AN: Whoo! Now not only do I have an outline of this story in my head, I have it on paper. There. Proof that this story will have a definite ending!

You guys are gonna love it. ;) I came up with it last night. I also came up with why Zuko would kill Aang.

Yes, I am that flipping brilliant. And modest. Humble, too.

Haha.

Anyway, this should all go a lot faster know that I know EXACTLY what I'm going to do. Expect to see continuous Maiko (hey, it's canon now!) and a sprinkling of Teoph in there (why was this not canon? I ask you). Also, you will see the resolution of Aku's kidnapping; but you'll have to wait and see if there will be a resolution to the war. –evil laughter-

I keep you guys on your toes. Muahahahaha.

Always remember to review and tell me what you think—this is my personal favorite storyline so far. I also take suggestions very seriously, so feel free.

It was obvious that Lingsi was meant to be another Ba Sing Se. The streets were filled with vendors and shops, run almost entirely by refugees who had not come there by choice. Many of them had settled down and made a life for themselves, and that much was apparent. Unlike the Earth Kingdom's previous capitol, which kept the war refugees to the outskirts, this city was built by them and for them. There were no walls to divide the people. Newcomers mingled with the residents, living with them, laughing with them. The entire city was united—which made Zuko strongly believe it would survive the war even though Ba Sing Se had not.

Due to the lack of Fire Nation citizens in the city, Toph had convinced him that there was no need for a hooded cloak, especially on such a hot, sunny day. Remembering how no one had recognized him in the walled city so long ago, Zuko easily agreed. He was garbed in a green tunic and brown slacks, while Mai was dressed in a collared sundress with leggings. Aku had taken out his topknot to match his uncle, and was looking around with interest from his perch atop Zuko's shoulders, hand raised against the sun.

"This is amazing, Toph," Zuko said with a smile as they waited for a stone train car loaded with people—pushed by an earthbender—to pass. "How long did this take you?"

"The project had been gathering earthbenders for a while," Toph replied as she walked alongside him. "They had already constructed about half of this when we arrived. We helped them finish the job even as refugees were already streaming in, and we're continually expanding. We've had to divide our benders into departments just to keep up. The construction department's been working constantly since we founded it."

"Sounds like the beginnings of a government," Mai commented from Zuko's other side. Toph nodded.

"I'm not real big into the political scene; but we've got this guy, Xin Yi, who worked under the Earth King before the Earth King we knew. He's been organizing a government ever since the project started, and I'm pretty sure he was part of the original planning team, too. We're run by a council of five generals, but they're part of a large thing called 'The Board'. They take a large part in the council's decisions, and everyone else who's important is on that."

Aku looked down. "Like you?"

She smiled, staring straight ahead. "Like me."

They wandered from vendor to vendor, buying food and clothes and all sorts of things. Aku wanted a wooden flute—the vendor gave him a scroll that taught how to use it for free.

"You must get a large income from these markets," Zuko said as they walked down another wide, sunlit street.

"Huge," Toph replied, holding her arms out wide with a satisfied grin. "I don't know the numbers, but I know even with only minimal taxes set by the council, all the merchants who've moved here are making this city rich. Three years from now you probably won't even recognize it."

"It's incredible all the same," Mai said thoughtfully, looking around at the stone houses, the paintings people had put on some of the walls, the children running down the open streets and laughing in the sunshine, "how you managed to build so much out of nothing."

A ball flew their way—without a second glance, Toph twisted a foot, and a column of earth sent it right back the way it came. They heard the cheers and whoops of young boys; Toph grinned. "It wasn't just us. We only gave the people hope—it's amazing what they can do with it."

-x-x-

"Wow, are those all spear blades?" Teo asked when he wheeled up. Haru turned and smiled, another rock in his hand. The pile of stone blades lay in a box to his side, already overflowing.

"Yep," he said, obviously very proud. "They're getting easier as I go." Even as he spoke, he pressed his fingers into the stone in his hands and started to bend it into shape. "I've already got three carpenters working on the handles. And they can attach the blades when I give them these."

Teo picked up a blade with wonder, testing its edge with his thumb. "Amazing," he said, taking it by the long, blunt end. All the blades had a long 'tail' to them, which would be used to hold them to the wood without wasting any of the sharp edges. Teo placed it between his fingers, closed one eye and squinted, then pitched the blade at the opposite wall.

It struck the wall on its flat side, and clattered to the ground.

