On the sixth day of their imprisonment, Toph waited anxiously for Lao after she had finished lunch. She was afraid of what she might do if he tried to "discuss" things further; it already terrified her that she'd actually begun to cry the day before. She listened to the hart plucking away outside the cell, and thought that Lao was actually lucky that it was there; if she turned the direction of anger if she lost it again, she could easily try to kill him.
It hadn't occurred to her until she'd snapped the day before just how much Lao'd hurt her over the last few years. She hadn't thought much of it, but when she saw what real fathers were like, she would push him to the back of her mind to keep it from letting it upset her. Yesterday all of that must have just reemerged, and she broke down; and she didn't want it to happen again.
Maybe, she thought, it wouldn't. It was possible that in snapping, she'd managed to let it all out, so to speak. Maybe she'd done what needed to be done and gotten it over with; she could be good as new for Lao's next visit, ready to stand her ground once again. Squaring her jaw, she prepared herself for the confrontation.
But, it never came. Toph sat in blank determination, Teo's presence patiently quiet beside her in the cell, for Spirits know how long. She couldn't help but listen mindlessly to the harp to judge the time; hours seemed to have passed, absorbed by the endless tune. But the melody was the only noise; no telltale creak of the door announced Lao's arrival, no voices prodding her to comply with a vile demand.
After an eternity had passed, and it had become clear that Lao would not be gracing them with his presence, Toph slammed her fist on the ground and grit her teeth. "Damn it!" she muttered. Despite her angst, as she waited, she had found herself actually anticipating another meeting; she didn't know why – perhaps she wanted to hear his side of the story, or just see how he'd react to her today – but she was angered by h is cowardice. The man came demanding her to bend to his will, and the second things didn't go his way, he fled, like a pouting child.
Across the room, Teo cleared his throat. "Um, Toph?" he asked quietly.
Toph turned her head towards the direction of his voice to show she was listening, slightly suspicious at his nervous tone.
"Um, well, I was doing some thinking," he continued. "Master Bei - I mean Lao – didn't come back today."
Toph quirked an eyebrow. "Really, Shorty? What gave it away," she asked sarcastically.
"No no no, what I'm trying to say is that maybe there's a reason he didn't come." Toph straightened and tuned in more carefully, interested by this comment. "Maybe…when you went off on him yesterday… you actually got to him. Maybe, with your reaction, and with all of the things you said, you hit him; struck him way down deep, and he's thinking right now about everything he's doing, and trying to salvage whatever parental humanity he has left, thinking about releasing us."
Toph thought about this for a second before snorting. "Ha! Yeah right, 'Daddy's probably just pouting that he didn't get his way; he'll be back, trust me."
Teo sighed. "That's another possibility. If that's the case, then maybe when he returns…" his voice trailed off, causing Toph to shoot another look at him.
"What about when he returns?" she asked accusingly.
Teo chuckled nervously. "Well, uh, hehe, you see... I was thinking that, when he returns, maybe, uh, you should… stay quiet and let me talk to him?"
Toph's jaw dropped. "What?" she partially shrieked. Had he just insinuated for her to shut up?
"I-I… what I mean is, the last time you talked to him, you sort of… snapped, and scared him away. If that keeps happening, at this rate we'll never get out of here. But maybe if I try talking to him, I could negotiate something with him… So well, yeah…"
Toph thought about this, softening her glare. She had to admit, it was the most practical thing to do; coming up with good ideas seemed to be Teo's specialty.
She smirked. "So, is this why you've been so quiet all day?"
Teo chuckled. "Pretty much," he said. His tone held unfinished, but he must have decided whatever else he was going to say was unimportant.
Toph yawned and felt herself shiver slightly, goose bumps sprouting on her bare arms; night must have been setting in. Absentmindedly she moved to make an earth tent to trap in some heat, but grew frustrated when nothing happened.
"Grah," she grunted. "I hate not being able to earthbend!"
"Come here," Teo called. She followed the sound of his voice, and her wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap, and warming her up. "It'll be fine," Teo said sympathetically. "You might not remember it, but you lost your earthbending ability before."
Toph gave an exasperated sigh. "I know, back when I thought I was that useless priss, Sadako," she stated boredly. She rubbed her hand over her forehead, locating a few stray hairs itching her face and tucking them behind her ear.
Teo chuckled. "You know, there's actually a funny story about that," he said. He seemed hesitant to tell the tale himself, so she leaned her head up and shot him another inquiring look, urging him to go on.
"Well," he continued, " I didn't actually tell you this before, but back when you were Sadako and I was working as a guard – wait, wait, you already know why I was there, never mind that – well, before I knew that you were the same person, one time I zoned out and thought she was you – er, obviously I found out that she actually was, but anyways I kinda sorta might have… kissed her, er, you."
Toph thought about his for a moment before laughing. "Ha, how did 'Sadako' react to this?"
Teo was quiet for a second. " Actually," he said, "surprisingly not unlike you would've…"
Toph grinned. "So, did she punch you?" she teased.
"No," Teo laughed. "Not even you would do that."
Toph raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh really now," she said sarcastically.
"Really," Teo said, kissing her cheek. Toph grinned slyly and turned partially, playfully bumping her fist against his arm.
"Hey!" he cried, pretending to be in pain. She felt him shift, rubbing his arm, and she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, suck it up, Shorty," she grinned, "you're acting like a drama queen. Keep it up and I might just hafta dump you," she teased.
"Oh, no you won't," Teo declared, hugging her closer. He buried his face in her cheek. "Like it or not, you might be stuck with me for a long time." He pulled his face away from her ear and kissed the top of her head.
Toph smiled softly. "Yeah, well the same goes for you," she joked. She felt his torso bounce up and down as he laughed quietly; she rest her head on his chest and curled her legs up further onto the chair.
"It would be a pleasure," he said more quietly this time, but she could hear the words echo through his ribcage. She smiled weakly, the rhythmic sound of his breathing slowly lulling her almost to sleep. By the distancing expansions of his chest, causing her to gently rise and fall, she could tell that he, too, was beginning to doze off.
She brought a hand up to join her face, and snuggled herself into a more comfortable position. "I love you,' she said softly.
There was a slight quiet hesitation before Teo curled an arm around her shoulders, holding her securely. "I love you too."
Toph smiled and closed her eyes. Still listening to his breathing, she could barely notice the harp anymore. This somehow giving her an odd comfort, it wasn't long before she fell asleep.
I'm back! Sorry for the blank period, kind of had a lot of drama and confusion over the last few weeks, not to mention finals last week, and couldn't write.
This chapter's a tad short, sorry. Also sorry for the fluffy ending; was kind of in the mood for fluff lately ;)
(Thanks to Adlada for helping me fix a few minor spelling errors)
Hm, have I been getting too OOC lately?
New policy: Reviews = faster updates! They inspire me to actually get off my rear end and write :)
So... Review please!