing stomach. Katara knew it would be easier to hide the pregnancy in water tribe clothes and asked Yuan to let Toph to stay in the Southern Tribe with her for a few months. Yuan, constantly trying to please his bride-to-be, agreed immediately. He returned to the Bei Fong family, sending word of wedding arrangements, occasionally asking Toph's opinion on certain aspects, such as food or music but that was all.

Toph hated staying in the South Pole. There was no earth, so she was totally blind on the giant ice cube of a nation. But she remained extremely grateful of Katara's help and tried to keep her complaints to a minimum. Aang was rarely seen, out maintaining peace in the four nations, but he always managed to come home to see his children, Kya and Bumi. Katara was pregnant as well, awaiting her third child and she could feel he was going to be just like his father, a powerful airbender.

The two mothers-to-be sat in the strong polar sunlight, feeling the sun's amplified rays pierce through their thick fur outfits, fighting bravely against the bitter cold.

"Is it always this cold here?" Toph whined, burrowing deeper into the blue coat. Katara laughed and shrugged.

"Basically. Winter is much worse, though," she replied. Toph sighed in defeat, retreating into the hut, huddling by the glowing coals. Katara joined her after a few seconds. She wanted to talk with Toph about her babies, their futures after they were born.

"Katara, you're eyes are burning a hole into my head. If you were a firebender, I would be on fire right now. What's wrong?" Toph snapped. Katara shook her head, settling next to her friend.

"We need to talk."

"Aahhh…"

"Toph, you can't keep running away from this. We need to discuss the—"

"Discuss what?" Katara clamped her mouth shut as Aang burst into the hut, being attacked by his daughter and son. They screeched and yanked at his robes until he tumbled to the ground, crying out defeat. Kya and Bumi shouted triumphantly and turned their devious eyes on their mother.

"Oh, no! We aren't roughhousing with Mommy. She's carrying a baby," Aang scolded, scooping Bumi into his muscular arms as the little boy took a dive for his mother. Aang loved the boy dearly, not only because of the name he carried but also the fact that he was a nonbender. Kya on the other hand, had her mother's gifts: waterbending and was very talented. She still had a lot to learn but both parents could tell she would be very powerful one day. Toph listened to the children whine and then resigned themselves to tackling their father again. She rose slowly, skirting around the tussle and exited, moving slowly through the crunching snow.

She'd been with the Southern Water Tribe long enough to know her way around the village, even though she could not see a thing. She wandered to the outskirts of the village and sat at the edge of an iceberg. Toph swung her feel over the open air and wiggled her toes wildly. To add to her already blind environment in the frozen south, Katara and Aang insisted she wear boots at all times to prevent damage to her feet. She reluctantly agreed after her initial arrival at the Southern Water tribe. Toph's mind wandered to Zuko. She hadn't seen him since fleeing the Fire Nation with Katara and Aang. She still did not know whether Zuko or Yuan was the father of her twins, but she hoped dearly it was Zuko.

She sighed deeply, breathing in the bitter cold air and closed her eyes. Toph wanted to be back in the Fire Nation—she wanted to be with Zuko. She wanted to feel his strong arms around her and feel his lips on hers.

"Toph?" called Katara. The waterbender hurried towards her, bundling up against the harsh arctic winds. Winter was coming quickly and Toph still had three months of pregnancy before her twins would be born. Katara settled down next to the earthbender and waited in silence.

"No one's going to bother us out here," Katara started softly. "We might as well talk about it now."

"Talk about what?"

"Please don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about Toph. What are you going to do about your children?"

"Marry Yuan. Tell him they're his?" she suggested dryly.

"You know he won't believe that." Toph sighed and nodded. Yuan would be very hesitant to believe her word on the parentage of the infants, seeing as she already spent almost a year avoiding their marriage in order to bear them secretly. He already hated Zuko and thought there was something between the Fire Lord and Toph—Yuan's accusations would go there first.

"What do you want me to do, Katara?" demanded Toph roughly, wrapping her arms around her knees. She could barely touch her fingertips, her stomach was so large and impeded her from folding into the tiny ball she wanted to be.

"You need to tell the truth. You need to find out who the father is and then tell which ever one it is."

"You say it like its easy," laughed Toph sadly. Both men would accuse her of manipulation and lying and might even abandon her. Yuan definitely would leave her, not that Toph cared. But it was Zuko she was afraid of losing. She was terrified of his reaction if she revealed she was bearing his children and had hidden it from him.

"Toph, only you can make this decision. It's now or never," Katara stated firmly. Toph cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Zuko is coming to visit. He arrives tonight."

Katara's cold hands moved over Toph's swollen stomach gracefully. The eerie blue glow washed over the entire room and Toph chewed on the inside of her cheek until the water stopped moving.

"There," said Katara finally. "It's done."

"Well? Who's the father?" croaked Toph. Her throat felt raw and she could barely swallow. Katara dried her hands on a nearby towel and said nothing for a few moments. The brown-haired waterbender returned to Toph's side and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"It's—"

"Katara!" Aang shouted from outside the tent. She winced and covered up Toph's stomach.