"You think Mai would teach me how to throw knives?" Teo asked with a sigh as he rolled over to pick it back up. Haru chuckled, opening his mouth to answer—

—all of the sudden, there was a knock at their door, and a voice that seemed familiar: and breathless.

"Hello? Please, is anyone there? Toph?"

Haru leapt to his feet, but Teo had already skillfully spun his wheels to get there first. He opened the door, peering outside—

"Suki!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. She was clinging to the doorframe, completely out of breath. Even hunched over, he could see the slight swell of her belly beneath her dusty and worn Earth Kingdom dress. She looked up at him through a tangled mess of brown hair.

"Toph…I need Toph…"

Haru walked up behind Teo—and only just managed to catch the exhausted warrior before she hit the floor.

-x-x-

Mai went straight to work as soon as she saw Suki. "I need a bucket of cold water," she commanded to no one in particular, kneeling by the bedside. "And a rag. Then I need a glass of water—clean water—and I need someone to make a soup."

"What kind of soup?" asked Teo.

"Any kind."

He nodded curtly, then turned to the little prince. "Come on, Aku. You can help me."

Zuko mouthed a quick 'thank you' to the boy as he rolled past, Aku in his lap. Teo just smiled and nodded.

"What happened?" Toph demanded, looking both angry and worried. Haru ran a hand over his eyes.

"We heard a knock at the door. She was there, looking completely exhausted and totally out of breath—all she would say was 'Toph. I need Toph.'"

Toph kept her eyes fixed on the ground: it was apparent she was 'looking' at the pregnant young woman lying on her bed. Suki was a mess—but Zuko had a feeling Toph may have been looking at the miniature heartbeat inside of her. Sokka's child.

"Where's the bucket of cold water? And the rags?" Mai asked dangerously from the bedside. Zuko instantly headed for the well—Haru escaped to the linen closet.

Toph hesitated. Then she asked, in a voice as calm as she could make it, "Is she going to be all right?"

Mai's expression softened. She glanced down at Suki, sleeping peacefully, and replied, "Yes. She's just a little dehydrated and tired. And I'm sure she probably hasn't eaten recently. But she's going to be just fine."

Toph swallowed. "Good," she whispered. "And the baby?"

"I'm sure the baby is all right," Mai said, standing and dusting off her sundress. "But I can't tell for certain. I'm not very experienced with childbirth—I don't know what starvation would do to a baby."

The earthbender's eyes burned, and she turned away quickly. "Tell me when she wakes up," she said quietly, walking out of the room. "She wanted to talk to me."

"I know. I will."

-x-x-

It was strange, really, that Teo always knew where Toph was going to be. He didn't think a thing of it, of course, but Haru would just watch and smile at his ability to read her like an open book.

He wheeled into the forest, taking a path Haru had carved especially for him. It was a little bumpy, but Teo ignored it. He had gone this way many times before—as had they all.

The trees opened up into a clearing, letting the sunlight shine. Toph lay on her side in the middle, her ear pressed to the ground, her back to him.

"Listening again?" Teo said conversationally, making his way around the perimeter of the clearing. Toph didn't look up.

"Yes."

He found a nice place in the shade beneath an oak tree, and parked his wheelchair. He placed his hands in his lap. "What's so interesting about it?" he asked, studying her. "You do it a lot."

There was a short silence. Then: "It lets me escape the rest of the world, I suppose, if I wanted to be dramatic about it."

"I don't see anything dramatic about that."

He heard her sigh. "I do. The great heroine of the last sanctuary in the world, too pressured by her adoring fans and worshippers, always running away to the forest to be alone. It sounds like a play."

He pondered this for a moment. The response he was yearning to say was already pushing at the front of his mind—but he didn't know if it was wise to say. Finally, plucking up his courage, he replied: "Or…an overworked and stressed young woman, consumed with worry over the man she cared for, his wife, and his unborn child, is frustrated by the fact that she can do nothing, and runs away to listen to sounds in the earth in order to forget that fact."

This silence was absolute. Impenetrable. Solid. Neither of them made a single movement, or a single noise. The breeze was dead. All that was left was the sunlight, pouring like a golden liquid over Toph's still form.

All of the sudden, she whirled into a sitting position to face him, her face contorted with sadness and pain. "Damn you," she whispered. The satisfaction of being right didn't even make him want to smile.

"There's nothing wrong with being worried, Toph," he said gently. "And there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to get away from it all sometimes."

