we all want love/we all want honor
Part 19: fifteen for a moment
"Fifteen, there's still time for you."
- Five for Fighting, "100 Years"
The morning Zuko's world turned upside-down (again) started out like any other. Zuko and his uncle woke up just before dawn, dressed, and went to the sitting room. They waited a few minutes to see if Lady Toph was planning on joining them. When she failed to appear, the two of them began their morning meditation.
An hour later, Zuko returned to their room to work on the copy of Love Amongst the Dragons he was re-transcribing for Lady Toph. He only had a few pages left, and he wanted to give it to her today. (It was her birthday, and Uncle had told him birthday gifts were important in the Earth Kingdom.)
Once he finished, he carefully lifted the pile of metal sheets, returned them to the wooden box he'd been keeping them in, and carried it towards the kitchen, where Uncle was preparing breakfast.
"Happy birthday," he said, handing Lady Toph the box. Her face lit up as she reached inside and felt the gift.
"Man, you guys really know how to spoil a girl," she said. "Crab puffs for breakfast and a new copy of my favorite book? Thanks!" Before Zuko could blink, she'd wrapped him in a quick hug before dashing off to show Uncle.
What was that?
It wasn't that Lady Toph was opposed to hugs, exactly- but he could count on one hand the number of times she had initiated one. (She preferred to show affection via punching.)
This was the first strange thing to happen that day, but it would not be the last.
It was while they were all eating breakfast that it came up.
"So, Lin Yu, you're fifteen years old now," Uncle Iroh said as he finished his last crab puff. "We really should start the wedding preparations soon."
That's not funny, Uncle. The engagement and marriage rites were a complex set of rituals that took months to arrange. It wasn't unusual to start planning a year or more in advance, especially for a royal wedding.
But it's not like Lady Toph and I are actually-
A snort from her direction interrupted his musings.
"Please tell me you're joking, old man," Lady Toph said.
"What do you mean?" The former general had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that made Zuko grimace.
Obviously, she's saying that the idea of the two of us getting married is utterly-
"Only nobles have such stupidly complicated ceremonies," she said. "Pretty sure that now that we're just boring old refugees, we can make do with a simple wedding and some paperwork."
Wha-
"Are you okay, nephew?" Uncle asked as Zuko started coughing.
"I'm- f-fine," Zuko said, patting his chest a few times. "I think I just swallowed wrong."
"I'll get you something to drink, then."
As the old man poured a cup of tea, Zuko's eyes remained fixed on the diminutive girl who'd begun inspecting her new book.
"Mushi, could you do something about him?"
"What seems to be the problem?" Iroh asked, looking up from the tea he was brewing. His boss stood in front of him, arms crossed.
"That," Pao said, pointing to the table Zuko was currently serving. Or, at least, was supposed to be serving. At the moment, the boy was being berated by an old woman who was soaking wet. As she finished her tirade, she stormed out, and Zuko began picking up the fallen cups.
"I apologize for my nephew's clumsiness," Iroh said, sighing. "The unfortunate result of-"
"Yes, I know your nephew isn't used to this sort of work," interrupted Pao. "I also know he usually manages to catch himself before spilling things onto customers. And that's the seventh tray he's dropped today."
"That is odd," Iroh replied. "I will-"
CRASH!
"Make that the eighth," Pao said, sighing. "Do something."
"Li?" Uncle said, a questioning tone in his voice. "Is something wrong?"
What wasn't wrong? They were royalty, working at some poor peasant's tea shop, for spirits' sake!
"No more than usual," Zuko said. "Why do you ask, Uncle?"
"You seem… distracted today, nephew," the old man said. "Would you mind telling me what it is you're thinking so hard about? Maybe I could help?"
'We can make do with a simple wedding and some paperwork.'
"Nothing," Zuko said, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Let's get back to work." He wrapped up the remnants of his lunch and threw on his apron.
It was just a joke… right?
