CHAPTER FIVE
That infuriating Avatar disturbed Zuko's reverie. Crystal flask in tow, Aang plopped back into the chair next to Katara. Always taking what wasn't meant for him. Slinging an arm around her, he beamed up at Zuko. "We'll catch you after we eat," he promised the Fire Lord, and waved at the next man in line.
Katara tried to smile at Zuko, a bittersweet affair that covered any tears creeping up behind her eyelids. With a nod, she dismissed him— she, a peasant, dismissing the Fire Lord, Zuko scoffed— and turned to the earth bender waiting behind him.
"Haru," she bubbled, reaching her arms out to hug her guest. "Aang and I are so glad to see you!"
Zuko stepped away from the bride, beelining towards the banquet serving tables in the opposite corner of the room. He planned to join Toph with a drink and forget the rest of the festivities. It would be easier than leaving early and facing questions from his friends.
Toph was a lightweight, but Zuko was having trouble keeping up. She downed glass after glass of the prune cider stuff, and still she managed to sit upright better than Sokka, who had only had one cup "just for tradition's sake." Suki grumbled that if she couldn't drink her favorite cider, than Sokka couldn't either because he was responsible for their child, too. Then again, maybe Sokka was a little tipsy. When Suki had her back turned, Sokka gulped from Zuko's barely touched glass on the table across from him. His covert sips were starting to add up.
"Isso good Katara's getting married," Sokka said through a mouthful of Gran Gran's stuffed buffalo deer bun.
Toph smirked. "Now you won't challenge every man she speaks with to a duel."
"As her only brother, it's my job to protect her honor!" Sokka protested.
"Yeah, Snoozles, you've done a great job of protecting her from every merchant she approaches in the Four Nations," said Toph. She topped off her glass and belched loudly.
Zuko scowled. Katara was the reason he had joined his friends at the feast instead of retreating outside to glare at the frozen wasteland. Now they couldn't stop talking about her.
Toph detected the rumble in the fire bender's throat, and inclined her head towards him. As Katara's voice trickled down to their table, Toph felt him tense, drumming his fingers against the bench. Someone at the party was setting off Sparky. Could it be the guest of honor? The stringed song of the pipa interrupted Toph's concentration.
"The dancing!" Suki squealed, heaving her weight off of the bench. Sokka buried his head in his plate of food. Suki pouted. "You promised!"
Sokka shot a look at Zuko as his pregnant wife pulled him away from the buffalo deer buns. Imitating his wife, he squeaked, "If I have to suffer, you do, too!" Then he was dragged onto the dance floor and disappeared in the crowd. The strings picked up. A flute joined in.
In the center of the chamber, Aang led Katara in a series of complex spirals and spins. The sapphires pinned in Katara's hair bent the light from the lanterns above. She made the dance look easy, twirling and smiling as she and Aang bent in tandem.
"Feels like Twinkle Toes is air bending, not dancing," Toph chuckled, resting both feet on the floor to pick up the Avatar's vibrations. Zuko's heartbeat shot through the roof. Interesting, Toph noted, confirming her suspicions as she sipped at her drink.
"Any noble worth his title knows how to dance," Zuko grumbled. "We've all been trained in it."
The earth bender snorted her cider through her nose at the thought of Zuko dancing. "I would pay good money to see you on the dance floor."
"I haven't danced in years… Besides, you wouldn't be able to see it!" Six years of friendship and he still blindly fell for her jokes about sight.
"But I would be able to sense your movements, Sparky, and oh boy, would that be worth it."
He harrumphed. "Don't you have someone else to bother?"
She shrugged. "Came alone."
"No pretty boy to guide you around?"
"You saying I need help finding my way around?" The edge in her voice solidified.
"No!" Zuko shouted, fists sparking. "I just… My apologies. I am not feeling myself today."
Toph grunted knowingly. "No pretty lady to travel with you down south?"
"I'm the Fire Lord. Since when do I have time for pretty ladies?"
"You did at the start of the feast."
"That was… I was… Katara was so kind as to direct me through the village to the lodge. She simply needed an escort into the feast."
"Right." Toph rolled her milky eyes. The gesture was not lost on Zuko.
"It is my duty as her friend and guest to make sure her wedding feast goes smoothly," he explained.
"The way your hearts beat around each other… it's out of control," she said. "I can't miss it. Makes me think you'll both drop dead of cardiac arrest any second."
Your hearts, she said. Not just mine. Zuko's stomach leaped. He regretted scarfing down the buffalo deer bun.
"Her heart doesn't beat the same way around Aang," Toph added softly. Zuko's eyes narrowed. He rarely saw her so subdued.
"How would you know?" he countered, afraid to hope.
"Listen, Sparky, I've traveled with them for the past several months. She cares about him, but in the same way she cares about me. That annoying mother act. She wants to protect him. She feels responsible for easing his burdens."
"But that is love."
