Iroh poured himself another cup of Ginseng tea as he surveyed the scene before him. Zuko and Mai were greeting some earth kingdom officials. Iroh had made sure they were very punctual, so few people had arrived yet. The avatar and the water tribe girl were on the dance floor, swaying slowly together. The water tribe boy, Sokka, he reminded himself, was dancing with Suki, but also trying to keep a watch on his younger sister, resulting in him stepping on the poor Kyoshi warrior's feet. Iroh chuckled to himself, the whole thing was rather comical.

"What are you laughing at?" asked the young earth bender sitting next to him.

"Oh, just the others. Aang and Katara are gazing adoringly at each other, but Sokka keeps sending them dirty looks."

"Sounds like Sokka alright." They sat in silence for a few more minutes, sipping their tea. He looked carefully at the earth bender. She really did look lovely tonight. He wished she would go be with her friends, dance, talk have a good time. Not sit with an old man in the corner like a wallflower. But her friends were all coupled up again and she didn't want to intrude.

"Toph?"

"Mmm?"

"Would you give me the honour of this dance?" Toph was slightly surprised, but didn't miss a beat.

"Why certainly, General Iroh." She curtseyed and took his hand. He led her out to the dance floor and they began to waltz.

Within the hour an earth kingdom official announced the arrival of the new Earth King, a man named Mushi Bei Fong, and his wife Lia. The blood drained from Toph's face.

"What is it Toph?" Iroh asked. She inhaled deeply before speaking.

"Mushi Bei Fong is my father's brother. His wife's name is Lia. If he's the new Earth King, my parents will most definitely be here."

Iroh put his hand on her shoulder. "They were probably going to be here anyway, and you knew you would have to face them eventually."

"I know," she whispered. "I only hoped it wouldn't have to be so soon."

Mushi began his opening address. "I would like to welcome everybody to this celebration of the war's end. We are honoured to have in our company today Avatar Aang, Firelord Zuko, the former General Iroh, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors, and..." he paused "Toph Bei Fong. We would like to begin the festivities shortly, but first I would like to give our honoured guests the chance to say a few words."

Aang stepped up to the stage first. "Thank you all so much for coming. It is such a joy to be able to celebrate peace with all of you. May it last long!" He returned back to his place beside Katara.

Zuko was next. "I echo the avatar's sentiments wholeheartedly. May we never take this peace for granted. I have an announcement of my own to make, actually." he started to look bashful, "one of a forthcoming marriage. Mai and I have become engaged. Why such a beautiful, incredible woman would agree to marry me I'll never know." he paused and looked at Mai, "but I'm very glad she did."

The room began to echo with congratulations. Zuko was blushing and Mai looked...happy. It was an unusual expression on her, but a nice one nonetheless. One Iroh hoped she would wear more often. After the noise had settled down and Zuko and Mai had returned to their places, Toph took a deep breath and mounted the stage herself.

"Hi everyone. I'd like to announce something too. If you hadn't figured it out already the Earth King is my uncle. Mom, Dad, if you're here, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you without so much as a note. I'm sorry for running away. But please understand why I did. I'm not the helpless little girl you thought I was. I love you, but I couldn't stand being locked away, not having any friends, not existing to the rest of the world. I want-" She paused as a woman in the front row stepped forward.

"Hi mom." she said softly.

All of a sudden Toph and her mother were in each other's arms, tearing up and uttering apologies. It wasn't the sort of meeting Toph had envisioned. Not in front of all these people. She was okay with it though, because now she knew the one thing she had longed for was true.

Her mother loved her. And at that moment, that was the only thing that mattered.

Hey Everybody!
I'm sorry for the lack of Toph/The Duke-ness in this one. There shall most definitely be some (or a lot :D) in the next chapter!
And as for Toph's uncle being the new Earth King...I thought that perhaps since her family was up there in Earth Kingdom high society, such a thing could be possible. That is, until the previous Earth King realizes that travelling the world bear-back isn't all it's cracked up to be. Yes? No? Perhaps?
Thanks for reading!
Inkwarrior