There was something really off with Sparky today. At dinnertime, he'd passed her the salt when she asked for chopsticks, spilled jook all over the floor, and eaten an entire plate of daikon salad, which he normally wouldn't touch. He hadn't even reacted when she'd called him an 'airhead.'
"Any idea what that's about?" Toph whispered to Uncle, gesturing to the living room floor, where Zuko lay sprawled out, (presumably) staring out into space.
"I was hoping you would know," Iroh said, sighing. "He's been acting like this all day."
"You're the one who works with him," she muttered. "Anything happen at the tea shop? Did another vigilante come jumping out of the woodwork to accuse you two of being firebenders? Did Tw-the Avatar's waterbender show up? Someone else we've run into before?"
"No, it was a fairly uneventful day," Uncle replied. "Other than the number of accidents Li kept getting into."
"Weird," Toph said. "And you tried asking him about it?"
"He insisted he was just fine," said Uncle. "I've never seen him like this before. He doesn't seem angry, just…"
"Distracted," she decided. "It's probably nothing to worry about. If he's still like this in a day or two, then we can start panicking."
Iroh nodded.
Despite what she'd said, Toph was still somewhat concerned about Zuko's strange behavior, and decided to keep an eye on him (metaphorically speaking). While Uncle Iroh headed to bed, she grabbed her hairbrush and sat down next to Zuko.
"Ow," she groaned, tugging the brush through her stubborn hair. It didn't matter how often she brushed it, she always had a ridiculous amount of knots and tangles by the end of the day. Some days, she just wanted to chop it all off, but Uncle and Zuko had freaked every time she'd so much as suggested such a thing. Stupid Fire Nation haircutting taboos. (Of course they got to give themselves dramatically dishonorable haircuts while the three of them were split up. Because that was fair.)
Sighing, she brushed out the last of the knots, rebraided her hair, and reached down for the cord she used as a hair tie.
It wasn't there. She felt around. It wasn't anywhere in her vicinity.
Argh! She hated these stupid, wooden floorboards. If this place had been made of proper stone, she would be able to locate the exact weight of the string, no matter where in the room it was, instead of fumbling around like… well, like a blind person.
Please tell me I didn't lose it. She had not held onto that thing for eight years only to misplace it now.
"Zuko?" Toph said, so frustrated that she forgot about their aliases. "Have you seen my hair tie?"
"Toph?" Zuko asked, his voice wavering. She froze. First off, when had he sat up? How on earth had she missed that?
More importantly, though, Zuko had just called her Toph. Not Lady Toph, but plain old Toph. She'd been begging him to do that for years, but couldn't think of a single time he had ever actually done so.
"What is it, Sparky?" Was he finally going to spill whatever was actually bothering him?
"Is this… what I think it is?"
Zuko stared down at the thin rope in his hands, the same one he'd been inspecting for the last few minutes.
For as long as he could remember, Lady Toph had used this string to hold up her hair, but he'd never really paid much attention to it. Never asked to see it properly.
Now, though, he was actually looking at it.
It had frayed from years of use, and the once-rich color had faded slightly, but it was still a vivid red. Carefully, he wrapped it around his wrist.
He remembered this feeling.
("Mom? Why did the Fire Sage give Lady Toph the rope he tied our wrists with?"
"Traditionally, the bride is responsible for taking care of the cord from the engagement until the wedding."
"What happens then?"
"If she takes good care of it, and the couple is able to be bound in marriage with the same string used in the betrothal, it's considered a fortunate omen for their future. Don't worry, it's just a silly superstition. Nobody actually expects her to hold onto that thing for the next decade or so until you two actually get married.")
"Wait, did you steal my hair tie?" Lady Toph demanded, snapping him out of his thoughts. She reached over and grabbed it out of his hands. "Don't scare me like that, Sparky." Quickly, she tied off the end of her braid and stormed off towards her room, leaving a bewildered firebender gaping after her.
Zuko thought about everything that had happened that day. Uncle's joke. Lady Toph's response. That red cord.
Does Lady Toph… actually intend on marrying me?
"There's never a wish better than this."
- Five for Fighting, "100 Years"