Chapter Seventeen

--

The Relative Calm Before the Storm

--

--

Lord and Lady Bei Fong requested their daughter wait in her chambers until the party began, so she could be properly revealed to all the guests at the right time. Toph grumbled heavily about this, but insisted Meng go on and not wait for her; Meng knew better than to argue. Besides, even though she felt embarrassed about her appearance compared to the extravagance of everything and everyone else, she still couldn't help but anticipate Aang's reaction to how she looked all dressed up.

With the assistance of one of the ever-present servants, she quickly found him and Stonehenge in the banquet hall, the both of them helping set up chairs and tables and move large decorative vases brimming with peacock feathers about the room. Aang's Airbending faltered when he saw Meng approach, and his cheeks turned red as he stammered out that she looked beautiful.

Meng beamed and took his hand.

"Come with me," she said, and the two of them went into a small, quiet room adjacent to the banquet hall.

"What's up?" Aang asked, curiously confused, but he quickly found out what was up as Meng turned around and kissed him fervently.

She pushed him back against the wall, her hands at his jaws, his neck, his shoulders. Though surprised by her sudden assertiveness, he wasted no time wrapping his arms about her, pulling her closer, feeling the fabric of her dress and the contours beneath it. Their lips parted with an inevitable gasp, and they stood there in each other's arms, foreheads leaning against the other's as each caught breath.

"What was that for?" Aang finally asked, a smile playing at his lips.

"For thinking I'm beautiful," she whispered, pecking him on the lips.

"Did I mention I think you're the craziest beautiful girl I've ever met, and I really, really like?" he said, a teasing grin across his face.

"No, you didn't, but we'll sort that out later," she said, taking him by the hand again and heading back to the main hall. "Somewhere Toph's dad couldn't walk in on us would be good."

--

--

As a twinkling pleasant night fell upon the Earth Kingdom, the Bei Fong residence filled with the party guests pouring in, among them Fire Lord Zuko, his uncle General Iroh, and their mutual relative Sora, a quiet young man who always became very nervous around the Avatar. As Aang approached his friend Zuko with a wide smile, Sora ducked behind Iroh and stared fixedly at the ground as the salutation took place.

"Zuko! Hi!" Aang greeted. "Where's the Mrs.?"

"I could ask you the same question," Zuko replied stern-faced, though he accepted Aang's handshake.

"Oh, um. No Mrs. You know that," Aang said, slightly hurt and indignant.

"Wife, girlfriend, friend, whatever you guys are," Zuko said, breezing over the issue. "If you're here, she's here, right?"

"Well, yeah, she will be later. I think she's running late right now," Aang informed him.

"Good. I have a Fire Nation/Water Tribe political relations campaign I need to discuss with her. I've been trying to get in touch with you about it for the past few weeks, but you decided to up and disappear," the Fire Lord growled, prodding Aang in the chest for emphasis.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Aang stuttered. "I kind of had a breakdown over the whole break up thing and needed time to, um, recover…"

"Aang, there you are!" Meng exclaimed as she joined him at his side and took his arm affectionately in hers.

"Time to recover, huh?" Zuko asked severely.

Then his face broke into a smile.

"Glad to see it's going so well," he replied with a laugh. Aang chuckled, too, out of sheer relief, but he wondered if Zuko couldn't be just as scary as his father when he wanted.

Aang introduced Meng and Zuko to each other, and then Lord Bei Fong stood on his fancy soapbox, so to speak, and all other conversations ended.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight is a very special night," he began. "For many years many of you did not know I had a daughter. That was as I wanted it then, for I loved my daughter so much that I wanted to keep her as close as possible and protect her…"

"Zuko, how's your mom doing?" Aang whispered to Zuko.

"She's sick," Zuko returned in a hushed voice. "Again. She'll never be quite the same, but she lives a happy life in the palace with my family and me."

Aang nodded sympathetically and turned his attention back to Lord Bei Fong and his speech.

"So you and this Meng girl, huh?" Apparently, Zuko saw it as his turn to ask a question. "Does Katara know?"

Aang bit his lip, and Zuko saw this out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't tell me you're planning to break the news to her tonight?" he pressed.

Aang's face brightened.

"Oh, I've got to see this," Zuko grinned, and there the whispered conversation ended.

