Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.

I'd like to thank my sister, for help with some ideas. And Madame Hatter, whose work has served as a lot of inspiration for this story (hers was one of the first Toko fics I ever read).

Chapter Nine:

Zuko stood outside in the sunshine. It was a warm day, and should have been a cheerful one, but he was nervous. His breath was shaky, and his hands trembled if he didn't keep them in tight fists. He could still hear uncle saying in a jolly way,

"It will be fine, nephew."

But that hadn't really helped. Would it be fine? He wasn't sure. He was fairly confident that the day might end with additional scars in store for him, or worse, a reduced number of friends.

He rubbed his eyes in frustration. When he'd asked Toph to marry him, he hadn't been thinking about what it would be like when he had to tell everyone else the news. In theory, they should be happy for them, but Zuko knew it wasn't that simple. So he had opted to tell them the news in a letter. It had seemed a great idea at the time, but now was finally the day he actually had to face the rest of the Gaang, and he was not looking forward to it.

He didn't know why he thought their reaction would not be positive, but he had a feeling about it, and it was not a good one. He had this absurd image playing in his mind of them attacking him over this news in a strange reliving of all the times they had fought in the past.

Toph joined him outside, and he smiled just slightly. She put her arm through his, and leaned against him.

"I can feel how scared you are from inside. What? You're afraid of how they'll react?"

Her being able to tell his emotions, from the beat of his heart and the rate of his breathing echoing through the earth, was not new to him, but it still wasn't something he was entirely used to.

"Yeah…" He answered, looking down, "I am."

She let go of his arm and stood so she was facing him, "Are you having second thoughts? Do you think it's a bad idea?"

Her voice was steady, not angry or hurt, she was simply asking him a question.

"No! I love you. I just… I know they will have things to say about it…"

"So, what?"

"Like, you are younger than me."

"Aang's younger than Katara! They've been married for years—"

"He's a hundred and—"

"Zuko, Aang is younger. Besides, I am an adult. Do you think when you are 54, it will be a big issue that I'm 50?"

"…No."

"If you are having doubts about whether or not we should be together, you'd better let it out now before the wedding."

"I'm not having doubts!" He grabbed her hands. "I'm not worried about us. It's them..."

Toph smiled slightly, and squeezed his hands. "Here. I'll just tell you what they are all going to say, then you don't have to wonder."

Zuko began to smile as Toph put her hands on her hips, "This is Katara," She raised the pitch of her voice just slightly before speaking, "Are you sure you guys have thought about this carefully? Because, it's a really big decision… And you shouldn't rush into anything… And is this just because you two are the only single ones?"

Zuko chuckled slightly.

Toph threw her arms in the air and said, "I, Aang, am SO happy for you Zuko. I mean, you two will be so perfect together! I am so glad that you both have each other." She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.

Zuko was laughing heartily by now, as Toph continued.

"Zuko! I can't believe you and Toph want to get married! I kind of always thought Toph liked me… Have you thought about what food you'll serve at the wedding? Cause I have some suggestions…" Toph paused, "That was my Sokka impression."

"Wait a minute? Did you like Sokka?"

"Water under the bridge, baby."

Zuko blinked, but couldn't help but be amused.

"Last, but not least, Suki." She took a deep breath, then said, "I am so happy for you guys you are so sweet together!"

Toph grinned and grabbed Zuko's arm again, and Zuko felt a thousand times better than he had five minutes before.

It wasn't much later that Appa landed nearby, and the others arrived to greet a laughing Toph and Zuko. It turned out that Toph's predictions were pretty close to correct. Katara expressed her concern, but even that melted away after she observed the two of them for enough time. Sokka expressed his surprise that either of them wanted to be with the other, offered Zuko advice on women, and asked about the food. Suki was pleased, and Aang was thrilled. The initial awkwardness wore off quickly, and the friends settled into comfortable conversation not an hour after they arrived. Zuko felt so relieved he could have laughed at himself for his anxiousness earlier in the day.

0000

Later on, Zuko found Toph standing alone outside, gripping a letter he knew she could not read. He approached her slowly, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's that?" He asked, his voice gentle.

"It's from my parents." She said. She held it in both hands, tenderly, as if it was precious, though her eyes stared ahead of her.

"Has someone read it to you?"

Toph nodded, "Katara did."

"And?" He was scared to hear the answer, unable to read the expression on Toph's face. It looked solemn, but whether it was sad or angry or happy he could not see.

"My mother cried when she heard."

"Toph…" Zuko reached for her hand, but she went on.

"She's happy." Toph looked down.

A tear landed on Zuko's hand from Toph's eyes.

"Something has happened that for once, makes us both happy. She's proud of me. And I don't know if it's for the right reasons, but she's proud."

Zuko smiled, and Toph wiped at her eyes.

"I love you." He told her.

"I love you too." She replied, smiling. They leaned nearer toward each other and had just kissed when Toph pulled away quickly and rolled her eyes. Moving her head in the direction of the doorway, she shook her head, "I can feel you all over there!"

The rest of the gang peeked around from the doorway with sheepish expressions on their faces.

"We couldn't resist. That was adorable." Katara told them.

"It was really sweet." Suki said.

Aang nodded, "I'm just so happy."

"Me too, guys, me too." Sokka added.

Toph and Zuko both grinned.

Toph took Zuko's hand, "Then, I guess we can't be too mad at you for being snoopy." Toph told the others, sending a rock flying into the air for emphasis. "But don't let it happen again."

The end.

Author's Note: So, Toph getting an emotional letter from her parents, that someone has to read to her, was definitely inspired by Madame Hatter's story… so credit for that goes to her. It wasn't the same thing though, so, hope it's not a copy cat.

This chapter took me much longer than I wanted it too, and I really struggled over it for a while. But I'm super thankful to God for helping me figure it out. It might not seem like a big deal, but I was stressing over it and I'm thankful. I'm happy with how this chapter turned out. I do hope you guys liked it, and thank you so much for reading this story! I appreciate it so much! I had so much fun writing it.