"There is something wrong, however," she argued, her voice cracking, "in wishing that that being, that little creature inside Suki, doesn't exist. Never existed. In wishing that that strong, smart, beautiful woman in there—a woman who he deserves—never met Sokka." Her voice was rising, her eyes were beginning to spill over. Teo sat and watched sadly, his hands clasping each other tightly. "And there is something wrong," she cried, "in instead of getting rid of those feelings, escaping them and denying they exist! No, Teo, I am doing something, very, very wrong, so shut up! And stop—looking—at—me—like—that!"

He wheeled forward slowly. "Like what?" he whispered. She hiccupped, tears already streaming down her face.

"Like…like…like I'm a child!" she shouted at last. "Like I'm a child who's upset about not getting what she wants! I know he loves her, dammit, and there isn't a single thing I can do about it!"

"We all get upset, Toph, when we don't get the things we want," Teo said, still moving cautiously towards her. "All of us. I was upset when I found I could never walk again, right after I had learned how to. I was upset when I learned I would never see my mother again. I was upset when I couldn't participate in races, in ball games, when I couldn't ride an ostrich-horse, when I couldn't learn to swim…but that doesn't make me a child. And it doesn't make you one, either."

She looked up at him, sitting cross-legged on the ground, her expression still drawn tight with frustration and sorrow. He stopped his wheelchair, pulled a spare handkerchief out of his pocket, and leaned forward to hand it to her with a small, encouraging smile. She paused—then, with another hiccup, she smiled back ever-so-slightly and accepted the handkerchief.

"Thanks," she said softly, wiping her eyes and breathing deeply.

"You're welcome," he replied kindly. She stared at the handkerchief in her hands, her crying stopped.

"This is the second time you've seen me crying over him," she realized aloud. Teo tried not to wince—he knew she would see it.

"I don't think a thing of it, Toph," he said immediately. "And I'd never tell anyone, either."

She stared at the cloth a moment longer, then stood. "Yeah, I know," she said with a small grin, reaching over to hug him. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm always here for you, Toph. You know that."

Toph took a deep, shaky breath. "Yeah. I know." Then she pulled away, and walked back towards the path he had just come from.

Teo rubbed his neck—although her sobs had stopped, her tears had not. Her cheeks had been wet when she hugged him.

And she had taken his handkerchief.

He smiled bitterly, and turned his wheelchair around to follow her.

-x-x-

"Where's Toph?" was the first thing she said. Mai sighed.

"Haru just went to get her, she's in the city right now. Please, just drink some soup."

Suki eyed the woman warily—but her gaze soon turned hungry as she spotted the steaming bowl in her hands. Mai handed it to her. "Go slow," she ordered firmly, glaring slightly at her patient. "Or else you'll end up throwing it all back up again."

The warrior glared back in response, but obeyed.

"Is she eating?" Zuko asked when he walked into the room. Immediately he could sense the tension in the air—which only increased as soon as Suki noticed him.

"All right, look," she snapped, placing the bowl back on the bedside table, "I've had enough of this. First I've got the knife-lady serving me soup and wiping my forehead with wet rags, now I've got Prince Screw-Up-Everything asking me if I'm eating! Can you at least tell me if I'm dreaming or not? I'd like that truth, at least." And there she sat, hands on her hips, glaring at Mai, then Zuko, then back again. Zuko shifted uncomfortably, inching his way towards the door—Mai had no such qualms.

"My husband and I, along with our nephew, are living with Toph, Haru, and Teo," she said briskly. "I have been taking care of you ever since you fainted at our door. Zuko fetched you water, Teo and my nephew made your soup, and Haru fetched blankets and cloths. We were all working together to make you as comfortable as possible, but if you choose not to show gratitude, that's perfectly fine with me." With that, she stood abruptly and walked past Zuko out the door with a final: "Enjoy your soup."

Suki, slack-jawed, looked astounded as she watched Mai make her exit. Zuko cleared his throat. "Sorry, I don't think she likes playing nursemaid," he apologized. "And I think she was expecting…well, never mind."

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Suki asked in a voice that was almost pleading. "Where's Toph? And why are you living with her?"

"Uncle Zuko!" Aku cried, making his way into the room completely filthy and covered in dirt. "Look at what I got!" In his hands was a bright orange carrot as filthy as he was, the long grassy top almost to the floor. Zuko smiled.

"You picked that all by yourself?" he asked. Aku nodded proudly.

"Yup! Teo showed me how!"

Zuko gestured to Suki, who was staring at Aku with an odd expression on her face. "Our guest is awake."

His nephew turned suddenly, noticing the tired-looking woman bathed in sunlight on the bed. He blinked, staring. Then he held up his carrot.