"…and now my daughter is ready for marriage and for some lucky man to protect her and brighten her days for the rest of her life!" Lord Bei Fong finished. "Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to all of you my daughter Toph Bei Fong!"

With a flourish he gestured up the stairs behind him, and there at the top stood Toph, regal in her garb, but stony in her stature. All present clapped and expressed polite enthusiasm for her beauty, and Aang heard an audible sob of joy from Lady Bei Fong. Toph must have heard it, too, for her entire demeanor changed, and she curtsied very low to her guests, then proceeded to descend the stairs with the elegance of the confidence born and bred in her.

"I didn't know she was so pretty," Zuko said, quite taken aback and puzzled.

"I forgot," Aang admitted to him, clapping wholeheartedly for his friend.

"I knew," came Stonehenge's voice from behind them both.

Aang turned to see the Earthbender watching Toph and her every movement as she reached the landing, where she took her father's hand. Everything about Stonehenge's countenance suggested his utter infatuation with the smaller Earthbender, and Aang thought sadly of his best friend, who should have been there for her then and so much longer before.

"I can't believe Sokka's missing this," he sighed.

--

--

"We are so late!" Katara cried as she and Sokka hurried to the gate with the flying boar insignia. "This is all because you took forever deciding if you really wanted that bag!"

"It was one of a kind! How could you have let me pass it up? We need to go back right now and get it!"

"No! We are not going all the way back to the boutique so you can get a stupid bag. They're closed now anyway," Katara said as they reached the guest entrance where a sour-faced attendant asked for their names and invitations.

"Oh, well, let me just get it out of my pocket—oh wait!" Sokka cried sarcastically. "I don't have an invitation because Toph banned me from her life! Guess I don't have to go now!" He crowed victoriously, starting to walk off.

"That's not an accomplishment, Sokka!" Katara barked, grabbing the back of his shirt and wrenching him back to her side.

"Here is my invitation, sir, and this young man here is my date," she told the attendant sweetly.

"Date?! No way! I'm not going to be my own sister's date!" Sokka cried angrily.

"Now, now, Sokka! There's nothing wrong with being your step-sister's date! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" she warbled, grabbing her brother by the arm and quickly dragging him past the attendant.

"This is a whole new low of pathetic," Sokka said darkly. "I hate you, Katara."

"Hate me while you can, Sokky-wokky," she said grimly. "Because as soon as you see her, you're going to be hating yourself."

--

To be continued…

--

--

A/N:

BAM!! Get him, Katara! But don't get too much of an attitude yet 'cuz yours is a'comin', too. As is everyone's! Woo!

…

Methinks I am way too excited to break all these young people's hearts. But I've been doing that the whole time anyway, so what's a few more chapters with intense emotional climaxes throughout? BWAHAHAHAHA!!

Ahem.

I hope you enjoyed today's chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

And just to explain myself with the whole lack of Zuko info: I didn't want to say to whom he was married and stuff because this is not meant to be a Zuko romance fic. I don't have a specific pairing preference for him, and I don't want to alienate anyone who does (or have them feel alienated or anything like that) because I know for some Zuko fans it is a touchy subject. Just please know that Zuko is touchy with someone! Enough to have a kid! Maybe two, even! Who knows? Maybe he had triplets or something! I basically just did not want to come up with Zuko's entire life for the past five years in the span of a chapter. It wouldn't do him justice, and besides, I think he's smexy when he's mysterious. hehe And Iroh didn't say anything because he's smexy when he's really, really mysterious.

And I just created and threw in Sora spur of the moment. I don't think any of the Avatar characters are gay (at least, none are overtly gay, except maybe Haru, who we may very well see in the coming chapters), but I kind of wanted to add Sora to the story and have a crush on Aang because…Aang is lovable to guys, too! Yes. Really, I just thought it would be humorous to have a meek Firebender character with the hots for Aang. lmao! XD

And after a lovey-dovey dream with a phantom date last night, I had to write a make-out scene! Hope you enjoyed! Wiiiink.

Yeah, this Author's Note is much too long now. Again:

Glad you read.

Please review.

For it's th' nice

Thing to do.

Woot!

--

P.S.

I own nuthink but Stonehenge, Sora, and my awesome-ish "Please Review" poem. Griiiin.