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Chapter Five

Toph lay in bed, thinking—which is what she'd been doing for the past four hours. Zuko had kissed her.

She said it to herself again. Zuko—Sparky—Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation—future Fire Lord Zuko had kissed her. What was she going to do?

She tossed again to her other side. Despite her perpetual crush on Sokka, she'd always loved Zuko. The others in the group had known Zuko for a while as the "angry jerk," but apart from a short altercation when Azula had blasted Iroh, her first contact with him of any real length came when he'd offered himself as a prisoner at the Western Air Temple.

She remembered that day. He'd seemed so sad, so lost as he'd knelt there with his wrists ready to be shackled. She'd watched him grow with them. Watched him replace anger with purpose. She'd seen him turn his entire life around, fighting beside them. Nearly dying beside them.

She'd always loved him, but never for a minute dreamed there was any chance. Despite her privileged childhood, Toph had remade herself as an ordinary person. Just another world-saving master earthbender, she thought sarcastically. Granted she was welcome in any earth city, both as a teacher and as a diplomat, but she was still not royalty. What would the crown prince of the great Fire Nation want with her?

She tossed again. What DID he want with her? Was she a diversion from the cares of government, like this vacation? Was she just a new way to pass the time? That didn't sound like Zuko to her, but she hadn't seen him in five years. Who knew how he'd changed?

She tossed again. But what if he was serious? Did he--now she really got scared--truly care about her in some kind of permanent fashion?

She tossed again. What would she do if he did? How could she turn away from him? She'd always loved him. Did she really love him? Or was it a leftover crush from her childhood? She was no longer a child. Most of her friends were married now. If she'd not left home, she'd already be married to some wealthy landowner's son. Some young man willing to take a blind wife in exchange for a handsome dowry.

That was not the life she envisioned for herself. She'd even told Zuko she had no intention of returning to that golden cage of sheltered privilege. How more trapped could any woman be than to be Fire Lady?

She tossed again. But that kiss.

She tossed again. That kiss had turned her heart completely upside down. She loved Zuko. She'd always loved Zuko. The thoughts that he might feel the same way about her was like . . .

She tossed again. What was she going to do? What would she say to him in the morning?

Across the hall, the object of her thoughts lay in his own stateroom, but Zuko was asleep. After their dinner kiss, they'd sat together, talking about nothing, his arm around her shoulder, her head leaning against him. Mostly they'd just been together. When the evening drew late, he'd forced himself to escort her to her stateroom door, and with the steward in the hallway he'd only wished her a pleasant evening and given her hand a goodnight squeeze.

Then, his heart at peace and completely unaware of the emotional turmoil Toph was going through, he'd gone to sleep.

But his sleep was restless. Strange disjointed images of the past filtered through his dreams until they focused on one moment.

Ozai lay on the battlefield between Aang and Iroh, a smoking hole where his chest used to be. The group gathered around in relief. Suddenly, a voice rang out. Azula.

"Oh, you got him, did you?" her voice echoed around the cavern, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Tough luck, Dad."

"Azula, come out. It's over," said Uncle Iroh sadly.

"For you to throw me into prison and lock away the key? I don't think so," she answered. "I have a proposition to make."

"Come out, Azula," Zuko had called to her. "This needs to stop right here, right now."

"I agree, Zuzu," her voice came from another part of the cavern. "Let's make it a matter of honor. I challenge you to an Agni Kai. You win, I go to prison. I win, I go free, banished of course, never to return."

"Don't do it, Zuko," Sokka instructed sternly, sword in hand. "We can take her. I owe it to Suki to take her out."

Zuko thought for a moment. He knew Azula was not to be trusted. Whatever her plans were, he had to stop her. He would not allow her to continue to hurt the people he loved. "I accept," he called, and she immediately strode out to the center of the cavern to face him, a huge smile on her beautiful face.

"Toph, make us a ring with ten foot walls. I don't want any injured bystanders," he commanded, never taking his eyes off Azula.

With only a gesture, Toph had raised the ring around the two of them. Azula began to circle; he followed. "Poor Zuzu. You've never been a match for me and you know you aren't now. Once I've killed you—by accident of course—I will still be Uncle's heir, banished or no. Oh, yes, I'll leave the country, but once he passes, I'll be back. No one will stop me from taking what is mine."

Zuko paid no attention her words; he was meditating, breathing, allowing his energies to flow like the tide. When she finally finished ranting, he was ready. He rooted his stance in the earth as the blue fire erupted from her fingertips.

His left hand outstretched before him, he took in the lightning and let it swirl inside him. Fire was life and he let the energy run through him like water, like blood in his veins. Again and again she blasted away at him and he took in the power of it. His body coursed with swirling lightning as he began to walk toward her.

He tried to keep the flow directed away from his heart, but there was too much. His teeth chattered and his muscles twitched as he continued to catch the blasts she desperately threw at him. His nerve endings burned with white agony as he reached for her with his right hand.

Through the blue flashes that passed through his field of vision, he could see the panic and disbelief on her face as he placed his hand around her throat and let the energy go.

The blast literally tore her body apart, but Zuko didn't really see anything. He turned away, his vision going gray around the edges, took two steps and collapsed. He could feel the wall behind him fall with a tremendous crash. He heard Toph screaming for Katara to hurry, then she'd reached him.

The grayness washed over him like an avalanche of ash, but Toph's voice called to him. "Zuko, don't leave us! Stay with me! Hurry, Katara! He's fading! Zuko, stay here! Listen to me! Please stay with me!"

In his dream he could feel the soothing, healing waters as Katara repaired as much of the damage as she could. But he knew he was going. The gray edges began to creep back, then he heard Toph again. He opened his eyes and looked at her. Tears were streaming down her face, and she stroked his cheek with one small, dusty hand.

"Come on, Sparky," she'd pleaded, "you can do it. Stay here with me." All his friends were gathered round him, but Toph's voice was what stood out in his memory. "Please don't leave!"

In that moment, he prayed to the spirits to let him stay.

And they did.