"Did you see what I picked?" he asked. Suki laughed softly and nodded.

"Yes. It's very beautiful."

Aku grinned. "I picked it all by myself!"

"So I heard!" she responded brightly. "What are you going to do with it?"

"I dunno," he said, looking down at the filthy vegetable in his muddy hands, appearing to think the question over carefully. "I think I'm gonna eat it."

And with that, he hobbled quickly out the door again.

"Wash it and peel it first!" Zuko called after him. "Ask Teo to help you!" He heard a faint 'okay' from several rooms over, and he leaned against the doorframe again. Suki was looking at the door through which he had vanished, the odd expression returning.

"Your nephew?" she asked quietly. He nodded.

"Azula's child." Wide brown eyes met his.

"Azula had a child?" she breathed. He nodded again in response.

Suki turned to look at the door again. They could both hear his and Teo's laughter in the kitchen.

"I don't understand," she said suddenly, breaking the silence and causing Zuko to glance her way. "I remember that night, Zuko. The night after Aang died. We were all so miserable, so distraught—and we all hated you. Toph and Katara most of all." He flinched, but she continued. "Now Toph has forgiven you enough to let you live in her house with your wife—who isn't exactly a role model either—and Azula's son. Azula's son." She threw her hands up in the air, then rubbed her eyes and her forehead. She appeared confused, stressed, and completely overwhelmed. Traveling had apparently taken a great toll on her mental health as well as her physical health.

"Now you're being nice to me," she persisted, dropping her hands into her lap and looking at him intently. "Your wife, who once helped beat me and all of my warrior sisters into submission and threw us into prison, was just wiping my forehead with a cold cloth and serving me soup. You, who killed the Avatar, the one last hope in the world, and betrayed us all, are asking me if I'm eating, and looking at me all mother-hen-like."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Am not."

She glared. "Are too. Sokka always used to look at me like that, especially—" She broke off sharply, her face falling. Almost unconsciously, one of her hands moved to rest on her stomach.

"Especially after you told him," he finished quietly. Suki looked away.

"Yeah," she said. "After I told him." There was a small silence after that, while Suki looked out the window with something like sadness in her eyes, and Zuko studied her from his place by the door.

"He wouldn't let you stay and fight," he said. She shook her head no.

"I was so angry with him," she murmured. "I was a little thinner then—no one could tell when I had all those layers on. And the morning sickness wasn't that bad, my back wasn't hurting; I told him I could fight. I told him I should be at his side." Suki turned to look at him then, the anger in her eyes replaced with regret. "He told me I needed to get away with our child. He told me he wouldn't lose both of us."

He could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but she turned away quickly, wiping them away. "I'm sure he's still alive," Zuko said, in an attempt to comfort her. She nodded.

"I know he is." There was no elaboration, although he waited for it. After a beat, she looked up again. "Why is Azula's child with you?"

Zuko shifted a little at the question. "We thought he…needed a little break from his mother," he responded, giving her a meaningful glance. Suki sighed—he knew she understood.

"It must have been tough for him, with her as a mother."

He nodded once, his eyes down. "It was."

She glanced at the door again. "How did he get his limp?" she inquired curiously. "Was he born like that? I knew several children with that problem."

Zuko shook his head slowly. "No…he was struck by lightning."

The blood drained from Suki's face, and her eyes widened. "No…surely not…I mean, surely—" He gave her a look. She was instantly silenced; if anything, a bit paler. "Her own son?" she breathed in disbelief. "What did the father have to say about it?"

"He was exiled," Zuko replied, "as soon as Azula found out she was pregnant. One of her personal guards."

"Exiled…so predictable," she muttered vindictively, folding her arms and leaning back against the pillows. She stewed there for a moment, then commented: "He's like your child now, I suppose." He nodded.

"As good as."

"Hmm. Your wife likes him?"

"He's grown on her quite a lot. And he adores her. 'Auntie Mai.'"

She chuckled softly. "I'll bet she loves that."

He shrugged with a smile. "I think that name's growing on her too. She's already teaching him how to throw knives."

"Is that so…? No firebending?"

His smile faded instantly—and it didn't escape Suki's notice. "Not anymore."

AN: CLIFFHANGER!

You'll have to wait for the next chapter to hear what Suki's going to tell Toph. :D

Yes, I'm evil. Evilly brilliant. Brilliantly evil.

Modestly egotistical, perhaps. Egotistically modest.

Remember to review: I also like to hear what your theories are. ;)