"Look. Several months ago, we set up camp for the night in the South Pole. We had just flown there from your palace. Suki had just announced her pregnancy. Katara wanted to see her family before we left for our next assignment in Omashu. Appa couldn't fly there directly without rest. We landed miles away from the Water Tribe to camp for the night. Aang was worn out, so he fell asleep right after sundown. You know Katara stays up later because of the moon and all. She always goes to bed after us. Normally, I'm out like a light. But I struggle sleeping in the snow. The ground is buried and I can't reach it like normal."
Zuko understood. Here, his fire bending did little to protect him against the miles of frozen tundra.
"After waiting forever to fall asleep, I crawled over to Katara. She was still up, huddled in her parka near the fire we built to keep warm. She doesn't normally seek out fire, you know? She doesn't get cold— this is her home. But I could feel her feet leaning against the fire pit. She didn't move. For the better part of an hour, I waited, listening for movement. Eventually, she removed her mittens, spirits know why as it was colder than a polar dog's—"
Another time, Zuko might have laughed. But he sat unmoving, waiting to hear what he knew Toph would say.
"When I felt her taking off the gloves, I approached her. Told her it was too cold to get naked. She didn't laugh. I felt for her face. Tears were frozen down her cheeks. She wouldn't move anymore. Her hands were so cold."
Zuko knew those cool hands. He tore his gaze away from Toph's round face and scanned the dance floor. Those cool hands were locked in the Avatar's grasp.
"I felt for her mittens and found them on her lap," Toph continued. "I grabbed her left hand and stuffed it into the glove. She didn't respond, but I knew she understood what I was doing. Her heartbeat stayed steady. Then I reached for her left hand. My fingertips found a ring on her middle finger. A new piece of jewelry from the Fire Nation, I assumed.
"Everything about Katara sped up when I made contact with her ring. Her breathing, her heart rate, her tears. She yanked her hand away from me, pulled her mitten back on, and wiped her cheeks dry.
"She pulled me in for a hug, Sparky. You know I don't do hugs. But the way she was shaking… I couldn't leave her alone to face whatever it was she was wrestling with. So I hugged her back. I sat with her until my face numbed. I couldn't feel the fire anymore.
"I nudged Katara towards her bedroll. As we nestled in for the night, she leaned over to me. 'Promise you won't tell Aang about tonight,' she said. 'I can't hurt him. He has too much to worry about.' I couldn't say no, Sparky," Toph added, sensing Zuko's rising frustration. "After feeling Katara break, I couldn't steamroll her like that.
"The next day, she woke up with all her pieces put back together. She hasn't taken the ring off since. At least every time I've touched her hand, it's been there. When Aang asked about it, she said it was a reminder of why she was here."
The bun on Toph's plate burst into flames. The heat startled her. She socked Zuko in the arm. He unclenched his fists at the blow. Toph cocked her head back. "You made the ring." Not so much a question as a statement.
"I did," Zuko croaked. "A long time ago."
"Do you still feel for her what you felt then?"
Zuko choked on his answer. The drums pounded faster in the great hall as the strings changed their tune.
"Catchy," Toph commented, swallowing the last of her cider. "Wanna dance?"
Zuko wanted to curl up into a bunk onboard his ship and sail back to the Fire Nation. Or race out of the lodge and burn down the village as the revelers danced. But his presence at the ceremony tomorrow was expected as a sign of solidarity and respect towards his new Water Tribe allies. Burning down their village would certainly be seen as the act of an enemy, not an ally. So he rose, bent at the waist, and offered his hand to the earth bender seated in front of him.
"Miss Bei Fong," he said. "Might I say that your green robe brings out the color of your eyes?" He might, she agreed. He did not pick up on the false note in Toph's voice as she leapt up from her seat.
"Sparky, shut your trap."
True to form, Zuko played the gentleman until the song finished. He did not miss a step, inwardly hearing his withered dance instructor coughing out the beat. No matter that Toph stubbornly tried to lead every step of the way. She had this annoying habit of planting her feet and—
Toph threw her weight against Zuko, forcing him to stumble to a halt. "Hi, Aang!" she chirped. Zuko's eyes blazed when he turned to see the Avatar and his bride joined in an embrace.
"Toph! Zuko!" said Aang. "Good to see you on the dance floor."
"Zuko is a dreadful dancer," Toph moaned. "Twinkle Toes, you must save me from his feet! If he steps on my toes one more time, I won't be able to see for the rest of the evening."
Katara widened her eyes at Zuko, holding in a giggle. He couldn't be as bad a dancer as Toph was making him sound. She was certain Fire Lords were trained to dance, as it had begun to play a large part in Fire Nation celebrations.
"Just one dance," Toph pled, "to give my feet a break!"
Aang smiled sheepishly. "Okay. One dance." Though the point of his dark beard did not reach the top of Toph's head, he managed to collect the earth bender in his arms and together they glided away.
Katara was left standing before Zuko. She shuffled awkwardly, ready to leave the dance floor and track down a warm drink. But before she had time to turn, Zuko caught her hand.
"Dance with me," he whispered hoarsely. She raised an eyebrow. "If you're not scared."