"What is it?" she demanded.

"Zuko's here!" replied the Avatar. Aang and Zuko had been on noticeably better terms since their resolve after Azula and Ozai were recaptured. The execution of the Princess and the ex-Fire Lord was scheduled and although Aang remained against the notion of killing anyone, he had agreed that the world would be better off if Azula and Ozai were no longer threats to unified peace. Zuko was coming to the Southern Water Tribe to discuss the notions of unifying all four nations with a central capitol called 'Republic City'. Aang was very excited about the idea of cooperation between the four nations but Zuko was still reluctant but had come to meet with the Avatar anyway. Toph rose from the bed quickly and checked her clothing quickly before exiting the tent with Katara. She immediately heard the roar of the war ship engines in the distant and she knew there was no turning back now.

Zuko had not seen Toph in almost five months since she left the capitol abruptly. He paced nervously on the deck of his ship as the crew prepared for landing. He spotted Aang easily in his yellow and orange monk robes amongst the crowds of blue water tribe clothing. The gangplank fell and landed with a soft 'ploosh' noise against the soft white snow. He descended quickly, followed by two of his generals and his captains towards the tribes people. Most of the younger people looked excited and bowed respectfully towards the Fire Lord. However, all the elders looked distrustful and cast hateful looks at the soldiers and the Fire Lord. They still remembered the Hundred Year War and the devastation the Fire Nation had brought on their people. Most still refused to accept the new peace with the Fire Nation.

Zuko's eyes darted nervously between the rows of peasants around him and breathed a sigh of relief as Aang and Katara stepped through the crowd to greet him. Their two children, Kya and Bumi watched curiously from behind them, holding hands with a small, heavily bundled woman. Zuko's eyes widened with delight as he recognized Toph, her foggy eyes staring directly at him. It took all of his self-control to not shove the Avatar and his wife aside and kiss Toph. He was desperate for her touch but controlled himself. When Katara finally called her children forward, they brought Toph forward with them and greeted the Fire Lord.

He crouched down before the children. "You must be Bumi and Kya," greeted Zuko. Bumi nodded eagerly and Kya tucked her chin into her chest shyly.

"You're Fire Lord Zuko," said Bumi. Zuko nodded in return.

"Your scar is really big," muttered Kya, her frightened eyes glued to the injury on his face. Zuko felt himself beginning to blush but battled through it, offering the young girl a weak smile.

"Yes." He rose to his full height and looked at Toph.

"Fire Lord Zuko," she said softly. He smiled and took her hands, dropped by Kya who'd fled to her mother.

"It's good to see you," he whispered. Toph shivered at his hot breath against her cheeks and allowed herself to smile.

"Zuko, you and your men must be tired from the long journey. Come have dinner with Katara and me so that you might be able to retire for a restful night," said Aang. Zuko tore his gaze away from Toph's face and nodded. Aang led them all towards one of the largest tents settled in the middle of the village. Aang held open the tent flap for his friends and family. Zuko and Toph walk in together, so close they were almost hand-in-hand. Aang took his place at the head of the table with Zuko to his right and Katara to his left. Toph seated herself next to Zuko while the rest of the family scattered round the rest of the table. Bumi and Kya started bickering almost immediately until Katara fixed a stern look on them and she started serving the food.

Throughout the entire dinner, Zuko kept grazing his finger against the side of Toph's thigh and pressed his knee against hers. Toph could barely get her food into her mouth, he distracted her so much. When dinner finally ended, Toph retired to her tent next to Katara's and burrowed deeply into the furs. She dozed off but woke when someone slipped into the bed beside her.

"I've missed you so much," whispered Zuko, beginning to wrap his arms around her. Panicking, Toph scrambled away from him and crawled across the floor to the opposite wall. She wasn't ready to tell him about the babies yet and did want him to discover by accident.

"Toph, is something wrong?" asked Zuko gently. He crawled towards her and took her hands. Toph felt a tear begin to trickle down her cheek and rubbed it vigorously against her shoulder. Zuko put a hand on her cheek and leaned forward. He kissed her gently. Toph knew she should've pushed him away, but she wanted to kiss him so badly, he just melted into his lips.

"Are you okay?" he asked, finally breaking the kiss. She nodded weakly.

"I just don't think it's a good idea for us to be seen together here. It's a small village and people talk," she lied. Zuko's brow furrowed for a moment before he nodded and backed away from Toph. Something inside her screamed not to let him go, but her limbs seemed to be frozen to the ground. Toph listened to him leave and as soon as she was sure he had left, she allowed the tears to come cascading down her cheeks.

"Zuko, I said go away!" she snapped as someone reentered her tent.

"It's Katara. Was Zuko here?" asked the waterbender.

"What? No. What do you want?"

"Tonight was hectic, but I thought you still might want to know who the father is."

Toph had forgotten she'd even allowed Katara to do the test to check the paternity. She nodded.

"It's Zuko."

Note: Dun dun Dun!